Fires of Prophecy: The Morcyth Saga Book Two (38 page)

The captain thinks for a moment and then
says, “How many are there?”

“Two women, an infant and six men,” James
tells him.

“What could you have done with that to
warrant such an extensive search?” he wonders.

“We’d rather not say,” James tells him.

The captain considers it for a moment and
says, “Fifty golds and that’s not open to negotiation.”

“Very well,” agrees James holding out his
hand.

The captain takes it, sealing the bargain.
“Our ship is the Crashing Wave, it’s the second from the end. We
sail at first light, if you’re late or don’t have the money, we
sail without you. Understand?”

“Yes, sir,” replies James, “we do.”

With that, the captain turns and heads back
toward the docks, his men following.

“Fifty golds!” Roland cries. “Do we even
have that much?”

“I guess we better go and find out,” James
says as they head back toward the inn.

When they return to the inn and tell
everyone what’s happening and how much it’s going to cost, they
pool their money. They discover that they do have enough, though
they’ll have little left for when they arrive in Cardri.

“Let’s sell the horses,” suggests Delia.
When everyone looks at her, she continues, “We’re not going to need
them, except two for the two of you who’ll be staying behind.”

“How much do you think we could get for
them?” James asks her.

“Don’t know,” she replies. “I’ll take Roland
with me and we’ll find out.”

“Be careful,” warns Jiron, “there’re
soldiers everywhere looking for us.”

“I will,” she assures him. “Besides, are
they going to be looking for a lone couple out for a stroll?”

Grabbing Roland by the arm, she propels him
out the door, but not before he gets a few quick words off to
Ezra.

“The rest of us should stay in our rooms
until just before dawn,” Jiron says. “Then make our way down to the
docks.”

“Sounds simple enough,” adds Stig
optimistically.

James hopes his optimism isn’t
premature.

Delia and Roland leave the inn and make
their way to the outskirts of town, which is usually where the
horse traders have their businesses. Several times, they cross the
paths of soldiers who fail to take any interest in a couple
strolling down the street. Coming to the edge of town, they find a
large corral containing several horses.

“Looks like the place,” comments Delia.

“I would tend to agree,” adds Roland as they
make their way over to the building adjacent to the corral.

Within the building, they find a man sitting
at a table, making notes on parchment. When he sees them enter, he
puts his quill in the inkwell and gets up as he comes over to greet
them.

Once Roland makes it understood what it is
they wish to do, the man becomes all business as he asks about the
horses they wish to sell. He tells them that he will be happy to
take them off their hands but is unable to name a price until he’s
actually seen the animals.

Roland explains to him that they’ll be back
shortly with the horses. Walking out of the horse trader’s shop,
Roland asks Delia “Aren’t we going to draw attention if we’re seen
leading eight horses through the streets?”

“Hopefully not,” she says, “but we need the
money for when we reach Cardri.”

Back at the inn, she tells them they found a
buyer and takes Scar and Stig along to help with the horses.
Leading them out to the stables, she has each of them take two
horses. They leave the two that James and Jiron will be using to
get out of Al-Kur on their way to locate Miko.

As they proceed through the city, the people
on the streets only briefly glance in their direction as they make
their way toward the horse trader. Apparently the sight of them
leading horses through town is not so out of the ordinary to
warrant curiosity.

Once at the horse trader’s, he has them lead
the horses into the corral where he begins an inspection of each
one. He looks at hoofs, teeth and overall fitness. When he’s done
with the last one, he names a price, seventy five golds.

Delia commences to haggle, with Roland as
the intermediary and ends up with eighty nine golds. A brief shake
of hands to seal the deal and the trader takes them into his office
where he pulls out a chest and counts out eighty nine golds. Scar
and Stig put the golds into the pouches they’re carrying and then
they leave, heading back toward the inn.

A man watches from a doorway across the
street as they leave the horse trader’s shop. When they’re out of
sight, he crosses the street and enters through the door they just
came out of. The horse trader turns to look at who’s entered and
his face turns slightly pale when he sees the sign on the medallion
the man is showing him.

The man asks, “Those people just sold you
several horses?”

“Yes, sir,” the trader replies, nervously.
“Eight.”

“Did they say why they had needed to sell so
many at once?” he asks as he looks at the trader closely.

Beginning to sweat as he stands before one
of the Eye’s of the Empire, a secretive group that seeks out those
who would jeopardize or challenge the rule of the Emperor, he
replies, “They just said that they needed to leave town and
wouldn’t be taking the horses with them.”

Staring at the trader, the Eye says, “Now,
just where would they be going that they wouldn’t need horses?”

“I…I don’t know,” the trader says, beginning
to get the shakes. No good ever comes from being questioned by an
Eye.

Without so much as a thank you, the Eye
turns and walks out of the horse trader’s shop. He ponders the
question for a moment when his eye catches sight of sails out on
the ocean. Nodding his head and smiling he hurries along, there’s
not much time.

_________________________

That night at the inn was one of the longest
James can ever remember. Doing his best to try to sleep, he just
ends up tossing and turning all night as he worries about the next
day. Sometime during the night, Jiron gets up and heads to the
door. “Where are you going?” James asks.

Pausing in the dark, he replies, “Down to
the docks. Want to look around before morning.”

“Be careful,” cautions James, “and be back
an hour before sunup.”

“I will,” he assures him. “Try to get some
sleep.” He then turns back toward the door and quickly makes his
way out of the room, closing it behind him.

James listens to his soft tread in the
silence of the night as he walks down the hallway to the stairs as
he lays there for awhile. After no longer being able to hear his
footsteps he must’ve managed to fall asleep for the shutting of the
door startles him awake when Jiron returns.

“Just me,” he hears Jiron say as he walks
over to where he’s lying on the bed. “We got trouble.”

“What?” he asks, coming the rest of the way
awake.

“There are twenty or more guards stationed
at the docks with more patrols on the streets than there were
yesterday,” he explains.

“Did you find out why?” James asks.

“No,” he replies. “It was all I could do
just to avoid being seen.”

“How are we going to get the others to the
Crashing Wave with all the guards everywhere?” James asks,
worried.

“I don’t know, but we better think of
something fast,” he says. “Dawn’s about an hour away.”

James sits there and contemplates the
situation when Jiron says, “Maybe we could draw them off?”

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“I mean, we get the others close to the
docks, then you and I go to another part of town and create a
diversion,” he explains.

Nodding, James says, “That might work. Can
we get them close enough to the docks without being seen?”

“I think so,” Jiron replies.

“Let’s wake up the others and let them know
what’s going on,” he says as he gets out of bed.

Going to the other rooms, they soon have
everyone awake and back in James’ room for a quick meeting. As soon
as everyone’s there, they tell them about the guards at the dock
and what they plan to do.

“Selling the horses,” Delia announces. “That
must have tipped them off something was going on.”

“Could’ve been,” James agrees, “but we had
little choice.”

He has them take out the money and makes
sure that Roland has the fifty golds for their passage. Then he
takes ten golds apiece for Jiron and himself, the rest they divide
among everyone else. He turns to Roland and says, “Have Ezra keep
Arkie quiet. If he starts crying, it’s all over.”

Roland nods his head and communicates that
to Ezra, who indicates she understands. “Alright,” he says, “let’s
go.”

They quietly make their way down to the main
floor and leave out the back way near the stables. “We better leave
our two horses here and try to get back to them when we’re ready to
leave town,” he suggests to Jiron.

“If we’re able,” he replies. “We might be a
little too busy to make it back here.”

Jiron takes the lead and follows a
roundabout way through the streets toward the docks. Twice they
have to duck into side alleys when they encounter roving patrols.
Both times they wait silently until they pass before continuing
once more to the docks.

When they’re within a couple blocks of the
docks, Jiron stops before a door in the side of a darkened
warehouse and places his ear against it, listening. Then he turns
the handle and opens the door as he motions for everyone to file
inside. The warehouse is empty but for a few boxes that look like
they have been abandoned here. “You should be able to wait here
until you make the run for the ship.”

“How will we know when it’s time?” Tersa
asks.

Jiron looks to James and says, “I think
you’ll know.”

James nods his head.

Tersa gives her brother a hug and says, “You
be careful.”

He hugs her back and sees the tears in her
eyes, “Don’t worry, I’ll see you in Trendle.” Trying to stop his
own tears from falling at having to leave her again, he says to
James, “We better get going.”

“Good luck,” Delia says to them before they
leave. The others offer their ‘goodbyes’ and ‘see you laters’ as
well.

With a final look toward the pit fighters,
Jiron says, “You keep her safe!”

Scar says, “You can count on us,” the others
nod their heads in agreement.

With a slight nod of his head, Jiron leaves
the warehouse with James right behind and closes the door behind
them. Turning to James he says, “Let’s go cause some trouble!”

“Right behind you,” he says, not nearly as
eager as Jiron seems to be.

Jiron leads him through back streets as they
avoid the patrols until they’ve put most of the city between them
and where the others wait. Hiding in the shadows of an alley, they
watch as a patrol of five guards approach from down the street.

“You ready?” Jiron asks James.

“No,” James replies, sighing slightly, “but
I never will be. So let’s just do it.”

They wait for the guards to march pass and
then Jiron runs out of the alley and tackles the one in the rear
while James causes a light to burst overhead.

His knives strike out, killing the rear
guard while James takes out another with a slug. Cries begin
sounding in the night and horns start to sound. Jiron quickly gains
his feet as the remaining three turn around, momentarily blinded by
the light bursting overhead.

Jiron closes with the next one and quickly
takes him out. “Let’s get out of here!” he hollers to James as they
run, leaving the remaining two guards to sound the alarm.

“Think that did it?” James asks as they dash
through a side alley to get away from the scene of the attack.

“Probably not enough to draw them from the
docks,” he says. “We need something a bit more spectacular.”

“Alright,” James says as they race around a
corner.

“Nothing yet,” Shorty announces from where
he’s looking out the window for the signal.

“It’s only been a couple minutes,” Delia
says. “Give them time.”

Tersa comes over near Delia and asks, “Do
you think they’ll be able to draw off the guards at the docks?”

Delia nods her head as she remembers the
massive explosion James had produced back at the City of Light,
“I’m sure they can manage it.”

Suddenly a bright light comes in through the
window and everyone runs over to look. A starburst explodes in the
sky near the far side of Al-Kur. “Was that them?” asks Tersa.

“Has to be,” Delia replies just as horns
begin to sound off in the distance.

Shorty runs over to a window that has a good
view of the docks and the men stationed there. After a brief look
he turns back to them and says, “They’re still there.”

“What are they doing?” Scar asks as he moves
to join him.

“They’re looking at the light but otherwise
not moving,” he says.

“Come on guys,” Stig says as he looks out
the window toward the starburst that’s beginning to fade, “you’ve
got to do better than that.”

They can see other guards running toward the
commotion off in the distance, but the ones at the docks remain
where they are.

“I don’t think…” Yorn starts to say
when…

Crumph!

A massive explosion rips through the night,
fireballs shooting into the air as well as chunks of stone from
whatever building had blown up.

“Way to go, James!” Scar exclaims
jubilantly.

“Some are leaving!” Shorty shouts from where
he’s watching the docks.

“How many?” asks Stig.

“It looks like all but about ten,” Scar
replies.

Potbelly says, “That’s better than
twenty.”

“It’s unlikely any more will leave if they
haven’t already,” adds Stig.