The Mists of Sorrow_ Book Seven of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [93]
“Go find Jiron and bring him here,” James tells Shorty.
“Be right back,” he replies then leaves the room quickly.
Once he’s gone and the door closes, James turns back to the woman. He feels bad to have scared her and the boy. Unfortunately, the world being what it is, there is little trust in strangers. “Tell her that we don’t plan to harm her or the child,” he tells Reilin.
When he tells her that, she relaxes only a fraction. Then she says something to him. “She says she knows why we are here,” Reilin relays to him.
Turning to look at the woman he asks, “And what would that be?”
After asking and receiving her reply, he says, “She says that her sister told her of what transpired at The Split Navel. Also Jiron’s visit at her home.”
“Ask her if she knows anything about the necklace that Gryll had,” he says. When he spoke Gryll’s name, she visibly perked up.
“You know Gryll?” Reilin asks her.
“Yes,” she replies with eyes downcast.
“Do you know anything about the necklace bearing a heart and two stones?” he asks.
A tear wells in her eye as she nods her head.
Turning to James, Reilin says, “She knows. But something about this has her very upset.” After a second he adds, “And I don’t think it’s us.”
Then she starts speaking and the words just gush forth, as do her emotions. It takes her several minutes but when she’s done, she cuddles very closely with her son as sobs wrack through her. His tiny hand pats her head as if he’s trying to reassure her.
“She got pregnant with the boy before being married,” he says. “Around here that means no man can honorably marry her. She is considered ‘soiled’. The lives of such can be very bad at times, many don’t survive or wind up in brothels.”
“Then she and her sister came up with a plan. They figured that considering how beautiful she is, she might be able to win the heart of a man before he found out about the boy. While her sister kept the boy, she began frequenting places the affluent go. She met a man and worked her charms on him. Their plan had been working off and on for some weeks. During this time, the man had given her the necklace as a present, he never said where he had gotten it.”
“Deciding she couldn’t put off telling him any longer, she told the man about her son. He became enraged at her for deceiving him. He demanded the necklace back but she new it had to be worth many coins that she and her son would need. Saying that she would bring it to him, she then went and hid until her sister said the man had left town.”
“Then about a month ago she was at The Split Navel with her sister, sometimes she picks up work there to help feed herself and her son. Well anyway, she happened to be going through a rough time and needed coins. So she asked around and finally Gryll had agreed to purchase it for far lower than its value. But she didn’t argue, she desperately needed the coins. That was the last and only time she had met Gryll.”
As Reilin draws his narrative to a close, James looks at the girl huddling with her child. By this time her sobs have subsided and she sits there just holding her son protectively. Sadness for her situation prompts him to reach into his money pouch and remove a fistful of coins. He moves across the room toward her and she cringes back away from him. Stopping halfway, he sets the coins down upon the floor then returns to where he was.
In amongst the copper the glint of silver and gold can be seen. James had even managed to scoop up one of his few remaining gems, for a green sparkle can be seen lying at the edge of the coins.
Her eyes widen at the sight of what for her must be an absolute treasure. Just then, the door behind them opens and Shorty walks in with Jiron right behind.
“I found him several streets over,” Shorty says.
“So have you found out anything?” Jiron asks.
Not wishing to have her story rehashed again, he gives them