Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [120]
Exiting the alley, they follow the sailors as they continue further into town before turning down a side street. They continue past several buildings until finally entering a large warehouse. Jiron and the others peer in through a window by the door where they see the sailors talking with a man inside.
“Let’s wait until they come back out and see if we can book passage,” suggests James to the agreement of the others.
They watch through the window until they see the man shake hands with the well dressed sailor who then turns back toward the door they entered through.
Seeing that they’re coming back out, James has them move away from the building for a ways and wait until they leave.
Once all the sailors are completely out of the warehouse, James steps up to the well dressed one and says, “Excuse me.”
Stopping, the sailors turn to see them standing there. A couple of them put their hands on the swords hanging at their waists.
“Yes?” the well dressed man asks, looking at James and the others.
“Are you a captain of a vessel?” James asks.
“Yes, I am,” the captain replies.
“My friends and I were wondering if you might be heading to Cardri soon?” inquires James.
“Why?” the captain asks him back, suspicious.
“We were interested in booking passage if you were,” he explains.
“Hmmm,” the captain says and then one of his men whispers into his ear. His eyes widen slightly and then he says to James, “There were some soldiers asking about a group of people, not of the Empire, who might be looking for passage. They requested that we inform them of any that do.”
“I’m sure that wouldn’t be us,” responds James, innocently.
“Don’t lie to me boy,” orders the captain, “I’m not stupid. I can tell from the way your friend over there got a panic look, that you’re the ones they’re looking for.” He points over to where Roland is standing, beginning to blush.
“What do you plan to do?” Jiron asks, as he unobtrusively takes hold of a knife.
“Do? Nothing,” the captain replies. “I hate the Empire and everything it stands for. I’m only here because I was offered enough gold for me to put aside my dislike for this place and come. Plus, some idiot of a customs official decides to hold my cargo for two days because he thought I had slighted him in some way. If you are causing them problems, so much the better.”
“Then, will you allow us to sail with you?” Jiron asks. “We can pay you for your troubles.”
The captain thinks for a moment and then says, “How many are there?”
“Two women, an infant and six men,” James tells him.
“What could you have done with that to warrant such an extensive search?” he wonders.
“We’d rather not say,” James tells him.
The captain considers it for a moment and says, “Fifty golds and that’s not open to negotiation.”
“Very well,” agrees James holding out his hand.
The captain takes it, sealing the bargain. “Our ship is the Crashing Wave, it’s the second from the end. We sail at first light, if you’re late or don’t have the money, we sail without you. Understand?”
“Yes, sir,” replies James, “we do.”
With that, the captain turns and heads back toward the docks, his men following.
“Fifty golds!” Roland cries. “Do we even have that much?”
“I guess we better go and find out,” James says as they head back toward the inn.
When they return to the inn and tell everyone what’s happening and how much it’s going to cost, they pool their money. They discover that they do have enough, though they’ll have little left for when they arrive in Cardri.
“Let’s sell the horses,” suggests Delia. When everyone looks at her, she continues, “We’re not going to need them, except two for the two of you who’ll be staying behind.”
“How much do you think we could get for them?” James asks her.
“Don’t know,” she replies. “I’ll take Roland with me and we’ll find out.”
“Be careful,” warns Jiron, “there’re soldiers everywhere looking for us.”
“I will,” she assures him. “Besides, are they going to be looking for a lone couple out for