Rosemary for the Holidays (Consulting Magic) Read Online Free PDF Page B

indeed.
    The two of them stood for another moment in comfortable silence, until the remaining guests took it upon themselves to start rearranging things so that everyone could sit in a big circle, including the brownies, so long as no one wanted to go out the front door. Nat went to make sure they didn't damage anything while they were at it, and Alys brought out the brandy-laced eggnog, cleaning everyone's cups with a bit of magic and then serving up the harder drink.
    Alex brought out his concert flute and grinned. "Now that we're all lubricated, how about some carols?" he suggested, playing the trill of a popular Solstice tune on his flute. Julian felt a little surge of magic as Alex dimmed the electric lights, leaving them all in the glow of the dozens of candles surrounding them.
    Julian let himself be drawn into it with the others, laughing and not always in key, but warm and, just as Nat had said, very much like family. Jacques had a surprisingly beautiful tenor, with James the warm baritone beneath him. Even Alys sang a few of the older songs with them, though Julian got the impression she knew different words than the humans. Horace flew down and trilled along as a counterpoint to Alex's flute, and Nat brought out a tiny harp which he used to join Alex in the accompaniment.
    After assuring that everyone was there for the rest of the evening, even Chudleigh, they locked the door. Alex put the wards back up, playing a strange and beautiful music of a very different sort on his silver work flute while Alys and Jacques went back into the kitchen, emerging with one of his amazing baked creations. This one was a fruitcake he'd been soaking in rum all month that had been sliced and layered in parfait glasses with whipped cream, marzipan, and eggnog mousse.
    After the silence of good eating was over, Jones surprised him by offering to start a round of storytelling. Instead of going for one of the traditional tales, he told his own version of Julian's Courtship. He focused not on the adventure and magic but on the love story, telling them what it was like to watch the two of them fall in love despite themselves – and everyone else. Chudleigh picked up the thread and told a story of his own youth that did have magic in it, another tale of being on the periphery of someone else's big adventure when his younger brother had insulted a faerie and the family had had to find out how to cope with the resultant curse and its eventual lifting.
    James told them about one of Father Stephen's quiet good works, while Jacques talked about an incident with their Guardian mentors before they'd been old enough to Guard anyone themselves. It went through the group like that, stories that affected them without being centred around them, like planets telling tales of the sun. Even Alys and Nat participated, each sharing a story of their long lives from before they were together.
    It was past midnight when they were all done, and Alys smoothly broke the quiet mood by sending out steamed puddings and winter-spiced tea. "I put a luck charm in every single one of these, so don't swallow one or your luck will turn quite literally to shite," she said, before taking a big bite of her own treat.
    Everyone laughed at that and dug in, and sure enough there was a little luck-token in each one, tiny acorns that had been sealed and drilled for wearing. Nat produced a spool of satin cord, then went around to clean and string each one as people found them, before sitting to eat his own portion and looking quite pleased with himself. "It's only a bit of brownie magic," he said, "but 'tis right for those who stayed to all have a little luck, instead of giving a silver wish to just one soul."
    "I can't fault your logic," said Alex, keeping his on top of his shirt where he could play with it, no doubt listening to its magic.
    Julian could feel the energies, a hum of positive potential that resonated with and added to the acorn's own deep magic. "They're a very