sets his bag of crystals on the floor by his bed.
“Yes, sir,” he says and leaves the room.
Laying down, James sinks into luxurious comfort. “Wonder how much this is costing us?” he muses.
“Don’t know,” replies Jiron as he sits on the other bed. When he feels the softness, he lies down too and adds, “But it’s worth it.”
“Ain’t it though,” sighs James.
“I’m rather surprised to find a room such as this here in a town like Ki,” Jiron says. “An outer room for servants and a bath here in the main room just seems odd.”
Shrugging, James replies, “I don’t care why, just glad it’s here.” They lay there for a few more minutes until Jared returns.
“They’ll have it up in a few minutes,” he tells them. “The proprietor said to let them know when you want the bath.”
“Thanks,” says James. “When the food arrives, have them bring it in here and we’ll eat together. It’s the only table large enough for the three of us.”
“Very well,” replies Jared as he returns to the outer room and leaves them alone.
Ten minutes later James is snapped awake when Jared and the servers from the inn come in with their dinner. Roast beef, tubers and two loaves of bread make a mouthwatering aroma. Getting up, he makes his way over to the table where dinner is being laid out.
As soon as the servers have everything on the table they make a hasty retreat and shut the door behind them. Jiron notices their quick exit and asks Jared, “What did you tell them?”
Gesturing to James he grins and says, “That his lordship there is a servant of Dmon-Li.”
“Lordship?” asks James.
“Added that,” he admits. “People act differently when they think they’re dealing with royalty or someone of importance.”
“Indeed,” adds Jiron as he gives himself a heaping portion of the roast beef.
They eat in silence as each savors the succulent meat and the fresh baked bread. Once they are done, Jared is sent down for servers to come and retrieve the dirty dishes. He also arranges for the bath to be filled at the same time.
“You should stay here while Jared and I take a look around,” suggests Jiron.
“But what if someone comes or one of the servers asks me something,” he counters. “What am I to do then?”
“Don’t worry,” assures Jared. “I’ll make sure they leave you alone.”
A knock comes to them from the outer door and Jared leaves the room to answer it. Several lads are there with buckets of steaming hot water. After dumping them in the bathtub, they each take some of the dirty dishes with them as they leave. Another two lads enter after the others have left and begin doing the same, one of whom brings in a cake of soap and a couple towels.
Once they have the bath sufficiently filled, James removes his clothes and gingerly enters the steaming water. In no time at all, he’s lounging back with all but his head submerged under the water. He closes his eyes and begins to feel the tension and stress melt away.
“We’ll be back,” whispers Jiron to him as he grabs Jared and leaves the room.
On their way down the stairs to the common room, they come across one of the servers on his way up with a bucket of water. Jared lays a hand on his arm and tells him something. The lad gives him a nod, turns around and hurries back down the stairs.
When they leave the inn, Jiron asks, “What did you say to him?”
Jared flashes him an amused grin and says, “Only that his lordship is relaxing and it would be unwise to disturb him. Also that the last one who did was invited to ‘attend’ a service at the temple. I doubt if anyone will so much as go near the door while we’re gone.”
Laughing, Jiron claps him on the back and they head down the street.
With the mountains to the west, the streets of Ki grow dark quickly. They wander from one end of town to another, finally finding a road that will take them up into the mountains. Deciding this is the most likely place for the mine to be, they follow it.
As they leave the town behind, the ground begins to rise as the road makes its way up the side of the mountain. About the time the lights from Ki disappear around a bend, the sound of a wagon is heard coming toward them from up ahead.
Moving off the road a ways, they wait in the shadows as it draws near. It’s actually two wagons full of ore coming from the mine, which tells them they are on the right road. They wait until the wagons pass and are further down the mountain before returning to the road.
The road continues on and finally works its way into a box canyon. They slow when lights appear coming from up ahead. A tall wooden wall, similar in nature to what James and Jiron found surrounding the mine on the island, blocks off the canyon from one side to the other. The road continues straight toward it and passes through a gate.
The wall itself is easily twenty foot high and guards carrying crossbows can be seen walking along the top. Jiron pulls Jared to the side where they crouch and watch for several minutes.
“How are we going to get in there?” Jared asks.
“We’re not,” he explains. “We’ll stay here a little while longer then return to let James know what we found.”
They settle in and wait for over half an hour. When nothing develops, Jiron indicates it’s time for them to return.
Chapter Nineteen
Back at the inn they find James asleep in the bathtub. A single candle is all but burnt down to nothing on a nearby table. “Go ahead and get some sleep,” Jiron tells Jared. “I’ll take care of this.”
Grinning, Jared nods his head and backs out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Coming over to James, he can’t help but allow a chuckle to escape. At first he was going to startle him awake but changed his mind at the last moment. He places his hand upon James’ shoulder and gives it a gentle shake. “Wake up,” he says softly.
Startled out of sleep, James sits up abruptly in the tub, splashing some of the now cold water onto the floor. Looking behind him he sees Jiron standing there. “You’re back!” he exclaims.
“Here,” Jiron says as he hands him the towel that was sitting next to the tub.
“Thanks.” Taking the towel, he gets out of the tub and proceeds to dry himself off. “So what did you find out?”
“The mines are a couple hours from town,” Jiron explains. “It’s situated at the end of a box canyon.”
“A canyon?” he asks.
“Yeah. A wooden fence, similar to the one back on the island where we rescued Miko and Nate, blocks the entrance. There’s but a single gate and guards patrol the top.”
Nodding, James continues getting ready for bed. “Did you get a look inside?”
“No,” he replies shaking his head. “No chance for that. We waited and watched for awhile but nothing happened, then we came back.”
Finished getting ready for bed, he lies back on top of the covers and mulls over what Jiron just told him. “Tomorrow afternoon I’d like to go up there and have a look around if you think we can avoid being noticed?” he finally asks.
“The road winds through some barren hills before it reaches the box canyon,” Jiron explains. “Not much in the way of concealing cover but we’ll see what we can do.” Going over to the burning candle he snuffs it out and then crawls into his own bed. He plans on getting a good night’s sleep this night. After tomorrow things are likely to be a little lively.
Back in his tower, Kerith-Ayxt stares out at the moon rising in the distance. Exhausted from the two days of
