Brian Pratt - The star of Morcyth

“Get them!” the man cries as he and his two buddies launch themselves at Jiron and Fifer.

Fifer flashes a grin to Jiron as he moves to meet the oncoming men. Both he and Jiron are veterans of the fight clubs back in the City of Light and readily wade into the men. The first man approaching Fifer soon finds himself lying on the floor several feet away, blood running out of his nose from where Fifer had connected with a roundhouse.

Jiron joins the fray as he deflects an uppercut from one individual while striking out with his foot at another. Fists and feet flying, he and Fifer mow them down quickly and it’s over before it even begins.

Standing back to back, they look around at the men lying on the floor groaning. When no others move to join the fray, they relax and return to the bar to finish their drinks.

“Sorry about that,” replies Jiron to the barkeep behind the counter.

“That Lonn’s a hothead alright,” he says. “You boys sure know how to handle yourselves.”

“Thanks,” says Fifer with a grin.

“Would you be interested in making a little extra money on the side?” the barkeep asks.

Shrugging, Jiron replies, “Maybe, what do you have in mind?”

“There’s this group of individuals who are looking for someone to fight their champion,” he says. “They would pay pretty well, whether you win or lose.”

“What kind of fight?” asks Jiron, interested. “Fists or weapons?”

“If you fight with weapons, you get more,” he says. “But you can choose either way.”

Jiron looks to Fifer who’s wearing a grin. “When would this take place? I’m not sure how long we’ll be here,” he tells him.

“Tomorrow night,” he says. “Would you boys be interested?”

“Possibly,” says Jiron. “Where would the fight take place?”

Gesturing behind him, he says, “Out back. There’s a small lot behind us that’s fairly clear. We’ve held fights like these out there from time to time.”

Nodding, Jiron says, “How much?”

“Weapons, you get a gold,” he says. “Just fists, two silvers.”

“Win or lose?” he asks.

“Win or lose,” the barkeep replies.

Nodding, Jiron says, “Alright, I’ll do it.”

“Great!” the barkeep says excitedly. “Just two hours after sundown tomorrow night.”

“I’ll be here,” he says. Then glancing to Fifer, he nods his head to the door as he begins making his way out of the inn. Fifer downs his drink and moves to follow. Lonn and the others are just now beginning to get up off the floor.

After they leave, Lonn gets up and moves over to the barkeep who slides a silver across the counter to him. “Thanks,” he says.

Picking up the coin, Lonn grins and says, “Anytime.”

The following morning when they all meet down in the common room for breakfast, Jiron and Fifer tell them of the rumors they discovered the night before. They do not tell of what transpired at the inn or the fight later in the evening. Jiron told Fifer to keep quiet about that, he didn’t think James would like it, much less approve.

“There was no mention of you from anyone we talked to,” Fifer tells him. “Most of the rumors were really quite farfetched. I don’t think anyone really knows what they’re doing here.”

“Miko,” James says after mulling over what they said for a few minutes, “you’re good on the streets. See if you can find out what’s going on.”

“Will do,” he says, glad to be of help.

“What are you planning to do about going to see the king?” Illan asks.

Before James has a chance to reply, Jiron breaks in and says, “About that. The Royal Court convenes in the afternoon, we did find out that much.”

“Afternoon?” muses James. “Good, maybe I’ll be able to track down Ellinwyrd and see if he knows anything before I go.”

“How are you going to do that?” asks Jiron.

“Go to the gates to the castle area and request an audience,” he explains. “Last time I was here he said I could stop by anytime.”

“Want us to come with you?” asks Illan.

Shaking his head, he says, “No, I don’t think that will be necessary. I doubt if anything’s about to happen here.”

“Very well,” states Illan. “One of us will always be here in case you need help.”

“Don’t worry,” James assures him.

After breakfast is over, Miko excuses himself and leaves the inn as he goes to ferret out information on the streets.

Dave gets up and says, “I think I’ll just stay here at the inn in case you need me.”

“Good idea,” says Jiron and their eyes meet. Jiron still carries a resentment toward him that manifests itself every once in awhile.

Frowning, Dave turns and heads back up to his room.

“I wish you would take it easy on him,” James says to Jiron after Dave has left.

“I’ll try,” replies Jiron though from the tone of his voice he isn’t planning on trying too hard.

“You have the letter the herald gave you?” Illan asks.

Patting the pouch at his waist, he says, “Right here.”

“Good, you’ll probably need it to get in to see the Royal Court,” Illan advises.

“That’s what I figured.” Getting up, he says his goodbyes. Waving a farewell to Miss Gilena, he heads for the door and is soon out on the street. Moving toward the gates to the castle area, he goes down several blocks and notices Miko standing with a bunch of older youths near the side of a building. In his hands is a bag of tarts which he is sharing with the others. James just chuckles at that. That’s one way to get the locals to open up to you. What amazes him is how he got them so fast.

The gates to the castle area are well guarded and when he approaches, one of the guards comes forward and asks him his business.

“I would like to talk to Ellinwyrd, the Archive Custodian,” he tells the guard.

“Does he know you’re coming?” the guard asks.

Shaking his head, he explains, “No. I arrived into town last night and he told me that if I was ever in the area to stop by.”

The guard looks him up and down, as if he’s trying to assess the validity of what he just said. Motioning for one of the junior guards to come over, he asks James, “What’s your name and business with him?”

“My name is James,” he says. “I came through some time ago and he was nice enough to help me with a bit of research. My business I will explain to him.”

Looking to the junior guard, the first guard says, “Go tell the Archive Custodian that James is here and would like to speak with him.”

“Yes, sir,” the guard replies, then moves through the gates and is soon out of sight.

The first guard stands there near James while they wait. He has him move to the side to allow people to pass through from one side to the other. None of the people passing through look even vaguely familiar to him. Which isn’t very surprising since he didn’t spend all that much time in this area last time he was here.

The one person he’s hoping to see or maybe even get to talk to is the Princess Alliende. Her smile she flashed him when he passed through the last time sent a thrill through him.

Ten minutes after the guard left, he returns with one of the palace pages. To the lead guard he says, “Ellinwyrd said to allow him to enter.”

Nodding, the guard turns to James and says, “This page will take you in to see him.”

“Thank you,” James tells them as the page begins moving back into the castle area. From what he can remember, they follow along the same path as he was taken the last time. When they reach the courtyard with the four tiered fountain, beside which he had previously seen the princess, a feeling of disappointment comes over him when she isn’t present. He sighs.