Rescuing the Captive: The Ingenairii Series (35 page)

But if she really was a Warrior ingenaire, she’d be an obvious asset to have as a guard. And putting her on Caitlen’s staff would give Abelard virtual control over Caitlen; Isial could take control of the Princess at any time by exercising her powers to overwhelm anyone else. Maybe that was why Abelard was so concerned about Isial’s absence from the Princess’s guard rotation; that and the fact that he had to face the fact that there must be another Warrior ingenaire, identity unknown, somewhere in the city. For a man who thought he controlled a monopoly on the ingenairii, Alec’s hidden identity posed a real and worrying threat.

Chapter 23
– Captive in a Cell

Two days later, Alec and Isial were back together as a team, serving as bodyguards for Caitlen. The Princess had come to recognize Alec as an individual when he served, greeting him in the morning by name, and telling him thank you as his shift ended.

“
We’ve got good news today,” Abelard said mid-morning. “The Conglomerate is ready to sit down for a discussion. We need to send a response immediately. Let me write a draft for you to look over, and we’ll try to send it back this afternoon.”

They went over the particulars of the message up until noon. “Alin, since you’re going off shift, and you’re a reliable fellow, why don’t you deliver this across the lines for us?” Abelard casually asked.

Caitlen looked up, startled by Abelard’s unusual request. Alec however only nodded his head, and when Rahm and Bethany took over the guard duties, Alec was met by Abelard’s staff, who gave him a sealed leather pouch, a map, and verbal directions on where to go. He was going back to the palace, the same palace in which he had been a prisoner, and from which he had set Caitlen free at the start of their whole adventure.

Alec took the pouch and map and began his journey. The day was a warm one for spring, and he enjoyed the sunshine that toasted his back as he walked through the city. Despite Abelard’s promises, Alec was not aware of any survey that had been carried out regarding the border between the forces, so he diverted from the assigned route and crossed through using an alley in an ambivalent area, where he knew he could safely sneak through courtyards and culverts if he had to in order to remain undetected. Once he was sure he was several blocks past the border, Alec moved to return to the original route as mapped.

Upon reaching it, he was astonished to find that a platoon of Conglomerate soldiers was waiting in doorways on either side of the road, clearly setting an ambush. It most likely was an ambush meant for him, he suspected. He pulled back into an alley and took a parallel route to the palace, then stopped in the boulevard outside the main gate. He could be walking into a trap, he could be expected, or he could be a surprise. The only way he could find out was to go to the main gate.

“
What?” the sentry at the gate asked, looking with suspicion at the uniform Alec wore.

Alec held out his leather pouch with an addressee written on the front label. The guard looked at it; his eyes widened momentarily, then he looked up at Alec. “Follow this drive to the right to the third building on the right, a red brick building. Go inside and talk to the sentry there.”

Alec nodded, left the guard, and did as directed. At the sentry checkpoint in the building he again showed his pouch. “Go up the stairs to the fourth floor, and wait in the room at the end of the hall,” Alec was directed. He climbed the stairs and heard other footsteps below him also start to climb, presumably the Conglomerate emissary coming to accept the message Alec carried. The room at the end of the fourth floor hallway was behind a heavy wooden door. It was dark --- long, narrow, dark, unfurnished, in no way suitable for a meeting of any kind. At the far end, a tiny slit of a window was high above the floor, and as Alec examined the room, the door was closed behind him.

He shook his head, expressing rueful disappointment in himself and in the Conglomerate, and perhaps in Abelard as well. He had known when he had spotted the ambush that he was set up for failure, or worse; but he could not bear to return to Caitlen’s forces without being able to state categorically that the message was refused, so he had allowed himself to be directed to this prison-cell like room. The Conglomerate apparently had no scruples about tricking and trapping a semi-diplomatic mission, assuming he was in fact on such a mission; he had only Abelard’s claim to make him believe that he was on a legitimate journey.

Most of all, on the top of his mind as he slowly walked around the perimeter of the cell, examining its walls, was the question of Abelard. Abelard had clearly set Alec up for this failure. He had told the Conglomerate to ambush Alec, and though that had failed, Alec was still locked away, unable to protect Caitlen. While Abelard had no reason to suspect that Alin the guard was Alec the Warrior ingenaire, the nobleman apparently had some reason to want to remove the guardsman from Caitlen’s presence.

Alec leaned against the wall of the cell and tried to understand what was happening. He had examined the room he was in, and it would be possible to escape. He had not been disarmed, and he could use his sword and knives to break the lock on the door to open it. Once he was in the hallway, he would hope to find no guards on duty, and be able to leave the building. The real question was what should he expect on the other side of the border? Would Abelard declare him a traitor or coward or failure in some fashion upon his return? Bethany had described Alin as one of the best guards they had for Caitlen; perhaps Abelard was planning to take some action against the Princess, and wanted to get him out of the way.

The sun was starting to set in the west, Alec could see by the bar of light that was climbing the wall as it streamed in through his window. Alec went to the doorway with his weapons to begin breaking the lock when he heard footsteps outside. There were several sets, and they stopped outside his door.

“
Alin, is that you in there?” he heard Isial’s voice ask. “It’s silly to expect an answer from a mute person isn’t it?” she rhetorically added.

“
You just stay here and behave yourself, and you won’t be hurt; do you understand?” she asked. “Again, expecting answers from a mute person,” she gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “As a matter of fact, just after sunset, you’re going to have some company. She can talk to you as much as she wants, and you won’t interrupt, will you? What a good cell mate you’ll be!”

Alec returned his knife to its empty spot on the bandolier, and sheathed his sword. The sound of retreating boots penetrated the cell door as his visitors left. The events that were taking place, the revelations of treachery, were giving him a headache. Who could be the future cell mate he was about to receive? A female, obviously, but would it be Caitlen or Bethany or someone else?

Alec almost hoped it would be Caitlen, so that he could have her in his own possession, to protect and serve. Once there was no doubt about Abelard’s treachery, Alec would no longer have to maintain his fictional character. And he had to assume that Abelard was involved in whatever was going to happen; Isial must be working in cahoots with Abelard.

His mind raced to other conclusions: it could be Bethany who would be jailed with him, but why would they take her captive, other than to remove another of the guards around Caitlen, something that seemed unnecessary given Isial’s Warrior ability. Or it could be someone else, someone he knew nothing about, captured and held for no reason he could understand.

Alec squatted on the floor near the door, watching the window’s bar of light move across the wall and then onto the ceiling, taking on a redder hue as it reached the end of its journey. The cell grew even more dim, then became pitch black as Alec sat impatiently. He prayed for John Mark to bring him wisdom and knowledge, and his thoughts wandered back to his own mysterious past, as he contemplated what had erased his memories and propelled him into the land of Vincennes.

No meal was served, and no guards made any sounds if they were making rounds past the cell. He waited for the first sound to come to indicate the arrival of his mysterious cell mate. When he heard a distant shuffle of feet he stood up, and moved back from the doorway. The noises increased in volume, and the clasp on his door creaked, then the door opened, showing a dark silhouette against the flaring torches in the hallway behind. A woman was pushed into the cell, the door closed, and the darkness swallowed up all features inside the room again.

“
Hello? Is there someone there?” Caitlen’s voice asked with a slight quaver.

Alec gave a grunt, then focused his energy inside his mouth.

“
Who’s there? Who are you?” Caitlen asked. Alec heard her take a tentative step back towards the door, as he felt his tongue emerging as a mass of flesh within his mouth. He focused on the intricate mix of buds on the top, and strengthened the muscles until the organ resumed its rightful place. It felt both strange and like the restoration of a comfortable and welcome friend.

“
Princess Esmere?” he asked, still rolling the tongue around in his mouth.

“
Yes,” she answered, with a catch in her voice. “You have an accent. Are you someone I know?” she asked in a voice that betrayed her emotion.

“
I am here at your service, the best Jagine you’ve ever had,” Alec felt his face grinning.

“
Alec? Alec? Alec!” she repeated the name, and shuffled across the room. “Where are you? Where have you been?

“
I’m right here,” he replied as she began to pass him in the dark, and then he felt her hand grab his arm, and her arms came around his body as she pressed herself fiercely against him and began to cry.

“
I thought you were dead. I never thought I’d see you again,” she sobbed, then was silent.

“
Where have you been?” she asked. Her hands rose up his neck, and her face came up against his, starting a passionate kiss that abruptly stopped as her hands found his still bald head and her face pulled abruptly away from his.

“
You’re bald, and you have a beard?” she asked, as space opened up between their bodies. “You’re not Alec! you’re Alin!”

“
I’ve been watching you for several days now as Alin, the guard,” Alec explained. “I had to hide my identity while I kept an eye on you.”

“
Why did you think you needed to hide?” she asked, a note of suspicion in her voice.

“
Do you remember when you left me in Eckerd?” Alec asked. “That seemed like a pretty good sign you wanted to get away from me,” he charged. “And then when I returned through Valeriane, Abelard read a note to me that he said was from you, dismissing me from your service. He said my accent was bad for your reputation.”

“
Abelard,” she practically spit the name out.

“
Why are you in this cell, Caitlen?” Alec asked.

“
Abelard has negotiated a deal with the Conglomerate. They will allow me to return to the throne, provided I marry him, and allow him to rule as Consort. When I said ‘no,’ Abelard told them to lock me up for the night,” she said with venom.

“
What will happen in the morning?” Alec asked her.

“
They will have an arranged marriage ceremony all set up, and I will be married to Abelard, whether I want to or not,” she said, her voice suddenly full of misery. “Against all tradition, they’ll allow the man to set the terms of the marriage, and steal control of the throne.”

Alec focused his energy on changing his appearance as he pulled away from her lose grasp. “You don’t have to shun me,” she said, misinterpreting his action.

“
I’m not,” he said absent-mindedly. “What do you have with you? Any weapons?”

“
Alec, I’m a princess, not a Black Crag warrior,” she said with asperity.

Alec felt the last traces of his false identity disappear. He reached out to Caitlen to place his hand on her head, his Healer energy still engaged, and let the power wash over her body, relaxing her tense muscles, and easing the headache that was growing. He released the Healer energy, and used his Spiritual energy, projecting his thoughts into her mind.
I am here to protect you. I am your tool to wield for your purposes
, he told her and then removed his hand.

“
How do you do such things?” she reached out towards him as she spoke in astonishment, and her hand brushed against his now smooth chin. “Oh! Your beard is gone too! What else have you done?” she asked.

“
Well, I was partial to you with red hair!” he grinned in the darkness, and felt her hand lightly slap his face.

Her face came up to his, and she embraced him again. He wrapped his own arms around her as well, and they kissed passionately. “You never should have left me!” he told her.

“
I had to Alec. You heard that prophecy. We’re dangerous to each other,” she cried.

“
You can’t run away from a prophecy; it will catch up with you when it is ordained to happen.” Alec loosened his embrace. “What do you want to do now?” he asked.

“
What can we do, Alec?” she answered with a question.

“
We can get out of here. We can go back to your portion of the city. We can execute Abelard. What do you want to do?” he told her.

“
Execution,” she rolled the word around in her mouth distastefully. “I don’t think it can come to that.”

Alec held his tongue as he thought otherwise. He released her and shuffled over to the door. He pulled out a knife, and in the dark he found the right spot to wedge the blade and begin to pry the locking mechanism out of the door. The metal gave a minute screech, and Alec put the knife away so that he could bring the stronger blade of his sword to bear.