“Alec, I’m not sure you can do anything, but I don’t know who else to talk to,” Tarkas began. “In the past fortnight, we’ve had two ships disappear completely – ships, crews, freight, all gone – somewhere between Three Forks and Oyster Bay. There weren’t any storms or weather or reports of other ships lost,” Tarkas said. “I’ve got no proof of any wrong-doing, but I have a feeling that the Locksforts may be robbing our ships of the fountain water we haul- both ships we lost were carrying it.”
“They were certainly tied up with the problems here in Goldenfields, and probably at Oyster Bay too,” Tarkas continued.
“What type of security do you put on your ships?” Alec asked. “Do you put swordsmen in your crews?”
“No, we haven’t. Nobody expects their sailors to be arms men too,” Tarkas replied. “If we hire extra crew to sail as guards, that’d cost more and eat away our profits. And they might not be enough. We don’t know what’s happening or how many people are involved yet, if something really is happening.”
“How often do you lose ships Tarkas?” Alec asked.
“Typically, we lose one every six or seven months, but we usually know what happened, because we don’t lose the crews on the river; they can swim to shore,” he answered.
“Let me think about the problem, and let me know if you do lose more ships, and if you increase your security,” Alec asked. “I don’t know much else to tell you right at the moment.”
“I didn’t expect you to have an answer right here Alec,” Tarkas said, rising to leave. “But I wanted you to know about this problem. We’ll keep you up to date.”
Alec showed him out the door, then stood in the parlor and considered what he heard. Natha’s shipping very well could be the target of revenge from the Locksforts after the battle in Goldenfields. As well, the Locksforts’ greed for the fountain water seemed a plausible part of the answer, and reductions in water sales for Natha would cut profits for the Duke and Alec too, although Alec doubted that was widely known, and he didn’t care about his own profits from the venture at any rate. It could also be an effort by the junta to start to strangle the commerce of Goldenfields and weaken the duchy’s economy as part of their war against the Duke, Alec guessed.
He’d talk to the colonel tomorrow and make him aware of the problem. The only answer he could readily come up with would involve putting Guards on Natha’s ships, or even ingenairii on the ships. He didn’t have enough of either to watch over Natha’s ships though, at least not at the present time, and it would be many weeks before any such plan was possible, if at all.
“What are you doing here all alone?” he heard Bethany ask him. He turned and saw her behind him in the room.
“You’re wearing your new blue outfit, I see,” he said to her, recognizing the new clothes she had modeled the night before.
Bethany smiled a bright and sincere smile that lit up his heart. “You’re going to be very good to live with if you manage to notice my new clothes!” she said cheerily.
“Now, why are you here all alone? Has it been a bad day? Cassie said she walked in at a bad moment for you at the palace today, which I find hard to imagine, but she’s still upset by it,” Bethany told him.
They sat down on two chairs. “Parts of today have been bad, and parts have been good,” he told her, and then explained what he had just heard from Tarkas. “So that’s what I was thinking about when you walked in,” he concluded.
“We’ve got a full house upstairs, ten men and two girls moved over today, four from Natha’s and the rest from the cathedral,” she told him. “We could have a dozen more, if there was room. As it is, if you can have another set of bunk beds sent over tomorrow, we’ll have two more girls tomorrow night.”
“We’ll have to get everyone together and start making introductions among other things,” Alec told her. “Should I go see Cassie and talk to her?”
“I think that would make her feel better. She’s not in tears or anything. She just can’t imagine how anyone could disagree with the man she worships, poor naive baby,” Bethany smiled again. Alec placed his hand on hers and squeezed it, then walked upstairs, passing several people he didn’t know, until he found Cassie, sitting on a bunk bed.
“Cassie, can you join me?” he asked from the doorway, receiving a smile of assent. He held her hand and led her to his own bedroom, nodding greetings to strangers he passed in the hall, then realized his room was the only one in the house with a single bed now. “Let’s go outside,” he said as he opened the hatch to the roof and stepped on a chest to climb up. He held his hand out to Cassie and helped her climb up to sit down beside him.
“We’re going to have a strange home for the next few days until everyone gets used to one another, I imagine,” Alec began. “What do you think of the folks who have moved in?”
“I only know a couple of them, Chester and Appel, from Oyster Bay. Bethany picked all the rest, but they all seem pretty nice so far. They all treat it like a big game in some ways, and they all are trying really hard to get along,” she added.
“Good,” Alec said. “We didn’t really get to talk this morning at the palace, and I’m sorry about that. In one way it was unlucky timing that brought you in when it did, although I think it was good timing to help me move past a bad meeting, to more positive things. You had such good news, I didn’t have a chance to really react and think.”
“Don’t worry Alec,” Cassie said. “You are so busy and so important to so many people now, I should have known better than to think I could drop in and see you.”
“I want you to always feel free to drop in, Cassie, and I want you to really do it. It lights up my day when you stop by,” Alec corrected her. “And if we’re going to be working on your healing power together, we’ll need to spend lots of time together.”
“What did Merle tell you about your ingenaire powers?” Alec asked. “Did he give any details at all? What kind of test did he give you?”
“No, he only told me that I certainly had ingenaire potential,” she answered. “He told me to look into a big glass ball. After a little while it started to get foggy, that in the fog I saw a shape that changed. First it was a heart, then a hand, then a leg, then it became that,” she raised his sleeve and pointed at the caduceus mark that had arisen on his arm when he had healed her legs of the birth defect that prevented her from walking.
“That’s the same main image I saw,” Alec told her with delight. “Did it have a blue halo around it?”
“No, just the changing shapes before it settled on the one image,” Cassie told him.
“Lie back for a minute,” Alec instructed her. “Close your eyes, try to relax completely, and imagine your soul is between two barriers, staying in space, in a plane between the barriers.” He took off his cloak and spread it over her. “Like you are right now between the roof and this cloak,” he added.
He lied down next to her and imagined his own spirit in that spot again, as he had not consciously done in a long time. He found the spot and began searching for hers, hoping to find her in the spiritual space. He found nothing.
“I’m imagining the space, I think,” she said.
“Can you find a way to go through the barriers? They should be very tough to get through. Some folks can sense where there are openings or gaps in them, while most people just explore them and eventually find them by feeling their way along the wall, in a sense. You may not be at the space between the barriers yet. It’s not easy to learn to find them.” He reached over and took her hand, and placed himself back in the space between the barriers.
“Oh, excuse us,” a voice said, and Alec looked up to see two apprentices’ heads peeking through the hatch. “There’s a man downstairs who said he was supposed to meet a healer here. Also dinner is ready,” one of them said, and they disappeared from sight.
Come on, kiddo,” Alec said, sitting up and raising Cassie with him. “We’ll start working on this regularly every day. Let’s go see if that’s my Stron
ghold blacksmith, and if he’s part of the answer I’m looking for.”
Chapter 9 – Cassie’s Soul
Alec found a plain dressed man with well-muscled arms sitting in the parlor. “Are you Neill?” he asked.
“Yes sir, I am,” the blacksmith replied. “My father-in-law told me that a man here had made his back feel better, and this morning he woke up and started lifting his grandkids around like they were feather pillows. He said the healer wanted to see me, so I figured I better come here or you’d take his good back away!”
Alec laughed. “No, I wouldn’t take his good back away, but I’m glad you came anyway. I hope we’ll have one or two other folks arrive soon to join us in a conversation about metal work. I understand you learned your craft in Stronghold, and that you’re very good at high quality work.”
“I was,” the man answered without expanding on his answer.
“Wait here just a moment,” Alec told him and went to get his sword. “What can you tell me about that?” he asked, passing the blade to Neill.
The smith examined it closely. “It’s very good work. It’s strong metal, a well made piece of work. It is longer than a typical blade, and has a low balance point. The only thing I can’t figure out is why it is so awkward.”
“It’s because some screwball uses it to fence left-handed,” Imelda said, as she walked in with Mortis, Ellison and Tarpa.
Neill looked up at the three new arrivals. “Left-handed makes sense.”
“Neill, this is Imelda and this in Tarpa, and this is Ellison. That’s Mortis in the back. These are the ones I wanted to talk with you. Can you make a blade like that?”
“If I had a good hot flame, more than I’ve got now, I could make this,” Neill advised.
“What would it take to make a smithy with a flame hot enough for you? How would you build one?” Tarpa asked.
“Controlled air intake, a focused heat zone, high quality fire brick to withstand the heat, high grade coal for fuel. You give me those and I’ll make blades like this all day long.” Neill said matter-of-factly.
“How many would you be able to produce if you worked all day long?” Imelda looked at Alec. “Do you have some paper and a pen?” Alec nodded. “Go get some, and then Neill can show us what exactly he means and how to build it.”
“I could make at least one every day, most days two, occasionally even three if everything went right. What is this all about?” Neill asked.
“We’re planning to build a stable, and we want a high grade smithy included in the construction. We’d like to see what you’re telling us so we can try to build it in. If it works out, we’d like you to work for us creating the blades and the tools we need,” Ellison answered while Alec went to get paper.
When he arrived at the kitchen, the apprentices were there at the table and at the stove top, filling plates and bowls with food. “Chester,” Alec called, “Can you come up front with me?”
The air apprentice followed Alec back to the parlor, as did a couple of other ingenairii. “This is Chester,” he introduced. “This is Neill, a smith, and these are friends of mine from the Duke’s Guard. Neill was just showing us how he’d build a high quality smithy to produce the highest quality of blades for our men and women to use, and he mentioned he needs good air intake.”
“Chester, you’re an air ingenaire,” Alec turned. “Could you focus a flow of air the way a smith told you into a fire to make it burn hotter?”
“It would be an elementary exercise,” Chester said. He looked at Imelda’s long hair, not tied in its usual ponytail. “I could make it blow there,” he said as the hair on her left shoulder rippled in a breeze, “or there” he said as the right rippled instead, and her hands shot up to hold her hair in place around a scowl.
“That would be powerfully helpful,” Neill said thoughtfully. He began to sketch a smithy, writing in dimensions. “Now here is where we’d make a modification if someone was really going to be there to make a breeze blow like that,” he drew some alternative lines.
“Better make it able to work both ways, because we won’t always have ingenairii on the premises,” Alec suggested.
“Tomorrow, I’ll ask Colonel Ryder if the recruits may start demolition of the small wooden warehouse, and I’ll try to get some prisoner labor to help out on that and then help with excavation too. We’ll need an engineer to draw up the plans for us, but we can get started. Make sure to put at least one level of basement storage in, and put large dormers and room above as well for the grooms or whoever we might need to house with the horses, plus a hayloft,” Alec instructed Tarpa. “Enough of that for now. Let’s all go back and get some dinner and get to know one another. We’re all on the same side, so we might as well know our mates.” Neill agreed to return in three days time, and left to rejoin his family.
Later that night, after dinner, after much conversation, and after the Guards had left to return to the barracks and quarters on the island, Alec prepared to go to bed. He stopped on the second floor and knocked on the door of the room Bethany and Cassie shared.
“Cassie, will you come to see me tomorrow afternoon?” Alec asked. “In the mornings I’ll have Guard functions, but in the afternoon, I’d like to work with you on your ingenaire skills. As a matter of fact,” he turned to Bethany, “I’d like everyone to come tomorrow. I’d like to begin teaching every ingenaire and apprentice in this house how to turn a blade, so let’s just plan on daily lessons each afternoon, and then Cassie can stay after that for her ingenaire lessons.”
“Does that seem suitable for you ladies?” he asked.
“You’re slipping, Alec,” Bethany said.
“What? How?” he asked with concern.
“You didn’t notice the new pajamas I’m wearing just for you,” she said demurely.
“They certainly are very noticeable,” Alec said, looking at his friend. “I am slipping. But will you make sure everyone comes to sword practice tomorrow?”
“Oh Alec!” Bethany burst out and threw a pillow at him while he laughed.
“Good night ladies. See you tomorrow!” he said as he closed the door and went upstairs.
The next morning Alec was up early and on his way out when he ran into Ellen in the kitchen, already getting ready for breakfast. “When are you going to hire that assistant we talked about?” Alec asked.
“I’ve got one coming by for a trial today, sir, thank you,” Ellen told him as he walked down the hallway and out the door.
At his office Alec found Mortis already waiting for him. “Ellison said to give you the schedules to take over to the armory,” he handed him several sheets of paper.
Alec knocked on Colonel Ryder’s door and then entered to explain his proposal for building a stable and setting up the smithy, as well as the training for ingenairii and incorporating their talents into the Guards’ functions.
“Alec carry on with all that and implement the officer rotations you’ve got drafted,” Ryder told him. “I’ll discuss the budget with the Duke and see how we pay for this.”
Alec went to the armory, and began fencing with the officers, going over their strengths and weaknesses and asking them to practice more. He then began giving out schedules for recruiting. “We are going to all be taking turns in the city and outside the city seeking recruits to come join the Guard. We will offer them a bonus if they sign with us and report here. I want you each to try to bring in a dozen recruits on each trip. Some of the trips will take longer, and that’s just to be accepted. Others may be shorter, but you still need to bring in recruits. And if you find any that have very good horsemanship skills and the potential for good sword skills, bring them in. You’ll need to wear your uniform on these trips to draw attention and to make a strong impression,” he said.
“Elcome, you and Rewester will depart today heading east. In four days time I want you to be in Blue Springs on the Gwinnup River, where Imelda will join you, and Rewester can bring back those recruits you’ve rounded up so far, while Imeld
a can escort you further east as you go to find recruits from the farms out there,” Alec said.
“Rail, tomorrow you’ll leave and go north along the river. Zander, you’ll go out west the day after that. Are there any questions?” Alec asked. Elcome looked at him defiantly, but said nothing.
“Very good. Now, do any of you have members in your platoons who you think are acceptable for service in the Duke’s Bodyguard? If so, send them to me this morning. I want to try their sword work. That will be all for now. I’ll see most of you tomorrow here for practice, if not before,” Alec turned and left the building.
“I’m going to ask you to go to the jail for me,” Alec told Mortis as he returned to the office. “Take this note from me, and take along a dozen Guard members of your choice, take out prisoners, and bring them back here to start working on preparing the stable site for construction to start.”
“There were a few others who I thought wanted me to go to jail for them, and I usually said no, but I’ll do this for you,” Mortis said with a grin and left on his errand.
A minute later Elcome came barging into his office, red and angry. “You can’t do this Alec. I’ve been your friend since you got here. I’m the senior captain, and I’m not subject to your crazy schemes!”
“The only way you’re not subject to the orders of the Guard is if you’re not a member of the Guard,” Alec said in a level voice. “Are you offering your resignation?”
“No! I’m not resigning, and I’m not going on any crazy trip across the duchy. I’m staying right here and acting as an obedient member of the Duke’s Guard, serving him,” Elcome said. “I wish to exercise my right to appeal to the Duke that I have been loyal to him for twenty years: I shouldn’t have that thrown away by a youngster who’s feeling bigger than he is.”
“If you want to go to the Duke, first you’ll need to go through Colonel Ryder. I will ask you for witnesses who will confirm the role you played in battling the rebels in the palace, and I will have witnesses who will swear that while others of us were fighting and dying or suffering wounds, you were nowhere in sight,” Alec said in a threatening tone. “You decide right now if that’s what you want the Duke to hear when he’s deciding how much your loyalty to him is worth. You’ve got ten seconds to either get out of here and get packed for your recruitment trip, or you and I go immediately to the colonel,” Alec stood up and walked halfway around the desk.
The Loss of Power: Goldenfields and Bondell Page 11
