See Part One for Disclaimers

Chapter Three

"This is it," Rizgin said pointing to a small rundown looking shop.   "Vabarn's map shop."

It had seemed like hours ago that Sinbad and Doubar had met with Kaliandra and her brother Rizgin.  They would have never made it here if they hadn't have shown them the way.  With all the people in the city to see the new magistrate appointed, it was next to impossible to get through the streets. Rizgin knew a few shortcuts and back alleys that bypassed the congested thoroughfares.

Sinbad knocked on the shop door.  He pushed the door open and was surprised to hear a bell jingling loudly.  He looked up to see a little bell attached to the top of the door.  The rest of the group followed him in.  Kaliandra bumped the door on the way in, making the little bell ring again.  She stepped behind the door and started to examine the bell.

"Coming!" a voice from the back of the shop called.  A little man with a wispy mop of thinning white hair bustled into the room.

"Hello.  Hello.  Welcome to my shop.  How may I help you?"

The Sinbad walked up to the counter and addressed the old man.  "Are you Vabarn?"

The old quickly whipped around, "Where, where?"

"Excuse me?" Sinbad gave Rizgin a confused look.  The big smith only smiled and motioned him to keep talking.  "What are you looking for?"

The old man leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "I've been trying to find that Vabarn fellow for years.  He seems to be following me round."

Sinbad nodded sypatheticly and thought, 'This guy has lost it.'

Suddenly, Vabarn and Rizgin started to laugh.  "Got ya'," the old man laughed.  "Oh, you should have seen the look on your face."

"Let me explain, Sinbad," Rizgin said clapping his arm over Sinbad's shoulders.  "This is little joke Vabarn and I have had going for sometime."

Sinbad smiled, "No need, I think I get it."

Rizgin's face sobered.  "Vabarn, this is serious.  We need some help."

"Maps, you need maps."  The old man started to pull maps of all shapes and sizes from under the counter.

"No, thank you.  We just need some information."

Suddenly, they all jumped as the bell on the door behind them began to clang loudly.  They turned to see what was causing it.  Kaliandra was swinging the door back and forth.  She watched at the bell clanged in time with her shakes.   "This is really quite clever," she said and then noticed everyone was staring at her.  Her face grew red with embarrassment.  "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

The old man laughed again.  "Fascinating contraption isn't it.  Now, what information did you need?"

Rizgin motioned to Sinbad.  The Captain cleared his throat.  "We're looking for a friend of ours.  He's been missing for a few hour and we need to find him.  He was on his way here a few hours ago.  His name is Firouz."

"Firouz, yes."  The map maker dug under the counter for a moment and pulled out Firouz's bag and sword.  "He was here a few hours ago.  He's the one who made that little contraption for me.  I'm always missing customers because I don't hear them come in when I'm working in the back."

Doubar picked up Firouz's bag.  "Where did you get this?"

"Your friend was taken away by the Magistrate's men.  He apparently lost those in the scuffle.  Kedel clubbed him from behind and they drug him off.  I found these things in the street after they had left."

"Why would they do that?" Sinbad asked.  "Did Firouz do anything?   I mean, was there some reason the Magistrate's men would have taken him?"

The old man sighed tiredly, "They were the Magistrate's personal guard.  They don't need a reason for what they do."

"That's not an answer."

"Vabarn, are you sure it was Kedel?" Rizgin asked.

The map maker gave him a annoyed look.  "It was Kedel, trust me.  You see that man once, you never forget."

"That ugly, huh?"

"Worse."

"Rizgin."  Kaliandra laid her hand on her brother's arm and motioned towards the windows.  Guards were marching down the street.

"Yeah, I know," he said.  Then he turned to Sinbad.  "If Kedel and his men have your friend.  It's best you stay out of sight.  They may be after you all."

"Why?"

"You have a ship.  We don't get many of those into port."

"I told you the docks looked empty," Doubar said.

"Come on, we need to get out of here.  You'll be safer back at the forge.  Until we can figure out what is going on."

"Back this way."  Vabarn motioned towards the back of his shop. "You can use the rear exit."

Rizgin waited till the others had passed then he took Vabarn's arm.   "You had best close up.  When they find out that he was here last, they may come after you too."

Vabarn nodded.  "May be I'll just make that trip I was planning to visit my daughter in the county."

"Might be a good idea."

The small group made their way through back alleys and side streets back towards Rizgin's forge.  They had a few tense moments when a group of the Magistrate's men stop a couple in front of them.  A young man and his sweetheart dressed in holiday finery.  Rizgin hustled them into a dark alley until the guard passed dragging the hapless man's limp form back towards the Magistrate's palace.

They slipped back into the street and found the girl weeping.   "Taika," Kaliandra said helping the girl up.  "What happened?"

"Kedel and his fiends took Mika," the girl said between sobs.

"Why?"

"They said they need more men to finish up the work at the palace for the Caliph's visit.  He didn't want to go and they clubbed him and drug him off."

Kaliandra glared at her brother.  "This can't go on, Rizgin."

"And just what are we to do about it?"

"I don't know.  I'll take her home.  I'll met you back at the forge later."  She put her arm around her friend and lead her off.

"How long have things like this been going on?" Doubar asked after they had started walking again.

"About a year.  About that time strange storied started coming from the palace."

"What kind of strange stories?" Sinbad asked.

"About the people disappearing out of the dungeons and strange things being seen after dark.  Some even claim the Magistrate is practicing black magic and alchemy."  Rizgin stopped them and looked around a corner before they went on.  "My brother, Davyn, is city constable.  He's been looking into these stories, but hasn't found any proof strong enough to present to the Caliph yet."

"Kaliandra said that all these people are here to see a new Magistrate appointed."

"Lot of good that will do.  Gatharian's son is up for appointment.   He's twice as bad as his father ever was."

They paused as Rizgin fumbled with the lock on the door of the forge.  Finally the mechanism turned and the door opened.  He motioned for them to enter.   Sinbad hesitated in the doorway.

"I need to get a message back to my crew.  If we are going to try and get Firouz out, we're going to need help."

Rizgin shook his head.  "It's too dangerous for either one of you to go back out on the streets.  The Magistrate has spies everywhere.  They'll find you before you can even set foot on the docks."

Suddenly, there was a fluttering of wings and a squawk.  Sinbad turned and smiled.  There on the corral fence next to the forge sat Dermott.

"My friend, you are an answer to prayer," Sinbad said holding out his arm.  The hawk hopped up onto his arm.  "Dermott, I need you to get Maeve and Rongar.  Tell them to come to the blacksmiths forge and to make sure no one sees them.  Go!"  The hawk opened his powerful wings and flew off towards the docks.

Doubar saw the skeptical look on the smith's face.  "That is one special hawk."

"For your friend's sake, he had better be."

Chapter Four

Sinbad got up and stretched.  He couldn't sleep and he didn't want to disturb Doubar or Rongar.  Sinbad picked up his boots and slipped out of the room. He sat down on the floor in the hall to pull them on.

Maeve and Rongar has arrived just after dusk.  Dermott had relayed the message and gotten off the ship moments before Gatharian's guards had impounded the Nomad and locked the crew below decks.

When Sinbad and Doubar had found out about it, they had wanted to head right to the palace.  The plan was to break Firouz out, and then head to the docks for the ship.  Rizgin and Kaliandra had stopped them.  They had persuaded them to wait until their brother, Davyn, returned home.  Davyn, as it turned out, was the city constable.  He had been secretly working against Gatharian.  He was trying to get proof against Gatharian to give to the Caliph.  They said he had allies in the palace who might be willing to help them.

After a few tense moments, they had agreed to wait.  Kaliandra suggested they try and get some rest.  They were most likely would not be getting any for a while after Davyn got home.  There was a bit of discussion, but they had seen the wisdom in suggestion.

The small rooms of the cottage attached to the forge were quickly divided up with Maeve in with Kaliandra and the men bedded down in the forge.

From down the hall, Sinbad could see a light coming from the kitchen.  Quietly, he got to his feet and decided to investigate.

Kaliandra sat with her head bowed over a large book.  Her hand flew across the page as she wrote notations in it.  She sighed and stopped for a moment.   She flexed her hand and dipped her quill in the ink jar.  Pursing her lips in thought, she scratched a few lines on a slip of scrap parchment beside her and then leaned back over the book.

"Kali?" Sinbad said quietly.

Kaliandra gave a startled yelp and jumped.  Papers flew across the table and landed on the floor.  She looked up at the young captain and smiled sheepishly.   "Sorry, you startled me."

"I'm the one who should be apologizing," said Sinbad, picking up the pages.   "I didn't mean to startle you."

He sat down across from her and looked at the book she was writing in.  "What are you doing up so late?  Everyone else is in bed by now."

"I could ask the same of you," Kali said with a smile, crossing her arms on the table.  "Couldn't sleep?"

Sinbad smiled tiredly, "No."  He stared at Kaliandra for a moment.  "Why are you doing this?"

Kaliandra gave him a confused look and glanced down at the pages and books ranged around the table top.  "Working on my notebook?"

"No," Sinbad said with a low laugh.  "Helping us."

"Oh, that."  Kaliandra started to shuffle the scrapes of notes and papers.  Sinbad reached across and laid his hand on her's to still them.  She looked up into his blue eyes, and sighed.

"I guess you would have to say it's for revenge, justice.  I'm not sure what you would call it.  We've seen too many die at Gatharian's hand and had no proof.  Too many lives snuffed out because of his cruelty."

Sinbad studied her for a moment and then asked, "Was he someone special?"

Kaliandra's head snapped up.  "How did you...?" Her amber eyes bored into the young captain.  Finally, she relaxed.  She bit her lip.  "Yes, he was my betrothed.  He stood up to Gatharian and he died because of it."  Her eyes dropped down to her notes.  She pushed the papers around putting them in order.

Sinbad picked up one of the scraps of parchment.  "What is this?"

Kali quickly pulled the page out of his hand and slipped it under the book.  "Just something I was doodling."

Sinbad lifted the book up and pulled the scrap of parchment out.  He laid it down on the table top.  It looked like one of the designs Firouz had been showing him.

"This is for a machine that uses steam to create man-made lightening."

Kaliandra looked at him as if he had just sprouted horns or a third eye.  "You understand the concept of my theory?"

Sinbad smiled.  "A little bit.  A friend of mine, Firouz, was showing me a design he was working on that was very much like this."  Sinbad laid the page down thoughtfully.

"He's the fellow you're looking for, isn't he?"

Sinbad gave her a sad smile.  "Yes."

Kali shuffled through the papers laying on the table.  She looked up and Sinbad, the candle light reflecting golden in her eyes.  "Tell me about him."

******

Davyn walked slowly through the streets.  His heart was heavy.  Gatharian was condemning another poor soul to a slow torturous death.  His thoughts went back to Falon.  The poor boy had plunged into madness before he died screaming in agony.

God have mercy on his soul, Davyn thought, Because Gatharian never will.

He rounded the last corner and saw light still coming from the front of the cottage.  It was late for anyone to be up.

Must be Kali at her notebooks again, he thought.  Ever since Falon's death Kaliandra spent more and time up at night working on her designs and drawings.   Even though Kali would never admit it, he suspected it was because of the nightmares.  Heaven only knew he has enough of them himself.

He was surprised to hear soft laughter as he pushed the cottage door open.

"Then I asked him if it wouldn't be simpler if I just tied a rope to him and dragged him off the stern for a while?  He just looked at me and said, 'Point of fact, no.'"

Kaliandra laughed at the young man sitting across the table from her.  She turned to see who had walked in and jumped to her feet.  "Davyn, you're home." She gave him a quick hug.  "I starting to get worried."

"Who's our visitor?" Davyn asked, eyeing the stranger.  He was dressed as a sailor in a loose white shirt and blue britches.  A red headband held his light brown hair away from his face.  Years of experience told him that this man was fighter and from the look of his lean muscled frame, a good one.

Kaliandra flashed the young man a shy smile and said, "This is Captain Sinbad of the Nomad.  And Sinbad," she said motioning to Davyn, "this is my brother Davyn, Constable of Karoth."

Sinbad nodded in greeting.

"So, you're the Captain of the ship in the harbor," Davyn said sitting down on the table edge.

"I am."

"Then you, my friend, are in grave trouble."

Sinbad's eyes narrowed.  "And why would you say that?"

"Gatharian wants you.  He has one of your crewmen and by now he knows everything he knows about you, your ship, and your crew."

Kaliandra's face grew deathly pale.  "Davyn, he didn't."

Davyn closed his eyes and nodded.

"No."  Her voices was barley a whisper.  Tears started to well in her eyes.   She sat down heavily in her chair.  Davyn poured a drafted of wine and handed it to Kaliandra.  She took it and just stared dumbly into its crimson depths.

"What?" Sinbad demanded.  A look of concern rapidly grew on his face.  "What did Gatharian do to Firouz?"

"Firouz?  So that's his name.  Gatharian has given him the elixir."

"Elixir?" Sinbad asked.

"Gatharian has developed some kind of elixir.  It makes a person tell the truth, the whole truth.  They can't help it.  The elixir makes them very pliable and impairs their judgment."

"Drives them mad, you mean," Kaliandra said bitterly.  She glared at her brother. "Tell him, Davyn!"  Her voice started to climb in volume and pitch.  "Tell him!  The elixir makes a person tell the truth, but that's not all.  In the end, it leaves that person screaming in madness and agony.  A slow agonizing death for the dying and the living!" Tears streamed down Kaliandra's face.   She turned and fled the room.

"Is she right?"  Davyn turned at the question and saw a large man standing in the doorway to the forge.  Rizgin and a dark-skinned Moor stood behind him.

"Sinbad?"  A fiery-haired woman came out of Kaliandra's room.

"The house is just full of people tonight," Davyn said.

Rizgin pushed his way past the big man in the doorway.  "These are some of Sinbad's crew.  The big one is Doubar.  Rongar the Moor."  The men nodded in greeting.  "And the lass is called Maeve."

"How much did you hear?" Sinbad asked.

"Enough," Doubar said.  "About what she said, is Kaliandra right?" he asked.

"You don't know how I wish she were wrong."  Davyn looked at Rizgin.  Rizgin shook his head and walked over to stir up the fire.

"There has got to be something we can do," Sinbad said.

Davyn shook his head.  "I'm afraid there is nothing we can do about it."

"There is."  Kaliandra walked back into the room.  In her hand, she clasped a tiny glass vial full of a purplish liquid.

"What's that?" Doubar asked.

"An antidote, I hope," she said holding the little vial up to the lamp light. The purple liquid swirled in the light.

"You hope?" Sinbad looked at her questioningly.

"You remember, I told you that Gatharian murdered Falor."  Sinbad nodded.  "Well, what I didn't tell you what that the reason he died was because he was given the elixir.  He escaped and stole a sample of the elixir before he died."  She struggled to hold her tears at bay.  "I used that sample to create an antidote, but it has never been tested."

Sinbad took the vial in his hand.  "Then I'd say it was about time we tested it."

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