Stig says, “They’re surrounding him.”
“We can’t just sit here!” exclaims Aleya. “He needs us.”
Shaking his head, James says, “Not yet.”
“What do you mean not yet?” asks Aleya. “They are surrounding him! We can’t just sit and wait for them to kill him.”
“We aren’t even sure they mean him any harm yet,” offers Brother Willim. “If we move prematurely, it may spoil whatever chance Jiron has of finding out what he needs to know.”
“But…” she begins then trails off when she realizes the rest are willing to wait. Moving closer to James, she watches the events unfolding in the mirror. The five men that have moved off the path are making a circuitous route around to the far side of the bridge. Not directly, rather moving back and forth like they are hunting for someone.
“Could they be looking to see if he’s brought someone else?” Reilin asks.
Nodding, James says, “That’s entirely possible.” The man who had remained on the path remains at the spot where the group split up, as if he’s waiting for something. Returning the image to the men among the trees, he sees them coming to meet on the opposite sides of the river further downstream from the bridge. They pause there for but a moment before returning along almost the exact same route they took the first time.
Once they’ve come back to the man on the path, they confer for a moment then the five men move back into the trees. Before they disappear into the shadows, James sees two of them remove crossbows they had hidden beneath their cloaks. The sixth man begins walking quickly toward the bridge where Jiron waits.
Aleya gasps when she sees the crossbows but the others tell her they have to wait.
Jiron has grown impatient. It must be past the time already and still no one has made any attempt to contact him. He starts to think that perhaps there is another Red Lantern Bridge in this city and that he’s at the wrong one. Making up his mind to wait for a count of a hundred heartbeats, then if the man still hasn’t made an appearance, he’ll leave.
At sixty-six heartbeats, the trod of someone upon the cobblestones is heard coming toward the bridge. Jiron turns his eyes to the sound and can see the silhouette of a man passing through the light from one of the lampposts. As the man enters the last lighted area before the bridge, Jiron can make out some of his features.
He’s definitely a man of the Empire, there can be no doubt of that. Other than that, it’s hard to determine anything else about him. Turning onto the bridge, the man comes forward and stops six feet from Jiron.
“Are you the one whom I was to meet here?” Jiron asks.
“I am,” the man replies.
Pulling forth the necklace, Jiron says, “I am interested in knowing where you came by this.” He holds it up so the heart with two diamonds is clearly visible.
The man’s eyes betray the anger he’s keeping in check. “Is this why you wanted to meet with me?” he asks.
“Yes,” replies Jiron. “It’s of the utmost importance that I know where you got it.”
“Then what you told Ohan was…” he says, his words trialing off.
“A ruse,” finishes Jiron. “Yes, I’m sorry about that. But I desperately need to talk to you.”
The man’s face turns red in anger. “We are finished here,” he says and abruptly turns around to walk away.
Jiron moves forward and places his hand on the man’s shoulder. “I need to know where you got this!” he insists.
From out of the trees, a crossbow bolt flies and embeds itself in the bridge’s railing not two inches from where Jiron stands. “Let go or the next one won’t miss,” the man says.
Jiron glances to the direction from which the bolt was fired but the light from the lanterns at either end of the footbridge prevents him from seeing very far into the darkness. He releases the man’s shoulder and takes a step backward. The man then continues his way to the end of the bridge.
“Did you see that?” asks Aleya. “They shot a crossbow bolt at him.” She looks to James who in turn glances to Scar.
“Go get him and bring him back here,” he says and then returns his attention to the mirror. As the others except Miko and Brother Willim rush to Jiron’s aid, he keeps the bridge’s image in the mirror. Jiron stands there with his arms slightly out from his body as he watches the man walk away. James was sure the bolt was more of a warning than anything else. Otherwise the two men with crossbows would have both fired.
Before the man moves out of the light at the end of the bridge, he sees Jiron moving his arms. It takes him but a moment to realize that he’s signaling him to follow the man with his mirror.
“I don’t think this went well,” he says to Miko. Scrolling the image, he follows the man as he moves down the cobblestone path. Once he’s far enough away to be out of visual sight of the bridge, the five other men that had accompanied him to the park appear and leave with him.
Brother Willim and Miko sit on either side of him as together they watch the six men move through the park. James wants to know what happened to Jiron but doesn’t dare take the image off the man for fear of losing him. He half expected Jiron to launch an attack on the man but after several minutes go by, he returns to the deserted open air eatery with the others.
“You got him?” he asks when he sees James still watching the mirror.
James nods his head in reply, never taking his eyes off the man. “What did you find out?” he asks.
“He definitely knows something,” he explains. “But once he learned that what I told Ohan at the Order of the Scarlet Sword wasn’t entirely accurate, he left.”
“I don’t know if the others told you yet or not,” James says, “but there were five others with him stationed out in the trees surrounding the bridge.”
“Yeah, I kind of figured something like that when the bolt hit the bridge,” he replies.
James motions him over and Miko gets up from his seat to allow Jiron a closer view of the mirror. Scar and Potbelly resume their positions by the road to keep an eye on anyone passing by. However at this hour of the night, the number of people on the streets is dwindling rapidly.
They continue watching the men work their way through town. At one point, three of the men depart and head off on another side street. At the next intersection, another one leaves as well. The remaining man stays with him the remainder of the way until he arrives at a very nice townhouse. Four stories tall, the building is quite impressive.
The two men climb the three steps to the door where the man reaches in his cloak and removes a key. Placing it in the lock, he opens the door and enters. The other man follows him in and closes it behind them.
James cancels the spell and sits back. He rubs his neck as it grew stiff from bending over the mirror for so long. “Glad that’s over,” he says. Casting a look to where Jiron sits next to him he asks, “I suppose it wasn’t just idle curiosity that prompted you to have me follow him was it?”
Jiron shakes his head. “No.”
“You intend to go after him?” he asks.
“I have to find out where he got the necklace,” Jiron replies. “One way or another.”
“I thought you would feel that way,” James says with a sigh. Getting to his feet, he pulls forth his cloth. Having watched the man in the mirror for as long as he has, he’s able to get a fix on his location. Letting the magic flow, the cloth soon points the way to the townhouse the man entered. “Let’s go,” he says and heads out.
Chapter Nineteen
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James leads them through the streets until the townhouse the man entered comes into view down the street ahead of them. “That’s it,” he says. They then move a little further down the street before positioning themselves across the street next to the corner of another townhouse. Here they can remain hidden in the shadows and still keep an eye on the place.
“Scar, Potbelly,” Jiron says as he turns to face them. “You two make your way around back. If someone
tries to leave, detain them.” He waits for them to nod and move out before he turns to James and the others. “The rest of you stay here and keep an eye on the front. I’m going to have a quick look around.”
“Be careful,” urges Aleya. He gives her a hug and a kiss before moving off.
James stands there in the shadows as Jiron races across the street and disappears into the alley adjacent to the townhouse. They wait for several anxious minutes before Jiron appears rounding the far side.
Keeping close to the wall, he moves quickly along the side of the building in their direction. When he passes the alley where he originally left the street, he pauses and looks both ways. Seeing that the street is deserted, he darts across to where James and the others are waiting.
“There are two other doors beside the front,” he says when he arrives. “One in the alley on this side and one in the back. Scar and Potbelly have the back one covered.”
“How do you plan on getting in there?” Brother Willim asks. For a priest, he sure seems to be taking a more active interest in this sort of thing than one would expect.
“On the far side of the building, there’s an open window on the second floor,” he explains. “The window is dark so it’s safe to say the room should be empty.”
“Alright,” James says, “Let’s go.” As he starts to move toward the building, Jiron stops him by placing a hand on his chest.
“No,” he says. “You and the rest stay here. I’m taking Stig with me.” When he sees James beginning to object, he cuts him off by saying, “He’s better suited for this than you are and I doubt if we’ll have need of magic in there.”
“He’s right,” Miko says. “You’re great with magic and strategy, but you are horrible at sneaking or remaining quiet.”
“I don’t think so,” objects James. Then he catches Aleya nodding too. “I can’t be that bad,” he says.
“You’re not…bad,” she says. “It’s just that Stig is much better.” Then she turns her attention to him and says, “In fact, I know someone else who would be much better.”
“Who?” asks Jiron.
“Me,” she replies. “I can sneak up on a deer and tickle it behind the ears before it even knows I’m there.”
James sees the objection starting to form in Jiron’s mind. Giving him a grin, he says, “If you say I can’t go because I’m too loud, then you should at least take the one best suited for this.”
“But there could be fighting,” he says. “I need someone who can guard my back.”
The rest of them grow quiet as a dark look comes over Aleya’s face. That’s when he realizes his mistake. “Are you saying I can’t handle myself?” she asks with barely controlled anger. “Are you saying I am some addlebrained woman who should just stay home and wait for her man to return?”
“That’s not what I’m saying at all,” he counters. He glances over to James for help but only gets silence.
“Then what are you saying?” she asks, daring him to slight her again.
Sighing, he turns and looks at her and says, “Stig is from the pits. His prowess at fighting is greater than yours.” He can see her bristle at this and hurriedly continues. “I don’t say this to lessen your own ability, but he survived in the pits against some of the meanest fighters I’ve ever seen.” Placing a hand on her shoulder, he softens his voice. “I know you are skilled, but we don’t know what’s inside there and I need someone who can walk silent yet hold their own should things turn bad.”
Not liking this one bit, she can see the logic in what he’s saying. “Take Stig then,” she says. “See what I care.” Then she turns her back on him and stalks off further into the shadows.
Jiron casts a hurt look to James who says, “She’ll be okay. Go do what you have to and take care of this when you get back.”
“Alright,” he says. Looking into the darkness where Aleya disappeared for a moment, he then turns to Stig and says, “Leave your shield.”
“Right,” he says. Taking it off his arm, he hands it to Miko. “Take care of this for me will you?”
“Sure,” he replies as he takes the shield.
“If you hear a commotion,” Jiron says, “come running.”
“You can count on it,” James assures him. “Good luck.”
Jiron flicks a final look to the shadows and then nods for Stig to follow. After a quick glance to make sure the coast is clear, they race across the street. Once there, they stay against the side of the buildings until they reach the alley on the far side of the townhouse.
Moving into the alley, Stig follows Jiron as he quickly makes his way down until he’s almost at the end of the building. Coming to a halt, he looks up at the open window Jiron indicates.
“Wait here,” Jiron says. Then moving to the wall, he examines it with his hand for a minute. Then using the cracks and imperfection in the stone wall, he begins to climb. He never thought that the climbing he and Tinok had done years ago would prove to be so beneficial. How it came about was that one day Tinok bet him he couldn’t climb the defensive wall surrounding the City of Light. That first time he tried it, he lost the bet. Time and again he came back to the wall and kept trying, he hates it when something, anything defeats him. It took him the better part of a year, but when he brought Tinok back to the very same wall and bet him again, he won the bet. After that, he taught Tinok the skills he had acquired and before you knew it, they were like spiders on the wall.
Inching his way upward, he’s soon past the ground floor and within a foot of the open window. Down on the ground, Stig watches absolutely amazed. He wouldn’t have thought anyone could have climbed a sheer wall such as he’s seeing Jiron do now.
Finally, his hand comes to the window ledge and takes a firm hold. Then he brings his other hand to the ledge and pulls himself up and in through the window. The room he finds himself in is quite dark and wishes he would have thought to have James make him one of his orbs. Too late now. He removes the rope coiled about his middle and tosses a length of it out the window down to Stig below. Bracing himself and taking a secure hold of the rope, he feels Stig test it to see if he’s ready. Then the tension on the rope increases dramatically as Stig begins to use the rope to climb up.
Holding firm with his feet braced against the wall under the window, Jiron maintains a tight grip on the rope. In no time at all, Stig’s hand appears at the window. He grasps the window ledge and lets go of the rope as he begins lifting himself inside. Jiron releases the rope and moves to help him in.
Once Stig is safely within the room, Jiron coils the rope again around his midsection. Moving silently, they make their way cautiously through the dark room until they come to the door. Jiron places his ear against the wood of the door and when he fails to hear anything, opens it a crack.
No light comes through from the other side as the door opens. Swinging it in further, Jiron looks out into a hallway passing to the left and right. Sticking his head out, he looks down both ways, only to find that both are dark. Several of the doors are open allowing the light from the moon shining overhead to spill in.
“Doesn’t look as if anyone’s on this floor,” he whispers to Stig.
“Might be upstairs,” Stig suggests.
Jiron nods agreement. “Let’s find the stairs up and then work our way down.” Moving out into the hallway, he turns to the left as one direction is as good as another. Stepping softly, neither one makes any more sound than the odd creaking of a floorboard. But even that is minimized by them placing the sides of their feet right against the wall.
They pass two doorways, briefly checking them out, before they reach the stairwell that appears to run all the way from the ground floor to the top. The stairs descending down to the bottom floor are dark, while light comes from up above. “Wait here,” Jiron says to Stig who nods that he understands.
Stepping on the flight of stairs going up, Jiron quickly and silently ascends to the third floor. Muffled voices reach him before he gains the top causing him to
slow. When it doesn’t look as if they are approaching, he continues the rest of the way. At the top of the stairs, he hears the voices more clearly. It sounds as if there are at least five different men and all are talking in the Empire’s tongue.
Candles burn up and down the hallway on the third floor in wall mounted holders. Peering around the corner, he sees the hallway extends to the left and right. The voices are coming through one of the closed doors down on the right.
Then all of a sudden, one of the doors to the right opens and a man in armor walks out. In the brief glance Jiron had of him before he ducks his head back, he could tell this was not the man he met on the bridge. The man’s footsteps are leading further down the hallway away from where Jiron waits.
Peering back around the corner, he sees the man walk to the far end of the hallway where he turns to the left and disappears. Jiron then glances back down to where Stig waits and signals for him to come up.
When he joins him on the top couple of steps, Jiron indicates the hallway extending to the right and says, “I think there’s a meeting going on in a room down there. At least four men are in there, another just left.”
“Do you think Azku is in there?” Stig asks.
“I would think so,” he replies.
“Do we take him now?” he asks.
Shaking his head, he says, “No. First we have to be sure he’s in there.”
“How do you plan to do that?” Stig asks.
Not for the first time he wishes he could do some of the things James can. A magic mirror to show him who is in there would definitely come in handy right about now.
The door to the room the men are in again opens up and another man steps out. This man is dressed in fine attire with a sword hanging at his hip. Moving in the same direction the previous man went, he has soon left the hallway.
The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven Page 25