The Star of Morcyth: The Morcyth Saga Book Five (9 page)

Glancing around the room, he finds a vacant
chair over against the wall across from the doors and makes his way
over. Sitting down, he leans back comfortably and takes in the
people waiting in the room with him.

Several look like local business men while
others appear to be of a higher social standing. One gentleman in
particular is dressed in clothes of obvious superior quality and
has what can only be called an ‘uppity’ attitude. James wonders
what such a man is doing here.

“Excuse me?” a voice next to him brings him
out of his reverie.

A man of low standing judging by the state
of his clothes is standing next to him. “Yes?” he says.

“Wonder how long they’ll be in there?” the
man asks.

Shrugging, James replies, “I don’t know.
Probably as long as they want.”

“True,” agrees the man. He has a beat up hat
in his hands which he is nervously fidgeting with.

“Nervous?” James asks.

“What?” the man asks, seeming to have spaced
out for a moment. Coming back to the moment, he says, “A
little.”

James wishes the man would just go bother
someone else, he has way too much on his mind.

Just then, the doors to the audience chamber
open and the officious looking man appears. “Farmer Tibbins?” he
states loudly.

The man next to James suddenly drops his hat
and his face turns pale. “H…here,” he stammers, voice cracking.

“The Royal Court is ready for you,” the man
tells him.

Bending over to pick up his hat, James can
see his hands are visibly shaking. “Relax,” he says quietly to
farmer Tibbins.

The hat again in his hands, he glances at
James and then makes his way to the double doors. After he’s passed
through, the doors once more close shut.

One by one, the people who were there ahead
of him are summoned through the double doors, none of which come
back out. James figures there must be another exit for those with
whom the Court is finished.

Most of the people are not nearly as nervous
as farmer Tibbins had been, perhaps they’re simply petitioners for
one thing or another. He sits there and wonders just what that
farmer had done which would warrant such a reaction of nervousness.
He may never know.

Over an hour after he initially arrived, the
doors open up and the officious looking man announces, “The mage
known as James.”

Getting up, he approaches the double doors.
He can hear gasps from some of those who heard what the man had
just said. Every eye in the room is on him as he makes his way
across the room to the double doors.

As he reaches them, the officious man turns
and leads him into the room. The double doors shut behind him with
a resounding thud.

“You’re full of it!” the boy says to
Miko.

“Am not!” he asserts. “There are lizards
bigger than all of us here put together way down south.”

Miko has accumulated quite a gathering of
the local youths around himself. At first when he left the inn, he
wasn’t sure just how to find out what James wants to learn. How he
used to do it is no longer an option seeing as he’s more a man than
boy now.

His first stop had been to a bakery where he
bought a bag of tarts. To him, tarts are the best tasting delight
he’s ever experienced. Shortly after the bakery, he was standing by
a chandler’s shop when a youth walked by. For some reason he held
out a tart and offered it to him.

At first the lad eyed him with suspicion. He
completely understands how the lad is feeling, he’s been on the
other side more times than he can count. Whenever a person offers
someone from the street something, there’s usually a catch.

He took the tart hesitantly and bit into it.
It wasn’t long before several more youths showed up and before he
knew it, his bag of tarts was empty.

Better than almost anyone else, Miko knew
what drove these kids, their needs and wants. Two things above all
else were his greatest desires when he was one of them. The first
was the finer things of life, such as tarts. As a street kid, you
never got such unless you stole them. Any money you acquired had to
be spent on more important things like food and at times,
protection.

The second thing of paramount importance is
diversion, to be taken away from their mundane and harsh existence,
if only for a brief time. Tales and experiences, both real and
imagined are hungered after by these, the more fantastic the
better. So he began to regale them with tales of his experiences
with James. He couldn’t think of tales any more fantastic than what
he’s actually lived through thus far. And that’s how he came to be
talking of rhino-lizards.

In the course of his narration, he notices
James passing by but fails to break the mood he’s building with
these kids by waving hello.

A dozen kids now encircle him as he
continues his narration of the swamp. “Not only do you have to be
careful not to attract the ferocious rhino-lizards, but you have to
watch where you step. You don’t want to accidentally put your foot
in the water.”

“Why not?” asks one girl of about ten who
just joined the group.

“Because living within the water are small
fish, no bigger than this,” he says as he uses his hands to
illustrate their size. “With a mouth full of teeth that will rip
you to shreds in no time at all!”

“You’re lyin’!” one kid exclaims.

“No he’s not,” another pipes up. “Old Fergus
down on Vinet Street has some of them he keeps in a big glass jar.
He showed them to me once.” Having the attention of his peers, he
adds, “He caught a mouse and dropped it in with the fish and they
tore the flesh from its bones fast.”

“Ooooo,” one girl says.

“The fish seemed to like the warmer water
down in the Empire,” Miko explains. “I doubt if you’ll find them
anywhere around here.”

“Wonder if that Ambassador from the Empire
would have any?” one small boy asks.

“Why would he have any?” an older boy says
derisively. “That’s just dumb!”

“There’s an Ambassador from the Empire in
town?” Miko asks. He’s been waiting for the conversation to turn in
this direction.

“You ain’t heard?” one boy asks, surprised.
“It’s all anyone’s been able to talk about.”

“Just got to town yesterday,” he explains.
“Wonder why he’s here?”

“Hear they got troubles down in the Empire
and he’s here to ask for help,” one boy says.

“That ain’t the reason,” an older girl says.
“I heard it from my brother, who heard it from his master that he’s
here to arrange a trade agreement.”

They begin to argue amongst themselves as
each tries to convince the others of the truthfulness of their
story and the falsehood of everyone else’s.

Miko lets it run for a moment, listening to
all the various stories, none of which is anything he hadn’t
already heard from Fifer and Jiron. Holding up his hands, he says,
“Quiet down now.”

The kids begin quieting down and one by one
turn to look at him. “Now, who would like to earn a couple
coppers?” he asks.

A dozen hands fly up into the air as each
begins saying they do.

“I want information about the Ambassador,
why he’s here,” he begins.

“What for?” one of the boys hollers from the
back of the group.

“My master is a rich merchant,” he tells
them. “If he is in fact here to negotiate a new trade agreement, it
would be to my master’s benefit to know.” Several heads bob up and
down as they begin to see the logic of that.

“So, I would like you all to find out as
much as you can and meet me back here later this afternoon,” he
says. “If any of you can tell me his business here I’ll give each
of you three coppers and spring for a meal.”

“And more tarts?” one small girl with berry
stains on her face asks.

“And more tarts too,” he assures her with a
smile. To the rest, he adds, “But be careful. Those from the Empire
tend to deal strongly with spies.”

”We’ll be careful,” one older boy says.

“Okay then, on your way and meet me back
here this afternoon before the evening meal.”

The kids move away quickly down the street
as Miko smiles.
If anyone can find out what’s going on here,
it’s them.
Not willing to leave it just up to them, he plans to
do his own investigating.

One of the most prevalent rumors is the
trade agreement. That one, more than any of the others, is believed
by most. Maybe it’s just the most logical, or perhaps there is a
basis for it. Asking directions of a local, he soon is heading down
to the Merchant’s Guild. If there’s any truth behind the rumor he’s
likely to find out there.

The Merchant’s Guild building is a large
three story complex located within the second wall. He tries to
walk through the main entrance but before he even gets close to the
door is turned away by the guard stationed there.

Unable to gain entry, he instead works his
way around the outside, looking for any other doors which may prove
more accommodating. The only other doors he finds are locked from
the other side. It seems the only way in is through the main front
door which is guarded.

Not willing to give up, he stations himself
in an unobtrusive spot across the street in an alley where he can
monitor the comings and goings through the front door. A half hour
into his vigil, he sees two of the kids whom he sent in search of
information wander by and mill around outside the building. Smiling
to himself, he realizes they’re actually working to find out the
information they said they would.

Several minutes later, the kids move off
down the street and disappear in the crowd.

He sits there in his place in the alley for
awhile longer until he notices two men exiting the Merchant’s
Guild. A cold shiver runs through him when he realizes one of the
men is none other than Lord Colerain.
What is he doing
here?

The man he’s with is dressed in fine clothes
with a bearing which gives off the aura of authority. They move
away from the building and turn to go down the street.

Coming to his feet, Miko edges out of the
alley and follows them. He remembers back to their last visit here
and the problems Lord Colerain had caused them. At the time, Lord
Colerain was staying with a local noble by name of Lord Kindering.
The man with whom he’s walking could be this Lord Kindering.

He follows them through the crowds, always
keeping enough distance between them so as not to be discovered.
Lord Colerain here in Cardri. The Empire’s Ambassador here as
well. And then James gets summoned to appear before the Royal
Court? It can’t be just a coincidence!
Something’s going on and
he intends to find out what.

Keeping them just within sight, he follows
them to the gates leading into the castle area and watches in
frustration as they pass through. Coming to a halt, he knows
there’s no way the guards there will allow him through the gates.
Positioning himself in an out of the way area, he keeps an eye on
the gates in the hopes they reappear.

By the time he needs to return to meet with
the street kids, they haven’t returned from within the castle area.
Getting up, he heads back toward his rendezvous with the kids. On
the way he stops by a bakery for a small sack of tarts, enough for
each of the kids to have one then continues down the street. When
he nears the location, he sees them already there waiting for
him.

“Thought you might’ve forgotten about us,”
one older boy states.

“Naw,” he says, “just got tied up for a
moment. What did you find out?”

“Not much,” the older boy says. “The word is
that they are in fact here for trade negotiations, but that may not
be all they’re here for.”

“Oh?” prompts Miko.

“It seems the delegation which came with the
Ambassador also included an Eye,” he explains.

“An Eye?” asks Miko. “What’s that?”

“Don’t know for sure, but that’s what they
said,” the boy replies. “They didn’t give any details about what an
Eye is, but when they said it you could tell it wasn’t good.”

“Interesting,” says Miko.

“You said you’d pay us!” one younger boy
demands.

“Of course,” he says as he reaches into his
pouch for the promised coins and hands each of them three coppers.
“Now, how about that meal I promised too.”

“Yeah!” several of them exclaim at the same
time.

Smiling, he leads them back a ways to one of
the cities open markets where they stop at one of the open eateries
which are popular here in Cardri. He buys them each a bowl of stew
with a quarter loaf of bread.

While they eat he asks them about Lord
Kindering.

“He’s bad news,” the older boy says.

“Why?” asks Miko.

“He deals with the less than savory factions
of the city,” another boy says. “Anyone who crosses him often as
not ends up dead.”

Nodding, Miko thinks that’s just the sort of
individual Lord Colerain would be associated with. “What else can
you tell me about him?”

“He’s one of the three Lords of the
Merchant’s Guild,” an older girl says.

“Yeah,” adds the older boy, “I think that’s
why he bears the title Lord. From what I’ve heard, there’s nothing
of the nobility in his family.”

“So if the Ambassador is here to negotiate a
new trade agreement, he would be one of the men involved?” he
asks.

“Would think so,” the older boy says.
“Though don’t know for sure.”

“Could you find out if there’s a connection
between this Lord Kindering and the Ambassador?”

“Sure,” he says.

He gives the older boy a couple silvers and
says, “I’m staying at the Silver Bells. If you find out anything,
find me there. If I’m not there, just leave word to meet you back
here. We’ll meet here tomorrow morning if not before.”