by Dave Skinner
“You seem to have given this a great deal of thought,” Manda said.
“It has been on my mind since I learned about it,” Ran admitted before he turned back to Brayson and Nails. “Are you two interested in a short sail?”
Brayson looked at Nails. “What do you think, Nails? Travelling by boat would get me back here before Remi has to leave, and I want to walk the Thesia stairs with her to meet my father.”
“Okay.” Nails nodded.
“Good,” Ran said. “We can talk more about it tomorrow, and I will start getting some supplies together. Reese’s small skip should be all we need.”
Nails and Brayson excused themselves and went to their room.
“Are you really okay with this trip?” Brayson asked when they were settled.
“Sure, I hope this KaAnian wizard will be able to help.”
“I am sure he will.”
Nails could hear the low murmur of voices coming through the window. Ran and Manda were still sitting by the fire, he supposed. He heard a sudden splatter of rain and a commotion. They must have moved back to the table because now he could hear their voices more clearly.
“Yes, it has to be stopped,” Manda was saying. “Holding anyone against their will is unacceptable, but my question is, why are you getting involved? We have heard of other problems. They did not move you. Why now?”
“I am not sure,” Ran replied. “Somehow this seems important.”
“It is important, but why are you getting involved? You are not the young warrior anymore, Ran.”
“I exercise every day. I am still strong.”
“True, but a sword has not been in your hand since you fought the Destroyer,” Manda reminded him.
“There is no need for a sword. I am simply going to convince them to stop.”
“And if they refuse to listen?”
“Then I will speak louder, and I will have two capable young men with me.”
Nails felt his hands tingle.
***
“We are going where?” Reese asked.
They were breaking their fast at the outside table. Reese and Remi had come down while Ran and Nails were exercising and had been talking with Manda. She must have told Reese about Ran’s plan.
“I am going to Delvingford,” Ran replied. “I will talk to the Bentmen and make them see that slavery is not something they want to be involved in. It diminishes all of us.”
“Who is going to guard your back if I am not with you?” Reese asked.
“I will have Nails and Brayson with me.”
“Father, what makes you think they can fight?”
“Nails defeated Remi if I remember correctly.”
“Only because of his scales” Remi pointed out. “Without scales, he would have died like the rest of the pirates. All he did was charge me. There was no skill displayed.”
“I am sure they are capable,” Ran said.
“Let them prove it,” Reese said. “They can fight Remi and me. The practice swords are right here.” She pointed to the two wooden swords leaning against the wall. “If they both win, I will not say another word about joining you.” Ran looked at Nails and Brayson.
“If the boys agree, so do I.”
“I am willing,” Brayson said.
“I have never fought a girl,” Nails pointed out.
“I will try not to hurt you,” Reese said.
“What if I hurt you?”
“I will try not to cry.”
“I haven’t finished eating,” Nails picked up another slice of bread.
“Fine,” Reese said. “Brayson and Remi can start.”
Nails spread honey on his bread while Brayson and Remi got ready. He had seen both of them fight before, and he knew Brayson was going to lose. His friend was capable, perhaps even very good, but Remi was better. Nails figured he wouldn’t even have to fight. Brayson would lose and, according to the agreement, the girls would come on the trip. That would give Nails more time with Reese. She was acting cold towards him again this morning. He hadn’t even talked to her since last night, so he was sure it wasn’t something he had said or done today.
Brayson and Remi took their positions and then the sound of clacking wood filled the morning air. Brayson did better than Nails figured he would. They were still fighting when Nails finished his third piece of bread and honey. Remi was a pleasure to watch. She flowed around his strokes. If Brayson’s sword did manage to find her, her sword was always there to block and then he would be scrambling to defend against her attack. Her movements and footwork were like a dance, but Brayson was sure-footed also. He had trained on the tree above the gorge at Crosstown, and the pirates had often said he was as sure-footed on the sails as a wind sprite. He held his own for some time, but Remi was better. Nails heard Brayson grunt as her sword drove into his shoulder. He bowed to her, and then asked if she would teach him the stroke she had used. She agreed, and they moved off to the side of the yard to practice.
“Are you ready, Snails?” Reese asked.
“My name is Nails, not Snails.”
“I know.”
“Then why did you call me Snails?”
“Because you have a shell and you are slow,” Reese said.
Nails felt like she had kicked him in the gut. He stood and walked back into the house.
“Where are you going?” he heard Reese call to him, but he carried on without looking back.
***
Brayson enjoyed practicing with Remi. He knew immediately that she was better than him. To last as long as he did against someone with her abilities was pretty good, he told himself. After she demonstrated the stroke she had beat him with, they practiced it for a bit before they returned to the table.
“Where is Nails?” he asked Reese. “Did he beat you that quickly?”
“Hardly,” Reese said. “He walked away before we fought.”
“Why?”
“I have no idea.”
“You called him Snails,” Manda said.
“So what. It was a silly joke.”
“Why did you call him Snails?” Brayson asked.
“He asked me the same thing.”
“What was your answer?”
“I told him it was because he has a shell and he is slow.” Brayson’s mouth fell open and he stared at her. “What?” she said defensively. “He has a shell made out of scales and he moves slowly.”
“That is not the way Nails would interpret your comment about being slow,” Brayson told her as he sunk into a chair.
“How else would he interpret it?” Reese asked aggressively.
Brayson could see that she was using bravado to cover her uncertainty. He was not sure how to proceed, he knew that Nails liked Reese, he also knew how much her comment would have hurt him. Did he have the right to tell her about Nails’ earlier life? He looked up at their bedroom window and made his decision. He hoped Nails would see it was for the best.
“Let us take a walk, Reese,” he suggested. They went out the back gate and wandered slowly along the beach with Remi trailing along behind.
“Nails was a big child,” Brayson began. “He always appeared older than he was. I understand he was as big as I am now when he reached his fifth name-day. He was man-sized, but only a child in his head. People thought he was dumb. He was called stupid and dummy almost every day of his early years.” Reese’s complexion had turned pale as he spoke. “To make it worse, the woman who looked after him told him he was an idiot and beat him, then left him on a remote island. He was slightly better when I met him because a girl at the pleasure house he worked at had befriended him and taught him to read and count. She was like the mother he never had, and he loved her for it. She explained things to him, so he understood more when I met him, but I had to teach him what a slave was and all about sailing. As far as I know, it was the first time he was accepted as something other than a dummy. Can you see how saying he was slow would make h
im feel?”
Reese had stopped walking. Brayson’s ability told him she was devastated, all the bravado was gone. Remi put an arm around her.
“I never meant it like that,” she said. “Will you tell him that, Brayson, please? I only wanted to hurt him a little because he hurt me.”
“What do you mean he hurt you?”
“Last night, he said he wanted to be my friend, and then started telling me about a pleasure girl who he always went to bed with. I...I...Oh Remi, he will never forgive me.” She sat down heavily on the sand and started to cry. Remi looked at Brayson as if to say, look what you have done. She waved him away.
Brayson found Nails in their room, lying on his bed. His ability to read emotions was not needed to see how sad his friend was. He sat on the side of his own bed.
“Reese is sorry for what she said. She was talking about your scales, and the fact that you move carefully and with purpose,” he explained. “It was not meant the way you took it.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Nails stated flatly. “She is always cold towards me. She doesn’t like me, so she can go to the Destroyer for all I care. When do we leave with Ran?”
“Tomorrow, I think.”
“Good. I hope the girls aren’t coming.”
Chapter 19
Ran grounded Reese’s skiff on a stretch of beach away from the busy dock area of Delvingford.
“Bring all your gear with you,” Ran advised. “This city has developed a bad reputation in the last number of years. We will stay at an inn I stayed at before.” They threw their packs onto the sand, tied down the sail and secured the boat before they headed out towards the city gates.
Nails didn’t recognize anything at first. They made their way through the warehouses and shipping offices and up to the entrance. The gates were rough-cut timbers bound in metal strapping, and they looked poorly maintained. The large hinges that supported them were rusted. It would take a strong man to close the gates if the city was attacked, and there were no strong men around. An old man in an ill-fitting, dirty, uniform was sleeping in a chair in the shade of the gatehouse.
“This has changed since I was last here,” Ran commented, “and not for the better. I hope the inn is still acceptable.” He led them through streets that brought back no memories for Nails, and they stopped at an inn named Floater’s Rest. The innkeeper was a rotund woman with salt and pepper hair that had once been jet-black. When she smiled, Nails noticed that one of her front teeth had been knocked out.
“Do you have a room that will accommodate three?” Ran asked.
“We do,” she replied. “It will be one gold coin per night, paid up front. No women in the room. The price includes a meal in the evening and in the morning.”
“We will probably be here for one night, but that depends on our business. If we need a second night, do we pay now or tomorrow?”
“Now,” the innkeeper told him.
“Whatever happened to trust?” Ran said, as he pulled coins from his pouch.
“Trust in Delvingford?” she spat out before using her teeth to check the coins Ran placed on the countertop. “Trust died with the Baker.”
“If the Baker is dead,” Ran asked, “who runs the Bentmen?”
“Well, I wouldn’t know that, would I?” she said. “But you could ask at any pleasure house.”
“I saw three just inside the gates,” Nails said, “but we want one with a stable out back and a blacksmith named Scripter. I can’t remember the name of the owner.”
“That’s Jacko’s place.” She lowered her voice. “You won’t have to wait long to meet a Bentman there. Keep following the road outside. Turn right at the second cross street. It’s close to the wall.”
“Are we going to eat first?” Nails asked.
“Probably a good idea,” Ran said. He sniffed the air. “Smells good.”
“Fish stew, best food in Delvingford,” the woman said proudly.
They stashed their packs in their room and then returned to the common area. The stew was good, the bread was fresh, the ale was okay.
“Who was the Baker?” Brayson asked after they finished eating.
“He was the leader of the Bentmen here,” Ran explained.
They finished their meal and headed out, following Ran through the streets until they arrived at Jacko’s Pleasure Palace. Nails recognized the location as soon as they got close. He had spent many mornings throwing drunks out onto that street.
The common room was doing a brisk business, but they found space at the bar. Serving wenches, carrying trays filled with clay mugs, swerved easily through the crowd. A number of tables included pleasure girls sitting on customer’s laps. Nails looked for Susin, although he didn’t expect to see her. She had always been popular and spent most of her time upstairs.
“What’s your pleasure?” the barkeep asked. They all ordered ale. When the man returned with their drinks, Ran asked if Jacko was around. “Might be,” the man replied. “I haven’t seen him yet tonight, but I’ve been busy.”
“We would like to meet with him. Could you pass the word on?” Ran asked as he paid for the ale.
“See what I can do,” the man replied and slipped the extra silver coin Ran placed on the bar into his pouch. Across the room, there was a commotion at one of the tables. Voices were raised, and then the pleasure girl sitting on a man’s lap was dumped onto the floor.
“Keep your hand out of my pouch, cow,” the man roared. As the woman scrambled back to her feet, Nails saw her face. The scar down her cheek was new, but he recognized Susin immediately now that her back wasn’t towards him.
“It was your dick I was reaching for, shit breath,” Susin said, “but it’s so small I couldn’t find it.” All the men at that table and the neighboring tables laughed. The man jumped up and made a grab for her, but she skipped away with a laugh. Most men would have let it go at that, but this one didn’t. Maybe there was some truth in her insult that made him angrier. He went after her, and Nails saw fear on Susin’s face as she dodged around a table. The man was drunk, big and clumsy. He never would have caught her, but another customer tripped her as she went past his table, and she landed on the floor. The drunk managed to grab her hair, slapped her face and then raised his fist to deliver a punch. But before he could follow through with it, Nails stepped away from the bar and kicked the drunk with enough force to knock him off Susin, then reached down and helped her up. She accepted his help until she was steady on her feet and then wrenched her arm away.
“Leave me be,” she told him. “I don’t need your help.” She gave him a look that would scorch, to reinforce her words. She looked away and back again. Her demeanor changed. “Buy a girl a drink, big boy?”
“Why don’t we go upstairs, and you can read me a story?” Nails offered.
She smiled sweetly at him. “Never heard it called that before, but upstairs is fine—” She paused, and he saw the recognition light her face. “Nails?”
“Hi Susin. Still up to your tricks, I see.” She jumped into his arms and he held her tight.
“Nails, oh Nails. I missed you. They said pirates took the ship you were on and you were dead.” She held him at arm’s length and looked him over. “But you look to mature and handsome for that to be true.”
“It is only half true,” Nails said. “I was captured, but not killed, as you can see. Come and meet my friends.” He took Susin over to the bar. “Susin, these are my friends Brayson and Ran.”
“Hello,” Susin said. “You look like two fine—”
“I was told you men were looking for me,” A voice said from behind Nails. “Move along, Susin.”
“But Jacko, I just—”
“Move along, I said. You can return when I’m finished. Now, friends, what can I do for you?”
Ran stepped forward. “You Jacko?” he asked.
“That I am, friend.”
“I have learned recently that people are being sold as slav
es around the lake. It has occurred in Thesia and here in Delvingford. I wanted to know if you are aware of it.”
“News to me,” Jacko said, “but then I’m just a simple innkeeper.” Ran smiled at him.
“Like the Baker was a simple maker of breads and pies.” Jacko smiled back at Ran.
“That is what bakers do, I believe.”
“So you are unaware that one of your men sold my friend here as a slave to a ship owner?”
Jacko glanced at Nails and then looked again. “You look familiar. Where have we—oh, the Dummy. I remember now.” He turned back to Ran.
“You can’t put any trust in what this one says. He’s stupid.”
“Slim sold me,” Nails said. “I’m smart enough to understand that much.”
“Slim!” Jacko said. “Now I understand. I had to get rid of him. He was a cheat and a thief. I don’t know if the Dummy remembers, but I said I would get him a job on a ship, not sell him.”
“That’s true,” Nails said.
“So, are you saying it was this Slim person who sold him, and you knew nothing about it?” Ran asked.
“That is what I’m saying. I know nothing about selling people into slavery. Now, I have a business to run. Enjoy yourselves. I’ll send Susin back and maybe a couple of other girls.”
“Not necessary,” Ran told him. “We will finish our ales and be on our way.”
Jacko turned and walked away. Nails saw him stop at the table Susin was at, and she got up and came back to them.
“So, Nails, where have you been?”
“I was a sailor for a few years,” Nails said. Brayson and Ran turned back to the bar, and Susin and Nails talked while they finished their ales. She suggested they have another, but all three refused. Susin threw her arms around Nails’ neck when he said goodbye.
“Jacko said to keep you here for a while,” she whispered. “Be careful when you leave.”
Nails followed Brayson and Ran out of the common room. When they were out the door, Ran stepped to the side and waited. Night had come on while they were inside, and the street was dark away from the light of Jacko’s place.
“What are we waiting for?” Nails asked.