Looking intrigued, James asks, “How would we go about it?”
“I shall write a letter of introduction explaining what you wish to do,” he explains then gestures over to Miko. “Your young friend there would then need to run it to the gate leading into the castle area.” To Miko he says, “Tell the guards that you have a letter for the Archive Custodian and then either they will escort you to him, or more likely have you wait while they send someone to the Archives with the letter. Then it would be up to Ellinwyrd, that is my friend, to decide whether or not to grant you access.”
Excited at the prospect of possibly being granted access to ancient tomes, he quickly finishes his breakfast and clears a spot on the table where he places his travel case. Opening it up, he removes a piece of paper, quill and an inkwell, then closes the case once more and sets it aside.
He waits as patiently as he can while Perrilin finishes his meal, then removes his plate once he’s finished. James then brings over the traveling case to act as a lap table and the writing materials so Perrilin can write the letter to his friend.
He sits and waits as Perrilin writes out the letter, anxious to get this going. When Perrilin finishes, he requests some wax with which to seal the letter. James lights the candle on the table and brings it over to him. Taking the candle, Perrilin holds it at an angle so the melting wax will drip onto the letter. When he has applied the desired amount he gives the candle back to James. He then takes one of his rings and makes an imprint of it in the wax.
Handing it to James, he says, “Here you go.” Then to Miko he says, “Make sure you do not break the seal. Once you reach the gates, do whatever the guards tell you to do.”
“I understand,” Miko says as he takes the letter from James.
“Be careful,” James says to him.
Nodding understanding, Miko leaves the room and shuts the door behind him.
The door hadn’t been shut for two seconds before they hear a knock which is immediately followed by the door swinging open to admit Miss Gilena. It doesn’t seem she feels the need to await the okay to enter.
Bustling into the room, her eyes zero in on the bed wherein Perrilin lays and with concern in her voice asks, “How are you feeling?” Then she makes her way to his bedside, the promised clothes tucked under one arm.
Smiling a reassuring smile as she approaches, he says, “I will live, though I’m sore from head to toe. James has been very helpful.”
Turning to James, she says, “Thank you for rescuing him last night.” Then hands him Perrilin’s clothes.
“It was a pleasure, I don’t much care for those who use torture,” he replies, taking them and setting them upon the table.
Looking at Perrilin with worry in her voice she asks, “Torture?”
Perrilin pats her hand as he calms her worries, “They were just about to start when James arrived and got me out of there.”
“Thank goodness you came along just when you did,” she says. Pulling down his covers with not so much as a ‘by your leave’, she inspects the injuries marring his chest. Perrilin feels a little uncomfortable at her mothering, especially in front of James. Satisfied that they look to be healing properly, she replaces the covers and comes to her feet. “It looks as if your wounds will heal fine in a couple of days,” she announces, relief that they were not worse evident in her voice. “I can’t stay, simply wanted to check and see how you were doing. If you need anything, let me know.” That last question was directed more toward James than the injured bard.
Perrilin responds, “We will and don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”
“I always worry about you,” Miss Gilena says before returning to the door. She casts one more worried look in his direction and then quickly leaves the room.
Looking over to James, Perrilin says, “She’s a good woman, but she frets too much at times.”
“That’s probably true of most women when they care about someone,” he remarks.
“Care about? Me?” Perrilin says as if such a thought had never occurred to him. An odd expression passes over his face as he considers the possibility. Soon though, the demands of his healing body assert themselves and his eyes close as he drifts back to sleep.
James sits at the table while the bard sleeps, bored and restless as he waits for the return of Miko. He moves a chair over by the window and idles the time away while looking out over the town and down to the people passing on the street below. He reminisces about the times his grandmother, while waiting for someone at the airport would like to do nothing more than sit and watch people. She would make up the most outlandish stories about who they were and what they were about.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Snapped out of his reverie by the knocking, he gets up and walks over to open the door. One of the workers from downstairs stands before him holding a long, thin box.
Holding forward the box, the boy says, “This was just delivered for you.”
“Thank you,” James says as he takes the box, wondering who could possibly be sending him something here.
Once James has the box, the boy turns and walks back down the hallway. James closes the door and places the package on the table then stands there a moment staring at it, thinking.
“Is something wrong?” Perrilin asks from the bed, the knocking having awoken him.
“This package was just delivered to me,” he explains, “but I haven’t bought or ordered anything that would be delivered.”
“Interesting,” comments Perrilin. Intrigued, he pulls back the covers and slowly brings his legs over so he’s sitting on the edge of the bed. Despite the pain the change of position caused, he was more interested in this unknown and inexplicable package.
James takes a seat at the table then takes the package and opens it. Inside he finds something long wrapped in a dirty cloth. Unwrapping the cloth, his eyes widen and an audible gasp escapes him. To his complete shock, he discovers what was concealed within the cloth is one of the boards that he used to kill their captors the other night. The ones they had hidden in a pile of refuse.
Seeing the expression on James’ face, Perrilin asks, “What is it?”
He holds the blood stained board up for Perrilin to see, “I don’t know how they found this, or even how they could’ve possibly connected it to me.”
“What does it mean?” he asks.
“It’s a long story but I guess we have the time,” James begins. He then relates the events starting with being chased into the sewers of Bearn and then the string of events culminating with the battle in the house where they escaped their capture. He avoided mentioning magic and told only the bare bones of the attack culminating with three dead men with boards protruding from their chests.
“As we left, we hid these boards in a pile of garbage. I was sure no one was around, I guess I was wrong. Somehow, someone must have seen us put them there, took them, and now has tracked us here.”
“That’s quite a story,” Perrilin says. “I have heard of Lord Colerain, though have never met him. He is rumored to be a nasty one to cross.”
“Yeah,” he agrees, “I’ve heard that too.” Removing the cloth from out of the box, he searches for a note, or anything else that might shed some light on all this. “Question is, what is it that they want?” After searching the box thoroughly, he says, “They didn’t leave a note.”
The cloth which had been used to wrap the board lies on the floor next to the table. Perrilin notices something and says, “James, look at the cloth itself.” Picking it up, he uses both hands and spreads it out. There is writing on it.
Where these were buried, one hour
It’s written in what looks to be charcoal. He shows it to Perrilin.
“I guess they want to meet you where you buried them, in one hour,” Perrilin assumes.