The Unsuspecting Mage (32 page)

Looking intrigued, James asks, “How would we go about it?”

“I shall write a letter of introduction explaining what you wish to do,” he explains then gestures over to Miko. “Your young friend there would then need to run it to the gate leading into the castle area.” To Miko he says, “Tell the guards that you have a letter for the Archive Custodian and then either they will escort you to him, or more likely have you wait while they send someone to the Archives with the letter. Then it would be up to Ellinwyrd, that is my friend, to decide whether or not to grant you access.”

Excited at the prospect of possibly being granted access to ancient tomes, he quickly finishes his breakfast and clears a spot on the table where he places his travel case. Opening it up, he removes a piece of paper, quill and an inkwell, then closes the case once more and sets it aside.

He waits as patiently as he can while Perrilin finishes his meal, then removes his plate once he’s finished. James then brings over the traveling case to act as a lap table and the writing materials so Perrilin can write the letter to his friend.

He sits and waits as Perrilin writes out the letter, anxious to get this going. When Perrilin finishes, he requests some wax with which to seal the letter. James lights the candle on the table and brings it over to him. Taking the candle, Perrilin holds it at an angle so the melting wax will drip onto the letter. When he has applied the desired amount he gives the candle back to James. He then takes one of his rings and makes an imprint of it in the wax.

Handing it to James, he says, “Here you go.” Then to Miko he says, “Make sure you do not break the seal. Once you reach the gates, do whatever the guards tell you to do.”

The door hadn’t been shut for two seconds before they hear a knock which is immediately followed by the door swinging open to admit Miss Gilena. It doesn’t seem she feels the need to await the okay to enter.

Bustling into the room, her eyes zero in on the bed wherein Perrilin lays and with concern in her voice asks, “How are you feeling?” Then she makes her way to his bedside, the promised clothes tucked under one arm.

Smiling a reassuring smile as she approaches, he says, “I will live, though I’m sore from head to toe. James has been very helpful.”

“Thank goodness you came along just when you did,” she says. Pulling down his covers with not so much as a ‘by your leave’, she inspects the injuries marring his chest. Perrilin feels a little uncomfortable at her mothering, especially in front of James. Satisfied that they look to be healing properly, she replaces the covers and comes to her feet. “It looks as if your wounds will heal fine in a couple of days,” she announces, relief that they were not worse evident in her voice. “I can’t stay, simply wanted to check and see how you were doing. If you need anything, let me know.” That last question was directed more toward James than the injured bard.

Perrilin responds, “We will and don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

“I always worry about you,” Miss Gilena says before returning to the door. She casts one more worried look in his direction and then quickly leaves the room.

Looking over to James, Perrilin says, “She’s a good woman, but she frets too much at times.”

“That’s probably true of most women when they care about someone,” he remarks.

“Care about? Me?” Perrilin says as if such a thought had never occurred to him. An odd expression passes over his face as he considers the possibility. Soon though, the demands of his healing body assert themselves and his eyes close as he drifts back to sleep.

James sits at the table while the bard sleeps, bored and restless as he waits for the return of Miko. He moves a chair over by the window and idles the time away while looking out over the town and down to the people passing on the street below. He reminisces about the times his grandmother, while waiting for someone at the airport would like to do nothing more than sit and watch people. She would make up the most outlandish stories about who they were and what they were about.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Snapped out of his reverie by the knocking, he gets up and walks over to open the door. One of the workers from downstairs stands before him holding a long, thin box.

Holding forward the box, the boy says, “This was just delivered for you.”

“Thank you,” James says as he takes the box, wondering who could possibly be sending him something here.

Once James has the box, the boy turns and walks back down the hallway. James closes the door and places the package on the table then stands there a moment staring at it, thinking.

“Is something wrong?” Perrilin asks from the bed, the knocking having awoken him.

“This package was just delivered to me,” he explains, “but I haven’t bought or ordered anything that would be delivered.”

“Interesting,” comments Perrilin. Intrigued, he pulls back the covers and slowly brings his legs over so he’s sitting on the edge of the bed. Despite the pain the change of position caused, he was more interested in this unknown and inexplicable package.

James takes a seat at the table then takes the package and opens it. Inside he finds something long wrapped in a dirty cloth. Unwrapping the cloth, his eyes widen and an audible gasp escapes him. To his complete shock, he discovers what was concealed within the cloth is one of the boards that he used to kill their captors the other night. The ones they had hidden in a pile of refuse.

Seeing the expression on James’ face, Perrilin asks, “What is it?”

He holds the blood stained board up for Perrilin to see, “I don’t know how they found this, or even how they could’ve possibly connected it to me.”

“What does it mean?” he asks.

“It’s a long story but I guess we have the time,” James begins. He then relates the events starting with being chased into the sewers of Bearn and then the string of events culminating with the battle in the house where they escaped their capture. He avoided mentioning magic and told only the bare bones of the attack culminating with three dead men with boards protruding from their chests.

“As we left, we hid these boards in a pile of garbage. I was sure no one was around, I guess I was wrong. Somehow, someone must have seen us put them there, took them, and now has tracked us here.”

“That’s quite a story,” Perrilin says. “I have heard of Lord Colerain, though have never met him. He is rumored to be a nasty one to cross.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, “I’ve heard that too.” Removing the cloth from out of the box, he searches for a note, or anything else that might shed some light on all this. “Question is, what is it that they want?” After searching the box thoroughly, he says, “They didn’t leave a note.”

The cloth which had been used to wrap the board lies on the floor next to the table. Perrilin notices something and says, “James, look at the cloth itself.” Picking it up, he uses both hands and spreads it out. There
is
writing on it.

Where these were buried, one hour

“I think I should,” he replies. “If their desire had been to cause me trouble with the city watch, guards would have been here instead. I should be alright, I hope.” He wraps the board with the cloth and then puts it back inside the box. “If Miko returns before I do, have him wait until I get back,” he tells Perrilin as he comes to his feet.

“I will,” Perrilin assures him, “and be careful.”

“I have learned a lot about being careful since coming here,” states James. Not taking the backpack with him this time, he leaves the room and goes downstairs. Miss Gilena is in the common room straightening chairs and he takes a moment to go over to talk with her.

She turns at his approach and says in a worried tone, “Nothing is wrong, is it?”

“Everything is fine,” James says reassuringly. “I just need to step out for a short while, I left him upstairs and he’s sleeping again.”

He leaves the inn and begins the trek through the city and out into the poorer section.
Hope I can remember where I buried them,
he worries to himself.
It was pretty dark and I was preoccupied at the time.

One street looks pretty much like any other. He finally comes across a refuse pile in an area looking somewhat familiar. He isn’t sure if he has found the right spot or not, but he thinks so. The area he’s in is fairly run down, lots of bums and beggars hanging around up and down the street. After a few minutes of waiting, he begins to feel very self conscious, a stranger standing all by himself in such an area. He definitely stands out among all the other residents and is beginning to draw the attention of some of them.

Three young men eye him from down the street where they stand together talking. Being under scrutiny like this is starting to wear on his nerves, making him jumpy. He definitely does not feel safe there. The three young men seem to have come to a decision, for James sees them begin walking in his direction.

Nervous but needing to meet that person, he stands his ground and waits while the men come over to him. He has his magic if nothing else.

As they approach, two of the young men fan out, leaving the third to approach while they move to flank him.

“Can I help you gentlemen?” James asks, trying to keep his voice calm.

“Maybe,” one says as he pulls out a knife, “you could help by giving us all your coins.” The other two draw their knives as well and gesture menacingly with them toward him. James suddenly realizes that the many people who had been loitering in the area earlier have all but disappeared. Other than a few here and there, he and the three toughs are the only ones remaining on the street, which can’t be a good sign.

James backs away until his back presses against a wall.

“Look man, we don’t want to hurt you, we just want your gold,” another one tells him.

“You don’t want his money,” a voice comes from behind them. The three toughs turn to see a well dressed man in his middle years approaching with sword drawn.

“We don’t want any trouble with you,” the first tough tells the newcomer, menacing him with his knife.

“Then you better leave before I come over there,” the man says unimpressed. All the while he still maintains the same steady pace forward.

The three toughs look to each other, realizing their knives will be no match for a swordsman and then make a break for it down the road. The newcomer comes over to James and sheathes his sword.

“Then follow me,” the man says as he turns to return back the way he came. “This isn’t where I expected to find you. You are lucky you weren’t killed, this is no area for strangers.”

“Yeah, I gathered that,” James replies. “Where are we going?”

“Someone wants to meet with you, just be quiet and follow me.” The man continues down the street and then turns down another to the left. They soon come to a dilapidated looking building where the man walks up to the door, opens it, and then gestures for James to precede him inside the building.

He enters a poorly lit hallway and the man tells him to continue on down to the second door on the left. James reaches the door and is directed to open it and enter.

When he opens the door, light from the other side bathes the hallway. Passing through, he enters a well lit room wherein he finds three people, two being most likely guards since they are dressed similar to the man whom had escorted him. The third man is sitting behind a table with a single, empty chair situated across from him. He gestures for James to come in and sit in the empty chair.

James nervously crosses the room, taking a seat in the chair as he looks around. He hears the door close behind him and glances back at the two guards taking up positions around the room while the man who had brought him there remains by the door.

He returns his attention to the man sitting across from him. Appearing to be middle aged with hair just beginning to grey about the temples the man holds an air of command the single scar running along his left jawbone doing little to diminish it. Reaching down to the floor beside him, the man brings up the hood containing the remaining boards. “You know about these?” he asks.