Somehow, someone must have seen us put them there, took them, and now has tracked us here.”
“That’s quite a story,” Perrilin says. “I have heard of Lord Colerain, though have never met him. He is rumored to be a nasty one to cross.”
“Yeah,” he agrees, “I’ve heard that too.” Removing the cloth from out of the box, he searches for a note, or anything else that might shed some light on all this. “Question is, what is it that they want?” After searching the box thoroughly, he says, “They didn’t leave a note.”
The cloth which had been used to wrap the board lies on the floor next to the table. Perrilin notices something and says, “James, look at the cloth itself.” Picking it up, he uses both hands and spreads it out. There is writing on it.
Where these were buried, one hour
It’s written in what looks to be charcoal. He shows it to Perrilin.
“I guess they want to meet you where you buried them, in one hour,” Perrilin assumes.
“That’s how I see it too,” agrees James.
“Are you going to meet with them?” he asks.
“I think I should,” he replies. “If their desire had been to cause me trouble with the city watch, guards would have been here instead. I should be alright, I hope.” He wraps the board with the cloth and then puts it back inside the box. “If Miko returns before I do, have him wait until I get back,” he tells Perrilin as he comes to his feet.
“I will,” Perrilin assures him, “and be careful.”
“I have learned a lot about being careful since coming here,” states James. Not taking the backpack with him this time, he leaves the room and goes downstairs. Miss Gilena is in the common room straightening chairs and he takes a moment to go over to talk with her.
She turns at his approach and says in a worried tone, “Nothing is wrong, is it?”
“Everything is fine,” James says reassuringly. “I just need to step out for a short while, I left him upstairs and he’s sleeping again.”
“Rest is the best thing for him right now.” She looks somewhat more relaxed knowing Perrilin is doing fine.
“There was a package delivered to my room a few minutes ago,” he tells her. “You wouldn’t have seen who dropped it off?”
“No, it was probably given to one of the staff,” she answers. “They wouldn’t have bothered me for something like that. Why?”
“Just curious is all. Thank you for your time,” he says and then turns to walk out the door.
“Goodbye to you James,” Miss Gilena says as he walks away from her.
He leaves the inn and begins the trek through the city and out into the poorer section. Hope I can remember where I buried them, he worries to himself. It was pretty dark and I was preoccupied at the time.
One street looks pretty much like any other. He finally comes across a refuse pile in an area looking somewhat familiar. He isn’t sure if he has found the right spot or not, but he thinks so. The area he’s in is fairly run down, lots of bums and beggars hanging around up and down the street. After a few minutes of waiting, he begins to feel very self conscious, a stranger standing all by himself in such an area. He definitely stands out among all the other residents and is beginning to draw the attention of some of them.
Three young men eye him from down the street where they stand together talking. Being under scrutiny like this is starting to wear on his nerves, making him jumpy. He definitely does not feel safe there. The three young men seem to have come to a decision, for James sees them begin walking in his direction.
Nervous but needing to meet that person, he stands his ground and waits while the men come over to him. He has his magic if nothing else.
As they approach, two of the young men fan out, leaving the third to approach while they move to flank him.
“Can I help you gentlemen?” James asks, trying to keep his voice calm.
“Maybe,” one says as he pulls out a knife, “you could help by giving us all your coins.” The other two draw their knives as well and gesture menacingly with them toward him. James suddenly realizes that the many people who had been loitering in the area earlier have all but disappeared. Other than a few here and there, he and the three toughs are the only ones remaining on the street, which can’t be a good sign.
James backs away until his back presses against a wall.
“Look man, we don’t want to hurt you, we just want your gold,” another one tells him.
“You don’t want his money,” a voice comes from behind them. The three toughs turn to see a well dressed man in his middle years approaching with sword drawn.
“We don’t want any trouble with you,” the first tough tells the newcomer, menacing him with his knife.
“Then you better leave before I come over there,” the man says unimpressed. All the while he still maintains the same steady pace forward.
The three toughs look to each other, realizing their knives will be no match for a swordsman and then make a break for it down the road. The newcomer comes over to James and sheathes his sword.
“Thank you stranger,” James says with relief when the man draws near.
Waving away the comment, he says, “Are you here to meet someone?”
“Yes I am,” he answers.
“Then follow me,” the man says as he turns to return back the way he came. “This isn’t where I expected to find you. You are lucky you weren’t killed, this is no area for strangers.”
“Yeah, I gathered that,” James replies. “Where are we going?”
“Someone wants to meet with you, just be quiet and follow me.” The man continues down the street and then turns down another to the left. They soon come to a dilapidated looking building where the man walks up to the door, opens it, and then gestures for James to precede him inside the building.
He enters a poorly lit hallway and the man tells him to continue on down to the second door on the left. James reaches the door and is directed to open it and enter.
When he opens the door, light from the other side bathes the hallway. Passing through, he enters a well lit room wherein he finds three people, two being most likely guards since they are dressed similar to the man whom had escorted him. The third man is sitting behind a table with a single, empty chair situated across from him. He gestures for James to come in and sit in the empty chair.
James nervously crosses the room, taking a seat in the chair as he looks around. He hears the door close behind him and glances back at the two guards taking up positions around the room while the man who had brought him there remains by the door.
He returns his attention to the man sitting across from him. Appearing to be middle aged with hair just beginning to grey about the temples the man holds an air of command the single scar running along his left jawbone doing little to diminish it. Reaching down to the floor beside him, the man brings up the hood containing the remaining boards. “You know about these?” he asks.
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t,” James replies nervously.
“It would seem that the other night, four people died in a house not far from here. Two others were seen leaving that very same house around that time. Those same people were also observed to go and bury these in a refuse pile not too far from here. Interesting wouldn’t you say?” The man sits back in his chair and looks at the reaction his words are having on him.
James shifts nervously in his chair, eyes flicking from the man, to the boards and back again, but doesn’t say anything.
The man continues, “Now, we know that the people who died in the house were working under the orders of someone working on behalf of a Lord Colerain from Bearn, whether they knew it themselves or not. What we want to know is why Lord Colerain has an interest in you?”
“You’re not with the city guards?” James asks.
Laughing, the man replies, “If we were, you wouldn’t be here now would you?”
“No, I suppose not. Why this interest in me?” he asks.
“Anything of interest to Lord Colerain, interests us,” the man answers.
Gesturing to the boards, James asks, “What do you plan to do with those?”
“Probably throw them away,” he replies. “They were merely instrumental in gaining your attention. Now, why this interest in you?”
