Jalia in the North (Jalia - World of Jalon) (4 page)

No Longer at Bay

Jalia left Daniel on the far side of Ranwin Bridge and made her way to Baltar. Daniel returned to Drall Pador’s village to recover his donkeys, their goods and Jalia’s horse.

Drall welcomed him into his home with open arms and his wife, a plump woman called Sansay who never stopped smiling, rushed to heat up a meal. Her face fell when Daniel told her Jalia would not be joining them, but would meet him at dawn back at the bridge.

Drall looked uncomfortable and asked Daniel about Ranwin.

“You are the first to return from Ranwin in living memory,” he said, pouring Daniel a cup of tea.

“I expect trade will return to Ranwin soon and the city is going to attract a lot of young men over the coming years,” Daniel said between mouthfuls of stew. He had noticed Drall’s discomfort, but was sure the man would tell him what was bothering him eventually.

Drall frowned.

“I don’t understand. Why would the city of Ranwin want young men?”

“It’s not a matter of what they want, but it is what they need. You’ll find out soon enough.”

Drall let the conversation lapse. Daniel ate his stew and drank his tea while Drall twiddled his thumbs and seemed unable to sit still.

“I gave away half of your trade goods,” he blurted as Daniel mopped the last of the stew with crusty bread warm from the oven. Daniel chewed the bread slowly and swallowed. Then he picked up his cup and drank the last of the tea.

“Half of my goods?”

“And most of your money. I will pay you back, though I don’t know when. You have to understand, families came to me pleading for charity. There were young children that would have starved, Daniel. I know I did wrong, but I was certain you would never return.” Drall sounded close to tears.

“You didn’t give away Jalia’s horse or saddle did you?” Daniel asked, “She would find it difficult to forgive you that.”

“No, your donkeys, her horse and your packs are safe,” Drall was crying as Sansay entered the room. She went over to comfort him.

“You told me Daniel gave you permission, my husband. What have you done?”

“Nothing.” Daniel rose from the table. “Thank you for looking after the animals, I will collect them and be on my way.” Daniel went to the stable and started getting the animals ready to travel.

Drall arrived a few minutes after Daniel. He had the purse with what was left of Daniel and Jalia’s money in his hand. “They would have starved, Daniel.”

Daniel took the purse from Drall’s outstretched hand and fastened it to his belt, then continued to get the animals ready without saying a word. Sansay arrived at the door with what must have been all the food in the house, packed and ready for travel. She handed it to Daniel before hugging him and returning to the house.

“You look older, Daniel. As if several years has passed since I last saw you. I am sorry, but I did what I thought was right,” Drall said as he sat on a bale of hay. Daniel stopped tightening the girth on Jalia’s horse and turned to him.

“Today I killed three hundred men. They were not good people, but I expect that not all of them deserved to die. I did not expect you to keep your word to the letter, but men have been killed for taking less than you have stolen from us.” Daniel turned back to his animals.

Drall looked aghast. Three hundred dead was inconceivable, battles had been fought where fewer people had died. He didn’t doubt Daniel’s word for a moment. He had sensed something different about Daniel from the moment they met, but no one ever returned from Ranwin and families would have starved.

“Kill me then. I stole from you and I deserve to die.” Drall stood his arms outstretched presenting his body to Daniel. Daniel’s dagger flew from his belt and spun, hovering inches from Drall’s throat. Drall blanched as the blade moved nearer. He had never seen magic before, let alone been its intended target. Then the dagger shot back to its sheath at Daniel’s belt.

Daniel spoke softly, not looking at Drall. “I died for a time today. There has been more than enough killing. A mad king is dead along with his soldiers and let that be an end to it.” Daniel took the reins to Jalia’s grey and those of Ferd. “You should not offer your life up so freely, Drall. There is no honor in death.”

Daniel reached the bridge a few hours before dawn and found a place to doze. He was woken by Jalia’s shouting.

“Daniel! Come and see what I’ve brought you.” Daniel dragged his eyelids open and gazed up to see an elegant black horse, saddled and ready to ride. He inspected the animal while Jalia beamed with delight.

The horse was magnificent, its breeding shouting out to him even as it pranced as he held its head. “You won him?”

“Naturally, and I’ve brought you a sword to go with it.” Jalia threw him a sword in its scabbard. Daniel drew the blade from its scabbard and admired its sharpness and balance.

He shook his head. “I’m not sure I should. I stopped wearing a sword because when men saw a small round-faced boy with one, they insisted on proving how superior their skills. I’ve found those men didn’t much like it when I beat them.”

“You are not a round faced boy anymore, Daniel. You’ve aged; more since yesterday. Besides which, I’m not looking around to find you a sword every time we get into trouble.”

“Are we in trouble because of the horse and the sword?” Daniel asked as a sinking feeling hit the pit of his stomach.

“No, stop worrying, everything is sweet. I left them with enough of their money not to get that angry.”

“Speaking of money, Drall gave half of ours away. Not to mention all the trade goods.” Daniel waited for the inevitable outburst of anger from Jalia.

“But he left my saddle alone?” Jalia asked, apparently unbothered by the news.

“Yes. But what’s that got to do with it?” Jalia went over to her horse and after a few seconds staying hidden from Daniel’s view, turned around revealing a leather pouch, which she threw at Daniel.

“Unlike you, Daniel my dear innocent, I take precautions when it comes to dealing with village elders.”

The pouch was filled with gold coins, rings and trinkets that Daniel didn’t know they had. He threw the pouch back at her and smiled.

“Real traders ride donkeys, camels or walk. It will raise eyebrows if I ride a horse.”

“Let the eyebrows rise. They do whenever people see me.”

“I think that’s more to do with the short skirt and the shape of your legs,” Daniel said as he mounted his horse, “I shall call him Jet. What do you think?”

“I’ve avoided naming mine because I don’t usually keep them that long. But if your horse is to be Jet, mine will be Swift.” Jalia mounted her horse and shouted “Race you over the bridge” as she rode away.

Daniel looked at his donkeys. Jalia knew he would never leave them to race her. He sighed and leaned low on his saddle to grab Ferd’s rope before leading the train to the bridge. He had to admit that riding a horse was much better than walking. He just hoped he wasn’t going to go soft.

They took the magician’s road towards Telmar, but didn’t push the animals hard. The road was made of stone blocks that were hard on unshod hooves. Jalia, as usual, was full of life despite having barely slept in two day. Daniel was convinced that she had refreshed herself sleeping in the dungeon. She was that kind of person.

“Daniel, is your brother as good a swordsman as you?” Jalia asked.

“No. Father trained him to be competent in a fight, but he was obsessed with training me.”

“Why?”

“He said that my inheritance meant I was doomed to either greatness or an early death. But I didn’t have an inheritance and when I asked him about it he laughed. He once said that he wished I was completely his son. My mother was there at the time, her face turned red and she fled the room. I never understood that either.”

Jalia formed her own interpretation of those events, but kept her mouth from running off unchecked as it usually did. “If you are going to be the High King then I want to be a goddess.”

“You’re already a goddess to me. What do you call the Goddess of Trouble?”

Daniel was kept busy for a few minutes as he discovered that offending the Goddess of Trouble when she was carrying a sword was not entirely wise.

It was late that evening as they were looking for somewhere to camp that they spotted trouble ahead on the road. Someone had made camp near to a small brook and a cluster of trees.
 
It must have been a popular place to stop as the ground was rutted with cart tracks. A campfire burned between their covered wagon and the brook.

However, the clash of metal on metal was a sign something untoward was going on. The shrieking of a woman was another, not insignificant, clue.

The camp was about a third of a mile away. Jalia pulled Swift off the road onto softer ground before she galloped towards it. She whooped and shrieked to let the raiders know she was coming. With luck they would run away.

Daniel dropped the rope to his donkeys and told Ferd to stay where he was before guiding Jet off the road and chased after Jalia. Ferd snorted in disgust and led his train towards a particularly succulent patch of glass.

As Jalia got closer to the camp she saw a man and a woman defending the wagon against three attackers. As she watched the man was struck and fell to the ground. Her continuing yells had some effect, as the three attackers looked and saw her approaching. Jalia wasn’t aware of it, but they could see Daniel catching up behind her.

That made the odds far too close to even and the men backed away. The woman saw her man lying on the ground and ran at the three men screaming defiance. One of the men cut her down. The attackers ran into the trees, disappearing from sight almost immediately in the gathering gloom.

Jalia dismounted and ran to the woman. She was still alive, but only just. As Jalia lifted her, the woman gasped out her final words.

“Promise me, Protect my babies,” Her hand gripped Jalia’s arm with grim determination.

“Yes, of course. I promise,” Jalia said, and the woman’s face relaxed as she died.

Jalia turned around to see Daniel examining the man. He shook his head as she looked at him.

A baby started to cry in the wagon. Its cries got louder and louder as Jalia and Daniel stood looking at each other.

“I said I’d look after it,” Jalia said, looking strangely lost. Daniel was no help at all and shrugged.

They clambered onto the wagon and Jalia lifted a large sheet covering the rear. A baby stared back at her, wrapped in swaddling and obviously needing some kind of attention.

“Well do something…” Jalia prompted as Daniel made no move to help.

“I think this requires a woman’s touch,” Daniel said, staying well clear of the screaming infant. As they stood looking, another part of the sheet moved. Jalia drew her sword and struck. Her blow was intercepted by the flat of Daniel’s blade.

“Perhaps you should look to see what it is before you kill it,” Daniel suggested, lifting the sheet to reveal two small girls. They looked terrified. The elder of the two decided to risk speaking.

“Serin needs changing. Don’t you know how to do it?”

“I’ll leave you girls to get on with it,” Daniel said, leaving a speechless Jalia to her own devices. Daniel mounted his horse and went to retrieve his donkeys. He would need the spade he kept in Ferd’s pack, as he had some burying to do.

Coyote

Jalia and Daniel decided to make camp at the brook. Daniel found a sheltered spot about a quarter of a mile from the camp where he dug a hole big enough to hold the bodies of the dead couple and deep enough so that scavenging animals would not be able to dig them up and feast on their flesh. Jalia, with the help of the two little girls whose names turned out to be Yeta and Maya, changed and fed their baby sister.

It was late by the time Daniel finished the hole. He used Ferd to carry the bodies to the grave. Jalia brought the children along behind him and the two children kissed their parents goodbye before Daniel tumbled them into the hole.

Yeta was five summers old and Maya was six. They cried as Daniel covered their parents with dark red earth, but their tears dried to be replaced by furtive looks as Daniel and Jalia led them back to the camp.

“Aren’t you scared the men will come back and attack us,” Maya asked as Daniel collected wood from the nearby stand of trees to make a fire.

“Jalia would welcome it. She feels cheated that they got away.”

Daniel laughed after he spoke. He would welcome a period without killing, but Jalia attracted trouble as honey attracts bears and he doubted it would be long before they fought again.

“We were going to Telmar. Daddy’s a carpenter and he said we would be rich.”

“He was going to dig for gold?” Daniel asked.

“He said only fools dig for gold, but fools who have found gold will need a carpenter to build their houses and repair their wagons,” Maya said solemnly and her sister Yeta, who stood beside her with her fingers in her mouth nodded vigorously.

“It seems to me that your Daddy was a sensible man,” Daniel said as he laid the brushwood out to start the fire.

“He got himself and mummy killed,” Maya said with tears in her eyes and walked off towards Jalia with her younger sister in tow.

“If her parents had been as bright as that one, they’d still be with us,” Daniel said quietly as he got out his tinderbox to start a fire.

Jalia stared apprehensively at the baby. Serin was its name, according to the girls, and she wondered what she was going to do with it. It was fine while it was laying and sleeping in the beautifully carved wooden crib, but she had no idea how to feed it, clean it or care for it. Worse, she had absolutely no desire to do anything for it.

Why had she made that stupid promise to the dying woman?
She usually had more sense. Having to deal with the girls was bad enough, but you could always find a family that needed another pair of hand to till the fields or bring in the harvest. Babies, on the other hand, were nothing but trouble and gave no return on your efforts for years. Finding a home for the baby was going to be a nightmare.

Jalia saw Daniel had started a fire. The little girls were trying to sneak up on her and they were trying so hard that Jalia decided to pretend to jump and act startled as they put their hands on her back.

“Will you tell us a story?” Maya asked as Jalia spun around, “Mummy always told us a story after supper.”

“Yes, but I would bet it was mummy who made the supper, while I have a young man to do that for me.” Jalia smiled at the two children. She liked bright girls because they reminded her of herself, and Maya was certainly precocious.

“Is he your servant?” Yeta asked, speaking for the first time since they found them.

“No, he is not!” a voice protested from the fire, and Jalia, first making sure that Daniel could not see her from his position, nodded vigorously as she put a finger to her lips.

The girls opened their mouths in big and silent O’s.

Daniel soon had a pot of stew cooking on the fire. As always, he used a selection of herbs he had gathered from along the road to make what he was cooking taste delicious. When Jalia’s father had been at his richest and taken his daughter to the finest restaurants of Bagdor she had tasted the best cuisine the civilized world had to offer, but Daniel’s stew on a warm summer’s night was better than anything she had eaten in those days.

The children ate as if they were starving, which was a little odd because there was plenty of food in the wagon. Possibly their parents had been conserving food, for the journey to Telmar was reputed to be long and arduous.

“Tell us a story,” Maya and Yeta begged and Daniel echoed them with a grin on his face. He was the one who usually told stories on the road and he had a seemingly inexhaustible supply. Jalia usually entertained any travelers they met with her knife throwing skills, but that didn’t seem appropriate for the children.

“Very well,” said Jalia sitting down cross legged across from them, “But you must be quiet and not ask silly questions or I shall stop.” The girls nodded solemnly, giving their word.

“Once upon a time the great desert that is now known as Attribar el’Dou was a wonderful forest. It was made of trees that never shed their leaves and fruited all year around. Water dripped from their leaves and, though you would rarely see them, birds voices could be heard everywhere along with the strange calls of creatures that looked a bit like men but had long bushy tails.”

The little girls giggled at the thought of men with long bushy tails. Daniel was fascinated, he was a collector of stories about the ancient times when the Magician Kings ruled the world and the fairies were tall and strange, but he had never heard this story.

“The ruler of the forest was a creature known as Coyote. Some said he took the form of a wild dog while others said he looked like those strange half human creatures with the bushy tails. But everyone agreed that Coyote was the cleverest and most devious ruler the world had ever known.”

“Coyote ruled over the animals and trees in the forest and only allowed people in to pick fruit and collect the strange nuts that fell from the trees. The people of Jalon resented these restrictions. As the great city of Akbar Arout grew in size, people became more and more annoyed, because it was known that if you cut down a part of the forest and burned it, the land would grow rich crops for many years before it was spent.”

“The caliph of Akbar Arout sought to make a treaty with Coyote, so that a little of the forest could be used to feed the people, but Coyote refused. He told them the forest was fragile. That if you cut down more than a few trees, the desert would sweep in and wipe the forest from the face of the earth.”

“The Caliph of Akbar Arout laughed in Coyote’s face, for the forest stretched for thousands of leagues and even from the tops of the High Mountains, you could not see it all. Coyote became angry and stormed out of Akbar Arout in his rage, never to return.”

“Everybody believed that Coyote was lying to them because he was known for his cleverness and the way he misled travelers going through his forest for the fun of it. Nobody thought for a second that he might be telling the truth.”

“More people came to live along the edge of the forest and the desire to turn some of it into farm land became overwhelming. The very first Magician King came to power and the people begged him to cut Coyote down to size and to allow the people to turn a part of his forest into fields. Surely the Magician King had enough power to accomplish this.”

Jalia looked to see if the girls were sleepy, but they stared at her with their eyes wide with wonder. To her annoyance, the look on Daniel’s face was not all that different from that of the children. Her mother had told her this tale when she was little and she didn’t even know she remembered it until the girls had clamored for a story.

“Coyote would not talk to the Magician King because of the insulting way he had been treated in Akbar Arout by the Caliph. The Caliph bowed down to the Magician King, as did all the other rulers and so Coyote regarded the Magician King as just another human. Since Coyote would not come to him, the Magician King set a trap to lure Coyote out of his forest.”

“He persuaded the Fairie to help him build a wonderful garden. Some say this garden was just outside Akbar Arout and some say it was closer to Enbar Entar, but the truth is that nobody knows these days. This garden was built in terraces and each terrace was fed with water from the terrace above. The Fairie brought flowers and trees from places beyond the knowledge of man and used their magic to make them grow to maturity in a very short time.”

“The Magician King knew Coyote could never resist such a beautiful garden and would visit it. Coyote knew that the garden was a trap, but as the years passed, and stories came to him of how beautiful the garden was, he could no longer resist its lure.”

“Now Coyote in his forest was invincible, because the forest grew to his word and the branches of the trees would wrap themselves around a person and strangle him at Coyote’s word. But outside the forest, he was only powerful in personal magic and might not be a match for the might of the Magician King and the eight royal families. It would be a battle that neither could be certain of winning.”

“Coyote changed himself with a spell so that he looked just like you or me, and he entered the gardens as a visitor, as the Magician King encouraged his citizens to do. Coyote was wily and looked for the Magician King’s traps to fall upon him, but nothing happened.”

“It was possible to stay in the garden for as long as you wanted. The King provided free food for guests, though it was rumored that if you stayed too long someone might throw you out. But nobody threw out Coyote and he stayed for many days, admiring the wonderful plants and animals that resided in the gardens.”

“One day, he noticed that the sky was black towards the south. The wind had previously been blowing from the north, but its direction changed and foul black clouds hung in the sky. Coyote ran from the gardens and hurried back to his forest in great fear. When he arrived at where his forest had been he found only burning stumps.”

“For the Magician King had not sought to confront Coyote, but had awaited his arrival in the garden and then started his carefully worked out plan. For three hundred leagues into the forest, men had travelled and started fires to clear the land for farming. The Magician King had reasoned that once this section of the forest was cleared, Coyote would accept it, so the people and the forest could live in harmony once again.”

“They say that Coyote’s howls of anguish were heard across the world when he saw what man had done to his forest. Exactly as the Magician King had reasoned, Coyote saw no point in war and the land was conceded.”

“For many years, the people of the world lived in harmony, tilling the land that once had been forest and the population grew to vast numbers the like of which had never been seen before. Then the land began to fail, as did the crops. It turned parched and dusty and the soil blew away in the hot winds of summer leaving only sand behind. The High King travelled to where the edge of the forest was supposed to be in the hope of stealing yet more land, but he found that it was already dead or dying as rain no longer fell from the sky as once it did.”

“No one knows what happened to Coyote, or whether there is still a forest if you travel far enough. The Attribar el’Dou desert formed in only a few summers and you cannot travel through it. It is so hot and dry that its sand cuts into you and chokes the life from your lungs.”

“Many people died in the decades that followed and the Magician Kings banned the cutting of the forests to the north. When the Magician Kings were killed in the war with the Fairie, the forests of the land grew back and the people grew fewer still. But the great raining forest where Attribar el’Dou is now never grew back and there is only desert.”

“It is said that in the old tongue, Attribar el’Dou means ‘the stupidity of kings’.”

Jalia noted that Yeta and Maya had fallen asleep and put a blanket over their curled up forms. Daniel watched her with something that looked suspiciously like respect.

“It was only a story my mother used to tell me, Daniel. It couldn’t possibly be true.”