Bethany sat on the bunk next to Alec’s, waiting patiently. She had no duty or assignment, and would have refused to attend to it anyway given Alec’s state. She idly wondered what they would do now that the cavalry had won such a convincing victory in battle, despite the confusion that surrounded their initial attack.
At daybreak the morning before, Shaiss, Alder, and a young Goldenfields’ Guard member had come stumbling into camp. Their efforts to get their horses from the dockyard had been fruitless, after the watchmen had refused to let them in to get the horses, and denied receiving any orders to do so. Frustrated as the minutes went by without any luck in getting the animals, they had finally decided to run all the way to the cavalry camp in the woods, and arrived past daybreak exhausted from the long journey.
Once Imelda heard what Alec had ordered, she screamed out orders and the cavalry abandoned the camp with only weapons and horses as they raced to try to belatedly carry out their planned attack on the Oyster Bay encampment. They had arrived in time to attack the camp while Alec and the prisoners were distracting the enemy towards the bay side in their escape effort, and the cavalry had had an easy time routing through the camp. Shaiss and Bethany had ridden down to the beach, left their horses, and begun working under the cloak of invisibility to prevent any action from the Oyster Bay ship in the harbor, only to be overrun by the escaping Goldenfields prisoners.
Since the victory had been achieved Imelda had sent several troopers back to the campsite in the forest to pack up the gear that had been abandoned in haste. The Guard force had usurped the Oyster Bay campsite, their captives were now confined in a tent, and the Guard maintained a watch on the ship that sat aground in the harbor, but little else had been done while they waited for Alec to awaken.
Bethany listened to men and women walk about the camp, often passing near the tent where she watched over Alec. She took no notice of the sound of several people walking towards the tent until the flap turned open and Imelda entered, followed by Rab and a priest.
“Here is the patient we would ask you to pray for Father,” Imelda said, indicating Alec.
The priest looked at Alec lying prone on the bunk. “As I told you, it is out of the ordinary in this day and age for people to specially seek such prayers of healing for an ill person. I admire your faith in the power of prayer to bring God’s loving attention.”
“Some of us have seen great evidence of prayer’s power, and we know that Alec feels great faith in prayer,” Bethany told the priest after she had stood and moved to one side.
“Any of you who would like may stay and join me in prayer,” the priest told them, kneeling beside the bunk. Bethany knelt beside him immediately, and so too did Imelda. A moment later Rab did as well.
The priest began a prayer, and the others responsively repeated his words. They knelt and prayed a full service of concern for the ill, then knelt longer in silent prayer.
The priest stood after a long while, and the others followed his lead. “What would you like for me to do? I can repeat the prayers if you would like.”
“No, we appreciate your offer. Rab, would you see Father Raines back to the cathedral?” Imelda asked. “We’ll see how he responds and may ask you to return again tomorrow.”
The two men left the tent, and the two women remained in the tent. They looked at Alec, still resting on his bunk. “He seems no different,” Imelda said.
Bethany knelt beside the bunk and rested her head on his shoulder. “We want you to awaken and be healthy again, Alec,” she said gently.
“Bethany?” Alec murmured.
“Yes, Alec!”
“Where are we? What happened?” Alec asked.
“We won the battle yesterday and control of the Oyster Bay camp. You’re resting in a tent that is now ours,” Bethany answered.
“Good,” he murmured. “Where is Imelda? What happened to the cavalry? Were any of our men injured?”
“I’m right here Alec,” Imelda answered first.
Alec finally opened his eyes and turned his head to see her standing in the tent.
“How did the cavalry do?”
“They did well, but it wasn’t a real test since you had half the opponents surrounding you on the other side of the camp when we charged them. Our fellows had easy pickings and fought well from the saddle,” Imelda reported. “It wasn’t fair of you to fight all those fellows by yourself without sharing,” she said with a smile.
Alec looked blank for a moment. “I don’t remember very much. You say I fought yesterday?” he asked.
“Almost exactly a day ago, a little earlier than this time yesterday morning. You were in the camp and started battling your way out the back to set Kelvin free, and right after that we came in the front and finished them off. We have the camp under our control, we have their ship, we have several of them captive, and we don’t think any of them escaped,” Imelda told him.
“I had orders for Kelvin. Did he get them?” Alec asked, remembering the delicate issue of seeking a bride that the Duke had mentioned before they departed from Goldenfields.
“We just got them from your bags this morning and gave them to him,” the cavalry leader replied.
“He stopped by while you were gone, and said he’d like a cavalry escort to the palace to visit the Prince and inform him of our victory,” Bethany suddenly remembered to tell Imelda.
Alec tried to sit up. “I think we should escort him as soon as possible. The Duke would like for Lord Kelvin to succeed,” he said, lying back down, still tired and weak.
“You stay here and rest,” Imelda told Alec. “We can arrange an escort, and now that we have the Oyster Bay forces under control there’ll be no challenge to a squad of the Guard.”
“I’ll stay here with you,” Bethany told him. “I agree, you need to take more time to recover.”
“What am I recovering from?” Alec asked.
“You probably just over-extended your ingenaire powers we think,” Bethany said. “According to Kelvin you used your warrior powers very impressively, then when Shaiss was injured, you switched to healing powers and repaired his wounds. Right after that you passed out, and have been unconscious until we prayed for your recovery.”
“I’ll go get Kelvin and round up an escort for him,” Imelda said. “I’ll be back to talk about everything with you later today, or whenever you feel well enough to talk. You rest and let Bethany play nurse to you!”
Bethany took it as a sign that Alec wasn’t really healed that he accepted Imelda’s comments without a wisecrack of his own. Clearly he would need more time to recover, she could tell.
Alec fell quickly back to sleep. Late that afternoon Imelda and her squad returned with Kelvin from his visit to the Prince’s palace. Kelvin was in exuberant spirits, and asked that they awaken Alec to discuss what had happened.
“The Duke indicated that you would know something about my mission,” Kelvin stated to Alec, pacing the room with glee as he recounted his experience.
“He did tell me a thing or two that he was setting as goals for your, um diplomacy, given the changed circumstances in Goldenfields,” Alec cautiously agreed.
“Well, our arrival this morning at the court made quite a stir by itself, since no one in the city knew exactly what had happened out at the Oyster Bay camp yesterday, other than unexplained noise and movements. When I showed up with a mounted guard of Goldenfields riders that no one knew was in the principality, that left them speechless, since I was still presumed to be a prisoner,” Kelvin began.
“We were admitted immediately into the court, and when I informed the Prince that the forces from Oyster Bay had been thoroughly overthrown and were now held captive, he was quite delighted,” the Duke’s adviser continued. “He expressed great satisfaction at their loss, since they had threatened him as well as us. I then proposed that we enter a treaty of friendship and support, a close alliance, between Bondell and Goldenfields. He fully supports that as well.”
Alec listened at
tentively as Kelvin continued. “The prince thoroughly dislikes the powers in Oyster Bay for their murder of the rightful king. The Prince and the members of his court don‘t even know we have ingenairii here with us, as it happens,” Kelvin mentioned.
“I’d like to keep it that way,” Alec told him. “We have an advantage of surprise if we bring ingenaire powers with us that the opposing forces don’t know we have. Let’s not mention the ingenairii that are here.”
“Very well,” Kelvin agreed. “At any rate, the prince asked how we could seal the agreement between our two countries, and that was when I suggested the arrangement between his daughter and the Duke. He didn’t immediately say no, but indicated that he will consult with the lady to explore the option.”
“What arrangement are you talking about?” Bethany asked, puzzled.
“They’re talking about marrying the princess of Bondell to the Duke of Goldenfields,” Imelda said impassively.
“How old is this princess?” the water ingenaire asked cautiously.
“She’s actually a widow, I believe,” Kelvin said. “I think she’s a young one, but she has been married once already.”
“And does that make it right for her to marry someone old enough to be her father?” Bethany asked in a dangerous tone.
“Right now, all we can do is raise the possibility, and leave it to her and her father to discuss,” Kelvin responded calmly. “Now, as it happens, in terms of discussions, we will need to be able to offer something to the Prince as an expression of friendship from the Duke to Bondell. I wondered if some of your Guards might stay as a personal bodyguard for the prince?”
Alec was thankful that Kelvin had redirected the issue away from the propriety of the difference in ages of the proposed bride and groom, an issue that troubled him as well. He wasn’t sure what he thought about the suggestion that members of the Guard be left behind though. He recognized that Kelvin was right, that some token of friendship would be appropriate for treating the Prince as an ally. But all his efforts were focused on building up the Guard in Goldenfields, and dispersing forces to faraway Bondell didn’t seem like the best way to achieve that goal. He looked at Imelda, who looked back at him with an unreadable gaze. Still feeling unwell, Alec wasn’t certain what to say.
“Perhaps Imelda and I should discuss the possibility of doing so,” Alec parried, hoping to buy time.
“I’ll be returning to see the Prince again tomorrow, so you’ve got time to talk, but if I could know when I go see the prince tomorrow it may help us negotiate,” Kelvin replied graciously.
“Speaking as a medic, I think that Alec still appears unwell, Lord Kelvin. Perhaps we should allow him to rest and then talk some more,” Imelda suggested.
“Yes, he appears slightly worn out still,” Kelvin agreed. “I’ll take my leave and we can talk about this later or tomorrow morning. Thank you all for your support,” he said and left the tent.
“Alec, are you feeling well?” Bethany asked.
“No,” Alec reluctantly admitted. “I feel weak and unsteady and a little off-balance. I’m not sure what’s ailing me, frankly. I wish it was brighter so I could see things better,” he complained.
Bethany and Imelda looked at one another in the brightly lit tent, where sunlight streamed in through the open door flap.
“You used two types of ingenaire powers at the same time, Alec. That has to be what happened. Is there any way for you to diagnose yourself?” Bethany asked, not willing to say anything about the bright surroundings.
“Maybe when I feel better,” he answered. “Right now I don’t feel up to it.”
“I’ll come back later and we can talk then,” Imelda said, giving Bethany a meaningful look as she started to leave the tent.
“No, stay. I can listen while I lay here. Tell me what you think about leaving a detachment of Guard here in return for the alliance between Bondell and Goldenfields,” Alec asked the officer.
“Well, we don’t have that many Guards that we can afford to leave. Between what we brought and those we found here, I’d say we could leave maybe a dozen and a half at the very most. I’m not sure that provides a lot of protection for the Prince,” Imelda said.
“At times we didn’t have many more than that devoted to serving as Bodyguard for our own Duke,” Alec countered.
“That’s been true recently due to circumstances, and the members of the service took pride in serving their own Duke, so they’d accept the longer shifts, and we had the option of rotating new folks into service to replace or rest some,” Imelda mentioned.
“If we left Guards here, you’d have to send a squad from Goldenfields to relieve them in a month or so, and we’d end up with many Guards involved in serving here or traveling here, when what we really want to concentrate on is having as many Guards as possible available in Goldenfields to fight for us,” Alec thought aloud.
“On the other hand, we could leave a detachment here to train some of the Prince’s own men to serve as his own best guardians,” Alec said, still mulling the notion. “Would that be realistic to propose, Imelda?”
“Well, it appeals to me a lot more,” she answered. “I think it might work as a positive move, especially if you left Captain Whelan here in charge, instead of bringing him back to Goldenfields,” she said with almost a sneer.
“I know, he doesn’t like the idea that things in the Guard can change, and he’d fit in poorly back at headquarters, that’s agreed,” Alec told her. “His assignment here wouldn’t be permanent though, you know, maybe only a couple of months more, although I suppose those would be two more months to build unity in the force at home without him.”
“Let’s propose to Kelvin that he tell the Prince we will leave advisers from the Guard to protect him as well as to train his own men to protect him so that when we leave he will have a top rate force of his own. Now,” Alec said feeling weaker, “I’d like to rest. Would you prepare an order for me to sign that in the event I’m not available, Imelda will be in charge as second as command of this expedition? That may give you some help, I hope,” Alec added, starting to slump down into his bunk.
“You don’t think you’re going to be incapacitated, do you?” Bethany asked fearfully. “We’ve seen you recover from worst than this just a few weeks ago when you had that arrow injury.”
“I’m just trying to be prudent,” Alec said, and then he closed his eyes. Imelda and Bethany looked at one another, then stepped out of the tent together to talk.
“He’s not well, that’s clear. You don’t know how long it will be until he’s well again?” Imelda asked. “What about the darkness he mentioned?”
“No, I’ve got no idea. I’m not a healer at all,” Bethany replied. “I think we just have to let him rest, possibly for several days, it appears. If I were you I’d get that order ready for his signature, and make sure Lord Kelvin sees him sign and discuss it. You might as well go ahead and make up watch lists and look into requisitioning goods from local suppliers, and you need to talk to Kelvin about what to do with those prisoners.
“His eyes,” she hesitated. “I didn’t really look at them closely, but I thought from what I saw,” she stopped speaking.
“What did you think?” Imelda prompted. “Don’t go moon-shy on me now.”
“There seemed to be a film. I’ll check again when we wakes up,” Bethany finished. Imelda looked at her with concern.
“That’s more than I know how to treat. If you want to break his arm, I’ll set the bones for you. But I know we never learned anything about eye injuries,” Imelda replied. “I’ll hope for the best, and you do the same.”
They parted ways, Bethany returning to the tent, while Imelda went to check on the arrangements of the camp and preparations for the future.
Alec slept again throughout the rest of the day and until the next morning, when Bethany woke him by bringing in a tray of breakfast food for him. “You didn’t eat anything at all in the past two days,” she pointed out to Alec. “Wo
uld you like to have something for breakfast?” She sat down next to him, examining him intently.
“I don’t have an appetite right now,” Alec told her. “But I should at least eat some of the fruit, I suppose.”
“What type of fruit is this?” he asked, holding up a fruit he’d never seen before.
“It’s a mango. It comes from the southern lands south of the Dominion. Once in a while traders bring them up here. We’ve had them in Oyster Bay a few times,” Bethany answered. “I like its taste,” she told him as she took out her knife and sliced portions of the mango for them to share.
“What else would you like to eat?” she asked when the fruit was finished.
“Nothing else for now. You go ahead and have the rest,” he told her, closing his eyes.
“Will you be able to talk to Kelvin and Imelda today about how to offer Guards for the Prince and assigning Imelda to be second in command here?” Bethany asked him, her brow furrowed in concern over his lack of appetite and energy, as well as the film she confirmed that covered his eyes.
“Yes, by all means, bring them in,” Alec agreed.
Shortly after that Kelvin and Imelda, as well as Imelda’s second in command, Pember, entered the tent. “How are you this morning, Alec?” Kelvin asked as they drew chairs up in a semi-circle around his bunk.
“I’m better thank you,” Alec said, although his looks indicated otherwise. “Bethany is feeding me these exotic foods they have here, and it’s perked me up a bit. Forgive me everyone if I don’t arise just yet though.”
“Lord Kelvin,” Alec began. “Imelda and I suggest that we offer this arrangement to the Prince of Bondell. Let’s send a suitably impressive escort with the princess when she travels to Goldenfields, around twenty or so, and then hold back a dozen or more to not only protect the Prince, but also to train some of his own men so that Bondell can develop its own corps to serve as his protection. I would prefer that we not get into a situation where a large number of our men are tied down here; we know we’ll need them for Goldenfields’ own battles this spring. I imagine that the Prince would also like to have his protection in the hands of his own people whose interest is in his preservation first and foremost. That way after a suitable training program during the winter we can withdraw our forces from here for our own uses and still have a well protected ally in Bondell.”
The Loss of Power: Goldenfields and Bondell Page 22