The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven (37 page)

Opening the door slowly, they find it opens
onto the edge of the rear courtyard. A quick glance reveals no
soldiers are in the immediate vicinity. “Let’s do it,” Jiron says
as he opens the door and strides outside, James following a step
behind.

Walking in a straight line to the gates of
the courtyard, they pass by several soldiers, none of whom give
them more than a casual glance. Upon reaching the gates, they hear
a commotion and glance up at the roof. They have broken through the
trapdoor and must have discovered the hole they escaped through. A
soldier on the roof is yelling to those below.

Opening the courtyard gate, they walk
through and find more soldiers stationed out here. But walking like
they have the right to be there, plus dressed at least partially in
‘appropriate armor’, they move right past them without being
noticed.

Keeping a steady pace, they work their way
through the soldiers until they leave the last one behind. Once
they have put a suitable distance between them, they break into a
run. Fleeing into the night, the find a quiet spot and shed their
ill gotten armor. Then they begin working their way back to the
building containing Aleya.

Keeping to the shadows, James and Jiron make
their way quickly from street to street toward the building where
Aleya is being held. Down the street ahead of them, a squad of
soldiers emerges from a side street. “This way!” Jiron whispers as
he ducks into a side alley.

Plastering themselves against the side of
the alley, they hold still as the footsteps of the soldiers
approach. The light from the lanterns that two of the soldiers are
holding gradually illuminates the street just outside the alley as
they draw near. When the soldiers reach the mouth of the alley, the
light from the lanterns fully reveals James and Jiron where they
are pressed to the side of an adjacent building.

James holds his breath and silently prays
that none of them happen to look in the alley or they will surely
be discovered. As fortune would have it, the soldiers continue past
without one of them seeing the two fugitives hiding within the
alley. Once they’ve moved on, he lets out his pent up breath and
says, “That was close.”

“Too close,” agrees Jiron. Peering around
the corner of the alley, he finds that other than the retreating
backs of the soldiers that just marched passed, the street is
empty. “Come on,” he says and moves back onto the street.

Lights from several different groups are
seen moving on adjacent streets. The number of men searching for
them is steadily growing. It’s going to be hard enough just to
reach the Eye’s Court as Orrin called it, let alone rescuing Aleya
and getting free of the town.

They make it down several more blocks before
having to again duck into the shadows as another squad makes its
way past. “Can’t be too far from it now,” Jiron comments once the
squad has moved on.

“Let’s hope not,” replies James.

When the street is once again clear, they
leave the alley and continue on. Keeping to the dark, they are
forced to weave around the circles of light given off by the lit
lampposts so as not to be spotted. Then finally, the large
structure appears down the street ahead of them. Even two blocks
away, they can see that an additional dozen men now stand guard
before the front entrance.

Keeping to the edge of the street near the
buildings, they slowly make their way closer until they are but
four buildings away. “Where are the others?” asks James. He was
hoping to have come across Miko and the rest by now. Fear that they
may have been captured or even killed begins to grow within
him.

“Use your cloth and find them,” Jiron tells
him.

Feeling stupid for not having thought of
that himself, he can only assume the events of the night must have
him rattled. Taking it out, he casts the spell and is surprised to
see that it indicates they are in the building he and Jiron are
hiding against. “They’re in here,” James says as he pats the
wall.

Several feet behind them lies the doorway
into the building. Jiron moves back to it and tries the handle.
Finding it locked, he removes one of his knives and begins working
on the lock. He soon has it opened and they move inside.

“Miko!” whispers James as loudly as he dares
once the door is closed behind him. They remain still and listen
for a reply. When nothing comes, he again whispers, “Miko!” this
time a little bit louder.

A shadow passes across the doorway leading
to another room. “James?” he hears Miko ask.

“Yes,” he replies. Then his orb springs to
life, barely giving off any light, just enough for them to be able
to see each other.

The rest are right behind Miko, even Scar
and Potbelly. “Am I glad to see you two,” Scar says.

“We were getting worried that you might not
have made it,” Potbelly adds. “But not too much, seeing as how
nothing blew up or anything.”

“What did you find out?” Miko asks.

“Nothing,” replies James. “Orrin said for us
to abandon her. That to attempt a rescue was tantamount to a death
sentence.”

“Are we going after her then?” Reilin asks.
No one even bothers to answer him, they all know the answer.

Jiron comes before Scar and Potbelly and
asks, “Did you two see anything that might help?”

Shaking his head, Scar says, “Not really.
The buildings adjacent to the one holding her are three stories or
less. Guards are posted on all four sides including the roof. I’m
not sure how we could get in there without being seen.”

“There’s always the sewer,” replies
Miko.

An audible groan escapes James. “Only if
there are no other alternatives will I do that again,” he says. To
Scar he asks, “How close can we get without being seen?”

“Pretty close,” he replies.

“Good, then take me there so I can see
what’s going on,” he tells him.

“I’m coming too,” states Jiron.

When Scar nods, Jiron says, “The rest of you
stay here.” That’s when he notices Miko has a tart in his hand.
Surprised, he glances around and for the first time notices they
are in a baker’s shop. Over to one side he sees where the baker’s
leftovers from the day before are stacked together. He goes over
and helps himself to a quarter loaf of bread and lays three coppers
down on the counter next to it.

James notices it too and snags three of the
four remaining tarts before Miko has a chance to finish them off.
He too lays a couple coins on the counter and then takes a large
bite as he follows Scar to the back of the building. “I think the
baker is asleep above us,” he explains. James nods
understanding.

Scar takes them out the back to the street
running behind the building and then quickly over to the mouth of
an alley that leads back to the street the Eye’s Court faces. Upon
entering the alley, they move quickly to where it opens onto the
street. From there, James has a good view of the face of the Eye’s
Court across the street as well as the alley directly across from
them that runs beside it. The guards in the street are none too far
away.

The alley on the other side of the street
that runs along the side of the Eye’s Court is wider by far than
the ordinary alley. Peering around the corner he can barely see
that the alley on the far side of the Eye’s Court is just as wide.
He realizes the buildings bordering the Eye’s are further back in
order to create a buffer zone that would prevent any attempt at
gaining access from their rooftops.

Four men with crossbows are seen in windows
on the third and fourth floor facing the front. The side facing the
alley across from them has four men in similar position, two on the
third floor and two on the fourth. The windows on the fifth floor
are dark and closed. Another four men are stationed on the rooftop,
each looking out over a different side.

Aside from being set back away from the
Eye’s Court, the building across from them is only three stories
tall, as are all the others adjacent to it just as Scar had said.
James stands there several minutes while he takes in the positions
of the men in, on and around the building holding Aleya. It’s
definitely a tough nut to crack.

“Alright,” he says and indicates they should
return. “I’ve seen enough.”

Just as they are leaving, more soldiers
arrive and join those guarding the front of the building. “This
just gets better and better,” Scar comments as they withdraw back
down the alley.

Once they’ve returned back to where the
others are waiting, James gives them a rundown of what he saw.
“So,” he summarizes, “any way we go, it’s going to be almost
impossible to get inside without being seen.”

“Can you put the guards to sleep?” Miko
asks. “Like that time in Cardri when you snuck back in after
rescuing Perrilin?”

“I doubt it,” he replies. “Those guards were
bored and not alert. The ones here are expecting us to make an
attempt and will fight any attempt I make. I’m just not sure I
could get them all at the same time.”

“The sewers?” asks Jiron.

“We don’t even know where an entrance is,”
he says. “There’s not much time. Once they’ve completed searching
near Orrin’s inn, they’ll come here. The sooner we move, the better
our chance will be to get away.” He glances at the others and then
settles his gaze on Brother Willim. “Is there anything you could
do?”

Shaking his head, he says, “I don’t think
so.”

“How about a diversion?” asks Potbelly.

“Yeah!” exclaims Scar. “Do something like
you did in Al-Kur.”

“It may come to that,” he says. Then he
turns to Shorty. “How far away are you accurate with your knives?”
he asks.

“How far away are you talking?” he
responds.

“From the rooftop of the building next to
it, to the guards in the windows,” he replies.

Nodding, he says, “I think so. I don’t have
my throwing knives, they took those when they captured me at the
inn. All I have are the five knives I took from the guards we
killed earlier.”

“Can you do it with those?” Jiron asks.

He takes one from his belt and tests it for
balance and weight. “It’s not well balanced for throwing,” he says.
“But they’ll do.”

“Good,” says James.

“You got an idea?” Jiron asks.

“Yes I do,” he nods. “But we have to get
into the building on the back side, it’s furthest from the guards
stationed out front. Hopefully what we do will have a better chance
of remaining unobserved back there.”

“Now,” James says as he looks to Jiron, “how
do we get across the street?”

“Follow me,” he says. Taking a slice of some
honeyed sweet bread, Jiron leads them out the back door. Leaving
through the back door again, they follow the street leading away
from the direction of the Eye’s Court for about a block. Then they
come to a side street that will take them back to the one running
in front of the Eye’s Court. Turning into it, Jiron leads them back
to the street where he pauses and peers in both directions. Seeing
that the guards in front of the Eye’s Court aren’t likely to see
them crossing from so far away, he waves the others forward and
they race across to the narrow alley on the other side.

From there he leads them in a roundabout way
until they’ve reached the building directly behind the one holding
Aleya. Using his knife, he picks the lock and soon has the door
open.

They find themselves in the residence of a
rather affluent individual. Jiron suddenly freezes and holds his
hand up for the others to stop. They stand there in the darkened
room a moment until the others hear the creaking of a floorboard
above them. Someone is awake and moving about.

“Wait here,” he says. A knife springs to his
hand and he moves to the door leading from the room.

As the others wait, they watch his shadow
pass from the room and enter the rest of the house. A minute goes
by, then two. All of a sudden, the floorboards above them begin
creaking severely. Then there’s a thud and all becomes silent.
Footfalls are heard moving away from where the creaking came from
to the stairway, then Jiron’s voice hollers out, “Come on up!”

Upstairs they find a middle aged man lying
on the floor of his bedroom. “Don’t worry,” Jiron reassures James,
“he’s not dead.”

Scar comes forward with a length of rope and
says, “Better tie him up then. Can’t have him waking up and
sounding the alarm before we leave.” With Potbelly’s help, he picks
up the man and lays him on the bed. As he ties his arms and legs
securely, the others make their way up to the third floor and
search for the roof access.

In one of the corner rooms, they find a
ladder in a closet that leads up to a trapdoor. Jiron climbs the
ladder and finds the trapdoor unlocked. Pushing it up just enough
to create a crack through which to see, he looks out.

The trapdoor opens up along the rear of the
roof, far enough from their objective that they will remain unseen
in the dark by those stationed in the windows and on the roof of
the Eye’s Court. “I think we can get onto the roof without being
seen,” he says.

“Two at a time at half minute intervals,”
suggests James. “You and me first.” Climbing the ladder until he’s
on the rung below Jiron’s foot he then nods the go ahead.

Opening the trapdoor, Jiron climbs out onto
the roof and then holds it open for James. Once he’s out, they
close the trapdoor and then move to the roof’s edge, all the while
keeping an eye on the men stationed in the windows and on the roof
of the Eye’s Court. None of the watchers so much as shift their
gaze even slightly toward Jiron and James.

Then, the trapdoor opens again and out comes
Miko with the pack containing the Book of Morcyth and Shorty. “Over
here,” whispers James and they quickly move to join them. Still,
the watchers fail to notice them on top of the roof.