The Lifesaving Power: Goldenfields and Stronghold (17 page)

Together they turned, and as they began to walk from the altar towards the offices in the buildings behind the cathedral, the crowd inside the building began to cheer, and as if on cue, the bells in the tower above began to ring. Aristotle motioned towards the leaders, and a half dozen detached themselves to follow behind Alec and the Prelate.

Minutes later they sat down at a table in a large meeting room. “I am not sure what to say,” Alec began, as everyone looked at him.

“
You all have been ruling here in the city for the past several months, while I have been absent. The autumn harvest will be coming in soon,” he remembered the importance the Duke of Goldenfields had placed on the farmers, and he thought of the need to feed the city during the winter. “We need to make sure the fruits of the harvest reach our city and are stored where the merchants and the public will have access. But,” he said looking around at the puzzled faces, “I suppose that is a secondary problem to bringing peace to the city immediately. Would each of you around the table tell me what we need to do to make this city work again?”

Rander, sitting on Alec’s right, began. “We are glad to have you back. I know I’m glad to have you back,” the steward said to a round of polite chuckles. “You need to put men to work in the city, so they start earning wages again, and so they don’t have idle time to cause trouble.”

Brannis sat next to Rander. “You ought to send the Palace Guard out into the streets to put some of the ruffians behind bars. Better yet, you ought to shorten all the criminals by a head so you don’t have to pay to feed them all in jail,” he said.

“
That’s true enough, you’ve hardly got any money,” Rubicon added. “General Hewlett reports that we have some troops who haven’t been paid in several weeks, and some of our suppliers are threatening to cut off the credit to the army. I can’t blame them either; no one can carry that much bad debt for very long.”

“
Why are we so short of money?” Alec asked.

Well, you don’t have a chancellor to handle things properly for one thing,” Aristotle said. “And the crown relies on trade levies to raise a lot of funds, plus some taxes on the commons and the nobles. But there’s less trade, and the nobles are fleeing or simply refusing to pay their taxes, so you have less money to spend.”

“
Father, do you have anything to add?” Alec asked, looking to his left.

“
Actually, although Oyster Bay, Goldenfields, Stronghold, and to a lesser extent Bondell are all suffering, most of the other cities in the Dominion do not seem to be reporting such troubles. The lack of trade, caused by the problems in the big cities, is creating some woes in the rest of the Dominion, but if you can straighten out those three or four issues, I believe the rest of the of the problems will improve,” he reported, based on the regular communications he received from churches throughout the Dominion. Other suggested actions came forth, to dredge the river, to repair the city walls, to weed out opponents. Alec let the flow of items continue for several minutes.

“
Thank you all,” Alec said, rising, with everyone else promptly rising as well. “You’ve given me much to think about. Shall we go to the palace now?” he asked Rander. “I think it’s important that we immediately get to work to try to resolve the issues plaguing the Dominion.” Turning toward Aristotle, “Will you please come with us, at least for a little while more?” he asked.

They walked outside and mounted horses. Alec’s mind suddenly wandered back to the night before. “Is Tritos seeing Bethany?” he asked Aristotle, remembering the profile he had seen with the female water ingenaire last night.

“
I believe he is,” Aristotle said, and then said no more about the subject.

Alec brooded over the matter for part of the ride to the palace, but as the walls of the royal compound came into view, his thoughts shifted to other matters. He called over the leader of the forces from Slone, who had remained in service to the city during the months of Alec’s absence.

“
Marshall, when we spoke last time I was here, I told you I intended to send forces to help battle the lacertii in eastern Goldenfields,” Alec began. “Now I intend to keep that pledge. I know your forces have been away from home already for a longer time that some may have expected. So I have a proposition to make.”

The Marshall nodded his head, and Alec continued. “I see no reason to keep any of your men here any longer in Oyster Bay. If you are so inclined, and if you think it best for your men, why don’t you seek volunteers who are willing to travel further to go closer to the battlefield in Goldenfields, and let the rest return home to Slone?”

“
We seldom conduct war on the basis of volunteers,” the Marshall told Alec. “But you are right,” he acknowledged. “Some men have a lust for war, and they have chafed at the domestic activities of babysitting your city. While others have wives, always a bad thing for soldier, I think, and they wish to return home. I will think about your proposal and deliver an answer soon.”

“
Thank you. I’d like to be able to send forces to Goldenfields within a week,” Alec replied as they rode through the gate and into the palace grounds. He had no particular agenda other than making things better, but helping Goldenfields counted high in Alec’s mind for doing that. The group dismounted, and walked up the steps to the palace as grooms took the horses away.

“
Are Nathaniel and Moriah available to talk?” Alec asked Rubicon as they entered the throne room. “I’d like to see them this afternoon,” he replied to the master warrior’s affirmation.

“
You need to tour the palace and greet your people here,” Aristotle suggested. Alec wanted to talk to him to ask why the ceremony had been so devoted to the investment of power on him, when he only wanted to wait for an heir to arise. But there were too many people around for that conversation. “They are the folks who will take care of you every day for some time to come. A good leader needs to appreciate such people, and to show his appreciation,” Ari was saying. Rander nodded his support to the suggestion.

“
Their situation is much the same as Rubicon said the army’s is,” the steward explained. “They’ve not been paid, or paid very little. Some have moved their families into the empty portions of the palace because they cannot afford rent.”

“
Rander, send a note to Traders Bank, asking to have the manager come see me immediately with three gross of silver coins from my account there,” Alec asked with a sudden inspiration.

“
Your majesty, we do not keep any royal accounts in that bank,” Rander said in a diplomatic tone.

Alec remained silent for a moment as he remembered the source of his wealth, and considered a new potential tool to help the kingdom. After the moment of reflection, he recollected himself and responded to Rander.

“
I have a personal account at Traders Bank, and I will withdraw funds from it for the time being,” he explained. “I should have enough to satisfy some of our immediate needs provided I don’t drain the bank dry too swiftly,” he added, remembering the panic he had induced in the Redwater bank branch manager. “Plus, I want to talk to the banker about our treasury, and see what ideas a professional money handler has.

“
And because I am not a royal person, I do not want to be called your majesty,” he said in his first pronouncement of policy. “Call me Alec, or whatever seems appropriate.”

With that they began to walk throughout the Palace, visiting many hallways, and speaking to several of the servants. After a long journey down one corridor, they turned to reverse without traveling all the way to the end. “Why not go there, Rander?” Alec asked.

That area is where several palace workers have moved their families, as I mentioned earlier,” the guard officer turned court functionary explained.

“
Let’s not stop; I’d like to meet the families as well,” Alec responded, and the group moved back in the direction he wished to go.

Alec was disturbd back the poor conditions the families lived in. “We will improve this immediately,” he insisted. He noticed one mother holding a young girl close to her, and approached, examining the child with his health vision. The girl was feverish, and the mother clearly worried. Alec placed his hand on the brow of the girl and extended his ability to remove the infection in the girl, and then he added strength to her lungs. He touched the mother lightly on the shoulder, taking some of her fatigue away as well. “Whose family are you?” he asked kindly.

“
My husband is Reece, who works in the stables,” the woman replied.

“
My thanks to him for his loyalty to the palace. You and your daughter should rest now, so you’ll be able to greet him with a smile when he returns. Your girl is healthy, and things are going to be better for all of us, I’m sure,” Alec told the woman.

He proceeded to move down the hall, healing a few others, trying to show his appreciation by giving special attention to these people who were suffering in trying conditions because they had remained loyal to the crown.

“
Your banker is here, majesty,” a guard told Alec and the others as they finished with the family wing.

Alec met Winsor, a young man, and three helpers in a sitting room, and he explained his need to draw down large amounts of funds quickly. They reached an agreement on limited draws for the next three weeks; after that the bank manager felt confident he could obtain more cash from the other branches to allow Alec to draw down larger quantities. “You’ll deplete your account within a few more weeks after that,” the banker warned, looking at his notes.

“
We will hopefully have better revenues coming into the royal treasury by then,” Alec said politely. “We need to start collecting more. Do you have any suggestions?” Alec continued, and garnered the banker’s promise to come look over the records to work out some proposals.

Alec made Rander and Rubicon each take a bag of silver to distribute among their people, compensating for unpaid wages and offering assistance were needed, while keeping one bag for future use. People started to drift away to see to their various activities and responsibilities, and to spread their gossip about the new young ruler. Soon only Aristotle and his guards were with Alec.

“
Ari, I think I’m going to need several ingenairii to carry out duties for me – maybe several stone and fire ingenairii if you have enough,” Alec began, “and a large group of water ingenairii as well.”

“
Your grace,” Ari said in a voice that seemed too formal to Alec. “I will need to discuss with the council the advisability of placing such ingenairii in your service.

“
You understand the nature of the ingenaire community Alec. You’ve seen it in action, both here and the rump that sat at Goldenfields,” Ari explained in a gentler tone in response to the look of disbelief on Alec’s face. “It’s not my place to order ingenairii around; you know that. There may be some time wasted, but we have to proceed by the rules, and the ingenairii need to feel some ability to control their own fate, especially now. We are depleted umbers, and many are unsure of their future, and our community’s future, because we’ve just come through the worst crisis in our known history.

“
Having said all that in order to explain to you the limits we face, I’m still sure you will find either official cooperation, or at the very least large numbers of volunteers,” Aristotle continued. “You are giving them a chance to regain a sense of purpose. And, you are one of us, and a popular one at that.”

“
Ari, you just put together a big, fancy celebration in the cathedral to announce that I’m in charge,” Alec protested. “Don’t fail me now when I’m going to try to do something.”

“
What do you have in mind for our people?” Aristotle asked, his curiosity rising.

“
I want to send help to Goldenfields,” Alec stated. “If we use a large group of water ingenairii, we can send an embassy to Bondell and ask Prince Mahogan to contribute troops to his neighbor and family member, then use the water ingenairii to supply them across the desert, so they arrive at Goldenfields quickly.”

“
And what are the stone and fire ingenairii for?” Ari asked further.

“
The Goldenfields forces have an incomplete road from their capital to the battlefront,” Alec replied. “I’d like to offer help to complete the road by sending work crews to finish the paving, so supplies and troops can travel over land more quickly, instead of relying on the river. Stone and fire ingenairii would be able to use their powers to pave the road even more effectively and quickly. ”

“
Any other ingenairii you want to use?” Aristotle cocked his eyebrow.

“
Well, just one more mission,” Alec replied with a grin. “I’d like to send Nathaniel and Moriah with an escort to Stronghold, to be my embassy there, and find out what has happened there.”

“
You would truly depopulate the Hill with all your plans, but maybe there is merit to that,” Aristotle replied. “However, have you thought to ask the Duke of Goldenfields if he wants all your help?”

“
How can he refuse?” Alec asked with certainty. “He needs help to fight off an enemy that’s common to us all. It only makes sense that we all provide support to him.”

“
But will he want masses of foreign troops in his land, or criminals from other cities dumped in his city to do work? He is a proud man, and a powerful one. You really need to ask him to let you help, rather than make him accept what you plan to do in his community,” Aristotle advised. “And what do you hope to accomplish with Stronghold? Just sending people from the crown there doesn’t really have much impact on the Locksforts and the others right now. They have just suffered losses, and you have to take their pride into consideration too. From what you’ve told me, we can’t be sure about who’s in power at this point.”