Another of the men adds, “He claimed he bought if from some prostitute in Inziala before we came north. Said he paid her four gold pieces for it.”
“What prostitute?” asks Jiron after Reilin translated for them.
A few moments’ discussion with the captives and Reilin says, “They don’t know her name. Supposedly she works down by the river at a place called The Split Navel.”
“Can we trust them?” asks Shorty.
“I can’t believe they would lie about something as trivial as where a necklace came from,” suggests Scar. “I mean, what’s the point?”
James glances to Brother Willim and asks, “What do you think?”
“I don’t sense any attempt at deception,” he replies. “I would tend to believe they are telling the truth.” Beside him Miko nods in agreement.
“So then, what to do with them?” Stig asks.
“I gave them my word not to kill them,” he says, “but I said nothing about releasing them.” He glances to Jiron and says, “We leave them bound and gagged when we go.”
“And then notify someone at the next town where they are?” asks Shorty.
Shaking his head, James says, “No. The people at the inn know that something happened here. More than likely someone will come out here to investigate.”
“They will execute them when they find them,” Miko says.
“If so, it’s no more than they deserve,” he says. “Let’s get out of here, I don’t want to stay is this place any longer.” The blood soaked floor and rugs are beginning to make him a bit nauseous. Indicating the three men he says, “Make sure they are secure and won’t go anywhere.”
“You got it,” says Scar. With Potbelly’s aid, they make sure the men will not escape their bonds on their own.
James walks with Jiron and Aleya to the door. “Does anyone know how far Inziala is from here?” he asks.
“Not exactly,” replies Jiron. “But if you remember, we did go through it during our search for Miko.”
“Seems like we are always hunting for someone that the Empire has taken,” James says.
“With luck this will be our last time,” Jiron states.
“I hope so,” admits James. “You know, I would love to simply sit by a river under a warm sun and do nothing for the rest of my life.”
Laughing, Jiron says, “Don’t we all.” Aleya snakes her arm around his middle as they move through the door to where the horses are tied.
Off to the east the sky is beginning to lighten with the coming of dawn. As James swings into the saddle, still weary due to lack of sufficient sleep, he can’t help but revel in the peace this time of day brings. Still and quiet, it’s almost as if the world stops in anticipation of the sun’s rise.
When Scar and Potbelly exit the farmhouse, they report that the men aren’t likely to get free. Then they mount and James leads them back toward the road. He angles in a slightly more southerly direction to avoid encountering the inn and the people there. Things should be okay, but you never know.
By the time the road comes into view the sun has crested the horizon and is already warming the day. Jiron pulls alongside James and asks him if he can check to be sure Tinok still lies to the southwest.
Pulling out the cloth, he lets the magic flow and they both watch as the cloth once more rises toward the southwest. “Still there,” James observes.
“Good,” he replies.
“Plan to check on this prostitute should our path lead through Inziala?” James asks.
“Yes,” he says. “But if our road should lead elsewhere, I won’t worry about it.” He rides in silence for about a minute before adding, “Though I worry what it could mean that he no longer has it.” Glancing over to where James is riding he says, “He wouldn’t have parted with it easily.”
“No, I wouldn’t think so,” replies James. Considering how much he cared for Cassie and the degree in which he reacted to her death, James can’t imagine anything parting him from that necklace except imminent death.
They continue following the road all morning long as it winds its way alongside the river. Twice they’ve come across ruined bridges that Illan had destroyed on his march north. One of them was already in the process of being repaired, workers on both sides were working to smooth the ragged edges. They observe a gang of slaves who are clearing the broken stone of the old bridge away and taking it to waiting wagons for transportation.
Close to the area where they work to repair the bridge, a makeshift wooden bridge spans the river allowing those on foot and wagons to cross. The make-up of the bridge is reminiscent of the bridges Delia and Hedry’s force took out back at Lythylla.
“That didn’t last too long,” comments Jiron. When James glances to him he says, “I would have thought it would take longer to get trade going again across the river.”
“They can’t afford to have their routes impaired for too long,” replies James. “I suspect we’ll see this all along the river.”
Then all of a sudden as a wagon was crossing over the makeshift bridge, the section it’s on breaks off from the main body and begins floating down the river. Jiron guffaws and says, “I suppose they still don’t have a handle on it.”
James returns the smile with, “It doesn’t look like it.”
Men on both sides of the river run along its banks as they try to help the stranded wagon. The bridge section begins to spin with the current and the horses attached to the wagon start to panic. For reasons unknown, the horses suddenly bolt and drag the wagon into the river. The driver dives off into the current just before the wagon is pulled into the water.
Screams of the horses are heard as they struggle against the traces which drag them beneath the waters. Soon, it grows quiet as the river wins out and drags them under completely.
“Too bad for the horses,” Aleya says. The others nod agreement. The section of bridge floating upon the river continues to slowly spin as it flows downstream until it finally disappears in the distance. An hour later they come to where the bridge section was stopped in its southward voyage when it got snagged on a sandbar in a bend of the river.
“Think they’ll come get it?” asks Stig.
“Who knows,” replies Scar. Keeping a steady pace, they soon leave the broken section of bridge behind them.
Once the sun is high in the sky, they pull off the road to allow the horses a chance to rest and for them to get a quick bite to eat. Off in the distance to the south on the far side of the river lies the outline of a town.
“A day or so south of that town lies Korazan,” announces Stig. “Should be interesting to see what they’ve done to the place since we left.”
“Could your friend be there?” asks Reilin.
Jiron stops dead in his tracks. He never even thought of that. If something had happened to Tinok, he could very well be sitting in a slave pen at Korazan. Glancing to James he asks, “If he is, could you see him in your mirror?”
“A day away?” he muses. “Possibly.” Taking out his mirror, he concentrates on Tinok. Again, the mirror remains placid, the only thing he sees in it is his own reflection. “Nothing,” he says. “Still, it could be that we’re still too far away. I’ll look again before it gets dark tonight.”
“Okay,” Jiron says.
After the break, they return to the road and continue their way south. The city on the opposite side of the river they saw during the break continues to grow until they reach where a branching of the road moves toward the river.
A wide bridge once spanned the river where the road crosses over, but now it’s just two broken ends jutting from the ground on either side. Wagons and people have formed a bottleneck while they wait for their turn to cross. Two of the makeshift bridges span the water similar in nature to the one they encountered earlier. One of the bridges is used for traffic coming from the town and the other for those going the other way. A single wagon is making the crossing toward the town while a dozen people use the other on their way to the road James and the others are on.
“Wonder what would have happened if that bridge that broke loose further up had made it this far,” supposes
