by Shannah Jay
Shannah Jay TENEBRAK23
‘My name’s Evril.’ He shot an angry glance at the door. ‘In the old days such as Gerrell wouldn’t have dared enter my inn, let alone pester the female customers. Now that the Faction Wars have ended I’ve promised myself that I’ll clean things up a bit around here. Hired Peto last week to help me do it, too.’ He gestured towards the hard-eyed man who was still standing watchfully by the big wooden doors which stood open to let the sunshine in. ‘Strong fellow, Peto.’
‘It’s to be hoped that many things will change for the better now.’ Memories of happy times in Tenebrak were already beginning to tug at Karialla. She and Pavlin had drunk ale together in this inn and listened to a travelling singer, joining in the choruses and smiling at each other as they swayed to and fro. ‘Discord has been too long in our land.’
‘Well, it’s dying down now.’ He took a seat opposite her and asked with an innkeeper’s open curiosity, ‘Come far, have you?’
‘From the hills beyond Setherak. My name’s Karialla. Our settlement was destroyed recently.’ She didn’t elaborate.
He would be as sated as she was with the tales of woe upon which survivors were wont to dwell.
‘Looking for work in Tenebrak?’
‘Perhaps.’
‘I could use a serving maid who’s not afraid of Gerrell and his ilk.’
She smiled. ‘I am afraid of such men, but I try not to let them best me.’
‘Sensible attitude, that. And are you interested in some work?’
‘Is a room included?’
‘Oh, yes. And all meals.’
‘Then I might accept your offer on a temporary basis, Evril, to give myself a breathing space, but I’m a healer and I intend to return to my trade as soon as I can set myself up properly again.’
He clapped his hands together. ‘A healer! Why, that’s wonderful! There hasn’t been a healer here for years now.’
‘Why not?’
His expression became sombre. ‘Farran’s Faction destroyed the Courts and killed every healer they could catch. He hated healers, Farran did, after his woman died. Said they were all frauds. His faction made a special point of killing any they could get hold of.’ Evril shook his head sadly.
‘Didn’t any of the healers survive?’
‘If they did, they didn’t come back to tell anyone. Nor would I have done, in their shoes.’
She shivered. ‘Are there any of Farran’s faction left now?’
‘We don’t think there are enough to cause trouble, but of course it’s hard to tell. When he died, we heard the others were at each other’s throats about who was going to run things. They fought themselves to a standstill, apparently. We found a few bodies in the woods and we—that’s the Elders—think the rest of them must have left the district. Let’s hope that sort of thing never starts up again.’
‘What if I tried to set up as a healer in Tenebrak now? Would that upset anyone, do you think?’
‘Upset anyone! We’d all be delighted. And with Farran dead, you shouldn’t have any trouble. Eh, that one was as crazy as a ten-moon night.’ Evril frowned and then his face brightened. ‘I know. Just in case, we’ll get the Council of Elders to issue a proclamation that anyone attacking healers from now on will be banished from the city for ever. I’m one of the Elders and I’ll see to that personally.’ He beamed at her and puffed out his chest a little.
‘Thank you.’ She wasn’t surprised to hear he was an Elder. He had that aura of calm good sense about him. Like many healers, she could usually recognise an Elder on sight, though she couldn’t have said why.
‘Have you been working as a healer for long?’ he asked when she didn’t speak.
‘For about ten years. I trained here in Tenebrak, of course, but left when I married. We wanted to found a settlement and live in peace.’
‘So what happened to your settlement?’
‘It was attacked recently, about thirty days ago, as far as I can tell. I lost count of time as I travelled. I think it must have been a party of roving raiders. No one in our settlement was armed. The raiders killed everyone except me, because I was away in Setherak, healing folk.’
‘We should have kept the old weapons, you know.’ Evril spoke as one repeating a sensible point he had made only too often before and in vain. ‘The Forebears brought those weapons to this world for our protection. People used to be able to defend themselves in the old days, yes and kill attackers at a distance, not just an arrow’s length away. They killed whole groups of enemies at once in those days. I tell you, if we’d still had those weapons, we could have kept Discord right away from Tenebrak.’
She had forgotten how many different legends of the Forebears persisted in Tenebrak, and persisted much more strongly than anywhere else. But Forebears or not, she loathed the idea of the fabled weapons of mass destruction. ‘If you’d had them, others might have seized the weapons and destroyed you and the whole city instead. If the legends are true, I think our ancestors were right to withhold such knowledge from their descendants. At least now, any fighting is
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restricted to small groups, hand to hand. And even then, people do too much damage to one another.’ Her voice broke on the final phrase and she had to blink her eyes vigorously to hold back the tears.
He looked across the room until she had regained control of herself. ‘Well, who knows what’s right any more? But you’re here and you’re a healer, that’s the main thing. Your skills are certainly needed.’
‘I’m a Healer of the Second Cadre only. I didn’t stay on for the full training.’ It was hard to speak steadily as she added, ‘That’s why I came back to Tenebrak. To finish my training.’
His expression showed instant understanding. ‘Ah. You didn’t know then, about the Healers’ Courts? That’s why you were—um, upset when you got here last night.’
‘No, I had no idea.’ Her voice broke on the last word.
He patted her shoulder in a wordless attempt to offer comfort, but said nothing.
She sighed. What could you say about such a terrible catastrophe as the wiping out of a huge body of vital knowledge? There were no words to describe a loss so big.
When the silence had dragged on for too long, he said more cheerfully, ‘Well, Second Cadre’s better than none, which is what we’ve got now. When it gets known that you’re here, you’ll have no need to work in an inn, but if you want to earn your lodging and food for a few weeks by working in the evenings for us—just till you get set up, I realise that—well, my offer still stands. You can have one of the attic rooms. You’ll have some privacy up there, at least. Our rooms are never full nowadays. Won’t be till the roads are safe to travel.’
‘Thank you. I’ll take you up on that offer for a while, Evril. I’m not afraid of hard work and I would indeed prefer to earn my way.’ And she didn’t want anyone to know about the money still left from the silver. Besides, keeping busy and tiring herself out would be a good way to ensure that she slept at night.
Something made her add, ‘Perhaps, in time, other healers will find their way back here. I intend to find the money to rebuild the Courts and establish a centre for teaching in Tenebrak again.’ She looked at him in puzzlement. Why had she revealed all that? She hadn’t intended to tell anyone about her plans until she could see some way of putting them into operation. To her relief, he didn’t look scornful, but approving.
‘Brave words! I wish you luck, Karialla, and if I can help you in any way, I will. I’m sure the Council of Elders will feel the same.’
Everything was looking much brighter and there was only one cloud on her immediate horizon. ‘Do you, um, think Gerrell will give me any more trouble.’
‘Mmm. Could be. He was born to cause trouble, that one. Notorious, even as a child.’
‘I don’t remember him, but then, I only came here to train and I spent most of my time in the Courts.’ And any spare time with Pavlin, after the first year.
‘The other Elders tell me they ordered Gerrell to be beaten several times when he was younger, because his mother was weak with him! Didn’t do much good, though, did it?’
‘Some people seem to follow the path of evil more willingly.’ She thought of the men who’d captured her in the wildwoods and shivered.
Evril nodded. ‘You’re right there.’ He looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice. ‘Trouble is, Gerrell has a few friends as foolish as he is and we suspect they’re behind the thefts we’ve had in the city recently, but we can’t prove it.
Some people will do anything for an excuse to avoid honest toil! Well, he won’t be able to go on like this. We’ll catch him red-handed one day, then the rest of them will just fade away. See if they don’t!’
Another customer came in, one of local importance from the way Evril rushed across to serve him. He continued to fuss over the man for a while. At one stage, she saw him nodding in her direction and the customer looked pleased, inclining his head to her in greeting.
‘I’ll begin work this evening, if that’s all right with you,’ she called to Evril as she stood up to leave. ‘I’ve a few things to attend to first.’
‘That’s fine, but come back well before sundown. We’ll need to get the tables ready and show you where everything is. Some of the artisans like a drink after work, now that they know their families will be safe. And quite a few people who no longer have families eat here regularly. We’re getting nice and busy again, on the food side, at least, because my wife’s a good cook.’
For most of the day, Karialla wandered round the streets, shocked at what she found. Many of the people she passed looked strained, and not a single house was undamaged. She got into conversation with an old man and found out that rebuilding was being done in group domains nowadays, for safety, rather like the old Healers’ Courts. She approved of the idea. People weren’t meant to live alone.
Twice she hid behind the nearest gate to avoid people she recognised from the One Circle. No complications today, she prayed. Just let me get used to Tenebrak again before I face them. By ‘them’ she really meant Rojan. She deliberately didn’t go near the Circle Meeting House.
She bought a meat pastry from a bakery for her nooning and ate it in the grounds of the old Healers’ Courts,
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drinking water from the spring there. She’d shifted some of the debris and rocks, and the water had begun welling up as sweet and clear as ever, though the basin walls were smashed and the liquid still seeped away into the marshy area at the lower end.
Later in the afternoon she admitted to herself that she was being cowardly and forced herself to walk past the Circle Meeting House. She half expected to see Rojan waiting for her near the entrance, but there were just a couple of women standing gossiping, to her relief no-one she knew. To one side stood a solid house, which hadn’t been there before. It seemed to be part of the meeting house precinct.
***
After Karialla left the inn, Evril went to break the news to his wife that he’d hired a new serving maid. Loral usually liked to hire her own maids, as he was very well aware. What had got into him? he wondered, aghast. He knew how touchy Loral could be.
She glared at him. ‘Have you run mad, Evril? What do you know about hiring maids anyway? If your past record’s anything to go by, precisely nothing!’
‘It was only the once I made a mistake,’ he pleaded.
‘And once is more than enough, thank you very much! If this new woman’s been flirting with you, I’ll . . . ’ She stood there, meaty arms on massive hips, and he quailed before her.
‘It’s nothing like that, Lor. It’s just—well, this woman’s lost all her people in a raid. I felt sorry for her, if you must know. But she won’t be with us for long. She only needs somewhere to stay and something to do to tide her over until word gets around. She’s a healer you see, Lor. I thought—I thought it’d make sure she stayed in the town if we helped her get settled.’
Loral’s face relaxed very slightly. ‘Oh? Where has she come from, then?’
‘She’s the one in Number Ten.’
‘What? That scraggy little thing a healer! I don’t believe it! And even if she is, she’s far too pretty to serve at the tables. She’ll attract the attention of Gerrell and that bunch of idlers he hangs around with, you mark my words, and then we’ll have trouble on our hands! I’ve not kept this inn safe all these years to have it destroyed now!’
‘Er—well—actually, the thing is, Gerrell’s already—er—noticed her.’
‘See! What did I tell you?’ Loral banged the blunt end of a cleaver down on the table and a plate crashed to the floor.
‘Now look what you’ve made me do!’
‘I’m sorry, dear.’
‘What happened with Gerrell? I might as well know the worst.’
‘He—um—tried to persuade her to go for a walk with him.’
‘And?’
‘She drew a dagger on him.’
‘I bet he laughed in her face!’
‘Well, no. She was very quick and—and I went and helped her.’
‘You went and helped! You’re the one who’s always telling me not to get involved.’ She snorted scornfully.
‘Well, times are changing. And now that we’ve got Peto . . . ’ He waited for a further tirade and when nothing came, he let out a sigh of relief. ‘Give Karialla a chance, Lor, just a chance! We do need healers in Tenebrak. And we’ve got Peto to help us here at the inn now. He’ll deal with Gerrell if that lout starts annoying anyone. You’ll see how well things will work out, my love, you’ll see.’
‘Don’t you “my love” me, Evril!’ But she didn’t try to shake him off, only sniffed as he put a tentative arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug.
‘Discord is ending,’ he said coaxingly, knowing how it had fretted her to run an inn in such a shabby way all these years. Folk who looked prosperous had attracted too much attention from factions and raiders, so they’d used frayed linen, worn threadbare clothes and served only plain food. ‘I always said we’d get back to our old standards one day, now didn’t I?’
‘You always were a good talker, that’s for sure!’
‘It’ll work out all right, I promise you.’
‘We’ll have to make sure it works out, won’t we? If you’ve already crossed Gerrell because of her, there’s no point in me trying to avoid trouble. But she’d better be a good worker, that’s all, healer or not.’
He sighed with relief. ‘Oh, I’m sure she is! I mean, she’s bound to be a good worker. Healers always are. The mentors used to make them work hard when they trained them.’
She shrugged. ‘We’ll see. I still think she’ll cause trouble. But we’ll give her a chance. You’re right about one thing.
We do need a healer in this town.’ She hesitated and looked at him with a touch of coyness unusual in her. ‘I’m going to need one, anyway.’
He stiffened. ‘Why? What’s the matter with you?’
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Her voice grew soft. ‘I think—no, I’m sure now—I’m going to have a baby, Evril.’
He gulped. ‘But I thought you—we never . . . ’ His voice faded away and joy filled his face. ‘A child! A son to carry on the business.’
‘It might be a daughter.’
He buried his face in his wife’s soft curves. ‘I hope she’ll be like her mother, then. If she is, she could carry on the business as well as any man.’
‘Get on with you!’
‘I think the gods must have been guiding my hand when I hired Karialla,’ he said quietly. ‘Don’t you think sometimes they take an interest in our affairs?’
‘If so, where have they been for the past few years?’
‘Waiting.’
She snorted. ‘If you believe that, you’ll believe anything. No, it’s just luck that she’s turned up now. I shall be glad of her help, though, I must admit. I’m a bit old to be having my first
child.’
‘I’d have helped her anyway.’ Evril could be stubborn when he felt strongly about something.
‘Hmm. Well, in the meantime, if it’s not too much trouble, do you think you could possibly go and fetch those chuckle fluffs Massan promised us? If you’ve nothing better to do today, that is? If you don’t feel the need to hire any more maids for me!’
***
Karialla settled in quickly at the inn, enjoying the hard work because there were always other people around to keep her mind off her own troubles and because she was sleeping better now.
With only a few clients trickling in to fill the daytime hours she started taking daily lessons in self-defence from Peto.
This would have horrified her husband, but Pavlin had been wrong about that sort of thing. She’d come to realise that peace came from strength, not from weakness. To her amazement, she enjoyed the training, and even Peto grudgingly admitted she was a quick learner with extremely good reactions.
‘I might,’ he said one day, chewing his lower lip and dredging up the words one by one, ‘yep, I just might be able to make something of you. For a woman.’ Another pause, then, ‘If you persevere. Got to keep up the training, Karialla.
Day after day, till the muscles settle to it an’ the eyes are quick t’see an advantage.’
Loral pooh-poohed the idea of a woman learning about fighting and such a little woman, too. ‘Fighting is men’s work, my dear,’ she told Karialla one day, ‘and you’d be best leaving them to get it out of their systems. We women have more important things to do with our lives.’
‘She ain’t learnin’ fighting, ezac’ly,’ protested Peto. ‘She’s learnin’ self-defence. That’s different. She don’t want to attack no-one, jus’ look after herself.’
