“Gentlemen if you’ll excuse us now, we have a luncheon engagement,” the Duke said to the previous two men he had spoken with.
“Colonel Mount, may I call upon you tomorrow afternoon?” Alec asked. “Where are your offices?”
“We have barracks south of the cathedral, and my office is there. Please do stop by,” the colonel said as he and Greene withdrew from the room.
“Alec, I’d like you to stay and have a bite to eat with the colonel and me. Will your ladies be able to join us?” the Duke asked.
“We had made no plans to impose on you and your officers, your Grace,” Bethany said. “The pleasure will be ours some other time perhaps. Thank you for the invitation.”
“We’ll have to arrange that soon, so that the palace can sparkle with some new company to brighten things up,” the Duke said graciously.
“I’ll be home after this to change, so I may see you then,” Alec said quickly to the departing girls.
Chapter 5 – Conversations
The three who remained sat down as a cart with food was rolled into the room for their luncheon.
“I presume those lovely young ladies are important to you?” the Duke asked.
“Cassie is a very special person, a girl who I found with deformed legs, virtually abandoned by her mother for years. I healed her legs and have treated her as my own ward ever since. She could prove to be a very good healer.”
“Bethany does mean a lot to me, and I’m not sure yet how much that is, but we care for each other a great deal, and will find out. Both girls have moved into my home with me,” Alec explained with drawn out words.
“What prompted such special dress for today?” the Duke wanted to know, indicating Alec’s uniform. “Just a chance to impress the girls further?”
“We had our first meeting of the officers of the Guard today, and I wanted to emphasize my pride and belief in the respect the Guard should receive,” Alec answered.
“What plans are you laying out for the Guard?” the Duke asked Ryder.
Between bites of food, the colonel laid out his ideas. “I want to have three battalions at full strength, or more, so that we will have enough men to put one battalion on the eastern front, one with you, and one on the northern front. We need to ascertain what our supplies sources are, and which are likely to be cut off, and then arrange for alternatives. I want to examine an idea Alec had to establish cavalry in the Guard, so that we’ll have a force we can launch quickly as the needs may arise. We need to recruit, and train, and equip, and on and on and on,” he said.
“The cavalry is an interesting idea. What value do you see in it?” the Duke asked.
“Suppose you needed to send assistance to Lord Kelvin in Bondell, or suppose we wanted to send a unit behind the lines of the lacertii to disrupt their supply lines and burn their wagons, or in another battle, simply put bows in the hands of the cavalry, and let them fly across the enemy’s rear, harassing with arrows from a safe range and riding away,” Alec excitedly laid out some potential ways he had considered using the cavalry.
“Very interesting. They all sound practical. I’ll be interested to hear more,” the Duke told him. He turned back to Ryder. “Do you believe war will come in the north?”
“I think it is already here, my grace. Elgin probably didn’t mount that attack without support from the usurpers. Look at how closely the Locksforts appear to be involved. My question for you is, what are your intentions towards them? What do I need to train my men to expect?” the colonel asked.
“Without the threat of the lacertii on our east, I’d order you to march and sail our men to Oyster Bay and assemble a conclave of the nobles to select the next king, and see that the crown was handed over, whether to me or someone else, as long as it was done fairly.”
“But the lacertii are a reality, and must be considered, and what’s more, we don’t really know how many of them there are. It could be a few hundred, or it could be thousands, and if they really want to get us, they can just go around the forts we’re building,” the Duke theorized.
“What does that tell you? I’d like you to train the men and the women of the Guard to be the best warriors they can be, the best fighting force in the Dominion once again,” the Duke finished.
“How does a new king get selected?” Alec asked.
“Well, in the event there is no heir, then a conclave of nobles, high-ranking ingenairii, and senior church leaders collect and go through the process of considering who has the best hereditary claim in the throne, who brings the most resources to bear in the matter, as well who is likely to be a good king,” the Duke explained. “My great, great grandfather was king, on my father’s side. I rule the largest duchy, have the largest army, and possess the most wealth, so frankly, in a fair conclave I would become king.”
“Who would rule Goldenfields if you became king?” Alec blurted out, realizing that the succession following the Duke was probably not any clearer than that of the king at the moment following his sons’ attempts to usurp his position.
“Going to the tough questions, now? Well, that’s hard to say. I’ll probably need to find an eligible young princess or duchess and produce a new line of heirs. But that’s not a question for today,” the Duke said, closing the conversation.
“Tell us what to expect from your friends the ingenairii, Alec,” Colonel Ryder suggested.
“The ingenairii are apparently not certain what to do. They have no income, no home here, no work, and no sense of belonging, and some of them wonder if it’s possible to return to Oyster Bay as if nothing had happened. I will try to convince them that they should join forces with us. Your Grace, could you help by throwing a ball for them, as well as hiring them and paying them for services they perform?” Alec mentioned, touching on the topic he had discussed with Rastall.
“A ball is a splendid idea. I’ll check with the calendar about holding one, and inviting all your ingenairii, as well as the nobles. It will lighten the mood to have something to look forward to after these past few weeks of attacks, rebellion and price gouging,” the Duke replied positively. “Provided you promise to bring your lovely young friends! As for the rest, yes, I’m sure we can find some work for them on projects here in the duchy.”
“I’ll not be able to prevent Bethany and Cassie from attending a ball,” Alec admitted. “Also, will you have lunch with the ingenaire leadership in the meantime to start swaying them to support you?”
“If you think I should, I will,” the Duke agreed. “Now,” he said, seeing another person arrive at the doorway, “I need to attend another meeting. DR, let’s get together again in two days and go over things again. Carry on with all your plans and good luck. Alec, it was a pleasure to see you.”
Alec left the luncheon alongside Colonel Ryder and walked back to the commander’s office. “Tell me about your cavalry idea,” the colonel said, taking his seat behind his desk.
“We are going to have to be able to move faster than our adversaries it seems to me. And the best way to do that is to put a body of our Guards on horses, let them travel light, and use them to do a number of things. We’re going to need to go possibly from north to south or vice versa, and with the roads we’re building, travel by land can be as fast as travel by river. Plus we could send the cavalry on quick strikes behind the other side’s line to gather intelligence about their forces, and to disrupt them, as I said in the armory,” Alec explained, the excitement of his idea causing his words to tumble out rapidly and his voice to rise.
“And who do you have in mind for this experiment? How would we recruit for it without disrupting our existing needs? Where would we stable so many animals?” Ryder threw out a series of practical questions.
“Imelda asked this morning to be put in charge. Ellison says she rides very well. She told me she has a couple of folks in mind for squad leaders, and she thinks she can recruit her people from the eastern villages. I don’t know where we’d build the stables we’d need,” Alec respond
ed.
“Alec, I think it’s a good idea. I want to see if you can translate the idea into reality. Start taking steps to make it happen, and we’ll talk about your progress on a regular basis. We may have to pull the rope and lasso it in, but I hope not,’ Ryder told him. “And next time, come talk to me one to one before we have to involve the whole officer corps in a debate over policy,” he finished as Alec was dismissed.
With a spring of satisfaction in his step, Alec left the island and returned to his shop to change out of his uniform, ready to go to his next challenge. He felt that wearing the uniform to the ingenairii meeting would not be productive, given how he suspected he was seen, as a lackey for the Duke’s interests above the ingenairii’s own interest.
At the shop both girls were complimentary of the colonel and the Duke. “I’m glad to hear you liked Duke Toulon, because you apparently made a good impression on him. We talked about having a ball to welcome the ingenairii to Goldenfields, and he specifically asked that you two attend!”
Bethany looked at Cassie with a predatory gleam in her eye. “We’ll have to buy new gowns if there’s to be a ball. There will be plenty to keep us busy.”
“Speaking of busy,” Alec inserted, “maybe this is the time to ask Cassie if she has any interest in working as the healer in the shop here,” he waved his hand around the room they were in. “Leah had been seeing several people each morning, local folk who wanted simple cures for headaches, strained muscles, upset stomachs, and the like. She served them with herbs and oils and salves and other simple cures that I know you could offer to people.”
“Alec, I expected I’d start healing here with you. I can start tomorrow morning if you’d like,” she replied with a smile.
“Why don’t you see if Ellen will go with you for a couple of hours this afternoon and you can visit several of the local shops and introduce yourself as the new healer here where Leah used to treat folks, and offer that all your cures tomorrow will be free so that you attract folks in. After that, just keep regular hours, and people will talk about you with their friends in the marketplace and elsewhere and you’ll have a booming business in no time.”
“What would you like for me to do, Alec?” Bethany asked as Cassie agreed to start healing activities.
“Bethany, I don’t have any such immediate plans for you, but I do need to work with you. The duke has said he’s like to provide more work for ingenairii here in his Duchy. I need to better understand from you what types of projects water ingenairii can do in the land to improve the fields and the villages and the life here,” Alec told her. “I’ve also heard that the Duke will divert his payments for ingenairii duties away from Oyster Bay and towards the council here in Goldenfields, and I’d like for you to talk among your friends about the good things like payments and works and a ball the duke will do for the ingenairii.”
“We have a couple of extra rooms still empty upstairs,” Alec said. “Would you like to invite some more apprentices to come live with us here so we have more people together?”
“Are you trying to create your own community within ingenaire society?” Bethany asked. “You realize you already have many of us ready to follow you no matter what, Alec. Chester, Appel, Rodric, at least a dozen of the apprentices and youngest ingenairii will do what you say Alec. They know you, or know of you as having brought Cassie back to life, or they’ve heard about the battles here and believe you are a warrior ingenaire as well, and they believe that you will fight against the murderers back in Oyster Bay.”
“Well, I was hoping more to be able to give you two some ingenaire company here when I’m not around, really. But the other news pleases me as well. Do you have any in mind who would be best to bring among us, or would it be better to keep folks who think like us scattered out among the other ingenairii?” Alec asked.
“Well, I think we should invite Appel to stay with us; don’t you Cassie?” Bethany asked, smiling at her friend, who blushed brightly. “A spirit ingenaire will help us all. Seriously, I think that we can all still get out and circulate among our friends even if we live here,” Bethany said. “How much room do you have?”
Well, there are three other rooms on the top floor that are empty, so we could bring at least three. For that matter, I don’t know what conditions apprentice’s have in other places, but if they want to sleep two to a room, we could bring in more,” Alec thought out loud.
“Sleeping two to a room would be an improvement for many, especially those out at the cathedral, I understand,” Cassie said. “Bethany and I could double up in a room and have space for more too, couldn’t we?” she asked.
“Well Cassie, with Alec trying to prowl around my room and peek at me in the mornings, I don’t know if you want to take the chance on being involved in all that,” Bethany said with a roguish smile. “Just this morning I woke up to find him leering at me, inside my own room!”
“That’s not what happened, exactly!” Alec protected, and both girls laughed. “Besides, it’s winter; she should have had something on.”
“Yes, I think we could double up in a room as well, probably the front room so Cassie can still watch the people walk by,” Bethany agreed.
“That all sounds great,” Alec said as he started to rise. “I need to get changed and go to the ingenairii council meeting. If you two want to get started on restoring the healer business and inviting more apprentices to join us, I’ll see about having some more beds delivered here tomorrow. Cassie, would you please tell Ellen, so that she can plan on bigger meals?”
“Do you want me to come see you undress?” Bethany asked sweetly. “That will help even us up after you leered at me this morning.”
Alec beat a hasty retreat up to his room to change clothes, and came back downstairs again shortly, causing a flurry of laughter between the girls when he returned.
“Good luck with the council, Alec,” Cassie told him when their laughter stopped.
“Just remember, many of us will follow you no matter what the council says,” Bethany said.
“Thank you ladies, I’ll see you at dinner time,” Alec said, and he started on his way to Natha and Helen’s home to face the ingenaire’s council.
Chapter 6 – The Ingenairii Council
Alec walked towards his meeting with the council of the exiled ingenairii feeling highly uncertain about what the outcome would be. He felt strongly that the ingenairii must unite to work with the Duke of Goldenfields to battle the usurpers of the throne as well as the lacertii from the Pale Mountains. He couldn’t understand how any ingenaire could fail to see the urgency of uniting to help restore lawful rule in the Dominion, and more importantly, protecting the Dominion from invasion by the evil creatures that intended to destroy and kill widely.
Several minutes later Alec arrived at the estate where the meeting would occur. He found that he was the last to arrive, and walked into the large ballroom, where five others were sitting at a table, chatting
Alec stepped to the table and took the open seat, looking around at the others. He recognized all but one of them. “My name is Alec, from the healers’ House,” he introduced himself and held out his hand to the unknown woman.
“My name is Gora, from the plant house,” she told him with a smile. “I’ve heard much about you. It’s nice to meet you in person.”
Alec sat down. “We were just about to begin proceeding,” Straynon told him.
“Who is running the council?” Alec asked.
“That’s just what we were going to decide,” Straynon replied. “I think that we should consider one of the three of us who sat on the council back in Oyster Bay to bring continuity and experience to our deliberations. I believe Genia is the senior member, and I suggest we accept her as head of the council.”
Alec sat back and pondered. He knew Genia a little and liked her, but didn’t know how she would act as leader of the council. After a moment’s hesitation, he decided to accept her leadership and let the council begin to deliberate matters.
“Does anyone object?” Straynon asked. “If not, Genia, why don’t you begin the meeting and lay out an agenda for us?”
“As background for Gora, Alec has rejoined us in the ingenaire world after his battles and recovery from injuries on behalf of his Duke, and yesterday he had suggested that the ingenairii who are temporarily here in Goldenfields need to begin to collectively think about our future,” Genia began.
“I think he’s right. If possible, we do need to plan what actions we’re going to take as the majority of ingenairii in the Dominion. We fled in a hurry from a bad situation. We are now well-treated refugees in a very good city. We need to talk about everything that we have left behind, and everything we face in the future.”
Straynon interrupted Genia. “I think we have to mention the present as well. We are living in virtual poverty, relying on the charity of the church and the Duke and a wealthy trader. It isn’t a situation we can expect to last forever, and it isn’t one that is pleasant to endure. All of our usual revenues are going back to Oyster Bay. The folks who are still there are surely not going to send a share to us here, so we’re going to have to go back and get it. The real question is how do we go back? We need to be able to make sure we are peaceably accepted back, and that we have a chance to exercise a good influence on the others.”
“What influence are you going to exercise on King Gildevny?” Alec asked. “He’s dead because the power-hungry ingenairii worked with power-hungry nobles and killed him. You can’t believe that people who kill a king are going to honorably and peacefully work with you to set things right,’ he said fiercely.
Suffett answered Alec. “The king is dead. We need to recognize that and investigate it to be sure that we know the facts about it. Merle, the Spirit House can question the leaders of the other Houses to determine if they had any involvement in his death. We will have a majority of the Ingenairii Council, and we can order that to happen.”
The Loss of Power: Goldenfields and Bondell Page 7
