The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven (34 page)

Jiron remains absolutely still until the man
is halfway to where the previous two men turned out of the corridor
before backing away from the doorway. He makes the stairs where
Stig is waiting just before the man turns and leaves the
corridor.

“Man that was close!” whispers Stig.

Turning to him Jiron finds him wearing a
wide grin. “I thought for sure it was all over,” he admits.

Trying to stifle a laugh that’s trying to
break through, Stig says, “I never saw anyone jump like you did
when that door opened.”

“Okay,” Jiron says, “enough.” He gives Stig
a stern gaze which does nothing to help control the mirth that’s
threatening to take control. “He’s in there with one other
individual.”

Getting himself under control, Stig says,
“You sure?”

“Absolutely,” he replies.

“Then the odds are even,” he states. Pulling
his mace from the loop that secures it to his belt he adds, “What
are we waiting for.”

Jiron nods. “Don’t kill anyone,” he warns.
“We want information, not enemies.” Then just before they step out
of the stairwell and into the hallway, the door to the room opens
yet again.

The waiting is always the worst part of
anything. Standing in the darkness, James watches the townhouse.
It’s been fifteen minutes since Jiron and Stig disappeared around
the far side. Only the fact that they haven’t returned and that
it’s remained quiet gives him any indication that things are going
well. If things hadn’t, it wouldn’t be nearly so peaceful.

Taking out his mirror, he checks on Jiron’s
progress and finds him and Stig at the top of some stairwell
looking around the corner down a hallway. “Things are going okay so
far,” he says.
No one has died yet.

“James!” whispers Miko urgently.

Looking to where he’s pointing, he sees a
man in armor along with another man in fine clothing leaving the
townhouse through the front door.

“Is either one of them the guy?” asks
Reilin.

Shaking his head, James says, “No. He must
still be inside.” They watch as the two men turn and follow the
street in their direction. Everyone remains stock still as the two
men walk past. Hidden in the shadows as they are, the two men fail
to see them and soon disappear in the distance.

“Good,” grunts Shorty.

Turning toward him James gives him a
questioning look.

“Just that now there are less to deal with
if things go bad,” he explains.

Nodding his head in agreement, James turns
back to watch the townhouse once more.

A couple minutes later the front door opens
again and another man leaves. This one is obviously from the north.
Dressed in finer than average clothes with a sword hanging at his
waist, the man turns in their direction just as the other two had.
As he makes his way closer to where they are hidden in the shadows,
James gasps.

“What?” asks Miko.

“I know him,” he says then waves for Miko to
be quiet as the man is quite close now and might hear them. It’s
been a long time since he’s seen that face. Back in the city of
Cardri it was.

When the man has moved past and disappeared
down the street, James says, “His name is Orrin.”

“Orrin?” asks Miko.

“Yeah,” nods James. “Do you remember when we
were being held in that root cellar and I used some boards to kill
the men holding us so we could escape?” When Miko nods he
continues. “And do you also remember that I went to meet someone
who had sent one of those boards to me at our room?”

“That was after you rescued Perrilin right?”
he asks.

“That’s right,” he says with a nod. Pointing
to the departed figure, he says, “That was the man who met me, but
he works for another of more importance. They never told me who
they were, just wanted to know about Lord Colerain.”

“How does he figure in all of this?” asks
Brother Willim.

“I don’t know,” replies James. Then to
Shorty he says, “Follow him and see where he goes.” When Shorty
nods he adds, “Then meet us back at the inn.”

“Right,” he says then hurries off down the
street after the man named Orrin.

Things are getting more and more
interesting.

The two men leave the room and turn down the
hallway away from Jiron and Stig just as the others had. When they
leave the hallway where the previous men did, Jiron says to Stig,
“Come on.”

Entering the hallway, he runs on silent feet
following the path the men took. When he reaches the point where
all five of the men turned out of the hallway, he comes to a well
lit spiral stairway leading down.

Jiron pauses a moment to listen and can hear
their voices from way down below. Nodding for Stig to follow, he
takes the stairs as quickly as he can while still remaining silent.
When he reaches the point where he’s sure the second floor should
be, the stairs continue down. This stairwell must be a straight
shot all the way down to the ground floor.

Continuing down, he soon sees where the
stairwell ends. Slowing to a crawl, Jiron approaches the opening.
The stairs come out at a large room designed for entertaining
guests. A large fireplace sits in one wall, dark and cold. Two
tables with six chairs each sit at either end of the room.
Bookshelves line two of the walls with numerous volumes upon
them.

To Jiron’s right, another door stands open
and the men’s voices can be heard coming from the other side.
Crossing the room quickly, Jiron peers through the door and sees
the two men walking down a finely decorated hallway to a door at
the end. When the men get there, the one he met at the bridge opens
it for the other. The two men shake hands and the man in armor says
a few parting words then passes through the doorway and into the
street.

Closing the door, the man turns around and
begins to head back toward the room in which Jiron and Stig
currently occupy. “He’s coming!” Jiron tells Stig.

Stig nods and takes position behind where
the door will swing open and Jiron flattens himself against the
wall on the other side. With knife in hand, he waits for the man to
enter. They can hear his steps approaching.

All of a sudden, a blood curdling scream
knifes through the silence of the house. A servant had come from
out of the stairwell leading to the third floor and saw them
there.

“Get the servant!” Jiron hollers as he
throws open the door. With sword drawn, the man from the bridge
almost runs into him on his way into the room, so unexpectedly did
the door open.

Coming to a stop, the man takes in Jiron in
front of him and Stig having his servant girl in hand. Stepping
back a foot to give his sword room to maneuver, he finally takes a
good look at Jiron. “You!” he exclaims in disbelief. Raising his
sword he prepares for attack.

“Wait a minute!” yells Jiron. He lowers his
knife and raises his hands. “We’re not here to rob or hurt
you.”

“Then what are you here for?” he asks,
clearly not believing him.

Pulling forth the necklace, he holds it up
for the man to see. “I want to know where you got this!” he
demands.

“You broke into my home, scared my servant
half to death, just to ask me that?” he asks incredulously.

“I told you at the bridge this was
important,” explains Jiron.

The man’s eyes shift from Jiron, to the
necklace, then back again.

“I need to know where you got this,” Jiron
says again, “and I’m running out of time!”

Azku puts away his sword as there is clearly
no immediate danger. “Let her go,” he says.

Jiron never takes his eyes off of him as he
says to Stig, “Go ahead.”

Stig releases the woman who runs past Jiron
and clasps the man in a tight embrace, her sobs are muffled from
where she has her face buried in his shoulder.

Patting her on the head, the man says to her
in a soothing voice, “It’s okay. Go on upstairs and I’ll take care
of this.” He places his finger under her chin and raises her face
so her eyes look into his. “It’ll be okay.”

She gives Jiron and Stig a fearful glance
before moving down the hallway away from them. The man watches her
as she walks swiftly away and enters a doorway further down.
Turning a face red with anger back to his two uninvited guests, he
says, “I suppose I won’t get rid of you until I either kill you or
talk with you.”

“I would prefer to talk,” replies Jiron.

The man indicates with a nod of his head for
them to return to the room at the foot of the winding stairway.
Jiron still has his knife in hand as he backs up into the room.
“You are Azku, yes?” he asks.

“That’s right,” the man replies.

“The same Azku that gave a young lady this
necklace in Inziala?” he asks. When Azku gestures for him to take a
seat on one of the chairs, he does. Stig remains standing next to
him as Azku sits in the chair facing him.

Sighing, Azku nods. The anger that was so
hot when he first encountered them in his house begins to cool.

“Why did you spurn her when you found out
about the child?” Stig asks.

Azku glances at him then back to Jiron. “I
thought you wanted to know about the necklace?” he asks, completely
ignoring Stig’s question.

“I do,” Jiron replies.

“Why?” Azku asks. “Why go to all this
trouble?”

Bringing out the necklace, he says, “The
last time I saw this was the night my best friend’s fiancée died.
This was a gift to her from him shortly before. The following
morning, my friend departed and I haven’t seen or heard from him
since.”

“He left?” he asks.

Nodding, Jiron says, “I don’t know why he
left, maybe he was too overcome with grief. The necklace was in his
possession when he took off.”

“I see,” the man says. “So you hope that I
can be of some help in finding him?”

“That’s right,” Jiron states.

The man looks at him, the anger he initially
felt continues to melt away. Not completely, he’s still upset about
being accosted in his own home. “What will you do with the
information should I have any you can use?” he finally asks after a
moment’s thought.

“I don’t follow,” Jiron tells him.

“I’m not stupid,” he says. “If a necklace of
such emotional importance is not with your friend, I would suspect
it wouldn’t have been relinquished willingly.” He pauses a moment
to see if his words have any effect. When Jiron fails to react he
knows that Jiron has come to the same conclusion.

“Can you help me?” Jiron asks.

“Perhaps,” he replies. “I acquired the
necklace through a business associate some time ago for the woman I
loved. That was before I realized the woman was…soiled.” His eyes
tighten with remembered pain from the night when he had to spurn
her.

Coming to sit on the edge of the chair,
Jiron asks, “Who?”

“It would be problematic should anything
befall this man,” Azku states as he sees the burning intensity
behind Jiron’s eyes. “Would giving you his name be a death sentence
should you find that your friend is already dead?”

Jiron shakes his head. “No,” he replies.
“All I want to do is find out what happened to him.”

Azku studies him for a full minute before
asking, “Would you be willing to give your solemn word to leave him
as you find him?”

“Yes,” replies Jiron. “I give my word that I
and those with me shall cause no harm to the person you name.”

“As strange as it sounds, I believe you,” he
says. “But before I tell you his name, I must warn you.”

“I assure you,” Jiron tells him, “I and my
friends are more than capable of handling ourselves.”

Azku gives him a sardonic grin, “I’m sure
you are. However, you may wish to know that due to your earlier
visit to the Cracked Ladle, you and those with whom you travel may
have drawn the attention of an Eye.”

“An Eye?” asks Jiron. “As in an Eye of the
Empire?”

“The same,” he nods. “You see the Order of
the Scarlet Sword counts many who are not of the Empire among its
members. This gives the Eyes of the Empire cause for concern, they
think we’re a bunch of spies and such. Nothing however could be
further from the truth.”

“I would think they would move against such
an organization,” Jiron says. “From what I’ve heard of them, they
tend to be fairly ruthless when they feel something is not
right.”

“Ordinarily that is true,” nods Azku. “But
keep in mind, some of the highest commanders in the Empire’s forces
are members. It’s also rumored that the Emperor himself is one too,
but I have yet to see creditable evidence to support it. Those in
high places keep the Eyes from moving against our members.” He
pauses for a moment before adding, “Members from the Empire that
is. Anyone who’s from outside the Empire is fair game.”

“So they keep our Houses under observation
and anyone who enters is immediately suspect,” he says. “Those
they’ve never seen before are doubly so.”

“Very well,” says Jiron. “We may be targeted
by an Eye. It won’t be the first time.”

Azku’s eyes widen at that. “Really?” he
asks.

“Oh yes,” Jiron replies without expanding
any further upon it. “Now, can you tell me who you received the
necklace from?”

“In the city of Cyst to the south, you will
find the person in question in the large compound on the eastern
edge of town,” he explains. “When you arrive, ask for Buka.”

“Is Buka the one from whom you received the
necklace?” Jiron asks.

Nodding, he adds, “Though I doubt if he’ll
be willing to help you.”

“Why?”

“For one thing he hates those from the
north,” he explains. “For another, he’s a slaver. Being from the
north as you are, he’s just as likely to make you a slave as look
at you.”

From behind him, Jiron hears Stig snort.
“I’d like to see him try,” he says.

“A slaver huh?” he muses.

“I know how those of you from the north view
slavery,” Azku states. “Are you still going to be able to hold to
your word and cause him no harm?”