“All the circumstances of these relationships were so hard for me to really see then. I was just trying to figure out how to live my life with all the changes happening to me and around me,” Alec continued, looking straight ahead at the distant sky, instead of at the girl sitting now beside him. “I think that now it’s easier to see.”
“And what is it that you see, Alec?” Imelda asked softly.
He turned to look into her face.
“I see a couple of lovebirds,” Armilla said from just inches away, startling them both.
“Everyone in camp knows that you two are over here. They can at least maintain the polite fiction that you’re planning strategy for the day. I don’t feel the need to be so polite,” the tall guard informed them as she towered over them. “We do need to know what we’re going to do today, so make up something and we can prepare the troops and you can make big eyes at each other some other time.”
Imelda’s face took on a flat expression, and she stood up. Alec remained sitting. “I’d like for us to go visit Rosebay this morning to make sure she is ready to return to the mountains in charge of a loyal army, and then we’ll be ready to head back to the Dominion,” he said.
“I’ll tell everyone to saddle up to go,” Imelda said.
Armilla stuck a massive arm out in front of Imelda, causing her to grunt from the impact of walking into the arm. “We’ll let his highness go get the folks ready. You and I should speak for a minute,” Armilla said. She gestured for Alec to leave, and he immediately did, sensing that it was the only option he had available, giving Imelda’s hand a quick squeeze as he passed her.
“Girl, what are you going to do with that boy?” Armilla asked in a businesslike tone.
“Which boy?” Imelda asked, at a loss for words. She didn’t know how to answer the bodyguard’s question. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t play games here. We’re too busy to waste time right now. I want you to tell me what your plans are for handling the lovesick puppy.”
“I don’t have any plans,” Imelda said, intimidated and unsure what was going to happen next. “I’ve told him to get back together with Bethany; she’s right for him, and he’s right for her. When they were together in Goldenfields and on the way to Bondell, I would have believed they were already married, they were so close. And I think he wants to try.”
There was a dubious expression on Armilla’s face. “Well, that’s not what I imagined, and maybe even hoped for,” Armilla admitted.
“I’ve heard enough from him and about him to know some things,” the bodyguard paused. “Aren’t you going to ask me what?”
“What?” Imelda automatically replied.
“He’s never had a family. He’s never had someone else to think about. That’s what makes a person stable and responsible, when they can think about someone else, or wonder how that other person would think. When that is the first thing you consider, that other person first, you’re in love, and you’ve got a better way of looking at the world,” Armilla pontificated.
“Once he’s married, he won’t think about any other girl,” Armilla assured her. “He just wants to have someone special to be his family. And I don’t care if it’s you or Bethany or the girl from Stronghold, we need to get him settled in with someone who will give him stability.”
“You do like him, don’t you Armilla?” Imelda asked as they began to walk towards the mounting soldiers.
“I love him dearly, like a son, Imelda. That’s why I want him to marry someone who will be good for him,” she answered.
Imelda smiled, and looked down at the ground as she walked to her horse. “We’ll just have to get him and Bethany back together then as soon as possible.”
Imelda ended up lined beside Kinsey, but there was no opportunity to speak as they rode their horses single-file down the narrow way to the plain below. “Is there anything you can do as a spirit ingenaire to make Bethany and Alec get together?” she asked as the column reformed on the plain and began to move.
“Under the best circumstances, I can only sense his feelings, not alter them,” Kinsey replied, giving a gentle smile. “Lately I’ve been able to read him much more strongly than anyone else I’ve ever been around. I think it may have been because of the energy we shared when he was saving you.”
“So can you tell how he feels about Bethany?” Imelda exclaimed.
“I haven’t been with him when he’s been asked about her, so I haven’t been able to sense his feelings. Maybe just as important is the question of how she feels about him?” Kinsey replied, remembering the anguish Bethany had endured while living in Goldenfields during Alec’s long period of disappearances and reappearances. She had lived in the healer home among the other ingenairii when Bethany had been treated like a widow during Alec’s inexplicable disappearance in Bondell.
“Allisma says that she still has feelings for him,” Imelda responded. “But he was slow to tell her how he felt, and by the time he admitted he loved her, she was with another beau.”
Kinsey was aware of Tritos, though not that Alec had finally professed his feelings. “Do you know of a way to get the two of them together?” Kinsey asked, sure that Alec would be better for Bethany than Tritos. “One that would let her appearance be a surprise to him? If she was in a position where he suddenly found her, he might be vulnerable, and admit to her how he feels?”
“That would make things easier for Bethany, wouldn’t it?” Imelda agreed.
“Well, I wouldn’t give a boy an advantage against a girl, would I?” Kinsey said with a wink. “We have to stick together.”
“I admire your talents even more immensely, suddenly,” Imelda said with a laugh that made half the column turn to look at the two riders. “What have you found out about Alec while you’ve been sensing him?”
“His heart is pure, and that is a great part of his strength of character. He has lived all his life with so little – few friends, no belongings, no status in the world. In the past two years his world has completely changed, and he has coped with it remarkably well by just stumbling forward from adventure to adventure. Bethany can help him make the next big step into learning about a stable, loving relationship,” Kinsey said clinically.
The two women continued to chat as the group rode across the plains towards the lacertii camp. When they arrived within hailing distance of the posted sentries, the group stopped, and Nathaniel rode out in front to parlay. “We wish to speak to Rosebay, the leader of the lacertii forces. Will you please ask her to come converse with Alec from the Dominion?” He spoke loudly as he sat patiently in a middling spot.
A lacerta guard nodded, and after a quick discussion with his fellows, went running towards the center of the camp while others gathered to wait and watch the small band of humans who had appeared. Before long a commotion erupted in the crowd, and Rosebay walked forward from the group of armed soldiers. Alec immediately dismounted and left his horse behind to walk out to meet her.
When they met, the two of them embraced in a long hug. “Are you alright, Rosebay?” Alec asked her quietly. “Do you need any more help from us?”
They separated, and Rosebay looked in Alec’s eyes. “Yes, Alec, everything is going to work out. It was a terribly bloody way to get here, and I’ve cried over the unnecessary deaths, but all of these who remain here are going to fight with me and for me to put an end to this war. I won’t need any more assistance; these soldiers are in agreement with me. The men despise the way they’re being asked to fight for no good reason. The problems we face are to our east, not our west, and that’s where we need to prepare ourselves.”
“How long will it be until we can send an emissary to visit you and sign a peace treaty between our peoples?” Alec asked.
“Oh, you’re the positive one, aren’t you?! Please don’t wait too long. I would love to see you in my home and show you our cities,” Rosebay said with a smile.
“If everything is well with you and the command of these soldiers,
we are going to take our leave and return home. I hope we can send the rest of your army back to you peacefully, and then begin to plan that visit,” he said.
“Journey safely,” Rosebay said. “I hope we hear good stories soon from our returning soldiers.” They hugged again and parted, and Alec beckoned Nathaniel to go with him as he returned to his band, feeling satisfied that something significant had been accomplished.
All the humans looked expectant as Alec rejoined them. “Well, Rosebay reports that she has no need for our help; she’s on her way, taking her army back home to stop this war against the Dominion. Imelda, it’s time for you to show us the way to our home now. It’s time to move along,” he said with a smile, eliciting cheers from the group.
“Let’s go around the hills instead of back up them this time. Nathaniel you cover the end of the forces, and I’ll lead,” Imelda said, glad to be back in charge of her force after weeks of being subservient to Alec’s leadership. She pulled her horse around and began the trip back to the Dominion.
Hours later, after the sun had set, Imelda pulled her horse up at the bottom of a shallow swale in the prairie. “We’ll spend the night here,” she announced. She detailed two men to set up a picket line for the horses, and assigned others to preparing the fire, setting up tents, and starting food.
Alec walked among the soldiers, offering a healing touch to those who needed it, and exchanging small pleasantries about the excitement of finally returning to the Dominion. As he completed his circuit of the squadron, the smell of cooking food wafted through the air. A column of smoke rose visibly in the darkening sky, the first time the soldiers had been incircumspect enough to allow smoke to show, now that they no longer needed to maintain the secrecy of their ambush location.
Imelda watched Alec among the soldiers, and thought about her conversations with Armilla and Kinsey. He looked comfortable and assured, hardly like the uncertain boy the two women had portrayed. But traveling with a small band here on the plains was far from the complications of being the crown protector amongst the complexities of palace intrigues. She realized with a startling insight that was perhaps why he had wanted to come out here; he had taken this mission to have a simple task without the complexities and politics of being surrounded by advisors and a court and sycophants all seeking something from him.
Bethany could be a comforter and an advisor for him. Would she do it, Imelda wondered?
And what about her own future, she wondered. The words of affection from Alec made her pause and reflect. Maybe men would see her as a suitable mate after all, she hoped. No other man had made any overtures in a long time. And she wasn’t sure how to respond. After all, she was a girl who’d been sheltered from the world herself by a houseful of intimidating brothers. And ultimately, she still didn’t know if she wanted to give up her own freedom to take a mate just yet.
“Hey, Alec,” she called across the camp. He looked up at her. She gestured for him to come over. “Let’s go check the sentries, shall we?” she suggested. Alec grinned and nodded yes.
“Who’d you ride with today?” she asked him as they walked in the dusk. “What did you talk about?”
“I was with Sudhalter and Gould,” Alec replied. “We talked about horse trading. Sudhalter’s father is a trader, and he judges horse flesh constantly. He liked Walnut a lot,” Alec said proudly. His pride in his horse momentarily rose above his pleasure in a tête-à-tête with the cavalry girl.
“Who wouldn’t like the ruler’s horse?” Imelda replied with a grin.
“And what did you talk about, with our friends Armilla and Kinsey?” he riposted.
“We talked about you,” she said simply with another grin that brooked no more questions on the matter.
“What will we do when we get back and the fighting is over?” Imelda asked, trying to subtly leave open the question of whether she would be with him after the battle.
Alec immediately grasped the implication of the question. He paused, then tried to play into it with humor. “I know what I’d like to do,” he answered.
“Should I slap you now or slap you then?” she responded in the same light mood. They were both growing giddy as they verbally jousted with one another while making the rounds. For Alec, it reminded him of the kind of engaged conversation that he had enjoyed with Bethany, an exchange and interplay of humor and insinuation.
“Bethany always threatened to dump a bucket of water on my head, and there wasn’t anything I could do about that,” he explained.
“Whereas I’d just embarrass you on the practice floor,” Imelda said sympathetically.
Much later they completed their visits to the guards around the perimeter and returned to the center of the camp. The fire had burned down low, and Armilla, Kinsey and Nathaniel were sitting beside the embers, watching the couple return.
“Did you get lost in the crowd out there?” Armilla asked with irony.
“We had a lot to discuss,” Alec said loftily. “Strategy and tactics and plans and things. If you’ll excuse me now, I think I’ll go to bed. Good night everyone,” he added.
“Before you go, Alec tell everyone about the time Bethany dumped water on you?” Imelda requested, looking at Kinsey meaningfully, hoping she got the hint to use her powers to analyze Alec’s feelings for Bethany as he relayed the tale.
Alec looked puzzled momentarily, but dutifully told the story. “Was that the time you cut away the back of her skirt? Her nickname was “Blue” for a month after that because everyone saw what color underwear she wore!” Nathaniel laughed.
“She slugged me when I confessed I was the one who did that to her,” Alec laughed too, remembering the night on the beach, though he looked slightly embarrassed, then he left to crawl into his tent to sleep.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Imelda said to Kinsey, then walked out to her own sleeping place.
Kinsey grinned. “Good night you two warriors,” she nodded to the two remaining by the fire, and she headed to her sleeping spot.
“What will your lady love say when you return home finally?” Armilla asked Nathaniel, as the two of them remained by the fire pit.
“I’ll be so glad to see her. Moriah will be flaming mad that I got to have such adventures. Then she’ll be happy that I’m back. Then she’ll be a little jealous that I spent so much time with Alec while we were out here. I think she had a mothering crush on him when he first showed up because he seems so innocent and helpless, yet had such amazing powers. But with a baby on the way she’ll have plenty to keep her occupied and she’ll be too busy to dwell on the past,” Nathaniel answered.
“What do you expect we’ll find when we get back to the Dominion?” Armilla asked Nathaniel.
“I think we’ll find a whopping big battlefield that will be dangerous and confusing. There’s still a large lacertii army left out there in front of us, and we only have a handful of soldiers now,” Nathaniel replied. “I’m surprised Alec showed such good sense about not joining the battle among the lacertii yesterday. I don’t know how hard it will be to persuade him to stay away again,” he added.
The two guardians of the young ruler sat and talked a while longer, then likewise settled in, and the camp was quiet until the next morning.
The troops arose early, and rode hard that day, making good progress. Kinsey and Imelda rode together as they left the camp site. “What does he think?” Imelda immediately asked.
“And good morning to you, too,” Kinsey said.
“What have you two been plotting?” Shaiss asked as he rode up next to them.
“Who’s plotting?” Imelda asked.
Shaiss looked at her skeptically. He didn’t know her very well. Instead he spoke directly to Kinsey. “Alder saw you talk to Armilla, and Armilla talk to Allisma. I saw Armilla talk to you,” he motioned to Imelda, “then you,” he motioned back to Kinsey, “spoke to Allisma.
“So we want to know what the four of you are planning. It’s something to do with Alec, clearly, because
one of you is always hovering around him, especially you, captain,” he asserted.
Imelda gave him a steely-eyed, flat stare.
“We care about Alec,” Kinsey said. She judged the feelings she was receiving from Shaiss, and concluded he could be trusted. “You were in the House,” Kinsey said, referring to Alec’s healing shop in Goldenfields where many young ingenairii had lived together during the months they were removed from Oyster Bay. She too had lived there, and shared the sense of camaraderie that joined all the residents together during their exile.
“Did you have any doubt that Bethany and Alec would be a couple together forever?” she asked.
“No, I thought they’d be married someday,” the light ingenaire agreed. “So what are you plotting?”
“We think Alec needs someone to give him an anchor, some stability. Bethany is the perfect person to do that Kinsewe’re talking about it,” Kinsey said.
“And what are you plotting?” Shaiss probed.
“Nothing yet. Will you help if the time comes?” Kinsey told him.
“Let me know what we can do,” Shaiss answered, pulling his reins and falling back to ride with Alder.
“What can he do? Will he tell Alec?” Imelda asked as soon as he was gone.
“He sincerely believes that Bethany would be good for Alec, and vice versa,” Kinsey answered. “And we may find something for him to do when the time comes.”
“Back to the beginning. What was Alec thinking when he talked about Bethany?” Imelda repeated her earlier question.
“He felt fondness when he told the story,” Kinsey answered. “He still feels very positively towards her. I think he would be happy to see her again.”
Imelda called Allisma back to join them. “Is there a way to get Bethany out here to meet with Alec? You say she still cares for Alec, and Kinsey says he still cares for her,” Imelda asked.
“I think it’s better that they meet away from Oyster Bay, maybe back in Goldenfields,” Allisma suggested. “When will we get back to the army? Will we go back to Goldenfields right away?”
The Lifesaving Power: Goldenfields and Stronghold Page 38