“He asked that the orphanage care for the baby, and raise it well as the son of a gentleman. Of course, we showed no favoritism, and I never told anyone else what he told me anyway,” she explained. “And he gave me a jeweled bauble, which I hid away. The Lord Bayeux said it was a gift your father had given your mother. Under the rules of our order, I should have given it to the mistress to sell, to raise money. But it was so beautiful, and had such a special story, that I thought I should keep it for you. Mary Alice tells me you did receive it?”
“Yes, I did. It was a letter “T”,” Alec agreed quietly.
“I didn’t learn your mother’s name,” Magdalene said. “She died in a horse-riding accident. I remember Lord Bayeux mentioned that she was a great rider, that it had been a freak accident. He knew who your father was, but once the mother was dead, he did not provide knowledge of you to the father, for whatever reason. He never said anything about that.
“I wanted you to know,” she said. “Especially after I heard that you had shown such kindness, coming back to the orphanage and healing the children, helping them, and even donating money.
“I hope it brings you some peace or comfort to know something about your parents. It was very rare for such a situation to happen, for a child to come to us with absolutely no knowledge of the mother or father, although that is always a favorite in tales and stories and such nonsense,” Magdalene added. “And that is all I have for you, other than my prayers and best wishes.
“You may invite Mary Alice back in,” she said after a moment of silence.
Alec rose and stepped out into the hallway, he saw an open door nearby, and found Mary Alice inside. He invited her back.
“Thank you, Mary,” Magdalene said. “We appreciate the use of your office, and we’re all finished now. Can you call my carriage?”
“I’ll go do that. Alec, may I walk you out on my way?” Sister Mary invited Alec.
He bowed over Magdalene, and kissed her cheek lightly. “Thank you for that story. It means a great deal to me to know that. Thank you for coming into town for this,” he said as he stood. He held her hand in his for several moments, and let a flow of healing energy strengthen her and bolster some failing organs.
“I’ve taken a vow of chastity, you know,” she said primly. “Don’t think you’re going to start romancing me now with your good looks,” she said, but her lips curved up in a semi-smile.
Alec and Mary Alice walked to the gate, and Alec took his leave. He walked a short way down the street, and sat at a table outside a tavern, where he sipped a mug of their juice, and pondered what he had been told.
He loved the fact that his mother rode horses. It made him feel a connection to her. And he wondered why she had kept her condition hidden from his father. They must not have been married; Alec was illegitimate. That had always been implied in his status as an orphan.
Was this why he had come back to Frame, to meet this sister who knew a fragment of his past? She surely was not the person he was supposed to take with him. Perhaps though, he was supposed to follow this clue to his past, and go see Lord Bayeux, and meet someone in his homeland who would be the exact person he was supposed to bring back? The theory appealed to him more than just sitting in Frame, passively waiting for something.
He stood, and walked back to the Golden Bough. Rief was sitting in the common room, watching the door and waiting for him.
“Did you meet her, the sister who knows your past?” she asked eagerly.
“I did. She is very old, but her mind seemed sharp,” Alec said as they sat down together. “She told me that my mother died in a horse-riding accident, and a lord from up in the northlands brought me here.
“I told you about the jeweled gift they gave me,” Alec continued. “And Sister Magdalene mentioned that it was a gift my father gave my mother.”
“She must have meant a great deal to him,” Rief said sympathetically, listening to Alec’s story.
“I wonder if maybe I am supposed to leave Frame and go to Lord Bayeux to learn more about my family? Maybe John Mark sent us to Frame so I would learn this, and have a reason to go to Bayeux. Maybe that is where our next person is?” he stated and asked Rief.
“Maybe, healer, although I think he would have sent us right to this Lord if that was what he wanted,” she suggested cautiously.
“I suppose you’re right,” Alec said. “But I don’t know what to do now. We can’t sit in the inn all day, and it doesn’t make sense to go walk the streets aimlessly looking at people.”
“I was talking to my friend last night. She’s working in a slum, trying to fix it, and she mentioned how poor the health of the people was there,” Rief began. “Maybe we could go visit her and heal the people. I’d love to heal more. I need to practice. Working with the children wore me out yesterday, but it felt wonderful to accomplish something like that. Would you like to go do that?”
Alec considered the suggestion. It did seem to offer some service that would occupy a day or two. He remembered when he had stood in the cathedral in Oyster Bay and treated the public as they lined up for healing.
“Yes, let’s do that. Do you know where she is?” Alec asked.
“No, but I’ll bet the desk clerk does. Beth told me that he makes calves’ eyes at her every time she comes in, and asks her lots of questions,” Rief replied.
“I’ll go up to our room and get our supply bags, while you get directions,” Alec told her. “And we can buy more willow bark and splitleaf fern at the market on the way.”
They met minutes later in the lobby. “I know where to go,” Rief said. “The clerk said it’s a dangerous part of town; he worries about her going there every day. Do you think you should get a sword or knife? Wait, what am I thinking; you’re the boy who beat a demon bare-handed.”
“No, I don’t think we need a sword. And we can’t take blades into the cave when we return anyway. I’ll always remember that because it was a frustrating lesson to learn,” Alec told her. “Lead on,” he said as he held the door for her.
They crossed the street, passed through the market and bought some goods, then made two turns, and walked past increasingly decrepit buildings and increasingly impoverished residents. “This is where she should be,” Rief said as they reached a wet and filthy crossroads.
Alec looked at an forlorn, empty storefront on one corner. Then he saw a knot of people gathered in the center of the street a block away, with a crane and other equipment in the middle of the street. “That may be her project up there,” he pointed, “and we could do our healing in there,” he indicated the storefront.
“You go set up the healing shop, and I’ll let her know we’re here,” Rief suggested, as she handed Alec her supply bag.
He stepped over to the corner, then watched her walk up the side of the street, gyrating and skipping as she struggled to keep her feet relatively clean and dry in the mucky road. He turned and opened the unlocked door, whose window held no glass, then went inside and pushed some chairs together for people to sit in. He walked through the back of the building and found useful discards that he carried to the front, where he laid an unused door atop some shelves to create a crude examination table.
Alec went back to the rear of the building to carry a table forward, and as he did, he heard voices in the front. “Tarnum? We’re here. Beth is excited about our project,” Rief called as Alec emerged through the doorway. Alec twisted to see his visitors, and then froze in place, the table still in his grasp, as he came face-to-face with Bethany.
Chapter 37 – A Story is Told
“Healer? Hello? Is everything okay?” Rief asked as Alec’s face turned pale and an uncomfortable silence dragged on for several seconds.
“Bethany?” Alec said at last. “I never, ever thought to see you here.”
“I thought you were in the war,” she replied quietly.
“Do you two know each other?” Rief asked, confused by the comments.
Alec put the table down at last
, and stepped across the room towards the girls.
“How are you?” he asked simply, but sincerely as they all sat down.
“I have good days and bad days,” she told him. “How did you get here? We only heard about the victory over the lacertii a week ago. Shouldn’t you be with the army?”
Alec thought. “It’s complicated,” he paused as he tried to figure out what to say.
“If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to,” Bethany told him, misconstruing his silence.
“No, it’s not like that,” Alec said.
“Oh no! Are you two, did you two?” Rief inarticulately tried to voice the pieces that were fitting together into a story.
“Is she the one who broke your heart?” she asked Alec.
The two ingenairii looked at one another. “She is,” Alec said softly, as he dropped his head.
“No, he’s the one who was too busy for me,” Bethany protested, as her eyes swiveled to stare at Rief.
“How did you come to stay at the same inn I’m staying at?” Bethany asked.
“Oh Lord!” Alec said, standing quickly. “John Mark, is it her? Is she the one?”
“Who are you talking to?” Bethany asked.
Rief sat down as she understood the implications of Alec’s question. “You think Beth is the one we’re supposed to take back? Is that why you wanted to leave me with Armilla and the others, so you could be alone with her?”
“No. You don’t understand,” Alec said to them both.
“Well, why don’t you explain to us, Alec?” Bethany said, rising to stand next to Rief. “No, wait. I have work to do. You two do your healing, and we’ll talk about it tonight, after we’re done working.”
She turned and walked out the door, and Alec exhaled loudly as soon as she was gone.
“That’s the woman who broke your heart? Why did you ever leave her side? Who am I trying to kid to think you’ll ever love me?” Rief spoke fiercely to Alec.
“Rief,” Alec began, but the door opened, and they both turned suddenly.
“The lady said you were healers who would treat people for free,” A very young woman said, hold a tiny baby in her arms.
“That’s right,” Alec agreed.
“My baby has a bad cough,” the girl replied. “Can you treat her?” The infant reinforced her mother’s report by suddenly breaking into a paroxysm of coughing.
“Bring her here,” Rief suggested, “and then lay the baby down on its back.”
“What do you think?” Alec asked Rief as she studied the child.
“It’s got croup,” she replied, reaching into her bag. “Here, brew this into a tea, and let the baby inhale the steam every four hours for two days,” she prescribed.
Alec looked at the mother, who was undernourished while trying to suckle the child. “Here, take this and get yourself some milk to drink, and some healthy vegetables,” he handed her a coin. “It’ll help you and the baby both.”
The door opened again, and another patient entered. They dealt with the man’s complaint about sore gums, and then treated another person with an infected foot, and a boy who had worms, and more and more diseases as their patients went out and told others about the free health service.
They split into two separate areas to treat more people more quickly as a line formed out in the street, and the hectic atmosphere of constant work helped keep Alec distracted from thinking about Bethany. “Alec, would you come here please?” Rief asked at one point.
Alec joined her in looking at a woman who was pregnant, but also suffering seizures. Alec immediately understood that Rief feared to give the woman a dose of medicine for one health issue because it would have an impact on the other. “Hold my hand and pray with me,” he said quietly to the woman and Rief, and as they held hands, he released his powers, fixing the nerves and the brain circuits that were causing the seizures. Rief then gave the woman herbs to boost the health of the embryo.
Not much later, Alec looked at Rief, and held his nearly empty bag over his head. She nodded agreement. “We have run out of medicines,” Alec said loudly. “We have to finish for today.” A loud groan and several angry comments arose.
“Will you come back tomorrow?” a voice asked.
“If we can. We don’t know,” Alec said quickly, before Rief might answer yes.
The room slowly emptied as the crowd dispersed, so that Alec and Rief were able to walk down to where Bethany was working with a crew to install a sewer pipe below the street. Bethany was holding the flow of water back while the crew worked in a particular area, then established a flow around, through, or even over the pipes as needed.
She saw them standing on the side of the street. “Have we done enough for today?” she asked the crew chief. He agreed they had, both because she had driven them hard during the afternoon, and because her disposition had been so strict and unfriendly during that time, a great change from her usual personality.
“Are you ready to go?” she asked the healers.
They nodded their heads. “I’ll be back tomorrow. We made good progress today,” she told the crew as she stepped through the mud and joined Alec and Rief. They walked in silence back to the hotel. “I’d like to freshen up before dinner. Is that alright?” she asked.
“That will be good,” Alec agreed, and they set a time to meet in the common room. Bethany went to the desk, received a letter, and went upstairs.
“Alright Tarnum, tell me what is going on?” Rief said as soon as they were back in their room.
“Rief, I don’t know. I thought Bethany was back in Oyster Bay. I never expected her to be here. You heard me talking about going up to Bayeux just before we saw her. But,” he hesitated, “I do think she is the one we are supposed to take with us back to the Cave.” He did not tell her about John Mark’s conversation about Rief’s unexpected appearance, and the complications the prophet implied it would create. That made sense if he was supposed to journey with Bethany.
“Rief, I have never, ever tried to mislead you about anything, have I?” he asked.
“Well, there’s the fact you were a high lord of the Dominion pretending to be a lowly servant in the empire,” she quickly snapped back.
Alec sighed again. “But that wasn’t me misleading you. It was the circumstances I was in,” he protested.
“Bethany said, ‘never fall in love with a busy man,’ and I think I know why. ‘Circumstances’ will always get in the way,” Rief answered.
“You know what, let’s just wait and have dinner with Bethany and get this all out in the open among all three of us, shall we?” Alec said abruptly. “There’s no point in me arguing with you here, then going down and arguing with her there, then the two of you arguing with each other after that.”
“I don’t expect that Beth and I have anything to argue about. Do you think we’re going to fight over you?” Rief said icily. “But I agree we might as well wait for dinner.”
They went down the stairs and walked towards a distant table in the dining room, where they sat in silence and waited for Bethany. “I’ll have a glass of Goldenfields Red,” Rief told the waitress. “Me too,” Alec said.
Rief raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you drink.”
“I shouldn’t,” Alec admitted.
“Shouldn’t do what?” Bethany asked as she sat down at the table with them.
He ordered a glass of wine,” Rief said.
“Really? You’ve got him that rattled already?” Bethany responded.
“I’m sure it’s seeing you that has done him in,” Rief replied, as she saw Bethany motion for another glass of wine to be added to the order.
“Have you ever been drunk, Alec?” Bethany asked.
She watched in surprise as Rief reached over and yanked on his shirt, pulling it down his arm suddenly. “Tell her about the time you got drunk and got a tattoo,” Rief said as Bethany craned to see his shoulder.
“A sword? I expected it to be some
girl’s name,” Bethany told Rief in a false whisper. “Like maybe Imelda’s.” She held up the letter she had received at the desk. “I just got a letter from Allisma. She says you are lying unconscious in a tent at the battlefront, and that you are rumored to have proposed to Imelda while you were together in the wilderness out attacking lacertii. Although everyone there insists you should be crawling back to me.”
They stopped talking as the waiter arrived with three glasses of wine, took their orders for meals, then left.
“May I explain what has happened, from the beginning?” Alec asked.
Against the Empire: The Dominion and Michian Page 27
