“Will it be enough?” Alec asked.
“No, but it helps us catch up some more. With the good will that last bag bought us, we’ll have paid something to everyone, and there’s a little for the folks from Slone besides,” the master armsman explained.
The meeting broke up with promises to return in a few days, and Alec left the palace with his guards around him as he rode to Ingenairii Hill. This time the guard at the gate granted him entrance, and along with one palace guard discretely following, he climbed up to Aristotle’s home.
Ari met him at the door. “Welcome, your majesty,” he said politely.
“Please just call me Alec,” the young man told the older ingenaire. “I’m going to hold a coronation ball in two months, and I’d like to invite all the ingenairii to attend.”
“Thank you, Alec, I’ll spread the word among the others. Is that all you had to tell me?” Ari questioned.
Alec looked at his guard. “Would you wait outside, please?” he asked.
“Will the ingenairii be able to help me do all the things that need to be done?” Alec asked when they were alone.
“How quickly do you need to do these things, Alec?” Aristotle countered the question with his own query. “The lacertii won’t attempt to attack Goldenfields now. It’s getting well into autumn and then winter will be here, and they don’t want to carry out their campaign in that weather. Their hopes for a quick conquest went astray when they failed to sneak up on Goldenfields unprepared. You don’t really need to worry about providing an army to help the Duke until the start of next spring, and you would certainly benefit from using these next few months to get your house here in order, so to speak.”
“Will your ingenairii help me, though, whenever the time comes?” Alec repeated.
“Alec, they will help you, I am sure. But you will need to ask them yourself,” Ari advised him. “Remember our last conversation? You need to talk to the people you need. They will gladly do anything in the world you ask, as long as they are personally asked by the ruler they want to love. The ingenairii are ready to love you because you are one of us; the people in the city are ready to love you because you healed them, giving them comfort for the first time in a very long time.”
“I think you could send Nathaniel and Moriah as your embassy to Stronghold right away,” Ari suggested, “if you feel safe without them here in the capital. And you could probably persuade a crew to help build the road for the Duke during the winter, if he wants to have it built. But you need to ask them yourself. Thirty years from now, they’ll tell their children about how mighty Alec the protector of the crown came and talked to them!”
“And speaking of children, I’ll bring it up if none of your other advisors have Alec. You already need to think about dynastic succession,” Ari added.
“What does that mean?” Alec asked.
“It means you need to get married and have children so there is an heir for the protection of the throne,” Ari smiled.
“Married?” was the thing first Alec could squeak out. “Ari, I’m not the king. There is an heir out there; John Mark told me again just recently in a dream.” Alec began to think through a whole list of reasons to stop such talk immediately. “I’m only a teenager, and just barely pretending to know what I’m doing as ruler. Besides,” he paused to add, “Bethany is with Tritos, and she made it clear she’s satisfied with her arrangements. I can’t imagine having to marry some stranger out there just for the sake of having a child.”
“Alec, an actual king would be expected to woo the daughters of princes, dukes, leaders of republics, and other noble families, or more accurately, he would at least allow those families to woo him,” Ari chided him.
“Without the revelation of the heir, you are all the Dominion has now. Rander can keep the palace running, but the city and the lands are not going to unite behind him as they would you. Goldenfields, Stronghold, Bondell – all those lands will acknowledge you while they wait for you to designate the rightful heir,” Ari explained patiently. “And they will accept your own child as equally entitled to their loyalty if something terrible happens.”
Alec blanched at the notion of courting girls from powerful families, simply to play politics. He had no desire to pursue any high-ranking girl now, still heartbroken over the loss of Bethany. Having planted the seed he wanted, Ari sensed the time to change the ubject, and they talked of other things for a minute or two more, then Alec retrieved his guard and returned to the palace.
Ironically, that very afternoon, Alec’s long lost letter to Bethany was delivered to her in the Water house. Merle had forwarded it from its last visit to Goldenfields, redirecting it to Ingenairii Hill, and it had arrived to be sorted and delivered to her home.
Returning home that afternoon after finishing her duties Bethany found the letter pushed under her door. She looked at the envelope, with its various written directions and redirections, clearly the most traveled missive she’d ever seen. Sitting down, she opened the envelope and began to read.
The words jumped out at her, “I want to say to you, Bethany, I love you. I will come looking for you when my duty in Stronghold is finished, and I hope we will be together always after that.” She stood to close the door as tears streamed down her cheeks. He had come to see her when he returned to Oyster Bay. She realized that Alec probably thought his letter had reached her long ago. He had asked about it. And he had said he loved her. He had told her he thought about her. If only the letter had arrive sooner; if only he had said something in person when they were together before.
She re-read the letter again. It said everything she had wanted Alec to say. But it was here now, after she had accepted Tritos’s affection and companionship. After she had rejected Alec.
An hour later, when a knock on her door informed her that Tritos had arrived to go out to dinner, she said she didn’t feel well. She stayed in her room and wept some more, until finally, she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 24 – A Dance at the Palace
Over the next two months, Alec worked hard at being a stand-in king, doing all the boring, monotonous chores and duties that his many advisers claimed were in the best interest of the Dominion. He talked with ingenairii about sending various embassies and work groups on missions, he gathered revenues, healed the sick and wounded, practiced fencing and strengthened the Palace Guard, repaired the infrastructure and restored Oyster Bay to a functioning city.
By early winter, the time had arrived to hold the great coronation ball. Alec looked forward to the ball with no enthusiasm, despite the energy it was creating among the returning class of nobility and affluence that had steadily trickled back into Oyster Bay. He did look forward to hearing of the return of Nathaniel and Moriah, who had left the capital several weeks prior to venture to Stronghold, carrying letters that Alec had written to several people in that city.
In the months leading up to the ball, Alec felt that he had only made one firm decision on his own, against the opinions of his many advisors. He had put his foot down and refused to wear robes for the dance, but had insisted on wearing a uniform of the Palace Guard, to show his pride in how well they had regained and improved their capabilities.
As early evening arrived, the city of Oyster Bay rose to a level of social energy unseen in years. Even families whose members had supported the coup against King Gildevny were heading towards the palace, and carriages were lined up for nearly a mile waiting to drop their passengers under the port-cochere’s protection from the wintry drizzle. The palace staff had positioned Alec in the main gathering hall, where a long line of guests passed by him to bow and curtsy. Guests who arrived were announced as they came into the hall, and Alec’s ears occasionally picked out the name of someone he recognized. Often that same person would arrive before him several minutes later to be formally introduced.
Alec grew tired of the unending train of people who appeared before him, and he longed for the start of the dinner, when he would be able to cease these
endless greetings and eat some food. The brilliance of the grand ball room, decorated and lit unlike any room Alec had ever seen, had fascinated him at first, and the variety of gowns and clothing worn by the guests had engaged his attention for a significant time. But eventually all those things had worn off, and Alec had reverted to his feeling of nervousness about the impending dancing he would have to participate in.
In the middle of greeting a minor noble couple from far up the northern coast, Alec heard the seneschal announce two names that brought a hush to the crowd. “Brandeis Locksfort and Noranda Locksfort, ambassadors from Stronghold,” the voice pronounced, followed by a rising murmur unlike the earlier frivolity. He looked up in surprise.
“Excuse me,” Alec said abruptly to the coastal pair, and he began pressing his way through the crowd towards the unexpected guests, his guards following in his wake. “Brandeis! Noranda!” Alec called loudly as he approached the empty circle around the two travelers from so far away.
“Your majesty,” Brandeis replied with a grin that vanished as guards abruptly imposed themselves between Alec and the other two.
“Let me pass,” Alec commanded, and he pushed between the two guards to draw close to his friends. Alec drew Brandeis into a hug, looking over his shoulder at Noranda, whose eyes he saw were welling with tears. Wordlessly he withdrew from Brandeis and stepped around to Noranda, who he also drew into an embrace, his eyes closed to prevent tears from falling down his own cheeks.
Alec took one hand from each friend, and raised both high over his head. “These are my friends and allies. Welcome them to Oyster Bay with wide open arms,” he proclaimed loudly. “Give them rooms in the palace tonight,” he told a nearby staff person. “I need to go back to doing responsible things,” he told Brandeis and Noranda with a shrug and a grin. “Your timing is perfect. I’m so glad you are here,” he added as he left to return to his position in the receiving line. The room was abuzz with talk about the surprising arrival of the Stronghold representatives, and the more
Shortly after that, another announcement caused the room to focus its attention towards the arrival of new guests. “The ingenairii of the Dominion,” and the seneschal began announcing them one by one as they strolled past him. The ingenairii had arrived en masse, organized by house, and dressed in house colors. They brought a dramatic appearance to the room, and the conversation buzzed anew with talk about the ingenairii demonstration of loyalty to the new ruler of the land.
When the ingenairii began to arrive in front of Alec in the receiving line, he broke into an open smile, and laughed with many. The colors before him changed as houses succeeded one another, first the green of the plants, then the shimmering whites of the airs. The blue jackets and dresses of the water house arrived next, and Alec found himself facing the blue eyes and blond curls of Bethany for the first time in many weeks.
Alec was silent for a moment, staring with longing at the pretty girl without comment, until she curtsied demurely and said, “Congratulations on your accession to the protectorship, your majesty. The Dominion could not have a better man as leader right now.”
Alec groped for some words to speak, but his mind raced with too many thoughts and memories he couldn’t settle on just one thought to express. “I thank you for coming tonight, Bethany,” he finally said. He reached out and held her hand. “I remember the first dance I saw you at, on Ingenairii Hill. I’m sure you’ll capture the hearts of just as many admirers here as you did there,” he said trying to find something gallant to say.
Bethany withdrew her hand from his. “I find less satisfaction in beaus and admirers that I used to,” she told him. “You changed all that.”
Alec realized they had been standing together longer than he stood with anyone else, and folks nearby were trying hard to appear not to listen. “I never can tell you enough about how much you mean to me, and how highly I think of you, Bethany. I wish things were different. I wish I could just come talk to you as a friend or more, and try again to explain how I haven’t had control over my own decisions. But now,” he shrugged and looked around at the people.
“May I have a dance?” he asked suddenly, seeing her ready to walk away.
“I can’t say no to you,” she said heavily, and stepped away so that the next person might talk to the protector.
Soon the elegant gray habiliment of the stone ingenairii arrived, the last of the houses to come through the receiving line. “Tritos, it’s good to see you again; thank you for coming to the palace,” he said politely, although he felt butterflies in his stomach.
“Alec, your majesty, the ingenairii look forward to working with you,” Tritos answered formally, his gray eyes set deeply in his long face.
Alec felt a desperate discomfort as he faced this man. “I’ve asked Bethany for the pleasure of one dance. I hope you’ll allowme the honor.”
“She’s not a bauble to dangle around, Alec,” Tritos said in a voice full of emotion. “Don’t play with her. She deserves to be treated like, well, like a queen, in the best ways, in caring for her heart. She’s been hurt, and lost a great deal of her youthfulness. She cut her hair short because she doesn’t feel like a girl any longer.
“You’ve hurt her once already. Be thoughtful enough to leave her alone now,” Tritos paused, and his tone changed. “Everyone speaks so well of you Alec, even Bethany herself. Don’t harm the girl; I can make her happy if you won’t break her heart again.” He too moved on, and Alec haltingly resumed polite chatter with the other ingenairii, until Aristotle came as the last ingenaire.
Just as Ari arrived, the bells chimed, signaling the start of dinner, and the end of Alec’s sentence to labor in the receiving line. “Your majesty, has the evening been a success so far?” the elder ingenaire asked in a neutral tone.
“Ari, I don’t know if I can take this any longer,” Alec said, not sure exactly what he was referring to.
“Sometimes, being a ruler is simple compared to being human, as you’ve discovered,” Ari counseled him. “You have a good heart; do what is right for others, and it will turn out to be right for you as well.”
With that they left their places and strode into the room where innumerable tables were covered with enormous quantities of food, and people were wandering about with plates on which they collected the selections they wanted to try. Alec had eaten before the beginning of the event, having been told there would be little time for him to eat, but he felt hungry nonetheless. He asked someone to fix a plate for him while numerous people presented themselves for introduction, and he managed to swallow a bite every now and again.
As the first strains of music revealed that the dance was about to begin, Armilla arrived at his side. She was angry at having been given the social duty of maintaining Alec’s dance card, and allowed her annoyance to show when she explained to Alec that it was his responsibility to begin the dancing. “You must lead the way in to the first dance. Do you have a preferred partner, or do you want me to just go drag in some pretty young countess?”
“I’d prefer to dive into a hole in the ground,” Alec whispered in her ear, feeling heartily sick of the whole event at this point. As he leaned over, he saw Brandeis standing by a column, “I’d like to dance with the ambassador from Stronghold, Noranda, if you can find her,” he said suddenly.
In a matter of quick moments, Noranda was at his side at the top of the line of dancers, and as the music broke into a stately gait, Alec took her hand in his and began the procession onto the floor, as he had been taught in his lessons that week.
“Alec,” “Noranda,” they each said their names at the same time. They both laughed and Noranda leaned up to give him a fond kiss.
“Noranda, I am so glad to know you and Brandeis are alive. It is the first thing that I could been taugasked to know from Stronghold,” Alec said.
“We are alive, Durer and Johanna are already married and still leading the clan,” she replied as they turned a corner of the room. “Brandeis and I are engaged!”
Alec stopped his dance movements for just a moment to catch Brandeis’ eye from across the room and nod his approval, then resumed the motions around the floor. “When will you be married?”
“After we return. There’s no date set,” she told him.
“What have you heard about your aunt? Has there been any trouble?” Alec switched to a more serious topic, and almost tripped himself for the second time.
“There have been troubles, to be sure, but Aunt Mooreen isn’t a part of them,” Noranda said, her voice expressing her exasperation. “Reuchlin and his ilk are testing all the rules, but it’s just a matter of time until they’re under control.
“There’s been no sign of Mooreen, no rumor of her, no troubles at all in that respect,” Noranda explained. She rested her head on his shoulder as they turned another corner.
“We’d been working through the family dynamics, trying to cope with the reduced income from a lack of shipping, and then one morning a ship arrived, and Palace Guards appeared. I recognized the uniforms, and then I recognized your ingenairii friends from watching when you all fenced here. Durer received them and read their note from you. He had Brandeis and I packed and sailing within a few days to come here to sign whatever treaties you want,” she finished. “We owe you so much, Alec, and I owe you the most of all.”
The music began winding down. “We’ve been a little too slow,” Alec said, noting they hadn’t finished circling the room. “I hope you and Brandeis will feel right at home here. I know we’ll have good conversations soon. Feel free to leave the ball any time you want to go rest after your long journey today.
“Thank you, Alec,” Noranda said as the last notes of the tune played out. She stepped back and curtsied, then went in search of Brandeis, while Armilla brought a very pretty girl to be his next partner.
“I want one dance with Bethany, the water ingenaire in blue,” Alec told his guard as the nervous new partner took her position before him. Armilla shot him a smoldering glare over the top of the girl’s head.
The Lifesaving Power: Goldenfields and Stronghold Page 24
