The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (14 page)

“Seems rather obvious,” the man retorts as
he places his third torch into a sconce.

“Have they finally decided that I deserve
some light down here?” he asks.

The man breaks out with a short snicker as
he says, “Hardly. Word is that you’ll be having visitors shortly.
So I’m placing several torches around the room to give them some
light.”

“Oh,” says James.

The last torch the man is putting in a
sconce happens to be near James’ cell. He approaches warily, eyeing
him with trepidation.

“Don’t worry,” James tells him, “I’ll not
hurt you.”

Not believing him, the man comes closer, all
the while keeping an eye on James in case he tries something. When
he gets close to the torch sconce, he rushes past the cell and
places it in, lights it and then beats a hasty retreat.

“There,” says James with an assuring smile,
“I didn’t bite now did I?”

His job finished, the man moves quickly to
the stairs and James is soon alone again. Shaking his head, James
gives out with a tired sigh.
Is that the reaction I’m always
going to receive? Maybe I will go live on an island or mountaintop
somewhere.

Visitors. Great, just what he wanted.
Hopefully when they’re here he’ll be able to clear himself and he
can get out of here. Resting his head against the wall, he tries to
resume the song again but can’t quite seem to recall it. He hates
it when that happens. It’s like walking into a room, knowing you’re
there for a reason, but can’t recall why you thought you needed to
go there.

Out of the corner of his eye, he catches the
glimpse of a slight pulsating coming from the orb sitting next to
him. Picking it up, he can detect a slight pulsating as if someone
is quickly moving a dimmer switch back and forth. He’s never seen
it do that before.

The outline of the orb suddenly begins to
warp and bend as if the outer edge of it was being molded like
clay. Blinking his eyes, he shakes his head and then looks at it
again. He suddenly comes to realize it’s not the orb, but his
vision. The whole room is beginning to turn hazy and move in
nauseatingly directions.

What’s wrong?
Suddenly panicking, he
realizes he’s slipping into a drugged state. But how?

Ever since the last time he was drugged back
in Lythylla, he’s been thinking of ways in which to counter it
should it ever happen again. He’s considered various different ways
to both cope and prevent it from happening.

The pulsating of the orb could be in direct
response to his drugged state. His mind becoming occluded
intermittently prevents the magic from going to the orb, thus the
pulsing.

Canceling the orb altogether, he realizes he
doesn’t have much time. Marshalling all his concentration, he
creates a small sphere, no larger than a pea. Firm yet translucent
and thus hard to see, he holds it in his hand as he tries to
inspect it. Unable to see it clearly and afraid he’s about ready to
drop it, he slowly and carefully puts it in his pocket.

When he can at last feel it securely
inserted in his pant’s pocket, he removes his hand and leans his
head against the wall of his cell. The last sight he has before he
slips into unconsciousness is the burning torch near his cell.

Pacing about the room, Illan stops every
other time he passes the window and glances at the sky. The dawn
isn’t very far away. Out on the streets, the soldiers and guards
who earlier were combing the streets have all but disappeared. When
the sun rises, he plans on making his way to the castle to see
about James and what exactly is going on.

Glancing over to the bed, James’ friend Dave
is fast asleep. How he can sleep while his best friend is in jail
escapes him. Miko on the other hand, he’s known him to sleep
through anything. So the fact that he’s asleep on the other bed
hardly surprises him.

Not only does he have James to worry about,
but Jiron and Fifer still have not returned. That’s got him
extremely worried but could be the result of the curfew and they’re
simply unable to return. He may have Miko try to locate them while
he heads to the castle. Resuming his pacing, he churns over the
events in his mind, and worries about what may be happening to
James at this very minute.

When at last the first rays of morning shine
on the walls of his room, he immediately moves over to Miko and
wakes him up. “It’s morning,” he says.

Coming quickly awake, he rubs the sleep out
of his eyes as he stands up. “Any word from James?” he asks.

Shaking his head, Illan says, “No. Jiron and
Fifer are still missing as well. I’m going to head up to the castle
to see what I can find out. While I’m gone, see if those kids you
are acquainted with can help in locating Jiron and Fifer. I’m not
sure what part they may have played in all this, but I’ll kill them
if they’ve gone and done anything to exacerbate the situation.”

“What should I do with him?” Miko asks,
motioning toward the sleeping Dave.

Shrugging, he replies, “Tell him to stay
here. We have enough to deal with right now without him making
matters worse.”

“Alright,” he says. “When are you planning
on being back?”

“I have no idea. But if you find those
recalcitrant members of our group, tell them to stay here at the
inn until I get back.” Moving to the door, he opens it to leave. As
he passes through, Miko’s ‘Will do’, follows him out into the
hallway.

Closing the door, he walks quickly down and
takes the stairs to the common room below. The room is empty except
for one lone early riser. Miss Gilena is nowhere in sight, she
must’ve returned to her bed shortly after he had gone up to his
room. Leaving the inn through the front door, he moves onto the
street and heads down toward the gates leading to the castle.

The contingent of guards at the gate has
doubled since the last time he came by this way. As he draws near
the gates, the leader of the group moves to intercept him.

“No one’s allowed into the castle area at
this time,” the guard tells him as he comes to a stop.

“A friend of mine was taken last night and
brought here,” he explains. “I want to know what happened to
him.”

The guard eyes him suspiciously, knowing
full well who it is Illan is talking about. “Sorry, but orders are,
no one enters without expressed permission,” he states. “And I’m
fairly sure you don’t have that do you?”

Shaking his head, he says, “No, I
don’t.”

“Then you can’t pass through,” the guard
says with finality.

Almost ready to turn away, he pauses and
then asks, “Can I send word to the Archive Custodian?”

The guard is somewhat taken aback by that.
“If you give us a letter, we can see that he receives it,” the
guard replies.

“I don’t have a letter,” he explains. “Is
there a way you could just tell him that a friend of James is here
and would like to talk with him?”

The guard thinks about it for a moment.
Shrugging, he says, “Very well,” He glances behind him and waves
over one of the junior guards. “Find the Archive Custodian and tell
him a friend of James would like an audience with him,” he tells
the guard.

“Yes sir,” the guard replies before turning
and running through the gates in search of Ellinwyrd.

“He may not be up yet,” he says. “It’s still
quite early.”

“I’ll wait if it’s all the same with you,”
Illan tells him.

“Suit yourself,” replies the guard who then
moves back over with his men.

Illan stands there impatiently as he awaits
the return of the junior guard. Almost a half hour later, he sees
him returning. He waits while the lead guard confers with his man
and then watches as he begins moving toward where he’s waiting.

“He said that he will meet with you,” the
guard tells him. “A page is being summoned and will arrive shortly
to escort you.”

“Thank you,” says Illan. A short time later,
a boy in the livery of a castle page approaches the gate and Illan
moves to follow him into the castle area.

The page leads him through to the building
housing the Royal Archives. Going in through the main door, he
takes him down to the doors leading into Ellinwyrd’s sanctum. He
pauses a moment as he knocks upon the door and when he receives
Ellinwyrd’s permission to enter, opens the door. Stepping to one
side, he allows Illan to precede him into the room.

“Thank you Michael,” Ellinwyrd says from
where he sits at a table stacked haphazardly with books and
scrolls.

Nodding, Michael closes the door.

Coming over to where Ellinwyrd sits, Illan
makes his way through the ‘obstacle course’ as James had called it
when he described his visit here. He can see what James meant by
this place being a disorganized chaotic mess. It’s a wonder that
anything can even be found.

Ellinwyrd glances up from a book open before
him as he approaches. Indicating a chair across from him, he says,
“Please, sit down.”

“Thank you for seeing me,” Illan says
graciously. “I don’t know if you’re aware of what happened last
night, but they came and arrested James.”

Closing the book before him, Ellinwyrd nods
his head as a sigh escapes him. “I know,” he replies.

“Do you know what’s going to happen to him?”
Illan asks.

“I’m afraid so,” he says sadly.

“They’re not going to hand him over to the
Empire are they?” asks Illan, afraid of the answer.

“Yes, they are,” he tells him.

“Why in god’s name are they acceding to
their request? They have to know he’s innocent!”

“Innocence or guilt rarely has much to do
with what kingdoms decide,” he explains. “First of all, Cardri is
not so big that they can afford to antagonize their neighbor to the
south. James isn’t even a citizen of Cardri in their eyes so to
them it’s not like they’re handing over one of their own.”

“Also, when the Ambassador’s adjutant was
killed, that was just one more strain on an already shaky peace.
Giving them James was a way to alleviate that strain.”

“You know what the Empire is going to do to
him, don’t you?” Illan asks. “They’ll torture and kill him.”

“I know,” he replies.

“If they try to give him to the Empire, he’s
likely to tear down the castle and kill an awful lot of people,”
Illan tells him. “I’ve seen him in action.”

Shaking his head, Ellinwyrd says, “No, he
won’t.”

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“I mean, there are steps one can take to
ensure the safe capture of one who controls the power,” he tells
him. “I believe it’s already begun to be implemented.”

“If they try to drug him, he’ll resist,” he
asserts.

“He won’t even know it’s happening until
it’s too late,” he explains. “There’s more than one way to drug a
mage. They have torches that when lit, emit a narcotic fume which
will render him unable to use his magic.” Illan just stares at him
in horror. “After that, it’s just an easy matter to go in and
collect him.”

“But we have to do something,” he says. “We
can’t just let them take him.”

“From what I’ve gathered, they’ll not be
taking him for some time,” he says. “They still must conclude the
new trade agreement, and that could take another day or two.”

Looking at Ellinwyrd, Illan narrows his eyes
as he contemplates what he just heard. “A day or two eh?” he
breathes as he cocks one eyebrow in question.

Ellinwyrd nods his head. “Our Merchant’s
Guild is pressing the Royal Court to get good terms with the Empire
and the negotiations have at times become heated. But the general
consensus is that the Empire’s representatives need to finalize the
trade agreement for the next five years, and do it soon.”

“Alright then,” replies Illan as he gets to
his feet. “I don’t have much time.”

Standing up as well, Ellinwyrd reaches into
his rumpled tunic and pulls out a scroll bearing his wax seal.
Handing it across the table to him, he says, “If you should see
James, give him this.”

Taking the scroll, Illan asks, “What is
it?”

“A number of questions had arisen during our
last visit and I think this may answer one,” he explains.

Putting it inside his shirt, Illan says,
“I’ll be sure to.”

“Very good,” Ellinwyrd replies. Moving over
to the decorative pull rope, he summons the page Michael back and
has him escort Illan back to the gates.

“I thank you for taking the time to see me,”
Illan says as he’s about to walk out the door.

“Anytime,” he says. “And if all this should
somehow become resolved, tell James to stop by again.”

“I will.” Turning to follow Michael he
closes the door to Ellinwyrd’s sanctum. Back through the castle
area and out the gate, he says goodbye to Michael as he heads back
to the Silver Bells.

Once back at the inn, he hurries up the
stairs to the room where he left Miko and Dave. Opening the door,
he finds the room empty. They’re both gone. Damn! Nothing to do for
the moment but wait, he sits down by the window and pulls out the
scroll Ellinwyrd had given him wondering just what was on it.

“I’m tired of staying in this room,” Dave
complains when Miko tells him that’s what Illan wants him to do.
“All I’ve done is sit in here doing nothing and I’m sick of it.
James is in trouble and I want to help!”

“But there’s nothing you can do so the best
thing you can do is sit tight,” explains Miko. He ordered a meal
brought in for them and Dave’s done nothing but complain ever since
he awoke. Frankly, Miko is sick of it.

Dave glares at him from across the table as
he continues eating his breakfast of eggs and ham steak. “Now, I’ve
got a couple things I need to see to,” Miko tells him after he’s
done eating. “Just stay here and don’t get into any trouble.”

He can feel the glare of Dave’s eyes follow
him as he gets up from the table and moves to the door. Without
even looking back, he opens the door and quickly shuts it.
I
don’t know what James sees in this guy.