The Broken Kingdom (41 page)

Skachi returned to his home, the House of
Corchanus, several hours later. His face was etched in anger.

To lose a Worm segment! One of my own
pilots!

The discredit to his House was enormous. How
long had it been since a Worm had been damaged in a fight? The
damage was easily repairable, and the cost to his family was
negligible. The cost in honour, however!

The pilot was dead, so no more punishment
could befall
him
. The Master of the House would decide if
any further punishment would fall on the pilot’s family, who had so
dishonoured the illustrious house of Corchanus.

There will be another fight tomorrow. I will
speak to the pilots. My men will not dishonour our house again!

Chapter 50

V
ann walked through the
campsite. The Suntree was visible to his left, and normal trees
were scattered throughout the camp.

He was not surprised when he spotted Rose,
out past the shield. She often came to speak with Adila. Adila
stayed near, but not too near, Aerlid, and his now relocated
prison. Aerlid was often surrounded by gemengs, teaching them
medicine or writing. Occasionally, Ladana visited as well. Why,
Vann wasn’t sure. She didn’t often speak to her sister.

He did not head towards Rose and Adila, the
valkar had a way of pretending everyone else wasn’t there. Riley
had told him they had to be that way, but she couldn’t say why.

He could accept that.

He walked on.

He had not gone far when he heard Rose call
out his name. He turned, curious at her unexpected interest.

‘Hello, Rose.’ he greeted her
pleasantly.

‘Vann.’ she seemed oddly… uncertain. ‘You
are very busy I see, helping Riley.’

He nodded. ‘There’s a lot to do.’

‘Yes. She is… ambitious.’ she paused for a
moment. Vann waited. It wasn’t exactly easy for him being this
close to her, but it wasn’t as bad as the first time he’d met her.
Maybe he really was getting used to the effect the valkar had on
him.

‘I may have treated you… poorly, when Riley
was setting up Andalla.’

‘Don’t worry about it. She was treating you
pretty bad too.’

‘Yes.’ she paused again.

Vann did not have all day to wait around for
Rose, but then she was Rose. So he waited.

‘You and I are both here now.’ she finally
said. ‘Perhaps… we could pick up where we left off.’

‘Oh.’ Vann said in genuine surprise.
‘Oh.’

She waited expectantly.

Vann closed his eyes, tried to get himself
back under control.

‘I’m sorry, Rose.’ he said reluctantly. ‘I
can’t.’

Now she was the one looking surprised. ‘Oh.
Why not?’

‘It’s… I don’t really want to talk about
it.’ he sighed heavily. ‘Rose, if I suddenly change my mind, I need
you to judge me. Right now… this isn’t what I want.’

Rose frowned and crossed her arms over her
chest. ‘I was under the impression you and Riley were just
friends.’

‘We are.’

‘Then why does she matter?’

Vann stared at her. Perhaps he shouldn’t
have been surprised she could be so perceptive. She was the
Judgement Master after all. And what else could possibly matter to
him but Riley?

‘I.. I need to stay focussed right now,
that’s all. I’m very busy helping, Riley, and if you and I… well,
you’re very distracting.’ he tried to smile charmingly, but it came
out a bit wobbly. He didn’t want to talk about this. And maybe he
could say no to Rose, but that didn’t mean it was easy. ‘Please,
not now. All we can be right now is friends.’

Rose observed him for a few long seconds. ‘I
see. Thank you for your time, Vann.’ she said and walked away.

Vann sighed heavily once she was gone. And
then suddenly he walked off quickly to find Riley. She was not hard
to find, and once he was near her the tension seemed to slip
away.

She looked up, ‘hey, Vann. What’s up?’

‘Nothing, just came to see how you
were.’

They talked for a few moments before Riley
asked, ‘How’s Rose?’

Momentarily caught off guard, Vann replied,
‘huh? Oh, fine, she’s fine.’

‘I’m sorry, my behaviour may have made her
angry at you too.’

‘No, no, she’s fine. She’s not angry.’

‘That’s good. She and Ladana visit often,
but we don’t usually talk.’

There was a pause.

‘We’re not getting back together.’ Vann
said.

‘You said she wasn’t angry. It’s not
anything I did, is it?’ Riley asked, looking upset.

‘No, why, do you want us to get back
together?’

‘Well, you do, don’t you?’

‘No, I’m… I’m too busy.’

‘Do you want me to give you more free
time?’

‘No, of course, not. I’m just not really
interested right now.’

She looked surprised, but she said ‘As long
as you’re happy with it, Vann.’ and she shrugged.

Feeling rather confused, Vann made his
excuses and left.

Riley wasn’t necessarily curious about why
Ladana was here, but she felt it was something she should know.
Rose and Adila had reason to be here. As far as she knew, Ladana
didn’t.

When she had a spare moment, she headed over
to Aerlid and Adila.

‘How’s the book coming?’ Riley asked rather
coolly.

‘Slowly.’

‘Once you’ve taught a few gemengs they can
teach the others. Have you noticed any Predators around?’ Riley
asked, referring to the human aircraft.

Aerlid shook his head. ‘The tribe may be
hard to see through the canopy, if they’re even looking.’

‘Fine.’ Riley looked over at Adila, ‘Adila,
I have a question for you and Aerlid.’

‘Certainly.’ she said and came closer. ‘What
is it?’

‘Why is Ladana here?’

‘She wants to be Queen.’ Aerlid answered
promptly.

‘Doesn’t she have to wait for her mother to
die?’ Riley asked.

‘It doesn’t work that way with the valkar.’
Aerlid replied.

‘The valkar can have many Queens at once.’
Adila interrupted. ‘Ladana will know when she’s a Queen, it’s
partly a measure of maturity. Ladana is like her Grandmother, she
intends to be a more active Queen. So she’s been here talking to
Rose and myself, and seeing what you’re doing, to try and
learn.’

‘It’s unusual, but the valkar sometimes have
more than one Queen who wants to rule, so Rilodana and Ralana
aren’t an issue where this is concerned, even if both of them
decide to be more involved than they currently are.’ Aerlid
said.

‘What happens if the two Queens
disagree?’

‘It would be very cruel of the Queens to do
that to the valkar.’ Aerlid paused for a moment. Then he added,
‘you know, we don’t generally call the daughters of the Queen
princesses. That’s just something Andalla does.’

‘Alright. What about the sons?’

‘Sons?’ Adila asked.

‘The Queen never has sons. She always has
daughters.’ Aerlid answered.

Surprise flashed across Riley’s face.

‘The Queen is unique among the valkar in
many ways,’ Aerlid went on. ‘She always has daughters who are like
herself… let me explain, even if two Sunsingers were to have a
child, there is no guarantee the child would be a Sunsinger, or
even one who looks to the sky. Of course, there are always
exceptions. Adila’s family is very rare… she comes from a long line
of Sunsingers and Judgement Masters. Though such issues of lineage
are not very important to the valkar, except where the Queen is
concerned.
Her
line is very important.’

‘Alright.’ Riley said, tucking that away.
‘How is Ralana?’ she turned to Adila.

‘I think she is relieved. It’s hard to know
if she genuinely cared for him, or if seeing someone decapitated
was just upsetting for her.’

‘Sorry.’ Riley replied.

‘She’ll be fine, you needn’t worry.’

Riley turned to go and Aerlid called her
back. ‘Since she’s here anyway, you could get to know your
sister.’

Riley looked startled. Then she said, ‘well,
if she’s going to be Queen of the valkar. How long til she’s Queen,
do you think?’

‘I can’t say, but that’s not what I meant.’
Aerlid said irritably.

‘Thank you for your help.’ Riley said to
Adila. Then she left, ignoring Aerlid.

Chapter 51

K
aresh entered Riley’s
tent and sat down awkwardly. It was a little bit crowded with three
people in the tent. Behind him the tent flap was open, allowing a
cool breeze to circulate through the confines of the tent.

The Master and Vann greeted him before
turning to business.

‘Karesh,’ Riley began, ‘I’d like it if you
would stay here for now and have someone else command the search
party. The tribe has gotten a lot bigger, and I think you’ll be
more useful here.’ The tribe was bigger, though still much smaller
than her original tribe from the Plains.

Karesh hesitated. He was pleased she was no
longer fighting her role as Master. But he wondered if this was
some sort of punishment?

He had only gone out once since breaking his
legs. Adila’s knife had been effective, and there had been no other
issues on that assignment. ‘I can send someone else. I think Kalgen
could lead, or Shiressa, they know what to do now. Not Telag
though.’ He replied, deciding she’d been honest in her reasons.

Riley nodded. ‘Good. We wanted to get your
insight. You know something of our plans.’

Karesh nodded, his eyes drifting between the
two. They sat very close, not quite touching. As usual, Vann’s eyes
were glued to the Master.

‘After you have the gemengs, you will
capture the humans and defeat the King of the Ehlkrid.’

‘Something like that. Karesh, I would like
what I’m making here to last after my death. But after I’m gone I
don’t want one person to rule, I would like the council to take
that job.’

‘So there would be no more Master?’ Karesh
asked hesitantly, as the idea of her dying filled him with
fear.