Out of the corner of his eye, he catches the glimpse of a slight pulsating coming from the orb sitting next to him. Picking it up, he can detect a slight pulsating as if someone is quickly moving a dimmer switch back and forth. He’s never seen it do that before.
The outline of the orb suddenly begins to warp and bend as if the outer edge of it was being molded like clay. Blinking his eyes, he shakes his head and then looks at it again. He suddenly comes to realize it’s not the orb, but his vision. The whole room is beginning to turn hazy and move in nauseatingly directions.
What’s wrong? Suddenly panicking, he realizes he’s slipping into a drugged state. But how?
Ever since the last time he was drugged back in Lythylla, he’s been thinking of ways in which to counter it should it ever happen again. He’s considered various different ways to both cope and prevent it from happening.
The pulsating of the orb could be in direct response to his drugged state. His mind becoming occluded intermittently prevents the magic from going to the orb, thus the pulsing.
Canceling the orb altogether, he realizes he doesn’t have much time. Marshalling all his concentration, he creates a small sphere, no larger than a pea. Firm yet translucent and thus hard to see, he holds it in his hand as he tries to inspect it. Unable to see it clearly and afraid he’s about ready to drop it, he slowly and carefully puts it in his pocket.
When he can at last feel it securely inserted in his pant’s pocket, he removes his hand and leans his head against the wall of his cell. The last sight he has before he slips into unconsciousness is the burning torch near his cell.
Chapter Nine
Pacing about the room, Illan stops every other time he passes the window and glances at the sky. The dawn isn’t very far away. Out on the streets, the soldiers and guards who earlier were combing the streets have all but disappeared. When the sun rises, he plans on making his way to the castle to see about James and what exactly is going on.
Glancing over to the bed, James’ friend Dave is fast asleep. How he can sleep while his best friend is in jail escapes him. Miko on the other hand, he’s known him to sleep through anything. So the fact that he’s asleep on the other bed hardly surprises him.
Not only does he have James to worry about, but Jiron and Fifer still have not returned. That’s got him extremely worried but could be the result of the curfew and they’re simply unable to return. He may have Miko try to locate them while he heads to the castle. Resuming his pacing, he churns over the events in his mind, and worries about what may be happening to James at this very minute.
When at last the first rays of morning shine on the walls of his room, he immediately moves over to Miko and wakes him up. “It’s morning,” he says.
Coming quickly awake, he rubs the sleep out of his eyes as he stands up. “Any word from James?” he asks.
Shaking his head, Illan says, “No. Jiron and Fifer are still missing as well. I’m going to head up to the castle to see what I can find out. While I’m gone, see if those kids you are acquainted with can help in locating Jiron and Fifer. I’m not sure what part they may have played in all this, but I’ll kill them if they’ve gone and done anything to exacerbate the situation.”
“What should I do with him?” Miko asks, motioning toward the sleeping Dave.
Shrugging, he replies, “Tell him to stay here. We have enough to deal with right now without him making matters worse.”
“Alright,” he says. “When are you planning on being back?”
“I have no idea. But if you find those recalcitrant members of our group, tell them to stay here at the inn until I get back.” Moving to the door, he opens it to leave. As he passes through, Miko’s ‘Will do’, follows him out into the hallway.
Closing the door, he walks quickly down and takes the stairs to the common room below. The room is empty except for one lone early riser. Miss Gilena is nowhere in sight, she must’ve returned to her bed shortly after he had gone up to his room. Leaving the inn through the front door, he moves onto the street and heads down toward the gates leading to the castle.
The contingent of guards at the gate has doubled since the last time he came by this way. As he draws near the gates, the leader of the group moves to intercept him.
“No one’s allowed into the castle area at this time,” the guard tells him as he comes to a stop.
“A friend of mine was taken last night and brought here,” he explains. “I want to know what happened to him.”
The guard eyes him suspiciously, knowing full well who it is Illan is talking about. “Sorry, but orders are, no one enters without expressed permission,” he states. “And I’m fairly sure you don’t have that do you?”
Shaking his head, he says, “No, I don’t.”
“Then you can’t pass through,” the guard says with finality.
Almost ready to turn away, he pauses and then asks, “Can I send word to the Archive Custodian?”
The guard is somewhat taken aback by that. “If you give us a letter, we can see that he receives it,” the guard replies.
“I don’t have a letter,” he explains. “Is there a way you could just tell him that a friend of James is here and would like to talk with him?”
The guard thinks about it for a moment. Shrugging, he says, “Very well,” He glances behind him and waves over one of the junior guards. “Find the Archive Custodian and tell him a friend of James would like an audience with him,” he tells the guard.
“Yes sir,” the guard replies before turning and running through the gates in search of Ellinwyrd.
“He may not be up yet,” he says. “It’s still quite early.”
“I’ll wait if it’s all the same with you,” Illan tells him.
“Suit yourself,” replies the guard who then moves back over with his men.
Illan stands there impatiently as he awaits the return of the junior guard. Almost a half hour later, he sees him returning. He waits while the lead guard confers with his man and then watches as he begins moving toward where he’s waiting.
“He said that he will meet with you,” the guard tells him. “A page is being summoned and will arrive shortly to escort you.”
“Thank you,” says Illan. A short time later, a boy in the livery of a castle page approaches the gate and Illan moves to follow him into the castle area.
The page leads him through to the building housing the Royal Archives. Going in through the main door, he takes him down to the doors leading into Ellinwyrd’s sanctum. He pauses a moment as he knocks upon the door and when he receives Ellinwyrd’s permission to enter, opens the door. Stepping to one side, he allows Illan to precede him into the room.
“Thank you Michael,” Ellinwyrd says from where he sits at a table stacked haphazardly with books and scrolls.
Nodding, Michael closes the door.
Coming over to where Ellinwyrd sits, Illan makes his way through the ‘obstacle course’ as James had called it when he described his visit here. He can see what James meant by this place being a disorganized chaotic mess. It’s a wonder that anything can even be found.
Ellinwyrd glances up from a book open before him as he approaches. Indicating a chair across from him, he says, “Please, sit down.”
“Thank you for seeing me,” Illan says graciously. “I don’t know if you’re aware of what happened last night, but they came and arrested James.”
Closing the book before him, Ellinwyrd nods his head as a sigh escapes him. “I know,” he replies.
“Do you know what’s going to happen to him?” Illan asks.
“I’m afraid so,” he says sadly.
“They’re not going to hand him over to the Empire are they?” asks Illan, afraid of the answer.
“Yes, they are,” he tells him.
“Why in god’s name are they acceding to their request? They have to know he’s innocent!”
“Innocence or guilt rarely has much to do with what kingdoms decide,” he explains. “First of all, Cardri is not so big that they can afford to antagonize their neighbor to the south. James isn’t even a citizen of Cardri in their eyes so to them it’s not like they’re handing over one of their own.”