by William King
“I borrowed it from Agnes down the corridor,” Jay’s mother said.
“What happened to your old one?” Jay asked.
“I burned the bottom of it,” Jay’s mother said. She sounded nervous again and she did not sound like she was telling the truth. Donna stamped her foot and clenched her fist. Rachel giggled. Jay’s father looked at the ceiling.
“And the plates?” Jay asked.
“Borrowed as well,” Donna said.
“What happened to yours? I suppose you dropped them?” He sounded angry now. “Or maybe sold them or took them to the pawnbroker.”
Jay’s mother’s sighed and said, “please son can we talk about this later, and not in front of your friends.”
There was maternal authority in her voice and it was quite clear that she was done discussing the matter. Jay’s face reddened and he looked as if he wanted to contradict her but once again, he restrained himself. Jay’s father pulled himself upright and we all sat down in a circle in the middle of the room.
“What happened to the rug?” Jay asked.
“Later,” Jay’s mother said. “Let’s just enjoy our food.”
Jay’s father said grace and the plates were handed round and wine was poured into wooden cups and we began to eat the food.
Jay’s father helped himself to more wine. He did not seem to be eating much but focused on his drinking. He saw me looking at him and he looked at once angry and embarrassed. I immediately glanced away and caught Donna’s eye. She shook her head almost imperceptibly.
“Where did you meet our Jay?” Rachel asked, oblivious to the tensions around her.
“On the road,” I said. “From Khorba.”
“Grinner was looking for a new servant,” Jay said, glad of the change of subject.
“What?” Jay’s mother asked. Donna shivered ostentatiously. Rachel give out a little shriek and looked down at her doll.
“How can you be a servant to that woman?” Rachel asked. “I would be scared that she would turn me into a frog or something.”
“She did,” I said. “But I got better.”
Everybody laughed but I could see that they were on edge. Nobody liked dealing with wizards even by association. I remembered what Mistress Iliana had once told me about standing apart from the mundani. I saw how easily that could happen.
“Did you get into any battles?” Rachel asked. Her family groaned.
“There was a fight, on the road,” I said. Jay shook his head. I guessed that having a son who was a soldier was worrying enough for his parents already.
“We were attacked by bandits, but we fought them off.”
“Did Jay fight bravely?” Rachel asked.
“He did,” I said.
“But not bravely as me,” Ghoran said. “I hero.”
“Ghoran is the soul of modesty,” Jay said. “As you can probably tell.”
“Heroes no need be modest.”
“Idiots either,” Jay said. The girls laughed. Jay’s father’s eyes darted between the pair of lads. He obviously feared that a fight was going to break out at any moment. He didn’t realise that they bickered just for fun.
“Jay, you shouldn’t tease your friend,” Jay’s mother said.
“It’s not possible,” Jay said. “anything I say he takes as praise. It’s a sickness in his head.”
“It shocking how jealousy affect some people,” Ghoran said. He looked over at me, “what you think?”
“I’m staying out of this,” I said.
“Very wise,” Donna said.
“He does not look very wise,” Rachel said.
“It’s the broken nose,” Jay said. “Nobody looks wise with a broken nose.”
“Are you enjoying the food?” Jay’s mother asked me.
“It’s very good,” I said.
“I’ll bet it’s not as good as the food you get up in the Palace,” Rachel said.
“Rachel!” Jay’s mother said. “Don’t put our guests on the spot like that. It’s rude.”
I said. “I’ve never tasted better.”
Jay’s mother gave me a tired, grateful smile. She suspected I was lying but she was pleased that I was making the effort.
Jay looked over at me." It’s certainly leagues better than the field rations we had when we were travelling. Think about the slop that the company gave us."
“That’s not very complementary,” Rachel said.
“I said it was leagues better,” Jay said, patiently.
“Does that mean it was further away?” Rachel asked.
“Be polite and eat your food,” Jay said. I was embarrassed that I had forgotten to bring the flowers that Mistress Iliana had suggested. It was only now that I thought of it. I had been so overwhelmed by my first sight of the streets of the city it had driven everything else from my mind.
“How did you like Tarnheim?” Donna asked me.
“I’ve never been there,” I said.
“He joined us on the way back,” Jay said. “He didn’t have to march as far as the rest of us.”
“How come he’s thinner than you then?” Rachel asked. “I would have thought all of that exercise would have gotten you fit.”
“I’m just big boned,” Jay said. Ghoran laughed.
We kept on talking, with the siblings bickering and Ghoran interjecting to boast in his usual outrageous fashion. Jay’s mother basked in her son’s presence and was grateful to us for being his friends. Jay’s father sat quietly and sadly and drank far more than his share of the wine.
I didn’t really notice it first. I was too busy enjoying the company. It was pleasant to be surrounded by family again, even if it wasn’t my own. It made me nostalgic for my father’s farm and wondered what my family was doing today. It was their day for going to church so they had probably walked into town and listen to the sermon and then walked back. They would probably be eating a small meal now.
I had thought we were poor but my father had his flocks and his animals and we had never really wanted for food. There had been pressure to pay the Lord’s taxes but nothing like the starvation I had seen in the city. I wondered about that.
“You’re looking very thoughtful,” Donna said. Was it my imagination or did she pay more attention to me than to Ghoran?
“He often does that,” Jay said.
“Thinking. Sign of weakness,” Ghoran said.
“Then you are a very strong man,” Jay said.
“Obviously,” Ghoran deadpanned as he flexed one massive bicep.
“I was just remembering my family,” I said.
“You’re a long way from home,” Jay’s mother said. “You must miss them.”
“I do,” I said. “They are over a week’s march away. There was a time when I never imagined I would go more than a few hours away from home.”
“Why did you leave?” Rachel asked.
“I needed the work,” I said. It seemed easiest thing to say.
“That’s the old old story, isn’t it?” Jay’s father said. “So many people come here looking for work. It’s been getting worse recently. It drives wages down. And prices up.”
Again, he sounded bitter. “It makes things bad for the people who were born here.”
“Donal,” Jay’s mother said softly. “We have a guest.”
“I’m sure the boy’s not offended,” Jay’s father said. His tone let it be known that I had better not be.
“Of course not,” I said. “I can see that life is hard here in the city.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” the old man said. “It’s been getting worse and worse over the past few years. People have been flooding into town to get away from all the wars. There’s so much fighting going on in all of the little realms and estates. And now there are rumours of some kind of necromancer down south. Bad harvests too. People can’t keep their farms. It’s tough for everybody.”
“It’s good for fighting men,” Jay said.
His father stared at him. “And that’s what yo
u are, of course.”
Jay’s face flushed and there was tension in the air. I sensed the outlines of an old argument here. It seemed that Jay’s father was not pleased that his son had gone for a soldier.
“I am, and so is Ghoran,” Jay said. “And our boy here has done his bit. He was quite the hero.”
I made a cutting gesture with my hand. I did not want Jay to open up this topic of conversation. Of course, it made it look as if I was modestly disclaiming something and that’s the way his family took it.
“What did he do?” Donna asked curiously.
“He only saved the Duke’s daughter,” Jay said. I closed my eyes and I winced.
“Is that true?” Rachel asked me directly.
“Sort of,” I said. “I was just in the right place at the right time.”
“Tell me,” the younger sister said. Everybody was staring at me now, giving me the full attention. Clearly everybody wanted to hear the story. Jay had really put his foot in it.
“I was escorting one of her servants back to the tent when it was attacked,” I said. “There was an assassin with a knife. He’d already killed several people. I managed to get the knife off him.”
“And that’s it?” Rachel said. Clearly, she wasn’t impressed. Everybody else was.
“I notice you carry a dagger,” Jay’s mother said.
“My father gave it to me when I left home,” I said. “He got it when he went off to war.”
Jay’s father stared off into the distance. He was looking out of the window, avoiding his son’s gaze. I guessed that he had not given Jay anything. But that could not be true. Jay said that his father had provided him with his gear in better days.
“Tell us more,” Donna said. “Did you see the Lady Alysia? Is she as beautiful as everybody says?”
I could not help myself. “She is,” I said.
“You’re blushing,” Donna said.
“He blush easily,” Ghoran said.
“Not like you,” Donna said.
“Ghoran’s not easily embarrassed,” Jay said. “Even though he should be.”
“I no have nothing be embarrassed about.”
“It seems that there was some fighting on your way here then,” Jay’s father said. “An assassination attempt on the Duke’s daughter? What’s the world coming to?”
“It was terrible,” I said. Emotion must have showed in my voice because everybody looked shocked.
“Of course, it was,” Jay’s mother said, patting my hand in what she took to be a reassuring way. “Seeing people stabbed! That can’t be good.”
Jay’s father harrumphed. “You can see it every day in the streets, if you walk down the wrong alley.”
“Yes, father,” Jay said. “We know. The world is getting darker. Everything is getting worse. Young people today have no respect.”
“Young people today do have no respect for their elders,” Jay’s father said. “I would never have spoken to my father the way you speak to me.”
“Now, Donal,” Jay’s mother said. “There’s no need for that tone of the table.”
Much to my surprise, Jay’s father closed his mouth. His brief surge of anger and strength had departed. He looked once more like a beaten man. It seemed a worse response than his wife’s words had deserved. Maybe she had reminded of him of something.
“Are things really that bad?” I asked. Just trying to break the tension, I chose to say the wrong thing.
“Yes,” Jay’s father said. “All these gangs in the streets now. When I was young the Black Skulls kept everything under control. Now there are lots of different gangs and all of them want a piece of the action. They fight turf wars. They sell drugs. People are disappearing off the street. They take young women and…”
“Now, Donal,” Jay’s mother said. “That’s not really a fit subject for the table or for your daughters' ears.”
Her husband stared at her wildly. What wasn’t being said here?
Once again Jay’s father abruptly shut up. This time he looked down at his feet like a man who had really embarrassed himself.
“Look like we out of wine,” Ghoran said. He had been going to pour himself some but the flask was empty. He had not drunk much either. Mostly it had been Jay’s father.
“I’ll go and get some more,” Jay said.
“Oh no dear, that won’t be necessary,” Jay’s mother said. She looked at her husband and then at her son and she was trying to communicate a message. Jay’s father broke out of his torpor. I thought it was the mention of more wine at first but then a strange glint entered his eye. “No, we should get some more. I’ll walk part of the way with you, there’s some stuff we men should talk about.”
Jay’s mother looked as if she wanted to object but his father looked at her imploringly. She picked up our empty plates. The girls were saying, “can we go with you?”
“You know you can’t,” Jay’s mother said. “The bar is only for men.”
“We can wait outside,” Rachel said hopefully.
“No, you can’t,” Jay’s mother said, “you can stay here and help me clean up.”
There wasn’t a lot of cleaning up to do but clearly the decision had been made.
Jay’s father raised himself from the floor slowly. He rubbed his back and then stretched his arms. I heard a click as he did so. Ghoran sprang to his feet and so did Jay with that surprising nimbleness that he possessed. “Don’t worry, Ma,” he said. “We’ll be back soon.”
There was a strangeness to his tone that made me wonder what was really going on here. Why was his father joining us, sick as he was? It did not take long to find out.
Chapter Twenty-Four
We unbolted the door and went outside. Jay and his father walked to the edge of the landing and began to talk.
Ghoran and I moved closer, and we could not help but overhear what was being said. “Did you bring the money?”
“Of course,” Jay said.
His father immediately seemed apologetic and defensive, “the Light bless you, son. Those bastards are pushing me hard.”
“I know, father,” said Jay and he sounded at once sad and like a dutiful son. “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you or ma or the girls.”
“I know that,” his father said. “And I’m grateful.”
“We better go now then,” Jay said. “Let’s go get the wine,” he said much more loudly no doubt so that his mother and sisters could hear.
“I am feeling a bit dizzy,” Jay’s father almost shouted. “I don’t think I’ll make it to the tavern.”
He turned and knocked on the door and went back into the apartment. We headed off down the stairs.
“What was all that about?” I asked.
“We can talk about it outside,” Jay said, looking significantly at the people in the landing as we passed. It was clear that he did not want the folks in the building knowing his family’s business. I could not blame him for that. I was troubled by the tone of the conversation he had had with his father. My earlier suspicion about the reasons why we had been invited to dinner came back.
“We get wine anyway,” Ghoran said cheerfully.
We emerged into the late afternoon sun. The day was still very warm. A faint heat haze blurred the distance. People rested on the steps of the buildings and kept in the shadows where they could.
There were no trees here like there were in the richer parts of the city. There were however fountains. Folk came and went around them carrying buckets and flasks. I realised these were probably the only sources of public water. I wondered how they worked. It was probably old Solari engineering. The Empire had been good at such things. Sometimes it had not even used magic to create its wonders.
We made our way along the street. We were importuned for alms again and again. None of us gave away any money this time. “What’s going on?” I said.
“My father owes money to Mercius,” he said. “He’s a moneylender big in the Black Skulls.”
“How
did that happen?” I asked. It was not any of my business but since I was somehow involved in paying off this moneylender I felt like I should get an answer.
“My father is sick and when that happens you can’t earn money. Business has not been good and he had to get rid of most of his tools to pawnbrokers. He only gets a little work part time. When he got ill there wasn’t enough for food for the girls.”
“I see,” I said.
“Normally I help,” Jay said. “When I was away in Tarnheim escorting Lady Alysia, I worried that something like this might happen and it did.”
I thought about my own father and the way I indentured myself so that he could get enough money to pay the Lord’s taxes and I understood where Jay was coming from. “I see, and where are we going now?”
“We pay man,” Ghoran said. “Then get wine.”
“That’s about the size of it,” Jay said. “I’m sorry I didn’t mention this before, but I was embarrassed. You genuinely were invited to dinner.”
“Let’s get this over with then,” I said. I was starting to feel nervous. I was thinking about gangsters and the threatening youths we had seen on our way here. Of course, we had Ghoran with us. That would be a big help. At least I hoped so.
“Thanks for coming with me, both of you,” Jay said.
“Not doing anything else anyway,” Ghoran said. “And hey maybe we get into fight.”
“Please don’t,” Jay said. “You don’t know what these people are like.”
“Probably do,” Ghoran said. “I see warbands in Northlands. I captured by slavers in Southlands.”
It was easy to infer that he was not going to like such people either. There might be some unscheduled violence if Ghoran had his way but I was with Jay on this one. Judging by the number of youths lounging around on the streets, the local gang lords would have plenty of muscle to back them up.
We made our way back to the main thoroughfare, crossed it and headed into a section of the Stew that was, if anything, dingier than the part we had left. The buildings looked neglected. The people looked worse than beggars.
They stumbled around, blank eyed and ill. Many were half naked and their ribs showed. All of them had a strange look.
