The Vaetra Chronicles: Book 01 - Vaetra Unveiled Read online

  Vaetra

  Unveiled

  Book One of the

  Vaetra Chronicles

  Daniel R. Marvello

  Published by Magic Fur Press

  An imprint of Logical Expressions, Inc.

  311 Fox Glen Road, Sandpoint, Idaho 83864, USA

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and events are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business organizations, events, or locales is purely coincidental.

  VAETRA UNVEILED

  Copyright (c) 2012 by Daniel R. Marvello

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design and layout by Susan C. Daffron

  No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher.

  ISBN: 978-1-61038-007-2 (paperback)

  For my wife Susan.

  Your patience gives me determination,

  your support gives me courage,

  and your love sustains me.

  Chapter 1

  The folded piece of parchment was sealed with a tiny dot of red wax. It had my name on it: Jaylan Forester. I peeled the note open and read the words scrawled inside. Need help. Meet at inn at dusk. Can pay.

  I looked up at Captain Borlan Koster. His deep brown eyes were watching my green ones as he leaned over his desk, bracing his sturdy dark frame with his fists on the stained surface. His stance would be intimidating to people who didn't know him, but Borlan had been my friend and my boss for more than a year. We stood in the sparsely furnished entry area at the Northshore town chapter of Raven Company, next to the front desk where Borlan met with clients.

  "Who dropped this off?" I asked.

  Borlan shrugged. "I didn't see. I just heard the front door open and shut. The note was on the front desk when I came downstairs. What's it about?"

  I shook my head, turning the note over in my hand and scowling. "No idea. The note just says to meet at the inn later." I handed it to Borlan.

  He grinned as he read the note. "I like the 'can pay' part," he said, handing it back to me. The dark skin of his scarred hand contrasted sharply with the light, freckled skin of mine. We were physical opposites; he was tall, dark, and bulky with short-cropped black hair, while I was lean, pale, average in height, and wore my long red hair tied behind my back. When people saw us walking together, they often did a double-take.

  I slipped the note into my pocket. "We'll see. If the coin is worth the work, I won't turn it down. Whoever it is must know something about me and what I do here."

  Borlan nodded. "Or knows someone who does."

  Raven Company mostly employed mercenary soldiers who worked as guards for hire. I did that kind of work when necessary, but my skills and background made me more valuable to Borlan as a problem solver. I was better than most people at finding things that were lost and digging out the truth when it was hidden. If the person who wrote the note just needed a bodyguard, Borlan would have been the logical addressee, and any Raven Company man could have done the job.

  "I guess I'll find out at dusk," I said. "Any other prospects?" Business had been slow lately. The regular contracts for bodyguards and caravan guards were disappointingly thin at the moment, and we'd had none of the commissions that took advantage of my skills.

  Borlan pursed his lips and shook his head. "If something comes up, you'll be the first to know. Finding work for you would be good for all of us." He'd be happy because my contracts were some of the most lucrative, and Raven Company got a cut of whatever I made on a job. "We did get work for two men, and I assigned Kefer and Peltor to it. They're escorting a wagon from Delta to Plains End. Small job, but it's something."

  "Good to hear," I said. "Maybe this will turn into something good too," I added, patting the pocket with the note. "Well, I'd better get back to the inn. Dusk is only an hour or two away, and Dela needs me to help her with something. I'll let you know how the meeting goes." I raised my hand in farewell and headed toward the door.

  "That girl will have you married and settled down as an innkeeper before the year is out," Borlan said with a laugh.

  "Let's see if we can get me some more work here so that isn't necessary," I said wryly over my shoulder as I opened the door to leave.

  "Which, being an innkeeper or getting married?" Borlan teased.

  I closed the door behind me without answering him. "Either," I said to myself after the door had closed completely.

  ***

  I was glad for my thick woolen shirt as I headed back to the Snow Creek Inn. A breeze stirred the budding branches of the birch in front of the Raven Company building, adding to the late afternoon chill. The previous night's rain had slowed to a light, misty drizzle for most of the day. The sun was just above the mountain peaks to the west, but it was barely visible as a bright spot in the clouds.

  I crossed the street, dodging horses and nodding to townspeople on their final errands of the day. I was thankful the streets had dried enough to firm up before the recent storm arrived. Just two weeks ago, the streets had been rivers of rutted mud and half-frozen puddles.

  A customer went into the bakery as I passed, and the delicious aromas escaping the open door made me salivate. But I wasn't tempted to stop. One of the nice things about living at the inn was that fresh bread was always available.

  Across the way, Burl the blacksmith was cleaning up as he prepared to close his shop. I waved to him when he looked up, and he tentatively waved back. Apparently, I still had more work to do to restore my reputation around town.

  As I walked, I pondered what this new job might be about. Why the mystery? Most Raven Company clients just walked into the office and told us what they wanted. Someone obviously did not want to be seen talking with us. Well, with me actually.

  I shook my head and chastised myself for the directions my thoughts were going. I'd learn more soon, and any speculation before then would just be making up stories. I seriously hoped it was a job I could take. I wasn't cut out to be a full-time innkeeper, even if my share of the income from the inn did cover my basic needs.

  Dela disagreed with that assessment, of course. She was the eighteen-year-old daughter of my late partner, Griz, and now she and her mother, Luma, ran the inn. Dela had recently decided that our pairing was meant to be, since I was single and already invested in the business. In her eyes, we would make a perfect couple.

  She didn't understand that the life of an innkeeper wasn't enough for me.

  I had originally invested money in the inn three years ago to help out my friend Griz when he decided to buy and renovate the venerable building. At that time, I was the recently-promoted Captain of the Imperial Guard here in Northshore. I had plenty of cash and not much to do with it.

  But then everything had changed. I scowled at the memory, and a little boy who was walking the opposite direction with his mother clutched her hand tightly and hugged closer to her when he saw the look on my face. His mother glared at me as she passed, and I shrugged my shoulders in mute apology.

  A little over a year ago, I had discovered that Belomy Trask, the local tax collector and brother of Northshore Governor Marrin Trask, was running what amounted to an extortion scheme. His job was to collect the Imperial and local taxes. But he collected more than the mandated amounts and filled his own purse with the surcharge. Merchants who refused to pay the extra coin experienced an unusual amount of misfortune in their business or family.

  Before I could build enough evidence to prosecute Trask, I foun
d myself accused of masterminding the crime. It seemed that no one wanted me to investigate, not even the victims. Rakerus, my second-in-command and the man who eventually replaced me as Captain, was allowed to prove that no such crime had taken place. I was exonerated, and the true conspirators smugly let me walk away.

  But Belomy Trask made sure that my career in the Guard was over. According to him, I had falsely accused a respected family and had proven myself unworthy of my responsibilities. The years I had invested in that career were wasted. Well, almost.

  I turned onto Cedar Street and passed the Stone Tonic Shop. I scowled at the front door as I walked by. Caslin Stone, the proprietor, had been one of the townspeople who had warned me not to pursue the investigation. He had testified along with a few other shopkeepers that no crime had been committed, thus helping to exonerate me, but also sealing my fate with the Imperial Guard.

  Down the road ahead of me, I could see the sign for the Snow Creek Inn swinging slowly on its chains above the front door. The inn represented my salvation to a degree. It was there I had holed up after being expelled from the Guard. My apartment was attached to the north side of the building, and it had given me plenty of room to sulk.

  Griz and Luma had given me time to recover and offered me a more active role in operating the inn. Meanwhile, Dela defended me in arguments with townspeople who sneered at my failure. She argued with such confidence and maturity that I was shocked to realize that she was no longer my friend's gawky little girl; she had grown into a strong and attractive woman.

  Initially feeling betrayed by the town I loved, I was grateful for Dela's friendship and attention. I should have realized that her feelings ran much deeper than mine, and that the eight-year difference in our ages didn't matter to her. I should have set her straight when I first recognized that her feelings were becoming romantic, but even now I couldn't bring myself to break her heart when she had worked so hard to heal mine.

  For a while, the distraction of helping out at the inn had been welcome, but doing the work of a stable boy and barkeep eventually left me restless and miserable. That's when my friend Rakerus suggested I consider going to work with Raven Company.

  I was resistant at first. As Captain of the Imperial Guard, I was used to thinking of Raven Company as a potential source of trouble. I had doubts about the ethics of a band of mercenaries, although truthfully, they had never given me reason to distrust them.

  But then one day last spring, a well-dressed merchant arrived at the inn and paid for a room. When I took his horse, his attitude toward me was so condescending that I nearly punched him right there in front of the stable. That was when I knew I had to do something else with my life, and I needed to do it quickly.

  I went to the Raven Company offices the next morning and talked with Borlan about working with them. We both knew of each other, and after some cautious conversational circling and testing, we realized we had a lot in common. Over the months and the jobs that followed, we became good friends.

  I sighed as I approached the inn. Mercenary work paid well, and it was challenging in a satisfying way, but it wasn't steady. I thought once again of the note in my pocket. Maybe the dry spell was finally easing up.

  ***

  I opened the door to the inn, and as I entered the serving room, mouth-watering food aromas enveloped me. The kitchen staff was busy preparing for the evening meal, and my stomach growled in anticipation.

  Weak afternoon light filtered through the front windows, barely fighting back the darkness of the room. The regular patrons seemed to prefer the gloom, as they were all huddled at the tables furthest from the door or were hunched over stools at the bar along the back wall. Oil lanterns hung along the overhead beams softly lit their quiet conversations.

  Dela looked up from wiping down the bar and called to me. "Where have you been? I still need you to get those potatoes and chives for Mother's soup tomorrow."

  Dela is one of those women who dominates the room. Her tall, full-figured build caught the eye of most men, while her green eyes and full-lipped smile charmed them. She moved with confidence and purpose and brooked no foolery from the patrons. Men who had the temerity to pinch her butt as she walked by usually found themselves led out the front door by their ear with the admonition not to return until they had learned some manners.

  One of the men at the bar looked over at me and chuckled. I rolled my eyes.

  "I told you I'd take care of it, and I will. I just need to pick up the list you made," I said.

  "Where were you anyway?" she asked. "You're going to run out of daylight."

  "I was at Raven Company. I have a lead on a new contract and needed to meet with Borlan."

  She frowned and looked down at the counter, scrubbing a little more vigorously. "Things are busy here, and I need your help. Can't you put off your contracts for a while?"

  "It doesn't work like that," I said patiently. "I'm either in or I'm out. Raven Company needs men they can rely on to take contracts when they are available." I knew my mistake as soon as I spoke.

  She stopped cleaning the counter and threw the cloth into a tub of water with a splash. "I need you to be reliable too! Spring business is picking up, and it's too much for just Mother and me." She came around the counter, wiping her hands on her apron, and stood in front of me. She put a hand on my arm and spoke more softly. "Besides, I need you. We can't let all the hard work that Father did go to waste. I don't know what would happen to us if the inn were to fail."

  I sighed. "You know that running an inn has never been my goal. I invested in the inn so I could have the apartment and help out your father."

  She rubbed her hand up and down my arm affectionately. "I know, but you can't return to the Guard, and Raven Company doesn't have enough work. We have plenty to do here."

  I knew it was useless to continue the discussion. We'd had more or less the same exchange every day for the past month. The idea of settling down with Dela and becoming an innkeeper had its appeal; it would be the easy path to take. But whenever my thoughts went down that path, I felt like I would be betraying Griz and maybe even Dela. I remembered Dela from when she skipped around with a rag doll in her hand. She was grown now, but I still had trouble seeing her as anything other than a kid sister.

  But, unfortunately, she was right. Things were slow at Raven Company, particularly for the investigation work I preferred and that Borlan singled out for me. Meanwhile, business at the inn was on the rise. We were getting more travelers, and the locals were discovering that the kitchen served an excellent meal at a reasonable price.

  I wished Griz were still around. Things would have been so much simpler. He would have been thrilled to see the inn beginning to thrive, making all that hard work--the work that essentially killed him--pay off. It wasn't fair that his heart gave out just as he was completing the renovations.

  Dela's eyes scanned my face, seeming to read my train of thought. "I know," she said quietly. "If father were still here, things would be different." She looked down at the floor. "He'd take care of the inn, and you could run off on your adventures."

  As much as I cared for Dela, and as much as I hoped the inn would grow into the success Griz had envisioned, Dela's subtle manipulations got on my nerves. I needed to leave before I said something I'd regret.

  "I'd better get going. Do you have that list?"

  Dela looked into my eyes for a moment and saw the unyielding set of my face. She went over to the bar and came back with a slip of parchment that listed the things she wanted me to pick up. I looked over the list and decided I should have plenty of time to take care of it before dusk and get back for my meeting.

  I turned and headed out the door without saying another word. I swore to myself that my future would not consist of running errands for Dela.

  Chapter 2

  The young man walked slowly into the inn and hesitated just inside the door. He filled the opening more than most men, and his gaze scanned the room. When his eyes met mine, I g
ave him a subtle nod.

  He wound his way through the tables, looking aside at the other patrons several times. His caution made him conspicuous to anyone who watched him closely, defeating his obvious desire for secrecy.

  When he reached my table, he remained standing and looked me over. "Jaylan?" he asked softly. I nodded again.

  He swept into the chair next to me with a waft of stale sweat and damp wool. Tiny beads of condensed mist slipped off his cloak to the floor as he settled in. He glanced at me with haunted eyes underscored by dark circles. Those eyes belied the softly bearded face of youth that came with them. He shivered, adjusting to the close warmth of the inn's serving room. Scanning the room once more, he sighed and deflated into a hunch over the table.

  He cleared his throat and spoke in a low, hoarse voice. "Thanks for meeting me. I'm Raleb."

  "No thanks necessary," I replied. "Although I admit I'm curious. Your message was rather vague." I took a sip of my ale and raised the mug toward Dela as she passed, tilting my head in the direction of the man next to me. She scowled down her nose at him but nodded in acknowledgement.

  "Sorry about that. It had to be. It's a sensitive matter," he said as he ran a thin, shaking hand through his dark, wet hair.

  "You should take off that wet cloak," I suggested. "You're freezing." Our table was close to the fire, making my choice of seating comfortably warm. His soggy cloak had already started to steam a bit around his shoulders.

  He shook his head. "Thanks, but I may need to leave quickly."

  It was as I suspected, then. Raleb was a man on the run. Disappointment soured my mood as I realized the odds were high that this job would require me to do something illegal or at least unethical. I'd have to refuse the contract.

  "Then I suppose you should tell me what it is you need from me," I prompted with little enthusiasm.

  He looked over at me, reading my reticence. "You're right, we shouldn't waste time, but please hear me out." I nodded for him to continue.