The Lifesaving Power: Goldenfields and Stronghold (23 page)

Yula looked Alec squarely in the eye for a long silent minute. “Alright, if you will promise that this will be simple and easy and that you won’t just spring a surprise on me like this again, I’ll do it. But you owe me a very, very large favor,” she added, without a smile on her face.

They re-entered the chamber. “We’re ready to start Annie,” Alec said simply. “If you would lie down, please,” he motioned to the sofa, then went and stood beside her as she took a recumbent position.

“
Yula, put your hands on my shoulder, here,” Alec directed the blond girl. She did as instructed, and Alec placed his hand over Annalea’s midsection, then knelt quietly while he looked at her intently with his health sense, understanding what needed to be healed and how to do it.

“
Yula, I’m going to start using my healing power on Annie, and I want you to release your powers into me, just like an ordinary activity for you,” he directed. “Let your powers flow into me, and I’ll take them and use them as we repair and regenerate Annie.”

“
You’ll grow sleepy, Annie, from all the power we’ll ask your body to use to help in the healing. But that’s the worst that you’ll feel.”

“
Yula, I may ask you to increase your power flows if I think we need more. Just listen to me and follow my lead. I’ll tell you to stop when it’s time,” he explained, sensitive to the long fingers that wrapped over his shoulder blade, slightly digging into his muscles.

Alec began to release his healing powers, starting the process of removing the damage. “Yula, let your power start,” he instructed the girl behind him. She seemed to tighten her grip slightly, then he felt her power tingle through him as he took hold of it and channeled it to join his healing power. It felt similar to his own abilities, much more so than other ingenairii’ powers had felt in the past.

He sensed the changes he was effecting within Annalea, who lay silently with her eyes closed. Yula’s powers were facile and strong, and Alec shut off his own powers, other than a small trickle that directed and shaped Yula’s energy. He completed his first task, and began directing the growth of new tissue, the connections to surrounding flesh, and the restoration of blood flow to the revitalized womb. The steps followed each other closely as Annalea gave a small sigh. “Does that hurt?” Alec asked.

“
No, it feels indescribable, but it’s not pain,” she said.

Alec sensed the finish of the last step. “You can stop now, Yula,” he directed, as he used his health vision to closely examine the newly healed body of the young woman with the curly dark hair.

Everything seemed in order, perhaps even better and more fertile than Annalea had been before she drank the unfortunate spring water to improve her chances of bearing a child. Alec began to stand up slowly, satisfied with the results he saw, and intrigued by how little of his own power he had expended.

“
Yula, thank you for your help,” Alec said. Still partially crouched, he turned his head to look over his shoulder and brushed his cheek against Yula’s face as she bent in close and looked past him to the girl on the sofa.

“
That was fascinating,” Yula said softly, in a husky voice. “I felt the way you took my power and changed it. It felt so similar to my own use of the energy, but there was a thing, almost like a texture that was different. It was like it felt fleshy instead of fruity like my own power,” she analyzed what had just occurred, unconsciously speaking her thoughts out loud.

“
Annalea,” Alec said, looking down at his friend who had propped herself up on one elbow and was looking at him, “your body has been healed, thanks to the energy that Yula provided, and you will be able to bear children just as any other woman. Although,” he added with a smile, “I know that the children you bear will be smarter and prettier than any others.”

Tears welled up in Annie’s eyes, and she rose to hug Alec fiercely around the waist. “Oh Alec, this is like you’ve saved my life again! I didn’t realize how much it would mean to hear you say those words. I have to go see Rand to tell him!” she stood fully and ran from the room.

“
Yula, let’s leave these folks and take you back to the palace,” Alec said, motioning to the silent Armilla to go with them. They climbed on their horses and started back towards town. “Let’s take a detour,” Alec said with a note in his voice that the guard recognized as a sign of something unexpected about to occur. They rode to Baker Street and stopped at the healers shop next to Henree’s bakery. When they stepped into the crowded parlor, Alec looked around at the people sitting in wait of medical attention.

“
Will you take my hand, please, Yula,” Alec asked rather than commanded, reaching out to the plant ingenaire. Hand in hand, they began walking around the room, stopping in front of each person as Alec looked with his health vision. He reached out to them one by one. “Now, Yula, give me some energy,” he said conversationally, and after a few moments said, “That’s enough,” then added to the person he had touched, “You’re healed, you can go home now.” In rapid order the room was empty of patients, and Alec and Yula stood with Armilla.

“
How do you feel?” Alec asked his partner as they sat down. At that moment the door to the hallway opened, and a man came out and left the building, trailed by a weary looking Cassie. She looked astonished at the nearly empty waiting room, then registered that Alec was among the small group there.

“
Alec, it’s good to see you again!” she said first, then immediately followed with, “Where have all the patients gone? There was a roomful five minutes ago?”

“
We healed them,” Alec said simply. “I took Yula’s power and used it to heal everyone in the room. How do you feel, Yula?” Alec asked again.

“
I feel like it’s the second day of planting season,” she replied. “On the first day you go out and try to germinate and spur every seed and every plant in every field you can see. It exhausts you completely. On the second day you know better, so you do a lot of work, but not so much that you’re left wrung out and empty.”

Cassie sat down with them in the room, moaning in relief as she took weight off her legs. “You healed all those people just like that, using Yula’s powers? How do you feel?”

“
I feel fine,” Alec replied, “maybe better than you. Cassie, you look worn out. You need to stop trying to do so much and take care of yourself.”

“
Cassie, my name is Yula, obviously,” the plant ingenaire said, rising to reach over to shake Cassie’s hand. “Since His Majesty isn’t going to introduce us formally, we’ll do it ourselves. I know I’ve seen you at court attending the princess,” she gave Alec an exasperated look.

Alec looked abashed. “I thought you two would know each other after all these months as ingenairii in the same city,” he lamely excused himself. He heard Armilla clear her throat, and glanced over to see her make a disgusted face. “And this is Armilla, my bodyguard. She was here with me yesterday, but I don’t think you were formally introduced.

“
This is Cassie, the other healer ingenaire, once upon a time a ward I cared for,” Alec concluded the introductions. “Cassie, I stopped by to see if any of the others in the house here would like to travel with me to the front of the war when the army moves out.” He looked at Armilla for a second. “I think having some friends would make life a little more enjoyable than just having all the court people, but I understand the idea of traveling with the army to a war isn’t something many people may want to do.”

“
Are you kidding, Alec? No one will refuse the opportunity to with you,” Cassie said emphatically. “Will you leave anyone behind with me, or am I going to be here all alone when my baby arrives?”

Alec looked dubious. “I don’t think you will be here alone. Not everyone can go or should go. We’ll sort that out before the army moves south. I’ll come back tomorrow evening and talk to everyone here,” he added. “But now we need to return to the palace and all our friends there,” he said with regret. “Take care of yourself Cassie and get more rest,” he said as he reached out and infused her with a small amount of energy.

As the three of them rode back to the Palace, Yula asked Alec a question. “Do you expect me to go to war with you?”

“
Based on how valuable your powers were today, yes, I hoped you would go,” Alec said. “Together we can help heal many more people, especially the soldiers in the war. I’d like to have you go with us.”

“
I have responsibilities here, Alec. The Princess may not want me to leave, especially since she is so close to her time,” Yula rebutted. “And it’s almost time to plant crops, so I should be getting ready to go out to the farms.”

Alec was silent, surprised and disappointed by Yula’s response, and they rode the rest of the way back to the palace without speaking. When they returned to the stables, Yula left quickly, and Alec and Armilla went to find Rander. Armilla took her leave, replaced by two other guards, and Alec and Rander went over the dispatches, reports, and affairs of state.

The next day was the last full day in Goldenfields before the mobilization of the army began anew. In the morning a meeting of the full commanding staff of Alec’s army and the Duke’s army met jointly to outline the strategy they would pursue. In the large gathering were Alec, Rander, and Brannis from the Palace at Oyster Bay, and Generals Hewlett and Tunse from the Dominion Army, plus Marshall Grein of Slone, warrior ingenairii Rubicon and Nathaniel, and Delle Locksfort, not a general, but the liaison sent by Stronghold to communicate between their army contingent and Alec’s leaders. The Duke had with him Colonel Ryder, Major Abraham, Ratsall and Kelvin, and Merle, his ingenaire. Major Abraham opened the meeting.

“
Our cavalry has been patrolling fifty miles beyond the fort at the sand bars, swinging wide on either side of the river to keep an eye behind the lines of the lacertii. They have a large force assembled now, although no more seem to be arriving; all the flat boats coming down the river seem to mostly carry supplies for them. We think they outnumber our total armed forces by about 30%, which traditionally would dictate a defensive posture for us,” the Major explained, unrolling a map that showed the known and presumed forces on both sides.

“
The fort continues to be regularly besieged, but we manage to periodically break the siege and resupply the garrison there,” Abraham continued. “The lacertii have built no defensive structures that we can identify.”

“
How timely is your information?” Marshal Grein asked.

“
We keep shipping a substantial number of pigeons down to the fort, the cavalry and the army forces at the , so everything we learn is usually no more than three or four days old,” Ryder answered.

“
We have a garrison of over 100 soldiers at the fort, and nearly 5,000 in action approximately 20 miles away,” Abraham continued. ‘Our best guess is that there are 15,000 lacertii in the field against us. You are bringing another 5,000, including the reserves we are calling up, to give us 10,000 soldiers total.”

“
We don’t know if more lacertii are coming down river do we?” Rubicon asked.

“
We have no idea,” Abraham confirmed. “This could be their whole force, or only a fraction of what they have.”

“
So you propose to just dig in and make them waste their forces against our defenses?” Hewlett asked.

“
I said that because they outnumber us by 30%, which would dictate a defensive strategy, according to the traditions of our officer corps,” Abraham said. “However, because they are a large force at the end of such a long, tenuous supply line, we think a different strategy may be prudent.” He began to make some markings on the map that now hung on an easel.

“
We want to strengthen our defenses where we are currently, but we also want to send an expeditionary force far to the southwest to avoid detection, and then return to the river to disrupt their supply lines,” Abraham explained. “The cavalry has identified a set of high bluffs along the river that would provide an excellent site for ambushing any shipping. The terrain would allow our forces to establish a camp without being detected by the lacertii coming down the river and the river there is shallow enough to allow our forces to cross on horseback or even on foot if necessary.”

“
What disposition of forces do you have in mind?” Tunse asked, requesting the information that was now on the minds of many of the military leaders.

“
Our plan is to stretch out our defensive line with a series of makeshift forts that will give us the advantage against their attacks,” Ryder said. “We have generally anticipated placing the forces from Stronghold as anchor along the eastern flank, about ten miles wide of the river. Inside them will be the forces from Slone, and then the forces from Oyster Bay along with some additional forces. The new Goldenfields reserves will join us on the western shore, allowing us to fortify that side.

“
We think that the disruption of their supply line at the bluffs will starve the lacertii into trying to force their way through the forts, where we’ll be able to grind them and destroy them while sitting in our fortifications,” Ryder finished. “We’ll have the advantage of being able to move our soldiers behind the lines to strengthen any point they attack, so we can maintain tactical numeric superiority.”

“
Who will be sent out to man the river site upstream on the bluff?” Rander asked.

“
We expected the new forces from Bondell to assume that assignment, but we’ve heard no word of their location or anticipated arrival,” the Duke told the group.