Against the Empire: The Dominion and Michian (33 page)

Alec heard Armilla’s sharp intake of breath, and he mentally moaned. “Let’s move a little closer to the campfire, and you can get Kinsey and Delle to come over and hear my story,” he said, and he took Rief’s hand to lead her towards the open area near the campfire. “Armilla, you go first to introduce me,” he suggested.

“Alec, you need no introduction,” Armilla said tartly. “Kinsey,” she called out in a louder voice. “Kinsey, are you still awake?”

A moment later a voice responded. “Yes, Armilla,” as they arrived within several feet of the campfire. “Who’s that with you?” she asked in a sharper tone.

“Stay here,” Armilla ordered Alec. She stepped forward. “Put some more wood on the fire and come over here. I need your judgment on these people,” she said more softly.

Kinsey stood up and did as ordered, approaching cautiously. “Oh my Lord! How can this be? How can it be?” she said as she got within ten feet. “Alec you’re double!” she ran over and poked a finger in his chest, not believing in his physical presence. “You’re healed! Oh, but you’re different. I can feel how happy you are to have your powers back. But how can there be two of you?” she asked.

“Oh Alec,” she said in a softer voice, “what have you felt? Oh why would you do that? Let me see your hand.” She reached for his left hand, which had called to her Spiritual powers, and she took the glove off. She touched his flesh with her own as she opened the palm, and Alec felt the burst of a brief, powerful exchange of spiritual knowledge of each other. She was joyful and happy and filled with a sense of the rightness of the world, although some deep sadness resided in her core. And she was becoming attached to Delle Locksfort, he realized through the momentary exchange. Both of them jumped back from the intensity of the exchange, and looked at one another.

Without a word between them, Alec knew Kinsey sensed something of his experience trying to heal Christ’s body, and the unusual characteristics of his hand. “Not now, Kins. I can’t talk about it now.”

She nodded her head and stepped back.

“Is it really Alec?” Armilla asked Kinsey.

“Yes, this is definitely Alec. And so is that,” she pointed to a sleeping figure on the far side of the campfire. “And this is someone I don’t know, but she’s completely in love with Alec.”

“Healer, is that your name in this land, Alec? It’s not Tarnum?” Rief asked. “And who is this person who pretends to read minds?”

“Rief, this is Kinsey. She is a spiritual ingenaire. She can detect truthfulness of words and feelings, and is a good person,” Alec introduced. “Kinsey, would you or Armilla go wake Delle, so we can tell this story to everyone at once?”

Kinsey obediently strode over to the fire and shook Delle Locksfort awake, whispering and pointing. He sat up, and walked cautiously over to the small meeting on the other side of the fire. “Alec? There are two of you now? Just for the record, I’m all in favor; I think the more Alecs the better off we’ll be – ow!” he exclaimed as Armilla slapped him in the back of the head.

“Stop sucking up!” she said gruffly. “I’m exasperated enough with one as it is. Having two of him would give my ulcer an ulcer.”

“This is Rief,” Alec began, “and the story of how she came to be with me is extraordinary. Rief, these are three great friends,” he introduced each.

“I am here with you through the direct intervention of John Mark. I’ve come back from the future, and I want you to know that when I wake up tomorrow,” he pointed over at his sleeping alternate self, “I’ll be highly upset and disturbed because you all are going to abandon me tonight.”

“We’ll do no such thing!” Armilla said stoutly.

“Tonight, I want to tell you about what has happened to me,” and recounted parts of the story of going to the cave, and then being sent to Michian. “They had these strange animals that can disappear, and then reappear in a different place. It’s how Mooreen escaped from the Locksfort compound when we overthrew her,” he said to Delle Locksfort.

“The emperor of Michian has begun an invasion of the Dominion, using the restorers to carry troops to a place in the mountains of southern Bondell,” Alec said, and heard Kinsey’s sharp intake of breathe. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Imelda took her squad of cavalry to Bondell to go clean out bandits in the southern mountains,” she said with concern. Alec paused to consider that.

“You know,” he replied, “recently the emperor was very upset. His invasion was effectively stymied by some local resistance they met in Bondell. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had a hand in that.”

“Wouldn’t be surprised at all,” Armilla seconded.

“I need for you three to leave tonight and start back towards Goldenfields. The Duke needs to know about this invasion, so he can send his army to Bondell to help defeat this invasion,” Alec explained. “The sooner we can rally the forces of the Dominion, the better off we’ll be. John Mark has told me that I will be sent off to the other parts of the Dominion to rally their forces. But Goldenfields is closest to Bondell and can send aid soonest.”

“So we just leave right now, and tomorrow you’ll wake up alone?” Delle asked.

“That’s exactly what happened to me,” he replied. “I woke up and you were gone. I looked around, and found your tracks, but no explanation for why you left.

“I rode on to the cave on my own, and got to the Cave the next day, and everything happened from there.”

“That’s not the whole story!” said Rief. “You haven’t told them about the emperor’s tournament, or saving his niece, or battling a demon!” she protested.

“What’s this demon story she’s mentioned?” Armilla asked.

“A sorceress called forth a demon, and they threatened Tarnum, telling him unless he surrendered they were going to give me to the demon as a sacrifice. He jumped out of a barn loft onto the demon’s back and fought it for an hour to save me! And before that he fought in a tournament of the best swordsmen in the empire, and he won while using only a broken-off blade!” Rief said passionately.

“You fought a demon to save this girl? You fought a demon?” Armilla asked. “Did your mother drop you on your head when you were a child? No offense, Rief,” she added. “And why does she call you by the late king’s name?”

“The emperor named him that,” Rief said.

The conversation was growing too unfocused for Alec. “What will happen to that sorceress, since her demon didn’t kill either you or I?” he asked to change the topic.

“Whatever they do, it isn’t bad enough,” Rief said passionately.

“The sorcerers do bad things, I know,” Alec began.

I doubt that you do know,” Rief said, and all the others were taken aback by the venom in her voice. “Do you know what they do to maintain their powers? Do you?” she asked. Alec shook his head.

“Every sorcerer and sorceress has to kill a person every day. They drink the blood and eat the heart,” Rief said angrily. “They kill slaves, usually.

“My mother,” Rief began, then stopped with a sob.

Kinsey’s eyes watered, and she hugged Rief for several minutes, in a way that Alec sensed was providing her spiritual powers to comfort and counsel Rief’s long-held grief.

Alec realized that time was passing. As Rief and Kinsey separated, he spoke up. “I think you need to pack up and go quickly to make the best time you can. You need to get away from me tonight, and then travel as fast as you can. The Duke must learn of this,” Alec chimed in.

“He is telling the truth, in everything he has said. So has his companion,” Kinsey said.

“I believe we must do as he asks,” she added.

“I agree,” Delle said quickly.

“So do I,” Armilla agreed. “When will we see you again, sire?”

“I do not know everything John Mark has planned for me, Armilla, but I hope we will all meet again in Bondell with our armies prepared to defend the Dominion from invasion,” Alec said. “And I will miss you all until then. You have been such good friends, to come all this way for me.

“Rief, I do not know what my next trip will be precisely,” Alec said, remembering John Mark’s words about her unexpected involvement. “If you wish to ride back with these people now, you will have a safe journey, and an opportunity to learn more about the Dominion from them.”

“Are you asking me to leave you, master?” Rief asked, a note of fear in her voice.

“Oh sweetie, don’t ever call him master. His head is swollen with too many other titles already,” Armilla quickly said. “But we will accept you as a welcome companion on our journey.”

“He is my master. I am his slave. His personal slave. A personal extension is the most intimate of slave relationship in the empire. Anything he needs or asks for, I am to provide,” she said.

“You’ve got a pretty girl for your personal slave?” Delle asked

“You have a slave?” Kinsey asked.

“No, not really. Not now,” Alec said. “In the empire, they all had slaves, and Rief needed someone who wouldn’t take advantage of her, and I needed her because I couldn’t talk,” Alec tried to explain.

“But Rief, we do not have slavery in the Dominion. You are not a slave to me anymore. Any time you want to leave me you can,” he told her.

“Do you want me to leave you?” she asked, looking directly in his face.

“No. Rief, I want you to go on this next journey with me,” he answered.

“Then why did you bring all this up?” Armilla asked.

“Never mind. Please stand back so that Rief and I can return to John Mark’s cave,” Alec said, reaching into his bag. He pulled out the jar of dust, and spread it in a circle. “Good bye, and please tell our friends I miss them all,” Alec called. He clasped Rief in his arms. “John Mark, we are ready to return,” he said, and they abruptly disappeared, leaving only another spot of darkness in the evening.

“I believed what he told us, but that act sure confirms it,” Delle said.

“Let’s get packing and make our way back to Goldenfields,” Armilla said, and the three stood to begin their new journey.

Chapter 33 – Rief the Healer

Alec and Rief were back in the dim recesses of the Cave of John Mark. The saint stood waiting for them as they reacted to their arrival.

“Tarnum, you don’t live a quiet life, do you?” Rief asked.

“I would be happy to try. Prophet,” Alec addressed John Mark, “what are the odds I’ll ever get to live a quiet life?”

“Your time will come, Alec, but remember, all things are relative,” he answered.

“Would like to introduce me to your friend?” he asked.

Alec managed to make the exchange seem relatively ordinary. “Rief, this is John Mark. Prophet, this is Rief, my slave,” he spoke with more flippancy than he would have thought he could muster under the circumstances.

Rief dug a sharp elbow into his ribs, and he grunted from the unexpected shot. “John Mark, I am Rief, from the Michian empire, and am unfortunately indebted to your friend, so I must act friendly towards him,” she said.

“Rief, I am John Mark, a figure of veneration for many people in our Dominion, but just an occasional afterthought for Alec here,” the prophet replied.

“What is a figure of veneration?” she asked.

“He’s the ghost of a prophet who came to our land a thousand years ago and spread the news of the Christian faith,” Alec answered promptly, disturbed by such casual merriment in such a holy place, even though he had started it himself. “Rief’s mother is a Christian, and she said many slaves are in the Michian empire.”