Bloodkin (Jaseth of Jaelshead) Read Online Free PDF Page A

shocked again. The “best red Jaelshead has to offer” turned out to be from a vineyard I had overheard terrible reports about, and from the last years’ vintage, no less!
    Charlie noticed me frowning at the bottle and laughed, his mouth full of pie. “Playing wine snob, are we JJ?” He seemed to have a new nickname for me every day, and mostly it felt pretty cool that Charlie would bother, but this time it rankled. Seriously? This was the best they could do? I had to admit, I felt a bit insulted.
    As if reading my mind, Charlie swallowed his pie and took the bottle from me, pouring two large glasses. “Don’t be insulted kiddo, this probably
is
the best they’ve got.” He took a big gulp and one of his eyes twitched at the taste, but he managed to smile and go on. “Not everyone can afford to have their cellars stocked with the
actual
best.”
    Bah, I felt stupid again. Growing up in a fancy house with fancy food and fancy wine, I was just a silly lordling with no idea how real people lived.
    But Charlie just laughed when he saw my face. “It’s okay! This is different to what you’re used to, but don’t feel bad about it!” He took another swig. “And it’s not that bad, once you get over the initial, uh, sting.” And he was actually right. Washing down mouthfuls of the bloody good pie, by the time it came to refill my glass I was almost enjoying it.
    When we had finished eating, a group of locals wandered over and greeted Charlie with such familiarity that I was beginning to wonder how often he stayed here.
    “That one night that you were here last, Charlie, me old boy!” exclaimed a farmer, answering my unspoken question. “Oof, I was hungover something rotten the next day!” The others laughed in agreement. “My missus was
awfully
unkind!”
    Charlie introduced the others as Tolliseth, Sergeth, Markus and Granth, who had been speaking, and he turned back to Granth. “You know, you should bring your dear lady-wife here with you sometimes, it’s not fair that we lads get to have all the fun!”
    Granth snorted but nodded. “Well, yeah, I s’pose that’d be nice. But there’s the kids at home…” He trailed off as Charlie frowned at him.
    “Come on, that’s easy! Get all the kids together and let the older ones take charge, then they can spend the evening playing while you adults have a proper night out.” He shrugged modestly. “Hey, you might even get some dancing going…” he glanced at the podium where the girl with the guitar was struggling through a rather mournful ballad. “This is if, of course, you can get our proficient entertainer to play something more cheerful!” The men cracked into laughter and the rather solemn mood was broken.
    The youngest of the men, Tolliseth if I remembered, leaned in, “Charlie? I did that thing that you said.”
    “And?” Charlie smiled in anticipation.
    “Worked like a bloody charm!” He turned and showed off a group of small round bruises on his neck. The men cheered and Charlie clapped happily.
    “See? I told you it would work! Women love the big romantic gestures, mad as it may seem to us poor menfolk.” He sighed dramatically, to much hilarity.
    “How do you
know
all this stuff?” asked the stout Markus.
    Charlie grinned at his captive audience. “Well, of course young Nea’thi study Human behaviour and psychology in depth. And that’s before we’re even allowed to leave the Enclaves!” Someone whistled and a few others muttered “of course!” as if they knew exactly what Charlie was talking about. He had attracted a bit of an audience at this point, and I suddenly felt like a total git, sitting there beside him, realising I knew pretty much nothing about Charlie’s early life, his education (though I had talked at length about my own tutors and how I hated not being able to go to a real school), even his
parents.
I listened more closely to his story.
    “So we Nea’thi kids spend thirty years at school in the Enclaves.”