Jalia At Bay (Book 4)

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Jalia At Bay (Book 4) Page 25

by John Booth


  “Well, Uncle, you have escorted me to the Steam Dragon safely and we must say our farewells,” Gally Sorn said as she dismounted.

  “I trust you will return soon. I will miss your company,” the Lord Protector replied.

  “I suspect that one of your female servants will be in your bed before the light of dawn,” Gally answered with a smile.

  “But none of them possess even half your skills, my dear.”

  Gally curtseyed at the Lord Protector and laughed.

  “Your compliments are always of the highest quality, dear Gal. These swords will win the war in Slarn and rest assured that the Sorn family, as always, will be on the winning side. I shall be back by the spring, I expect.”

  “Give my regards to my brother and your mother,” the Lord Protector said as he turned his horse, “And to our dear cousins when you see them in Wegnar and Bratin.”

  “I shall, have no fear.” Gally led her horse up the gangway and into the boat.

  Hala breathed a sigh of relief as the two adults disappeared from sight. Jalia would have to get onto the roofs of the buildings and she was sure to start with the nearest one. Hala located the ladder leading to the roof and found a comfortable place to wait.

  It was difficult for Hala to stay awake in the hours she waited for Jalia. She got up and trotted on the spot, pinched herself and practiced various exercises she had been taught. It was a welcome relief when she heard Daniel singing.

  Hala found her face turning red as she listened to Daniel. Living in Taldon’s Fort meant that she had known the facts of life since she was old enough to walk, as the Taldon men rarely bothered to be discrete. However, she had never seen the things Daniel described.

  She was so embarrassed that she didn’t notice Jalia creep by and onto the ladder. When Hala saw Jalia outlined against the night sky, she was so surprised she made just enough noise to alert her. Hala held her breath so long she felt certain she would faint. Jalia decided the noise was simply the building creaking and moved up the ladder.

  Hala breathed an enormous sigh of relief; she would have to be a lot more careful if she didn’t want Jalia to see her. Daniel said that when stalking a person, you should move when they move; stand still when they stood still. Hala resolved that that was just what she was going to do, as soon as she found the courage to climb the ladder.

  Jalia crouched twenty feet in front of Hala. Thirty feet beyond her, four men with crossbows waited to kill the traders. Hala considered retreating as she expected Jalia to come back this way very soon. Even to an untrained eye, there was no way that Jalia could take on all of these men. She would have to come back and get help.

  Hala nearly gasped out loud when Jalia began creeping towards the men. She didn’t know what Jalia was up to, but she was determined to help if she could. As Jalia traversed the roof, Hala moved into the position that Jalia left behind. Hala wiped her hands on her jerkin and skirt. They were sticky with sweat and she would need them dry if she was going to throw her knife.

  Hala was frightened. What started out as an adventure had become real and men with crossbows were a different thing to aim at than trees. Throwing her knife to kill one of them seemed unreal. She was certain she would miss or make a mess of it. Her hands trembled and she nearly dropped her knife. Hala knew she had to be strong for Jalia. Jalia and Daniel had made her life worth living and she owed them everything.

  When Jalia threw her knives; Hala knew the plan had gone wrong. She heard the sound of bolts flying and bow strings humming though she didn’t understand why. Then she saw Win aiming his crossbow at Jalia. If he had fired straight away, she wouldn’t have had the time to stand up and take careful aim.

  Hala asked the Fairie to bless her aim and threw the knife with all her strength. She should have dropped to a crouch and the safety of the dark as soon as she threw, but she was so anxious to see where it ended up that she stayed outlined against the sky.

  She was so pleased when her knife flew true that she smiled in accomplishment. A second later, the wind was knocked out of her as Win’s crossbow bolt buried itself into her guts. She doubled over and clutched at the end of the bolt in agony. Hala fell to the roof and fainted.

  The only people standing when Daniel reached the traders were Tonas and the Denger brothers. They looked stunned as they surveyed the bodies around them. Tonas dropped to one knee and turned the body of his father over. Hadon’s sightless eyes stared back at him, a crossbow bolt having pemetrated his heart.

  Daniel checked Grilt and Tel. Both men were dead, Tel with a crossbow bolt between the eyes.

  “This is my fault,” Daniel said to the dead men. “I got you into this.”

  “It was my father’s fault,” Tonas said loudly, his voice getting firmer as he continued. “He insisted we come out before Jalia gave the all clear and these deaths are on his hands and no one else’s.”

  “Is it safe to get up?” Don asked from where he lay face down on the cold stone of the dock. Answering his own question, he pushed himself to his feet and examined his right shoulder where the cloth of his jerkin was torn.

  “The bolt grazed my shoulder and I decided the safest place was lying on the ground. They were only shooting at the people standing up.”

  Daniel grinned, “You have the makings of a warrior, Don,” he said, relieved that the death toll was lower than he feared.

  “Cara!” Don rushed to where she lay. Cara lay spread-eagled on the ground, a crossbow bolt sticking out from just above her heart. It looked too long to Daniel, more like an arrow than a bolt. Don knelt and lifted her head gently.

  “What happened?” Cara asked in a dazed voice.

  Daniel couldn’t believe she was still alive and tore her leather jerkin away. Beneath her jerkin, the breastplate he had seen her wear at the ford glinted in the light of the moons. The bolt had penetrated the plate but stopped before it cut into her flesh.

  “I knocked my head on the dock when I landed,” Cara continued, “Is everybody else all right?”

  Daniel looked at the six dead people and wondered what to say.

  On the viewing platform on the funnel, Dor made appreciative noises as Cara got to her feet.

  “They build women tough around here, if Jalia and Cara Marin are any guide.”

  “Did you see what happened on the roof, my… Dor?”

  “I was distracted by what was going on in the dock. Somehow, Jalia killed the four men. When I looked back she was cutting off the last man’s head. It’s possible his crossbow misfired or he missed her.”

  “We should get down from here,” Jant said urgently. “They may see us as the sky lightens.”

  “We can go now. They are going to get the swords to the ship, which is all I wanted to know.”

  Jalia found Hala in under a minute. She ran her hands over the girl’s body and found the end of the bolt sticking out of her belly, sticky with blood.

  “Oh you silly girl,” Jalia whispered.

  “It hurts, Jalia. It doesn’t look like you are going to get to whip me for disobeying you after all,” Hala said in a weak, but steady voice.

  “You are going to be fine,” Jalia said, stroking Hala’s hair.

  “I’m a Taldon, Jalia. I know that nobody survives a bolt in the guts,” Hala paused and then said, almost crying, “I don’t want to die.”

  “Save your strength,” Jalia said and kissed her on the forehead. “I know a boy who can perform miracles, even if he doesn’t believe it himself. I have to get you back to our cabin without anybody seeing us. Can you be brave and quiet?”

  “I’ll try,” Hala told her, and smiled. She felt safe in Jalia’s arms.

  “We get the swords,” Tonas said. “There are six of us. We can do it in four trips.”

  “What about the bodies?” Wilf Denger asked. He looked down at Dav, Perder and Balaf. They had been friends for most of their lives.

  Tonas looked around the dock for inspiration. There was a pile of ballast stones near the Swallow. />
  “Weigh the bodies down with ballast and throw them into the dock. We don’t want questions asked at first light.”

  The Denger brothers looked offended and Daniel shook his head. It was a good idea under the circumstances, but he had a better one.

  “Move the bodies into the lock-up. Then we get the swords. It’s easier and I will leave some money and a note for whoever finds them, so they might receive a decent burial after we have gone.”

  Wilf and Tred breathed a sigh of relief. That seemed like a much more decent idea to them.

  “Yes, I agree,” Tonas said in a harsh voice. “It will be quicker than using stones.”

  Daniel heaved two of the heavy bags into the hold of the boat and walked straight into Jalia. She had crept up from behind without him hearing.

  “Come with me. I have something important for you to do,” she ordered and he followed her silently to their cabin. Jalia stood outside it and put her arms around his neck.

  “Hala is in there with a crossbow bolt in her guts. She saved my life, Daniel, and now you are going to save hers.” Her voice sounded like ice cracking in glaciers.

  “I can’t…,” Daniel began and Jalia put a finger to his lips.

  “You saved your brother. Before the Fairie even imparted their gift, you saved your brother from a knife rammed into his backside.”

  “Jalia, I …”

  “No one knows she is injured. No one will betray your secret. You have to believe you can do this. All I ask; is that you try.”

  Daniel sighed and Jalia dropped her hands. He walked into the cabin and closed the door.

  Hala stirred as Daniel entered the room. The bolt was still lodged deep inside her. She and Jalia knew she would die in minutes once it was removed. Hala looked at Daniel and smiled.

  “I’m glad I get to see you one last time before I die.”

  Daniel sat beside her, pulling a stool up to the side of the bunk. He placed his hand on hers and squeezed gently.

  “The dragon told me that my father was not my real father. That my true father was the last of the Magician Kings, still running and hiding from the Fairie, a dozen centuries after the war ended.”

  “That’s a nice story,” Hala said faintly. “I don’t believe in dragons or the Fairie.”

  “Jalia thinks I can heal you; but I don’t know how,” Daniel continued. “She might be right, but, I don’t know how to get the magic to work.”

  “Pull the bolt out, Daniel. It hurts so much that I can’t stand it anymore. Pull it out and hold me close while I die.”

  Daniel nodded and stood to grip the end of the bolt in his hand. Hala tensed as waves of pain ran through her.

  “Do it, Daniel,” Hala hissed.

  Daniel pulled at the bolt with all his strength.

  The End

  The story continues in Jalia Prevails

 

 

 


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