And at that moment a tremendous pounding commenced at their door. As Alec and Caitlen looked at one another in dismay, the lock gave way, the door flew open, and a number of Conglomerate soldiers streamed into the room.
“You, Captain Ferguson, are under arrest for dereliction of duty and kidnapping of the Princess Esmere,” an officer said loudly. “And you,” he looked at Caitlen smugly, “should be arrested for being under-dressed and showing poor taste in men while a member of the former royal family.”
Alec closed his eyes and desperately searched for his ingenaire powers. He focused on finding himself in the space between realities, but his mind kept slipping back to the reality of the armed men around him and Caitlen lying beside him.
“You sir,” he opened his eyes and replied, “are not enough of a gentleman to deserve to wear the uniform of an officer, apparently, given the easy insults you fling about to a defenseless woman,” he spoke in anger at hearing Caitlen insulted.
The officer looked at Alec in astonishment, then his face grew bright red with anger.
“Are you afraid to defend your honor?” Alec stood up, and drew his sword.
“Alec!” Caitlen shouted. “Don’t! Don’t do this,” she reached out a hand to grab his arm, hoping to hold him back. “You know we’ll be fine,” she added.
Alec looked down at her, and as he did, the officer stabbed his own sword at Alec, piercing his stomach.
Caitlen screamed and Alec looked down in astonishment at the wound, as the pain spread in a wave throughout his body. He stared up at the officer in disgust, then collapsed to the floor, overcome with the damage and the pain.
“Let the princess get dressed, then throw them both in the wagon and let’s get on our way,” the officer said.
“He told me we were hiding from the Crown Protector,” Caitlen said suddenly. “He knew the Crown Protector was out on the highway looking for me, and he figured the only way to keep me safe was to double back behind the Protector, to keep me hidden here in Vincennes for a day or two.” She pulled the sheet up over her and picked up her clothes from the floor, then struggled beneath the sheet to pull on her clothing.
“He has treated me most kindly,” she added. “Please let us remain together. I feel much better with him,” Caitlen asked. “Just let us ride together.”
“You’ll be together alright, in the back of a wagon, for a day or two. Then your hero will either die or be executed,” the officer answered, as he pulled the sheet off Caitlen. Two men picked up Alec, who had passed out, and carried him out of the room.
Caitlen stood up on her own and walked downstairs behind the guards who carried Alec, and she climbed into the back of the wagon where he was unceremoniously thrown. A guard climbed in with them and fastened chains around their ankles, then gave Caitlen a pinch and climbed out with a laugh.
She edged over to the unconscious Alec, and examined his wound. There was a stream of blood coming from the wound. She tore a strip of cloth from the sheet she had carried with her, and held it against the wound. The wagon gave a jolt as it started to move, and Alec groaned. He was sweaty and pale, she noted. She kept her hand on his stomach and rested her head on his shoulder, laying in silence for several minutes.
“I know you’re going to be alright. I know that there’s no weapon you can’t beat, no wound you can’t heal, no opponent you can’t overcome, but I hate to see you hurt, Alec. I have so much faith in you now. I never want you to leave my side. I’ll do anything you want from now on,” she spoke softly. “Being with you means more to me than being on the throne.”
“Alec,” she called at last. “Alec, can you hear me?”
“Yes,” he answered, “I’m not deaf. I was stabbed; I didn’t have my ears cut off.”
She whipped the bandage off his stomach and realized he had healed himself.
He sat up, raising her with him. “Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“I’m ready,” she said. He wrapped his arms around her tightly and they vanished from the rear of the wagon.
Chapter 30 – Intimate with Caitlen
They arrived sitting on a bed. “This is the apartment I share with Rahm and Bethany,” Alec told her. “Where would you like to spend the night?”
“I’ll be safest staying wherever you plan to stay,” she replied. “This will be cozy but better than being in captivity.
“How did you manage to heal yourself so quickly? Why didn’t you tell me? Did you hear the things I said in the wagon?” she asked.
“I heard everything you said,” Alec replied.
She swung a fist at him, striking his shoulder.
“Is that any way to treat someone who means more to you than sitting on the throne?” Alec asked drily.
“It’s the way to treat a sneak!” she answered.
“We need to do something right now,” Alec told her sitting up. “Caitlen, are you ready to let my blood flow through your veins?”
“I will Alec, if you think it is the right thing to do. Will it make me a great warrior like you, or able to heal at a touch like you, or to travel,” she gestured with her hand in the air, “from place to place like you?”
“I don’t know,” Alec answered. “I hope not, because if you can do everything I can do, you’ll decide you don’t need me around after all!”
“This gets more tempting,” Caitlen countered. “But I’d have to keep you around for instructions for a while anyway, so don’t expect to get away that easily.
“Go ahead, Alec. Let’s do this while I have the courage to believe that it has to be done,” she suggested.
“Please take off your blouse so I can see you arm, and lie back here,” Alec told her.
He removed his own shirt, and pulled his knife out of his belt. He lay down beside her, facing her, and took her hand in his to raise it in position, then he sliced his arm quickly with his knife, twisted the blade and cut her arm as well.
Caitlen gave a small cry of pain, but Alec pressed his arm against hers immediately, clasping her hand with his, their fingers weaving together, as Alec let his healing energy flow to the spot of the two incisions. He carefully united the veins within the arms, then the arteries, so that his blood began to flow into her flesh as he began to receive her blood flow. He followed by closing the cuts on the surface of the arms, his hand still holding hers, his eyes looking directly into hers.
“I’m going to enter your mind now, Caitlen, and try to seat the Spiritual power within you. We’ll still need much training to make this all work, if it can,” he told her.
I trust you Alec,” she gave a crooked smile, moved her face forward, and kissed his lips. He allowed his Spiritual energy to flow as his own lips began to react to her kiss, and he felt his spirit move with tenderness and gentleness as he began to seek the seat of her own soul. He sensed its location, and pressed his own spirit to join it, softly examining its surface, letting the two interact as they frictionlessly wove around one another, until he found an opening.
Carefully he began to press his awareness within the opening, vaguely feeling the change in her body as more and more of his blood suffused her flesh, flowing to every branching artery, reaching every cell, and delivering his potential within her. Abruptly he found their minds interchanging memories, and he became lost for a moment as he felt her terror and pain when she was a younger girl and fell from a horse, the animal toppling over and landing on her hip. He felt her very young joy as she saw her parents walking towards her at some great ceremony in the palace, and she ran down a long aisle towards them, her mother smiling broadly.
And he found time and time again, loneliness and insecurity within her. She perceived herself as homely, and seldom trusted romance as genuine when it seemed more a function of her royal family status. That had changed when she met him, and she felt real affection from him, and suffered real bitterness when he seemed to reject or desert her.
At the same time Caitlen was in his memories, seeing him play games in the orphanage,
he sensed, watching his frustration as an apprentice being tormented on Ingenairii Hill. Alec brought himself back to focus on the Spiritual energy, trying to infuse the belief in God and Jesus within her. He called upon his memories of John Mark, and the touches of love he had felt from the saint.
That was all he could do for now, he concluded. He would have to try more in another visit. Without an evident Spiritual ingenaire foundation he could enhance, he could do no more for now. Instead he continued to leave his impressions of divine love and grace, then slowly withdrew his spirit from hers.
She gave a little mental gasp as they separated, and Alec felt sadness as well, but he continued to disengage. Then he opened his eyes and looked up at her, surprised to find that in their passion they had switched positions. She lay on top of him, and he saw great tears within her eyes.
With his free hand he reached up to her cheek and brushed a tear away. “We can end the transfusion,” he told her. “Are you ready?”
“Was all of that just from the blood or did you do more?” Caitlen asked.
“That was more than the blood, much more,” Alec assured her. “The blood flow just happened to be going on while our spirits were together. I can cut our arms apart and we’ll still be able to have that soulful union. I think we’ll have to have it again so that I can continue to try to give you the Spiritual ingenaire power to communicate mind-to-mind.”
His free hand padded the mattress until it found the knife. Alec gently rolled to his side, cradling Caitlen as she rolled with him, then he placed the knife against their joined arms and split the narrow connection, creating a gush of blood that he quenched with a touch of his healing powers for each of their arms.
“I’ve seen so much of what you’ve done,” Caitlen told him tenderly, her hand behind his head. She kissed him again, and Alec imagined that he felt some spark in the kiss.
“There’s just one more thing to do, and then we can sleep,” Alec murmured. I have brought the Princess safely back to our apartment. We’ll come back to headquarters in the morning, Alec sent a message to Bethany and Rahm, wanting to put their minds at ease.
“It’s time to rest now, my princess. Tomorrow we’ll return to your people and start to plan a new strategy.”
Chapter 31 – Distrust of Foreigners
Alec awoke in the morning before Caitlen, their bodies were tangled with each other and with the blankets on the bed, tangled to such a degree he knew he couldn’t move without disturbing the princess. His body was urging him to get up however, so he carefully separated himself from his companion and slid off the mattress. He discarded the Conglomerate uniform he had worn and pulled on his own clothes, comfortable again.
Out in the main room of the apartment he found Bethany, calmly cleaning her weapons. She rose when she saw him, and they hugged intensely for a long minute, then sat down. Speaking quietly, Alec gave her a brief, selective explanation of his adventures in pursuit of Caitlen during the prior days.
“When you left us wearing half the armory, I expected you would return in five minutes with the Princess,” Bethany responded. “As time stretched out we were getting worried, until we got your messages. It’s good to have you back, both of you,” she told him. “Do we have plans for what to do next?” she asked.
Just then Caitlen appeared, causing her and Bethany to have a hug of reunion and further discussions. At length, Bethany suggested they should return to the headquarters to be seen by all her supporters.
“I’ll need something appropriately regal to wear; this won’t do,” Caitlen gestured to her travel-worn outfit. “Do you have anything here I can wear, or should we send Alec to my closets to fetch something?” she asked, with a broad wink to Bethany.
“That would seem to be an appropriate use of his talents,” Bethany agreed with an uncharacteristic giggle.
Mulvane, I’ll be in front of the headquarters in two minutes, if you can join me, Alec sent a silent message.
“You want me to go to pick up your clothing for you?” Alec asked out loud.
“You do want me to look like a ruler, don’t you?” Caitlen pleaded.
“Of course,” Alec calmly agreed. He stood up, and before the women understood how quickly he would leave, he was gone.
Alec went first to the armory, where he belted on a bandolier of throwing knives, then he slowly walked downstairs and outside, constantly stopping to shake hands and greet comrades, assuring them that the Princess was safe and would return shortly. He reached the front of the headquarters building five minutes later to find Mulvane awaiting him, breathing hard.
“You told me two minutes!” she scolded him. “I busted my butt to get over here fast!”
“I’m glad to see you,” Alec told her, slapping her shoulder. “I need your help for a simple little project. Let’s go to the princess’s quarters,” he said, and they returned to the building. “Are you ready?” Alec asked minutes later.
Mulvane had a wicked grin, as she raised a large bag to show Alec what she had prepared. “Thank you,” he told her. “I’ll be back soon, I’m sure.” They both laughed, and then Alec was gone.
“That is so surprising!” Caitlen spoke as she jumped in surprise from Alec’s abrupt arrival.
“I brought your outfit,” Alec handed her the bag he had brought, which Caitlen carried into the bedroom.
“Alec!” she shouted seconds later. She emerged from bedroom holding the set of black leather armor he had brought. “This is not what I wanted!”
Alec burst into laughter, and disappeared. Thirty seconds later he was back with a different bag, which he silently handed to her, as Bethany sat, watched, and laughed.
After some time Caitlen came out, wearing a regal blue gown with a silver belt, an outfit that gave her a look of authority and grace. The three of them left the apartment and began walking towards the center of Caitlen’s domain within Vincennes, drawing a growing stream of followers as they passed through the streets and she was recognized.
By the time they reached the headquarters a sizeable crowd was waiting for her and a sizeable crowd was following her. Caitlen mounted the steps to the building, then turned at the top and looked out over the crowd. “The enemy has tried to end our fight through treachery,” she spoke loudly. “But I am back among you, and ready to continue the battle. We will not stop until all of Vincennes is ours, and then we will only pause to prepare to take the battle further, so that we will win a complete victory and restore peace and prosperity to the whole empire.
“Prepare yourselves for battle, because it is coming soon, and we will need and use all of you to help us win back a just and honest government!” She stood and listened to the cheers, then waved vigorously at the crowd before she went through the doors and into the building. Bethany and Alec followed her inside, and they entered the large room that served as the throne room.
“Bring in all the commanders of the forces from Black Crag and Valeriane,” Caitlen ordered as soon as she sat down. “We need to stop putting such a strain on the Crown Protector,” she smiled as she spoke to the small group of retainers in the room. “So we will plan an immediate attack to knock the Conglomerate forces down so far they can’t get up.”
Alec stood in the back of the room and watched as numerous people came forward to welcome her return. He had automatically put himself into bodyguard mode, and every little movement in the room caught his attention as he scanned the crowd. At length Princess Esmere received a report that the leaders of her forces were assembled.
“Alec, you go work with them to develop a plan. Bethany will remain as my guard,” Caitlen dismissed him from the room, and a page led him to a less regal room where more than a dozen men and women awaited him. Together they worked the rest of the day to plan an attack that would use Alec’s abilities to lead a small group of fighters to disable the Conglomerate military headquarters. Once the headquarters could no longer provide leadership, they would send forces through the tunnels under the city to emerge be
hind the lines of the Conglomerate, and then a third stage would send forces through the streets to confront the soldiers.
Alec accompanied the leaders of the Valeriane forces and the Black Crag forces that evening as they went to Caitlen’s private chambers to report their plans. Rahm was present as one of the bodyguards in the room, as Alec stood in the rear of the room and listened to the leaders propose the attack. “We have to rely on your Protector to find a way to move our archers over Vincennes to be at the east side headquarters, and that concerns me,” the Valeriane leader said. “But if that works, everything else is set up to work as well.”
“Can you carry it out tomorrow?” Caitlen asked the man.
“That seems too fast for our troops to be ready,” the man answered.
“Our troops can do it tomorrow,” the Black Crag leader countered.
“Then so can ours,” the Valeriane leader countered.
“Make it happen tomorrow,” Caitlen told them. “Alec, you will be at their disposal?” she asked.
“Yes, your majesty,” Alec replied.
“Your pet foreigner better live up to your affection,” Marshal Stocker, the Valeriane leader grumbled, reflecting the distrust and hostility Alec had faced throughout the military leadership’s meeting.
“The Protector will exceed the abilities of any other fighter we rely on tomorrow, and he will succeed,” Caitlen said in an ominous voice to which the army leader did not respond. She dismissed them and waited for the next report to begin.
“I’ll be ready to begin as planned,” Alec assured the two leaders. “I’ll meet my forces after breakfast to move into position. Now if you’ll excuse me,” he broke away to return to the audience hall.
Caitlen’s treasurer was just finishing a dire report as Alec re-entered the hall. She thanked the man and rose from her seat, an end to her first day back in charge, while Alec fell in with her bodyguards as they left the room and climbed upstairs to her chambers. “Maintain the usual guard rotation,” Alec told Rahm and the other guard. “I’ll be leaving soon.”
Rescuing the Captive: The Ingenairii Series Page 34