Chapter Eleven

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“What was he thinking!” exclaims Illan after Miko relates to him what he learned from Jiron. Pacing back and forth, his mind furiously tries to figure out what they need to do next.

Dave sits on one of the beds and asks, “How are we going to get James out of the castle’s dungeon?”

“We’re not,” replies Illan. “To do that would be all but impossible. We’ll have to tackle a rescue operation once James is in the hands of the Empire’s men and are on their way back to the Empire.”

“But isn’t that taking a big chance?” he asks, not liking the idea.

“We have little choice right now,” he says. “We no longer have a mage on our side so we’re going to have to move cautiously. It will do James little good if we act prematurely and wind up getting killed or thrown in jail.”

Dave just glares at them. He doesn’t like the idea of letting the Empire’s men leave with his friend.

“You have a better idea?” Illan asks him. At that, Dave just shakes his head. “Alright then.” He paces for another few moments before turning to Miko, “Take us to the Dancing Squirrel first. Then see if your kids can keep an eye on the Empire’s camp outside the walls and possibly the gates leading from the castle. Have them find us if they attempt to move him.”

Coming to his feet, Illan says, “Let’s go.” Moving to the door, he glances back and sees Dave still sitting on the bed. “I said let’s go,” he repeats himself, an edge coming into his voice.

“You’re not the boss of me and I wish you would just stop acting like you are,” Dave says defiantly.

Illan’s eyes narrow as he begins to head back to Dave to teach this upstart a lesson. Miko intercepts him and says, “It won’t do any good.” Coming to a stop, Illan just stares at Dave and seethes in anger.

Turning to Dave, Miko asks with barely controlled contempt, “Will you please come with us?”

Giving them both a sardonic smile, he says, “I’d be glad to.” Hopping off the bed, he moves to follow them.

Illan gives him a look full of anger before he turns to follow Miko from the room. All the way to the Dancing Squirrel, Dave whistles an off tune merry little ditty which does nothing to quell the anger burning within him. Only Miko’s sudden intervention and the fact that he’s James’ friend kept him from beating the living hell out of him.

At the Dancing Squirrel, they find Jiron and the others still in their room on the second floor. When the door opens and Illan sees Jiron standing there, the pent up rage Dave had instilled within him erupts.

“Just what did you think you were doing?” he yells as he and the others move into the room. Miko hastily closes the door so their neighbors along the hall won’t be able to hear the interchange. Or at least not as well, Illan can summon quite a loud voice when he wants to.

Jiron has the good sense to blush. “Sorry Illan,” he says. “But when I was offered the chance for a fight, I just couldn’t pass it up.”

“So because of your indiscretion,” Illan rages, “James is in jail, you’re hiding out and the whole city is looking for you.” Then he turns to Fifer, “Why didn’t you stop him?”

“I didn’t think…” he begins when Illan cuts him off with a wave.

“Of course you didn’t,” he states. “If either of you had half a brain we wouldn’t be in this mess.” He glares at both of them and has the satisfaction of seeing them divert their eyes first.

He glances at the Parvati and says, “We have things to discuss which are best said in private.”

“He’s coming with us,” Jiron pipes up.

“What?” Illan asks. “How can you even think that? He’s one of them!”

“No longer,” asserts Qyrll. “I owe my allegiance to the Shynti. He restored my honor and now I must remain with him until the debt can be repaid.”

Illan glances to Jiron who nods. “Great,” he says, not very happy about the whole situation. “How are we going to get James with a Parvati? We’re not going to be able to remain unnoticed with him along.”

“Regardless,” Jiron says. “He’s coming with us.”

“He’s good in a fight,” adds Fifer.

“I know he’s good in a fight,” states Illan, “he’s a Parvati.”

“I’ll be back,” Miko says as he opens the door.

“Try to return in an hour,” Illan tells him. “Sooner if you learn anything.”

Miko gives him a nod as he leaves the room, shutting the door behind. While Illan and Jiron begin discussing different strategies for rescuing James, Miko heads for the rendezvous with the kids.

Coming to the open market, he sees most of them congregating around the eatery where they ate before. When he approaches, the boy who was to round them up says, “I couldn’t find them all.”

“That’s alright,” he says. Only two of them aren’t there, one of the older girls and that cute one that always gives him hugs. “Hungry?” he asks though of course he already knew the answer.

So after buying them each a meal, he lays down what he wants them to do while they’re eating. “My other friend is still in the castle dungeon,” he begins. “Now it’s come to my attention that the Empire’s men plan on taking him out of the city and back to their country. I want to stop that.”

They perk up at that. To them it sounds like the beginnings to one of the tales of daring do that the bards are always telling. “How?” one boy asks.

“I would like you to keep an eye on their camp outside the city and on the gates to the castle,” he tells them. “At some point they’re going to be moving him and I want to know when and where.”

“Is that when you’ll be hitting them?” another boy asks.

“That will be decided when we know exactly what they plan to do,” he says. “If you see anything that indicates they are moving my friend, I want one of you to come get me at the Dancing Squirrel. You know where that is?”

“Oh sure,” one girl says. “Isn’t that the place with the yellow cat?”

Smiling, Miko nods and says, “Yes, that’s the one.” Getting up from the table, he says, “Just be careful, I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. I’ll be back here in a couple of hours if I haven’t heard from you first.”

“We’ll be careful,” the older boy assures him.

Nodding, Miko leaves the eatery and makes his way back to the inn. It suddenly occurs to him that he doesn’t know any of their names. Inwardly smiling, he recalls how it was to be on the streets. Not too trusting and you never volunteer anything to anyone.

Back at the inn, he finds everyone still in the room. The remnants of the noon meal still sit upon several platters lying on the table. He tells Illan that his kids are going to keep an eye on the doings of the Empire’s men and report back to him here.

The fog clouding his mind has slowly been dissipating over the last several hours. Still unable to fully concentrate enough to summon the magic, he’s at least regained his equilibrium and the room isn’t spinning nearly as bad. Sitting on the floor next to him is a tray of food which was brought in some time ago. Unwilling to trust it, it lies untouched. Still not sure how they managed to drug him, he’s not willing to take the chance on a recurrence by eating doctored food.

When all the torches had begun to burn low, a different servant entered and put a single torch in the sconce near his pen. Now, only the light from that one torch is all he has to keep the darkness at bay.

Sitting alone in the cell, he feels the hard round object his magic had formed resting in his pants pocket. It was just a theory, never really had a chance to test it. If his situation worsens, he may try it, but until then he’ll let it lie dormant. He’s not even sure if it’s going to work or not.

Footsteps coming down the stairs herald another visitor on the way. When the man exits the stairwell and begins walking across the floor, he can tell the man comes from the Empire. He’s spent enough time down there to readily recognize one of them, even if the man is wearing local clothes.

“Awake I see,” the man says as he draws close.

James stays seated on his bench and does nothing more than look at him.

“You should eat,” the man tells him. “You have a long trip ahead of you and we must ensure you have the strength to survive it.”

“Where?” he asks, breaking his silence.

“To someone who greatly desires to talk with you,” the man says.

“Torture and interrogate you mean,” replies James. “I hardly think it’s going to be a social call.”

Breaking into a grin, the man says, “I see you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”

“Do I know you?” James asks.

“I don’t think so,” the man says. “Our paths haven’t crossed until now.”

“Who are you?” he asks.

“Just a loyal servant of the Empire,” he replies.

“I see,” says James as he leans his head back against the wall behind him.

Gesturing to the food, the man asks, “Are you worried about what may be in your food? Is that why you don’t eat?” He waits for a response and when none is forthcoming, he adds, “You needn’t be worried, there is nothing contained within other than food. No drugs or anything like that.”

James simply stares at him, not believing him in the least.

“We should be leaving in a couple hours,” the man says. “The negotiations have been concluded most favorably for all parties. Trade between the Empire and Cardri shall continue.”

“Good for you,” says James. After a few moments of silence while the man simply stares at him, he asks, “So why are you down here?”

“Just wanted to see you for myself,” he explains. “From all that I’ve heard, I thought you would be more impressive.”

James starts laughing.

Turning to leave, the man says, “I shall return when we are ready to leave.”

“I can hardly wait,” James says, sobering up quickly. He watches as the man walks to the stairs and then ascends to the upper level. Absentmindedly, he rubs the object in his pocket and waits.

Shortly after he arrived at the Dancing Squirrel, Miko set himself in the common room drinking ale. He wanted to be quickly available should the need arise. He worries about James, imagining the worst possible things happening to him and would like nothing better than to storm the castle and rescue him. But like Illan said, that would be foolhardy.

When it draws close to the time when he said he would meet them back at their rendezvous, he gets up from the table and makes his way outside to the street. He doesn’t get far before he sees the older boy running up the street toward him.

Upon seeing him, he hollers, “Miko!” and races straight for him. Looking distraught, he comes to a stop in front of him and says, “They’ve got them!”

“Got who?” he asks.

“Gwynne and little Daria,” he replies. When he sees Miko not understanding, he clarifies, “One of the older girls and the little one who took such a liking to you.”

Alarmed, he asks, “Who? Who has them?”

“The Empire’s men,” he explains. “They were down there keeping an eye on their camp while the rest of us met with you earlier. When me and Jerrick went down to join them in watching, they weren’t there.” Fear evident in his voice, he looks pleadingly to Miko.

“Calm down,” he says as he tries to keep his own emotions under control. “How do you know they have them?”

Taking a deep breath, he calms himself and then says, “Just after we got there and began looking for them, the camp started to break up. I think they’re getting ready to leave. A coach was sitting in front of one of their tents and I saw children hurriedly being put inside.” He pauses for just a second before exclaiming, “I saw Gwynne and Daria being put inside with the others. It looked like they were crying.”

Red hot anger begins burning inside him. The thought of those sweet girls going through what he had is more than he can bear. “Try to find out where they’re going and then return fast,” he says as he turns around to return to the inn and inform Illan what’s happening.

“Right!” the boy says. As the boy turns to leave one of the girls comes running down the street. “Miko!” she exclaims.

Turning to see the girl coming, he stops and waits a second for her to reach him. The older boy joins them as well. “They have a boat at the docks!” she tells him. “We saw some of them leave the castle area and followed them to the docks where they began boarding.”

The older boy says, “I bet that’s where they’re taking Gwynne and Daria!”

“Gwynne and Daria?” the girl asks.

To the boy, Miko says, “Send one to keep an eye on the camp to make sure they’re not going somewhere else. Round up everyone else and meet us at the docks.”

“Right!” the boy says as he takes the girl by the hand and they go racing down the street.

Bolting for the inn, he races through the door and takes the steps two at a time. Upon reaching the room, he opens the door and says, “They’re leaving!”

“What?” exclaims Illan as he comes to his feet.

“They have a boat at the docks and they’re leaving now!” he replies. “Their camp is being taken down and that’s not all. They’ve taken two of my kids. They’re going to make slaves out of them!”

“Damn!” curses Illan. “If they get away from the docks, we’ll never catch them.” To Fifer he says, “Go down to the docks and try to locate this ship.”

“Right,” he says as he runs out the door.

To the others he says, “If they try to move James to the ship, that will be our best chance to rescue him.” Moving toward the door, he says, “Let’s go.” Opening the door, he passes through to the hallway, the others following right behind. He glances behind him, glad to see Dave is among them and not being obstinate.

The Parvati is in the middle of their group, the hooded cloak hiding his features. Fortunately it’s autumn so relatively cool. If it was the middle of summer, he would attract attention like that.

Each walled section of the city has its own set of docks. It’s unlikely the Empire’s vessel would be docked outside in the poorer section. That dock is mainly used by simple merchants and fishing boats. The dock for the interior section by the castle is for the royalty and nobility of Cardri and the city. It’s possible the ship could be there but most likely it’s docked at the dock for the central section of the city where most of the merchants and travelers dock their ships.

It’s to this section Illan leads them. Trying not to hurry and draw unwanted attention to themselves, they forge their way through the crowds upon the streets until they’re able to see the masts of the docked ships ahead.

“Miko!” a young girl hollers and he turns to see her wave at him.

“One of yours?” Illan asks.

Nodding, Miko disengages from the group and moves to see what she wants.

With a worried expression, she hurries to meet him halfway. “Thank goodness you’re here!” she exclaims.

“Why?” he asks. “What happened?” Illan and the others have come up behind him to hear what she has to say.

When she sees them approach, she looks to Miko who nods assuringly, “They’re my friends and are going to help me rescue Gwynne and Daria.”

“Paul told me to wait here and tell you the ship is called the Black Topaz,” she says. “It’s tied down at the docks, he didn’t say which one it was, just the name.”

“That should be enough,” he assures her. “You wait here, there might be trouble and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

With fear in her eyes, she nods her head.

Miko turns back to the others and asks, “You heard?”

Illan nods. “Let’s hope Fifer has already located the ship.” Continuing down the street to the docks, they leave the frightened girl behind. The street doesn’t go much further before they’re able to see the harbor open up before them.

The docks are in a mass of confusion as ships are loaded and unloaded either by porters carrying the goods off down the gangplank or by use of one of the several cranes located throughout the dock area. One ship, a smaller two masted deep sailing ship is currently having a coach lifted aboard.

Miko’s blood goes cold when he sees the sailors on board that vessel are from the Empire. “I think we’ve found it,” he says and begins moving toward it.

A hand on his shoulder stops him and Illan says, “Patience. They’re not leaving yet.” He indicates several more coaches and six other wagons which have yet to be unloaded. “Let’s move closer and see what we can do.”

As they make their way closer, Fifer disengages from the crowd and approaches. “That’s it,” he says as he nods toward the ship. “From what I can gather, most of the Ambassador’s group has already boarded. The Ambassador has yet to make his appearance.”

“Any sign of James?” Illan asks.

“Not yet,” Fifer replies.

“Illan!” Miko exclaims quietly.

Turning to see what he’s excited about, he looks to the window of the carriage being lifted on board by a crane and sees a small face peering out. “The kids?” he asks.

Miko nods. “That’s the little one, Daria,” he tells him. He stands there and watches as the coach is swung over and then lowered onto the deck. Sailors then push it over to the cargo hold where several sailors congregate near the coach’s door. Over their heads, he sees the door to the coach swing open but the men there block any view of the children as they’re being led into the hold.

“We have to do something!” he says. “We should tell someone.”

“And what would anyone do?” Illan asks. “That’s a diplomatic vessel and for the authorities to search it would be tantamount to a declaration of war in these shaky times. They’ll not risk that on our word alone.”

Miko glares at him, his rage wanting to be released. Pushing it back down, he lets it simmer against the time when it can be. And woe to the person who feels its wrath.

A group of kids makes their way toward them out of the crowd. As they draw near Miko can see that Paul, the leader of the group of kids, is very distraught. “They just took them on board!” he states angrily.

“I know,” Miko tells him.

“What are we to do?” Paul asks him.

One of the older girls comes toward him tears streaming down her face and says, “Daria’s my sister. We can’t let them have her.”

Laying his hand upon her shoulder, he wipes away an errant tear before it can travel very far and says, “Don’t you worry. We’ll not let them be taken.”

Then from the direction of the castle area, a murmur begins working its way through the crowd and they see a group of important looking people making their way along the docks. The leader of the group is obviously from the Empire, and by his dress he must be the Ambassador.

“There he is!” breathes Fifer as they see James walking within the group of guards behind the Ambassador. His hands and feet are manacled and the short chain between his ankle restraints forces him to move in a shuffle.

“Now?” asks Miko, ready to extract his vengeance.

“No,” Illan says. “Let’s move a little bit closer.” As they move through the throng of people on the dock, he contemplates this foolhardy venture. They haven’t made any plans for escape should they even manage to get him free. How are they even going to get out of town? Events are simply moving along too rapidly.

By the time the Ambassador’s procession reaches the gangplank to the ship, they’ve managed to work their way down to the edge of the crowd. James lifts his head and sees them there. He can see in their eyes that they plan to do something foolish. Looking directly at Miko, he shakes his head. He does the same thing with Jiron.

“Is he telling us not to do anything?” Miko whispers to Illan.

“I think so,” he replies. “He knows if we do anything here, it’ll come to ruin. Too many people and guards.”

“Then what are we to do?” Jiron asks.

From behind them, a voice says, “I’d suggest keeping your hand’s away from your weapons.”

Turning around, they see Lord Colerain standing there, a smirk upon his face. Flanking him are four crossbowmen as well as a dozen armed men. “Now, we don’t want to make a scene here,” he tells them. “So if you’ll follow along quietly, no one will get hurt.”

The crowd around them begins backing away when they see what’s transpiring between the two groups. The Ambassador’s group, having already past their location doesn’t take notice of what’s going on.

Miko reaches for his sword when Illan grabs him and says, “No! He’ll kill us all.” Staring into the eyes of Lord Colerain, Miko’s anger and rage almost gets the better of him again. “Not now,” Illan insists.

Releasing his sword, Miko continues glaring at him.

Lord Colerain gives him a victorious grin and turns as he leads them away from the docks.

Miko glances over his shoulder to where Paul and the other kids are mingled in with the crowd. Paul stares in disbelief as they’re being led away. Then Miko sees him say something to another boy who begins running through the crowd toward one of the streets leading away from the docks.

Just before he’s led from the dock area completely, he casts one more look toward the ship and sees James as he’s led aboard.