Visions of Power

by Jeffrey Quyle

  Rastall chatted amiably for a few minutes further then prepared to leave.

  “Before you go, may I ask you one thing?” Alec asked.

  His visitor looked at him inquisitively. “Given who you are, and especially now that you’re the Duke’s business partner, certainly,” he said with his same sly grin.

  “Who tried to kill the Duke?” Alec asked. “And why?”

  Rastall stopped grinning. “Alec, I wish more people would ask that question. There has been absolutely no further information gathered about who was behind the assassination. There’ve been no further hints of efforts to try to kill him either. It’s like the topic dropped off the edge of the table and rolled away.

  “I still think it was prince Airmed, but there’s no proof of that. The conscription of the prince’s forces certainly drove him out of sight, as well as made the city safer, I might add. If ever you learn anything, please let me know.” Rastall took his leave on that serious note, and a few minutes later, Alec was on his way to teach medical school to the medics of the Duke’s Guard.

  Chapter 42 – Learning About Healing

  Alec arrived at the infirmary early, and found half his students already waiting for him. He drafted them to help him set out the medic kits, two on each bed in the empty infirmary, and waited as the rest of the medics arrived on time.

  Alec looked at the group that awaited him. They were mostly men, nine versus three women, they were young, and they tended to be smaller than most of the other Guards he had seen, although they were average-sized or larger compared the population at large. Apparently medic was a duty assigned to the member of each platoon least able to resist. As he scanned the group, he recognized one face, the young woman who had given him such a ferocious fencing match in the armory one morning. He grinned at her, happy to see her again, but her face remained flat and neutral, with no sign of recognition.

  “My name is Alec, and I’m supposed to be training you in the art of being medics. I’d like each of you to introduce yourselves by name, tell me what training you’ve had so far, and how each came to be assigned to be medics,” he opened the meeting.

  Around the room the stories came. None of them had any training in medicine at all, and only imagined trying to apply common sense if a need arose. Few of them had actually had to do anything, other than treat wounds from training or a couple of instances of duels that resulted in deaths. Most of them admitted that they had been assigned to be their platoon’s medic because they were the weakest or clumsiest or newest member assigned to serve in one of its squads.

  The last medic to speak was his fencing partner. “My name is Imelda,” she said with a steely glint in her eyes, a challenge to Alec that didn’t imply any warmth. “I only arrived in the Guard last week, and was assigned to be medic because I’m newest. I’ve never done anything medically.

  “I joined the Guard to serve with my older cousin Inga, but two days after I arrived, she asked to transfer out.”

  Imelda sat down, and all eyes turned to Alec, gauging his reaction. Apparently his alleged affair was more widely discussed than he realized. Imelda looked quite a bit like her cousin, but was slightly taller, had a more slender, boyish frame, and had a fairer complexion. Now that he was told of the relationship, he saw it clearly.

  “I know Inga,” Alec said to break the tension. “She has the second fastest blade I’ve trained against.”

  Trying to put that aside, Alec focused on the matter at hand; he made them each open their medic kits and take everything out. The rest of the afternoon they spent going through the contents of the kits, item by item. Alec explained what the items were, where they came from, how to find replacements, and how to use them. After three hours he dismissed them until the same time tomorrow. They were each told to take their kits back to their platoons with them and bring them back tomorrow. Imelda left with the others, not pausing to say a word to Alec. He sighed at the strain of his bad reputation.

  Alec returned to his shop afterwards. He found Ellison there, and learned that he had missed Brother James’s visit earlier in the afternoon. Leading Ellison upstairs, Alec and the guard lifted Ellen from the tub of healing water and gingerly moved her to her bedroom. Alec decided that after two days of resting, perhaps his health vision was likely to respond. Looking carefully at Ellen, Alec examined her closely. His vision did return, and he stood staring at her torso, sensing what internal damage she had suffered. He was pleased to note how little damage remained evident.

  He ceased the vision, and immediately felt a searing headache. Putting both hands to his head he doubled over and gasped.

  “Alec, are you alright?” Ellison asked him.

  Instead of answering, Alec stumbled out of the room and sat on the floor in the hall. “I have a bad headache,” he grunted. “Please go ask Leah to fix something for me to ease the pain.”

  The guard obediently went downstairs, and quickly returned with a mug of water. “Leah said to drink some of this spring water while she prepares something else. It’ll be ready in a minute.”

  Alec took the proffered cup and drank quickly. He felt the pain ease slightly, and raised his head. “That did help some. Thanks.”

  They heard Leah starting to slowly climb the stairs, and Ellison went downstairs to take the next cup from her and bring it up himself. Alec drank that too, then leaned his head back. “Thank you again Ellison. I’ll be fine in a few minutes. You can go sit with Ellen if you want. The only thing we need to concentrate on is repair of her liver; it was harmed by some of those blows. That will take a few days, and leave her sore at first. Otherwise she just needs to let those bruises heal. It’s all good news.”

  Ellison left Alec to go see Ellen. Alec felt the pain further diminish, though not completely dissipate. He stood and went to lie in his own bed, where he fell asleep until the next morning.

  When he woke, Alec found his headache was gone. He got dressed, picked up his sword and left to go to training with Nellon.

  Again that morning, Alec found as before that Nellon’s advantages caused him to play cat and mouse, not letting himself get trapped, and waiting for the occasional over-commitment by Nellon so he could take advantage of vulnerabilities.

  “When you try to swing low, you sometimes over-commit,” Alec told him during their break. “That’s the most common opportunity I’ve seen to attack.”

  During their second hour Nellon adjusted and Alec found himself less able to do more than dodge and evade. At the end Alec felt worn down like he never had been before in a practice.

  “Is this practice over, or do you have time for another bout, Captain?” Alec heard a voice behind him ask. He turned around to see Imelda, already outfitted in practice padding.

  “I’m game for one more session,” he declared, as Nellon wished him well and went to put his equipment away. He hoped there would be some opportunity to ease the tension that he felt coming from the girl. “When we fenced the first time, you seemed friendlier,” he spoke, trying to start the conversation.

  “When we met the first time, I didn’t know your name or your character,” Imelda replied as she approached Alec and saluted, then began her first approach. She seemed somewhat mechanical in her work this morning, and Alec fended her off easily, watching to see what her style was leading to. They disengaged, and as they prepared to start again, Imelda suddenly flipped her sword from her right to her left hand and began a furious assault on Alec. Like many of his practice partners, Alec wasn’t used to battling a left-handed opponent, and he felt helpless before the barrage. He gave way, finding that Imelda’s quicker speed and longer reach than Inga, plus his heavy arms from the two hour punishment he’d just absorbed from the heavy Nellon, left him unable to maneuver.

  Suddenly Imelda’s sword reached high, towards his face, an area strictly prohibited in practice sessions, and cut his cheek and nose deeply. Alec felt the blood begin to flow, and stepped back off the mat.

  Imelda stood impassively for a second
nearby. “There. A scar for a scar,” she hissed, then turned and left.

  Alec stood with both hands on his face, stunned. He realized the girl had deliberately waited until he was tired, then sought to injure him on purpose. He had no idea what he should do about it.

  Alec walked straight over to the infirmary, holding his hand against his face, and opened one of the spare medic kits. He worked as best he could to stop the flow of blood, protect against infection, and put a bandage over.

  He then returned to the armory, put his equipment away, cleaned up the trail of blood he had left, and hurried home to his shop.

  “Good grief, what happened to you?” Leah asked, catching sight of him as he entered the kitchen.

  “I took a bad cut in fencing,” he replied. “Would you stitch it up for me?”

  Leah shuddered at the suggestion. Alec tried to allay her squeamishness. “Let me put some balm on it to kill the pain, then I’ll hold the flesh together, and you just put the stitches in to pull the two together. It’ll help make it heal faster, and there’ll be less of a scar.”

  “Alright,” she said reluctantly. Alec went and got the supplies, and returned. Leah took a deep breath, and began stitching, which took ten minutes. At the end Alec looked at her work in the mirror. “Nicely done,” he assured her. “Thank you.”

  “I hope you don’t ask me to do that very often,” Leah commented. “Be careful.”

  Alec left the shop to go to Rand’s print shop. “Annalea,” he called when he walked in.

  “Angel, what has happened to your face?” his first patient in Goldenfields asked as she came to the front of the building.

  “Just a bad cut. It’ll heal,” he assured her. “Where could I find your father? Does he have an office I could go to?”

  “He always has lunch at his club down by Riverfront Square. It’s a large green building with white shutters, three doors away from his bank. You should be able to catch him there. Is anything wrong?” she asked.

  Alec assured her that there was nothing wrong, other than he had to ask a favor. “I’m going to go to Oyster Bay on a trip, and I wanted to see if I could travel on one of your father’s ships.”

  “That’s not even a favor. He’ll be disappointed that’s all you’re asking for,” Annalea told him. “Angel, while you’re here, can I ask you a favor?” she blushed as she mentioned it.

  “Rand and I are trying to have children, as you know, but we haven’t had any luck yet. Can you recommend something that will help us catch? Something more successful and safer than last time,” she added with a laugh.

  “I’ll think about it and maybe we can talk when I get back from Oyster Bay,” Alec lied. He knew he was being cowardly, but he had no heart to tell the lovely girl that she could not bear children, due to damage her body had suffered during her serious illness.

  “Thanks Angel, and say hello to daddy for me,” Annalea told him as he left the print shop.

  Alec went back towards Riverfront Square, conscious of the stares his stitched face drew, and found the building Annie had directed him to. A doorman asked him his business, and left Alec standing outside the door while he delivered the message requesting Natha’s attention. Half a minute later Natha stood in the doorway. “Alec,” his big voice boomed, “why aren’t you a member of this club so you can just come in? You’re too rich for it, I suppose.” Taking the healer’s arm, Natha led him to the dining room, where Helen was already seated.

  Annalea’s mother hugged Alec and smiled at him warmly, then asked about his face. He explained his fencing accident again. “Now, what can I do for you?” Natha asked, as Alec sat at their table with them.

  Alec explained his decision to go to Oyster Bay for training as an ingenaire, and his need for transportation.

  Natha looked impressed. “Alec, I don’t know a man alive who is an officer, rich, and an ingenaire. There’s no telling what you can accomplish.”

  “As for the transportation, you’ve got your choice of departures. I have a wine barge leaving in three days, a grain barge leaving in four days, and a water barge, leaving in five days. All things considered, it seems most appropriate that you join the first barge of water barrels from our venture to go to Oyster Bay. As a matter of fact, you could present the first barrel to the king!”

  Alec though it over. He couldn’t leave in three days, but four days would be fine. On the other hand traveling with the water barrels would be a unique chance that appealed to him.

  “Alright, you can let my factor handle the arrangements,” Natha told him when he requested the water barge. “I’ll tell them to have a cabin ready for you. Is that all?” Natha asked as Alec stood to go.

  “Yes, I have to go to the Guard to teach the medics how to heal now. Thank you so much for all you do,” Alec told them, bending to give Helen a kiss.

  “Ah, the impatience of youth,” Natha mourned mockingly as Alec left.

  Alec hurried over to the palace bridge and back to the infirmary, arriving last after all his students were already assembled. He noticed that Imelda had taken a front row position directly before him.

  Alec took a deep breath, trying to ignore the stares at his face, and started the lesson. He asked them questions about the items and facts they had gone over the day before, making sure they memorized the materials. He then had them gather around, and demonstrated how to grind and mix ingredients, making them all practice, and again discussing what each concoction they created would treat best. Finally, he told them all to practice administering different treatments, designating imaginary maladies and injuries they found on a partner.

  “The last thing I want to discuss is the canteen of water you all have. This is water from a specific spring up the river a great ways, and the water has valuable properties for health purposes. It will be available for sale soon, but the Duke should always be able to get a supply for the Guard, I’m sure.”

  “This water helps healing and health, whether taken as a drink or applied as an external remedy. It can strengthen your other ingredients in a broth or a salve as well, but it can be used directly on a wound by itself. It doesn’t take massive amounts for most wounds; all you have to do is dip a cloth in it and wipe that across the injury.”

  “Imelda, I’d like you to demonstrate how to do that by bathing my cut here. This will be a voluntary demonstration for the rest of the class – the rest of you can stay and watch or you can go. See you all tomorrow,” he said.

  Alec saw the look of satisfaction in Imelda’s eyes, and watched the tension in the other members of the class. Alec instructed Imelda in how to wet the cotton patch in the kit, while the other class members broke for the door like a herd of cattle seeking escape from a panther.

  Alone with Imelda, Alec waited for her to stroke the wet patch across his face. “What did you mean, ‘a scar for a scar’ this morning?” he asked her.

  “Inga left yesterday, and she left with a scar on her heart,” Imelda spat out bitterly. “You toyed with her and then hurt her, hurt her reputation, and hurt her husband too. You’re a piece of trash, and I despise you. She left the city yesterday, and she’s going to wear her scar inside for a long time, and feel the pain for a long time. I thought you ought to have a scar too, even if I couldn’t make it hurt you as long as you’ll hurt her.” Imelda picked up her kit of supplies and turned to walk out.

  “Hold on,” Alec said with feeling, angry at the label that had been applied to him. “I did nothing to hurt her heart, despite all the stories you may have chosen to believe. I care a great deal for her, and for her husband. I used my skills to save both their lives. And I’d do that and more again in a heartbeat if needed.” He felt a sense of sadness at the realization that Inga was gone without a parting word between them.

  “I miss seeing Inga. I miss her a lot. But I’m glad she’s going to be with Lewis,” he lowered his voice. “I never did anything with Inga that you might imagine. I hear that apparently there are a lot of rumors going around, but Inga
will tell you that we did not break her marriage vows. Did you ever ask Inga, or hear her say anything otherwise?”

  Imelda stood still listening to Alec, without turning to look at him. When he finished she turned and looked at him. “Inga inspired me to train to be in the Guard. I have always looked up to her, and being here with her is all I wanted to do. Maybe you didn’t do what I hear you did, at least that’s what you say, but I know you’re part of why she left. She’s not a quitter, so for her to leave, well, something had to go badly wrong. And now I’m left here having to look at your ugly face every day.”

  Alec pondered what to say. “It wouldn’t be so ugly if it weren’t for your cheap shot,” he said to her back with a bitter smile. “But I’m leaving in a few days myself, so you don’t have to worry about seeing me for the rest of the year.” He turned, and walked back into the supply room, taking the two extra medic kits with him, and heard the front door close. When he returned, she was gone.

  Chapter 43 – A Mark of Power

  Alec’s last days in Goldenfields were uneventful. He practiced with Nellon each morning, with no further appearances by Imelda. He taught his last class for the medics, taking them out into the woods east of town and identifying where plants lived and what they looked like.

  Leah began holding the shop open in the mornings again to treat people, while Alec nursed Ellen back to good health. Within three days she was walking slowly around the house, well on her way to recovering fully.

  On the day before he left for Oyster Bay, Alec went back to see Merle. He went immediately after sword practice, and waited awkwardly to visit with the ingenaire, while the other students mostly ignored him. Fayette came over to talk, as did Roland. “So you’re going to Oyster Bay already?” Fayette asked. Alec nodded. “Good luck there. I hope I can join you soon,” Fayette said shaking his hand as Merle waved Alec back.

  “I’ve sent the message to Aristotle, and he should meet your ship when it arrives. If he doesn’t, you just need to go to the Ingenairii compound. It’s a large campus of white buildings spread across the largest hill in town. You can see it from everywhere in town, and anyone will tell where it is.”