The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven (23 page)

“Yes,” she replies. “My husband and I spent
many years in Cardri before our daughter was born.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” he says. Pulling
out a chair from the table he sits down.

“So am I,” she says with a catch in her
voice as her emotions get the better of her.

James waits patiently until the tears stop
flowing. “There’s something I would like to ask you if you don’t
mind,” he tells her.

Using a kerchief to wipe away her tears, she
takes a deep breath to calm herself then nods. “What would you like
to know?” she asks.

He pulls forth Cassie’s necklace from his
pouch. “This was found in the possession of the men who took your
daughter,” he explains. “Did this come from you or your
husband?”

She takes the necklace and looks intently at
the heart with the two diamonds. After a moment she shakes her
head. “I don’t think so,” she says as she hands the necklace back
to him. “It’s lovely though.”

Just then Potbelly comes to the table and
sets the sack containing the loot liberated from the captors. “Here
you go ma’am,” he says.

“What’s this?” she asks as the sack is
placed before her.

“Gold and jewels we found with your
daughter’s captors,” James explains. “It’s for you and your
daughter.”

“I can’t take all of this,” she says. “You
keep some for yourselves. It’s the least you deserve for what you
did for my daughter.”

Shaking his head, he says, “No. We don’t
need it and it will help you along now that your husband is gone.”
He nods to her daughter. “It will also provide a nice dowry for
your daughter when the time comes.”

Another round of tears comes as she says,
“Thank you.”

“There is no need for thanks ma’am,” James
says. Then to Miko and Brother Willim he says, “We need to get
going.” Standing up, he turns his attention again to the mother and
says, “I would wish you happiness, but that may take some time to
come again. Instead, I shall wish you long life and good health.
That when happiness once more comes, you will be able to enjoy it
for a very long time.”

“May your travels be safe ones,” she tells
him. The little girl gets off her mother’s lap and at first looks
to be moving to give James a hug. Instead, she moves around him to
where Potbelly has come to stand behind him. Wrapping her arms
around his legs, she gives him a hug.

Standing there a little embarrassed, he
reaches down and pats her on the head. Looking at a loss at what
further he should do, he simply stands there until her hug comes to
an end. Then she quickly returns to her mother.

James gives him a smile and nods toward the
door indicating they should be going. With the others following, he
crosses the room and leaves the inn. Outside, he finds that Reilin
and Stig already have their horses ready with their belongings
secured behind the saddles. Moving to his horse, James quickly
mounts.

Several of the people standing nearby come
to Miko and give him coins. Surprised, he at first makes to refuse
them, but a quick shake of the head by Brother Willim convinces him
to take them.

“Let’s go,” says James and then turns to
head back to where Jiron is waiting at the farmhouse with the
prisoners.

“It’s an offering,” he hears Brother Willim
say to Miko.

“An offering?” he asks.

“Some people hold to the belief that if you
give coins to a priest after he saves the life of someone,” he
explains, “that you will be blessed for your generosity.”

Holding the coins in his hand, he asks,
“What should I do with this?”

“Keep it and use it how you will,” he
replies. “If you had an actual temple, I would say to put it in the
temple’s coffers. But right now, you are the temple. So use it as
you see fit.”

Nodding, he puts the coins in his
pocket.

James grins as he thinks of how the coins
will most likely be used should they run across a bakery selling
tarts any time soon.

They ride in silence on their return to the
farmhouse. The light coming from its window soon appears in the
distance ahead of them. As they draw close, a shadow disengages
itself from the night and comes forward. “Everything go okay,”
Shorty asks them.

“Yes,” James replies. “The girl is once
again reunited with her mother. The parents of the two boys were
there as well.”

“Good,” he says. “Find out anything about
the necklace? Jiron’s been climbing the walls ever since you
left.”

“She never saw it before,” he says.

“Too bad for those three we have tied up
inside,” Shorty says as he walks with them back to the farmhouse.
“Jiron’s not going to be satisfied if they can’t tell him
something.”

Sighing, James says, “I know.” Moving to the
farmhouse he sees Jiron framed in the doorway.

“Well?” he asks.

James holds out the necklace to him and
says, “She didn’t know anything.”

Taking it, Jiron nods. Looking past James’
shoulder he hollers, “Reilin! I need you.”

“Be right there,” he replies.

Jiron then turns and goes back in the
farmhouse. James follows him in.

The three men still sit in the same place
where they were when he had left to return the children. Even
though the dead bodies have been removed, the blood that was
spilled during the fight remains.

“What do you need?” asks Reilin when he
enters the room.

Jiron waves him over to where he stands
before the three prisoners and shows Reilin the necklace. “I want
you to ask them where they got this,” he explains.

“Why?” he asks.

“The last time I saw it was when Tinok
left,” he replies.

“The same Tinok we are trying to find?” he
questions.

Nodding, Jiron says, “That’s right.”

Taking the necklace from Jiron, he turns to
the prisoners. Holding up in front of them, he asks, “Where did you
get this?” Three sets of eyes stare back at him silently. “Tell
me!” he insists. When they still refuse to answer, he turns back to
Jiron. “They’re being stubborn.”

Jiron removes one of the knives that the
Renlon’s gave him back in Illion. He grabs the hair of the closest
man and puts the knife’s point an inch away from the man’s left
eye. Then he says to Reilin, “Ask them again.” The man whose eye is
being threatened begins to sweat. His eyes flick from the point of
the knife, to Jiron, and then to Reilin.

“Now, my friend is real anxious to find out
about how you came to be in possession of this necklace,” he
explains to the man with the knife before his eye. “It once
belonged to a friend of his, and the fact that you had it causes
him great concern. Things will go much smoother if you would
cooperate.”

“It isn’t ours,” the man being threatened
states. When he speaks, Jiron backs the knife a few inches away
from in front of his eye.

“That’s right,” another of the prisoners
adds. “If we tell you what we know will you let us go?”

Reilin translates for the others who have
gathered to watch the proceedings. James says, “If they convince us
they are telling the truth and have told everything they know, we
won’t kill them.”

When Reilin explains that to them, the man
says, “Very well.” Eyes moving from James then to the others, he
says “It was Gryll’s.”

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.