Dangerous Thoughts

Chapter 11

The following morning, Charles was woken by a strange sound.

When his eyes fluttered open, it took him a moment to realize where he was: lying on the settee in the parlor, fully dressed from the night before. Only now, sun beams kissed his face and wove through the strands of his disheveled hair.

But the sound. Strange and off-tune and high-pitched...

He stood up and followed the noise, finding the source of the racket in the kitchen.

James and Juliette were cooking together, and making a great many things all at once: two pans of eggs were frying on the stove, various meats were roasting in the oven, cut up herbs and flowers were strewn about the counter, and a large pot of something orange was bubbling away over the fire.

It was the last item that seemed to have caught Juliette's interest, for the young mage was staring intently at the contents of the cauldron, stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon, and singing to it. And quite poorly, at that.

"Good morning?" Charles said, more of a question than a greeting.

James looked up from the eggs and smiled. "Good morning Charles! Hope we didn't wake you."

"You did, but I feel like I deserve that after last night. What are you doing?"

"Making breakfast," James said. "And Juliette's singing to a glamour potion."

The girl suddenly stopped her tune and turned to look at Charles over her shoulder. "'Morning Mister Abbot!"

"I didn't know you were versed in potion-making," Charles said.

The girl shrugged. "I'm not. I mean, I've read potion books before, but I've never tried to make anything myself. But I was curious how a non-mage could brew potions since the books always pair incantations with the recipes. So I asked James and he told me that it doesn't actually matter what you say, as long as you say something—that it doesn't have to do with magick at all but the vibrations in the air!"

Charles nodded; he remembered how excited James had been when he'd make that discovery a few years ago. "And so James told you his little secret: he likes to sing while he works."

Juliette nodded happily. "I bet that's why he makes the best potions in the city."

James blushed but didn't refute the statement. He just slid two eggs out of his pan and onto a plate.

Charles stared at the plate, his stomach churning. Although the breakfast smelled absolutely amazing, and he was pleased to see James and Juliette getting along so well, the feeling wasn't because he was hungry.

James caught his worried look. He cracked two more eggs onto the sizzling iron pan and asked, "What's on your mind?"

"A lot of things," Charles admitted as Juliette turned away to sing to the pot. "First and foremost, the way I treated you yesterday was inexcusable—"

His brother shot away his apology with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about it. I'm used to you being a grump every few moons. That said, I'll happily accept any renumeration you'd like to provide. I've had my eyes on a set of cufflinks at the jewelers for a while now."

Charles cracked a smile. "I'll make a note of that."

James looked back to make sure Juliette was still engrossed in her task, then grabbed a dish towel and drew closer to his brother. "What else worries you?" he asked, lowering his voice.

"I guess... this conversation we're going to have today. With Lillian."

James looked confused. "I don't understand. Yesterday, all you wanted was for her to tell us what she saw."