Fires of Prophecy: The Morcyth Saga Book Two (37 page)

“Assassins?” Scar exclaims. “That’s not the
way I remember it.”

“What were their orders?” asks James.

“They were to patrol several miles into the
desert and along the road for any sign of us,” he says after
speaking again with the man. “Apparently, no one really thought
that we would be in this area, the main search is farther to the
north.”

“Good,” James replies.

“How do we know we can trust this guy?”
Shorty asks. “He may just be telling us this so we won’t hurt
him.”

“I think he’s telling the truth,” Roland
says, “at least as he knows it.”

“I agree,” James says. “Whether he is or
not, it’s not going to make any difference on what we’re going to
do.”

“What are we to do with him,” Tersa
asks.

“We can’t let him go or he’ll tell them
where we are,” Stig insists.

“If we leave him here, he’ll die,” says
Delia.

“Then there seems to be only one thing left
to do,” Stig says as he grabs the man’s hair, lifts his head back
and slits his throat. Letting go of the dying man’s hair, he wipes
his knife on the man’s shirt as he gurgles and dies.

“Stig!” Delia cries out.

“What?” he asks back, staring her down and
daring her to find fault.

She just turns away and goes back over to
her horse.

“If he’s telling the truth,” James says as
they all get back on their mounts, “then there may be a chance that
we can find a port and get you all out of here.”

Shorty comes over and gives James back the
slugs he used to take down the riders.

Taking the slugs, James notices that he also
recovered his throwing knives as well. “Thanks,” he says to
him.

“No problem,” Shorty says as he goes over to
his horse and mounts.

“What happens when they fail to return?”
Scar asks. “Isn’t someone going to come looking for them? I mean,
as soon as they find them, they’ll know we’re not to the
north.”

“Then we better hurry and get to a port as
fast as we can,” Jiron says. Kicking his horse into a fast trot, he
once more begins to lead them northwest.

Another hour of riding and they begin to see
the road coming up ahead. The only traffic upon it is a caravan
half a mile away moving east to west. Not observing any soldiers,
they make for the road, coming onto it far ahead of the approaching
caravan, not wanting to be close enough to be identified. They
follow the road west as it meanders its way along the seashore
which lies several hundred feet off to their right.

“If we continue west, we’re bound to find a
port of some kind,” James says to Jiron as they ride along.

“We don’t know that for sure, or even how
far it’s going to be,” he replies.

“True, but our only alternative is to go
east, back toward the capitol,” he says. “And I don’t think we’ll
be doing that.”

“You got that right,” agrees Jiron.

Up ahead of them, they begin to see a small
fishing village appearing along the coast. Several small boats are
out upon the water where men are casting out nets and pulling them
back with fish ensnared within.

The village is just a small collection of
huts so they continue on, hoping for a larger city. A small boy
comes running out from between two of the huts as they pass and
Roland hails him. When the boy comes over, he asks him something.
After giving him an answer, the boy runs back into the village as
he continues playing with his friends.

“What did you ask him?” inquires James.

“I asked him how far it was to the next
large town,” he replies. “He said a day away is the trading port of
Al-Kur.”

“Good,” James says. “If we hurry, maybe we
can reach it by nightfall.”

“Hopefully not running into any more patrols
along the way,” Scar adds. He looks to his friend Potbelly, he
seems to be doing okay even though a red stain has begun to appear
on his shirt from where blood is continuing to seep through the
stitches. All this riding is not allowing him to heal properly.

A couple of miles past the fishing village,
they come to another town, this one is larger than the one they
just passed through. They send Roland, Ezra and Arkie in to see
about buying them all clothes so they can blend in with the
natives. The rest continue around the town and await their return a
mile or so further down the road. Once the town is no longer in
sight behind them, they pull off the road and rest while they have
a bite to eat.

James paces around nervously, worried about
Roland and his family, until Jiron comes over and says, “Relax,
they’ll be fine. A man with his wife and kid will be the last one
the Empire’s men would be looking for.”

“I know,” he replies. “I just can’t help but
worry.”

From where Scar sits with Potbelly, he can
hear Scar say, “See! You done tore out a couple of the stitches.”
He looks over and sees Delia getting her needle ready to redo the
stitches. “I hope this hurts,” he tells his friend.

Potbelly just gives him an ugly look as he
braces himself for the needle. James sees him flinch when she
begins and turns his attention back to the east as he continues
searching for the return of Roland and his family.

Shortly after Delia is finished with
Potbelly, James begins to see two horses coming down the road. With
relief, he sees that it’s Roland and family burdened with several
bundles of clothes. Roland waves and smiles when he sees James
standing there.

He distributes the clothes to everyone once
they’ve reached the others, saying, “There wasn’t much selection, I
hope they fit well enough.”

Actually, the clothes do fit well enough,
Shorty’s is a bit long, but serviceable.

James looks around at everyone in their new
clothes. Not bad, he thinks. Now if they could just do something
about their weapons and shields, but all they can do is pack them
away as unobtrusively as possible in with their other gear. Their
disguise will uphold under a brief scrutiny, but anything more
direct would easily expose them.

“I guess it’s the best we can do,” Jiron
says to James.

“At least we don’t stick out nearly as bad
anymore,” he adds.

“To Al-Kur, then,” Jiron says as everyone
mounts up and gets underway. Potbelly allows Scar to help him into
the saddle this time, due primarily to the scolding he received
from Delia when she had to redo his stitches. Possibly from the
pain of the restitching as well, but he isn’t likely to admit that
to anyone.

Setting a quick pace, they make all speed
for Al-Kur. They pass many travelers throughout the day, but none
give them more than a quick glance or a brief ‘Hello’. Roland rides
in the lead with James and Jiron so he can field any and all
greetings that they receive.

The sun begins to set and still Al-Kur has
not appeared upon the horizon. “Maybe the boy was wrong?” suggests
Jiron.

“Perhaps,” agrees James. “We did have that
stopover to get the clothes, let’s travel a few more hours and see
if it appears. If not, we can camp off the road till morning.”

Nodding his head in agreement, he says,
“Very well.”

When night has fallen completely and the
stars are out in all their glory, the lights of Al-Kur appear on
the horizon.

Unable to see much of it in the dark, they
discover that this town has no defending wall surrounding it. As
they get closer, they run across guards and soldiers, but other
than a brief glance, they pay them no attention.

Entering the city they find an inn, Roland
and James go inside to inquire about rooms for them all.

With Roland doing all the talking, they get
four rooms and enough stall space for all their horses. James hands
over the money as the innkeeper tells Roland which rooms are
theirs.

Going back outside, they get their horses
settled in the stable before returning to the inn. Once inside,
they divvy up the rooms; Tersa and Delia get one, Roland and family
another, James, Jiron and Shorty take the third, with Yorn, Scar,
Stig and Potbelly in the last one.

After taking their saddle bags up to their
rooms, they meet down in the common area for dinner. They find a
large table that will accommodate them all and by the time they’re
all seated, a serving girl comes over.

Roland orders for them all and pays her
before she returns to the kitchen.

“So, what are we getting?” Shorty asks him
once she’s left.

“Just the house special, it’s a slightly
spicy stew with meat and vegetables,” he tells everyone. “Comes
with bread and I ordered us all ale.”

Satisfied, they relax and Jiron says in
hushed tones, “Tomorrow, we’ll start looking for a ship to take us
to Cardri.”

“Why not tonight?” asks Stig.

“We’re all tired,” he replies. “Also, most
captains have returned to their ships and none like unexpected
visitors coming aboard at night.”

“Makes sense,” he says.

The rest of the evening they spend enjoying
themselves as they eat their dinner. Although there’s no
entertainment provided here, they still have a good time just
talking amongst themselves. James tells them of Trendle and what
they can expect when they get there.

Roland and family are the first ones to head
up to their rooms, Arkie being quite tired from all the riding and
Ezra wants to go to sleep as well. The rest stay down there for a
couple more hours until they begin to grow tired and eventually
drift on up to their rooms.

The next morning when they all gather
downstairs for breakfast, they decide James and Jiron, along with
Roland, would go to the docks and try to find a ship to take them
to Cardri. The rest would remain in their rooms, being as
inconspicuous as possible.

They leave the inn and follow the main
street as it makes its way down to the dock area. Before they get
close to the docks, they observe several soldiers going through the
crowd and asking questions. Turning around, Jiron leads them back
down the street for half a block where they duck into a side
alley.

“Think they’re looking for us?” Roland asks,
keeping an eye on the soldiers.

Nodding, James replies, “I think we have to
assume so. They seem a little bit more curious than would seem
normal.”

“I agree,” adds Jiron. Turning to James, he
says, “What should we do?”

“We could go ahead and take our chances by
going to the docks,” he says. “Or we could remain here, keeping our
eyes open and hope a captain just happens to walk by.”

“One just walking by doesn’t seem very
likely,” asserts Jiron. “Maybe we could hunt through the taverns in
the area?”

“This time of morning?” asks James. “I doubt
if anyone would still be there, they would all be back at their
ships.”

Suddenly, a group of sailors comes walking
up the street from the docks, one of them is dressed finer than the
others. From the looks of them, they are not from the Empire, but
from the north.

Looking at the others, James says, “Fortune
may be smiling upon us.”

“I’d say,” Jiron replies with a smile.

As the sailors pass by, they can hear the
one dressed well say, “Damn customs officer, holding my cargo like
that.”

“He released it didn’t he?” one of the
sailors replies.

“Yeah,” the well dressed man replies, “after
holding it for two days. Two days!” He storms down the street with
his men following behind.

Exiting the alley, they follow the sailors
as they continue further into town before turning down a side
street. They continue past several buildings until finally entering
a large warehouse. Jiron and the others peer in through a window by
the door where they see the sailors talking with a man inside.

“Let’s wait until they come back out and see
if we can book passage,” suggests James to the agreement of the
others.

They watch through the window until they see
the man shake hands with the well dressed sailor who then turns
back toward the door they entered through.

Seeing that they’re coming back out, James
has them move away from the building for a ways and wait until they
leave.

Once all the sailors are completely out of
the warehouse, James steps up to the well dressed one and says,
“Excuse me.”

Stopping, the sailors turn to see them
standing there. A couple of them put their hands on the swords
hanging at their waists.

“Yes?” the well dressed man asks, looking at
James and the others.

“Are you a captain of a vessel?” James
asks.

“Yes, I am,” the captain replies.

“My friends and I were wondering if you
might be heading to Cardri soon?” inquires James.

“Why?” the captain asks him back,
suspicious.

“We were interested in booking passage if
you were,” he explains.

“Hmmm,” the captain says and then one of his
men whispers into his ear. His eyes widen slightly and then he says
to James, “There were some soldiers asking about a group of people,
not of the Empire, who might be looking for passage. They requested
that we inform them of any that do.”

“I’m sure that wouldn’t be us,” responds
James, innocently.

“Don’t lie to me boy,” orders the captain,
“I’m not stupid. I can tell from the way your friend over there got
a panic look, that you’re the ones they’re looking for.” He points
over to where Roland is standing, beginning to blush.

“What do you plan to do?” Jiron asks, as he
unobtrusively takes hold of a knife.

“Do? Nothing,” the captain replies. “I hate
the Empire and everything it stands for. I’m only here because I
was offered enough gold for me to put aside my dislike for this
place and come. Plus, some idiot of a customs official decides to
hold my cargo for two days because he thought I had slighted him in
some way. If you are causing them problems, so much the
better.”

“Then, will you allow us to sail with you?”
Jiron asks. “We can pay you for your troubles.”