Dralin (9 page)

Chapter
5

Lady Pallon saw them to the door. “It will
be dark soon, Frath. You should get her home,” she admonished.

“I will, Milady,” Frath assured her. “Thank
you for having us today.”

“Yes, thank you so very much, Lady Pallon,”
Sheela agreed. “It was great to meet you.”

“But of course. You are both welcome back
any time.” Lady Pallon stood at the door for a moment while they
walked down the path to the gate. Then she disappeared inside.

Sheela wrapped her new cloak around her
shoulders and ran her hands up and down it happily. “Thank you for
taking me there. She’s so wonderful.”

“I really wanted you to meet her. There are
only a few people I consider true friends and she’s one. You can go
there if you ever get in trouble or need anyone.”

“Nothing’s allowed to happen to you,” Sheela
warned, her eyes flashing anger at his earlier statements.

“I know,” he replied simply, not willing to
get into an argument he wouldn’t win.

She narrowed her eyes, looking for any sign
to chastise him more. He didn’t give her any. The squirrel came to
the end of the branch and opened the gate without any need for
explanation. As they walked through and the squirrel scampered up
the branch, Sheela asked eagerly, “So what is the last place you’re
taking me to?”

“Back to the inn,” he answered, already
having decided it would be the best choice.

A few people moved along the street, but it
wasn’t as busy as it had been earlier. Sheela stopped and folded
her arms stubbornly. “I don’t want to go back. I want to stay with
you and do the other dangerous thing.” When Frath didn’t respond,
she put her hands on his. “Please let me stay with you tonight.
I’ll go back first thing in the morning in time for work.”

Frath looked down the street both ways,
trying to decide what to do. The truth was that he still wanted to
take her even though he knew it was a terrible idea. The pleading
look in her eyes destroyed all sense and resistance. “Can you move
quietly?” he asked mysteriously.

“I think so. The slippers Purla gave me
don’t make very much noise and neither do I.”

“Alright. Promise you’ll stay with me at all
times. If I tell you to get behind me, do so. If I tell you to fall
to the ground, do so. If I tell you to kneel, do so. If I tell you
to run, do so. Every command I give you will be for your safety and
you must obey it instantly, without question. Is that clear?” Frath
knew his voice was hard and firm, but she had to understand.

“Yes, it’s clear,” she agreed timidly.

“Promise that you will do what I say, no
matter how scared you might be or even if you don’t understand
it.”

She nodded solemnly. “I promise.”

Frath looked around again. No one was paying
them any attention. Instead of taking her back toward the Noble
District where the inn and wisdom were, he led her toward the
southwest and foolishness. For a little while, they strolled along
streets bordered by estates of different sizes. Sheela was quiet
with anticipation of the adventure she was certain they were going
on, while Frath spent a great deal of time looking around for any
signs of trouble.

The estates gave way to smaller, but still
nice, houses. Then those gave way to slightly more ragged buildings
including various businesses: a grocer, furniture store and a
market for spirits of high quality, or so the sign said. Others
seemed to fascinate Sheela. She kept looking back and forth to
either side of the street and down side streets. Frath didn’t care
about any of that, instead keeping his eyes on the alleyways and
rooftops. He spotted a couple of rogues who stared at him, but they
made no move to interfere with his business.

Being a guardsman gave him a certain amount
of protection. It was a high crime to kill him and the entire City
Guard would do everything in its power to find anyone who would
commit the murder. At the same time, many of the criminal elements
of Dralin were just as dangerous and to openly declare war on them
would be foolish for the Guard.

As a result, members of the Guard were
required to act with dignity and diplomacy. It was a rule that they
not insert themselves into danger unnecessarily. Walking with a
pretty woman in some of the darker districts of Dralin was
unnecessary danger. It was into one of those districts that Frath
was leading her.

The Merchant and Church Districts were the
southernmost districts of the Ancient Six around the Tower
District. The Orphan District bordered the bottom of both. The
change wasn’t as drastic as moving from the Tower District to any
other district, but it was noticeable.

“Did we enter a different district?” Sheela
asked, looking around nervously at the large, dark buildings
surrounded by high walls.

Frath realized he hadn’t told her anything
and she certainly didn’t know her way around. “Yeah. This is the
Orphan District. It’s where I grew up.”

Her eyes widened. “It looks dangerous . . .
and dirty.” Bits of trash floated along top of water in the
gutters. The streets were still warm enough that the snow melted
and ran into the sewers, but even that wasn’t enough to clean the
streets. “Most of the buildings have walls around the yards and
those that don’t, look like they have iron bars on windows and
doors.” She pointed at a meager clothing store where the windows
and doors did indeed have bars on them.

Frath tried to imagine what it would be like
to someone who hadn’t grown up among the shabby streets and
orphanages that looked more like high security prisons than places
to raise children. There was a prevailing sense of sadness that
always lingered in the air, as though the city itself realized what
tragedies had befallen these children.

And it truly was tragedy. Thousands of
children in the orphanages had lost their parents, whether to
disease, abandonment or violent deaths in the streets. A
sub-council of the High Council ran the orphanages. The truth was
that most of those council members were corrupt, lower-ranking
officials that, for a price, let profit-making merchants put their
own employees in to manage the orphanages as cheaply as possible.
They shuffled children between orphanages to keep things murky.
Frath had lived in eighteen different ones throughout his
childhood.

Some of the more troubled kids lived in high
security orphanages with barbed wire atop the walls. Those kids
became hard and crafty to stay alive, adding to the criminal
elements of the city in most cases. Frath had lived in one of those
for a year before he killed a man. After that, they moved him to a
special orphanage run in coordination with the City Guard.

“Frath . . . Are we safe?” Sheela asked
timidly, pushing close against his side as they walked.

He jerked out of his reverie and looked
around, mentally kicking himself for not being alert. There was a
group of seven rough, young men on a street corner and they were
sizing up Frath and Sheela. He sized them up in return as they
walked through the intersection on the other side. “Yes, they’re
not a match for me and they know it.”

Sheela looked at him, back at the group,
then at him again with admiration in her eyes. Frath had made the
statement as a fact, not as a boast. The group was tough enough,
but they had no real weapons or training. They would fight dirty,
but the City Guard was trained to fight dirtier when the situation
required it.

The young men went in a different direction,
throwing a few last glances over their shoulders. Sheela looked
back at them, staring in curiosity. Frath noticed. “You don’t want
to stare at people in Dralin.” She turned back to him and he
clarified. “There are a lot of interesting people, but if you stare
at them, they take it as a challenge or think you’re watching them
to turn them in for something. Just avoid anything but minimal eye
contact and you’ll stay a lot safer.”

Sheela frowned in thought and looked back
over her shoulder one last time. Then she nodded. “Alright. I’ll
keep that in mind.” The agreement only lasted a minute before she
stared into an alley they passed. A group of shadowy figures
hunched over another on the ground. “Frath, should we do
something?”

“I can’t. I’m not allowed to be here alone
and it could be a trap. I’ll be kicked out of the guard if I
interfere.”

They walked past the alley and its
mysterious figures. Frath glanced back a couple of times to make
sure no one would follow them. He didn’t like walking by, but had
learned early on that he wouldn’t be able to save everyone. That
knowledge ate at him a little bit each time though. Sheela kept
looking behind them. What bothered Frath the most was that she
repeatedly glanced at him with disappointment on her face.

A few people traveled on the streets with
their heads down, trying to get to their destination safely. The
clouds obscured the setting sun, bringing night along a little
sooner. A lamplighter accompanied by a swordsman to keep him safe
was lighting lanterns. Kids who weren’t locked away in their
orphanages for the night lurked through shadows rather than playing
in the streets. Frath remembered the days when he used to lurk. He
never joined any of the gangs, finding ways to be alone instead. He
still preferred to be alone most days, although he liked being with
Sheela even more.

The street ended at a towering wall lined by
neglected buildings, some of which were houses whereas others were
seedy shops open at night rather than the day. Frath led her south
into a poorly lit, narrow alley between some of the more ragged
buildings. When Sheela plastered herself to his side, he knew she
was re-thinking the wisdom of going on a dangerous adventure with
him. At that point, it would be more dangerous to go back than to
go forward though, so he continued.

Sheela gave a little squeak when a rat
bigger than her head ran across the ground in front of them. A few
others prowled along the edge of buildings, much as the orphans had
done in the streets past. Puddles of grimy water combined with
strewn trash to make the walk unpleasant while pungent odors of
food too rotten for vagrants attacked the nose.

“Coin for food?” a voice croaked from
underneath some blankets, eliciting another squeak from Sheela.
Frath looked at the milky eyes of a blind beggar huddled in a
corner and moved on quickly. Once again, Sheela stared. There
didn’t seem to be anything he could say to stop her from doing
so.

There was no snow in the alley due to the
fact that upper levels of the buildings were so close together
above them. Melt water dripped down through openings and Frath did
his best to shield Sheela from it. The tunnel he was looking for
was on the right. Iron bars had once kept people out, but they were
rusted and half fallen, giving them room to pass. Sheela resisted
for a second before reluctantly going into the darkness. An instant
later, only dim reflections of light shone from unknown sources.
The echo of their footsteps splashing in unavoidable puddles was
the only sound. Moss and mold was strong in the nostrils,
indicating that few people walked through.

It didn’t take long for them to reach
another alley. It didn’t have so much trash, but it was darker and
gloomier as though the buildings were holding up a great burden
that was too much to bear.

Frath turned south again, walking as quietly
as possible. The soles of his boots were thick to protect against
rough terrain and debris, but at the same time they were made to
bend and land softly, muffling his steps. Sheela walked quieter,
startling at every little sound or skitter of rat feet.

The alley let out onto a street, but the
darkness didn’t go away as much as one might have expected. The sun
had set and only the red moon, Piohray, was out that night,
although it was full. The effect was that it made the clouds glow a
dim pink color, casting a surreal illumination over the foreboding
streets.

“Why aren’t the lanterns lit?” Sheela asked
in a harsh whisper that seemed to roll clumsily along the cobble in
front of them.

“Lamplighters don’t come to the Forlorn
District,” Frath told her, not speaking loudly at all. “People
foolish enough to enter it tend to disappear.”

Sheela stopped to glare at him in disbelief.
“Then why are we here?” she whispered.

“Because you said you wanted to stay with me
tonight and do the other dangerous thing. This is the other
dangerous thing,” Frath pointed out matter-of-factly. “We’re almost
there.”

“Where?”

“You’ll see when we get there,” Frath told
her, tugging her along.

She continued to glare, but followed
quickly. “What are those shapes?” she asked, pointing at a group of
hunched shadows down a side street.

“I honestly don’t know,” Frath replied.
“There are a lot of things that aren’t understood here. It’s best
not to investigate.”

“Are they people?” she asked with panic
rising in her voice. “I don’t see any people. Where are all the
people?”

“People don’t come here. We’re in the
Forlorn District.” Frath told her much more casually than the
situation probably called for. He had been coming here since
childhood and actually liked the place, even though he had never
seen another living, normal person in it. “A few centuries ago, the
High Council had it walled off to keep people out because it’s so
haunted that even a consortium of priests couldn’t exorcise the
ghosts and whatever else is here.”

“So we’re not supposed to be here?” Sheela
asked in alarm.

“Nope.” Frath answered.

“Is that a ghost?” she asked in a shaky
voice, pointing fearfully at a pair of glowing human figures that
were staring at them from a window, even though they didn’t have
eyes to stare with.