Rescuing the Captive: The Ingenairii Series (38 page)

He knew what was about to happen. He had lived through this scenario before. “You should have been loyal to your princess,” Alec told Abelard.

The conflict within him reached a triggering point, and Alec prepared himself. The energy began to erupt, and he felt himself propelled forward in time just a few seconds, fleeing from the explosion that began to consume Abelard and Isial, neither of whom had time to even scream as the heat and the light and the noise boomed throughout the plaza, knocking people down, breaking windows, and raising a tall monolith of stone from which a spring of water flowed.

That was a gift, for God’s beloved good child,
John Mark’s voice fleetingly spoke inside his soul.

“
Alec!” both Bethany and Caitlen screamed, having reached the plaza with Rahm and dozens of others who witnessed the battle take place. All were knocked over by the wave of energy that swept out from the explosion, and as they regained their feet, the three ran towards the steaming stone that had been raised. There was no sign of any of the combatants, and Caitlen screamed again.

A flash of blue light sprang from a spot of nothingness next to the fountain, and then Alec’s unconscious body was there, bleeding from numerous wounds. “Medics! Bring medics!” Bethany shouted.

Chapter 25
– Memories of Jeswyne

Alec was dreaming. He was seeing all the disabled ingenairii, lying on the beds and cots and tables on Ingenairii Hill, as Tritos took him on a melancholy tour. He was riding with Rander and the others, heading to the Pale Mountains. And then he was in the tomb of Rasper-Ka, seeking the amulet. That power too felt tainted, un-sanctified in the same way that Isial’s and Abelard’s power had felt. He relived every moment of the experience – the opening of the casket, the terrifying promise of a curse to come, the resultant confused memories and uncertainty as the curse of the old powers tried to infiltrate him.

And then, after the journey to the lacertii and the trip through their lands, he had found his way into the heart of the ingenairii power realm, and he had embraced the battle with the demon. That long, long battle, the stalemate that had taken his life away from decades of love and friendship and experience with his peers.

The power of the curse, the old power, was different from his own sanctified power, and different from the abhorrent evil power of the demon. But his energies had been trapped in a fifty-year long struggle with both the old and the evil, and he had not been able to gain any edge. And then the curse lifted, and the old power ceased to divert his energy.

Alec dreamed about the apprentice healer who had given up hope and given up on life. He saw himself assume the body of the boy, then he saw the battles against the demons that had invaded the Dominion. Alec exploded with power as he demolished the three demons in Oyster Bay, and took Jeswyne with him into unintended exile in the ancient past. He restored his powers by calling upon some of the same unsanctified energies he had encountered in Vincennes – his improvised healing of his ingenaire energies called upon the elements and the moon and his faith and the old energies, all mixed together to recreate the sanctified energy that coursed through him, and brought him back to his own future in the Dominion.

Caitlen?
His mind called out, but he didn’t know if that was in his dream, or a dream within the dream.

Bethany died in his arms. In his dreams, the observer Alec wept bitterly, wept for a long time, mourned the heavy burden he had imposed on the girl who became queen. A feather-like spirit seemed to touch his consciousness and bring him peace and acceptance, and his dream resumed.

And then he was able to accept his love for Jeswyne, and his battles to protect her, and save her. The tea ceremony, the third one that Stracha had told him was the engagement, happened in the imperial palace, and they visited the promenade. After the tragedy at their marriage, at last they settled down to a real life, co-rulers of their two lands.

He was awakening. He realized he was moaning. Alec blinked his eyes, that felt crusted shut by long sleep, and saw Rahm standing over him, watching intently. “You’re awake?” Rahm asked.

Alec tried to speak, but his dry throat only croaked a rasping sound. Rahm held a spoon to his lips and let a few drops of water trickle into his mouth, bringing relief. “Help me up,” Alec spoke. Rahm placed an arm beneath him and helped him sit up. Alec looked around, trying to get his bearings. The room was a very large one, light, with a high ceiling and ornate decorations.

“
You’re in the palace,” Rahm told him.

“
The real palace, in Vincennes?” he asked.

“
Yes, the real one. Princess Esmere said you would appreciate this room in particular. Will you be okay here while I go notify someone that you’re awake?” Rahm was practically begging to be excused to go report on Alec’s awakening.

“
Go ahead,” Alec told him. “I won’t go anywhere.”

Rahm dashed off, while Alec still sat up on his cot. It was a bed really, a luxurious mattress that was large and soft. He placed his hand to his chin and felt the stubble that grew there, evidence that he had been unconscious for several days.

He considered the events his dream had revealed. Bethany had lived a long life. She had died in his arms. What else was hidden from him? Was Jeswyne waiting for him to return to her in Michian, or was there more of his life that he didn’t know about yet? He looked down at the marks on his arms. The time travel mark remained lifeless; he had lost that power somehow, somewhere, although he remembered John Mark telling him a short jump through time had been given to him as Abelard’s absorbed powers exploded.

There was more that he didn’t know. And there was still the other ominous mark, the skull, that sat in his skin just as flat and dull as the time travel mark. Where it had come from, and what power it represented was an unknown. An unknown part of his own life, a sign that there was more he had yet to learn.

He looked down again at the vibrant horse mark that rested in his skin. He had the traveling power of the restorers. He could return to the Dominion or to Michian whenever he wanted, he realized. His eyes filled with tears. He needed a day or two to regain his strength and to learn what was happening here in Vincennes.

There was a sound at the door, and Rahm returned, along with a doctor. “The message has been sent to the Princess to inform her of your awakening. She’s out in the eastern suburbs. She’ll be back soon, I’m sure,” Rahm reported. “This is your doctor, Dr. Norfolk. He’d like to examine you,” the guardsman added.

Alec inwardly laughed at the notion that he needed a doctor’s exam, but submitted to all the tests that the doctor ran through, and accepted the doctor’s opinion that he was healthy. “How long?” he asked Rahm after the doctor left.

The guard understood the question, “You’ve been unconscious for three weeks.”

“
And the Princess controls the palace?” Alec motioned around.

“
Yes,” Rahm affirmed. “When you killed Abelard and Isial, that frightened the Conglomerate folks, and the Princess was determined not to let your battle be in vain. She sent the Black Crag guards and their loyal followers into the city, across the border, and we took everything up to the Palace, and a bit past it too. But the resistance stiffened up, and some of Abelard’s followers from Valeriane didn’t seem so loyal, so the situation’s back to a stalemate here in Vincennes.”

Alec let out a sigh. He closed his eyes and considered the situation. Caitlen was potentially facing a fight on two fronts if the Valeriane forces loyal to Abelard chose to press against the strength the princess had gathered in Vincennes. She could use his help, he knew, and he wanted to help, but he wanted more to go home to see Jeswyne, to see his own life again, to find that life.

There was a soft noise somewhere nearby, and when he opened his eyes, Caitlen was in the room, while Rahm had departed. Alec examined her as she walked towards him from the doorway. Her face was drawn, thin with dark rings under her eyes. She held out a hand as she approached him, taking his hand in hers, as her other arm rose and made a wide circle that completed a tight hug around Alec’s thin shoulders. Her face came to his, and she began to kiss him softly.

Alec felt her lips touch his, and after a long moment, he pulled away. She looked up at him. “I wasn’t sure you would ever awaken, until you sent me your dream. I’m so glad to see you up.”

Alec raised his free hand and stroked it behind her neck, then he released a gentle stream of healing energy that addressed the stress her body was suffering. “What dream was that?” He asked. “I had three weeks of dreams, learning more about my old life.”

Despite the energy Alec was sharing with her, tears came to Caitlen’s eyes. “I felt you call my name in my head, the way you’ve done before, and then I was there watching your dream with you, seeing you hold your fiancée, the other Bethany, as she died. Your heart was broken, I could feel the pain and the loss, as if I was you.

“
I want you to feel better. I want to comfort you Alec,” Caitlen told him, and she gave him another gentle kiss. “I burned incense at three temples for you every week.”

“
Caitlen, I remember calling your name in my dream, or in a dream inside the dream. You heard me call you?” Alec asked, astonished. “And you witnessed my dream?” He felt his eyes start to tear up as he remembered Bethany’s passage again, and as he considered what he was about to tell this girl.

“
I did. It was like it was my own dream. It happened during the day and I passed out as it happened,” she affirmed.

“
Caitlen, those dreams told me much more about my other life,” he hesitated, wondering if there was any way to explain his circumstances gracefully, knowing there was nothing he could say to make this easier. “I found out that I am married,” he said simply.

Caitlen stepped back and looked at him. “This ring,” Alec said, “it is the truth. I am married to Jeswyne, the empress of the Michian Empire. She is my queen because I am the King of the Dominion.”

There was silence in the room. “I have to go back to her. I found out that I have an ability to move from place to place, like I have the ability to heal or fight or speak to your mind. With that ability, I can go back to her, to my real life.”

“
Because this life is not real now, Alec? We’re only parts of a dream? So now you can leave all of us behind and go back to your happy world of empires and kingdoms? Well go ahead and go,” Caitlen said through angry tears. “But we are going to be here, Bethany and Rahm and me and all the others. We’re not going to go away when you wake up – we’ll keep on fighting and living.” She turned her back to him, and covered her face in her hands. “I have things to do, so I’ll leave you now. Good luck with your wife and your life,” she told him without turning, and she left the room.

Alec sat for a minute, crushed in dejected silence, and felt tears running down his own cheeks. He was going to be happy to see Jeswyne, to return to the duties he had at home. But he would miss Caitlen; there would be a hole in his heart where he would have to banish the love and affection he felt for the plucky girl, and he felt great pain in realizing that he had inflicted pain upon her.

Rahm came in a moment later, cautiously and quietly, aware that the reunion of Alec and Caitlen had gone astray.

“
Rahm, I’m sorry I upset Princess Esmere,” Alec said. “She is such a good woman.”

“
And you’re a good man too, sir,” Rahm said kindly.

“
Maybe so, maybe not,” Alec replied. “But I want you to know that the princess will need all your support. Give her all that you can.

“
I’m going to leave now. I have to return to my own land,” Alec had made a hasty decision. “You have been a good friend for me. Please tell Bethany I love her still, and if the time is ever right, please tell the princess that I love her in my heart, and I wish I could follow it.” He stood up on his thin, weak legs, and held out his hand. Rahm took it in an uncertain, rough handshake, that Alec turned into a tight embrace for several seconds, then separated. “I’ll be back someday,” he promised, and then he disappeared from the room.

Chapter 26
– Back in Michian

Alec was suspended in an empty, numbing vacuum of sensations. There was no hot, there was no cold, no wind, or sound. Only time existed, and it began to draw out painfully long. Alec could take no breath, and he felt numbness overcoming him.

He was translocating, using the same form of ingenaire energy used by the transformers of Michian; it was an ability he had that he hadn’t realized until his resurrected memories had shown the power to him. Now he had the recollection of the ability, and he had used it.

The trips before, when he had travelled from Michian to the Dominion, or back, he realized he had taken in short segments. This trip was a length he did not know, but he could tell it was a very long one – a very, very long one. And then suddenly there was air and light again, and he was sprawled face first on a muddy hillside.

The air was warm, and he knew he was on the hillside next to the imperial pavilion that overlooked the promenade. He raised himself up, and felt that same after-effect of a too-long jump, a feeling as though he had strained a muscle or twisted a knee; he would be able to use his powers, but not very well or for very long before they failed. He would need to take time to heal before he took a long jump again.