Preserving the Ingenairii (42 page)

“You did very well today.
 
Let’s take a break to go find some plants,” he said, placing his sword in the scabbard on his belt.

“What kinds of plants do we need?” Jeswyne asked, as she followed him into the forest.

“We’ll need plants to make a poultice for your arm, because it is going to be very sore soon from all the work you’ve made it do,” he stooped to pick something that he stuffed in his pocket, and they continued moving, until Alec was satisfied he had enough to produce his treatment.

The next day they practiced again, and they did the same every day thereafter.
 
“Do you like it?” Alec asked after a week.

“I do!
 
I get to fight, and I get to sweat, and I get to grunt, none of which are proper things for an imperial niece,” she said with a laugh.
 
“This is fun!
 
You’ll have to let me return the favor and start teaching you something,” she insisted.

“Alright,” he agreed amenably.
 
“What would you like to teach me?”

Jeswyne paused to think.
 
“I know!
 
I will teach you the tea ceremony of the imperial court!” she exclaimed.
 
“It’s the most important ceremony there is.”

“Why is it important?” Alec asked.

“It is the ceremony used for the most serious discussions, those that involve matters of life and death, and all answers to questions asked must be completely truthful, and all promises made in a tea ceremony must never be broken,” she told him.
 
“It is officially known as the binding of fates ceremony.
 
There are variations of it that are specialized for the needs of particular types of negotiations.

“I’ll need to prepare some things today.
 
We can start tomorrow,” she said, and in her determined expression, Alec saw how important the ceremony was to her.
 
“I’ll be over here,” she called to Alec as she picked up a digging stick he had carved, and left the clearing around their hut.

Alec saw the fruit of her work that evening, as she placed a number of artifacts by the fire.
 
“I used the clay from the banyan tree grove to make the dishes we need,” she explained.
 
“They’ll be ready tomorrow,” she added, “and we can begin training after our sword training.”

“Do you ever meet people from outside the palaces you live in?” Alec asked her as they sat and watched the fire burn.

“Lots of people,” Jeswyne assured him.

“I was in Michian once,” Alec began.

“Really?”
Jeswyne interrupted.
 
“How could that be?”

“Yes, let me tell you a little bit about it.
 
I was with the Indige clan, and we went to a promenade in Michian, a great fair stretched along a riverbank.
 
We all walked to the end of the promenade to bow to the emperor,” Alec told her.
 
“Do you know about it?”

“That is the beginning of the great tournament!
 
It’s the biggest festival of the year,” Jeswyne exclaimed.
 
“There’s the parade of clans and guilds, then the promenade, then the tournament, and the trading fair goes on the whole time,” she added.

“I saw the parade and the tournament,” Alec said.
 
“I didn’t realize they were all related to each other.

“Did you ever walk along the promenade with the people, eating food from the tents and looking at the goods for sale?” Alec asked.

“Well, no,” Jeswyne replied.
 
“We stayed up on the viewing stand and looked at the people, and had slaves bring the delicacies to us.”

“Someday,” Alec rashly promised.
 
“When you are back in Michian, I’ll take you down among the crowds, and we’ll eat the food from the vendors, and see the circus acts entertain the crowds, and get bumped and jostled, and you’ll know a little more about the life of the people you are supposed to rule.

“It will make you better prepared to be one of the rulers of Michian,” he told her.
 
“You’ll learn about the joys and the fears of the people who live under the laws you decree.
 
The more you understand, the more you can do to make their lives better, the better a ruler you will be.”

Jeswyne looked at him steadily.
 
“What do you know about being a ruler?” she asked.

“I know it is a very difficult task,” he answered.
 
“If you had a choice, would you rather be a ruler or not
be
one?”

“I was born in the ruling family.
 
It is where I am meant to be,” Jeswyne said factually.
 
“I won’t really be a ruler,” she hesitated, “but I’ll be married to the appropriate ally when the time is right.”

“There is a lot you get for being one of the rulers,” Alec said as he lay back and stared up at the roof of the hut.
 
“The clothes and comfort and power and servants.
 
But there is so much you give up: the freedom, the control of what you do, when you do things.
 
You always have people watching you to protect you or to take advantage of you or for some other reason.

“Jeswyne, I could be a ruler.
 
My grandfather was the king of the Dominion.
 
But I’ve been undecided about whether to give up the freedom I had.
 
If I didn’t take the crown, I could ride a horse anytime I wanted, or travel anywhere, or skip a day of work to go on a lark.
 
I didn’t plan to become the king,” he said.

“But now I’ve come back to our world, and my land has been ravaged by your invasion, the army needs help, the ingenairii are a shadow of what they were, and demons are in my land.
 
I’ll have to go back and claim the crown and become the king.
 
But at least I will have owned a small shop, and browsed in the markets, and listened to the complaints of the regular people.
 
I’ll think of them when I have to make decisions, and I think that will make me a better king,” he finished.

“It all sounds fantastic, doesn’t it?” Alec asked.
 
“You probably think you’re stuck here in this forest with the world’s greatest liar.”

“No, Alec.
 
I saw you fighting the demons.
 
I know what kind of a warrior you are.
 
Anyone who can fight like that wouldn’t have any need to tell any lies about being a king,” Jeswyne responded.

“I haven’t thought about living like a common person.
 
Is it like the way we’re living here?” Jeswyne asked.

“This is better than the life of a common person,” Alec said.
 
He reached over and squeezed Jeswyne’s hand.
 
“We don’t have to worry about anything.
 
We get to do what we want whenever we want, and we have each other as friends to look after ourselves.”

Jeswyne looked at him gratefully.
 
“Maybe Mikhail would be a better emperor if he lived with the regular people once.
 
He is cruel.
 
My father would be a better emperor.
 
We might not have this war against you going on if he ruled.

“I don’t mean for that to sound disloyal to my uncle,” she said with a self-conscious gasp.
 
“You won’t tell anyone I said that, will you?”

“No, Jess, I won’t tell anyone,” Alec assured her.

She gave him a shove in the back.
 
“You shouldn’t call me that, forward boy!”

With that their conversation lagged, and they fell into peaceful slumber.

After sword practice the next morning, Jeswyne left the clearing.
 
“I’ll be right back,” she promised, and a minute later she returned.
 
She had picked a sprig of delicate flowers, which she tucked into her hair.
 
“We are supposed to wear only the finest clothes we have when we initiate a tea ceremony,” she explained.
 
She made a gesture down at her filthy, torn gown.
 
“This is about the best I can do.”

Jeswyne stooped into the hut and came out with her arms full of items, which she took time to arrange.
 
“Now, the first thing you have to do is remove your weapons,” she told Alec.
 
“Ideally you would be facing east if you’re initiating the tea ceremony, but that isn’t absolutely required.”

Alec withdrew his sword, and laid it on the ground.
 
“No, that’s not right.
 
I’m sorry, I didn’t explain that, did I?” and she showed him the proper way to present the sword before placing it aside.
 
“And you do that for every weapon you have, to show that you will come to the table unarmed, without intent to do harm.”

She explained the various steps.
  
You steep the tea for exactly sixty seconds,
then
pour it into the cups,” she said.

“But I like my tea stronger,” he protested.
 
“Can’t I steep it longer?”

“The tea isn’t supposed to be strong.
 
Your character is supposed to be the strongest element in the ceremony,” she said patiently.
 
“And you pour for your guest first, with the spout pointed directly at him,” she held her dried clay pot over a cup and motioned as if pouring.
 
They continued for another hour going over the intricacies of each step that was required.
 
“We’ll see tomorrow how well you remember,” she said at last.

The next day they began their routine again, Alec teaching sword work in the morning, and Jeswyne teaching imperial etiquette in the afternoon; it was a pattern they fell into easily for the next several days,
with each gaining proficiency
in their new knowledge.

“What are those up there in that tree?” Jeswyne asked the following afternoon.
 
Alec craned his neck.

“Those are juice pears,” he told her.
 
“They are delicious; we have to get some down!”
 
He examined the narrow branches of the tree the fruit was growing on.
 
“That tree won’t hold me – I’m too heavy.
 
If I lift you up into the tree, would you pick them and throw them down to me?” he asked.

She looked at him with wide eyes,
then
looked up at the tree.
 
“Could I fall?” she asked.

“Not if you hold onto the branches and step carefully,” he assured her.
 
“Take off your shoes so you can feel the footing better,” he said.

Obediently, she removed the thin sandals she still possessed.
 
Alec cupped his hands together, and as she placed her foot in the stirrup, he began to lift.
 
With a squeal, Jeswyne rose and grabbed wildly for the tree trunk, then began to climb onto a branch as Alec raised her higher.
 
He looked up at her feet to make sure she was stepping appropriately on the right branch, and his view of her feet led to a view of her calves within the folds of her gown, and then further upward to her thighs.

“What are you looking at down there?” Jeswyne called in a very imperial voice.
 
“I’m ashamed of you.
 
Stop that.”

“If I don’t look up, I won’t know to catch you when you fall,” Alec said, embarrassed to be caught in the unintended voyeurism.

“Well, alright, but just watch my hands,” Jeswyne said, as she began to climb up another branch.
 
She reached the appropriate level, and began to inch out on a limb.
 
“Here’s one Alec!” she called triumphantly, grabbing a fruit with one hand as she maintained a death grip on the tree branch with her other hand.
 
She dropped the fruit, and two more, down to Alec.

“Now what do I do?” she asked, looking down at Alec.