“You won’t beat me,” Julian said defiantly, recognizing that Alec was winning the match, “if I beat myself first.”
Alec puzzled for a moment over the strange threat, when suddenly Julian gave a twisting leap backwards and threw himself away from Alec, falling to his death on the cold stone floor fifty feet below.
Alec let his sword fall to his side. The stunning suicide of the leader of the Warrior house left him confused. He raised his sword and turned, realizing that the people who watched, twenty or more, were mostly priests from the cathedral. But standing among them at the door to the chapel were his four companions, Aristotle holding the crown.
Alec shouted in jubilation. He hugged his long lost friends while trying to prevent tears of joy from running down his cheeks. “Ari! Ari! Thank you so much! Thank you for saving my life, for saving the crown.”
“Rubicon! I’ve missed you! I’ve missed you all! It’s been so many months, and so much has happened. I’m glad to see you; I never even could be sure you were alive since the troubles started.”
“Lad, who could possibly keep us away from you when you finally needed our help!” his former tutor replied laughingly.
Alec greeted his other refound companions exuberantly as well, and for several minutes nothing else was discussed.
When the cheers and tears and backslapping had died down, Alec turned back to the Aristotle, and held his hands out towards the crown. Aristotle held it out towards him. Alec took it and held it at arm’s length, admiring the way the sunlight sparkled on the jewels.
“What?” he asked Moriah. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear what you said?”
“No, you didn’t,” Nathaniel said with a smile. “You were looking at that crown like you planned to wear it yourself.”
“I said, ‘do you plan to take it straight to Goldenfields?’” Moriah repeated the missed question.
Alec refocused his eyes from the crown in his hands to the four friends across the bright room. An image appeared in the air between them, a lacy thin representation of two men.
The ghosts of the king and his son were gesturing to him. Alec looked at them as they pointed from the crown to his own head. He saw that no one else in the group was aware of what he was seeing.
“The crown is going back to the palace,” Alec replied.
Chapter 32 – Control of the Crown
I am not going to take the crown to the Duke of Goldenfields,” Alec replied. “I had a vision not long ago. The ghost of the son of the king visited me from the dead, and placed an obligation upon me to avenge the death of the king for the sake of the nation and their family.”
The ghostly figures approached him, approval written on their faces.
“There is a hidden heir; I am going to take the crown back to the palace and rally the loyal members of the Guard to become protectors of its restoration whenever the heir is revealed,” Alec began to explain. “The crown and the House of Tarnum will be re-united, and the Dominion will be ruled by a family dedicated to the best interests of the people. I will protect it in the meantime.”
“You’re claiming the crown for yourself?” even Aristotle showed that he was caught off-guard, more so than Alec had ever seen before. Among the priestly crowd watching, gasps and loud exclamations indicated their mutual shock at the young man’s decision to take the crown.
Then Aristotle caught Alec off-guard, as he bent his knee and bowed to Alec. He turned to look at Rubicon, Nathaniel, and Moriah, who he prompted to join in bowing to Alec.
The response from the four friends astounded Alec, who had not contemplated the effects of claiming the crown. “Get up, please,” Alec said, stepping towards his friends. “This is not right; I’m not a king. Let me thank you for saving my life just now.” Even as he said it, the priests began to bow as well.
Alec looked to his right hand, where the royal ghosts too kneeled. They raised their heads to look at him, and dissolved in wisps of air, leaving only his memory of them. The room seemed to flash with a bright rosy glow that caused everyone to squint, and then rapidly faded.
“I’m not sure who saved whose life there,” Rubicon said. “Aristotle said you were under attack in here, but when we opened the door we had a roomful of trouble waiting for us and you were nowhere in sight. How did you get there without us seeing you?” He stood up along with Aristotle, and the rest of the group as rose back to their feet.
Alec looked sideways at Aristotle, who shook his head slightly. “Magic!” he playfully said, realizing that Aristotle had not revealed his ability to time travel.
“Let’s get to the palace and set things in motion,” Alec suggested.
“What do you have in mind at the palace?” Nathaniel asked.
“There are good men in the Palace Guard who only want a good leader to serve. I think we can rally them and assert control of the palace. Hopefully, when that happens the people of the city will be pleased by the prospect of order being restored,” Alec offered his sketchy plan. “Then the constabulary will follow the Palace Guard, and the city will be preserved from chaos. The army I don’t know about, and that’s one of the biggest questions I can’t answer; I hope they’ll follow the palace too.” He looked around at the others who stood silent. “I hope the church will acknowledge the good we can do by restoring the crown and reuniting the Dominion.”
Nathaniel and Rubicon grinned at each other as Ari spoke. “It just so happens that we thought you might want some help, so we brought a small army with us from Slone. We have 500 men and women in the countryside nearby ready to come into the city.”
It was Alec’s turn to feel confused again. “Where is Slone? How did you get so many, and will they fight well?”
Moriah spoke. “Slone is my homeland; we spoke about it once. It’s an island nation north of here. Aristotle is well respected by the prince, and at his request the prince sent his entire army along. An island doesn’t need a very large army.”
Aristotle spoke next. “Alec, if you’re sure you have supporters in the Guard at the palace, why don’t you and Rubicon and Nathaniel take the crown to the palace and rally the Guard. Moriah and I will go lead the forces into town. We should be back here by sunset.”
Alec agreed to the plan, and the company parted. On the way out of the cathedral Alec detoured through the administrative offices of the church and requested that the leading cardinals arrive at the palace in the morning, without offering any further explanation to the minor functionary he spoke to, other than to add that the crown had left the chapel. He felt confident that the scene from the balcony would be discussed in great detail throughout the church hierarchy. Then he, Rubicon, and Nathaniel left the cathedral grounds and walked at a rapid pace down the boulevard to the palace, the crown held inside a non-descript sack.
Chapter 33 – Control of the Crown
Alec led his friends to the palace armory, where some desultory practice was underway, and Bannis was available to meet with Alec.
“Bannis, you know Nathaniel, and this is Rubicon, a master warrior ingenaire. This is Bannis, head of the palace armory,” Alec made introductions.
“When I was here a couple of days ago, you told me that there were still many good members of the Guard here awaiting some miracle to bring better days back to the palace. Do you think you can bring them all together quickly?” Alec asked.
“You mean within a day?” Bannis sought definition.
“I mean this afternoon, the sooner the better,” Alec told his friend. “The Guard, the palace, and the city needs to hear good news as fast as possible.” Alec pulled the crown from the bag. “We are going to restore order in the city; if the Guard cooperates, we will start by restoring order here in the Palace this day.”
“Good lord!” Bannis exclaimed, looking at the crown. “How did you get that? Who will wear it?”
“We won it through strength of arms. I am going to protect it until an heir is found to wear it. I want,” Alec continued, “if the Palace Guard will agre
e to support me, I want to secure the Palace this evening, and when the city rises tomorrow, I want them to see the flag of the House of Tarnum flying over an orderly city once again.”
For the second time that afternoon, Alec was astonished to see an older man drop on his knee in a show of obeisance. “Alec, let me go round up the men in the next two hours, and we’ll have the palace under your control.” Bannis rose. “But how will you secure the entire city? Things seem about ready to fall apart out there, and the army is not only scattered hither and yon, but of questionable allegiance as well. I’m presuming you’ve got the ingenairii behind you?” he added with a look to the two warrior ingenairii.
“Go gather the men Bannis, and we’ll sort out the rest. Help is on the way,” Alec reassured him. “Is Rander one of the ones you think will help? We could use someone with his knowledge of the palace.”
“He was the first one I was going to go see,” the armsman replied from the door.
“I’m glad,” Alec smiled, and the Bannis left to begin the collecting of the Guard.
At mid afternoon Alec walked out into a hall full of men and woman wearing the uniform of the Palace Guard. He saw many faces he recognized. In front of him, his arms held straight up, Alec carried the crown.
“The crown of the Dominion is no longer held captive by usurpers and murderers,” Alec said loudly, as the gasps of recognition turned to cheers for the crown and for himself.
“I am surprised to find myself here doing this; when I was with you before, I had no idea this would ever be possible. But I had a vision that told me to seize the crown and protect it for restoration to an heir from the House of Tarnum,” Alec shouted. “I want the palace, the city of Oyster Bay, and the entire Dominion to rise up now. We need to unite, to respect one another and to trust our leaders, and we need to be prepared for the battle that will come from the mountains, when the lacertii attempt to invade our land.”
“I am young, but I am no stranger to what we need, and I know what you can do,” Alec continued. He lowered the crown onto his head. “I ask for your support and allegiance now, to begin to set the world right again. Anyone who wishes to leave now may do so, but those who stay, I will rely on to do great things!”
Bannis, standing a little in front of the others, slowly lowered himself on one knee, and lifted his sword in a sign of allegiance over his head. Slowly, in groups of ones and twos, other also fell to their knees. Alec had the beginnings of a loyal Guard to rely on.
“You’re awfully young to rule, lad,” Bannis said as he rose back to his feet. “But we need someone to restore the Dominion, and I know you’ve got the heart to do it. If you had time to deal with everyone one-to-one, I know you’d do it. I’m just going to pray that you listen to the wise old heads I expect you’ll gather around in a hurry.”
“When will I stop being considered too young?” Alec asked Bannis with some frustration.
“Probably about the time you want to start being considered too young,” Bannis said with a slight smile, knowing that Alec wouldn’t appreciate the truthful irony of his statement.
“Will the officers present themselves to the front?” Alec called loudly to the room.
The first face Alec recognized was Rander, his best acquaintance among the Guard. Rander was joined by a dozen others. “I’ve got some ideas, Alec,” Rubicon said before a conversation could begin. It was the first time he’d spoken in some time. “”I’ve been thinking. Let me outline a plan, and if you don’t like it, you can overrule me.”
“It looks as though we’ve got about fifty here in the hall with us pledged to our course,” Rubicon began. “I want to immediately seal off the palace for a bit while we hoist the flag, expel anyone we don’t trust, and establish security at all the gates.
“When that’s done I want to go to the nearest army headquarters where you think we can find support that’s located here in the city. We need to gain some troops for control of the city right away. By sunset tonight we’ll have 500 troops from Slone here in the city on our behalf. We need to get some Oyster Bay forces to join us as allies with our folks from Slone, or we’ll lose public support overnight.
“Tomorrow morning,” the elder warrior ingenaire continued, “You will talk to the church leaders and hopefully win their approval. Then after that we’ll move on Ingenairii Hill. There will be some there glad to see us; there’ll be some there surprised to see us; and there will be some there ready to fight us. With the warrior ingenairii we have, and those they’ve lost, we’ll do pretty well in a battle, if it should come to that.
“This is going to be a fast pace. We’ve got to grab the momentum and keep it,” Rubicon finished, looking at Alec for a reaction. “Does your protectorship approve?”
Alec tried to think through the many items Rubicon had just outlined. It seemed like a logical plan, well put together to let success build on success. “You’ve thought about this obviously, and it seems sound to me right now. I’ll think about it and let everyone know if there should be any changes.”
“Rander, would you draw up the plan of how to secure the palace with Rubicon? You know the layout and the officers and the men here,” Alec indicated. “Are any of the king’s advisers still alive, any of the good ones? Have one of the officers send men out to bring them here; tell them a new order has arrived and we need their counsel.
“Everyone go to your tasks. Nathaniel lets you and I go walk about the palace to learn its layout,” Alec suggested.
“You ought to have at least one of the Palace Guard members along as your bodyguard, so they feel appreciated,” Nathaniel suggested in a soft voice as Rander and Rubicon gathered a large group around them, while other people started to file out.
“Rander, could you assign a man to stay with me?” Alec asked. “We all ought to develop the habit of a Guard or two being with the king at all times.”
Rander stopped a woman who walked by, one who carried a large sword, non-standard in its size. “Armilla, you stay with the king until sundown, or until relieved.”
Armilla was a large woman who looked easily strong enough to swing the over-sized, heavy blade. She grinned at the honor of being a bodyguard. Together the three of them left the armory, finding a light rain falling from the afternoon sky.
“You walk a couple of steps ahead of us, and we’ll follow,” Alec told her. “We want to go to the palace wing with the royal quarters. Armilla nodded her head and turned to the right, stepping around puddles in the path as she led him towards his palace.
Chapter 34 – The Blood on the Blade
Two hours later Alec, Nathaniel and Armilla returned to the armory after a discouraging tour of the disheveled residential wing. Weeks of looting and vandalism had left a slovenly mess that Alec knew would take many weeks of cleaning and restoration. They passed many Guards standing at stations along the way, evidence that Rander and Rubicon had put a security plan into action.
Few Guard members were in the armory, but Bannis was present. “Well, that was sobering,” Alec said, referring to the palace condition.
“I suppose we all knew what it was like, but it was best for you to see it yourself. That lot of criminals took to the place immediately, thinking it made them royal somehow, I suppose. But after just a little time they degenerated and destroyed,” Bannis explained.
“Rander, two Guards, and Rubicon went to see the army commander, and I hope to hear back from them soon. We may have some visitors, if they’re prudent enough to want to see what’s going on in here,” Bannis reported. “There are no reports from anyone so far about your Slone soldiers arriving. And in about ten minutes we’ll start raising your flag. A couple of workmen showed someone where the storage room with the Tarnum standards were, so they’ll go up at every gate and pole. That’ll give folks something to think about tonight and to watch for first thing tomorrow.”
Alec did not want to take any further steps until Aristotle had arrived, and hopefully Rubicon too, especially if he brought
good news about support from the army. The new young leader cast about for something to pass the time.
“Armilla,” he called to his bodyguard across the room, “let’s see how well you handle that sawmill blade you wear as a sword.” He went back to put on practice padding, and came out as Armilla was starting to strap her own protective pads on.
They approached the training space carrying their own swords with pads along the blades, and stepped around one another, appraising the movements of their opposites. As he considered whether the woman was an aggressive or defensive fighter, it occurred to Alec that in the hours he had spent with Armilla he had not yet heard her speak a word. He edged closer, and saw her feet adjust as she began to swing her sword.
Armilla sliced her sword with a speed that astonished Alec; so heavy a sword should have been impossible to swing so fast. Alec raised his own blade and parried the attack, feeling the shock in his arm as he absorbed much of the energy of the strike, and stepping back to recover.
Armilla grinned. “You took that better than anyone else would have.”
Alec grunted and launched a feint that drew a defensive swipe, allowing him to catch an unguarded corner of her shoulder briefly before her blade came swinging back to clear him away.
“You recovered quicker that anyone else would have,” Alec said with a return grin, then rolled out of the way of another threatening blow. He knew he couldn’t match the lethal strength Armilla unleashed, and settled into a jab and withdraw game that eventually they agreed to call a tie.
“Let’s plan on keeping you around,” Alec told the stout woman. “Unless you object.”
“You’re probably going to make things interesting,” Armilla replied. “I’d like to stay with you.”
“I’ll tell Rander to assign you to special duty with me,” Alec answered.
The Loss of Power: Goldenfields and Bondell Page 37
