Fires of Prophecy: The Morcyth Saga Book Two (26 page)

Coming over to him, James asks, “You
okay?”

Nodding, Jiron says, “Just tired.” He then
reaches down and cleans his knives on his opponent’s shirt. Once
his knives are sheathed, he takes the Parvati’s purse and walks up
to the auctioneer. Roland joins him before he reaches the
platform.

The auctioneer says something and Roland
says, “She’s yours, Jiron, free and clear.”

Jiron turns to Tersa as she comes down the
steps off the platform. They give him a slave shift for her and he
puts it on her. Giving her an apologetic look, he takes the tether
that had been placed around her neck and then leads her out of the
courtyard while the onlookers move aside, clearing a path for
them.

She tries to give him a hug once they’re
outside the slaver compound, but he stops her saying, “Not here,
not now.” Understanding, she continues to play the part of a slave
until they reach the caravan.

_________________________

When they leave the city and are seen
approaching the caravan, Delia and Tinok leave the others and race
toward them. Delia gives Tersa a big hug while Tinok pats Jiron on
the back.

Jiron takes hold of the tether around his
sister’s neck and uses one of his knives to cut it off of her. The
world seems to stop for a moment as they finally look at each
other, reunited after so many hardships. Allowing herself to
finally express her emotions, Tersa hugs her brother as tears begin
to fall.

The others remove themselves closer to the
wagons to give them a moment alone and James relates the events
back at the slaver compound. When he gets to the part where Jiron
is fighting the Parvati, Jiron and Tersa join the group. After he’s
finished, Tinok says, “Wish I could have been there.”

Delia goes over to one of the wagons and
brings back a small, rectangular box and hands it Tersa. Opening
it, she finds a beautiful new dress inside. She looks to Delia,
almost ready to break down into tears again. “Thank you!” she
exclaims as she removes the dress from the box.

Smiling, Delia says, “I just thought you
would want something other than slave rags to wear.”

Jiron gets up and hugs Delia, saying, “I
never even thought about clothes for her, thank you.”

Returning his hug, she pats him on the
shoulder as she says, “You’re a man. I figured you wouldn’t.”

Tersa turns to her brother and asks, “Are we
going back home?”

“I don’t think there’s any home to go back
to,” he says, hating the words even though he knows they’re the
truth.

“But,” she says, apprehensively, “what are
we to do?”

“First thing is to get you out of those
rags,” Delia says as she leads her over to a wagon where she has a
couple blankets already set up for privacy while Tersa changes.

“Just what are we to do now?” asks Tinok
while Tersa is changing.

“Miko is still heading south,” James replies
and then he explains how he figured that out. “I plan to continue
south and find him.” He looks around at everyone else before
adding, “You needn’t feel obligated to accompany me, now that your
sister is back with you.”

Jiron gives him a look and says, “We’re not
about ready to turn our back on you, James.”

“That’s right,” Tinok joins in. “Besides,
where would we go?”

“Right now, we’re together and being
together gives us security,” Roland adds. “No point breaking it up
just yet. I figure as long as we act the part of traders, we will
be left alone.” Looking around at the group he says, “We don’t
exactly look the part of spies or invaders.”

“True,” agrees James. “I’m not sure how far
my quest for him will lead us, though.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Jiron replies. “We’re
standing by you till you see it through.”

“Thank you,” James replies, “I was hoping
you would.”

Just then, Delia returns with a much changed
Tersa. She had brushed out her hair and cleaned her up. The guys
catch their breath at the vision of feminine beauty walking toward
them.

“Tersa,” Jiron exclaims, “I can’t believe
that’s you.”

“Do I look alright?” she asks.

“Alright?” Tinok says with a smile. “You’re
gorgeous.” Cassie gives him an annoyed look. “But not as gorgeous
as you,” he tells her which softens her expression.

James can only nod his head, words escape
him.

“Thanks,” she says, blushing slightly.

“But I think we need to get her other more
practical, traveling clothes,” Delia says. “This dress will hardly
be suitable for the road.”

“Good idea,” James says, “we all could use a
change of clothes. We’re not leaving until after tomorrow
anyway.”

“Then it’s settled,” Delia announces,
“Roland, Ezra and I will go in and purchase more clothes.” Turning
to Tersa she says, “It would probably be best for you to stay
here.”

Tersa nods her head in agreement, “I would
prefer that.”

“When we get back,” she says to the others,
“then you guys can go and get some extras for yourselves as
well.”

“Maybe we should get equipment for the guys
we’re going to buy tomorrow?” Tinok asks.

“Might not be a bad idea,” agrees James. “Do
you know what we’re going to need for them? And the sizes?”

“I think so,” says Jiron. “I know who three
of them are, so we can at least get those three set up and then
just see about the rest once they’re here.”

“We have six additional horses,” James says.
“Will they be able to ride?”

Jiron and Tinok look at each other and
laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“I don’t think they’ve ever been on a horse
before,” Jiron says.

“Yeah, they’re going to be sore!” Tinok
exclaims and then commences laughing once again.

Delia and her group head out toward town to
do their shopping while the rest just hang around the wagons,
waiting. Jiron and Tersa swap stories of what’s happened to them
since the last time they were together. When he mentions James and
his ability to do magic, she looks over to him with wide eyes, a
little fearful.

“You’ve nothing to worry about,” her brother
assures her. “He’s nothing like the stories of mages that we grew
up on, he’s okay. Besides, without him I wouldn’t be here.”

Seeing him noticing her looking at him, she
flashes him a quick, slightly embarrassed smile and then resumes
her conversation with her brother.

Several hours later, they finally see Delia
and her group returning. Trailing along behind are a couple boys
carrying armloads of packages.

“Think you got enough?” Jiron asks, a slight
smile on his face.

“Hope so,” she says, oblivious to his
sarcasm. “Just a few necessities that will be needed.”

Ezra has a new sling for Arkie slung across
her chest, his wide, curious eyes peering out from within.

“Just put them in that wagon there,” she
tells the porters. When they’ve placed them in the desired
location, she gives them each two coppers and they return back to
the city.

“Shall we?” Jiron asks James.

“Yeah, lets,” he agrees. So this time,
James, Jiron, Tinok and Roland go into town to get the equipment
they’ll need tomorrow for their new ‘guards’, as well as some extra
clothes for themselves.

Their first stop is a clothier where they
each purchase a second set of clothes, as well a set for the guys
they’ll be purchasing tomorrow. James arranges to have them
delivered back to the caravan.

Outside the clothier’s, Roland asks, “Now
where to?”

“Need to get some weapons for them as well,”
Jiron says. “If they’re going to be guards, they won’t do much good
without them.”

“True,” agrees James. Asking a passerby,
Roland learns of a blacksmith across town that usually has a
surplus supply of weapons for sale. They proceed over there to see
what he has available.

On the way they see a group of Parvatis
coming down the street toward them, five of them, their distinctive
tattoos giving them a menacing appearance. Unsure as to how they
are likely to react over the outcome of the fight earlier, James
leads them down a side alley. Hiding in the shadows against one of
the walls, they wait until they see the group pass by the mouth of
the alley. Then Jiron returns to the end and peers around the
corner to see if the coast is clear. When he sees the Parvatis have
moved down the street, he gives the others an all-clear signal and
they return to the street.

“That was close,” Roland says.

“Don’t know if we could have fought off that
many,” James says. “Not and avoid unwanted attention.”

Keeping a lookout for more roving bands of
Parvatis, they continue toward the blacksmith’s.

Having to ask for directions two more times,
they finally arrive outside of an open courtyard where metal being
hammered can be heard coming from within a building off to the
side. Entering the courtyard, they see where the side of the
building opens up and in the shade given by an overhang, a burly
man is busily hammering a piece of metal upon an anvil. To James’
relief, the man appears to have originated from the north.

At their approach, he puts the hot metal
into a bucket of water, a steaming hiss and a cloud of steam
appears when the hot metal hits the water. He holds it there but a
moment before quickly removing it. After a quick inspection, he
places the piece of metal upon a nearby table and turns to greet
them. “Good day to you sirs,” he says.

“Good day to you as well,” replies James.
“We were told that you may have some weapons available for
sale?”

“That I do,” the blacksmith tells him. “If
you’ll follow me, I’ll show you what I have.”

“Thank you.”

Following the blacksmith, they enter the
building through a side door where they find many racks holding
various types of weapons. There are swords, knives, maces and
several others that James has never seen before, all looking very
deadly.

“What exactly are you interested in?” he
asks.

James turns to Jiron and looks at him
questioningly.

“Yorn usually used a longsword and shield,”
he says.

“Potbelly likes two swords and Scar uses a
shortsword and knife,” Tinok adds.

“If you gentlemen would like, feel free to
look around and examine the weapons,” the blacksmith suggests.

“Thank you, we will,” replies James.

They inspect the various weapons while the
blacksmith looks on. James is totally at a loss as far as telling
if a weapon is good or bad, so he stands back and lets Jiron and
Tinok decide.

After inspecting all the swords and knives,
feeling for balance and sharpness, they settle on the ones that are
the best of the lot. Unfortunately, the blacksmith doesn’t have any
shields, they’ll have to find an armorer for that. James lets Jiron
do the haggling and then hands over the coins.

When James asks if they can be delivered to
their caravan, the blacksmith says, “My apprentice is currently out
for his midday meal, but when he returns I can have him take them
out first thing.”

“Thank you,” says James, “we would
appreciate that.”

Leaving the blacksmith’s shop, they go in
search of an armorer for a shield for Yorn, there’s no way they’ll
be able to afford any armor. They find a shop boasting a sign
bearing a shield upon it not very far from the blacksmith’s shop.
Inside they find many different shields available in different
sizes, thickness and strength. Jiron finds one that he says is
similar to the one Yorn had used back in the pits.

Handing over the coins, James realizes that
they’ve all but exhausted the money that he brought with him. They
take the shield with them, since it would be no burden to carry
back.

After leaving the armorer’s shop, they head
on back to the caravan. On the way, they again run across the group
of Parvatis, only this time the Parvatis see them first and alter
course to intercept.

Seeing them approaching, James fears the
worse and readies one of his slugs. The Parvatis come close before
stopping in front of them, the leader of the group takes a further
step forward and says something.

Roland replies to him and then he says
something else. Turning to the others, Roland says, “He’s asking if
you’re the man who fought the blood duel with the Parvati earlier
in the slaver compound.” Looking worried, he asks, “What should I
tell him?”

“Tell him the truth,” Jiron replies and
turns his gaze to fixate on the leader.

Turning back to the Parvati, Roland tells
him that Jiron is in fact the one, pointing him out.

The leader turns to Jiron and reaches into
his tunic, bringing out a necklace with three spherical stones. He
says something to Roland as he hands it to Jiron.

Taking the necklace, Jiron looks
questioningly to Roland.

“He says that to defeat a Parvati in a blood
duel is an amazing thing,” he explains. “He also says that it shows
great skill and this necklace will show any Parvati that you are to
be treated with respect. It kind of makes you one of them.”

Jiron gives the Parvati a slight bow and
says, “Tell him I am greatly honored to be accounted as one of the
Parvatis.”

Roland translates for the Parvati, who
breaks into a smile and says something else. Then he turns and the
group walks away.

“What did he say?” James asks.

“He said ‘May your knives drink deeply’,”
Roland tells him.

Jiron places the necklace around his neck as
he watches the departing Parvatis.

“Thought we were in trouble for a moment
there,” admits James.

“Me too,” adds Roland.

“Let’s get back to the caravan,” Jiron says
as he begins walking.

It doesn’t take them very long to find their
way back and they’re surprised to find that the packages containing
their clothes have already been delivered.