Jalia in the North (Jalia - World of Jalon) (6 page)

He stood up and shouted at her, “Get those dresses off the girls, woman, I want to see what I’ve got to sell.”

At that moment, the front door smashed from its hinges and dropped to the floor, the bar having neatly been cut on both sides as if with a saw. Jalia entered with a sword in one hand and a knife in the other. She stopped in the center of the room, feet slightly apart, facing Teague. If looks could kill he would have already been dead.

Daniel followed behind and moved in front of Jalia, putting his arms wide. “There’s no reason to kill here, Jalia. We made the mistake in picking this scum as the children’s guardian and he’s only following his nature.”

Jalia looked at Teague in disgust.

“Didn’t you think we would check on you?”

“But I saw you leave, I watched you crest Crow’s Hill and checked later you hadn’t returned.” Teague looked more angry than frightened. “You have no right to break in here. You gave these children to me and they are mine to dispose of how I choose. That’s the law of the land.”

Jalia snarled, sounding more tigress than human.

“If I can’t kill him, let me at least teach him a lesson,”

Daniel put out his hand for Jalia’s sword and knife, which she readily handed to him.

“And the other knife, Jalia. Just to put temptation further from your grasp.”

Jalia handed Daniel the knife hidden in her boot and Daniel stepped out of her way. Teague looked at them in confusion.

“If I fight her you’ll kill me, right?” he asked Daniel.

“If you fight back and win, you won’t get beaten to a pulp,” Daniel said, as he collected Maya and Yeta from Lonny. The girls went to get the crib with Sarin. Daniel ushered the children out as Teague squared up against Jalia.

“When I’ve finished with you, I’ll kill your boyfriend and take the children back,” Teague said as he flexed his muscles. Jalia crooked her little finger and beckoned him to her.

Daniel went to the barn with the children and put Serin’s crib carefully into the wagon before lifting Maya and Yeta up to join her.

“Aren’t you worried about Jalia?” Maya asked as he got the wagon ready to leave and brought the carthorse from its stall.

“Only that she might kill him, despite her promise,” Daniel listened and heard a high pitched scream. “She seems to be doing all right,” he murmured, with more than a trace of satisfaction.

“How did you get back here if Teague was watching the road?” Maya asked.

“We rode in a wide circle beyond the hill he mentioned. We only arrived a minute or so before Jalia broke the door down.”

“How did she break the door? That bar was so thick.”

Daniel laughed and shook his head, “You ask too many questions, Maya. Secrets can only be kept if you don’t tell anyone.”

Daniel drove the wagon to the house and waited. The door opened a minute later and Jalia walked out. In the light from the door, Daniel noticed she had a large bruise on her left cheek. “Trouble?”

“An unlucky punch on Teague’s part,” she said rubbing her cheek with her hand.

“Unlucky?”

“Up until then, I hadn’t hit him in the balls.”

“Ah,” Daniel said and asked no further questions. Jalia got up onto the wagon as they had left their horses some way away. As Daniel started the wagon down the road, Lonny came rushing out of the house.

“Can I come with you?”

Jalia nodded.

“Always room for one more, why not?” Jalia laughed as they drove on to where their horses waited for them.

The Slavers of Buran

Daniel drove the wagon on towards Buran in the light of Jalon’s moons, both of which graced the sky with their presence. He had left his seat and Maya held the reins. Daniel held the carthorse’s head, making sure neither the horse’s hooves nor the wagon’s wheels ended up in a hole.

Jalia scouted ahead on foot having left Swift tied to the wagon. It was far too dangerous to ride a horse along this road at night. An owl hooted from a small stand of trees and everyone jumped. Lonny sat alongside Maya with her head in her hands and Daniel could appreciate how she must feel, having left the man who both abused her and provided for her. He once had a similar relationship with his brother, Yousef.

Jalia appeared from a shadow and Maya stifled a scream, so unexpected was her return.

“There’s some sort of trouble about half a mile ahead, to the left of the road. A woman is wailing. Should we investigate?” Normally Jalia wouldn’t have bothered asking, but they had already had quite an eventful day and she was exhausted.

“That’s the Gilben farm,” Lonny told them. “He and his wife Megan and their children live there. They’re good people, better than we were.” Lonny lapsed into silence as Daniel considered their options.

“Jalia would never forgive me if we didn’t look,” he said at last. “Let’s go and see if we can help.”

When they approached the farm they heard a woman sobbing. The farm buildings were surrounded by trees and it wasn’t possible to make out where the woman was. Daniel shouted a greeting into the night.

“Hello the house. We are travelers seeking shelter. May we come forward and offer assistance?”

“Why not, what more can be done to us?” the woman said in a voice filled with despair.

Jalia lit a lamp and, by its light, Daniel, Jalia, and Lonny walked into the dark towards the voice. They found the woman kneeling on the ground by a dark shape and as they got closer, they saw the shape was the body of a man.

He had taken a terrible beating and his head was covered in blood.

Lonny stepped forward.

“It’s me, Megan. These are good people, not like Teague. You can trust them.” Lonny went to kneel besides the woman and put an arm around her.

“Hold the lamp,” Daniel said to Lonny. “Jalia and I will carry him back to the house. Is it safe here or are the people who did this still around?”

Megan pulled herself together and looked at Daniel. She saw a young man barely older than Ben, her eldest son, but he had kind eyes and she found she trusted him on sight.

“They were slavers. They knocked out Gilben and took our sons. My daughter hid from them and has gone to fetch a healer, but I think my husband is beyond healing.” Megan stood and came closer to the light and they saw that she too was bloody with a nasty cut above her brow.

Megan took the lamp and led them back to the house. Daniel and Jalia carried her injured husband between them. They placed him on a bed and Megan and Lonny went to get water from the well to wash his wounds.

Gilben was breathing in a labored manner and they saw a blow to his head had caved in his skull.

“I don’t think he will last the night,” Jalia said dispassionately. She had seen many injuries in her life and ones like this were always fatal. She left Daniel to stand watch over him as she went to bring the wagon and the children to the house.

Daniel felt frustrated. It was as if a force inside him was banging in his skull saying ‘let me heal him’, but Daniel knew such a thing was absurd. His fingers tingled and he touched Gilben’s forehead as much to try and make the tingling go away as anything else.

Gilben’s eyes opened and moved frantically, his hands reached for Daniel’s arm and held him close, as if by doing so he might escape the call of death. Daniel felt as if he was being drained of energy, but he didn’t mind because it made the frustration ebb away. Gilben’s hands went slack and released him as the man fell back into sleep. Being awake for a few moments seemed to have done him good because his breathing sounded normal and Daniel saw that his dented skull had risen in some manner.

Megan arrived with a bucket of water started to wash her husband’s head, “It doesn’t look as bad as I thought. Thank the gods. I think he might live.”

“Tell me about the slavers?” Daniel asked as Jalia entered the house carrying the crib, with Maya and Yeta at her heels. She motioned the children to silence and stepped closer to Daniel.

“Two years ago, slavers moved into Buran. Up until then it had been a peaceful place, though not prosperous, but we helped each other out in times of trouble and we got by. Gold has been found in Telmar and mining require slaves. The slaves don’t last long in the mines so there is a constant demand for more.”

“The slavers decided Buran would be a good place to take their business and they set up a slave stand where the cattle market used to be. They raid the villages and towns for fifty miles or more and sell their slaves to the mine owners, who take them to Telmar.” Megan started to cry at the thought of her sons being worked to death in the mines.

“Buran is a long way from Telmar,” Jalia remarked.

“There’s a good road from Buran that joins the Magicians Road in the east. The towns nearer Telmar have hired mercenaries to protect them from slavers. The slavers have to come this far from Telmar to find new victims.”

“You thought the slavers were going to leave you and your family alone?” Daniel asked.

“They have always raided far away from Buran in the past and we thought we were safe. We should have done something about them, but they are so many and they were leaving us alone.” Megan looked at Daniel through tears. “You are going to say this is our fault; that we brought this on ourselves and you would be right. But my sons have never hurt anybody in their lives and they do not deserve their fate.”

“Where has your daughter gone?” Jalia asked, as she and Daniel exchanged glances.

“There’s a farm just over two leagues from here. There is a young female healer called Gally who lives there.”

Megan was surprised at Jalia’s reaction. She stood up and checked the sword on her back was in its sheath. She looked like a cat who had found some cream.

“It can’t be the same one, Jalia,” Daniel protested, “Gally is a common name after all.”

“You know, Gally?” Megan asked, clearly surprised.

“We know a Gally who is a healer,” Daniel explained. “Has this woman lived here long?”

“Her entire life. I would swear she has never stepped foot more than five leagues beyond Buran.”

The excitement left Jalia’s face and she slumped down into a stool looking suddenly depressed.

Gilben gave a moan and opened his eyes again. “My love, are the children safe?”

“Ben and Bil are taken. Jenna is safe.”

Gilben tried to rise, but his cracked ribs brought him back on the bed, his face white with pain. Gilben stared at Daniel, “You saved my life. I felt you do it. Will you save my children too?” There was desperation in his eyes.

“Gilben, these two are children too, barely older than Ben. Look at them. You must get better for me and for Jenna, lie still.” Megan held her husband and they both began to weep for their stolen children.

Daniel and Jalia retreated to the far side of the room to give the couple some privacy. “How old am I now, Jalia? Life has been so hectic I’ve forgotten.”

“You are seventeen and I’m nearly eighteen, but you have looked older since those accidents.”

“You mean the times you got me killed?”

“Shhh,” Jalia whispered. “Do you want the kids to hear?”

‘Jalia is right about one thing
,’ Daniel thought.
‘We have to find homes for these children if only so we can have a decent conversation again. The number of things we can’t do or say in front of them is maddening
.’ Daniel wondered how married people ever had sex after their first child. They must put bolts on their bedroom door.

Two girls walked into the room. The first was about Jalia’s age and the second perhaps twelve. The girls stopped when they found the room filled with strangers.

“It is alright Jenna, Gally. These are travelers who stopped to help us,” Megan called from her husband’s side. Gally made a decision and rushed over to see how Gilben was. She was soon requesting boiled water and getting herbs and bandages from the bag she carried.

With Gally busy treating her husband, Megan looked around for the first time and noticed the children. She went to the crib, which Lonny was rocking, and the two women oowed and ahhhed at Serin.

“These two cannot possibly be yours,” Megan said to Jalia as she waved in the direction of Maya and Yeta who were sleeping in the corner. “Are you their sister, and is the baby yours?”

Jalia flushed at the suggestions. Daniel had seen her play cards and not give the slightest clue to their value, but a simple question about childbirth had her flustered.

“No, we rescued them from the road. We were too late to prevent their parents getting killed, but the robbers will not do it again.” Jalia finished her explanation with satisfied look on her face.

“And you also rescued Lonny from that brute of a man she lives with?” Megan asked, her face showing signs of amusement.

“We made a mistake in thinking Teague would make a replacement father for the girls. However, I doubt he will be in any position to father any children in the future.” Jalia said with even more satisfaction. Daniel winced, the man was a monster, but, in her own way, Jalia could be a bigger and nastier monster.

“Is that what you to do, go around rescuing people and punishing the bad?” Megan asked. “Because my children are in great need of such people, as am I.” Megan gave a cynical laugh. “But I would not ask you to go against the slavers. There are at least thirty of them, all big strong brutes and they’ll have the support of the men from Telmar when they sell my children to them tomorrow.”

“We haven’t decided… yet,” Jalia said, grinning with devilment at Daniel.

“Decided what?” Jenna asked.

“How many of them we are going to kill,” Jalia said and she motioned to Daniel. The two left the house to discuss tactics for the morning.

Next morning, Gilben was feeling much better, though he should not leave his bed until his ribs began to knit together.

“Will you look after the children for us?” Daniel asked as he and Jalia prepared to leave. The three women nodded solemnly. “The wagon and horse is theirs anyway, but if we don’t return, will you treat my donkeys well?”

“Of course,” Megan said as she came over and hugged Jalia and then Daniel. “But this is foolishness, you cannot save my children and you will only get yourselves killed.”

“Jalia never gets me killed at this time of year, so not to worry.”

Daniel mounted Jet, and he and Jalia rode away from the farm leaving a group of anxious women behind them.

“The plan is go into town, find the slavers, kill them and free their slaves?” Daniel asked as they approached the outskirts of Buran.

“You never listen to me,” Jalia complained. “The plan is to go into town,
pretend to be bidders
, find the slavers, kill them
all,
and
then
free their slaves.”

“I’m sorry that the true subtlety of your plan escaped me.” Daniel said, keeping his face straight. He moved Jet to one side as he spoke so the sword swipe aimed at his head missed by a good two feet. They urged their horses to go faster and rode into the town at a gallop.

Buran was a big town. Over two hundred dwellings and many businesses made for an impressive main street. The road was stone as were most of the buildings. Many of the pieces of stone had intricate carvings on them showing they had been salvaged from ancient ruins. Regardless of that, nearly all the buildings were centuries old.

As with most towns, the main street led straight to the market square. In this particular case, the square was also an impressive sight. A tall spire stood at its center and at the spire’s base, a roofed area provided shelter against the elements. The square was full of tented market stalls, selling farm produce and cooked food and anything else that people might want to buy.

At the back of the market there was a raised wooden platform. Large men stood like sentries on each side of it and a crowd had gathered in front of it.