“Are all present and accounted for who are scheduled for this assignment?” Imelda loudly asked Rad, who was now acting second in command in Pember’s absence.
“All present and ready, lieutenant,” Rab said loudly. Imelda gave the signal to move out, Alec and Bethany took their saddles, and began moving out of the tent encampment and towards the nearby city.
Alec tried to sense Bondell more closely as he approached it this time, since it was going to be his home for a few days at least. The city appeared to be only a fraction of the size of Goldenfields, he judged by the length of their ride, and it had the aromas of a dirtier city.
“I told Imelda that you would be a good liaison with the princess if any issues arose on the trip,” Alec told Bethany.
“Sometimes I don’t know what to make of you,” the blond girl replied. “We’re about to part for a long time, and you’re being so practical, instead of telling me how much you’ll miss seeing me.”
“I miss seeing you now,” Alec motioned towards his eyes. “But I have complete faith that we are going to be together again,” Alec told her. “Yes I am going to miss you, and I know I won’t have anyone to care for me as well as you have. I’ll think about you every day, and pine away in sorrow until we’re able to embrace each other once again.”
“That is slightly better, but just barely,” Bethany said with a slight grin. “I’ll wait to see what kind of kiss you have for me to decide if I’m convinced.”
Their horses worked through a busy gate and street into the city, then walked onto a broad boulevard that ran between the cathedral, and a large stone building that was the palace. Their path headed right towards it, and then into a courtyard in front. Kelvin dismounted, and the large twin doors at the top of a stone staircase flew open, allowing several people to begin walking down to meet the Goldenfields party. “Let’s go up front to see who’s who,” Alec urged Bethany, and they nudged their horses out of the disciplined line of riders in order to join the people up front. Their movement caught Kelvin’s eye, who waved them forward.
“Your highness, it is a pleasure to see you on this day that we mark the steps to make our two lands even closer and better allies than in the past,” Alec heard Kelvin say to a tall man with a gray beard and bald head.
The prince responded in an equally courteous manner. Kelvin turned to speak to a woman who walked up to the two leaders. The woman was a strikingly attractive woman, with jet black hair and a dusky complexion, although she was only a blur to Alec. “It must be the princess,” he surmised as he heard a few comments in low voices.
“She’s absolutely gorgeous,” Bethany murmured. “No wonder the Duke wants her hand in marriage.”
“I knew it was all for love,” Alec said kiddingly. Bethany noticed Kelvin waving at them. “Let’s go get introduced,” Alec said to her as she told him what she saw, and they dismounted to walk over.
“Your highness, this is Captain Alec Guardhealer, who will remain in Bondell to help lead the training of your new unit of elite guards,” Kelvin introduced. “Alec, this is his highness, Prince Mahogan of Bondell, and this is his daughter, Princess Rhian.”
“It is a pleasure and an honor to meet your highnesses. We look forward to friendship with you and working with you,” Alec told them, bowing low. “Please allow me to introduce my good friend, Bethany, who will accompany you back to Goldenfields, Princess Rhian.”
“Can someone as young as this one be a good warrior already in Goldenfields?” the prince asked Kelvin.
“Have no doubt about the fighting skills of Alec, your highness, nor his organizational skills. He is an inspiration, and an indispensable right hand to the Duke,” Kelvin assured their ally.
“You have such beautiful hair,” Princess Rhian said to Bethany. “I have this dark mop, but you have spun gold on your head. It’s no wonder the young warrior names you as his lady. I’m sure he has to fight hard to keep you from others!”
“I wouldn’t have any other, besides which, there are none foolish enough to fight him willingly,” Bethany said shifting her gaze to Alec now, who looked back at her affectionately.
“Are you separating these two love birds on our account?” the princess playfully asked Kelvin. “It hardly seems a positive omen for my proposed match with your Duke that our love starts by causing other lovers to be split apart.”
“I’ll say,” Bethany said under her breath to Alec, who nearly burst out laughing.
A clatter of many hooves came around a corner of the courtyard, and several horses were led to join the Goldenfields forces. “Here are our rides, father,” Princess Rhian told the Prince. “The morning is passing by and I’m sure our commander is making note of the time we’re wasting here when we could be moving towards our goal.” She took a step and sprang into her saddle with surprising nimbleness that even Alec’s dim vision could perceive.
The prince had evidently been watching for Alec’s reaction, because he laughed loudly. “Young warrior, didn’t you expect our Rhiann to be able to mount a horse? She’s not one of those porcelain princesses other nations have, don’t worry. She’ll ride the shoes off your best female rider over the next few days, and complain that your soldiers are dawdling, don’t worry.”
“Yes, your highness,” Alec meekly agreed, then turned his eyes to find Imelda, who winked at him. Alec bowed and stepped back, then walked with Bethany back to their horses. He looked at her affectionately. “I’m sorry I’m not good at saying the right things sometimes,” he told her. “But I want you to be careful and stay safe until I return to you,” then he gave her a long kiss, that drew a few whistles from the soldiers around them.
“Alec,” Bethany said breathlessly. “I’ll wait for you forever; I just want you to promise me you’ll stay safe here and come back to me quickly.”
“I promise,” Alec told her, as he held her horse while she mounted.
“Alec,” she said from the saddle, leaning down low to speak privately in his ear. “I love you.”
Alec felt a mixed thrill of delight and fear and sadness run through his veins at those words. He looked up at her, and could tell she wanted to hear him say the same in return. But he couldn’t; his mouth froze in a gaping half open position.
“Someday I hope you’ll tell me the same,” she said after several awkward seconds, and raised her body back into the saddle.
“Cavalry, forward,” Imelda said, and the Guard warriors began to circle around on their way out of the courtyard. Alec barely saw that Kelvin was astride his horse next to the princess, and then he looked back up at Bethany, who looked back at him as her horse began to follow the one in front of it. She turned and waved good bye to him, though he couldn’t see at that distance, then in another few seconds she was gone along with all the others, and Alec’s horse was the only one left in the courtyard.
Chapter 17 – Starting the Bondell Guard
“Well young Alec, what do you have in mind for our good soldiers here in Bondell?” the prince called, walking over to join him. “We need to get you busy right away so that we distract your mind from memories of that pretty girl you just let ride away from you.”
“I’ll need to return to my camp shortly and start arranging my men. Do you have quarters where we may stay while we’re here in Bondell? At least temporarily, until our embassy is repaired, I thought some space in the palace would be convenient,” Alec replied.
“There are whole barracks sitting empty on the north side of the palace grounds. They’re ancient, but available,” the prince told him. “We’ll put you in touch with my chamberlain, Foldar, who will be able to arrange everything,” he said.
“I look forward to meeting him, your highness,” Alec told the Prince, “and I look forward to working with your men. Allow me to go make arrangements now and I’ll be back this afternoon to discuss the details of how we proceed.”
“Very well. I look forward to seeing you again soon,” the Prince told Alec, and they parted ways. Alec went and
retrieved his horse, then rode it around the palace to the north side, where he found the empty barracks the prince had mentioned. There were five buildings in all – a large set of stables and four buildings for the men. Two of the barracks had obviously poor roofs and significant leaks, but the other two appeared sound. Alec dismounted and went inside them both, picking the one with the most windows on the southern exposure so that his men might have the maximum advantage of sunshine during the winter months. He stood in the doorway examining the facility, which was large enough to hold three times the number of men he had.
“Does it meet with your approval?” a voice asked, and Alec turned towards the doorway. There, he saw a dwarf with a large bushy beard observing him.
“Yes it does meet my approval, from what I can see,” Alec replied. “What do you think of it?”
“It’s the best of the ones we have out here, I think,” the man said. “If you agree, I’ll have it cleaned out and furniture brought in this afternoon.”
“I’m supposed to talk to Faldor about doing those things,” Alec told his visitor.
“I am Faldor, so you are talking to me about doing those things,” the short man grinned at Alec. “Didn’t anyone tell you I was a dwarf?”
“No one mentioned it,” Alec told him. Alec had been around dwarves during his time with the circus, and accepted Faldor serving as chamberlain to the prince as a matter of fact. “I’d like just single bunks in here, if that’s okay. We’ve got so much room here and so few men I don’t see any reason for double bunks. I would like double bunks in the other building that’s sound though. I thought we’d put the new Guard unit in there, and they might as well get used to the bunks in expectation that we’ll build their numbers up fairly quickly.”
“You’re rather ambitious, aren’t you?” Faldor said. He walked over and shook Alec’s hand. “And what is your name, youngster who expects to build an army here?”
“I’m Alec, from the Duke’s Guard in Goldenfields,” he introduced himself as he inspected the chamberlain up close. “I don’t want to build a whole army, just a special unit for the Prince.”
“Any unit you create will be the first good one we’ll have. We do have an army of sorts, but they wouldn’t last ten minutes in a battle with anyone. Even someone as young as you will recognize how poorly served the prince is by his commander,” Faldor said bitterly. “We haven’t had any great need for an army in generations. We have no neighbors, just the mountains, the desert, and the sea. Other than chasing the occasional bandits and marauders in the southern mountains, there’s nothing for an army to do but march in parades.”
“I’ll give them something to look up to,” Alec said, unsure how to take Faldor’s pessimism. “Perhaps an example will give them a guide for improving themselves. I’m sure they won’t want to be shown up completely by the new unit.”
“I’m glad you’re an optimist,” Faldor said. “I’ll have some fodder and blankets and other equipment brought for your horses as well. The stables are in good shape by the way, in case you haven’t checked them.”
“I hadn’t yet,” Alec said. “Thank you for checking that. “You’re pretty good at thinking of these things. Do you want to be quartermaster for the new Guard?”
Faldor laughed. “Thank you, but I think the Prince needs me more than you will. I’ll go get men assigned here, and you should be able to move in late this afternoon.” He took his leave of Alec and left. Alec climbed back on his horse and left as well to return to the camp.
When he got back he called the whole camp together for a meeting in one of the roomiest tents. “Is this everyone?” he asked when about a dozen were assembled.
“This is all, except for Marne who’s watching the prisoner,” Pember said.
“I’ll leave it to you to inform him later of what we’ve said,” Alec replied. “This afternoon we’ll leave this place and move to a barracks building on the north side of the palace. We are going to stay there while we train a unit to serve the prince as his own Guard unit. I expect we’ll be here a month or so, and that our replacements will also serve for a month, after which I hope the Prince’s Guard will stand on their own. We’ll focus on the traditional training of Guard members. If things seem promising, we might help them start cavalry as well, but that’s more than I think we’ll accomplish. I’m told that the army here is less than adequate. Captain Whelan, have you had an opportunity to observe them?”
Whelan thought for a moment. “I’ve always heard that the army here was not very good. All I’ve ever seen around the city and the court were officers, so I can’t vouch for them.”
Alec thought about his morning encounter with the Prince. “I saw the prince this morning, and I don’t recollect any guards of any type being around him.”
“We’ll plan on recruiting from both the army and from the general population of the city,” Alec said, and we’ll start training programs like those we’ve had the past month in Goldenfields, to build up the ability of the individual soldiers,” Alec said. “That will be the easy part in some ways. Training them in the administration and leadership will be a different task altogether.”
“When we get to the palace, we’ll tour the grounds together. There’s a stable right by our barracks we can use, and some empty buildings we can use as a makeshift armory, if there’s nothing better to be had. Four barracks building are together with the stables. We’ll take one, use one as an armory, and that leaves two more we can place our recruits in,” Alec said. “Do any of you have questions or suggestions?”
“What about supplies and equipment?” Whelan asked.
“The chamberlain told me that he’d have fodder and other items provided for us,” Alec answered. “I’ll talk with him about further supplies for his Prince’s bodyguards.”
Whelan appeared clearly unhappy that the answer did not completely address the question, but he did not question Alec as openly as he had before seeing Alec’s battlefield performance. Alec felt a sudden great weariness pass through him, and knew he had done enough for the day.
“That’s all for now,” he said abruptly. “Pember, I’d like to talk to you for a moment. Everyone else is dismissed. Thank you all and plan to leave this camp two hours past noon.”
The Guard members slowly filtered out, and Alec sat heavily down in a chair, feeling exhausted. “Are you all right, sir?” Pember asked cautiously.
“I could be better,” Alec smiled wanly. “I’ll take a nap soon. Tell me how things are going with the prisoner.”
“Well, he didn’t talk much at first, but we haven’t let him sleep a great deal, and gradually he’s told us some interesting tidbits. Nothing that’s likely to win the war, but useful things nonetheless. The junta is a fairly large group, with a smaller core in charge, but there’s dissension in the larger and smaller groups over just about everything, especially what to do next,” Pember said.
“Some of them just got involved because they felt the time had come to remove the old king. Some wanted to see a new king named, and some didn’t. Some don’t ever want a new king named. There’s considerable jockeying around the possession of the crown, and three different groups keep a guard on where it’s stored in the palace,” Pember told Alec.
“There are some who want to go to full war with Goldenfields now, and others want to wait, and others who are fearful of Goldenfields and would like a negotiation. All the ingenairii who fled to our city really unnerved them, and made their ingenairii look pretty bad, it sounds like,” he added.
“Everything you’ve told me is music to my ears,” Alec smiled. “But I’m about to keel over. Please come back and awaken me a half hour before its time to go back to the palace. Thank you Pember.” Alec laid back and fell instantly asleep.
Alec felt a shake of his shoulder and opened his eyes. Pember was standing above him. “It’s twenty minutes until it’s time to go, Commander. Do you want us to bring the prisoner along?”
Alec thought for a minute. He knew
that he didn’t want Branham to know about the size of the Guard contingent in Bondell, or his role as a leader in the Guard. After learning what Pember had gotten Branham to disclose so far, Alec realized that information was a weapon they needed to keep in their own hands to use in some fashion.
“Let’s leave him here under guard for a while longer, until we find out where the other prisoners have been taken,” Alec said. “After we’re all out of camp we can send him to join the others and not let him see how many of us are still here.”
Pember left the tent, and Alec packed up his few belongings. He realized that the little bit he had packed to travel lightly and quickly to Bondell was not going to be sufficient for the longer time he now expected to spend in the city, and he suspected others in the Guard contingent were in the same situation.
When Alec emerged from the tent his horse was waiting for him and the others were already in their saddles. Alec put his bag behind his saddle and turned to his forces. “Let’s go find a new home away from home for a while,” he called out, and back into town to the palace grounds to their new barracks home.
Faldor had been as good as his word, and had the building cleaned and furnished when they arrived. The stables were fully stocked and each man tended his horse then returned to claim space in the barracks.
“Captain Whelan, let’s go find the chamberlain and start making plans,” Alec said as he prepared to go find answers to a number of questions.
Together they walked into the palace and started roaming through its unfamiliar halls. “Would you start developing a security plan for the palace building and grounds?” Alec asked Whelan. “We’ve just walked right inside the building and not been challenged at all so far.”
“It was always the same thing whenever Lord Kelvin invited us to attend him here,” Whelan confided. “I’ll be happy to come up with some suggestions.”
Alec was glad to give Whelan an assignment to restore his sense of duty, and hoped that they could develop a better relationship during the upcoming month of working together so closely in Bondell.
The Loss of Power: Goldenfields and Bondell Page 24
