Rescuing the Captive: The Ingenairii Series (17 page)

“
Will you and I truly be able to make it to Black Crag?” she asked, looking directly at Alec.

“
I think we will,” he replied. “We have to let the soldiers stay on our trail for a few days so we give the princess time to get away, but after that we can become anonymous, and they’ll never find us.”

“
You’ve changed your color; have you changed anything else about yourself? Can you still fight and heal as you did before?” Caitlen followed.

“
Only our colors are different. Everything else about each of us is exactly the same,” Alec assured her.

“
I hope so,” the Princess murmured, with a shy look at Nichols.

“
You can undo this?” the formerly blue man asked. Alec nodded.

“
It is as important for us to get to Black Crag as it is for Princess Esmere to get to Raysing,” Caitlen insisted. She looked at Alec with a directness that made him focus on her to the detriment of everything else around them in the small room. “If you believe you can safely deliver me to Black Crag, then I will travel with you.”

“
I pledge to you, as an ingenaire of the Healer House, that I will do everything in my power to bring you safely to Black Crag,” Alec said. From his position on the floor he looked up at the girl as he spoke, and it felt as though he was making a pledge of fealty.

She placed her hand on his shoulder. “I accept your pledge,” she intoned.

“
Very well then, we will go our separate ways,” Esmere said. “Shall we leave at once?”

They gathered themselves together downstairs in the empty hallway. Not even the morning kitchen chores had begun yet, leaving the building unusually silent, except for the groans and snaps of the building itself reacting to the frigid temperature. The two girls hugged tightly for a long period, whispering back and forth, as Alec and Nichols waited.

“
Take care of her Alec. Guard her with your life,” Nichols told Alec. “Thank you for saving me from the prison, and from death. I look forward to seeing you again when we return to Vincennes to put the princess back on the throne.” They parted; Nichols gently took Esmere by the arm, and the two of them went out into the cold darkness to begin the trip back to Vincennes.

“
Are you ready to be the mouse that leads the hawk away from the nest?” Alec asked Caitlen.

“
As long as I know you can make sure we’re the mouse that gets away from the hawk,” she answered with a cheerful smile that raised Alec’s spirits as it added a radiance to her plain features.

He opened the door in response, and held it for her, then followed her out. He imagined that he saw the moving shadows of Nichols and Esmere on the road that gently sloped away from them, but he resolutely followed Caitlen as she turned the other direction and began to walk on the rough, frozen surface of the muddy path that led to the river road. There were clouds overhead that let no trace of moonlight or starlight seep through to guide the way. Alec and Caitlen walked slowly as they tried to stay on the lonely road, walking one behind the other into the breeze. Alec took the lead to try to shelter Caitlen from the briskly blowing air they fought against, and after an hour he felt his face start to freeze from the unpleasant wind.
How do people manage to live in places with weather like this
, he wondered, thinking with longing about the mild weather he had found in all parts of the Dominion.

He focused his healer power on raising his body temperature, then stopped and turned to Caitlen. As she arrived, Alec placed his hand on her cheek, feeling the painful chill in her flesh, and poured a trickle of his healing energy into her, raising her body temperature.

“
Thank you,” she said in grateful astonishment. “You are an absolute treasure to have around!”

Without another word, Alec removed his hand and turned to resume the trip. They walked on for two more hours, until they reached another small village. Alec took Caitlen by the arm and led her into a small stable, where they gratefully sat down on a bench. Alec reached over to hold Caitlen’s hand, and he let his energy work again to raise her body temperature.

“
I’d usually object to letting a strange man hold my hand when we’ve hardly been introduced, but under the circumstances I suspect it’s the best thing that will happen today,” she told him.

Alec couldn’t see her face in the dark, but heard the humor in her voice. “And the fact that I can warm you up too makes it even better,” he teased.

There was a moment of silence, and then a guffaw. “Touche!” she replied. “I’d thought I was running away from the hawk, but perhaps I’m merely traveling with a different one.”

Again he imagined he heard a confident sense of humor in her voice. “We’ll stop to rest for just a few minutes, little mouse, and then we need to get going again.

“
Do you know the geography of this route well? Are we likely to reach a sizable town in the next couple of days?” he asked her.

“
We should get to Valeriane tomorrow night or the next morning if we don’t hit any delays, Master Hawk,” she told him.

Alec sat in silence, contemplating their journey. They could find a place tonight to sleep, and reach a city the following night. Once in the city they could stop trying to lead the chase astray, and focus solely on their own trip to Black Crag, he concluded. For the trip today and tomorrow though, they would have to make sure they were seen repeatedly, to leave the necessary false trail the Conglomerate guards needed to follow.

“
Are you ready to go?” he asked.

“
I’d like to relieve myself. Is there a place to do that here?” Caitlen asked with embarrassment.

Alec sniffed the air. “I know it’s not the usual place for a lady of the court, but I’d suggest you squat in the corner of one of the stalls.”

“
You can’t be serious!” Caitlen replied, almost wailing.

“
I don’t have any better suggestion,” Alec said apologetically. “We probably shouldn’t try to go into the house.”

“
Oh, bosh,” she said. There was a rustling sound, and a muffled grunt, then a pile of cloth thrust against Alec.

“
Here, hold this. I don’t want to drag my dress through the muck in the stall,” Caitlen explained.

Alec listened to her tentative steps across the stable, then the sound of a gate opening, and a cow that lowed gently at the disruption by its unexpected visitor.

“
Alec?” Caitlen softly called.

“
I’m right here,” Alec answered.

“
Keep talking. I can’t see what direction to walk in,” she responded.

“
What can I tell you?” Alec asked. “I’m trying to save a princess I don’t know from an enemy I don’t know in a land I don’t know, while the girl I love is a million miles away with her new boyfriend, an enemy army is invading my country, and my friends are trapped in a dungeon. I can tell you that.”

“
That’s good,” Caitlen said, bumping into him. “It’s not good what you said, but I’m back. Do you have my dress? It’s cold in here!”

Alec handed over the bulky cloth, and waited for his companion to re-arrange her dress.

Minutes later, they were on the road again and had left the small village behind. After another hour, Alec gave Caitlen a warming touch, and they walked again until dawn broke finally, letting them catch sight of the next village on their journey. By the time the sun was fully above the horizon, they had stepped into an inn and ordered breakfast from the lonely cook.

They chose a table next to the fireplace, and Alec silently examined Caitlen with his health vision as she sat on her bench, her eyes closed. She was extremely fatigued, Alec could tell, the result of two days of unexpected flight from her palace prison, with little sleep. Her feet were blistered and suffering from frostbite despite Alec’s efforts to boost her body temperature. The boots she wore were inappropriate for the travel she subjected them to; he would check to see if there was a cobbler in the village who could provide better footwear for her. While they were shopping, he thought he might see if he could use his limited funds to buy a bow and arrows.

Alec knelt quietly beside Caitlen and placed his hand under her skirts, making her shriek as her eyes flew open. “What are you doing now? Stop it!” she commanded, and tried to kick her foot free from Alec’s grasp.

“
Stop,” he told her commandingly, and he pulled her shoe from her foot, then gently traced his fingers around her feet, healing the blisters, reducing the swelling, and removing the frostbite sting.

Just then the cook bustled through the kitchen door with two plates of food, only to stop in silent amazement at the site of his blue-skinned customer openly fondling his woman’s foot.

“
Bring the food,” Alec ordered, without removing his hands from Caitlen. Instead he let them run up her calves, reducing the aches.

“
That feels so good, but go no farther,” Caitlen said. “Thank you,” she added to the cook who placed the food before her. “He’s very affectionate,” she added, placing her hand on top of Alec’s head in a proprietary manner.

“
I’ve never seen one of the Jags before, my lady,” the cook said.

“
Well, this one is mine,” she playfully stroked her hand along Alec’s cheek and under his chin raising his face to look up at her and the cook. “You’ll have to go down the river to find one of your own!

“
Get up now and let’s eat. We’ve got a long journey ahead of us to get to Valeriane,” she added, her hand pulling Alec’s head upward. “You can fondle my other foot after breakfast.”

The cook left them with a weak grin, uncertain of how to react to the strange tableau.

“
He’ll certainly remember that scene,” Alec complimented Caitlen as they started to eat.

“
Yes he will,” she agreed. “And I was serious about letting you fondle my other foot. Just be careful about how far those hands roam up my leg.”

“
We’ll have to get a good pair of boots for you,” Alec replied. “I’m amazed you came this far in these little court fripperies.”

“
I want to be free. I want to get to Black Crag. I’m not going to be stopped by a pair of shoes,” Caitlen replied with determination as Alec finished wolfing down his bread and returned to the floor to heal her other foot. There was a sound at the kitchen door, as a young girl, one of the cook’s assistants, peaked out to observe the blue-skinned man fondling the woman’s feet. She giggled and pulled her head back inside the kitchen.

Alec and Caitlen left the tavern and went in search of a cobbler’s shop in the small village, with no luck, then returned to the road to continue their journey.

A long time later, Caitlen spoke up, the first words that had passed between them since they had returned to the road. “Thank you for treating my feet, Alec,” Caitlen told Alec as they began to climb a hill. “In the future, would you please ask me before you start to touch me like that? I’m not used to letting people put their hands on me,” she explained.

“
Yes,” Alec agreed after a moment of silent surprise. He’d never thought someone would be put-off by his healing touch. After a minute of silent reflection he decided to ask a question. “Do you think we’ll visit any villages today big enough to have a cobbler? I’d like to put some sturdier footwear on you.”

“
I don’t know,” Caitlen answered reflectively. “I’ve traveled this road a number of times, but I was always in a court carriage, and we never paid attention to the little villages along the way.”

How typical of the nobility from court
, Alec thought to himself. “We’ll just ask at each one we come to,” Alec commented. “That way we’ll find one if there is one, and we can get something sturdier for your feet.”

“
I remember when I worked in a carnival, traveling from city to city,” Alec began to tell Caitlen.

“
What is a
carnival
?” she spoke the word haltingly.

“
A carnival is a group of entertainers, who travel from city to city, carrying all their possessions with them. We had clowns and dancers and performers and animal trainers,” Alec explained. “We would sell tickets in a city for a few days, and then travel to the next city.”

“
That sounds fascinating!” Caitlen’s eyes sparkled. “You were able to see all the different cities? What did you do – did you perform, throw swords?”

“
It was interesting to see the cities, except that we were always busy working, and didn’t get to see much of the city. I was busy because I had to clean up, fetch, run errands, tend the animals, and do anything else that was needed,” Alec answered.

“
One of our girls was a dancer, Natalie, who ran away from a luxurious home. She had never traveled in such a humble fashion before, I’m sure,” Alec related. “I think it opened her eyes. She was a good sport, never complained or let anyone know it was any different from the way she was raised.”

“
Is she the girl you said you love, the one you want to go back to?” Caitlen asked.

“
I do love her in a way, but she is not Bethany,” Alec replied.

“
Bethany? Your sister in our land?” Caitlen asked, finally turning to look at Alec’s face.

“
There is a girl named Bethany in my own land, who is an ingenaire like me, who is the girl I love. It’s just a coincidence that they have the same name,” Alec explained, just slightly denying the intrigue he had felt at hearing his adopted sister’s name.