Jalia Prevails (Book 5)

by John Booth

  “Can I help?” Hala asked. “I can get my sword if you want me to?”

  “No, Hala. You can’t help at all, except by staying quiet as I ask Nin questions.”

  “There are two guards out in the open and the door to the vault is always kept locked with another two guards inside the first room. You can’t break into it, Daniel, there is a stone door on metal hinges over two feet thick.”

  “How do the guards outside talk to the ones inside?”

  There are holes to allow sound through, but they can’t see each other. It’s impossible, Daniel. Even if you shot a crossbow bolt at the guards the stone circle alarm would go off and wake up the entire Palace.”

  “Describe the inside of the vault to me,” Daniel commanded, ignoring Nin’s protests.

  Jalia stopped breathing as the guard passed by. She had molded herself against the stone wall like a shadow but he would have seen her easily had he bothered to look. There were only a couple of hours left until dawn, and then she would certainly be found.

  The penalty for attempting to steal the coin that nestled in her pocket was summary execution; they wouldn’t bother to ask questions. Jalia considered putting the coin back in the vault, but knew that it would make little difference. Being in the vault was proof of her intentions and they would kill her anyway. She was also acutely aware that the Steam Dragon would be preparing to leave Wegnar at this very moment, and would be gone at first light. Her options were closing as the minutes ticked by.

  She considered the situation. She was trapped in the underground vault of the Keeper’s Palace. Six armed and well trained guards stood between her and escape. She was in possession of the Five Gem Coin that the vaults had been designed to protect. Her sword and knives were in her cabin on the Steam Dragon and she was weaponless. Nobody knew where she was or what she planned to do. It was just adding icing on the cake that the Keeper of Wegnar was looking for an excuse to kill her anyway. When she was found, it would make his day.

  It was past three in the morning when Daniel stopped quizzing Nin.

  “I want you to stay with Nin tonight, Hala. Don’t come back to our cabin. I want to be sure that you are safe.” Daniel stood up.

  “What are you going to do?” Hala asked.

  “It’s best you don’t know. That’s one reason I want you to stay here tonight.”

  Daniel walked from the cabin and as soon as the door closed, ran down the corridor to Cara’s room. He banged on her door until she opened it.

  “I need you,” Daniel said. Cara face lit with a broad smile.

  “I was just dreaming about you myself,” she said as she draped her arms over his shoulders. “Don’t be bashful now.”

  “Not for that, Cara,” Daniel said as he disentangled her arms from around him. “Jalia is in trouble and we have to break into an impregnable vault before the Dragon sails.”

  “Oh, is that all?” Cara said dismissively. “Well, you wait here until I get dressed; unless you’d rather watch, that is?”

  “I’ll wait here, but hurry up, we don’t have much time.”

  “Spoilsport,” Cara muttered as she shut the door in his face.

  It would be light in less than an hour. Jalia knew that this was her last chance to escape. Even though it was hopeless, it was better than doing nothing and meekly accepting certain death. She had sorted through the shards of glass in the Coin room and wrapped the end of the most suitable one in her handkerchief. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but it was the best she was going to get. She hoped she would take out at least one of the guards before they killed her.

  She crept up to the last turn of the corridor before the guard could see her. Dropping to the floor she looked around the corner. The man was dozing. They changed guard every two hours and it was ten minutes before the next change. He would be at his most vulnerable right now.

  There were two possible options. Run as fast as possible or stay in the shadows hoping not to be seen. The guard had a lantern, but its light did not stretch very far into the corridor. Moonlight filtered down the crystal pipes giving the walls and floor a mottled appearance. She was hoping her movement would be mistaken for a cloud crossing one of the moons, but it was a forlorn hope against a competent man who was even half-awake.

  Jalia slid down the corridor as silent as a shadow. She managed to get more than halfway along before she was seen.

  “Intruder!” the guard shouted as he drew his sword and took up a defensive stance. Jalia could hear the other guard running for the spiral staircase and knew her chances of survival were now zero. She ran as fast as she could towards the guard.

  An unarmed attacker has very little chance against a trained man with a sword. The little chance they have is predicated on the attacker’s ability to deduce exactly what the armed man will do. Jalia adjusted her body as she ran so the guard would decide to slash at her. She made it the safest action for him to take. As he started to swing his sword, Jalia used the side of the wall to push herself into the air in the other direction.

  It was a startling and unexpected thing to do and the guard was caught wrong footed. He couldn’t move his sword back into line fast enough and the two crashed down onto the stone floor with Jalia on top.

  There was no time for soft options. Jalia slashed the guard’s throat wide open with the edge of her glass shard. The glass broke before she finished the cut, but it was already too late for the guard. He choked on his own blood as she had cut through his windpipe.

  Jalia ignored his death rattle as she deftly pulled the man’s sword from his unresisting fingers. She ran for the staircase, but it was far too late. The other guard had already disappeared up them to join the men waiting in the room above.

  Jalia took a deep breath. This was the life she had chosen and she had always known it would end in her untimely death.

  “Ready or not, here I come,” she whispered as she started up the stairs.

  10. Rescue

  Daniel and Cara took their horses and Jalia’s from the boat. Daniel explained his plan to Cara as they rode up to the Keeper’s Palace by the light of the two moons.

  “And you believe this insane plan will work?” Cara asked in surprise.

  “Would anybody sane attack the vault like this?”

  “Absolutely not,” Cara snapped. Then she laughed. “Are you sure this isn’t just a way of getting to see my naked breasts bouncing in the breeze?”

  “The point is, Cara; done like this the guards will not suspect they are being attacked until it is too late. If it all goes wrong at the start, we can run away. The guards carry swords but not crossbows, so we will be safe as soon we are out of sword range. The biggest risk we face is if anybody sees us from the Palace.”

  “And you are absolutely certain that Jalia is trapped in the vault? Why would she get herself into such a terrible mess in the first place?”

  “Because she is Jalia,” Daniel replied and gave a heartfelt sigh.

  Daniel took them towards the wall around the Palace grounds. According to Nin, the wall was not guarded anywhere but at the gate. Apart from the Coin, there was little reason for anyone to attack the Palace and Wegnar had been free of raiders for centuries. The walls were there to give the Keeper and his family some privacy.

  Daniel chose a secluded spot where there were trees on both sides of the wall hugging close to it. They tied the horses and looked for a way to get over the wall. It was ten feet high and made of the same smooth white stone as the buildings.

  “Someone has carved hand and foot holds into the tree,” Daniel said as he examined it. “This is probably the place that local children use to get into the Palace grounds.”

  “Why would they do that?” Cara asked.

  “You were a child once, weren’t you?”

  Cara was not sure whether Daniel was grinning in the near darkness. She suspected he was.

  Climbing the tree was not particularly easy in moonlight and Daniel had to help Cara. It seemed to Cara that Daniel had
the ability to see in the dark, he was so sure footed. Daniel carried a large bag with him, though Cara wasn’t sure why. Once they were in the tree they discovered that someone had strung a rope to hold onto as they walked across the branches to get over the wall.

  “I expected we would have more trouble getting in than this,” Daniel said as he helped Cara down on the other side.

  “This is the easy part, Daniel.”

  They approached the palace from its far side, relative to the gate. There were archways into the courtyard from all sides of the palace, which made getting to it easy. Crouching among the cover of garden’s plants they took off their weapons. Daniel put his into the bag he had brought, which already contained something metallic as Cara heard his sword knock against something. He took off his shirt while Cara removed her clothes, only keeping her knickers on.

  “I will admit to having done this before,” Cara whispered while suppressing a giggle. “But never before with the intention of attacking a guarded impregnable vault.”

  “Those other men you went with had no style,” Daniel replied in a mocking whisper, “While I always show the girls a really good time.”

  Daniel slipped off his boots as he thought that would create a less threatening impression when the guards saw him. He grabbed Cara and pulled her deeper into the bushes as he heard the sound of riders approaching.

  Cara cursed in a whisper as brambles scratched sensitive parts of her body. They stuck their heads up through the bush to see what was going on.

  A dozen riders gathered at the main entrance to the Palace. There were all armed and some of them carried crossbows slung across their saddles. They had brought a riderless saddled horse with them.

  The doors to the Palace were swung open by servants, one for each side, and a few moments later a man stepped out. He had greying hair and was short and overweight. He had a sword slung at his belt, the end of which almost touched the ground.

  Daniel and Cara could see him clearly, because the inside of the Palace was lit and servants with lanterns stood on either side of the small fat man.

  “That has to be the Keeper,” Cara whispered and Daniel hushed her to silence.

  “Men,” Tib Prentice said in what he thought was a heroic voice. “We are riding to raid the Steam Dragon. When we reach the boat, Captain Gregor and whoever he chooses will go ahead of us and capture the Officer of the Watch. They will get the location of the cabin that the criminals Jalia al’Dare and Daniel al’Degar are hiding in.”

  “The rest of you will then go with the Captain to capture this Jalia creature and her man and bring them to me. I intend to execute them on the dock along with any man woman or child who dares to defend them.”

  “You have no doubt heard many stories about these vagabonds, but I can assure you they are exaggerations. However, if they prove troublesome you have my permission to kill them using any chance you get. Just as long as I can cut their heads off on the dock afterwards; I shall be well satisfied. Now let us ride, because the Steam Dragon will be leaving us at the break of dawn.”

  The Keeper walked down the steps and two of the soldiers dismounted to help him mount his horse. When they were all mounted, they rode through the archway towards the gates.

  “Daniel, they will kill Hala,” Cara said in panic. Daniel put his hand on her shoulder and turned her towards him.

  “Hala is spending the night with Nin. He has probably worn her out by now and I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t even hear the Keeper and his soldiers.”

  “Really? Are those two at it?” Cara asked, as her desire for juicy gossip momentarily overcame her other worries.

  “We have a job to do. Are you ready?”

  Instead of answering with words, Cara ran towards the vault guards, calling out breathlessly and imploringly, though not too loudly, as if she was terrified of waking anyone in the Palace.

  Trem and Del Absolem were brothers. They had hired on as guards in Boathaven where they were born, and proved to be good at it. They had worked for the Mine Owners Association in Telmar, but hadn’t really liked it, as working slaves to death didn’t seem right to them. They quit that job and, after spending some months with their mother and father in Boathaven, had traveled east towards Slarn seeking work.

  They ended up guarding the Coin, which was incredibly boring work, but paid very well. They felt the best thing about the job was that they never had to kill anyone.

  “Please protect me from this brute, I beseech you.” Cara shouted as she ran towards them. The one thing the brothers had never expected to see on this job was a well-endowed woman running towards them in a semi-naked state with her breasts bouncing in a most attractive manner.

  Daniel gave Cara a five second start and then started chasing after her. At the last second, he had undone his belt and unbuttoned his trousers. Stumbling across the grass with his left hand holding his trousers up, he looked more comic than threatening.

  “Stop her,” he shouted at the two men. “I am on the Keeper’s business.”

  “No, he will whip me,” Cara implored as she approached the guards. They had taken out their swords when they first saw her, but the men’s swords were pointing at the ground.

  Daniel crossed over the red stone circle and stumbled into the grass as he lost vision and the world spun around for a few seconds. The guards laughed and Del put his sword back in his scabbard. These people couldn’t possibly be attacking them. Daniel picked himself up and had to pull his trousers up before he could start staggering towards them again. Trem and Del laughed even louder at his antics.

  Cara reached Trem and clunk tight to him. Her breasts pressed hard against his armored chest. There were lanterns lighting the entrance to the vaults and in their yellow light, the guard stared at Cara’s large breasts and felt a surge of lust. Despite the fact that her arms around him held him so he could not lift his sword, Trem made no effort to free himself from her embrace.

  “Why is the nasty man chasing you?” Trem asked as if addressing a small child.

  “Because I was ordered to take her out to the nearest tree, cut a switch and whip her,” Daniel said as he finally reached Del.

  “Do you always take your trousers off to whip a girl?” Del asked, and laughed. He had a very good idea what Daniel had been about to do.

  “He made me strip,” Cara told Trem in a plaintive tone as she looked up at him with wide eyes. “He said if I let him have me first he would go easy with the switch. Please stop him, I beg of you.”

  “There’s plenty of her to share between us,” Daniel told the guards with a broad smile on his face. “I don’t even demand that I go first.”

  “You don’t get to demand anything,” Del told him sharply and gave Daniel a push on the shoulder.

  “Now!” Daniel shouted as he pulled Del’s arm sharply forward with his left hand and rammed his right elbow into the man’s face. The guard dropped limply to the ground. He would be unconscious for hours; the blow had been so hard.

  Cara kneed Trem in the groin, then pulled his sword arm forward and flipped him over her back so he crashed onto the stone surface. Trem’s neck snapped as his head hit the ground at an awkward angel.

  Saying nothing to each other, Cara and Daniel picked up the guards swords and ran to the locked stone door. Cara located the holes used to carry sound into the room beyond. She put her lips to the holes and began to moan and grunt in an increasing tempo.

  “Oh yes, do it to me harder, harder, harder.”

  “Del, Trem, what are you two up to out there?” a voice asked from inside the room.

  “Oh Del, you feel so big inside me. Do it faster, oh, oh, oh, oh…,” Cara moaned. She and Daniel stood ready to force the door open, once it was unlocked.

  “Well, if you’re having someone, then so am I,” the man inside the room said excitedly as Cara’s moans became faster and higher pitched.

  Cara and Daniel heard the bolts of the stone door being drawn and both rested a foot lightly agai
nst the door. The door opened a crack and Cara and Daniel pushed at it with all their might.

  Inside the room, Felnore Grif stood close to the door while Pad Wend opened it. When Cara and Daniel pushed the door, Pad was thrown across the room while the door swung viciously into Felnore’s head. His skull smashed in the impact and he fell to the floor already dead.

  Pad Wend tried to clear his vision by rubbing his eyes, by the time he removed his hand Daniel’s sword pressed against his throat.

  “Not a word now,” Daniel whispered. While Daniel held him helpless at sword point, Cara tied his hands behind his back and put a gag around his mouth.

  “You see, that is fate in operation,” Daniel whispered to Cara as they took up positions by the spiral staircase. “One night I teach you how to throw a man over your back and the next night you try it out in battle. You can go and put your clothes on, I can handle things here.”

  “Aren’t you going down to the vault to rescue Jalia?” Cara asked in a whisper.

  “Don’t be silly. Anybody going down those stairs will get their legs cut to pieces, either by one of the guards or by Jalia. I, for one, intend to wait for either the guards or Jalia to come to me.” Daniel kept his voice low so they would not be heard by the guards below.

  “I’m not going back until I know I’m not needed here anymore,” Cara said as Daniel fastened up his trousers.

  “Well if you insist. In that case I shall just have to sit here and admire the view.”

  “You think they are admirable?” Cara asked as she turned her body from side to side creating a subtle swaying motion.

  “If I wasn’t committed to Jalia, I would say that both of them are highly admirable in their own way. The left a little more than the right. No, I’ve changed my mind; the right is much the superior of the two.”

  Cara laughed. She had grown up with brothers and at that moment she put Daniel into that category. He really was a most amusing man.