him something. After giving him an answer, the boy runs back into the village as he continues playing with his friends.
“What did you ask him?” inquires James.
“I asked him how far it was to the next large town,” he replies. “He said a day away is the trading port of Al-Kur.”
“Good,” James says. “If we hurry, maybe we can reach it by nightfall.”
“Hopefully not running into any more patrols along the way,” Scar adds. He looks to his friend Potbelly, he seems to be doing okay even though a red stain has begun to appear on his shirt from where blood is continuing to seep through the stitches. All this riding is not allowing him to heal properly.
A couple of miles past the fishing village, they come to another town, this one is larger than the one they just passed through. They send Roland, Ezra and Arkie in to see about buying them all clothes so they can blend in with the natives. The rest continue around the town and await their return a mile or so further down the road. Once the town is no longer in sight behind them, they pull off the road and rest while they have a bite to eat.
James paces around nervously, worried about Roland and his family, until Jiron comes over and says, “Relax, they’ll be fine. A man with his wife and kid will be the last one the Empire’s men would be looking for.”
“I know,” he replies. “I just can’t help but worry.”
From where Scar sits with Potbelly, he can hear Scar say, “See! You done tore out a couple of the stitches.” He looks over and sees Delia getting her needle ready to redo the stitches. “I hope this hurts,” he tells his friend.
Potbelly just gives him an ugly look as he braces himself for the needle. James sees him flinch when she begins and turns his attention back to the east as he continues searching for the return of Roland and his family.
Shortly after Delia is finished with Potbelly, James begins to see two horses coming down the road. With relief, he sees that it’s Roland and family burdened with several bundles of clothes. Roland waves and smiles when he sees James standing there.
He distributes the clothes to everyone once they’ve reached the others, saying, “There wasn’t much selection, I hope they fit well enough.”
Actually, the clothes do fit well enough, Shorty’s is a bit long, but serviceable.
James looks around at everyone in their new clothes. Not bad, he thinks. Now if they could just do something about their weapons and shields, but all they can do is pack them away as unobtrusively as possible in with their other gear. Their disguise will uphold under a brief scrutiny, but anything more direct would easily expose them.
“I guess it’s the best we can do,” Jiron says to James.
“At least we don’t stick out nearly as bad anymore,” he adds.
“To Al-Kur, then,” Jiron says as everyone mounts up and gets underway. Potbelly allows Scar to help him into the saddle this time, due primarily to the scolding he received from Delia when she had to redo his stitches. Possibly from the pain of the restitching as well, but he isn’t likely to admit that to anyone.
Setting a quick pace, they make all speed for Al-Kur. They pass many travelers throughout the day, but none give them more than a quick glance or a brief ‘Hello’. Roland rides in the lead with James and Jiron so he can field any and all greetings that they receive.
The sun begins to set and still Al-Kur has not appeared upon the horizon. “Maybe the boy was wrong?” suggests Jiron.
“Perhaps,” agrees James. “We did have that stopover to get the clothes, let’s travel a few more hours and see if it appears. If not, we can camp off the road till morning.”
Nodding his head in agreement, he says, “Very well.”
When night has fallen completely and the stars are out in all their glory, the lights of Al-Kur appear on the horizon.
Unable to see much of it in the dark, they discover that this town has no defending wall surrounding it. As they get closer, they run across guards and soldiers, but other than a brief glance, they pay them no attention.
Entering the city they find an inn, Roland and James go inside to inquire about rooms for them all.
With Roland doing all the talking, they get four rooms and enough stall space for all their horses. James hands over the money as the innkeeper tells Roland which rooms are theirs.
Going back outside, they get their horses settled in the stable before returning to the inn. Once inside, they divvy up the rooms; Tersa and Delia get one, Roland and family another, James, Jiron and Shorty take the third, with Yorn, Scar, Stig and Potbelly in the last one.
After taking their saddle bags up to their rooms, they meet down in the common area for dinner. They find a large table that will accommodate them all and by the time they’re all seated, a serving girl comes over.
Roland orders for them all and pays her before she returns to the kitchen.
“So, what are we getting?” Shorty asks him once she’s left.
“Just the house special, it’s a slightly spicy stew with meat and vegetables,” he tells everyone. “Comes with bread and I ordered us all ale.”
Satisfied, they relax and Jiron says in hushed tones, “Tomorrow, we’ll start looking for a ship to take us to Cardri.”
“Why not tonight?” asks Stig.
“We’re all tired,” he replies. “Also, most captains have returned to their ships and none like unexpected visitors coming aboard at night.”
“Makes sense,” he says.
The rest of the evening they spend enjoying themselves as they eat their dinner. Although there’s no entertainment provided here, they still have a good time just talking amongst themselves. James tells them of Trendle and what they can expect when they get there.
Roland and family are the first ones to head up to their rooms, Arkie being quite tired from all the riding and Ezra wants to go to sleep as well. The rest stay down there for a couple more hours until they begin to grow tired and eventually drift on up to their rooms.
The next morning when they all gather downstairs for breakfast, they decide James and Jiron, along with Roland, would go to the docks and try to find a ship to take them to Cardri. The rest would remain in their rooms, being as inconspicuous as possible.
They leave the inn and follow the main street as it makes its way down to the dock area. Before they get close to the docks, they observe several soldiers going through the crowd and asking questions. Turning around, Jiron leads them back down the street for half a block where they duck into a side alley.
“Think they’re looking for us?” Roland asks, keeping an eye on the soldiers.
Nodding, James replies, “I think we have to assume so. They seem a little bit more curious than would seem normal.”
“I agree,” adds Jiron. Turning to James, he says, “What should we do?”
“We could go ahead and take our chances by going to the docks,” he says. “Or we could remain here, keeping our eyes open and hope a captain just happens to walk by.”
“One just walking by doesn’t seem very likely,” asserts Jiron. “Maybe we could hunt through the taverns in the area?”
“This time of morning?” asks James. “I doubt if anyone would still be there, they would all be back at their ships.”
Suddenly, a group of sailors comes walking up the street from the docks, one of them is dressed finer than the others. From the looks of them, they are not from the Empire, but from the north.
Looking at the others, James says, “Fortune may be smiling upon us.”
“I’d say,” Jiron replies with a smile.
As the sailors pass by, they can hear the one dressed well say, “Damn customs officer, holding my cargo like that.”
“He released it didn’t he?” one of the sailors replies.
“Yeah,” the well dressed man replies, “after holding it for two days. Two days!” He storms down the street with his men following behind.
Exiting the alley, they follow the sailors as they continue further into town before turning down a side street.
