14. Chapter 14
Rowan
Two weeks later, they finally arrived in Goldguard.
It had been something of an argument, as the twins had wanted to come down too and hadn’t taken a no very well at all.
Even Ruben had threatened to come, but Rowan needed him to take over captain duties while both he and Troy were gone.
Rowan had chafed under the delay, but Milo absolutely refused to leave before he had the second ward up.
Between the wards, the alarms, and the sigils being renewed, they had easily thwarted three Drachifel attacks.
Not a single person had gotten hurt during those skirmishes, which was a vast difference from the last seven years.
Milo’s efforts were paying off in spades.
Still, he wanted everyone as safe as he could make them before he left.
Rowan couldn’t fault the precaution, so he didn’t argue.
Still, he wanted Andrew out of his home. ASAP.
The man had been thrown into Gravegarde’s dungeon under tight guard and a gagging spell, with no wand anywhere within reach. Advocate Nottle checked on him daily, too, making sure those magical restraints were still firmly in place. No one trusted Latimer.
The bastard, for his own part, just sat there in the cart and felt sorry for himself.
He looked pathetic, too. A scraggly beard had started coming in over the past two weeks, his hair was disheveled and oily, and the clothes he wore were clean but stained after spending so much time in a dirty dungeon.
In Rowan’s opinion, the exterior finally matched the interior.
Latimer seemed to have realized any attempt at getting Milo back had been doomed to fail from the start.
His mopey attitude continued the entire trip down to Goldguard, not that Rowan gave a single fuck.
Let the man sit there and regret every decision since his birth.
He couldn’t even admit he’d been wrong or apologize sincerely to Milo, so he was clearly past all redemption.
They arrived in Goldguard and split up. Nottle took charge of the culprit, calling the guard to throw Latimer in jail while he filed a formal report to the Magic Council.
Milo had led the rest of their group to a rather nice inn near the Magic Council’s compound. He’d mentioned something about Ray not having enough beds for all of them, which was fine, although he did want to meet Milo’s friend.
In fact, it was what they were doing now, having dinner with Milo’s friend. Ray turned out to be a nice-looking brunet with a soft-spoken manner to him. And while he did have a touch of high energy, he seemed very much a calm to Milo’s storm.
The restaurant was really a nice pub, with ale flowing and hearty food to Rowan’s liking. Milo explained it was a favorite spot, and he could absolutely see why. He sat with knees brushing against Milo’s in a corner booth, Troy and Ray on the opposite side.
Between ordering food and eating appetizers, Milo told Ray the full story. He’d waited until he could see his friend face-to-face to give him all the particulars.
By the end of it, Ray sat there with his head in his hands, staring in dumbfounded, jaw-dropped disbelief. “Wait. So the entire reason why Andrew chased after you so hard—”
“Was because the man was in serious danger of losing his job, yeah.”
“And kidnapping you was a better option than just changing careers?!”
“Seems really stupid when you frame it that way, but he apparently thought so.” Milo shrugged.
“Even thought a love spell would work on me, for some reason. Like, he was honestly shocked I hated his guts. I still can’t believe he thought it would even work, considering we fought every time we met after our breakup, but what can I say, man’s delusional.
But then, he was never the type to let evidence influence his opinions. ”
Ray croaked out sounds but couldn’t seem to put together words.
Rowan, upon thinking things over, realized he should have asked more questions there. “I thought the love spell didn’t work because of your personal barrier?”
“Eh, the barrier was actually on the fritz because of its age, so it wasn’t covering me as completely as it should have. It’s why he could ambush me to begin with. The barrier helped deflect the spell, certainly, but it would never have taken root because of how disgusted I am with him.”
Troy paused in lifting his tankard, eyes sharp on Milo. “So a love spell can’t work on someone who doesn’t already like you? Then what’s the point of the spell?”
“Desperation,” Milo said, tone desert dry. “Some fool couldn’t win his true love and crafted the spell. It’s kind of a running joke? No one who really understands magic would even be remotely tempted to use it. Really, the only ones who would try to use it are the third-rate mages.”
“Like Andrew,” Ray said, filling in the gap without a problem.
“Like Andrew. Like, I’m not bragging when I say this, okay?
Making that clear. It’s just facts. The reason why he became an Advocate to begin with is because he’s not a very strong mage.
He never put in the right amount of study and practice to go above Fifth Circle.
Some people don’t have the talent to advance, but really, most of it boils down to hard work.
” Milo shook his head, exasperated. “It’s not like he was too stupid or wasn’t talented enough, either.
I used to have the worst arguments with him about studying for the next circle.
Truth was, he was too lazy to advance his magic. ”
Ray snorted into his glass. “No surprise there.”
Rowan thought about the implications. Milo must be talented to be a Second Circle Mage, that went without saying, but over the past two weeks, he’d seen Nottle and Milo talk magic multiple times.
It was clear Milo possessed more than talent—he understood magic.
He wasn’t a parrot using tried and true spells; he knew how to craft his own, how to adapt things to fit the circumstance.
It was part of the reason why, on a professional level, Rowan was so incredibly thankful Milo was staying.
Gravegarde needed a mage of his caliber.
Troy leveled a finger at Milo. “Make sure to hammer that into my girls’ heads.
I don’t think you’ll have much issue, as they’re both hard workers and very eager to learn.
Before you offered to teach them, Roana was pestering me near daily to send her to Goldguard to study.
But still, emphasize that the more they understand, the more powerful they’ll be. ”
Milo casually saluted him with two fingers off the forehead.
“Done and done. Shouldn’t be hard. They’re very eager, and they’re quick studies.
They’ve already picked up loads of things from me and only some of it was intentionally taught.
I realized before we left that I’m suddenly being used as an example? Not sure how I feel about this.”
Rowan snorted. His lover was unpredictable at moments and a chaotic whirlwind on the best of days, but he was reliable. He let Milo’s comment pass. “Well, we’ve got a hearing to attend in two or three days—I’ll bet two—and then once Latimer is sentenced, we should be able to go straight home.”
Milo happily shimmied in his seat. “Can’t wait to put the asshole behind me. Ray, I’ll be clearing out my room.”
“I figured,” Ray responded, wholly unbothered.
Their plan was to pack up while waiting on the hearing, which was fine, but having to confirm once more, Rowan asked, “You’re sure everything will fit in the cart?”
“Pretty sure. I took most of my belongings up with me to begin with.” Milo shrugged. “Whatever is left isn’t something I’m super attached to, so if we need to sell or donate things, that’s fine. I won’t be broken up about it.”
“I’m also thinking of all the items you want for your workspace and lessons.”
Milo paused, mouth open, brows twisting up in realization. “Oh. Uh. I take that back. Two carts.”
That was rather what Rowan figured.
Three days proved almost enough time to get a second cart and draft horse, pack up what remained in Ray’s house, and do the necessary shopping.
Milo had made sure to drag Rowan over to introduce him to Ethel, as well, and their visit had been surprisingly nice.
Ethel had loved Rowan in the first minute of meeting him, which had shocked the hell out of him.
Rowan hadn’t suddenly become less scary just because he was dating Milo, but he quickly realized Milo and Ethel were two peas in a pod, both the type to take others in stride.
After that, he just sat back and enjoyed the show as they talked nonstop for three hours.
Rowan hadn’t expected Milo to manage all of the shopping, packing, and visits, but because he and Troy had helped, they’d pulled it off.
Within a day of them being in the city, Milo had received a summons to come and testify, so they’d known it would happen in four days.
Rowan had been surprised at the speed, but Advocate Nottle had arranged for a trial before they ever left Gravegarde, so perhaps he shouldn’t have been.
The timing worked out near perfectly, with Milo fully packed and ready to leave the night before the trial. Aside from a few last-minute things, anyway.
This morning, though, Rowan was in for quite the surprise. Milo had gotten up early to prepare, and Rowan sensed nerves there, as Milo wanted this trial to go well. He did too, for that matter. But what surprised him was seeing Milo in full mage robes.
Normally his lover wore a simple tunic and scuffed boots, and maybe a stained apron as he ran around doing his magic. He’d even put a headband on a few times to keep his bangs off his forehead while he worked. Milo, while working, didn’t give two fucks how he looked.