Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li - Brian Pratt [190]
Nodding, he says, “Alright. When do you plan to do this?”
“After I’m done eating,” he tells him. “There’s only three of them at the jail so we should be able to overcome them quickly. And once we’re down to the docks and on the ship, we’ll be safe. No one’s going to come looking for us anyway until they discover the guards at the jail and the captain’s missing. By that time we should be well under way.”
James can see Miko is somewhat disturbed by this whole plan. “What’s on your mind?” he asks him.
He glances around the table at everyone before returning his gaze to James. “It just doesn’t seem right somehow.”
“In what way?” James asks.
“Well, ever since I’ve met you, you’ve done nothing but what’s right,” he explains. “This just doesn’t seem like you, going against the laws and all. It’s not like we have to reach Cardri today, like it’s a life or death situation or anything.”
“I understand your point,” he says. “But with the letter from Lord Pytherian, we are justified.”
Illan breaks into the conversation. “That’s true, Miko. The magistrate all but asked us to break this guy out so we can fulfill the spirit, if not the letter, of Lord Pytherian’s request.”
“But it seems the only reason he did was just to spite that other guy,” continues Miko. “It just seems wrong somehow.”
“I understand your concern, Miko,” James says to him. “But I have my reasons for this. True, it’s not exactly as I would have liked it, but I have my reasons.” Like finding a place to hide the Fire before it consumes you.
Miko nods, trusting in him.
Turning his attention back to Illan, James asks, “Which town should we head for?”
Thinking a moment, Illan replies, “It would probably be best to dock at Fairview. It’s a little north of Dragon’s Pass and last I heard, the Empire’s forces haven’t progressed much past the Merchant’s Pass. It seems they’re making that their northern line, at least for right now.”
“What’ll we do for horses once we get there?” ask Jorry. “It didn’t look like the ship could hold them all.”
Looking to Illan, James asks, “Is there someone around here who would buy these from us?”
Nodding, he says, “My brother-in-law Michael deals in horses, I’m sure he’d give a fair price for them.”
“Then why don’t you, Jiron and Miko take care of that while we’re over at the jail,” he suggests.
“We can do that,” he says, “but it could take an hour or two to finish the deal. We do have a lot of horses and Michael may not be around.”
“Just do the best you can,” says James. “If you can get it done in the time allotted, then so be it. If not, then just give them to him and we’ll worry about acquiring more in Fairview.”
“Alright,” he says through a bite of the beef stew he’s having.
“We’ll give you an hour’s head start before we head to the jail,” James tells him.
Nodding, Illan says, “That should be enough time, I hope.”
They finish their meal and everyone goes outside to retrieve what they intend to keep from their horses before Illan, Jiron and Miko take them to his brother-in-law’s.
As they’re about to leave with the horses, Illan says to the rest, “Good luck! We’ll meet you at the docks in a little over an hour.”
“Don’t be late!” Uther shouts to him.
He glances over to Uther and gives him a grin. To Miko and Jiron he says, “Let’s go.” Leading the horses, they walk away down the street.
The others gather around James as Jorry asks, “What are we to do for an hour?”
“Let’s make our way over near the jail so we’ll be ready when it’s time,” he tells them. Leading the way, he takes them through the streets until the jail comes into sight.
Stopping a little distance away, he turns back to them and says to Uther and Jorry, “You guys make your way around the building and look for any other exits then come back. When we do this, we can’t run the risk of anyone getting away to warn others.”
“Right,” Uther says. Nodding to Jorry to get moving, they begin making their way nonchalantly toward the jail.
James and the rest move to the far side of the street across from the front entrance and try to