The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (29 page)

“What do you mean?” replies Dave.

“You had a girl in here,” he says.

“So?” replies Dave. “Just because you’re
happy being a virgin doesn’t mean I am. Relax, she got paid.”

“She was crying when she passed me by out in
the hall,” he says accusingly.

Shrugging, Dave says, “Don’t know why, she
enjoyed herself well enough earlier.” Lying back on his pillow, he
says, “Now if you’ll excuse me I’m quite tired.” Closing his eyes,
he lies there quietly.

James stays standing by the door staring at
his friend for a minute then moves over to his bed and undresses
before getting under the covers. With a final glance over to his
friend, he blows out the candle and tries to go to sleep. Sleep is
long in coming, the memory of the sobbing girl keeps him awake.

The following morning, they head out early.
“Should reach Trendle by the time it gets dark if we keep a quick
pace,” announces Illan as they leave the outskirts of town.

“That would be nice,” James says with a
grin.

Breaking into a fast trot they take the road
to the northwest. Three hours out of town they come to a crossroads
and take the northerly direction which will take them through
Osgrin on the way to Trendle.

Ironhold.
James ponders the
significance of that lone word Ellinwyrd had inscribed on the
scroll. What significance does it play? Where is it? He hopes Ceryn
will be able to help him in discovering the answers.

Shortly after noon the party makes it to
Osgrin where they find an inn to have their lunch. During the meal,
Jiron suddenly says, “Wonder if there’re any assassins here?”

The others with him chuckle at that, all but
Qyrll, Miko and James. Qyrll doesn’t understand, but Miko and James
do all too well. “Enough of that,” James scolds him.

“Sorry,” he replies. The last time Miko had
been here he overheard what he thought was an assassination plot
aimed at James but which in fact was a betrothal party on their way
to a wedding. The others still give him a hard time about it now
and then despite James’ efforts to get them to stop. At least it’s
fairly harmless jesting and Miko doesn’t seem to mind as much as he
had.

After leaving Osgrin, they continue north,
next stop hopefully will be Trendle. Illan informs them it’s still
many hours away but that they should be able to make it by dark if
not before.

As it turns out, they reach the outskirts of
Trendle just as the sun hits the horizon. The people on the streets
pause as they see him ride through, some offering greetings or well
wishes. He returns them and continues on.

Passing the Squawking Goose, the favored inn
of most of the townsfolk, they see young Devin coming out in the
company of his family. His face turns pale as he sees them riding
toward him.

“Why James,” Mary says once she sees him
approaching, “thought you were out of town for awhile?”

“I was,” he replies. “I’ll be in town for a
short while before I have to be off again.”

Illan is eyeing Devin who’s withering under
his gaze. Obviously he isn’t supposed to be in town.

Corbin notices Illan’s gaze and says,
“Today’s Devin’s birthday. We went out to your place and asked Yern
if we could take him into town to celebrate. He said it wouldn’t be
a problem.”

Illan’s face softens slightly as he says,
“Just return before too long.”

Relaxing with relief, Devin replies, “I will
sir.”

“I wish we could stay to share your
celebration,” James says. “But we’ve been on the road for several
days and are extremely tired.”

“I understand,” Corbin says. “Nice to have
seen you again.”

“You too,” he says. Then to the two girls he
adds, “You two, too.”

They just giggle and cast him shy
glances.

Kicking his horse into a trot, he heads down
the road out of town and to The Ranch. The shack for the guard
stationed at the end of the lane leading to The Ranch has been
completed. A lit lantern hangs from a post nearby to shed light on
any who approach.

“Ain’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Jorry
says as he steps from the guard shack.

“How’ve things been?” James asks him.

“Quiet,” he replies. “Still get the curious
every now and then but it seems to be tapering off.” He notices
Qyrll there but the darkness prevents him from being able to see
his features well.

“Good,” he says.

“How did things go in Cardri?”

“Tell you later,” replies James. “I’m for
bed.”

“Good to have you back,” he says as he
returns to the guard shack.

Heading down the road, he sees Errin and
Aleya sitting on the front steps fledging arrows. When they see him
coming down the lane, Errin bolts to her feet and rushes into the
house. Shortly, Roland and everyone else come out to greet him.

“Welcome back,” Roland says as James and the
others come to a stop. He casts a glance toward Qyrll but doesn’t
comment. James can see the others taking in his tattooed visage in
uncertainty.

Errin and Caleb come to take the horses.
James hands Errin his reins and says, “Can’t tell you how glad I am
to be back.”

To Errin and Caleb, Illan says, “Take the
horses to the barn and get them settled in.”

Taking the reins from him, Caleb says, “Yes
sir.” They then lead the horses to the barn.

“Let’s go inside and I’ll give you a brief
rundown of what happened,” James says as he makes for the door.

“Something wrong?” Yern asks.

“You could say that,” replies Jiron.

Everyone moves inside the house and takes
their usual positions in the front room for when they have the
evening gathering time. After settling into his chair, James
gestures to Qyrll and says to everyone, “This is Qyrll. He’s a
Parvati from a land deep within the Empire. Fierce fighters but
loyal to their friends.”

Launching into what happened at Cardri, he
as well as the others relate the events which ultimately culminated
with the rescue at sea. When he’s done, Yern just shakes his head
and says, “You can’t go anywhere without something major happening
to you.”

Turning toward him, James sighs and replies,
“It looks that way.”

“What are they going to do now?” Tersa asks
from where she sits with her brother. She sits next to him on one
side while Aleya sits on the other.

“Who?” he asks.

“Cardri,” she clarifies.

“I doubt if they’ll do anything,” he
explains. “After all, they did as requested and handed me over. As
much as that upset me, I don’t hold any ill will toward them. They
only did what they did to insure peace. I can understand that
mentality. From their point of view, what happened on the open seas
is none of their concern. I don’t think we need fear any reprisals
from them.”

“What about the Empire?” interjects
Jorry.

“That’s an entirely different matter,” he
says. “I expect them to continue in their efforts to do me harm.
Since the political maneuver didn’t work I think it’s likely they
will try something more direct again.”

Nodding, Illan adds, “I agree.” He then
looks around to the others, “We need to be more vigilant from here
on out. Assassins or another kidnapping plot may be in the
offing.”

“What should we do?” Tersa asks
nervously.

“Don’t go anywhere alone,” replies James,
“unless it’s close to The Ranch. And by close I mean within sight.
If someone goes into town, they take another with them. Tomorrow I
plan to go see Ceryn early in the morning.”

“I’ll come with you,” Jiron says.

“Fine,” he says. Suddenly a big yawn escapes
him. “Any questions?” He can see they have questions in their eyes
but none speak them. “In that case, I’m heading to bed.”

“Good night James,” Tersa says.

“Good night to you all,” he replies and then
heads to his room. After he leaves the front room he can hear them
beginning to talk in greater detail about what went on as well as
the events in Willimet. He finally makes it to his room and closes
the door. Getting undressed quickly, he wriggles under the covers
and is soon asleep.

The following morning finds Illan out with
the recruits putting them through drills. Ever since he moved the
practices from outside of James’ window, he has been able to get a
good night’s sleep.

Getting out of bed, he puts on his clothes
from yesterday and goes to the kitchen to have breakfast. Ezra has
a plate ready for him and he takes a seat next to Arkie who is in
his high chair. “Has Dave come out of his room?” he asks her.

“Haven’t seen him sir,” she replies. While
they were gone she had Roland fix an oversized pantry with a pallet
for Dave. She felt the master of the house shouldn’t have to share
his bed.

He’s worried for his friend. The last few
days on the way back, he had been quiet and moody. He continues to
think on his friend until something wet and soft hits him in the
side of the face, the side facing Arkie.

He turns to see Arkie there with a big smile
on his face and another handful of his breakfast arched back and
aimed at James. “Don’t you dare,” James says to him, amused.

“Arkie!” his mother cries just as he throws
it at James.

He ducks but not fast enough and a handful
of squishiness hits him in the head just above the ear. Arkie lets
out with a jubilant squeal as he reaches for yet another
handful.

Ezra rushes over to him, intending to punish
the boy for treating the master of the house in such a manner. She
begins talking to him rapidly in the Empire’s tongue and the smile
on his face quickly disappears. Grabbing the arm which has the
handful of food poised to hurl at James she slaps his hand.

Dropping the food, he looks to his mother,
eyes beginning to well tears and lets out with a cry.

“I’m sorry sir,” she says to James.

“It’s okay,” he replies, more amused than
upset. “I was going to head out for a bath anyway. Don’t be too
hard on him.”

“He has to learn right from wrong now,” she
says. Giving her son a stern glare, she sees him reaching for
another handful of food. She brings her hand close to the one
reaching and holds it over his hand as she gives him that look. The
look all mothers give their kids when threatening a punishment if
they don’t stop what they’re doing. Obviously Arkie hasn’t learned
the subtle nuances of facial expressions yet and takes the
handful.

Slap!

Her hand comes down and strikes his hard.
Not hard enough to hurt, just hard enough for him to know he did
wrong. “No!” she says sternly.

After getting the food mostly out of his
hair, he hurriedly eats the remainder of his breakfast as he
watches mother and son out of the corner of his eye.

Crying, Arkie looks to his mother, hurt and
upset. His bottom lip is out and tears stream from both eyes. He
begins reaching for another handful and her hand again moves to
hover over his.

You better learn kid,
James thinks as
he puts the last forkful of eggs in his mouth.

Never taking his eyes from his mother, Arkie
moves his hand closer to the food and she raises her hand slightly
while at the same time cocking her head to the side. “No,” she
says.

Pulling his hand back, he gives James a
hopeful look.

“Don’t look at me,” he says. “I may be
master of the house but she’s your mother.” To Ezra he gives her a
quick smile and then gets up from the table. Patting Arkie on the
head he returns to his room and collects a set of clean clothes as
well as a cupful of soap.

After he passes back through the kitchen and
goes outside, Miko sees him and hollers that he’ll join him. Racing
back to get his things, he soon catches up with him at the bathing
pool.

The morning air is crisp, he’s not sure how
many more mornings he’ll be able to endure the cold water. Each day
seems to be getting colder and colder. The days where he would
linger in the water are past. Scooping out some of the soap, he
quickly cleans himself as well as his hair.

“Arkie get you this morning?” Miko asks
amused.

“Twice,” he replies.

“He nailed me earlier,” he tells him with a
grin. “Ezra sure has her hands full with him.”

“It’s just a stage, I hope,” he says.

“Coming with me to town today?” James
asks.

Shaking his head, he says, “No. Roland says
I’ve missed too much time at the class and am starting to fall
behind the others. He wants us all to be doing the same, says it’s
easier that way.”

“I can see where he would want that,” he
replies.

“Seen Dave yet today?” he asks Miko.

Shaking his head, he replies, “No. He was
gone when I got up.”

“Gone?” he asks, worried.

“He does that some times,” Miko explains. “I
think he likes to get away by himself or something.”

“Maybe,” replies James, worry for his friend
increasing. Dave has never been one to wander off by himself. He
would always try to be the life of the party and garner attention.
He continues to think on Dave while he finishes his bath.

“This water is simply getting too cold,” he
says when he’s finally done washing. Getting out, he dries himself
off quickly. The slight breeze has caused goose bumps to arise over
a good portion of his skin. Once he’s dressed, he leaves Miko in
the water and returns to his room where he takes out his shaving
knife and scrapes off the stubble which has grown scraggly ever
since he left.
Got to remember to take this with me.

Once he’s done, he rubs his face and feels
much better now that it’s once again smooth. He leaves his room and
goes outside where he finds Jiron has already readied two horses.
Fifer is talking with him and breaks off when James approaches.

“How do you feel this morning?” he asks.