“James is being taken back to the Empire,” he says. “I think they mean to execute him.” He hears her gasp as she begins to understand the gravity of the situation.
As they reach the docks, Jiron sees her father at the top of the gangplank checking off the manifest as the cargo comes aboard.
“Father!” Meliana cries as they reach the ship.
Looking down to her from the deck of the ship, her father says, “Where were you? I was almost ready to send someone to find you.”
“James is in trouble!” she cries out as she and Jiron reach the gangplank and run up to the deck of the ship.
“What’s this?” he asks. He backs a little away from the gangplank as Illan and the others follow them on board.
Indicating Jiron, she says, “This is Jiron, James’ friend.”
“Nice to meet you young man,” he says as he extends his hand.
Jiron takes it as he glances to the departing ship carrying James. “Sir, we need your help,” he says.
“Help?” he asks.
“Father, James is in trouble,” his daughter exclaims. “He’s being taken back to the Empire. We have to help him.” She takes him by the arm and looks pleadingly in his eyes and says, “They’re going to kill him!”
“That’s right sir,” interjects Jiron. Pointing to the ship that’s now pulling away from the docks under sail, he adds, “He’s aboard that ship.”
He glances to the departing ship and recognizes it as the Ambassador’s. Looking into the pleading eyes of his only offspring, his will to resist melts away. “But what can I do?” he asks. “I’m not about to have my crew board the Ambassador’s ship. We’re not pirates.”
“But father!” exclaims her daughter.
“No,” he says, refusing though his heart would have him do otherwise. “I cannot bring our house to ruin over one man.” His voice softens as he adds, “No matter how much you care for him.”
Tears begin to well in her eyes as she sees her hopes being dashed upon the sound logic of her father.
“Could you at least follow him?” suggests Illan. “You wouldn’t have to do anything, just drop us off wherever they land?”
Meliana looks to her father, hope beginning to spring anew.
He stands there and thinks for a full minute before turning to the captain of the ship and says, “Prepare to get underway.”
Having heard the entire conversation, the captain knows just what is in store and begins shouting commands as the sailors bring in the last of the cargo.
“Thank you, father,” Meliana says as she gives him a hug and kiss.
Looking slightly embarrassed at this display of affection before everyone on board, he gives her a smile as he quickly disengages from her embrace.
“You should return to shore,” Miko says to Paul.
Shaking his head, Paul says, “I don’t plan to return to Cardri without Gwynne and Daria.” The determination in his eyes forestalls any objection Miko was about to make.
As the last sailor brings aboard the last of the cargo, the captain hollers, “Bring in the gangplank! Cast off the lines!”
One sailor pulls in the gangplank while dock workers untie the guy lines securing them to the docks.
The captain hollers to the men up in the rigging to drop sail. As the sail descends, the wind begins to fill them and they start moving away from the dock. As he gets the ship turned out to sea, Miko, Jiron and the others stand at the bow. The other ship is now far ahead of them and is almost lost upon the horizon.
Once the ship clears the harbor, the captain has the crew in the riggings to drop full sails and the ship begins racing through the water as they work to maintain visual contact with their prey.
When they come to take him from his pen, they remove everything from him but the clothes on his back. His slug belt, plus the entire contents of all his pockets were emptied into a sack before the manacles were put on his feet and hands.
The effects of the drug they used on him have reduced to nothing, though he is still unable to concentrate adequately enough to summon the magic. Helpless to do otherwise, he remains still as they secure the metal around his feet and hands.
Only able to shuffle due to the chain connecting his feet together, he moves as best he can up the stairs and then out of the castle. A crowd has gathered in the castle’s courtyard to see the Ambassador off and maybe to take one last look at the mage.
He stands there amidst several guards while they wait for the appearance of the Ambassador and his retinue. When he at last makes his appearance, walking next to him is the man who paid him a visit earlier. That man comes to James and checks the integrity of his manacles before they start to leave the castle courtyard.
As they walk along the docks, he sees Jiron and the others in the crowd. He shakes his head to prevent any ill fated rescue attempt. There are simply too many guards around for it to have any chance of success. Especially with his magic inoperable.
He is then marched up the gangplank and then escorted by several of the Ambassador’s guards to the hold where his manacles are secured to the wall by a chain. Over in one corner, ten children sit in a cage looking scared.
Once they are done with him, the guards leave the hold, leaving him there alone with the kids.
He sits there in the gloom of the hold, only a very small amount of light filtering down through the hatch from above. It isn’t long before he begins to feel the unmistakable motion of the ship moving out to sea.
One of the girls, a small child, is staring at him with her face pressed against the bars of the cage. He gives her a reassuring smile. She smiles back at him. “Are you Miko’s friend?” she asks.
He couldn’t have been more stunned than if she started singing the Star Spangled Banner. “What?” he asks.
“Are you Miko’s friend?” she repeats. One of the older girls in the cage with her perks up at that and joins her next to the bars.
“Yes,” he replies. “I know Miko.”
“He’s a nice man,” she says.
“I’ve always thought so,” he says. How in the world does she know him? And how could she possibly have connected him to me?
“We were helping to keep an eye on the Ambassador’s camp for him,” the older girl explains. “We got a little too close and they grabbed us.” After a brief pause, she asks, “What are they going to do with us?”
“Nothing if I can help it,” he says. “Miko and the others with him know where we are and where we are going. They’ll not sit back and do nothing.”
“I hope not,” the little one says. “I miss my sister.”
“My name is James by the way,” he tells her.
The older girl says, “I’m Gwynne and this here is Daria.”
“That’s me,” the younger girl explains to him.
“Nice to meet both of you,” he says. “I just wish it wasn’t here.”
Just then the hatch opens and James looks up to see the man who visited him in the dungeon. The man gazes down at him for a brief moment before stepping aside to allow the Ambassador to step onto the stairs leading down into the hold of the ship.
After the Ambassador has gone down a few steps, the man follows as does three guards, one of which has a crossbow.
The girls move away from the bars of their cage as the men come down the stairs. When they reach the bottom, they come directly to James and stop several feet away. Far enough to keep him from reaching them should he make the attempt.
“So this is the mage which has caused so much turmoil in the Empire?” questions the Ambassador. The guards flank him while the crossbowman keeps his crossbow aimed directly at James’ chest.
“Yes milord,” the other man says.
The Ambassador gives James a thorough once over before saying, “He doesn’t look like much.”
“Right now his ability to use his power has been blocked,” the man tells him. “If he had his power I assure you your opinion would be different.”
“Indeed,” the Ambassador says, unconvinced.
After a few moments of silence while the Ambassador contemplates James, the other man says, “We should return to the deck milord. The air down here is most foul for your lordship.”