by John Booth
Jalia had danced at the Royal Court of Bagdor with Princes, back when her father was the richest trader in that city and she attended the royal school. She was taught by the best and Jalia had a natural grace. Dancing and swordplay are similar skills and she excelled at both.
The music stopped and Daniel bowed to Jalia and she curtseyed back to him. The other dancers cheered and clapped in appreciation. The cheering died as two of Marcus’s men walked across the dance floor and one grabbed Jalia by the arm.
“The next dance is mine, I think,” the man said in a sneering tone. “I get to sample all the new girls in town.”
Jalia pulled away from him causing him to drop his mask. She might have gone along with the idea of dancing with him before she saw who he was, but without his mask she recognized him as Burn, the man that raped Patrus’s daughter with his partner Kale.
Daniel recognized a set up when he saw one. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Marcus nodding in satisfaction. He stepped back to give himself room to fight and felt the sharp point of a crossbow bolt in his back. A guard had moved behind him.
“Back off or die.” Daniel had no choice but to walk back to the edge of the dance floor taking him away from Jalia and the two guards. Daniel knew he would be dead if he twitched suspiciously and did as he was told.
Jalia knew that if the first man was Burn the other was probably Kale. She saw Daniel walking back with his arms slightly raised and knew she was going to be on her own. She could still get out of it if she kept calm and danced with this scum. She steeled herself to do whatever was necessary to survive.
“Not so tough now little girl, are we?” Burn said as the orchestra started to play and he reached to put his arm around her waist. No one else was dancing and everybody had moved out to the edge of the dance floor. At least ten of Marcus’s men stood with their crossbows primed at the edge of the floor, watching every move Jalia made.
Kale stood a few feet away waiting for his turn to dance. At last the music stopped and Burn stood away from Jalia and spoke loudly so the whole room could here, “For a girl with no tits you dance quite well. I’ll find out how well you scream with your legs apart later.”
“Once a rapist, always a rapist.” Jalia said and spat at his feet.
The room became deathly silent. Burn reached for his sword but looked to Marcus before drawing it. Marcus moved to stand alongside Daniel.
“That’s a very serious accusation against one of my best men. Can you prove it?”
“I’ll prove it by combat,” Jalia spat, “And take on his little accomplice as well.”
“Trial by combat,” Marcus mused, “I think that’s a fair resolution and will provide us all with a little amusement as midnight approaches. Of course, my dear, you will fight as you are. My men against you, and they are armed and you sadly are not. But I promise you this, should you win, you will leave here untouched. Could I say anything fairer than that?”
There were murmurings of disgust from the locals and Karn reached for his sword. The guards who had been pointing their crossbows at Jalia turned and faced the crowd, making it clear than any man who drew a sword would be dead.
“Well then, let the entertainment begin,” Marcus smiled at Jalia coldly, “Are you ready to fight, my dear?”
Jalia ripped the dress from her body, revealing her normal clothes. She kicked off the high healed dancing shoes and stood in her bare feet.
“I am now,” she said grimly.
Daniel knew Jalia was in serious trouble. These men might be scum, but he could see from the way they moved and took up position at ten and two o’clock in front of her that they knew how to fight as a team. She might be able to use the magic ring, but any sign of cheating would get her a dozen crossbow bolts in the back.
However, Marcus would probably allow her a knife to fight if somebody in the hall was to throw her one. He had displayed an arrogant confidence in the fighting skills of his men.
Daniel whispered commands to his dagger and it rose from its sheath at his belt and drifted slowly to the back of the hall. It spun into the air as if it had been thrown, rising over the heads of the audience before clattering to the floor at Jalia’s feet.
The men with crossbows swung them towards Jalia and looked at Marcus. Jalia made no move to pick up the dagger, waiting to see what Marcus would say.
“A knife will make the entertainment last a little longer,” Marcus said as Burn and Kale indicated with nods that they weren’t bothered by the development. “The rules still apply.” He turned to where the knife appeared to have been thrown from, “But any more help from the audience and I’m afraid the helper will soon join our little girl here in the companionship of death.”
Jalia picked up the knife and grinned. She knew how incredibly sharp it was. Those virtues were almost as powerful as magic to someone with Jalia’s skills. As far as she was concerned the fight had become even.
The men were far too experienced to rush at her. They made a couple of feints and watched as Jalia spun aside. She was so fast that Burn and Kale knew they had a fight on their hands.
“I understand that when you raped Patrus’s daughter, she wasn’t sure you’d actually done it because it was so small she didn’t feel a thing,” Jalia said, smiling sweetly at Burn.
“I don’t get angry and I don’t make mistakes, little girl.”
“But you’re going to die right here and very soon because you made a mistake. I think I’ll give you a slow death so you get to feel some pain first.”
Even as Burn did it, he knew it was a mistake, but she had annoyed him. He made an attack without support from Kale though he was careful to limit his exposure. Against anybody but Jalia it would have been perfectly acceptable move, but her speed and agility were exceptional as was her ability to think on her feet.
As Burn moved out of position relative to Kale and started to swing his sword down at where Jalia stood, she ducked and ran towards him, pirouetting as she passed his legs, her knife flashed a wicked slash and cut his hamstrings. Jalia continued her spin putting Burn between her and Kale, so his partner could do nothing until she was upright again facing them.
Burn lay on the floor cursing, his legs no longer responding to commands from his brain. Blood poured from his wounds making the floor around him slippery. Burn picked up the sword he had dropped and roared at Jalia. The women in the crowd flinched at the foul words he spat at her.
“I told you I would make it a slow death,” Jalia said loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Marcus whispered something to a guard carrying a crossbow. He threw his crossbow to Kale. Kale caught it and released the safety catch. Jalia moved back against the threat, trying to give herself time to respond to the bolt, though she knew she would only be able to move inches at most before it hit her. As she moved, she noticed Burn and Kale were directly beneath one a chandelier.
With any knife but the one she carried the idea would have been hopeless fantasy. The rope holding the chandelier was far too thick to be cut by a single throw of a knife. But this was the sharpest of knives, quite possibly the sharpest that ever existed. She whispered a command to the knife, not for help with the throw, but for what it was to do afterwards.
Jalia threw the knife at the rope. Kale, who had been taking careful aim at her stepped back thinking the knife was thrown at him. He laughed when he realized how high it was going. He thought Jalia must be scared to throw so badly. He lifted the crossbow and aimed at Jalia again.
He heard Burn scream as his finger pressed the trigger but he never felt the tons of metal and glass that smashed him into the marble floor killing both men instantly. His crossbow bolt bounced off the marble floor harmlessly.
The hall was filled with the sounds of breaking glass. Burn’s head parted from his body and rolled across the floor, cut off by a bar of the chandelier. Thousands of glass shards bounced towards Jalia but stopped short of where she stood.
The guards turned and pointed their crossbows at Jalia.
“A man can be judged simply on whether he is capable of keeping his word.” Daniel’s loud words rang out across the hall.
Marcus looked at Daniel and smiled, “A true word from a trader, whoever would have thought it possible? Let her go, she has won her freedom”
Jalia made a hasty retreat outside.
“As for you, my friend, why do I suspect it was your dagger she picked up on the dance floor? If it was yours, I’m afraid I’m going to have to kill you.” Marcus waved for the people around Daniel to move aside. The man with the crossbow point still in Daniel’s back stayed where he was, awaiting orders.
“As you can see, my dagger is where it was, safely in its sheath,” Daniel said calmly. And so it was, having been ordered to return there after it cut the rope.
Marcus snarled and walked away. The man with the crossbow removed it from Daniel’s back.
“There’s never a dull moment with that girl,” Daniel said quietly to nobody in particular. The music started up and people began to dance.
Outside, Jalia gratefully picked up her weapons and boots from the coach. She had a lot of work to do in the lockup rooms and was already late.
7. The Caves of Brinan
Jalia felt pleased with herself as she picked her way through the alleys between the hotel and Karn’s house. Things had gone well at the lockups and only a couple of rooms remained to be emptied of gold. She was glad she hadn’t thought of using the ring during the fight at the ball as that would have stopped her getting so far. One more night would see every single piece of gold taken from the Mine Owners Associations vaults.
Daniel waited for her at the door and escorted her into the lounge where Talla, Karn, his daughters and Sam were gathered. The girls were nudged awake and it was clear they had all been waiting for her to return. Karn spoke first.
“You cannot imagine how angry Marcus al’Tren is. He will kill you both the first chance he gets. He will make up a reason if he has to.” Karn paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. “By the way, Patrus, his daughter Hallen, and at least a dozen others would like me to thank you for killing those bastards.”
“We have to leave, Jalia,” Daniel continued, “We will be lucky to get the donkeys and the horses out of here as it is.”
“That’s all you care about, those damned donkeys, isn’t it?” Jalia snapped at him. Everything had been going so well and now Daniel planned to spoil it. How could he?
“Jalia, we are marked people. We came close to getting killed tonight and it would have all been for nothing. The Mine Owners Association would have carried on just as before.”
“Exactly!” Jalia flashed back. “When I finish what I’m doing tomorrow night, they will be hurt as they have never been hurt before. That’s why I have to stay to finish the job.”
“And are you prepared to enlighten me as to what you’ve been doing?” Daniel asked as patiently as he could manage under the circumstances.
Jalia went up to him and held his hands, “I’ll tell you after night falls again, Daniel. In fact, you can come and help me. You’ll see how important it is then. But I need to wait another day to finish it.” Jalia put on her most pleading voice. “Please Daniel...”
“We must move the animals at first light. I could pretend I’m taking things to the market. If we bring them here, we put Karn and his daughters in danger from Marcus. I don’t see how we can make this work.” Daniel worked the problem round in his head. Once Marcus suspected they had left the hotel he would search all the local houses and if he found anything at Karn’s, his life and that of his daughters would be forfeit. It was much too big a risk to put on these people who had befriended them.
“I have a solution that will keep you safe for another night.” Karn told them. Jalia and Daniel looked at him in surprise.
“This is my town house. Come to this window and I’ll show you our main home.” Jalia, Daniel and Talla went to look where Karn was pointing to a mansion high on the rim of the valley near to the city wall.
“Tomorrow, Daniel will retrieve your animals and goods and announce he’s going to the market place, but instead he will bring them here. Jalia will stay in the lobby with Patrus getting noticed so that Marcus doesn’t suspect anything is going on.
My daughters will ride your horses up to our mansion while Sam will take your donkeys using the back streets. Later in the day, my daughters will ride down here with three of our horses, using ones that look similar to yours.”
Jalia and Daniel looked at each other and nodded. They would have found a way to leave Brinan long before Marcus could get around to searching the mansions on the hills and there would be no reason for him to look if no one had seen them leave. He would spend his time searching the houses in town.
“I have one change to your plan,” Daniel said. “Talla should go to your mansion with Sam. We can disguise her as a servant.”
Talla looked outraged and Daniel smiled sadly at her, “This is warrior’s work and you saw what Jalia faced tonight. Go somewhere we can be sure you’re safe and out of harm’s way.”
Talla nodded reluctantly, all thought of protest gone.
“I’ll return to the hotel after a few hours via the back way and everybody but the guards in the stable will be convinced I have returned with our animals and goods. With luck, they won’t tell anybody I didn’t bring the animals with me until it is too late. Jalia and I will sneak back here until nightfall and then go back to the hotel to finish whatever Jalia has been doing.” Daniel paused to gather his thoughts.
“We will make our way up to your mansion when we finish. Karn, you and your daughters should stay here to avoid arousing any suspicions. If all goes well, we will head for the gate tomorrow morning and be out of your lives for good.”
“And what if things go wrong?” Karn asked. Daniel turned to Jalia for an answer, as only she knew what she had been doing.
“When they discover what I have done, all hell will break loose.” Jalia grinned. “They will have lost more than you can imagine. Marcus may not act like a sane man when he finds out, and you may have to fight. I’m sorry.”
Karn shrugged, “At least we know and forewarned is forearmed. I think they might find they have a fight on their hands if they attack me and my daughters.” Kalla, Jema and Ralta looked serious and Ralta looked a little afraid, but all three of them nodded in agreement.
“We shall get a little more fighting practice first thing tomorrow morning,” Jalia said and all three girls grinned.
“Whatever you do, don’t interrupt them at practice,” Daniel warned Karn. “It can be most disturbing.”
Everything went to plan. Daniel retrieved the horses, donkeys and goods and brought them to Karn’s town house. Jalia was followed by guards who watched her from the moment she entered the lobby. She saw the look of relief on their faces when Daniel joined her in the lobby some hours later. They obviously had orders to make sure neither of them tried to leave the city.
They couldn’t lose the guards without arousing suspicions so they spent the remainder of the day in the lobby chatting to Patrus and Danus. Daniel brought them a lot of small bags of spices and discussed recipes with Danus, much to Jalia’s disgust. They ended up eating in Patrus’s office in the early evening with the other members of Patrus’s family, including his wife and his daughter Hallen, who spent a lot of time embarrassing Jalia with praise.
It was past midnight when Jalia decided it was time to complete her plan. She informed Patrus’s family they had to go. Daniel took Patrus aside to warn him of the danger.
“Take all your family into the most secure and hidden private areas. Stay there until the afternoon at the earliest; stay there all day tomorrow if you can.”
Patrus nodded. He hadn’t been fooled by Daniel and Jalia’s sudden desire to be noticed around the lobby. He saw the guards watching them, “Good luck, young man. My family owes you a great deal.”
Daniel and Jalia strolled down to the stables. As they pas
sed the guards that guarded the area the two following them stopped and chatted with their colleagues. They knew there was nowhere Daniel and Jalia could go.
Jalia told Daniel how she had been stealing the Associations gold and disguising it as a wall in the tunnel.
“How were you planning to get it out of the tunnel?”
“I’m not, silly. I’m depriving the Association of it, which is almost as good. Mind you, I will always know where it is, if I should need it in the future.”
Daniel and Jalia began moving the last of the gold, keeping a watch for the guards.
In the early hours of the morning, Marcus al’Tren was woken by hesitant knocking at his bedroom door. He was a light sleeper and woke instantly. Dragging on his clothes, he opened the door and was momentarily blinded by the light from the corridor. When his eyes recovered he saw the men as part of the team guarding the hotel stables. The two men who guarded his room shrugged apologetically for letting them wake him.
“What do you want?” They weren’t his cleverest pair of men, which is why they were guarding the stables.
“Sir, the trader you were worried about.”
“What about him man, spit it out!”
“He went out to do some trading this morning and never came back,” the man blurted out.
“Don’t worry, he’s been in the lobby all of the afternoon,” Marcus said. He had been getting regular reports from the men tailing Jalia. The two guards started to leave when Marcus called them back.
“He left this morning with some of his trade goods?”
“Oh no sir, He left with everything, horses, donkeys and his saddle bags fully laden. We just talked to the men who relieved us and he never brought them back in the evening.”
The man had barely finished speaking before Marcus was out of the room, gathering his men behind him as he ran. When he reached the lobby, he had fifteen men running behind him, all of them wondering what all the fuss was about.