Kirill was there, bent over a desk with four other members of the Scarle clan.
“All of you must either lie down on the floor and surrender to the justice of emperor Sergey, or suffer the consequences,” Alec shouted at them. He held a knife in one hand and a sword in the other.
Kirill looked at Alec, and this time there was fear in his eyes. “Delay him!” the leader shouted to the others and began to run towards another door.
Alec threw his knife, pulled out another and threw it as well, planting a blade in each of Kirill’s legs.
“Hit the floor or you’re next!” Alec shouted, pulling out another knife and advancing.
The four men simultaneously lay down on the floor, and the only sound was Kirill’s whimpering. Alec walked over to him, withdrew the knives, and roughly healed the legs.
“Stay right here. I’ll be back, and will catch anyone who tries to leave,” he ordered. He grabbed Kirill in a wrestling lock and transported him to the armory in the palace.
“Move him out of the way. I’m going to bring you four more,” Alec instructed, as he pushed Kirill towards a guard. He translocated back to the office where one of the four men was starting to rise to his knees.
“You’ve just volunteered to be next,” Alec said, and pulled him through a translocation, along with the other three men in the office, all safely removed to the armory within a minute’s time.
Commander Anatoli arrived in the armory at the same time as Alec brought back the last of the Scarle leaders. He sent a messenger back to the cottage to inform them that Alec was present and finished with his task. “You were a bit hasty there, weren’t you, my lord?” He asked Alec.
“I knew what needed to be done, and I wasn’t in the mood to miss the opportunity,” Alec answered.
“I would like to see the faces of the courtiers here in the empire if they ever had a ruler like you,” Anatoli laughed.
“Now, we want to get the pretender to the throne, right?” Alec asked.
“Are you ready to do that today?” Anatoli asked. “Our restorers have limits on how many trips they can make in a day. I just wondered if the same was true for you?”
“I don’t know,” Alec admitted. He stopped to think about all that he had already done, using Warrior power, Healer powers and Translocator powers. “Can Mikhail get away from his castle if we don’t go after him today?”
“Not if we send troops to surround the castle,” Anatoli replied.
“You mean that hasn’t been done yet? Why not?” Alec asked, annoyed at the failure to take such a simple step.
“His majesty hasn’t ordered us to,” Anatoli told him.
“Can I order you to? I’m a king,” Alec responded immediately. “Of course, technically I’m at war with you,” he admitted with a grin.
“Well, yes, perhaps we need someone with a little more legitimacy to do this,” Anatoli replied.
“I’ll go talk to the emperor and see what we can get accomplished,” Alec offered, deciding not to exercise his powers any further.
Before he could do so however, Jeswyne arrive. “Your majesty, may we talk?” she asked sweetly.
“This won’t be good,” Alec confided in Anatoli.
“No, your majesty,” he agreed.
“Would you walk me to see your father?” Alec asked Jeswyne, and the two of them left the armory holding hands.
“You know,” a senior officer told Anatoli, “with those two on the throne, I think the Dominion will be a very interesting place to live in the next few years.”
“After we declare peace, maybe you and I can transfer there for a while,” Anatoli replied.
“You think there’ll be peace?” the officer asked.
“Do you doubt it, looking at those two?” Anatoli grinned.
Those two walked down a hallway, and then out into the garden. “Is this the way to see your father?” Alec asked.
“Not directly,” Jeswyne replied. “It feels refreshing to be the one in the know for a change,” she reflected. She sat down on a bench in the sunshine, with tall hollyhocks and snapdragons creating a colorful screen around the seat.
“Alec,” she said and paused momentarily, “Alec, should you really have gone out of the cottage like that without telling me you were leaving, or giving me a kiss?”
“Well, perhaps a kiss would have been a good idea,” Alec agreed. “But I didn’t want to offend the imperial sense of propriety,” he quickly added.
“That was after everyone heard you say you were in my bedroom last night,” Jeswyne reminded him.
“Well, you know, that was the delirium of the pain,” Alec breezily explained, enjoying the jousting taking place.
“We will hope so,” Jeswyne agreed, and forgot her next objection as Alec inched closer and began to kiss her.
There was a cough. “How do you manage to cough and kiss at the same time?” Alec asked dreamily.
“That wasn’t my cough. It was my mother’s,” Jeswyne replied, sitting up straight.
“You majesty,” Alec said, abruptly rising to recognize the Lady Jessandra.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she began. “Truly I am. I was young once, you know. I thought you should come see your father, and I heard that you got lost on your way, so I set out to find you.
“Jeswyne dear, I hardly need to say it, but I will anyway. You have grown so amazingly beautiful while you were away. I’m sure every mother thinks that, don’t they? But don’t you think she’s a real beauty?” Jessandra asked Alec as they began to stroll.
“As it happens, I do think she’s pretty. And I remember thinking she seemed rather plain the first time I saw her,” Alec spoke without thinking.
“Did you now? Really? How fascinating,” Jeswyne replied, and Alec winced at the tone he heard in those brief words.
“We’ll have to spend so much time planning a wedding. You’re going to be bored silly,” the empress changed the subject to Alec’s relief.
“What was your first engagement ceremony like, Alec?” Jeswyne asked him.
“You are married already? Is it your custom for a young man to have more than one wife?” Jessandra asked with concern.
“My first fiancée passed away from illness,” Alec replied. “And Jeswyne,, we never really had a ceremony. We announced our engagement, and then there was the war and the demon, and you know my story.
“So far though, we’ve limited our sovereign to one wife at a time.”
“So far? That’s not going to change,” Jeswyne interjected. “Unless, of course, a queen may have more than one husband?”
“Here we are. I’m sure you two will want to continue this fascinating discussion in private,” the empress said as they passed through the private residential wing and entered the emperor’s study.
“Your highness, it is a pleasure to see you again,” Sergey stood up as Alec and Jeswyne entered the room.
“And likewise, I’m honored to see you again,” Alec replied.
“Oh papa,” Jeswyne hugged him. “Don’t be so formal. It’s just Alec. He thought I was plain, you know. I’m his charity case,” she giggled at her own humor.
“The emperor looked puzzled. “He can hardly say you are plain, and he wouldn’t have come all the way from the Dominion to fight a demon for you if he thought that. It’s not true at all; when you left here several weeks ago, he might have been able to say that, but not now.”
Jeswyne looked nonplussed, and missed the wink her father gave Alec.
“Your majesty, I would like to ask that you formally order troops to surround the castle where your brother is residing. If you can keep him trapped in that location today by acting immediately, tomorrow we’ll be able to go into the castle and take him out,” Alec pressed his case.
“Aren’t we supposed to try to get the leaders from Scarle clan as well?” the emperor asked.
“We already have,” Alec replied. “We captured Kirill and several associates earlier today.”
“Alec did it for you,” Jeswyne proudly added.
“Well, I suppose I owe you something for that, not to mention my gratitude for offering to take Jeswyne off my hands,” the emperor said. “I wanted to return to last night’s subject,” he continued, ignoring the small slap his daughter administered to his shoulder. “Your proposal for a peace treaty and a retreat.”
“You can imagine that it would be a most delicate matter to give up the territory we have gained over the past twenty years of battle,” Sergey pointed out.
“And yet, you’ve already given up more territory in the past six months than you have left. Not to mention next week,” Alec replied.
“What about next week?” Sergey asked.
“I’ll be back with my army in battle next week,” Alec answered, “if we don’t have a settlement by then.”
“What about the wedding?” Jeswyne asked.
“Just tell me what day we’re holding it, and I’ll be here,” Alec assured her.
“What terms are you willing to accept in a peace treaty?” Sergey decided to return to the topic at hand.
“The treaty terms are very flexible,” Alec assured him breezily. “You promise to remove your army within six months from all territory claimed by the Dominion, we’ll promise not to slaughter any of your people unnecessarily during that time; we’ll both agree to establish embassies and normalize relationships; and Queen Jeswyne will remain entitled to return to visit the promenade every year.”
Jeswyne giggled out loud at the last condition.
“Well we did lose a lot of territory under Mikhail’s leadership, and we’re in an untenable spot now, I suppose, plus you are a demonslayer and you’ll be married to my daughter,” Sergey ticked items off on his fingers.
“You still haven’t dispatched troops to surround Mikhail’s castle,” Alec pointed out. “Could you do that now, please?”
“Oh very well,” Sergey wrote a note that he handed to a servant.
“We need to establish a wedding date too,” Jeswyne pointed out.
“I have a certain commitment,” Alec decided to point out. “In five days I must return to a holy site. We will need to try to accomplish a great deal before then.”
“When will you come back, Alec? Where is it? Do you really have to go?” Jeswyne asked in alarm.
“I will be called to go to a holy site in the Pale Mountains, on the other side of the Dominion.” Alec said. “It is not an obligation I can miss, nor do I want to.
“The journey there is instantaneous, while the return used to be a month or longer. Now that I can translocate, it will be a shorter return.”
“It seems you’re making this all very complicated,” Sergey responded. “When did this come up?”
“In the tournament, when the demon was standing over me, a saint called me away to his holy place. It is a site of great sanctity and blessing. He cured me of my injuries and returned me to the arena to fight the rest of the match. I have great faith in him and in Christ, my savior,” Alec said, and he felt tears starting to well in his eyes.
“You are a follower of the slave’s religion?” Sergey asked, showing real astonishment for the first time. “Why?”
“Because it is a true religion that worships the creator,” Alec said. “And it requires no human sacrifices, nor does it call upon demons to perform awful acts.”
“But it hasn’t set the slaves free,” Sergey pointed out.
“Not their bodies, but their souls will not spend eternity in damnation,” Alec retorted.
“Is this the time to have this debate?” Jeswyne asked.
Alec looked at her. “Any time is a good time to talk about Jesus, but we do need to make some other decisions for now,” he agreed.
“So in the next five days you want us to capture my brother, agree to a peace treaty and hold your wedding, correct?” Sergey asked.
“We can do that, can’t we?” Jeswyne said with a false brightness that Alec suspected was mocking them. “Let’s have lunch in the meantime and you two can discuss this later. We need to tell mother to have the wedding preparations started.
“She had so much fun planning Elyzaveta’s wedding,” Jeswyne commented.
“But she had eight months to do it,” Sergey pointed out. Jeswyne was standing already and motioning to Alec.
“She knows what to do now. Come along father,” Jeswyne commanded, and all three of them were soon seated in a dining room with a half dozen courtiers, who were suitably impressed by the presence of the demon slaying king of the Dominion as the fiancé of the emperor’s daughter.
“They think it is a brilliant diplomatic stroke for you to marry me off to the king of the Dominion,” Jeswyne told her father. “You are so clever to persuade me to accept this!
“And I think they all admire my fortitude in sacrificing myself this way for the good of the empire,” she added.
“You’re just making things up now,” Alec said.
“Are you saying that people wouldn’t respect my fortitude?” Jeswyne asked, entering a teasing match Alec recognized from the many times the two had sparred with one another while stranded in the past.
“You two are going to make a fine married couple, based on the bickering you’re displaying, and I must say you seem quite practiced at it,” the emperor noted. “But be that as it may, take it somewhere else away from my jangled nerves. Go tell your mother about the wedding, and then I’d like his majesty to return for further negotiations.”
Minutes later the Empress Jessandra was in an uproar. “Where shall we hold an imperial wedding?” she asked. “What invitation list can we create that quickly? Can’t you delay this trip of yours?” she asked Alec.
Alec discretely left Jeswyne to work with her mother, and returned to see the emperor. A number of officers were with the emperor, including Anatoli, Alec was glad to see. As Alec was introduced, there was a shuffling of feet and straining of necks as everyone stared at him, the adversary who had become an indispensible ally.
“Gentlemen, tomorrow, I am told, we will capture the renegade former emperor, if he is still trapped in the Poklonna Heights castle. Is that correct Anatoli?” Sergey asked.
A dagger suddenly flew at Alec, who called upon his warrior powers and caught the dagger hilt in the air.
“Who threw that?” Sergey asked, standing.
Alec scanned the room using his spiritual powers, and detected strong emotions coming from a young lieutenant. “That man,” Alec said, pointing.
“You killed my sister!” the man shouted.
“Where? How do you know?” Alec asked.
“She was a sorceress in a battle in your land. You killed her and you killed the demon she called. Her soul will be tormented forever,” he snarled.
“The torment of her soul was her own decision; it was her doom from the time she began sorcery,” Alec challenged. “As for killing her, if I did, it was because she committed an act of war against my nation, and I fought back. Isn’t that something any of you would do?”
There was silence. “Take him away to the prison cells,” Sergey directed.
“How do you do that? That’s twice I’ve seen you catch daggers,” Anatoli commented. “And thank you for the Scarle leadership this morning. You still expect to bring in Mikhail tomorrow?”
“If you have him trapped in the castle, we’ll be able to bring him in tomorrow,” Alec agreed.
“About the peace treaty, Alec,” Sergey switched topics. “The general staff has agreed that we will honor the terms of the treaty you and I discussed this morning if you will additionally pledge not to assassinate our leadership with your powers.”
“When will we be able to sign that treaty?” Alec asked.
“Would the day after tomorrow be acceptable?” the emperor replied.
“Yes, that will fit in nicely between capturing Mikhail and holding the wedding,” Alec agreed with a grin.
Chapter 53 – Ghosts of the Past
That night at dinner, A
lec and Jeswyne ate alone in his cottage. “Mother is driving me crazy!” Jeswyne complained.
“We could just go home and get married in Oyster Bay,” Alec commented mildly.
“I thought we could hold a second ceremony there for the sake of your people,” Jeswyne replied, not knowing that she was being teased. “But we have to have something here first, of course.”
She looked at him and saw the grin on his face. “Oh you!” she screeched, and threw a dinner roll at him. “You owe me now,” she added.
“What do I owe you?” he asked, worried.
“Another trip to the promenade. Can we go back tonight?” Jeswyne asked.
“Really?” was all Alec asked. “Stand up,” he told her as she nodded.
“Oh Alec, not right now! Really?” she echoed.
He put his arms around her and hugged her tightly, then they returned to the spot in the bushes they had started in the night before.
“That minstrel will make fun of us again!” Jeswyne said.
“No, we’ll go to a different year,” Alec assured her, and they flew through time again, suddenly seeing and hearing and smelling the presence of the festivities of the promenade.
“Thank you!” Jeswyne said, and she kissed him soundly.
“Maybe we don’t need to go to the promenade,” he said suggestively.
“You’re not thinking clearly, silly boy,” Jeswyne admonished him, and she led him out onto the paved walkway. They strolled past a juggler, then bought some juice to drink, and shuffled along in the thick press of bodies that were enjoying the promenade festival.
“These styles seem old-fashioned,” Jeswyne spoke in Alec’s ear. “What year is this? Why are we here?”
“It’s many years before you were born,” Alec replied. “I want to see an old friend, someone who isn’t alive in our time,” he told her as they continued to walk.
Jeswyne convinced Alec to play a throwing game, where he won a small wooden ring that he gave to her, and they threw small change for a musician who strummed a guitar.
Preserving the Ingenairii Page 41
