The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (15 page)

At first, Dave seemed to be okay. But ever
since coming to Cardri though, he’s been a pain. He doesn’t do
anything, it’s just his attitude. Miko can’t stand whiny people.
Maybe if their lives were reversed, he could understand better
where he comes from, but that’s neither here nor there. He only
puts up with him for James’ sake.

Once out on the street, he heads down to
where he and the kids were going to meet if they didn’t contact him
during the night. As he approaches the open market, he sees them
near the place where they ate yesterday afternoon.

They see him coming and the little girl
gives him a smile as they come to meet him. “Hungry?” he asks.
Several nods and an ‘of course’ meet his question. “Then let’s get
something to eat.” At the nearby open eatery, he gets then all a
modest helping of taters and egg. Moving to a table, they bring
their food over and begin eating.

The older boy asks, “Did you hear what
happened out in the poor section last night?”

“Something about a killing wasn’t it?”
replies Miko.

“One of the important members of the
Empire’s trade delegation got himself decapitated,” one of the
younger boys adds.

“Really?” prompts Miko, very interested in
what they may know about it. “Did you see it?”

“I did,” the older boy states. “I was in the
area with a couple of the older kids and heard a fight was going
down out there. So we decided to go and watch the show. It was a
regular fight, one guy with two knives against another with two
swords.”

He pauses a moment as he takes a large bite
and then continues through a mouth full of eggs. “It was going
pretty good but then it got weird. Both fighters suddenly stopped
fighting and began talking to one another. It seems the bigger guy
was some sort of fighter for the Empire’s men and they got mad when
the fight stopped.”

“What happened next I’m not really sure
about, but suddenly one guy’s head went flying and the other men
from the Empire pulled out their swords and attacked the two
fighters. I tell you, the fighting then got good and the Empire’s
men were soon taken out. By that time, the whole area was in a
panic and the city guards were coming, so me and my friends got the
heck out of there.”

“Interesting,” says Miko. Well that answers
one question. The fighter with the two knives had to be Jiron. But
just what was he doing and why was he there.

Changing the subject, he asks, “Did you find
out anything about the connection between Lord Kindering and the
Empire’s Ambassador?”

“Not much,” he replies. “They have had a few
meetings outside the regular trade negotiations, but what they said
we were unable to find out. Those always took place at Lord
Kindering’s estate and couldn’t find anyone who knew what went on
there.”

Nodding his head, Miko says, “Thanks.”
Digging into his pouch, he pulls out a handful of coppers and
proceeds to give each of them two.

After everyone has two of them, he returns
the rest to his pouch and then asks, “Did they ever find the men
who killed the Empire’s men at the fight?”

Shaking his head, the older boy says, “Not
that I’ve heard. They do have someone in the dungeon they believe
is part of it, but I don’t know who.”

That must be James.
“Would you all be
interested in continuing to find things out for me?”

“Sure,” says one of the girls. “As long as
you keep feeding us.”

“No problem there,” he assures them. “See if
you can find out what happened to those fighters from the fight.
Where they might be.”

“Why?” asks a younger boy.

“Why what?” Miko asks him.

“You said your master was a merchant and
wanted some inside information,” he replies. “I don’t see how this
has to do with anything.”

Remaining silent for a moment as all their
eyes are upon him, Miko finally asks, “Can you keep a secret?”

All their heads nod in unison. “Now I’m not
talking about an unimportant secret,” he tells them. “I’m talking
about the sort of secret that if it’s told will probably get you
dead.”

The younger kids’ eyes widen at that and the
older boy says, “We know when to hold our tongues.” To the others
he asks, “Right?”

The other kids all nod their heads
affirmatively.

“Alright.” Miko eyes them all seriously as
he says, “The man with the knives is a friend of mine. The man
they’re holding in the dungeon is another. There are things going
on that I’m not at liberty to talk about right now, but believe me,
they’re serious.” He locks eyes with each of them before saying,
“Understand?”

They nod their heads.

“I believe this Lord Kindering is up to no
good and is probably behind why my friend is sitting in the
dungeon. I need to find my other friend and try to work this all
out somehow.”

“You going to break him out of the castle?”
asks one young boy, eyes wide in wonder.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” he
says. “Are you with me?”

“You can count on us!” the older boy says
for the group.

“Good,” says Miko with a smile. “Find out
what you can but be careful. Again, I’m staying at the Silver
Bells, leave word there with a Miss Gilena if you can’t find
me.”

“You got it,” the older boy says. To the
others he says, “Let’s go.”

Miko sits there and watches as the group
leaves the market area.
James in the dungeon, Jiron mixed up in
the slaying of the Ambassador’s adjutant. What else could possibly
happen?

Getting up he decides to go down by the
docks to see if there might be any scuttlebutt down there. Back in
Bearn it always seemed the workers along the river had the most
reliable news. And usually before anyone else, too.

He makes his way to the dock area where he
finds it a flurry of activity as dock workers transfer cargo to and
from the vessels secured there. Strolling along, he keeps his ears
open for anything which might relate to what he’s hoping to
learn.

The conversations he hears is just the usual
stuff guys say to one another, mostly about the girl they were with
the night before. One ship, a beautiful three masted merchantman
has just pulled up to the dock and the dockworkers are still
securing the lines.

He misses being out on the water, though on
every occasion he’s had the fortune to be sailing, something bad
has happened. Despite that fact, he longs to return.

“Out of the way!” one porter says as he
nudges Miko to the side. At first annoyed at the treatment, he
quickly realizes that he had been daydreaming as he stood there
blocking the way. Laughing at himself he makes to move further down
the dock.

He suddenly stops in his tracks when he sees
a girl begin to disembark from the newly arrived merchantman.
Dressed in a startling blue outfit with a beautiful dolphin
embroidered along one side of her chest, she looks strangely
familiar but he can’t quite place her. Walking next to her is an
older gentleman with a slight limp.

His mind flashes back to a night back in the
city of Corillian at the estate of his friend Nate’s family.
Meliana, that’s who it is, the older guy must be her father.
That’s the girl James has been mooning about ever since we
left!

Coming out of his startlement, he quickly
moves to fall in behind them as they come onto the dock.
Man, is
James going to be surprised. That is if we can get him out of the
dungeon first.

“Now Meliana, don’t get your hopes up,” Miko
overhears her father say to her. “There’s no way to know if he’s
even in Cardri.”

“I know father,” she replies.

She’s here looking for him!
Miko
breaks out into a smile as he says, “Hi!”

They stop in their tracks and turn to see
him there with a goofy smile upon his face. “Yes?” her father
asks.

“I’m Miko,” he says, his goofy smile getting
goofier.

Her father looks him up and down, a slight
scowl coming to his face. “That’s nice,” he says and then turns to
begin leading Meliana away.

“No, no, you don’t understand,” he exclaims
as he rushes to catch up with them.

Taking a breath to calm his anger, the
father turns back to him and says, “I don’t wish to be rude but
could you please leave us alone? Or I’ll have to call for the
guards.”

“You don’t remember me do you?” he asks,
looking questioningly to them.

They both shake their heads. “No, I can’t
say that I do,” her father says. “Now, if you’ll excuse us.”

Miko is at first confused by their reaction
until he remembers he really doesn’t look the same as he did. The
Fire had unnaturally aged him while it was in his possession. So of
course they don’t remember him.

As they again turn away from him, he
exclaims, “Wait! I’m James’ friend.”

At that her eyes light up and she turns her
full attention on him. “James? You know James?”

“I’m Miko,” he says, “Nate’s friend from the
mines.”

Her smile begins diminishing as she tries to
reconcile what he just told her with how he looks now. “But Miko
was much younger than you,” she says, confused. “You can’t be him.”
Her hopes dashed, Miko can see sadness begin to well in her
eyes.

“Son, I don’t know what kind of game you’re
trying to play here, but we’ll have none of it!” he says quite
sternly. “Now, if you don’t leave us alone, I’ll be forced to call
for the guards.”

Frustrated, he watches them walk away. How
can he explain to them what happened? He doesn’t really even know
what happened. Only James or Jiron could possibly convince them, if
he tries anymore they’re likely to call the guards and then how
will he help James.

If they’re here to do trading, then they’re
going to be here a few days at least. There’s no way she’ll let him
leave until she has a chance to discover if James is here in the
city or not.

Decided he’s wasted enough time at the
docks, he heads back to the inn to see if the kids left any word
for him.

The Eye works his way through town. He can
feel his agent here in the city. Things were going good until that
fool of an adjutant went and got himself killed. Now all the
carefully laid plans are beginning to fall apart.

Not only that, but his agent has begun to
kill. The need comes at times and it must be satisfied, but now is
not the time to draw undue attention. He hates to rely on such an
agent but his master said he must.

Dressed as just another commoner of Cardri,
he draws little attention to himself as he makes his way to where
he knows his agent to be. When he left on this assignment,
ostensibly to be part of the trade delegation, his master gave him
a ring which enables him to find this particular agent.

What makes him the most angry is that this
fool of an agent isn’t killing in the poor quarters where such
things are almost taken as a matter of course. But he’s leaving the
bodies in the better sections of the city where such things are
given more notice. Fool!

The trail leads him past the outer walls and
ultimately through the middle walls into the more affluent areas of
the city. He follows the main thoroughfare until the ring indicates
to go down an alley.

It’s a dead end alley with many shadows and
full of garbage. One of the shadows detaches itself from the others
and moves forward. What light there is in the alley glints off a
long dagger the shadow is holding.

“Just give me your money,” a voice comes
from the shadow, “and I’ll not harm you.”

“Of course,” the Eye says as he reaches into
his tunic. Instead of removing his money pouch, he pulls out a
small thin tube and points it at the thief. Depressing the release,
a small needle flies out and strikes the man.

“What the hell?” he exclaims as the needle
embeds itself in his cheek. His hand brushes his face, dislodging
the needle but the damage has already been done. The fast working
poison which was delivered by the needle brings dizziness which
causes him to begin staggering and then to fall to the ground. In a
matter of seconds, he’s dead.

Replacing the tube within his tunic, he
steps over the dead man barely giving him a second thought. At the
end of the alley, a doorway stands open and the ring directs him to
enter.

On the other side of the door is a long,
dimly lit hallway. He moves into it and follows it down past
several closed doors. At the fourth door, the ring tells him he’s
very close, possibly on the other side of the door.

Opening it, he finds a gruesome sight. A
small room, with but a bed and chest. On the floor is a dead girl,
bending over her is he who the Eye has been searching for. “You
fool!” he exclaims as he closes the door and enters the room.

On the way back to the inn, Miko finds Dave
sitting at an open air eatery. “What are you doing here?” he asks
him. “Didn’t I tell you to stay in the room?”

Dave looks up with an annoyed expression and
replies, “Relax. All I’m doing is having a meal and getting some
fresh air.”

The eatery is just down the street from the
inn, he can see it from here. Not wanting to cause a scene in a
public place, he says, “Very well. But return as soon as you’re
done.”

Sighing, Dave says, “Alright, but you guys
are really getting on my nerves.”

Wanting nothing more than to take out his
anger and frustration on him, Miko instead turns and walks down to
the inn. When he passes through the front door, he finds Illan
sitting in the common room near a window.

At his approach, he nods for him to take a
seat at his table. “You know where that friend of James’ is? He’s
down the street at an eatery!”

“I know,” replies Illan as he glances out
the window. “I’ve been keeping an eye on him for some time now. It
was a mistake to have taken him with us.”