The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (2 page)

When the music stops, Miko hurries over to
him and asks, “Was that Jiron and Fifer?”

Nodding, he answers, “Yeah.”

With a slightly disappointed look, he says,
“Then we’ll be returning in the morning?”

“That’s right,” James tells him. “Go dance
with her while you can.”

“You know it!” exclaims Miko as he makes a
beeline for Darria. Shortly they’re back on the dance floor.

James sees Shawna standing off to one side
talking with another of her trader peers and makes his way over to
her. When she sees him coming, she says a few more words to her
friend before disengaging and moving to meet him.

“Jiron and Fifer showed up so we’ll be
leaving first thing in the morning,” he informs her.

“I understand,” she says. “We’re all glad
you were able to make it.”

“I wouldn’t have missed it for anything,” he
assures her. Unsure if whether or not it would be a breach of
protocol, he extends his hand and asks, “Would you care to
dance?”

A smile begins to spread across her face as
she replies, “Yes, I would like that.”

As the musicians bring the current song to a
close, he escorts her out to the dance floor. Rylin and Sheila see
them coming and make room for them. Taking their places, all stand
ready as the musicians begin another moderately quick song and the
dancing commences.

The rest of the evening goes by quickly. The
feast, the last in a long line of feasts they’ve attended
throughout the celebration, is by far the grandest. Speeches are
made and the festivities last far into the night. Before the feast
actually begins, Fifer and Jiron make their appearance. Freshly
cleaned, each is wearing a new outfit bought just for this
occasion. Jiron is much more pleased with this attire than he had
been with the one he wore back in Corillian at the ball celebrating
Nate’s return to his family.

Throughout the night, Miko dances primarily
with Darria though another girl somehow manages to get him out of
her clutches briefly. By the end of the night, everyone is tired.
The couple for whom this is for has long since retired, Rylin
saying he was tired but no one believed him. Especially when he
flashed them all a grin as he and his bride leave the hall.

James finally disengages Miko from his
admirers and takes him up to their room on the second floor. “Made
quite an impression didn’t you?” he asks.

Miko gives him a grin and replies, “They
have nice girls here in Trademeet.”

“That they do,” he agrees.

Back in their room, they get undressed and
are soon asleep in bed.

The morning dawns a little grey, and with
the summer now over, there’s a bit of a chill in the air. James is
the first to awaken and gets dressed quickly. “Wake up!” he hollers
over to Miko who groans as he opens his eyes. “No sleeping in
today, we have a long way to go.”

Sitting up, Miko tries to come awake as
another large yawn escapes him. “Do we have to leave so early?” he
asks, swinging his legs over to the floor.

“Yes,” replies James. “I would like to make
it home before tomorrow night.”

“Couldn’t we leave later and get there the
next day?”

“No. Now get up,” insists James.

With another pitiful groan, he gets up and
commences to put his clothes on. “It’s cold!” he complains when his
bare feet hit the stone floor.

James just gives him an annoyed look.
Strapping on his slug belt, he then puts his shirt on, effectively
covering it. Never again will he be caught ill prepared should
something go wrong.

Waiting impatiently for Miko to finish
getting ready, he moves over to the window and looks out over the
city. From their room, you can see across Trademeet to the Silver
Mountains. Clouds blanket the sky and he hopes rain will not be in
their immediate future.

Turning around, he finds Miko slipping his
boots on. “Ready?” he asks.

He slips on the last boot and stands up, “I
suppose so.”

“Good,” he says. “Let’s go.”

Leaving their room, they head down the
hallway to the stairs and take them down to ground level. The smell
of the morning’s breakfast greets them before they even arrive at
the dining hall.

Rylin and Sheila haven’t come down yet and
he hates to leave without saying goodbye. Shawna is there and waves
them over to sit with her. “They probably won’t be down until
later,” she tells them. “Newlyweds.”

“I understand,” he assures her. One of the
servants brings over a plate of food for both he and Miko.

“Just tell them we wish them all the best
and sorry to have missed them,” he says.

“I will,” she replies.

The breakfast is a hearty one of eggs, ham
and bread. James gets a large glass of milk, freshly milked this
morning and tasting quite a bit different than the pasteurized milk
he’s used to getting back home. When they found out he liked milk,
they made sure to always have some on hand. Fresh of course, he
doesn’t care for chunks in his.

Once they’re done eating, he makes his
goodbyes to Shawna, leaving her with a slight kiss on the
cheek.

“Come back when you can,” she tells
them.

“We will,” he replies. “And if your travels
bring you near Trendle, be sure to stop by.”

“I promise,” she says.

Miko is finishing his second plate of food
when James stands up. “Let’s go,” he says to him. Grabbing two
slices of the bread he makes a ham and egg sandwich to eat as they
go. “Bye ma’am,” he says to Shawna as they leave the kitchen.

After stopping by the estate’s stables to
get their horses, they ride through town to the inn where Jiron and
Fifer are staying. They find them finishing their meal. All are
soon mounted and heading through the streets to the western
gate.

They’ll follow that road until they reach
the crossroads an hour or two out of town where they will turn
north toward the town of Villigun. A none too exciting town, mainly
an agricultural center for the region. Shortly after that is where
they will enter the Forest of Kelewan. Within its borders will be
where they will stay for the night. After that it’ll be one more
full day’s ride and then home.

Thankfully, the rain withholds its presence
through the first day and they make it all the way to the Forest
without any delays or problems. All in all it’s been a rather
pleasant journey.

James isn’t very talkative during the ride,
his mind mulling over what he learned in Saragon when he and Jiron
went back there. The old man’s riddle continues playing in his
mind:

When the Fire shines Bright,

And the Star walks the Land.

Time for the Lost,

Will soon be at Hand.

At the foot of the King,

Bathe in his Cup.

Pull his Beard,

To make him sit Up.

Seven to Nine,

Six to Four.

Spit in the wind,

And open the door.

The first two lines make the most sense, an
obvious referral to the Fire of Dmon-Li and the Star of Morcyth.
After that it gets a little confusing. He’s also worried about
Igor’s fate. The strange little creature that saved him during his
time in that other land, reality, or it could’ve just been a dream.
If it had been real, did he survive? He may never know.

The girl Aleya they hooked up with after
Saragon, Jiron and she seem to be getting serious as well. She’s
currently back at The Ranch. Jiron offered her to come with him,
but when she found out Roland was teaching people to read, she
opted to stay there and learn. That had hurt his feelings but not
much he could do about it.

Actually, the class of just a few students
has grown as news circulated through the community. Now he not only
has all of the irregulars, Jorry and Uther have joined as well as
many of the sons and daughters of the farmers in the area. Roland
has set the limit for his class at twenty, charging two coppers a
week for those not affiliated with The Ranch.

James at first argued with him about
charging, but his reasoning was this: if they’re willing to pay
then they’ll be willing to learn. He didn’t want a bunch of
deadbeats hanging around just so they’ll be out of their parent’s
way for awhile. Remembering the layabouts in his classes back home
that were there simply because they had to be, he understands the
logic.

Once they’ve moved past Villigun and enter
the Kelewan Forest, he’s surprised at how much his anxiety level
rises. The memories of those first few fateful days upon this world
still haunt him. Although this time he’s in the company of friends
and has little to worry about from a pack of wolves. His magic
could take care of them readily enough.

As they’re setting up camp, Miko removes his
crossbow from the pack mule and goes in search of dinner. By the
time they have a fire going, he’s returned with two large rabbits.
In no time at all, they’re skinned and roasting over the fire.

A light drizzle begins by the time they’re
ready to call it a night. Fortunately they’ve managed to find a
tall tree with wide limbs under which they can take shelter. Only a
very little water works its way down to where they are, the
majority runs off the outer limbs leaving them dry.

The drizzle continues on through the night
and is still present when they get underway the next morning. From
what the locals tell him, this sort of weather is common for this
time of year. When winter comes in full force, it gets rather cold
and a foot of snow from a single storm isn’t unheard of.

As they make their way through the forest,
the canopy of leaves which covers the road keeps the worst of it
off of them. The road is fairly straight and they make good time.
With only a brief stop for lunch before continuing on, they ride
fast and are pretty sure they’re close to Trendle when daylight
begins to fade.

A shadow disengages itself from the treeline
ahead of them and when they draw near can see that it’s Yern.

“What are you doing here?” James asks.

“Waiting for your return,” he says.

“Why?” he asks. “Nothing wrong is
there?”

“Don’t know for sure,” he replies. “It’s
just that Ceryn has us posted along the roads from Trademeet
looking for you. He would like you to meet him at his cabin.” He
holds up his hand to forestall any further questions and then adds,
“He didn’t tell us why, just said it was important for you to go
there, alone, before you return to The Ranch.”

“Alone?” he asks.

Nodding, Yern says “Alone.”

James glances to Jiron who only shrugs.
“Don’t look at me,” he says.

“Could you be in some kind of trouble?” Miko
asks. “Lord Colerain maybe?”

Worried, James replies, “I don’t know.” To
the others he says, “When we get to Ceryn’s cabin, you continue on
to The Ranch and I’ll be there later.”

“As you wish,” Jiron says.

It isn’t very far before they come to where
Ceryn’s cabin lies, sitting off the road a little ways. Two horses
are tied out front, neither of them are Ceryns’. “Looks like he’s
got company” states Jiron.

“Looks that way,” replies James. Turning his
horse toward the cabin, he says, “You all go on home. I’ll be along
directly.”

“Good luck,” Miko says as he and the others
continue on toward Trendle and The Ranch.

He sees a light coming from the front window
as he rides up. Securing his horse to the front post next to the
others, he starts walking to the door when it opens and Ceryn steps
out.

“Greetings James,” he says, a smile on his
face.

The fact that he’s smiling puts him at ease
as he replies, “You too, Ceryn.” Extending his hand he gives him a
firm handshake. “What did you need to see me about?”

“Come inside and we’ll explain,” he says as
he leads him into his cabin.

“We?” James asks as he follows Ceryn in. A
smile breaks across his face when he sees Perrilin sitting in a
chair against one of the walls, his instrument propped up beside
him. “Perrilin!” he exclaims as he comes over to greet him.

Coming to his feet, the bard asks, “Been a
while hasn’t it?”

Giving him a hearty handshake as well, James
nods then takes the seat across from him and asks, “What brings you
around here?”

“Actually, that’s a rather interesting
story…” he begins as the door to the bedroom creaks as it starts to
open.

James’ attention is drawn to it. Suddenly,
the door swings wide and a young man steps out. His lower jaw
quivers, eyes are opened wide. “J...James?” he stammers.

Jumping to his feet, James replies in utter
astonishment, “Dave?”

“Oh James,” he cries out and comes forward,
tears streaming down his face.

James takes him in his arms, concerned for
his friend as wracking sobs come from him. “Here, here, it’s
alright,” he says in a soothing manner. He glances back to
Perrilin.

“I found him in the Empire,” he explains. “I
was playing that song of yours and he came forward. Thought there
was something odd about the way he was acting so I investigated. It
was hard to piece things together, he doesn’t speak the common
tongue at all and only a smattering of the Empire’s. But the fact
he didn’t speak any language I knew well, plus his reaction to the
song all made me realize something was odd. Then it hit me that he
might have come from where you did.”

Taking his friend over to one of the chairs
by the table, he sets him down and then takes the seat next to him.
“Are you okay?” he asks.

Dave’s face comes up, tear tracks down both
cheeks as he asks, “What?”

Then it hits him, Dave was still talking in
English and he had asked the question in the common tongue. Having
been so immersed in the language of this world for the past month
or so, he has to consciously work at getting the correct English
pronunciation out. “Are you okay?” he asks again, this time in
English.