Free Jalia in the North (Jalia - World of Jalon) by John Booth Page A

wall. Maya and Yeta went to her for protection, but she pushed them away, sobbing quietly. This seemed to amuse Teague.
    He stood up and shouted at her, “Get those dresses off the girls, woman, I want to see what I’ve got to sell.”
    At that moment, the front door smashed from its hinges and dropped to the floor, the bar having neatly been cut on both sides as if with a saw. Jalia entered with a sword in one hand and a knife in the other. She stopped in the center of the room, feet slightly apart, facing Teague. If looks could kill he would have already been dead.
    Daniel followed behind and moved in front of Jalia, putting his arms wide. “There’s no reason to kill here, Jalia. We made the mistake in picking this scum as the children’s guardian and he’s only following his nature.”
    Jalia looked at Teague in disgust.
    “Didn’t you think we would check on you?”
    “But I saw you leave, I watched you crest Crow’s Hill and checked later you hadn’t returned.” Teague looked more angry than frightened. “You have no right to break in here. You gave these children to me and they are mine to dispose of how I choose. That’s the law of the land.”
    Jalia snarled, sounding more tigress than human.
    “If I can’t kill him, let me at least teach him a lesson,”
    Daniel put out his hand for Jalia’s sword and knife, which she readily handed to him.
    “And the other knife, Jalia. Just to put temptation further from your grasp.”
    Jalia handed Daniel the knife hidden in her boot and Daniel stepped out of her way. Teague looked at them in confusion.
    “If I fight her you’ll kill me, right?” he asked Daniel.
    “If you fight back and win, you won’t get beaten to a pulp,” Daniel said, as he collected Maya and Yeta from Lonny. The girls went to get the crib with Sarin. Daniel ushered the children out as Teague squared up against Jalia.
    “When I’ve finished with you, I’ll kill your boyfriend and take the children back,” Teague said as he flexed his muscles. Jalia crooked her little finger and beckoned him to her.
    Daniel went to the barn with the children and put Serin’s crib carefully into the wagon before lifting Maya and Yeta up to join her.
    “Aren’t you worried about Jalia?” Maya asked as he got the wagon ready to leave and brought the carthorse from its stall.
    “Only that she might kill him, despite her promise,” Daniel listened and heard a high pitched scream. “She seems to be doing all right,” he murmured, with more than a trace of satisfaction.
    “How did you get back here if Teague was watching the road?” Maya asked.
    “We rode in a wide circle beyond the hill he mentioned. We only arrived a minute or so before Jalia broke the door down.”
    “How did she break the door? That bar was so thick.”
    Daniel laughed and shook his head, “You ask too many questions, Maya. Secrets can only be kept if you don’t tell anyone.”
    Daniel drove the wagon to the house and waited. The door opened a minute later and Jalia walked out. In the light from the door, Daniel noticed she had a large bruise on her left cheek. “Trouble?”
    “An unlucky punch on Teague’s part,” she said rubbing her cheek with her hand.
    “Unlucky?”
    “Up until then, I hadn’t hit him in the balls.”
    “Ah,” Daniel said and asked no further questions. Jalia got up onto the wagon as they had left their horses some way away. As Daniel started the wagon down the road, Lonny came rushing out of the house.
    “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