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“The one that looks like a really wet meadow?”
“Not a meadow, but a fen.”
“Ah.” She nodded knowingly, amused by this whimsical side of him. If nothing else, she’d managed to dig him out of his dark thoughts of vengeance. “Looks like a dense marsh to this untrained dry-lander.”
“Exactly. More plant life, fed by a steady source of ground water: the river.” He met her gaze, expression serious but dark eyes sparkling. “Remember the bog you didn’t like the smell of?”
“Having an excellent memory, I do recall that place from less than a quarter of an hour ago.”
“An enclosed depression, without a source of ground water, but instead filled by rain.”
“Makes it a bog,” she said with a sigh. “I confess I never thought I’d have to know the difference between a swamp, a marsh, a bog, and a fen.”
“And now you do.” His gaze traveled over the considerable expanse of sunken and partially sunken manse. “It’s not too late to raze that heap and start anew.”
“Never say it. I’m committed now. Tomorrow, you—with the able assistance of your nubile familiar—will raise House Phel from the marsh of doom.”
“Correct usage, but ‘doom’?”
“Ignominy?”
“More accurate.” He grimaced. “I suppose we should start with the piece I’ve already raised, see if together we can do more to stabilize it.”
“We’ll do the whole thing.”
Turning his head slowly, he looked at her like he suspected she might have lost her mind. “The whole wing?”
“The whole house.” She had to laugh at his incredulous expression. “Correct me if I’m wrong, because I don’t know much about house construction, but wouldn’t raising just one part while it’s being dragged down by the other parts only create strain on the existing structure? I mean, that’s one of the things our morning crew reported—that there’s ongoing damage in even the dry portions of the core house, because of the stress from the submerged sections.”
“Well, yes, of course. There wasn’t any way around that, because it’s simply not possible to raise the entire manse at once.”
“It wasn’t possible onyourown, but that’s why you acquired a powerful familiar, isn’t it?” She simpered at him.
“I had one or two other reasons in mind,” he replied drily.
“Yes, and we’ll get to those. But let’s just raise the entire structure, stabilize it, remove most of the water—then we can turn the remainder of the restoration over to the worker bees and the low-level water-wickers in the population. That will free us to concentrate on our other pressing matters.”
“The entire structure is extensive.” He pointed to a far gable, sweeping his hand across to the other distant end in demonstration.
“I can see that. We should spend some time building power for it tonight. Visiting the arcanium was on the schedule anyway.”
“Nic.” He frowned at her, seeming to be searching for words. “I appreciate your confidence in me, but this is a far more massive undertaking than keeping a barge from wrecking on the rocks. I was barely able to do that.”
“It’s not any different,” she insisted. “You’re still tied down to your farmer ways of thinking. Magic doesn’t operate according to physical laws. A manse is no different from a barge. It’s time you understood what you’re capable of doing.”
He gazed back at her, uncertain, something of the young man abruptly swamped—and ha to that metaphor—by overwhelming magic in his haunted gaze. “I don’t think I can do this.”
“That, my only love, sums up your problem.” She tried to soften it, to be kind, but he flinched anyway. “You’ll see. Better, you’ll learn.”
“Maybe we need a few days of practice.”
“Tomorrow.” He’d only build up the endeavor to even more impossible proportions in his mind if she let him stew over it. She would propose doing it immediately, but she wanted plenty of power in reserve. If they tried and failed, he’d only be more predisposed to think of the task as impossible. She nudged Salve into motion. “I should check for any replies to our messages from this morning before dinner. After we eat, we can spend the night in the arcanium.”
“Theentirenight?” Gabriel sounded aghast as Vale trotted briskly to make up the distance.
“Yes, which means we’ll need to locate a mattress and blankets for that bed.”
“You want to sleep on that…thing?”
