Taking the scroll, he cracks the seal and reads it:
To the Mage known as James:
You are forthwith summoned to appear before the Royal Court with all due speed.
His Royal Majesty,
King Colbern Cardri
He shows the letter to Illan and then asks the herald, “Why am I to appear before the Royal Court?”
“That was not told to me sir,” the herald replies. “I am simply to await your reply and then return to the King.”
“Give us a moment,” he says. The herald nods his head.
Indicating they should go back into the house, James moves inside and the others follow. “What do you make of it?” he asks.
Handing the letter back to him, Illan replies, “I don’t know. Maybe your reputation has at last reached the King and he wants to see you for himself.”
“Maybe. But what should I tell him?” he asks, gesturing to the herald waiting outside.
“You have to go,” he tells him. “You cannot ignore the summons of the King, no matter what. Not if you wish to reside in his kingdom.”
“He’s right,” adds Roland. “A local noble here and there is one thing to antagonize. But it wouldn’t be wise to put the king of the land against you, as surely would happen should you ignore his summons.”
“So I have to go all the way to Cardri?” he asks.
“Yes, you have no choice,” Illan states.
“There’s always a choice,” he says as he returns back to where the herald is waiting.
The herald sees him coming and says, “And what is your reply?”
“You may inform his majesty that I will leave first thing in the morning for Cardri,” he tells him.
“Very well,” he says. “I shall so inform his majesty.” Mounting his horse, he turns it around and rides down the lane back to the road.
James watches as he reaches the end and turns onto the main road. Glancing at Jiron, he says, “Not only do I have the bother of people coming here to gawk at me, but now I have to travel for days for the King to.”
“This may prove beneficial to you,” he replies.
“In what way?” James inquires.
“Ellinwyrd, the Royal Archivist in Cardri you mentioned before, may be able to help you with what you discovered in Saragon,” he explains.
Nodding, he says, “You may be right.” To Illan he says, “I’d like you and Fifer to accompany me to Cardri. I’ll also bring along Miko, Jiron and Dave.”
At the mention of Dave, Jiron gets a dark look. The thought of traveling with him brings back the anger from the night before.
Seeing his reaction, James turns to him and asks quietly so only he may hear, “Would you rather me leave him here?”
Realizing that would be even worse he shakes his head. “No,” he says, “best to bring him along.”
“You know, he really isn’t a bad person,” James assures him. “I’m sure last night was just as he said, he simply went into the wrong room. He probably got confused being in a strange house in the dark.”
“Maybe,” Jiron says, though the tone of his voice tells he doesn’t believe that. His eyes dart to the door and he sees Dave standing there. Turning around, he stalks away from the house.
James can hear Illan mumble under his breath, “This is going to be a fun trip.” Shaking his head, he knows that if they just give Dave a chance, they’ll come to find out he’s not nearly as bad as they think. They’ve just gotten off on the wrong foot.
He returns to the house and takes Dave out through the kitchen where he picks up a couple of towels. Leading them through the back door, he leads him out to his bathing pool.
“What are we doing?” Dave asks as they approach the water.
“Taking a bath, why?” asks James.
“Out here?” he asks.
“Sure,” replies James. “Not much privacy around here.” When he sees Dave hesitating, he adds, “Everyone knows to avoid this area when someone’s here. Don’t worry, no one will disturb us.”
“Okay,” agrees Dave hesitantly. As he gets undressed, James can again see the patchwork of scars and mutilations across his body. No part of him seems to have escaped the wrath of whoever owned him.
As they settle into the water, James is greeted by the coldness. Taking baths here certainly cannot continue much longer. He glances over to the construction site of his new house. The outside is practically complete and the inside is coming along nicely as well. Soon he’ll be able to have a hot bath.
During the time they spend in the pool, they talk about inconsequential things. James learns a little more about Dave’s time in the Empire, but nothing of any real relevance. He in turn, tells of some of his exploits.
By the time lunch is ready, he’s ready to get out. Drying themselves off with the towels, they get dressed again and head back to the house.
The rest of the afternoon is taken up with preparations for their trip to Cardri. James is annoyed at having to make the trip, but at the same time is looking forward to seeing Ellinwyrd again. Maybe as Jiron suggested, he could help in figuring out the enigmatic riddle he came across in Saragon.
The riddle continues playing through his mind,
When the Fire shines Bright
And the Star walks the Land.
Time for the Lost
Will soon be at Hand.
Time for the Lost. What could that mean? Suddenly, a memory comes to him, something he hasn’t thought about for quite some time. It was during the time when Igor had taken him to Disneyland in that dream, vision, whatever it was. He had bent over and picked up a wallet. But it was what he said about it that stops him in his tracks:
“ Sad when something gets lost,” he tells James. “When you lose something, you always hope an honest person will find it and work to get it back to you. All too often though, you never see it again. Such is life.”
Could there be a connection? Something to do with Igor is lost? Or with Morcyth? His mind churns over the idea. Other visitations by Igor have had ulterior meanings, why not that one. He always thought that particular one had to do with Disneyland being a focal point. But maybe it was to do with returning something that was lost.
A shiver runs down his spine as he suddenly comes to the realization of what this could all be pertaining to. The Star of Morcyth! Of course! That makes perfect sense. Taking out the medallion bearing the symbol of the Star, he holds it up and looks upon it. Could that be why I’m here? To find the lost Star of Morcyth? Then that could mean the second and third stanzas of the riddle could be directions to lead him to it.
He hears Ezra call them for dinner and he practically skips on his way to the dinner table. Excited, he takes his seat and the meal commences.
“What’s got you all happy?” asks Miko from where he’s filling his plate with boiled tubers.
“Oh, nothing,” he says. But the grin on his face belies his statement. He would like nothing more than to talk about it, but too many here don’t know the whole story and it wouldn’t be wise to mention it in front of them.
“Sean said the new house will be ready in a couple weeks,” Roland says. “Maybe when you come back, you’ll be able to move in.”
“That would be nice,” states James.
“If he’s done in time, we’ll be sure to get your stuff transferred over,” Roland assures him.
“Thank you,” replies James.
Dave sits quietly to the right of James as he eats his dinner. The attitudes of the others have begun to mellow, some beginning to realize that he could have actually stumbled into the wrong room as he says. That James vouches for him gives credence to his story as well.
None come right out and really talk to him, and James is worried for his friend. He wants him to become a part of his life here and over time, he’s sure he will.
The evening’s gathering goes by quickly and they soon head to their respective beds. When he and Dave are lying in the dark, Dave asks, “Where is this Cardri?”
