Jalia in the North (Jalia - World of Jalon), page 7
“Can I come with you?”
Jalia nodded.
“Always room for one more, why not?” Jalia laughed as they drove on to where their horses waited for them.
The Slavers of Buran
Daniel drove the wagon on towards Buran in the light of Jalon’s moons, both of which graced the sky with their presence. He had left his seat and Maya held the reins. Daniel held the carthorse’s head, making sure neither the horse’s hooves nor the wagon’s wheels ended up in a hole.
Jalia scouted ahead on foot having left Swift tied to the wagon. It was far too dangerous to ride a horse along this road at night. An owl hooted from a small stand of trees and everyone jumped. Lonny sat alongside Maya with her head in her hands and Daniel could appreciate how she must feel, having left the man who both abused her and provided for her. He once had a similar relationship with his brother, Yousef.
Jalia appeared from a shadow and Maya stifled a scream, so unexpected was her return.
“There’s some sort of trouble about half a mile ahead, to the left of the road. A woman is wailing. Should we investigate?” Normally Jalia wouldn’t have bothered asking, but they had already had quite an eventful day and she was exhausted.
“That’s the Gilben farm,” Lonny told them. “He and his wife Megan and their children live there. They’re good people, better than we were.” Lonny lapsed into silence as Daniel considered their options.
“Jalia would never forgive me if we didn’t look,” he said at last. “Let’s go and see if we can help.”
When they approached the farm they heard a woman sobbing. The farm buildings were surrounded by trees and it wasn’t possible to make out where the woman was. Daniel shouted a greeting into the night.
“Hello the house. We are travelers seeking shelter. May we come forward and offer assistance?”
“Why not, what more can be done to us?” the woman said in a voice filled with despair.
Jalia lit a lamp and, by its light, Daniel, Jalia, and Lonny walked into the dark towards the voice. They found the woman kneeling on the ground by a dark shape and as they got closer, they saw the shape was the body of a man.
He had taken a terrible beating and his head was covered in blood.
Lonny stepped forward.
“It’s me, Megan. These are good people, not like Teague. You can trust them.” Lonny went to kneel besides the woman and put an arm around her.
“Hold the lamp,” Daniel said to Lonny. “Jalia and I will carry him back to the house. Is it safe here or are the people who did this still around?”
Megan pulled herself together and looked at Daniel. She saw a young man barely older than Ben, her eldest son, but he had kind eyes and she found she trusted him on sight.
“They were slavers. They knocked out Gilben and took our sons. My daughter hid from them and has gone to fetch a healer, but I think my husband is beyond healing.” Megan stood and came closer to the light and they saw that she too was bloody with a nasty cut above her brow.
Megan took the lamp and led them back to the house. Daniel and Jalia carried her injured husband between them. They placed him on a bed and Megan and Lonny went to get water from the well to wash his wounds.
Gilben was breathing in a labored manner and they saw a blow to his head had caved in his skull.
“I don’t think he will last the night,” Jalia said dispassionately. She had seen many injuries in her life and ones like this were always fatal. She left Daniel to stand watch over him as she went to bring the wagon and the children to the house.
Daniel felt frustrated. It was as if a force inside him was banging in his skull saying ‘let me heal him’, but Daniel knew such a thing was absurd. His fingers tingled and he touched Gilben’s forehead as much to try and make the tingling go away as anything else.
Gilben’s eyes opened and moved frantically, his hands reached for Daniel’s arm and held him close, as if by doing so he might escape the call of death. Daniel felt as if he was being drained of energy, but he didn’t mind because it made the frustration ebb away. Gilben’s hands went slack and released him as the man fell back into sleep. Being awake for a few moments seemed to have done him good because his breathing sounded normal and Daniel saw that his dented skull had risen in some manner.
Megan arrived with a bucket of water started to wash her husband’s head, “It doesn’t look as bad as I thought. Thank the gods. I think he might live.”
“Tell me about the slavers?” Daniel asked as Jalia entered the house carrying the crib, with Maya and Yeta at her heels. She motioned the children to silence and stepped closer to Daniel.
“Two years ago, slavers moved into Buran. Up until then it had been a peaceful place, though not prosperous, but we helped each other out in times of trouble and we got by. Gold has been found in Telmar and mining require slaves. The slaves don’t last long in the mines so there is a constant demand for more.”
“The slavers decided Buran would be a good place to take their business and they set up a slave stand where the cattle market used to be. They raid the villages and towns for fifty miles or more and sell their slaves to the mine owners, who take them to Telmar.” Megan started to cry at the thought of her sons being worked to death in the mines.
“Buran is a long way from Telmar,” Jalia remarked.
“There’s a good road from Buran that joins the Magicians Road in the east. The towns nearer Telmar have hired mercenaries to protect them from slavers. The slavers have to come this far from Telmar to find new victims.”
“You thought the slavers were going to leave you and your family alone?” Daniel asked.
“They have always raided far away from Buran in the past and we thought we were safe. We should have done something about them, but they are so many and they were leaving us alone.” Megan looked at Daniel through tears. “You are going to say this is our fault; that we brought this on ourselves and you would be right. But my sons have never hurt anybody in their lives and they do not deserve their fate.”
“Where has your daughter gone?” Jalia asked, as she and Daniel exchanged glances.
“There’s a farm just over two leagues from here. There is a young female healer called Gally who lives there.”
Megan was surprised at Jalia’s reaction. She stood up and checked the sword on her back was in its sheath. She looked like a cat who had found some cream.
“It can’t be the same one, Jalia,” Daniel protested, “Gally is a common name after all.”
“You know, Gally?” Megan asked, clearly surprised.
“We know a Gally who is a healer,” Daniel explained. “Has this woman lived here long?”
“Her entire life. I would swear she has never stepped foot more than five leagues beyond Buran.”
The excitement left Jalia’s face and she slumped down into a stool looking suddenly depressed.
Gilben gave a moan and opened his eyes again. “My love, are the children safe?”
“Ben and Bil are taken. Jenna is safe.”
Gilben tried to rise, but his cracked ribs brought him back on the bed, his face white with pain. Gilben stared at Daniel, “You saved my life. I felt you do it. Will you save my children too?” There was desperation in his eyes.
“Gilben, these two are children too, barely older than Ben. Look at them. You must get better for me and for Jenna, lie still.” Megan held her husband and they both began to weep for their stolen children.
Daniel and Jalia retreated to the far side of the room to give the couple some privacy. “How old am I now, Jalia? Life has been so hectic I’ve forgotten.”
“You are seventeen and I’m nearly eighteen, but you have looked older since those accidents.”
“You mean the times you got me killed?”
“Shhh,” Jalia whispered. “Do you want the kids to hear?”
‘Jalia is right about one thing,’ Daniel thought. ‘We have to find homes for these children if only so we can have a decent conversation again. The number of things we can’t do or say in front of them is maddening.’ Daniel wondered how married people ever had sex after their first child. They must put bolts on their bedroom door.
Two girls walked into the room. The first was about Jalia’s age and the second perhaps twelve. The girls stopped when they found the room filled with strangers.
“It is alright Jenna, Gally. These are travelers who stopped to help us,” Megan called from her husband’s side. Gally made a decision and rushed over to see how Gilben was. She was soon requesting boiled water and getting herbs and bandages from the bag she carried.
With Gally busy treating her husband, Megan looked around for the first time and noticed the children. She went to the crib, which Lonny was rocking, and the two women oowed and ahhhed at Serin.
“These two cannot possibly be yours,” Megan said to Jalia as she waved in the direction of Maya and Yeta who were sleeping in the corner. “Are you their sister, and is the baby yours?”
Jalia flushed at the suggestions. Daniel had seen her play cards and not give the slightest clue to their value, but a simple question about childbirth had her flustered.
“No, we rescued them from the road. We were too late to prevent their parents getting killed, but the robbers will not do it again.” Jalia finished her explanation with satisfied look on her face.
“And you also rescued Lonny from that brute of a man she lives with?” Megan asked, her face showing signs of amusement.
“We made a mistake in thinking Teague would make a replacement father for the girls. However, I doubt he will be in any position to father any children in the future.” Jalia said with even more satisfaction. Daniel winced, the man was a monster, but, in her own way, Jalia could be a bigger and nastier monster.
“Is that what you to do, go around rescuing people and punishing the bad?” Megan asked. “Because my children are in great need of such people, as am I.” Megan gave a cynical laugh. “But I would not ask you to go against the slavers. There are at least thirty of them, all big strong brutes and they’ll have the support of the men from Telmar when they sell my children to them tomorrow.”
“We haven’t decided… yet,” Jalia said, grinning with devilment at Daniel.
“Decided what?” Jenna asked.
“How many of them we are going to kill,” Jalia said and she motioned to Daniel. The two left the house to discuss tactics for the morning.
Next morning, Gilben was feeling much better, though he should not leave his bed until his ribs began to knit together.
“Will you look after the children for us?” Daniel asked as he and Jalia prepared to leave. The three women nodded solemnly. “The wagon and horse is theirs anyway, but if we don’t return, will you treat my donkeys well?”
“Of course,” Megan said as she came over and hugged Jalia and then Daniel. “But this is foolishness, you cannot save my children and you will only get yourselves killed.”
“Jalia never gets me killed at this time of year, so not to worry.”
Daniel mounted Jet, and he and Jalia rode away from the farm leaving a group of anxious women behind them.
“The plan is go into town, find the slavers, kill them and free their slaves?” Daniel asked as they approached the outskirts of Buran.
“You never listen to me,” Jalia complained. “The plan is to go into town, pretend to be bidders, find the slavers, kill them all, and then free their slaves.”
“I’m sorry that the true subtlety of your plan escaped me.” Daniel said, keeping his face straight. He moved Jet to one side as he spoke so the sword swipe aimed at his head missed by a good two feet. They urged their horses to go faster and rode into the town at a gallop.
Buran was a big town. Over two hundred dwellings and many businesses made for an impressive main street. The road was stone as were most of the buildings. Many of the pieces of stone had intricate carvings on them showing they had been salvaged from ancient ruins. Regardless of that, nearly all the buildings were centuries old.
As with most towns, the main street led straight to the market square. In this particular case, the square was also an impressive sight. A tall spire stood at its center and at the spire’s base, a roofed area provided shelter against the elements. The square was full of tented market stalls, selling farm produce and cooked food and anything else that people might want to buy.
At the back of the market there was a raised wooden platform. Large men stood like sentries on each side of it and a crowd had gathered in front of it.
Daniel and Jalia dismounted and paid a man standing beside a number of horses to guard theirs as well. They pushed their way through the throng until they were close to the platform.
There was an enclosed area in front of the platform with only a small number of men standing within it. A quick question to a man in the crowd informed Jalia that the area was reserved for the big bidders. A few moments later, she confronted a mountain of a man with an enormous wooden club in his hand, who stood blocking the way into the enclosure.
“We are bidders,” Jalia told him.
“Only Drefuss can say who gets in,” the man mountain told her.
“Can I kill him?” Jalia asked Daniel. The mountain of a man laughed good naturedly at Jalia’s comment and Daniel mentally removed him from the list of potential survivors.
“What’s the problem, Narg?” a well-dressed man asked as he moved across the platform towards them.
“They want into the bidders’ area, Drefuss.”
Drefuss looked at Daniel and Jalia with open curiosity. His first glance told him these young people were not only armed, but well capable of using the weapons they carried.
“Why should I even consider…” he began, only to be interrupted by a bag of money flying through the air. He caught it and was impressed by its weight. He didn’t look inside. He threw the bag back to Jalia and ordered Narg to let them through before retreating back across the platform.
Daniel was not the slightest bit interested that Jalia was carrying so much money, or for that matter, where she had got it from. He had reached the conclusion months before that if the two of them were to walk through the Attribar el’Dou desert, never once seeing a soul, she would still come out with more money than she had gone in with. He also found it bothered his conscience less if he never asked where it came from, as she had a bad habit of answering truthfully.
There were six other bidders in the enclosure. Daniel asked one of them what the normal procedure was. Apparently, there were nearly fifty slaves to be sold today, most of them young adult males, but also a smattering of young girls who would fetch higher prices. The slaves would parade around the stage tied at the wrists and linked with rope so that the buyers could get a good look at them.
The young men would be sold in lots of five so that the slave trader could mix in a few poor specimens with three of four strong ones. They would be brought out in groups and bids would be taken until the highest bid won. Most of the girls would be sold the same way, but any exceptional stock, such as very pretty girls or virgins would be paraded separately.
The crowd was mainly there for that spectacle. Girls would be stripped naked and requests from the crowd to view their intimate areas would be acted on by the slavers to make sure the crowd got a good view.
Daniel was horrified. His brother once tried to sell him into slavery, but that had just been for physical labor. Delbon’s King would never have allowed what was going on here, though Daniel was not naïve enough to think such things never happened in Delbon. They just didn’t do it out in a public place.
Jalia had been listening as the man talked to Daniel. The bidder was an enthusiast for such spectacles, even though he was only here to buy five men. She crossed him off her list of potential survivors. So far, her list was empty
The show started and fifty or so frightened young people were paraded in front of them. Daniel was unable to recognize either Ben or Bil as he only had their mother’s descriptions to go on. They could have been any one of a dozen young men. All the slaves carried marks of their captivity on the parts of their bodies that were visible. Bruises and welts showed everywhere.
The man running the auction was none other than Drefuss himself. He called the crowd to order and asked if there were any questions before they began.
Daniel raised his hand.
“Well, young sir. What can I tell you?”
“Can I ask it from up there with you? I feel stupid shouting up at you.”
Drefuss smiled good-naturedly and offered a hand to help Daniel mount the platform.
Daniel stared at the surface of the platform and gave every impression of being extremely embarrassed now everyone was looking at him.
Drefuss drank in the laughter from the crowd. Bids were always higher if he could get the crowd into a good mood before they started bidding. He looked sternly at Daniel and asked him what he wanted to know. The laughter in the crowd rose in volume as Daniel shuffled his feet, saying nothing.
The slaves stood at the back of the stage with their heads down. Six or seven guards stood around them, ready to quell any possible escape attempt.
“Oy! I want to come on the stage too!” Jalia shouted before Drefuss could get an answer out of Daniel.
“Why not,” Drefuss replied to loud applause, but he also signaled to his men and a few moments later the back of the platform was lined with armed men.
Daniel stood in the center of the platform and faced the jeering crowd.
“Why should any of you be allowed to live?” Daniel asked and the crowd fell silent, unsure how they should respond to this suddenly serious faced young man who stood before them.
“By being here, each one of you condones the actions of these men. You are as guilty as if you had taken a club and brained the families of the prisoners behind me.”
Drefuss moved to stop Daniel’s speech, a club raised in his hand. Daniel’s sword slid from his back as he spun to skewer Drefuss through the throat. The sword was so sharp and Drefuss had been moving so fast that he slid down the sword to its hilt. Daniel shook the sword from side to side and man’s body and head parted company.
