“About Karik—asking Joti. Will you?”
“Yes, I will. I’ll make out that I’m the one who’s curious. Joti’s a bit of a harmless old gossip at times. He won’t think it odd. Now you get some sleep, and in the morning, you can see how lucky you were to end up with my family and not my cousin’s.”
“Oh. Are they mean?”
“No,” Nym said, grinning. “Worse. They’re noisy.”
~~~~~~~~
Jembis slept rather long and hard that night, worn out by his emotions, and feeling a bit as if he’d surrendered to his fate. He half expected Nym to be all cold and unfriendly again, but the man was smiling and kind, though it was a little disappointing he insisted on Jembis taking his usual reading lesson from Jaika. The lessons were going slowly, but Jaika said she’d asked her teacher about him. He’d said that it would take a while for Jembis to train his mind to understand the characters—and that it might take him a year or two before he could write confidently. He honestly didn’t see himself being ever able to read and write at all, but Jaika was so earnest, and wanted him to try so much, that he didn’t have the heart to refuse her. He didn’t have anything else to do with his time for now, and maybe Nym was right—maybe one day, he would write a letter to Karik and apologise properly. Once Karik had gone home and forgiven him a bit more, at least.
Nym was as good as his word about taking him to the docks. If Jembis was fit, he’d have been scornful about the idea of being given a ride for a journey of a quarter-mile, and even now, thought he could probably have walked it, but Nym insisted he was not to exert himself. “Anyway, you don’t want people to keep jostling you with that arm of yours, do you?”
“No,” Jembis admitted. The ache in his head was receding, but his arm still hurt quite a bit, especially when he moved around. Nym’s father had fashioned a tidy, comfortable sling for him to use, which helped a lot, but the idea of being bumped around didn’t appeal.
It was a shock, going out on the street again. Nym’s house was huge and being at the back of it, near the garden, Jembis had heard hardly any street noise for weeks. The racket of the normal Utuk working day hurt his ears, and the smell also assaulted him, reminding him why he really didn’t like spending time in this city. Give him Darshek anytime. But at the same time, it helped him feel somewhat less of an invalid. He was getting curious looks, though whether because of his battered face or because he was sitting next to a Darshianese man, he didn’t know. He didn’t care—he’d never really cared much about how things looked to other people.
Nym capably handled the little jesig cart—which belonged to a brewer friend of theirs, he said, and which they often borrowed—big gentle hands masterfully guiding the high-spirited animals. Jembis realised they were passing Tesei’s warehouse, and sighed. “Something wrong?” Nym asked.
“That’s where my father took Cecu. He was just a lizard, but he was mine.”
“Any chance we could get him back for you?”
Wish you could, Jembis thought. “No—Tesei will have sold him weeks ago, and I can’t go in there or he’ll call the solders. I just hope whoever bought him knows how to look after him.”
Nym patted his arm in sympathy. “Had him long?”
“Two years. I found him running loose in the docks in Urshek—he was just a couple of inches long then. Must have come in on a ship from the Welensi Islands. I asked around and found out what he was, and then I looked after him. He got big really fast—apparently they do that, then they slow down. He used to ride on my shoulder. He was more like a bird than a lizard. I was always looking out for a female because I was hoping to breed them. Won’t happen now.”
“I hope he found another good home, at least.”
“Me too.” But the chances weren’t very high. He guessed it was the gods’ punishment for what he did to Karik. Only fair, he supposed.
“Well, don’t get upset about it,” Nym said, still kindly. “I know it’s hard on you, but things could have been even worse for you that day. You’re still alive, and with luck, so is Cecu.”
“Yes, I suppose.” Jembis felt silly whining about a lizard to a man who’d lost his brother, but he’d never met Eido and Cecu had been his friend. In his own scaly way, of course.
He realised he knew the storeroom where Nym’s cousin operated. It was quite near one of the merchants his father did a lot of work with. He’d even seen Bren before, though he’d never spoken to him. He was one of several dozen Darshianese traders who’d set up in Utuk since Jembis had first become aware of them—the population was growing, but they were still confined to only a couple of areas of the city. In most places, they weren’t welcome—but here by the docks, they were as ordinary as Jembis himself.
“So this is the famous lad,” Bren announced as Nym helped him down from the driving seat. “Welcome, young Jembis—I’m Bren, Nym’s mother’s brother-in-law’s second cousin, twice removed.”
“Huh?” Jembis said, then looked at Nym helplessly.
“Oh, ignore him,” Nym said, play-punching his ‘cousin’s’ arm. “It’s complicated, but not that much, you bastard. Behave, Bren. I told Jembis you were a respectable trader, lying through my teeth, so try and act like one, will you?”
“You see what I put up with? Abused by my own kin, and me, a kindly soul and father of three. Where’s Letu?”
“Ma needed to go visit a sick friend, so Pa’s minding the store. I brought Jembis along to protect me from your brats.”
“Brats! Is that any way to speak of my precious little darlings?” Bren winked at Jembis. “I only work out front here to get some peace and quiet. If I go upstairs, my ears are deafened. I tell you, Nym—never marry, never have children. You wouldn’t know it to look at me, Jembis, but I’m only Nym’s age. It’s being a father, I tell you.”
Jembis looked between the two men uncertainly, not sure if Bren was joking, but Nym was grinning, and Jembis didn’t think he would be that happy if Bren really hated his children. A moment later, a tall girl came rushing through a door in the back of the store office, and clasped her father around the waist. “Pa! Ma says I can go to Urshek! I love you both!” She planted a big kiss on her father’s cheek, before realising he wasn’t alone. “Oops.”
“Yes, indeed, daughter mine. Ketei, this is Jembis. Jembis, this is one of the three banes of my existence—my oldest child, Ketei.”
Jembis bowed politely, but was shocked to see the girl give her father a sound smack on his arm. “Pa! You can’t talk about me like that!”
Jembis froze, certain Bren was about to chastise his daughter for her outrageous lack of respect, but Nym just grinned. “Ketei, you’re not showing your best side to your visitor. Why are you going to Urshek?”
“The academy—going to study up about medicinal plants and all that, for six months, and then I’ll work with the family for a bit to get some more experience. I might even come work with Karin and Letu eventually.”
Nym held his hands up. “No way, cousin. We like a quiet life.” She stuck her tongue out. “See, Jembis? Twenty years old, going on two. Jaika’s more mature than you.”
“Wouldn’t be hard,” Bren said with heavy humour. “Jembis will think I run an asylum. Come to think of it—”
“Pa!” Ketei squawked in protest. “What are you doing here, Jembis? Are you going to work with Nym and Letu?”
“No—”
“Jembis is a friend, Ketei,” Nym said quickly. “That’s all.”
“Oh.” She came over and looked at him. “Friend or ‘friend’?”
“Ketei!” Nym snapped as Jembis flushed, getting her point. “He’s just staying with us until his arm heals.”
“Oh. No offence, Jembis.”
Nym looked distinctly unamused. “Do you mind, cousin? We’ve got work to do.”
“Clear off, Ketei,” her father said. “Or I’ll find you something to do.”
“I’ve got things to do, Pa. I just came to brighten your day. See you tomorrow, Nym. ‘Bye,
Jembis. Hope to see you again.”
Jembis wished he was anywhere but in this room as Ketei left, but Nym was no happier than he was, by the look of it. “Does she think I would be looking for a lover two months after Eido’s death?” he said tightly. “Bren, your daughter’s got the tact of an urs beast.”
“Yes, she has, and I apologise for her. I’ll speak to her about it. You know she’s always been a bit thoughtless. Spoiled too, I admit it. Reda and I thought it would be good for her to get away from home where people won’t be so tolerant of her nonsense. I don’t know where we went wrong with her, sometimes.”
“She’s not so bad—she just tends to speak before she thinks. Jembis, she didn’t mean any harm.”
“I know,” he said, not wanting anyone to quarrel on his behalf. “What are you trading at the moment, Bren?”
Nym shot him a quick look of gratitude for changing the subject, and Bren took the hint, leading them out to his main store house and showing Nym the latest arrivals. This was familiar territory to Jembis, and he wandered around the boxes and sacks and pallets with genuine interest. Bren took in food and herbal products from all over Periter, but he also imported some of the rarer ores used in metallurgy and pottery, as well as an odd assortment of items which were probably special orders. There were two fellows working away, who smiled at Jembis and didn’t think it was odd he was there, but as customers arrived to collect orders, he got some curious looks. He was glad when Nym said they were done, though he groaned a little to himself when he realised Bren and his family were coming over for dinner the following evening. He might have to pretend to be tired.
The cart was heavily laden this time, and Nym had to take it slow, driving back. “Why don’t you have a cart of your own?” Jembis asked.
“Nowhere to keep it, and we manage with Bren’s cart and this one. We only have to collect stuff every week or so, and that’s only if Bren doesn’t bring it himself. Uh...sorry about Ketei. She’s a bit wild. Got sex on the brain, I think.”
Jembis flushed a little. “I wasn’t upset, just surprised. You don’t have a girlfriend?”
“Or boyfriend, no. I was seeing someone but her family moved away. It wasn’t going anywhere. This was a while before Eido got sick this last time, and since then.... I mean, seriously, does she think I was looking for a lover at his graveside?”
Jembis kept quiet. He knew absolutely nothing about how these things happened, but he understood Nym’s anger at least over this. It had been a very tactless thing to say. “Um...you like men too?”
“Yes. Does that shock you?” Nym asked, with a quick glance. “I know the Prij are funny about these things.”
“No, I’m not shocked. Some of the sailors, uh, at night...well, there’s not a lot of privacy on a ship, not in the sleeping hold.”
Nym raised an eyebrow. “No, suppose not. Just forget this conversation. Damn that Ketei! I’m glad she’s off to Utuk. Maybe her ship will sink and I won’t have to listen to her nonsense.”
“Don’t say that! It’s horrible luck. It’s taunting the gods, see?”
“I guess it is,” Nym said, smiling humourlessly. “Though by that reasoning, Ketei should be completely safe because your gods don’t listen to us.”
“But they might decide to grant your wish and teach you a lesson. They can be funny like that,” Jembis said.
“They sound a lot more trouble than they’re worth. No offence.”
“None taken. I don’t think the gods pay much attention to someone like me.”
“Their loss,” Nym said, grinning. Jembis smiled back. Nym had been really nice to him today, and it had felt good.
It took them a good twenty minutes to travel the short distance back to the shop. Nym helped him down when they got there. “Would you tell Pa I’m back—”
“Jembis! Come here, boy!” Jembis whirled in shock, his stomach knotting up in fear as he recognised the voice. Sure enough, it was his father, red-faced and raging, stomping down the street towards him and shoving people out of his way. “Jembis, come here, you worthless creature!”
“No!” Jembis whispered, his eyes darting around, looking for an escape, but the cart and the buildings blocked him in. “Nym, help me.”
Less paralysed by fear, Nym wasted no time grabbing his arm and shoving him towards the shop. “Go inside, get Pa, then go in the house and lock the door. Don’t come out. Hurry!”
Jembis almost fell as he scrambled for the door, struggling with the heavy wood and iron door, and panting as he got inside. Nym’s father was with a customer, and they both looked at him in surprise. Jembis found himself unable to speak for a moment, forgetting which of the two languages he was supposed to use here. Nym’s father came out from behind the counter and went to him. “Jembis? What’s wrong—where’s Nym?”
He managed to choke out the words. “O-outside. My father! Hurry!”
Nym’s father swore, told his customer he’d be a minute or two, then went out—but not before he firmly pushed Jembis towards the rear of the shop. “Get inside—don’t come out for anyone but me or Nym.”
Jembis obeyed without hesitation. He thought about escaping through the side door that led from the alley into the house proper, but he was in no state to fend for himself. He rushed through the house and to the little room that had become his refuge, slamming the door and locking it. Only then could he gulp down some air and wonder if he would have to go back to his father after all. And if he did—how would he stand it?
Landing Softly: 9
Nym waited until his father finished serving their customer, and then shut the door after the man. His hands were still shaking a little from anger. No one had ever spoken to him like that in his life, and he’d never ever seen a father so bent on hurting his child. “You better go find Jembis,” his father said.
“Pa—he’s going to cause trouble. Legally, he can.”
“Aye, legally—but not morally. Not that he’d know the first thing about morals,” he added bitterly. “He’s even worse than I imagined him. Go on, son. Leave this one to me.”
Which was well and good, Nym thought grimly, but if he had to hand Jembis over to that...that bastard...he was pretty sure Jembis would rather they wrung his neck first. The man was huge—and ready to use those meaty fists too. Jembis would have no chance of defending himself in his present state—or even in full health. He couldn’t allow the boy to be hauled away and brutalised.
He found Jembis sitting on the bed, looking anxious. “Pa sent him away,” Nym said. “But he’ll be back.”
“I should get away from here. He’ll find me, and you know what he’ll do. He was furious.”
Jembis stood, but Nym sat on the bed and tugged on his arm. “No...stop, think, Jembis.”
“You said I wasn’t a prisoner!”
“No, you’re not. I’m asking, not telling. Please?”
With a dubious expression, he sat down again. “I can’t just wait for him to come back.”
“No, I know. But Pa said to leave it to him—what would you do? Where would you go? If you run off, there are worse things out there even than your father.”
“I can’t go back. He’ll kill me.”
Nym was afraid this was true, and had no comfort he could offer. “He takes you away from here over my dead body,” he swore. “He’ll have to drag both of us out if he wants you.”
“But...Nym...I don’t mean anything to you.”
“I swore I’d protect you. If that’s what it takes....”
“Nym...you’re really kind, but this isn’t your problem. I’m not Eido. I’m not kin. I don’t want any more people hurt because of me. If he comes back...I’ll have to go with him. Or I have to leave now. That’s the only two options. Where’s my pack?”
“Jembis—”
“No! Damn it! It’s bad enough I have to be scared of him, but if you got hurt, that would be so much worse. Please—don’t argue with me. If you want me to stay, you’ll have to make me.” His jaw was se
t mulishly, and Nym was reminded that for all he sometimes seemed so young, Jembis was very nearly a legal adult, and had been looking after himself for a long time. “So, are you?”
Nym felt sick, but he had told Jembis he was free to leave. “No.”
“Then where’s my pack?”
“In a cupboard in the hall.”
Reluctantly, Nym went out to fetch it, Jembis following. But as he was lifting it down, Pa came in. “Oh, Nym, we need to...what are you doing?”
“I’m leaving, Letu. I have to get away before my father comes back.”
“Jembis, you have to let us try and stop him...please, give us a chance.”
“How? He’s legally in charge of me. If I don’t go now, I won’t get a head start. Nym, please, give me that.”
Nym watched Jembis struggle with his pack. “Oh, pissing hells! Jembis, you can’t even carry it properly. Pa, please, talk to him!”
Pa came up and laid his hand on Jembis’s shoulder. “Please, just give me today, son. One day, that’s all I ask. He won’t get past me and Nym to drag you out. Just give me a chance to make some enquiries.”
“But—”
“You really don’t have an alternative,” Pa said firmly. “If you leave now, without anywhere to go....”
“Pa, could Bren hide him? If we got him back down to the warehouse?”
His father looked startled, as if he’d not thought of that at all, but then he nodded. “It’s a lot to ask...but yes. The cart’s still out front—I was just going to get you to take it back. Jembis, get your coat.”
Without a word, Jembis went back to the room. Nym looked at his father. “Smuggle him out of Utuk, maybe?”
“That’s the only thing I can think of, son. But we’re breaking all kinds of laws—”
“Letu!” They turned to where Nym’s mother had come in through the shop door. “There’s soldiers in the shop, demanding to see Jembis. What’s going on?”
“Damn it. Karin, his father found him—we cleared him off, but he must have got the army involved.”
Jembis had returned in time to hear this. “I’ll go out the side.”
Falling From the Tree (Darshian Tales #2) Page 74