Inga was already in her bed, and laid silent and relaxed as Alec massaged the mixture into her face. Alec finished his treatment and then climbed into his bed, too. They spoke about swordsmanship, with Inga giving detailed analysis of his motions and what to work on. As she prepared to turn over and fall asleep she added, “After tomorrow, you’ll be able to come in the main gate of the palace and ask to be taken back to the Guard armory. You’ll be treated by the gatekeepers just like anyone else as far as the public is concerned, so that no one will know your role here.”
Alec heard her gentle, even breathing shortly after that and knew she was asleep. Even as he drifted off to sleep himself, he remembered her words “just like anyone else” and realized more sharply than before, as the elements of his friends and his adventures snapped into place in his drowsy mind, that he would never again be just like anyone else.
Chapter 22 – The Pain of Training
Alec felt the blanket pulled off his bed, and sat up with a start. Inga stood over him, grinning, as pale dawn light slanted into his room. “Let’s not dillydally around,” she said. “We’ve got training to get underway. You might as well bring your arm ointment along with you – I woke you up a little earlier than usual, just so we could have some extra time to work on your defensive posture first thing.”
With a groan Alec rolled out of bed, and realized he had slept without clothes. He jerked his head up to look at Inga, feeling the blood rush to his face. She saw the panic on his face and laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ve seen a few men in my time. On most training exercises men and women guards put in quite a few days and nights in close quarters. Modesty is not something we retain.”
He said nothing, but pulled his pants on hastily and got dressed. Together they walked to the armory, and discovered they were the first to enter that morning. Inga talked in his ear about the characteristics she had suggested for the weapon they had ordered for him, and why. “Everything about you and that sword will be perfect the first day you hold it, except for the location of the balance point. I expect that you’ll gain more arm strength, and it’s being cast accordingly for your future strength,” she explained as she searched for a blade for him to practice with. “This one’s balance is closest to yours, so use it. Your blade will be longer, but that’s something you can adjust to.”
His arm began aching after only a few minutes, and his back was running with sweat soon after that, but Inga effortlessly moved around him and with him, keeping him in constant motion except when they stopped so she could explain something.
By the time the sun was well up they had worked beyond where Alec thought his limit was, and then they worked more. He gasped ‘thank you’ when Inga said their time was over. She made him again clean and put his equipment away.
At the door to the infirmary she stopped. “Ellison will be waiting inside for you, and will take you out when you’re ready. I expect I’ll see you here tomorrow when the palace gates open.
“I believe we’re going to make a swordsman out of you yet!” she said with a smile, then turned and walked away.
Inside the infirmary Ellison was indeed waiting for him. Alec asked for a minute to pack and clean himself up, and returned with his pack over his right shoulder, his left arm now so sore he couldn’t lift it. “I’m going to have to make a double strength ointment for my arm, she worked me so hard,” he repeated his complaint to Ellison as he gingerly moved.
“She’ll work you even harder if she thinks you can make a stronger ointment. Pain is expected to be part of the Guard training, and she won’t let you cheat the Guard of that tradition. Inga is one of the very best; that’s why she was elevated to serve in the Duke’s own bodyguard. Her blade is probably the reason he was still alive for you to save,” he said with respect. “She’s well thought of by every Guardsman I know. You’ll learn to be a very good swordsman before she is done with you.”
They followed their usual route to the tunnel. Alec at last began the conversation he had waited for. “Ellison, could the person Merle had you smuggle out through here have been the ingenaire Aristotle?” he asked. “I found a note from Merle in the infirmary last night, telling me that Ari was anxious to see me again. Merle must know more about me than anyone but Ari could have told him, so I thought that you may have been helping get Ari through for Merle.”
Ellison thought about it as they walked through the tunnel. “It could very well be. The man seemed very special to Merle. There was a sense of urgency in getting him moving out of the city. I don’t know much else other than he seemed weak and moved slowly.”
They emerged from the tunnel into the tavern room. “I’ll leave you here, since you know your way to your shop. The colonel says the Duke would like for you to examine him tomorrow morning after your appointment with Inga, so bring any medical supplies you think you’ll need.
“If you ever need anything Alec, you can count on me,” he said. “I’ve arranged for you to be allowed to travel on your own in this tunnel if a great emergency ever demands. Keep that in mind,” and with that he shook hands and returned to the tunnel.
Alec rested for a moment, his arm aching more than before he climbed the ladder out of the tunnel. He thought about how quickly Ellison had adopted him as a friend, after Alec’s service to the Duke. Loyalty in Goldenfields was a valued trait, he realized. Was he going to be as loyal to Ari and Natalie, he asked himself? Could he be loyal and leave the city to search for them, without being disloyal to this Goldenfields ruler and his followers, or to Leah, who was ready to settle in this city? There seemed no answer, he realized as he at last prepared to return to his shop life. When ready, he opened the door and left the room, receiving a hint of a smile from the tavern keeper as he slipped out into the street.
Minutes later Alec turned down Bakers Street and walked to the shop with the green shutters, back home where he wanted to be.
Chapter 23 – Dinner at Natha’s
“We need to get a sign made for this place,” he said after he walked through the door into the waiting room. Even at the morning hour, a few patients were waiting.
“Alec?” he heard Leah’s voice come from the hallway and she quickly emerged into the room. “Alec!” she repeated with excitement and ran to clasp him tightly in a hug that he returned for a long time.
“I’m back,” he told her, “and ready to get to work.”
“Come and unpack,” she told him, leading him by the arm, the sore one, making him wince while her back was to him, through the hall. “You go unpack and get settled back in. I’ll take care of the patients in the shop and close up so we can talk.” She went back down the hallway while he walked up the stairs.
Their room was crowded now by having two beds in it. One was neatly made up, obviously unslept in, and presumably his, while the other had the covers pulled up. He dropped his bag on the clean bed, and gathered his medical items to take downstairs. On his way he found Ellen and Hannah taking a load of laundry to hang to dry on the line on the roof. “Healer, welcome back again. Are you here to stay?” the mother asked as Hannah shyly grinned from behind her skirts.
“I am here to stay,” he replied. “Are you enjoying being here?” He asked, recollecting the despondent woman she had been days ago when he had impetuously invited her to stay with instead of returning to an abusive home.
“What about you, Hannah? Do you like living here?” he knelt to see her eye-to-eye, and to closely examine her with his health sense. He saw her old injuries mending in a satisfactory manner, and decided on a few tonics he could prepare to heal and strengthen her thin body.
Hannah nodded yes with another smile. As he stood up Ellen replied, “Doctor, this has been the best week we’ve had in memory. Hannah gets enough to eat, although you get too many sweets from the bakery, don’t you, imp? And we sleep comfortably in a soft bed. You have given us a great blessing.”
“Let me examine you both later today, to make sure that all is going right. But don’t let me keep you
any longer now. I’ll go downstairs and see you later,” he said, and resumed his trip.
His timing proved to be perfect. Leah was just about to see the last patient. Alec joined her and used his health vision to look at the elderly woman who complained of aches and pains in general. He saw nothing more than the effects of growing old, and added nothing when Leah prescribed willowbark and riversword tea each evening.
As soon as the lady left, they sat down together. “You seem different Alec. What has happened to you these past few days?” Leah asked.
Alec thought for several long seconds, not knowing where to begin. “I learned that Natalie and Ari are both still alive,” he began. “They were even in Goldenfields at the same time we were, but have moved on.”
“Do you plan to follow them?” Leah asked in a carefully neutral voice.
“Part of me wants to and, part of me doesn’t. I’m not sure,” Alec answered truthfully. “I want to just settle here now and try to have a good life, and I feel I should stay with the Duke’s people, but I also want to see if Ari needs me. I think he was injured again at Walnut Creek, and I know how hard it was to try to heal him after the attack at Riverside.” He didn’t mention Natalie yet.
“He seemed healed enough in Walnut Creek, from what I remember,” Leah protested. “You did a fine job. I’m sure he can heal again, just not as fast without you.”
“I learned that Natalie was really a girl who ran away from the Stronghold trading clan, and her true name is Noranda Locksfort. She ran away and joined the circus to avoid being betrothed,” he revealed, for the first time feeling a certain self-consciousness about discussing Natalie with Leah.
Leah raised her eyebrows. At last she spoke, “Do you want to chase after Noranda too?”
“I do. And I wonder how she is, but her clan is so powerful I don’t think she needs the likes of me to do anything for her. Things aren’t what I thought they were when she and I were together,” he responded. “She doesn’t need me after all,” he trailed off wistfully.
“And maybe I can take care of myself; I’m learning how to wield a sword, although I’m not someone you’d rely on to save you after only two days of practice! I’m supposed to go back to the palace each morning for lessons from the Duke’s Guard,” he continued. “But enough about all that,” he decided to change the topic. “What has happened here?”
“Alec, we already have a quiet routine and there is nothing out of the ordinary,” Leah told him with a satisfied sigh. “Ella and Hannah are wonderful to have around. Hannah grows more out-going every day. We take care of simple medical problems for people in the neighborhood. Many of the folks who come, especially the older ones, really just want to talk to someone, and to be listened to, at least as much as they want a few aches to be lessened.
“Natha has given us more money than we need for a long time. I never imagined that we could fall into a good home so easily. After all that happened in Walnut Creek and our struggle to get here, it seems like we walked into a dream. Ellen does about everything to take care of the home and the shop for cleaning up, and I take care of those who ask for help.”
“Have you seen Annalea or Rand recently?” he asked.
“No, but Natha’s last note said to let them know when you returned, and we would all have dinner together at his home. We’ll have to let them know you’ve returned. Natha must have a spectacular place; I’d love to see it.”
Alec stared at Leah intently with his health vision. Her pregnancy was advancing normally. He could see signs of tiredness in her body as her energy was diverted to the growing baby inside her. He made a mental list of herbs and items to add to her diet, and concluded that a fish stew would be a good regular dinner.
“I’m not sure that I’ve been missed at all,” Alec resumed the conversation. “All three of you women seem so well without me. By the way,” he asked, “why are there two beds in the room upstairs?”
“I’d like to have someone to talk to at night, if it’s okay with you,” Leah explained. “And it made it possible for Ellen and Hannah to move down from the third floor. If you’re uncomfortable with the arrangement, say so. After all the time we spent on that raft, I felt there wasn’t much modesty between us!”
“No, it seems good to me. Shall we have some lunch and open up the shop for the afternoon?” Alec asked. “Or could I go do a little shopping after lunch and then we could open the shop?” he amended. “There are a few items I’d like to add to our medicines for treating people.”
After a quick lunch of some fresh bread from Henree’s bakery next door, along with goods from the larder, Alec went searching three different markets and found some items he wanted, as well as the ingredients for the fish stew he had in mind. He returned home, prepared the stew, and left it to simmer in a large pot on the stove while he went to the front and helped treat the last people in the shop.
Things went well that day and the next. After falling asleep to the sound of Leah’s voice as they talked into the night, Alec awoke early the next day and slipped out at sunrise to greet the guards at the palace gate. He quietly entered the grounds and practiced swordsmanship with Inga, then was taken to the Duke’s quarters, which he didn’t recall from his first night when he treated the dying ruler. He found nothing left to treat and declared the Duke fit.
As he started to leave, a member of the Guard beckoned to him. “The quartermaster asked for you to visit him,” Alec was told. With directions to a warehouse in the Guard section, Alec soon arrived in front of a desk where a heavyset man sat in a well-padded chair.
“You’re the bright new Guard member we’re hearing such good things about?” the man said without ceremony. “I’m Elcome, the quartermaster. I want to make sure you have everything you need.”
Alec wasn’t sure what he needed. “I think I’ve got everything,” he answered. “Thanks for checking on me.”
“Do you have a practice sword and padding?” Elcome asked, his eyes brightly assessing Alec.
“I use the equipment in the armory,” Alec explained. “I don’t have any of my own.”
“Well, we’ll let that go,” Elcome said casually. “Just don’t tell anyone.”
“Tell anyone what?” Alec asked perplexed.
“I don’t think we need to charge you the usual fee to cover the wear and tear on the common equipment. The other Guards pay to use that material, you know?” Elcome explained. “Since you’re a friend of the Duke we’ll let you have special treatment.”
“I don’t want special treatment,” Alec said earnestly. He didn’t want to lose the respect of the other members of the Guard, not after Ellison and Colonel Ryder and Inga had treated him so well. “I’ll pay my share,” he insisted. He pulled out a handful of coins and opened his palm for Elcome to see his money.
The quartermaster raised his hand and scratched his head. “You’re not taking room and board with us are you?” he asked. “What about a uniform, or a regular blade?”
“They’ve ordered a blade from Delvin’s for me,” Alec replied. “I don’t know anything about a uniform, and I don’t sleep or eat here.” He still held the palmful of coins before him.
“You’re an unusual case,” Elcome replied. “Tell you what, we’ll not charge for room or board of course, and a blade from Delvin’s isn’t one that I’m responsible for paying for, so you don’t need to pay anything for those. We’ll figure you use the practice facilities less than a Guard who’s stationed at the palace, and only charge you, say, a silver a week?” he suggested.
Alec reached forward and withdrew the silver, which he handed to the quartermaster. “Shall I pay the same each week?” he asked.
“Weekly, monthly, whatever suits you is fine,” Elcome replied airily. “Would you like a receipt?”
“No,” Alec said quickly, not wanting to seem untrusting after Elcome had been so kind to him. “Is there anything else I need to pay for?”
“There’s no reason for you to pay the other charges, after
all you’ve done,” Elcome said reassuringly. “I’d just ask that you not mention this special deal so that I don’t get in trouble for giving you a break, if you understand,” he finished with a wink and a grin, and Alec left the building feeling grateful for another valuable new friendship.
In the days that followed, he settled into a comfortable routine of early morning blade training, followed by regular hours for treating people. Within a few days, the number of people coming and the types of maladies they sought cures for began to change. Those who had begun coming to the shop during the first week, when Leah provided the simple cures, preferred to continue to see her, and she had her own clientele, especially of women and the elderly, who came to her.
Others came to see Alec, who found patients with increasingly complex cases entering his shop as his reputation spread around the artisans and gentry of the city, thanks in part to the good words of Natha’s family. He even began to receive calls to make visits to the homes of the lesser nobles, who paid well for the cures he provided.
Each night he and Leah would lie in their beds and discuss the events of the day, the people they had seen and the rumors they heard. Some of these he passed along to Inga or Colonel Ryder when he saw them, to let them know what people in the city thought about the Duke’s rule.
A few weeks after his return from the palace to the shop, Alec and Leah hired a carriage, and rode to Natha’s estate for dinner with the trader and Helen, Annalea and Rand, and two of her brothers and their wives. While Alec could have walked the distance, he and Leah agreed that the journey to such an estate deserved the special treat of a carriage ride, plus Alec thought that for Leah’s condition, a long walk was an unnecessary discomfort.
The carriage driver picked them up in front of their shop, and asked for payment in advance, apparently not trusting such a humble location to produce paying customers. They paid, and rode comfortably to a section of town with very large homes and expansive gardens, soon pulling into the gravel drive of a limestone mansion set back quite a way from the road. Alec paid the driver half in advance to come pick them up again in three hours, and Leah and he walked up to the door. The servant at the door showed them to a terrace in the back.
Visions of Power Page 25
