The Lifesaving Power: Goldenfields and Stronghold (19 page)

“
Do not let your pain disrupt your thoughts. Remain clear-headed. And remember that your other concerns are also part of God’s plan. I know you wish for your warrior powers to be an everyday ability. But it cannot be so now. It would be a weakness for you to think that you could go out every day and win every battle. A ruler must be a father, and a conciliator, and a leader, but seldom a warrior, especially not when it comes to handling the matters of your own subjects,” John Mark explained. “You will be a warrior when you need to be, don’t worry. Let your mind and your soul be at rest, and continue to show everyone what a good ruler you will be until the heir is announced. Now rest soundly. I am so pleased with you, my son.”

Alec awoke the next morning, feeling comforted and relieved of some of his worries. There was no evidence that John Mark had physically been in the room with him. But Alec knew that the prophet cared for Alec deeply, and he knew that the message was meant to give him relief from his concerns.

That day Rander reported that some of the former king’s advisers had been located and had agreed to meet with the new leader. He set up a meeting with them and with Alec’s banker from Traders Bank, who had quickly studied the finances of the throne. Alec asked that Brannis and Rubicon be invited to join as well.

The afternoon of the meeting arrived, and Alec welcomed his guests. He remembered meeting some of them back whildevny had ruled.

“
It is a pleasure to see you again,” he told Ventin and Marble, reminding them of the night at the Ingenairii Apprentice Ball, when they had met. “Thank you for coming back to the palace. You understand how badly the Dominion has been harmed. There is a lot that needs to be done to restore order. You were trusted advisors to King Gildevny and I’m certain you have some ideas of what can be done, or should be done. I’d appreciate your sitting in here with us to hear some reports about our funds, and give me your thoughts about what we do next.”

“
Winsor, would you tell us what you’ve found out from looking at our books,” Alec said to the banker sitting at the other end of the table. All the others at the table swiveled their heads to direct their attention away from the crown protector, and towards the young man with the sheaf of papers before him.

“
Your majesty, you are not collecting any duties on goods that ship in through the port here at Oyster Bay, nor any due payments from your vassals, and only a portion of the property taxes here at Oyster Bay,” the man reported succinctly. He detailed how duty payments from shippers had stopped after the old king died, and that vassal payments had not arrived at all in the past year. “Most of the nobles have stopped paying their property taxes, although your agents are still collecting from the small businesses and small farmers close to the city,” he explained.

“
So you’re saying we’re not getting very much money at all compared to what the crown used to receive,” Rander said. “How do we get that money back? Do we even know how much people owe us?”

“
You’ve still got some people who work in the palace who know what you’re owed,” Winsor replied. “They can give you a list of the nobles who owe you money. As far as the trade duties, you need to start manning the collection offices at the docks, probably with several soldiers at first. And the last part, collecting from your vassal states, well, that probably requires the protector to send some message of his own to the other rulers regarding payment,” he finished, looking at Alec. After further discussion about specific figures and amounts, Winsor left the meeting, depositing several more bags of coins from Alec’s account on the table.

“
Sire,” Ventin spoke up, “do you feel that you can contact Natha Millershome’s dockyard to find out if they will voluntarily start to comply with the duties?”

Alec looked around the room. “Is this what being a ruler is always like? I watched Duke Toulon in Goldenfields do so much of this very type of stuff, but I never thought a king would be so busy with so many of these types of activities. Fixing roads, collecting taxes, storing grain, even planning coronation balls just to make the nobles happy – the things we talk about are always meant to achieve something, but will I ever do something just because it’s what I want to do?”

“
Rulers don’t have to do all these things you’re trying to do; only the good ones do these things. There have been many kings who didn’t bother with all this work, and unless the king’s staff was very good, the people of the Dominion paid the price,” Marble said, without making it sound like a lecture.

Alec sighed. “I will go talk to the Millershome and Locksfort dockyards tomorrow,” he said. “Ventin, if you think you know who we have on staff to collect duties, Brannis will have several men escort him to the independent traders’ docks in the morning.”

“
What did you say about a party, your majesty?” Marble asked.

“
Tell him Rander; it was your idea,” Alec replied.

Rander paused before speaking. “We were thinking of ways to get the nobility to return to the city, and I suggested putting on a coronation ball, so they all would come to dance and to see the protector of the crown.”

“
It sounds like an excellent plan. Once you get them here, you can start collecting taxes from them, and then pay for cleaning the roads and making the city safe for them,” Marble responded encouragingly. “Announce that the ball will be held and let the news get out among the nobles, and see how many flock back to town. We’re going to be pretty well into the autumn by then, so they’ll be happy to have an excuse to return to the city.”

Rander looked at Alec, who shrugged. “Go ahead and follow his advice,” Alec said. “Although I regret it now, that’s why we brought these two back.” He grinned.

“
Shall I use these funds to pay the army and constabulary?” Brannis asked, pointing to the money Winsor had left behind.

“
Will it be enough?” Alec asked.

“
No, but it helps us catch up some more. With the good will that last bag bought us, we’ll have paid something to everyone, and there’s a little for the folks from Slone besides,” the master armsman explained.

The meeting broke up with promises to return in a few days, and Alec left the palace with his guards around him as he rode to Ingenairii Hill. This time the guard at the gate granted him entrance, and along with one palace guard discretely following, he climbed up to Aristotle’s home.

Ari met him at the door. “Welcome, your majesty,” he said politely.

“
Please just call me Alec,” the young man told the older ingenaire. “I’m going to hold a coronation ball in two months, and I’d like to invite all the ingenairii to attend.”

“
Thank you, Alec, I’ll spread the word among the others. Is that all you had to tell me?” Ari questioned.

Alec looked at his guard. “Would you wait outside, please?” he asked.

“
Will the ingenairii be able to help me do all the things that need to be done?” Alec asked when they were alone.

“
How quickly do you need to do these things, Alec?” Aristotle countered the question with his own query. “The lacertii won’t attempt to attack Goldenfields now. It’s getting well into autumn and then winter will be here, and they don’t want to carry out their campaign in that weather. Their hopes for a quick conquest went astray when they failed to sneak up on Goldenfields unprepared. You don’t really need to worry about providing an army to help the Duke until the start of next spring, and you would certainly benefit from using these next few months to get your house here in order, so to speak.”

“
Will your ingenairii help me, though, whenever the time comes?” Alec repeated.

“
Alec, they will help you, I am sure. But you will need to ask them yourself,” Ari advised him. “Remember our last conversation? You need to talk to the people you need. They will gladly do anything in the world you ask, as long as they are personally asked by the ruler they want to love. The ingenairii are ready to love you because you are one of us; the people in the city are ready to love you because you healed them, giving them comfort for the first time in a very long time.”

“
I think you could send Nathaniel and Moriah as your embassy to Stronghold right away,” Ari suggested, “if you feel safe without them here in the capital. And you could probably persuade a crew to help build the road for the Duke during the winter, if he wants to have it built. But you need to ask them yourself. Thirty years from now, they’ll tell their children about how mighty Alec the protector of the crown came and talked to them!”

“
And speaking of children, I’ll bring it up if none of your other advisors have Alec. You already need to think about dynastic succession,” Ari added.

“
What does that mean?” Alec asked.

“
It means you need to get married and have children so there is an heir for the protection of the throne,” Ari smiled.

“
Married?” was the thing first Alec could squeak out. “Ari, I’m not the king. There is an heir out there; John Mark told me again just recently in a dream.” Alec began to think through a whole list of reasons to stop such talk immediately. “I’m only a teenager, and just barely pretending to know what I’m doing as ruler. Besides,” he paused to add, “Bethany is with Tritos, and she made it clear she’s satisfied with her arrangements. I can’t imagine having to marry some stranger out there just for the sake of having a child.”

“
Alec, an actual king would be expected to woo the daughters of princes, dukes, leaders of republics, and other noble families, or more accurately, he would at least allow those families to woo him,” Ari chided him.

“
Without the revelation of the heir, you are all the Dominion has now. Rander can keep the palace running, but the city and the lands are not going to unite behind him as they would you. Goldenfields, Stronghold, Bondell – all those lands will acknowledge you while they wait for you to designate the rightful heir,” Ari explained patiently. “And they will accept your own child as equally entitled to their loyalty if something terrible happens.”

Alec blanched at the notion of courting girls from powerful families, simply to play politics. He had no desire to pursue any high-ranking girl now, still heartbroken over the loss of Bethany. Having planted the seed he wanted, Ari sensed the time to change the ubject, and they talked of other things for a minute or two more, then Alec retrieved his guard and returned to the palace.

Ironically, that very afternoon, Alec’s long lost letter to Bethany was delivered to her in the Water house. Merle had forwarded it from its last visit to Goldenfields, redirecting it to Ingenairii Hill, and it had arrived to be sorted and delivered to her home.

Returning home that afternoon after finishing her duties Bethany found the letter pushed under her door. She looked at the envelope, with its various written directions and redirections, clearly the most traveled missive she’d ever seen. Sitting down, she opened the envelope and began to read.

The words jumped out at her, “
I want to say to you, Bethany, I love you. I will come looking for you when my duty in Stronghold is finished, and I hope we will be together always after that.”
She stood to close the door as tears streamed down her cheeks. He had come to see her when he returned to Oyster Bay. She realized that Alec probably thought his letter had reached her long ago. He had asked about it. And he had said he loved her. He had told her he thought about her. If only the letter had arrive sooner; if only he had said something in person when they were together before.

She re-read the letter again. It said everything she had wanted Alec to say. But it was here now, after she had accepted Tritos’s affection and companionship. After she had rejected Alec.

An hour later, when a knock on her door informed her that Tritos had arrived to go out to dinner, she said she didn’t feel well. She stayed in her room and wept some more, until finally, she drifted off to sleep.

In the months leading up to the ball, Alec felt that he had only made one firm decision on his own, against the opinions of his many advisors. He had put his foot down and refused to wear robes for the dance, but had insisted on wearing a uniform of the Palace Guard, to show his pride in how well they had regained and improved their capabilities.

As early evening arrived, the city of Oyster Bay rose to a level of social energy unseen in years. Even families whose members had supported the coup against King Gildevny were heading towards the palace, and carriages were lined up for nearly a mile waiting to drop their passengers under the port-cochere’s protection from the wintry drizzle. The palace staff had positioned Alec in the main gathering hall, where a long line of guests passed by him to bow and curtsy. Guests who arrived were announced as they came into the hall, and Alec’s ears occasionally picked out the name of someone he recognized. Often that same person would arrive before him several minutes later to be formally introduced.

Alec grew tired of the unending train of people who appeared before him, and he longed for the start of the dinner, when he would be able to cease these endless greetings and eat some food. The brilliance of the grand ball room, decorated and lit unlike any room Alec had ever seen, had fascinated him at first, and the variety of gowns and clothing worn by the guests had engaged his attention for a significant time. But eventually all those things had worn off, and Alec had reverted to his feeling of nervousness about the impending dancing he would have to participate in.

In the middle of greeting a minor noble couple from far up the northern coast, Alec heard the seneschal announce two names that brought a hush to the crowd. “Brandeis Locksfort and Noranda Locksfort, ambassadors from Stronghold,” the voice pronounced, followed by a rising murmur unlike the earlier frivolity. He looked up in surprise.

“
Excuse me,” Alec said abruptly to the coastal pair, and he began pressing his way through the crowd towards the unexpected guests, his guards following in his wake. “Brandeis! Noranda!” Alec called loudly as he approached the empty circle around the two travelers from so far away.

“
Your majesty,” Brandeis replied with a grin that vanished as guards abruptly imposed themselves between Alec and the other two.

“
Let me pass,” Alec commanded, and he pushed between the two guards to draw close to his friends. Alec drew Brandeis into a hug, looking over his shoulder at Noranda, whose eyes he saw were welling with tears. Wordlessly he withdrew from Brandeis and stepped around to Noranda, who he also drew into an embrace, his eyes closed to prevent tears from falling down his own cheeks.

Alec took one hand from each friend, and raised both high over his head. “These are my friends and allies. Welcome them to Oyster Bay with wide open arms,” he proclaimed loudly. “Give them rooms in the palace tonight,” he told a nearby staff person. “I need to go back to doing responsible things,” he told Brandeis and Noranda with a shrug and a grin. “Your timing is perfect. I’m so glad you are here,” he added as he left to return to his position in the receiving line. The room was abuzz with talk about the surprising arrival of the Stronghold representatives, and the more

Shortly after that, another announcement caused the room to focus its attention towards the arrival of new guests. “The ingenairii of the Dominion,” and the seneschal began announcing them one by one as they strolled past him. The ingenairii had arrived en masse, organized by house, and dressed in house colors. They brought a dramatic appearance to the room, and the conversation buzzed anew with talk about the ingenairii demonstration of loyalty to the new ruler of the land.

When the ingenairii began to arrive in front of Alec in the receiving line, he broke into an open smile, and laughed with many. The colors before him changed as houses succeeded one another, first the green of the plants, then the shimmering whites of the airs. The blue jackets and dresses of the water house arrived next, and Alec found himself facing the blue eyes and blond curls of Bethany for the first time in many weeks.

Alec was silent for a moment, staring with longing at the pretty girl without comment, until she curtsied demurely and said, “Congratulations on your accession to the protectorship, your majesty. The Dominion could not have a better man as leader right now.”

Alec groped for some words to speak, but his mind raced with too many thoughts and memories he couldn’t settle on just one thought to express. “I thank you for coming tonight, Bethany,” he finally said. He reached out and held her hand. “I remember the first dance I saw you at, on Ingenairii Hill. I’m sure you’ll capture the hearts of just as many admirers here as you did there,” he said trying to find something gallant to say.

Bethany withdrew her hand from his. “I find less satisfaction in beaus and admirers that I used to,” she told him. “You changed all that.”

Alec realized they had been standing together longer than he stood with anyone else, and folks nearby were trying hard to appear not to listen. “I never can tell you enough about how much you mean to me, and how highly I think of you, Bethany. I wish things were different. I wish I could just come talk to you as a friend or more, and try again to explain how I haven’t had control over my own decisions. But now,” he shrugged and looked around at the people.

“
May I have a dance?” he asked suddenly, seeing her ready to walk away.

“
I can’t say no to you,” she said heavily, and stepped away so that the next person might talk to the protector.

Soon the elegant gray habiliment of the stone ingenairii arrived, the last of the houses to come through the receiving line. “Tritos, it’s good to see you again; thank you for coming to the palace,” he said politely, although he felt butterflies in his stomach.

“
Alec, your majesty, the ingenairii look forward to working with you,” Tritos answered formally, his gray eyes set deeply in his long face.

Alec felt a desperate discomfort as he faced this man. “I’ve asked Bethany for the pleasure of one dance. I hope you’ll allowme the honor.”

“
She’s not a bauble to dangle around, Alec,” Tritos said in a voice full of emotion. “Don’t play with her. She deserves to be treated like, well, like a queen, in the best ways, in caring for her heart. She’s been hurt, and lost a great deal of her youthfulness. She cut her hair short because she doesn’t feel like a girl any longer.

“
You’ve hurt her once already. Be thoughtful enough to leave her alone now,” Tritos paused, and his tone changed. “Everyone speaks so well of you Alec, even Bethany herself. Don’t harm the girl; I can make her happy if you won’t break her heart again.” He too moved on, and Alec haltingly resumed polite chatter with the other ingenairii, until Aristotle came as the last ingenaire.

Just as Ari arrived, the bells chimed, signaling the start of dinner, and the end of Alec’s sentence to labor in the receiving line. “Your majesty, has the evening been a success so far?” the elder ingenaire asked in a neutral tone.

“
Ari, I don’t know if I can take this any longer,” Alec said, not sure exactly what he was referring to.

“
Sometimes, being a ruler is simple compared to being human, as you’ve discovered,” Ari counseled him. “You have a good heart; do what is right for others, and it will turn out to be right for you as well.”

With that they left their places and strode into the room where innumerable tables were covered with enormous quantities of food, and people were wandering about with plates on which they collected the selections they wanted to try. Alec had eaten before the beginning of the event, having been told there would be little time for him to eat, but he felt hungry nonetheless. He asked someone to fix a plate for him while numerous people presented themselves for introduction, and he managed to swallow a bite every now and again.

As the first strains of music revealed that the dance was about to begin, Armilla arrived at his side. She was angry at having been given the social duty of maintaining Alec’s dance card, and allowed her annoyance to show when she explained to Alec that it was his responsibility to begin the dancing. “You must lead the way in to the first dance. Do you have a preferred partner, or do you want me to just go drag in some pretty young countess?”

“
I’d prefer to dive into a hole in the ground,” Alec whispered in her ear, feeling heartily sick of the whole event at this point. As he leaned over, he saw Brandeis standing by a column, “I’d like to dance with the ambassador from Stronghold, Noranda, if you can find her,” he said suddenly.

In a matter of quick moments, Noranda was at his side at the top of the line of dancers, and as the music broke into a stately gait, Alec took her hand in his and began the procession onto the floor, as he had been taught in his lessons that week.

“
Alec,” “Noranda,” they each said their names at the same time. They both laughed and Noranda leaned up to give him a fond kiss.

“
Noranda, I am so glad to know you and Brandeis are alive. It is the first thing that I could been taugasked to know from Stronghold,” Alec said.

“
We are alive, Durer and Johanna are already married and still leading the clan,” she replied as they turned a corner of the room. “Brandeis and I are engaged!”

Alec stopped his dance movements for just a moment to catch Brandeis’ eye from across the room and nod his approval, then resumed the motions around the floor. “When will you be married?”

“
After we return. There’s no date set,” she told him.

“
What have you heard about your aunt? Has there been any trouble?” Alec switched to a more serious topic, and almost tripped himself for the second time.

“
There have been troubles, to be sure, but Aunt Mooreen isn’t a part of them,” Noranda said, her voice expressing her exasperation. “Reuchlin and his ilk are testing all the rules, but it’s just a matter of time until they’re under control.

“
There’s been no sign of Mooreen, no rumor of her, no troubles at all in that respect,” Noranda explained. She rested her head on his shoulder as they turned another corner.

“
We’d been working through the family dynamics, trying to cope with the reduced income from a lack of shipping, and then one morning a ship arrived, and Palace Guards appeared. I recognized the uniforms, and then I recognized your ingenairii friends from watching when you all fenced here. Durer received them and read their note from you. He had Brandeis and I packed and sailing within a few days to come here to sign whatever treaties you want,” she finished. “We owe you so much, Alec, and I owe you the most of all.”

The music began winding down. “We’ve been a little too slow,” Alec said, noting they hadn’t finished circling the room. “I hope you and Brandeis will feel right at home here. I know we’ll have good conversations soon. Feel free to leave the ball any time you want to go rest after your long journey today.

“
Thank you, Alec,” Noranda said as the last notes of the tune played out. She stepped back and curtsied, then went in search of Brandeis, while Armilla brought a very pretty girl to be his next partner.

“
I want one dance with Bethany, the water ingenaire in blue,” Alec told his guard as the nervous new partner took her position before him. Armilla shot him a smoldering glare over the top of the girl’s head.

“
Your majesty, I am honored,” the girl said, trying to look sultry despite the beads of nervous sweat on her forehead.

“
Thank you for allowing me this dance,” Alec replied just before the music started. Thereafter they spoke about the ordinary aspects of the girl’s family and life, with Alec saying little, but letting the young woman fill the length of the dance with a stream of inane comments.

Alec found, with slight relief, that he was free from a partner for the next dance. Instead he listened to a number of visitors and well-wishers, especially from the very class of nobilit he hoped to attract back to the city. Thereafter the musicians took a break, so that he was able to disengage from conversations and disappear from the public’s sight for a short break. “Armilla, is there any way out of this?” he asked.

“
Sire, you could pretend to break your leg, but then people would expect you to heal it. No, there’s no way out,” she concluded emphatically, with a chuckle.

“
How many more dances are there?” Alec asked with resignation.

“
Six more, your majesty.”

“
How many do I have to dance?”

“
At least four, your majesty.”

“
The music is starting. Who do I dance with now?” Alec asked the final question as he opened a door to return to the ballroom.

“
Your next dance is with the ingenaire you requested, sire,” Armilla said.

Soon thereafter Bethany stood before Alec, and they held hands as the movement began.

“
Should I say anything, or let you break the ice?” Bethany asked after several silent seconds.

“
Tritos. Tell me about him, Bethany. He cares for you a great deal. When we spoke, he spoke about you, and how much you deserved,” Alec said abruptly.

Bethany stumbled mentally. She had been prepared to talk about receiving his letter, but Alec swung the conversation in the opposite direction.

“’
He cares for me a great deal?’ Alec, why is it so hard for you say the word ‘love’? Why not say he loves me a great deal?” she asked.

“
When we parted in the courtyard in Bondell, you couldn’t say ‘love’ to me,” Bethany said, bothered because she perceived Alec was undercutting Tritos, even while she wanted to have a warm conversation with Alec herself. In her confusion, she inadvertently went on the offensive.