Jalia At Bay (Book 4) (27 page)

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” the Lord Protector said, holding out his hand to Jalia. Gal Sorn was smitten by Jalia the moment he saw her and wondered how he might contrive to bed her. If Gally was the epitome of refinement encasing pure venom, Jalia was the warrior princess out of a story-book with long legs and the most amazing eyes.

Some might have taken Jalia’s slim form for boyishness. Gal liked his women young, or at the least to look young. He took Jalia to be no more than eighteen years old, which was an accurate guess.

Jalia held up her hand in a ladylike manner and allowed Gal to kiss it as if it was her due. Gal lingered over the gesture of greeting far too long, but Jalia appeared not to notice. The sudden flash of jealousy in Gally’s eyes spoke volumes to her, though she didn’t see any immediate gain to that particular information.

Gally decided not to be outdone and offered her hand to Daniel. Daniel took it and shook it politely, much to Gally’s disappointment.

“You must be Daniel al’Degar,” Gally said, breaking the slightly awkward silence that developed as her uncle made no attempt to relinquish Jalia’s hand. “I had heard you were younger.”

“Traveling with Jalia has been known to age a man more than his years.”

“Forgive our intrusion,” Jalia said quickly. Mainly in an attempt to stop Daniel saying something he shouldn’t. Gally breasts were not that much larger than her own, but she was an attractive woman and that always made Daniel act stupid. “We have reason to believe that the Lady Sorn might have in her possession some small trinkets of ours.”

“I very much doubt that,” Gally said with a laugh. “We have never met before, of that I am sure.”

“You were recently in Sweetwater, my lady,” Jalia said casually, as if mentioning that the weather had been poor that day. “We had been robbed on that day by a man called Adon Taldon, who sold some of our property in the Lord’s House.”

Gal broke into the conversation in a voice expressing astonishment. “You were robbed by a local peasant? I had heard you two were more than capable of looking after yourselves.”

“Adon Taldon got lucky that morning. His luck ran out before the fall of night,” Daniel replied grimly. His tone caused the conversation to fall into a lull.

“Two trinkets of little value, except sentimental, were taken from us,” Jalia said, breaking the silence. “We understand that one of them you bought and the other was given to you.”

Gally realized they had come to take the ring and the dagger. She had no intention of giving either of them back, but saying so was not the way the rich and powerful played such games.

“This ring, perhaps?” Gally said waving Jalia’s magic ring in her face, “And an amazingly sharp dagger?” Gally wore a broad smile so false it might have been painted onto her face. “You are right though, they have little intrinsic value.”

Jalia’s smile looked genuine, though Gally saw through it instantly. “They are keepsakes of our poor dead parents. The ring was the dying gift of my mother and the blade was Daniel’s father’s last bequest to him. It would be an honorable deed if you were to return them.”

“Yes, it would,” Gally replied, as if she were actually considering the proposition. “However, the ring is to be a gift to my mother on my return and I would look like a very churlish child if I failed to take her one. The dagger also has sentimental value, given to me by a fine young guard going by the name of Gralt.”

“Grilt, my lady,” Jalia corrected. She was having some difficulty not grinding her teeth, but somehow managed to keep the smile on her face.

“Whatever,” Gally responded without concern at her mistake. “I shall never forget how the warmth of his eyes gave me comfort when we braved the nights out in the Northern Forest. Never knowing when we might be attacked.”

“He is in Boathaven this very day,” Daniel told her. “Perhaps the Lady Gally would like to come into the town with us and renew her acquaintance?”

“That is such a kind thought,” Gally said.

Daniel thought she might be about to pat him on the head like a clever little dog. “However, I am sailing on the Steam Dragon tonight and have yet to pack for the journey.”

“What an amazing coincidence,” Jalia exclaimed in false delight. “So are we. Perhaps we might discuss this matter further when we are on the river?”

“What a shame,” Gal broke in. “I was hoping that you would be spending time in Boathaven and we could become better acquainted. There are stories about the two of you that I would like to hear told from your own lips and now I am to be denied them.”

Despite his words, Daniel would have bet money that Gal was actually delighted they were leaving Boathaven. Daniel hated the world inhabited by the rich and the powerful, where every word spoken was invariably a lie.

“You must have traveled here with my good friend Hadon Mallow?” Gally enthused. “What a small world this is turning out to be. How is he, he and all his lovely trader friends?”

Daniel knew he should keep his mouth shut, but he wanted to say something that would annoy this arrogant woman and he knew just enough about her business to say the one thing that he was sure would do just that.

“Sadly two of them are dead my lady, killed by robbers just before Pegars Ford. They would have all been killed if Jalia and I had not intervened and killed the robbers. With our help, Hadon and the remainder have made their way here,
with all their trade goods intact
.”

It was a stupid thing to say, but Daniel got a great deal of satisfaction from the momentary tightening of Gally Sorn’s lips. He knew he had scored a significant point.

“Such heroes,” Gally said while smiling, wine glass held in her hand. The glass smashed as her hand convulsed upon it.

“The glass must have been flawed,” Gal exclaimed. He rushed over to Gally and carefully dried her hand with a silk handkerchief, brushing off the pieces of glass he could see. “Perhaps you will excuse us while Lady Sorn attends to her hand. Our business was concluded, was it not?”

“Of course, my lord and lady.” Jalia wore a smile on her face. She turned and Daniel followed her from the room, the guards having to hurry to catch up with them.

When they were away from the Palace, Jalia turned to Daniel and put her hands on his shoulders. She buried her face in his chest and appeared to burst into tears, her whole body heaving.

“I’m sorry, Jalia. I know I shouldn’t have said that to Lady Sorn, but the arrogant bitch was driving me crazy.”

Jalia lifted her head and Daniel saw she had been laughing.

“I was just about to throw a dagger into her throat and damn the consequences when you said that. She deliberately got Grilt’s name wrong, just to rub our noses in it. I’m not sure she ever had a mother. Did you see the way she looked at her uncle? They are surely bedding one another.”

“Really?” Daniel had missed those undertones in the conversation. “That would explain how she got the Lord Protector to issue the new law about transporting swords to Slarn.”

“I wish there was some way we could really hurt her and knock the arrogance out of her at the same time.”

“As it happens, I know a way to do just that,” Daniel replied. “We have to find Grilt and Tel though, as we will need their help.”

Back in the Palace, the Lord Protector carefully picked pieces of glass out of his niece’s hand using a pair of tweezers and a magnifying glass. Gally held her hand out as still as she could, despite the pain as each sliver was pulled free.

“I will see those two dead,” she told her uncle, “Just you see if I don’t.”

“I think their views about you are similar,” the Lord Protector said thoughtfully. “Perhaps you should delay your trip home. Wait for the next boat; it’s only ten days away.”

“I must deliver the swords personally, Gal; you know that. I will be safe enough on the boat. I have allies onboard you know nothing about.”

“If you say so,” Gal said dubiously. “However, I will instruct an extra five guards with crossbows to take up a position where they can guard the warehouse. Just in case Hadon Mallow decides to try and take his swords back. I shall give the guards orders to kill anybody who tries. You never know, you may end up not having to pay Mallow after all.”

Gally smiled at her uncle as he wiped her hand and looked again through the magnifying glass.

“It is all gone,” he said with some satisfaction and started to get up from where he had been kneeling in front of her.

“Not yet, Uncle,” Gally said putting a hand on his shoulder and pushing him down to his knees. “I have an itch between my legs that you must look at urgently.”

22.
       
Disaster

Daniel explained his plan to recover the swords and move them to the Steam Dragon as they walked through the town. It would need the help of Grilt and Tel, not to mention Hadon, his son and the other traders to carry it out.

“Carrying the bags across the open dock is the riskiest part. It would take the two of us all night. If we use everybody, we can do it in a couple of journeys,” Daniel explained.

“Isn’t Hadon a bit too law abiding to go along with all this?” Jalia asked. Daniel had explained to her how much money Gally Sorn would lose if the swords were to get onboard the ship and Jalia enthusiastically approved his plan.

Daniel’s face fell. “You’re right; he may reject the idea out of hand.”

“She has already tried to kill Hadon, which may persuade him of the justice of it.”

“Did I miss something?” Daniel asked with a puzzled look on his face. “When did she try to kill Hadon?”

“You are very slow on the uptake sometimes.” Jalia gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder. “The way Gally Sorn reacted to your comment about the robbers proves she must have been involved. You don’t crush a glass in your hand simply because you lost an opportunity to make some money.”

“She had the chance to set it up when she rode ahead of the group. But it would be extraordinary good luck to run into thieves you could buy on the way,” Daniel mused. “She must have set the whole thing up months before.”

“She looks as if she’s ruthless enough to do it to me.”

“That would mean that she must have known the Swallow couldn’t carry the whole cargo.” Daniel made a snap decision. “Let’s go to the docks first, Jalia. There’s someone we must speak to.”

Boatmaster Pund of the sailing ship Swallow was feeling pleased. He looked at the twenty pieces of gold he had been paid by Hadon Mallow. He added it to the ten pieces he was paid in advance. He followed those with the twenty pieces Lady Sorn had paid him to make sure Hadon had to travel by land. This had been his most profitable job ever. After he paid the crew, he would still have earned enough money to retire. ‘
Who says that crime doesn’t pay’
, he thought with amusement.

Pund was a rotund man who was so overweight it was surprising that he could move around at all. If he had a given name, his crew and acquaintances had no idea what it was. He always insisted on being called Boatmaster, the traditional title for a man who captained his own vessel on Lake Telmar.

He piled his coins up in the center of the table in his cabin. Pund reached to sweep them towards him, only to be stopped in his tracks as a knife embedded itself into the oak, inches from his chest.

Sweat started to form on his pudgy face as he stared at the quivering knife. He looked up to see Daniel and Jalia in his cabin. Jalia held an identical knife in her hand, ready to throw. One look in her eyes caused the sweat on Pund’s face to roll down his jowls and drip onto the table.

“You would be the Captain of the Swallow?” Daniel asked as he dropped into a chair opposite Pund.

“Boatmaster,” Pund corrected automatically. His piggy little eyes shot from Daniel to Jalia and back again. “Are you here to rob me?”

“Is stealing from a thief actually theft?” Jalia queried. “This is a lot of money for one journey. Shall I bring Hadon Mallow here to ask how much he paid you?”

“It’s my savings. All I have in the world. If you take it, I will become a pauper.”

“You’d still have your boat…, and if you were lucky, your life,” Daniel pointed out. This statement didn’t comfort Pund at all.

“Come on,” Jalia instructed Pund, “You have to go and confess to Mallow as to what you did.”

“Confession is good for the soul, they tell me,” Daniel said cheerfully.

“He’ll kill me!” Pund was in mortal terror of the idea.

“And we’ll kill you if you don’t,” Jalia explained. “The money is pretty much like a written confession of guilt anyway. Daniel, if the Boatmaster causes us any problems, I vote we kill him here and now.”

“That sounds reasonable to me. Or if he lies to Mallow when we get there.”

“Get up then, fat man,” Jalia said in Pund’s ear. He stumbled to his feet and collected his money in a bag as Jalia retrieved her knife from the table. Daniel drew his sword and kept it close to Pund’s back as they marched him up to the deck and onto the dock.

 
“I’m sorry, have your money back,” Pund sobbed as Hadon tried to suppress his rage.

“I will kill Gally Sorn,” Hadon told his fellow traders.

Daniel and Jalia found the travelers eating together in a large dining room in the Storm Dragon. Hala was there with Cara and Don. They had pushed a reluctant Boatmaster Pund into the room and made him recite his crime in front of everyone. His coin purse had fallen to the deck as he spoke, sending gold coins scattering around him. Nobody doubted his words.

“If you kill her, who will pay us?” Tonas questioned, to murmurs of approval from the other traders. It was true she was trying to rob them, but then that was what traders did for a living.

“We are fairly sure she also paid those robbers to kill you,” Daniel said loudly enough to stifle the conversation. Strangely enough, his words served to calm Hadon down. He looked speculatively at Jalia and Daniel.

“You brought Pund here to tell us this for a reason. What is it?”

“Perhaps we should put Boatmaster Pund somewhere where he can’t overhear us?” Jalia suggested.

“Easily solved,” Hadon replied. He drew his sword and stabbed it into Pund’s chest. Pund gasped in shock as the blade entered his body and he collapsed. He had so much body fat that Hadon’s thrust had not reached his heart. He pleaded with Hadon for his life. Hadon rectified his mistake a few seconds later as he leaned hard upon his sword.

“We have reason to put Gally Sorn’s nose out of joint,” Jalia said calmly, as though Hadon killing Pund had never happened. “And Daniel has a plan.”

“It will require all of us, plus Grilt and Tel to carry it out,” Daniel said, “We are going to take back the remainder of the swords and force Lady Sorn to pay you the full price for them. Considering the considerable efforts she has gone to avoid paying you, I think that will be a suitable punishment. You’ll have to pay Grilt and Tel for their efforts. Passage to Slarn and four gold pieces each seems fair.”

“Count us in,” Don Marin said unexpectedly. Everyone had forgotten he and his sister were in the room, “for the same fee.” Daniel looked to Cara, who nodded.

“There’s more than enough money lying on the floor to cover those fees,” Hadon said impatiently. “Now, how do we deal with the Lord Protector’s guards?”

The Drunken Heron was the nearest tavern to the docks. Daniel and Jalia entered it as the sun set over the town’s roofs. It was proving to be a busy afternoon. Daniel had been worried that Grilt and Tel might have moved on and was most gratified to see them sitting at a table, playing cards with three strangers.

The tavern was a typical converted house, cramped for space and reeking of beer with a fait whiff of vomit. Daniel much preferred the coffee houses of Delbon to the alcohol laden taverns of the north. The southern kings and caliphs frowned on the social unrest alcohol brought and public drinking of alcohol was banned. However, northerners enthused about their taverns and claimed that no one could live without them.

Daniel and Jalia pulled up stools and sat on either side of Grilt and Tel.

“Daniel, how marvelous to see you,” Grilt said in slightly slurred speech.

“This is Daniel al’Degar and Jalia al’Dare, the two people I was telling you about,” he informed his new friends.

The three men were a mixed bunch. The best dressed of the three was easily the youngest, being in his mid-twenties. He had a pleasant face with just a touch of hardness about the eyes, as if he had seen tough times recently and had adjusted to them.

On the young man’s left side was a man who looked a little like Grilt, undoubtedly a man who had spent a lot of his life as a guard. He was in his thirties and looked to be tough as old nails and used leather, his face was littered with scars. The third man was short and wore a long straggly black beard. His left eye was permanently set into a squint. He looked as though he had seen a lot in his life.

“Dor, Jant and Mal,” Grilt said introducing the men. “They are sailing with you on the Steam Dragon. They are from Slarn and going back,” Grilt continued. “I wish I was coming with you. From what they have been telling me, Slarn is a city you have to see before you die.”

“You may yet,” Daniel replied. “I have a job for you that includes travel costs to Slarn. For both of you.”

“We might also be interested as well,” Dor said suddenly. “Travel to Slarn is expensive and we could use the money.”

“We don’t know you three,” Jalia said. “So perhaps another time?”

“As the Lady Jalia wishes,” Dor said with a quick nod of his head. “We three will find somewhere else to continue our game and allow you to talk in private.” Dor looked at his companions and they made their way to their feet as if they had been given orders. Mal looked particularly unhappy about having to move, but said nothing.

“I am sure we will have a chance to get better acquainted on the Steam Dragon. There is little else to do but talk to each other on the voyage,” Dor said in parting.

“We want you to help us steal the swords back. Are you game?” Daniel asked as soon as the men were beyond earshot. “There may be considerable danger.”

“What’s the payment?” Grilt asked.

Daniel put four gold coins into his hand.

“Each?”

“And passage to Slarn paid by Hadon Mallow.”

“I’m in,” Tel said standing up.

“Me too,” Grilt agreed. “Let’s go and steal some swords.”

Mal nodded towards where Grilt and the others sat. “They’re up to something for sure.”

“Probably going to recover the swords that the Lord Protector confiscated,” Dor agreed. “That will save us the trouble.”

“Should we help them?” Jant asked. “The Lord Protector is bound to have set a nasty trap.”

“Those people are the infamous Degar and Dare,” Dor said thoughtfully. “Wherever they go, trouble and confusion is sure to follow. I want to see if they are as good as the stories say they are. Leave them alone and let’s see what happens.”

“They could get killed.”.

“That might save us the trouble later,” Dor said and clapped Jant on the back. “Don’t we have enough troubles of our own, without taking on theirs?”

Jant nodded, but he looked troubled. The graveyards of Slarn were full of people who underestimated the Sorn family. Some of those people were family.

“It is vital you wait for Jalia to give the all clear signal from the roof,” Daniel repeated for the third time. The reason he kept repeating it was that Hadon Mallow kept yawning whenever he said it, and he was sure that Hadon was far from sleepy.

He and Jalia had gathered the traders, Grilt, Tel, Cara, and Don just inside the Steam Dragon by the wide gangplank connecting the boat to the dock. The gangplank was actually a part of the Dragon that tilted down and outwards from its pivot on the middle deck until it rested lightly on the dock. It operated a little like a drawbridge that could be further extended if required.

It was two in the morning and the docks were quiet. Blade and Anvil were in the sky, which was cloudless. The two moons provided more light than Daniel and Jalia would have liked. The stone of the dock was light in color and would provide a sharp contrast for an archer looking for a target. The dock was wide and empty of boxes or anything else that might serve as cover as they crossed it. They had to find and deal with anyone on the roofs or this raid would turn into a massacre.

Daniel had gone over the plan with the traders until he was sick of the sound of his own voice. It was simple plan, which Daniel always felt were the best. He would walk out unarmed and apparently drunk onto the dock, singing as loudly as he could. That would divert attention from Jalia, who had found a cloak of similar color to the dock and would run directly to the nearest building. She would make her way onto the roof and begin the search for guards.

Jalia and Daniel believed the Lord Protector would have guards somewhere in the dock protecting the swords. There were only two guards guarding Lock-up Four and that was absurd given the angry confrontations that took place earlier in the day. Daniel believed they were being set up by the Lord Protector who wanted them to try and take the swords, whereupon he could kill them all.