Fires of Prophecy: The Morcyth Saga Book Two (19 page)

“Looks to be a caravansary,” Roland says,
indicating the groups of wagons.

“Should we stop there for the night?” James
asks him.

“It’s what it’s there for,” he explains.

“Alright then,” agrees James. “Let’s find a
spot for the night.”

As they near the caravansary, a man comes
over to them and says, “Good day to you sirs.”

“You speak our language?” James replies,
astonished.

“I speak many,” the man explains. “I am
Ahlim, the Caravansary Master.”

“I am James,” he replies, “and we are
looking for a spot to stay the night.”

“To stay here will be a silver a day,” he
says.

James looks to Roland who shrugs his
shoulders. Turning back to the man, he digs out a silver and hands
it to him, saying, “Very well.”

Ahlim takes the coin and says, “Find any
spot around here that suits you.” He then turns and hurries off
toward town.

They find a suitable spot that’s not too
close to any of the others and start settling in, when another man
comes over. “Greetings, fellow traders.”

“Greetings,” replies James.

“Ah, I’m not one to cause trouble,” he says,
“but I saw you talking to Ahlim just a moment ago?”

“Yes?” James replies, nervous.

“Did he say that he was the Caravansary
Master? And that you had to pay to stay here?”

“Yes, he did,” James replies. “Why?”

The man starts laughing, “You didn’t pay him
did you?”

“A silver,” admits James.

The man starts laughing harder.

“What’s so funny?” James asks, getting a
little mad.

“He’s not any kind of a Caravansary Master,”
the man explains, wiping tears from his eyes as his laughter calms
down. “He’s a beggar who does this from time to time with new
arrivals.”

From behind him, he hears Tinok break into
laughter, “That’s funny.”

“What’s so funny about it?” James angrily
turns to him, asking.

Tinok just laughs more as he shakes his head
and turns to go back to where the others are getting their camp
ready.

“Don’t be too hard on him,” the man says.
“Ahlim that is. He’s had a bad lot.”

“We’ll just see how bad it is when I meet up
with him again,” James insists.

“Well, good day to you,” the man says. As he
returns back to his caravan, James can hear him chuckling to
himself.

When he turns back to the others, he can see
them trying to hold back smiles whenever he’s looking in their
direction. Finally, unable to contain it, they all start to
laugh.

“This isn’t funny,” James says, which only
makes them laugh the harder.

Their laughter is infectious and soon he’s
unable to stop a smile from coming to him. “Okay,” he admits,
“maybe it is.”

He goes over to Roland and asks, “Would you
be willing to come with me into town to see about getting another
wagon and some barrels for water?”

“Sure,” he agrees.

Going back to the others, he announces,
“Roland and I are going into town to see about purchasing some
barrels for water. Just stay here and watch the wagons, keep
everything safe.”

“Not a problem,” Tinok says with his arm
around Cassie’s shoulder.

Jiron just nods his head from the back of
the wagon where he’s been resting all afternoon.

“Be careful,” Delia advises.

“We will,” James assures her. Turning to
Roland, he says, “Ready?”

Roland says a few things to Ezra and then
turns to James, nodding his head, “Let’s go.”

James goes over to the wagon with the money
box, and takes a large bag of coins out, placing it inside his
shirt. Then with a nod to Roland, they begin to walk toward
town.

Delia watches them go and then turns to
Tinok, saying, “Could you go over and find out what town this
is?”

“Why?” he asks.

“There may be deliveries here we could make
to give us more coins,” she explains.

“Sure,” he replies and then makes his way
over to one of the neighboring caravans.

She watches as he approaches some of the men
sitting around a campfire. They exchange a few words and then Tinok
returns.

“Zereth-Alin,” he tells her.

Excited, she exclaims, “There are three
small packages that are marked for here.” She hurries over to the
wagon loaded with the majority of their cargo and begins rummaging
through it. She finally comes up with the three packages and looks
to Tinok, a gleam in her eye.

“Tinok?” she says with a certain tone to her
voice.

“You want me to help you deliver them?” he
asks her.

“Yes!” she replies. “Will you?”

He looks over to Cassie sitting there with
Ezra, longing to remain with her.

“We could get Cassie a present should we
receive any money for these,” she suggests, temptingly.

“Alright,” he says, giving in. “But I want
to be back fast.”

“We will,” she assures him, “I promise.”
Letting the others know what they’ll be about, they take the three
packages and head into Zereth-Alin.

_________________________

James and Roland enter the town, and with
Roland playing the role of translator, they are directed to a place
where they can buy barrels for water, maybe even a wagon to carry
them.

On their way, they pass by an inn from which
a mouth watering aroma emanates. His stomach growls loudly,
insistent on something with more substance than what they’ve been
having over the past several days. He gives Roland a grin before
altering his course and making a beeline for the entrance.

“What are you doing?” Roland asks when he
catches up with him.

“Getting something to eat.”

“What about the others?”

Waving away the question, James says, “We’ll
get something for them on the way back.” He pushes open the door
and enters the building. The aroma is even more mouth watering here
than it was outside. Finding an empty table, they wait for a
server, who arrives promptly.

The server says something and then Roland
answers as he orders for both of them. When he’s done, he tells
James that it’s going to be four coppers and waits while he digs
them out of the pouch. James hands the coins over to the server,
who then bows slightly and heads back to the kitchen.

“I assume you wanted whatever it is that
we’ve been smelling?” Roland asks him once the server had left.

“Absolutely,” James replies.

“Good, that’s what I did,” he says.

They sit back and relax while they wait for
their food to arrive. The people here, aside from their different
language and attire, are really the same as those he encountered
back in Cardri. Just people.
People are people no matter where
you go
, that’s what his grandmother had always said.

He sees their server coming toward them with
two plates, topped with several skewers containing meat and
vegetables along with two mugs. As their server places the plates
in front of them, he can still hear sizzle coming from the meats.
Once the mugs are on the table, their server says something and
Roland gives him a reply before going over to another table with
two gentlemen.

Keeping his voice low, Roland says, “You
guys don’t seem much like merchants to me.”

James looks at him with a mouth full of food
and doesn’t reply.

“What is a,” lowering his voice to a
whisper, he asks, “mage, doing running a caravan?”

“It’s rather complicated,” James replies and
then takes another bite.

“I think I have the right to know what is
going on,” he asserts quietly. “If for no other reason than I’ve
brought my wife and child along. I mean, you guys take out a
Commander of Ten like he was nothing!”

James glances around but no one seems to
care about their conversation. Turning back to Roland he says,
“We’re looking for someone.”

“Who?” Roland asks.

“A friend of mine who was taken captive at
the fall of the City of Light,” he explains in a hushed tone. “As
well as Jiron’s sister, who was taken at the same time.”

“How?” he asks, incredulously.

“We’ve reason to believe they’re being taken
to the slave markets at Korazan,” he explains. “We mean to go there
and find them, buy them if possible, rescue them if not.”

Roland sits back in his chair and just
stares at James, as if he is unsure if he actually just heard what
he did.

“You’re welcome to leave at any time if you
think it’s too dangerous for your family,” James tells him.

“I don’t know,” he replies. He continues to
eat, thinking about what James told him.

“A man back where we rescued you said that
you made things?” James asks him.

Blushing slightly, Roland says, “Nothing,
really.”

“What?” he asks again.

“Well, I had this idea that if you filled a
bag with hot air, you can make it float,” he explains then sets
himself as if he expects to be ridiculed.

“You would probably need an air tight bag of
little weight,” James suggests.

Surprised at someone finally taking him
seriously, Roland says, “Exactly! But I haven’t been able to find
anyone able to make what I would require. All the cloth I’ve been
able to afford has been too heavy.”

“That could be a problem,” James agrees.
“What do you hope to do with it?”

“Do?” Roland asks as if the question had
never even occurred to him.

“Yeah, do,” he says.

“I’ve never really thought past getting it
done, actually” he admits.

“I’m sure you could come up with something,”
James says hopefully.
Could think of several applications,
mostly military ones in this society,
he muses to himself.

Finishing the last bite of his meal, James
sits back in his chair, stomach gurgling most contentedly. Once
Roland is done, they leave the inn and head over to where they’ve
been told they can acquire some barrels and possibly a wagon.

They come to a building with an adjacent
large open courtyard containing wagons, barrels and several other
various items constructed of wood. A sign outside the door shows a
wagon with two barrels.

“This must be the place,” James says to
Roland.

“Looks like it,” he agrees as they go up
three steps and open the door.

They enter a fair sized room, with dozens of
barrels of varying sizes stacked against the walls. A man is busily
stacking small buckets upon a table and turns around to greet them
when he hears the door open. He says something in the Empire’s
language and stands there expectantly.

When Roland replies to him, explaining that
James cannot speak the language, he immediately switches to the
northern tongue. “Welcome to Salli’s Barrels,” he says to James.
Placing his hand on his chest he continues. “And I am Salli, how
may I help you fine sirs today?”

“We understand that we may be able to
procure some barrels from you?” James explains. “As well as a
wagon, perhaps?”

Nodding his head, Salli says as he gestures
around his shop, “As you can see, I have many barrels for every
need, as well as a couple of wagons available out in the
courtyard.”

“We would like to purchase a wagon and about
six large barrels,” James tells him. “We are taking a trip and need
sufficient water to sustain us through the journey.”

“Ah,” says Salli, “I have just what you
would need.” He goes over to where several large barrels sit
against a wall and then says, “These barrels are made for just such
a use. See,” he says as he holds up a round wooden lid, “I have
even made lids, especially for these, so the water will not slosh
out during your journey.” He shows them how easy it is to seal the
barrel and to reopen it again.

“How many do you think we would need for
about ten horses and eight people?” James asks.

Thinking for a second, he says, “Probably
four would be sufficient, provided you are able to replenish them
every three or four days.”

“Very well,” he agrees, “we’ll take four.
Now, can we go see what wagons are available?”

“Certainly sir,” he says as he leads them
out a back door to the adjacent courtyard. Outside are four wagons
of varying size and age. One is really old and looks to be falling
apart, another is brand new with lots of ornamentation. Seeing
James looking at the one with ornamentation, he says, “Sorry sir,
that one has been special ordered by another customer. I do have
these other three available.”

He takes them to one that is neither old nor
new and looks to have seen service at some time or another. “This
one here, though not new, is sturdy and will last you a long
time.”

James and Roland inspect it, the wheels
don’t show signs of cracking and overall, it looks to have been
very well cared for. “How much?” James asks Salli.

“For the barrels and the wagon,” he replies,
placing his hand on his chin in contemplation, “ten golds.”

“Ten?” James says in mock shock and then
begins what he really hates, haggling. “Surely this wagon has seen
better days, I would think six would be more than adequate for such
a well used wagon.”

“Six!” Sallie exclaims. “Why not just steal
it from me right now!” With a look of outrage, he says, “Surely you
can see that this wagon, though having been used, still has many,
many years left in her. I couldn’t part with it for less than
nine.”

“Hmmm…” James murmurs as if he’s
contemplating the offer. Turning to Roland, he says, “Wasn’t there
that merchant trying to sell his extra wagon for seven over at the
caravansary?”

“I think so, yes,” Roland says with a smile
as he plays along.

“Eight, good sirs,” Sallie counters. “And
I’ll throw in a couple buckets to help in the watering of your
horses.”

James thinks about it for a second and looks
to Roland, who nods. “Alright, eight it is,” he says, holding out
his hand to clench the deal.