Brian Pratt - The unsuspecting mage

Putting a toe in the water once again, he cautiously works the rest of his foot and then his leg in. Realizing the water is not going to scald him, he puts the other foot in and slowly immerses himself the rest of the way in. He sits there for a minute, at first not happy with it. Then as he becomes accustomed to the water’s temperature, he relaxes and begins to enjoy the experience.

Shortly, one of the workers returns to take James’ clothes and backpack, also dropping off two large towels so they may dry themselves when they are finished. James asks him if the clothes could be done by nightfall as he plans to leave in the morning. The worker tells him that they will rush it through.

Grabbing more soap, he continues scrubbing himself clean. This is the first bath I’ve had in a week, he thinks to himself. He had always liked baths. Back home he would at times soak in one until the water was cold and his skin the texture of prunes.

He looks over to Miko and finds that he’s beginning to relax and even seems to be enjoying it. Seeing the way James uses the soap, Miko scoops some out and copies him, rubbing it over his skin.

Knock! Knock!

“Come in,” James shouts through the door.

One of the workers at the Inn brings in a package. “This was just dropped off for you from Brockman’s,” the man says. Placing the package on the table, he turns and goes back out of the room, closing the door behind him.

“What do you need that stuff for anyway?” asks Miko, referring to the writing materials.

“I plan on keeping a journal,” he replies. “And who knows how else it may come in handy.” Like a spell book, he adds silently. He has long since come to the conclusion that he needs to create spells so in an emergency he will have ready access to them and won’t have to take the time to think one up.

He stays in the tub until the water begins to cool, then gets out and dries himself with one of the towels. Miko gets out as well and soon they are both dressed once more. James is in the last of his clean clothes and Miko dons his dirty old ones again.

“That wasn’t so bad, now was it?” James asks him.

“It was pretty good, actually,” Miko replies with a grin. “I could get to like it.”

Miko walks over to the bed and leans over the pile of items on the floor, curious about the stuff from James’ backpack. He picks up the homemade compass that James had fashioned earlier in Trendle during his search for Hern. Holding it up, he looks over to James and asks, “What is this thing?”

Glancing over and seeing what Miko is holding, he replies, “Just something I made a while back. I used it to find something.”

“How does it work?” he inquires.

“I use a spell and it shows the direction of whatever I ask it to find,” James explains. Taking it from Miko, he points out the charcoal line and says, “This line will point in the direction of what I am trying to find.”

“Wow,” says Miko. “Can you have it find something right now?”

“No,” he answers as he lays the compass back on the floor. “Magic is not something you should do just for amusement.”

Disappointed, Miko gives him a regretful look.

Grabbing his coin pouch, James pulls out two silvers and hands them to Miko. “Here, take these,” he says. “You really helped me today and I appreciate it. Let’s go downstairs and I’ll buy you dinner before you leave.”

Miko is opening the door when he hears James says, “Here, you can have these as well.” Turning, he sees James handing him the bag of tarts.

“Thanks,” he says gratefully, as he puts the small sack inside his shirt for safekeeping.

Together they go down to the common room and find a good table situated near the rear. They only have to wait a minute or two before the girl comes over to see what they would like. It’s still an hour or so before dark, so the evening crowd hasn’t yet come in. Naught but a couple of people share the room with them. Once they give her their order, she returns to the kitchen.

“So, where are you going from here?” asks Miko.

“I’m planning on heading south, maybe as far as Castle Cardri,” he explains. The girl returns shortly with their food and a bottle of the mulberry wine that James had liked so much the night before. Tonight however, he plans to limit himself to only one bottle. He has no desire to experience another hangover. The memory of the one he woke to this morning forestalls any such attempt.

It doesn’t take long for the room to begin filling up. The bard from the night before returns and takes his place on the stage to a roar of applause and shouts of joy. After a short bow to the audience, he begins playing a rollicking song that soon has the crowd clapping along with the rhythm. James enjoys the music as much as he did the night before and seeing how Miko is listening with rapt attention, can tell he’s enjoying it too.

The next song is a slow, sad ballad of two lovers torn apart due to the difference in their social standings and the story ultimately ends in tragedy. Miko finishes eating and sits back as they enjoy the show for a while.

They sit there for several hours listening to the music and talking about the events of the day before James begins finding it hard to keep his eyes open. The exertions of the day are at last taking their toll. “Miko my friend,” James says through a yawn, “I’ve really enjoyed your company, but I’m off for bed.”

Getting up, Miko says, “Good night then. If you ever pass this way again, ask the boys by the gate for me and I’ll show up.”

Offering his hand, James responds, “I will.”

Miko takes his hand, giving it a shake and then heads for the door, making his way through the crowded room.

James watches Miko until he exits through the door before getting to his feet. Moving to the stairs, he goes up to his darkened room. Lighting the candle on the table with his spell, the wick ignites and fills the room with a soft glow. He finds that the clothes and backpack the staff had taken to be cleaned have already been returned and placed on the table. He takes all the items on the floor by the bed and places them once again into the freshly cleaned backpack. Giving the pack a sniff, he can only faintly detect the odor of the sewer. He repacks all his clothes and when his belongings are ready for travel, removes his clothes and blows out the candle before crawling into bed. It’s not long before he falls asleep.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Insistent and unrelenting pounding upon the door awakens James in the dead of night. Half asleep, he gets out of bed and stumbles his way through the dark shadows of his room to the door.

Knock! Knock!

Just as he reaches the door, from the other side he hears Miko say in a loud whisper “James, wake up.” There’s a tightness and sense of urgency in his voice. “Wake up and open the door!”

Undoing the lock, James opens the door and steps back as Miko rushes into the room. The boy quickly shuts the door and throws the bolt closed. Turning to James he says, “You gotta get out of here!”

“Why?” he asks still not quite awake.

“Remember, I said that nobles like to settle things themselves?” asks Miko as he paces back and forth nervously.

Nodding his head, James replies, “Yeah, I remember.”

“It seems that Lord Colerain, whose estate we were chased out of this morning, has somehow discovered who it was that was at his estate today and where you are staying,” he explains. “I overheard a conversation between an agent of Lord Colerain and a group of men who hire out for this type of job. He wants you taken so he can find out why you were at his estate.”

“When?” Moving to where his clothes lay, he hurriedly begins to get dressed.