“It’s on the second floor in the south wing,” the girl replied, unsure about who was asking and why.
Alec and his uncertain escort moved through the kitchen to the public hallways, and ran into the butler at the foot of the stairs.
“Jelton,” the dock worker said, relieved to finally have someone else to share responsibility with. “This boy arrived at the docks in an ingenairii boat, claiming he was here to heal Noranda. He’s hustled in here and seems to be in quite a hurry.”
The butler apparently recognized Alec from his previous visit to meet Noranda. “I’ll check with Master Lapine if you’ll wait in the parlor here,” he gestured to a nearby room.
Alec agreed to wait, and the dockman slipped away, not wanting to be associated with the uncertain situation any further, leaving Alec alone as Jelton turned and disappeared into the house.
A minute later Alec heard the front door open and close, and Elton appeared in the hallway outside the parlor, moving with a casual pace that surprised Alec. Unescorted and unaware of the visitor in the house, Elton climbed the stairs, and Alec lost sight of him when the Duke’s son turned left in the upstairs hallway.
Growing frantic with impatience, Alec decided to wait no longer, and dashed up the stairs and to the left following the lead of Noranda’s betrothed. Far down the gloomy hallway he saw two men standing outside a door, though he could identify neither one. Using a rapid pace Alec quickly joined the two men he couldn’t identify. “Is this Noranda’s room?” he asked, indicating the closed door they stood by.
“It is the death chamber,” one man said without malice.
Alec grabbed the handle and burst into the room, before the two attendants could react to his surprising action.
Inside he found Elton and Noranda’s aunt standing on one side of a bed, while two other men, presumably physicians, stood at the foot of the bed, looking grave.
“Ingenaire? Why have you burst in here?” Elton asked.
Alec ignored the question as he walked to the bedside and stared at the extremely pale figure in the bed.
Noranda laid still, an expression of pain on her face. Alec could see that she had lost a lot of blood, a dangerous amount. Her heart was barely beating, and he realized that there were traces of poison in her body, attacking her liver and kidneys, set to cause worse damage that would be just as fatal as the loss of blood itself.
He wracked his brain, sorting through his accumulated memories of healing, trying to find a means to restore life to this girl he cared so much about.
“Alec, I know you cared for her, but the doctors tell us there is nothing to do but hope she dies peacefully, soon,” her aunt said to him across the bed.
Alec fell to his knees, his face now even with Noranda’s. He leaned forward and gently kissed her lips. There was a muffled gasp from someone else in the room. He still could not come up with some way to address the fatal loss of blood and the swiftly accelerating damage to the vital organs.
Knowing nothing else to do, Alec reached out his hands. He placed one on Noranda’s head, and grasped one of her hands underneath the blanket with his other.
“Now see here, stop this behavior…” a voice seemed to say from a great distance away.
“Lord,” he began to pray quietly, his hearing and field of vision and every other sense honed to a fine focus on the girl he was with, “Give her time. Give me time to find the cure she needs. I love her Jesus, and want time to save her, no matter what it costs.”
He heard a sound like a rising wind, and saw a bluish glow fill the room. Alec was looking at Noranda’s face as he prayed, and he suddenly felt his body grow rigid, frozen in his position with Noranda. He could no longer feel his own body except the two hands that were touching the girl. The rushing sound rose, and there sounded a thump. The bluish light increased, and his vision grew blurred. He saw a rapid movement out of the corner of his eye, and felt a brief touch on his arm. Still he looked at Noranda, and saw no changes occurring in her health, although he knew something was happening.
More blurred movements occurred in his peripheral sight. Alec could not tell how much time was passing as he knelt paralyzed. He felt a sudden sense of weariness come over him, and realized that his personal energy was being depleted rapidly, as if he was carrying an enormous load of ingenaire power with him out of the energy zone.
A chill came over him, and the sense of weariness increased. The rushing sound commenced to rise in pitch rapidly, reaching a painful crescendo, and the bluish light grew rapidly brighter.
A sudden bursting occurred, and all the strange phenomena ended. Alec slumped to the floor beside the bed. He heard many voices speaking loudly around him. His fingers slid off her face, and he let lose his grasp on Noranda’s hand, then opened his eyes. There directly above him was the face of Aristotle, with a look of concern and wonder expressed in his eyes.
“Alec, how are you? Can you hear me?” the old ingenaire asked.
“I hear you,” Alec replied faintly, feeling ready to pass out.
“Are you finished with your ingenaire works?” Aristotle asked, as more faces appeared above his, looking down at Alec with expressions of wonder, fear and concern.
“I am finished for now,” Alec answered. He closed his eyes and passed out.
315
Table of Contents
Introduction
Also by the Author
List of Characters
Section 1 Finding The Vision – The White Mountains
Chapter 1 – Arrival in the Mountains
Chapter 3 – Ambush at Riverside
Chapter 4 – A Night with Natalie
Chapter 5 – Departure from Riverside
Chapter 6 – The Rising Stars
Chapter 7 – The Cave of Healing
Chapter 8 – Leah in Walnut Creek
Chapter 9 – Surviving Walnut Creek’s Fall
Section 2 Finding The Power – Goldenfields
Chapter 11 – Annalea in Goldenfields
Chapter 12 – A Visit From An Angel
Chapter 13 – The Shop on Bakers Street
Chapter 14 – The Duke’s Palace
Chapter 15 – The Surviving Guard
Chapter 16 – The Palace Guard
Chapter 17 – The Awakening
Chapter 18 – Recovery in the Palace
Chapter 19 – The Duke Makes Plans
Chapter 20 – The Chapel by the River
Chapter 21 – Reflections on a Note
Chapter 22 – The Pain of Training
Chapter 23 – Dinner at Natha’s
Chapter 24 -- Alec Returns to the River
Chapter 25 – The Challenge of Healing Lewis
Chapter 26 – An Unhealthy Sleep
Chapter 27 – The Healing Power
Chapter 28 – Lewis Revives
Chapter 29 – The Camp by the River
Chapter 30 – A Chase Through the Wilderness
Chapter 31 – Pursuit by Ingenairii
Chapter 32 – Learning the Ingenairii Factions
Chapter 33 – A Captain and Ingenaire
Chapter 34 – Merle’s Test
Chapter 35 – Merle’s Proposal
Chapter 36 – Where the Power Resides
Chapter 37 – Grasping the Energy
Chapter 38 – A Night on the Town
Chapter 39 – Terror at the Shop
Chapter 40 – Consequences of Power
Chapter 41 – The Healing Water
Chapter 42 – Learning About Healing
Chapter 43 – A Mark of Power
Chapter 44 – Return to the River
Excerpt from At the Seat of Power, Book 2 in the Ingenairii Series
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