Jalia in the North (Jalia - World of Jalon), page 14
Jalia stared at the man. She remembered Malfa and thought she would have recognized him instantly. He had been one of her father’s workers and his most trusted man. When she had been little he seemed grown up and attractive, but before she reached puberty she lost her faith in good looks.
She used to flirt with him, as she did with all her father’s men. It amused her, and it helped to get them to do what she wanted. The man in front of her had lost the innocence in his eyes he use to have. There was something close to a sneer on his face that appeared to have stuck to his lips and twisted them.
Jalia had no doubt now that this was Malfa a’Dant. The question was whether she wanted to know a man who had changed almost beyond recognition, and was stupid or arrogant enough to wreck her card game.
“You left my father’s employ, what… four years ago? What are you doing in Taybee?” Jalia asked while keeping her distance.
“How is your dad? I came north seeking my fortune and I’ve found it.” Malfa gestured to his tunic and for the first time Jalia saw it was a uniform. “I’m Captain of the Guard and report directly to Baron Tynes.” Malfa obviously thought this was an important job because of the way he stuck his chest out as he spoke.
“You run the rabble that steals from honest traders as they enter the city? You should be ashamed of yourself.” Jalia wasn’t at all surprised he was involved with the crooks at the gate.
“We keep the city safe and the taxes keep the citizens from starving,” Malfa responded vigorously, stung by her comment.
“I’ve walked this town. It is full of gold prospectors flush with finds and looking for some fun. They pay generously for entertainment and a chance to get drunk out of their minds. Any town could live off the proceeds without the need of taxes to get in or out.”
“We tax the bars and entertainment places as well,” Malfa admitted.
“So how much money does it take to keep the remaining citizens in food?”
“There are overheads to meet, the guards have to be paid, and the prison is full to overcrowded.”
“No doubt full of those unable to pay your outrageous taxes.”
Jalia noted that Malfa flushed instead of responding. It looked as though her comment had hit too near the mark for his comfort.
“I’m in a good job and you can be fined for criticizing the guard, so I’ll trust you to keep a civil tongue in your head. And you never told me how your father is.”
“My father is dead and has been for over two years. His business is closed for good and I’m on the road, seeking my fortune.”
“I’m sorry. Your father was a good man and treated me well.”
Malfa looked upset and Jalia decided she spoke too harshly. He had been a good worker and a solid friend for many years.
“So am I,” Jalia said and held out her hand to Malfa, “Let’s start again shall we? It’s good to see you, Malfa.” The two formally shook hands and Malfa invited Jalia to sit at a table. He ordered drinks of some kind of fiery liquor, drank the contents of his glass down in one gulp, and ordered another. Jalia sipped at the drink, her lips barely touching it. She preferred her senses to be sharp and unhindered in case of trouble.
“Are you still with that alchemist, Marco?” Malfa asked. When he left Bagdor Jalia had been fourteen and everybody knew she had a sexual relationship with the significantly older apprentice alchemist.
“He was never more than a friend,” Jalia said and Malfa raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “He was useful to me; that’s all.”
“I could be useful to you,” Malfa said sliding his hand across her back, “The Captain of the guard could resolve that minor problem you have with paying your taxes for example.” Malfa’s hand curled around Jalia slim waist and he drew her towards him, stopping suddenly when cold steel intersected with his trousers and pricked lightly against his manhood.
“The last man who tried to take me against my will is now a heap of gnawed bones up in the northern mountains,” Jalia said mildly, as Malfa carefully and slowly withdrew his arm from around her waist.
“I have a large house with servants. You’re no stranger to relations with men, so why not me?” Malfa protested as he kept his hands well clear of his weapons and in Jalia’s sight.
“I choose my bedfellows and it will never be you,” Jalia said, as her knife vanished as quickly as it has appeared.
“Is the daughter of the master trader Turan al’Dare too good for a commoner like me?”
“No, as it happens I’m quite fond of wild sex with penniless trader boys, but not with you, Malfa. You have become a user of people, rather than being one of them.” Jalia slid to her feet and turned to walk out of the room.
“Get back here and offer your body to me,” Malfa’s voice shook with rage, “I can have any woman I want in this city and I want you.”
Jalia laughed and continued walking to the door.
“I’ll strip you of everything you have. I’ll take the man you came here with and work him to death in the prison. When I’ve finished with you, you’ll beg to grant me favors in bed and accept any punishment I give you as a gift.” Malfa was almost incandescent with anger.
“If it wasn’t that Daniel has asked me not to kill people without a really good reason you’d be dead now.” Jalia smiled sweetly at Malfa as she lolled against the edge of the door looking back at him. “You aren’t worth killing. Please don’t make it worth my while, if you have any remaining sense at all.”
Jalia swung herself around the door leaving Malfa in the room behind her. She walked back to the main street.
The fun had vanished from the evening. Though merriment was going on all around her, Jalia was no longer interested in joining the revelers. She headed off sullenly towards the Jumping Trout.
She could tell Malfa was following her before she had walked more than a hundred yards. It was the work of a few minutes to lose him in the back streets and make her way back alone.
Daniel was going to be mad at her for causing trouble with the very people he was hoping to smooth talk, but Jalia knew it couldn’t be helped. She knew she must tell Daniel what happened, because his life might be in danger if she didn’t.
When she reached the hostelry the snow that had been dropping as odd flakes all day became a snowstorm. It looked as though she and Daniel were about to find out what a northern winter was like.
Baron Tynes
The next morning the streets of Taybee were three foot deep in snow, but it didn’t seem to worry the locals, who shoveled clear narrow paths so they could carry on with their business as normal. The city looked beautiful from the window of Daniel and Jalia’s room, which jutted out over the swollen fast moving river.
Long icicles hung from the gutters of the building and citizens were out with wooden poles to knock them off before they dropped on the unwary.
Daniel and Jalia had a long conversation in their room before they went down for breakfast. They started by discussing tactics regarding taxes before moving onto other things. Daniel nodded as Jalia told him of the events of the previous night. It seemed to him that Malfa should be grateful he still lived. He then told her about Mart’s daughter, dampening their mood.
The dining room was filled with people eating, drinking, and talking jovially and loudly.
Breakfast consisted of cooked meats with fried eggs, lumps of torn bread smothered in butter washed down with tankards of hot tea. A substantial breakfast was essential if you were going to wander out in such cold weather and was very different from the sweetmeats people normally ate for breakfast in the south.
A serving wench with large bosoms pushed out by her dress took their order. To Jalia’s annoyance, the girl thrust her not inconsiderable assets straight into Daniel’s face, as if challenging him to do something with them.
“He wants food, not fresh trollop’s milk,” Jalia remarked and the girl scowled.
After they placed their order and the girl had gone, Daniel gave Jalia a reproving look.
“She was only trying to bring a bit of cheer, not seduce me.”
“With all that weight on top, I am surprised she can walk without falling over.” Jalia glanced down at her own petite assets before looking quickly away.
“Girls with large breasts are not all evil,” Daniel said quietly.
“A fat lot you know,” Jalia muttered so low Daniel couldn’t hear her in the hubbub.
The food was excellent and they soon got into a conversation with an old man. He had come all the way from Ballis in hopes of finding gold in Telmar and couldn’t wait to get there and start digging. He sold his farm to raise the money to come here and had enjoyed his travels so far.
“What do you hope to do with the gold if you find it?” Jalia asked between bites of bacon and bread.
“I want to retire to a house with servants to see to my every need, and maybe a pretty young wench to see to one need I haven’t had satisfied for a long time.” The man laughed at the thought.
“Couldn’t you have done that with the money you raised from selling your farm?” Daniel asked. Prospecting for gold seemed like a fool’s errand to him.
“Perhaps for a year or two, but where would be the fun in that? At my age, only crones would look at me and I like my women young and beautiful.”
“Money cannot buy you a good woman,” Jalia said.
The man roared with laughter, “Who said I was interested in good women?”
Mart entered the room and sat beside them. Jalia told Mart how sad she was at his loss. Mart thanked her for her kind regards and turned to Daniel.
“Are you still planning to confront Baron Tynes about the tax?”
“I am,” Daniel replied solemnly. “From what Jalia tells me, you and the other traders of this city are also taxed by him and it seems to me this man is taking unfair advantage of you.”
“You aren’t the first to make that point.” Mart leaned closer to the two of them and spoke in hushed tones, “You can find all of those who said that to his face either in his prison or in the graveyard.”
“Are you telling me I risk arrest for confronting the man?” Daniel gave Jalia a meaningful look and she nodded.
“A certainty is not a risk. If you seek to negotiate the level of tax, you may get somewhere. If you challenge his methods, you’ll get to see the inside of his prison. I advise you to take great care, my friend.”
“Where is the prison?” Jalia asked.
“It is about a mile along the Magician’s Road once you get over the bridge. It’s a grim place and many die there. I send what food I can spare as often as I can. The poor souls in prison have done no wrong except to be poor or to offend the guards.”
Daniel nodded at Jalia and she got up to leave. “I must be on my way as I have much to do today,” she said brightly, as she headed back to their room for her warmest coat and other items.
Mart shook his head as she wandered out of the room, “That girl of yours is a strange one. What could she possibly want to do in the city on a day like this?”
“You never can tell with Jalia. Now tell me, Mart, where might I find the Baron on a cold winter’s morning?”
“I’ll take you to his headquarters. It’s just over the bridge.” Mart got up, but Daniel waved him to sit down and pointed at his plate.
“Time enough for that when I’ve finished my breakfast. Have you eaten this morning?”
Mart confessed he had not and Daniel waved to the serving girl and insisted Mart should eat before they went out. He nodded to Jalia over Mart’s shoulder as he saw her heading outside carrying a large heavy bag.
Sometime later, Daniel and Mart left the Jumping Trout and trudged through the snow towards the Baron’s headquarters. The city was divided by the river, with the administrative district in the west, while the business and residential district was in the east where they were staying.
“Makes you wonder what would happen if the bridge fell down,” Daniel said as they trudged through the snow.
“If the Baron’s men were in the western side at the time it might be a good thing,” Mart replied and Daniel grinned.
The Baron’s headquarters were in an impressive building that stood on one side of a square with gardens at its center. The streets on the western side of the bridge were wide with trees lining the avenues and statues at every crossroads. Daniel took his leave of Mart and enquired where Mart might be going in the near future.
“Back to the Jumping Trout, I’m afraid. A hostelry does not run itself.”
“I think that is a wise place to stay today.” Daniel said enigmatically and shook Mart’s hand.
When Daniel entered the building, he was stopped by a guard who demanded to know his business. It was nearly an hour before he was finally allowed to see Baron Tynes.
Tynes was an imposing man with a thick black moustache and neatly trimmed hair. He sat behind an intricately carved and polished stone desk. Daniel had never seen the type of stone used on the desk before and it was certainly impressive. To one side of Tynes a man stood with a sneer on his face. From Jalia’s description, Daniel was sure he was looking at Captain Malfa a’Dant.
“How pleasant to meet you,” Tynes said offering his hand in greeting and indicating Daniel should sit in the chair facing the desk. Daniel shook Tynes’ hand firmly and took the seat he had been offered.
“I understand you are travelling with a young woman who is a former acquaintance of the Captain here?” Tynes asked. He had a rich cultured voice and stepped from behind his desk to pour Daniel a drink.
“Yes, my companion is the daughter of a successful Bagdor trader and I understand that Captain a’Dant was once an employer of her father.”
“A father, who I hear, alas, is no longer with us.”
“His daughter more than makes up for the world’s loss,” Daniel said as he took a sip of the strong liquor in his glass.
“Quite so. You are here regarding a query over the levy we reluctantly impose on travelers, I understand?”
“It seems quite harsh to tax us for crossing a bridge that we have no intention to cross.”
“And yet, here you are on the western side, even as you speak.”
“Only to clear up this little misunderstanding,” Daniel said and put the glass down on Tynes’ desk.
“There is no misunderstanding,” Tynes said, for the first time showing his teeth. “You have entered the city and must pay the tax in full. Plus another fifty gold pieces for the insult your companion gave to a valued member of my guard.”
“Is it an insult to treat a would-be rapist as one?” Daniel asked as he rose to his feet.
“Are you insulting my men?” Tynes asked as he too rose to his feet and Malfa drew his sword.
“Are you happy for your men to abuse female visitors to this city?”
“I think you should have a taste of our prison to teach you some manners,” Tynes snarled, “Unless you would prefer to fight?”
“I am unarmed,” Daniel said and lifted his coat aside so they could see what he said was true. “So this is how you treat those who disagree with you.”
“Take him away, Malfa.” Tynes waved his hand in dismissal. “I doubt he’ll last three weeks, but bring him back in a month if he should survive. We shall see if the experience puts a civil tongue in his head.”
A Challenge Too Far
Daniel put up no struggle as Malfa led him out of the room. Outside, three guards were ordered to take him to the prison. They bound his hands behind his back and tied a rope to him so he could not escape. Once again, Daniel made no effort to resist.
It was a long trudge in the snow to the prison. Daniel kept slipping on the icy ground because it is difficult to stay balanced with your hands tied behind your back. The guards laughed at his efforts and made no attempt to help him.
The prison was a large building enclosed by a wall twenty feet tall and a single set of iron gates as a point of entry. They were about a hundred yards from the gates when the wall to the left of the gate exploded. Blocks of stone flew through the air and landed only feet from them. While they stood there, dazed by the explosion, the wall on the other side of the gates exploded and they were forced back the way they had come to avoid the debris storm that surged towards them.
Daniel choked and coughed as the fumes enveloped them. When the fog lifted, he found the three guards lying on the ground and Jalia grinning at him like a demon.
“Did you use all the explosive powder on the prison walls? I thought we agreed to keep some back for the bridge?” Daniel asked as Jalia cut his bonds and gave him his dagger and his sword.
“I don’t understand it,” Jalia said excitedly. “That powder has become ten times more powerful than any I’ve made before. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it wasn’t my powder. It looks different from when I made it.”
“So we have enough left to destroy the bridge?” Daniel looked back towards the prison and saw prisoners escaping from the breaches in the wall. They were heading for the western gate, which made their plan easier to execute.
“There won’t be any bridge left when we use this explosive, believe me.”
As they approached the bridge they had to dive for cover. Guards from the east side of the city were running across the bridge to join the prison guards in rounding up the prisoners.
Jalia and Daniel ran to the center of the bridge as soon as the coast was clear. Jalia tied a rope around her waist so Daniel could lower her over the side. She placed the remaining explosive in one of the decorative holes carved in the arch and lit the fuse. When Jalia shouted she was ready, Daniel pulled her up as quickly as he could and they ran to get to the far side of the bridge before the bomb exploded.
They hid behind a stone wall as the explosion tore the bridge to pieces. When the dust settled they looked out to see the bridge broken in two places across its span. The fast moving river pulled at the stones that had fallen into it.
