The Lifesaving Power: Goldenfields and Stronghold (30 page)

Chapter 33 – Rosebay’s Battle

Imelda, Alec and Armilla walked three abreast back into camp. Most of the band was ready to travel, and all eyes were on the returning leaders, whose somber expressions left many in the camp concerned. A route was quickly plotted to travel along the top of the ridge of the hill country, and to come upon the site where the two lacerta forces were expected to meet. There they could look down from the hills and watch the flat lands as Rosebay advanced to meet the newcomers.

They rode out quickly into the brightening morning, the sun on their right and their shadows stretching out to the left. Alec was paired with Nathaniel. “What was Moriah’s reaction when you asked her to marry you?” Alec blurted out his question after a long ride in silence.

Nathaniel looked at him like he was crazy. “Say what?”

Alec repeated his question, and Nathaniel thought for a moment. “Well Alec, truth be told, I think she asked me before I asked her. We both knew that we were going to wed, I suppose, but Moriah was the one to bring it into the open, not long after you showed up at Rubicon’s house, as a matter of fact.”

“
What, uh, why do you ask?” Nathaniel followed.

Alec unburdened himself and told his friend about the conversation with Imelda. “I know in my heart I’m not over Bethany, but I think I need to be; I have to move on with my life. I’ve found myself attracted to Imelda since we met back in camp – she’s someone I know and respect and am comfortable with. But she told me to go back to Bethany, that Allisma says Bethany really still cares for me,” Alec admitted.

“
She has a point you know,” Nathaniel said about Imelda’s objections. “There was a time when Moriah and I thought for sure that you and Bethany were destined to be a match. I don’t know much about your other infatuations, but maybe Imelda is right and you can still put together a match with Bethany.”

Alec looked askance at his friend, a dozen arguments running through his mind, but as each rose to his lips he saw the weakness of his case. That led to stewing in silence for several minutes. “I need to talk to Allisma,” Alec said petulantly at last.

“
There’s nothing like love to equalize all men, from the crown protector down to the everyday soldier!” Nathaniel laughed, and after a moment Alec laughed with him. Their conversation moved on to other things and the ride towards the lacertii passed quickly. By late morning Imelda called a water break for the horses.

“
We’re more than halfway towards the area you want to be in,” the cavalry commander told Alec as she walked along the line of riders. “We should be there in time for a late lunch break and to see what action unfolds. Do you have any ideas about what to do if the lacertii aren’t where you expect them to be?”

“
We’ll go look for them,” Alec said, bluffing more confidence than he felt about their next step.

“
We only carry a few days of food in our packs, Alec,” Imelda war him. “We can’t wander around out here too long, plus there’s a war I’m anxious to get back to.”

Alec looked at her, when suddenly his health vision spotted the slight discomfort she was experiencing where he hadn’t thoroughly healed her skin and underlying muscles in her abdomen. His hand touched her midsection, and he flashed his energy into her, finishing the task that had been so daunting the day before.

Imelda felt the relief from the irritation before she even had time to slap Alec’s hand away from her. “You didn’t have to do that; it wasn’t that bad,” she said at a loss for words, but not wanting to be in debt to her spurned suitor.

“
You’re welcome,” Alec grinned. “I’m going to go see if Yula needs any more healing.”

He hadn’t spoken a word with the plant ingenaire since their adventure in healing Imelda had begun, and Alec suspected Yula harbored even less good will toward him than before. As he approached her, his health vision showed that her leg was sore, and that she was slightly saddle sore as well. He reached up and placed his hand on her knee, then let his healing powers address both needs.

Yula had been facing left and speaking with Allisma on that side, and didn’t realize Alec was on her right and healing her until she felt a wave of relief make her saddle more comfortable. “Oh, it’s Alec,” she said in a softer tone that he had expected. “Thank you. That feels better.”

Satisfied that he had avoided Imelda’s difficult question and Yula’s wrath, Alec returned to Walnut and remounted. His thoughts bounded aimlessly about as they resumed riding. What would it be like to court Bethany again? Would there be a spectacle of gossip among the nobles and courtiers? What would people say?

“
It’s that peak right there,” he heard Nathaniel say.

Alec asked him to repeat his words.

“
I said we start to cut across the corner of the hill range at that round-topped peak up ahead, and head inland to find a nice balcony seat over-looking the lacertii re-union,” Nathaniel explained.

Imelda led the horses up a steeply cut watercourse, and then wound through the hills to stop at a point just below a ridge.

“
Over this ridge is the end of the hills, and it should be about where you expect the lacertii forces to be,” Imelda told Alec as she sent out a scout to explore the land ahead and report back.

Minutes later the scout came thundering back. “There’s a hard fought battle going on below us down there,” the woman reported. “Our lacertii are fighting a larger force wearing blue tunics.”

Alec noted the possessive reference to Rosebay’s force, and he felt gladdened by the positive implications. “Let’s go take a look,” he said, and spurred Walnut onward, motioning Shaiss and Alder to join him, along with several others who came along. Just behind the ridge they dismounted, and stood at the top to viewabopanorama spread out below.

“
Alder, could you focus another of those light rays on the leaders of the blue forces?” Alec asked, motioning towards a group of apparent officers standing by a raised standard. The blue army had Rosebay’s forces surrounded on three sides, and combat was underway around the entire perimeter.

Alder looked at Alec’s intended target. “Let’s see what we can do,” he said as he concentrated, then aimed his hand and unleashed a line of light energy that caught the standard, causing it to burst into flame. “It’s too far away to get accurate aim,” he reported. “I can put some energy in the general area, but I can’t promise any particular target from this distance.”

Alec stood and watched the blue forces scurrying around the flaming standard, unaware of what caused the combustion. “We could ride down and start fighting our way closer to them,” Alec suggested.

“
The lacertii don’t know how to fight against cavalry, especially these new ones; they don’t have nor have ever seen horses,” Imelda said with a predatory gleam in her eye. “We could ride down that canyon over there and stay out of sight most of the way.”

Alec considered the possible outcomes. “We’ll leave Yula and Kinsey and Allisma here with a couple of guards, and the rest of us will follow Imelda’s route down to the battlefield,” he decided.

“
Your grace,” Armilla said sternly.

Alec turned to look at her.

“
Your grace,” she repeated, “You are the crown protector of the Dominion. You cannot go riding down into an active battle between two lacertii forces. Your duty is to remain safely waiting up here, and I will remain with you as your guard.”

Alec felt a drop in his gut, and knew that her words were so sensible that he could offer no opposition, as much as he wanted to. “You are right, and we will stay here,” he agreed. “If you wish to join this force, I will remain behind while you add your strength to the battle.”

“
I’m proud of you for agreeing, sire,” Armilla said. “And I believe you. I will go and fight enough for us both!” she grinned.

“
Lead them on the way, Captain,” Alec said to Imelda. “And come back safely, or I’ll come down there looking for you,” he added in a quiet whisper in her passing ear.

Imelda looked away, then looked at Alec and smiled. “We’ll all be back before you know it. We’ve got a big war to get to you know, so I expect to return soon.”

Alec sat on Walnut and watched the line of riders begin the descent down the channel in the land, quickly passing from view. He stopped craning his neck, and turned to find the other three ingenairii around him also watching for signs of the departed band. “Does anyone have a deck of cards?” he asked cheerily, trying to break the tension of the small band that would have to wait out the battle and the dangers facing their friends.

Yula gave him a withering glance, while Allisma snickered and Kinsey smiled.

They stood and waited for the cavalry unit to appear below, without any further conversation. Several minutes passed before a brief flash of light occurred, and a small fire erupted among the forces fighting against Rosebay. Another flash occurred, then another, and another. Many members of the army that had come from the mountains were becoming distracted by the unusual phenomena occurring in their midst.

Within a few more minutes, the flashes stopped, and the mounted fighters emerged into sight, riding around to strike the rear of the enemy army. The archers fired their arrows and swiftly moved on to where the first physical engagement occurred. The cavalry rode close with swords extended to strike the lacertii and then swerve back away and reform to engage again. A few riders pulled away and waited as the other Dominion forces continued the attack, a tactic that left Alec puzzled.

He noticed that the army under Rosebay’s command was starting to win ground now as they faced a shrinking and confused enemy. After an hour of striking the periphery of the blue forces, all the cavalry veered away and headed back towards the base of the hills to the point where they were no longer visible from the mountaintop watchers again. Minutes after that, the flashes of light resumed disrupting the lacertii again. From high above, Alec could see that thanks to the intervention of the ingenairii and cavalry, the battle was going to be won by Rosebay. Many of her opponents were fleeing steadily away.

Alec and the others waited patiently on top of the hill, as the sky above began to darken with the approach of dusk. Relieved that the cavalry and the ingenairii were returning from the battle and Rosebay’s army seemed certain to win, Alec was again preoccupied by his unresolved personal concerns. “Allisma,” Alec said as he motioned the water ingenaire over towards him, “Can I ask you a question?

“
Does Bethany care about me enough to marry me?” Alec asked her.

“
Aren’t we a little too old to be playing these type of games, Alec? Do you want me to pass a note to her for you?” Allisma asked playfully.

“
Never mind,” Alec said, irritated by Allisma’s response. “I thought that you would know what her feelings were, and give me some idea of whether we can rekindle a relationship.”

“
That is something you and she need to decide for yourselves. I have tried not to gossip too much on this trip or to betray anyone’s confidence, but I know what she has said, and I’ve seen how she feels. I have a suspicion that you feel almost exactly the same way. Besides,” she told him, drawing close enough to almost whisper in his ear, “you just need to learn to communicate with her. If you had told her you were leaving this place or that, if you had told her you had this mission or that, if you had told her you loved her earlier, she would have waited patiently in Goldenfields for years.”

Alec was about to retort, when another voice interrupted.

“
There’s a light rising up the path,” Kinsey called from a short distance away. Alec turned and saw that the gully was growing brighter; after a moment of consideration he realized that one of the light ingenairii was probably lighting the way for the sortie as they ascended their rocky path. They waited and within minutes the head of the column arrived back on the top of the plateau.

“
Alec, come look at these wounds, please,” Imelda called to Alec as she crested the lip of the arroyo. “These folks were injured in the attack. They aren’t life-threatening injuries, so we thought they could manage to ride back to you for healing.”

Alec walked in the darkness touching the various wounded riders, using his powers to detect the harm done to each and then healing them. He helped the last one down from her horse as he closed the slash in her calf. “You’ll feel fine after a good night’s sleep,” he assured her.

The entire contingent reached the summit as Alec tended to the injured, and Imelda had set them to work putting up tents and establishing a guard rotation for the evening. By the time Alec had finished his healing, the camp was set and a fire was burning.

“
Your majesty, your tent will be here, in the center of the camp,” Armilla told him as he walked up to the group gathered around the fire. “And tomorrow, we’ll have you packed and ready to return to the Dominion. We will finally leave to go home to the Dominion, won’t we?”

“
Are you asking for yourself, or for Imelda?” Alec asked on impulse. He had never known Armilla to seem concerned about staying away from Oyster Bay.

“
I don’t think that’s the point of this conversation,” she said loftily, giving herself away.

“
I hope that we can meet with Rosebay tomorrow, confirm that she is in control and on her way back to her own land, and then we can be on our way back to Goldenfields,” Alec said. “That would be the best situation.”