Preserving the Ingenairii (55 page)

“I am Field Marshall Ulltar, originally from Frame, but in the service of Oyster Bay for over twenty years,” the leader of the group introduced himself.
 
He was a tall burly man, with a great deal of facial hair.

“This is General Millerson of Goldenfields,” he announced as he pointed to a man standing by a chair.

“Are you related to the Millershome trading family?” Alec asked.

“A distant cousin, your majesty,” the general said with a bow.

“Over here is General Lockeson of Stronghold,” the marshal turned to his right to indicate a swarthy, short man wearing a bright blue uniform jacket.

“I had almost as many friends in Stronghold as I had in Goldenfields,” Alec said to the man.

“You are remembered very fondly there your majesty.
 
There’s even a waterfront tavern named after you, The King’s Belt.
 
There’s a story about your performance there,” Lockeson replied.

“There may be truth to the story,” Alec admitted.
 
“The cousins took me with them to a few taverns the first night we were in the city, and we had an adventure in one.”

“And this is the leader of the Bondell forces in exile, Major Chambers,” Ulltar next introduced a slender, well-tanned man.

“And Bondell too was an interesting place I experienced,” Alec said.

“That seems like a polite way to avoid saying anything!” Chambers laughed.

“No, I had many adventures in Bondell.
 
I learned something important there too, through my own stupidity.
 
And I appreciated the folks there and their courage in standing up to the coup leaders from Oyster Bay when they had so little to fight with.”

Chambers bowed his head in appreciation.

Alec and his commanders settled into conversation.  The stories of Alec's battles with the demons, as well as his identity from the prior age, and his acquisition of the crown of the Dominion were all sufficient for the military leaders to accept his authority, reinforced by his easy manner of wearing a sword and bandolier of knives at the introduction.

 
             
"We received notice that you wished to parley with the Michian forces, and we sent a messenger under a white flag yesterday to make contact.  The man who carried the flag earned a promotion - it was the first time we've tried to parley in all these years.  There's never been any question of exchange of prisoners or holiday armistices or anything else.  We weren't sure how they would respond, but they accepted the messenger, and he returned with the news that we may parley with them tomorrow at noon," Ulltar said.  "We thought that would give you time to arrive here."

 
             
"Very good," Alec said. 
" Now
, what is the situation in the field?"

 
             
"We're at a standoff," General Millerson of Goldenfields replied.  "We think we have slightly larger forces than they do, surprisingly, but the terrain is too rough for us to take advantage of that.  They don't seem to want to use their demons any more, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your part in frightening that option away."

 
             
"Do they not want to use the demons, are they afraid to use them and lose them, or are they out of sorcerers?" Alec asked.

 
             
"We do not know.  We have no knowledge of their internal workings; you know more about them than we do," Millerson replied.

 
             
"All I know is that I'm glad they don't have one here, at least not right now," Alec answered.

 
             
"Amen to that," Lockeson agreed.

 
             
"Could we ship a force to get behind the lines?" Alec asked.

 
             
"We have talked about it, but there isn't enough shipping capacity.  We could put a battalion to sea, but they wouldn't have a lot of chance of surviving in uncharted lands once they landed," the field marshal said.

 
             
"Not too far down the shore there is a very defensible citadel that Bondell used in the war against the Oyster Bay coup leaders.  I think it was called Salt Crust," Alec said.  "A battalion could safely remain there, and thwart their supply lines.  We might be able to establish a base there that would force them to withdraw.

 
             
"Why don't you put some scouts in small ships to see how far it is?" he suggested.  He looked at the representative of the Bondell exile forces.

 
             
"We can put our men in the scout ships to help in exploration!  We would recognize the citadel," Chambers from Bondell said.  "I agree it could be held for a long time, from what I've heard."

 
             
"What parley do you have in mind with the invaders, sire?" the Stronghold commander asked.

 
             
"I have a member of the emperor's family who we took captive in battle at Oyster Bay," Alec began.

 
             
"What a priceless bargaining chip!" Ulltar exclaimed.

 
             
"We will honorably hand her over to their side with no conditions," Alec said calmly.  "I just want to make sure they are prepared to receive and treat her as she deserves.
 
We will place no conditions nor seek any advantage from her misfortune.”
  
His tone settled the question so firmly that the others only glanced at each other for a moment.

              
“Soon after that transfer of the imperial niece is accomplished, we will offer a second parley, and inform them that they have the opportunity to begin to retreat from the Dominion peacefully in the next week, after which we will show no mercy,” Alec continued.

“Will you prepare the troops for an inspection the day after tomorrow?” Alec asked.
 
“Following our announcement about the return of the Lady Jeswyne, I doubt the Michian forces will be prepared to attack us.
 
We’ll officially transfer Lady Jeswyne after the inspection.”

“I’ll go check on arrangements for my small retinue,” Alec said.
 
“You have one great advantage our army didn’t have in the lacertii war – I don’t have a whole court to bring with me to the front!
 
When we went to fight the lacertii in Goldenfields,” he bowed to Millerson, “I had so many nobles and ladies and courtiers along!
 
I had to coddle them of course to maintain their support for the crown after I had just returned from Stronghold,” he bowed to Lockeson.

“I am sure my generals never forgave me for leaving the whole pack of hangers-on with them while I left the army and rode behind the lines!” he laughed.
 
“I won’t do that to you.
 
I plan to be part of the action this time,” he promised, and left the tent, the generals grinning at the promise of a new kind of war they were about to experience.

Alec strode through the camp, past the established tents to the spot in the rear where new tents were going up for him and the other new arrivals.
 
“Alec, may I talk with you?” Stracha called to him as he walked past one tent.
 
He halted, and waited as she stepped over to join him.

“Would you like to walk with me while we talk?” he asked.

Stracha matched his step.
 
“Will you be honest with me?” she asked.

He turned to look at her, and observed the serious countenance she wore.
 
“Yes Stracha, I owe you a great deal, and you’ve been a good companion.
 
Although I’ve learned it’s dangerous to step in to this type of conversation with a girl, I will do it for you,” he ended with a smile.

“I think I understand that you and the Lady Jeswyne traveled through time together to a deserted forest, right?” Stracha asked.

“Yes, that’s about right,” Alec agreed.

“And even though it only seemed like a few weeks to us, for you and Lady Jeswyne it was many, many months?” she asked.

“It was a long time for us,” Alec said as he thought about the healing and the swimming and swords and etiquette and boat-building.
 
“Yes, we were together there for much longer than folks realize.”

“And do you realize how much Jeswyne changed while you were gone?” Stracha asked.
 
“Think about it.
 
For you, you lived for twenty years or so, then you were trapped with a demon for fifty years, and now you’re back.
 
So you’re seventy years old in some ways, and maybe not so old in experience, but still older and wiser than she is by a long shot.

“For her, those months were a big piece of what she knows about life.
 
Not to mention her physical changes.
 
You’re aware of those I imagine?” Stracha said drily.

Alec blushed.
 
“We ate a very unusual diet.
 
There was almost no meat for us, but we ate a lot of plants, and I found a great variety, all of which were healthy and good for us in many ways.
 
I know that, plus the fish,” he smiled at the memory, “was very beneficial.
 
She blossomed while we were there.
 
She knows that too, I think.”

They were still walking now, past Alec’s intended goal, strolling alone outside the camp as the discussion continued.

“She knows she’s grown.
 
She doesn’t really know how pretty she is,” Stracha said.

“I imagine there will be lots of boys ready to tell her,” Alec said.

“She really only wants one to tell,” Stracha said quickly.

Alec understood.
 
“I can’t.
 
Not now.
 
It’s so soon.
 
Bethany is in my dreams every night,” he answered.

“You know that tea ceremony you carried out with Jeswyne in the palace before we left?” Stracha asked.

“I know it well enough to get it mostly right,” he answered literally.

“In her culture, there are specific meanings to those ceremonies.
 
For that particular ceremony, the first time a boy performs it with a girl, it is a formal introduction, the opening up of a courting routine,” Stracha explained.
 
“You and she performed it once together when you were in the wilderness,” Stracha added, and Alec nodded.
 
“She told me a great deal about this.

“The second time a boy performs the
ceremony,
it is a signal of his intent to pursue the girl.
 
If she obliges him and carries it out, it signals her willingness to let him pursue.
 
It’s not an engagement in our terms, but
it’s
close,” the girl explained, taking Alec’s arm in hers.

He groaned at the implications.
 
“But she knows I don’t know that!” he protested.

“She does,” Stracha agreed gently.
 
“Now the third time the ceremony happens between those two, if they both go through all the
steps correctly, is
confirmation of their plans to get married.

“Among their royalty, a man does not call a woman by any informal name or nickname unless they have been, intimate,” Stracha added.
 
“How many times have you called that girl Jess or Jessie?”

“I didn’t know that either,” Alec protested.
 
They had turned, and were walking back to the camp.

“She knows, Alec.
 
She knows, yet these things that mean so much to her have happened.
 
You were the only person she knew for a long time.
 
And you may be the first person who treated her as an adult and a friend, not as an imperial master.
 
Then life changed dramatically, and you disappeared and ignored her for days.
 
And you happened to take her with you and she watched your fiancée die in your arms.
 
You’ve wrecked the girl emotionally, Alec,” Stracha said simply.
 
“Not intentionally, not maliciously.
 
But she is in love with you.
 
And tomorrow you’re going to give her away forever.
 
She’ll go back to the imperial family, and be used as a typical pawn, married off to some son of a nobleman somewhere.
 
She’s told me she can guess the two or three likely candidates.