Against the Empire: The Dominion and Michian Read online

  The men had taken a break from their labors and gathered around the women. “Were you one of the ones out here?” a thin man who was sweating profusely asked. Imelda nodded yes. “You all killed a powerful lot of lacertii here. This must have been a horrible place.”

  “It was like being a pie in the middle of the table, wasn’t it, Rashrew?” Imelda responded, noting the arrival of the Bondell rider she had met the night before last.

  “If Rashrew was involved, it was a sour berry pie,” a wise crack from an anonymous crew member raised guffaws.

  “We’ll need to go down to the river to restock our supply of stones,” Rashrew reported to Kinsey. “We’ve got a good start to the project today. We’ll call it a day today, and start early tomorrow.

  “How is it that Alec’s two favorite women are out and about without him?” Rashrew asked, stooping to pick up his yellow jersey. “Looking for more adventure? We can offer some back in Bondell, when the work here is done.”

  “Alec is still recuperating, just as he did in Bondell,” Imelda told the friend of the crown-keeper. “He used so much power yesterday that his body may need days of sleep to recover.” She began walking downhill along with the others, Pember still patiently following her. “What kinds of adventures can you offer in Bondell?” she asked, curious to know what Rashrew was hinting at.

  “We have always had raiders on our southern borders. Bondell’s governance peters out along the coast and the mountains, and there’s a vast land without rule that stretches between us and the foreign domains further south. It’s a place that breeds and harbors outlaws, smugglers, raiders, and worse,” Rashrew answered. “We need a force of cavalry to clear out the outlaws and bring peace to the region. Are you going to come over to visit us again and help us hunt this problem? It won’t be as ferocious as the war with the lacertii, but it will still provide the chance to ride and swing a sword, and it will make life better for many people.”

  “What do you say, Pember? Do you think the Duke will lend us to his cousins in Bondell?” Imelda asked playfully. Even as she asked the question, and despite feeling her fill of war, she felt genuine interest stirring in her soul at a chance to go out and ride and fight again, after a chance to rest and recharge. Besides, she could avoid the unpleasant implications of getting tied down just yet in the politics of the Goldenfields court. She could go off for a few months and have one more adventure, one more chance to test herself in battle. As long as it did not become as brutally contested as the battlefield of the lacertii war had been, she’d be happy, and what chance was there of a brutal war with smugglers?

  Pember grinned back at his captain’s jest, and the whole group rode together back in the direction of the sunset to return to camp.

  Soon after their arrival, Kinsey showed up at Alec’s tent, where Imelda already sat with the unconscious warrior. “There’s something about him that isn’t the same,” Kinsey said as she knelt on the floor next to his cot. “I think that’s what I feel. He looks different, doesn’t he? He feels…different,” she frowned. “He disturbs me.”

  “I thought the same thing,” Imelda answered. “Even under all the weariness, there is something going on; he has lost all his powers, you know. I wish he’d awaken soon so we could talk to him and set things right.”

  “Lost his powers?” Kinsey said with a face that twisted in sympathetic pain and horror. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Are you sure? How did that happen? Just yesterday he controlled more energy than I’ve ever seen anyone manage.”

  “He knew of some prophecy that said he could trade all his powers …to save me,” Imelda told her companion after a pause. “He did it while we were together the last time. I felt him give them up.”

  “No wonder he feels so different,” Kinsey said under her breath as she studied both Imelda and Alec.

  Imelda felt greater guilt, and a greater sense of obligation to Alec as she read the despair on Kinsey’s face, and guessed what an ingenaire would feel about losing their power. Alec had given it all up for her, she realized again. And what had she done for him? She’d turned down his affection, though she’d been a good friend about it, she felt. She heaved a great sigh.

  She and Kinsey spoke no more to each other as they mulled their thoughts. Later that night, after Kinsey left with a silent hug, Imelda knelt by the cot where Alec lay. “Thank you, Alec,” she whispered.

  Chapter 2 – Imelda’s Note

  The next morning began early as Imelda sorted through the paperwork and reports that had piled up during her weeks upriver. Sorting through the reports was numbing, but also helped her to gain an understanding of all that had gone on in her absence. She realized in short order that Pember had done a yeoman’s work of keeping the papers moving up the chain of command effectively. As lunchtime arrived, she stretched and walked back to the tent where Alec still slept, with a priest gently chanting over his form. Armilla had appeared, and stood at guard outside the tent. She gave Imelda a friendly nod as she walked past, and the cavalry rider smiled at the sight of the stalwart protector.

  “Not to worry brother, he’ll heal,” Imelda said as she entered the tent and stood by the kneeling priest.

  “You say that with such casual confidence,” Antonio replied, not lifting his head.

  Imelda paused. She had spoken without thinking, and it had come out with less feeling for Alec than she possessed. The presence of the priest had been unexpected, and had disrupted her plan to sit and quietly talk to Alec. Although he couldn’t hear her, she still wanted to talk to him, to comfort him and herself. Instead, she had just blundered, but she didn’t want to admit it to this uninvited stranger who was here interrupting her time with Alec. She understood why Bethany had spent so much time sitting with him in Bondell, and wondered if Bethany had resented her own presence at times.

  Antonio wanted to shake his head at the girl who had barged into the tent. The guard had allowed her to enter, so she must have some role here, but her cavalier comment had disturbed the placid priest. He had recollected the events of the previous year, at a spot not far upriver, when long bouts of intense and arcane prayers had helped release a young healer from a prison of ingenaire energies. This morning he had come to the tent and begun his prayer vigil. He was virtually finished now, but he didn’t intend to leave as long as the girl was fidgeting beside him.

  Another rustling behind introduced the arrival of another person into the tent of the invalid. “Imelda!” a woman’s voice called, and the two women embraced. Antonio finished his prayer, and stood, concluding that it was perhaps time to leave after all. He saw one woman with short hair and an athletic build, her arms wrapped around a willowy, green robed woman with long blond hair in a pony tail.

  “Yula! I am so glad to see you,” Imelda murmured. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m doing very well,” Yula answered as they broke apart. “I slept most of the day yesterday, and took a bath, a real bath, with hot water,” she laughed a giddy laugh. “The girls from the court arranged that for me,” she finished, and noted Imelda’s slight flinch at the mention of the court.

  “I saw Kinsey and the warriors from Bondell leave the camp early this morning,” Yula announced. She sat on the edge of Alec’s bed, oblivious to any protocol she might have breached. “Have you seen Shaiss or Alder or Armilla or Nathaniel?” she asked.

  Antonio left the tent, still distressed by the casual manner the two women showed in the presence of the ailing sovereign. Yula glanced pointedly at the exit as he departed without speaking.

  “I may have failed to properly show reverence for Alec,” Imelda explained as she rolled her eyes.

  “Who would show reverence for him?” Yula asked archly, then laughed. “You know, for as much as I hated being hauled around as his container of extra energy, I wouldn’t trade most of our adventure for anything else in life. Of course, there are a couple of things I could do without,” she said as she reached over to tuck a lock of hair behind his ear. “He lo
oks different, doesn’t he?” she observed, then continued without waiting for an answer. “He’s a good boy. He really only wanted to take care of others,” she shifted her voice from its introspective mode. “I won’t ever admit that to him of course; the way he bullied me into helping him was unfair. But I learned a lot from him, and I do feel different now.” A momentary pause gave her time to lighten her mood. “So, who have you seen since we got back?”

  “Kinsey, and Allisma, and some of the Bondell riders,” Imelda answered, coming over to place her own hand on Alec’s forehead. She stroked his head repeatedly, thinking about how much she hoped he would heal soon, so they could talk. He took a deep breath, then exhaled, still looking drained and different.

  “He looks a little better, don’t you think?” Yula asked. “Do you believe what Kinsey said? About them seeing us dead on the battlefield? And traveling through time to save us all? That sounds creepy, like we’re the walking dead or something unclean.”

  “I believe it,” Imelda said without hesitation. “He did some things that were extraordinary, even for him, out there,” she said, thinking again about his decision to surrender his ingenaire powers. “I don’t think even Kinsey understands all that he did,” she added quietly.

  “I’m going to go out to see how Kinsey and Rashrew’s crew are getting along. Do you want to come along?” Imelda asked. She bent over and kissed Alec softly, then walked to the tent flap.

  “No, I’ve had all the battlefield sights I want for the time being,” Yula said, following her out of the tent. “I’m going to go see if that bathtub is still working, and then I want to see when I can return to the city, to serve the Duchess. Alec won’t need me any more, now that the battle has ended.”

  Imelda promised Armilla that she’d return to talk, then rode out through the battlefield again, observing the crews at work moving corpses into rows of graves that appeared to be arranged by units, with new graveyards arising every quarter mile or so; it was a somber sight. She reached the foot of the battlefield hill and saw that the Bondell soldiers’ industrious work had already raised walls that were waist-high in some spots on top of the knoll.

  “We are waiting for you to agree to come to Bondell. Unless you have had enough of battle, and would like to live a calmer life?” Rashrew called loudly as she approached. “Maybe your Duke will allow you to retire and live in the palace as a reward?”

  Imelda felt agitated by the implication that she would not fight any more, even though she had said something similar herself. “Rashrew, if my Duke allows, I will join you for some sport in Bondell as soon as possible,” she blurted out to the Bondell commander as she approached him. Kinsey looked at her with a look of shock on her face, and Imelda realized she has spoken impetuously for the second time that day.

  Rashrew seized the moment though, praising her decision so extravagantly that she didn’t know how to graciously back down from her rash promise. “We will ride to Goldenfields immediately to seek the authority for you to ride with us. How many riders will you bring?” he asked.

  With that, a downhill slide of events tumbled together upon Imelda, and the next morning she found herself in front of Colonel Ryder. “I have a request from the Bondell forces for my release to allow you to go with them to return to their country, and they ask that you and the cavalry join them in scouring the countryside of criminals. Are you so eager for more battle that you are ready to go chasing it wherever you can find it?” he asked with some deep tone of humor underlying his words.

  “As far as I can see, we can release you from duty here. You are therefore hereby ordered to report to the Duke at Goldenfields to receive his permission to go help his ally and father-in-law, the Prince of Bondell,” the colonel said, holding out a written order to that effect.

  “May I have some time to put a couple of things in order here?” Imelda asked, not sure how to feel about this out-of-control situation. She hadn’t expected to leave so soon, especially not before Alec had awoken. She wanted to talk with him, to sort out her confusion, to express her appreciation, and to hear his thoughts.

  Instead, she was soon back among the cavalry riders, selecting the healthy members of two platoons to join her, Rashrew and the remainder of the Bondell forces for a trip back to Goldenfields and then apparently on to Bondell. She took leave of the riders to return to the desk in her tent, where she awkwardly composed a note to leave for Alec. She had a difficult time finding the right words to express her feelings, difficult mainly because she couldn’t identify which feelings were in ascension at any particular moment.

  Alec, by the time you read this I will have left to join Rashrew on a journey to Bondell. He has asked for the help of our cavalry in fighting the bandits in the south of the country. As soon as our duty there is done, I will return to Goldenfields. Yours, Imelda.

  Well, that was all straightforward information, without a hint of emotion, she knew. She thought about the time long ago, when Alec had laid injured in the infirmary at Goldenfields, with a deadly arrow in his kidney. She had been the only person with medical training available to watch over him, and Colonel Ryder had ordered her to do so. She hadn’t thought highly of him at the time because of his rumored affair with her cousin. But Ryder had revealed to her the falseness of the rumors, and Merle the ingenaire had explained the loneliness of Alec’s childhood. She’d seen him in a different light then, and come to see him as a friend, even more so later after their first campaign to Bondell. At least a friend.

  She set the first note aside and began again; he deserved better.

  Dear Alec, As you heal from your labors, I am riding to help Rashrew with some local battles in his land, before I come back to rejoin you. I hadn’t wanted to leave you so soon, but I know you are in good hands with Armilla and the others to tend to you while I’m gone for this little while. I want to come back to talk to you, because there are many things we could say. I will miss you terribly, and look forward to seeing you again. Love, Imelda.

  Well, that was a better, bolder product, but still not what she really felt; it would never be copied by future lovers and used to express true love, she was sure. She couldn’t find a way for ink and paper to express the awkward mix of feelings in her heart, and she wanted to see his face and hear his voice as she told him these unsettled things. She folded that letter too, and set it aside while she mulled her message and checked on her own packing.

  Pember entered the tent just then. “Shall I prepare to depart too?” he asked in a manner that made it clear he knew he was not going to be taken along on this journey.

  “I didn’t expect to have to split our regiment, but the colonel has ordered me to leave immediately. Someone has to remain in command here, and to watch over the wounded, so that we can bring them safely back home,” Imelda said evenly. “You are second-in-command for now, and will probably be the commander yourself should I ever leave the cavalry,” she added. “You are good at this, and learning to be better. Take care of everyone, and do me a favor,” she reached over and pulled the note off her desk. “Give this to Alec when he awakens.”

  Pember accepted the note with a stony face, clearly not placated by Imelda’s answer. Just then Rashrew himself entered the tent. “Our men are ready to go anytime,” he said, implying that Imelda should be ready too. “Are your riders prepared?”

  “Here take this,” Imelda answered, pushing her saddlebags towards him. “Wait for me with your men, and our riders will be with you in ten minutes.” She watched as Rashrew left the tent. “I’m going to forget something in this rush, but you know how to handle everything,” she said to Pember. “Good luck with the wounded, and hold your heads high when you ride back into Goldenfields. Let them see how proud we are of the way our cavalry performed in this war.” And with that she was out the door, shouting at her riders to get ready to depart, as she was immediately immersed in a jostling crowd of people preparing to leave.

  “Pardon me,” she heard as someone on the right side bumpe
d hard into her. “Imelda?” the voice continued, its tone rising.

  She looked, and immediately recognized Shaiss, a light ingenaire who had joined the cavalry and fought hard, using ordinary and extraordinary abilities to fit in and contribute during battle.

  “I’m so glad to see you!” Imelda said, giving his arm an affectionate squeeze. She hadn’t seen him since early in the battle against the lacertii army. The cavalry forces had splintered apart under the pressure, and Imelda had not seen many of them since. “Is Alder alright?” she asked, referring to the other light ingenaire who had been integrated into the cavalry.

  “He didn’t make it,” Shaiss said simply. “We dismounted early when the fighting was so dangerous and we were apart from everyone else. We were bending light to stay invisible and kept dodging from spot to spot, but a flurry of arrows seemed to come at us out of nowhere, and…” his voice trailed off.

  “I’m so sorry,” Imelda said sympathetically. Alder had been the more out-going of the two, who had ridden together throughout their time in the Goldenfields cavalry.

  “He really enjoyed being in the cavalry,” Shaiss replied. “He wouldn’t have traded the experience for anything. He never planned to go back to Ingenairii Hill as long as he could ride and fight with you.” He patted her arm in return, and they moved towards the assembly area.

  When she had mounted her horse and assembled her riders, she led the way to the camp of the Bondell forces. There she found not only Rashrew and his men, but also a large contingent of court nobility. Among them she saw Yula.

  “Several folks are ready to return to court, now that the fighting is over, myself included,” Yula said. “General Hewlett indicated that your force would escort us back to Goldenfields, so these folks can get back to their usual lives,” and out of the General’s hair, she implied.