Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li - Brian Pratt [146]
The following morning, when everyone but James is awake, they sit on the other side of the warehouse from him as they talk quietly so as not to awaken him.
Jiron says to Fifer, “Think you could go and find someone from Miller’s band who could help us get in to see Lord Pytherian?”
“Maybe,” he replies. “I’m not sure if they’re even in the city.”
“I know,” says Jiron. “But it might be our only way without something spectacular.” He nods over to James, “If you know what I mean?”
Fifer flashes him a grin as he remembers the trip back and all the things James has done. “I understand,” he replies. “Better try to keep this low key unless we have no other option.”
“Exactly,” Jiron agrees.
“Need me to go with you?” asks Miko in the hopes of escaping the warehouse.
Shaking his head, Fifer says, “No, I better go alone. It’d be quicker that way.”
“Okay,” says Miko, disappointed.
Fifer gets up as he says, “I’ll meet you back here in a couple hours, whether I’ve found someone or not.”
“We’ll be here,” replies Jiron.
Fifer turns and walks over to the door and leaves the warehouse, closing it behind him.
“Now what?” asks Miko, sighing.
“Now, we wait,” replies Jiron who almost can’t stop himself from smiling at the despondent sigh Miko lets out.
An hour later the door to the warehouse bursts open and three members of the city watch come in.
The sound of the door slamming open startles James awake and he sits up groggily as they enter the warehouse.
“What?” he asks, still not completely awake.
Jiron moves over to meet them as the first guard asks in a surly tone of voice, “What are you doing here?”
“We couldn’t find any inn with space for us,” replies Jiron. “We had to stay somewhere and since this was empty, we came in here.”
“Damn refugees,” one of them says.
“Well, you can’t stay here,” the first watchman tells him.
“But we’re waiting for the return of a friend,” Miko blurts out. “If we leave, he’ll never find us!”
“Be that as it may,” the watchman says, “this is a private building and it ain’t yours. So you’ll have to go.”
Now completely awake, James gets up and comes over to join the conversation. “Surely there must be some way that we can stay here?” he asks as he digs in and pulls out three silvers. “Maybe you could find the owner and give him this for us. Three should be enough for a days rent, wouldn’t you say?”
The watchman gazes at the coins in James’ hand a moment before reaching out and taking them. “Alright, I’ll get these to the owner. I’m sure he won’t mind if you stay here a few more hours to wait for your friend.” He quickly puts the coins in the pouch at his waist.
“Thank you,” James says. “We do appreciate it.”
“But don’t be thinking you can stay here forever,” the watchman tells them. “You better be out by sundown at the latest.”
“We will,” James assures him. “Rest assured, we will.”
“Okay then,” he grunts at them. Turning to the others of the watch, he says, “Let’s go.” They move toward the exit and are soon through it, the door shutting with a bang behind them.
“He’s not going to give that money to any owner,” Miko states.
“I know,” James replies. “I just wanted to stay here a little longer. I assume the friend we’re waiting for is Fifer?”
Jiron glances at him and says, “Yeah, it is. He went looking for someone from his unit that might help get us past the gate.”
Nodding, James says, “Good idea. Though should he come back without finding anyone, we’ll try the gate again. There’ll probably be a different set of guards there and we might get lucky.”
“Might,” agrees Jiron.
They wait for over an hour before the door opens up and Fifer walks in. The smile on his face says he’s got good news.
“You found someone?” asks Jiron hopefully.
“Ran into Shyn,