The Lifesaving Power: Goldenfields and Stronghold

 

 

Alec has been sent to Stronghold on a mission of mercy, to heal Noranda. But his adversaries in Stronghold will show no mercy towards him…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alec heard and saw his door open. The two guards entered the room, followed by three more, and then Mooreen. The guards formed a line between Alec and Mooreen, who stood silently, appraising Alec’s condition. “You’ve been kind to him apparently,” she spoke to the guards. “There’s not a bruise or mark to be seen on him anywhere.”


No milady, we taught him some discipline just yesterday,” the head guard said insistently. “We came in twice to visit him, as a matter of fact.”


That’s fine. You run things here as you think best,” Mooreen responded, her oily tone and her satisfied words not matching. “I would think it important to maintain control, but you probably know another way to run a prison. Others would probably beat a prisoner senseless a time or two and then have no problems from then on.”

The guards had caught the clear meaning of Mooreen’s comments, and moved towards Alec to comply with her wish to see him beaten. Alec idly speculated about somehow evading them and turning the tables by taking Mooreen hostage, but within seconds the guards had outnumbered and overwhelmed him. They started punching and kicking relentlessly, as Alec avoided any fighting in return. He focused simply on protecting himself, but the odds were too great, and he began to stagger about, finally falling to the ground.

“Enough. Pick him up. I want to see his face,” Mooreen ordered. Three of the guards lifted Alec, one yanking his hair to hold his head up.

Through bleary eyes Alec watched Mooreen take a knife from a guard, and placed it against his face, just below his eye socket. “We’ve sent a letter to your palace at Oyster Bay, offering to return you to them for a sufficient ransom.”

As she spoke, Alec sensed another presence, an aura of jealousy, envy and greed. It felt familiar yet different. With the steel point of the knife pressing hard into his face though, he didn’t dare to move or try to look around for anyone new in the cell.


They’ll pay for you, and they won’t care if you’re returned to them in less than prime condition,” she said, and she slashed the knife downward with a fierce jerk.

Alec suffered burning pain as a gash opened down his cheek and he wailed in anguish. “Let him go for now,” Mooreen odered. The guards obeyed, and Alec’s hands flew to his face as he dropped to the ground.

 

 

 

 

The Ingenairii Series

 

 

 

 

Visions of Power

 

At the Seat of Power: Goldenfields and the Dominion

 

The Loss of Power: Goldenfields and Bondell

 

The Lifesaving Power: Goldenfields and Stronghold

 

Preserving the Ingenairii (
forthcoming
)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For further information, visit patiamolebooks.com

 

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The LifeSaving Power:

 

Goldenfields and Stronghold

Book 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeffrey Quyle

 

 

Index

Section 1 Stronghold and Oyster Bay

 

Chapter 1 – Hinges’ Home Page 1

Chapter 2 – Returning to the River Page 5

Chapter 3 – Messages Page 19

Chapter 4 – Arrival at Stronghold Page 23

Chapter 5 – Aristotle’s Words in Oyster Bay Page 34

Chapter 6 – A Rainy Road>

Chapter 7 – The Wayward Letters Page 42

Chapter 8 - Meeting the Locksfort Youth Page 44

Chapter 9 – Defending the Locksforts Page 48

Chapter 10 – Finding the Balance Page 61

Chapter 11 – The Great Awakening Page 74

Chapter 12 – Planning to Escape Page 80

Chapter 13 – In Mooreen’s Prison Page 86

Chapter 14 – A Haircut for Noranda Page 97

Chapter 15 – A Struggle Begins in Stronghold Page 108

Chapter 16 – The Unknown Animal Page 118

Chapter 17 – The Change in Power Page 122

Chapter 18 – Departure from Friends Page 125

Chapter 19 – The Return to Oyster Bay Page 128

Chapter 20 – A Meeting with Ari Page 135

Chapter 21 – The Ceremony at the Cathedral Page 140

Chapter 22 – A Broken Heart Page 154

Chapter 23 – Healing for All Page 157

Chapter 24 – A Dance at the Palace Page 172

Chapter 25 – The Crown Protected Page 180

 

Section 2 Goldenfields and the River Giffey

 

Chapter 26 – A Visit to Boston Palace Page 185

Chapter 27 – Reunions in Goldenfields Page 188

Chapter 28 – Healing in Goldenfields Page 200

Chapter 29 – In the Army Camp Page 214

Chapter 30 – Bethany at Oyster Bay Page 219

Chapter 31 – The Place for an Ambush Page 221

Chapter 32 – Encounters Along the River Page 232

Chapter 32 – Rosebay’s Battle Page 264

Chapter 34 – Riding the Plains Page 270">

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Chapter 35 – Return to the Battlefield Page 284

Chapter 36 – The Greatest Use of Power Page 295

 

 

 

List of Characters

 

Goldenfields

 

Colonel Dearborn Ryder, Goldenfields Guard

Inga, Goldenfields cavalry officer

Lewis, Goldenfields cavalry officer

Imelda, Goldenfields cavalry officer

Alec, healer and warrior ingenaire

Cassie, healer ingenaire apprentice

Ellen, Goldenfields woman, housekeeper for medic shop

Hannah, Ellen’s young daughter

Duke Toulon, ruler of Goldenfields

Princess Rhian, Mahogan’s daughter, now duchess of Goldenfields

Ellison, special assignments member of the Guard

Noah Rastall, political advisor to the Duke

Lord Kelvin, advisor to the Duke

Kinsey, spirit apprentice

Shaiss, a light apprentice

Alder, a light apprentice

Pember, cavalry second in command

Berlisle, cavalry member

Allisma, a water ingenaire apprentice

Natha, leading trader in the Dominion

Annalea, Natha’s daughter, married to Rand

Helen, Natha’s wife

Merle, Goldenfields court ingenaire

Yula, one of Merle’s apprentice ingenairii, a plant ingenaire

Drawr, one of Natha’s sons

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Tarkas, one of Natha’s sons

 

Bondell

 

Prince Mahogan, ruler of Bondell

Marne, cavalry member

Faldor, Bondell court chamberlain

Rashrew, militia leader

Renda, Bondell Guard

 

 

List of Characters
(cont.)

 

 

Oyster Bay

 

Aristotle, powerful ingenaire

Rubicon, warrior ingenaire

Moriah, Rubicon’s apprentice

Nathaniel, Rubicon’s apprentice

Bannis, Oyster Bay palace master armsman

Rander, Oyster Bay Palace Guard officer

Hinges, Healer House housekeeper

Irene, Hinges’s daughter

Tritos, a stone ingenaire apprentice

Poltaire, Natha’s factor in Oyster Bay

Marley, one of Natha’s shipping officers

Aerley, Oyster Bay court physician

Marble, Oyster Bay palace minister

Ventin, Oyster Bay palace minister

Oakley, Oyster Bay banker

General Hewlett, Oyster Bay army leader

Commander Tunce, Oyster Bay army leader

Marshall Grein, military leader of Slone

 

 

Stronghold

 

Consum, Millershome factor at Redwater docks

Parlton, mate aboard the Millershome ship,
Current Rider

Francis, hired mercenary aboard the
Current Rider

Inspir, junior officer aboard the
Current Rider

Reuchlin, one of the young male Locksfort cousins at Stronghold

Circh, one of the young female Locksfort cousins at Stronghold

Brandeis, one of the young male Locksfort cousins at Stronghold

Johanna, one of the young female Locksfort cousins at Stronghold

Durer, brother of Noranda in Stronghold

Mooreen, matriarch leader of the Locksfort clan

Delle, one of the young male Locksfort cousins at Stronghold

Helma, family cook for the Locksforts

Elcome, Traitorous Goldenfields Guard quartermaster

Prologue

 

In volumes I and II,
Visions of Power
and
At the Seat of Power
, Alec, a sixteen year old orphan boy, has seen his traveling carnival ambushed by monsters, the lacertii, in the Pale Mountains. Alec’s friends and fellow survivors, Aristotle and Natalie, have been driven in different directions from him. Alec discovers a hidden, sacred cave, where he is given great, mystical powers (the powers of the ingenairii). His powers provide the ability to perform miraculous healing services for the sick and wounded.

Alec travels with another refugee, a pregnant lady named Leah, and they leave the wilderness on a long raft journey. When they arrive in the bustling metropolis of Goldenfields, Alec uses his powers to heal the mortally wounded ruler, Duke Toulon. The young healer is rewarded by the Duke and adopted by the Duke’s highly-trained military force, the Guard. Alec comes to learn swordsmanship, and also learns that he has other hidden ingenaire powers that can be tapped.

Alec’s close friendship with Inga, a member of the Guard, leads to malicious gossip that causes both Alec and Inga to leave Goldenfields at the end of
Visions of Power
.

Alec then travels to the capital city of the Dominion, Oyster Bay. While there, Alec is reunited with Aristotle, and also with Natalie, who has presumed Alec to be dead, and become engaged to the soof the Duke of Goldenfields. Alec lives upon Ingenairii Hill, the center of the powerful organization of the people who wield great and special powers. Upon the Hill, Alec receives training that unleashes the tremendous warrior energies bottled up within him. As Alec grows acquainted with the people of Ingenairii Hill and Oyster Bay, he makes many friends, including a water ingenaire apprentice, Bethany.

Before Alec can grow accustomed to life in Oyster Bay, he is sent on an urgent mission back to Goldenfields to serve as the Duke’s personal bodyguard. The city has grown troubled because an army of lacertii has opened warfare upon the outlying regions of Goldenfields. More turmoil ensues when usurpers murder the king of the Dominion back in Oyster Bay, take control of Oyster Bay, and their allies stage a coup attempt against the Duke.

Alec’s tremendous abilities are the key to rescuing the Duke and winning back control of the Goldenfields palace. In the process of fighting, Alec receives a wound that appears mortal, and at the end of
At the Seat of Power
, Alec manages to work with others to miraculously self-heal his wound.

In volume III,
The Loss of Power
, Alec struggles to learn how to be a leader in Goldenfields as Duke Toulon faces hostile forces on all sides of his duchy. When Oyster Bay rebels begin to take over Bondell, Goldenfields’ neighbor to the west, Alec teams up with the Guard’s new cavalry to deliver a surprise raid that rescues hostages and overturns Oyster Bay’s forces, but in the process Alec overuses his ingenaire powers -- crippling himself severely.

Desperate to be healed, Alec rides off in search of a mythical holy place, where he has mystical visitations; he is partially healed, but also given obligations to overthrow the usurpers in Oyster Bay as well as to complete his healing of Noranda.

As Alec returns to Bondell, he finds that Oyster Bay has re-invaded the city. Alec and the local militia wage an unlikely battle and defeat the invaders so that the prince of Bondell can regain his throne and resume his alliance with Goldenfields.

Alec leaves Bondell in single-minded pursuit of his goals, and arrives in Oyster Bay, alone. He battles the corrupt noble classes, persuades the uncertain army to help him, then dramatically confronts the coup leaders from Ingenairii Hill, absorbing their energies in an explosive ending that wipes out those powerful malefactors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Section 1

 

Stronghold and Oyster Bay

 

 

 

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Chapter 1 – Hinges’ Home

 

Alec slowly walked the uneven paving stones of a shadowy street, stumbling towards a house he was sure would be safe.

Just minutes earlier he had allowed himself to absorb and then virtually explode with power collected from a large number of other ingenairii. He survived the detonation because a fraction of a second before the energetic explosion he had called upon his unpredictable ability to jump through time, and had escaped as the inferno had initiated; the talent to transpose time was usually unpredictable, but in this case he had known the time-jump would occur, thanks to the predestination that the spirit of Noranda had imprinted upon him the night before. The explosion and the time-jump had occurred so nearly simultaneously that to an outside observer there was no evidence that Alec had not been consumed by the explosion.

Now, as a result of that movement through time, he had landed in a night that was two weeks later than the explosion. He had moved from a bright mid-day to a dark hour past midnight, and had landed in a plaza still strewn with debris. Repairing the plaza had apparently not been a high priority compared with all the other work needed since he had disappeared.

Alec felt drained of energy and initiative. He only had one goal now, to find the quiet home of Hinges, his former housekeeper, and to fall asleep there so that he could rest and prepare to leave the city on his personal pilgrimage to Stronghold. He knew the general location of Hinges’s home; he’d visited it twice in the week before his jump through time.

Already in this dark evening he had visited one location he had expected to be his destination in Oyster Bay, from which he had expected to proceed with his journey up the Carmen River. Upon gathering his bearings from the travel through time, Alec had skulked through the streets of the city to the gate of the Millershome dockyards. But the gate was locked and the dockyards empty, evidence that in recent months Natha the trader had decided to pull out of the dangerous Oyster Bay market.

At that point, after sitting slumped in exhaustion at Natha’s gate, Alec had decided to walk towards Hinges’s home. It was the only other place he could think of in Oyster Bay where he could receive the discreet help he needed to recover and get started.

In time he came to the street where he thought Hinges and her daughter Irena lived. So far he had escaped notice on the empty streets, not drawing any attention to the regal robes he continued to wear. With sunrise due soon, Alec wanted to be off the street quickly, out of sight from the public. Midway down the street he found the door he recognized, and gently tried the latch. Of course it was locked, and Alec felt it was too early to awaken the neighborhood by pounding on the door, so he sat down, leaned against the door and waited for morning.

Gradually the sky lined, and Alec observed random movements along the street as workers began to move about. A noise behind him caught him off-guard when the door latch rattled just briefly before the door swung open, causing him to tumble backwards into the house.

Irena gave a startled gasp at finding a person on her doorstep, followed by a piercing shriek of recognition. “Momma, it’s him! Momma, it’s Alec, it’s the protector! He’s alive!” the wiry girl screamed in startlement.


No, no, quiet, please,” Alec begged, rising to his feet and whipping one hand behind her head, his fingers twining through the thick short curls of her dark hair, while he clamped his left hand over her mouth, desperate to muffle her screams.

Irena looked in his eyes for a long moment, then seemed to gain control of herself. Alec could hear doors opening along the street, and quickly grabbed the door behind him to swing it shut.

Seeing the calm look in Irena’s face, Alec removed his hand from her mouth. “I’m sorry to do that, but you were telling the whole street I was here,” he apologized.


What are you doing here? I’m sorry I screamed. Where have you been?” Irena spat out quickly.

There came a thumping on the door. “Are you alright in there?” a man’s voice asked.


Go out and tell him everything is alright,” Alec urged, worried that his efforts to be circumspect had proven futile.

The girl nodded and slipped out the door. Alec heard the voices speaking. “Yes, we’re all right. It was only my boyfriend; we’d had a fight and he was waiting on the doorstep to make up. I was just startled, really. Thank you,” Irena’s explanation seemed to satisfy the inquisitive neighbor, and soon the girl re-entered the house, just as her mother came into the room from the hall.


Master Alec! Good lord, you’re like a king now, and you’ve been missing for days. The city is in an uproar,” Hinges said with a sob and ran over to hug Alec tightly. “I’m so glad to see you!”


Thank you Hinges, it’s good to see you too,” he said sincerely as he held her in a hug. “And it’s good to see Irena too, I might add, since I haven’t mentioned that yet in our start to the day.”


Your, your majesty,” Irena said, bowing down in belated recognition of the circumstances. “You have been missing and presumed dead for several days. The city will rejoice at your return!”


I’m not returning, yet,” Alec said calmly as he removed his arms from Hinges. “I came here to ask you to help me leave the city undetected, if possible. I need to get rid of these,” he indicated the rich robes, “and to wear some sensible clothes. And I’m afraid I need at least a little money, if you have any you can lend to me. Aristotle will see that you are repaid; I’ll give you a note to give to him.”


The protector is asking to borrow from a housekeeper?” Hinges laughed at the ridicus notion. “We have a little silver you’re welcome to have. We don’t have any clothes for men though, I’m afraid.”


Could you go down to the slop shops and get some for me?” Alec asked


I could do it this morning once the shops open, if you don’t mind waiting that long,” Hinges replied. “Irena, you go along now so you’re not late for work. We’ll be fine here.”


Good bye Irena,” Alec said holding out his hand.

The girl took it gingerly, then gave a slight curtsey. “I’ll see you later mama,” she said and left.


May I rest here today and leave this evening?” Alec asked, feeling the full extent of his weariness from the use and adaptation of ingenaire energies.


Yes by all means, lie down in the back room upstairs. Would you like anything to eat first?” his hostess asked.

Alec looked at her fondly. “I hate to pass on your good cooking, but sleep is all I want right now.” With that he gave her a kiss on the cheek and gratefully went to lie down.

When Alec awoke in the late afternoon he felt refreshed. He went downstairs to find Hinges calmly sewing in her parlor; she placed it aside to show Alec the clothes she had bought for him. “And here are the coins we have for you,” she said, handing him a small, worn leather purse.

Alec felt his heart swell with gratitude towards the kindly woman, and also felt shame that he was taking advantage of her good nature. He sat down to write a note to Aristotle, explaining the need to repay Hinges and urging the ingenaire to let him travel without pursuit or escort on the journey he was compelled to undertake.

Irena returned as the sun was setting. “You’ve had a long day,” Hinges said after greeting her.


Yes, we had extra work at the manor. The new owners are holding a great festive evening tomorrow,” she replied with exasperation.


Is the city calm?” Alec asked.


Yes, the city is in good hands, and people are looking forward to the return of the rest of the ingenairii from Goldenfields. With the evil men all gone from Ingenairii Hill, and the palace back under control of a good man, the city feels like it’s moving back to the old days,” Irena answered.


You say the ingenairii are returning from Goldenfields?” Alec asked, not sure how he felt about such a move.


Master Aristotle sent a messenger to me last week asking me to come up to the Hill to clean up your Healer House,” Hinges explained. “When I went up there, folks told me that he had sent invitations to the ingenairii in Goldenfields inviting them all to come back to restore unity among the ingenairii. Everyone expects they will return, and they’re needed. There aren’t many left up there now; it’s so empty it makes me wat to cry.”

Alec wondered how many ingenairii would return. Most, he imagined, and he knew that it was the right thing for them to do, but he regretted that the potential union of warriors and ingenairii as a fighting force in Goldenfields would go unrealized. He wondered where Bethany would choose to go, and Cassie as well. Ari was cleaning the Healer House for her, presumably.

Pondering the matters he had heard, Alec bid his hostesses an affectionate goodbye, and stepped out into the dusky evening streetscape. He strolled through the city with a hood up to further conceal his identity, and crossed the river to the small tavern where he had stayed before unexpectedly winning the crown. There he used a substantial portion of the funds Hinges had given him to pay the stable fees for Walnut, and climbed into the saddle to begin his long journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2 – Returning to the River

 

The beginning of the sojourn, or at least the prospect of beginning it, filled Alec with eager anticipation. He rode his horse at a suitable pace through the city, and long after the darkening sunset he reached the verge of the city where the buildings thinned out and he felt free in the open spaces around him.

The newly self-exiled ruler of the city rode along the main river thoroughfare until he reached a wooded glen far from the city, then pulled Walnut off the road and set up a camp to sleep through the remainder of the night. He was pleased he had accomplished his first priority – getting out of the city, where he feared he might be recognized. With Walnut tied to a bush, and his blanket roll wrapped around him, Alec lay and thought about the confusing facts of his world.

For him it was only a day since he had gone to confront the leaders of Ingenairii Hill, and virtually blown himself up in their presence as a way to destroy them. It was a tactic he knew had surprised everyone in his own party of followers, and probably left many of them believing he was dead. His note to Aristotle would put that belief to rest as well as restoring Hinges’ wealth to her, but would also raise many questions about his disappearance, and for that matter even his tactics and his temperamental fitness to be Protector of the Crown.

For Alec, though, the opinions of others didn’t matter any more. He had been told by the spirit of a holy saint, the disciple of the savior no less, that he had a mission to heal a fatally wounded girl. Now after being detoured and distracted and detained by adventures along the way, he was on the road to Stronghold where Noranda lay deathlike in a family crypt.

The warm summer air blew in a gentle breeze over Alec, and he heard it whisper in the husky leaves on the tree branc above him. The gentle sound lulled him to sleep, and he slept without dreams as his body recovered from the strains it had suffered in the past twenty-four hours.

Long after the sun rose Alec slept on, and when his thirsty horse nudged him awake he opened his eyes in a confused beginning to the day. Moments later he remembered where he was, as well as the mission he was on. He needed to head to Stronghold - immediately - as Noranda’s spirit had told him. His memory for a moment overtook his mind, and he remembered the kiss Noranda had given him before he had fallen asleep. The memory evinced another in turn, the memory of his last kiss with Bethany, when he’d parted from her in Bondell. He’d not told her he loved her, and his weakness in that moment still gnawed at his heart, more now than before.

How could he make it up to Bethany? How fast could he make it to Stronghold, he wondered? He’d only ever visited the city once before, when traveling with Richard’s slow moving carnival. Without money to purchase supplies for his mount and himself, or better yet, a ride on a riverboat, Alec suspected he would need to ride for three weeks to a month. And when that journey was complete and his healing for Noranda done, he would at last be free to find Bethany.

He rolled up his blankets and prepared to leave the woods. As he guided Walnut back out to the road, he counted the remaining coins Hinges had given him. They were enough to buy some food for a few days, but not enough for even half the journey he expected, and that assumed he slept in woods or barns for the length of the journey.

He felt his mount turning to look at the pasture beside the road, and he let Walnut have his way to grab a few mouthfuls of grass, reinforcing the issue on his mind. Alec hardly had money to feed himself, let alone to buy fodder for Walnut. Until he reached a large city with branches from the major banks, he’d have to make do.

He pulled on the bridle and set Walnut back in motion, heading upriver along the Carmen towards the junction with the River Giffey. A light rain began to mist down, and Alec pulled the hood of his cloak up over his head as he spurred Walnut into a brisk walk.

For the next few days Alec and his horse rode in the wet weather, slowed down by a road that turned to a sticky, muddy track on the south side of the river, a path less used than the busier road on the north shore. He traveled through several small villages and past numerous farms, though only when he passed Frame, sitting across from him on the north shore of the river, did he experience an urban setting. He stopped and bought some biscuits and traveler supplies, then continued ahead. He occasionally rode alongside a wagon going to or from town or among a group of travelers, and listened to their small talk. Twice he was with pilgrims heading to various shrines.

Alec occasionally practiced a little medicine for his companions, when simple cures were called for and easy ingredients were readily available. He asked for no money for such work, but received meals for himself and feed for Walnut, and stretched out his ability to support himself by several days.

When he neared the mouth of the Giffey, he cut through the land of Redwater, a land ruled by Baron Long, a nominal friend of Goldenfields, and arrived at the capital city with the self-same ninto the Giffey River. Alec walked his mount through the busy streets at mid-morning on a market day, when goods from the countryside were arrayed among the streams of buyers and sellers, giving the city a crowded feel after the many days Alec had spent riding the country highways. He had a destination in mind though that required going to the heart of the city, so he slowly edged along until he came to the riverfront, then asked for directions to find the dockyard of Natha Millershome.

By mid-afternoon Alec was at the gate to Natha’s docks. “Is Tarkas available today, or Joaquin, or Natha himself by any chance?” Alec asked the guard, who clearly did not intend to allow folks from the landside to enter the docks easily, especially one as unkempt as Alec appeared.

Alec’s knowledge of the family names did not lessen the guard’s suspicion, but it did earn a note being sent to the office. “Who shall I tell them is asking?” the guard said expressionlessly.


Let them know that Alec, Annalea’s healer, is at the gate,” he replied, using an affiliation that any family member would grasp.

A short time later a reply came back. “The proctor will see you; there’s no family member at this station presently.” Alec knew that Natha’s family moved around among the various cities to keep an eye on their interests in each of them, and consequently there was unlikely to be a guarantee of finding one of Natha’s sons at a particular city on any given day.

The proctor met Alec in his office, and shut the door behind him, something unusual Alec suspected from the startled expressions he saw through the door frame as the door closed the rest of the staff off from the conversation.


My name is Consum,” the proctor began. “I’ve worked for Natha at a number of places for over twenty years, so I felt I owed something to a friend of his family if that’s who you are,” he explained with a dubious tone of voice.


I met Annalea last year when she was suffering, and nursed her back to health. I also helped Natha with the healing water he sells from the fountain upriver; you do still sell barrels of that water, don’t you?” Alec asked, hoping that he was mentioning pertinent points to prove his affiliation with Natha’s family.


Ah,” Consum replied. “Well, that sounds correct. What else can you tell me?”


Well,” Alec thought, “I’m actually in a partnership with Natha and the Duke in the sales of the water, and I worked with Tarkas to help save the Duke in Goldenfields last fall. I’ve been to Natha’s home in Goldenfields, out west of town, and I’ve met the proctors Gretchen in Bondell and Drawr in Oyster Bay…” Alec ran out of items he wanted to divulge. “There is more I could add, if you need.”


Let’s suppose you’re telling me the truth; what news would Drawr have passed along recently through the network about you?” Consum queried.

Alec paused; it seemed like an invitation for him to admit that he was crown protector of the Dominion, which was the last thing he wanted to admit and spread around as he trie to speed ahead of his name and away from his duties in order to carry out his obligation to Noranda.


I thought your dockyards in Oyster Bay were closed; they were when I was last there a few days ago, so I don’t know that Drawr would have anything to say,” Alec temporized.


That’s correct,” Consum said, his facial expression indicating that Alec’s answer was what he had been fishing for. “Presuming you are who you say you are, tell me why you’ve stopped here asking for Natha or his family.”


I need to travel up to Stronghold as quickly as possible. I hoped I might be able to travel on one of your ships going in that direction,” Alec replied.


That’s very little…” Consum began.


And I can even work as a guard; I’m good with a sword,” Alec added, suddenly inspired to offer to work for his passage.


We haven’t actually sent a ship as far north as Stronghold in several months, but as it happens, we are going to send our first ship up there later this week to re-open the yards there. And an extra sword on duty certainly would be a good idea,” Consum stated.


The ship from Goldenfields should arrive here in two days, and then debark the same evening. If you can be here ready to go, you’ll have a spot with the crew,” the proctor said.


And will I be able to bring my horse?” Alec asked, deciding to push the limits of his request.


How good of a swordsman are you?” Consum asked.


Very good,” Alec answered confidently.


If you’re good enough, perhaps,” replied Consum. “We’ll see. Be sure to be here early. Now, if you’ll excuse me please, I have work to attend to,” Consum dismissed Alec abruptly.


Before I go, may I have some paper and a pen? I would like to write a couple of letters,” Alec pleaded for one more favor.

Consum gave him an exasperated look, then handed a sheaf of papers, a pen, and a small ink bottle to Alec, before turning away to avoid further interruption.

Alec let himself out of the office and back to the front gate where Walnut was tethered to a post outside. “Is there a good inn that’s affordable around here, with a stable?” he asked the guard.


Try the Wharfside,” the guard replied matter-of-factly.

Alec gave thanks and went to the inn, where his small cache of coins led him to bargain for space in the loft above the stables. He took his time selecting the best stall for Walnut and brushed the horse thoroughly as the sunlight faded and the stable boy fed the other animals. He ate a roll from a street vendor and lay down in the hay above Walnut, a softer, better resting place than he’d slept in for sev, then hanights.

The next day, on his way to the farmers market to buy some inexpensive fruit, Alec passed a large impressive building, a branch in the Pierpont bank system. He opened the door and walked in, then asked about withdrawing funds from the account he’d not used in some time, and was told to return the following day when the manager of the bank would be present. He moved on to the market where he bartered for some apples, then returned to the stable and sat down with his new paper and pen.

Over the course of his trip to Redwater Alec had thought about the many people who might believe that he had run away from responsibility and duty. The Duke of Goldenfields, whose service he had abandoned; Faldor, the chamberlain in Bondell, who he had left behind to restore order in that principality; Rander, who he had left as steward of Oyster Bay, a place where no ruler was left; and Aristotle, most of all his mentor, Aristotle, who had to reorganize and restore the damaged community of ingenairii who remained after the fratricidal coup and purging of dissidents.

Alec also knew that he had to write to Bethany. He didn’t know what he would tell her, but he knew he owed her some explanation. Many months had passed since their last time together in Bondell, and extraordinary events had changed his life, his obligations and his priorities. He had thought of her ceaselessly now over the months of their separation, riding emotional ups and downs, but coming without hesitation to the conviction that he loved her, and needed to tell her.

By the middle of the morning he had managed to write to Faldor and Duke Toulon, enough work, he felt, to justify taking a ride out into the country for a break. On the outskirts of Redwater he rested Walnut in a glen, and he picked some plants that might be useful as medicines while his mind pondered the other things he needed to tell people.

His letter to Rander was most difficult, because he wanted to write as though he deserved the right to give advice, giving direction for armies to move against the lacertii, for repair of the palace, relations with the church, cooperation with the ingenairii, and many things more. He had written to Duke Toulon with a promise of aid coming from Oyster Bay if possible, and he hoped that Rander was in a position to make that occur. Most of all he wrote his apology for abandoning Rander in the difficult position of trying to hold the crown and the government together. He encouraged Rander to rely on Aristotle for advice and assistance and promised to return when his obligation was met.

As he wrote to Aristotle, he reflected on and expressed his many doubts and questions. Aristotle was the person he trusted more than anyone else in the world, and as he wrote, he wished that he had the benefit of the great ingenaire’s judgment to guide him. He felt a sense of catharsis as he let the pen tell Ari about the many things that had happened, many good, some bad, most of them confusing. The paper was covered front and back as he let flow the long rambling tale of his adventures.

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