“I remember that night,” Bethany said with a slight smile. She looked up at Alec, intently examining his face. “I hit him when he admitted the skirt story; I was so mad! Then I almost kissed Alec that night for the first time. Who are you? How do you know that story?”
“You did kiss that night, when you tucked me in to bed, after we went back to the healer house. Appel’s shout only delayed the kiss; it didn’t prevent it,” Alec said, sending another wave of energy into the queen.
“This is hardly appropriate,” one of the nearby advisors said loudly. “You’re here to heal her, not badger her with old stories. You’ll need to leave at once.” He motioned for a guard to come and remove Alec.
“It’s me Beth. I finally made it back,” Alec began to cry. “They call me the demon-slayer instead of the crown protector now. The world kept us apart for too, too long. But I’m back and we’re together.” He leaned over and swept his arms behind and underneath her, drawing her into a hug as he sat down on the edge of the bed, and infused her with more healing power.
“Oh Alec, it truly is you! I feel your energy. It’s you. It was you who killed all those demons, wasn’t it?” Bethany wrapped her arms around Alec, and began to cry as well. “I always hoped that someday you would come back. Even after years and years, I’d sometimes wake up in the morning and wonder if it was finally the day you would return.
“Was it the energy realm that held you all these years? Aristotle told us all after we got back that you were there. He told us how you woke him and told him to save the rest of us, just before he saw you sprint off to fight the demon. That was the last we knew. Only the ingenairii knew – we never revealed that secret to the rest of them,” Bethany raised her head from his shoulder and looked at his face.
“The demon ambushed all the ingenairii as they entered the energy realm,” Alec told her. “I went to Oyster Bay, and I saw all your bodies lying on cots, growing thinner and weaker, and I had to physically go into the realm to fight it to set you free. After I found Ari and woke him up, I was trapped there, fighting the demon for fifty years; I couldn’t get away,” he felt compelled to explain. “There was a curse on me for doing what I had to do to set you free. And when I finally came back, well, you know the story. More demons,” he told her. His eyes shifted to Jeswyne’s face, whose eyes slid away immediately, embarrassed to be witnessing such an intimate moment.
A guard laid his hand on Alec’s shoulder and began to squeeze hard. “Remove your hands from the queen and leave this chamber with me. You’re under arrest.”
Alec gently released Bethany back down to the bed, then stood and turned. “You don’t understand. I am here to stay. All of you will need to leave the bedside so that the queen and I can talk.”
The guard began to swing his fist at Alec, but Alec dropped his healing energy, exerted his warrior powers, and grabbed the guard’s fist in mid-air, kneeing the man while squeezing his fist so hard the man dropped to his knees and passed out. Alec continued his motion and grabbed the hand of one of the advisors next to him, then jerked the arm behind the man’s back.
“I want all of you to go wait in that corner of the room. I will release you in a few minutes if you do as I say,” Alec pointed to a distant part of the room, then turned as he heard the sound of a thrown knife. He raised his hand and caught the knife in the air, then flipped it back at his attacker, burying the blade deep in the man’s shoulder. With his other hand he pushed forward the man he held, who stumbled into his fellows and they all migrated across the room in a panic.
Alec sat down again on the bed. “I’m sorry to upset your advisors, your majesty.”
“There’s not a good one among the group in this room Alec. These are the jackals, waiting for me to die so they can pick their pieces of the Dominion to plunder,” she told him.
Alec raised her up again, and she saw Jeswyne beside the bed for the first time. “Who’s this young person, Alec?”
“This is the Lady Jeswyne, from Michian. I had to travel though time to escape the demons last time I fought them, and the Lady was accidentally taken with me,” Alec lamely explained.
“You always seem to happen to have a pretty companion, don’t you?” Bethany asked. “Noranda, Cassie, Imelda, Rief, oh, I forgot Leah,” Bethany teased him with a smile.
“Not to mention the prettiest, the water ingenairii who went to Bondell with me! But I was in love with you Beth, and I’ve been faithful to you,” he told her protestingly.
“I know dear. And I have always loved you. And now I can die and let my soul go to Heaven in peace, because I got to see you again,” she said.
“You don’t have to die now, Beth! You know I can save you!” Alec protested.
“I know you can. I know you could probably even bring me back to life, like you did with Cassie and Imelda, and Imelda again, if I remember the old story right. But I’ve been alive for over three score and ten years Alec,” Bethany told him. “I am ready to be at peace.
“Do you remember,” she began. “Do you remember the time you took me shopping to get a gown for Cassie?” she laughed quietly.
“You should have seen him, my lady,” Bethany said to Jeswyne. “I made him go with me to three different dressmakers, and look at all the linens and the taffeta and the silks,” she laughed.
“I remember, your majesty,” Alec said. “And I remember when I saw you on the beach in Bondell with Shaiss. You were surrounded by chaos and swordsmen, but you kept on using your powers!
“You can’t be ready to leave Beth! I’ve waited fifty years to come back to you,” Alec wailed.
“And I’ve waited for you to come back. And now you have, Alec, my love. Listen, you can trust the ones from Goldenfields and Stronghold. They’ll especially be your friends. But all the best of the nobility and army from Oyster Bay were killed trying to defend the city years ago, when we lost the battle here. The only ones left are the craven ones who fled early, except for Rander and Rief’s son; Holbanks is a colonel for Sturgeon; you can rely on him for anything. But you’ll figure it out, because you’ve got a good heart. And now I won’t have to listen to their schemes and lies anymore,” Bethany said.
“I know you can save me Alec, but I’m asking you, if you love me, please let me go. I’ll see you again someday when we’re together in Heaven. And I know you love me. Thank you for sharing it with me,” she closed her eyes and gave a deep sigh.
“I’ll always love you, Bethany. I’ll always think of you on the beach,” Alec said gently, and he laid her down gently. He sat with his eyes closed, and he took a deep breath, then he stood and straightened the blankets gently, and bent over to kiss her cheek. He applied a last burst of healing power to the body whose functions were ceasing, taking away the appearance of years of worry, so that she looked peaceful and serene.
“The queen is dead,” Alec announced as he turned and stepped away from the bedside.
Chapter 41 – A Spiritual Crisis
“This man has killed the queen!” one of the unnamed advisors shouted. “Guards!” he called. “Guards arrest this man!”
The door to the room flew open, and two guards entered the room. Alec casually walked over to the guard who he had knifed earlier. He reached down and removed the knife, then applied healing powers to repair the wound. He took the man’s sword, and held it in front of him. “Lady Jeswyne, would you come with me?” he asked.
The blond girl was still wiping tears from her face as she walked over to Alec. “You two can get out of my way, or you can suffer the consequences,” Alec warned the guards. “We’re leaving, for now.”
The guards approached Alec, separating to divide his attention, but instead, using his ingenaire powers, he disarmed one and punched his face, then knocked the feet out from the other; for a second his pain and emotion appeared to overwhelm him, and Jeswyne feared he was going to break into violence against the cluster of frightened advisors.
“Don’t give them any attention now; they’re not wor
th your time,” she whispered to him.
Alec took a deep breath, and realized the futility of releasing his grief on those unimportant bystanders. “We need to get back to Ingenairii Hill right away,” he said. Taking Jeswyne’s hand gently, he led her out of the chamber, to where the rest of the healers waited.
Alec led the group out of the empty antechamber, and past the uninformed guards in the hallway. “We’ll be back tomorrow,” Alec told them as he left.
He hurried them around the corner. “What happened in there, Alec?” Stracha asked as they walked quickly.
“She died,” Alec said. He could say no more. He didn’t have words to describe the bittersweet wash of emotions that had transferred between them as they sat together. He saw the weariness in her soul, and the love and satisfaction and joy, as he had shared his love with her.
“That’s it? You went to see her and she died?” Nestor asked incredulously.
“You shut up!” Jeswyne shouted angrily. “Leave him alone. Shut up and follow him,” she told them all.
Alec continued heading towards the armory. They arrived at the empty building, and Alec rooted around, picking up weapons that he handed to each of the others to carry. “Jeswyne, take this sword. I know you can handle it,” he said as he distributed the bows and arrows and knives.
“We’re going back to the house now, and we’ll keep watch there over night,” Alec told his small band. “In the morning, we will join Captain Lewis and her troops, and we will take control of the Palace.
“If anyone wants to go elsewhere to feel safer, you are welcome to do so,” he told them.
Nestor silently handed his bow back to Alec. “I will go wait with the plant ingenairii,” he said.
“I’m going with Nestor,” Constanc said.
Alec looked at Stracha and Parnell. They looked at each other, until Stracha shrugged. “We’ll stay with you, Alec,” Parnell said. They all watched as Nestor and Constanc left the armory.
“Thank you both for your faith,” Alec said. “Let’s get back to our house and get some rest.”
The four of them walked out of the armory, and used paths Alec remembered from fifty years prior to wend their way off the palace grounds and through the streets of Oyster Bay to return to Ingenairii Hill. Alec began to climb a path to the left.
“Alec, our house is up there,” Stracha pointed out.
“We’re going to another house,” Alec said. “We’re going to spend the night at the warrior house. We’re a little less likely to have visitors up there.”
They all climbed wordlessly up the path to the top of the hill. “The warriors weren’t too smart when it came to picking a spot for a house,” Alec told the others as they all arrived at the summit.
“But the view from up here is so wonderful!” Jeswyne protested.
“Be that as it may, all of you go around the corner and up the outside stairs to the balcony on the other side. That’s my favorite place in this whole house. I’ll stay down here and take the first watch,” Alec instructed. “And we can all enjoy Jeswyne’s view tomorrow morning from up there,” he smiled at the imperial niece, then turned and began to watch the trail below.
Jeswyne silently motioned to the other two to go to the balcony, while she stood silently in place, watching Alec’s back. Her heart still ached from the emotions of the deeply moving scene she had witnessed in the palace. The thought of a long separation from a loved one came crashing down on her as she had listened to the intensity of the brief memories Bethany and Alec had shared, and she had understood the unspoken wish to fill in the missing decades.
“What keeps the imperial niece down here?” Alec asked without turning around.
“Alec,” Jeswyne began.
“Lady Jeswyne, I can feel your sympathy, and it is sincere, and I appreciate it. But tonight I need to be alone, so I can relive this last memory, and find the comfort in it.
“Please, if you are a friend, leave me in peace. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Alec said.
Jeswyne turned, crestfallen at the burden of sorrow she knew Alec carried. She walked slowly around the corner and up the stairs to the balcony.
“What happened in there, Lady?” Parnell asked when she arrived and took a seat.
“The queen was nearly dead. When she knew it was Alec, they talked about their love, and then she told him she was ready to die, wanted to die, and she asked him not to heal her,” Jeswyne answered.
“He respected her wish, and he allowed her to die peacefully. And my heart is broken from seeing it,” Jeswyne began to cry again, until Stracha came and put an arm around her to comfort her.
On the other side of the building, Alec stood with his spiritual powers engaged, hardly aware of the world around him, and took comfort from the sense of peace and contentment he felt from Bethany’s spirit as she had drifted away from him. And all night long he floated in sadness and serenity, until the sun began to rise, and he knew he had to start to change the world.
Chapter 42 – Taking the Palace
Stracha woke first on the balcony, as she recognized that she now saw shades of gray beyond the monotonous black that had been the palette during the night. She wished that Danel was with her, to hold her and give her comfort. Her heart was breaking for Alec, who had let his fiancée die in his arms. She had listened to Jeswyne cry through the story, and then she had reflected back on when she had listened to Alec quiz Captain Lewis, trying to learn something about the friends he had in his earlier life. She could not imagine how lonely he must feel.
And this morning he would go and try to take over the palace. She had no doubt that he would succeed. But then, instead of being a lonely man, he would be a lonely man in charge of the Dominion. It wasn’t a change she expected to be a positive one.
She stood, and looked down at the sleeping form of Jeswyne, who had fallen asleep beside her. Stracha didn’t understand where Jeswyne and Alec had been during the past month, but it was evident that the girl felt deeply for Alec, and had been almost traumatically moved by witnessing Bethany’s death. The girl had enjoyed little exposure to the ways of the real world before her interlude with Alec, Stracha suspected
With careful steps she walked around the corner of the building, and found Alec unmoved from his position.
“Yes, I’ve been here all night,” he said without turning around.
Stracha walked over to him and lightly laid a hand on his shoulder, releasing a soothing stream of healing energy to take the stress out of his muscles.
“I needed that. Thank you,” he said.
“Do you need to talk?” she asked.
“I have been, all night,” Alec replied. “In a different way.
“This morning though, we need to put that behind us and move ahead. It’s funny how history seems to repeat itself,” he told her, and finally turned to face the healer. “When I came to Oyster Bay one time long ago, I came to kill the usurpers who had assassinated the king, and I ended up having to take over the palace. I remember the members of the Guard and the units of the army and the forces from Slone that all had to be persuaded to support me. And my biggest opposition came from here on the Hill.”
“What did you do to win them over?” Stracha asked, intrigued by the story.
“I killed them,” Alec said simply. “That cleansing fountain out front of the Hill,” he paused as a notion struck him, “that fountain came from an explosion like the one that killed the demons in front of the palace.
“And that may be what we’ll need to help fix things up around here,” he said softly.
Alec looked up at the sky. “Would you do me a favor and wake Parnell and Jeswyne? It’s almost time for us to go.”
Stracha sensed the melancholy that remained, and knew that it was such a part of his core that she could do nothing to relieve it. So she patted him on the back and left to rouse her companions, offering them each a flow of her healing powers as they arose, to take away the cramps and discomfort of sleeping on a hard su
rface. Her healing powers now were by far the strongest among the ingenairii, other than Alec, but she still looked upon Parnell as the leader of the small house, for his skills at knowing how to work with and lead people. Those were not her strengths, and she didn’t want to try them, especially if she could instead spend more time with Danel.
“We’re heading out, Alec says,” Stracha told the other two as they stood.
“How is he this morning?” Jeswyne asked.
“Alec is much deeper than I am,” Stracha said contemplatively. “He’s in pain, but he’ll overcome it. Let’s go see him.”
Moments later they were with Alec, and he was leading them back down the hill towards the Palace. No one spoke, and they arrived at the plaza by the front gate quickly. The plaza was filled with Goldenfields Guardsmen, and the gate was heavily manned by men wearing the palace uniform. “Stracha, do you remember the building we used when we were here before?” Alec asked. She nodded affirmatively. “Please lead Parnell and Lady Jeswyne there, and keep them there until this is settled. I’ll send Danel over to join you when I talk to Lewis. Now, all of you get going,” he told them, and left them to go his own way towards the front.
“Alec!” Lewis said when he approached her near the gate. “I’m so glad to see you alive again. When that explosion wiped out those demons, I thought you had left us for good!
“The guards at the gate say that the Queen is dead, and have ordered us to return to our quarters. Danel said you wanted us here. What’s going on?” she asked.
“The queen did die yesterday. I held her in my arms when she passed,” Alec affirmed. “Now it is my responsibility to become the ruler of the Dominion and to unite the people and free them from Michian. That starts right here, if you will support me with your forces.
“Will you use your troops to support me for the good of Goldenfields and the good of all the Dominion?” he asked, looking at her intensely.
“Alec, that is a big decision, and a risky one,” Lewis temporized.
Preserving the Ingenairii Page 29
