Rescuing the Captive: The Ingenairii Series (32 page)

“
I’ll go now,” he said curtly, and turned to leave the meeting room.

“
Stay away from the Princess,” Abelard warned as Alec left.

If I were a water ingenaire, you’d have a bucket of water
rain down on you
, Alec thought to himself as he slammed the door behind him. He left the large meeting gallery and walked outside.

He knew what he would do next; he was going to go find Caitlen and protect her, and be available for whatever role he was fated to play. He would also find Bethany, who was not evident among the Black Crag contingent here in Valeriane. But how was he supposed to sneak undetected into the circle of people around the now public ruler?

He had a recollection of his days in Michian, when his Dominion accent had been removed by the simple measure of removing his tongue. He could do that to himself, he realized. That however, would only remove the distinct accent he carried; it would do nothing to make him less recognizable. But if he was going to remove his tongue, if he had already changed his skin color, why not make other changes as well?

He met Rahm. “I need for you to come with me,” Alec told his protégé. “Abelard wants to keep me away from the Princess. I need your help to get to her.”

“
Me? How am I supposed to overrule the Princess’s boyfriend if you can’t?” Rahm asked as they began to walk down the road.

“
Her boyfriend?” Alec asked.

“
That’s what everyone here says,” Rahm replied. “When she got to Valeriane she went straight to see him, and put him in charge of her forces here. They spent quite a bit of time together.”

Alec stalked along in silence for several strides, considering the unwelcome news. “I don’t care who her boyfriend is. I just know I can protect her better than anyone else.”

As they passed the city walls and continued on their way to Vincennes, Alec explained his plan to Rahm.

Chapter 21
—Alin the Guard

Two days later, Rahm and a balding, bearded older man arrived at Delphi’s gymnasium in Vincennes. The city was buzzing with nervous energy and activity. The presence of the Princess and her Black Crag forces had emboldened a portion of the city population to openly declare their loyalty to her, and three days earlier she had entered the western suburbs of the city unopposed, while the Conglomerate had marshaled its forces to remain firmly entrenched in the heart of the great city.

“
Rahm, what are you doing here?” asked a Black Crag guard at the facility, which it turned out, had been adopted as the main armory for the Black Crag contingent in the city.

“
I’ve come to join the Princess’s bodyguard, and I’ve brought a volunteer I met on the way,” the young recruit replied. “What are all of you doing here at Delphi’s ?” he asked in return.

“
The girl you’re sweet on, Bethany, suggested we use this as a camp. The Princess agreed, and here we are,” the girl on guard duty answered. “You can go in Rahm. Since I don’t know your friend, he’ll have to stay here until you get things squared away. What’s your name?” she asked without much genuine interest.

“
His name is Alin,” Rahm replied. “He can’t talk; he’s a mute.”

“
Really?” the girl asked, looking at Alec with more interest. “He can stay here with me and keep me company,” she said, and watched Rahm disappear inside the building.

Half an hour later, Alec rose from where he had sat on the curb as he heard Rahm emerge. “Alin, come in. You’re going to get a test for fencing skills, and if you succeed, you’ll be added to the rotation of guards.”

Inside there were a number of guards working out in the gymnasium, and a group of officers clustered in a corner, viewing a table covered in papers. “This way,” Rahm urged, and Alec followed him to an empty practice pad against the far wall.

“
Put on those padded clothes. You’ll be demonstrating your swordsmanship against these two,” Rahm indicated two guard officers, one of whom happened to be Bethany. Alec stared at her, and felt his face crease in a grin. She looked young, yet much more mature, and more confident in herself. She moved gracefully as she walked over to address them.

“
He’s a bit old, isn’t he Rahm?” she asked, examining Alec as if he were a horse. “And why is he grinning? Why are you grinning at me?” she addressed Alec directly.

“
He can’t talk, remember?” Rahm answered. “He’s not as old as he looks, and his reflexes seem as fast as yours or mine.”

“
Let’s go then,” Bethany pulled a padded vest over her torso, and picked up one of the wooden practice sticks. “You’ll work out against me, and then against her,” she jerked a thumb towards the girl who was leaning against the red brick wall.

“
If you’re ready, let’s go,” she said and she jumped at him with a sudden flash. He met it calmly, holding his sword in his right hand, blocked and riposted in a manner that drove Bethany back three steps. She paused, and struck at him again, mounting an aggressive attack, just as he had taught her. He blocked her effectively, and started to drive her slowly towards her right, when suddenly she flipped her sword to her left hand and reversed their roles. Alec allowed her to twist the direction of the encounter for several seconds, then established a firm location for defense.

He wasn’t going to use his ingenaire abilities, because he didn’t want to give his real identity away. For that same reason he was going to try to use only his right hand if possible. He knew that he had a desirable trait as a bodyguard if he could maintain a level field as far as using his sword went, and so he did not try to display skill that was needlessly extraordinary.

He had an advantage against Bethany in that most of what she knew were skills that he had taught her himself, so that for nearly twenty minutes they battled in a very even mode, each tapping the other just once. “Enough!” the girl against the wall called, and both combatants stepped away from one another.

“
He can clearly fight you to a draw, which seems good enough. I’ve got to leave in ten minutes. Let me work with him for five and then we can decide,” the woman said. She took Bethany’s sweaty vest without comment, then took her place on the practice pad. “So she’s worn you down and I’ll finish you off, eh?” the girl said. “My name is Isial,” she started to stick her hand out to shake. As Alec started to respond in kind, her left hand brought the sword whistling upward from where it had hung quietly beside her leg.

With a grunt, Alec threw himself backwards, somersaulted, and rose to his feet; he held his sword in front of him and was ready to fight for blood – she had tried to fight dirty, breaking the rules of honor. Nonetheless, he felt good, the wooden blade had passed within an inch of his arm, but he had avoided it, without using his ingenaire ability.

Isial grinned at him, threw down the wooden sword, and threw the vest into the corner. “You failed, and you won,” she said mockingly. “You failed to anticipate the trap I set, but you succeeded in avoiding it somehow.

“
That move wasn’t anything I’d have expected to see this side of Valer,” Isial told him. She looked at him with a keen eye for several seconds, seemingly on the verge of saying something, but instead threw a mock salute at him, then walked over to talk to Bethany briefly. They turned and looked at him for a minute as they talked, Isial walked away without a backward glance.

“
You’re in,” Bethany told him as she walked over to the mat. “We both think your skills will be an addition to our bodyguard unit. As a matter of fact, we’re going to give you your first shift before Rahm gets his,” she grinned at her friend, who had watched the whole practice, and now came strolling over to the pair in conversation.

“
Tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m., you’ll start the first shift with Isial as your partner. You understand that your job is to be as invisible as possible unless something happens? I don’t want to hear a report that you got in someone’s way or caused a scene or embarrassed the princess – got it?” Bethany said in a commanding voice. Alec nodded.

“
Good. You got this job in part because you’re mute. We expect you to be discreet in all ways, at all times,” she finished her introduction.

“
Bethany, may we stay in the old apartment?” Rahm asked. “Have you been there to see if it’s available.

There was a moment’s hesitation. “Yes, you can stay there; your friend’s welcome too. Isial and I are already there, so the two of you will be squeezed into your old room, I’m afraid.” She grinned. “It’ll be good to see you every day; a little bit like old times again,” she finished abruptly. “Take him to the commissary to get a uniform and supplies and paperwork,” she told Rahm. “We’ll have an assignment roster put together tonight or tomorrow, and you’ll be a regular.”

“
What’s going to happen Bethany?” Rahm boldly asked. “Are we going to be going to war soon, or what? I can’t imagine peace for long in a city split in two.”

“
I expect we’ll go to war, but the princess is going to try to negotiate first. Abelard thinks he can broker a deal to get the crown back for her, and perhaps talk his way into being asked to be her first consort, I suspect, so nothing will happen until he arrives in a few days,” Bethany replied. “We just need to keep her safe. And we will.”

Rahm escorted Alec as he was directed to an old building in the same neighborhood that had been converted into the supply and commissary center. Alec was outfitted with a Black Crag uniform and weapons, including, at his silent insistence, a bandolier of knives. They stopped at a market and picked up some food, then crossed town to the apartment they both remembered so well. The sun was starting to set as Alec started a fire and began cooking a simple stew of carrots, potatoes and turnips, with a small amount of mutton added. He and Rahm arranged Rahm’s room to their satisfaction, taking turns sleeping on the floor.

“
Is everything going okay Alec?” Rahm asked.

Alec placed his hand on Rahm’s head, and transmitted a message, similarly to how he and Bernadina had spoken.
This is working out fine
, he told his supporter.

There was a noise at the door, and Isial walked in. “What are you boys doing here?” she asked suspiciously, seeing them.

“
Bethany agreed that we could stay here. It used to be my apartment too when we lived in Vincennes before,” Rahm explained.

“
Oh that’s right. You knew the great Alec too,” she said with a trace of sarcasm. The two men looked at one another. “Bethany and the Princess practically swoon over his name at times. Whatever happened to him, he’s clearly not coming back, and they need to get over it, in my opinion. Besides, no one can be everything they say he was.”

“
What do you have cooking? Some good down home food? Is there enough to share?” she asked. Alec nodded his head, and decided to tend to his cooking.

When Bethany came home the four of them sat down and ate together. “This is like it was before,” Bethany said happily. “Almost, anyway. It makes it feel more like a home.”

After dinner, Rahm cleaned the dishes, while Alec sat in the common room and inspected his weapons. “If we’re going to bunk together, we might as well go to start the day together. Shall I meet you here at 5:30?” Isial asked. Alec nodded. “You’re so quiet; I’m going to like working with you,” she said with a laugh, and then headed to her room.

“
It’s good to see you tending your weapons like that,” Bethany said as she passed through the room.

Alec and Rahm settled into their own room. “We’ve made it,” Rahm said with satisfaction in his voice, and that was the last sound they heard until the next morning.

“
Alin,” Isial shook his shoulder, “time to go.” Alec immediately sat up. He had slept in his pants, and he quickly pulled on boots, shirt and jacket, joining her out in the common room just a minute later. “Why do you wear those wraps around your arms?” she asked, motioning to the coverings that Alec had tightly bound around his forearms to hide his ingenaire marks. He shrugged.

They headed quietly out the door and along the road. Alec generated additional body heat to compensate for the morning chill, while Isial wore a coat over her jacket. “You know this apartment is only about a quarter mile from the boundary line where the Conglomerate still controls most of the city?” she asked. “We could go stir up some trouble along the border some time; want to go?” Isial asked impishly.

Alec shook his head negatively. “You’re going to be mature, aren’t you? You will probably not want to have squad parties in the apartment either will you? I was just getting Bethany to the point of agreeing to some relaxation, and now it will feel like dad is in the house watching us,” Isial said with a mournful tone that Alec suspected was in part genuine.

They soon arrived at Delphi’s, where Isial filled out some brief reports, and then she led Alec up the street and around the corner and along a boulevard. They arrived at a large estate, passed guards at the gates, and went inside to take up positions outside a door. “This is the princess’s bedroom. I’ll go look inside. You stay out here, obviously,” Isial ordered Alec.

Alec stood at guard, watching the previous shift of men walk down the hallway. Within a half a minute, Isial was back. “She looks fine. Her court will start to arise in half an hour and she’ll be out of here within an hour. She wakes up grouchy sometimes, so remember to stay out of her way.” Alec thought about how she had seemed on the mornings they had arisen in their shared room; he wouldn’t have called her a grouchy riser.