The Broken Kingdom (42 page)

Riley nodded.

‘Mostly we just want to include you in our
planning.’ Vann said. ‘Whatever we set up, it has to be able to
rule the tribe, it has to be fair, and we want room for movement in
and out of the council. We don’t want to set up a ruling class.
We’re not entirely sure how the Andallites or ehlkrid will fit in
yet, but it has to include humans and gemengs.’

Karesh nodded, ‘I think I understand. But I
don’t know anything about that.’

‘You don’t know any less than we do.’ Riley
said. ‘I’ve been talking to Aerlid about ways it’s been done in the
past. It’s going to take time, Karesh, we just think your insights
could be helpful.’

‘Yes, Master, I’ll do what you ask.’

Riley smiled wryly. ‘Thank you.’

About an hour later, Karesh stumbled out of
the tent. He stretched his wings and considered what he had to do
next. The Master was making plans again. Before the collapse of the
mountain, he had never seen her doubt. He had seen the same mask
she presented to the rest of the tribe, had not even known it
was
a mask. After, it was jarring to realise she didn’t just
know
everything, that she doubted and had moments of
vulnerability. It was scary, what if she
didn’t
know what
she was doing? What if she failed?

Karesh clearly remembered his life before
her, and he wasn’t going back to that. He needed her to change the
gemengs, needed her to be the Master, not Riley the woman with
fears and worries.

He sighed and started walking, mentally
ticking off the things he needed to do today. There was so much to
do. Riley was a hard task-master, when she wanted to be.

He spotted Aerlid’s glimmering tent. He
didn’t head towards it.

After he finished most of his work for the
day he arrived at it, having approached from a round-about
route.

Aerlid looked up and smiled. ‘Karesh, and
how are you today?’

‘Well.’ Karesh replied in his quiet voice.
‘The Master gives me a lot to do. How are you?’

‘Yes,’ Aerlid smiled wryly. ‘She does like
making other people do the work.’

Karesh’s wings opened slightly,
uncomfortable. Even after so long, he wasn’t comfortable hearing
anything uncomplimentary about Riley.

Aerlid laughed. ‘I assure you, Riley won’t
have me executed for saying that!’

Karesh smiled weakly. He was confused, and
his uncertainty hadn’t faded over the months. This man had fixed
his wings, and allowed him to fly. But he had hurt the Master, in a
way he still didn’t really understand. He had been so close to her,
yet the Master hated him now. Oddly though, Aerlid acted as if
everything was normal. It was quite disconcerting.

‘Mmm.’ He mumbled. ‘Do you need
anything?’

‘Nothing except time to finish all the tasks
Riley has assigned me.’

Karesh nodded and smiled. He spotted Vann
approaching and quietly slipped away, leaving Aerlid alone.

In a spare moment, Vann headed over to
Aerlid’s tent. He was sitting outside writing his book.

‘Hello.’ Vann greeted him.

Aerlid said nothing. Vann saw he was
sketching an extremely detailed picture of a hand. Vann waited.
Even though his prison must have been a constant reminder things
were not normal, Aerlid consistently acted as though nothing had
happened, as though he hadn’t utterly betrayed Riley. He ignored
Riley’s coldness to him and he appeared unaware of the way even
Adila treated him with at best, pity. Vann wondered what would
happen if someone ever mentioned Seta’s name to him. He wasn’t
about to find out.

When Aerlid was finally done he looked up
and put the book to the side.

‘Vann. To what do I owe the pleasure?’

‘Is it true Riley won’t live long?’

‘If by long you mean she probably has ten to
twenty years left, yes, I’m afraid it is.’

‘Can’t you do anything?’ he insisted.

‘No, otherwise I would have done it already.
Even if a way could be discovered… Vann, twenty years is not long
to the valkar, and even if it was, I can assure you the valkar
healers have not been trying to discover how to lengthen a mixed’s
life. Our knowledge of the problem is likely no more advanced than
when Riley was born.’ He sighed. ‘There is nothing I can do, even
if she would let me. I suggest you ask Rose to ask the valkar
healers to look her over. But don’t get your hopes up… or
hers.’

‘Fine.’ Vann spun and headed off to find
Rose, who was often with Adila.

He didn’t find her that day, but when she
did turn up Vann made the request and extracted a promise that she
would talk to the valkar healers. It was the best he could do, for
now.

Chapter 52

I
t was with great
trepidation that Zap Zap finally peered through the crack in the
rocks. All he saw was water, fish and floating scraps of algae. His
tail was scraped and bleeding from squeezing through the too-narrow
gap, but he was alive.

For once, his small tail was a blessing.

Cautiously, Zap Zap squeezed out through the
rocks. He lingered by the rock face before venturing out into the
deep. Seeing nothing, feeling nothing on the currents of water, Zap
Zap immediately set off back to the wave of his clan.

When he arrived thirty tense minutes later,
he did not feel much better. The reef his clan called home had once
been protection enough from the dangers of the sea; not
anymore.

A member of his clan swam out, his tail held
in an annoyed pose.

‘
Where have you been?’
His gills
flapped and bubbles burst from his mouth, ‘
the clan has been
worried!’

‘
A monster attacked me,’
Zap Zap
replied, holding his tail in a submissive gesture, ‘
I could not
come back, I had to wait.’

‘
You are injured, go to Soothing Tail, I
will get the elders.’

‘
The elders?’

‘
Yes, they wish to speak to you, Strange
Sounds. Go, I will fetch them.’

Zap Zap swam off to meet Soothing Tail, who
fussed over his scratched and bloody tail and wrapped it in green
weeds.

The elders of his clan, led by the clan
leader, did not arrive until after Soothing Tail had finished
treating him.

‘
Strange Sounds, you have returned. You
were attacked?’
asked Leader of Broken Wave.

‘
Yes,’
Zap Zap replied, holding his
tail deferentially, ‘
but I escaped through a thin crack, the
beast could not get me.’

‘
We have lost contact with the Sparkling
Wave.’

Zap Zap did not respond for long moments.
Sparkling Wave was the closest wave to Broken Wave.

‘
The new monsters are too
strong.’

Zap Zap flapped in amazement at hearing his
leader admit this.

‘
We fight together, but they are too
powerful, they pick us off, as if we are but young spawn. You know
this.’

Zap Zap bowed his head in agreement. He did
know. It was sickening and appalling, but true. Horribly, painfully
true.

‘
You made friends with the No-Tails who
ride the Metal Beasts, and that was good. I was hesitant, but it
was good. Then you asked us to avoid their wave, and we did. But
now we must go back. They defeated Molk for us. We must ask their
assistance, or we will die.’

‘
I… yes, Leader. I… we must have caution
though. My friend, he does not think the No-Tails can be
trusted.’

‘
We have no other choice.’

‘
I… I know. I will go Leader, and I will
try to speak to them. My friend is no longer there, but I will
try.’

‘
You will go on ahead with Strong
Swimmer, Fierce Fighter and Great Hunter, I will lead the rest of
the clan into the wave of the No-Tails.’

Chapter 53

L
ight flashed, easily
visible even in the daylight. Riley instantly looked up. It was the
warning system, the bright light indicating the location of the
ehlkrid intruder.

Riley picked up her sword and quickly ran
towards it.

When she arrived she saw a group of gemeng
guards. One was lying on the ground, rather obviously dead. But the
guards weren’t attacking, they were just standing there.

‘What’s going on?’ Riley demanded.

The guards suddenly turned to her and then
stepped away. A tall and handsome man walked past them. His hair
was black and ragged, his teeth were too sharp and his eyes too
big. His smile was threatening, his clothes a patchwork of skin and
fur. His cape was even worse.

‘You are the one who killed Andalla?’ he
asked, his voice sharp and almost painful to her ears.

‘I am.’ Riley said, her eyes narrowing. ‘And
who are you?’

He smiled widely. ‘I am the son of the King
of the Ehlkrid.’ he gazed around slowly at the tribe. ‘And I think
I want your tribe. Your skin will make a lovely addition to my
cape.’

The resemblance was there, but could it be
true? If it was, this man could be much, much more dangerous than
the average ehlkrid. Had he come of his own accord, or had the King
sent him to test her? ‘So you want to fight me.’ Riley stated.
‘Very well. How do-’

Riley was cut off as the man launched
himself at her. Startled, she recovered quickly and dodged out of
the way.

Vann heard about the fight mere moments
later. And then he was running towards the growing crowd. When he
arrived he had to push his way to the front.

Suddenly Riley and a dark haired man were
fighting in front of him. The man was unarmed, but when his short
claws clashed with her sword it sounded like metal scraping against
metal.

‘Karesh,’ Vann demanded, ‘what’s going
on?’

‘The Master is fighting. I have sent the
guards back to their posts. He killed one of them.’