James leads them through the streets until the townhouse the man entered comes into view down the street ahead of them. “That’s it,” he says. They then move a little further down the street before positioning themselves across the street next to the corner of another townhouse. Here they can remain hidden in the shadows and still keep an eye on the place.
“Scar, Potbelly,” Jiron says as he turns to face them. “You two make your way around back. If someone tries to leave, detain them.” He waits for them to nod and move out before he turns to James and the others. “The rest of you stay here and keep an eye on the front. I’m going to have a quick look around.”
“Be careful,” urges Aleya. He gives her a hug and a kiss before moving off.
James stands there in the shadows as Jiron races across the street and disappears into the alley adjacent to the townhouse. They wait for several anxious minutes before Jiron appears rounding the far side.
Keeping close to the wall, he moves quickly along the side of the building in their direction. When he passes the alley where he originally left the street, he pauses and looks both ways. Seeing that the street is deserted, he darts across to where James and the others are waiting.
“There are two other doors beside the front,” he says when he arrives. “One in the alley on this side and one in the back. Scar and Potbelly have the back one covered.”
“How do you plan on getting in there?” Brother Willim asks. For a priest, he sure seems to be taking a more active interest in this sort of thing than one would expect.
“On the far side of the building, there’s an open window on the second floor,” he explains. “The window is dark so it’s safe to say the room should be empty.”
“Alright,” James says, “Let’s go.” As he starts to move toward the building, Jiron stops him by placing a hand on his chest.
“No,” he says. “You and the rest stay here. I’m taking Stig with me.” When he sees James beginning to object, he cuts him off by saying, “He’s better suited for this than you are and I doubt if we’ll have need of magic in there.”
“He’s right,” Miko says. “You’re great with magic and strategy, but you are horrible at sneaking or remaining quiet.”
“I don’t think so,” objects James. Then he catches Aleya nodding too. “I can’t be that bad,” he says.
“You’re not…bad,” she says. “It’s just that Stig is much better.” Then she turns her attention to him and says, “In fact, I know someone else who would be much better.”
“Who?” asks Jiron.
“Me,” she replies. “I can sneak up on a deer and tickle it behind the ears before it even knows I’m there.”
James sees the objection starting to form in Jiron’s mind. Giving him a grin, he says, “If you say I can’t go because I’m too loud, then you should at least take the one best suited for this.”
“But there could be fighting,” he says. “I need someone who can guard my back.”
The rest of them grow quiet as a dark look comes over Aleya’s face. That’s when he realizes his mistake. “Are you saying I can’t handle myself?” she asks with barely controlled anger. “Are you saying I am some addlebrained woman who should just stay home and wait for her man to return?”
“That’s not what I’m saying at all,” he counters. He glances over to James for help but only gets silence.
“Then what are you saying?” she asks, daring him to slight her again.
Sighing, he turns and looks at her and says, “Stig is from the pits. His prowess at fighting is greater than yours.” He can see her bristle at this and hurriedly continues. “I don’t say this to lessen your own ability, but he survived in the pits against some of the meanest fighters I’ve ever seen.” Placing a hand on her shoulder, he softens his voice. “I know you are skilled, but we don’t know what’s inside there and I need someone who can walk silent yet hold their own should things turn bad.”
Not liking this one bit, she can see the logic in what he’s saying. “Take Stig then,” she says. “See what I care.” Then she turns her back on him and stalks off further into the shadows.
Jiron casts a hurt look to James who says, “She’ll be okay. Go do what you have to and take care of this when you get back.”
“Alright,” he says. Looking into the darkness where Aleya disappeared for a moment, he then turns to Stig and says, “Leave your shield.”
“Right,” he says. Taking it off his arm, he hands it to Miko. “Take care of this for me will you?”
“Sure,” he replies as he takes the shield.
“If you hear a commotion,” Jiron says, “come running.”
“You can count on it,” James assures him. “Good luck.”
Jiron flicks a final look to the shadows and then nods for Stig to follow. After a quick glance to make sure the coast is clear, they race across the street. Once there, they stay against the side of the buildings until they reach the alley on the far side of the townhouse.
Moving into the alley, Stig follows Jiron as he quickly makes his way down until he’s almost at the end of the building. Coming to a halt, he looks up at the open window Jiron indicates.
“Wait here,” Jiron says. Then moving to the wall, he examines it with his hand for a minute. Then using the cracks and imperfection in the stone wall, he begins to climb. He never thought that the climbing he and Tinok had done years ago would prove to be so beneficial. How it came about was that one day Tinok bet him he couldn’t climb the defensive wall surrounding the City of Light. That first time he tried it, he lost the bet. Time and again he came back to the wall and kept trying, he hates it when something, anything defeats him. It took him the better part of a year, but when he brought Tinok back to the very same wall and bet him again, he won the bet. After that, he taught Tinok the skills he had acquired and before you knew it, they were like spiders on the wall.
Inching his way upward, he’s soon past the ground floor and within a foot of the open window. Down on the ground, Stig watches absolutely amazed. He wouldn’t have thought anyone could have climbed a sheer wall such as he’s seeing Jiron do now.
Finally, his hand comes to the window ledge and takes a firm hold. Then he brings his other hand to the ledge and pulls himself up and in through the window. The room he finds himself in is quite dark and wishes he would have thought to have James make him one of his orbs. Too late now. He removes the rope coiled about his middle and tosses a length of it out the window down to Stig below. Bracing himself and taking a secure hold of the rope, he feels Stig test it to see if he’s ready. Then the tension on the rope increases dramatically as Stig begins to use the rope to climb up.
Holding firm with his feet braced against the wall under the window, Jiron maintains a tight grip on the rope. In no time at all, Stig’s hand appears at the window. He grasps the window ledge and lets go of the rope as he begins lifting himself inside. Jiron releases the rope and moves to help him in.
Once Stig is safely within the room, Jiron coils the rope again around his midsection. Moving silently, they make their way cautiously through the dark room until they come to the door. Jiron places his ear against the wood of the door and when he fails to hear anything, opens it a crack.
No light comes through from the other side as the door opens. Swinging it in further, Jiron looks out into a hallway passing to the left and right. Sticking his head out, he looks down both ways, only to find that both are dark. Several of the doors are open allowing the light from the moon shining overhead to spill in.
“Doesn’t look as if anyone’s on this floor,” he whispers to Stig.
“Might be upstairs,” Stig suggests.
Jiron nods agreement. “Let’s find the stairs up and then work our way down.” Moving out into the hallway, he turns to the left as one direction is as good as another. Stepping softly, neither one makes any more sound than the odd creaking of a floorboard. But even that is minimized by them placing the sides of their feet right against the wall.
They pass two doorways, briefly checking them out, before they reach the stairwell that appears to run all the way from the ground floor to the top. The stairs descending down to the bottom floor are dark, while light comes from up above. “Wait here,” Jiron says to Stig who nods that he understands.
Stepping on the flight of stairs going up, Jiron quickly and silently ascends to the third floor. Muffled voices reach him before he gains the top causing him to slow. When it doesn’t look as if they are approaching, he continues the rest of the way. At the top of the stairs, he hears the voices more clearly. It sounds as if there are at least five different men and all are talking in the Empire’s tongue.
Candles burn up and down the hallway on the third floor in wall mounted holders. Peering around the corner, he sees the hallway extends to the left and right. The voices are coming through one of the closed doors down on the right.
Then all of a sudden, one of the doors to the right opens and a man in armor walks out. In the brief glance Jiron had of him before he ducks his head back, he could tell this was not the man he met on the bridge. The man’s footsteps are leading further down the hallway away from where Jiron waits.
Peering back around the corner, he sees the man walk to the far end of the hallway where he turns to the left and disappears. Jiron then glances back down to where Stig waits and signals for him to come up.
When he joins him on the top couple of steps, Jiron indicates the hallway extending to the right and says, “I think there’s a meeting going on in a room down there. At least four men are in there, another just left.”
“Do you think Azku is in there?” Stig asks.
“I would think so,” he replies.
“Do we take him now?” he asks.
Shaking his head, he says, “No. First we have to be sure he’s in there.”
“How do you plan to do that?” Stig asks.
Not for the first time he wishes he could do some of the things James can. A magic mirror to show him who is in there would definitely come in handy right about now.
The door to the room the men are in again opens up and another man steps out. This man is dressed in fine attire with a sword hanging at his hip. Moving in the same direction the previous man went, he has soon left the hallway.
“Maybe the meeting is breaking up,” suggests Stig.
“Could be,” he agrees. Then his eyes notice that the door the two men had come out of is ajar. “Look!” he says excitedly as he directs Stig’s attention to it. “Be right back,” he says and steps quickly into the hallway and moves down to the door.
The men remaining within the room sound as if they are still in the midst of some conversation. Jiron moves to the door and peers through the slight crack. Inside he sees another man in armor, his helm resting on the table before him sitting across from the man he saw at the bridge. Just when he places his hand against the door to push it open a little bit wider to see better, the voice of the third man comes from right on the other side of the door. Jiron jumps back just as the door swings inward.
Plastering himself against the wall, he sets a hand onto the hilt of his knife and watches the doorway which is only a foot and a half away. Standing there exposed in the hallway, he’s sure that he’ll be seen.
The man’s voice comes to them again as he backs out of the room and continues talking to those still in there. With his attention directed back into the room, he fails to notice Jiron there only a foot behind him. The man says a few more words then closes the door. Without a glance in Jiron’s direction, he moves to walk down the hallway in the same direction as had the other two men.
Jiron remains absolutely still until the man is halfway to where the previous two men turned out of the corridor before backing away from the doorway. He makes the stairs where Stig is waiting just before the man turns and leaves the corridor.
“Man that was close!” whispers Stig.
Turning to him Jiron finds him wearing a wide grin. “I thought for sure it was all over,” he admits.
Trying to stifle a laugh that’s trying to break through, Stig says, “I never saw anyone jump like you did when that door opened.”
“Okay,” Jiron says, “enough.” He gives Stig a stern gaze which does nothing to help control the mirth that’s threatening to take control. “He’s in there with one other individual.”
Getting himself under control, Stig says, “You sure?”
“Absolutely,” he replies.
“Then the odds are even,” he states. Pulling his mace from the loop that secures it to his belt he adds, “What are we waiting for.”
Jiron nods. “Don’t kill anyone,” he warns. “We want information, not enemies.” Then just before they step out of the stairwell and into the hallway, the door to the room opens yet again.
The waiting is always the worst part of anything. Standing in the darkness, James watches the townhouse. It’s been fifteen minutes since Jiron and Stig disappeared around the far side. Only the fact that they haven’t returned and that it’s remained quiet gives him any indication that things are going well. If things hadn’t, it wouldn’t be nearly so peaceful.
Taking out his mirror, he checks on Jiron’s progress and finds him and Stig at the top of some stairwell looking around the corner down a hallway. “Things are going okay so far,” he says. No one has died yet.
“James!” whispers Miko urgently.
Looking to where he’s pointing, he sees a man in armor along with another man in fine clothing leaving the townhouse through the front door.
“Is either one of them the guy?” asks Reilin.
Shaking his head, James says, “No. He must still be inside.” They watch as the two men turn and follow the street in their direction. Everyone remains stock still as the two men walk past. Hidden in the shadows as they are, the two men fail to see them and soon disappear in the distance.
“Good,” grunts Shorty.
Turning toward him James gives him a questioning look.
“Just that now there are less to deal with if things go bad,” he explains.
Nodding his head in agreement, James turns back to watch the townhouse once more.
A couple minutes later the front door opens again and another man leaves. This one is obviously from the north. Dressed in finer than average clothes with a sword hanging at his waist, the man turns in their direction just as the other two had. As he makes his way closer to where they are hidden in the shadows, James gasps.
“What?” asks Miko.
“I know him,” he says then waves for Miko to be quiet as the man is quite close now and might hear them. It’s been a long time since he’s seen that face. Back in the city of Cardri it was.
When the man has moved past and disappeared down the street, James says, “His name is Orrin.”
“Orrin?” asks Miko.
“Yeah,” nods James. “Do you remember when we were being held in that root cellar and I used some boards to kill the men holding us so we could escape?” When Miko nods he continues. “And do you also remember that I went to meet someone who had sent one of those boards to me at our room?”
“That was after you rescued Perrilin right?” he asks.
“That’s right,” he says with a nod. Pointing to the departed figure, he says, “That was the man who met me, but he works for another of more importance. They never told me who they were, just wanted to know about Lord Colerain.”
“How does he figure in all of this?” asks Brother Willim.
“I don’t know,” replies James. Then to Shorty he says, “Follow him and see where he goes.” When Shorty nods he adds, “Then meet us back at the inn.”
“Right,” he says then hurries off down the street after the man named Orrin.
Things are getting more and more interesting.
The two men leave the room and turn down the hallway away from Jiron and Stig just as the others had. When they leave the hallway where the previous men did, Jiron says to Stig, “Come on.”
Entering the hallway, he runs on silent feet following the path the men took. When he reaches the point where all five of the men turned out of the hallway, he comes to a well lit spiral stairway leading down.
Jiron pauses a moment to listen and can hear their voices from way down below. Nodding for Stig to follow, he takes the stairs as quickly as he can while still remaining silent. When he reaches the point where he’s sure the second floor should be, the stairs continue down. This stairwell must be a straight shot all the way down to the ground floor.
Continuing down, he soon sees where the stairwell ends. Slowing to a crawl, Jiron approaches the opening. The stairs come out at a large room designed for entertaining guests. A large fireplace sits in one wall, dark and cold. Two tables with six chairs each sit at either end of the room. Bookshelves line two of the walls with numerous volumes upon them.
To Jiron’s right, another door stands open and the men’s voices can be heard coming from the other side. Crossing the room quickly, Jiron peers through the door and sees the two men walking down a finely decorated hallway to a door at the end. When the men get there, the one he met at the bridge opens it for the other. The two men shake hands and the man in armor says a few parting words then passes through the doorway and into the street.
Closing the door, the man turns around and begins to head back toward the room in which Jiron and Stig currently occupy. “He’s coming!” Jiron tells Stig.
Stig nods and takes position behind where the door will swing open and Jiron flattens himself against the wall on the other side. With knife in hand, he waits for the man to enter. They can hear his steps approaching.
All of a sudden, a blood curdling scream knifes through the silence of the house. A servant had come from out of the stairwell leading to the third floor and saw them there.
“Get the servant!” Jiron hollers as he throws open the door. With sword drawn, the man from the bridge almost runs into him on his way into the room, so unexpectedly did the door open.
Coming to a stop, the man takes in Jiron in front of him and Stig having his servant girl in hand. Stepping back a foot to give his sword room to maneuver, he finally takes a good look at Jiron. “You!” he exclaims in disbelief. Raising his sword he prepares for attack.
“Wait a minute!” yells Jiron. He lowers his knife and raises his hands. “We’re not here to rob or hurt you.”
“Then what are you here for?” he asks, clearly not believing him.
Pulling forth the necklace, he holds it up for the man to see. “I want to know where you got this!” he demands.
“You broke into my home, scared my servant half to death, just to ask me that?” he asks incredulously.
“I told you at the bridge this was important,” explains Jiron.
The man’s eyes shift from Jiron, to the necklace, then back again.
“I need to know where you got this,” Jiron says again, “and I’m running out of time!”
Azku puts away his sword as there is clearly no immediate danger. “Let her go,” he says.
Jiron never takes his eyes off of him as he says to Stig, “Go ahead.”
Stig releases the woman who runs past Jiron and clasps the man in a tight embrace, her sobs are muffled from where she has her face buried in his shoulder.
Patting her on the head, the man says to her in a soothing voice, “It’s okay. Go on upstairs and I’ll take care of this.” He places his finger under her chin and raises her face so her eyes look into his. “It’ll be okay.”
She gives Jiron and Stig a fearful glance before moving down the hallway away from them. The man watches her as she walks swiftly away and enters a doorway further down. Turning a face red with anger back to his two uninvited guests, he says, “I suppose I won’t get rid of you until I either kill you or talk with you.”
“I would prefer to talk,” replies Jiron.
The man indicates with a nod of his head for them to return to the room at the foot of the winding stairway. Jiron still has his knife in hand as he backs up into the room. “You are Azku, yes?” he asks.
“That’s right,” the man replies.
“The same Azku that gave a young lady this necklace in Inziala?” he asks. When Azku gestures for him to take a seat on one of the chairs, he does. Stig remains standing next to him as Azku sits in the chair facing him.
Sighing, Azku nods. The anger that was so hot when he first encountered them in his house begins to cool.
“Why did you spurn her when you found out about the child?” Stig asks.
Azku glances at him then back to Jiron. “I thought you wanted to know about the necklace?” he asks, completely ignoring Stig’s question.
“I do,” Jiron replies.
“Why?” Azku asks. “Why go to all this trouble?”
Bringing out the necklace, he says, “The last time I saw this was the night my best friend’s fiancee died. This was a gift to her from him shortly before. The following morning, my friend departed and I haven’t seen or heard from him since.”
“He left?” he asks.
Nodding, Jiron says, “I don’t know why he left, maybe he was too overcome with grief. The necklace was in his possession when he took off.”
“I see,” the man says. “So you hope that I can be of some help in finding him?”
“That’s right,” Jiron states.
The man looks at him, the anger he initially felt continues to melt away. Not completely, he’s still upset about being accosted in his own home. “What will you do with the information should I have any you can use?” he finally asks after a moment’s thought.
“I don’t follow,” Jiron tells him.
“I’m not stupid,” he says. “If a necklace of such emotional importance is not with your friend, I would suspect it wouldn’t have been relinquished willingly.” He pauses a moment to see if his words have any effect. When Jiron fails to react he knows that Jiron has come to the same conclusion.
“Can you help me?” Jiron asks.
“Perhaps,” he replies. “I acquired the necklace through a business associate some time ago for the woman I loved. That was before I realized the woman was…soiled.” His eyes tighten with remembered pain from the night when he had to spurn her.
Coming to sit on the edge of the chair, Jiron asks, “Who?”
“It would be problematic should anything befall this man,” Azku states as he sees the burning intensity behind Jiron’s eyes. “Would giving you his name be a death sentence should you find that your friend is already dead?”
Jiron shakes his head. “No,” he replies. “All I want to do is find out what happened to him.”
Azku studies him for a full minute before asking, “Would you be willing to give your solemn word to leave him as you find him?”
“Yes,” replies Jiron. “I give my word that I and those with me shall cause no harm to the person you name.”
“As strange as it sounds, I believe you,” he says. “But before I tell you his name, I must warn you.”
“I assure you,” Jiron tells him, “I and my friends are more than capable of handling ourselves.”
Azku gives him a sardonic grin, “I’m sure you are. However, you may wish to know that due to your earlier visit to the Cracked Ladle, you and those with whom you travel may have drawn the attention of an Eye.”
“An Eye?” asks Jiron. “As in an Eye of the Empire?”
“The same,” he nods. “You see the Order of the Scarlet Sword counts many who are not of the Empire among its members. This gives the Eyes of the Empire cause for concern, they think we’re a bunch of spies and such. Nothing however could be further from the truth.”
“I would think they would move against such an organization,” Jiron says. “From what I’ve heard of them, they tend to be fairly ruthless when they feel something is not right.”
“Ordinarily that is true,” nods Azku. “But keep in mind, some of the highest commanders in the Empire’s forces are members. It’s also rumored that the Emperor himself is one too, but I have yet to see creditable evidence to support it. Those in high places keep the Eyes from moving against our members.” He pauses for a moment before adding, “Members from the Empire that is. Anyone who’s from outside the Empire is fair game.”
“So they keep our Houses under observation and anyone who enters is immediately suspect,” he says. “Those they’ve never seen before are doubly so.”
“Very well,” says Jiron. “We may be targeted by an Eye. It won’t be the first time.”
Azku’s eyes widen at that. “Really?” he asks.
“Oh yes,” Jiron replies without expanding any further upon it. “Now, can you tell me who you received the necklace from?”
“In the city of Cyst to the south, you will find the person in question in the large compound on the eastern edge of town,” he explains. “When you arrive, ask for Buka.”
“Is Buka the one from whom you received the necklace?” Jiron asks.
Nodding, he adds, “Though I doubt if he’ll be willing to help you.”
“Why?”
“For one thing he hates those from the north,” he explains. “For another, he’s a slaver. Being from the north as you are, he’s just as likely to make you a slave as look at you.”
From behind him, Jiron hears Stig snort. “I’d like to see him try,” he says.
“A slaver huh?” he muses.
“I know how those of you from the north view slavery,” Azku states. “Are you still going to be able to hold to your word and cause him no harm?”
Jiron nods. “Yes.”
“Good. If you break your oath to me, no power on this world will protect you from my wrath,” he warns. “I’ll find you no matter where you go.”
“Your threats are unwarranted,” Jiron assures him. “I do not break my oath.”
“Good enough then,” Azku states. Standing up, he says, “Now that I’ve answered your questions, would you be kind enough to take your leave?”
Coming to his feet, Jiron offers his hand. Hesitantly, Azku shakes it. “I thank you,” he says.
Azku nods and steps aside so he and Stig can leave. Moving past him, Jiron and Stig walk through the door and into the hallway then down to the door. Azku does not accompany them.
“That went better than I thought it would,” Jiron states. Opening the door he glances back down to the room and sees Azku still standing there, his eyes upon them. Then he passes through to the street outside.
Stig follows him out. “What if he lied to us?” he asks.
“Then I’ll come back and kill him,” Jiron replies matter-of-factly.
Outside, they check to make sure the street is quiet. Then Jiron has Stig go around back to get Scar and Potbelly and meet him across the street with the others. As Stig moves to do as requested, Jiron hurries across the street.
Before he completely crosses the street, James leaves the shadows. “Everything go alright?” he asks.
Jiron nods his head. “Yes. I found out what I wanted to know.”
“Good,” states James.
They wait there a few moments before Stig arrives with Scar and Potbelly. While they wait, James fills him in on seeing Orrin from Cardri leave Azku’s house and informs him that he sent Shorty to follow.
“There’s an Eye in the city too,” Jiron says and gives him the gist of what Azku told him.
“That may complicate things,” he says.
“Not if we leave town as soon as possible,” states Jiron.
When Stig and the other two are seen crossing the street, Jiron suddenly notices that they are one person short. “Where’s Aleya?” he asks.
“What?” replies James. “She’s right…” he trials off when he realizes she is not among them. “Aleya?” he calls out in a hushed voice.
When no answer is forthcoming, Jiron hollers very loudly “Aleya!” Again, no reply. “Fan out and find her,” he says and moves toward the area where she had stalked off just before he and Stig went to talk to Azku. Worried and fearful, Jiron’s pace quickens. About to call her name again, his eyes catch sight of something on the ground. Stopping fast, his heart skips a beat when he sees her bow and quiver of arrows lying on the ground. Two of the arrows have spilled out of the quiver and lie next to it on the ground.
“Oh no,” he says as he reaches down to pick them up. “Aleya!” he hollers again. Turning to the others he says in a voice filled with anguish, “He’s got her.”
“Who?” asks Miko.
“The Eye!” he exclaims.