The Mists of Sorrow_ Book Seven of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [78]
“One night, he took me out to dinner,” he continues. “Said he wanted to get to know me better so he would be able to make more informed wagers.” Shrugging, he looks around at the others and says, “A meal’s a meal.”
“Was this guy about five foot six with a bad comb-over?” asks Stig.
Smiling, Scar says, “That’s the guy.”
“I remember him now,” he says. “Always managed to get a spot right in front.”
“Back to my story,” Potbelly interjects. “While we were eating, he made some comment about how he’s bleeding this one lord dry. Apparently he and this lord bet often and Oofa always won. Anyway, the next day, he’s arrested.”
Scar begins laughing and says, “Someone must have overheard their conversation. By the time the rumor mill churned it out, he was an assassin bent on killing this lord.”
Potbelly starts laughing now and others join in. “It took him three days to straighten the misunderstanding out,” explains Potbelly. “The lord, too proud to admit that he spent time at the Pits, claimed he didn’t know the guy.” Tears coming from his eyes, he concludes with, “The day after Oofa was released, the lord showed up at the Pits sporting two black eyes and a split lip!” Unable to contain himself anymore, Potbelly slaps the table and almost chokes to death on a piece of carrot. Scar slaps him on the back and dislodges it for him.
Laughing with the rest of them, James is suddenly aware that the entire room is quiet and the other guests are staring at them. Sobering up quickly, he works to quiet the others down a bit. “Everyone’s staring at us,” he says quietly. “We don’t want to attract attention.” One by one they calm down. When the laughter finally stops, the other patrons return to their meal and the buzz of conversation resumes.
They hurry through their meal and are soon back on the road. Taking out his mirror while he rides, he brings Korazan’s image into focus. He sees the gaping wall where they made their way into the slaver compound. A mile out of town lies a mound of dirt that wasn’t there the last time. Probably the mass grave where they buried the dead after the battles.
Workers have already begun to rebuild the destroyed section of the wall, a flurry of activity is taking place in and around the base of the opening. Wagonloads of stone blocks sit awaiting their turn to be set into the wall. It didn’t take them long to begin the rebuilding.
Satisfied with what he’s seen, he cancels the image of Korazan and again tries to find Tinok. After several minutes of fruitless searching, he gives up and puts away the mirror. Glancing over to where Jiron rides beside him, he can see the unspoken question. Shaking his head, James says, “Nothing. I can bring up Korazan, but not Tinok. I’m sure he’s not there.”
“We’ll see,” he says.
James continues to periodically check on the distance to Korazan. When he figures them to be less than an hour away, they leave the road. He feels rather conspicuous as they are the only ones not using the road. But, keeping a steady pace without appearing to rush, should alleviate any thoughts or concerns the other travelers may have about them.
Once away from the road, he uses his mirror to maintain a good distance from the city as they circumvent it. Also, he keeps an eye out for any roving patrols which may be in the area. They were forced to come to a stop at one point when he sights in his mirror a score of riders that would have intersected their path at an inopportune time. When the riders were past and there was no danger of running into them, they resumed their journey.
It’s not only patrols that they work to avoid, but those living in the area as well. While unable to completely avoid all the farmstead in the area, James is at least able to have them thread their way through so they won’t come in close proximity to them. They see some of the farmers out with herds of goats, occasionally one would wave a greeting as they ride by.
Due to the meandering path he leads them