The priest looked at him oddly for a moment, then explained that the Morn Rise Chapel was located high up above the nave of the cathedral, up four flights of stairs, a small narrow room with a stained glass window on the entire eastern wall. “See that yellow sunrise window?” the priest asked, pointing up to the outside wall of the building. “That’s the chapel.”
Alec thanked the woman for her assistance, then went inside and began climbing upwards towards the crown. As he climbed towards the fourth floor he saw a guard standing at the top of the stairs watching him. “What is your business?”
“The crown,” Alec replied simply, continuing to climb the stairs, “Is in danger.”
“Whose behalf are you here on?” the guard asked as Alec approached.
“My own,” Alec answered, now just a pair of steps below the floor.
The guard’s blade was out and ready. “Come no closer.”
Alec stopped and drew his own sword, then engaged the man above him. The swordsman was very good, and Alec took his time to fight his way up to the floor level, where their footing was even.
“You have fought valiantly,” Alec told the man. “You may cease fighting now and leave unharmed. I didn’t come here looking to kill you; I only want the crown.” He pulled his strokes for several seconds to give the soldier a chance to consider.
“I have been hired to protect the crown,” the man replied. “And you are fighting very well, but there are three more swords beyond me who will end your life if you keep this up, even if I do not. Turn yourself and leave.” He too pulled his strokes back, and the two stood looking at each other in silence.
“Alert!” the man shouted loudly and suddenly. “Armsman on the floor,” he added in the same echoing voice.
A door on the right opened, and three other men came out. Suddenly Alec heard noise below him, and four men came up the steps with a speed that only warrior ingenairii could achieve. Alec felt a sudden fear that he had stepped into a trap worst than any situation he had faced before.
Chapter 31—The Battle for the Crown
Alec stepped back from steps, and then felt relief that his own ingenaire abilities allowed him to bloodlessly and easily maneuver around the non-ingenairii, swordsmen before him and into the room they had left.
In the room, bathed in a yellow glow from the light that streamed through the stained glass window, sat an elegant table on which rested the crown. The crown was a golden circlet, tall in its wreath, with jeweled points and fine filigree worm topping it, and providing great beauty in the counter point of the delicacy and beauty resting on the foundation of solid metal.
Alec slammed the door behind him and slid the bar shut, providing some temporary protection from the men beyond. The clock in the tower overhead began chiming midday, and Alec knew he was trapped. Looking around revealed no windows, no alternate doors, no air vents or trash chutes he could use to escape. The door pounded violently, and Alec backed against the crown’s podium, as he heard the pounding again, and again, and the wood in the door buckled and cracked.
Alec watched the door disintegrate and the seven warriors entered the door, filling the room.
“Drop your sword and peacefully surrender if you want to live,” one of the warrior ingenairii ordered. Alec recognized the face, but didn’t know the name of the man who was about to defeat him.
“I am here to protect the crown from the usurpers who have upset the Dominion,” Alec responded with bravura, recognizing that he was now facing death.
The warrior ingenaire who had spoken launched a single-handed attack upon Alec. Alec responded with the full force of his own abilities, defending himself, drawing blood and causing his attacker to recoil in astonishment.
“Ah,” he replied looking at Alec. “You’re the one who was at Rubicon’s; Aristotle’s pet. They said you were only a healer, but Fallion always said he suspected you were hiding something.”
“This is your last chance. You can join us and be a force in the world that is to come, or you can die here.” The four warrior ingenairii stepped forward together in front of the other three, and Alec knew his death was at hand.
He prepared to attack with all the force and ability he had, feeling himself tap into the powers of the ingenairii’ realm. He felt more aware of drawing upon power than he had felt since he had first struggled as a student to control the energy.
Suddenly a blue light flashed through the room, causing the faces of Alec’s opponents to wince in surprise. Then the room immediately became dark; dark as night time and silent as though empty. Alec stood astonished, more fearful than before. He realized that there was some light showing under the closed door before him. Then he realized with greater astonishment that the door was once again whole, and he could see no signs of any men’s feet blocking the rays of light he could see.
Alec stepped back to rest against the crown’s solid wood table, and fell backwards, landing on the floor. The table was gone, was the crown.
Alec rose to one knee and tried to make sense of the strange situation. There was no sense to make of it though, as something incomprehensible had happened. Holding his sword before him, Alec rose and walked cautiously towards the door, noting the two small rows of pews he had not seen in the chapel before.
Alec opened the door and looked in the hallway. Beyond the banister he saw light from the nave rising, as was the solemn sound of a dirge being slowly chanted. No one was present in the hallway, so Alec walked back to the stairway and descended down three flights to the main floor of the cathedral, where banks of candles provided ample light for Alec to see a body lying in state and a chorus of priests singing the dirge.
“How did you get in here?” a priest asked Alec stepping up behind him. Alec whirled in startlement, and held his sword ready.
The priest backed up. “The public is not allowed in here this evening. You can come back tomorrow to see the king with everyone else. May we walk you to the gate?”
Alec looked at the priest without comprehension. “What king?” he asked.
The priest looked at Alec with concern, stepped back, and called loudly, “Guards, here please. Guards.”
“What king?” Alec repeated. “I’m ready to leave. Just tell me what king is lying here.”
“King Gildevny, who’s ruled the Dominion for thirty years,” the priest replied, as two guards came walking up.
In a silent daze Alec peacefully walked with the guards to the main gate of the cathedral, where he stepped off the grounds into the streets of Oyster Bay. Alec looked across the market square to where the main boulevard provided a straight line of sight to Ingenairii Hill.
Alec concluded that he had somehow triggered his strange ability to manipulate time. Alec had traveled back months into the past to the time when he had been in Goldenfields prior to the second attempt to kill the Duke. At the moment, Alec realized, pandemonium was either breaking out or about to break out on Ingenairii Hill as conspirators and accusers battled over the murder of the king.
Up on Ingenairii Hill, Aristotle was not far removed from his own mysterious disappearance. Where will he go, Alec wondered? He must take Rubicon, Nathaniel and Moriah with him, for such powers wouldn’t be overcome in combat, Alec felt confident.
A notion of fantastic proportions struck him, and he started walking quickly towards Ingenairii Hill. The excitement he felt grew stronger and he started jogging until he reached the gates to Ingenairii Hill. Trying to stick to the shadows, Alec climbed stealthily up to Aristotle’s house, where a light was on in his study. Alec climbed cautiously up the tree outside the building and looked in through a window. Aristotle was in plain view, reading through papers at his desk.
Alec climbed back down to the ground and knocked softly on the door, then gave up after a long wait and walked around to the downhill side of the building, where he began pitching pebbles at Aristotle’s window. Finally he saw a shadow move and Aristotle came to the window. “Who’s out there?” Alec heard the familiar
voice, although the window had not opened.
Wondering at the trick that allowed Ari to project his voice in such a fashion, Alec answered promptly. “Ari, it’s me, Alec. I need to talk to you, urgently.”
Aristotle opened the window and looked down. “Good heavens Alec, why are you back here? How did you get back so fast? Come around to the door; I’ll meet you there.”
Alec walked around and waited only a few seconds before Aristotle opened the door and let him in. Alec promptly tackled his long time mentor with a long, tight hug. “I am so happy to see you again,” Alec said, practically in tears, after long months of being separated from his friend.
“Gracious Alec! It’s good to see you, too. You’ve lost a lot of weight, and you’re impossibly taller. What have you been up to and why are you here? Come sit down with me,” Aristotle said as he closed the door.
“I’m not sure how to tell you this,” Alec said as he took a seat in Aristotle’s office. “Would you mind closing the curtains?” I don’t want anyone to know I’m here.”
“I’ve just traveled through time to get here, Ari. I was just about to fight a battle I was going to lose, and suddenly there was a flash of blue light, and then I was back here in the past,” he explained.
“You’ve come back to us from the future? Good Lord!” was all Aristotle could say. “How far in the future?”
“Several months,” Alec replied. “In the spring.”
“Tell me everything that is going to happen,” Aristotle said, leaning forward eagerly. Alec had never seen his eyes shine so brightly.
Alec took a deep breath. “Oh Ari, it’s some sad news. You know the king is dead. Ingenairii are involved in the plot, and there will be battles here on Ingenairii Hill. Ingenairii are going to kill each other, and many ingenairii are going to flee to Goldenfields for safety.”
“You are going to disappear, Ari. And so will Rubicon, Nathaniel and Moriah. I think the four of you are going to go somewhere safe, somewhere no one knows about. I have to hope that, and I’m here to ask you to come save me. At the moment I left the future, I was trapped by four warrior ingenairii and three other swordsmen in the Morn Rise Chapel of the cathedral. I hope that you and the other three will arrive and save me from pretty certain death,” Alec excitedly spit out his hastily-conceived plan.
“I was in the tower on the day five days after the first of spring, and the cathedral tower clock had just finished chiming midday. The men defending the crown broke down the door to the chapel, and I was trapped,” Alec said. “If four ingenairii arrive to fight with me I know I’ll survive.”
“Who are these folks defending the crown? Why were you there? Were you trying to gain the crown for the Duke?” Ari asked.
“The people who killed the king weren’t able to agree among themselves about what to do next apparently, and over time some of them killed one another. Those who aspired to be king couldn’t force the others to agree. The only thing they apparently agreed on was to guard the crown together; I think they were mostly guarding it from each other,” Alec said. “They couldn’t really expect someone from outside to try to take it.”
“Conspirators like that are only held together by their alliance against someone else outside, at most,” Aristotle said.
“I have done some terrible things,” Alec confessed. “I gave them something to fear, something to make them stick together. I killed three of the conspirators in just one day. The rest of them knew I was after them, and they’ve started fleeing from the city. I’m afraid we’re going to be left with no one in charge and the city will be a mess.”
“Alec, I can make you no promises,” Ari said listening to what Alec said, and what was unsaid. He grasped the essence of the situation. “But if I can, I will try to arrive at the cathedral with assistance to help you at the moment you need it.”
“Ari, I missed you all these months,” Alec said, feeling choked up. He gave the older ingenaire a hug. “There are so many decisions that are so hard to make.”
“That is the biggest part of growing up,” Aristotle said kindly. “And I’m sure you’re doing a good job. Good luck Alec; I look forward to seeing you again in the spring.”
Alec looked at Aristotle, and his eyes welled up temporarily. “I look forward to seeing you again in a few minutes. Take care on the long way there.”
Alec walked out and left the hall of the head of the ingenairii, then slinked through the shadows of Ingenairii Hill until he was safely through the gates and back on the streets of Oyster Bay. He walked around the cathedral, looking for an unobtrusive way to re-enter the gloomy stone building. A service door provided the way in and Alec moved among the vacant shadows of the building, then climbed a flight of stairs to get above the busy traffic of priests on the floor. He moved to the east side of the cavernous building and climbed higher to the fourth level, where the Morn Rise Chapel remained as empty as before.
Now came the part of the activity he was least sure about; he needed to reverse his time travel and return to the moment of the battle when he had unintentionally willed himself away from the doomed battle to gain possession of the crown.
Alec sat in a pew and thought through the process that had brought him to this time. He had been concentrating as much of his ingenaire power as possible on a single task. The completion of the task, rather than the means of accomplishment, had been his focus.
He surmised that he could focus on being prepared to fight for the crown, and compress all his ingenaire energy into that narrow target. Perhaps the time ingenaire ability was really a relief valve for when he tried to put too much ingenaire energy into a job? He wondered about that, and promised himself to ask Ari about it the next time they were able to talk to one another about such theoretical questions.
Alec walked out to the balcony beyond the chapel, where he overlooked the nave below, pulled out his sword, and tried to focus his warrior ingenaire powers. Without a visible or perceivable target to provoke his anger, his first effort failed. Feeling disgust, Alec tried again, imaging the warrior ingenairii and their allies lined up against him, and the crown threatened by their control. Still it provided insufficient motivation.
There suddenly came to mind an overpowering vision of the king being stabbed in the hallway of the palace, while in another building the conspirators drank a toast to their successful regicide. Alec’s anger at the notion of such immoral people attempting to lead the nation caused his blood to boil, and he imagined them standing directly before him, available for him to dispense justice to.
His vision filled with the blue flash of light that Alec expected, and as it instantly died away Alec sensed there were people on the balcony with him as he heard the sound of swords clashing inside the chapel, then he saw two of the warrior ingenairii looking backwards over their shoulders at his arrival, while still trying to battle the ingenairii who were inside the chapel with them – Rubicon, Nathaniel and Moriah. Alec shouted and assaulted them from the rear, dividing their forces.
The warrior who turned and opposed Alec played his sword better than any man Alec had battled so far. The face was familiar, and Alec realized he was fighting the head of the Warrior house, Julian.
“I didn’t realize you were really learning the warrior skills when you stayed with Rubicon,” Julian said conversationally as the two inched out onto the balcony. “I fell for Aristotle’s ruse that you were just a tenant there until your healing powers were confirmed. You’re obviously strong in more than one ability,” he finished as he mounted a flourish of attacks that Alec defended with great concentration.
Alec realized that there were people around them watching the battle, but he had to concentrate on matching Julian’s swordwork, and he couldn’t glance to identify the audience. He only knew they were not interfering in the battle.
“Rubicon taught me a great deal,” Alec replied after several seconds passed. “He taught me warrior skills, and I learned what a master he was in battle. More than that, he earned my re
spect with his values. He wouldn’t turn traitor to a king, or slaughter other ingenairii to even old scores.”
Julian’s face grew a dark red with anger. “Say what you want, in a few minutes you’ll say nothing at all. We’ve changed the Dominion, and when we’re done, ingenairii will rule the land. And you’ll be dead, along with your friends.”
Alec heard a gasp from the surrounding audience at Julian’s claim to rule the land, telling him that they were not minions who supported the warrior. He also realized that the swordplay in the chapel had ceased, for the sounds of ringing metal no longer came out of the doorway.
“What point is there in foisting an ingenaire onto the throne? Ingenairii have all the power and influence they need to change the world already. A king who represents all the people helps the Dominion serve the broader interests,” Alec lectured.
“Ingenairii already do the labor that makes the Dominion work. You practically said so yourself; we should set the priorities and stop all the wasted time that a mortal king fritters away. If we have to be ready to fight this lacerta invasion, should we have to wait for a king to sooth some courtier’s ego before he decides to send the ingenairii to the battle? Of course not,” Julian asserted.
Alec thought about the debates and considerations he had observed occur in the court of the Duke of Goldenfields. They had taken time, but in the end, more people in the duchy benefited and partnerships were developed in the society.
Alec mounted the fullest offensive he could manage, swinging and tabbing his sword with all the speed and power available to him. The result was that Julian began to back to his right, and the duo swung in a circle so that Julian, on the defensive, soon stood with his back to the balcony railing, the air of the stories-high nave all that was visible behind him.
The Loss of Power: Goldenfields and Bondell Page 36