Jalia Prevails (Book 5) Read Online Free PDF Page A

have agreed for my own reasons, but I did not like the way he asked it of me.”
    “We agreed not to tell Gally Sorn unless we are given good reasons to change our minds,” Cara stated. “We have never met the woman and Tonas’s little secrets matter little to us. Where is Daniel?”
    “He is suffering from food poisoning and is keeping to our room,” Jalia lied glibly. “He is tired and is spending most of his time asleep.”
    “Would he like me to visit him?” Cara offered.
    “Perhaps tomorrow,” Jalia said with a bright smile on her face. Inside, she seethed at the thought of this big breasted trollop getting anywhere near him.
    They ate their meals quietly. Hala told Cara about the viewing platform and suggested she and her brother should go there and admire the view. Cara and Don had slept through the afternoon and had not looked around the boat.
    Hala pointed out Sala Rotiln and Halad al’Faran when they entered the room. It soon became clear that the Steam Dragon was almost empty. The dining room was built to accommodate over a hundred people at one sitting but it was barely occupied. Tonas and the Denger brothers sat together in a corner. Sala and Halad joined a man in a dark cloak with a hood that he kept raised. Dor and two men that Jalia told the others were called Jant and Mal, walked in and sat at one of the empty tables. Apart from that, the room was empty.
    Jalia and Hala finished their meal and Jalia made their excuses, telling the Marin siblings that they had to go and check if Daniel needed anything.
    “Give him my best wishes and tell him I hope he recovers quickly,” Cara said.
    “I will, and I know he will appreciate your thoughts,” Jalia replied, trying not to grind her teeth and almost succeeding.
    As Jalia and Hala approached the dining room door, Gally Sorn entered in conversation with three men. All of them wore evening clothes as if ready to attend a ball. Jalia recognized the Captain of the Steam Dragon, Gil Toren, with some difficulty. He looked different in formal clothes. She had no idea who the other men were.
    “Why if it isn’t Jalia al’Dare, the hero,” Gally mocked. “And look, she has a little sister, who dresses just like her. Did Mummy insist you take the child adventuring with you? Who do you get to babysit?”
    Jalia smiled. “Lady Sorn, it is so good to see you again. It must have been such a wrench for you to leave your uncle, the Lord Protector. I have never seen two people who fit together so intimately.” Jalia turned to the men, “You know. I would have taken them for husband and wife, if I had not been told differently.”
    Gally’s smile faltered for a second before returning at full blast. “You seem to have lost your companion. I trust he is well. The captain tells me that several of the trading party had last minute changes of plan and left the Dragon overnight. A fanciful person might think that they had been ambushed, not that such things happen in Boathaven, of course. The Lord Protector would never allow anyone to do anything criminal.”
    “Crime must always be prevented in the ordinary people, or so I am told,” Jalia retorted. “Crime should be left to the ruling classes. They are so much better at it.”
    “We must be getting along,” Captain Toren said, using his arm to direct Gally to the table laid out for them. “It has been good to meet you again, Lady al’Dare, but if you will excuse us, we must attend to our meal.”
    Jalia and Gally locked gazes as Gally was hustled towards the table. After a few moments, Jalia took hold of Hala and pushed her out of the room.
    “We have to hurry,” Jalia said. She dragged Hala down the corridor faster than Hala’s legs could keep up.
    “What’s the hurry?” Hala managed to blurt out.
    “Lady Sorn was not wearing my ring, which means it must be somewhere in her cabin. I have a clear chance to get the ring and dagger back and I do not intend to lose it.”
     
    Jalia looked around the