He flashes her a grin as they help him through to his room where he collapses on the bed, feeling completely drained.
As they leave, he says to them, “Tell Ezra I’ll not be joining you for dinner.”
Jiron pauses at the door and replies, “I’ll tell her. You just get some rest.” He closes the door and leaves James by himself.
Too tired to even attempt to get out of his clothes, he tries to get comfortable and allows sleep to claim him.
The morning drill of the recruits again disturbs his slumber. Going to have to ask Illan to take it somewhere else. He just lies there listening to him instruct them in proper defensive techniques for awhile, too comfortable to get up despite having slept in his clothes.
I did it. I can now hide the Fire with the concealing spell. Feeling very good about himself, he relaxes and tries to put the rest of his cares out of his mind. The money situation continues to plague him, disturbing the inner tranquility he was trying to achieve.
With the money he has now, both here and at Alexander’s, he can keep this place running for several months with no undue hardship. However, he’s got to figure out a way to generate a steady, reliable source of income that will last for years. The teddy bears will bring in some, but not nearly the quantity he’s figuring to need.
Finally giving into the inevitable, he swings his legs over the side and sits up on the bed. The room starts spinning and he has to remain still for several minutes before it stabilizes. A slight headache and a trace of fatigue is all that remains from the exhaustion he experienced the day before.
Holding onto the bedpost for support, he stands up and the dizziness returns, but only for a second before subsiding. He slowly changes out of the clothes he slept in and into a fresh clean set Ezra has laid out for him on his chest.
Once dressed, he opens the bedroom door and makes it out to the kitchen where she provides him with a plate with eggs and a ham steak.
“Thank you,” he says. The aroma coming off the plate makes his stomach cramp and he realizes just how hungry he is.
“You shouldn’t go without eating,” Ezra tells him. Sitting down across from him, she begins peeling tubers for their midday meal.
Finishing the bite of ham, he replies, “I know. But I needed rest more than food last night.”
“Are you done with whatever you are trying to do?” she asks.
“I think so,” he says. “I shouldn’t be doing anything too draining for awhile.”
“Good,” she says. Then she pauses in her peeling and looks at him with concern in her eyes, “I worry about you.”
He gives her a reassuring smile and says, “I know you do. I’ll try to be more careful.”
Before he’s finished with his breakfast, the sound of a wagon coming down the road can be heard. Stuffing the last of the eggs and ham in his mouth, he goes to the window and looks out to see Kraegan the blacksmith, driving a wagon toward the house. One of his apprentices sits in the back with the iron box he commissioned.
Leaving the kitchen through the backdoor, he goes out to meet him. When Kraegan brings the wagon to a stop, James says, “You’re done!”
“Just got it back a short time ago,” he says as he climbs down. “Thought you may be wanting it so brought it out myself.”
James comes forward and shakes his hand as the apprentice brings the small iron box down from the wagon. It’s little more than six inches wide and tall, should be just right for the Fire to sit securely within. He can see the crystals are embedded in the sides and top just as he requested.
“Where do you want it?” he asks.
James gestures over to his workshop and says, “In there would be fine.” He then turns and leads them over to it.
“Been having trouble?” Kraegan asks.
“Why do you ask that?” he replies as he approaches the door. Opening it up, he stands back as the apprentice carries the box in through the door.
He points over to where Illan, Uther and Jorry are working with the new recruits. “That and the guard I encountered out by the road,” he says.
“A little,” James tells him. “People keep coming by to see what I’m doing. Annoying.”
“I can understand that,” he tells him.
To the apprentice, he points to the floor near his workbench and says, “Just put it down there.” Once he’s set it down, James tells him, “Thank you.”
“Go and wait at the wagon,” the blacksmith says to his apprentice.
His apprentice says, “Yes sir,” and then leaves the workshop.
James comes over and inspects the box, running his fingers over the crystals. He nods his head when he finds them securely embedded, they don’t even wiggle a tiny fraction. Opening the box, he feels the soft inner lining where the Fire will rest. It’s just large enough for it to sit securely within. Closing the lid, he sees a small keyhole in the top near one of the sides.
“Here,” Kraegan says.
Glancing over his shoulder to the blacksmith, he sees him holding out a small key. Closing the lid, he places the key within the lock and turns it. After removing the key, he tries to open the lid and finds it securely locked. Placing the key in a pocket, he stands back up and turns to the blacksmith. “Very nice work,” he says.
“Is it what you wanted?” the blacksmith asks.
“Yes,” replies James. “Exactly. Now let’s go back to the house and I’ll get you the rest of what I owe.”
Leading the way, he takes him in through the house and has him wait in the kitchen.
“Would you care for anything?” Ezra asks him.
“No thank you,” he tells her.
James moves into his room and opens the money chest. Taking out a sack of coins, he removes all but what he needs for Kraegan. He adds two silvers as well as the promised bonus of ten extra golds for quick delivery and then closes the chest.
Coming back out to where he’s waiting, he places the sack of coins on the table and then they proceed to count them. When Kraegan sees the extra two silvers, he nods his head and puts the coins back in the sack.
“I appreciate the speed in which you managed to complete the job,” he tells him.
“Always try to, if I can,” he says as James leads him out the back door to where his wagon waits. The apprentice has already taken his position in the back.
Getting up in the driver’s seat, Kraegan says, “Good day to you sir.”
“You too, master blacksmith,” replies James as Kraegan turns the wagon around and heads down the lane to the road. On his way back to his workshop, he sees Yern out practicing with his sword as he works to regain the strength he lost after being hit in the shoulder. He’s moving his sword in a complex pattern as he moves around the ground. His red hair is matted against his face by the sweat his exertions are producing.
Coming over to him, James says, “How’s your shoulder?”
Yern brings his workout to a stop as he turns and replies, “Much better. It doesn’t hurt so much anymore and I’ve regained much mobility and strength.”
“Good,” he says. “I was wondering if you could find Fifer and meet me in the workshop?”
“Why?” he asks, rubbing the sweaty hair from out of his face.
“I have something I need you to do,” he tells him.
“I think he’s out by the road,” he says. “I’ll see if Jiron will take over for him and we’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Alright,” replies James.
Yern goes over to a bucket of water and washes the sweat off of his face before going to find Jiron.
James turns back and continues to the workshop. Once inside, he picks up the box and places it on his workbench, it’s not nearly as heavy as he’d been anticipating. He spends several minutes in further examination of it, checking to make sure there are no cracks in any of the crystals, even to the point of sending his senses to inspect them internally.
Finding no fractures that he had been afraid would’ve happened during the construction process, he brings
