At the Seat of Power: Goldenfields and the Dominion

by Jeffrey Quyle

  As they returned with the jug of spring water, Alec thanked Drawr and asked him to be sure to give Alec’s love to his family.

  “Any time you need something, you come here Alec,” Drawr said, and introduced him to the trading firm’s factor. “Poltaire, Alec is to be accorded every advantage you’d give to a member of the family.” Drawr instructed.

  Alec thanked Drawr again, and he and Bethany left the dockyard. “Alec, I could get to like being with you,” Bethany said. “You introduce me to handsome guards, you take me shopping for clothes and furniture, you show me that the traders have opened up their stores for you. Yes, this is all good. Shall we do it again tomorrow?”

  Alec laughed at her impish good nature. “You’re going to be deadly for the boys aren’t you? Good looks and a lively personality are a dangerous combination.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Bethany declared. “Now, here is the furniture store,” she waved her hand. “It’s owned and operated by a half dozen craftsmen, and everything we look at will be their work. You can buy the items they have on display, or you can commission some goods, but that will mean delivery will be a fortnight or more from now.”

  They entered the shop together. “I’d like to buy for the parlor now, but if there’s nothing for the dining room, we can place the order for it,” Alec decided.

  Bethany quickly decided on some chairs and tables for the parlor, and suggested a pattern for Alec to order for the dining room. Alec agreed to her choices, trusting her tastes as well as feeling the pieces looked suitable for an ingenaire’s house, and arranged for delivery two days hence. Then they walked quickly through the streets to meet the seamstress at the gate to the ingenairii’ hill.

  They arrived at the same time as the seamstress, so Alec carried the bolts of material up the hill to the warrior home of Rubicon, where Bethany wanted to see what would look best on Cassie.

  Leaving Bethany and the seamstress to prepare their materials, Alec went to find Cassie, who was resting in her room. “Cassie,” he said, “I’d like for you to come upstairs to meet some ladies,” but refused to answer any further questions.

  Curious, Cassie rose, and Alec escorted her to the upstairs room where the others were waiting. “You’re as pretty as Alec said,” Bethany told Cassie as they were introduced.

  Cassie turned and looked at Alec. “What are you up to?” she asked.

  “Cassie, this is Marrines, a seamstress, who is recommended by Bethany. She is here to measure you for a gown for you to wear to the Apprentice’s Ball,” he told her.

  Cassie looked at him speechlessly, then looked at the bolts of cloth lying on the floor. “You can’t be serious,” she cried. “Alec, you are too nice.” Alec held Cassie’s hand as Marrines measured Cassie and began showing her fabrics to select from. Bethany gave Cassie advice, Alec nodded and agreed whenever he was asked a question, and eventually everything was decided. Alec prepared to help the seamstress carry the materials back to her cart at the gate, while Bethany prepared to leave. “Thank you Bethany. I don’t think I’ve had such a fun afternoon in quite a while. Let me know if I can return the favor,” he told her. She smiled demurely in response, with her eyes downcast, but said nothing in response.

  “Oh,” he added, “Would you give this to Viola, and tell her to drink two cups tonight and the same tomorrow morning and evening as well?” he handed the jug of water to her. Bethany promised to do so and left, after which Alec and the seamstress headed down the hill to the gate. Alec promised to pick up the gown in two days time.

  Cassie was waiting for him when Alec returned to the house. “Alec, you didn’t have to do that,” she told him.

  “I know I didn’t have to, but you deserve something almost as pretty as you are, and all the men at the ball will want to see you shining,” Alec told her, holding her hands.

  The next day was training again with Rubicon all morning, and sword work in the afternoon. After that Alec stopped by the healer house to find that the cleaning and repair crews were finished. Upon his return to Rubicon’s house, he found three things: Moriah and Nathaniel had returned, and were pleasant company once again; a note from Aristotle was awaiting him; and Cassie was walking on her own. She was in fact displaying that talent to all in the house when Alec walked in.

  “Cassie!” he called, his heart rising to his throat as he saw her determined concentration to achieve something he did without thinking. He marveled at the determination she demonstrated in her efforts to walk.

  She turned carefully at the sound of his voice, then walked over to him and reached out to hold onto him with a great smile.

  “Now I know I’ll have the first dance of the night with Cassie,” Rubicon declared loudly.

  “I suspect Alec will have that dance,” Nathaniel declared in a false sotto voce.

  Not if he hasn’t asked for it,” Rubicon retorted.

  Cassie and all the others looked at Alec, as he stood holding Cassie’s hands. “Cassie, may I have the honor of your first dance at the ball?” he asked.

  “You may have the first and any other you want,” Cassie said to him as a fetching blush rose in her face.

  “The rest of us are entitled to dances as well,” Rubicon said loudly. “Don’t promise all your dances to Alec out of sympathy for his awkward inability to impress people.”

  Cassie turned to walk back to the dining room, and Alec took his note down to his room to read what Aristotle had to say.

  “Alec,

  Your healers’ house will be done today. Your housekeeper will be available to begin two days hence. You have a furniture allowance of three golds, a medical supply allowance of two golds, and a weekly food allowance of one gold. You may receive all your funds from Willis before noon on any day, and will need receipts to show for your furniture purchases.

  I look forward to seeing you again soon,

  Aristotle.

  Alec thought about the furniture funds he had. Bethany had recommended furniture that cost six golds just for the two public rooms. He would have to shop more frugally for the furniture for the private rooms, although costs were not a great concern for him. He decided to go looking at used furniture shops tomorrow for the rest of the furniture he’d need immediately, and then let Cassie and the housekeeper handle the rest.

  Alec sat in his room that night, first writing long overdue letters back to Goldenfields, then practicing his ingenaire exercises, and finding them as difficult as in the morning.

  There was a knock on his door as he practiced. “Come in,” he called.

  “Hello Alec,” Nathaniel said as he walked in. “I just wanted to say quickly that Moriah and I want to apologize for not being available during the past few days. We’ve had a couple of fights, and weren’t very friendly I know, but we got away and talked it out and better understand each other again.”

  “Nathaniel, thank you,” Alec said. He wasn’t sure what to say, or why Nathaniel felt he needed to share so much. “Neither of you were unkind to me, but I did miss walking with you to sword practice. Let me know if you’re going again tomorrow, and we’ll all walk together, okay?”

  “That’ll be fine,” Nathaniel said. “Sorry for the interruption,” and he took his leave.

  Alec sat back and wondered what had happened to make them mad at each other, and what had brought them back together. He thought of losing Noranda, and of his lost friendship with Inga, and wondered if he could have done something different in each case. With such melancholy thoughts on his mind, he drifted off to sleep for the night.

  The following day his parlor furniture was due for delivery in the afternoon, and he hoped to see his barrel of fountain water arrive from Drawr. He felt excited at the prospects of those, and purchasing some more furniture that afternoon, as the Healers House began to become a tangible part of his planning. Nathaniel was awaiting him for practice in the dining room, because of a light misting rain, and they began their work. When the breakfast tray arrived, Rubicon came
as well, and then Cassie walked upstairs completely on her own, to everyone’s delight.

  Rubicon assumed the training duties, and Alec labored away until noon. Neither Nathaniel nor Moriah apparently intended to go to sword practice after all, so Alec walked down alone. At the gate he saw his water barrel waiting for him, and made arrangements with the guards to have it delivered to the Healers House. He walked to the palace and engaged in extra sword work, then asked Bannis where he could buy good used furniture, and followed the directions to a wide boulevard north of the cathedral.

  Along the road he found several shops, and went from one to the other to determine which would be able to deliver any furniture he ordered within the next day. When one store with a good selection promised such delivery, Alec perused their furniture, and selected four beds, ten chairs, four desks, and five chests of drawers for delivery. In so doing he used all the cash he had with him, and decided to go to Pierpont Bank to see if he could draw any funds from deposits made by Natha. When he arrived at the bank, the bank manager looked at the files they had about Alec’s account, and declared himself very pleased to see his client. Alec soon had more money, and left to return to Ingenairii’ Hill.

  Alec then hurried to the seamstress shop and paid for the dress that hung next to the door, thanking the woman for working so quickly to produce it. He self-consciously carried the gown in all its paper wrapping back to Ingenairii Hill.

  At the gate he found the parlor furniture waiting for entrance, so he led the deliverymen who brought it up the hill and set it in the parlor. The presence of the elegant furniture made a dramatic difference in the appearance of the room, as well as pointing out the lack of draperies and wall-hangings. Alec sat in each chair and imagined the room full of visitors and patients and even students someday.

  He went back to Rubicon’s house, hung the dress outside Cassie’s door, and went to his own room to practice before sleeping.

  The next day was the day of the ball. Alec and Rubicon studied in the morning, then Moriah came for the late morning studies. “Moriah, I haven’t talked to you in a long time,” Alec commented as Rubicon left.

  “I know Alec, I’m sorry,” she said. “But you’ve kept busy with plenty of other things to do, it sounds like. I hear Cassie’s dress is going to be beautiful. And you’ve apparently got a house to take care of too now. Will you be moving there soon?” she asked.

  “I think tonight will be my last night in this house, depending on how everything works out,” he told her.

  She looked at him intently for a moment, but said nothing. “Let’s get on with your studies,” Moriah said. “A student can’t spend too much time working on these studies.”

  After that it was all business for the rest of the morning. When noon came, they finished. “Will you and Nathaniel go to sword practice?” Alec asked.

  “No not today,” Moriah said. “We may be finished practicing at the armory.”

  Alec accepted that without comment and made his departure. He felt sorry that they had shared the camaraderie of walking to practice together for so short a time, because it had felt so friendly to have people to be with, even if Moriah had carried little of the conversation while Alec and Nathaniel chatted.

  He went past the healer house and found the new housekeeper there. Hinges was a matronly lady, a friend of Aristotle’s housekeeper. Alec told her that much furniture was due for delivery, and gave her two golds to go shopping for groceries and supplies, an amount that astonished her. “Am I supposed to feed the whole hill of ingenairii myself?” she asked. “I don’t need all this money now.”

  Alec told her to spend what she needed and to save the rest. “You may want to get some curtains for your room, or some other household supplies,” he told her. “I expect you’ll be the only one here tonight, and Cassie and I will move in tomorrow afternoon. After that we’ll need to figure out what else the house needs.”

  “I won’t often spend the night here. I live in town with my daughter, not too far away,” Hinges answered. “But I appreciate you thinking of my welfare. I may keep the room ready just in case a night comes when I need it.”

  Alec arrived at the armory and practiced, then at the end of his session as he prepared to depart, he received cheerful promises from a half dozen officers that they would see him that night at the ball.

  When Alec returned to ingenairii’ hill, he went again to the healer hall. On his way he passed close enough to the main hall to see all the people working to prepare the building for the evening’s event. At the Healers House he found that Hinges had erected curtains in three rooms, and was directing two tired looking furniture movers as she examined alternative arrangements of furniture in a variety of rooms. “I guessed that this room would be yours,” Hinges told him, correctly guessing that he wanted the largest room, and I’ve placed your lady’s furniture in the room next to it. I’ll be right down the hall here,” she showed him, all of which satisfied him. “I’ve got some simple supplies for the kitchen here, and we’ll pick up more tomorrow. But all of this together hasn’t used one of the two golds you gave me,” she said, proud of her frugality.

  When Alec got back to the Rubicon’s house he found Cassie, who he had not seen in the past day, upset. “Alec I tried on the dress and it’s beautiful, but I hate to think what it will look like if I have to try to wear it and walk all the way down to the ball with it on.”

  “What we could do is carry our clothes down to the Healers House and change into our ball finery there,” Alec suggested. “It’s halfway down the hill towards the dance, so that would make the walk much shorter. I’ll carry your dress and my uniform down there, and you can meet the housekeeper, Hinges, as well.”

  Cassie agreed his solution would work. She went to her room to get the gown and rewrap it in its protective covering, while Alec went to his room, and for the first time since his arrival, took down the captain’s uniform of the Duke’s Guards that had been mysteriously given to him as he left Goldenfields. He took out the officers’ sword to go with the uniform. He was going to wear the uniform for the very first time, and felt a surge of pride as he remembered that he had been made a captain by the Duke himself. He had driven himself to practice and learn swordsmanship at first because of Inga’s insistence, but then later it had become a matter of wanting to live up to the high name and reputation of the Guard.

  Alec sat in his room, for the first time in a long time remembering his time in Goldenfields, and the Guard members he had been friends with. His memories floated around from sadness over the way so many had come to distrust him over rumors, and then moved to happier thoughts about the times Ellison had demonstrated faith and friendship. He lost track of time until a knock at the door stopped his dreaming. “Alec, should we be going?” Cassie asked.

  “Yes, we should, I’m sorry I forgot the time,” he said as he stood up and carried out his uniform. He took Cassie’s gown and held out his hand to walk her down the hill. They traveled at a leisurely rate, and arrived at the Healers House as the noises from the ingenairii’ hall indicated that the ball was beginning.

  “Hinges, this is Cassie. She and I wanted to change our clothes here, and then go to the ball. Cassie, this is Hinges,” Alec introduced. He watched Hinges to see how she would react to the young girl who would be living in the house when he was gone to Goldenfields. Alec was relieved to see a maternal light seem to glow from the housekeeper’s face. “Cassie’s never worn her gown before, Hinges. Could you help her get dressed properly?” he asked.

  He headed to his room while the women headed to another. Pulling on the uniform brought back the same nostalgia Alec had felt up the hill in Rubicon’s house, and he forced himself to finish the job of getting dressed when he found himself at one point sitting and remembering fencing furiously with Inga. He bent over and pulled on the shiny leather boots, belted on the sword, and walked out into the hallway. He lit a candle from the lantern in the hallway, and sat in the parlor waiting for Cassie. As he
sat he thought about this ball, and imagined himself attending it with Noranda as his guest.

  Ten minutes later, as he again fell into memories about Goldenfields, Cassie’s door opened, and she stepped out, followed by Hinges. Somehow they had managed to pile her hair up on top of her head, and that with the shimmering blue gown that left her shoulders bare, made her look ten years older than Alec thought she was. He stood up, astounded by the beautiful appearance.

  “Alec,” Cassie said, seeing him stand in his uniform, “you look like such a handsome man of war. Will you dance every dance with me?”

  “Cassie, looking at how beautiful you are, I know that I’ll not be allowed by the other men to dance more than one dance with you. Hinges,” he said in a voice more husky than he expected, “thank you for bringing out so much of her beauty.”

  Alec held out his arm, and slowly they walked down the path to the hall, his dark blue uniform a perfect counter to her lighter shade. The music of the first dance began as they left the porch of their home, and finished before they reached the hall. They walked into the room and stopped inside the door, captivated by the glorious sight. Bright candles throughout, enhanced by the light ingenairii, made the building sparkle, and men in uniforms and suits and old-fashioned gowns walked about, but were outshone by the glories of the gowns worn by the women of the king’s court and the ingenairii’ buildings.

  “Oh Alec,” they heard a voice say, and Bethany came over from nearby, a besotted boy trailing behind her. “You both look so wonderful!” she said. “You outrageously cheated me the other day; you make me think you’re fun, rich, and talented, but you didn’t give me the pleasure of seeing you dress so well to make every other boy look weak,” she said. “Except you of course, Briannin,” she said over her shoulder to her escort, then turned back to Alec. “Are you going to ask me to dance with you tonight or not?”