sigridharem | Part Eleven: Jalo

Sigrid brought Klaus and Sasha to the next day’s meeting. If Lord Hofn was going to accuse her of using her men as an intimidation tactic, well then, she might as well live up to his expectations and force him to say such things to their faces if at all.

However, when she strode into the room, there was also a plain man with large ears sitting at Hofn’s side. A man that looked vaguely familiar, though Sigrid couldn’t place from where.

“Here’s a petitioner for you, Princess,” Hofn smiled. “I would have dealt with him myself, as he is a resident here, but it seems that his complaint directly concerns you. I didn’t want to go and overstep my authority.”

“Of course,” Sigrid said dryly.

“Go ahead and speak, Jalo.” Hofn clapped the man on his shoulder, nearly knocking him over

Jalo folded his hands before him, meeting Sigrid’s eyes briefly before glancing at Klaus and then, for a much longer moment, at Sasha.

“Up until quite recently, your majesty, I lived a comfortable enough life. I had food, lodgings, and work to occupy my days, and my position was clear. However, I have… I have lost all of that now.” Jalo’s eyes flicked down. “I committed no crime, but have been punished for the sins of others. Therefore I wish to ask for restu-no, resta… restitution.”

Sigrid frowned. “You say this concerns me directly?”

Jalo’s eyes flicked back towards Sasha, and his voice strengthened. “It does.”

“What was your occupation?”

Slowly, Jalo met Sigrid’s eyes again, then immediately looked at his own feet. “I was a slave, your majesty.”

Sigrid’s stomach turned over. Now she remembered him.

He’d been in the room when that woman had been whipping Sasha, standing impassively to the side with a scrubbing brush. Prepared to clean Sasha’s blood off the floor when the whipping was done.

When Sigrid dealt the first blow, Jalo had run.

“That is not a recognized occupation,” Sigrid snapped, then immediately regretted it as he tensed.

It’s not his fault. He was only obeying orders. God only knows how young he was when they got their claws into him.

“I… I am aware of that, your majesty, but it remains that I had a place, and now I have none.”

Sigrid winced. It’s also true that I am responsible for this. And I can hardly show generosity to Sasha while turning away others who suffered the same cruelties.

“I understand.” She paused, turning over several options in her head. “Lord Hofn, you say Jalo resides here?”

She hated that smug grin of Hofn’s. “Well, not in my household, but in my general holdings, yes.”

“And is without gainful employment?”

“So he says.” Hofn leaned back in his chair, propping one foot on the other. “No skills, they tell me.”

Jalo looked as though he wanted to say something to that, but kept his mouth shut.

“Is this true, Jalo?” Sigrid prompted him.

“I can mend and sew,” Jalo said shortly. “There is no item of clothing that would not be safe in my hands.”

Sigrid raised her eyebrows at Hofn. “It sounds to me as though he has enough skills to be given a position in your household, Lord Hofn. Weren’t you complaining just yesterday about a lazy boot boy?”

Jalo bristled, and Hofn laughed.

“You have me there, Princess.”

“With all due respect, your majesty,” Jalo said tightly, “I am capable of more than blacking boots.” His eyes flicked back to Sasha. “Not all of us slaves behaved like animals. Some of us were responsible for keeping the estate running.”

“I see,” Sigrid said shortly. She couldn’t look at Sasha herself, not during what amounted to a public audience, but she didn’t like Jalo’s use of the plural. Better to end this sooner rather than later.

And if it were to come out that I had elevated one slave and dropped another into utter obscurity…

She folded her hands. “I will consider your request and speak more with Lord Hofn on the subject. I make no final judgement today.”

Jalo had an unpleasant smile, although perhaps it was the way his eyes continued to linger on Sasha than really bothered Sigrid. “Thank you, your majesty.”

“That means you can go, Jalo,” Hofn said, his smile nearly as unpleasant to behold.

Klaus leaned over Sigrid’s shoulder. “I know you said no talking but… what was that about?”

“I’m not yet sure,” Sigrid murmured, still keeping her eyes on Hofn. “We’ll see what Lord Hofn has in store for us next.”

“No, I mean… slaves? Since when are there slaves here?”

She winced, raising her voice to normal levels. “We can discuss that later, Klaus.”

“Glad to hear it,” Lord Hofn said dryly. “Anything I should be aware of, my lady?”

Sigrid folded her hands. “I don’t believe so. Any other petitioners to parade before me?”

That got a laugh out of him. “Not today!”

“Good.” She couldn’t resist glancing at Sasha, hoping Klaus’s impetuousness gave her enough of an excuse to check on him.

Studiously blank.

Not a good sign.

“Your other boy doesn’t have much to say,” Lord Hofn observed. “You’ve got him better trained, I see.”

“You needn’t worry, they’re both of age,” Sigrid said mildly, intentionally missing the point. “Probably by a more comfortable margin than your bride.”