Dark Healer (An Empire Falls Book 1)

by Harry Leighton

  “I’m not going to be able to sleep if you stare at me,” Alia said, turning round to look at him.

  “Just checking you were okay,” Jonas said.

  “Thanks Dad, want to read me a story?”

  Jonas sighed, loudly.

  “Um, how about I get some sleep?” Alia said.

  “Good idea,” Jonas said. He turned away. Deep down, he knew why she tended to stay fully dressed at night and it wasn’t because she didn’t trust him. She hadn’t told him the full details but he’d pieced bits together from her conversations over the past two years. It seemed that she’d had to make it clear to a soldier that she wasn’t interested. And she’d used a knife to make sure he got the message. That had to lead to a certain wariness around men. Oh, not with him. They knew each other well enough, and if he admitted it, relied on each other enough to have full trust. They’d both seen the other unclad. She’d helped him bathe the other night for goodness sake. No, it was about the vulnerability of sleep. She was worried that whilst asleep she might be attacked and unprepared. Even with him watching over her. That made him a little sad.

  “Enough of that,” he muttered to himself. There were bigger things going on than Alia being nervous about undressing to sleep. He’d been at least partially honest with Alia about why he couldn’t sleep. What they had seen today was enough to keep him awake, though not quite for the reasons she thought. No, today brought back memories. Uncomfortable memories. He was worried where sleep would take him.

  Quietly he moved the room’s one chair near to the door and made himself as comfortable as possible and tried to think of happier times.

  *****

  "You not worried about leaving Alia alone with one of us?" Trimas said as he, Daeholf and Jonas stood outside the inn the following morning.

  Jonas stopped and turned to face him. "With you, maybe."

  “Me?”

  “I’m certain Zedek is a lot more dangerous than he looks. Alia’s very capable though.”

  “So why would I be a problem?”

  “You might say or try something inappropriate and she might have to hurt you. We might have to wait whilst you healed and we don’t have the time.”

  “I have an undeserved reputation,” Trimas said, looking injured.

  “Doubtless,” Jonas said. “But we also don’t know each other very well yet.”

  “Can’t argue with that and can’t help being cautious I suppose,” Trimas said.

  “After the stories you were telling us last night, would you trust a younger version of yourself with her?” Daeholf said to Jonas with a smile.

  “Definitely not. Even after I knew me,” Jonas admitted.

  “We’re getting a little off track here,” Trimas said.

  “I think we all have a working level of trust,” Jonas said.

  Daeholf nodded. Trimas shrugged, then nodded.

  “So… the plan?” Daeholf said. “We split up and look for information?”

  “We might draw a little too much attention as a group,” Jonas said.

  “Don’t you draw a lot of attention anyway?” Trimas said.

  “Why?”

  “You’re an intimidating looking big guy.”

  “How old am I?” Jonas said patiently.

  “Ah, I don’t know.”

  “Old though, right?”

  “If you say so.”

  “And what business am I in?”

  “Bounty Hunting,” Trimas said carefully.

  “Been doing it a long time too,” Jonas said.

  “And if you weren’t any good at it you’d have been killed or had to give it up long ago,” Daeholf finished.

  “Exactly,” Jonas said.

  “So, you’re good at blending in and getting information,” Trimas said.

  “Pretty good, yes.”

  “Point taken. Any tips?” Trimas said.

  Jonas looked him up and down. “Ex-soldier thing is working for you. Tavern hop and claim you are looking for work.”

  “Fair enough. Plenty of practise at that at least.”

  “Don’t try and hide, paradoxically that draws the most attention.”

  “Interesting.”

  “Unless you’re very good at it anyway.”

  “I’ll pose as a merchant then,” Daeholf said. “I don’t fancy any more tavern hopping at the moment.”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way but one look at you doesn’t exactly scream merchant,” Jonas said.

  “Too scruffy?”

  “You could probably pull it off with some better clothes, but you’ve a soldier’s eyes.”

  “Soldier’s eyes?”

  “Some people call it the thousand-yard stare.”

  “Ah.”

  “You look like a soldier. One who has seen some heavy action. Don’t look through people quite so much and try to smile a little more often.”

  Daeholf laughed. “I didn’t know I was that obvious.”

  “Better. But to trained eyes, you are.”

  Daeholf and Trimas looked at each other for a moment.

  “We’ll work on it,” Trimas said.

  Jonas frowned momentarily, sure he was missing something.

  “Meet you both back at the rooms later then,” Daeholf said.

  *****

  "You're giving me a funny look," Zedek said.

  "Sorry," Alia said, looking back down to the stack of papers on the table.

  "No problem. Just curious what it was about."

  "I probably shouldn't say."

  "Now I'm really curious."

  Alia sighed. "I was trying to decide if I could take you in a fight."

  "Oh," Zedek said looking a little confused. "Why?"

  "Instructions from Jonas."

  "Should I be worried? Are the two of you about to kidnap me or something?" Zedek said with a smile, though his eyes were a shade worried.

  "No, no. Nothing like that," Alia said hurriedly. "He's just concerned for my safety. We don't know any of you very well and you all claim a violent background."

  "I don't know if I'd go that far," Zedek said.

  "You were all soldiers?"

  "Well, yes. Of course."

  "Hence my instructions."

  "Your mas– um, boss is a sensible and cautious man."

  "Amongst other things."

  "So, what did you conclude? Wait, don't tell me. It's clear actually."

  Alia raised an eyebrow.

  "You told me. If you were worried I'd win you'd have kept quiet."

  "Sorry," Alia said with a smile and a shrug.

  "Don't be, I get that a lot. People often underestimate me, though having seen you fight, you're probably right."

  Alia looked at him again, assessing. “Thanks,” she said.

  “So what do we have,” Zedek said.

  “There’s the papers from the um, operating theatre yesterday, and some more from Jonas and my last job.”

  “Why do you think they will help?”

  “They’re what led us here.”

  “Ah. So who was your last target?”

  “A general scumbag. But also a people trafficker. Led us to Marlen. Here, have a look at these,” Alia said, handing a couple of sheets over.

  “They’re not in code,” Zedek said, looking.

  “No, our previous target was a bit lax.”

  “There’s a small note against each shipment. This one has...” Zedek trailed off.

  “I’m so stupid,” Alia said.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Arms. Doesn’t mean weapons. I think it literally means arms.”

  “Ah. Oh. Actually, that would make a sort of sense.”

  “The farm?”

  “We found a pile of them.”

  “That’s gross.”

  “You’re not wrong.”

  “But you found a pile of arms?”

  “Yes, we concluded he didn’t need them.”

  “So he wouldn’t be shipping arms then,” Alia said, defl
ated.

  “Might not be what it means,” Zedek said.

  “Go on…”

  “We thought that he didn’t need the arms — maybe the arms note means that the people were missing arms?”

  “He was having people with injuries and deformities shipped to him.”

  “You think he’s trying to help these people?”

  “In a twisted way perhaps.”

  Zedek shrugged. “Possibly.”

  “What about the mess at the farm?”

  “Spares to fix people with?”

  “Killing and cutting up people to fix others? That’s disgusting.”

  “I’m not saying I agree with his methods,” Zedek said.

  “He needs to be stopped.”

  “No argument here.”

  “So we need to find him. His papers are coded but I was hoping that we could cross reference them against our trafficker…”

  “It’s a good idea.”

  “Trouble is that the trafficker was shipping the people here.”

  “There could be more in there if we look more carefully.”

  “Let’s get at it then,” Alia said.

  *****

  “So what do we know?” Alia said when they all gathered that evening.

  “That you’re better at getting us rooms from the innkeeper than Jonas,” Daeholf said as he looked around the suite they were now in, one main room and three bedrooms linked from it.

  “I’m worried about how much this is costing us,” Jonas said.

  “Oh, nothing extra,” Zedek said. “Alia and I helped the innkeeper out with his taxes earlier after we finished and in gratitude he put us up in the dignitaries’ room.”

  “Can’t get a lot of dignitaries out here,” Trimas said.

  “It is a bit dusty,” Daeholf said.

  “It’s better than what we had,” said Alia with an edge in her voice.

  “We were supposed to stay low profile,” Jonas said.

  “How low profile was three men sharing a small room?” Alia said.

  “Point taken,” Jonas said.

  “Who gets the rooms? There’s only three.” Trimas said.

  “We draw lots,” Daeholf said. Alia looked faintly hurt. “Fair's fair,” he added.

  “Chairs look comfy anyway,” Trimas said.

  “What did you find?” Jonas said.

  “Not many people with much useful to say,” Daeholf started. “Few people mentioned a healer locally who was good at fixing unusual problems, but you’d found that out already. No one seemed to know anything about goings on to the west. The mine was apparently played out some years ago, so no real reason for going down there now. Gatekeeper did say that he’d seen a number of people going in and out of town at night recently though.”

  “You spoke to the gatekeeper?”

  “One of them.”

  “Ah. So did I,” Jonas said. “Two people asking those sorts of questions in the same day is going to stick in the mind.”

  “Three,” Trimas said.

  “You too? I thought you were tavern hopping?” Daeholf said.

  “Gatekeeper came in for a drink.”

  “Oh.”

  “And you were worried that I’d drawn attention to us,” Alia said.

  “Can’t be helped now. We’re going to have to move on tomorrow though.”

  “I’ve not got much to add,” Trimas said. “Heard the same sort of stuff as Daeholf, bit of activity at the gate and a good healer that visits occasionally. Activity at the gate did include a couple of carts though.”

  “Interesting,” Daeholf said.

  “Beer loosens tongues,” Trimas said.

  “There’s a couple of people gone missing from town,” Jonas said. “No one seems to know where. Both were previously ill.”

  “That tallies with what we’ve learned,” Zedek said.

  “Any luck with where?” Jonas asked.

  “That’s where it gets complicated. There’s a lot of paperwork and a number of possible locations,” Alia said.

  “But you had a good idea,” Zedek said quickly.

  “It was sort of yours,” Alia said.

  “Ours,” Zedek said.

  “Do tell,” Jonas said loudly.

  They all looked at him.

  “We looked at what had been ordered,” Alia said. “Horse feed, supplies, that sort of thing.”

  “Giving you a range?” Daeholf said.

  “That’s our idea.”

  “So?” Jonas said.

  “We’re looking at about a week’s travel. After looking at a map we think Dunfell to the east is our best candidate.”

  “We’re guessing then,” Trimas said.

  “It’s better than nothing,” Jonas said. “He’s not here, it’s unlikely he’ll be back given what we saw.”

  “What about the other altered?” Daeholf said.

  “What about them?” Jonas said.

  “They were part of a group that killed a whole farm and mutilated the bodies. They’re dangerous.”

  “And they are almost certain to meet back with Marlen,” Jonas stated.

  “What makes you say that?” Zedek asked.

  “It looked very much like they were in the process of clearing the place when we found them, moving bases in effect,” Jonas observed.

  “It did,” Daeholf said. Trimas nodded.

  “So it makes sense that their plan was to meet back up with their master,” Jonas explained.

  “Their plan, but we sent that a bit sideways,” Alia said.

  “We did, but that’s exactly why they’ll need to regroup. For new orders,” Jonas finished.

  “That makes sense,” Daeholf said.

  “We’re going east then,” Trimas said.

  *****

  “Does he always drink that much?” Daeholf said to Alia, looking at Jonas passed out in one of the chairs.

  Zedek and Trimas had each won a lot and got one of the rooms and had retired. Trimas, to his credit, had said nothing suggestive. Jonas had won the third, much to Alia’s quiet annoyance but it didn’t look like there was much moving him now.

  “No, never,” she said, trying not to look worried.

  “Not last night?”

  “No.”

  “Busy couple of days,” Daeholf said. “Yesterday in particular was hard on everyone.”

  “Yeah. He didn’t sleep.”

  “Stayed on watch all night? That was good of him.”

  Alia snorted. “Overprotective old bear.”

  “He stayed awake to watch over you?”

  “No, too much on his mind to sleep he said.”

  “He had helped cut someone open to look inside.”

  “Not sure it was that. I think this is personal with him somehow.”

  “That’s when things start to get dangerous.”

  “Why are you after Marlen?”

  “It’s personal.”

  “That’s when things start to get dangerous…”

  “I deserved that I suppose.”

  Alia shrugged.

  “So what do you want to do with him?” Daeholf said.

  “I don’t fancy carrying him to his room,” Alia said.

  “You take it instead then,” Daeholf said. “I was supposed to be out here anyway.”

  “Oh, sir knight, how gallant,” Alia said.

  “Should I take it as a good sign that you’re poking fun at me?”

  “Don’t feel special, I’m rude to everyone.”

  “Point stands though, he might as well stay out here, and I lost the draw.”

  “I slept all last night. I’ll split it with you,” Alia said.

  “Erm?”

  “You watch out here for the first half of the night, then we swap,” Alia said patiently. “Whoever is in here can keep watch,” she added.

  “Sounds fair. Thank you. Does the big man snore?” Daeholf asked.

  “Give it a minute, you’ll see,” Alia said with a smile.

  Th
ey paused and looked at him for a minute. There was a snorty growl from Jonas.

  “Question answered,” Daeholf said. “It’ll keep me awake on watch.”

  “It’s as good as a splash of cold water.”

  “See you in a few hours then,” Daeholf said, settling himself down in a chair.

  *****

  Jonas groaned.

  “Serves you right,” Alia said in the gloom from a chair across the room.

  “What time is it?” Jonas said.

  “Sun’s just coming up.”

  “Do we have any water?”

  “Jug on the left-hand side of your chair.”

  “You let me sleep in a chair? You know what that’ll do to my back,” Jonas groaned.

  “Wasn’t much choice. You’re too heavy to carry. And sleep’s not quite the right word.”

  “Passed out?”

  “Passed out.”

  “Ah.”

  “Why’d you drink that much?”

  “Because I wasn’t looking forward to what might be waiting for me when I shut my eyes.”

  “This isn’t like you.”

  “Can we talk about this later?” Jonas said quietly, reaching with exaggerated caution for the water and drinking carefully.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Ahh,” Jonas said after a drink. “That’ll help.”

  “What’s going on?” Alia pressed.

  “I told you I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “After doing this in front of our new companions, I’m not sure you have any choice.”

  Jonas sighed. “The last couple of days have brought back memories. Bad memories. I’ve seen and done a lot of bad things over the years. The sort of stuff you don’t want to remember.”

  “Go on.”

  “Sometimes you need to do bad things to stop bad people. Sometimes you need to do bad things to save good people. The sort of things that you can justify to yourself at the time but haunt you later.”

  “Such as?” Alia said, a hint of concern in her voice.

  “I don’t want to think about it. I don’t need to give you examples though. You stay in this job, you’ll have some of your own before long.”

  “You’ve said that before.”

  Jonas took another drink. “I was right then too.”

  It was Alia’s turn to sigh. “So what now?”

  “We get up and get on with things. What you doing out here with me anyway?”