The Journey Home: The Ingenairii Series: Beyond the Twenty Cities (33 page)

“I better get rid of these quickly,” Alec said.  He scooped up two of the bodies in his arms, then disappeared.  A few minutes later he was back and picked up the other two bodies, then disappeared again.

“My lady, are you almost ready?” Andi went back to the back of the apartment, hoping to urge the women to prepare for a quick departure.  “We need to leave,” she called.

“Where are you going to take us?  Where’s your friend, the miracle worker?” Pegot asked, coming out to see Andi.  Just then Alec returned, appearing in the middle of the room.

“Oh my God!” Pegot shrieked.  “How did you do that?  Who are you people?”

“We are ingenairii who have come to help set the Dominion free,” Alec said.  “And we’re starting with Goldenfields.  We’re here to take you back to Goldenfields, to stay with your grandfather, Duke Remton.”

Her mother came out to join her at that moment, wearing a robe, her hair still wet.  “What were you saying?  I heard you mention my father,” she said as she walked over to her daughter.

“We’re going to take you back to Goldenfields.  Is there anything in this room you want to take with you?” Andi explained.  There was another sudden burst of pounding on the door.

“Perhaps we ought to go now and discuss this later,” Alec said motioning Andi towards the two Goldenfields women as he stepped closer to them.  He spread his arms wide around them all in a hug.  “What are you doing?” Pegot asked in the brief seconds between the start of his embrace and their departure from Oyster Bay, where they left their apartment just as the door opened and a quartet of guards entered, to find only an open window with curtains swaying from a gentle breeze.

Tonshire and Pegot were gasping for breath as they found themselves suddenly in a strange place, in a dark room, whose only illumination was the beams of light from the full moon
that
fell through a window to create a vivid white rectangle on the floor of the room.  “Where are we?  What did you do?” Tonshire asked as her head turned to look around.  “Are we going to do that again?”

“No,” Alec said, breaking his grasp on the others and turning them loose, his shoulders slumping wearily.  “We will not travel again.  We are in Goldenfields, and this is where you will stay. Let’s go downstairs and reunite you with your father, and then you can close the book on this evening’s adventures.”

“This is your room?” Andi asked, sensing his familiarity with the room.

“It was,” Alec confirmed.  “This was mine as a result of being named to the Order of the River.  There’s no telling whose it is now.”

“It’s still yours, my lord Alec,” Pegot said, dropping a curtsy.  “You must be the great King Alec, risen from the grave.  And you, my lady, must be his queen Bethany?” the girl said.  “Though I thought Bethany was a Water ingenaire, not a Warrior.” 

Tonshire listened to her daughter, then she also dropped an awkward curtsy.  “Our dead king returned,” she said.  “How glorious is this miracle.”

“I wasn’t ever dead,” Alec protested.  “I was just away.  Please stand.”

“And I am Andi, not Bethany,” his companion replied.

“This room is still yours, my lord,” Tonshire spoke.  “No one was ever given it in your place.”

Alec opened the door.  “Let’s go find your father,” he said to Tonshire, “and let him know you’re safely back.”

“Let’s go find my wardrobe, so that I can have some clothes on when I see him!” she replied, speaking with the first spark of energy she had shown Alec and Andi.

“My apologies,” Andi said.  “I’m wearing some items that I borrowed from one of your wardrobes,” she looked at both the women.  “I’ll return them as soon as my lord finds time to provide me with a wardrobe.”

“Think nothing of it, my lady.  Those are yours, now and always,” Pegot replied.  “And anything else you need.  It counts as nothing towards what we owe you.”

“Why don’t all of you go find appropriate attire?” Alec suggested.  “I’ll go get our belongings and bring them back up here to this room, so that we can retire for the evening.  We’ll need to get some rest; tomorrow will be a busy day.”

They split up.  Alec went to confirm that the prison cells were secure, and with his
waning ability used his Stone energ
ies to strengthen the door frames to prevent escapes, then went and found the bag of supplies he had carried across the breadth of his travels.  Inside the battered leather sack his inspection found the two small containers of salve, showing some wear and tear from the travails of the journey, but still intact.  Satisfied that he had what he needed, Alec returned upstairs, passing a patrol by a pair of newly-created guards, and went back to his room, a small ball of light providing illumination for him as he traveled the dim halls.

Alone, Alec thought about all the times he had walked through the Goldenfields palace, remembering the times Inga had strolled and chatted with him, and the time he and Colonel Ryder had murderously roamed through the palace halls during a coup attempt.  He stopped at the door handle and remembered his bittersweet efforts to bring Cassie to full ingenaire capacity, the rewards and sorrow that had been born through the exchange and revelations of that encounter.

And now, he thought, perhaps appropriately, or perhaps frighteningly, anther exchange would take place with another woman.  He turned the handle of the door and doused the small light, so that he entered a room lit only by the moonlight,
as it
cast stark shadows in its cool white rays that were diffused about the room.

“I hope you won’t find much pain in the restoration tonight,” Andi said softly.   She was already in the room, awaiting him.  She
stood
near the window, the moonlight reflecting off her ivory skin, her features cast into prominence by the shadows that stretched away from the window.  “I’ve waited so long for this Alec.  There was a time I gave up hope and never thought I would feel
such
intimacy with you again.  We only had those very few days when we lived with our souls in communion, but the impact of that love is so staggeringly powerful, I knew I’d never find anything else like it.”

Alec placed his bag on the floor as she spoke, and he walked over to her.  He handed her the lighter of the two containers, keeping the other for himself.  “Here,” he told her.  “Spread this salve upon your lips, and then we will kiss in the light of the full moon.”

“Wait,” Andi said as she finished running her finger across her lips.  She reached over and removed Alec’s bandolier of knives, dropping them on the floor, then tugged the bottom of Alec’s shirt and pulled it over his head.  “There,” she murmured, as she watched his finger circle around his own lips, leaving a shimmering gleam in its wake.  With a deep breath, and then a sigh, she reached her arms up around his neck, pulling his face down to hers as her body pressed against his, and their lips met in a kiss that was chaste and loving for a long, initial moment.

Alec felt the tip of his tongue slip between her lips, and then he felt a jolt of stimulation, attraction, despair, joy and remembrance, all striking him with an emotional and physical and mental force simultaneously.  He felt his head spinning from the impact of all the restored and new memories flooding into him, and he slowly fell to his knees, Andi dropping with him.

There was emptiness within him no more; the emptiness that he hadn’t even been aware of was gone, known only after the fact.  He remembered it all.  He remembered the flight over Oolitan, and the battles in Woven.  He remembered the injury to Andi and the rushed effort to save her, the effort that had led to so many consequences.  The journey to Exbury, the battle there – everything came rushing upon him like a wave of water.

And most of all, he did remember the union with Andi: the memories that had flowed between them as they shared his body; her shock at being in his body; the initial confusion and uncertainly they both felt about their new condition; and then, the surrender to the love and unity and comfort they gave each other.

His hands were gently roaming across her bare back, as his spirit and hers embraced, and he felt an understanding of all that she was, as well as her understanding and love of him, unified in a single emotion that was his own emotion as well.  And she was exultant – overjoyed to feel his reciprocation of the love that had become a burden for her alone during the long, separated journey after Exbury.

The unity was intoxicating and invigorating together.  They were laying on the floor he realized, and Andi was grinning down at him, as his fingers ruffled her hair.  “Welcome b
ack, my lord,” she said triumphant
ly, then they kissed again.

Chapter 19
– Sabotage in Michian

Alec awoke upon the large divan in his room in the palace, with Andi lying beside him.  She was dreaming he could tell, he was vaguely aware of her happiness within whatever scenario the dream encompassed.  The sun was shining outside, still east of the palace with rays that did not directly penetrate the western-facing window of his room.

His soul relived the extraordinary events of the nights before.  Losing his memories had been a devastating loss, he now knew, and Andi’s pain and frustration during the past several weeks was completely understandable now as
h
e looked back
– he wasn’t sure he would have forborne the wrenching loss as well as she had
.  And then he grinned as he recollected their reunion and the joy and intimacy that
they
had regained in the light of the full moon, an ecstasy that had overcome his weariness in the evening.

But now, he knew he had to look forward to many critical steps he needed to take during the
next few hours; he faced needed-
decisions that would allow him to carry out a number of interlocking strategies to set the Dominion free from the ingenairii and sorcerers.  Once the Dominion was liberated, he could help it prepare to defend itself before he began his next goal, the real goal that he had set for himself
in these last few hours;
the destruction of the ingenairii-sorcerer alliance, an evil combination whose reason for existence was beyond his comprehension.

Action was the plan for the immediate future, but he needed time to learn more about what the ingenairii were doing and why.  He needed to learn about the prospects of finding allies to establish as rulers in the lands of the Dominion; was it even possible to reunite the lands of the Dominion in order to liberate them, he wondered.  He needed to speak to the leaders of the church, and enlist their prayers to strengthen the will of the people to be free.

“Must your mind be so busy so early?” Andi murmured.  “There are other things to do as well,” she sat up.  “You could show me where the bathroom is, or where we should eat breakfast, for instance.”

Alec grinned at her.  “Let’s get dressed and go explore the palace for a bit this morning, then we can talk to the Duke about setting his duchy in order. “

“And do other things,” Andi prompted him.

“And do other things,” he agreed.

Together they prepared themselves for the start of the day, then walked through the palace and found the duke, who was meeting with his newly appointed head of the palace guard.

“Your grace,” Alec said as he and Andi entered the room.  “What plans do you have for your next steps?”

Lyder is my new head of the Guard for the palace,” Remton said.  “We’re working out how to establish training and recruitment activities.

Would you oversee the training today, to help them start?
Alec asked Andi.

“Your grace,” Andi spoke up.  “I was a Black Crag guard; they are the finest fighting force in all of the Avonellene Empire.  If you wish, I will set up and oversee your training program.”

How long will we remain here?
she asked Alec.

We can call this home for as long as you want, if you’re satisfied staying here,
he replied.

“I will stay here and help you establish your Guard forces, if that is acceptable,” she spoke aloud. 
So far I have made some pleasant memories here,
she said as she winked at Alec.

“And what would your majesty like to do?” the Duke asked Alec.

“I’m going to go to Michian today and put their restorer herd out of sorts, so that they will not be able send their Warriors or sorcerers to the Dominion, except by the long slow way over land,” Alec said.  “And if that goes smoothly and my energies hold, I’ll start to return the hostages to the other cities and help them break free from their captivity as well.

“And there is one suggestion I’ll offer
for your considered action
,” he add
ed.  “We saw the Scarl clan handl
ing barrels of healing water from the spring up the river.  Does any of that water come to Goldenfields?”

“No, the Duke replied.  It is all shipped by barge to southern Bondell, and then it is loaded in wagons to be taken to Michian.”

“I suggest you put archers along the palace island here, and start confiscating every barge of water barrels that goes by.  Share the water freely with the people of your city; it was meant to help all the people, not just the tyrants,” Alec explained.