Chapter 3: The Search Begins
As always Janara awaked when the sun shone through the window on the next morning. She got up and prepared a small breakfast. Then she went to the little bird who still slept deeply and firmly. She hated having to wake him up so early, and she wished she could let him sleep some more hours so he would recover properly. But unfortunately she had to leave the room as early as possible since she couldn't afford one more day.
Carefully she touched Iago's shoulder and said:
"Wake up! Breakfast is ready!"
Slowly the bird opened his eyes.
"Huh? Breakfast?"
Then he sat up and looked around. In front of him there lay a piece of bread, cheese and a bit Yukuma root. Next to that was a cup with water.
"Do you have the slightest idea how hungry I am? I could eat three times so much!"
Janara hadn't expected such an unfriendly answer, but she thought Iago was perhaps just a bit grumpy in the morning.
"You shouldn't eat so much yet and besides, I don't have more. With my magic I barely earn enough for myself, and if you want to have some of it, we both will have to be content with less."
Being too hungry to continue arguing Iago accepted this answer. Silently both ate their meager breakfast. Afterwards Iago tried to clean his dirty feathers in a bowl with water. While he did so, Janara packed her few belongings into two large bags.
"Why do you pack? Do you want to leave the city?", he asked curiously.
"Yes, and besides I can't afford the room any longer. If we find your friend Cassim I'll travel to the next town. Perhaps I'm luckier there ", replied the sorceress.
"Yeah, Cassim...", Iago said thoughtfully. "Where should we search?"
"I'd say we start in the tavern where you were captured. Where is it?"
Iago thought about that.
"The tavern bordered on a small place with a well in its center. It was very close at the outskirts of the city, but I don't know more. It was already too dark to make out more."
"I guess I know which tavern you mean. Only the worst men meet there. Surely no place to stay longer."
"I knew it right away!" Iago called. "But Cassim said there would be no trouble. If only he'd have listened to me!"
"Now it's too late for that. Will you finish your bath soon? We'd better go."
"Hey, don't rush me! I hate being rushed."
Iago jumped out of the bowl, shook and looked critically at himself in a mirror.
"You're not the slightest bit vain, are you?", Janara mocked.
"Well, I do not want to look like certain other people here", Iago shot back.
"What's that supposed to mean? Do you think I'm ugly?"
Iago turned and sized the girl up.
"Your clothes obviously had better days before. And you'd be surprised what a bath can do."
"Perhaps you didn't notice it yet, but I don't have so much money. I can't afford new dresses or other luxury!", Janara defended herself.
"Probably you can't do magic well enough."
"For my age I can do magic very well. But unfortunately most people don't know that. They think I'd be an ordinary trickster and no real sorceress."
"Then somebody should clear them up", Iago suggested.
"How do you mean that?", Janara asked uncomprehending.
"Well, if the people know you do real magic and don't cheat, they'd surely pay more."
"That's right, but how am I gonna do that?"
"You need publicity, you gotta do it on a large scale!" Iago got completely keen for this idea. "You gotta conjure things nobody could do even with tricks, real big hits. You mustn't give your shows outside on the marketplace, you have to go into well-visited taverns where everyone sees you! You could be the most famous sorceress of the Seven Deserts!"
"Do you really think so?" Janara was very enthusiastic about this idea. She could earn much money and buy everything she wanted.
"Can you help me with it?"
"Sure, if..." But Iago was interrupted by a knocking at the door.
"It's already nine o'clock! How long do you want to occupy the room? I need it today!", a voice behind the door yelled.
"Oh, the owner of the tavern! We have to hurry ", whispered Janara. And loudly she said:
"I'm almost ready to go! In a minute I'm away!"
The man outside muttered something and left.
"Whew, that was close", the girl said, relieved. "Listen, it would help if you behave like an ordinary parrot. This way we wouldn't attract attention on us. Okay?"
"Why am I supposed to behave like a silly birdbrain?", Iago complained.
"Do you remember what happened the last time you attracted attention on you? What happened to Cassim?
Iago only said "Oh." as he understood.
"See? So perch on my shoulder and be quiet, and we'll be fine."
Without a word Iago flew to Janara's shoulder and together they left the room.
Fortunately Janara had paid in advance, and so she and Iago could leave the tavern without problems. In the stable Janara saddled and loaded her horse Fengari, a tall grey mare with a brown mane and a white badge on her forehead. After leading her horse on the road the sorceress and the bird went to the tavern of which Iago had told.
Soon they entered a place with a well in its center, and as Iago recognized the place he whispered: "Here is it. In the house over there ", and pointed at a shabby building over whose entrance a sign hung, showing a skull and a beer jug. Without hesitation Janara went towards the house, but in front of the door she stopped.
"In there you must not say a single word, remember?"
"I know, I know. I already got it when you told me the first time!", Iago replied impatiently.
Janara nodded and entered the tavern. The room stank of alcohol and everywhere leftovers and other garbage lay around, but nobody sat at the tables. In a corner a young man scrubbed a dirty table and at the bar the landlord wiped glasses. He only noticed Janara when she sat down directly before him. He immediately grinned and asked:
"Well, young lady, what can I do for you? We're closed, so... "
But the sorceress didn't let him finish the sentence.
"About a week ago a man was arrested here. Do you know something about it?"
"Guys are often arrested here. You gotta get a bit more exact, honey."
Janara ignored the "honey" and replied:
"He was called Cassim and he had a parrot with him."
"Ah, you're talkin' about the King of Thieves? Yeah, that was somthin' special. A tremendous fortune was offered for his head, 'cause he'd attacked our city and caravans with his thieves a few times. Some men cought him and cashed the money ", the landlord answered. Then he noticed Iago.
"His parrot looked exactly the same like yours. I guess the King of Thieves owes being cought to that little beast. If he hadn't been busy with the bird, he'd surely have noticed the men in time."
Hearing these words Iago would have almost protested, but he remembered his role just in time and so he only let out a parrot-typical "Awk!".
The landlord and Janara had a brief look at Iago.
"Well, your parrot looks exactly the same, but it's obviously not the pet of this thief", the landlord said disparagingly. "It could really talk. It screamed somethin' like "Hey, what's going on?" before they threw it into a cage. Later they took it to the marketplace. Will be still there, I guess."
Iago's croak and the last remark of the landlord proved Janara was on the right track. Now she only had to find out where Cassim was for the moment.
"And where did they take the thief afterwards?"
The landlord thought not for long.
"They'll have taken him to the prison, where riff-raff like him belong. They'll enjoyed the day with the money, I guess."
That was everything Janara needed.
"Thanks for your help and good-bye!"
The landlord called "Don't you want to join me a bit longer, honey?", but Janara had already left the tavern and only stopped in a dark alley. She had a score to settle with Iago.
"The King of Thieves?! You expect me to free the King of Thieves from prison? Have you ever thought about the fact that he perhaps deserved being there?"
Of that Iago had been afraid the whole time. Now Janara wouldn't help him any longer, although they had almost found Cassim. However, he had to try to convince her.
"He has changed! A few years ago he met his son and since then didn't steal anymore! Please, you have to help me. You can't stop, now that we already almost found him!"
"Come on, don't yell around here that loudly, or someone will hear you ", Janara reassured the bird flapping upset in the air. "If you say he's changed, I'll help you to find him. But I don't want to have anything more to do with the King of Thieves afterwards, okay?"
"But he's not the King of Thieves anymore! He's an honest treasure hunter, just like me!"
"Calm down, Iago. I help you. Let's go to the prison and see whether your friend is there." Relieved the parrot sat down on her shoulder again, and after Janara had mounted her horse the two rode to the city prison.
The prison already offered a deterring sight from the outside. Between crumbling façade there were some small, bared windows, through which the prisoners could see a bit sunlight. Janara actually didn't really want to know how it looked like behind the walls of the building, but she had promised Iago to help him with the search for Cassim. However, on the way a terrible possibility had occurred to her. What if Cassim had already been punished for his actions? In the usual way, with rope or axe? Her guts twisted at the very thought, and she wished for Iago's sake that it hadn't got so far. But she had to prepare the little bird for the worst, whether she liked or not.
"Uh, Iago..." Janara started, but she was immediately cut off by the parrot.
"I know! I must not say a single word. How stupid do you actually think I am?"
Janara was completely taken aback by this reaction, but she regained her composure again quickly.
"Er, no, that wasn't what I actually wanted to say..."
"No? Did you perhaps want to say 'Be quiet, or we'll be done for '?"
Janara slowly got angry. Couldn't this bird just shut up for one moment?
"Now, listen to me! I want you to know that maybe something happened to Cassim."
Immediately Iago's face changed from annoyed and angry to concerned.
"What do you mean?", he asked worried.
"Uh... It's possible that someone already punished him. For the things he did, you know."
"Well?", Iago replied impatiently.Janara was surprised about the denseness the bird showed. Finally she took a deep breath and voiced her fear.
"It's possible that Cassim has been executed."
For a short instant it seemed as if all color had gone away from Iago's bright red feathers and his eyes widened when he realized what Janara had just said. But the next moment he was himself again and said:
"I'm already worried enough about him without you telling me he's maybe already dead. And now let's finally go in there!"
Janara sighed sadly, for she realized there was no point in arguing with the bird. She had told him what she wanted to say, and now she could only hope it wouldn't have been necessary.
The inside of the prison looked just as shabby as the outer wall. It was dark and musty and Janara almost wouldn't have seen the dirty, fat guard, sitting in a corner. A brief look through the room told her that Cassim wasn't there since all cells were empty. But if Cassim was not there...
She turned to the guard and asked:
"Where is Cassim, the King of Thieves?"
The man seemed to wake up from a deep sleep and looked at her with dull eyes.
"What do you want here? Girls have no business to be here!"
Patiently Janara repeated her question. When the guard didn't want to answer, she asked sweetly:
"And what if I would offer you a nice gold coin in return for the information?"
The guard looked skeptically at her.
"You don't look as if you'd have more than a few lousy copper coins!"
Janara smiled mysteriously, slowly stretched her hand clenched to a fist and opened it just before the nose of the man. On her palm lay a large, shining gold coin, which sparkled seductively. Janara heard Iago gasping on her shoulder and smiled even more. The guard greedily reached out his fat fingers for the piece of gold, but Janara withdrew her hand very quickly. Her illusions were perfect as long as you only looked at them, but as soon as they were touched by anyone except herself, they vanished into thin air.
Keeping the hand with the not-existing piece of gold firmly closed the young sorceress said:
"Oh, no. First the answer, then the money."The guard growled reluctantly, but then he answered:
"Cassim isn't here anymore."
Janaras lost all her hope. So they were indeed already too late...
But the guard hadn't finished.
"He was kidnapped one night. Some men broke in, overwhelmed the guards on duty and forced Cassim to come with them. It seemed as if he hadn't known the guys, so it was probably no planned breakout. They're said to have escaped on the East Road."
Janara and Iago listened attentively to the guard. Cassim not seemed to be dead, but having been kidnapped wasn't that much better.
Having said everything he knew, the guard demanded impatiently:
"And now pass the gold!"
That was her cue. Janara turned so fast that Iago would have almost fallen of her shoulder, and ran to the door. But she got not far since the guard had followed her and was now gripping her. The sorceress let the large gold coin appear in her hand again. But before the guard could reach for it, she threw it through the air into the most distant corner of the room. Janara had to concentrate much, so the coin hit the ground reliably and remained lying. As she had expected the guard released her at once and ran to the piece of gold. However, Janara didn't wait for it to dissolve in his hands, but quickly ran outside, moaned her horse and galloped along the road until she was far enough from the prison.
In a small alley she dismounted and looked carefully around the corner to see whether somebody followed them. When Iago had recovered from the shock of this rash flight, he exclaimed:
"Wow, that was great! Where did you get this gold coin from? I thought you'd be desperatly poor!"
Janara laughed. Iago still believed it would have been a real coin.
"But that was only an illusion! I often do it, it's my specialty. The audience loves seeing how I let things appear and disappear again ", Janara stated. A bit complacently she added:
"Anyway, this piece was something special; I never have let something fly and hit the ground before. Actually, it wasn't bad for the first time."Iago really liked the idea of money one could create that easily.
"So why don't you pay with those coins? You could buy everything! It looked really authentic."
"My illusions may look authentic, but that's already everything", Janara said regretting. "As soon as I lose sight of them or someone touches them, they disappear. I really had to concentrate much to be able to throw the coin a while ago."
When she saw Iago's disappointed face, she added sadly:
"Obviously I'm not a very good sorceress, hu?"
"Oh, I don't know", replied Iago. "I never met a sorcerer who could conjure up money, not even Jafar. He made a great fuss about his magic, and as far as I can tell he was rather powerful, but he couldn't create money nevertheless."
Janara smiled because of this gingerly attempt of Iago to comfort her.
"Thank you."
"For what?", Iago asked immediately.
"Oh, never mind."
One moment there was an awkward silence, but then Iago remarked slowly:
"Well, it seems as if Cassim isn't in the city anymore..."
"It seems so...", Janara said just as slowly.
"Well then, er, thanks for your help and... good-bye."
With that Iago turned and flew a few feet, but stopped at once, when Janara called:
"Wait! Where do you want to go?"
"Well, search for Cassim! What did you think?"
"But you can't just fly off without knowing where to look for!"
Iago hesitated.
"The guard said the kidnappers would've escaped on the East Road, so I'll fly along there."
"The East Road is very dangerous! Everywhere bandits lurk and besides the next oasis is six days away. Without a store of water you'd die of thirst!"
Iago knew the dangers awaiting him on a journey through the desert, but he had no choice.
"I have to try. Certainly I'll meet a caravan with which I can travel."
"But..."
"If you don't have any helpful suggestions," Iago interrupted her impatiently, "I'll be on my way now."
Again Iago turned and flew down the road. Janara gazed after him and was torn. On the one hand she didn't want to go on a dangerous and probably hopeless search for the King of Thieves, but on the other hand she couldn't let Iago fly into disaster. Alone the little bird had no chance to survive, but her help probably wouldn't make a difference.
When Iago had already almost disappeared behind the next corner, Janara made her decision.
"Iago, wait!"
"What do you..."
"I'll come with you!"
Janara mounted her horse and caught up with the waiting bird.
"You need some company", she justified smiling her decision. Iago perched on her shoulder and said shrugging "If you say so", but in fact he was very glad to have the help of a sorceress. Janara steered the horse on the East Road and after half an hour they left the city of Djel behind.