They noticed a room with a doorman, and walked down the hall. Without interruption, the doorman allowed them to enter the room where the king was holding court. Alec asked Whelan if there were guards or protection in sight. He looked at Whelan, who shook his head. Foldar the chamberlain noticed their arrival and was heading their way.
“Welcome honored guests,” the official greeted them with a smile.
“Thank you Foldar, and thank you for the arrangements for our barracks and stables” Alec said. “I’d like to introduce Captain Whelan, one of my officers. Do you have time to discuss several matters with us?”
“Certainly. The Prince has directed me to assist you in any way we can,” the chamberlain assured them. “Let’s step into a room across the hall to sit down and talk.”
As they sat down, Foldar began. “So what is on your minds?”
“We need to establish our routine for our men. Are there cooks, laundresses, and other folks you can recommend we secure for ourselves and your future Guard, and does the prince have the funds available for them?” Alec asked. “That’s the first question. Then beyond that, we have one more prisoner we need to turn over to your jail, if you can give us directions on how to do so.”
“Certainly, we will extend the palace staff to serve your quarters, if that is acceptable, and the other Oyster Bay prisoners are kept here in our own dungeon, so bring your prisoner to join them,” Faldor explained.
“Who’s watching the prisoners?” Whelan asked. “I haven’t seen any guards around the palace.”
“We have some members of the army keeping an eye on them. You’re right, we don’t have guards here in the palace, and haven’t for at least two generations now. Those barracks you’re in are from the armsmen the Prince’s grandsire had here at the palace,” Faldor explained.
“We’ll want to start placing guards with the Prince at all times, Faldor,” Alec said. “I hope we can start doing that tomorrow. Is there a calendar kept or schedule we can use so that we can coordinate where shifts should go to relieve one another?”
Their conversation lasted for two hours as Alec and Whelan asked for information and gave Faldor a preview of their plans for what they hoped to accomplish.
“You’re biting off a lot, trying to give us that level of security here,” Faldor warned them. “I’ve never traveled to other lands, but I understand that having guards at the doors is usual in most places. Now it’s going to seem very unusual here when it begins, and when the Prince starts having a guard walk around with him, people are going to think his ego has grown too big for his head.
“I don’t think the Prince is going to take to all this very easily,” he finished.
“We’ll try to be sensitive and discreet,” Alec said, “but if our mission is to help protect him from Oyster Bay attacks, then we need to do some things. They killed the King of the Dominion, so they won’t hesitate to kill the Prince of Bondell, especially if you refuse to pay tribute to them.
“We’ll get started tomorrow, and report to you regularly. May I suggest that we have a breakfast or lunch with the Prince once a week or so to keep him informed directly about what we’re doing, and then let our Bondell Guard successor inherit that habit?” Alec asked as they stood to leave.
“I’ll let you know what day to expect to join the Prince,” Faldor said, also standing.
“Thank you for your help and kindness,” Alec said. “Will you want to have some sword training with our men?”
From Faldor’s long silence Alec knew meant the chamberlain had been caught off-guard. “You’re having some fun with me, aren’t you?” the dwarf finally asked.
“No. If you want to learn to protect yourself and the Prince with a sword, we’ll let you train with our recruits, or we can just schedule you for a specific time each morning,” Alec told him. “A member of the Guard first started teaching me swordsmanship just because I was a healer in the palace, not because I was expected back then to protect the Duke with a blade,” he admitted. “Think about it and we’ll start you if you want to.”
“Thank you,” Faldor said, as they departed.
As Alec and Whelan walked down the hall to return to their barracks they discussed what to do. Alec instructed Whelan to get paper and pens and draw a map of the palace, then start creating the plan for where to post guards.
Back in the barracks, Alec dispatched a man to go deliver their prisoner to the palace dungeons, and asked four Guards to go examine the security of the dungeon as a prison facility. Alec told others to start preparing one of the empty buildings as an armory, and to draw up a list of supplies they would need, while he went to the office of Pierpont Bank to establish access to his account with their main office in Oyster Bay. He foresaw the need to draw large sums of money in the next few weeks until the Prince’s household was used to running smoothly with Guards present.
Upon his return from the bank Alec gave Pember several coins from his pocket and told him to take the Goldenfields Guards out to dinner at a tavern in the city. He felt so exhausted himself that he declined to join them, and he went immediately to bed himself.
The next morning Alec awoke as the sun rose over Bondell. Most of the other Guards were already up, and Alec led them to the armory. “We’re going to be training recruits in here every morning, so we may as well get used to working out ourselves in here,” he told them, as he paired them up to practice without pads. “Be careful, and we’ll start getting training equipment today. Rad, I want you to go to local leathershops and seamstresses and have them start creating pads we can use for training. Michal, I want you to go to the local coopers and order thirty practice swords prepared as quickly as possible. Show them your own sword and make sure that produce something our new recruits will be able to use in practice.
“Captain Whelan will be plotting the plans of the palace and grounds so that we can devise a security plan and guard posts for when there are enough forces. I’m assigning Irbin and Cimmin to the first shift of Guard duty on the Prince today. The second shift will be Fenix and Powers. You’ll all have to be discreet and not intrusive. These people aren’t used to having guards around, and may even tell you to stop your duty. We’ll break them in slowly by just running two shifts at them each day for the time being until we have more men and they’re used to it,” Alec ran through the plans he had in mind.
“Pember, you go back to the tavern you were in last night and start recruiting lads and lasses you think are worth bringing on board. I’m going to talk to Faldor about some matters,” he continued, before he was interrupted by a servant’s arrival at the door.
“Faldor said to let you know that your men may visit the kitchen for breakfast, and after that, all meals will be delivered here to you,” the girl said. “Is that acceptable?”
“Please tell Faldor we appreciate his assistance again, and that I’ll come see him soon,” Alec told her and dismissed her.
“Who checked the prisons, and what did you see?” he asked the room.
“We were surprised there’s still anyone in there,” one Guard member said, standing up and gesturing to his companion. “We looked yesterday, and the only guard is alone, the locks are flimsy, and there’s three different ways to get out. I don’t know why they’re still there.”
Alec thought about it. “It may be that they were waiting for Brahnam to join them before they did anything. We ought to think about putting a couple of our own on Guard down there as well, at least at night, although I know we’re stretched thin.”
“Everyone who wants breakfast go find the kitchen and have at it, then go carry out your assignments,” Alec told his followers. “I’ll see you all back here later.”
As the group scattered out of the barracks, Alec sat back down to rest and think about the day ahead. He decided he would go to the cathedral and ask a priest to pray for recovery of his health and the return of his sight and strength. He still felt no capacity to utilize his warrior powers. He felt even more upset though beca
use he couldn’t use his healing powers, which had become second nature to him.
Alec stood and left the barracks to go find Faldor. They met in a hallway in the palace. “The miracle has begun!” Faldor exclaimed. “I saw your two guards join the prince, and no regal or heavenly powers prevented them from doing their duty!”
“It must be the right thing to do then!” Alec smiled. “Do you have a schedule that we can use to assign the next shift to meet the Prince? I’ve told our folks that we’ll only use two shifts a day for a while until people grow comfortable with our presence. Hopefully when we expand we’ll do it with local folks who are trained by then.”
“We’ll wait and see what happens,” Faldor said non-committally. “Here’s Prince Mahogan’s schedule.”
“Thank you,” Alec said as he took the paper. “Will you be able to start sword training tomorrow morning?” Alec changed the topic.
“Are you pulling my leg again?” Faldor asked him.
“No, I’m not. I would be happy to arrange it. There’s no harm that can come from it that I see,” Alec said. “At worst you don’t like it and stop, but more likely you’ll try it, you’ll learn something, and you’ll get better at it. Come see us tomorrow morning early.” Alec said. “I’m going to go to the cathedral for prayer. Do you know a good priest there I can ask for?”
“My favorite is Friar Chaer,” Faldor said mischievously. “Ask for him.”
“I will, thank you,” Alec said with some trepidation, and he left to go to the cathedral.
Walking through town Alec had another up-close opportunity to experience the city’s make up. It seemed less affluent than Goldenfields, with fewer working shops to produce goods, dirtier streets, and more people on the streets who appeared to be idlers. The people appeared to be less healthy, and exposed to more disease in the narrow, unkempt streets.
The cathedral was not a great distance from the palace, and Alec reached it in only minutes, even at his slow pace. Inside the grounds he found an attendant, and asked where he could find Friar Chaer. Following the directions, Alec went past the cathedral structure to a garden in the back, and found a workshop where wooden goods for the cathedral were produced and repaired.
“Is Friar Chaer here?” Alec asked as his eyes failed to adjust to the dim interior of the building.
“Yes, I am,” a voice answered, and Alec saw a man come towards him. Alec started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” the dwarf asked, looking at Alec in puzzlement.
“I asked Faldor for the name of a good priest,” Alec said. “He told me Chaer but nothing else.”
“Faldor is my twin brother,” the friar grinned back, holding out his hand to shake as he arrived next to Alec. “And I’m glad he put me in the category of being a good priest! What’s your name, and what can I do for you?”
“My name is Alec, and to put it simply, I am an ingenaire. I’ve used my powers incorrectly, and I no longer can see much, nor do I have the energy to stay awake during the day, let alone to perform my functions. I would like for you to pray for me, and to perform such rites as you are aware of for a situation like mine,” Alec told him.
“I haven’t known any ingenairii personally, but you’re on the young side to be one, aren’t you?” Chaer asked skeptically.
“Are the things I tell you protected from being repeated to others?” Alec asked.
Chaer looked thoughtful for a moment. “If you feel that we need to treat this conversation as though you were a penitent, yes, I will seal your words away from any other person.”
“Well, I should be a penitent, but in this case,” Alec said sitting down on a chair to rest, “I will tell you miraculous things, and I don’t want them repeated.” Alec proceeded to describe his visit to the cave in the mountain, the religious experience and the resulting abilities he had received. “I’ve got other ingenaire powers too, perhaps as a result of that event or perhaps not,” Alec ended. “But I cannot see or draw on any of my energies now. I tried to do too much at once and wore myself beyond quick recovery.”
Friar Chaer had closed his eyes and listened to Alec’s tale. Now he opened them and looked at the Guardsman. “That is a superb story. I believe it because I doubt you could make something like that up. I can pray with you and for you, but I don’t know any specific rite to carry out to aid you. If you are patient enough, I can go to the cathedral library to do some research, if you believe there is such a ritual to be carried out.”
“Aristotle said once he was going to need a ritual to restore his powers after a similar experience of using all his strength, but that was right before I actually used my powers from the cave to heal him,” Alec explained.
“Come back in two days time, and I’ll look through the library,” Chaer told him. “You be sure to tell Faldor he owes me for this.”
“Will you pray with me before I go?” Alec asked. They stepped outside to a small grotto set among stones and trees, and prayed, then parted ways. When Alec got back to the palace it was noon, and all the Guards were eating.
“Who are these three?” Alec asked Pember about the new faces sitting beside him.
“These are my first three recruits!” Pember said proudly.
“Welcome to the service of your prince!” Alec told them heartily. “You’re going to have long hours of monotony and sweat, but there will be times when you’ll be heroic, and you’ll have bonds and friendships you’ll never walk away from.”
Alec sensed the value of creating an esprit de corps in these recruits right away, so that they’d feel like they were the first to develop something special and new in Bondell. He told part of the story of fighting three swordsmen in Oyster Bay at one time in front of an audience, both to build the adventurous reputation of the Guard and to coincidentally create the impression that Oyster Bay fighters could be beaten. Other Guardsmen starting telling stories of battles or just of brawls, and Alec sensed the desire for success building in the recruits.
Rad, Michal, did you acquire any goods for us today to use for training these men?” Alec asked. They responded by pointing out the few items that they had bought that day. “It’ll be enough to get us started,” he said approvingly.
“Practice will begin tomorrow morning, and I’ve asked the Prince’s chamberlain to join us for practice in the morning. I don’t want to hear any laughter; if the man wants to learn to use a sword, we’re going to teach him. Every additional sword we have to protect Prince Mahogan is one more than we’ve got now,” he said forcefully. “If anyone has any ideas of where to recruit for more, and if you bring them in willingly before the end of the day and if they stay and train with us for two months, you’ll get a five silver bonus! That’s for good men and women now, not the last pickings off the street. We want to protect the prince with good men. Pember, here’s your bonus,” Alec said flipping a bright gold piece high in the air across the room for everyone to see.
“Let’s fill these barracks as fast as we can. That’s all for today gentlemen,” he said and left to go back to his bunk. He could tell that he was totally exhausted again. Just as before, he had energy enough for only half a day of light duty. Lying back on his bunk he prayed for Friar Chaer to find an answer, and fell asleep before saying ‘amen.’
Chapter 18 – Hopes of Healing
“Alec, Faldor is here and the recruits are awake,” Pember announced as he shook the Guard commander awake.
Alec looked up. The hint of dawn appeared out the window, and Pember carried a lantern. Alec thanked him and pulled on his clothes then walked with Pember in the flowing puddle of light that carried them over to the armory building. Several lanterns hung on the wall, casting shadows in many directions. Inside Alec saw Faldor and eight recruits, three more men and two women, both looking uncertain about their future in the building of men. “Stand at attention for the commander,” Pember said briskly as they entered the doorway.
“Thank you for standing,” Alec said. Five members of his own Guard came
into the building behind him. “You’ll learn the automatic discipline of military life in time, and you’ll find it helps your Guard operate efficiently when you learn you can rely on rules of conduct.
“This morning is going to be your first lesson in swords-manship. Pember, you and I will give them a quick demonstration of how beautiful and mesmerizing a match of two swords can be, once we put on some padding,” Alec said. He and the cavalryman proceeded to exercise fiercely, Alec using his left hand and feeling fatigued already as his body still suffered. After just a couple of minutes they stopped. “Each of you will learn how to use your blades as extensions of your arms to protect your Prince, to protect your land, and to protect yourselves. It won’t be quick or easy. Plan on spending a lot of time here making your arms ache from swinging the swords for so long. Now let’s see each of you demonstrate what you know.”
They apportioned out the practice swords and lent swords from some of the Guardsmen so that they could evaluate the new swordsmen, and Alec assigned men to train them in the same methods Goldenfields had trained each of the Guards now on loan to Bondell. Alec took Faldor himself and started working with the dwarf chamberlain. “You didn’t tell me much about Friar Chaer,” Alec said laconically as he observed Faldor.
The chamberlain grinned. “What did I forget to tell you?”
“You didn’t tell me he was a woodworking craftsman,” Alec replied blandly, then laughed. “He’s going to see if he can help me. Thank you for the referral.”
An hour and a half later the sun was up and breakfast was ready. “That’s all for the morning,” Alec said, drenched in sweat. He sent them all to eat, then made assignments for the rest of the day. Repair of the roofs of the other two barracks, purchasing practice clothes, more lanterns, a barrel of oil, knives, boots, packs, and other items were all assigned for men to acquire.
The Loss of Power: Goldenfields and Bondell Page 25
