Visions of Power

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Visions of Power Page 43

by Jeffrey Quyle


  “It’s on the second floor in the south wing,” the girl replied, unsure about who was asking and why.

  Alec and his uncertain escort moved through the kitchen to the public hallways, and ran into the butler at the foot of the stairs.

  “Jelton,” the dock worker said, relieved to finally have someone else to share responsibility with. “This boy arrived at the docks in an ingenairii boat, claiming he was here to heal Noranda. He’s hustled in here and seems to be in quite a hurry.”

  The butler apparently recognized Alec from his previous visit to meet Noranda. “I’ll check with Master Lapine if you’ll wait in the parlor here,” he gestured to a nearby room.

  Alec agreed to wait, and the dockman slipped away, not wanting to be associated with the uncertain situation any further, leaving Alec alone as Jelton turned and disappeared into the house.

  A minute later Alec heard the front door open and close, and Elton appeared in the hallway outside the parlor, moving with a casual pace that surprised Alec. Unescorted and unaware of the visitor in the house, Elton climbed the stairs, and Alec lost sight of him when the Duke’s son turned left in the upstairs hallway.

  Growing frantic with impatience, Alec decided to wait no longer, and dashed up the stairs and to the left following the lead of Noranda’s betrothed. Far down the gloomy hallway he saw two men standing outside a door, though he could identify neither one. Using a rapid pace Alec quickly joined the two men he couldn’t identify. “Is this Noranda’s room?” he asked, indicating the closed door they stood by.

  “It is the death chamber,” one man said without malice.

  Alec grabbed the handle and burst into the room, before the two attendants could react to his surprising action.

  Inside he found Elton and Noranda’s aunt standing on one side of a bed, while two other men, presumably physicians, stood at the foot of the bed, looking grave.

  “Ingenaire? Why have you burst in here?” Elton asked.

  Alec ignored the question as he walked to the bedside and stared at the extremely pale figure in the bed.

  Noranda laid still, an expression of pain on her face. Alec could see that she had lost a lot of blood, a dangerous amount. Her heart was barely beating, and he realized that there were traces of poison in her body, attacking her liver and kidneys, set to cause worse damage that would be just as fatal as the loss of blood itself.

  He wracked his brain, sorting through his accumulated memories of healing, trying to find a means to restore life to this girl he cared so much about.

  “Alec, I know you cared for her, but the doctors tell us there is nothing to do but hope she dies peacefully, soon,” her aunt said to him across the bed.

  Alec fell to his knees, his face now even with Noranda’s. He leaned forward and gently kissed her lips. There was a muffled gasp from someone else in the room. He still could not come up with some way to address the fatal loss of blood and the swiftly accelerating damage to the vital organs.

  Knowing nothing else to do, Alec reached out his hands. He placed one on Noranda’s head, and grasped one of her hands underneath the blanket with his other.

  “Now see here, stop this behavior…” a voice seemed to say from a great distance away.

  “Lord,” he began to pray quietly, his hearing and field of vision and every other sense honed to a fine focus on the girl he was with, “Give her time. Give me time to find the cure she needs. I love her Jesus, and want time to save her, no matter what it costs.”

  He heard a sound like a rising wind, and saw a bluish glow fill the room. Alec was looking at Noranda’s face as he prayed, and he suddenly felt his body grow rigid, frozen in his position with Noranda. He could no longer feel his own body except the two hands that were touching the girl. The rushing sound rose, and there sounded a thump. The bluish light increased, and his vision grew blurred. He saw a rapid movement out of the corner of his eye, and felt a brief touch on his arm. Still he looked at Noranda, and saw no changes occurring in her health, although he knew something was happening.

  More blurred movements occurred in his peripheral sight. Alec could not tell how much time was passing as he knelt paralyzed. He felt a sudden sense of weariness come over him, and realized that his personal energy was being depleted rapidly, as if he was carrying an enormous load of ingenaire power with him out of the energy zone.

  A chill came over him, and the sense of weariness increased. The rushing sound commenced to rise in pitch rapidly, reaching a painful crescendo, and the bluish light grew rapidly brighter.

  A sudden bursting occurred, and all the strange phenomena ended. Alec slumped to the floor beside the bed. He heard many voices speaking loudly around him. His fingers slid off her face, and he let lose his grasp on Noranda’s hand, then opened his eyes. There directly above him was the face of Aristotle, with a look of concern and wonder expressed in his eyes.

  “Alec, how are you? Can you hear me?” the old ingenaire asked.

  “I hear you,” Alec replied faintly, feeling ready to pass out.

  “Are you finished with your ingenaire works?” Aristotle asked, as more faces appeared above his, looking down at Alec with expressions of wonder, fear and concern.

  “I am finished for now,” Alec answered. He closed his eyes and passed out.

  315

  Table of Contents

  Introduction

  Also by the Author

  List of Characters

  Section 1 Finding The Vision – The White Mountains

  Chapter 1 – Arrival in the Mountains

  Chapter 3 – Ambush at Riverside

  Chapter 4 – A Night with Natalie

  Chapter 5 – Departure from Riverside

  Chapter 6 – The Rising Stars

  Chapter 7 – The Cave of Healing

  Chapter 8 – Leah in Walnut Creek

  Chapter 9 – Surviving Walnut Creek’s Fall

  Chapter 10 – The Raft and the River

  Section 2 Finding The Power – Goldenfields

  Chapter 11 – Annalea in Goldenfields

  Chapter 12 – A Visit From An Angel

  Chapter 13 – The Shop on Bakers Street

  Chapter 14 – The Duke’s Palace

  Chapter 15 – The Surviving Guard

  Chapter 16 – The Palace Guard

  Chapter 17 – The Awakening

  Chapter 18 – Recovery in the Palace

  Chapter 19 – The Duke Makes Plans

  Chapter 20 – The Chapel by the River

  Chapter 21 – Reflections on a Note

  Chapter 22 – The Pain of Training

  Chapter 23 – Dinner at Natha’s

  Chapter 24 -- Alec Returns to the River

  Chapter 25 – The Challenge of Healing Lewis

  Chapter 26 – An Unhealthy Sleep

  Chapter 27 – The Healing Power

  Chapter 28 – Lewis Revives

  Chapter 29 – The Camp by the River

  Chapter 30 – A Chase Through the Wilderness

  Chapter 31 – Pursuit by Ingenairii

  Chapter 32 – Learning the Ingenairii Factions

  Chapter 33 – A Captain and Ingenaire

  Chapter 34 – Merle’s Test

  Chapter 35 – Merle’s Proposal

  Chapter 36 – Where the Power Resides

  Chapter 37 – Grasping the Energy

  Chapter 38 – A Night on the Town

  Chapter 39 – Terror at the Shop

  Chapter 40 – Consequences of Power

  Chapter 41 – The Healing Water

  Chapter 42 – Learning About Healing

  Chapter 43 – A Mark of Power

  Chapter 44 – Return to the River

  Excerpt from At the Seat of Power, Book 2 in the Ingenairii Series

 

 

 
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