The Cloud of Darkness (The Ingenairii Series Book 11) Read online

  Once in his room he removed his boots and lay back on the bed, imagining that Andi was still in her youthful prime, discussing some event in the city. She had brought energy and excitement to her role as his queen and fellow protector of the societies they had nurtured back to health in the Dominion and in Michian.

  After several minutes there was a knock on the door, and he heard the cart with his meal tray wheeled into his spacious suite.

  “Thank you,” he said without looking.

  “Majesty,” Karalee spoke softly. He heard the covers being removed from the food trays, and then other sounds of preparation. “Come have a seat and eat your meal majesty, and I’ll go over the most import reports for you,” she directed.

  “Majesty,” she repeated moments later, in an even softer voice, as Alec sighed.

  “I sense something is troubling you, majesty,” she spoke, and he heard the sound of a chair scooting across the floor, followed by the approach of her footsteps. She’d been the steward for three years now, he reminded himself, during a time when he’d been gradually withdrawing from activity as the king of the Dominion. Karalee had proven capable of keeping the palace and the monarchy operating successfully with only minimal support from him.

  He owed her more attention, but not on this evening.

  “The queen has gone to the afterlife,” he admitted, sitting up.

  He saw the tears instantly well in her eyes, and he watched the fingertips cover her mouth.

  “I am so sorry, my lord,” Karalee began to weep. “I am so sorry. I hardly knew her, but I know how great she was, and how much you loved her.”

  “She was at peace, and she is not in any pain,” Alec said gently. He stood up and held his arms wide, then let the woman come into his embrace. How ironic is this, that I am comforting her, he thought to himself.

  “I’ll go tell the palace staff to hang mourning colors immediately,” Karalee’s voice was muffled by Alec’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry to make you tell me,” she apologized again, then withdrew from his grasp and dabbed at her tears.

  “Let’s not go over the reports tonight,” he told her. “I’ll not stay long in the morning; I’m going to go away for a few months. I’d like you to think tonight, and tomorrow please advise me on which of my grandchildren you would recommend I name as my temporary regent while I’m away.”

  “How long will you be gone, my lord?” Karalee asked, regaining her composure.

  “I’m not sure,” he answered evasively. He didn’t want to be pinned down, at least not at the moment.

  The two of them stood there in silence, facing each other.

  “Is there anything else?” Alec asked.

  “Just, I’m so sorry, my lord, truly,” she stuttered.

  “Thank you Karalee,” he told her, appreciative of her stress, which he felt acutely through his Spiritual abilities as she powerfully broadcast her emotions. “You go take the evening off and relax,” he dismissed her. He was feeling Andi’s death more keenly now than he had all day, as he shared the shock the steward felt. When the whole city found out and felt the same sorrow it would become overwhelming for him, he knew.

  “But, you’re doing well, my lord?” the woman asked one last question.

  He looked at her, and sensed that the question was not just about his emotional state, but it implied a question about his own physical well-being. She had just had one of the stable pillars of her life knocked over; now a part of her questioned whether Alec himself might not be immortal after all. The thought of the palace without either of the powerful monarchs stressed Karalee and sent her down a long tunnel of fear about the future.

  “Karalee, I’m good for a few more centuries I think,” he tried to smile warmly. “I’m only going away to have some private mourning time. There’s nothing else to worry about,” he reassured her.

  He felt her stress lighten. “Thank you, my lord,” she said gratefully, and left the room.

  Alec shook his head gently. He didn’t think the Dominion was a fragile society, but perhaps it was, he reflected as he sat down at the tray of food. Perhaps he had been too present for too long, and perhaps he had let himself become a crutch that the great nation relied on too much, just as a man with a broken leg sometimes used his own crutch for too long, when he should have cast it aside and returned to the use of his own two legs.

  Alec slowly chewed his food and pondered the ways that societies grew and evolved, then eventually snuffed the candles in the room and laid down in his bed, conscious of the emptiness on the mattress and in the room. He slept poorly, then rose early, before sunrise, and waited for Karalee to knock on his door, as she did soon after the sky turned rosy outside.

  “Are you ready for breakfast, your majesty?” she asked as she backed into the room, rolling a new cart behind her. “I thought we might have breakfast together, if it’s not too presumptuous?” she asked, as the scent of bacon and sausage wafted into the room from the covered platters on her cart.

  She was concerned for him, Alec sensed. She didn’t want to leave him alone, even though she was unaware of how he truly felt so completely alone, without Andi’s consciousness as a part of him for the first time in over a century. Yet he simultaneously felt the faint echoes of feelings from many of those in the palace, as his Spiritual abilities unconsciously collected the emotions that were most strongly held. Particularly now, as the word of Andi’s death circulated, the feelings of loss and sorrow were acute.

  “Come in and sit with me,” he encouraged her with a half-smile.

  She appeared grateful for the positive response, and her tentativeness gave way to pleasure at the thought that he wanted her company, Alec could tell.

  He had to turn his awareness down; with a momentary internal effort, he forced his Spiritual abilities into hibernation, so that he could focus on the conversation as an ordinary man might.

  “How is your son?” he asked. He reached over and removed the cover from the sausages, then speared a pair with a fork and placed them on a plate before sitting down.

  “He’s growing like a weed!” Karalee exclaimed with pleasure. “I think he grew an inch in just the past month! He’ll be taller than I am before the next year passes.”

  Alec had never met the woman’s mate, but he knew that she was tall, and he guessed her husband was as well. They’d logically be parents to a tall child.

  “You just make sure he knows that he still has to look up to you, even when he looks down,” Alec told her. “Or warn him that I’ll come discipline him myself.”

  “That might be enough to make him obey us,” the steward said thankfully.

  “Now,” she shuffled some papers and laid a stack in front of him, then proceeded to go through several issues in a businesslike manner for the next several minutes as Alec ate his food, listened to her discussion, and he rendered occasional opinions when the discourse seemed to require.

  “So, who do you recommend I place on the throne in my absence?” he finally asked when she took a breath.

  “I believe that your granddaughter Olivia would be best,” Karalee informed him. Olivia was in fact a great, great granddaughter, but for the sake of simplicity he and Karalee had dropped the adjectives in describing the relationship.

  Alec tried to picture Olivia in action. He knew which of the dozen-plus members of her generation she was, but he’d not spent time observing her and truly knowing her. She was young to take the reins of power – she was in her mid-thirties perhaps. But, he suddenly pulled a crooked smile, as he recollected that he had already taken on roles of greater responsibility himself at a younger age than that.

  Alec would trust his steward’s judgment.

  “Have you spoken to her about this?” he asked.

  “Not yet, your majesty,” the woman across the table replied.

  “Let’s finish the reports while we walk, and let’s go inform Olivia of the terrible fate you’ve decided to inflict upon her,” he stood up with a smile, and proceeded to
the door, the sounds of Karalee following him.

  Together, they walked through the residential wing, startling many of Alec’s descendants, who hadn’t realized he was in the palace, and who offered their condolences. But Olivia was not in her chambers, her husband informed them; she was at the armory, working on her sword work.

  Alec happily led the way to the palace armory, where he and Karalee found the perspiring newly-crowned – and as yet unaware – occupant of the throne. She stepped back from her practice partner and lowered her wooden blade as she saw the guests who were within the pungent atmosphere of the armory. Others in the armory also quickly ceased their practices, and the clatter of the clashing blades quickly dropped away as all eyes turned to see the unexpected visit by the king and his steward.

  Olivia saw that the eyes of Alec and Karalee were directed her way, and she dropped to one knee in a token of respect. The result was a wave of movement as the others in the armory followed her example. Not only was Alec the king, but his abilities as a Warrior ingenaire was legendary, as was his swordsmanship even when not using his ingenaire abilities, so the respect for him was genuine among the members of the Guard and nobility who practiced in the armory.

  “Olivia,” Alec addressed her first. “You use your front foot to distract your opponent, don’t you?” he asked.

  “I’ve tried to use every trick that works,” she tried to hide a smile. “I’m not endowed with the abilities of an ingenaire.”

  “Perhaps not,” Alec agreed, “but you’re endowed with good sense, and that’s why I’ve decided that I will name you regent and occupant of the throne while I am away for the next few months.”

  There was a vast, collective gasp from those in the armory who heard his pronouncement, and waves of new cries and gasps arose as his comment floated from one set of lips to another.

  “My lord, I don’t understand,” Olivia was confused, unwilling to take the pronouncement at face value. “Is this some jest?”

  “Stand up Olivia Tarnum,” Alec spoke more loudly. “As the sovereign of the Dominion,” he said, while the woman hesitantly rose to her feet. He motioned for her to step towards him, and as he did, he searched her face, looking for the traces of Andi that might have been her heritage. No traces were to be found; there were too many other ancestors in her blood.

  “Olivia,” he pronounced as he stretched his hand out, palm up, and waited for her to place her hand upon it, “I officially proclaim to all the residents of the Dominion that I elevate you to the throne during my forthcoming absence, and I encourage you to give great weight to the counsel that my steward, Karalee, provides. Take this role seriously, and remember always that every decision you make has the potential to effect many lives besides your own.

  “Do you accept this burden?” he asked, and he squeezed his fingers in a clasp around hers.

  Her eyes were shining.

  “You honor me too much, my lord,” she spoke in a very low voice for his ears. “There are others who are senior to me.”

  “Do you accept this request?” Alec asked loudly.

  She blinked, then stared steadily at him as she spoke. “I accept the honor of serving as the regent of the throne of the Dominion during your short absence, and I will endeavor to provide the best possible attention to the duties and responsibilities of the throne, so that I may return it to you without damage or harm to the people or the land or the honor of the crown.”

  It was a pretty speech, Alec thought. Better than he would have offered off-the-cuff under such unexpected circumstances.

  He raised the hand that held her hand, high above their heads.

  “This is your new sovereign, until I return. Treat her with respect and honor, and aid her in bringing plenty and justice throughout the land,” he pronounced loudly, then lowered their hands as the armory broke out in cheers.

  “Karalee, do you have the proclamation for me to sign?” he asked, and then promptly signed the paper when the steward handed it to him.

  “Now that’s taken care of, I need to go settle things on Ingenairii Hill,” he told the two. “Good luck; I’ll be back when I can be,” he said. And then, to avoid any long or drawn out farewells, he grasped the power, and transported himself to the Master’s cabin on Ingenairii Hill.

  “I have a message for all the members of the Council,” he said without introduction as he stepped out of his office and found the man who was his secretary. “Please write this down and make enough copies to take to every one of them.”

  Alec had a clerical helper, but no steward similar to Karalee to assist him with the governance of the ingenairii. He had maintained a tighter, more personal role in the redevelopment of the ingenairii culture on the Hill, and he had made up his own mind about how the ingenairii would be governed in his absence.

  “Please inform all the houses that I will be gone on a journey for several months, and in my absence I designate Nicholas of the Stone House to serve as the Convener of the Ingenairii Council,” he dictated the very brief statement. Nicolas was a seasoned veteran of ingenaire society. He’d worn his marks for over forty years. And in addition, Alec fancied the notion of relying on the experiences and opinions of a man who not only had seen much in the world, but one whose power involved working with tangible materials, like stone, as opposed to the powers that Alec possessed to manipulate energies, such as with fighting and traveling and healing; there was the potential for a better-grounded, pragmatic perspective. The change in perspective might lead to some useful changes in activity under Nicholas, Alec suspected.

  “That’s all I have. I’ll go tell a few Houses myself,” he told the scribe, and then he walked out the door and around the Hill to visit the Healing House. After the Healers, he went to the Water House, always a sentimental favorite because of Bethany’s affiliation with the house, so many centuries ago. He could think about it again, and go there again, and not have to worry about arousing the jealousy of Andi any longer.

  He thought of Andi as he walked. He wouldn’t go to the Spiritual House, he decided. They would sense his melancholy and fill his morning with platitudes that wouldn’t do him any good.

  And so he spent his morning, shocking several ingenairii as he called upon their houses and shocking them even more as he delivered his news of departure and temporary delegation of duties. Nicolas was most shocked of all, and tried to beg his way out of the assignment before Alec firmly cut him off.

  When that scene ended, Alec was ready to go and he did. From the front hall of the Stone House, he launched himself into Bondell, and then into the mountains, and finally into the imperial palace in Michian.

  Alec only nominally remained the sovereign over Michian. He’d placed his oldest son’s oldest daughter on the throne many decades earlier, and weaned himself away from governance of the nation in just a few succeeding years, with few appearances or visits. But he felt he needed to make a visit to share the same information there that he had shared in the Dominion. And he’d stay away from the Spiritual ingenairii who were permanently assigned to their House’s outpost in Michian, and charged with vigilantly maintaining a watch for any revival of sorcery or the calling forth of any demons – actions that were permanently and completely banned.

  By mid-day Alec’s visit with the leaders of Michian was complete, and he began the long, long journey back to the east coast of Avonellene territory, so that he could reunite with Kale, and start the journey home, the old-fashioned way – on foot. He retransferred his way across the continent, making each stop briefly until he was back in the village of Riberte, on the east coast of the great land mass, reunited with Kale and ready to head west.

  Chapter 4

  “This is the morning Kale,” Alec announced as he threw back his covers and slipped his feet into his boots. The pair had shared a room in the Riberte inn, a room with two small beds.

  “We’ll walk to Raysing,” Alec explained as they carried their small bundles of belongings down the stairs. “It’s a large c
ity just a couple of days away. When we’re there we can purchase proper supplies for our journey – sturdy bags and waterproofed covers. Then we’ll walk along the coast and up into the Carmen River valley, all the way to Witten.

  “From there we’ll cheat and take a river cruiser up to Vincennes, and we can walk the rest of the way from there up into the mountains and all the way home,” he finished.

  “And we’ll really walk all the way across the lacerta lands?” Kale asked. He’d never seen a lacerta from any distance closer than fifty yards, when a small band of their traders came to the Healing Spring to acquire barrels of water to ship to the rough-skinned people’s nation. They were a mysterious and legendary race in his mind.

  “Completely across,” Alec agreed.

  They walked along the busy shoreline road for two days, protected for most of the first day by a shield of air that Alec provided above their heads to keep the heavy, drizzling rain off them while they journeyed. Kale asked a constant stream of questions of Alec as they walked, as the young man seized the opportunity to learn as much as possible about Alec’s life while he traveled on such an intimate journey.

  “Raysing is a major port, and we fought over it during the Conglomerate’s rebellion against Caitlen,” Alec explained. “It provides shipping for a lot of farm products in this region.”

  They reached the city in the late afternoon of their second day from Riberte, and Alec got a room at an inn for them.

  “We’ll buy supplies in the morning and then head to Witten,” Alec told Kale. “Down by the harbor we’ll be able to find the supplies we need at the pawn shops.”

  They ate supper at a nearby tavern that night, and listened to the music while they drank mugs of ale afterwards.

  “I don’t like the sound of their instruments,” Kale said. “And I don’t understand their words anyway.”

  They left the tavern and slept that night at their inn, then went to the used good shops near the docks, where Alec bargained for the traveling goods they needed, and they left the city under overcast skies.