“He may not be up yet,” he says. “It’s still quite early.”

“I’ll wait if it’s all the same with you,” Illan tells him.

“Suit yourself,” replies the guard who then moves back over with his men.

Illan stands there impatiently as he awaits the return of the junior guard. Almost a half hour later, he sees him returning. He waits while the lead guard confers with his man and then watches as he begins moving toward where he’s waiting.

“He said that he will meet with you,” the guard tells him. “A page is being summoned and will arrive shortly to escort you.”

“Thank you,” says Illan. A short time later, a boy in the livery of a castle page approaches the gate and Illan moves to follow him into the castle area.

The page leads him through to the building housing the Royal Archives. Going in through the main door, he takes him down to the doors leading into Ellinwyrd’s sanctum. He pauses a moment as he knocks upon the door and when he receives Ellinwyrd’s permission to enter, opens the door. Stepping to one side, he allows Illan to precede him into the room.

“Thank you Michael,” Ellinwyrd says from where he sits at a table stacked haphazardly with books and scrolls.

Nodding, Michael closes the door.

Coming over to where Ellinwyrd sits, Illan makes his way through the ‘obstacle course’ as James had called it when he described his visit here. He can see what James meant by this place being a disorganized chaotic mess. It’s a wonder that anything can even be found.

Ellinwyrd glances up from a book open before him as he approaches. Indicating a chair across from him, he says, “Please, sit down.”

“Thank you for seeing me,” Illan says graciously. “I don’t know if you’re aware of what happened last night, but they came and arrested James.”

Closing the book before him, Ellinwyrd nods his head as a sigh escapes him. “I know,” he replies.

“Do you know what’s going to happen to him?” Illan asks.

“I’m afraid so,” he says sadly.

“They’re not going to hand him over to the Empire are they?” asks Illan, afraid of the answer.

“Yes, they are,” he tells him.

“Why in god’s name are they acceding to their request? They have to know he’s innocent!”

“Innocence or guilt rarely has much to do with what kingdoms decide,” he explains. “First of all, Cardri is not so big that they can afford to antagonize their neighbor to the south. James isn’t even a citizen of Cardri in their eyes so to them it’s not like they’re handing over one of their own.”

“Also, when the Ambassador’s adjutant was killed, that was just one more strain on an already shaky peace. Giving them James was a way to alleviate that strain.”

“You know what the Empire is going to do to him, don’t you?” Illan asks. “They’ll torture and kill him.”

“I know,” he replies.

“If they try to give him to the Empire, he’s likely to tear down the castle and kill an awful lot of people,” Illan tells him. “I’ve seen him in action.”

Shaking his head, Ellinwyrd says, “No, he won’t.”

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“I mean, there are steps one can take to ensure the safe capture of one who controls the power,” he tells him. “I believe it’s already begun to be implemented.”

“If they try to drug him, he’ll resist,” he asserts.

“He won’t even know it’s happening until it’s too late,” he explains. “There’s more than one way to drug a mage. They have torches that when lit, emit a narcotic fume which will render him unable to use his magic.” Illan just stares at him in horror. “After that, it’s just an easy matter to go in and collect him.”

“But we have to do something,” he says. “We can’t just let them take him.”

“From what I’ve gathered, they’ll not be taking him for some time,” he says. “They still must conclude the new trade agreement, and that could take another day or two.”

Looking at Ellinwyrd, Illan narrows his eyes as he contemplates what he just heard. “A day or two eh?” he breathes as he cocks one eyebrow in question.

Ellinwyrd nods his head. “Our Merchant’s Guild is pressing the Royal Court to get good terms with the Empire and the negotiations have at times become heated. But the general consensus is that the Empire’s representatives need to finalize the trade agreement for the next five years, and do it soon.”

“Alright then,” replies Illan as he gets to his feet. “I don’t have much time.”

Standing up as well, Ellinwyrd reaches into his rumpled tunic and pulls out a scroll bearing his wax seal. Handing it across the table to him, he says, “If you should see James, give him this.”

Taking the scroll, Illan asks, “What is it?”

“A number of questions had arisen during our last visit and I think this may answer one,” he explains.

Putting it inside his shirt, Illan says, “I’ll be sure to.”

“Very good,” Ellinwyrd replies. Moving over to the decorative pull rope, he summons the page Michael back and has him escort Illan back to the gates.

“I thank you for taking the time to see me,” Illan says as he’s about to walk out the door.

“Anytime,” he says. “And if all this should somehow become resolved, tell James to stop by again.”

“I will.” Turning to follow Michael he closes the door to Ellinwyrd’s sanctum. Back through the castle area and out the gate, he says goodbye to Michael as he heads back to the Silver Bells.

Once back at the inn, he hurries up the stairs to the room where he left Miko and Dave. Opening the door, he finds the room empty. They’re both gone. Damn! Nothing to do for the moment but wait, he sits down by the window and pulls out the scroll Ellinwyrd had given him wondering just what was on it.

“I’m tired of staying in this room,” Dave complains when Miko tells him that’s what Illan wants him to do. “All I’ve done is sit in here doing nothing and I’m sick of it. James is in trouble and I want to help!”

“But there’s nothing you can do so the best thing you can do is sit tight,” explains Miko. He ordered a meal brought in for them and Dave’s done nothing but complain ever since he awoke. Frankly, Miko is sick of it.

Dave glares at him from across the table as he continues eating his breakfast of eggs and ham steak. “Now, I’ve got a couple things I need to see to,” Miko tells him after he’s done eating. “Just stay here and don’t get into any trouble.”

He can feel the glare of Dave’s eyes follow him as he gets up from the table and moves to the door. Without even looking back, he opens the door and quickly shuts it. I don’t know what James sees in this guy.

At first, Dave seemed to be okay. But ever since coming to Cardri though, he’s been a pain. He doesn’t do anything, it’s just his attitude. Miko can’t stand whiny people. Maybe if their lives were reversed, he could understand better where he comes from, but that’s neither here nor there. He only puts up with him for James’ sake.

Once out on the street, he heads down to where he and the kids were going to meet if they didn’t contact him during the night. As he approaches the open market, he sees them near the place where they ate yesterday afternoon.

They see him coming and the little girl gives him a smile as they come to meet him. “Hungry?” he asks. Several nods and an ‘of course’ meet his question. “Then let’s get something to eat.” At the nearby open eatery, he gets then all a modest helping of taters and egg. Moving to a table, they bring their food over and begin eating.

The older boy asks, “Did you hear what happened out in the poor section last night?”

“Something about a killing wasn’t it?” replies Miko.

“One of the important members of the Empire’s trade delegation got himself decapitated,” one of the younger boys adds.

“Really?” prompts Miko, very interested in what they may know about it. “Did you see it?”

“I did,” the older boy states. “I was in the area with a couple of the older kids and heard a fight was going down out there. So we decided to go and watch the show. It was a regular fight, one guy with two knives against another with two swords.”

He pauses a moment as he takes a large bite and then continues through a mouth full of eggs. “It was going

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