“I’m glad you did,” he says, flinching slightly in pain as James ministers to his wounds. “How did you happen to be there?”
“I was looking for you,” he explains. “When I was told you had been arrested, I went to the jail only to be told you had never been brought in. Did some looking around and wound up where you were being held.”
Perrilin digested that for a moment then asked, “How did you find out where I was?”
“Well, let’s just say that lately I’ve been fairly good at finding people when I need to,” he replies, avoiding all mention of magic.
From the look on Perrilin’s face, he can tell the bard is not entirely satisfied with his response but seems to be willing to accept it at face value for now. “What did they want with you anyway?” James asks. “It looked as if they were interrogating you and were even going to begin using torture to get what they wanted.” Once the dried blood has been removed from around the wounds, he uses a dry towel and gingerly dries him off before pulling the blanket back up to cover his chest and neck.
“I think you will be okay,” he assures Perrilin. “May need a few days rest to heal properly.”
Perrilin looks at him for a second before asking, “Why did you need to find me?”
“I was hoping you could help me with something,” James says as he gets up and places the towels and basin back on the table.
“Like what?” he asks.
“I was hoping you could help me gain access to the Royal Archives,” he explains.
Surprised, Perrilin asks, “Why?”
Pulling the medallion out from beneath his shirt, he shows the design to Perrilin. “I want to discover if there is any significance to this design,” he explains. “I have been led to believe that it may be important in some way. I don’t suppose you recognize it?” Taking it from around his neck, he hands the medallion to Perrilin.
Holding it close, Perrilin takes a good look at the design before handing it back to James. Shaking his head no, he replies, “I’m sorry, no. I don’t recognize it.”
James replaces the medallion back around his neck and tucks it inside his shirt. Just then someone knocks on the door, which startles Miko awake. James glances over to him as he sits up in bed, rubbing his eyes. Coming to his feet, he walks over to the door, opening it just a crack to find two serving girls, one bearing a tray with several plates of food, and the other carrying a pitcher and two mugs.
He tells them to remain in the hall as he first takes the tray and places it on the table, then returns for the pitcher and mugs, setting them on the table beside the tray. He then returns once more to the door and gives them each a copper for their help. “Thank you,” he says as they turn to leave. As their footsteps disappear toward the head of the stairs, he closes the door.
Turning from the door, he finds Perrilin sitting up in bed and Miko already sitting at the table heaping a plate full of food. “I hope that’s for him.” he says to his young companion, gesturing over to Perrilin with a stern look on his face.
“Uh, of course it is,” he replies a little embarrassed. Getting up from the table he walks over and hands the heaping plate to Perrilin. Casting James a sheepish look, he goes back to the table and begins to fill another for himself.
James comes to the table and sits down, then starts piling food on his plate.
Perrilin takes several bites and then says, “As to whether or not I can help you gain access to the Royal Archives, I am sure I can help you with that. You see, the Archive Custodian is a friend of mine and I am sure that if I request it, he will permit you to research that design. He may even help you if he’s not otherwise occupied. After all, I do owe you my life and I always repay my debts.”
Looking intrigued, James asks, “How would we go about it?”
“I shall write a letter of introduction explaining what you wish to do,” he explains then gestures over to Miko. “Your young friend there would then need to run it to the gate leading into the castle area.” To Miko he says, “Tell the guards that you have a letter for the Archive Custodian and then either they will escort you to him, or more likely have you wait while they send someone to the Archives with the letter. Then it would be up to Ellinwyrd, that is my friend, to decide whether or not to grant you access.”
Excited at the prospect of possibly being granted access to ancient tomes, he quickly finishes his breakfast and clears a spot on the table where he places his travel case. Opening it up, he removes a piece of paper, quill and an inkwell, then closes the case once more and sets it aside.
He waits as patiently as he can while Perrilin finishes his meal, then removes his plate once he’s finished. James then brings over the traveling case to act as a lap table and the writing materials so Perrilin can write the letter to his friend.
He sits and waits as Perrilin writes out the letter, anxious to get this going. When Perrilin finishes, he requests some wax with which to seal the letter. James lights the candle on the table and brings it over to him. Taking the candle, Perrilin holds it at an angle so the melting wax will drip onto the letter. When he has applied the desired amount he gives the candle back to James. He then takes one of his rings and makes an imprint of it in the wax.
Handing it to James, he says, “Here you go.” Then to Miko he says, “Make sure you do not break the seal. Once you reach the gates, do whatever the guards tell you to do.”
“I understand,” Miko says as he takes the letter from James.
“Be careful,” James says to him.
Nodding understanding, Miko leaves the room and shuts the door behind him.
The door hadn’t been shut for two seconds before they hear a knock which is immediately followed by the door swinging open to admit Miss Gilena. It doesn’t seem she feels the need to await the okay to enter.
Bustling into the room, her eyes zero in on the bed wherein Perrilin lays and with concern in her voice asks, “How are you feeling?” Then she makes her way to his bedside, the promised clothes tucked under one arm.
Smiling a reassuring smile as she approaches, he says, “I will live, though I’m sore from head to toe. James has been very helpful.”
Turning to James, she says, “Thank you for rescuing him last night.” Then hands him Perrilin’s clothes.
“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 a
s 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?”
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