The Cloud of Darkness (The Ingenairii Series Book 11)

by Jeffrey Quyle

  “I don’t know what I think,” he replied. “But it doesn’t seem to matter now. You’ve made the sisters very happy,” he whispered in response as he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her in a reciprocal hug.

  “When will we hold the wedding?” one of the women asked.

  A stout sister edged her way forward through her little band of followers and came face to face with Alec and Kecil as they broke their clinch and faced her.

  “I am Mother Alene, and we are delighted that you have come to us to be married,” she stated. “Are you sure of this? This is a decision that you are comfortable with?” she faced Kecil as she spoke.

  Kecil looked up at Alec, expecting him to answer.

  He placed his arm around her shoulders, and called upon his Spiritual energy, then began to silently communicate with her directly, soul to soul.

  Kecil, this is Alec, speaking inside your mind, so that the others do not hear me. Do not be surprised, he told her. In this land, the custom is that the woman asks the man for marriage. The mother is making sure that you really want to marry me. You need to tell her that yes, you asked me because this is what you want.

  He watched her face, from the moment of the first surprise, when she had flinched upon hearing his voice internally, and then Alec had watched her eyes move from side to side, and squint narrowly as she listened to his instructions, and considered their meaning.

  “Mother Alene, I chose this man to be my husband. I think that we get along very well together, and we have much in common,” Kecil spoke after pausing for a few seconds more, creating a silence that grew uncomfortably long for a few of the sisters, who began to shuffle their feet before she finally answered. “This is truly what I want; it is the way for me to make the journey to happiness.”

  She looked up at him, and there was a look of such adoration in her eyes that Alec felt bewitched momentarily, until she winked with one eye, and made him smile.

  “We will carry out a simple ceremony for you this afternoon,” Mother Alene said. “I understand you wish to go purchase a few items at the market this morning?” she inquired.

  “Yes Mother,” Alec spoke, eager to move away from the unpredictable situation. “We’ll go now and be back soon. And we’ll bring sausage and eggs for everyone,” he repeated his earlier promise. He paused to scan the assembled women with his Healing vision, assessing what maladies he might find and treat among them. He finished his quick assessment, then held Kecil’s hand as he began to lead her down the street.

  “Is this the way to the market?” Kecil asked as they strode rapidly along the street. Alec looked back over his shoulder and saw that the members of the religious order were filing back into their building.

  “It will be eventually,” he answered the girl. “Do you know what you did back there?” he stopped and asked her, turning so that they faced one another as they stood on the sidewalk. “You just committed us to marriage! You ran away from marrying a prince of your own nation, and now you just volunteer to marry me, a complete stranger! What were you thinking?” he asked in exasperation.

  Her eyes blazed with emotion. “You were standing there tongue-tied, and something needed to be said. They weren’t going to let us stay there if we weren’t married, were they? Are you afraid that I’ll try to take advantage of you when we’re married? Well don’t worried – I won’t! Someone needed to do something, and I did it.”

  “Okay,” Alec stood, perplexed. He was actually glad to see the girl show some spirit. She was recovering from the shock of living through circumstances that had rapidly changed from being a violent sacrifice to being miraculously rescued to being transformed into a different species.

  “Okay, but we’re going to have to act like we’re in love, you know. Holding hands. Looking at each other a lot. Kissing. All the things that humans do when they get married,” he firmly instructed.

  “Have you been married before? Are you married now?” Kecil asked with a keen interest.

  “I’ve been married,” he said. “My wife passed away a week ago.”

  Her eyes grew suddenly wide at the unexpected revelation. “Is that true? Are you just making a bad joke?”

  Alec’s eyes grew moist in turn, and he broke the eye contact they had maintained. “She died of natural causes, and I took her home to her home village so that she could live her last days in her childhood home. I was on my way home when I found you.

  “Come on,” he didn’t want to talk about Andi any longer. “Let’s go to the market.” He began walking again.

  Kecil took hurried steps to catch up with him, then strode silently by his side as they walked for another block.

  “Do you want me to ask someone for directions, or do you know where you are going?” she finally asked.

  “Ask for directions,” he instructed tersely.

  “I’m sorry,” she told him. “I didn’t mean to bring up your wife. I didn’t think you were married. You didn’t say anything about a wife,” Kecil interpreted his short manners as anger at her.

  Alec stopped abruptly, and reached out to grab the girl’s arm. The man walking behind Alec was brought up short by the sudden maneuver and bumped into him.

  “Step aside, bub,” the man blurted his frustration, and then moved on down the block.

  “Kecil,” Alec looked at the girl, and as he did, his Spiritual sense gathered awareness of her melancholy breaking out, triggered by the unexpected dust-up with the only person she knew among the millions of humans around her.

  “Kecil,” he repeated, “we’ve both had difficult times happen in life lately. Nothing’s your fault – nothing’s my fault. Let’s agree on that, agree we’re friends, and agree we’re apparently going to be married this afternoon.

  “Excuse me,” he reached out to a woman who was walking by. “Where is the closest market? We’d like to get some food for breakfast, and maybe some new clothes for my lady too,” Alec asked politely.

  “Well, you’ll go down here about five blocks, maybe six, until you come to the corner with the Emperor’s Boulevard, where there’s a large bank with red shutters, then you turn left two more blocks, and you’ll come to the market,” the woman explained easily. “Are you new to the city?” she asked in a kindly tone.

  “We just got here last night. We came from Witten,” Alec answered.

  “Welcome to Vincennes,” the lady spoke, then went on her way.

  “Let’s go find some clothes for you,” Alec said, and the two of them followed the directions for ten minutes of weaving through the traffic on the streets, until they reached the edge of the market.

  “I’ve never been anywhere like this before,” Kecil said two minutes later, as Alec led her into the bewildering maze of passageways that wove among the innumerable small stalls selling a wide variety of goods. They passed first through the vegetables and greens section, where Alec stopped to buy a few herbs and items he could use medicinally, then they came to the fish market, which they passed through to get to the adjacent meat market.

  “It smells awful in here,” Kecil told Alec with a wrinkled nose.

  “We’ll pick just the good things,” Alec assured her. “You can breathe through your mouth if it bothers you too much.” He scanned the goods the vendors offered using his Healing vision, and selected eggs and sausages and a haunch of ham that all appeared safe for consumption.

  “Let’s go over this way,” he led the young girl out of the meat market and into the dry goods section of the market, where he bought a large basket to carry the goods that filled their arms, and then he led Kecil to a row of stalls that sold material and clothing.

  “What should this girl have to wear?” he asked the vendor at the fourth booth they walked past. The woman was a younger vendor than most, and Alec’s Spiritual sense detected no greed or falsehood in her, only a desire to please people with pretty clothes.

  The woman’s eyes lit up at the question and she rose from her stool to begin to examine Kecil with a clin
ical eye. Kecil stood nervously as the woman circled her with slow steps, her eyes rising and falling to examine the girl’s figure, face, hair. Her hands reached out to inspect Kecil and her shapeless woolen robe, lifting and pinching, and tugging, in an inspection that lasted during three slowly-stepped revolutions around Kecil.

  “She’s a beautiful girl; there’s so much we can do for her,” the dressmaker finally said, as she stood in front of Kecil, her chin resting thoughtfully in her hand.

  “We’d like something nice for today; we’re getting married this afternoon,” Alec blurted out, feeling nearly as nervous as Kecil as he watched the relentless evaluation proceed. He thought Kecil was an attractive girl, and he remembered from his days as a father of young girls that dresses and appearances could be critical elements of life.

  “You’re a bit old for her, aren’t you?” the woman asked, her eyes shifting from Kecil so that she studied Alec’s face.

  “My appearance doesn’t tell my age,” he replied, annoyed once again by the implication that he was a lecherous older man.

  “I think it’s your eyes,” the vendor decided. “They look like they’ve seen a lot.”

  “But as for the matter at hand, I can’t possibly do this girl justice for an afternoon wedding; could you delay the ceremony for a day or two?” she asked.

  “No,” Alec said. “Just let us take a look at some of the dresses you already have sewn,” he motioned to the line across the back of the booth, where a dozen dresses hung on display.

  “Those aren’t meant to be worn; they’re just samples of what I can do,” the woman explained sharply.

  “But they’re so beautiful!” Kecil spoke up at last. “I love the purple one,” she pointed towards a flowery print.

  “That would look good on you,” the vendor said reflectively, looking from the dress to Kecil to the dress. “You’ve got a good eye,” she commented. “But for a wedding, you know, it’s not a lucky color.

  “How about this green dress?” she asked, seeming to concede that Kecil would wear one of the display dresses.

  “That’s a lovely dress too,” Kecil agreed.

  “We need to find someplace where you can try it on,” the vendor said. “I’m sure it will need some alterations.”

  “It would be quickest if she tried it on here,” Alec suggested.

  “And do you want your bride to have no modesty at all, sir?” the woman asked with a mixture of scorn and shock.

  “We have a special trick,” Alec smiled. He liked the dressmaker; she was willing to do the right thing, and she wanted to do it because it was right. He didn’t mind sharing a small demonstration of his secrets with her. He focused on the Light energy, and created a small box of invisible space, suitable for a dressing room, then spoke to Kecil.

  “Dear,” he said, looking at her with a significant glance to make sure she realized he was addressing her, “if you take the green dress, and then step into the corner of the booth over there, no one will see you change,” he directed.

  Kecil needed only a moment to understand what he was implying. “You mean?” she asked, and when he nodded, she stepped forward and unhooked the dress, then stepped to her right, and disappeared from view.

  “Great God of Lavan!” the woman said loudly, drawing stares from others in the market.

  “I can make a space of invisibility,” Alec explained, stepping close to her, placing a hand on her shoulder to steady her as he spoke in a low voice. “She’s there right now changing clothes. We’ll see her step out in just a second,” he explained. “But we can’t see her, nor can anyone else.”

  “Are you ready yet, Kecil?” he called.

  “I can’t reach the buttons in the back,” she replied.

  “We,” the seamstress hesitantly replied, “we’ll take care of that. Just come out, if you’re ready.”

  Kecil’s head popped out of nothingness to look around, and then her body followed a moment later, dressed in the green garment.

  “My lord,” the dressmaker said, looking at Alec with dilated pupils, “I apologize for anything I said amiss, my lord. This is a powerful magic; I thought such things were only the fairy tales of small children. I can tell by your accents that the two of you are foreigners; magic is forbidden by the law in our land, your know.”

  “You take good care of Kecil and don’t worry about anything but making your dresses. You’ve done nothing wrong, and I know your heart is good,” he assured the girl.

  She bowed her head, then attended to Kecil and making the needed alterations to her dress, while Alec watched and let his mind wander. He’d done a simple thing, something that in the Dominion would have been easily accepted as an ingenaire action, but here in Avonellene, he’d just wrenched away the opportunity to have a normal working relationship with the dressmaker. Henceforth, she’d call him ‘my lord,’ and look at him with eyes that didn’t see him as a human, but something different.

  “And if we do this, I think it will not only fit nicely, but look absolutely smashing,” the girl was saying to Kecil. “Don’t you agree, my lord?” she looked over to Alec for concurrence.

  The dress looked wonderful on Kecil. It was a simple one, yet the pleats and the lines gave Kecil a look of more sophistication than she’d shown before in the few hours that Alec had known her.

  “She looks very nice,” he agreed. “It makes her look confident somehow.”

  “That’s just how I feel in this!” the model under discussion cried. “I feel confident that perhaps I could be attractive as a human.”

  The dressmaker gave a strained laugh.

  “Is the dress ready to go?” Alec asked.

  “Oh la! I’ll need at least an hour to make these alterations,” the woman said.

  “Do you have another dress Kecil could wear in the meantime?” Alec asked. “I don’t want to make her wear that wool robe any longer than necessary.”

  “Thank you,” Kecil said with genuine appreciation. “Dear,” she added after a pause.

  “She can wear the purple dress she likes so much,” the dress maker conceded to Alec.

  “Go back in and change,” Alec directed. Moments later Kecil came out of the invisible box, wearing the purple dress instead of the green one, and Alec made the invisible space vanish.

  “We’re going to go now. We’ll be back in an hour or two to pick up the dress. How much do we owe you?” Alec asked, pulling several coins out of his purse and opening his palm to the girl. “You’ve been very good to us; take what you think is fair.”

  She looked down at the coins, then up at his face, then down at the coins, and she carefully selected three small coins.

  “You should take more than that,” Alec encouraged her.

  “Can you do other magic?” she asked him.

  “Yes, many kinds,” he admitted.

  “I’ll take the money as a down payment, and ask you for something else later,” she told him.

  “What is it that you want, child?” Alec asked in a kindly manner.

  “You don’t look old enough to call me ‘child’,” she answered firmly. “And since it’s your wedding day, I’m not going to ask for anything else today.

  “Now go on and let me get to my work,” she stepped back to her stall.

  “Do you want this?” she asked, holding up the woolen robe.

  “You can burn it,” Alec replied, “unless you think of something better.”

  He took Kecil by the arm, and they walked away with their baskets of goods, Kecil flowing with good spirits as a result of the new wardrobe she’d acquired.

  “The purple dress looks nice,” Alec offered a compliment as they walked. “Here,” he stopped at another vendor, one selling bakery goods, and bought a pair of small fruit tarts, still warm to the touch.

  “Here, eat one of these,” he offered, handing a tart to her. “You must be as hungry as I am.”

  Kecil held the tart cautiously, and watched as Alec lifted his to his mouth and took a bite. />
  “Oh, this is good!” she spoke, savoring the flavor. “It is so unusual!”

  “We can find these in many places,” Alec assured her. “But when you eat it, lean forward, so that the juices don’t drip on the front of your dress,” he advised too late, seeing the dribbles of berry juice that had run in narrow streaks across the fabric she wore.

  Alerted, Kecil looked down at the dress and saw the stains.

  “It’s ruined!” she cried, and threw the tart down in anger.

  “No, no, it’s not that bad,” Alec assured her. “Look the berry juice is just as purple as the prints on your dress – it practically blends in. No one will even notice it,” he assured the girl.

  “Oh! But I just wasted the rest of my tart,” Kecil lamented.

  “Here, have a bite of mine,” Alec offered, holding his up in front of her mouth. She grinned at him and leaned into the tart, taking a generous bite, her chin outthrust so that the juices ran down and dripped off into the air below.

  “I feel so good, suddenly, Alec!” she said. “Nothing in my life in the last six months has gone as well as this morning! I have this new dress, it feels so good, we’re walking among these humans, and we’re getting married today! What a wonderful day!” she laughed, and Alec grinned in appreciation as he felt her spirits soar.

  Whatever had prompted him to go to the stadium at the moment he did, in time to see the poor lacerta girl on the verge of a horrible death, it had served her and him well. She was looking forward to life once again, and more so than before, so was he once again, he realized. He relished the challenge of accompanying her back to her own land – keeping her alive and happy in the process – and enjoying the opportunities the trip would offer for him to revisit the part of the world that he had abandoned so long before.

  They walked to the mission, and knocked on the door. After several long seconds, a sister looked out through the spyhole, saw who it was, and allowed them to enter.

  “We’re preparing the chapel for your wedding!” their hostess proudly announced as she led them towards the back of the building.