Ajacii and Demons: The Ingenairii Series (8 page)

“
You come with me,” Perry told Alec, walking away from everyone else. They walked silently to the armory, where Perry picked up a wooden sword and tossed it to Alec, then grabbed one for himself.

“
What are you?” Perry asked as they began to exchange light blows. “Why are you here?”

“
I am a man with special abilities. In my land I am called an ingenaire,” Alec began. “I am fighting on behalf of the Princess Esmere, and she assigned me to help Krimshelm fight against the Conglomerate.”

“
And the things you can do, the disappearing, that is part of being an ingenaire?” Perry asked.

“
That’s part of it,” Alec agreed. “When I use my powers to do so, I can also fight in battle better than other people, I can heal and treat wounds and illnesses, and I can sense emotions and truthfulness.”

“
And do you cook breakfast?” Perry asked. “Is there anything you can’t do? Why didn’t you tell me this when you arrived?”

“
Would you have believed me?” Alec asked. “I wasn’t here to show off; I was sent here to fight, and I waited until I thought it was needed. The less the Conglomerate knows that I am here, the better I’ll be able to surprise them when needed to attack.

“
There is a great deal I can’t do,” Alec added. “I can’t get rid of my accent, for instance,” he grinned as they circled and fought.

Perry considered Alec’s comments. “Perhaps you’re right. So what will you do for us going forward?”

“
I will go fetch more of the gold, so that you will pay your soldiers and hire more bowmen. I will go attend to the countess’s health. I will help you beat the Conglomerate when they come to attack your city,” Alec recited. He thrust his sword into the ground in a sign that he was finished with the practice match. “What else would you like?”

“
You take care of your work, I’ll take care of the rest. We’ll go collect that gold from Menard’s office and start paying what’s owed. How quickly can you deliver the rest?” Perry asked as he lowered his practice sword too.

“
It will take me today and tomorrow,” Alec answered. “I’ll plan to spend the night elsewhere, if that’s acceptable; it’ll make it easier for me to get the money.”

“
As of now, where you spend your nights is your business, provided you’re loyal to Krimshelm and the Countess” Perry said. “Go see the Countess, then go run your errands. I’ll expect to see you tomorrow.”

“
You will,” Alec agreed. The two men shook hands and separated.
I will come back to spend the night in Vincennes,
Alec sent a message to Caitlen.
I hope you will welcome your Jagine back to your room
, he communicated with the distant princess as he walked back through the castle to find the countess, an unrealized smile on his face. Along the way he noticed that the others in the castle halls were casting sideways glances at him, if not gawking and pointing at him.

Countess, I will be with you shortly; I am on my way,
he sent another message to prepare her for his entrance.

When he arrived at the door to her room, the guards nodded discreetly, and opened the door slightly, allowing him to enter. The countess sat on her bed wearing a white robe, while a lady of the court sat nearby to insure the propriety of the meeting.

“
I have been a healer for a long time,” Alec told them both as he closed the door behind him. “After all the stress of your day today, I thought I should examine you to insure that no harm had come to you or the child you carry.”

“
Thank you for your concern. Thank you for rescuing me,” the countess said. “Menard rushed in with two guards and said there was a serious threat in the castle, that he had just put a traitor in the prison cells, and that he had prepared a safe hiding place in the city where we could stay until Major Perry had the castle cleared of problems. And so I followed him, and when we got to that building, our guards were ambushed and I was taken upstairs, and it was just becoming clear that they were going to give me to the Conglomerate when you changed everything.”

My mother told me much about you, and said that I was fated to meet you. But I was not prepared for such a meeting, or
to find that you are such an entity,
she added silently.

Alec sat on the bed and examined the countess closely, discovering that her body had grown stressed by the events of the day. With a hand gently resting on her shoulder, he sent an infusion of energy into her to relieve her of the various small pains and her body’s reactions to the activities.

Mmmmm, she told me you could do that
too
, Ailse commented to Alec.

Your mother
is the leader of the lokasennii at Warm Springs?
Alec asked her.
How do you come to be so far away, and the countess of this city?

My mother is the grendasteur, and I am her future successor, the grendasteusse. I hope and pray that her life continues for many years,
Ailse explained to Alec.
A part of our culture is for a grendasteusse to travel in the world beyond our society, to learn about the people of the other races and to be prepared to anticipate their actions. And in the course of my education in this world, I met the earl of Krimshelm, and we fell in love.

And so I agreed to marry him, because I expected my lifetime would exceed his, and allow us to enjoy much happiness together as I experienced this world.

Alec thought of Bethany and Jeswyne, and the idea of outliving beloved spouses. He flinched from the notion of enduring the pain of seeing one’s beloved partner grow old and die. The circumstances that had made him outlive Bethany, the curse and the struggle with the demon in the energy realm, they had been unusual and unlikely to occur again. But he still had no knowledge of why he was alive so long after Jeswyne’s passing. And he thought about Caitlen; would he, even if he overcame the cultural aversion to his foreign roots, would he possibly be able to live through another marriage, and watch another beloved mate slip away?

Our souls accept such things. We believe it is how we live, as slightly less ephemeral than our mortal cousins, but still ultimately bound to join them in the afterlife
, Ailse joined his musings.

It was so painful to see Bethany pass away,
he told her with great emotion
. Maybe it would be acceptable for me if I was like you, and knew in advance that I was destined to outlive my mate,
Alec replied.

It is not easy
, Ailse warned, and Alec sensed a vein of loss and sorrow that ran through her heart from the unexpected loss of her husband
. It is not easy when it comes so unexpectedly, but, but the love and joy we shared in his life are what have given my life value
, she told him with a bittersweet tone.

“
So you think my health is satisfactory?” Ailse asked aloud.
My lady friend will wonder about us if we remain silent so long
. “Please share your wonderful healing ability with Susannine,” she gestured to the demur woman who sat in the room. “And please come back frequently to check on me. I shall hope to see you at least once a day while you are in the castle.”

Alec stepped over to the apprehensive attendant. “What has troubled you recently, my lady?” Alec asked as he examined her with his healer vision, noting a twisted ankle and a bruised knee. “Please pardon me,” he said as she sat silently, and he knelt to touch her ankle, letting his healing energy flow into her limb, reducing the inflam-mation and ending the slight throbbing she suffered in both joints.

“
Is that better?” he asked, standing and stepping back.

“
That really feels much better! That’s better than putting ice on it.” Susannine replied, reaching down to gently stroke her knee. “You can do that by just touching it?”

“
I use special gifts, and I use prayers to my God,” Alec explained, “and that helps me to heal a great many things. I will look forward to seeing you again,” he bowed as he reached the door.

Out in the hallway, Alec stopped to think about the best way to retrieve more gold from Vincennes. Alec translocated himself back to the forest along the trading path to the capital, then stopped to transform his skin to its blue hue, becoming a Jagine again. He continued the trip to Vincennes, and finished his journey in the apartment. He needed to find Bethany, so that she could help him withdraw money from one of the accounts he had set up in her name, and he suspected that his Jagine disguise would work as well as it had the day before.

Bethany, I need to meet you at the bank by the riverfront square. I’ll be a Jagine again
, he told her, hoping she was available to join him. By the time he left the apartment and journeyed to the square, Bethany had beaten him there.

“
Alec,” she said quietly, giving him a hug. “Back so soon? Do you need money from the bank?”

“
I do,” he said. “I need to take it to Krimshelm, then I’ll come back and spend the night, if I’m allowed.”

“
Oh no, Alec,” she replied in such a serious tone that Alec drew up to stare at her. She smiled, “Princess Esmere has been in such a good mood all day, I don’t know if we can stand to have her smile at everyone for two days in a row!” she laughed.

Inside the bank they withdrew the money and carried it outside. “Where shall I meet you when I return?” Alec asked.

“
The green room in the palace. Give me a warning before you come,” she said, and then Alec was gone with the gold.

He arrived in the corner of Perry’s office, where he found no one present. He was grateful for that; it spared him the need to try to explain why his skin was blue, and he quickly unloaded his burden of sacks of gold coins onto the floor behind Perry’s desk, then left the city and began traveling back to Vincennes. He was growing weary from the travelling he carried out during the busy day, but he felt great motivation to see Caitlen again.
Bethany, I’ll be in the green room in just a few minutes
, he warned her.

Caitlen, I’ll be in the palace soon. I love you,
he told his princess, before he made his next jump, and then his last trans-location before he was in the palace, where Bethany stood by the door.

“
I know you’ve done it, but you’ve just traveled from Vincennes to Krimshelm and back since we were at the bank?” Bethany asked.

Alec nodded, then sagged and slumped against her. “It takes a lot of energy to travel back and forth over long distances,” he explained. “Once I have a chance to rest I’ll be fine.”

“
I hope so for your sake. The princess told me she knew you were coming back, and her eyes were sparkling. She isn’t going to want to just watch you sleep!” Bethany said.

Alec smiled, then straightened up. “We shouldn’t keep her waiting,” he said as he motioned for Bethany to lead the way through the palace to the princess’s suite of rooms in the residential wing. They had beaten Caitlen to the room, and were allowed inside to wait.

“
Oh Alec, you are back! This is wonderful,” Caitlen said as soon as she entered the room. She thanked Bethany and dismissed her as she hugged Alec. He felt a soft percussion, as he sensed her tapping the ingenaire powers.

“
You seem content,” she murmured.

“
I am. I’m very content to be with you again. Can we do this again tomorrow, or will you be too busy with some royal dinner or meetings with generals?” Alec asked.

“
I’ll be available for you tomorrow night,” Caitlen assured him. “Very soon, probably later this week, the army will begin to move out. We’re going to start to take the campaign out towards the coast to begin to really defeat the enemy.

“
I plan to go with them,” she told him.

“
Having a royal court along on a campaign is a distraction for an army on the move,” Alec warned her. “I’ve done that. Keep your court small and minimize distractions, or better yet, only travel with them for a few days, then turn back and come to Vincennes and leave them alone to concentrate on fighting their battles,” he advised.

“
I will. The generals told me much the same thing. I’m going to take the Black Crag guards as my body guard and personal unit, plus a few more, like your friends,” Caitlen answered. “The army didn’t have any problems once I told them my retinue was the Black Crag force.

“
I haven’t really listened to them very much today though. I’ve mostly been daydreaming about you,” she told him, and they shared a long kiss. “Did you spend your whole day fantasizing about me?” she asked as her lips drew an inch away from his mouth.

“
Not exactly,” Alec answered, and received a playful bite on the chin in protest. He told the story of his day, without revealing the lokasenna identity of the countess.

“
I’ll come back to Vincennes tomorrow to get more of the stolen money from the bank, but for the next few days after that I think we’ll be fighting the war with the invasion up there, and I don’t know when I’ll be back to see you,” Alec said. There was a knock on the door.

“
Are you hungry?” Caitlen asked. “I ordered dinner to be delivered here.

“
Don’t say anything,” she cautioned. “The maid this morning told folks about the Jag in my bed, the one with the accent,” causing Alec to sigh.

A large tray of food arrived, and then they were alone again, sipping wine and eating.

Much later that night, they laid in the dark talking, and Alec had a recollection of his conversation with Ailse, discussing love with mates, and he pondered again what was missing in his memory. Would Caitlen be his third mate, or were there others during the forgotten decades of his life? Did he have one right now that he did not know about?