Chapter 2

The noise woke Jaymee up. It sounded like an army was marching above them. The other boys were awake, and most looked scared. Crouched in the cages, it seemed like hours before the door that lead out of the basement room opened and the burly guard and the man Jaymee knew as Conna came running down the stares. The guard was wounded, and blood stained the grimy tunic he wore. Conna was unharmed, but in a panic. They were speaking in a language that Jaymee could not understand. The guard gestured at the cages and grabbed the sword at his side. Conna shook his head and pointed at the stairs. The guards paused and then nodded, and the two ran out of sight of the cages. There were some peculiar grinding noises and then silence.

Until the next people burst into the room, dressed in white uniforms a few showing brilliant red splashes across them. There were 3 of them; all had swords drawn and a wary stance. One, a woman, moved over to the cages, "You were right Devyn. Looks like a slavers den. Sometimes people just disgust me."

"That may be Lu," said a man, "but right now we need to take care of their prisoners. Can any of you boys tell me where your captors are?"

At first no one spoke up, then one of the boys in Jaymee's cage started to talk, and that brought them all out of their shock, and everyone started talking. "One at a time," Lu yelled over the din. "You there, " she pointed at the first boy what were you saying?"

"I said that Conna and his guard came in and ran to the back wall, behind our cages. There was a noise, and then nothing until you came in."

"Blast!" said the third, and until now silent herald. He walked over, out of view like Conna and the guard had. "Yeah I can see the seam around this paneling. But it looks like the opening mechanism has been broken from the other side. We can't open it."

"That's ok Rey, lets get these kids out of these cages and into some clothes," said Devyn. " I am sure they can all give us descriptions to put out wanted posters. "

The boys all crowded to the front of the cages. The Herald called Lu went up stairs and came back a few seconds later with pile of towels and blankets. Devyn inspected the locks on the cages, and used a thick knife he was carrying to pry the cages open. Rey helped pass out the coverings to the boys who gratefully covered up. By the time they were all out, a squad of the city guard had turned up and they were starting to question the boys about where they were from.

First they were taken upstairs, and discovered they were in a warehouse of some kind. There was a small office on one end and this was where the boys ended up. The heralds lined up the boys in order of size. The youngest went first, to get them out of this place as quickly as possible. Several were boys snatched from outlying towns and farms while visiting the city, similar to Jaymee. A few were runaways, fleeing conditions they thought were unbearable, until the drug Conna used on them started working. Most it turned out were orphans or children of the poor that were sold by their families for a silver coin or two. Those that had homes wanted to return a swiftly as possible.

As they questioned the others, Jaymee got plenty of time to watch the heralds. Devyn was older, gray hair was mixed evenly through his temples, and laugh lines creased his eyes. He was obviously in charge of the other two. Lu was a large woman with dirty blonde hair and a face only a mother could love. She looked to have more muscle mass than Devyn and Rey combined. Her voice carried her anger at the circumstances the boys had faced, and each time one of the children said their families had sold them, she would came closer and closer to an explosion. Several times she had to leave the office and the warehouse. The third herald, Rey, looked about eighteen years old. He was wiry, and had short dark hair. He smiled often, making him look friendly.

It took over a candlemark to get to Jay's turn. The guards searching the hideout still had not found any of the boy's clothes, so he was still wrapped in a blanket. He clutched it close as he sat in the chair across from the Heralds. Devyn and Rey smiled at him, and Lu turned another page in the journal she had kept notes in. She started coldly with, "Name?"

"Um, Jaymee Lawsons, miss."

"And where are you from?"

"Um, my Ma lives in Coopers Hearth, about 3 days southwest of here, miss."

"Are you a runaway?"

"No, miss! I was commin' to get into the Bard School. I had a letter and everything from Bard Dorian. But I guess I got to go home, because they took the letter and my pipes."

Rey looked at the youth and smiled. "If you were good enough that the bards sent you to the Collegiums to study, I don't think the loss of a letter will hinder you. I'll take you to Bardic as soon as we finish here." The Herald patted the boy's shoulder and then asked for Jay to recall all of the events that got him to where he was. He carefully recited his story from the wagon ride to finding himself in the cages below them.

"So do you know how long you were singing?" asked Devyn.

"Oh. no. When I slip into a trace like that I lose track of time. I don't think it was too long, because my throat didn't hurt too much when they hit me to make me stop. Maybe a candle mark?"

"The other boys said it was more like two. Did you do anything while you sang?"

"No, I was just thinking. I wanted out, but I could not figure out the lock." He hesitated for a moment, and then added slowly, "Sometimes when I trance, I see a pool of color. This time, I was surrounded by it. I thought maybe I could touch it this time, so I tried. It made me feel better, and then they hit me."

"Ah! You're the one!" said Lu.

"Well, that definitely explains things. Don't worry, Jay, you've done nothing wrong. In fact, we have you to thank for leading us to these men. We have been tracking them for months. But, it really is best if I leave explanations to those better at it than I am. Just promise me if you do another one of these trances, you won't touch anything unless there is extreme danger." Devyn watched Jaymee, a serious look on his face.

"Ok, I won't. But he wondered what was he had done.

"Ok, that's over, come on lets get you to the Singers!" said Rey. They headed out the door.