He wakes early the next morning and gets out of bed fast. Leaving his room, he finds out that nothing out of the ordinary has happened during the night. Jiron hasn’t returned yet and that has Illan worried.
“Should we send someone after him?” he asks Illan when he learns Jiron has yet to return.
“Can’t afford to,” he says. “Should they launch an attack here, we’ll need everyone we have.”
“You’re right of course,” admits James.
“I’m going to start rotating them in for some rest and food,” Illan tells him as he heads out to the woods and the new recruits on patrol there.
Worry for Jiron still nags at him so he goes out to his workshop where he gets his mirror. Laying it out in front of him on his workbench, he concentrates on Jiron. As the image begins to coalesce, he sees him riding his horse hard along a road. Enlarging the view, he’s still unable to determine exactly where he is. Probably on his way here.
Putting the mirror away, he leaves the workshop and sees Jace coming in out of the forest. Moving to intercept him, he asks, “Is Illan still out in the forest?”
Jace looks at him, brown eyes widening at being addressed by him. Pushing aside the lock of hair that’s forever curling down in front of his face, he replies, “I think so.”
“Thanks,” he tells him then heads into the forest.
He finds Illan further in where he’s talking with Errin. When he sees James coming, he says one last thing to Errin before she heads off into the forest. He then turns and walks toward James.
“Jiron’s on the road, riding hard,” James informs him. “Couldn’t determine exactly where though.” As Illan comes abreast of him, James turns and walks with him out of the forest. “I’m thinking he’s coming back here to give us word about the mercenaries.”
“Most likely,” Illan agrees. “We’ll know soon enough. When he returns, we’ll have a better idea what’s going on and then we’ll know what we’re going to need to do.”
As they exit the forest, they see Ezra standing out by the kitchen door. When she sees them, she signals for them that breakfast is ready. James gives her a nod and heads over there.
“I’ll be along in a few minutes,” Illan tells him. “I just need to find Moyil and then I’ll join you.”
“Alright,” James says. Illan angles away from him to proceed around the house as they draw near. The sound of hammering can be heard from the construction sight as the builders resume working on the house. He wonders if it’s a good idea to have them here with what may be coming their way. Perhaps it’s better to give the appearance of normalcy so the attackers won’t think they’re ready for them.
Entering the kitchen, he finds Jace, Orry and Devin seated at the table, first time any of the recruits have sat there. They’re all waiting for him, Ezra must’ve already instructed them in the proper etiquette when eating at the master’s table. Once he’s seated and has begun to spoon eggs on his plate, they begin grabbing serving bowls and platters.
“Seen anything?” he asks them after swallowing his first bite.
“Nothing,” replies Devin.
“What’s going on exactly?” Orry asks.
Glancing at him, James replies, “I’ve made some enemies and we’ve gotten word some may be on their way to try to kill me.”
“That’s dumb,” Jace exclaims.
“Why is that dumb?” James asks him.
“Trying to kill a mage, I mean,” he says. “One spell from you and they’re toast.” The other recruits nod their heads at what he said.
“It’s not as easy as that,” he explains to them. Just then, the door opens up and Illan walks in. “Did you find him?” he asks him.
Illan takes his seat and while he begins filling his plate, he replies, “Yes I did, everyone’s accounted for.” He glances around the table and when he doesn’t see Miko, asks, “Is he still sleeping?
James nods his head. “He was up pretty late last night.”
Just then, they hear the sound of a horse racing down the lane toward the house. “Jiron!” he exclaims as he comes to his feet and practically runs through the front room to the door. He hurries outside as Jiron brings his horse to a stop.
Dismounting, Jiron comes over to him and says, “I found them.”
“Where?” Illan asks from the doorway before James can get the words out.
“They spent the night in Osgrin and headed out this morning,” he tells them. “It didn’t seem that they were in all that much of a hurry, though. When I saw they were taking the road to Trendle, I came back as fast as I could.”
“How many were there?”
James motions him to come inside as he answers. “Twenty one. The party that left Osgrin had eighteen men at arms as well as two wagons. Couldn’t tell what was in the wagons, but one was being driven by a single man, the other had a man and a woman.”
“A woman?” Illan asks as they return to the kitchen where they all take their seats at the table.
“Yeah,” Jiron replies as he begins helping himself to the food. “She didn’t have the look of a fighter.”
“Maybe a mage?” James asks.
Shrugging, Jiron says, “Maybe.”
“I want you and young Devin here to go back and find them,” Illan tells Jiron. “If anything develops that we need to know about, send Devin back.”
Devin gets an excited look in his eye when he hears that he’ll be going with Jiron on a ‘mission’.
Turning to James, Illan continues, “I think we should stand everyone down seeing as how an attack is not imminent.”
“You know best,” he says.
The rest of the meal goes fairly quickly, Jiron hurries and eats so he can return to find them. As soon as Devin is done, Illan has him go out to the stable and get two horses saddled and ready for when Jiron is finished eating.
After Devin’s left, James says to Jiron, “You be careful.”
“I will,” he assures him. “They’ve probably not come too far along by now, the wagons are going to slow them down. They’re most likely going to reach Trendle sometime before nightfall.” Scooping up the last of the food from his plate, he stands up and makes to leave.
“Good luck,” Illan says to him.
“Thanks,” he replies and then goes outside to where Devin sits on his horse waiting for him. Once mounted, they quickly ride down the lane to the road where they break into a gallop as they head toward the advancing party.
Chapter Eleven
They caught up with the men and wagons an hour past Trendle. Jiron and Devin continued at a gallop past the mercenaries. When they were far enough beyond them that they were no longer visible, they turned around and followed them at a discreet distance, keeping them just within visual range.
“What are we going to do?” Devin asks.
“Follow them and see what they plan to do,” he replies. “When we know, I’ll have you ride back and alert the others as to what’s going on.”
Devin nods his head, excited at the prospect of being the one to bring back word.
The group continues traveling at a steady pace, reaching Trendle several hours past noon. Without pausing they make their way through town and continue on past, crossing over the river Kelewan. At a clearing a mile past the river they pull off the road and appear to be settling in for the night.
“Don’t you think it’s too early for travelers to stop for the night?” asks Devin.
Glancing at him, Jiron nods and says, “Yes, unless you’ve reached your destination.” He looks at the group settling into the clearing, his unease growing. Once Jiron has determined that they definitely plan to camp there, he sends Devin back to The Ranch with word. Leaving his horse a good ways away, he moves closer and finds a concealed spot from which to keep an eye on them.
The clearing they’re in is one in which Delia has used on occasion with her caravan whenever she stopped for a visit. Lately though, she’s just gone to The Ranch itself with her wagons.