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He gave Gabriel that look again, so Gabriel took the hint and hastily complied.Drawing the silver net of magic tight as he laid a hand on her sleek feathers, he envisioned Nic in all her fiery beauty, fully clothed.
“Wait, I—” The proctor protested too late.Nic stood where the silver phoenix had been, her gown rustling as it adjusted to her shape, emphasizing her lush figure.“I didn’t get to ask the oracle what that bird is,” the proctor finished unhappily.
“Some other time, perhaps,” Gabriel replied loftily, offering Nic his arm, seeing the weariness in her.“I must check the incantation now.I will see you all at dinner.”
Turning to the steps, he brought Nic along, concerned by the way she leaned heavily against him.
“Lord Phel, if I may have a word?”Asa inquired.
Gabriel nearly said no, then caught the look in the healer’s eye.He nodded stiffly, then proceeded to the library.The fire crackled cheerfully, the armchairs, freshly upholstered by the House Ophiel Wizard Dahlia, still where he and Nic had vacated them upon the proctor’s arrival.It felt like days ago, not hours.He helped Nic settle into one of them, his alarm increasing at her vacant expression.“What’s wrong with her?”he demanded.
Asa crouched before Nic, studying her face.“May I have your permission to touch Lady Phel?”he inquired carefully.
Gabriel nearly snapped at him but recalled his reaction at finding the healer’s hands on his wife before and grudgingly nodded.
Asa took Nic’s unresponsive hands in his.Laryn stood close behind him, ready to serve, no doubt, but Gabriel knew Nic wouldn’t like for the other woman to observe her debilitated state.Nic didn’t like anyone to see her as weak, no matter how much she proclaimed her comfort with her subservient status as a familiar.Besides, Laryn in particular was no friend of Nic’s.If Gabriel had known, he wouldn’t have accepted Asa’s application to be the House Phel healer.Water under the bridge.
Unfortunately, short of playing arrogant wizard to the hilt, Gabriel couldn’t banish Laryn from the room.And if Asa needed to access his familiar’s magic to help Nic, then any amount of embarrassment would be worth it.He only hoped Nic would see it the same way.
“Alternate form is tricky,” Asa answered, though sounding almost as if musing to himself.“Even with long practice, the process can be draining and difficult.I surmise you two haven’t had extensive practice yet?”
If he only knewhowlittle, that he and Nic had only figured it out a couple of hours ago.Rather than explain, especially as he wasn’t sure how much Nic would want anyone to know, he simply folded his arms and grunted.Asa accepted that response, and Gabriel had to give Nic credit: the taciturn and broody image she’d encouraged him to cultivate came in handy in circumstances like this.
“I can tell you that the pregnancy is fine,” Asa said, fortunately intent upon Nic and so missing Gabriel’s start of guilt and surprise.
He hadn’t thought about the pregnancy, nor had Nic mentioned it as a problem when he forced her into alternate form.Of course the pregnancy could be at risk.So unutterably careless of him.And yet… with Nic’s well-being at stake, he’d make the same choice again.With nothing to do but wait on her wizard, Laryn watched him closely, her serious eyes resting on his face, something of a knowing smirk on her otherwise pretty mouth.She rested a hand on her own noticeably rounded belly, beaming with superiority.
No wonder Nic didn’t care for the woman.
Just then, Nic inhaled sharply, jerking from her slouch, color flooding her cheeks.Asa smiled broadly.“There we are.How do you feel?”
Gabriel had opened his mouth to ask the same question, and closed it again, irritated to be edged out.
Nic curled her fingers around Asa’s.“Better now.Thank you.That was… a very strange experience.”
“I’ll bet.”Asa rubbed Nic’s hands between his, then stopped and slowly released them, casting a wary look at Gabriel as a low growl escaped him.Laryn gazed at Gabriel with increased interest, pursing her lips thoughtfully.
“Lord Phel,” Nic said softly, holding out a hand to him.“Do you have need of me?”
He did, but not in the way she intended their audience to believe.But he seized the excuse to touch her, taking the proffered hand and enfolding it in his, like he might hold an injured bird that might further harm itself by trying to flap away.Nic met his gaze, a world of reassurance in it.She said she loved him, and he wanted to believe it.Mostly he did believe it, though he would likely never forget how the Fascination drove her to cleave to him whether she chose to or not.
“What happened?”he asked.
Asa answered.“Taking alternate form, as I said, is a powerful experience for a familiar.You both have plenty of magical potential to perform the feat, obviously, but sheer power—while it gets the job done—isn’t all that’s required.It takes getting used to, and I don’t recommend practicing to excess.”
Gabriel bit down on the retort that the healer’s contradictory advice was hardly helpful.
“Second,” Asa continued, “being in what is essentially an animal mind is disorienting even for an experienced familiar.With Lady Phel’s… unusual form, it’s not unreasonable to expect a greater level of dislocation.”
Nic nodded.“I feel like I’m still not thinking straight.”
“Food and rest should help,” Asa told her.“If you still feel off, or in any way not yourself in the morning, come see me.The final consideration for Lady Phel’s present difficulties,” he said, turning to Gabriel, “is the matter of your nonstandard bonding.”
“There is nothing wrong with our bonding,” Gabriel growled.
“Withyourbonding, Lord Phel,” Asa emphasized gently.“It’s not reciprocal.A wizard binds a familiar.The very fact that you don’t speak of it that way gives me pause.”He looked between Nic and Gabriel.“Is there anything you two would like to tell me?”
Nic curled her fingers against his palm, a subtle warning he didn’t need.He produced a puzzled, hopefully innocently bemused frown.“I can’t imagine what?”
