The Star of Morcyth_ Book Five of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [101]
The rigors of the day at last begin to catch up with him and he heads off to bed, again the first one. Once in his room, he’s quick to undress and slip under the covers. Worries of Dave and what may be found at Ironhold spin through his mind as he fades away to sleep.
Chapter Nineteen
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The following morning dawns bright and sunny. When James leaves his room there’s a slight chill in the air despite the sun having been up for an hour. On the way to the kitchen for his breakfast, he stops by Dave’s room and finds it empty. He worries about his friend until he arrives at the kitchen and finds him there eating breakfast with the others.
“I would like you to take Fifer and Qyrll with you as well,” Illan tells him after he’s taken his seat. “The Empire still wants you. Also, if you’re going to Madoc, there’s no telling what may happen.”
“Sure,” replies James. He glances over to Dave and when their eyes meet, gives him an encouraging smile. Dave’s face breaks into his familiar jovialness which greatly relieves him. Hopefully last night was simply a low ebb in his mood and he’s now out of it.
“Where’s Jiron?” he asks.
Roland nods his head toward the door and says, “Outside with Aleya. Seems they’ve been getting into it since your return.”
“Nothing serious I hope?” he says.
Shrugging, he replies, “Who knows? They’re both in love but too stubborn to admit it. At least Aleya won’t, Jiron wears his heart out on his sleeve for all to see.”
He shakes his head. Then it dawns on him that it’s still early yet and Illan isn’t doing the morning drills with the recruits. “No drills today?” he asks.
Illan shakes his head and says, “They need at least one day every other week away from drills. Keeps them fresh and better able to learn. Half have returned to their homes for a brief visit, the others will have their turn later this afternoon.”
“You’re not keeping yourself too low in the event of an attack are you?” he asks worried. Already they’ve had to fend off two attacks since the founding of The Ranch.
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” he assures him.
For the remainder of the meal, they talk about small things having to do with The Ranch. Tersa tells him that Delia is finding wide demand for her bears and that she can’t make enough.
“Just make what you can,” he says. “Don’t short the customer on quality and they’ll always be back.”
“I don’t,” she says. “It’s just that Delia always wants more than what I’ve done.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he tells her. “Just means the ones you do make will sell all the better.” Finishing up the last bite of eggs on his plate, he stands up and announces, “We’re leaving in ten minutes.”
The others quickly finish what’s left on their plates and proceed to the barn to get the horses ready for travel. James gestures for Dave to accompany him and they head out to the workshop.
“You doing better this morning?” he asks.
“Much,” he replies. “Don’t know what got into me last night.” They walk the rest of the way to the workshop in silence. When James opens the door and enters, Dave adds, “I’ve had bouts of depression ever since I got here.”
“Could be just a reaction from your time in the Empire,” James suggests.
“Probably,” he replies. “I have nightmares almost every night about what happened.” He takes James by the arm and says, “I’m sorry if I haven’t been much of a friend lately.”
Pausing, he turns back to his friend, “Don’t worry about it. If a friend can’t help another out when they’re going through a hard time, what good is he?”
He checks the receiver crystal and finds it still quiescent. It’s unlikely he’ll ever see it active, but you never know. Moving to his desk, he reaches down to the sack of crystals and takes out six and puts them into his belt pouch.
“What do you need those for?” Dave asks.
“Emergencies,” he