"What is?" Jiron asks.

"Don't you see?" he says. "Though the letter from Lord Pytherian wouldn't have much pull with a ship's captain, it will have with a magistrate. And if we use it to get the captain out of jail, then I would think he'd be happy to take us across the Sea."

Nodding, James says, "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."

When they get back to the others, Illan explains to them what they're planning on doing. "In the meantime, while we're getting the captain out of jail, the rest of you go and find something to eat."

Miko perks up at that, the mention of food always does.

"Go down the street until you come to the blacksmith," he tells them. "Then turn down the road to the right. You shouldn't have far to go before you come to the Flying Fish. The owner is a lady by the name of Mari, and the food there is very good. At least it was last time I was in town."

"When will you meet us there?" asks Yern.

"Hopefully not more than an hour," he tells him.

"Alright then," Uther says. "We'll see you there."

"You may as well go too," James tells Jiron. And then he lowers his voice to a whisper as he adds, "And keep an eye on Miko."

"You got it," he says as he joins the crew going to the inn.

The bunch going to the inn takes all the horses with them. Illan and James go down a different street as they make their way to the city jail.

More people pause when they see Illan walking down the street, most give him a friendly greeting or ask him a question. Begging lack of time to talk, he makes his responses short as he continues down the street.

At the next junction of streets, he turns to the right and points to a two story building on the right side. "That's the jail."

"Think we'll have any problems?" James asks.

Shaking his head, Illan says, "I really doubt it."

They walk down to where the front door is standing open and walk inside. Two guards are sitting at a side table sharpening their swords, another sits behind a desk and has the look of the one in charge.

The guard behind the desk looks up as they enter and says, "Yes? Can I help you?"

Illan walks over and asks, "We're looking for the captain of the ship in the harbor. His men said he might be here?"

Nodding, the guard captain says, "He's here all right." Calling over to one of the guards at the table, he says, "Rullins, take these gentlemen back to the holding cells. They want to talk to the captain."

Getting up, the guard named Rullins replies, "Yes sir." To Illan and James he says, "If you'll follow me." Turning toward a door in the side of the room, he takes out a key and unlocks the door. Opening it, he indicates they should follow him as he moves past the cells on the side of the walkway.

Five large cells line each side of the walkway, two of them have prisoners. One has two men who look to have been beaten up pretty badly, the other holds a solitary individual. And it's to the solitary individual that the guard is taking them.

As they draw near, the man in the cell turns and watches their approach. "These men want to talk to you," the guard tells him. Then to Illan and James, he says, "If you need help, just holler. We'll be able to hear you."

With that, the guard turns around and leaves the cell area. He leaves the door to the outer room open so they could be heard should the need arise.

The captain comes near the bars and looks out at Illan and James. "Do I know you two?" he asks.

Shaking his head, Illan says, "I doubt it, you don't look familiar to me."

"What do you want?" he asks.

"We want to talk about pa.s.sage across the Sea, all the way to the other side," Illan explains.

The captain breaks into a laugh and says, "You may have to wait for a while."

"How long are you going to be in here?" asks James.

Shrugging, the captain says, "I don't know, could be a while I'm guessing. I got into a fight with a prominent personage of some sort. Of course I didn't realize who or what he was at the time. I mean, really, who would've thought he'd be in a place like that."

"If we could expedite your release," James offers, "would you take us across the Sea?"

"Of course," he agrees. "But I don't see how you'll be able to pull that off, I broke the man's nose."

"How soon can you be ready to sail," James asks.

"You get me out of here and we'll sail within the hour," he states.

"Alright," Illan says, "we'll see what we can do." He begins to leave then glances back at the captain and adds, "We'll be back shortly."

"I hope so," he says as they leave the cell area.

Illan walks over to the guard captain and asks, "How would we arrange his release?"

The guard captain laughs and says, "Man, from what I understand, he's going to sit in there an awfully long time." The guards over at the table can be heard chuckling as well.

"Still, who should we see?" persists Illan.

"Well, you could try Magistrate Harlan," he explains. "He's probably the only one who could arrange it."

"Thank you," Illan says as he makes ready to leave.

"But don't get your hopes up," he tells them.

Illan casts him a quick glance, gives him a nod and then they leave the jail.

Once they're outside, James asks him, "Do you know this Magistrate Harlan?"

"Oh yes," replies Illan. "He's a good man and we should be able to get things arranged through him."

"Good," states James. He follows Illan as he leads him through town to the Magistrate's offices.

They continue along, turning once down a main thoroughfare where they walk past several side streets before it opens up onto a large courtyard square. Setting on the far side of the courtyard is a large, imposing structure, obviously the home of the Magistrate's offices.

There's a wall separating the building from the rest of the courtyard. At the gate through the wall, a guard stands and smiles when he sees Illan approaching. Coming to attention, he salutes him as they pa.s.s through.

Illan returns the salute and the grin on his face is just as big as the guard's is.

As they approach the front doors, James asks him, "What was all that about?"

Pausing, Illan explains, "He's my son."

"Oh, okay," replies James. Looking back at the guard at the gate, he can see the resemblance between father and son.

Illan opens the door just as another man is leaving. The bandage on his face tells them this must be the man whose nose had been broken by the captain. Without so much as an 'excuse me', he walks through the door and they have to step back to allow him room.

The man walks straight toward the gate and pa.s.ses through to the courtyard beyond. "Nice man," James says.

"Yeah," replies Illan. "No wonder he got his nose broken."

James nods his head as they enter the building.

"His office is up on the third floor," he tells him.

Leading the way like he'd been here a hundred times before, he follows the corridor to the stairs winding up. He climbs them until they reach the third floor and then follows a hallway down to a pair of ornate doors.

Opening them, he walks right in, James following close behind. They find themselves in a reception area with several tables and couches. Another set of double doors across the room from them must lead into the magistrate's office.

Illan crosses the room and swings them both open at the same time revealing a man sitting behind a desk with his feet propped up on top of it, snoring.

James can hear a quiet chuckle coming from Illan as he enters the room and comes to stand before the desk behind which the man is sleeping.

"On your feet soldier!" Illan hollers in his most commanding voice.

The man behind the desk starts awake and comes to his feet, standing at attention. His eyes blink several times and James can see his body visibly relax as he begins to realize what happened and who it is standing before him.

"Illan you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" the man shouts as he sits back down in his chair. He glares at him a moment before breaking out in an uncontrollable laughing fit. After a moment Illan joins in with him. Even James has a hard time remaining calm.

"Good to see you again, Harlan," Illan says when he's calmed down some.

"You too, Illan," Magistrate Harlan replies as he, too gets his composure back. "Though you about gave me a heart attack," he accuses.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," he says, grinning.

"What brings you back to these parts?" Harlan asks.

"Need your help with something," he says. He gestures for James to give him the letter which he does. Once he's had a chance to read through it, he explains about the captain and how they need to cross the Sea.

Harlan leans back in his chair and gives them a look which could only be called despondent. "If only it was for anything else," he says.

"Why?" Illan asks. "We have a letter from Lord Pytherian himself requesting any and all to help us."

"I know," he replies. "But the letter is only a 'request', it's not an order. So it doesn't have as much weight here as you would think."

"What do you mean?" asks James.

"That captain hit a very important person around here," he explains. "Whether he knew it or not is immaterial. And this person is demanding the stiffest punishment allowable under the law."

"Which is?" asks Illan.

"A year," he replies.

"A year?" exclaims Illan. "For hitting someone? That's outrageous!"

"I know, but this man has a lot of influence in the area, not to mention he's quite wealthy," Harlan tells them.

"Who is he?" asks James.

"His name is Faetherton," Harlan replies. "Though since he's become so influential, he's been taking to calling himself, Lord Faetherton."

"Never heard of him," states Illan.

"Not surprising," he explains. "He arrived in these parts shortly after you left five years ago."

"So there's nothing we're able to do about this?" asks Illan.

"I'm afraid not," he says. Lowering his voice, he continues, "I have to admit, Faetherton has been such an annoyance, that I for one was glad that captain broke his nose."

"So, hypothetically, if this captain was to disappear, it would sure upset this Faetherton?" asks Illan.

Harlan gives him a smile and says, "To be sure. Oh, and on a side note, the guard captain at the jail is a cousin of his as well."

"I see," Illan says. Then he extends his hand to his old friend and continues, "It was nice to see you again, hopefully next time I'll have time to stay for awhile."

"I understand," Harlan says. "Sorry I couldn't have been more help."

"You take care," Illan tells him.

"I will," he replies. As they make to leave, Harlan says, "Good luck."

Illan nods his head and gives him a brief wave as they leave his office. Out in the corridor, as they head for the stairs, James says, "I wish that had gone better."

"What do you mean?" asks Illan. "I thought that went pretty well, all in all."

"How can you say that?" asks James. "We still don't have the captain."

"No but we will," he explains. Gesturing back to the offices they just left, he lowers his voice and says, "He all but told us to break that captain out of jail."

"You sure?" James asks.

"Absolutely," replies Illan quietly. "He even said the guard captain was a cousin, which to me means we can treat him roughly if we want."

"I hope you're right," he says.

"Don't worry," he tells him.

As they leave the building, he stops by his son and says, "Tell your mother I'm fine, but things are moving fast and I won't have time to visit."