Dralin (30 page)

It was also where the Shining Shield Inn
was. Frath brought her to it every once in a while to have a nice
meal in the garden with Albert and Purla. Most of the staff
remembered her mother and they were always happy to see Pelya. The
memory of the place was painful to Frath, so they never stayed
long.

A few blocks before reaching the park, Kally
stopped in front of a large manor. She sat down on a low wall in
front of manicured grounds and took Pelya by the arms. “This is
where I need to stop. You can see that it’s not a dangerous place.
The man I need to speak to is a minor lord. He knows my father and
they have business dealings.” She took a deep breath and let it out
slowly. “It’s a personal matter that I can’t take care of while on
duty. If I could talk to him now, it would help me out a lot.” She
squeezed Pelya’s arms gently and then let go. “That said, if you
feel uncomfortable with this or have a bad feeling, we’ll skip it
and go straight to the park.”

Pelya thought about it for a moment. The
fact that they didn’t
have
to do it helped a lot. She looked
at the estate and didn’t get any bad feelings from it. There were
no crows to issue warnings either. In truth, she was numb from the
events of the other day. Finally, Pelya nodded. “I don’t have any
bad feelings about it, so I think we should do it. Thank you for
asking me though.”

Kally wrapped her up in a hug and held her
awhile. “Everything will get better a little bit each day,” she
reassured Pelya. “Give it time.” She smiled and stood, holding her
hand out for Pelya. Together they walked through the gate. The
guard at the door announced their presence and a butler met them as
they walked up the short steps.

“Lord Uylvich is expecting you,” the man
said in a monotone voice devoid of anything resembling emotion. He
led them into a sitting room decorated with old furniture. Each
piece might have been elegant at one time, but Pelya doubted it.
None of it matched and all of it clashed with the tapestries and
rugs. The lone window in the room had two small panes of broken
glass covered with leather. Everything was mostly clean, but Pelya
could tell that no one moved furniture or knickknacks to clean
underneath or behind them. There was a dry dusty smell permeating
the air and the only sound was a low whistling from wind blowing
through a crack in one of the window’s seams.

The lieutenant gestured for Pelya to sit in
a chair near the door while she went to the cold fireplace and
stared into it blankly. Pelya did as told and remained quiet while
hoping they would get to leave quickly.

The slick man who ambled in had thin black
hair and a pencil-thin mustache. He looked to be in his late
thirties. “Well, well. It is good to see you, Kally. Are you here
for pleasure or business?” he asked, not noticing Pelya at all. His
voice rose and fell in glossy tones as he leered at the officer.
Pelya was nauseated by the way the man looked her Aunt Kally up and
down with a wink. “Every time I see you, you’re even more
beautiful.

“Hello Lord Uylvich. I’m here on business,
specifically my father’s contract. You know he needs it to stay in
business.” Pelya noticed that Kally was nervous. The lieutenant’s
hand squeezed the hilt of her sword for reassurance, her lips
pursed tightly together, some of the blood had left her cheeks and
her stance had gone from confident to insecure.

“Well, well . . . getting straight to the
point, are we? Look how attractive you are.” He moved forward and
put a hand on the lieutenant’s shoulder. “When you were a young
lass you showed a hint of beauty to come, but as a woman that
beauty has been realized. You know you can call me by my name.” The
lord began to run his hand down her arm until realizing she was
wearing chainmail under the tunic. He moved to her neck and
caressed it slowly instead. “You
do
know it, don’t you?”

Kally breathed in nervously, but didn’t pull
away. “Enric.” Her voice was shaky, something Pelya had never heard
from her before.

“I like the way you say that. You have such
a pretty voice,” He told her. Lord Uylvich slid the hand behind her
neck and began massaging slowly and firmly. Moving closely, he put
his other hand on her waist. His face was just a few inches away
from hers. Pelya wondered why her aunt didn’t pull away or even
kill the man. It was making her uncomfortable, but she just didn’t
know what to say or do.

His other hand slid down around to Kally’s
thigh and up underneath the long chain shirt to squeeze her bottom.
“The contract is just business. Surely you understand that. It’s
not finalized, but another other offer was better.” He paused
thoughtfully for a moment.

Lieutenant Nevala was breathing slowly. She
looked distinctly uncomfortable, but still made no move to push him
away. “Lord . . . Enric . . . I don’t . . .” She pleaded with her
eyes for him not to continue.

He responded by moving his hands to her
sword belt, unbuckling it and letting it fall to the ground around
her feet before putting them back in their original positions. “You
know I wanted to marry you, but you joined the guard instead.
Marriage isn’t an option now because of that, but it doesn’t make
me want you any less,” he told her, his voice heavy with lust. Lord
Uylvich pulled her to him with both hands, pressing against her
with his body and his lips.

Once again, the lieutenant didn’t resist.
Pelya watched in wide-eyed shock as the man squeezed and rubbed her
aunt’s neck. It stunned her even more when Kally opened her mouth
to let the man kiss her deeply. The two continued for a moment
before Kally finally pushed away.

“Here now, I thought you truly wanted your
father to have that contract . . .” Enric said, pulling her back
with the hand on her neck. He seemed to be using it to control
Kally as much as possible.

“I’m not alone,” Kally told him, her hands
against his chest. With a motion of her head, she indicated Pelya
who had been staring in shock the entire time.

Lord Uylvich blinked in surprise at the girl
who had been sitting so quietly. Even with the revelation, he
continued to hold the lieutenant firmly. He frowned. “Go to the
kitchen and help the cook, girl. Pretty Kally is going to spend
some time making me very happy and will come to get you when we’re
done.” Then he proceeded to ignore Pelya as he pushed his mouth
against the lieutenant’s again.

Pelya didn’t move right away, worried that
her Aunt Kally was in trouble. She knew adults kissed and even knew
what sex was, but this wasn’t how she had seen anyone act before.
When the lord began kissing Kally’s neck, Kally looked at Pelya and
nodded for her to go. Pelya walked slowly toward the doorway until
Lord Uylvich pulled Kally’s tunic, chain shirt and under shirt up
to the chest, then Pelya dashed out. Looking over her shoulder, the
last thing she saw was Kally’s bare back as the man lifted
everything over the lieutenant’s head and raised arms.

***

The sound of a man yelling at someone
blasted through the kitchen doorway and Pelya decided to wait
against the wall outside it before going in. She didn’t like what
her Aunt Kally was doing, but couldn’t think of anything to help.
She was beginning to hate spending the days with aunts and uncles,
whereas it had seemed fun at first.

“More food ruined by rats! You incompetent
fool, I should turn you over to the City Guard for bringing me this
feces infested rice!” the man hollered angrily at some poor victim
from the kitchen. “Take this bag and pick every insect and turd out
of it before bringing it back to me.”

Pelya decided not to eat the rice if they
had to stay for lunch. She heard the sound of a person scurrying
off and the cook muttering about rats. The aroma wafting from the
doorway wasn’t too bad. Roasting meat mixed with spiced pie and
made her mouth water, but Pelya wasn’t certain she wanted anything
from the kitchen.

Not knowing what else to do, she went inside
and found the cook. He was a portly man with a shaven head and
multiple piercings on his ears, eyebrows, lips and nose. Pelya
didn’t like piercings, mostly because members of the Guard weren’t
allowed to have them. They could be pulled out by dirty fighters or
used in ways to hurt the person wearing them. The cook wore a food
stained apron over a clean, short-sleeved shirt and tan cotton
leggings. Tattoos covered his exposed arms and others were on his
neck, extending beneath his shirt. Tattoos and piercings were
common with many adults in the city.

“Pardon me,” Pelya said politely, but
firmly, while coming up behind the cook who was beginning to slice
strips of meat to add to what was already cooking. The man turned
quickly, a butcher knife held casually in his hand. To her credit,
Pelya didn’t flinch.

“Yeah, whaddya want? Actually, who are you
and what are you doing in my kitchen?” His ruddy cheeks jiggled as
he spoke.

“Lord Uylvich told me to come help you in
the kitchen while he . . . has a meeting . . . with my aunt.” She
really didn’t know any other way to describe it, nor did she want
to try.

“Meeting, huh?” He looked her up and down,
sizing her up. Pelya was extremely happy he didn’t have the same
gaze that the lord had used on Aunt Kally. “Say, do you know how to
use that little sticker on your side?” he asked, pointing to her
longknife.

“Yes Sir,”

“Good! I got a problem with rats in the
basement. They’re eating my food supplies and destroying things.
You go take care of them and I’ll give you a few coppers spending
money,” he told her as though it was the most brilliant plan
ever.

Pelya narrowed her eyes and put a hand on
her hip. “Really?”

“Tell you what, if you get ten, I’ll give
you a silver piece,” The cook bargained enthusiastically.

“Really?”

“. . . Yes, really. Why are you looking at
me like that?” he asked, drawing back in surprise.

“You really want me to go kill rats in the
basement?” Pelya raised an eyebrow. “It sounds like the first part
of every bad adventure story ever told.”

“Well this isn’t an adventure story and
you’re just a little girl. I’m telling you to go kill some of those
rats in the basement and I recommend you do so . . . unless you
want me to go interrupt Lord Uylvich’s meeting to tell him you’re a
disobedient little brat . . .” He left the threat hanging
there.

That wasn’t how she wanted to rescue Aunt
Kally. Pelya had the distinct impression the lieutenant wouldn’t
appreciate the interruption. “Yes Sir,” she agreed reluctantly.

“Good girl.” He pointed to a door in the far
wall. “The basement’s through there. You’ll find lanterns on a
table and you can light one to see your way. I’ll give you a copper
for each rat carcass you bring me.”

She nodded and went to the door. It wasn’t
too dark below, so she went down the steps quickly after closing it
behind her. There were a lot of boxes, barrels, sacks and crates
scattered around the stone floor and on large shelves. Pelya lit a
lantern and lifted it. There were already a few lanterns hanging
from hooks on posts deep in the basement. They were all at low
flame to conserve oil. A rat stared at her boldly from atop one of
the crates.

“Hello, rat,” she greeted it. Instead of
taking out her longknife to kill it, she made her way through the
stacked crates to discover how large the basement was. Pelya didn’t
mind rats. They were a natural part of the city and usually didn’t
bother humans as long as humans didn’t bother them. It wasn’t a
popular sentiment, but she wasn’t about to get their blood on her
clothes. It wasn’t worth coppers she didn’t need.

The thought of blood made the image of it
flowing from Bobbell’s mouth flash across her mind. Pelya whimpered
at the memory. It had woken her up screaming every night. Frath was
always there for her and had taken to sleeping in a sleeping bag on
the floor next to her bed.

She shook off the negative thoughts. The
strong odor of moldy cheese tickled her nose and Pelya decided not
to eat anything with cheese either. The basement was bigger than it
had seemed originally. There were other rooms that were kept cold
by runes inscribed into the walls and doorways. The entire space
was a little chilly, which felt nice after the warm days they had
been having. It still wasn’t summer hot, which she was grateful
for, but it was certainly getting close to that.

Another set of stairs led to a deeper level
of basement. She looked back and listened for a minute to see if
anyone else had come down. It was quiet with the exception of an
occasional creak of the building or skittering of rats. One rat sat
on a barrel, staring at her. She put a finger to her lips and
whispered, “Shh.” It turned and went about its business in silent
agreement not to tell.

No light came from the stairwell below.
Pelya held her lantern up as she went down. It occurred to her that
she wasn’t even remotely scared. A basement was tame compared to
the city streets underneath Dralin or the alleys of the Wizard’s
Mall.

Grief squeezed her heart again, but she
shook it off and looked around the sub-basement. The air was cooler
and mustier than above. She saw furniture, old paintings, rolled up
rugs and tapestries, various tools, dishes and house wares like
candlesticks and baskets. It was a minor adventure and she was
enjoying herself for the first time since exploring the academy
with Ebudae.

Pelya saw a stone door with a lock on it set
into the right side wall. She studied the area around it for a
minute as Uncle Bobbell had taught her. She hoped it was locked so
she could use the tools kept under her tunic.

Patience was the word he had always told her
when teaching how to pick locks. Pelya rolled a half barrel near
the door and set the lantern down on it so she could study the
door, checking the seams for unusual gaps or perhaps a hidden
canister that might pop with gas if she opened it. She didn’t know
exactly what it would look like because Bobbell hadn’t been able to
arrange equipment that advanced. She was relying on his verbal
descriptions.