At the Seat of Power: Goldenfields and the Dominion

by Jeffrey Quyle

  “The Dominion is changing. The king is dead, and new power is waiting to take over. I’ll be part of that power, but I could have enjoyed it more if I’d been made Duke quickly instead of having to wait. The lacertii are attacking, and sooner or later Goldenfields will need my friends in order to defend against that threat,” Elgin said matter-of-factly. “I’m the best man to lead Goldenfields now.”

  “What happened to Noranda?” Alec spit the question out.

  “I have your word that your pledge of safe exit remains?” Elgin asked. Alec nodded, his grip growing tight on his sword.

  “She came to me and said that seeing you left her less certain about her affections for me, not that she necessarily saw you as the alternative. Since her family had already agreed to an alliance, and I’d gotten to know them well, and to make arrangements with them apart from her, an actual marriage was no longer necessary in order to cement the alliance of mutual interest, especially if there would eventually be all the unpleasantry of dealing with an unwilling wife,” Elgin said.

  “That was after you cost my friend Branham so much money, and you were clearly becoming a problem for us in many ways. So I paid an assassin to kill her and put an end to the problems she might cause, and teach you a lesson about being involved in matters beyond you.”

  Alec was stunned by the casual admission of murder the callous coup leader had so easily make.

  “Just like you’ve done here, healer. When the new king comes to Goldenfields and installs a new Duke, you’re going to be a dead man,” Elgin finished, dropping his air of refinement and spitting out his venomous rage. “And many of your foolish ingenaire friends will be eliminated as problems as well.

  “Thank you to your colonel for letting me take my men with me for now. I’ll be back with them soon, and you’ll be dead, just like Noranda,” he said as he walked on board the Locksfort boat.

  Alec felt his self-restraint snap in the face of the amoral taunting of Elgin. He drew his sword, mesmerized for moments by the prospect of taking action, then let his desires take over and charged towards the boat. His word of honor meant nothing to him now, faced with the admission of so much squalid evil. Promise or not, he was not going to allow Elgin to leave the city unpunished.

  Stepping forward without his warrior powers, he placed a foot on the plank leading to the boat. For just a second he heard a noise, and then felt an incredible pressure hit his kidney. Chaos broke out around him as he sank to his knees, but Alec could only concentrate on the terrific pain he felt. He turned his head and saw an arrow sticking out and then saw another man fall beside him, and heard Elgin scream for the boat to leave the docks. Confusion became the order on the dock as fighting broke out, and Alec slipped into unconsciousness.

  Chapter 26 – The Infirmary Again

  As the Duke rode rapidly at the head of a contingent just outside the city walls, Alec was being gingerly carried on a plank back to the Palace. Colonel Ryder happened to see the group of frightened Guard members return with Alec, and his face grew pale at the site of Alec’s injury. “Take him to the infirmary! Now! Carefully! Do any of you have medic’s training?” Ryder shouted, frightened at the sight of Alec’s injury.

  None of the Guards present had any training, and all the Guards left in the city were present. “Send someone to get his healer lady friend!” Ryder ordered, and Mortis went at a run away from the Palace. Ryder walked with the Guards who carried Alec to the infirmary, learning what had happened as they moved.

  “So Elgin got away?” he asked. “Yes,” Tarpa told him. “The two of them had a conversation that we didn’t hear, then Alec started to go after Elgin, but arrows came flying, and Alec went down with a couple of Tarkas’s fellows. The ship pulled out, and Alec started to slide into the water, but we caught him, and let the ship get away. The crowd at the docks went berserk, and the Locksforts lost several men and equipment after that. We left it all behind to get the boy here as fast as we could,” she finished.

  Ryder pushed the door open and directed that they place Alec on one of the beds. “Go wait at the bridge for Mortis to bring the healer lady back,” he ordered, as he pulled a chair up to the side of the bed to wait.

  Mortis returned five minutes later. “His lady friend healer is dead! She died last night, they told me,” he reported to Ryder.

  “Mortis, go get a horse and ride out in search of the Duke’s contingent. Find them, find the Duke, and find a medic, and bring them along as fast as possible,” Ryder barked out, quickly moving to an alternative, even as he felt sickened by the fear that they were going to be too late to save the fighter who had made the rescue of the Duke possible. He felt almost moved to tears at the thought that Leah had also passed away somehow; Ellison had told him that the two healers were close friends.

  Less than an hour later, Mortis returned as Ryder paced the floor of the infirmary. “I found one,” the messenger reported, as Imelda walked into the room, still sweaty from riding her horse hard.

  “Here’s your patient, Imelda,” Ryder said before the young Guard had even spoken. “Spare nothing to save him.”

  She walked over to see him, dropping her gloves and jacket on the floor as she crossed the room. She took at look at the arrow, and turned to look at her commanding officer. “This is way beyond my ability. We never learned how to treat anything this severe,” she said as she gingerly examined the wound.

  The door opened, causing both of them to turn and look. Merle was crossing the room. “Is it true?” he asked, looking at Alec as he arrived.

  “Thank goodness you’re here,” Ryder said. “Can you save him, ingenaire?”

  “There’s only one healer ingenaire, and he’s lying before us. No, I don’t have any ability to treat a wound like this. What about his friend?” Merle asked.

  “Let’s clear the room of unnecessary personnel,” Ryder said. “The Duke must be nearby. Everyone but Imelda and Merle go out to make sure the Palace is prepared and secure.” He watched the handful of other Guard members leave the room, looking back as they exited. “His friend is also dead, I’m told,” Ryder responded. “Imelda, what can we do for now to take care of him?”

  Imelda looked at Alec carefully. “How much do you know about Alec?” Merle asked her before she answered the colonel.

  Imelda looked at Merle, and then at Ryder. “I know he did a tremendous job in the battle here. He saved us all, you, me, the Duke. And I know he isn’t a very nice person. He caused a great deal of pain for Inga.” She responded.

  “Those rumors you heard about him and Inga, there was nothing to them – no truth,” Ryder responded. “You can’t repeat what I’m about to tell you, but we found out there is a traitor in the Guard, and that traitor was the one who planted and spread the rumors about Alec and Inga. The traitor wanted to drive Alec away from here, away from protecting the Duke. There was nothing but innocence in the way Inga and Alec were friends with each other when they both needed friends,” the colonel finished.

  “Do you know much about Alec’s background?” Merle asked. Imelda shook her head. “He’s an orphan, you know. He never knew his parents at all. He was raised in an orphanage, kicked out to live on the streets, and ran away with a carnival. He has hardly any friends, and no family, all his life. When he went to Oyster Bay, he made many friends with the other young ingenairii, maybe the first time he’s ever had that. But he gave it all up to come back here to Goldenfields, where he knew he would be an outcast again. He hasn’t had much in life, you know. Certainly not all the advantages you’ve had. His life had been lonely, and people haven’t appreciated him just for being a good person.”

  Imelda looked at each of the men, and then again at Alec, the wheels in her mind turning as she contemplated what she had heard.

  “I’ll take care of him. You two can leave. I’m going to clean the wound and treat it with a few plants to prevent infection, then I’ll fix some pain killer and dose him with it,” she said. “I’ll keep him alive for a while. I d
on’t know what to do about the arrow though.” She tugged at it gently, and Alec groaned slightly and twitched. “Is it a safe bet that the head is barbed, and set in the flesh?”

  “You might as well assume that, knowing that he was shot at the Locksfort yards,” Ryder answered as they heard the door open behind them. “We’re not to be disturbed right now,” he said loudly, starting to reach towards the arrow.

  “Shall I wait outside?” the Duke’s deep voice rumbled.

  Ryder turned suddenly, and saw the Duke striding towards them in his creased and wrinkled riding clothes. He had a look of concern on his face. “Will he survive?” the ruler of the city asked.

  Chapter 27 – Hoping for a Cure

  Alec awoke, aware at first only that he was lying on his stomach with sunlight streaming in around him. He felt pain in his back, terrible pain, but didn’t know why. He didn’t know where he was. He moaned softly, and heard someone move behind him. He felt groggy, unable to gather his wits.

  “What’s happening?” he said in a cracked voice. “Where am I?”

  “You’re in the infirmary of the Duke’s Guard,” he heard a woman’s voice say behind him. “You’re here to heal from an arrow you received in the back.”

  Memory started to return to Alec. “Elgin did this?”

  “His allies in the Locksfort yards did it. He and his men and many of the Locksfort men fled after they attacked you. Our forces took some casualties, but not too many, considering what a nasty ambush was laid for you,” the voice said, as a hand gently stroked the hair on his head.

  “What day is it?” Alec asked. “Is the Duke safely back?”

  “It is three days after you were wounded. I’ve tried to keep you dosed since then so that you’d rest and your body could gather its strength.

  “The Duke is back – he arrived back at about the time you were carried in here, and three hundred men from the army and a hundred from the Guard are back as well. He is alive and safe, and the city is calm, thanks to Colonel Ryder, and to you as well,” the unseen woman said softly in a voice that sounded familiar.

  “What is my condition? Can you treat me?” Alec asked. “Who are you?”

  “Your condition is uncertain. You have an arrow with a barbed head still embedded in your kidney. So far I’ve tried to make you sleep, and I’ve tried to prevent infection from setting in by applying herbs as I was taught. You are passing blood in your urine. I can’t begin to guess how to treat you short of cutting you open and removing the kidney, and that’s beyond my training,” the woman said, and Alec sensed a shadow moving into view on his right. “My name is Imelda, and that probably tells you enough,” she finished in a tone of voice unusually soft for her.

  “I want you to tell me everything I can do to save you Alec,” she said, crouching down, her face very close to his now.

  Alec looked at her. “I, I don’t know what to tell you. I think you’ve done everything right so far; it sounds right. I can’t think very clearly with the painkillers dulling my mind. Keep dosing me for the infection, but stop giving me the painkiller.

  “Thank you for taking care of me,” he added.

  “We arrived back with the Duke just an hour after you were shot. The Colonel’s first messengers caught up to us on the road, the Duke wouldn’t remain away any longer, and we rode the horses throughout the night. He sent riders on to the army and told them to send mounted men ahead as fast as possible to the city. They arrived yesterday morning,” Imelda said. “Colonel Ryder sent Mortis out as soon as you were injured, and the Duke sent me ahead to reach you and tend you immediately

  “When I got here, none of the other trained medics were here. The Guards here had brought you to the infirmary, and had you lying on your stomach, but no one knew to do anything else,” she explained.

  “The Duke has been down to see you several times. I’m afraid he’ll kick me out of the Guard if I don’t heal you soon,” she added with a slight smile, and a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

  “We’ll have to figure out how to heal me soon then. He can’t afford to lose a sword like yours,” Alec smiled slightly in return. “Let me rest and think about healing for a while,” he said as he closed his eyes and drifted into a light sleep.

  When he awoke again hours later he could tell the painkiller had worn off as he felt the terrible pain of the arrow in his kidney. He clenched his teeth and groaned. “Imelda?” he grunted.

  “I’ll go get her for you,” he heard a voice say, and then steps faded away and the door opened.

  Shortly later Imelda re-entered the building. “Alec, what is it?” she asked.

  “I need to test to see if I can heal myself,” he said, sweating at the effort to talk. “Take a knife and make a small cut on my arm,” he told her. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy that.”

  “Alec! Stop it!” Imelda said, in a tone that was genuinely appalled. She appeared in his field of vision with a fighting knife. “Where do you want this?”

  He slowly moved his right hand above his head and touched a spot on his left arm.

  Imelda placed the point of the knife against his skin, and hesitated.

  “Go on,” Alec urged.

  Imelda pressed the knife and drew a line of red for the space of an inch along his line.

  Alec raised his hand to the spot, then concentrated on healing the cut. He felt a small surge of energy move sluggishly through him. When he removed his hand, there was a thin red line of a partially healed cut.

  “You did it,” Imelda said hopefully.

  “That took everything I’ve got, and it barely closed the scratch. I can’t heal a kidney wound with so little power,” Alec panted. “Go ahead and give me some painkiller and let me sleep to build up some energy.

  “Imelda, after you dose me, ask Merle to come down to see me please. I need to talk to him,” Alec added, and he closed his eyes.

  A short time later, Imelda pressed a straw against his lips. “At least it’s easier to dose you when you’re awake to swallow your medicine,” she murmured gently as he sipped the dose.

  He heard her leave, and he dozed off into a light sleep. He thought someone else was in the room with him, but didn’t bother to check. He fell into a dream where he watched an assassin slink through the Locksfort compound stalking Noranda. Alec watched in horror as the man took a position in Noranda’s own suite awaiting her arrival. Then the dream shifted and again he was in the room with Leah and Ellen and the midwife, seeing the throes of Leah’s difficult labor.

  A sound of the door opening aroused him from the painful scenes. “How is he doing?” he heard Merle ask quietly. Apparently a non-verbal answer followed, and Merle walked over to him. “Alec, did you want to see me?”

  Alec took a deep breath, then opened his eyes. “Merle, thanks for coming. I don’t have enough power to heal myself of this wound. If Imelda removes the arrow tomorrow, will you be here so that you can send your power into me and share it with me so that I can heal the wound?” Alec asked in a drowsy voice.

  “Alec, do you think you can channel power from another ingenaire and make it do your will under these circumstances? That seems extraordinary to me,” Merle said doubtfully.

  “I did it twice in Oyster Bay, not to mention what happened when I treated Lewis. I used a Warrior’s power and a Spiritual’s power to heal a woman. The question will be whether I’ll be able to do anything effectively while I’m feeling this kind of pain,” Alec said. “But I have to try something. My kidney is going to shut down soon, and things will start to get worse for me if we don’t try,” Alec answered.

  “I’ll be here all morning long for you Alec,” Merle said. “Now you get your sleep. Good night.”

  Alec heard Merle leave the building, and he started to doze off. “Imelda? Are you there?” he asked as he drowsed off. He didn’t want to be alone at this moment, as fear unexpectedly took hold of him.

  “Alec, you should be asleep. I should be asleep too,” he suddenly awoke to heard I
melda say.

  “This isn’t the time to talk about sleeping together,” he said in a weak jest. “Imelda, I want you to cut the arrow out tomorrow morning. Merle will be here and I’ll try to use his power to heal my body after you operate.”

  “Oh Alec, are you serious about this?” Imelda asked. “I’m afraid to do it,” she added very softly, hoping he would say something to comfort her.

  Alec drifted off to sleep.

  The next morning Alec awoke in considerable pain. The sun was shining in the room.

  “Imelda, are you here?”

  “Yes, Alec,” came the simple response.

  “May I have a sip of water?” he asked. “Merle, are you here?”

  “I’m here too,” the ingenaire said as a straw was held up to his lips.

  “Imelda, you need to strap down my body and arms and legs with leather belts so that I don’t flail too much when you do this. As soon as you have the arrow out, unleash my left hand and place it over the wound.” He stopped to catch his breath after reciting the instructions he had thought out for the improbable operation. “Merle, as soon as my hand is there, place your hand on my left arm, and unleash you power into me, and keep giving me as much as you can until something happens.”

  “Alec, are you sure you want to do this?” he heard Imelda say.

  “Do you know any other alternative?” Alec asked.

  “No,” she answered. “I’ve thought and thought about it, but I don’t know what else we can do for you.”

  Alec closed his eyes and rested. A few minutes later he felt the straps being applied around him. “Make them tight,” he advised.

  “Alec, are you ready?” he heard Imelda say.

  “Yes.” He said. “No. It doesn’t matter, just do it.”

  He heard Imelda let out a long breath, then he felt cold steel against his back.

  And then he felt impossible pain. He heard a moan in his throat, and then a long drawn out low sound like a growl. He tried to thrash away from the pain as his back hurt more than he could imagine. He knew that Imelda must have just begun, and already he knew this was a mistake. The pain seemed to drag on and on, growing deeper as the time stretched forward.