“I am a friend of the lokasennii,” Alec stood still and spoke softly, his hands held together in front of him in a non-threatening posture.
“I saved Bernadina, the grandasteur, many, many years ago, and the grandasteusse, in a different place, Ailse. I come to see my friends, including Bauer,” he explained.
There was a shudder in the bear’s frame, and it rose tall and vast on its rear two feet, towering higher than the two humans, then it began to shrink, and grow pale, as it morphed into a human man. Lugust fainted at the sight, and the lokasenna looked down upon the figure on the ground.
“You know the names of our race, though I do not know you. Who is this one?” he gestured towards Lugust.
“He is a visitor,” Alec made the statement that he knew would seal the fate of Lugust, permanently imprisoning the deposed ruler at the village, for no mortal visitors were allowed to leave, once they learned of the lokasennii.
The eyebrows of the lokasenna rose. Alec bent and picked Lugust up, lifting him over his shoulder with a grunt. “Tell your companion that we are friends, entering the village. I’ll contact Bauer and let him know of my arrival.”
“How will you contact Bauer?” the man asked.
“I am like a grandasteusse, a little bit,” Alec answered, “although a man. I can communicate with a few others,” he stepped forward and clasped the other man’s hand in his. Usually only when in physical contact with a friend, but I can also communicate at a distance with my closest friends. He released the man.
“You’re a rare one,” the lokasenna guard said, but he stepped aside, making way for Alec to go on.
“I haven’t seen Bauer since before you were born, when he was a very young man. It will be good to see an old friend,” Alec said, then gave the man a slap on the shoulder and passed him on the trail. Moments later he heard a grunt, and turned his head to see the bear meander off the trail into the woods, satisfied that no further sentry duty was needed with Alec.
Alec engaged his powers and wafted Lugust off his shoulder, and thought about how marvelously valuable the Air ingenaire abilities were; in his youth he’d called on other Air ingenairii to propel ships through the water and arrows through the air, and even with those clues he hadn’t thought further about what the power could be used for. He’d never heard anyone extol the usefulness of Air ingenairii during his years in the Dominion, and even when he’d been busy rebuilding Ingenairii Hill during his later reign as King, he hadn’t emphasized the power. He’d acquired this ability for himself, and still not recognized its usefulness until this campaign for Valeriane and Vincennes had required him to improvise, and apply his abilities in these new ways.
Lugust gave a groan, starting to arouse from his fainting spell, calling himself to Alec’s attention, and making the ingenaire re-examine his decision one more time.
Was it fair, Alec asked himself, to impose this exile on Lugust? It seemed like the best option, and perhaps the immature, self-aggrandizing former emperor would grow to be a better person, exposed to the life and philosophy and wisdom of the lokasennii. Ultimately, whether it was fair or not, this was the path Alec had chosen, at a time when the only alternative he could imagine was execution of the self-centered man. The palace, and Carl, needed the space to establish a new way of rule, a more ethical way that was truer to the tradition Caitlen had set in place, and Lugust’s selfish ego needed to be out of the picture for that to happen.
The sun was starting to set in the west, off to his left as Alec continued along the path. The sun was behind the mountains already, and the shadows were chilly. Lugust groaned again, then his eyes opened and the man was awake. Without ceremony, Alec set him down on the ground.
“What was that back there? What happened? Where are we? Am I safe?” the questions were fired forth in staccato fashion.
“Everything is fine,” Alec answered calmly. “Keep walking. We’re approaching the village of the lokasennii. We passed one of their sentries on the path a short while ago.” He started walking again, pressing Lugust forward, and just at that moment they rounded a stony curve in the path and saw that the path was ready to descend into a green valley with numerous buildings scattered throughout the fields and forests.
“What is this place?” Lugust asked with a note of wonder in his voice, a difference from his usual whine or ineffectively peremptory note of command.
“This is the home of the lokasennii,” Alec answered.
“Why is it so green?” Lugust asked as they began to descend the trail.
“There are warm springs scattered throughout the valley here. They maintain the temperature, even in the depth of winter,” Alec explained, leaving Lugust to contemplate the unusual circumstances in unusual silence.
When the trail reached the level of the valley floor, Alec saw a middle-aged man standing, waiting for their arrival. “Bauer?” he called aloud, recognizing the matured face of the boy who had once been a sorceress’s apprentice, who Alec had rescued from death and then shared blood with, changing them each radically as Bauer had been cleansed of the influences of his upbringing while Alec had suffered excruciating pain from purging the boy of evil.
“Alec? My lord, you look the same now as you did when I met you!” the man shouted, and the two embraced warmly.
“Who do you bring with you, Alec?” Bauer asked when they broke apart.
“This is Lugust, my traveling companion, the former emperor of Vincennes,” Alec introduced. “And this is Bauer, a man who came to live here many years ago.”
“Your highness,” Bauer acknowledged Lugust.
“How long have you been here?” Lugust asked as they began to walk into the village. “I’ve never heard of this place; I never knew it existed.”
Bauer turned to Alec. “I don’t know time on the outside; how long have I been here?” Do you know what you’ve done by bringing a mortal here? Does he know? Bauer asked.
“Bauer came here to live in the first year of the Empress Caitlen’s reign. He’s been here nearly one hundred years,” Alec replied. I want him to stay here the rest of his life. That’s why I brought him here. I want to keep him out of Vincennes and the palace forever; it was either place him in exile here or kill him, Alec added silently.
Aahh, Bauer replied silently. That is not the way we normally think of Warm Springs, as a prison.
I understand, Alec agreed, and I hope that the peace and nature of Warm Springs will not seem like a prison, and hopefully, the people and the community here will make Lugust examine himself. I hope that he will become a better person.
For his sake or for ours? Bauer asked wryly.
Alec laughed aloud.
“What? What was that for?” Lugust asked.
“Someday Bauer will tell you,” Alec answered, as they began to walk among the scattered buildings.
“The grandasteur would like to see you,” Bauer said to Alec. “If you head to the cottage there, I’ll take your friend to his home.”
Chapter 11 – Meeting the Grandasteusse
Lugust looked at Alec as he silently walked away, and strode over to the small building that awaited him. Alec paused at the door and removed his pack, and the winter jacket that he no longer needed to wear in the Warm Springs climate. Then he knocked on the door, and gently pushed it open so that he could step into the relatively dim interior.
The setting sun’s warm rays entered through the window, and a pair of candles added a glow as well inside the cabin. Alec pushed the door closed behind him, and looked with a mixture of sorrow and love upon Ailse, the former duchess of Krimshelm, who had evidently succeeded her mother to become the leader of the lokasennii.
“Hello my friend,” the lovely woman said as she rose from her seat and glided over to embrace Alec. It is so good to see such a long-lost close friend again. Your arrival is a gift.
Ailse, it is a great wonder to behold you, Alec answered in the same intimate tone. He drank in her beauty, a matchless, graceful appearance that only d
iffered from his memories in the stray strands of silver hair that framed her face.
“Your mother?” Alec asked.
“Just two months ago, she finally passed away. We took her body up into the mountains to the burial ground, so that her spirit would be closer to heaven,” Ailse answered.
Alec thought about the woman who had radiated such serenity and calm. She had been the ideal he had unconsciously held all other leaders up to for comparison, he realized.
“Her footsteps are too large to follow in,” Ailse followed his unspoken thoughts, “but I will give my people my best efforts.”
There can be no more worthy successor, Alec told her. Your people are fortunate to have you to lead them now.
“I have a favor to ask,” he said. The one I brought with me, he is without ability to be concerned about anyone but himself. I need to remove him from the people of the outside world, where he was emperor, and inflicting harm on many, many innocent victims.
Will you accept him as a permanent guest of the lokasennii?
Ailse looked steadily into Alec’s eyes, considering the thoughts and images and emotions he had transmitted. We will do this; we will help you protect the people, she told him.
Alec exhaled a great sigh of relief.
“And I ask for a favor in return,” Ailse told him.
“Anything you want!” Alec told her. “I would do anything for you whether I owed you a favor or not.”
“Let us go to the Red Pool,” Ailse suggested, and they silently left the cabin to walk through the foliage and along the winding path to return to the mystical, steaming pool that Alec recalled, the place where he had been healed of his injuries after Bernadina had rescued him from the cave of the bandits.
“We have a new grandasteusse, a young girl who has begun to display the talent. I want you to take her out into the world, so that she may begin her apprenticeship,” Ailse requested.
“Is she your daughter?” Alec asked with raised eyebrows.
“No. It was an unusual situation for the grandasteur and the grandasteusse to be related, as my mother and I were,” Ailse answered softly, as she removed her robe. “She is no relation, but she is now my heir. If our people are to prosper, we must make sure that she is exposed to the world and understands what the rest of humanity is like.
“I can imagine no one who would be a better mentor to help her begin her leave of learning than you, Alec,” his friend spoke, before she slipped away from him and stroked through the water, disappearing from sight.
You will protect her, and let her learn the ways of the world with eyes and heart open, the invisible Ailse said.
I am only going to my mountain clinic, Ridgeclimb, Alec replied as he finished stripping off his own clothes and entered the water. It is an isolated place, not the bustling city of Krimshelm.
You are the patron of Ridgeclimb? I should have known! Ailse answered. A quiet place would not be a bad first exposure for our girl. Let’s have dinner someday soon with Hope, so that you may meet her.
As you wish, Alec answered, with some misgivings. He would do as Ailse asked, without question, but he wondered if her proposal was really best for the girl.
Ailse came gliding back into view, and floated up against Alec, who opened his arms and received her arrival with a tender hug, as the two old friends silently rested together and let the waters of the Red Pool bring bliss to their reunion.
Several days later, Alec, Ailse, Bauer and the young girl sat down to a simple meal of greens and bread and cheese. Alec examined Hope, a serious-looking girl whose hair was braided. She had brown eyes and a wide mouth with generous lips that never seemed to smile.
“Where is Lugust?” Alec asked Bauer as they began the meal, wondering about the former emperor who he had not seen since his arrival in Warm Springs.
“He seemed drawn towards the Blue Pool,” Bauer answered. “I’d no sooner shown him a cabin that he began to walk away, and headed straight to the Blue Pool. I saw him enter the water and decided to leave him alone. He hasn’t returned yet.”
“I wonder why the pool called him? What do you suppose it will reveal to him?” Alec asked, thinking of his own experience, when the pool had adopted the appearance of Jeswyne, and restored a portion of his lost memories to him. “I think it will be good; he’ll come away a better person,” he decided out loud.
“What do you know about the Blue Spring?” Hope asked. “Didn’t you just arrive here recently? Did you really take him to the Red Pool?” she directed her last question to Ailse in a scandalized tone.
“I did take him to the Red Pool,” Ailse spoke in agreement before Alec could answer, using a calm tone of voice.
He has the right to go to any pool or spring. He is a lokasenna by birthright, not by birth, and by his talents he is a grandemeure, she switched to the intimate mode, though all the others at the table could hear her thoughts.
He is a lokasenna? I’ve never seen him before. What is a grandemeure? Hope asked.
Very few have heard the term. A grandemeure is a male grandasteur, a great leader of our people. It is a rare thing, a once-in-a-thousand years event to know a grandemeure, Ailse answered.
You think he could convey his thoughts as you or I? Hope asked scornfully. He doesn’t look like anything but a common brawler.
Perhaps an uncommon brawler would be closer to the truth. I’ve seen him fight battles that were most uncommon, Bauer joined the conversation.
The girl is entitled to her opinion, Alec chimed in at last. She is young and has much to learn, he thought about how much he had hated hearing that particular phrase when he was young.
Hope dropped her fork in astonishment, unable to grasp that Alec had heard her comments.
As did I when I began my journey to the outer world to learn about the threats that our community faced, Ailse answered. That is why I thought you would be such a good mentor to help her begin her exploration.
With him? You want me to go with him? Hope looked in astonishment. My parents will not allow it!
Your parents have given up all authority over you since you were named the grandasteusse, Ailse reminded the girl. I am the only one who commands your life now. It is time for you to begin to learn how the world lives, and Alec has happened to arrive at this moment. I do not think it is a coincidence; I think he was sent here to provide your safe escort out into the world.
Would the grandemeure and grandasteusse think me meddlesome if I were to offer to join the two on them on their journey? Bauer asked.
Really? Ailse asked in astonishment.
I know and trust father Bauer, Hope replied at the same time, in a more positive tone.
Bauer! You would be a boon companion! Alec also added.
I would relish the opportunity to join Alec on a journey again. I’d ask that we not have any as exciting as those we took together so long ago, my friend! Bauer told Alec.
You’ve been with this stranger before? Hope asked. I thought you were a regular lokasenna.
No my child, my past is much more checkered than you realize, Bauer answered. Alec saved my life, in more ways than one, many, many years ago. He saved me from a fire, and then he saved me from sorcery, and then when he beat Hellmann, he saved us all from death or enslavement.
This is the one who beat Hellmann? This person? He is still alive? Hope was confounded anew by Bauer’s revelation.
I think I’m alive, Alec said drily.
“But that was so long ago, in ancient times,” Hope made the switch to verbal communication.
“It feels that way to me sometimes,” Alec answered. “Ailse, could you wipe the drool from my chin?” he laughed.
Hope grew more cautious in her comments and guarded, until the end of the meal, as they all stood to depart. “Tomorrow morning then,” Ailse said, “be here bright and early, so that your companions won’t have to wait for you.”
“We’re leaving so soon?” Hope asked.
Alec has set the date of departu
re. He knows that the world beyond continues in its paths, and he has responsibilities he must bear, Ailse said.
The next morning, three lokasennii bears stood outside Ailse’s cabin as Hope and Bauer arrived. The door opened and Alec and Ailse stepped out, Alec with a full pack, and holding newly laden packs for his two companions.
“Do we receive an honor guard wherever we go?” Hope asked, looking at the bears.
“Only to the Black Crag road,” Bauer answered. “They’ll go no further from home.”
There was a brief leave-taking, then the six travelers left the village, and at midday the bears stopped at the edge of the road and watched the three who had a further goal continue on their way.
“It’s terribly cold,” Hope spoke after an hour on the road. “Shouldn’t we look for a place to seek shelter?”
“This is mild for winter on the Black Crag mountain road,” Alec answered, “we need to travel as far as we can in these conditions. It will be cold tonight, and then if the weather favors us tomorrow, we can reach Black Crag and find some shelter. We’ll probably face worse weather when we head to Ridgeclimb.”
This is mild? Hope asked Bauer, never having faced the prospect of traveling away from Warm Spring’s micro climate in the winter chill.
We’re fortunate to have such a good start to the trip, Bauer told her, agreeing with Alec.
The fortunate good weather provided short lived. The next day they woke to such a howling snow storm that Alec judged they should remain inside their small, cramped tent rather than continue on. The following day, with the snow no longer falling and the wind no longer blowing, they dug out of the snow that covered their tent and proceeded to resume travel, wearing the snow shoes prudently strapped to their packs.
Alec had decided to allow nature’s brutality to impose the full force of its discomfort on them, so that Hope might appreciate what the world could be like; he did not use his Healer power to raise their body temperatures, nor his Light power to alleviate the dark, nor his Air powers to protect them from the elements. Consequently, they were very weary and cold when they reached Black Crag and he used his special pass from the new emperor to gain admission for himself and his companions into the fortress city.
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