The Mists of Sorrow_ Book Seven of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [88]
Making his way quickly over to the door on his left, he kicks it open. The woman from the bar is there with her back to a wall, in her hand she holds a knife out threateningly.
Jiron sees that she’s all alone. Holding up his hands, he says to Reilin, “Explain to her that we mean her no harm. That I have no intention of hurting her.” Reilin translates for the woman.
His words do little to convince her of his sincerity. Jiron steps into the room and the woman raises her knife a little bit higher. Reaching slowly into his pocket, he holds up a gold coin. Her eyes widen at the sight of it and the point of the knife drops slightly.
“Tell her that I’ll give this to her for some information,” he tells Reilin. When Reilin translates his message, her knife drops even further.
Footsteps are heard coming up the stairs and Scar makes his appearance. He quickly scans down both directions of the hallway and sees Reilin in the doorway to the woman’s room. Coming over, he enters the room and brings his mouth close to Jiron’s ear. “Make this fast, the city watch has shown up,” he tells him.
Jiron nods and says, “Go get the others.” Scar then races back downstairs to do as bidden. To Reilin he says, “Tell her I just want to ask her sister a question.”
When Reilin translates, the woman’s eyes get a calculating look and the knife falls even further. Finally, the woman puts the knife back in its sheath though her hand still rests upon its pommel. Then she asks something and Jiron looks to Reilin.
“She’s asking what you wanted to ask her?” he explains.
He holds up the necklace so she can get a good look at it. Her eyes widen slightly in recognition as he asks, “Where did her sister get this?”
Then from below they hear many feet running along the floor. Then at the bottom of the stairs up to their level they hear a voice with the air of command shouting orders. “They’re searching the building,” Reilin says. Then from the stairs they hear the sound of several people on their way up. “We got to get out of here!”
The woman just stares at him as Reilin takes him by the shoulder and urges him back into the hallway. With one last look at the woman, Jiron curses and puts the necklace back in his pouch. Racing down the hallway away from the stairs, they come to an open doorway on their right. Without hesitation, Jiron runs through the doorway just as the guards reach the top of the stairs.
From behind them, they can hear the woman’s voice screaming. He looks to Reilin who says, “She’s telling them where we are.”
“Damn!” swears Jiron. Closing the door, he throws the bar. Not very large, the bar won’t hold long if they really want to come in. And he’s pretty sure they will.
A single window is the only other exit from the room. Moving over to it, he shoves it open and looks down. In the street below several people are milling about, none of them bear the uniforms of the city watch.
“Come on Reilin,” Jiron says as he puts a leg through the window.
Bam!
The door is struck hard from the other side. A voice hollers to them through the door and Jiron doesn’t need Reilin’s translation to understand what it’s saying. Taking hold of the window ledge, he swings himself out and then hangs briefly by his hands before letting go. He lands right next to someone and scares him to death. After jumping almost a foot in the air in shock, the man races off into the night.
Jiron scans the area for approaching trouble, but other than a few bystanders looking in his direction, everything is calm. Looking up, he sees one of Reilin’s legs emerge through the window followed shortly by the other. As the rest of his body follows his legs out the window, a group of four men turn the corner of the building.
His heart skips a beat before he realizes that it’s Scar and the others. “Over here!” he hollers to them.
Reilin lets go and drops from the window as the other four join them. Then all