The Lord of the Plains (75 page)

‘You’re going to be fine.’ Riley said
briskly. He looked terrible. Aerlid didn’t look much better.
‘Karesh, you need to rest. Don’t worry about what anyone thinks. I
can keep you safe.’

He didn’t reply.

Riley had a sinking feeling in the pit of
her stomach. He didn’t believe her. He didn’t
trust
her.

There were no words to say to that. All she
could do was
show
him.

Three days later, Riley entered her tent to
take her shift. She’d made the animal skin tent not long after
coming to the Plains, but rarely used it. The nights were warm and
it didn’t often rain, so it was usually unnecessary. Riley had made
the hammock for Karesh on Aerlid’s request, the day before his
first attempt at fixing Karesh’s arm-wing. During the night, she
and Aerlid slept in the tent with Karesh. During the day they took
turns watching him. Frankly, Riley didn’t trust her tribe not to
hurt him. To Karesh’s quiet displeasure, Aerlid’s students also
helped. This was a part of being a physician after all.

When she entered the tent she found Karesh
sleeping fitfully. Aerlid was on a blanket on the floor, singing
softly under his breath. Riley knelt down on the dirt floor.
Aerlid’s eyes were closed, a hand behind his head. He looked
tired.

A sound came from behind. Before Riley could
move Aerlid bolted upright.

‘
Adila?!’
he exclaimed in a surprised
whisper. His jaw hung open, his eyes wide.

Riley stood and turned in one smooth
movement. When she caught sight of the interloper she stopped. She
opened her mouth. Closed it. She frowned slightly.

The woman smiled. Perhaps smile was not the
right word. This woman, this creature… It was as if the sun and sky
had been mixed together and poured into the shape of a woman. That
would be this creature. And what did the sun look like when it
smiled? What did the sky look like? And yet she reminded Riley so
strongly of Aerlid, she wondered if they were related.

The woman spoke.

Again, Riley had to stop. She spoke the way
Aerlid sung. Words and meaning Riley could understand, but not
speak herself. Could not even describe.

Aerlid responded in the same way.

It was gone in a second, refused to stay in
her memory. It left only a longing, a faint feeling. It wasn’t
something she could catch and keep.

Yet she could understand it.

Aerlid. Adila, what are you doing here? I
came to visit, it has been a long time. Yes, a lifetime. A
lifetime? This is her. She doesn’t look as though she’s lived a
lifetime. Who can tell with one like that? Yesterday could have
been a lifetime. Ten years ago. A minute could have been her
lifetime. It hasn’t been long. No, that’s true. Not as a long as
last time. Is it near? No, it will come around to pick me up. Does
she want to see her?

Silence.

Aerlid turned his head to look at Riley.
‘You can understand us?’

She nodded.

Aerlid was not surprised, but Adila was.
‘Really?’ she said in perfect Plains speech. ‘Can you speak
Valkar?’ she asked Riley.

Aerlid answered for her, ‘no, she can’t
speak Valkar. She can hum it though.’

‘Really? Can you hum for me?’

Riley was taken aback. She didn’t know what
to hum. She only knew the moon songs.

‘Not right now.’ Aerlid rescued her. He
stood and looked at Adila more closely. ‘Adila, what are you
wearing?!’ he demanded. ‘What happened?’

Adila smiled. She was barefoot. She wore an
asymmetrical skirt the red of a setting sun. Orange cloth was
wrapped around her waist like a belt. Two strings of necklaces of
beads and things that sparkled were loosely tied around the orange
wrap. Two small pouches also hung from her waist. Her chest was
covered by white cloth wrapped around her, leaving her shoulders
bare. She wore loose necklaces, not many. They were not crowded or
fancy. On her right upper arm Riley noticed something like a
tattoo, if a tattoo could have been made out of fire. It was a
simple symbol. In her right hand she held a wooden staff. It was
her height, reaching the top of her golden head.

‘I am not the Judgement Master any
longer.’

‘What?! Adila, how, why, who?!’

She smiled wider. ‘Rose is the new Judgement
Master.’

‘Rose?’ Some of his indignation faded.

She nodded. ‘She took a long time to find
her soul.’

‘By now it should be obvious.’ he huffed.
‘The Queen’s Garden isn’t enough. Someone should have brought her
mother down here.’

‘They try to avoid it.’ she sighed. ‘And it
isn’t- wasn’t something I wanted to get involved in.’

‘Adila, you’re the-’

‘I’m not.’ she chided gently. ‘But I was,
and perhaps you’re right.’

‘Well,’ he sighed. ‘It’s been a long time
since someone other than a Sunsinger was the Judgement Master.’

‘Yes.’ her smiled faded. ‘She’s having her
own unique difficulties with the other judges. I can’t help
her.’

‘Well, why the switch?’ he demanded.

‘I’m not the Judgement Master. She is.’

Aerlid stared at her for a moment. Then he
looked away. ‘I don’t think I can think of you as anything other
than the Judgement Master.’

Adila’s smile faded.

It was then they remembered they were not
alone. Riley was watching them. The conversation made no sense to
her, but it was noted and stored. She asked no questions. Karesh
had awoken and his eyes were on them.

‘Ah,’ Aerlid cried, suddenly becoming
energized. ‘Adila, you can help me with this.’

He strode over to Karesh, Adila
followed.

‘He’s a mixed?’ Adila asked, after looking
at him for no more than a few seconds.

Aerlid nodded. ‘Yes. Deformed, like most of
them are. I’m trying to fix him.’

‘What’s wrong?’

‘His wings. One of them seems fine, the
other is a mess. When is the city coming? Can you call some
healers?’

‘Healers? Aerlid, you need help fixing a
wing?’ he asked, her eyes alert and focussed entirely on him.

Aerlid stiffened.

‘I remember when you could have done it
alone without even touching him!’

‘And I remember when you were the Judgement
Master.’

‘I suppose we’re both getting old.’ she
smiled, though it faded after a moment. ‘I don’t know if any will
leave the city. Or if I can even tell them about it.’

Aerlid sighed. ‘Of course, you’re right. I’m
sorry, Adila.’ he said sincerely. ‘I shouldn’t have asked. Would
you
help?’

‘If I can, of course.’

‘You can keep him under and monitor his
vitals, can’t you?’

‘I can still do that.’ she smiled.

Aerlid turned to Karesh. ‘Karesh, it’s going
to be a lot easier from here.’ and he smiled.

Aerlid had spoken true. With Adila’s help
Karesh was safely rendered unconscious and felt no pain as Aerlid
worked on his arm-wing. Riley was no longer required, however the
first time she attended anyway. Karesh did not look as tired after
the sessions anymore, and neither did Aerlid.

Still, Riley could not tell much difference,
though Aerlid was happy with how they were going.

It was not even a day after Adila arrived
however that Aerlid asked a curious thing of Riley.

‘You don’t eat meat.’

Riley paused. Then she said slowly, ‘yes, I
do.’

‘No,’ he said firmly, ‘while Adila is here
it is very important you do not eat meat. Don’t let her know you
ever
ate it. And it’s best if you don’t say anything about
my eating habits.’

‘I don’t often talk about what you eat.’ she
said, cocking her head to one side. ‘Why?’ she finally asked.

For once, Aerlid was not ecstatic at hearing
her ask a question. ‘You don’t need to know why. And you wouldn’t
understand. As far as Adila knows, you don’t eat meat, and neither
do I. I don’t even kill vegetables.’

‘Alright.’ she agreed, nodding slowly. ‘How
long will she stay here?’

‘As long as she likes.’

For whatever reason, the gemengs didn’t
bother Adila. It wasn’t quite the same as with Aerlid. They ignored
her and she ignored them. She spent very little time in the main
tribe, mostly she was either with Aerlid or at their camp, or she
was somewhere else entirely.

Perhaps it was because of the conversation
with Aerlid, but Riley watched Adila very closely. Either she
wasn’t watching closely enough or Adila was very strange indeed, as
Riley had not seen her eat. Not once.

Riley was enjoying a rare moment of peace as
she ate her breakfast. The morning was quiet. No one was
around.

Suddenly Aerlid came rushing out of the
grasses and, looking around quickly, he grabbed her breakfast right
out of her hand and stuffed it into his mouth.

Riley stared at him. Her hand was still
halfway to her mouth.

Aerlid paid no mind. He just chewed and
swallowed. Then he sighed. ‘Do you have any more?’

Then, ‘what on earth
was
that?’

‘That was my breakfast. Why did you steal my
breakfast?’

‘Breakfast? That was
food
?! I’m
starving and I
still
don’t think that was food!’

Riley had been experimenting with her food.
Aerlid never let her, but Adila was a good distraction. So she had
experimented. And now her experiment was gone!

Riley glared at him. ‘
I
didn’t have a
problem with it! Not until you ate it!’

‘Shh! Don’t tell anyone!’

‘Aerlid, what’s wrong?’ she demanded.

‘I’m
starving
.’ he hissed. ‘Now don’t
tell anyone!’

‘Sit down.’ she commanded, keeping her eyes
locked on him until he sat.

He seemed surprised.

But she certainly wasn’t going to take
breakfast theft lying down!

‘Why are you starving?’

‘You wouldn’t understand.’

‘Aerlid, you just stole my breakfast. I
suggest you
make
me understand.’

Aerlid looked at her in alarm. ‘Surely
you’re not that possessive.’

‘I had been planning that meal for days.’
she said ominously. ‘Gathering ingredients. Squishing it all
together. You ate it.’

‘Squishing is not a word I like to hear in
conjunction with my meals, Riley. I don’t think I want to know what
was in that. Lady Moon, that was a mud pie, wasn’t it?’

‘It was not a pie.’ she said coolly. ‘And
you’re changing the subject.’

Aerlid, horrified, scrambled to his feet, ‘I
can assure you Riley, I may be dying of hunger but I won’t be
stealing any of your food again!’ and with that he made a quick
escape.