“Another wife? Do you only have them one at a time, or do you keep a harem?” Kecil asked incredulously.
“She wasn’t really my wife. I killed her husband, and for a while she thought she should belong to me, but we got it straightened out,” Alec answered absentmindedly.
“After this, we’ll go to Yangchoo, to see if the lights still sparkle at night, and then we can go to Exbury, the garden city. And perhaps we can even go to Villadest, the city of fountains and dancing waters,” he thought of the city that he and Andi had visited only once, as a honeymoon of sorts, years after they had finally settled the Dominion and Michian into relative tranquility.
“Let’s find a room at an inn, shall we?” he suggested.
They spend two days in the city, Alec showing Kecil the spots where so many actions had happened, from the palace battles to the street location where he had pulled Andi’s soul back to earth and healed her badly wounded body.
“That’s when we began to unite,” he explained.
“It must have been so wonderful to be so close to someone else,” Kecil sighed.
“It was very positive, but there were sharp edges to the knife as well,” Alec replied cryptically.
He walked past the jewelry shops that continued to occupy the same city street they had been established on decades earlier, and he went to the fashion quarter of the city to observe the many hat fashions that had lingered in the society’s culture as a result of the shop where Alfred had taught Stacha.
They left the city when Alec had seen all the sights he wanted to see, and thought of his moments with Andi while there. The two of them had entered as two individuals, without a particular relationship, but by the time they left, they had been set upon the path of decades of intimacy.
Yangchoo was just as Alec had remembered it to be. The lights were sophisticated and elegant throughout the city. With a display of his own powers and ability to manipulate lights, he garnered them the hospitality of the palatial inn that was reserved for honored guests. They only spent two days and nights in the city, and then they traveled on once again, towards Exbury, on a leg of the journey that brought a rapidly and inexplicably rising tide of anticipation to Alec’s soul.
So much had happened to him in Exbury during his first visit, in the era when he had been on his quest to set Kriste free from her ingenairii kidnappers. The visit to Exbury had been fraught with danger, and Alec had suffered a devastating injury in the course of a battle with the ingenairii. Andi had been with him, and they had spent time among a family of the Old Ones of Exbury, then gone on an expedition with the Exbury Old Ones to try to conquer the ingenairii, a secondary adventure that had also suffered setbacks and battles.
The Old Ones of Exbury were like the Plant ingenairii of the Dominion, able to control the growth of plants, and Alec had felt a degree of kinship with them because of his ability to take their energy and crudely convert it to Healing power, just as he had used Yula’s Plant power back in the beginning of his adventure in the Dominion. That familiarity and compatibility made Alec feel a certain closeness to the Old Ones, just a little more than he felt towards the Old Ones of the other cities, people of races he had never met.
And most of all, there was Aja. The girl had proven to be an enchanting beauty that Amane, a foppish member of the Old Ones, had become infatuated with, and become married to. Aja had been a close companion of Alec’s during a portion of his travels. And most astonishing of all, she had been a tree.
During the daylight, while the sun shone, the girl had been a tree, but at night she had turned into the vivacious, lovely woman who Alec had enjoyed and admired so much. She had been a member of a rare race that lived in a village in the mountains, in a place that Alec never visited or knew. Because of Alec’s care and treatment, she had grown able to remain human during the daylight.
But he had known her, and cared deeply for her, for her love of life and her strength. Traveling with her had been a joy during their time together. He hadn’t considered Amane to be worthy of receiving Aja’s hand in marriage, but he had trusted her judgement as to what was best for her.
Alec wanted to see Aja again. He hoped that her heritage from the long-lived race of the Sylphs would provide her with the longevity to still be alive more than a century after the last time he had seen her.
“We should go claim a room in the palace for the visiting Old Ones,” Alec suggested. “We’ll have to ask for directions,” he spoke to the guards at the city gate and was told where to find his goal. At the entry gate to the luxurious hostel he demonstrated powers that earned admission to the inn for the evening.
Once settled into their room in the early evening, Alec proposed that they go for a stroll about the city and a late bite of dinner at any appealing restaurant they might happen to find.
“What’s disturbing you?” Kecil asked perceptively. “You’ve been restless and edgy since we came within sight of the city.”
“I think there may be a friend in this city who is still alive,” Alec confessed.
“Really? One of the Old Ones? They live long lives?” the girl asked.
“There was a girl,” Alec began.
“That’s how your stories always begin,” Kecil interjected sarcastically.
“A girl who was not an Old One, exactly. She came from a far off village, and she was part tree,” Alec plowed onward with his explanation.
“What did you say? It sounded like ‘tree’?” Kecil asked.
“Yes, a wooden thing with leaves and branches,” Alec agreed with deceptive calmness.
“Well, how could a girl be a tree?” Kecil asked.
“She was a tree at day, and a girl by night, until I shared my blood with her and altered her nature,” Alec replied.
“Anyway, I was thinking that she might perhaps live as long as a tree, in which case she might still be alive,” he paused, “and I’d love to see her again,” he added softly.
“I’m sure you have some plan for how to find your favorite tree, so let’s go strolling through the town, unless you’d rather go by yourself,” Kecil surrendered to the emotion she detected in his voice.
“We’ll walk together; you’ll enjoy seeing the city,” Alec was ready to move out. He led his companion out into the streets, where they blended into the crowd as they walked among the many marvelous plantings that covered and replaced building structures along the streets.
Alec wandered for several minutes until he found landmarks that seemed vaguely familiar, and from those locations he gradually found his way to stand in front of the home where he had stayed – along with Andi – with Amane’s family during his convalescence in Exbury.
“Let’s go to the door and ask if Aja is here,” he murmured in a low voice, and he immediately led Kecil to the front of the house.
When the servant answered the door in response to Alec’s knock, the visitor paused for a moment to peer over the man’s shoulder and examine the entry hall, both trying to identify the features of the home as well as catch an improbable glimpse of Aja herself, strolling through the rooms.
“May I help you?” the doorman asked politely.
“Many years ago, I met a lovely lady named Aja. She was a member of the family that lived here, the last I knew,” Alec explained.
“The Lady Aja? You must have been here a long time ago,” the man at the door said in a kindly tone. “You don’t look old enough to have known her in those days.”
Alec felt his heart fall at the implication that Aja had passed.
“She moved to a home on the outskirts of town, in a little tree grove that she loves, right after Lord Amane passed,” the man continued.
“Is she there now? Can you give directions?” Alec asked, his spirits rising.
“If you’ll come in, I’ll ask Lord Smaille to discuss his mother with you,” the servant opened the door and ushered the two visitors into the entry hall, then showed them to a small parlor, where they took seats and waited.
; Within a couple few minutes, a stoutly-built man appeared. His hair was thick, silver, and wavy, and his eyes twinkled as they gazed out amidst a web of laughter wrinkles that etched his face.
“I’m told there’s a visitor who claims to have known my mother,” the Lord Smaille spoke first. “But she has rarely entered the public world in many years, so long ago that I can scarcely credit either of you with having seen her.
“You look too young,” he said to Alec. “And you look even younger,” he turned to face Kecil.
“My name is Alec,” Alec introduced himself as he stood. “And I am older than I look – much older. Your mother may have mentioned me as a part of the adventure that brought her to Exbury so many decades ago.”
“My mother told many colorful stories to entertain us as youths,” the man said agreeably. “She and my father talked about a man named Alec, but of course not half the things they said could be true.”
“Did she tell you about how she turned into a tree during the day? Or about the long chase she and I took as we followed your father and my beloved across the Twenty Cities, and through the mountains, all the way to Boundary Lake?
“Or did they mention about how my friend Andi and I used your father’s powers to help heal me and bring me back to life after I was shot with an arrow through my skull?” Alec asked.
“Or,” he didn’t pause to give Smaille time to answer, “did she mention my ability to move about from place to place,” Alec translocated himself from the parlor to a spot in the hallway just outside the parlor, and strolled back in.
“I used my own blood to help your mother change her nature, to become a human in the daytime,” he told the startled member of the Old One aristocracy. “And I can do many other things, of course, as Aja probably told you,” Alec made a string of lights suddenly float lazily along the parlor ceiling.
“And so, I ask you as a friend, to tell me about your mother,” he finished, as he returned to his spot next to Kecil.
“You are truly Alec, the being my mother said was as great as a god?” Smaille’s face was pale.
“I’m not what she said, but I am her friend,” Alec agreed.
“Allow me please, to send my son Coeur to fetch my mother and bring her back to our home,” Smaille suggested.
“That would be perfect,” Alec agreed. “In the meantime, if you don’t mind, I’ll take Kecil out to the garden in the back and look around. I’m sure it’s still lovely.”
Alec led the way through the house and out to the back, where he and Kecil strolled quietly as the sun set. They reentered the home and Alec led the way to the library.
“I remember Andi telling me that this library was so much more cosmopolitan that the other families’, because it had a whole shelf of books about something besides gardening!” he smiled at the memory, when he and Andi had laughed together.
They heard the sound of a carriage at the side of the house, and Alec paused before making his next statement, holding a book in midair as he listened to the sound of a door closing, and he waited for the next sign of the return of Aja to the house.
“He’s in the library, I can tell,” a woman’s voice spoke clearly in the hallway a minute later.
Alec unconsciously stepped towards the door, the book still held unknowingly in his hand.
The handle on the door twisted, and then a lovely woman with a late middle-aged appearance stood for a moment in the doorway, her eyes focused only on Alec, as she studied him intently. Her gaze swiftly dropped and rose to look at his body, but then she stared at his face, as she stepped towards him, and he stepped towards her.
“Aja,” Alec spoke first, as he took his first step towards her. Lord Smaille and a younger man, presumably his son Coeur, stood in the hallway outside, but they and Kecil were forgotten as the two long-separated friends reunited.
“Alec, you’ve truly come back! By all the roots that drink deep,” Aja said softly, and then the two met and embraced tightly, their cheeks pressed tightly against one another’s face. They separated ever so slightly, then turned and kissed fiercely for a long moment, which they followed by staring into one another’s eyes.
“Aja, there’s no other old friend I would ever ask to see,” Alec spoke at last. “I’m so glad to see you, to know that you’re alive, and still looking so lovely. Is your voice as beautiful as it ever was?” he asked.
“You’re still able to make my heart flutter, you ancient deity,” Aja spoke, her green eyes staring directly into his. “Of course I dismissed Coeur’s story about the return of Alec, but as soon as I stepped out of the carriage, I still felt your presence, and I realized it was true.
“What brings you back to Exbury after so long? Is everything well with you?” Aja asked.
Alec grinned at her. “This is my friend Kecil. We’re just being tourists, and we wanted to see the wonders of the Five Cities. And of course, for me, you are the wonder of wonders!” he laughed.
She slapped his shoulder gently.
“You, the mighty warrior, wandering the Twenty Cities as a tourist? I don’t believe that,” she said. Aja turned to Kecil. “You’re traveling in exalted company,” she said. “He’s a man – much more than a man really, of course – one who is worshipped by those races that know his true worth.”
“He saved my life, and I’ve seen him do things that I never believed were possible,” Kecil replied immediately, “your ladyship,” she added.
“And your previous lady, Andi, the one you worked so long and hard to follow, is she?” Aja left the question unfinished.
“She departed from our realm just a few months ago,” Alec replied. “It was on my journey home from her funeral that I saw Kecil in trouble, and rescued her. We’ve been on a round-about trip to take her back to her own home ever since.”
“Oh, are you a resident of one of the Twenty Cities?” Coeur spoke up for the first time, as he and his father stood within the room.
“No,” Kecil spoke with a slight smiling curve to her lips. “I’m from the west.”
“I’d be happy to show you some of the sights around Exbury, if you’d like,” Coeur spoke to Kecil again, edging by his father to draw closer to Kecil. The young man showed signs of his heritage from Amane, Alec thought idly, as he studied the boy. Especially around the eyes, and the curly hair was a clear legacy of both his father and grandfather.
Kecil was looking at him, he realized, seeking some guidance from him.
“If you want to go see the sights, I’m sure that Aja and I are going to be talking to one another about people and things that no one else alive will be interested in,” he told her. “We can meet back here for the night, with my lord’s permission,” Alec looked towards Smaille.
“By all means, I hope you’ll both spend the night here as our guests. I’ve not seen mother so alive in many, many years, so we hope you’ll stay and entertain her as much as you like,” their host replied graciously.
Coeur led Kecil away from the room.
“And where would you like to go chat?” Aja asked Alec.
“Have you had dinner yet?” Alec asked.
“I have,” Aja said with a twinkle in her eye. “But I could eat a bite more, and I suspect you have an unusual dinner in mind.”
“I’m sure the food won’t be unusual. The last time I was at the Red Horse Inn, I thought it was typical of a city tavern,” Alec said with exaggerated casualness.
“The name sounds familiar. Was it,” she paused, “was it the inn at Boundary Lake, the one on the square?”
“Boundary Lake?” Smaille’s voice rose an octave.
Alec held his arms wide, and Aja stepped into his embrace once again.
“We’ll be back after dinner,” Alec promised the nobleman.
And then they were gone from Exbury.
Chapter 25
Aja gasped, then laughed, moments after Alec’s Translocation of the pair brought them to an alley beside the prominent inn on the square in the center of Boundary Lake. T
he sun was still shining in the western city, and they saw sparkles of light as the fountain in the square bubbled away merrily, its healing water still a reminder of Alec’s desperate effort to stop an outbreak of the plague that had been destroying the city in the days long before.
“I remember how you used to sing in the dining room of the inn here, entertaining the soldiers and the local people,” Alec told Aja fondly, one arm still wrapped around the woman’s shoulders, as they began to walk toward the open space.
“I remember how you fought the ingenairii, saved the girls, created that fountain to end the plague, and put an end to the lacerta invasion,” she laughed. “It all makes singing sound so insignificant and silly.
“And you even had a statute raised, after all,” she pointed as they stepped out of the alley and saw the large bronze figure that was erected on a pedestal in front of the inn.
“Well, your voice is still better,” Alec answered lamely.
“How do you know? It’s been a long time since you heard me sing,” Aja replied.
“Maybe I’ll have a chance to listen to you after dinner?” he proposed, as he held the door to the inn open for his friend.
They were seated in the nearly empty dining room, at a time just a bit early for Boundary Lake’s normal dining hour, and they began to talk.
“Tell me everything!” Aja said eagerly, as she began to eat a slice of bread from the basket that was placed on their table for them.
And so Alec began, telling about life with Andi, and the governance of the lands, the children they had raised and the values they had tried to instill.
“I’m so sorry to hear,” Aja said sincerely when Alec explained about Andi’s death.
Their drinks and food came, while Alec talked on, then more drinks arrived as Aja began to recount her own life with Amane in Exbury.
“He was always so gentle and kind,” she told Alec. “He always treated me well.
“He didn’t realize that my race lives the long lifetime that trees live, not until he started to grow older. Then he worried about me and how I’d live after he passed. I told him that if I could live among trees, I’d be satisfied,” she explained to Alec. “So we bought the cottage in the grove, and after Amane’s demise, I retired there to live with my friends the trees.”
The Cloud of Darkness (The Ingenairii Series Book 11) Page 24
