Fires Of Prophecy Part 32

"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 st.i.tches. 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 pa.s.sed 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 st.i.tches." He looks over and sees Delia getting her needle ready to redo the st.i.tches. "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 un.o.btrusively 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 st.i.tches. Possibly from the pain of the rest.i.tching as well, but he isn't likely to admit that to anyone.

Setting a quick pace, they make all speed for Al-Kur. They pa.s.s many travelers throughout the day, but none give them more than a quick glance or a brief 'h.e.l.lo'. 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 s.p.a.ce 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 a.s.sume 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," a.s.serts 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 pa.s.s by, they can hear the one dressed well say, "d.a.m.n 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 pa.s.sage," 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 pa.s.sage 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 pa.s.sage. 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 un.o.btrusively 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."

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 a.s.sures 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.