The Unsuspecting Mage (35 page)

“In the morning, I plan to head that way, taking the road through the Merchant’s Pass and crossing over into Madoc. It’s my hope to find this temple or perhaps someone who can further enlighten me about Morcyth.” He glances to Miko and says, “You needn’t feel that you have to accompany me, this could be dangerous.”

Seeing that Perrilin is awake and has been listening in on the conversation, James looks to him for help. “Would you please tell him that going over to a kingdom at war is not the best of ideas?”

Miko looks anxiously to Perrilin as he carefully considers his answer. “Though there may be dangers, Miko is old enough to make his own decisions and has proven quite helpful thus far. From all I have gathered, he has been someone you have been able to trust and count on. That can be a rare thing to find.”

Miko beams at the praise while Perrilin continues. “A lengthy venture should never be attempted alone and there are too many things that may happen where you will need someone else, such as if you get hurt. Also, he has been quite good at ferreting out information in the city which could prove most useful since you are in search of information. And…”

“Okay, okay, I’m sold,” James says holding up his hands in surrender. Turning to Miko he says, “If you are going with me then we will need to get you a horse in the morning. We won’t make much time with you walking or us riding double.”

“I’ll be fine,” he says. “Miss Gilena will allow me to stay here for a while, at least until I’m much better.” Lowering his voice he says, “Actually, I’m pretty much okay now, just a bit stiff and sore. But I like the attention.” Smiling, he lays back on the bed.

“Enjoy it while it lasts,” James says as he smiles back.

Miko returns saying that the baths will be up shortly and that dinner will follow. They don’t have long to wait until there’s a knock on the door. Miko goes over to let in the staff bearing the bath tubs. To James’ surprise they bring in three tubs, not two that he had been expecting. Mystified, he turns and looks over to Miko who is blushing slightly, “Three?”

“One for each of us,” he says slightly embarrassed. “Well, I kind of liked it last time. I didn’t think you would mind.”

“Mind?” James replies. “Of course I don’t mind.” Laughing at Miko’s expense, James relates to Perrilin the circumstances of the last time they had a bath. “But I thought we were to keep Perrilin a secret?”

“Miss Gilena said that she has talked to her staff and if they want to keep their jobs they better be quiet about the whole thing. She feels that they will keep the secret, at least for a while.”

They wait while the staff begins bringing in buckets of hot water. Soon the tubs are filled with steaming water and towels are laid out for the bathers. Miko is the first undressed and submerged in the tub. James asks Perrilin if he needs any help but he refuses, saying he can manage getting undressed and into the tub himself.

James undresses and climbs into a tub filled with hot, soothing water. The heat suffuses every muscle and sinew, slowly taking away the aches. Perrilin manages to get in well enough on his own and soon all three are laid back, relaxing in the tubs.

A knock at the door is immediately followed by Miss Gilena walking into the room. She sees the three of them relaxing in the tubs. “Comfy are we?” she asks.

“Yes we are,” says Perrilin. “Perhaps you should come back when we are less, exposed?”

Waving away the comment, she closes to the door and says, “There’s nothing here I haven’t seen before, so don’t you be worrying about my delicate sensibilities. I just came to see how you were doing.”

“I am fine thank you,” he assures her. “Just need a few more days rest and I’ll be as good as new.” He glances at James and gives him a look that says, ‘Don’t say anything’.

“Miss Gilena,” James says, “Miko and I will be leaving in the morning, our business here in Cardri is done. We are going to need a second horse for my friend and I was wondering if you knew of a place where we could purchase one?”

“Well, since all is well here I must go, this place won’t run itself,” she announces then turns to leave, shutting the door behind her.

After she leaves they relax in the tubs for a while longer, until the water begins to turn cold. Once out, they send Miko down to get the staff to remove the tubs, which is a long process as they must use pails to remove most of the water before they are light enough to be carried out.

Shortly after the last tub is removed, their dinner arrives and it’s bigger than any so far. Comprising of two whole chickens, a big platter of vegetables, and three loaves of bread, James didn’t think they would be able to finish it all, but Miko proved him wrong. He continues to be amazed at just how much that boy can eat.

That evening, while Perrilin remained in the room resting, James and Miko went down to the common room to enjoy the evening’s entertainment. The bard performing for the patrons is enjoyable, though in James’ opinion, Perrilin is the more talented of the two. Still, they have a good night and when he catches Miko yawning, they head upstairs to their beds and sleep.

_______________________

Early the next morning, Miko is again sent down to request breakfast to be sent up to their room. By the time the food arrives, he and James have everything packed and ready for travel.

Along with breakfast, Miss Gilena provides them with travel rations; dried beef, a half wheel of cheese, and several loaves of bread.

“I hope you find what you are looking for,” Perrilin says to James while they eat breakfast.

“I really don’t know what I am looking for,” he replies, “I have questions but very few answers. I don’t even know if the questions I do have are the right ones. I just know I need to be doing something.”

“I know the feeling,” he says.

“What will you do?” James asks him.

“Probably enjoy the hospitality here for a while and then go back on the road,” he replies. “I don’t like staying too long in one place. I prefer to travel and see what there is to see.”

Nodding with understanding, James asks, “What about Miss Gilena? She really likes you, you know?”

A wistful look comes over him and he says, “I like her too, but it’s not in my plans to be tied down to one place. I know that is what she would demand if we were to become serious. I am content to just be her friend, at least for right now.” He takes another bite and continues, “Later on, who knows?”

After they finish and while Miko gathers James’ bags, James goes over and shakes hands with Perrilin, “Try to be more careful in the future. I may not be around next time.”

Smiling, he returns the handshake and says, “Let’s hope there is no next time. Good travels to you both. I’m sure we will meet again sometime, someplace.” Turning to Miko he says, “You take care of him.”

“Oh, I will,” he replies in all seriousness.

Opening the door, James lets Miko precede him out into the hallway and then closes the door behind him. Downstairs they find but a handful of people in the common room as they head out the back door on their way to the stable.

There they find Gunter distributing feed for the horses.

“Good morning sirs,” he says as they enter. He takes a moment to pour feed from the pail he carries into a stall’s feed trough for one of the other horses before coming over to them. “How may I be of service?”

In no time they have the horse saddled and ready for travel. Then they lead him out to the inn’s courtyard with a friendly wave of goodbye to Gunter as they leave the stable.

“Come again,” Gunther cheerfully hollers after them.

The streets are quite busy for so early in the morning so they decide to lead the horse instead of riding as travel through the crowd is slow at best. They slowly wind their way along the congested streets until finally passing through the gate which leads into the outer ring.

After traveling several blocks, from out of nowhere a rock appears and strikes James on the side of the head. Luckily it was a small rock and only caused minor stinging. He looks over in the direction from which the rock originated and sees several boys standing near a building as they look up into the eaves overhanging the front of a store. One throws another stone at something hidden up in the eaves. The boys laugh as an animal cries out.

Curious, James makes his way over and looks up into the eaves to see what they are throwing rocks at. To his amazement he finds a furry, yellow cat meowing pitifully as it clings to the eave for dear life. “I think we may have found Furball,” he tells Miko. “Run to the Dancing Squirrel and find Inius, tell him to hurry and get here before she runs off again.”

Miko turns and cuts through the crowd as best he can, quickly disappearing out of sight.

The boys continue to laugh, enjoying the sport of tormenting Furball. Another boy throws a small stone and strikes the beam not two inches from the terrified cat.

The boy turns and confronts James, his buddies gathering in behind him. “We ain’t hurtin’ nuthin’ mister,” he says. “Just having some fun is all.”

“Yeah!” one boy chimes in. “After all, it’s just a cat.”

James looks at the boys disapprovingly, “Being mean is never acceptable, even to animals.” Pointing to Furball he says, “That cat up there is scared and frightened, but you boys think it’s just fun. One of these days you may be in a similar situation where you are being tormented and can’t get away. Then you will understand what you were doing here today.”

Not looking very convinced, one of them says, “Come on guys, let’s go somewhere we can have some fun.”

Several of the other boys reply, “Yeah,” as they turn and stalk off down the street.

James looks up at Furball who is still hanging on for dear life. “Its okay, Furball,” he says soothingly to the cat. “Inius will be here shortly.” He waits several more minutes with Furball before Miko appears with a concerned Inius following close behind.

When Inius sees Furball his face shows the relief he feels at seeing her alive. Coming up to James, he says, “Thank you for finding her for me.”

“We just happened by and saw her up there,” James explains, leaving out the part the boys had played. “We thought you might want to come and get her.”

“Furball!” Inius says to the cat, “you come down here right now.” The cat seems to relax some at the sound of Inius’ voice, but she isn’t making any move to come down.

Looking around for something to stand on, James finds an old unused crate sitting in a nearby alley. He goes over and brings it back where he sets it on the ground beneath the beam whereupon Furball lies. He then climbs carefully up onto the crate, hoping that it will hold his weight. By this time, a small crowd has gathered to see what’s going on. He looks around at the people staring at him as he attempts to get Furball down.

Reaching up, he tries to grab her off the crossbeam, but Furball lays her ears back against her head and emits a deep, warning growl. When his hand comes too close, she swipes at it with her claws and scores two long scratches along the back of his hand.

“Furball, stop it!” Inius yells up at the cat.

Pulling his hand back, James mutters a curse as he sees the two long scratches beginning to well blood. He can hear the people around him chuckling at his misfortune. He even hears some of the observers making wagers as to the outcome of whether or not he’ll be able to get the cat down.