Alec recognized all three, friends he had known from Oyster Bay. “These are good people, Merle. I like them all,” he smiled. Genia, leader of the Water house, Straynon, head of the Air house, and Suffett, head of the Light house, were sitting in the room. He walked around the room, shaking hands and greeting them all.
“I’m glad to see you all are here. You’ve had some terrible experiences lately, I know,” he told them.
They began telling him their tales of hiding and flight and chaos, and the relief they felt at finding safe refuge in Goldenfields.
“Are there any other members of the Council in Goldenfields?” Alec asked.
“Only yourself, Alec,” Genia smiled sadly. “Peter was killed, Lanter remained behind because he did not wish to see Ingenairii Hill split apart, and Persephia was also killed. Fallion and Julian are part of the junta that killed the king, and Triblum and Dosta support them.”
“What do we know of Aristotle?” Alec asked the question that was most on his mind among the many issues he worried over.
“We know nothing of him, nor of your friends from the warrior house, Rubicon, Nathaniel, and Moriah,” Straynon answered. “They were not seen by anyone we’ve spoken with since the warriors started murdering on the hill.”
Even as he asked the question, Alec felt a strange premonition. He felt certain that Aristotle was not harmed or in danger, where ever he was.
“We have here every Oyster Bay ingenaire and apprentice from water, spirit, air, light, and plant, and some from earth and stone,” Genia told him.
“We have one metal apprentice I had been teaching here, but that’s just a quibble,” Merle mentioned.
“What do you plan to do?” Alec asked plainly, putting the question on the table.
“So far we have been finding lodging for our people and learning our way around Goldenfields,” Genia told him. “We do not have plans yet, I’ll admit.”
“When will we decide?” Alec asked. “We cannot start to reclaim the Hill until we make the decision to do so.”
“We?” Suffett queried. “Which we do you mean? We the ingenairii, or we the allies of the Duke of Goldenfields?” he repeated Merle’s question of Alec’s loyalty.
“We the ingenairii have to decide if we will be the ally of the Duke of Goldenfields, and then decide how to help the Duke, either in the battle against the lacertii or in the battle to dethrone the usurpers. The Duke faces both those battles, don’t forget. Aristotle worried about three crises facing the Dominion – the death of the King, the death of the Duke, and the invasion by the lacertii,” Alec told them. “We’re now in the Duchy that is the only hope of preserving the Dominion, and that places us between the hammer and the anvil.”
“I am a man of Duke Toulon,” Alec said proudly. “And I do not doubt that his success is the best hope for the ingenairii and for the Dominion.”
“There should be a meeting of the Ingenairii Council here,” Genia said. “Can we call a meeting for tomorrow afternoon?”
“Who will sit for each house?” Straynon asked. “There will be the three of us, but who for Spirit and who for Plant?”
“I shall sit for Spirit,” Merle said.
“I’ll sit for Healers,” Alec spoke up, drawing a glance from the others.
“Well, that seems lawful, I suppose,” Suffett said. “Who will sit for Plant, Earth and Stone?” he asked.
“Let’s look at our rosters and see if any full ingenairii from those houses are with us who might be able to represent their people,” Genia said. “Where shall we meet? This is a little crowded.”
“Since we have some people staying at the home of trader Natha, perhaps we could go there for our discussion,” Merle said. “Alec, would you ask Natha if that is agreeable, since you have such a good relationship with him?” Alec nodded his willingness.
Alec sensed that no more was going to be decided among those present, and decided to take his leave. “I want to go home and settle back in, if you’ll excuse me. Congratulations to you all for successfully traveling to Goldenfields,” he said and made his departure.
Alec walked out and pondered the meeting on his way home. There was nothing more obvious to him than the need for the ingenairii to take up the banner of Goldenfields and battle for the Duke, but he did not sense that the members of the Council were prepared to make the obvious decision. He promised himself he’d ask Bethany about it later that night at dinner.
When he got back to his shop at lunchtime, Ellen prepared a simple meal for him. “We’ll have three guests for dinner tonight, Ellen. Bethany, Cassie, and Ellison, if that’s suitable. Please fix something simple so that you can sit with us as we eat.
“How did Annalea and Helen do after I left? Have they arranged for a wet nurse for baby Leah?” he asked.
“They were going to go to the same neighborhood girl Leah is already with, to try to make some arrangement,” his friend replied. “I’m sure they’ll work everything out to take care of that wee one. Looking at Annalea, I can tell your choice was a good one Alec, though it does make me sad to see the empty spot where the baby had been sleeping.”
“I was all set to fix a nice roast and other things for everyone, but if you don’t mind me sitting with Ellison at dinner, I think I’ll just make a hearty stew that everyone can eat,” she said, turning to the menu for the evening.
“That sounds delicious, Ellen. I’m going to run out to Natha’s home to ask a favor, and if Helen is there, I’ll see how things are going for Annalea. Then I will go out a bit more, and meet you back here before the others arrive,” Alec agreed, and left the house to walk out to Natha’s home. As he covered the distance across the city he wondered for the first time whether he should consider buying a horse. Trips like this one would be much quicker to make with an animal of his own, although he didn’t know where he would be able to stable a horse, or whether he wanted to confine one in a stable for days without use if he wasn’t traveling a great deal.
With such thoughts, he eventually arrived at Natha’s large estate, and announced himself at the door. Natha was not home, which did not surprise Alec, but Helen was, and he entered to talk with her, waiting in the reception room while the servant went to find her.
“Alec, is that you?” a voice asked, and moments later Cassie’s face appeared at the door. “I thought I heard your voice!” she said excitedly, and walked in to hug him.
“I didn’t realize you were staying here,” Alec exclaimed. “And is Bethany here too?” he asked. When Cassie affirmed that they were both guests there, Alec said, “I feel all the more honored that you would give up such luxury to stay with me in my humble shop!”
“If I’m ever given the choice, my first choice will always be to live with you Alec,” Cassie said earnestly.
“She’s a wise girl, indeed,” Helen said from the doorway. “Does this mean you’re leaving us Cassie, to go live with Alec?”
“Yes, Bethany and I are going to Alec’s tonight as a matter of fact, Madame Helen. Thank you so much for your hospitality these past few days. If it was anyone but Alec I’d be hard pressed to leave such a beautiful home and such kind people,” Cassie said.
“So you’re picking two lovely flowers from my new garden, are you, Alec?” Helen said, giving him an arch look. “You couldn’t have chosen any prettier girls to stay with you, could you?”
Alec blushed, and Helen smiled. “No, I couldn’t,” he agreed, smiling at Cassie. “Are you both all packed, or will I be able to do anything to help?”
“We are both still packing,” Cassie said. “We thought we’d only bring some things tonight, and then come back for the rest tomorrow. Although, truth to tell, we don’t have that much to pack. We left Oyster Bay with little more than the clothes on our backs and whatever we managed to pick up on our way out.”
“I’ve really stopped by to see Helen for a quick moment,” Alec told Cassie. “Why don’t I come back and pick up you and Bethany to take you home to the shop, so you
don’t have to walk all that way alone.”
“That will be very nice Alec,” Cassie said. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go tell Bethany and we’ll finish our packing” she said and left the room.
“I’ve not spent a lot of time with the young ingenairii that have been here with us, but that one has just been a joy to have,” Helen said, watching Cassie leave. “She has been helping tend to the staff and their families just as you do for so many. And the other one is Bethany, the beautiful blond girl?”
Alec felt compelled to explain to Helen. “Cassie is something like an apprentice to me and maybe a ward as well. I love the girl dearly, and want to help her develop a good life. I think she is going to be a good healer,” he agreed. “I came for other reasons than to talk about myself though. One simple reason is that the ingenairii wondered if they might use your home tomorrow afternoon as a meeting place for the council. There will be no more than a dozen extra I expect.”
“That will be the simplest of matters. We’ll make arrangements for them to use the ballroom,” Helen said, dismissing the matter.
“How are Annalea and Leah doing?” Alec asked. “Have the arrangements been made for the wet nurse?”
“Yes, Annie will take the baby over to the wet nurse for at least another three or four months, until she can switch to cow’s milk,” Helen said. “Annalea is ready to learn some of the work that goes into motherhood, I think,” she smiled.
“Natha will be thoroughly surprised this evening when he learns he has a new granddaughter, just as I’m sure Rand is rather surprised by the daughter he now has. But Annie will be too busy to mourn her infertility,” Helen said. “How long did you know about her problem?”
“I discovered it when I first healed her. That didn’t seem like the time to tell her, and then no other time was right after that either, until baby Leah’s predicament meant I had to tell her,” Alec said.
“This has worked out as well as it can,” Helen replied. “I think you were right; it is God’s plan for those two to comfort one another.”
“Alec! Cassie said you were visiting,” Bethany said from the doorway. “My apologies for interrupting,” she said to Helen as she entered the room.
“I’m just finishing up with Helen and I’ll be back after a while to help you two move to my shop, if you’re sure you can give up this luxury?” Alec said to her.
“That may be a problem, I’ll admit,” she smiled. “A girl could get used to all this. I expect you’ll make it up to me though. I’d better go finish my packing, and I’ll see you again very soon, dear,” she told Alec with a quick kiss on the cheek and then she left them.
“I’ll be back tomorrow and I’ll expect to hear any update you have to give regarding Annie and Leah?” Alec said to Helen, taking his leave.
He walked to the south and then the west, looking for the small church near the grove of cedars. A little further from the city than he expected he found the graveyard with a newly turned grave still fresh, wilted flowers on the mound of soil.
Alec knelt by the grave and prayed for Leah. He remembered the long trip down the river Giffey on their small raft, when she had become his friend and essentially a big sister, and he had taught her simple medicine and healing, while protecting her from potential threats or dangers. She had cried many times on that trip, mourning lost friends and fearing the unknown future. But she had bravely carried on and planned for their future in Goldenfields when Alec had no concept about how they were to live in the city. They had stayed close friends, even when they had spent little time together after arriving in Goldenfields, a relationship that had been misunderstood by many.
He stayed at the grave for a long time, and felt a sense of peace, an affirmation that Leah had been happy with her brief life in Goldenfields, the shop and the healing practice allowing her to prove herself and develop a self-sufficiency she never had before.
Rising, Alec saw that the afternoon was passing, and he knew he had to get back to the city and hire a coach to pick up Bethany and Cassie. He walked at a purposeful pace through the short stretch of countryside between the chapel and the city, then through the city’s main boulevard until he started to see coaches available for rent along the way. Alec flagged one down, gave Natha’s address and half the fare, then climbed aboard and rode back to the Millershome mansion.
“Where have you been Alec?” Bethany asked as she hugged Alec upon his return.
“I went to the grave of a friend who died,” Alec told her. “Leah, the other healer I used to work with, died in childbirth last week, and I wasn’t able to attend her funeral, so this was my first chance to say good bye.”
Cassie walked up and gave Alec a silent hug as she overheard Alec’s comment, while Bethany too remained mute. “Shall we load our things into the coach?” she asked after several moments, gesturing to two canvas bags on the floor.
”You really didn’t leave Oyster Bay with anything, did you?” Alec commented as he lifted the two bags and gave them to the driver.
“Bethany only has what she picked up along the way here, and I only have the ball gown you made for me. I couldn’t bear to leave it behind,” Cassie said with a blush.
The three of them said good bye again to Helen, as well as to some of the other ingenairii and apprentices who were staying at Natha’s home, then they climbed in the coach and went to the healers shop on Bakers Street.
Alec paid the coachman and ushered his friends into the shop. “Ellen, Hannah, we’re home,” he called from the front room as he led Bethany and Cassie back to the kitchen in the back.
“So you’re the healer?” Ellen asked Cassie as introductions were made.
“Yes, thanks to Alec I am,” Cassie said with a smile. “Nice to meet you Hannah,” she told the young girl.
“Let’s take your things upstairs, and find out what you need so we can get you settled in,” Alec said as he lifted the bags up the stairs.
“Cassie, I thought you could have that room up front,” Alec suggested. “There’s Ellen and Hannah’s room there. Bethany, I’ll move my bed out of this room and you can sleep in here,” Alec indicated the room with two beds where he and Leah had slept.
“This looks very nice, Alec,” the water apprentice said. “Why did you move your bed in here?”
“Well, Leah and I used to share this room so we could talk together at night when I was here,” Alec explained. He placed Bethany’s belongings on her bed and began to disassemble his bed. “We’ve got other rooms upstairs where I’ll move this bed.”
“Was Leah’s baby the one you asked Helen’s daughter to adopt?” Bethany asked, catching Alec by surprise. He stopped his work on the bed and looked at her.
“Yes, she is.” He said. “That little girl was orphaned when her mother died after delivery, and she needed a mother. Annalea is a wonderful woman, who wants to have a baby and raise a family more than anything else in the world, but she will never be able to bear children. I think God intended those two to come together, and I pray they will be as good for each other as I want them to be.”
“Alec, I know this is the wrong time to ask this,” Bethany began, then paused before rushing through the rest of her question, her back now turned to him. “I have heard that Leah’s baby was your child too. Is that true?”
Alec took a slow, deep breath. “I want baby Leah to have the best life she can, and I loved her mother Leah like a big sister, but we were never anything more than good friends. The child’s father was from Walnut Creek, and the baby was conceived before I even knew Leah. I never met the father,” Alec said, hoping he wouldn’t have to explain anything more about that.
Bethany turned and looked at him. “I know it was the wrong question to ask at the wrong time, Alec. I’m sorry. Thank you for your answer. I’m nervous about this, and I’ve been nervous ever since I began to hope you might really care for me like I care for you,” she said. “I’ve always had boys chasing me, and now I’m chasing you, and I don’t like this inse
curity I have. Plus, you’re becoming someone so may people know or know about because you’re a warrior and a healer and a friend of the Duke and of the traders and so much more. You’re not just another apprentice on the Hill.”
“I hear talk about you more than I get to talk to you Alec,” she said standing still in the center of the room. “Such talk that I know can’t be true, because I know how honorable you’ve been with Cassie, but it still isn’t any pleasure to hear that you’ve fathered a child or have known other women.”
Alec walked over to the girl and hugged her tightly, feeling her arms fiercely grab him as well. He was at a complete loss for words. “Bethany, I wish I could tell you that I love only you, because you deserve a man’s total and complete devotion, as special as you are.” He could think of nothing else to say, and hoped that was enough.
“Thank you, Alec,” she whispered, and released her grip on him. “And thank you for taking your bed to another room. I wouldn’t have asked you to, but I appreciate you doing it on your own. Just because you’re going up a floor, you will still talk to me every day won’t you?” she asked, finally getting a light-hearted smile on her face for the first time in their conversation.
“I will talk to you every day, and I’ll even listen to you, too,” he grinned as he resumed dismantling the bed.
“Alec, how old are you?” Bethany asked him.
“I don’t know my proper birthday because I was an orphan,” but I’m around sixteen,” he said. “How old are you, if I may ask?”
“It’s not polite to ask a lady her age,” Bethany said with a put-upon face. “I’m almost eighteen.
“You looked so young when I first saw you, and that was just a couple of months ago. I remember hearing about Aristotle’s new pet apprentice, and then clearly seeing you and Moriah and Nathaniel walking down the Hill towards the city. No one I asked at first knew anything about you until Appel said you had come from Goldenfields to see Aristotle and become a warrior ingenaire, and then the next thing I knew you were a healer ingenaire, and then you were taking me shopping to buy a gown for another girl! That had me confused, until I understood later about you and Cassie, but I did have fun shopping in the meantime!”
The Loss of Power: Goldenfields and Bondell Page 4
