The Loss of Power: Goldenfields and Bondell

by Jeffrey Quyle

  “That arrangement sounds suitable to me,” Kelvin decided after considering Alec’s proposal. “I understand your reasons, and I think you’ve presented it in a way that could appeal to the Prince as well.”

  “Good, that’s settled then. When do you see the Prince to discuss the matter?” Alec asked.

  “We’re to have lunch together, along with Princess Rhian, I hope. If she’s present it will be a good sign of her intentions,” Kelvin answered.

  “Imelda, have you arranged an escort for Lord Kelvin to go to the palace today?” Alec turned to the cavalry leader.

  “We have several men available,” she responded.

  “Lord Kelvin, let Imelda know what you need, and she’ll arrange a suitable escort. Would you do me a favor and sign as witness to my official documentation that Imelda shall serve as second in command of the forces of Goldenfields on this expedition? Imelda, do you have the papers ready for that?” Alec next asked.

  “Yes, I do have papers drawn up,” Imelda replied.

  “Yes, I shall bear witness to your order, and agree that it is a prudent one,” Kelvin said. They proceeded to sign the papers to make effective Imelda’s control of the camp in Alec’s absence.

  “One more question for everyone. What should we do with the Oyster Bay prisoners? Let me ask, how many do we have here presently, and are there any Oyster Bay officials at loose in the city around us?” Alec questioned.

  “We have the ship, four officers, and over a dozen soldiers held captive here currently,” Imelda told Alec. “They suffered a great many casualties.”

  “There is still an embassy in the city with three or four officials, three or four servants, and perhaps a half dozen guards from Oyster Bay. I’ll be interested to hear today what their response is to my appearance yesterday at the court,” Kelvin said.

  “Did the embassy people try to approach our camp yesterday, perhaps thinking we were still in the control of their forces?” Alec asked.

  “We did see a group of riders approach the camp in the afternoon, but they did not come very close, and we did not have orders to apprehend them,” Pember spoke for the first time.

  “That was perhaps the Oyster Bay officials coming to look at their camp after Kelvin’s miraculous appearance in the court,” Alec commented. “Would they be privy by now to the terms of friendship you and the Prince discussed yesterday?” he asked Kelvin.

  “I’m not sure how generous the Prince is with such information. If he felt it was to his advantage, he might allow them to learn that he now has the beginnings of a firm alliance struck with Goldenfields,” Kelvin replied. “Why are you interested in knowing that?”

  “We’ve got these captives,” Alec said. “We don’t want to hold them here: it’s a waste of men to watch them, it’s a waste of money to feed them, and it’s a potential threat to have them within us. We could give them to the Prince so that he could deal with them as having broken the laws of his land, or he could have them to serve as witnesses to the strength of Goldenfields in Bondell, when he sends them packing back to Oyster Bay, or he could have them for some other purpose he chooses.”

  “One of the captives is your friend the officer who started beating you two days ago,” Kelvin told Alec. “Do you have any special instructions for him?”

  Alec considered the pleasure he would take in punishing Branham for his role in the criminal actions the junta in Oyster Bay had taken. “For myself, no, I will not suggest anything although it’s tempting,” Alec answered. “However, he is close to the junta leaders and may carry some value as a bargaining chip. His name is Branham, and he was an officer in the palace guard when I was at Oyster Bay. He might be a source of information if you would like to have him questioned about events and currents in the palace presently.”

  Kelvin looked at Imelda, who shrugged. “We might ask him some questions while we await a decision on how to dispose of him through the Prince or otherwise,” she said diffidently. “Pember, I’ll give you charge of him. Have him moved away from the other prisoners,” she directed her aide.

  Pember left to carry out the order, while the others also stood to disperse. “I’ll report back in the afternoon to let you know how things went with Prince Mahogan,” Kelvin said as they all left the tent, so that Bethany was the only one left with Alec.

  “This may all work out pretty well,” Alec told Bethany as he laid back and closed his eyes. “Hopefully we’ll please the prince with our offers and develop a strong alliance for Bondell and Goldenfields.”

  “Hopefully you’ll get better soon and make me happy,” Bethany replied, kneeling on the ground by his bed.

  “I’m sure I’d feel healthier if the sun would just shine through these clouds and brighten the day,” Alec irritably responded.

  Bethany sighed a deep sigh. “Alec, there are no clouds,” she softly told him. “Yesterday, you also thought it was dim, when the sky was clear and bright. There seems to be a type of film across your eyes ever since you were strained. I can hardly tell they are brown. Imelda says she doesn’t have any training in eye treatment.”

  Alec lay silent for a long moment, mentally going through his inventory of medical knowledge. “You say it’s a film? Is it gray or white?”

  “It’s almost a creamy white. It reminds me of the color of the full moon early in a summer evening,” Bethany spoke slowly as she looked at his eyes. “What do you think it is?”

  “With a color like that, I have no idea,” Alec said with exasperation.

  “Alec, I’m sure there’s a cure for it. Maybe it’ll just go away as you grow stronger. I’ve never heard that anyone who used two powers at once ever had anything like this,” Bethany tried to sound hopeful, while Alec closed his eyes.

  Alec did not respond, as his breathing developed the regular steady rhythm of someone who had fallen asleep.

  Late that afternoon, Imelda and Kelvin returned to the tent together. Bethany awoke Alec and invited them in. “The prince is very pleased with the proposals we offered him today,” Kelvin, smiling broadly, told Alec. “The princess is agreeable to being the Duke’s bride. He approves of the notion of training for his own Guard unit here, and furthermore, he looks forward to the pleasure of shipping the entire Oyster Bay delegation back to the capital as his gesture to the rulers there.”

  “I would like to stipulate that the ship we captured is the property of Goldenfields now,” Alec said, managing a grin for the first time in days. “Let’s ask the Prince to have the ship re-painted in our colors before he sends the prisoners back to Oyster Bay in it. I’d like to see the look on the faces of the junta leaders when they see their own men getting off their own ship painted as one of ours. They’ll just re-seize it again, but then we’ll have a claim against them.”

  “We’ll ask the Prince about that,” Kelvin said, “just to make you happy.”

  “What’s the time frame for action?” Alec asked.

  “Princess Rhian is agreeable to leaving in two days, which gives us time to divide our group to handle our duties both here and going home,” Kelvin said, as the two girls shook their heads.

  “How quickly is the Prince prepared to take command of the prisoners?” Alec asked. “If we could turn most of them over to him tomorrow, I’d recommend getting them out of our hands as quickly as possible, other than Brahnam. We can hold on to him for a couple of extra days to see if we learn anything.”

  “I’ll see if he’d like to have the prisoners tomorrow,” Kelvin agreed.

  “I’ll start discussing with Imelda who stays to help train the Prince’s guards,” Alec said. “Is there anything else we need to decide?” When Kelvin indicated nothing else, Alec asked him to let the two Guard officers work on their deployment of forces. Shortly thereafter the nobleman left the tent.

  “How has Whelan been to work with the past couple of days?” Alec asked Imelda.

  “He’s tried to take command, but my folks follow me, so they’ve ignored him so far,” Imelda said gr
imly.

  “I will keep Whelan here, so that you don’t have to deal with him on your ride home,” Alec told her.

  “What do you mean so that Imelda won’t have to deal with him on the ride home?” Bethany asked. “It seems to me that you could deal with him on the ride home for her.”

  “Look at me. I don’t have the strength to leave this bed. I won’t have the strength to climb on a horse and ride through the wilderness for several days,” Alec said, looking at her. “I will stay here to keep an eye on Whelan and to rest and recover.” He turned slightly to face Imelda. “I’d like for you to detail several of your people, and two or three of the Guards we rescued, to teach this Bondell Guard unit we intend to form.”

  “That won’t be a problem,” Imelda said. “I do have a problem with abandoning you here though Alec. For one thing, Colonel Ryder will beat the tar out of me for leaving you behind. For another, we don’t know what’s wrong with you, and I hate to just leave you here depending on the kindness of Bondell for your healing.”

  “I appreciate those concerns, but frankly, I haven’t come up with any other option. I’m too blind and weak to ride; that’s a fact. And as Bethany told me earlier, maybe this,” he gestured at his eyes, “will go away as I grow stronger. So I have to stay.

  “Bethany,” he reached out a hand to hold hers, “before we get started fighting about this, you have to go with Imelda. They need your ability to create water for the cavalry and the princess and whatever retinue she decides to take with her. That’s your assignment on this trip,” he told her.

  “We’ll talk about that later,” Bethany simply said.

  “Those who stay behind will be myself, Whelan, a few from the group that came out with Kelvin, eight of your cavalry fighters, and give me Pember too, if you don’t mind, so that I’ve got a strong second in command I can rely on if Whelan has trouble with this duty,” Alec slowly rattled off his proposed force, sounding more tired as we ran through the list. “A fortnight after you arrive at Goldenfields, send a replacement force out here to let these Guards return home, and that second group should be here a month or so to continue the training we’ll need to provide.”

  “You’ve got this all planned out, don’t you?” Bethany said bitterly, but then she noticed that Alec had again closed his eyes and fallen asleep. She looked at Imelda helplessly, then they both left the tent together. “This isn’t right. We can’t just abandon him here while we return to Goldenfields with the Princess,” Bethany told Imelda.

  “I hate to put it this way, but I was just given orders, and I have to follow them. I agree with you that leaving Alec doesn’t sound right, but I have to accept that I must obey the orders given to me. Maybe it’s different for you,” Imelda told Bethany bluntly.

  “It is different for me! I’m not in the Guard; I’m here for Alec more than for Goldenfields. This isn’t fair,” Bethany said growing upset. Suddenly a puddle of moisture formed under her. She looked down, then looked at Imelda. “It’s not what you think! Sometimes when I get very upset, I discharge water – just water. It forms in the air around me and falls to the ground. I’m not the only water ingenairii it happens to. I don’t usually get so upset,” she prattled on in confusion and embarrassment, until Imelda laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

  “I understand. I’ll accept whatever you think is the right thing for you to do when the time comes,” Imelda said. “In the meantime, I’m going to go talk to Kelvin about having our embassy cleaned up so that our men will have a place to stay. It seems like a good chore for the Oyster Bay prisoners to work on, I think,” she said as she walked away.

  The next day passed quietly as Kelvin worked with the Prince on details of the arrangements for their activities, and Imelda’s troops transferred most of the Oyster Bay prisoners to the Prince’s jail, publicly parading them through the street for all to see. Meanwhile, Pember continued to question Branham about the situation in Oyster Bay.

  The following day was the last that the Goldenfields forces would be together. Alec had slept completely through the previous day, but when Bethany awoke Alec he responded by eating several pieces of fruit for breakfast, and managed to get out of bed for the first time since his collapse on the beach. Bethany had made up her mind to stay with Alec to help him heal. Alec though insisted that she should go with the cavalry escort for the princess.

  “I am better, and I’ll surely get stronger from here on out. My body feels like it is recovering,” he told her. “The people going across the desert are going to need you to supply the water they’ll use. And you can take some of the pressure off Cassie back at our house and help organize whatever may be needed by those ingenairii who are still in Goldenfields.” He gave her a hug, and she felt more strength in his arms that she expected.

  “You’re sure you’ll be okay?” Bethany asked, and Alec knew that she would decide to go back.

  “Yes. We’ll move into the palace and see how quickly we can move into the embassy. It’s a shame there wasn’t an ambassador from Goldenfields here in the first place. I need to ask Kelvin why that was before you all leave,” Alec said. He held her hand and they stood together to walk outside.

  The cavalry horses were lining up to go to the palace to receive the company of the princess. Imelda was overseeing everything, but came striding over rapidly when she saw Alec up.

  “It’s great to see you on your feet! Have you changed your mind and decided to ride with us after all?” she asked.

  “No, I’m better, but not ready for that. Besides, you wouldn’t want to do that to Pember,” Alec told her.

  “That’s true. What words of wisdom do you have?” she asked.

  “Just take care of your horses, and especially remember that you’ll have a princess, her ladies in waiting, and Kelvin with you, so you can’t expect to travel as fast as you did on the way out here. Since the princess is going to be one of our own now, there’s no need to hide the work of the ingenairii you have with you, whether it’s Shaiss for light or Bethany or Allisma for water,” he told her.

  “Is Bethany coming with us then?” Imelda asked, looking at the water ingenaire.

  “Alec promises me that he’s going to get better quickly,” Bethany said glumly, “and he says you’ll need me on the way.”

  “I’ll be very glad to have your abilities to provide as much water as we’ll need with the princess and her ladies. And I’ll be even happier to have your companionship on the journey,” Imelda told her sincerely. “Go ahead and pack your things and ask Evan to select a horse for you.”

  Bethany gave Alec a hug. “I’ll see you again before we go,” she promised, and left to get ready.

  “She’s a strong person to leave you like this,” Imelda told him.

  “Yes, she is strong. It’s not easy to do the right thing in difficult circumstances,” Alec agreed. “She’ll be good for you to have along if the princess is difficult to deal with. Bethany was raised in a well-to-do family; she’ll be able to figure out how to placate any unhappiness the princess feels. And you’ll be good for her to have along.”

  “Do you know where Kelvin is?” Alec asked Imelda, sensing her impatient desire to return to preparing her troops for movement.

  “He’s in one of the tents on the left,” she said, and left him to go check on some issue.

  Alec walked slowly through the camp, listening more than seeing, and found Kelvin’s tent, where the Duke’s advisor was finishing a note. “Ah, Alec, how wonderful to see you up today. Let me just add that to this note for the Duke, and I’ll send this pigeon out to alert the Duke to expect us and arrange a suite of rooms for the princess in the palace,” Kelvin said, writing rapidly on the small scrape of paper, which he rolled up and sealed.

  “I wanted to ask if we will be able to move into the palace, or whether we’ll need to stay here until the embassy is cleaned up again. I also was curious about why we didn’t have an ambassador here in the first place, since we have the embassy,” Alec said.
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  “Well, our ambassador died a year ago, and the Duke hadn’t appointed a replacement before things in Goldenfields starting growing so uncertain, with the attempt to murder him when you saved him, then the attack by the lacertii, among other things. I was sent here to assure the Prince of his importance to the Duke, and to let him know that the lack of an ambassador was not a snub to him, which coincided with the uprising by the Duke’s sons and the aftermath of that,” Kelvin explained.

  “I will ask the Prince this morning if he can arrange some lodging in the palace for all of you. I expect it may be unpolished, but he’ll have his chamberlain work something out. While you’re here, he’s a man to rely on, Foldar, the chamberlain,” Kelvin advised Alec. “He’s…out of the ordinary.”

  “I’ll travel into town with you this morning to be introduced to the Prince, if think that is appropriate,” Alec suggested.

  “If you feel up to it, I think that is most wise,” Kelvin agreed. “Let me pack up and I’ll see you outside as we leave.”

  Alec left and shuffled out to the corral with the Guard horses that were to stay in Bondell for a while more. He selected one to ride into town and saddled it, then led it to where the other cavalry riders were gathered.

  He saw Captain Whelan for the first time since they had fought the Oyster Bay forces. “Stay here and I’ll be back after I see our friends out of the palace and on their way,” Alec told the captain. He walked his horse over to Bethany, and stood leaning slightly against her as they each put their arms around the other’s waist.