Shadow Trapped

by D. K. Holmberg

  “I heard what he said, just as I heard that Alayna had taken care of what she needed,” Carth said. “If anyone would have reason to be upset, it would have been her.”

  Jenna glared at the man. “I don’t regret it,” she said.

  Carth pushed her outside the tavern. When they were outside, and when Alayna had managed to get out as well, Carth forced Jenna along the street.

  Three men appeared at the doorway of the tavern. Carth glanced at Talia. “Take Jenna from here.”

  “Where?”

  Carth glanced at the men. “I don’t care. Just take her away from here.”

  Talia nodded, and Carth turned back to the approaching men. She spread her hands out in front of her open palms and smiled a placating smile as only as she could. “I’m sorry for my friend. She was picked on by her brother.”

  The nearest man, a tallish man with salt-and-pepper hair and a thick goatee, tried to look past Carth, but Alayna positioned herself in a way to block his view of Jenna.

  “Brother?”

  Carth nodded deliberately, looking at the men. The leader looked to be the most dangerous of them, but even he wouldn’t be much of a challenge for her. “He would always assault her. She has such terrible dreams from that time. I’m sure you can understand how she might react.”

  “What were you doing in the tavern anyway?”

  “We only wanted to eat.”

  “Eat? There are better places for that,” he said.

  “Such as?” Carth tried to sound as innocent as possible but feared that already she had drawn the wrong kind of attention.

  “Such as the women’s tower.”

  “We’re new to the city. Please excuse us for not knowing where we are supposed to have gone,” Carth said.

  The man glanced at his companions. “She will have to pay reparations to him.”

  “What kind of reparations?” Carth asked carefully.

  “For assault? Usually that involves servitude. We will have to let him decide.”

  “He gets to decide?” Alayna asked.

  “You think it should be otherwise?”

  “I think he should not have—”

  Carth grabbed Alayna and pulled her behind her. “You’re right. She shouldn’t have said anything. We will wait to hear what reparations your friend requires.”

  The man considered her for a moment, and then he nodded, as if everything were now settled.

  Carth pulled Alayna away, dragging her toward where Talia and Jenna had gone.

  “Tell me you’re not really going to allow him to make a decision about Jenna.”

  Carth’s face twisted in a sour expression. “I wouldn’t dream of it, but we don’t need to give them the impression of anything other than acquiescence. She’s already going to have drawn notice, and that’s not the kind of thing we need, especially not in a city like this.”

  “I didn’t realize that it was so…”

  Carth sighed. “I didn’t realize that it was so either.”

  They caught up to Talia and Jenna, and Jenna was still steaming, storming along the road along the harbor, making a point of not looking over at Talia. When Carth appeared, she rounded on her, arms crossed over her chest.

  “You didn’t want me to defend Alayna?”

  Carth glanced over to Alayna. “I think that Alayna can defend herself, don’t you?”

  “She can, but you heard what he was saying.”

  “He wasn’t going to take her,” Carth said. “If it came even close to that, I would’ve ensured that he not have that chance.”

  Jenna breathed out heavily. “It’s just that I know what she’s been through with men like that.”

  “As do I. I’m not willing to let anything happen to any of you, not if I can help it. Besides, he was just a man who was too far into his ale to know better.”

  “Wait. You don’t think he should have been wanting to bring me to his table?” Alayna asked.

  Carth snorted. “I’m sure you would have provided excellent companionship, but no. I don’t think he should have brought you to his table.”

  “I imagine he would’ve been a little disappointed in my companionship, anyway.”

  Talia considered Alayna for a moment. “Why is that?”

  Alayna flourished one of her knives before slipping it back into one of her hidden sheets. “I think he would have been disappointed.”

  Jenna sighed, finally calming herself as she looked at Alayna. Somehow, Alayna managed to soothe her in ways that Carth couldn’t. When Jenna turned back to Carth, she frowned. “I’m sorry, Carth. I know you want us to be calmer and to control ourselves, and I should have done that better. I’ll do better the next time.”

  Carth nodded. “I know that you will.”

  “Where to now?” Jenna asked.

  Carth looked around the section of the harbor. They couldn’t remain here, not without drawing additional attention, and she was interested in finding out a little more about the women’s tower. Why would they have a place like that? What would they intend for it?

  There was only one way for her to find out.

  “Since we have time in Waconia, I think that I would like to explore a little bit.”

  “Explore?”

  “They seem to have a very distinct role for women here. I think it’s appropriate that we learn what it is.”

  8

  The women’s tower wasn’t so much a building as it was a section of the city. Waconia was built into a steep rocky coastline, and the women’s tower was near the peak of a hill leading up and out of the city. There were a series of buildings here, each of them with steeply sloped roofs, and all of them well-maintained, much better maintained than the buildings along the harbor. Paint appeared to have been freshly put on, and there were other decorations here.

  “It seems that the women take better care of the city than the men,” Alayna said.

  “Is that all that surprising?” Carth asked.

  Alayna chuckled. “Not surprising, but considering the way they seemed almost offended by our presence in the harbor, you would think that perhaps they might want to have women around them, especially if they’re going to care for the city as well as they seem to here.”

  “What do you want to find here?” Jenna asked.

  She had grown increasingly somber the higher they climbed through the city. It had been a steep climb, the road sweeping around, cutting through what appeared to be mostly homes, though they noticed some distant larger manor houses arrayed on the side of the slope. There were few people in the street, certainly not as many as Carth would have expected, and most of them wore dirty clothing and had the same somber air to them that they’d seen near the harbor.

  “I don’t know what I intend to find, but we have days before we could even check on what might’ve happened to the ship. We might as well take full advantage of that time.”

  “Where do you think we should start?” Alayna asked.

  It was hard to know. In this part of the city, there didn’t seem to be any particular pattern that would help her determine what they should be doing. Carth searched for movement, anything that would signal a place where they would find activity, but she didn’t see anything.

  “Maybe we should start by figuring out where everyone is.”

  “Can’t you just use your ability?” Alayna asked.

  Carth looked around her, sending a brief pulse of power outward. “We’ve been in Keyall so long that I have started to forget about it.” There was a time when she would’ve used her ability immediately and would have reached out, searching for where she could find the predominance of people, but since she had been in Keyall, she had begun to avoid using it, mostly because her ability had been ineffective for helping her determine anything. Most of her magic had failed in Keyall.

  Carth sent a pulse of her connection to the flame surging away from her. Not surprisingly, it washed over Talia, and she was practically unaware that she was even there. It flowed along the
street, and Carth picked up on the location of others nearby.

  “There,” she said, pointing to an unassuming building.

  Alayna frowned. “Are you sure? Why would they choose a place like that to congregate?”

  “Probably because the men might mistreat them if they knew where to find him,” Talia said.

  Alayna let out an angry laugh and nodded. “You’re probably right.”

  They made their way along the street and stopped at the building. Carth glanced at the others and pressed her hand on the door, sending another pulse of flame through it. All she needed was to detect where the others were, and she counted a dozen different people inside. Would they all be women? Was that where they went in the city?

  “What do you detect?” Alayna asked, standing next to Carth.

  “A dozen. Maybe more.”

  “This can’t be all of them,” Alayna said.

  “I don’t think it is, but this is the first place where we’ve picked up on more than a few people.” In the other buildings that Carth had detected, there were one or two people in each of them, not enough to draw her attention. Whatever was behind this door was what they were looking for.

  “Do we just walk in?”

  “What would happen if someone just walked in on us?”

  Alayna arched a brow at Carth. “They would end up with a knife in them.”

  “Maybe it’s the same here.”

  Alayna chuckled. “With the way we saw the men down in the tavern? I doubt very much that those women have the spine to stand up to men like that.”

  “They would have been dealing with them for a long time. It’s my experience that women tend to hide their strength, thinking that they have to.”

  “Most of them don’t have as much strength as you do, Carth.”

  “But most are stronger than men like we encountered down in the city recognize. I think we need to be prepared for the possibility that they are perhaps a bit stronger than those men would realize.” That had been her experience everywhere she had gone, and she had taken advantage of it, using those women who needed someone to help them. Carth had been more than happy to help in whatever way she could.

  “Then we knock,” Alayna said.

  “Then we knock.” Carth rapped on the door and waited.

  They didn’t have to wait long. Within a few moments, the door swung open and a young woman with golden hair stood behind the door and considered Carth for a moment. She flashed a smile that never reached her eyes. “May I help you?”

  “We’re not from Waconia and were told that we needed to come to the women’s tower.”

  “You don’t need to come here. If you’re just passing through, there’s no reason for you to be here.”

  “We don’t know how long we will be here,” Carth said.

  The woman watched Carth before realizing that the others with her were arranged in a half circle behind Carth. “Where you from?”

  “Each of us is from a little different place,” Carth said. “I come from a land far to the north. She is from Elaeavn,” she said, motioning to Alayna, “and she is from Cort.” She pointed at Jenna. It was better to claim Cort than where she actually was from. That would invite even more questions.

  “What of her?” She pointed to Talia, tipping her head to the side. “She looks to be more of a southern woman, especially with the darker skin and hair.”

  “Keyall,” Talia said.

  The woman’s eyes narrowed. “Keyall? That’s quite south. What are you doing here?”

  “Passing through,” Alayna said. “We had some troubles with our ship and had to bring her in for repairs. We were hoping that we could find a place to stay for a few nights while the ship is being worked on.”

  “You could stay on your ship,” the woman said.

  “There aren’t any inns we could rent for a few nights?” Carth asked.

  The woman flashed another smile that never reached her eyes. “I’m afraid Waconia is not like some of your northern cities,” she said.

  “No, I can see that it’s not,” Carth said. “That doesn’t change the fact that there should be someplace for us to spend a night or two.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

  The woman stepped back and pushed the door closed.

  Carth stared at the door for a moment before turning and looking at her friends, an incredulous look on her face. “Well. That was interesting.”

  “There has to be someplace for us to stay,” Alayna said.

  “I’m quite certain there is. Just as I’m quite certain that she knows a lot more than she’s letting on.”

  “Why do you say that?” Talia asked.

  “She seems familiar with geography. It’s more familiarity than I would expect from someone who is isolated as it seems they are. With that familiarity, I suspect that either she has traveled or she has studied.”

  Carth turned and looked around the street. They needed to find someplace to go for the night, even if it meant squatting somewhere. The longer she was here, the more intrigued she was, curious about what was taking place within the city. There was something going on, and she had a sense that the women intended to keep it from the men, though why would that be?

  Carth smiled to herself.

  “What is it?” Talia asked.

  “A thought I had.”

  “I imagine that feels quite remarkable for you,” Alayna said.

  Carth gave her a half glare. “What if the women are separated not because of the men but because of their choice?”

  “You think that they chose this?”

  “I don’t know, but consider me intrigued.”

  “Even if you’re intrigued, we still have to find a place to stay. The taverns might feed us, but it doesn’t sound as if they’ll put us up for the night, and I’m not all that interested in staying on the ship, not with that shipyard man and the way that he looked at us,” Jenna said.

  “He was too old to be looking at you the way you seem to think,” Alayna said.

  “You are too busy playing up the role of captain,” Jenna said.

  “Playing?”

  Jenna shrugged. “What happens when Carth pushes you back?”

  “You two need to stop,” Carth said. “Besides, I’m not pushing Alayna back. She’s probably a better sailor than I am.”

  They started down the street, and Jenna was shaking her head. Carth noticed movement behind her and pushed out with a faint connection to her flame magic. She used the barest amount she could, only enough to detect whether there was someone there are not, and she picked up on movement once more. She hadn’t imagined it.

  “Alayna was the one who nearly sank the ship,” Jenna said.

  “I don’t disagree with you there,” Carth said.

  Alayna feigned a look of shock. Carth was pleased that Alayna was playing up her role, helping draw Jenna back out. They needed the Jenna who would make jokes and insult them. That was the Jenna they had lost in Keyall. Maybe it was simply getting away from the city that helped Jenna.

  “I blame Carth. She’s the one who set up the ship with her boyfriend.”

  “Alistan appeals to me nearly as much as the shipyard man appealed to you,” she said to Alayna.

  Alayna grinned. “Would that upset you?”

  Carth could only shake her head. She continued to focus on the movement behind her, trying to pick up on who might have been back there. She suspected that whoever followed her was the woman from the building—or someone who was with her.

  “Let’s find a place we can stay,” she said, nodding slightly toward Alayna.

  Alayna’s eyes narrowed and she followed the movement of Carth’s head. Her green eyes flashed for a moment, and Carth wondered what she Saw. They hadn’t taken advantage of Alayna’s abilities lately, relying on chance and on Carth’s planning, but it was times like this when Alayna would really become useful.

  “Why don’t you to go and see if you can find us a place?” she sugge
sted to Talia.

  Talia glanced at Jenna and frowned. “What do we do then?”

  Carth whistled softly. “The same as you would have done in Keyall.”

  Talia opened her mouth as if to argue, but Jenna grabbed her and pulled her along the street. “I’ve learned it’s best not to argue with Carth when she gets like that. Besides, let the two of them have some time alone. It’s been far too long.” She winked at Talia.

  Talia’s eyes widened slightly and she glanced from Carth to Alayna. When they left, Carth turned to Alayna. She lowered her voice. “Someone’s following us.”

  “You want me to loop around?” Alayna asked.

  Carth nodded. “Though, it would be nice to have some time just to talk with you. It’s been… too long since we had time like that.”

  Alayna smiled, and when she did, it softened everything about her. Normally she was all hard edges, though not nearly as hard as Jenna. “You better be careful, or you’ll make Talia upset.”

  “I hope that we can grow to trust her.”

  “I hope she can move past what her sister did to her. It still troubles her, you know. I see the way that she looks at everything, the hurt and anger that’s in her eyes. It’s the same way that I looked at things after you rescued me.”

  “You didn’t hold on to your anger for too long, and you didn’t wonder whether you should go back to your captors.”

  “You think that Talia would return to Linsay?”

  “I don’t know. That’s what I think she struggles with, too. I suspect Talia wonders what she might do, and whether she would follow Linsay if her sister came to her or if she would remain with us.”

  “She’s useful in a fight,” Alayna said. “She has quite a bit of skill throwing those knives of hers.”

  “When I first met her, she threw more than a few at me.”

  “I doubt that would have harmed you.”