“I saw him at lunch today, but he didn’t know I was coming here to the palace,” Alec said. “He wants me to train to be a ingenaire, a healing ingenaire.” He leaned slightly downward whispered even more quietly in her ear. “Please don’t tell anyone about the cave where I found the healing skills. I’ll explain later.”
A slight noise from Noranda’s companion made them partially break their hug, so that after turning they still had one arm around each other as they faced the other two.
“This is Na..Noranda, a friend I knew long before I came here. Noranda, this is Nathaniel, an apprentice ingenaire who is helping me with my lessons and errands,” Alec introduced, as she seemed to examine his clothes and appearance in a way that Alec thought dismissed him as not part of the fashionable court.
“Alec is the boy who helped save my life, and that of Ingenaire Aristotle when we were in the wilderness. I’ve told you about him. I thought he had died when the lacertii attacked Walnut Creek. I can’t believe this is not a ghost I’m here with,” Noranda introduced Alec to her companion.
“Alec, this is my good friend, Elgin, son of Duke Toulon of Goldenfields.”
Alec turned to look at Noranda’s ‘good friend’ with who she had been walking hand-in-hand a minute ago. He had a stiff smile on his face at the moment, which distorted his thin mustache in a non-flattering way, and stepped closer to Noranda as she introduced him.
“Elgin, it is a pleasure to meet you,” Alec said to the son of his Duke. Alec decided he didn’t want to disclose his own ties to Goldenfields’ ruler for reasons he didn’t understand and didn’t want to analyze.
“I’m charmed to meet you,” Elgin replied politely. Noranda looked at him for a moment.
“Alec, I’d like to hear everything you’ve done since Walnut Creek. Will you come see us at the Locksfort compound, just down the river from our dockyards? It’s actually quite near the ingenairii’ hill,” Noranda said suddenly.
“I’ll stop by tomorrow afternoon or the afternoon after than,” Alec said to her as they separated from one another.
They gave one another a parting hug. “I’m glad to see a friend. There are so many things I want to tell you,” Alec told her.
“I’m glad to see a friend, too,” she smiled at him.
Elgin took Noranda’s hand and they continued their walk. Nathaniel looked at Alec. He shrugged and they walked away in the opposite direction. “Did you see those clothes?” Alec heard Noranda say in a low voice as they parted.
When they were safely out of earshot, Nathaniel grabbed Alec’s arm and hastily turned his friend towards him. “What in the world happened back there? That was like something out of a story! Two long lost lovers meet unexpectedly, making the girl’s newly betrothed insanely jealous!”
Alec looked at Nathaniel, and took a deep breath. “When this year started, Noranda and I were together in a carnival caravan…”
“Oh, is she the one who ran away from home to avoid a marriage? Everyone heard about that. And you were the boy she was really in love with?” Nathaniel interrupted.
“No, not at that time. She didn’t even know me until after she was in the carnival for a long time. We were in the mountains, like she said, and when the lacertii attacked, she, Aristotle and I were the only survivors. We spent time together trying to stay alive in the forests, and after the second lacertii attack, we were separated. That was months ago, and we hadn’t seen each other since then, until now, and she didn’t even know I was still alive,” Alec explained. “I don’t know anything about her boyfriend, and I didn’t make him jealous, I’m sure.”
“And I’m sure you did. I watched what happened, once I got over the shock of seeing you mauling the first pretty girl you see today. Maybe Rubicon was right after all,” Nathaniel said, pretending to look concerned. “Although you’re really not dressed well enough for her class of people, you know,” he added with a mocking grin that made Alec blush. He hadn’t known that Noranda would make such a subtly malicious observation.
“Now you know that’s not what happened!” Alec said.
“Okay, Ruby was stretching the truth, but maybe just a little,” Nathaniel looked around them. “We need to get you to your market, so let’s get going or somehow I’ll be blamed for you missing out on your brothersfoot leaves.”
Nathaniel peppered Alec with questions about the lacertii and Aristotle as they found their way out of the gardens then the palace and down to the market on the square, where they asked at four stalls before finding someone who sold the plants Alec was looking for. He also saw other items he wanted to use to replenish his medical supplies, after he had almost emptied his materials at the orphanage. By the time they were done shopping, Alec had a sizeable collection of items to take with him.
“So you really plan to do this healing work?” Nathaniel asked him after his shopping spree.
“Nathaniel, Aristotle told me today that he thinks we will be able to re-establish a Healers House for healing ingenairii because of me. I’m not going to try to become a warrior ingenaire after all,” Alec told him.
“You’re not going to be a warrior with us? I’m sorry to hear that. I told Moriah that we were going to be the three greatest warriors the house had ever known at one time,” Nathaniel sounded genuinely crestfallen. “And you’ve got the mark on your arm already,” he added. “You already are a warrior, you know. You’ll be a double, with two house marks on your arms! That’ll impress the ladies,” Nathaniel chuckled. “Well, it will scare quite a few, but it will impress some!”
“I’ll still get to practice with you to learn warrior skills. I just won’t try to gain recognition to officially enter the warrior house. Rubicon said that he, Moriah and you would still help me train for a while,” Alec tried to console him as they approached the gate to the ingenairii’ territory.
“Would you like to go with me a different way in?” Alec asked him.
“Alec, given the excitement you’ve provided so far today, I’m not going to pass up another invitation. You could lead me to the gates of Southern Hashem and I’d follow,” Nathaniel laughed, and Alec proceeded to take a detour around the hill and to the fishing village he had visited yesterday.
Alec’s luck held, and he ran into Ned, who he had met before, almost immediately upon entering the village. “Ned, are you and your uncles back from the sea for the day?” Alec asked the fisherman who was slightly younger than him.
The boy nodded yes.
“Oh, Ned, this is my friend Nathaniel. Nathaniel, this is Ned, who fishes with his uncles Rond and Plad. Did you save any blue bellies for me today?” Alec asked.
“We did Alec, as a matter of fact. Uncle Plad has a pile of them. Follow me and we’ll get them together for you,” the boy said, walking towards the beach.
They found Plad beside his cottage mending his nets. “Alec,” he said in a friendly way. “Are you so impressed with us that you’re bringing your friends to see us too? I hope you know you can’t catch any fish with that sword you’re carrying!” He laughed at his own joke.
Alec smiled. “This is Nathaniel. He and I were out running errands, and I thought I’d come by to see if you had more blue bellies. I also came by to see if you could supply fish for our hall to use for a dinner party in a few weeks?”
Plad looked at him in a kindly way. “That’s very nice of you Alec. You let us know what you need, and I imagine we can provide it; there are no better fishermen than our villagers. And your blue bellies are over there under the bush.”
Alec said thanks and got his fish, then he and Nathaniel entered the small seaside gate and made the climb back up the hillside to Rubicon’s home in the warrior’s compound. As they reached the upper levels of the hillside, they passed four young women walking down the path. One of the girls was a striking blond girl who turned her head to watch them with a knowing smirk as they passed.
“Are those warrior apprentices?” Alec asked Nathaniel.
“Being up here you might
think so, but they’re not. Those are the pretty girls everybody knows. The blond was Bethany,” he answered in a tone that implied more than it said.
“Alec, thank you for a most entertaining afternoon. Shall we walk down to sword practice tomorrow together, and can I invite Moriah to come along?” Nathaniel asked when they stopped outside the house and Alec unloaded his fish.
“That will all be fine with me,” Alec said, paying attention to getting his supplies arranged.
“Alright then. I’ll see you. Good bye,” he said and entered the home.
Alec went inside to borrow some metal trays from the kitchen and to get his knife. He gutted the fish to collect the glands he needed, then laid them all out on the tray, and carried it up to the roof to dry in the air. He no sooner did that and started back down the ladder when he saw a large bird swoop down and start feasting on his future medical supplies. Outraged, he jumped back up on the roof and chased the bird away, then stood there with his tray wondering how to dry it safely.
Alec decided on using one of the empty rooms down his hallway as a safer drying facility. As he walked back down he emerged in the hallway, only to stumble upon Moriah and Nathaniel having an affectionate kiss in the hallway. They both turned in surprise at seeing him there.
“I’m sorry, excuse me,” Alec said, and he ducked into the nearest room to put his tray down. When he returned, the hallway was empty.
Chapter 7 – Training at the Palace
Alec awoke the next morning and went to training on the balcony. Moments after he arrived, Nathaniel showed up. “Let’s start where we left off yesterday,” the older apprentice said without introduction, businesslike in his ingenaire duties again, and Alec began practicing grasping the power with his eyes open.
When a breakfast tray was served, Moriah arrived, and Nathaniel left.
“So what are you working on?” she asked as he ate a pastry.
“I’m trying to learn to draw upon my powers with my eyes open. I can do it, but not as fast as when I have my eyes closed,” Alec explained.
“Alright, then, let’s begin. When I say go, you let me know how long it takes to grab hold of your power,” she said.
They took up where Nathaniel had left off, and by the end of the morning Alec was making progress.
“Shall we get lunch in the city while we go to sword practice?” Nathaniel asked when he joined them back on the balcony.
“That suits me,” Alec said.
As they walked along, Moriah cleared her throat. “Alec, I’m sorry we were in the hallway last night. I hope that didn’t offend you.”
Alec looked at her in surprise. “No,” he told her.
“Some folks come from places where that’s bad manners. We’re so used to being alone down there we weren’t expecting you,” she said.
“It’s okay. I was just looking for a place to dry my fish glands,” Alec explained, wanting to change the subject.
“Nathaniel and Rubicon both told me that you are going to leave us to become a new healer ingenaire. I didn’t know a house could be reborn,” Moriah said, apparently just as anxious to talk about a new topic.
Alec felt another pop from someone’s exercise of their powers, and realized he had been taking such occurrences in stride. They were happening constantly here on the hill, and he was already starting to walk through the mental noise without being distracted.
They talked about the healer house, and about healing in general during the rest of the walk, only stopping at a street vendor to get some meat rolls which they ate on their way to the palace.
When they arrived at the gate Alec explained their appointment to see Bannis, and they were allowed in.
At the armory they found Bannis with a group of ten guardsmen. “We hoped we could bring the one more I asked about,” Nathaniel explained.
“If you find any more we’re going to have to bring the palace up the hill to you instead of you coming to us,” Bannis joked. “One more will be fine. How good are you?” Bannis asked Moriah directly.
“I usually can take him to a draw,” Moriah said, nodding towards Nathaniel.
“In your dreams!” Nathaniel said loudly, and everyone laughed.
“Alright, I want you three to go put on pads and equipment and select practice blades. Alec, I want you to teach Branham here a few lessons. He got drunk and missed guard duty last week, so he needs to learn a little more discipline,” Bannis said.
“Young lady, you work with Dearborn here, and Nathaniel, you work with Pied. The rest of you select partners, and go at it until I blow the whistle.”
The apprentices donned their gear and returned to the room, taking their positions, and fencing commenced. Alec’s opponent Branham was a large man with a heavy build, who reminded Alec of Nellon back in Goldenfields, although Branham started out much more cocky than Nellon. Alec had learned the importance of evasion and patiently waiting for an opening against someone who outweighed him by so much, and he parried and danced until Branham was impatient and made a mistake. Alec scored points on him, and did so a second later when Branham tried to cover his embarrassment with another aggressive attack. Outraged by his poor performance, Branham uttered an expletive and pressed another attack, this time punching Alec in the ribs as they pressed close. Alec felt the pain of the hit, and grunted as he backpedaled out of reach.
The whistle blew. “Branham, you not only learned it’s difficult to fence with a left-handed blade, you learned it’s difficult to fence against a very good blade,” Bannis said, as Branham held his head down.
Without another word, Bannis made them switch partners, and set them going again. The next partner was not nearly as skilled as Alec, and the match ended before the whistle blew when Alec knocked his sword away.
For the third match Bannis matched Alec against two opponents. “Let’s see how you all handle this,” he said. “For you two it’s going to be a matter of learning the timing of working as a team. For you,” he said to Alec, “it’s going to be a matter of survival.”
Alec looked at the two poised against him, neither of who he had watched so far to know their capabilities. The match began and the two split apart, leaving Alec moving constantly to find a defensible spot on the mat. He waited as they probed his defenses. The only hope he could see was to immediately disarm one, then engage the other.
He saw one of the two start to sneeze, and sprang into action, knocking his opponent’s blade away, then mounted a furious attack on the unprepared remaining foe. It ended quickly and abruptly, bringing shock to the two guards.
“That’s how you do it,” Bannis said. Alec realized that more than half the people in the room had been watching. “Pick your ground, use surprise, attack aggressively, take opportunities when they arise.
“Let’s call it an afternoon. Everyone’s free to go, except the ingenaire,” Bannis pointed to Alec. The others moved out of the room.
“Were you using your powers to do that?” Bannis asked Alec as the others left, and Moriah and Nathaniel came over.
“I would have done it faster if I was using my powers,” Alec told him, and the other two nodded in agreement. “That was just regular sword work; I happened to see that sneeze and took advantage of the opportunity. If I had used my powers, Branham wouldn’t have landed that punch, either.” He winced at the soreness in his ribs.
“Where did you learn your skills?” Bannis asked.
“I’ve been trained by the Duke’s Guards of Goldenfields,” Alec replied.
“Ah,” Bannis said with satisfaction. “We’ve got another student from Goldenfields, but I don’t think he’s learned anything you’ve learned. I’ve wanted to see what the best from the Duke’s palace could do.”
“I’m not the best by a long shot. Who is your other one?” Alec asked with a sinking feeling.
Bannis confirmed just what Alec expected. “The duke’s own son, Elgin. He’s in here every morning taking fencing lessons. He does fine as far as the nobility goes. Actuall
y he’s quite good compared to most of the noble dilettantes who just want to carry a sword around to look pretty. Perhaps we can get the two of your together sometime.”
“Let’s not rush it,” Alec said.
“Alright,” Bannis agreed with a searching glance. “You all three did well. It’s good for my folks to have some new blood to work against. We’ll see you tomorrow at the same time. I’ll bring a new crew in. They’ll probably hear stories about today and be all charged up to show you a thing or two, so be prepared.”
The three apprentices left the palace together. “Alec, you were terrific in there!” Moriah said. “You might as well go ahead and train as a healer, because I don’t think you need to be an ingenaire to be a great warrior.” They chatted about their matches as they started to walk trough the city.
Alec suddenly remembered his promise to go see Noranda at her home. “I’m not going back to the Hill right away,” he told the other two. “I’ll see you there later,” he said, and set off down a street towards the bay front, leaving his surprised friends without further explanation.
He followed the road and found the Locksfort dockyards, then asked for and found the home Noranda was staying in. He knocked at the door, then belatedly realized he was still unwashed from his fencing practice.
Before he could leave the porch a servant answered the door. “I was wondering if Noranda was available to talk?” Alec asked meekly.
“I’ll see if she is here. May I announce who is calling?” the servant said in a proper tone of voice.
“Please tell her Alec is here.”
Less than a minute later Noranda came to the door herself. “Alec, it’s so good to see you. I was hoping to introduce you to my uncle and aunt,” she said as she looked at him with a wrinkled nose.
“I just came from fencing practice at the Palace and I’m dirty as sin, Natalie. I shouldn’t have come while I was such a mess but I wasn’t really thinking,” Alec protested.
At the Seat of Power: Goldenfields and the Dominion Page 7