Jalia Prevails (Book 5)

by John Booth

  “What was that all about?” Don asked.

  “I expect we will find out in time,” Daniel said, looking at the Captain and First Mate thoughtfully.

  Gally Sorn smiled as the Captain and the First Mate approached.

  “It is unusual to see the two of you up and about together,” Gally said.

  “It is certainly a truth that you have seen the Captain up more times than I have,” Seb said with a twinkle in his eye.

  “Why Seb Halder, was that an untoward comment?” Gally asked with a look of fake outrage.

  “Captain Toren’s willingness to go the extra mile for his most illustrious passengers is well known, my lady.”

  “One day I shall find out if you perform as well as you speak.”

  Seb bowed deeply to her. “It would be my pleasure; I am sure. Sadly I must take my leave of you as I am supposed to be steering the boat.”

  Captain Toren took a chair at the table and Rolf Wanor hurried over with a pot of tea.

  “Normally I have to serve myself at breakfast,” Gally said tartly.

  “It is a privilege of rank, my lady.”

  “I saw you talking to our young heroes and their acolytes,” Gally said. “I was watching them before you arrived and that whole table are acting as though they have been stoking your boilers all night.”

  “The river air does that to some people, especially now the nights are getting cooler as summer comes to an end.”

  “I remain unaffected.”

  “Alas, I cannot say the same, my lady. My back is killing me this morning and I cannot remember doing anything strenuous at all.”

  Gally smiled. “I am usually more memorable than that.” She put a hand into Toren’s. He squeezed it in response.

  “Perhaps you should worry about what those two are up to. They have a formidable reputation for causing trouble.” Gally frowned as she stared at Jalia. Perhaps it was time to do some investigating of her own.

  Captain Toren had learnt to be able to read Gally’s intentions and he sensed what was going through her mind. He needed to shift her thoughts onto something else.

  “I was not totally honest with you the other night. You may remember that our tryst was interrupted by a knock on my door?”

  “Yes, you were looking almost shaken when I came out to see what was going on. Though you recovered and performed well, as I recall.”

  “I was attacked by Jak Venjer,” Toren continued. “It seems he is working for Queen Kalenda and regards the Boat Company as just another lackey under her thumb. I told him to leave at once as I would not be threatened on my own boat.”

  “Jak Venjer is working for Queen Kalenda,” Gally repeated almost in shock as her mind worked through the possibilities. “There were also rumors about Kalenda and a trader some identified as Hadon Mallow. He denied it when I contacted him about the swords. If Venjer and Hadon were allied..?”

  “Do you think Jak threatens your business position?”

  Gally realized she had been speculating out loud about things that did not concern the Captain.

  “He is entitled to work for whoever he pleases.” Gally smiled at the Captain. “I am not afraid of a little competition; in fact I thrive on it. Let us not talk about boring business, my lover. We have so few days left before this voyage will end.”

  “I will see you in my cabin tonight, at about seven?” Toren asked. “Boat business will keep me busy till at least five and I will need to wash and change.”

  “I understand. Until seven then…”

  Neither Toren nor Gally noticed that the tapestry behind them twitched as the Captain rose from the table. Behind the tapestry, Jak Venjer could not stop his hands convulsively jerking as he contemplated strangling the Captain. Gil Toren had betrayed him and he was going to pay the price for that.

  Sila Klint knocked on Dor’s door. The door opened a crack and Mal stared at her suspiciously.

  “I want to talk to Prince Doran,” Sila told Mal authoritatively.

  Mal opened the door and sardonically waved her into the room, giving her a deep bow.

  “What do you want?” Dor asked her petulantly. “We agreed to keep your secrets secret.”

  Sila smiled in the face of Dor’s hostility. Spoiled princes were always a pain to work with, but she had no choice if she was to cut herself into the deal.

  “I gather that your attempt to buy the swords from Tonas has come to naught?” she asked, getting straight to the point.

  “My business dealings are my own affair.”

  “I have some influence with Tonas and the Denger brothers. Perhaps I might be able to serve as a go-between them and the Royal House of Dalk?”

  “Hah, I very much doubt it.” Dor turned away.

  “We should not be so hasty to turn down any offer of help, my lord,” Jant said quietly. “What do you bring to the table, Lady Klint, and what payment would you wish for your services?”

  “I bring myself,” Sila said. “I was feared in Telmar by these men and fear takes a long time to fade. They will be more willing to consider an offer I put up than they would for one of yours.”

  “And your price?” Jant asked.

  “Ten percent of the purchase price.”

  “Two thousand pieces of gold.” Dor shouted. “Just for you to frighten Tonas Mallow?”

  “How much is Dalk worth to you?” Sila asked, “Whoever possesses those swords will be in a position to bring about the end of Dalk if they wanted. Is Dalk worth less than twenty two thousand pieces of gold?”

  “Payment would only be made on delivery of the swords,” Jant said quietly. “Besides which, twenty thousand is merely the price that Tonas Mallow has agreed with Gally Sorn. Tonas is also demanding the exchange of the swords will be for gold and not the promise of gold.”

  “I take it that you do not have that much gold on the Steam Dragon?” Sila asked.

  “What do you think?” Dor answered sullenly.

  “That neither does Gally Sorn or any other bidders and so our negotiating positions are equal.”

  “Tonas has reason to hate Gally Sorn as she arranged the death of his father,” Jant said. He frowned at Dor trying to get him to tone down his behavior. “It is possible that he has another buyer and that is why he will not deal with us.”

  “That buyer would have to be Queen Kalenda of Jenver or one of her representatives,” Sila said thoughtfully. “But we are going to dock in Dalk, which gives us the advantage.”

  “Sadly that is not the case. We will dock in Tallis tomorrow evening,” Jant explained.

  “Kalenda and Gilan would not stand for that without taking some sort of action,” Sila said. “I take it you already know what King Gilan is going to do?”

  No one in the room spoke, however their silence gave Sila her answer, all the same.

  “This affair is about having a good negotiating position when the Steam Dragon arrives in port,” Sila said with a grin on her face. “Whoever can claim to have bought the swords will be able to claim the lion’s share of them, while the other Triums will demand a share before they let them go.”

  “If that is what you choose to believe…,” Jant said without inflection.

  “Do we have a deal?” Sila asked. “If I can get the traders to sell to you, I will get a payment of ten percent on the deal?”

  Dor looked to Jant for advice and Jant nodded his head almost imperceptibly.

  “Very well, Lady Klint,” Dor said wearily. “The House of Dalk is prepared to commission you to buy the swords for us. Do not fail us.”

  “I will do my best.” Sila was delighted that she could join the party. “I will keep you informed.”

  Sila let herself out of the room.

  “I have a bad feeling about this,” Dor said.

  “What choice do we have, my lord? Tonas has made it quite clear he will not deal with us,” Jant replied.

  Daniel cursed and shouted “Duck!” as the bag of swords he was lowering down the shaft came loose from
the rope. Don covered his head with his arms while Cara dived inside the ballast hold. The noise the swords made on impact with the bottom of the shaft was ear shattering. Fortunately, the bag missed them.

  Jalia’s voice floated on down to them from far above, “Sorry about that. I thought I’d tied it up securely.”

  “Sorry, she says,” Don said. “As if this job isn’t difficult enough as it is.”

  “Let’s hope that every member of crew on the Steam Dragon is asleep,” Daniel said. “Because if I was one of them, I’d certainly want to investigate the noise we just made.”

  “Hopefully, it wouldn’t sound so loud outside the shaft,” Cara offered.

  “Pack everything away,” Daniel ordered. “We will take an hour’s break as we are getting tired and careless. Besides which, the rope is down here now and Jalia will have to retrieve it and put it back on the pulley before we can do any more.”

  “We’ll all meet in our cabin for a pot of tea?” Jalia suggested from the hole above.

  “Make sure everything is out of sight,” Daniel advised. “If the crew come looking in here or the hold we don’t want them to find anything.”

  “The cover sitting lopsided on the wall is a bit of a giveaway,” Don suggested.

  “Jalia and Hala will put it roughly in place before they go,” Daniel told him. “The cover moves fairly easily now it has been loosened.”

  “That’s easy for him to say,” Jalia whispered to Hala as the girls struggled to rotate the cover back into position. When they managed it, Jalia pushed one of the bolts in to hold it in place.

  “I shall be glad when we finish,” Hala said as she wiped sweat from her brow.

  “I’m sure we all will,” Jalia agreed.

  Down in the boiler room, Nin heard the massive clang as the bag hit the bottom of the shaft. He turned to Jerin with worry written on his face.

  “What was that? Has the Dragon hit something?” Nin asked.

  “What was what?” Jerin asked innocently.

  “That loud bang. You must have heard it?”

  “More likely that you imagined it,” Jerin replied, “I didn’t hear anything at all.”

  “But you must have heard it.”

  “Probably a delusion caused by too much playing with yourself. Once a girl starts doing it for you, you mustn’t ever go back to doing it yourself. My dad told me that when I was your age and it’s good advice.”

  Nin was too busy blushing to ask any more questions about the noise, which was exactly what Jerin had intended.

  Captain Toren heard the clang of the swords while standing on the bridge, though by the time it reached him the sound was fairly muted. Hal Patin looked over expectantly.

  “They were bound to drop one of the bags at some point,” Toren told Hal, who nodded in agreement.

  “Wait fifteen minutes and go and investigate. Tell any passengers you meet that the noise was a log hitting the hull underwater and the Dragon was designed to survive much more than that. Go and look in the ballast shaft, but whatever you do, don’t find anything.”

  “Aye aye, Captain,” Patin answered with a knowing grin.

  Yan Berin, chief stoker of the Steam Dragon, clenched his teeth together when the clang reverberated through his cabin and screamed in agony at the pain that action caused him. He staggered to his door and found Candor Malon waiting outside.

  “Captain said you were to stay in your cabin until your jaw is fully healed,” Candor said, blocking Yan’s way. In better times, Yan would have pushed Candor out aside, but that was dangerous thing to try to do when you have a broken jaw.

  “What was that bang?” Yan asked almost incoherently because of the limited movement he had in his jaw.

  “We are moving equipment near the ballast shaft,” Candour said innocently. “Someone probably dropped something down it.”

  “What are we doing that for?”

  “Captain Toren didn’t tell me. He doesn’t tell me everything.”

  “Do you mind if I join you?” Jak asked Halad. Halad had turned up early for the evening meal hoping that by arriving and leaving early, people would not notice that Lady Rotiln was not with him. Apart from Rolf Wanor, who was working as a waiter, he had thought the dining room empty.

  “Please do,” Halad replied as civilly as he could. He put on his most ingratiating smile and hoped that Jak would not see through it.

  Jak sat and Rolf arrived to take their orders. Jak smiled at Halad, showing rather too much in the way of teeth for Halad’s comfort.

  “Is Lady Rotiln sick or have you two had a lover’s quarrel?” Jak asked innocently. He was sitting with Halad to establish an alibi and his words were just small talk.

  Halad stuttered for a few seconds trying to think of an appropriate reply.

  “Lady Rotiln ate some fruit. It seems to have disagreed with her,” Halad said, remembering how Jalia had tricked them a few days before.

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Perhaps I might drop by her cabin later and express my good wishes?”

  “No, no, no!” Halad said forcefully. “Lady Rotiln does not like people to see her indisposed. I am sure you understand?”

  “Indeed, women are often like that.” Jak wondered why Halad was acting so nervously. Jak wished the waiter would hurry up with their meal so he could get on with his plan.

  Seemingly hearing Jak’s mental call, Rolf arrived with two plates, which he put down before the men. Jak took a couple of bites of food and then looked at Halad.

  “I’m afraid I am also feeling indisposed. I will only be gone for a few minutes. Can you look after my plate to make sure the waiter doesn’t take it away?”

  Halad nodded, hoping sincerely that Jak would be away for long enough for him to finish his meal. Then he could get out of the dining room as soon as Jak returned.

  Jak left the dining room walking slowly. As soon as he couldn’t be seen from the room, he broke into a run. It took him less than a minute to reach Captain Toren’s cabin where he knocked on the door.

  Toren was washing in preparation for his liaison with Gally Sorn. Tabor would bring a meal to the cabin later in the evening. Then he and Gally would dine before her need for other kinds of satisfaction would overwhelm her.

  The knock at the door was an irritation, as he was naked and his hair was sopping wet. He hastily wrapped a towel around his torso and rubbed his hair partially dry with another.

  Toren flung open his door impatiently.

  “What is it this…?”

  The dagger plunged into his chest prevented Captain Toren from completing his sentence. He looked down at the dagger’s hilt. His eyes tracked up the arm holding the blade, and then higher until they reached the angry face of Jak.

  “So die all traitors to Slarn and to the Queen.” Jak crowed.

  “You bloody fool,” Captain Toren said weakly and collapsed. Jak’s knife stayed in his hand and Toren’s body slid off it as he fell.

  Jak jumped across the body and dragged it into the cabin. He wiped his blade on Toren’s towel before putting it back into its sheath on his belt.

  Jak knew he had to hurry to get back to the dining room to avoid raising suspicion. He stepped over the Captain’s body and closed the cabin door behind him. If he had had the time he would have locked the cabin, but locating the key would have taken too long.

  Jak ran down the corridors before slowing to stately walk for the rest of the journey back to the dining room. Being seen running away from the cabin was more dangerous than being a little late.

  Halad had been scooping food into his mouth as though his life depended on it. There were only a couple of pieces left on his plate when Jak returned.

  “I’m sorry I’ve had to eat so fast,” Halad explained, “It’s just that I feel I must go and see how Lady Rotiln is bearing up. I trust you understand?”

  “That is no problem,” Jak replied. Jalia and Daniel’s party had arrived while he had been out and he noted Jalia staring at him. With Halad and
Jalia as witnesses that he had been in the dining room when the Captain was killed, Jak was pretty sure his alibi would hold up.

  Sila Klint arrived at Tonas’s cabin just as he and the Denger brothers were leaving.

  “I would like to discuss the purchase of your swords, gentlemen.”

  “The swords are already sold, Lady Klint,” Tonas replied, “We are going to the dining room if you would care to join us?”

  “I have never met a trader who would not overturn a deal for a more favorable one, should the opportunity arise,” Sila said as they walked down the corridor.

  “I doubt that even you have the money we are being offered,” Tonas pointed out.

  “Twenty thousand gold pieces? I regard such amounts as pin money.” Sila waved her hand.

  “But do you have such money here?” Tonas asked.

  “None of the parties who wish to buy the swords have it presently.”

  “Perhaps we should hold an auction when we dock?” Wilf suggested hopefully. He would much sooner sell to the highest bidder than the one who just happened to have slept with Tonas’s father.

  “There are things I can offer in return that the other bidders cannot,” Sila said as they reached the dining room.

  Tonas stopped and looked at her enquiringly.

  “I am setting up business in Slarn with Alin Bredan as my financial advisor. You know how good the two of us are at that. We could become partners, as I am looking for investment capital and you three are about to come into rather a lot of it.”

  “Let us talk about it further over dinner,” Tonas suggested and Sila nodded in agreement.

  Gally Sorn reached Captain Toren’s door and knocked. She had grown attached to the Captain and found their liaisons entertaining. She was looking forward with great anticipation to the night ahead. There were few men that Gally thought truly liked her as much as Gil Toren.

  There was no response and she knocked again a little louder. The door swung inwards, revealing the body of the Captain in a pool of blood.

  Gally pushed the door fully open and dropped down to the Captain’s side. She turned him over and cradled his head on her lap, ignoring the blood that covered her dress as she did it.