Chapter Eleven
“What was he thinking!” exclaims Illan after Miko relates to him what he learned from Jiron. Pacing back and forth, his mind furiously tries to figure out what they need to do next.
Dave sits on one of the beds and asks, “How are we going to get James out of the castle’s dungeon?”
“We’re not,” replies Illan. “To do that would be all but impossible. We’ll have to tackle a rescue operation once James is in the hands of the Empire’s men and are on their way back to the Empire.”
“But isn’t that taking a big chance?” he asks, not liking the idea.
“We have little choice right now,” he says. “We no longer have a mage on our side so we’re going to have to move cautiously. It will do James little good if we act prematurely and wind up getting killed or thrown in jail.”
Dave just glares at them. He doesn’t like the idea of letting the Empire’s men leave with his friend.
“You have a better idea?” Illan asks him. At that, Dave just shakes his head. “Alright then.” He paces for another few moments before turning to Miko, “Take us to the Dancing Squirrel first. Then see if your kids can keep an eye on the Empire’s camp outside the walls and possibly the gates leading from the castle. Have them find us if they attempt to move him.”
Coming to his feet, Illan says, “Let’s go.” Moving to the door, he glances back and sees Dave still sitting on the bed. “I said let’s go,” he repeats himself, an edge coming into his voice.
“You’re not the boss of me and I wish you would just stop acting like you are,” Dave says defiantly.
Illan’s eyes narrow as he begins to head back to Dave to teach this upstart a lesson. Miko intercepts him and says, “It won’t do any good.” Coming to a stop, Illan just stares at Dave and seethes in anger.
Turning to Dave, Miko asks with barely controlled contempt, “Will you please come with us?”
Giving them both a sardonic smile, he says, “I’d be glad to.” Hopping off the bed, he moves to follow them.
Illan gives him a look full of anger before he turns to follow Miko from the room. All the way to the Dancing Squirrel, Dave whistles an off tune merry little ditty which does nothing to quell the anger burning within him. Only Miko’s sudden intervention and the fact that he’s James’ friend kept him from beating the living hell out of him.
At the Dancing Squirrel, they find Jiron and the others still in their room on the second floor. When the door opens and Illan sees Jiron standing there, the pent up rage Dave had instilled within him erupts.
“Just what did you think you were doing?” he yells as he and the others move into the room. Miko hastily closes the door so their neighbors along the hall won’t be able to hear the interchange. Or at least not as well, Illan can summon quite a loud voice when he wants to.
Jiron has the good sense to blush. “Sorry Illan,” he says. “But when I was offered the chance for a fight, I just couldn’t pass it up.”
“So because of your indiscretion,” Illan rages, “James is in jail, you’re hiding out and the whole city is looking for you.” Then he turns to Fifer, “Why didn’t you stop him?”
“I didn’t think…” he begins when Illan cuts him off with a wave.
“Of course you didn’t,” he states. “If either of you had half a brain we wouldn’t be in this mess.” He glares at both of them and has the satisfaction of seeing them divert their eyes first.
He glances at the Parvati and says, “We have things to discuss which are best said in private.”
“He’s coming with us,” Jiron pipes up.
“What?” Illan asks. “How can you even think that? He’s one of them!”
“No longer,” asserts Qyrll. “I owe my allegiance to the Shynti. He restored my honor and now I must remain with him until the debt can be repaid.”
Illan glances to Jiron who nods. “Great,” he says, not very happy about the whole situation. “How are we going to get James with a Parvati? We’re not going to be able to remain unnoticed with him along.”
“Regardless,” Jiron says. “He’s coming with us.”
“He’s good in a fight,” adds Fifer.
“I know he’s good in a fight,” states Illan, “he’s a Parvati.”
“I’ll be back,” Miko says as he opens the door.
“Try to return in an hour,” Illan tells him. “Sooner if you learn anything.”
Miko gives him a nod as he leaves the room, shutting the door behind. While Illan and Jiron begin discussing different strategies for rescuing James, Miko heads for the rendezvous with the kids.
Coming to the open market, he sees most of them congregating around the eatery where they ate before. When he approaches, the boy who was to round them up says, “I couldn’t find them all.”
“That’s alright,” he says. Only two of them aren’t there, one of the older girls and that cute one that always gives him hugs. “Hungry?” he asks though of course he already knew the answer.
So after buying them each a meal, he lays down what he wants them to do while they’re eating. “My other friend is still in the castle dungeon,” he begins. “Now it’s come to my attention that the Empire’s men plan on taking him out of the city and back to their country. I want to stop that.”
They perk up at that. To them it sounds like the beginnings to one of the tales of daring do that the bards are always telling. “How?” one boy asks.
“I would like you to keep an eye on their camp outside the city and on the gates to the castle,” he tells them. “At some point they’re going to be moving him and I want to know when and where.”
“Is that when you’ll be hitting them?” another boy asks.
“That will be decided when we know exactly what they plan to do,” he says. “If you see anything that indicates they are moving my friend, I want one of you to come get me at the Dancing Squirrel. You know where that is?”
“Oh sure,” one girl says. “Isn’t that the place with the yellow cat?”
Smiling, Miko nods and says, “Yes, that’s the one.” Getting up from the table, he says, “Just be careful, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. I’ll be back here in a couple of hours if I haven’t heard from you first.”
“We’ll be careful,” the older boy assures him.
Nodding, Miko leaves the eatery and makes his way back to the inn. It suddenly occurs to him that he doesn’t know any of their names. Inwardly smiling, he recalls how it was to be on the streets. Not too trusting and you never volunteer anything to anyone.
Back at the inn, he finds everyone still in the room. The remnants of the noon meal still sit upon several platters lying on the table. He tells Illan that his kids are going to keep an eye on the doings of the Empire’s men and report back to him here.
The fog clouding his mind has slowly been dissipating over the last several hours. Still unable to fully concentrate enough to summon the magic, he’s at least regained his equilibrium and the room isn’t spinning nearly as bad. Sitting on the floor next to him is a tray of food which was brought in some time ago. Unwilling to trust it, it lies untouched. Still not sure how they managed to drug him, he’s not willing to take the chance on a recurrence by eating doctored food.
When all the torches had begun to burn low, a different servant entered and put a single torch in the sconce near his pen. Now, only the light from that one torch is all he has to keep the darkness at bay.
Sitting alone in the cell, he feels the hard round object his magic had formed resting in his pants pocket. It was just a theory, never really had a chance to test it. If his situation worsens, he may try it, but until then he’ll let it lie dormant. He’s not even sure if it’s going to work or not.
Footsteps coming down the stairs herald another visitor on the way. When the man exits the stairwell and begins walking across the floor, he can tell the man comes from the Empire. He’s spent enough time down there to readily recognize one of them, even if the man is wearing local clothes.
“Awake I see,” the man says as he draws close.
James stays seated on his bench and does nothing more than look at him.
“You should eat,” the man tells him. “You have a long trip ahead of you and we must ensure you have the strength to survive it.”
“Where?” he asks, breaking his silence.
“To someone who greatly desires to talk with you,” the man says.
