Jalia in the North (Jalia - World of Jalon) (12 page)

An hour later a grinning Jalia pranced out of Mart’s private office and announced to the world that she was going out to see the sights of Taybee.

A few minutes later, a dazed looking Mart wandered into the common room and poured himself a tankard of ale before sitting with Daniel.

“Do I still wear my trousers?” he asked in a serious voice.

“She drives a hard bargain when she’s in the mood.”

“Hard is not the word to describe that girl. Even though she is your partner it would have only been fair to warn me first.” Mart took a large swig of ale. “I think I may be able to turn a profit on what she sold me, but it will be hard work.”

“She must be slipping.”

“I note young trader, that she didn’t give you any of the coins she extracted from me before she left.”

“I would have been surprised if she had. Besides which, she rarely loses against anyone foolish enough to wager with her.”

“You seem unconcerned that a young woman who you claim some intimacy with, has gone out into the most lawless place I have ever known, with an amount of money that many here would kill for.” Mart slammed his tankard down on the table and glared at Daniel as if he couldn’t believe he cared so little.

“If you were to see Jalia fight and were then asked to describe her, her trading skills would not merit a mention. And if she breaks your town it will be no great loss.” Daniel smiled.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed at the comfort of a warm room and a full belly. He had taken the opportunity to order and eat a meal while Jalia and Mart bargained.

“So should I instruct Tam to get ready to bar the door for when the city guards come a calling?” Mart asked. He had noted Jalia’s sword and knife when they first met. If Daniel was this unconcerned about her, then she knew how to use them.

“She rarely brings trouble directly home, though it does follow her as if they were old friends.” Daniel smiled again at Mart. “I don’t think she will bring it back tonight, so relax.”

“If this girl is so much trouble, why do you stay with her? You look like a decent young man who could settle down anywhere and be welcome.”

“You’re the second person to ask me that in the last month.” Daniel leaned towards Mart. “The first was Jalia after we encountered a problem on the road. I will tell you this Mart. Jalia completes me, when I am not with her it is as if something is missing, and I look around in puzzlement for it.”

Mart shrugged.

“And where she goes things get better. Not because she plans it, but because that is the way the world changes around her.”

Daniel settled back in his chair, “I will give you an example by telling you what happened on the road before we reached this place. We met a man on the road, a fur trapper and trader who called himself Will. Have you heard of him?”

“No,” said Mart, casting his mind back over the many people he had met, “Trapping fur was common in the north until the lust for gold brought most men down from the hills.”

“He drugged Jalia and took her. We were forced to kill him.”

Mart shrugged, such things happened everywhere, mountain men stealing women to take as wives. His eldest daughter had suffered just such a fate though he still hoped to hear from her someday.

“We found he had been taking women for many years, using them over the winter and killing them in the spring. We found their bodies preserved in the cave where he killed them.”

Mart felt a sense of shock and apprehension. Mountain men rarely killed the women they took because women were so precious. He didn’t want to hear any more of this, but he found himself asking Daniel a question.

“How many did he kill?”

“We found six bodies of girls in the cave. We buried them in a clearing, wrapped in that bastard’s furs. He kept them naked, as he had with Jalia.”

Mart wanted to ask what the girls looked like, but he knew that was stupid as they had been dead for years. Daniel noticed Mart had gone white and realized this man might have lost someone close to him.

“Their clothes were piled in separate heaps and we brought one distinctive item from each pile with us. Perhaps you would care to look at them?”

Mart nodded numbly and Daniel left the common room for his room. Daniel thought Mart might follow, but he stayed sat in his chair. Daniel found the bag with the clothes in and brought it down. He placed it in front of Mart and opened the leather straps.

“I can tell you have lost someone. Are you sure you want to look?”

Mart didn’t answer, but grabbed the bag and started taking out the clothes. When he got to a pretty red silk scarf, the bag fell from his hands and he held the scarf to his face. Daniel said nothing and waited.

“You killed this man?” Mart asked.

“I made quite sure he was dead and left his body for wild dogs to find and eat.” Daniel said as if discussing the weather.

“And you buried the bodies of the …,” Mart could not complete the sentence.

“We found a clearing in the forest and buried them there. I piled up rocks on the grave to the point where I can be sure that no wild animal will ever disturb them.”

“Have your trade goods back, your lodging are free for as long as you want,” Mart stood up as if to go.

“Anything you negotiated with Jalia would be more than fair. I would not dream of taking anything back.”

“Can I keep the scarf?” Mart asked, but it wasn’t really a question. Daniel nodded.

“The clothes belong to the other girls. Perhaps you would know who to show them to? That’s why we brought them with us.”

Mart picked up the bag and began to walk from the room, as he reached the door he turned to Daniel, “I understand what you mean about your woman. Wrongs are righted in her path, terrible things happen as well. I would bid you goodnight, sir. Perhaps we may talk again tomorrow?”

“I would welcome it.”

An Old Friend

Jalia was enjoying herself. Taybee might be full of drunks, but every bar she entered made her feel more alive. The first place she found was a brothel. Girls danced naked on a stage and men ogled them as drinks were purchased for outrageous prices. It was not the kind of place Jalia wanted to stay, because men got the wrong idea. This was a shame because the music was like nothing she had ever heard and got her heart racing. But after knocking out two of the more adventurous drunks, she knew her time was up and she should leave.

What she was looking for was a place to play cards or roll dice, failing that a private bath house where she could bathe in privacy would do just fine. What she found first was a gambling house, which wasn’t all that surprising given the general level of hygiene she saw around her.

The gambling house was out of the way on a side street and the side street was very narrow. She might have missed it entirely, but for a well-dressed man with the look of a card sharp swaggering down the street and into a building. She followed him and found herself in a large windowless room. A fog of smoke hung in the air. The men were smoking short pipes of a type Jalia was unfamiliar with, though the rank smell of the narcotics filling the air was familiar.

Men playing cards can be recognized anywhere, the way they hold themselves reveals their tension and their stillness is distinctive, if not unique. Jalia took one look and realized she was back on familiar ground.

Most men are wary of letting women into their game. Women tend to treat the game less seriously than them and had been known to make ungracious remarks when they lose. Jalia compensated for this prejudice by the simple practice of placing a large amount of money on the table. In this case, she used an enormous amount of money, because gold had so little value.

“Sit down and join the game, honey,” a large man wearing a strange hat told her. Jalia pulled a chair to the table.

“Your fellow players are Thent, Sam and Dant. My name is Carn. And your name is…?” The man said as the players around the table nodded towards her.

“My name is Jalia and I like high-stakes card games.”

“I think we’re going to get on fine,” Carn said as he began to deal.

Two hours later, Jalia started to build her winnings. They were still relatively small, but she knew she had to play the others so they didn’t suspect just how good she was. Otherwise, they would ask her to leave, if she was lucky. Sometimes gamblers could become violent after losing their money.

She was about to claim a large pot when a voice sounded behind her. “Jalia al’Dare, as I live and breathe. You men should know you’re playing the best card sharp Bagdor ever bred, and she was that when she was twelve years old.”

The men dropped their cards face down on the table and retrieved their money from the pot. One look told Jalia they weren’t going to be playing cards with her any more, this night or ever again. Jalia was furious, but picked up her money and left the table.

The man who waited to greet her grinned as if they were old friends, though she didn’t have a clue who the idiot was. Her dearest desire was to plunge a knife into his stomach or perhaps to cut his throat, but Daniel would be upset if she did either. As it was, she tried to smile at him. If Daniel had seen the smile she managed he would have put a stout door between them.

“You don’t recognize me, do you?” The man was in his late twenties, with hair cut severely short and wearing clothes not dissimilar to what the guards on the gates wore, but without the breastplate.

“No, but I do know you stopped me winning money tonight.”

“Oh, sorry about that.” The man smiled at her. “But I used to bounce you on my knee and I couldn’t resist calling out and telling someone. I am Malfa a’Dant and once upon a time you went around telling everyone you were going to marry me when you grew up.”

Jalia stared at the man. She remembered Malfa and thought she would have recognized him instantly. He had been one of her father’s workers and his most trusted man. When she had been little he seemed grown up and attractive, but before she reached puberty she lost her faith in good looks.

She used to flirt with him, as she did with all her father’s men. It amused her, and it helped to get them to do what she wanted. The man in front of her had lost the innocence in his eyes he use to have. There was something close to a sneer on his face that appeared to have stuck to his lips and twisted them.

Jalia had no doubt now that this was Malfa a’Dant. The question was whether she wanted to know a man who had changed almost beyond recognition, and was stupid or arrogant enough to wreck her card game.

“You left my father’s employ, what… four years ago? What are you doing in Taybee?” Jalia asked while keeping her distance.

“How is your dad? I came north seeking my fortune and I’ve found it.” Malfa gestured to his tunic and for the first time Jalia saw it was a uniform. “I’m Captain of the Guard and report directly to Baron Tynes.” Malfa obviously thought this was an important job because of the way he stuck his chest out as he spoke.

“You run the rabble that steals from honest traders as they enter the city? You should be ashamed of yourself.” Jalia wasn’t at all surprised he was involved with the crooks at the gate.

“We keep the city safe and the taxes keep the citizens from starving,” Malfa responded vigorously, stung by her comment.

“I’ve walked this town. It is full of gold prospectors flush with finds and looking for some fun. They pay generously for entertainment and a chance to get drunk out of their minds. Any town could live off the proceeds without the need of taxes to get in or out.”

“We tax the bars and entertainment places as well,” Malfa admitted.

“So how much money does it take to keep the remaining citizens in food?”

“There are overheads to meet, the guards have to be paid, and the prison is full to overcrowded.”

“No doubt full of those unable to pay your outrageous taxes.”

Jalia noted that Malfa flushed instead of responding. It looked as though her comment had hit too near the mark for his comfort.

“I’m in a good job and you can be fined for criticizing the guard, so I’ll trust you to keep a civil tongue in your head. And you never told me how your father is.”

“My father is dead and has been for over two years. His business is closed for good and I’m on the road, seeking my fortune.”

“I’m sorry. Your father was a good man and treated me well.”

Malfa looked upset and Jalia decided she spoke too harshly. He had been a good worker and a solid friend for many years.

“So am I,” Jalia said and held out her hand to Malfa, “Let’s start again shall we? It’s good to see you, Malfa.” The two formally shook hands and Malfa invited Jalia to sit at a table. He ordered drinks of some kind of fiery liquor, drank the contents of his glass down in one gulp, and ordered another. Jalia sipped at the drink, her lips barely touching it. She preferred her senses to be sharp and unhindered in case of trouble.

“Are you still with that alchemist, Marco?” Malfa asked. When he left Bagdor Jalia had been fourteen and everybody knew she had a sexual relationship with the significantly older apprentice alchemist.

“He was never more than a friend,” Jalia said and Malfa raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “He was useful to me; that’s all.”

“I could be useful to you,” Malfa said sliding his hand across her back, “The Captain of the guard could resolve that minor problem you have with paying your taxes for example.” Malfa’s hand curled around Jalia slim waist and he drew her towards him, stopping suddenly when cold steel intersected with his trousers and pricked lightly against his manhood.

“The last man who tried to take me against my will is now a heap of gnawed bones up in the northern mountains,” Jalia said mildly, as Malfa carefully and slowly withdrew his arm from around her waist.

“I have a large house with servants. You’re no stranger to relations with men, so why not me?” Malfa protested as he kept his hands well clear of his weapons and in Jalia’s sight.

“I choose my bedfellows and it will never be you,” Jalia said, as her knife vanished as quickly as it has appeared.

“Is the daughter of the master trader Turan al’Dare too good for a commoner like me?”

“No, as it happens I’m quite fond of wild sex with penniless trader boys, but not with you, Malfa. You have become a user of people, rather than being one of them.” Jalia slid to her feet and turned to walk out of the room.

“Get back here and offer your body to me,” Malfa’s voice shook with rage, “I can have any woman I want in this city and I want you.”

Jalia laughed and continued walking to the door.

“I’ll strip you of everything you have. I’ll take the man you came here with and work him to death in the prison. When I’ve finished with you, you’ll beg to grant me favors in bed and accept any punishment I give you as a gift.” Malfa was almost incandescent with anger.

“If it wasn’t that Daniel has asked me not to kill people without a really good reason you’d be dead now.” Jalia smiled sweetly at Malfa as she lolled against the edge of the door looking back at him. “You aren’t worth killing. Please don’t make it worth my while, if you have any remaining sense at all.”

Jalia swung herself around the door leaving Malfa in the room behind her. She walked back to the main street.

The fun had vanished from the evening. Though merriment was going on all around her, Jalia was no longer interested in joining the revelers. She headed off sullenly towards the Jumping Trout.

She could tell Malfa was following her before she had walked more than a hundred yards. It was the work of a few minutes to lose him in the back streets and make her way back alone.

Daniel was going to be mad at her for causing trouble with the very people he was hoping to smooth talk, but Jalia knew it couldn’t be helped. She knew she must tell Daniel what happened, because his life might be in danger if she didn’t.

When she reached the hostelry the snow that had been dropping as odd flakes all day became a snowstorm. It looked as though she and Daniel were about to find out what a northern winter was like.