Hi everyone. Thanks for reading!!! This is Daja's chapter finally. Judging by the pace that I am going at, it looks like this story could have a lot of chapters. Sorry to people who wanted a nice short story. Anyways, I plan to give everyone one or two chapters before they meet again. Then I'll do a few more chapters before they come to The Big Decision (I have not decided what it is, by the way). It looks like this fic isn't all that Tris oriented after all. Happy reading.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything so don't sue me. Well, you could sue me but you'd probably only get about $5.
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At The Bay Inn in Green Rock in Sotat:
'Argh!!! It's still raining!' Daja thought with annoyance, looking out the window. They had been stuck at the Bay Inn for three days and the storm seemed to have no intention of letting up. 'Why now, why now?' she chanted in her head. 'Just three more days and I could have been back at Discipline.'
"Daja," Frostpine called from the doorway, "are you up yet? Can you come downstairs for a second? There are some people I want you to meet."
"Sure, just let me get ready." She called as she heard Frostpine shuffle down the stairs. She grabbed her staff, and headed downstairs. She saw Frostpine sitting with a black woman next to the window.
"Ah Daja," Frostpine said, spotting her. "Come here." Daja obediently walked over. To the woman, Frostpine said, "This is my student, Daja Kisubo."
"It is very nice to finally meet you Daja. I have heard so much about you from Frostpine's letters."
"Daja, this is my sister, Ayami."
"Nice to meet you," Daja greeted.
"She's my youngest sister. The only person in my family I've communicated with. Actually, this is the first time I've seen her since I left home. She just happened to be on her way south and had to stay in Green Rock to wait out the storm."
"At first I cursed the storm for delaying me, but now I bless it because I finally get to see my little brother again." Her voice was soft and pleasant and she seemed to be someone who enjoyed everything in life.
"Where were you going?" Daja asked.
"I was going to Jarram down south. I am a weaver and I go down there once a year to purchase materials. They have the best spinners in Jarram and their threads and yarns are wonderful."
Frostpine opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when door burst open, admitting a band of tired seamen. People rushed to push the door closed and maids went to fetch towels for the men.
"We got caught out at sea," one sailor was explaining. "Barely made it to harbor."
"This storm's unnatural," one boarder muttered to his friend. "I tell you, it's like the gods themselves are mad at us."
"Our ship was swamped by a huge wave, which pushed us into this harbor. We've been walkin' blindly for what seems like days. Merrol there, our lookout, spotted the light from your inn and here we are." Looking around, the sailor, who seemed to be the leader, said "Hey, where's Sallar?" The other sailors looked around too and realized that one of their number was missing. "When was the last anyone saw him?"
One of the tall, burly men in the corner spoke up. "Last I saw, he was down in the cargo room. I don't know what he was doing though."
"I saw him down there too. Righ' before we was swamped by th' wave. He might' have still been stuck in th' hold when we left, Captain Damrel"
"Did anyone check in the hold before we left the boat?" the Captain asked. The men just looked at each other.
"Maybe a group ought to go out and try to find your ship," the innkeeper said.
"Nah, th' boats prob'ly gone by now," a young boy piped up. "And good riddance to bad rubbish."
"Merrol…" the captain said warningly.
"But it's true pa. He didn' do nothing an' he was always startin' trouble."
"Don't fergit when he tried to lift supplies," another seaman said.
"And when he tried to run off with the money from our sales in Majorn," another added in. "Merrol's right we're probably better off without that gutter-slime." Most of the other sailors nodded in agreement and none contradicted the statement.
"Now, now," Frostpine broke in, "you can't just leave a man to die out there. No matter how bad he may be, you can't condemn a man to death. If you don't like him, just kick him off your ship or turn him in to the justice system."
"Yes," Daja agreed, "you seem to be men with morals and if you let your opinion stop you from helping someone in trouble, you seem to be as unethical as him."
Some of the sailors looked ashamed while some just muttered their disagreement.
"You're all in a bad temper," she added, "what with the storm and all. We obviously can't go out right now so tomorrow when you've all recovered, we can send a group out."
"They're right men." the captain said. "We'll search for him in the morning when we feel better." the sailors agreed, some rather reluctantly but they did nonetheless, and the innkeeper led them upstairs.
"Nice job," Ayami complimented Daja. "If you weren't a mage, you'd make an excellent diplomat." Daja's blush was evident even under her dark skin when the rest of the guests added their compliments to Ayami's.
"Maybe," she said, "but diplomacy does take out one's nerves. I was kind of worried that a fight would start over whether to find him or not."
"Yes, but it seems that they will listen to their captain, so were lucky for that. Who knows what would have happened if he had not brought an end to the discussion." Slowly, the conversations that had been going on before the interruption resumed and Frostpine went back to talking with Ayami.
'That Sallar seems like a bad egg,' Daja thought. 'I hope I did the right thing by convincing them to rescue him. Wait, what am I thinking, of course I should have tried to get them to rescue him. Everyone deserves to live out their life.' Thinking on her past few years, she amended, 'Well, almost everyone. But he doesn't seem as bad as the pirates or Ben.' She shuddered thinking about the two enemies she had encountered.
"Maybe you ought to go upstairs," Ayami said, misinterpreting Daja's shiver. "I suggest you get into bed and poke up your fire. You're going to catch a cold otherwise."
"Maybe," Daja assented. Frostpine looked at her with question in his eyes. Daja had never caught a cold in her life and her magic could keep her body from getting cold. Avoiding his stare, she went upstairs and tried to sleep. But she couldn't. She would never admit it to Frostpine, but she still occasionally had dreams about the pirates and the fires. The pirates only happened every few months, but she still had nightmares about the fires in Namorn. Most often, she had dreams in which those she loved died.
In her dreams, she was always trapped in a pillar of fire and watched as those she cared about died. Normal people died in fires, but the mages died through some aspect of their magic. Sandry was assaulted by spindles and needles that pierced her skin and pulled threads through her body until she was only a crimson cocoon. Tris was struck by lightning and thorny vines grew through Briar. Then, she would be burnt by the fiery pillar that enclosed her.
She would wake up gasping then. Somehow, the dreams always recurred and no matter what she did, she couldn't figure out what caused them or why she dreamed them. After struggling to sleep, she gave up and took out pieces of living metal to work on.
Night wound down and she heard the inn settling down. She could feel Frostpine asleep in his room and only felt the body heat of maids cleaning in the main room. Nevertheless, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. The maids went to sleep leaving the innkeeper's daughter and two or three guests in the main room.
Suddenly, the door burst open and she felt someone straggle in. Throwing open the door to her room, she dashed down the stairs to help wrap up and settle the soggy stranger in a chair by the fireplace. He was shivering and hypothermia seemed to have set in. The innkeeper was summoned and he took the man to change and take a warm bath.
Daja talked in the main room with the others, and the innkeeper escorted the man down the stairs awhile later. Looking at the stranger, Daja felt uneasy and edgy. His face was mottled with scars and she could see more covering his hands and arms. He seemed rather coarse and rowdy and he looked like he got into tavern brawls regularly. One of his eyes was partially swollen shut from a black eye, and Daja could tell that the bruise was recent, most likely within the past week.
"What happened to you?" the innkeeper asked, handing the man a bowl of soup.
"My boat tipped and I was knocked out when a crate fell on my head. When I woke up, the ship was about 4 yards from shore and my crew had abandoned me. I swam in and walked into your fence. I climbed over, saw your light, and I came in."
"Are you Sallar?" Daja asked impulsively.
He looked at her warily. "Maybe. Who wants to know?"
"I'm Daja Kisubo. Captain Damrel and his crew came in her this afternoon, and we were going to look for you tomorrow."
"Daja Kisubo, you say…Tell me, are you from Emelan? Summersea, Emelan?"
It was Daja's turn to look wary. "Yes…why?"
"Do you have magic? Plants or wind or something?"
"Magic yes, but plants and wind no," she said slowly. "Why?" she repeated.
"Did you fight a pirate fleet a few years back, four I think?"
"Why?" She felt like a parrot, but something about this man unnerved her.
"Just want to know. I think I've heard tales of a Daja Kisubo and her three friends destroying a fleet."
"That was me," she said with a little relief. So he only asked for curiosity's sake.
"Well, then, young one, shouldn't you ought to be in bed? Don't let this old seaman keep you from your bed."
"Maybe you ought to get to bed too," the innkeeper said. "You'll need to rest to recover from your journey."
"Perhaps," Sallar acceded. "I'll just bunk down here."
"You can sleep in one of the rooms we gave to your crew," the innkeeper interrupted.
"No thanks," Sallar said with a twisted smirk. "I don't think they'll be that happy to see me."
"Why not?" one of the people in the room asked.
"I'm afraid I'm not on their list of their favorite people. I don't get along well with them."
"Oh."
"Let's let the man sleep," the innkeeper's daughter said. The gathering agreed and retired to their rooms.
Daja went upstairs to her room and shut the door behind her. Looking out the window, she could see the lightning flickering in the distance. She sank into her bed and burrowed under her covers. She tossed and turned, but couldn't sleep. Finally, she slipped out of bed, padded over to the door, and turned the lock. She put a bit of her power into the lock to make it resistant to all hands except hers. She went back to the bed and fell asleep.
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"Daja!!! Daja!!!" Daja awoke to Frostpine hammering on her door. She rolled/fell out of bed and scrambled to the door. "What did you magic your lock for?!?" he demanded. "I practically had to break your door down to get you up."
"Sorry," she apologized. "I went to bed late. Besides, you should have just come in instead of waking up the whole inn."
"That would have been simple had you not frozen your lock with your magic."
She gave him an odd look. "But why didn't you just--"
"Frostpine!" Ayami called from the head of the stairs. "Hurry up. There won't be much room left downstairs." Seeing Daja, she added, "And you should have let her sleep in. She was up late with the new guest. Just because you couldn't open her lock is no reason to hammer her door down from annoyance."
'Frostpine couldn't open my lock? But he's always been strong enough to overpower my magic. What's going on?'
"Daja, you come too," Ayami called. "I haven't had a chance to talk with you yet."
"Coming," Daja called. "Just let me get dressed."
Clumping down the stairs a few minutes later, Daja could seen that Sallar had already risen and gone somewhere. "He went to the stables with some servants," Janiain, the innkeeper's daughter, responded to Daja's inquiry. "The storm slackened a bit early this morning and he said he wasn't comfortable amongst many people. We've strung a line up from the kitchen to the stables and barn so you can go see him. Just hold onto the string and walk."
"I think I'll go see the horses. Would you mind telling Frostpine, the bald, tall, black man with a beard, that I'll be back later? To tell the truth, I'm not that comfortable with tons of people either."
"Sure, just make sure you don't let go of the line. If you do, you could wander around for days, blind from the wind and rain." Daja nodded acknowledgement and made her way through the kitchen and out the back door. Lightning struck in the distance and lit the yard eerily.
'Maybe this storm is unnatural,' Daja thought. 'I always feel uneasy when I look at the storm, like I ought to see something obvious but I don't.' Gripping the string firmly, Daja walked its length. Lightning lit the yard once more. 'I wish the storm would pass over, or at least the lightning. It's been hanging around over there for a long time.'
She reached the stables and eased the door open a crack and slipped in. 'Wait a minute, that lightning hasn't moved at all. It's like the storm the pir--' Daja's thought was cut off as she tripped over something in the dim light. 'Now what did I trip over?' she asked herself. Squinting to look, she saw the body of one of the stable hands. Looking around, she could see other lumps on the floor. Daja quickly knelt and was relieved to feel a pulse. 'Just asleep. But who could have done this. They couldn't all have fainted.'
She heard a faint whisper coming from one of the stalls and ducked into the shadows. Creeping closer, she peered through a crack in the boards and saw a man's head on the floor. Biting down a scream, she looked closer and saw that it was actually a head in a mirror. 'Someone's speaking through a mirror. But who, and why?'
"Yessir, milord," she heard a deep, rough voice say. She moved to the side and looked through a different crack. She saw a man's silhouette against the lantern set to the side of the mirror. "This afternoon, you'll land and I'll be waiting." He cocked his head, as though listening to someone. "Understood. I'll carry out my duty. Milord, I ask one favor. There is someone here I'd like to kill. I just want to kill her; the rest may be taken as slaves or killed. Whatever you want." He listened again. "I wish to kill her for vengeance, milord. She killed my brother and sister and did this to me."
He sat back on his heels and the lamp illuminated his face. Daja couldn't stop a small gasp from escaping. "Who's there?" he called sharply, snapping the mirror down quickly. He opened the door and saw Daja. "Well, well, just who I was looking for. You did this to me." He indicated the scars on his face and arms. "And you killed Pauha and Enahar. Now, I shall kill you." Daja tried to run, to throw magic, to do something-anything, but she couldn't move. Her body was made immobile by the layer of magic that coated her body and prevented her from moving. All she could do was hope someone would come help as Sallar advanced on her frozen form.
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Okay everyone. Next is Briar and Evvy. It seems like it is going to be more about Evvy, so sorry Briar fans. I'll try to put in a lot of Briar though. I think I'll just write these in a cycle. Sorry if this chapter was really lame. It was hard to think of an idea for Daja and this was the best I came up with. Hopefully the rest will be better.
*Star Lily*