“You had me worried there for a moment,” he said once they were out in the open.
“Excuse me sir, I don’t understand your meaning,” Kestrel stated.
“I thought you were going to turn down the King’s request in there,” Miskel stated. “The last thing we need right now is for you to make him think he’s the last acorn on the tree that no one wants to pick,” a phrase elves commonly used to indicate someone not popular.
“He’s the king,” Kestrel protested. “No one’s going to make him feel that way. I just paused because I wasn’t expecting the request. There’s a lot going on back home in Oaktown that I need to attend to, and I just had to think about missing all of that.”
“And wonder why you weren’t being offered the ambassadorship yourself, since you’ve been to the court at Kirevee?” Miskel saw through Kestrel’s excuse.
“Do they know who they want to be ambassador? Why are they sending this Hampus? Who is he?” Kestrel asked.
“The princess is controlling her father on this. They both want to see her married and ready to produce an heir; it’s grown increasingly important for them in the past several months since you saved her life from the rebels,” the Elder answered. “He has accepted her urging that they start to build up Hampus with assignments that will expose him to the world, and expose the members of the court to his name.
“This journey will make him appear to be a statesman, when all he’ll really be doing is delivering papers,” Miskel explained.
“Why is he a hero? All he did was come back from an expedition?” Kestrel asked.
“In a word, yes. The Earl of the Far East is growing very old, and perhaps senile. He asked that the crown explore the eastern wilderness to learn what lives out beyond the end of boundaries of his authority. So the king ordered us to send a squad, and we did, mostly a collection of misfits and ne’er-do-wells,” Miskel said as they walked out of the palace grounds and down the city street. “No one had any idea of what they would find, or any expectations. But three months later this soldier shows up all alone, with a story of seeing tracks they believed were centaurs, and having a mysterious rock slide in the mountains kill everyone but him.
“So the court thinks he’s a hero. The princess became smitten with him, and he’s now the consort in waiting, something you could have had if you’d have come to the palace immediately upon returning to the Eastern Forest, instead of doing whatever you’re doing down there in Oaktown in the middle of nowhere,” he said it in a tone that Kestrel knew meant that he was joking, but that there was truth behind the words.
“Do you think he really climbed any mountains?” Kestrel asked. The itinerary for his journey was forming in his mind.
“We have no idea. Absolutely no idea. We’d have to send a squad out to try to find his route and locate the remains of his companions, if it was even possible, but now he’s the pet of the palace so we can’t actively discredit him, and he’s doing things like going to the North Forest,” Miskel answered, “to demonstrate his leadership.”
“If he were to falter along this journey, it would not be harmful to our land,” Miskel said bluntly. “If your journey – and I believe that you could withstand any rigors – were to prove so challenging that Hampus could not complete his task, but came home instead, perhaps the princess would not follow this infatuation and choose him as her mate.”
“Shall I take Grenwort as well?” Kestrel asked lightly. “Would you like to put him under my command in this upcoming trip?”
“The dowager Duchess of North Brook is his aunt, which is why he is an officer. We can’t afford to displease the duchess and the princess at the same time,” Miskel disappointed Kestrel by answering. “You just take Hampus this time.”
Kestrel accepted the advice.
They entered the gates of the military base. “When can you be ready to leave?” the officer asked Kestrel.
The Warden of the Marches considered the question. He could go back to Oaktown for the night, thanks to the imps, and then return the following day. And there might be a chance to do one other thing as well.
“I can leave tomorrow,” he replied.
“Excellent! What route do you propose to pursue?” Miskel asked.
Kestrel considered; they could simply go north to Estone, and take a ship to North Harbor for the simple route, but Miskel did not want him to take Hampus on the simple route, and he had friends he might visit that were not along such a convenient journey.
“I thought we could go up to Firheng, then travel towards Green Water, then work through the Water Mountains to reach North Harbor, and work our way up to the Northern Forest. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to find the gnomes of the Water Mountains, and I can pass along news to them about the gnomes in the south,” Kestrel answered.
“That seems very ambitious,” Miskel said doubtfully.
“I’ve made it over the mountains, and lived with the gnomes. It’s possible to do, but it is a challenging route,” Kestrel agreed. “It’s not even summer now, so we’ll have the best season ahead of us.”
“If you want to try that route, be my guest,” Miskel said.
“Very well. I’ll plan to leave tomorrow morning. Will you send word to the palace, and would you provide passes so that we can stay in Firheng?” Kestrel asked.
With Miskel’s agreement, Kestrel walked away, going back to where he knew he shouldn’t go – back to visit Alicia once again.
Kestrel strolled across the base to the building where Alicia’s practice was located, and he climbed the steps. Down the hall he passed the doorway to her bedroom, and paused outside her medical room door, then opened it.
Inside he saw her standing over an unconscious patient, a nurse standing beside her. Among all the times she had operated on him, he couldn’t remember a nurse, he thought, and he wondered if this operation was unusual, or if her handling of him had been unusual.
She glanced up from her work and saw him standing. Her eyes grew wide as her hands hung motionless in the air. He stood and stared back, giving no sign of moving.
“Have a seat,” she said after a moment, her head nodding slightly towards a chair in the corner. Kestrel acquiesced, sitting in the chair as Alicia returned her focus to her work.
Half an hour later she finished, and the nurse called in two orderlies who carried the stretcher with the unconscious patient out of the room. Alicia took off her bloody gloves and apron, then stood and looked at Kestrel as the nurse closed the door.
“I apologize for last night,” he said as he stood and faced her.
“That squad of guards with that officer stayed at my room for an hour looking for you. It was ridiculous and unnecessary,” she told him.
“Are you busy for the rest of the day?” he asked.
“I have appointments,” Alicia said firmly.
“Can you change them?” he asked.
“I’m going to go away tomorrow on an assignment. Unless I use the imps, this is the last time I’ll be in Center Trunk for a long time.” He told her. “I’m sorry about interrupting things last night.”
“No,” she sat down next to him and seemed to relax. “It was best that you provided a reason to end the night with Gandel when you did. I could have used less drama after you left though,” she smiled gently. “Let me make arrangements to take the day off,” she said, and she walked out of the room.
A minute later she was back, holding her infant son and a basket of items to tend to him.
“Where shall we go?” she asked.
“Stillwater, Mulberry, Acanthus,” Kestrel called, and moments later the imps appeared.
“Would you be willing to invite a friend to carry us to Oaktown?” Kestrel asked his friends. “And then afterwards we can go to the healing spring.”
“Doctor-friend, we are so happy to see you. You are coming on an adventure?” Stillwater spoke.
“Apparently so,” Alicia replied. “Thank you Stillwater. It’s good to see you too.”
>
“Is she the one the queen talks about?” Mulberry asked.
“She is one of the ones the queen could have talked about.” Stillwater replied to his companion.
Alicia looked at Kestrel, who blushed lightly.
We’ll need others to help us carry more than one person,” Acanthus commented, and seconds later, as Kestrel looked about expectantly, Odare appeared.
“Doctor-lover friend! So good to see you,” the imp said immediately, as soon as she realized who was with Kestrel.
“And a baby! He has Kestrel-tomcat’s eyes, I see,” she commented as she hovered into position to observe the infant in Alicia’s arms. “Let the queen come see!”
“No, this is not my baby,” Kestrel protested.
Dewberry arrived, along with Jonson. “You’ve had the Kestrel hero’s baby, Alicia-fertile-doctor?” the sprite queen of the imps shrieked. “This is such a blessing, if the baby grows up to look like you and not like its father.
“I told Kestrel-seducer the very first time I met him that if I had his baby the poor child would be so ugly it would be an outcast. Fortunately,” she looked primly over at Kestrel, “he did not have his way, and no such baby was born.
“Perhaps,” she mused, “as I see your baby, I wonder if perhaps the gods simply will not allow such beautiful mothers to have ugly babies from such fathers.”
“This is not my child!” Kestrel huffed.
“That perhaps makes more sense,” Dewberry spoke in response. “That helps to explain why the baby is so beautiful.”
“Thank you, Queen Dewberry,” Alicia said with a smile, as she looked over the sprite’s head and made eye contact with the fuming Kestrel.
“Kestrel has offered to take me to see his home in Oaktown. I believe that is near your home, your highness?” the elf doctor asked Dewberry.
“It is,” Dewberry agreed. “It is a humble little place. We take pity on Kestrel-beggar for having to live in such a desolate place.”
“My home is not desolate,” Kestrel argued. “It is the place where the imps were formerly invited to come to purchase mushrooms, although perhaps we will cease to have such a market,” he said ominously.
“Queen Dewberry, perhaps you should go?” Acanthus said anxiously. “My king, do I hear your major domo calling you and the queen back to the palace?”
“Perhaps you do,” Jonson spoke. “But only for a small time, I’m sure. When you need assistance carrying the doctor-goodness and Kestrel friend to the healing spring, you will be certain to call us to join you, I’m sure.
“Come, my darling queen,” he called, holding his hand towards Dewberry.
“Farewell, Kestrel-friend. Farewell doctor-friend. Farewell, fatherless-child-friend,” Dewberry said, then she took Jonson’s hand and they disappeared.
“I hope that your feelings are not hurt by the queen’s candor,” Odare told Kestrel.
“Speaking of candor,” Kestrel finally found an opportunity to switch the topic to something besides his alleged shortcomings, “I understand that you and Killcen are doing more together that simply being my bodyguard.
“Is this true, double-duty-imp friend?” he asked the wide-eyed imp.
“Stillwater!” she shouted accusingly to the imp she suspected had revealed her secret romance.
“And with Stillwater too?” Kestrel asked. “That can’t be good for morale.”
“Perhaps,” Mulberry spoke up, “perhaps we should make our first journey, to Oaktown, so that we will be one step closer to the healing spring. Not that I wish to interrupt the many conversations that are taking place.”
“Everyone gather together,” Stillwater urged the imps to surround Kestrel and Alicia, as he motioned for the two elves to get close to one another.
Feeling awkward and self-conscious after all the speculation over his non-paternity of Alicia’s baby, who was silently sleeping as he was coddled between the two bodies, Kestrel stiffly wrapped his arms around Alicia’s shoulders.
“You don’t have to be afraid Kestrel,” the doctor told him. “I certainly know you’re not Silvic’s father.”
He grinned, and tightened his grip, as he felt the imps pressing against them, and then they all were in the gray space outside of the world, and they traveled to his office in Oaktown.
“Welcome,” he said as he stepped away from Alicia and her son. “I know you’ve been in Oaktown before,” he thought of the time she and he had come to release Silvan and Giardell from their exile. “Things are pretty quiet down here.
“We’ve got good neighbors,” he grinned as he waved to the imps overhead.
“And they’ve got good mushrooms!” Acanthus added, to a round of laughter from the imps.
“We’ll call you when we’re ready to go to the spring,” Kestrel told the blue beings, dismissing them.
“I thought I was going to have time to make this a better place for everyone to live, before this new assignment came along,” he told Alicia as they started to walk through the halls of the manor, greeting and nodding at the workers as they advanced. Kestrel stopped to introduce Alicia to Whyte, and he asked the steward to gather together several water skins for later.
“We used to have to purchase new wine skins all the time under the former Warden, but you seem to use just as many skins for water,” the steward observed with a smile, before the two travelers continued on their tour of the manor.
“I never would have guessed I was going to see Kestrel the shy new spy serving in the role of mighty nobleman,” Alicia replied.
“I wouldn’t have either,” Kestrel agreed. “And I wouldn’t have guessed I’d be assigned to take others on long journeys to foreign lands.
“Let’s go see the nurses,” he changed the topic. “That’s why I brought you here – to meet the two nurses who go out with me to visit the villages and treat anyone who needs help.”
He explained his trips to meet the people of the villages as he led Alicia out of the manor. Both the nurses lived up to Kestrel’s expectations professionally and personally, discussing illnesses and medical conditions with competence, while squabbling and bickering with vigor, as they competed to outshine one another in the presence of the visiting doctor from the cosmopolitan city of Center Trunk.
“And what is this mushroom craze you have going on here?” Alicia asked Kestrel as they left Jacquie and Parisse. The nurses had talked about injuries to over-zealous mushroom hunters who had failed to look up while walking through the forest searching for mushrooms; several elves had bashed their heads on low-hanging tree branches.
“We have a market fortnightly, and our elves make a great deal of money selling mushrooms to the imps; the imps think they’re the greatest delicacy available. The imps pay the elves with little white rocks called pearls, and the humans love pearls for jewelry, so our elves trade the pearls to traders from Hydrotaz,” Kestrel briefly explained.
“You have imps and humans trading with the elves down here?” she asked in surprise.
“It works pretty well. I was afraid the elves were going to end up with too much gold and silver because they were only selling things, but now I think the humans are going to sell some cloth and other goods to our people to even things out.”
“What other miracles do you have underway beside visits to every village and trading among the races?” Alicia asked. Her baby began to fuss.
“We just try to make life better for everyone,” Kestrel repeated his earlier assertion. Alicia sat upon a fallen tree to begin to nurse her child, and Kestrel sat next to her.
“You know,” she said once her son was quietly situated, “you and I will never be a couple together.”
“No,” Kestrel agreed. “It would never feel right to be more than friends.” As he said it, he realized he had felt that way in his heart for some time. Though Alicia was brilliant and beautiful, she and Kestrel had weathered numerous episodes in their relationship that had tangled their affection for each other with their feelings and relationshi
ps with others. They were so tangled that there was no way to remove the impediments that might allow the two of them to attempt to unite with one another.
“But we will always be able to remain friends,” he added.
“We will always remain friends, even if you continue to think that my bedroom is the best place to meet,” she smiled gently at him.
They sat in silence until the baby was satisfied, then walked back to the manor.
“Let’s get these ready,” Kestrel suggested, starting to gather together the water skins that Whyte had acquired for him.
“Ready for what?” Alicia asked.
“We’ll take these to the healing spring with us, and then you can have a supply of its water to use with your patients,” Kestrel explained. “And I’ll take a skin with me when I go on my journey.
“Stillwater, Stillwater, Stillwater,” he called, then waited until the imp appeared.
“My friend and I would like to go to the healing spring,” Kestrel explained.
“Just one moment, Kestrel-most popular,” the imp replied, and moments later a dozen imps appeared. “There is much interest in being part of the team that will help you go to the spring,” Stillwater said with aplomb.
Groups surrounded Kestrel and Alicia separately, and carried them to the spring, where all the members of the smaller race were immediately immersed in the water of the spring. Kestrel laid them in place, as Alicia, well-acquainted with the pool of water, took her son as she waded over to the traditional seating area among the rocks.
Kestrel came over to join her minutes later.
“I’m good enough to support myself with my medical work,” Alicia spoke first. “And the crown has given me a pension as Silvan’s widow. I don’t have to remarry to support myself, you know.” She was suddenly ready to unburden herself.
“I’m glad,” Kestrel responded to her, confused by the comment.
“But I feel lonely. That’s why I went out to dinner. I don’t think I was meant to live alone for the rest of my life,” she continued. “I want to be able to relax and talk and listen and care.
“You need that too, Kestrel,” she told him.
The Guided Journey (Book 6) Page 14
