The Unsuspecting Mage

by Pratt, Brian S.

  “It was a pleasure, I don’t much care for those who use torture,” he replies, taking them and setting them upon the table.

  Looking at Perrilin with worry in her voice she asks, “Torture?”

  Perrilin pats her hand as he calms her worries, “They were just about to start when James arrived and got me out of there.”

  “Thank goodness you came along just when you did,” she says. Pulling down his covers with not so much as a ‘by your leave’, she inspects the injuries marring his chest. Perrilin feels a little uncomfortable at her mothering, especially in front of James. Satisfied that they look to be healing properly, she replaces the covers and comes to her feet. “It looks as if your wounds will heal fine in a couple of days,” she announces, relief that they were not worse evident in her voice. “I can’t stay, simply wanted to check and see how you were doing. If you need anything, let me know.” That last question was directed more toward James than the injured bard.

  Perrilin responds, “We will and don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

  “I always worry about you,” Miss Gilena says before returning to the door. She casts one more worried look in his direction and then quickly leaves the room.

  Looking over to James, Perrilin says, “She’s a good woman, but she frets too much at times.”

  “That’s probably true of most women when they care about someone,” he remarks.

  “Care about? Me?” Perrilin says as if such a thought had never occurred to him. An odd expression passes over his face as he considers the possibility. Soon though, the demands of his healing body assert themselves and his eyes close as he drifts back to sleep.

  James sits at the table while the bard sleeps, bored and restless as he waits for the return of Miko. He moves a chair over by the window and idles the time away while looking out over the town and down to the people passing on the street below. He reminisces about the times his grandmother, while waiting for someone at the airport would like to do nothing more than sit and watch people. She would make up the most outlandish stories about who they were and what they were about.

  Knock! Knock! Knock!

  Snapped out of his reverie by the knocking, he gets up and walks over to open the door. One of the workers from downstairs stands before him holding a long, thin box.

  Holding forward the box, the boy says, “This was just delivered for you.”

  “Thank you,” James says as he takes the box, wondering who could possibly be sending him something here.

  Once James has the box, the boy turns and walks back down the hallway. James closes the door and places the package on the table then stands there a moment staring at it, thinking.

  “Is something wrong?” Perrilin asks from the bed, the knocking having awoken him.

  “This package was just delivered to me,” he explains, “but I haven’t bought or ordered anything that would be delivered.”

  “Interesting,” comments Perrilin. Intrigued, he pulls back the covers and slowly brings his legs over so he’s sitting on the edge of the bed. Despite the pain the change of position caused, he was more interested in this unknown and inexplicable package.

  James takes a seat at the table then takes the package and opens it. Inside he finds something long wrapped in a dirty cloth. Unwrapping the cloth, his eyes widen and an audible gasp escapes him. To his complete shock, he discovers what was concealed within the cloth is one of the boards that he used to kill their captors the other night. The ones they had hidden in a pile of refuse.

  Seeing the expression on James’ face, Perrilin asks, “What is it?”

  He holds the blood stained board up for Perrilin to see, “I don’t know how they found this, or even how they could’ve possibly connected it to me.”

  “What does it mean?” he asks.

  “It’s a long story but I guess we have the time,” James begins. He then relates the events starting with being chased into the sewers of Bearn and then the string of events culminating with the battle in the house where they escaped their capture. He avoided mentioning magic and told only the bare bones of the attack culminating with three dead men with boards protruding from their chests.

  “As we left, we hid these boards in a pile of garbage. I was sure no one was around, I guess I was wrong. Somehow, someone must have seen us put them there, took them, and now has tracked us here.”

  “That’s quite a story,” Perrilin says. “I have heard of Lord Colerain, though have never met him. He is rumored to be a nasty one to cross.”

  “Yeah,” he agrees, “I’ve heard that too.” Removing the cloth from out of the box, he searches for a note, or anything else that might shed some light on all this. “Question is, what is it that they want?” After searching the box thoroughly, he says, “They didn’t leave a note.”

  The cloth which had been used to wrap the board lies on the floor next to the table. Perrilin notices something and says, “James, look at the cloth itself.” Picking it up, he uses both hands and spreads it out. There is writing on it.

  Where these were buried, one hour

  It’s written in what looks to be charcoal. He shows it to Perrilin.

  “I guess they want to meet you where you buried them, in one hour,” Perrilin assumes.

  “That’s how I see it too,” agrees James.

  “Are you going to meet with them?” he asks.

  “I think I should,” he replies. “If their desire had been to cause me trouble with the city watch, guards would have been here instead. I should be alright, I hope.” He wraps the board with the cloth and then puts it back inside the box. “If Miko returns before I do, have him wait until I get back,” he tells Perrilin as he comes to his feet.

  “I will,” Perrilin assures him, “and be careful.”

  “I have learned a lot about being careful since coming here,” states James. Not taking the backpack with him this time, he leaves the room and goes downstairs. Miss Gilena is in the common room straightening chairs and he takes a moment to go over to talk with her.

  She turns at his approach and says in a worried tone, “Nothing is wrong, is it?”

  “Everything is fine,” James says reassuringly. “I just need to step out for a short while, I left him upstairs and he’s sleeping again.”

  “Rest is the best thing for him right now.” She looks somewhat more relaxed knowing Perrilin is doing fine.

  “There was a package delivered to my room a few minutes ago,” he tells her. “You wouldn’t have seen who dropped it off?”

  “No, it was probably given to one of the staff,” she answers. “They wouldn’t have bothered me for something like that. Why?”

  “Just curious is all. Thank you for your time,” he says and then turns to walk out the door.

  “Goodbye to you James,” Miss Gilena says as he walks away from her.

  He leaves the inn and begins the trek through the city and out into the poorer section. Hope I can remember where I buried them, he worries to himself. It was pretty dark and I was preoccupied at the time.

  One street looks pretty much like any other. He finally comes across a refuse pile in an area looking somewhat familiar. He isn’t sure if he has found the right spot or not, but he thinks so. The area he’s in is fairly run down, lots of bums and beggars hanging around up and down the street. After a few minutes of waiting, he begins to feel very self conscious, a stranger standing all by himself in such an area. He definitely stands out among all the other residents and is beginning to draw the attention of some of them.

  Three young men eye him from down the street where they stand together talking. Being under scrutiny like this is starting to wear on his nerves, making him jumpy. He definitely does not feel safe there. The three young men seem to have come to a decision, for James sees them begin walking in his direction.

  Nervous but needing to meet that person, he stands his ground and waits while the men come over to him. He has his magic if nothing else.

  As they approach, two of the
young men fan out, leaving the third to approach while they move to flank him.

  “Can I help you gentlemen?” James asks, trying to keep his voice calm.

  “Maybe,” one says as he pulls out a knife, “you could help by giving us all your coins.” The other two draw their knives as well and gesture menacingly with them toward him. James suddenly realizes that the many people who had been loitering in the area earlier have all but disappeared. Other than a few here and there, he and the three toughs are the only ones remaining on the street, which can’t be a good sign.

  James backs away until his back presses against a wall.

  “Look man, we don’t want to hurt you, we just want your gold,” another one tells him.

  “You don’t want his money,” a voice comes from behind them. The three toughs turn to see a well dressed man in his middle years approaching with sword drawn.

  “We don’t want any trouble with you,” the first tough tells the newcomer, menacing him with his knife.

  “Then you better leave before I come over there,” the man says unimpressed. All the while he still maintains the same steady pace forward.

  The three toughs look to each other, realizing their knives will be no match for a swordsman and then make a break for it down the road. The newcomer comes over to James and sheathes his sword.

  “Thank you stranger,” James says with relief when the man draws near.

  Waving away the comment, he says, “Are you here to meet someone?”

  “Yes I am,” he answers.

  “Then follow me,” the man says as he turns to return back the way he came. “This isn’t where I expected to find you. You are lucky you weren’t killed, this is no area for strangers.”

  “Yeah, I gathered that,” James replies. “Where are we going?”

  “Someone wants to meet with you, just be quiet and follow me.” The man continues down the street and then turns down another to the left. They soon come to a dilapidated looking building where the man walks up to the door, opens it, and then gestures for James to precede him inside the building.

  He enters a poorly lit hallway and the man tells him to continue on down to the second door on the left. James reaches the door and is directed to open it and enter.

  When he opens the door, light from the other side bathes the hallway. Passing through, he enters a well lit room wherein he finds three people, two being most likely guards since they are dressed similar to the man whom had escorted him. The third man is sitting behind a table with a single, empty chair situated across from him. He gestures for James to come in and sit in the empty chair.

  James nervously crosses the room, taking a seat in the chair as he looks around. He hears the door close behind him and glances back at the two guards taking up positions around the room while the man who had brought him there remains by the door.

  He returns his attention to the man sitting across from him. Appearing to be middle aged with hair just beginning to grey about the temples the man holds an air of command the single scar running along his left jawbone doing little to diminish it. Reaching down to the floor beside him, the man brings up the hood containing the remaining boards. “You know about these?” he asks.

  “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t,” James replies nervously.

  “It would seem that the other night, four people died in a house not far from here. Two others were seen leaving that very same house around that time. Those same people were also observed to go and bury these in a refuse pile not too far from here. Interesting wouldn’t you say?” The man sits back in his chair and looks at the reaction his words are having on him.

  James shifts nervously in his chair, eyes flicking from the man, to the boards and back again, but doesn’t say anything.

  The man continues, “Now, we know that the people who died in the house were working under the orders of someone working on behalf of a Lord Colerain from Bearn, whether they knew it themselves or not. What we want to know is why Lord Colerain has an interest in you?”

  “You’re not with the city guards?” James asks.

  Laughing, the man replies, “If we were, you wouldn’t be here now would you?”

  “No, I suppose not. Why this interest in me?” he asks.

  “Anything of interest to Lord Colerain, interests us,” the man answers.

  Gesturing to the boards, James asks, “What do you plan to do with those?”

  “Probably throw them away,” he replies. “They were merely instrumental in gaining your attention. Now, why this interest in you?”

  “I really don’t know,” James explains. “For some reason he’s been after me since Bearn. I was unfortunate enough to accidentally be on his estate several days ago. He saw me there and ever since has been trying to get hold of me.”

  “So he is after you because you are a trespasser?” he asks with disbelief. “You don’t really expect me to believe that do you?”

  “As far as I know, that is the reason,” James repeats emphatically. “I swear it!”

  The guard who escorted James crosses over and whispers into the man’s ear. The man’s eyes widen slightly and then slowly nods. He sits back a moment and appears to be considering something. “I believe you.”

  “Just who are you guys?” James asks, more confident now that it seems they mean him no harm.

  “Who we are is no concern of yours,” the man says. “How did you manage to kill those men?”

  “Me and my friend took them by surprise and killed them,” replies James.

  “Hmmmm…” the man says, “doesn’t seem likely, but then again, they are dead and you are here. You can go,” he tells James. “Just be careful, Lord Colerain wants you in a bad way it would seem.” Motioning to the guard who brought James in, he says, “Orrin, see that James is escorted to the city gates.”

  James gets up to go and suddenly realizes the man said his name. How does he know me?

  “Yes, sir,” Orrin says then comes over to James and says, “Let’s go.”

  Once they left the building, James asks Orrin, “Who was that?”

  Orrin doesn’t offer a reply, simply escorts him down the road toward the gates into the city proper. He tries several times to engage Orrin in conversation but the man remains quiet, failing to respond to any of James’ questions or comments.

  Just before they arrive at the gate, Orrin says, “This is where I leave you,” then abruptly turns about and returns back the way they had come without so much as a goodbye.

  “Bye Orrin,” James says as Orrin goes down the road.

  James enters through the gate and follows the now somewhat familiar street, through the middle wall, until he once again is back at the Silver Bells. When he enters the room discovers Miko has already returned.

  Miko hands James a letter, “When I got to the gate, they had me wait while a guard delivered Perrilin’s letter to the Archive Custodian. I sat there and waited for about an hour before they returned with this letter and told me to get out of there.”

  Turning the letter over, James sees that it has a wax seal bearing the imprint of a feather. Perrilin glances at it when James shows him the seal and says, “That’s his seal alright, no one else would dare to use it but him. Go ahead and open it.”

  James breaks the seal and they quietly wait as he reads the letter. “He says to come this afternoon to the Archives for a meeting,” he announces, then looks up at the bard.

  “You will find him a very nice fellow,” Perrilin says, “if a bit of a stickler where his books are concerned.”

  Smiling, James adds, “Yeah, I know someone that’s like that too.”

  “Did you meet with whoever sent the package?” Perrilin asks.

  “Something going on?” Miko interjects.

  Turning to Miko, James explains, “Just after you left, a package was delivered. Within it was one of the boards that I used to kill those guys the other night.”

  “How did someone get those?” Miko asks anxiously.

&nb
sp; James summarizes his meeting with the man for Miko and Perrilin. “So I am not too sure just who they are, or why they are concerned with the goings on of Lord Colerain. At least they seem to hold no ill will toward me however, for which I am grateful.” Just then his stomach rumbles loudly and he realizes he is quite hungry.

  “Miko, go downstairs and have them send up some food for us. I’m starving and want to eat before I go meet with Ellinwyrd,” he tells him.

  “Alright,” Miko replies, “I’ll be right back.” He gets up and goes out the door, closing it as he leaves.

  “So what do you plan to do about Lord Colerain?” Perrilin asks.

  “I don’t know,” he replies. “Hopefully I’ll find out what I need to know at the Archives and then can get out of here before he locates me again. I wish I knew why he is so interested in me. If I did then maybe I could get him off my back.”

  The door opens as Miko returns. “They will send it up in a few minutes,” he tells them then takes a seat at the table.

  “Thanks,” James says to him. Turning back to Perrilin, he says, “Speaking of troubles, just what kind of trouble did I save you from last night?”

  “I was wondering if you were going to ask me about that again,” he says. “As much as I owe you, there are simply some things better left unsaid. Suffice it to say that those men from whose hands you rescued me are not interested in anything or anybody other than themselves and their own concerns.” When he sees the look in James’ eye he goes on, “What you don’t know can’t be tortured out of you.”

  “I think I understand,” he assures him. “Are you still in danger from them?”

  “If they knew where I was, perhaps,” he says. “They most likely wouldn’t try anything again so soon, especially since you wiped out that group.”