Jalia Prevails (Book 5) (26 page)

Jalia got up swiftly and considered her options. The only people who she knew had access to the suite were safely engaged in conversation in the dining room with Daniel. Jalia couldn’t believe that Lady Rotiln would have given Gally Sorn a key so there were two possible explanations, either Lady Rotiln had forgotten to lock the door or someone else had beaten her into the apartment and was in the process of searching it.

The corridor was still empty and Jalia made a decision. Turning the door handle, Jalia opened the door and stepped into the room as quietly as a ghost.

A familiar cloaked and hooded figure was engaged in ransacking the room. He had pulled out the drawers of the cupboards and was searching through them. Jalia was sure he had not heard her enter because he continued his search unabated.

Jalia drew her sword and said “Boo!” before stepping swiftly to one side.

The man reacted virtually instantaneously, turning and throwing his dagger in one smooth motion. The dagger ended up vibrating noisily, stuck deep into the door. Jalia noted with approval the speed and the accuracy of his aim. He had not turned around far enough to see her. She assumed he would turn clockwise and had moved to his left. To let him know she was there she prodded his cloak lightly with the tip of her sword.

“Now that was a mite unfriendly, Jak. I don’t remember trying to gut you at our last encounter.”

Jak Venjer pulled his hood from his head with his left hand while stepping back and drawing his sword.

“Jalia al’Dare. What an unpleasant surprise to find you here. The last time I saw you, you were dining with Sala Rotiln and her boyfriend. Does that mean that I am about to be unmasked as a burglar?” Jak’s friendly tone belied his predicament. Jalia noted that his eyes kept flicking to the door, probably expecting others to enter the room at any moment.

“No, it just means that you took advantage of my plan to search this room by searching it yourself,” Jalia explained. “You may leave just as soon as you empty out your pockets.”

Jak’s eyes narrowed and Jalia knew he was not planning to accept her offer.

“Perhaps I just need to test if you are as good with a sword as is claimed.” Jak raised his sword in a flamboyant salute.

“If you must, I suppose you must,” Jalia said wearily. Jak launched a flurry of attacks, testing her guard. She repelled them easily without exerting any effort.

“I must say, you are rather good,” Jak said lightly before beginning his attack again, this time in earnest. He used his sword expertly and forced Jalia back towards the wall. His superior strength was the main factor in the contest, but Jalia conceded that he was very good with a sword.

Within moments, he had pushed her back onto the wall with their blades locked between them. He was close enough for Jalia to feel his breath on her face as he pressed home his tactical advantage.

“Do you yield my lady, for I have certainly won.”

“I hardly think so,” Jalia said through gritted teeth as she poked him in the side with the tip of the dagger held in her left hand. She could have killed him then, but neither of them had been fighting with killing strokes and she would far sooner he just left the room. Leaving a body for Lady Rotiln to find seemed so unrefined.

Jak spun back, pushing her left arm away so she could not strike him. When he stepped far enough away to be safe, he saluted her again.

“The Lady Jalia, you certainly deserve your reputation for cunning, but can you fight with a sword alone?” Jalia sheathed her knife without saying a word.

This time he attacked her grimly. Neither spoke as their swords clashed repeatedly against each other, sending sparks flying. Jak thought that he might even be winning before he found his sword twisted from his grasp in the move Jalia had taught Cara a few days before.

Jak bowed to Jalia again. “I am considered by many to be a great swordsman. But you were trained by someone better than me and will I admit that I have been bested. May I enquire where you learnt that particular move?”

“I was taught by Hal al’Haja in Bagdor. He had been a Captain in the King’s Guard, but when he trained me, he was a mercenary for hire. He had been trained in turn by David al’Degar of Delbon,” Jalia said with more than a hint of pride in her voice.

“I have heard of him,” Jak said thoughtfully, “That is an interesting coincidence of names, given who you travel with.”

“His father,” Jalia replied. “And before you ask, Daniel is indeed a better swordsman than either of us, but he doesn’t fight as dirty as I do.”

“May I pick up my sword my lady? Merely to return it to its scabbard, I might add.”

Jalia nodded her approval, but didn’t relax her guard as Jak stooped and retrieved his sword.

“It occurs to me that there is a trick involving throwing a sword from the floor that I could have just used,” Jak pointed out almost apologetically.

“I am aware of it. Had you used it, I’m afraid I would have had to kill you.”

“That was my judgment as well, my lady. Well then, what now? You have me. Do you plan to give me up to the good Captain Toren?”

Jalia sighed, “Time is getting on and I don’t have the time for all this fancy talk. You can leave, but only after I have checked that you don’t have the items I came in search of.”

“And they would be?” Jak asked with a bare face cheek. Jalia found herself smiling. Even standing defeated, he was still trying to pump her for information.

“Just empty your pockets,” Jalia said briskly. “And be quick about it. It will serve neither of our interests if Lady Rotiln returns while we spar with each other.”

“Having been beaten at the physical kind of sparring, you will not even let me attempt the verbal kind? You are a cruel woman,” Jak said with a sad smile on his lips. However, he started emptying his pockets, not wanting to push Jalia too far. It was soon clear he had neither the ring nor the dagger.

“What were you searching these rooms for anyway?” Jalia asked as she let him refill his pockets. Jak simply turned his head to one side and looked at her wryly in silent reproval that she should even ask.

“You want to know how Gally Sorn is going to get the swords off the ship,” Jalia said suddenly. The shock in Jak’s eyes confirmed her suspicions, even though he masked it almost immediately.

“There are some people that should not be allowed to possess such a large number of swords.”

“Lady Rotiln believes she is taking the swords to King Oto of Tallis,” Jalia said, watching Jak’s face as she spoke. It was a waste of time; the gaunt man had put on a perfect mask and his face revealed nothing of what he might be thinking.

“Your words suggest that you suspect they are going somewhere else?” Jak queried. “If the swords ended up with the kings or queen of the Triums, it would not necessarily be a bad thing. They are sensible rulers and Slarn would continue at peace.”

“And if the swords end up with Maximum Tallis?” Jalia teased.

“I have put my life on the line to prevent that from happening,” Jak replied with grim sincerity.

“You will have no further need,” Jalia said airily. “I have made it my mission to thwart Gally Sorn’s ambitions and destroy her life.”

Jak grinned at Jalia’s response. This young girl spoke with such certainty on matters where even kings with armies at their disposal would be circumspect. He had to admit that she had style, even if she was crazy.

“They say the graveyards are filled with people who have tried to thwart Gally Sorn.”

“She tried to add us to that total earlier today. We killed four and castrated one of her men, so it doesn’t amount to a graveyard of our own yet, but you have to give us time. It would have been five more, but Daniel was having a merciful moment.”

Jak decided to release a little information that Jalia already had guessed in the hope of gaining something in return.

“I cannot see how they can get these swords from the harbor in Dalk to Tallis,” he said. “Gilan Dalk is not so foolish as to let it happen, even if he has to use every soldier at his disposal to prevent it.”

“You are looking in the wrong place for your plans,” Jalia said, as it suited her purposes to have one of Gally’s enemies better informed. “Until a couple of days ago, Lady Rotiln believed this boat was docking at Dalk. In fact, it will dock in the harbor at Tallis.”

“How do you know that?” There was cold anger in Jak’s eyes.

“I have my sources of information,” Jalia replied and grinned. “The Boat Company buildings in Dalk were attacked and they have rescheduled the Dragon to dock in Tallis. Captain Toren received new orders from the Boat Company.”

“Has he now?” Jak said through gritted teeth. “If my lady will forgive me, I have people I need to talk to.”

“I have been trying to get you out of that door for the last five minutes,” Jalia pointed out. “And don’t forget to take your knife when you go.” She turned her back on Jak and began a careful search of the drawers he had been looking through earlier.

As Jak pulled his knife from the door he realized he could probably turn and kill Jalia if he wanted. He gave a sharp bitter laugh. He couldn’t afford to kill her and she knew it. Whatever her plans were, she intended to stop Maximus Tallis from getting the swords and she had shown herself to be rather good at that sort of thing. He might need her help.

Jak listened at the door before opening it and slipped out every bit as quietly as Jalia had entered. There was a man he needed to talk to urgently and he hurried down the corridor in pursuit of that goal.

Jalia’s eyes swept the three room suite. It was laid out identically to Gally Sorn’s rooms above, so she knew all the places anything could be hidden. Despite the thoroughness of her search, all she found on her first pass was a scent bottle, which she dropped into her pocket.

It had been nearly an hour since she left the dining table and there was a good chance that Lady Rotiln would return soon. Jalia willed herself to be calm and started the search again, looking in the less likely places.

Carefully removing all the drawers of the cupboard in the main cabin, Jalia spotted what she was looking for. Underneath the bottom drawer, nestled between the wooden runners was a muslin bag. As soon as she touched it, she knew Daniel’s dagger lay within it.

Jalia tipped the bag out onto the table and found it also contained a small silk drawstring purse. For some unknown reason she found her hands trembling as she tipped its contents into her hand. The wide silver ring with runes and symbols etched on it that she knew so well was once again in her hands.

“Have you missed me?” she asked in a whisper as she put the ring onto the index finger of her right hand, where it fitted perfectly.

It seemed to Jalia that the air moved to form a transparent girl’s face that kissed her lightly on the cheek. The face was nearly invisible and Jalia was almost sure she had imagined it. The ring had never done anything like that before.

Jalia replaced everything in the room to where it had been as best she could. The fresh knife mark in the door was impossible to mask and Lady Rotiln would soon discover the scent bottle missing. It just felt more respectful to tidy up before she left.

When she walked out of the room, she whispered to the ring. “Magic Ring, lock the door for me, would you?”

Jalia heard the soft snick of the door lock and grinned with unadulterated pleasure as she walked back to the dining room and Daniel. She felt whole again for the first time since leaving Telmar.

Alin Bredan and Sila Klint sat at a table in the dining room away from the other passengers. Sila had bought bottles of expensive wines at Bratin to replace the cheap alcohol the Boat Company offered, and was appreciating the flavors of her well spent money.

“It really is astounding how much one can miss the little things in life, like a fine wine,” she informed Alin as they sipped their wine.

Bredan shifted his broken leg to a more comfortable position using both hands to move it. It would be weeks before he would be able to walk without splints around his leg and he was already heartily sick of them.

“Yes, my lady. But your gold will not last forever; especially at the rate you have been spending it. We must seek to turn the money that remains into a power base in Slarn,” he replied. He glared at Daniel, who he had somehow come to blame for his present misfortunes. He reserved more of his hatred for Jalia, but she had left the room some time before in some pain. Her pain pleased Bredan; he hoped to provide much more for her when circumstances permitted.