At the Seat of Power: Goldenfields and the Dominion

by Jeffrey Quyle

  Alec digested the explanation. So he would be able to tell if others used the energy, and they would be able to tell when he was with the power?

  “You’ll get so used to the feeling the fields of energy around you on the Hill, it will fade into the background,” Aristotle assured him. “Then, when you go out among the rest of the world, you’ll find it strange when you do feel it being exercised again. Most of us never notice it at all here.”

  “I’d forgotten how new that would seem to you,” Ari mused to himself. “Well, let’s get on with this chance to chat. We’ll need to get together quite a bit in the next few days. There’s a great deal I want to hear from you, and I think there’s about as much I’d like to learn about you, my young friend. For now though, I want you to know this. Merle has passed along a great deal of information to me in recent weeks. Based on what he’s told me, I want to assign you to training as a warrior ingenaire with a senior warrior named Rubicon. He’s a good man, and I trust his judgment. He’ll lead your training in warrior skills. From time to time you’ll have to interact with other members of the warriors guild, and I want you to be very cautious around them. They don’t have your best interest at heart – they only want power for themselves. Stick with Rubicon and his apprentices, and those he vouches for; for the most part, staying at his house, you’ll be with trustworthy people.”

  “Do you want to also be trained in the spiritual ingenaire ways?” Merle asked.

  “If I do that, will I be able to still return to Goldenfields in a few months time to help deliver Leah’s baby?” Alec asked.

  “Not many ingenairii in training set their calendar by delivering babies!” Ari laughed, and in that laugh Alec heard the old Ari he had expected to meet. “No, you absolutely would not be able to squeeze in the training you need for both warrior and spiritual ingenaire abilities in such a short time. It’ll be a wonder if you get the one under your belt, as it is.

  “You’ll have to come back some other time for that training, if you can fit it into your busy schedule as a healer, merchant, and officer,” Ari said with a smile. “Gracious Alec, you’ve done more in your sixteenth year than most people do in a lifetime, and I think greater things are ahead for you yet!”

  “Ari, I have had a lot of things happen around me, or happen when I was accidentally there. I didn’t go out looking for anything that happened. Did Merle tell you about how I was just walking by Annalea’s house when she screamed, and I went in to help? I didn’t have any plans! I truly in my heart of hearts want fewer things to happen for a while, not more. I’d like to carry out this ingenaire training, but I really want to be able to return to Goldenfields, serve the Duke and the Guard, and help heal people. If being a trained and approved ingenaire traps me here, or somewhere I don’t want to be, I’d rather not do it. I want to have a calmer life for a while and not be always forced to go or do things simply because they are my responsibility,” Alec burst out, surprised by his own passion in rejecting more responsibility.

  Ari leaned very close to him and placed both hands on Alec’s shoulders. “Alec, if someone like you doesn’t accept responsibility, less selfless people will grab for the power, and then we will see many horrible things happen. I think God has chosen you for responsible tasks, and I think that you will find this work to be rewarding. Isn’t your healing gift from God proof of that? Isn’t that rewarding?”

  “But don’t create problems for yourself you don’t need. As it happens, I believe that whether you do complete your training or you don’t complete your training, you will go back to Goldenfields. It is going to be a very important battlefield in the future, and I want you to be there to fight for the side of right!”

  A knock on the door interrupted the conversation, just as Alec was absorbing the sobering implications of Ari’s declaration. “Come in,” Ari said loudly, removing his hands from Alec and sitting back.

  In stepped a heavyset man with only one arm. “Alec, I’d like you to meet your warrior ingenaire trainer. Rubicon, I’d like you to meet your new apprentice, Alec.”

  Chapter 3 – Rubicon the Trainer

  Alec tried to focus on the man who walked over to the table, his mind preoccupied by the fact that Ari seemed to have just told him Goldenfields was destined to become a battlefield. He looked at the man, and found nothing about Rubicon that brought the word warrior to mind.

  Rubicon looked at Alec’s face and smiled.

  “He doesn’t think much of me, does he Aristotle?” Rubicon said as he watched Alec examine him.

  “Not many do think much of you as a warrior to look at you the first time, Ruby,” Aristotle pleasantly agreed. “Alec, here is the perfect example of why you shouldn’t trust first appearances. Rubicon is a tremendous warrior ingenaire. He’s the most effective I know in terms of adjusting his powers to meet the particular needs of any circumstance. He’s smart and crafty, not just a strong brute. He’s also got the scruples to put his abilities into battle only for worthy causes.”

  “He will be your teacher for the next few weeks, if you’re lucky. He has the option of rejecting you if he is busy with another student, or if he has another project, or if he thinks you’re not right for him,” Aristotle said.

  “You say that it will take just a few weeks like you mean it, Air,” Rubicon interjected with exasperation.

  “With this one Ruby, it might be that fast. I know it sounds ridiculous, so I’ll just let you decide for yourself after you work with him. Show him your arm,” Aristotle said to Alec, motioning towards his left forearm. Alec didn’t comprehend the abrupt command for a second, then realized he was supposed to show his warrior mark. He raised his sleeve self-consciously.

  “Already has the mark?” Rubicon said quizzically. “Well, that’s not your usual recruit is it? And it’s a sword, is it?” He slid his own arm forward against his ribs, revealing his own mark, a wicked looking battle-ax. Alec inwardly flinched as he considered the prospect of facing such a heavy weapon in battle.

  “I’ve already had his things taken over to your home. Besides, he’s a busy man and we need to accommodate him. He wants to get home in time to deliver a baby,” Ari said with a laugh.

  “I saw those two bags on my step, and since you told me he was coming to me, I expected that’s what it was all about. Tell me Alec, have you had a great deal of experience in battle, other than with expectant mothers?” Rubicon asked.

  “Some,” Alec replied cautiously. “I’ve been taking some sword training with the Duke’s Guard,” he explained without revealing anything else yet.

  “Yes, I see the dashing scar on your cheek. The young noble women at the balls will positively swoon for you, I’m sure,” Rubicon said dryly. “What about with your powers? How often have you wielded them? You’ve obviously used them in battle at least once.”

  “Only one time, when I found a friend being beaten by thugs,” Alec admitted.

  “Very admirable. How did you feel afterwards?”

  “Pretty worthless for a couple of days,” Alec said matter-of-factly.

  “Good. You’re telling the truth when I put the right questions to you, and not lying otherwise. And you’ve already suffered the problem that arises when you try to use your powers without proper training,” Rubicon smiled and pounded his fist on the arm of his chair. “So I don’t have to convince you to learn how to handle the power so that you avoid headaches and blackouts as much as possible. That is always such a dismal exercise to start with.

  “Well, Aristotle, do you have anything else for us, or can we go now?”

  “You’re free to go. I’d like to have lunch with him tomorrow in your studio, if you don’t mind,” Aristotle said, and they were dismissed.

  “Before we go, can I ask one more question, Ari?” Alec felt compelled to say from the doorway. Rubicon looked at him in surprise.

  Aristotle looked at him with a level gaze. “From most students I’d say no, but for you today Alec, yes.”

  “Have you see
n Natalie? Is she still in town?” Alec asked.

  A smile that seemed sad turned the corners of Aristotle’s mouth. “Yes, I’ve seen her, under her real name of course, and yes she is still in town. We have talked about old times together, and about you, of course, back before we knew of your survival. I believe you’ll have a chance to see her yourself in a few weeks at the Apprentice Ball,” he said.

  Rubicon laughed. “Very good, just as I expected! He’s got the scar to lure the girls, and now he’s already on the hunt for them. Not even been in the city for two hours and looking for your next date! We’ll have some fun keeping up with this one, won’t we Air?”

  “I don’t think we will keep up with this one Ruby. I don’t think we will,” he repeated more softly. “You have no idea how far this one may go. Now be off with you,” Aristotle said and dismissed them as Willis emerged from his door with papers to go through.

  Rubicon and Alec left the building and started walking further up the hill. Alec felt that now familiar pop in his head again, and a moment later, a large splash of water fell on his head and shoulders, drenching him in a chilly shower.

  “What was that?” he asked looking at the empty sky above him.

  “Someone’s having some fun with a new apprentice,” Rubicon said with a smirk. “You’ll have similar things happen for a while until you fit in, or don’t fit, and then maybe some more. You’ve caught someone’s attention pretty fast; usually it’s a day to two before these things start.

  “That was obviously a water ingenaire,” he added. “You won’t figure out who,” he continued, as he saw Alec’s head swivel around in search of his assailant, “at least not right away. If you fit in, they’ll keep pulling pranks, but you’ll put some pieces together, and come up with some answers. Not that it’ll matter much by then.”

  “What if I don’t fit in?” Alec asked, keying in on the prospect that he might not get along with the other, more experienced ingenairii apprentices on the Hill.

  “There’s no way that will happen,” the elder warrior said as Alec’s clothes dripped and they continued to climb. Alec was not reassured by Rubicon’s nonchalant dismissal of his fears. “Now put that behind you, so we can chat a little.”

  “The egos of warriors too often get in the way of good sense, Alec,” Rubicon said as they climbed upward. “We could have picked a number of good locations for the warriors cluster to locate, but somehow those early warriors became convinced that we had to have our home at the top, so every day its four hundred feet up and four hundred feet down.”

  “Look at the good sense of the metal ingenairii,” he said, pointing below them to a collection of buildings at the foot of the hill, “or the healing ingenairii, in their time,” indicating the vacant building they then were passing. “Why didn’t we have their common sense? Instead, we’re so caught up in the prestige of being one of the great houses of power that we overlooked the pragmatic reality of the location.”

  Alec glanced backward at the vacant healer home as upward they climbed, Rubicon’s good-humored chatter providing more information for Alec to digest along the way.

  When they arrived, Rubicon took Alec inside and upstairs to a balcony. “Aristotle has a nice view, no doubt, but look at that Alec. That’s one of the benefits of being up here.”

  Alec looked out at a shoreline and ocean view that stretched to the horizon. To the left he saw the bay with the city along both banks, and to the right the shoreline habitations grew less densely settled as the distance from the bay increased. Lines of waves broke on the sandy beach in unending processions.

  “I’ve never seen the ocean before,” Alec said.

  “It is something I could watch forever,” Rubicon told him in a wistful voice. “But,” he said more loudly, “I’ve been told by high ingenaire Aristotle that instead of indulging myself I should devote my every effort to teaching you how to be a great ingenaire – that’s the word he used, ‘great’.”

  “Tell me about your ingenaire powers and experience, and then I’ll do some testing. Once we know the baseline, we’ll know what we’re going to do for the next several weeks,” Rubicon directed him.

  They sat on the balcony and Alec described his training with Merle and his experiences with warrior powers. “Did you use your powers to get revenge on whoever cut you there?” Rubicon asked, pointing to the still raw red scar Imelda had left on his right cheek.

  “That wouldn’t be fair to her. I never even considered it,” Alec said. “Besides, she thought she had a good reason to do it; but she was completely wrong! Still, I understood what she meant,” Alec said more than he intended to.

  “I should have guessed it was part of your love life. Alec, never mess with a woman who can handle a weapon. And remember, almost anything can be a weapon,” Rubicon laughed.

  Despite himself, Alec grinned at the implications.

  “Good, I finally get to see a smile. Now, based on what you’ve told me, I’d like to go with you to the source of power, and get a sense of how much energy you can handle. I want you to let me go with you to the source of energy, and create the image you’ve used best to bring your powers into this world. Let me judge that. Then we can try moving up the scale and determining what your limit is, and what is best for you.”

  “Can you touch the power easily? Let me take your hand and we’ll go,” Rubicon commanded.

  Alec thought about the training he had received in Goldenfields, where he had first learned to deliberately use his powers. Those exercises had been confined in a small isolated room. He felt odd trying to place himself between the barriers while he was sitting on the balcony. He further realized that he had always in the past been lying down when he began this exercise. Redoubling his attention to the task under these different conditions, Alec went into the consciousness that existed between the barriers of the world. Rubicon was waiting there. Alec took the lead in moving through the barrier and into the grayness beyond, then towards the source of power he sensed. Rubicon was right with him. He created the sword-carrying image without any other weapons and entered the realm of energy. He concentrated on being ready to accept the power this time, and the familiar pressure on his image gave way early, bringing life to the image.

  Now completely oblivious to his new physical environs, Alec began the familiar battle for control over the enlivened image and firmly established his mastery over it. He stopped for a moment to go through the process he remembered of checking his control over each limb and muscle. Convinced that he had charge of the power, Alec turned and easily exited the realm of energy, taking the image out to the barrier, and bringing it though.

  Alec paused between the barriers, suddenly not sure if he should reassume consciousness with the power intact in this world. He decided to dissolve the image, and felt the power suck away from him as he opened his eyes.

  Rubicon was sitting next to him watching him. “I didn’t bring my power back to this world with me. Was I supposed to?”

  “It wouldn’t have really mattered, but it’s just as well not to for now. I learned what I needed to learn. Let’s do it again, and you should bring your power with you this time; I want to see how much you can carry each time. This time, I want you to increase the strength of the image. Add some armor. Ready? Let’s go.”

  Alec again went into his unconscious area and with Rubicon penetrated the barriers to find the source of power. As suggested, he strengthened the image by adding armor to it, complete with boots and gloves that provided protection. Alec set the image and moved into the power. He felt the power seek this image more easily, and felt the image’s eagerness to accept the power, enhancements sprouting from his various items. The new warrior image, better suited for violent action, was better able to take advantage of the warrior energy and to do more with it.

  Alec realized he needed to exercise control. He went though his process of making sure that he commanded each of his limbs, then each set of muscles, then he took the added step of asserting con
trol over the armor and sword.

  He turned to leave the realm and felt the greater strain of hauling more power with him as he slowly advanced. Alec pushed his image body to move faster towards the dark opening. Alec saw the end of the energy tunnel approaching, and demanded the image not slow down. As the image sensed the power vacuum it was heading towards, it tried to resist him but couldn’t, and Alec continued his journey back to the barrier. The barrier seemed less able to accommodate the larger, more powerful image, and Alec quickly forced the hole to open wider so that he could come through.

  Once he was on the other side, feeling the connection to the ingenaire energy stretching behind him, Alec opened his eyes again. He now had more ingenaire energy in this world than he’d had so far.

  His body immediately changed, as he detected and prepared for everything around him. He turned his head and saw Rubicon still sitting next to him. “I’ve got my power with me this time, Rubicon,’ he announced.

  “You can discard it now, Alec,” Rubicon said. “No reason to wear yourself out at this point in our testing.”

  Alec let the power melt away from him, and sensed its almost living joy as it returned to its own world.

  “That was impressive, actually. You brought a strong link to a substantial degree of energy with you. Many of our contemporary full ingenairii can’t do as much as that. Of course,” he added, “the amount of energy by itself doesn’t always tell anything about which ingenaire would do better in a battle.”

  “Now,” Rubicon said, “just to satisfy my curiosity, let’s try one more test. This time I’d like for you to use your sword, keep the armor, and add a knife and a bow and arrow as well. After this we’ll break for lunch. Go ahead and bring that power back to the conscious world with you.”

  Alec slid again into the unconscious world with his eyes closed, found Rubicon’s presence, and then proceeded to the energy portal. He stopped and made the image of himself as a heavily armed warrior, ready for battle, then entered the realm where the energy of the ingenairii was a palatable presence. Immediately the energy seeped into the image, as though it found the prospect of animating such a creation irresistible. The mighty image absorbed large amounts of power, and began to pulsate with the energy. Alec saw what the energy of an ingenaire in such a body might do, as the bow and arrow flung deadly shots, while the other weapons alternately became the image’s choice for dealing destruction to opponents. Alec felt as though he was in a trance for a second, watching the most magnificent display of martial ability he’d ever seen. He abruptly realized that his image was moving forward into the power source, and that he didn’t control it.