Jalia on the Road (Jalia - World of Jalon) by John Booth Read Free Book Online

“May I enter your camp and break my fast with you?”
    Daniel shouted out the traditional reply, “Come forward and be welcome. Be sure you leave taking only what you brought.”
    The rider started her horse moving again and appeared over the rise. Daniel couldn’t tell much about her because she wore a large dusty cloak wrapped around her. She also wore a scarf about her face to protect her from the dust and sand that got everywhere in the desert winds.
    The girl dismounted, threw her cloak’s hood back and pulled the scarf from her face with evident relief. “I saw you and your donkeys from afar. I’ve traveled from Delbon alone and it will be good to sit in company again. My name is Jalia al’Dare.” She stuck out her hand towards him.
    Shaking hands was not a usual custom for the people of the road. It was a common practice in Bagdor and in the more fashionable part of Delbon, but not on the road, because of the potential danger.
    Daniel was stunned by how pretty the girl was. She was about his age and had a trim lithe body. Her deep blue eyes fascinated him. They were a color he had never seen before, despite the places he had been. The girl had a complexion as pale as milk, which contrasted strongly with her long dark hair.
    Remembering his manners, Daniel decided to ignore the risk and shake her hand. His fingers were damp and cold when compared with her dry, warm ones. She firmly shook his hand and eyed him up in a way suggesting she had tested him and he had passed. Perhaps she wanted to know if he would attack her. However, it didn’t look to Daniel as though she would have been bothered if he had. She wore a sword across her back and the confidence with which she moved gave Daniel the impression she knew how to use it.
    “My name is Daniel,” he informed her, though he wasn’t sure she was listening.
    Her horse needed walking to cool it down, and without thinking about it, Daniel took off the horse’s saddle and began walking the beast around the camp.
    Jalia’s horse was a fine animal, chestnut in color with an intelligent look on its face. Daniel could easily lust for a horse as fine as this one. He could have lusted after the girl as well if he thought for a second that she might have been interested in him.
    Jalia, for her part, was bemused by the attitude of this boy she found on the desert road. One moment he acted sensibly, recognizing she might be a threat, and the next moment he acted as if he had known her all her life, trusting her completely. She concluded he must either be a fool or much more capable than he looked.
    Jalia wanted to find a trustworthy companion to travel with. Since leaving Bagdor with a King’s ransom hidden in her money belt, she had found herself pursued and abused wherever she went. Her journey to Delbon was unpleasant. Men she met assumed she was willing to have sex with them because she was traveling alone. That alone made her a whore in their eyes.
    Two men assaulted her while she was traveling with a group of traders. She had to leave their camp and move quickly up the trade route once swiftly dispatching the men in question. Traders moved in family groups and took their family honor seriously. Jalia’s leaving was more a case of escaping an angry mob rather than parting company.
    She fled Delbon after spotting a man cheating in a card game. Two men died at the card table when they objected to her making an issue of the matter.
    The Delbon Guard decided that since she was a foreigner and those she killed were local it must be her fault. This despite the fact that the dead in question were known thieves. The Guardsmen made the fatal mistake of trying to arrest Jalia.
    In the fight that ensued, she left another three men dead and roused the whole of the Guard against her. She was lucky to escape the city with a decent horse and had been living off the land ever since. It was lonely on the trail and she needed to find someone she could trust.
    Daniel finished