Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [121]
Grabbing Roland by the arm, she propels him out the door, but not before he gets a few quick words off to Ezra.
“The rest of us should stay in our rooms until just before dawn,” Jiron says. “Then make our way down to the docks.”
“Sounds simple enough,” adds Stig optimistically.
James hopes his optimism isn’t premature.
Delia and Roland leave the inn and make their way to the outskirts of town, which is usually where the horse traders have their businesses. Several times, they cross the paths of soldiers who fail to take any interest in a couple strolling down the street. Coming to the edge of town, they find a large corral containing several horses.
“Looks like the place,” comments Delia.
“I would tend to agree,” adds Roland as they make their way over to the building adjacent to the corral.
Within the building, they find a man sitting at a table, making notes on parchment. When he sees them enter, he puts his quill in the inkwell and gets up as he comes over to greet them.
Once Roland makes it understood what it is they wish to do, the man becomes all business as he asks about the horses they wish to sell. He tells them that he will be happy to take them off their hands but is unable to name a price until he’s actually seen the animals.
Roland explains to him that they’ll be back shortly with the horses. Walking out of the horse trader’s shop, Roland asks Delia “Aren’t we going to draw attention if we’re seen leading eight horses through the streets?”
“Hopefully not,” she says, “but we need the money for when we reach Cardri.”
Back at the inn, she tells them they found a buyer and takes Scar and Stig along to help with the horses. Leading them out to the stables, she has each of them take two horses. They leave the two that James and Jiron will be using to get out of Al-Kur on their way to locate Miko.
As they proceed through the city, the people on the streets only briefly glance in their direction as they make their way toward the horse trader. Apparently the sight of them leading horses through town is not so out of the ordinary to warrant curiosity.
Once at the horse trader’s, he has them lead the horses into the corral where he begins an inspection of each one. He looks at hoofs, teeth and overall fitness. When he’s done with the last one, he names a price, seventy five golds.
Delia commences to haggle, with Roland as the intermediary and ends up with eighty nine golds. A brief shake of hands to seal the deal and the trader takes them into his office where he pulls out a chest and counts out eighty nine golds. Scar and Stig put the golds into the pouches they’re carrying and then they leave, heading back toward the inn.
A man watches from a doorway across the street as they leave the horse trader’s shop. When they’re out of sight, he crosses the street and enters through the door they just came out of. The horse trader turns to look at who’s entered and his face turns slightly pale when he sees the sign on the medallion the man is showing him.
The man asks, “Those people just sold you several horses?”
“Yes, sir,” the trader replies, nervously. “Eight.”
“Did they say why they had needed to sell so many at once?” he asks as he looks at the trader closely.
Beginning to sweat as he stands before one of the Eye’s of the Empire, a secretive group that seeks out those who would jeopardize or challenge the rule of the Emperor, he replies, “They just said that they needed to leave town and wouldn’t be taking the horses with them.”
Staring at the trader, the Eye says, “Now, just where would they be going that they wouldn’t need horses?”
“I…I don’t know,” the trader says, beginning to get the shakes. No good ever comes from being questioned by an Eye.
Without so much as a thank you, the Eye turns and walks out of the horse trader’s shop. He ponders the question for a moment when his eye catches sight of sails out on the ocean. Nodding his head and smiling he hurries along, there’s not much time.
Chapter Twenty One
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That night at the inn was one