The Cloud of Darkness (The Ingenairii Series Book 11) (29 page)

Alec felt his heart fall at the implication that Aja had passed.

“She moved to a home on the outskirts of town, in a little tree grove that she loves, right after Lord Amane passed,” the man continued.

“Is she there now?  Can you give directions?” Alec asked, his spirits rising.

“If you’ll come in, I’ll ask Lord Smaille to discuss his mother with you,” the servant opened the door and ushered the two visitors into the entry hall, then showed them to a small parlor, where they took seats and waited.

Within a couple few minutes, a stoutly-built man appeared.  His hair was thick, silver, and wavy, and his eyes twinkled as they gazed out amidst a web of laughter wrinkles that etched his face.

“I’m told there’s a visitor who claims to have known my mother,” the Lord Smaille spoke first.  “But she has rarely entered the public world in many years, so long ago that I can scarcely credit either of you with having seen her.

“You look too young,” he said to Alec.  “And you look even younger,” he turned to face Kecil.

“My name is Alec,” Alec introduced himself as he stood.  “And I am older than I look – much older.  Your mother may have mentioned me as a part of the adventure that brought her to Exbury so many decades ago.”

“My mother told many colorful stories to entertain us as youths,” the man said agreeably.  “She and my father talked about a man named Alec, but of course not half the things they said could be true.”

“Did she tell you about how she turned into a tree during the day?  Or about the long chase she and I took as we followed your father and my beloved across the Twenty Cities, and through the mountains, all the way to Boundary Lake?

“Or did they mention about how my friend Andi and I used your father’s powers to help heal me and bring me back to life after I was shot with an arrow through my skull?” Alec asked.

“Or,” he didn’t pause to give Smaille time to answer, “did she mention my ability to move about from place to place,” Alec translocated himself from the parlor to a spot in the hallway just outside the parlor, and strolled back in.

“I used my own blood to help your mother change her nature, to become a human in the daytime,” he told the startled member of the Old One aristocracy.  “And I can do many other things, of course, as Aja probably told you,” Alec made a string of lights suddenly float lazily along the parlor ceiling.

“And so, I ask you as a friend, to tell me about your mother,” he finished, as he returned to his spot next to Kecil.

“You are truly Alec, the being my mother said was as great as a god?” Smaille’s face was pale.

“I’m not what she said, but I am her friend,” Alec agreed.

“Allow me please, to send my son Coeur to fetch my mother and bring her back to our home,” Smaille suggested.

“That would be perfect,” Alec agreed.  “In the meantime, if you don’t mind, I’ll take Kecil out to the garden in the back and look around.  I’m sure it’s still lovely.”

Alec led the way through the house and out to the back, where he and Kecil strolled quietly as the sun set.  They reentered the home and Alec led the way to the library.

“I remember Andi telling me that this library was so much more cosmopolitan that the other families’, because it had a whole shelf of books about something besides gardening!” he smiled at the memory, when he and Andi had laughed together.

They heard the sound of a carriage at the side of the house, and Alec paused before making his next statement, holding a book in midair as he listened to the sound of a door closing, and he waited for the next sign of the return of Aja to the house.

“He’s in the library, I can tell,” a woman’s voice spoke clearly in the hallway a minute later.

Alec unconsciously stepped towards the door, the book still held unknowingly in his hand.

The handle on the door twisted, and then a lovely woman with a late middle-aged appearance stood for a moment in the doorway, her eyes focused only on Alec, as she studied him intently.  Her gaze swiftly dropped and rose to look at his body, but then she stared at his face, as she stepped towards him, and he stepped towards her.

“Aja,” Alec spoke first, as he took his first step towards her.  Lord Smaille and a younger man, presumably his son Coeur, stood in the hallway outside, but they and Kecil were forgotten as the two long-separated friends reunited.

“Alec, you’ve truly come back!  By all the roots that drink deep,” Aja said softly, and then the two met and embraced tightly, their cheeks pressed tightly against one another’s face.  They separated ever so slightly, then turned and kissed fiercely for a long moment, which they followed by staring into one another’s eyes.

“Aja, there’s no other old friend I would ever ask to see,” Alec spoke at last.  “I’m so glad to see you, to know that you’re alive, and still looking so lovely.  Is your voice as beautiful as it ever was?” he asked.

“You’re still able to make my heart flutter, you ancient deity,” Aja spoke, her green eyes staring directly into his.  “Of course I dismissed Coeur’s story about the return of Alec, but as soon as I stepped out of the carriage, I still felt your presence, and I realized it was true.

“What brings you back to Exbury after so long?  Is everything well with you?” Aja asked.

Alec grinned at her.  “This is my friend Kecil.  We’re just being tourists, and we wanted to see the wonders of the Five Cities.  And of course, for me, you are the wonder of wonders!” he laughed.

She slapped his shoulder gently.

“You, the mighty warrior, wandering the Twenty Cities as a tourist?  I don’t believe that,” she said.  Aja turned to Kecil.  “You’re traveling in exalted company,” she said.  “He’s a man – much more than a man really, of course – one who is worshipped by those races that know his true worth.”

“He saved my life, and I’ve seen him do things that I never believed were possible,” Kecil replied immediately, “your ladyship,” she added.

“And your previous lady, Andi, the one you worked so long and hard to follow, is she?” Aja left the question unfinished.

“She departed from our realm just a few months ago,” Alec replied.  “It was on my journey home from her funeral that I saw Kecil in trouble, and rescued her.  We’ve been on a round-about trip to take her back to her own home ever since.”

“Oh, are you a resident of one of the Twenty Cities?” Coeur spoke up for the first time, as he and his father stood within the room.

“No,” Kecil spoke with a slight smiling curve to her lips.  “I’m from the west.”

“I’d be happy to show you some of the sights around Exbury, if you’d like,” Coeur spoke to Kecil again, edging by his father to draw closer to Kecil.  The young man showed signs of his heritage from Amane, Alec thought idly, as he studied the boy.  Especially around the eyes, and the curly hair was a clear legacy of both his father and grandfather.

Kecil was looking at him, he realized, seeking some guidance from him.

“If you want to go see the sights, I’m sure that Aja and I are going to be talking to one another about people and things that no one else alive will be interested in,” he told her. “We can meet back here for the night, with my lord’s permission,” Alec looked towards Smaille.

“By all means, I hope you’ll both spend the night here as our guests.  I’ve not seen mother so alive in many, many years, so we hope you’ll stay and entertain her as much as you like,” their host replied graciously.

Coeur led Kecil away from the room.

“And where would you like to go chat?” Aja asked Alec.

“Have you had dinner yet?” Alec asked.

“I have,” Aja said with a twinkle in her eye.  “But I could eat a bite more, and I suspect you have an unusual dinner in mind.”

“I’m sure the food won’t be unusual.  The last time I was at the Red Horse Inn, I thought it was typical of a city tavern,” Alec said with exaggerated casualness.

“The name sounds familiar.  Was it,” she paused, “was it the inn at Boundary Lake, the one on the square?”

“Boundary Lake?” Smaille’s voice rose an octave.

Alec held his arms wide, and Aja stepped into his embrace once again.

“We’ll be back after dinner,” Alec promised the nobleman.

And then they were gone from Exbury.

Chapter 25

Aja gasped, then laughed, moments after Alec’s Translocation of the pair brought them to an alley beside the prominent inn on the square in the center of Boundary Lake.  The sun was still shining in the western city, and they saw sparkles of light as the fountain in the square bubbled away merrily, its healing water still a reminder of Alec’s desperate effort to stop an outbreak of the plague that had been destroying the city in the days long before.

“I remember how you used to sing in the dining room of the inn here, entertaining the soldiers and the local people,” Alec told Aja fondly, one arm still wrapped around the woman’s shoulders, as they began to walk toward the open space.

“I remember how you fought the ingenairii, saved the girls, created that fountain to end the plague, and put an end to the lacerta invasion,” she laughed.  “It all makes singing sound so insignificant and silly.

“And you even had a statute raised, after all,” she pointed as they stepped out of the alley and saw the large bronze figure that was erected on a pedestal in front of the inn.

“Well, your voice is still better,” Alec answered lamely.

“How do you know?  It’s been a long time since you heard me sing,” Aja replied.

“Maybe I’ll have a chance to listen to you after dinner?” he proposed, as he held the door to the inn open for his friend.

They were seated in the nearly empty dining room, at a time just a bit early for Boundary Lake’s normal dining hour, and they began to talk.

“Tell me everything!” Aja said eagerly, as she began to eat a slice of bread from the basket that was placed on their table for them.

And so Alec began, telling about life with Andi, and the governance of the lands, the children they had raised and the values they had tried to instill.

“I’m so sorry to hear,” Aja said sincerely when Alec explained about Andi’s death.

Their drinks and food came, while Alec talked on, then more drinks arrived as Aja began to recount her own life with Amane in Exbury.

“He was always so gentle and kind,” she told Alec.  “He always treated me well.

“He didn’t realize that my race lives the long lifetime that trees live, not until he started to grow older.   Then he worried about me and how I’d live after he passed.  I told him that if I could live among trees, I’d be satisfied,” she explained to Alec.  “So we bought the cottage in the grove, and after Amane’s demise, I retired there to live with my friends the trees.”

“I used to think about you sometimes, wondering how you and Amane were doing,” Alec admitted.  “Andi used to tease me, and ask me if I wanted to go climb a tree,” he told her.

The sky outside the inn had grown dark, and the dining room had filled with other patrons.

“So will you make me happy and sing for the crowd, so that I can hear your lovely voice again?” he asked with a smile.

“My old voice is hoarse and cracked.  I never sing any more – it would be too embarrassing,” Aja told Alec, as a slight flush made her cheeks turn rosy.

He reached across the table and laid his hand on top of hers, then let his healing energy surge through the touching flesh, reinvigorating her vocal cords, strengthening her lungs, and taking away a few of the fine lines that circled her lips and eyes.

“I expect you’ll sound just as good as ever,” he said softly.

“I felt that again; I remember that feeling, that essence of Alec flowing into my body,” Aja breathed.  “You didn’t have to do that, my friend.”

“Apparently I did, if I want to hear you sing!” he smiled at her.  “Shall we go take the stage?” he nodded towards the empty corner of the inn.

“Why not?  How many more times will we have the chance to do this?” Aja threw caution to the wind and rose from her seat, as Alec stood too, and they moved to the corner of the room.

It was like a return to youth, Alec thought wistfully an hour later, though youth was a relative term.

Aja had sung with her clear, compelling voice, and captivated the audience of the inn’s dining room.  She hadn’t sung the songs about apprentices or mischievous plots gone astray, though, as she had so often done in the times many decades past.  Her songs had been gentle ballads about love and friendship, some filled with longing for days gone by, others telling of the gentle passion of a long relationship.

“Thank you everyone for listening,” she said at last, as the room filled with gentle, appreciative applause after she took a bow.

“Oh, that was marvelous!  I feel so alive!” Aja told Alec as they left the inn and stepped out into the open square in the center of the city.  She took both of Alec’s hands in hers and began dancing energetically, laughing warmly.

“You’ve made me feel a hundred years younger, my lord,” she said as they stopped drawing amused glances and ceased their impromptu dance.

“I feel two hundred years younger just seeing you have such a good time,” Alec told her.

“Oh Alec, why don’t you come move to Exbury and make me feel young every day?” she asked.  “Instead, I have to grow old and boring and stay respectable.”

Alec, their hands still grasping one another, let loose a stream of healing energy into Aja, cleansing her veins, rejuvenating her muscles, adding density and strength to her bones, and plumping her skin to restore its youthful appearance.

“What have you done now?” Aja asked, sensing changes within her body.

“I’m giving you a little bit more time to enjoy being youthful for a while,” he replied.

“Where’s a mirror?  I want to see what you’ve done,” Aja cried tremulously.

Alec exercised his light powers and created a pair of floating light orbs overhead, while also creating a shining disk of reflective light in the air, a mirror-like surface into which Aja stared.  She released her grip on Alec’s hands and slowly touched her cheeks.

“It’s like the very first time we met.  I was blind,” she breathed the words softly.  “And you gave me vision for the very first time, then you created a mirror just like this, so that I could see myself.”

Alec felt a tear suddenly trace down his cheek, as he watched the lovely woman examine herself closely.

“Are you ready to return to Exbury?” he asked.

“No, I’m not, but I suppose you’re going to take me there, aren’t you?” Aja asked wistfully.

Alec hugged her affectionately, then dismissed the Light functions that were calling attention to them.   He grasped the Traveler power, and they disappeared from Boundary Lake, leaving a small group of startled onlookers to gasp and chatter about the unlikely event.

They returned to the garden of Lord Smaille’s house, and stood in the darkness for a moment, holding their loving embrace, before they walked towards the door to the house.

“I hope there’s still a carriage here to carry me home,” Aja sighed, as she walked with her head resting on Alec’s shoulder.

“My lady?!” a servant exclaimed.  “You’ve changed!  You look so young!” the man exclaimed.  His manner was polite, though his appearance was haggard.  “Did the great one do this to you?” he looked at Alec as he asked.

“My friend did this for me, yes,” Aja confirmed.

“Could you heal illness, just as you’ve cheated Father Time?” the man asked Alec, staring at him with a beseeching appeal in his eyes.

“I can,” Alec replied simply.  “In most cases,” he added cautiously.

“Would you come look at my son?” the man’s eyes were starting to fill with tears.  “He’s in such pain.”

“I can come right now, if you wish,” Alec answered.  He felt taxed because of his use of the Traveling energy, and after having treated Aja, but he felt sure he had enough energy to lessen a boy’s pain. “You’ll excuse us,” he said to Aja.

“Certainly.  I’ll see you tomorrow, won’t I?  You’re not going to run off to some other city, are you?” she asked.

“No, I think we’ll stay here a bit longer.  I’ll count on seeing you tomorrow,” he promised, and then he motioned for the servant to lead him to the ill boy.

The servant whispered in the ear of a housekeeper, telling that he was leaving the mansion, then the man led Alec from the home and out through the streets of Exbury, on the way to his own humble apartment.

“Jodie?” he called as soon as he opened the door, with Alec following in his wake.  “I’ve found someone who can treat Rainer.

“Jodie?” he called into the silence, as he stood at the threshold, then he walked down the dark, narrow hall and disappeared into a room, from which Alec heard a sob.

“Come quickly, my lord!” the servant’s head leaned back out of the room, into the hallway, so that the man could see his visitor.

Alec called upon his Light energies, and brightened the hall, then strode into the small room, where a woman was seated on the floor, stooped over a small huddled body on a pallet.

Alec stepped over and knelt, then used his Healing energy to examine the boy, ignoring the exclamations of the parents as he placed his hands on the boy and began his treatment. 

He was just in time, he realized.  The pulse of Rainer’s heart was growing feeble and irregular, until Alec released his Healing energy.  The boy had both a congenital weakness in his heart, as well as an obscure fungal infection in his lungs.  Together, the two maladies were too much for the pre-pubescent boy’s body to overcome.

Alec sent energy to the boy’s heart to strengthen it, and to begin the complex matter of repairing the damaged valve Rainer had been born with.  It required a delicate threading of the streams of energy he focused, as he kept the heart pumping and the blood moving, while manipulating and growing the muscle parts at the same time.

“His color looks better already,” Alec distantly heard the voice of the mother who knelt next to him.  He continued to focus on the minute details of the work on the organ for several long minutes, then switched to the less onerous task of removing the infection in the boy’s lung.  He followed that at last by adding final boosts of strength to Rainer’s chest to make his upper body stronger, and finally concluded that he’d done enough to allow the boy to grow up strong and healthy.

He removed his hands from his patient, and turned to see that the man was stooped over, his arms around his wife, watching the boy intently.

“He’s going to be fine,” Alec assured them.  “He was very ill, but those problems are over.”

“He is breathing so much better,” the mother said with heartfelt joy.

“My lord, you are the greatest man to ever live!” the father reached forward and grabbed Alec’s hand in both of his, shaking it heartily.  “We couldn’t ask for any greater gift in all of life than this!  Our friends will be so amazed at this miracle that has come into our lives.”

“They’ll be jealous,” the mother added.  “So many of them have illnesses they cannot cure, and now this impossible healing is here.”

“What can we do to repay you?” the father asked.

“Just two things,” Alec said, a sudden plan forming in his mind.

“You can take me back to Lord Smaille’s home for the night,” Alec told him.  “And then, perhaps tomorrow, you could introduce me to your friends who need healing.  Lady Kecil and I might be able to help some of them with their aches and pains.  I believe we could stay here in Exbury for a few days to take care of your friends,” he explained, thinking that the prolonged visitation would give him an excuse to stay longer and see Aja for an extended time.

“Come with me,” the servant told Alec.  “I’ll take you directly back to Lord Smaille’s, and we will alert all our friends tomorrow that a miracle-healer is among us.”

When they returned to Smaille’s mansion, Kecil and Coeur were just returning from their own tour of the city.

“I can hardly wait to see everything in the daylight,” Kecil told Coeur.  “Will we be able to stay here long enough for me to go out on a daylight tour?” she asked Alec.

“Not just one tour – many tours!” Coeur interjected.  “It will take a month of tours to show you the wonders of Exbury!”

“I don’t know about a month, but I do think we’ll stay here for several days,” Alec satisfied the two young people.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he added to Kerles.  “And I’m going up to my room to sleep,” he bid them all farewell, feeling worn out by the uses of his energy during the day.

Minutes later, as he was laying drowsily in his bed, he heard the door open.

“Coeur is scandalized by the thought that I would sleep in the same room with you,” Kecil said softly as she entered the room, “but we’ve been doing this for months now, and it feels perfectly suitable.”

“You’re welcome to come in any time,” Alec told her, and he turned over to fall back asleep.