Book Two Excerpt Three

Jiron waits until the first guard has passed over halfway past the front of the house and then leaves his hiding spot in the shadows by the wall, silently running to the side of the house. Ducking behind a bush, he makes it just as the second guard turns the corner. He holds still and waits until the guard passes by.
Looking up, he sees the window to the room that he believes James is in just above his head on the second floor. The window by him on the first floor is ajar so he waits for the first guard to pass again before quietly opening it and slipping into the house.
The room he’s in looks to be a library, shelves of books line the walls and several comfortable looking chairs are spaced around the room. James would love this, he thinks. A single door leads from the room and into the house. Going over to it, he places his ear against it and listens for any sound coming from the other side. Not hearing anything, he opens the door a crack and finds the hallway on the other side to be dark and empty.
Exiting the room, he closes the door behind him and then looks down both directions of the hallway. To the right he sees a barely perceptible light, so he moves silently down the hallway towards it. He passes several doors and comes to a flight of stairs leading up, where the light is coming from. The flickering of an unseen torch seems to be the source for the light.
Taking the steps quickly and quietly, he ascends to the top where he pauses to look around the corner. Several burning torches line the empty hallway, allowing no shadows to conceal himself in. A door further down the hallway stands ajar several inches and voices can be heard emanating from within.
He decides to risk detection and creeps quickly down the hallway to the door, peering inside. He sees several people within, including the brown robe. James is lying upon a bed to the side of the room and one of the men is examining his eyes. The man turns to the mage and says something as he lets go of James’ eyelids, allowing them to close.
All of James’ things are sitting on top of a nearby table, including the medallion that he’d used to open the secret door back in the City. A few more words are exchanged and then they all start to move towards the door where Jiron is peering in.
Panicking, Jiron bolts to the stairs and descends to the bottom as fast as he can to avoid being seen. Once there, he listens and hears them going down the hallway in the opposite direction. Relieved at not being found out, he again creeps to the top of the stairs and peers around the corner. Two guards stand at the door to the room holding James.
He sits there and ponders the situation. Apparently, they’re not going to interrogate James immediately, it didn’t look as if he was even conscious. Gotta get in that room!