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Not willing to give up, he stations himself in an unobtrusive spot across the street in an alley where he can monitor the comings and goings through the front door. A half hour into his vigil, he sees two of the kids whom he sent in search of information wander by and mill around outside the building. Smiling to himself, he realizes they’re actually working to find out the information they said they would.

Several minutes later, the kids move off down the street and disappear in the crowd.

He sits there in his place in the alley for awhile longer until he notices two men exiting the Merchant’s Guild. A cold shiver runs through him when he realizes one of the men is none other than Lord Colerain. What is he doing here?

The man he’s with is dressed in fine clothes with a bearing which gives off the aura of authority. They move away from the building and turn to go down the street.

Coming to his feet, Miko edges out of the alley and follows them. He remembers back to their last visit here and the problems Lord Colerain had caused them. At the time, Lord Colerain was staying with a local noble by name of Lord Kindering. The man with whom he’s walking could be this Lord Kindering.

He follows them through the crowds, always keeping enough distance between them so as not to be discovered. Lord Colerain here in Cardri. The Empire’s Ambassador here as well. And then James gets summoned to appear before the Royal Court? It can’t be just a coincidence! Something’s going on and he intends to find out what.

Keeping them just within sight, he follows them to the gates leading into the castle area and watches in frustration as they pass through. Coming to a halt, he knows there’s no way the guards there will allow him through the gates. Positioning himself in an out of the way area, he keeps an eye on the gates in the hopes they reappear.

By the time he needs to return to meet with the street kids, they haven’t returned from within the castle area. Getting up, he heads back toward his rendezvous with the kids. On the way he stops by a bakery for a small sack of tarts, enough for each of the kids to have one then continues down the street. When he nears the location, he sees them already there waiting for him.

“Thought you might’ve forgotten about us,” one older boy states.

“Naw,” he says, “just got tied up for a moment. What did you find out?”

“Not much,” the older boy says. “The word is that they are in fact here for trade negotiations, but that may not be all they’re here for.”

“Oh?” prompts Miko.

“It seems the delegation which came with the Ambassador also included an Eye,” he explains.

“An Eye?” asks Miko. “What’s that?”

“Don’t know for sure, but that’s what they said,” the boy replies. “They didn’t give any details about what an Eye is, but when they said it you could tell it wasn’t good.”

“Interesting,” says Miko.

“You said you’d pay us!” one younger boy demands.

“Of course,” he says as he reaches into his pouch for the promised coins and hands each of them three coppers. “Now, how about that meal I promised too.”

“Yeah!” several of them exclaim at the same time.

Smiling, he leads them back a ways to one of the cities open markets where they stop at one of the open eateries which are popular here in Cardri. He buys them each a bowl of stew with a quarter loaf of bread.

While they eat he asks them about Lord Kindering.

“He’s bad news,” the older boy says.

“Why?” asks Miko.

“He deals with the less than savory factions of the city,” another boy says. “Anyone who crosses him often as not ends up dead.”

Nodding, Miko thinks that’s just the sort of individual Lord Colerain would be associated with. “What else can you tell me about him?”

“He’s one of the three Lords of the Merchant’s Guild,” an older girl says.

“Yeah,” adds the older boy, “I think that’s why he bears the title Lord. From what I’ve heard, there’s nothing of the nobility in his family.”

“So if the Ambassador is here to negotiate a new trade agreement, he would be one of the