Jalia on the Road (Jalia - World of Jalon) Read Online Free PDF Page B

nonchalantly on the sill of a high window, twelve feet or more above the ground.
    “Did you do this?” The King was almost apoplectic as he waved his arms at his sleeping men.
    “Actually, I did.” Jalia launched herself from the window and swung down to him, using a rope attached to a chandelier.
    The king pulled one of the guard’s sword’s from its scabbard. He had never been in a real fight. The cities of Jalon were far enough apart for there to be no gain in war.
    Jalia drew her sword from across her back. It was far shorter than the one the King held. However, the King was in no doubt who would win if they were to fight. Jalia’s reputation with the sword was well known at court and the King was well aware how limited his own skills were.
    “All I want is my money for killing the giant and I will be on my way. I expect that this giant,” she nodded in the direction of the explosions, “Will follow me and leave Bagdor in peace.”
    The King was secretly delighted at Jalia’s suggestion. He could give her the money and nobody would know. He would tell the people that his guards drove off the giant.
    “I will get the money.” The king walked back to the throne room where the petty cash was kept and returned with two hundred pieces of gold in a bag. He threw it down onto the table. “Now leave Bagdor and take your giant with you.”
    Jalia picked up the money bag and walked to the far doors. As she approached them, the servants behind them pulled them open. At least a dozen servants stood just beyond the door, having heard every word the King had said.
    Some of the servants scuttled off to their work. King Trep realized wearily that everyone in the city would know the detail of his confrontation with Jalia before dawn broke.
    “I told them to wait outside, but to listen well,” Jalia shouted mischievously before running from the room, her laughter echoing against the walls.
     
    The sound of the giant stopped as suddenly as they began. The last bit of building destroyed stood near to the palace gate. People were to say later that the giant disappeared the instant that Jalia was paid.

Yousef
     

     
    Yousef was dreaming. It was a repeated dream that started in his childhood and grew longer with the passing years. It was as though his conscience was determined to remind him of his sins. In recent times he woke screaming in pain. But then, he always woke up screaming in pain these days.
    The dream began with events that took place just a few days after Yousef’s eighth birthday. He was an only child and used to getting what he wanted.
    His father had been sent to Bagdor, to train their King’s Guards in swordsmanship, having been sent as a gesture of friendship by Delbon’s King Dran. Yousef and his mother lived alone in a small house in a secluded part of Delbon awaiting his father’s return. His father had been gone for over a year.
    Yousef knew his mother was beautiful. His friends parents would often comment on it when he visited them. His father was highly regarded in the Guard and as a consequence they had a lot of friends. Nobody wanted to get on the wrong side of a man who had the King’s ear.
    However, for the last few months, his mother regularly took into their home a mysterious man called Hasan al’Kebar and people were talking about it. Yousef friends made scurrilous comments about his mother.   As a consequence, he decided to hide in his mother’s bedroom to prove those accusations as lies.
    It didn’t work out the way he anticipated and he witnessed his mother and Hasan making passionate love in his father’s bed. Terrified he might be discovered he kept very quiet.
     
    “I’m pregnant,” Kenda told Hasan. “I don’t understand how this can be since I have been faithfully taking gintel tea.”
    “My family’s seed pays little attention to such things when its time has come,” Hasan replied.
    “I won’t leave David for you.” Kenda sat up in bed and pulled a cover over her