The Mists of Sorrow_ Book Seven of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [104]
Aleya gasps when she sees the crossbows but the others tell her they have to wait.
Jiron has grown impatient. It must be past the time already and still no one has made any attempt to contact him. He starts to think that perhaps there is another Red Lantern Bridge in this city and that he’s at the wrong one. Making up his mind to wait for a count of a hundred heartbeats, then if the man still hasn’t made an appearance, he’ll leave.
At sixty-six heartbeats, the trod of someone upon the cobblestones is heard coming toward the bridge. Jiron turns his eyes to the sound and can see the silhouette of a man passing through the light from one of the lampposts. As the man enters the last lighted area before the bridge, Jiron can make out some of his features.
He’s definitely a man of the Empire, there can be no doubt of that. Other than that, it’s hard to determine anything else about him. Turning onto the bridge, the man comes forward and stops six feet from Jiron.
“Are you the one whom I was to meet here?” Jiron asks.
“I am,” the man replies.
Pulling forth the necklace, Jiron says, “I am interested in knowing where you came by this.” He holds it up so the heart with two diamonds is clearly visible.
The man’s eyes betray the anger he’s keeping in check. “Is this why you wanted to meet with me?” he asks.
“Yes,” replies Jiron. “It’s of the utmost importance that I know where you got it.”
“Then what you told Ohan was…” he says, his words trialing off.
“A ruse,” finishes Jiron. “Yes, I’m sorry about that. But I desperately need to talk to you.”
The man’s face turns red in anger. “We are finished here,” he says and abruptly turns around to walk away.
Jiron moves forward and places his hand on the man’s shoulder. “I need to know where you got this!” he insists.
From out of the trees, a crossbow bolt flies and embeds itself in the bridge’s railing not two inches from where Jiron stands. “Let go or the next one won’t miss,” the man says.
Jiron glances to the direction from which the bolt was fired but the light from the lanterns at either end of the footbridge prevents him from seeing very far into the darkness. He releases the man’s shoulder and takes a step backward. The man then continues his way to the end of the bridge.
“Did you see that?” asks Aleya. “They shot a crossbow bolt at him.” She looks to James who in turn glances to Scar.
“Go get him and bring him back here,” he says and then returns his attention to the mirror. As the others except Miko and Brother Willim rush to Jiron’s aid, he keeps the bridge’s image in the mirror. Jiron stands there with his arms slightly out from his body as he watches the man walk away. James was sure the bolt was more of a warning than anything else. Otherwise the two men with crossbows would have both fired.
Before the man moves out of the light at the end of the bridge, he sees Jiron moving his arms. It takes him but a moment to realize that he’s signaling him to follow the man with his mirror.
“I don’t think this went well,” he says to Miko. Scrolling the image, he follows the man as he moves down the cobblestone path. Once he’s far enough away to be out of visual sight of the bridge, the five other men that had accompanied him to the park appear and leave with him.
Brother Willim and Miko sit on either side of him as together they watch the six men move through the park. James wants to know what happened to Jiron but doesn’t dare take the image off the man for fear of losing him. He half expected Jiron to launch an attack on the man but after several minutes go by, he returns to the deserted open air eatery with the others.
“You got him?” he asks when he sees James still watching the mirror.
James nods his head in reply, never taking his eyes off the man. “What did you find out?” he asks.