Preserving the Ingenairii (67 page)

“I can,” Alec confirmed, “but not over long distances.
 
And I can only go someplace I know – a place I’ve been to before and can visualize.”

“Such as?”
Anatoli prompted.

“The arena, an inn on Mulberry Street, a small lawn on the Indige property, a parlor in the Scarle compound,” he listed a variety of locations.

“You could just appear in the Scarle compound?” Anatoli confirmed.

Alec nodded.

There was a knock on the door.
 
“We thought you might want this,” a guardsman passed in a golden robe.
 
“And the emperor is wondering where his royal guest is; they’re being seated for dinner.”

Anatoli and Geni looked at one another.
 
“Perhaps I should lead him to the dining room,” Geni suggested.
  
Anatoli agreed, while Alec shrugged out of his red robes and into his new golden ones.
 

“Do you have a bandolier of knives I can wear?” Alec asked.
 
“I’ve grown accustomed to them.”

“Take him to the dining room and we’ll have the knives delivered,” Anatoli told Geni.

“We’ll talk tomorrow, your majesty,” Anatoli told Alec.
 
“Is that true by the way?
 
Are you really the king of the Dominion?”

“When I left I was,” Alec said with a laugh.

He and Geni began to walk down the hall.
 
“Geni, would you take me past Jeswyne’s room on the way?” he asked.

His escort looked at him.
 
“It’s not at all on the way to the dining room, but we can go if you insist.”

“I think I’ll insist,” Alec confirmed.

They passed startled maids and guards as they cut through official and residential portions of the palace.
 
“This hallway is the imperial
family’s
,” Geni said at one point.
 
They walked to a room in which numerous maids were working.
 
“Since this is getting cleaned up, I suspect it’s being prepared for your friend.”

Alec heard the suspicion in his voice, but concentrated on looking around the room noting the details and the decorations.
 
“Thank you.
 
That’s fine.
 
Let’s go join the dinner,” he said, and they moved onward to a formal dining room, where a table was set for twelve, and only Alec was lacking.

Alec thanked Geni and stepped to the table.
 
He was seated across from Jeswyne.
 
“My apologies,” he told the gathering as he took his seat.

“How did you manage to get lost?” Jeswyne asked loudly.

“I wasn’t exactly lost,” Alec told her.
 
“I just took the long way around.”

“Your highness, rather than allow my daughter to harangue you, please allow me to introduce my family,” the emperor said.
 
He proceeded to introduce his wife, then Jeswyne’s brother and her older
sister,
both of whom were married and had their spouses at the table, then Sergey introduced his own sister, a duchess, and her husband, and their two adult children.

“This is exalted company,” Alec said politely.
 
He was beginning to feel exhaustion setting in after the day’s many adventures.

“If I may ask, why are you here, your majesty?” Jeswyne’s brother, Eduard, asked as the first course of the meal was served.
 
“Why did you come to Michian, and why did you help the emperor whose armies are in your country?”

Alec gave the simplest answer he could.
 
“After I sent Lady Jeswyne back here to Michian, I learned from General Bronson that Mikhail’s forces had taken her captive.”
 
He looked up, across the table, holding a steady gaze into Jeswyne’s golden eyes.
 
“So I came to rescue her.”

“And everything else you did – the tournament, rescuing the emperor, fighting the demon?”
Jeswyne’s mother asked.

“Those were the things I had to do to save her,” he replied.

“And what will you do now?” the Duchess Bogdana asked.

Alec paused for a moment, and Jeswyne spoke.
 
“We should show better manners to our guest and not subject him to such a barrage of questions, I think.

“You’ll stay here for at least a few days, won’t you, King Alec?” she asked.
 
“There must be much you can discuss with father about ending the war and so on.”

Her father looked abruptly around at her.
 
“His majesty had already negotiated an armistice with your army commander, before he came.
 
Your armies don’t seem to want to fight against someone named the Demonslayer,” she told her father and the table.

“I can’t blame them,” Jeswyne’s sister chimed in.
 
“So Jeswyne, please tell us about your adventures.
 
How were you treated?”

“Mikhail’s people treated me appropriately,” Jeswyne replied.

“But what about, you know, the barbarians, the Dominion folks,” Elyzaveta asked.
 
“You were there for how long?
 
A month?”

Jeswyne turned crimson.
 
“They treated me fine.
 
It didn’t seem that long.”

“She had her own retinue,” Alec filled the silence.
 
“They told me that they missed her very much when she left; everyone was very fond of her.”

“Well, you certainly seem to have treated her very well!” Sergey tried to ease the embarrassment.
 
“She seems to have blossomed tremendously under your care.
 
She doesn’t even squint any longer.”

“Alec healed my eyes.
 
My vision is perfect now,” Jeswyne told her father as another course of food was set before them.

“When you say healed, you mean he gave you medicine that improved your eyesight?” Eduard tried to clarify.

“No.
 
He touched the bridge of my nose and used his healing power.
 
He can cure anything – any illness or injury.
 
They say you’ve brought people back to life, haven’t you Alec?”

Alec looked down, embarrassed by the turn of the conversation,
then
looked up at Eduard.
 
“I have been blessed with a gift of healing, and can help many situations.

“But please tell me something about what happens here in Michian next,” he changed the subject.

“Well since the tournament was today, tomorrow is the day of the heart,” Elyzaveta said with a smile, and laid her hand atop her husband’s, who was next to Alec.

“In more prosaic terms, tomorrow is the day we will see how the populace feels about the events yesterday, and we will begin to move against Mikhail,” the emperor said.

“You should show the people how you will move against Mikhail,” Duchess Bogdana’s husband spoke for the first time.
 
He was a burly man who had the appearance of a military bearing.

“The people won’t respect you if you don’t retaliate after they set a demon lose in the arena,” Leonyd continued.
 
“You need to erase that threat to your rule, and be respected for your strength.”

“I agree,” Alec spoke aloud before he realized.
 
He looked around.
 
“I will help in that battle.”

The last dishes were cleared away.

“I will speak to Anatoli about this,” Sergey said.

“I already have,” Alec decided to admit.
 
“I’m sure he is planning the appropriate steps, if you will authorize them.”
 
Alec had decided he liked the head of the guards, who had seemed to him to be a no-nonsense man, one who reminded Alec of Rubicon.
 
“I won’t be here long, but while I am I will try to be of use.”

Jeswyne’s head turned, and she looked at Alec with alarm.

Shall we retire to the parlor for tea?” the empress suggested.

They all rose, and Leonyd and Sergey converged on Alec as they walked down the hall.
 
“You both feel that I should attack?” the emperor asked.

“You have to – now more than ever,” Leonyd said forcefully, and Alec nodded.

“Your majesty, just a moment, please,” Alec said, tugging on Sergey’s sleeve and pulling him back behind the rest of the family.

When they were alone, Alec spoke.
 
“I wish to ask your daughter to marry me.
 
Will you approve?”

Sergey looked at Alec.
 
“How long have you two known each other?
 
I’ve seen the way you look, and there’s more than a few occasional meetings in your history.”

“We were stranded together for a long time.
 
Everything was honorable, but we are very fond of one another.
 
At least, I am fond of her,” Alec replied.

“There’s no easy way for me to stop you, is there?
 
If this is what Jeswyne wants, I will allow it,” Sergey said.
 
“But you are not to force yourself upon her affections.”

“I won’t, of course.
 
Thank you,” Alec agreed and the two of them joined the others in the parlor.

It was a large room, with a sitting area of couches and chairs, as well as a formal table to the side, where a ceremonial tea set rested upon a table.
 
Alec pulled a servant aside.
 
“Is there tea in the tea pot on the table?” he asked, pointing to the side table.

“No sir.
 
It’s only used for ceremonies,” the man replied.

“Would you please set it now?
 
We’ll have a ceremony momentarily,” Alec answered.
 
He walked slowly about the room as the others chose their seats and prepared to have tea served to them.

Jeswyne, Alec saw, had arranged to sit alone on a small divan suitable for two, and she nodded her head imperceptibly towards him, beckoning him to come.

The servants were discretely placing provisions on the ceremonial table, and Alec judged it was time to take action.
 
He walked over to Jeswyne, and stood beside her.
 
“May I have tea with you, Lady Jeswyne?” he asked.

“Certainly, your majesty,” she responded demurely.

“Your highness,” Alec spoke loudly enough for the emperor and everyone else to hear.
 
“During our time together in the Dominion, the Lady Jeswyne taught me the etiquette of your tea ceremony.
 
Now that I am among you, may I have the privilege of performing that ceremony with your daughter?”

Sergey looked at Alec’s formal smile, and Jeswyne’s downturned face.
 
“Yes, please show us my good daughter’s works.”

Alec held out his hand to walk her to the table.
 
Jeswyne took his hand and they strolled over, where Alec held her chair, then began removing his weapons, presenting them one at a time to Jeswyne, then setting them aside, as the whole family watched in fascination.
 
She gently touched each blade in acknowledgement, until he was finished and sat across from her.
 
He placed the tea leaves in the pot to steep,
then
strained it silently into the other pot.

He stood, walked around the table to stand at her right side, and poured the golden brew into her cup.

“Does he realize what he’s doing?” Elyzaveta asked loudly.