Rose of the Alchemist by L.E. Frost

Orphaned as a child and raised by a brooding grandfather who can’t stand the sight of him, Xavier feels like a freak. Gifted, or cursed, with the visions and powers of his Jardi mother, and isolated on his grandfather’s estate, he thinks he’ll go mad.

On his sixteenth birthday, when he finally escapes the dreary prison of his grandfather’s to attend university, he’s bullied because he’s Jardi. While he struggles to fit in, a master alchemist takes him on as apprentice and helps him develop his gift.

But just when things are looking up for Xavier, a mysterious seer appears to deliver a dark prophesy. A sorcerer wants to kill him because of his gift. Gifted with the Jardi sight to see inside things and transform them, Xavier must accept his roots if he hopes to survive.

His only allies against the sorcerer are a magical falcon, who is both guardian and mother hen, and an irritatingly smug knight who keeps a perilous secret.

When the trio arrives at the sorcerer’s castle, Xavier is enchanted by statues that spring to life, fairies and winged horses that fly out of draperies and demon cuckoo clocks that deliver sardonic messages. Seduced by the sorcerer’s illusion, Will Xavier choose the cold, starlight voices that beckon him to darkness or the love of his friends.