Rescuing the Captive: The Ingenairii Series (20 page)

“
Uum, you taste nice,” she breathlessly told Alec, echoing his very own thoughts.

“
So do you,” Alec responded, just as softly. “Very nice.”

“
Too bad you aren’t really a Jag,” Caitlen said. “Go off and have fun, I’ll see you later,” she suddenly dismissed him, and Alec turned, walked away, and thought about the taste of her ineffable kiss as he walked out the door of the hotel.

He stood on the sidewalk, and shook his head. He wasn’t going to let himself get caught up in the exotic sense of adventure that was swimming around him. He was here to help this girl take a message to Black Crag, seeking help for the Princess who had been overthrown. He was going to find his pseudo-sister Bethany, and if all the plans coincided, he would return to Vincennes to help do battle for the Princess.

He was not here to become enchanted by a maiden of the court in this strange land.

The stables were, of course, close by, and Alec examined them, then walked around the block that surrounded the Golden Goose, finding an alley that conveniently provided access to the kitchen of the hotel and the back of the stables. There was one of the temples the people of the city used, so different from the churches and chapels he knew in the Dominion. And sitting noisily across the street was a fencing club, full of men whose weapons flashed in full view through the street side windows. Alec rattled the coins in his pocket and crossed the street, then entered the doors of the fencing club, determined to expend some energy and find peace through exhaustion.

“
A Jag? Shouldn’t you be in bed?” a sarcastic voice shouted as soon as Alec entered, and all heads turned to look at the unusual sight.

“
I’m here to work out. That’s all; I’m not looking for any trouble,” he said in a low voice to the heavyset man who was taking entry fees at the counter. “How do I get into the practice rotation?”

The man cocked his head as he listened to Alec’s accent. “Go get some pads and a wooden blade. Then talk to the armorer,” he nodded at a man in a blue hat on the other side of the gym floor.

Alec did as he was told, and soon was placed on a practice mat against a good opponent. When he won that match he immediately moved to another pad for sparring, and soon worked his way over to the center practice spot, where he won control and became the target for all challengers. Without using his powers once, he bested all comers, and fought for hours, switching hands repeatedly to give each arm a rest.

At last the crowd began to grow thin, and Alec realized he had left Caitlen alone for too long. He begged off a last match, thanked the armorer and received slaps on the back from many of the men he had beat, and left the building. The cold outside air cut through his sweaty warmth in a hurry, and the adrenaline from his hours of energetic fencing dissipated, leaving him sore and satisfied to have achieved such physical exhaustion.

Alec cut up the alley, looking up at the second floor windows of the hotel as he walked by. One showed a dim illumination within, possibly a candle burning in his own room. Quietly Alec entered the hotel lobby, and was discreetly checked and approved by the desk clerk, who remembered well the heavyset woman and her Jag. Alec bounded up the stairs, down the hallway, and stopped at the door. He gave a light tap on the door, and a soft cough, to give her time to be aware of his arrival, then pressed the latch and walked into the dim room. Inside a single candle gave a warm yellow glow to the room, in which Alec’s eyes were frozen by the vision of Caitlen with her arms wrapped around a tall, fair-headed man.

Chapter 10 – Found by the Guards

“
Oh, Alec, hello,” Caitlen said with some embarrassment after needing a moment to register who he was. She looked over the man’s shoulder, and unwrapped her arms, but still kept one bent halfway around his waist.

“
Alec, this is my friend from the noble family of Cordolla in Valeriane, the honorable Abelard. I’ve known him for a very long time,” Caitlen made introductions. “And Abelard, this is the Jagine I was telling you about, Alec, who is such a faithful Jag he was even ready to rob someone today to have money to support me!” she gave a tinkling laugh that sounded false to Alec, but seemed perfectly suited to life in a high court setting.

“
Abelard was just getting ready to leave,” Caitlin announced.

“
It’s a pleasure to have met you, Alec,” Abelard said. He broke the hug with Caitlen and stepped across the room to shake the astonished Alec’s hand. “Caitlen had so many good things to say about you. I’m glad she has such a loyal follower with her.

“
Perhaps you can come to the estate in a day or two,” he said. “The, lady,” he paused, “knows the way.

“
Now, if you’ll forgive me for visiting so late, I need to get back home,” Abelard said. He turned and bowed over Caitlen’s hand in a very courtly fashion, then left the room.

Alec stood silent in astonishment at how quickly Caitlen had managed to bring an acquaintance to their room. “You were gone a long time. Did you have a pleasant time? Go visit some tavern wenches?” Caitlen stepped around the large water-filled bath tub that had been brought to the room.

“
Phew!” she stepped back a step as she reached Alec. “That doesn’t smell like cheap perfume or stale ale,” her face was screwed up in a look of distaste as she smelled the sweaty traces of his workout. “What were you doing?”

“
I was practicing swordwork,” he replied.

“
Good for you. That sounds so productive,” Caitlen answered, a note of relief in her voice. “I was worried about you.

“
Now, before you get in bed, you have to have a bath. Do you want me to order some fresh hot water for you? I’m not really dressed to go to the lobby, but you can go down and have some sent up,” she said.

She was wearing a remarkably filmy black robe over a black nightgown, more revealing than anything Alec thought he had ever seen a woman wear before; he wondered if it had been ordered and delivered with the water, or if her visitor, Abelard, had brought it.

Alec placed a hand in the water, and found it still relatively warm, and with aroma of lilacs wafting from it. He was sweaty from the workout, and stale and dirty from the long journey before that, not to mention the days in the prison before that.

On the other hand, he had no desire to seem too accommodating for the woman who had apparently invited an old flame to come to their hotel room within minutes of arriving. He stood and appeared to consider the question.

“
This water is fine,” he said. He turned his back to her and abruptly pulled his shirt over his head, hoping to fluster the young noblewoman.

“
Oh Alec,” she said with a tone of horror or pain in her voice, a different reaction than he had anticipated.

“
What?” he asked.

“
Your back; it’s covered in scars! Look in this mirror over here,” she tugged his arm, her voice filled with concern.

“
Look at this,” she said as she pulled him into place by the mirror and the candle, and her finger traced along a wicked-appearing network of scars that covered much of his back. “What happened to you?” she asked as she turned him around.

Alec was astonished at the sight. How could he have not healed such wounds, and where could he have received such wounds? With his powers intact, no earthly opponent should have been able to do that much damage to him. He had scars on other parts of his body too, he realized, and had never really given them thought. He was stunned at the implications of the scars he saw, and wondered what they meant about the unknown past whose memories he had not recovered.

“
And this,” her hand reached for the ring on the fine silver chain. She raised the candle up. “Here, hold it,” she passed the candleholder to Alec as she gently took hold of the ring and studied it closely just inches from Alec’s own face.

“
King and Consort. What does that mean? Were you a king in this Dominion or Empire it mentions? No, you’d be an emperor in an empire, obviously. Were you king of the Dominion?” she looked up, her eyes staring into Alec’s and seeing the confusion there.

“
I don’t know anything about what that ring means,” he told her. “I haven’t even thought about it for months,” he remembered looking at it when he had awakened in the small boat on the sea, and he remembered the frustration of the prison guards who had been unable to remove the chain or collar from his neck.

“
If you were a consort, that means you were married,” Caitlen analyzed the words further.

“
I was the Protector of the Crown for the Dominion,” Alec clarified. “I was not the king. And I don’t know what empire it refers to.”

The girl’s face was close to his. He remembered the feel of her lips as they kissed at dinner, and he suddenly felt uncomfortably torn. Her eyes had a smoky look in them, a cloudy mix of emotions, and he was conscious of the sheer material she wore.

“
I better step into the tub,” he said in an unsteady voice. He removed the candle from proximity to the ring and his face, and slowly raised his head, pulling the ring and Caitlen’s hands upward as well. “Would you turn around please?” he asked.

She released the ring and did as he said, while he stepped over to the tub and slid into the water. It was still lukewarm, not uncomfortable but not relaxingly hot. “Would you hand me the brush and soap please?” he asked, seeing the items next to where she still stood.

There was a faint noise in the alleyway outside, then Caitlen came over. “Let me scrub your back for you,” she commanded, pushing him forward and beginning to rub the bristles across his skin. “How does that feel?”

“
Relaxing,” Alec said comfortably, and he sat silently while the brush ran up and down his spine, and across his shoulders and kidneys. “So many scars,” she observed softly.

The sound of many people coming up the stairs vaguely penetrated his relaxation.

“
Here, let me scrub your chest,” Caitlen moved around front. “You know, the Jag should be doing this for the lady, not the other way around.

“
Alec, can I confess something?” she began. Alec waited to hear what her confession would be, when a sudden booming on their door startled them both.

“
By order of the ruling council in Vincennes, you must open this door and cooperate with our search for the runaway Princess Esmere and any accomplices she has,” a loud, masculine voice shouted through the door.

Shocked, Alec stood up. How many pairs of feet had he heard coming up the stairs? A considerable number, possibly a whole platoon. He ran to the window and threw it open, looking to escape out into the alley, only to see another platoon of men standing below.

“
Lord of heaven! We’re trapped!” he turned to Caitlen. They had successfully drawn pursuit after them, away from Esmere and Nichols, but they had been caught. The high visibility of a Jagine had been too much.

An inspiration struck him. “Caitlen!” he called, turning to her. “Blow out the candle and get in bed!”

“
What? Now, Alec?” her face was ashen. She clearly feared being caught and held again.

“
Yes, now,” the room became dark, and the wooden door began to splinter. Alec heard Caitlen stumble across the dark room, and the ropes holding the mattress squealed as she flung her body into the bed. Alec took a moment to engage his Healer powers, and applied them to himself as he jumped onto the bed, and rolled against her.

“
This is it? You’re not going to fight? You’re doing this now when we’re about to be captured? You’re not the man I thought you were. Coward!” she started to shout at him when he rolled on top of here and pressed his mouth against hers, his hand reaching up to smooth her hair back away from her face.

Her lips resisted his, and her teeth were firmly clenched together. “No,” she said through her teeth. Light came shining into the room as the door burst apart, and Alec heard men’s feet stomping into the room. Hands reached for him and pulled him off Caitlen, and they were captured.

Chapter 11 – Changing Colors

“
What’s this?” a commanding voice asked from the doorway.

“
Where’s the Jag and the princess?” he asked. Alec was held firmly by four men; he looked momentarily at the stunned Caitlen, who was being held down in the bed by two more soldiers; she looked back at him in astonishment. He turned his head and looked at the man who was in charge, a braid of yellow on his shoulder, and another on his hat.

“
Unhand my woman!” Alec shouted, putting as much fury as he could into his voice. “And tell your goons to let me go. How dare you do this? What are you doing?” he struggled mightily, wrenching himself from the grasp of one man.

“
Let them go,” the commander said in a calm voice. “Sir, where is the Jagine and the brunette who were previously in this room?”

“
A Jag gave me a gold piece and said I could bring a floozie to spend the night in a room in the Golden Goose. I met him at the fencing club around the corner,” Alec replied.

“
Floozie?” Caitlen screeched, and she slapped him hard enough to make the officer wince at the sight.

“
When Bruney and I came up, he and his girl went out the window on a rope. We were just settling in when you came and busted the room up,” Alec continued as he rubbed his cheek.