Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li - Brian Pratt [147]
“Did he say if he could help us?” James asks him.
Fifer nods before replying, “He said to meet him at the gate in an hour and he could be there to vouch for us.”
“Fantastic!” exclaims James. Then he turns to Jiron and says, “There’s something I want you and Miko to do while I go to the castle.”
“What?” Jiron asks.
“The last time I was in a city on the verge of attack,” he explains, “things went bad fast and we couldn’t get out.” He glances to Miko who nods his head. “I would like you two to first get an idea where all the gates are, then see if there may be another way out in the event of an emergency.”
“Think they’re going to attack?” Miko asks.
“They’re not sitting over there just to get a tan,” replies James. “At some point, this city will be attacked. It’s not a question of if, but when, and I want us to be prepared.”
“I understand,” Jiron tells him. He glances over to Miko and says, “Up for a ride?”
Miko nods his head and says, “Anything to get us out of here!”
James laughs at his enthusiasm. “What time is it anyway?” he asks.
“The sun’s been up for several hours,” replies Fifer. “Jiron thought it best if you slept as much as you could.”
“Thanks, it really helped,” he tells them. The headache and fatigue are still there, just not so bad.
“Where should we meet you?” asks Jiron.
“Let’s say back here, a couple hours before sundown?” he suggests.
Jiron gets up and motions for Miko to join him, “Then we’ll see you in several hours.” They grab their horses and lead them over to the door.
“Good luck,” wishes James.
“You too,” replies Miko. They lead their horses through the door and once on the other side, mount up before heading down the street.
“Shall we go to the gate and wait there for your friend?” James asks.
“No point in staying here any longer than necessary,” agrees Fifer.
Leaving their horses in the warehouse, they step out onto the street and make their way to the gate. For a city about to be attacked, there sure are a lot of people here. Maybe if there’re enemy patrols out and about, they may not have much choice. With that army sitting on their front doorstep, the ones in charge probably don’t want to provide soldiers to escort civilians. They’ll be needed on the walls.
As they approach the gate, Fifer says, “Shyn’s already here.” He points to a man, vaguely familiar to James. Standing about five foot ten with red hair, Shyn waves a greeting at their approach.
He steps up to them and says, “Sorry about last night, lots of strange things been going on around here.” He turns to the guards and says, “It’s alright, these are the ones I told you about.”
The guards just nod as they pass on through, Shyn in the lead.
“So you’ll take us to see Lord Pytherian?” James asks him.
Shaking his head, Shyn says, “I don’t have that kind of access.”
“Then how did you arrange for us to get past the guards?” asks Fifer.
“It wasn’t easy, let me tell you,” he explains. “I tried unsuccessfully to convince the captain of the watch and he all but had me thrown out. Practically accused me of being party to the failed assassination attempt by that other man posing as you.”
“I finally got an audience with one of the members of the council. You see, I have a cousin who is one of his assistants and ran into him as I was leaving the watch captain’s office. He agreed to take me to the councilman where I convinced him of who you were and from that point on it was a whole lot easier.”
“We appreciate your help,” James tells him.
“Glad to do it,” he replies. “Besides, Lord Pytherian wants to see you, the people around him must make sure it’s the right you. You understand, I hope?”
“Oh yeah,” agrees James. “I can see the need even if I don’t like it.”
“I’m glad you feel that way,” he says.
They come to a large courtyard, at the end of which is the gates to the castle itself. Shyn doesn’t lead them there as James at first expected. Instead,