Leaving Jiron with the girls and the wagons, the other three return to the oasis. There they drag the dead bodies of the soldiers out into the desert and bury them. Once they've hidden and removed all traces of the battle which had raged there, they return to the wagons and resume their trek to Korazan. Jiron sits in the back of the wagon with the girls and Arkie in order to rest, soon falling asleep.
Everyone becomes quiet for awhile as they let him sleep, understanding that he really needs it. For his part, James is relieved at having Jiron back. Now if we can just get Miko and Jiron's sister! Now if we can just get Miko and Jiron's sister!
They ride on until late in the afternoon when they begin to see the outlines of a fairly sizeable city coming up ahead. With Tinok and Roland out front, they approach the town. Off to the east they see an area where several caravans have made their camp.
"Looks to be a caravansary," Roland says, indicating the groups of wagons.
"Should we stop there for the night?" James asks him.
"It's what it's there for," he explains.
"Alright then," agrees James. "Let's find a spot for the night."
As they near the caravansary, a man comes over to them and says, "Good day to you sirs."
"You speak our language?" James replies, astonished.
"I speak many," the man explains. "I am Ahlim, the Caravansary Master."
"I am James," he replies, "and we are looking for a spot to stay the night."
"To stay here will be a silver a day," he says.
James looks to Roland who shrugs his shoulders. Turning back to the man, he digs out a silver and hands it to him, saying, "Very well."
Ahlim takes the coin and says, "Find any spot around here that suits you." He then turns and hurries off toward town.
They find a suitable spot that's not too close to any of the others and start settling in, when another man comes over. "Greetings, fellow traders."
"Greetings," replies James.
"Ah, I'm not one to cause trouble," he says, "but I saw you talking to Ahlim just a moment ago?"
"Yes?" James replies, nervous.
"Did he say that he was the Caravansary Master? And that you had to pay to stay here?"
"Yes, he did," James replies. "Why?"
The man starts laughing, "You didn't pay him did you?"
"A silver," admits James.
The man starts laughing harder.
"What's so funny?" James asks, getting a little mad.
"He's not any kind of a Caravansary Master," the man explains, wiping tears from his eyes as his laughter calms down. "He's a beggar who does this from time to time with new arrivals."
From behind him, he hears Tinok break into laughter, "That's funny."
"What's so funny about it?" James angrily turns to him, asking.
Tinok just laughs more as he shakes his head and turns to go back to where the others are getting their camp ready.
"Don't be too hard on him," the man says. "Ahlim that is. He's had a bad lot."
"We'll just see how bad it is when I meet up with him again," James insists.
"Well, good day to you," the man says. As he returns back to his caravan, James can hear him chuckling to himself.
When he turns back to the others, he can see them trying to hold back smiles whenever he's looking in their direction. Finally, unable to contain it, they all start to laugh.
"This isn't funny," James says, which only makes them laugh the harder.
Their laughter is infectious and soon he's unable to stop a smile from coming to him. "Okay," he admits, "maybe it is."
He goes over to Roland and asks, "Would you be willing to come with me into town to see about getting another wagon and some barrels for water?"
"Sure," he agrees.
Going back to the others, he announces, "Roland and I are going into town to see about purchasing some barrels for water. Just stay here and watch the wagons, keep everything safe."
"Not a problem," Tinok says with his arm around Cassie's shoulder.
Jiron just nods his head from the back of the wagon where he's been resting all afternoon.
"Be careful," Delia advises.
"We will," James assures her. Turning to Roland, he says, "Ready?"
Roland says a few things to Ezra and then turns to James, nodding his head, "Let's go."
James goes over to the wagon with the money box, and takes a large bag of coins out, placing it inside his shirt. Then with a nod to Roland, they begin to walk toward town.
Delia watches them go and then turns to Tinok, saying, "Could you go over and find out what town this is?"
"Why?" he asks.
"There may be deliveries here we could make to give us more coins," she explains.
"Sure," he replies and then makes his way over to one of the neighboring caravans.
She watches as he approaches some of the men sitting around a campfire. They exchange a few words and then Tinok returns.
"Zereth-Alin," he tells her.
Excited, she exclaims, "There are three small packages that are marked for here." She hurries over to the wagon loaded with the majority of their cargo and begins rummaging through it. She finally comes up with the three packages and looks to Tinok, a gleam in her eye.
"Tinok?" she says with a certain tone to her voice.
"You want me to help you deliver them?" he asks her.
"Yes!" she replies. "Will you?"
He looks over to Cassie sitting there with Ezra, longing to remain with her.
"We could get Cassie a present should we receive any money for these," she suggests, temptingly.
"Alright," he says, giving in. "But I want to be back fast."
"We will," she assures him, "I promise." Letting the others know what they'll be about, they take the three packages and head into Zereth-Alin.
Chapter Eleven.
James and Roland enter the town, and with Roland playing the role of translator, they are directed to a place where they can buy barrels for water, maybe even a wagon to carry them.
On their way, they pass by an inn from which a mouth watering aroma emanates. His stomach growls loudly, insistent on something with more substance than what they've been having over the past several days. He gives Roland a grin before altering his course and making a beeline for the entrance.
"What are you doing?" Roland asks when he catches up with him.
"Getting something to eat."
"What about the others?"
Waving away the question, James says, "We'll get something for them on the way back." He pushes open the door and enters the building. The aroma is even more mouth watering here than it was outside. Finding an empty table, they wait for a server, who arrives promptly.
The server says something and then Roland answers as he orders for both of them. When he's done, he tells James that it's going to be four coppers and waits while he digs them out of the pouch. James hands the coins over to the server, who then bows slightly and heads back to the kitchen.
"I assume you wanted whatever it is that we've been smelling?" Roland asks him once the server had left.
"Absolutely," James replies.
"Good, that's what I did," he says.
They sit back and relax while they wait for their food to arrive. The people here, aside from their different language and attire, are really the same as those he encountered back in Cardri. Just people. People are people no matter where you go People are people no matter where you go, that's what his grandmother had always said.
He sees their server coming toward them with two plates, topped with several skewers containing meat and vegetables along with two mugs. As their server places the plates in front of them, he can still hear sizzle coming from the meats. Once the mugs are on the table, their server says something and Roland gives him a reply before going over to another table with two gentlemen.
Keeping his voice low, Roland says, "You guys don't seem much like merchants to me."
James looks at him with a mouth full of food and doesn't reply.
"What is a," lowering his voice to a whisper, he asks, "mage, doing running a caravan?"
"It's rather complicated," James replies and then takes another bite.
"I think I have the right to know what is going on," he asserts quietly. "If for no other reason than I've brought my wife and child along. I mean, you guys take out a Commander of Ten like he was nothing!"
James glances around but no one seems to care about their conversation. Turning back to Roland he says, "We're looking for someone."
"Who?" Roland asks.
"A friend of mine who was taken captive at the fall of the City of Light," he explains in a hushed tone. "As well as Jiron's sister, who was taken at the same time."
"How?" he asks, incredulously.
"We've reason to believe they're being taken to the slave markets at Korazan," he explains. "We mean to go there and find them, buy them if possible, rescue them if not."
Roland sits back in his chair and just stares at James, as if he is unsure if he actually just heard what he did.
"You're welcome to leave at any time if you think it's too dangerous for your family," James tells him.
"I don't know," he replies. He continues to eat, thinking about what James told him.
"A man back where we rescued you said that you made things?" James asks him.
Blushing slightly, Roland says, "Nothing, really."
"What?" he asks again.
"Well, I had this idea that if you filled a bag with hot air, you can make it float," he explains then sets himself as if he expects to be ridiculed.
"You would probably need an air tight bag of little weight," James suggests.
Surprised at someone finally taking him seriously, Roland says, "Exactly! But I haven't been able to find anyone able to make what I would require. All the cloth I've been able to afford has been too heavy."
"That could be a problem," James agrees. "What do you hope to do with it?"
"Do?" Roland asks as if the question had never even occurred to him.
"Yeah, do," he says.
"I've never really thought past getting it done, actually" he admits.
"I'm sure you could come up with something," James says hopefully. Could think of several applications, mostly military ones in this society, Could think of several applications, mostly military ones in this society, he muses to himself. he muses to himself.
Finishing the last bite of his meal, James sits back in his chair, stomach gurgling most contentedly. Once Roland is done, they leave the inn and head over to where they've been told they can acquire some barrels and possibly a wagon.
They come to a building with an adjacent large open courtyard containing wagons, barrels and several other various items constructed of wood. A sign outside the door shows a wagon with two barrels.
"This must be the place," James says to Roland.