Jalia At Bay (Book 4) by John Booth Read Free Book Online Page B

took up the cry and ran forward, as did his family standing behind him, every single one of them trying to get into the hall to assist the leader of the clan kill the woman.
    Jalia grinned at the thought of a job well done. She spun on her heals and jumped back over the table she had been sitting on. Her foot caught the end of it and she ended up sprawled in an undignified mess by the far wall. A door opened at the back of the hall and many hands dragged her out.
    As Jalia struggled to get to her feet, men barricaded the door she had just come through.
    “Has anybody lit a torch?” Jalia asked and a blazing torch was thrust into her hands by one of the villagers.
    “Thanks. I wonder if Daniel has had long enough?” she said to no one in particular. The door began to bounce as the angry mob in the hall used something akin to a battering ram to try to get through it.
    “That’s as long as I can give him,” she said, and tossed the torch in a high arc towards an open window high on the wall. A sheet blocked the torch’s way for a second, but the sheet had only been tacked lightly over the inside of the window. The sheet was covered in lantern oil. It burst into flames as both sheet and torch fell into the body of the hall.
    A whooshing sound ripped through the building as all the oil doused kindling in the hall caught fire.
    “Sounds like a job well done,” Jalia said cheerfully as screaming began inside the hall.

8.                Three Hours Earlier…
     
    The villagers milled around the Lord’s House as Daniel tried to get a clearer picture from them on the threat posed by the Taldon Clan. Jalia sat on a table swinging her legs in apparent boredom. She was actually very interested in the plan Daniel would come up with, but she had a reputation for being devil-may-care to maintain.
    “Tell me about the Taldon Clan?” Daniel asked.
    “They prey on us and the other villages in the area. As far as I know, they always have, though I am not local by birth. I wandered here from Bagdor after the old king died. I could not stand to work for his idiot son, Brun Trep.”
    “Is that all the Taldon’s do, steal things from you?”
    “No, they were heavily involved in the slave trade to Telmar until it stopped. They also kidnap local teenagers to use as servants. The girls they use for sex until they get pregnant, then they kill them.”
    “Why would any of the girls get pregnant?” Jalia asked. “Surely, they would have Gintel leaves to prevent it.”
    “The clan live in a fortified area on the top of a hill. Their slaves never leave it once captured, except when they die. The girls can’t get at Gintel.”
    Jalia scowled. To have slaves was bad enough. To use them so they brought about their own deaths was a much worse crime. She was suddenly glad that Daniel had talked her into staying. The Taldon Clan needed a good purging and Jalia was just the woman to do it.
    “The most important thing we have to do is to make sure that Mallon does not find out about his son until a time of our choosing,” Donal explained. “Once he finds out, we will have no time at all.”
    “Then we have no time at all,” Pender Dran said from behind Donal’s back.
    Donal turned around to find Pender standing with Palla Glore beside him. The woman looked beside herself with worry. Even as it was, she was biting into the knuckles of her right hand. Donal looked enquiringly at Pender, but it was Palla who spoke first.
    “Hasen has gone to tell them. I begged him not to. You know they will kill him for bringing them news that Adon is dead. I couldn’t talk him out of it. Hasen believed it was the only way to save the children.” Palla burst into tears and Pender put an arm around her shoulder tenderly, giving her a gentle hug.
    “It’s not your fault, Palla. Are your children safe?” Donal asked and Palla nodded.
    “What will Mallon do when he finds out Adon is dead?” Daniel asked. “The sun will set in an hour or