The Lord of the Plains (85 page)

‘Why?’

‘I’d like to see if I can explain things to
the other tribes without ending up ruling them. I have enough
people to be responsible for already. And maybe they can think of
something I haven’t.’

‘Alright.’ Aerlid said slowly. ‘How long
will you be gone?’

‘Not long, I hope. There are some people I
want to find. I’ll come back to check on you anyway. There’s a
couple, you remember them?’

Aerlid nodded, he had indeed run into the
first willing couple in the tribe.

‘They’ve already had me break them up and
let them get back together a few times. I think they’re getting
better, but you need to go check on them every now and then, to
make them feel safe.’

‘Alright.’

‘I think you might have some others asking
too.’ Riley added.

‘I’ll take care of it.’

When Vann heard the news he didn’t say
anything. He just sat there, his face slack. Commander Reista gazed
at him from across the desk. For once, the Commander had given Vann
permission to sit in the chair as soon as he’d entered the
room.

‘Are you sure?’ Vann finally asked, his
voice weak.

The Commander nodded curtly. ‘Yes. It will
be all over Coastside soon, but I wanted you to hear it first.’

‘Also,’ Commander Reista went on, ‘I think
you would be a good fit for this mission, considering your success
with the fish people.’ Unsaid was, if Vann
wasn’t
allowed to
go the Commander didn’t exactly trust him not to sneak into the
mission anyway.

‘Mission?’ Vann hadn’t heard much since
Riley’s alive.

‘Yes. Predators routinely fly over the
Plains on scouting missions. They noticed a very large group of
gemengs in one place. It looks like the gemeng girl has been
uniting the tribes of the Plains.’

Vann stared. He seemed to be thinking very
slowly.

‘And considering her knowledge of the
military, you can see the threat this poses to Astar and
Coastside.’ The Commander said.

Vann nodded slowly. Why was she uniting the
tribes? Why was she
alive
?

‘Her old unit members have been interviewed.
There is some hope she
isn’t
planning on invading.’ The
Commander’s face was grim. ‘There is a very high chance if that
woman brings all the gemengs of the Plains against Astar, she will
win. So, a mission is being sent to the Plains to try and negotiate
with her. It may be our only chance.’

‘I don’t think she’s dangerous.’ he said
suddenly. The image of her carefully beating the submariners, even
the man who had used a lightning rod on her, sprung to mind. He
could not imagine her as dangerous.

‘She faked her death, ran off to the Plains
and has over a third of the Plains gemengs under her control,
Submariner. She is
very
dangerous.’

‘I understand, Commander.’ Vann replied, his
voice strong.

‘Submariner, you made a fool of yourself
over this woman.’

Vann’s mouth thinned. Not all of the women
at Lillia’s party had kept what had been said secret. And of
course, everyone had seen him rejected by Riley countless
times.

‘But you’re a submariner. I know that she
would never come before your loyalty to Coastside, otherwise I
would not let you go on this mission. Not everyone else will see it
that way.’ he said warningly. ‘You will be the only person from
Coastside on the mission.’

‘I understand.’ Vann replied firmly. ‘I
assume I will be there to negotiate with her.’ he said in a
businesslike tone.

The Commander nodded. ‘Yes. Have you heard
of the other humans that Astar recently made contact with?’

Vann nodded. He had heard something about
that. Not much though.

‘Well, the man who organized that will also
be going.’

‘I see. When do I leave?’

The Commander gave him the details of the
mission. Vann felt very calm. The shock and pain he’d felt at the
news of Riley’s death had eased. He was not necessarily excited
though either. She
had
faked her death, and not given one
word of warning, so meeting her could only mean rejection
again.

So he was calm, neither looking forward to
or dreading what was coming, merely waiting for the axe to
fall.

The weeks spent secretly sneaking around the
Plains passed quickly for Riley. She enjoyed it. For a moment she
was free from her responsibilities, from the smells and sounds of
hundreds of gemengs. There was nothing but wide open skies and
grasslands, filled only by animals. She was entirely alone.

But those responsibilities were ones she had
sought out, so she did not dread returning. And it wasn’t as if she
was just relaxing out here. Riley secretly challenged various
tribal leaders to duels. They wouldn’t talk, or listen to her,
without first being defeated. So she defeated them. She told them
what was going to happen, gave them some suggestions, and then
instructed them to protect their people in whatever way they saw
fit.

She wasn’t only out here to warn the other
tribes though. There was a destination she had in mind, and now she
was finally in sight of it.

She was not in the Plains any longer. She
was close- but not in them.

The houses that rose before her looked much
smaller and dilapidated than last time she’d been here. She
approached the houses. The tiny village looked empty.

Suddenly a roar, so loud the earth
shook.

A monster appeared. It barrelled towards
her, like a hairy bullet.

Riley calmly stepped out of the way. It ran
past her, skidded to a halt and turned.

‘Hello!’ She called. ‘I’m not here to hurt
you!’

The creature came towards her again. Again,
Riley dodged.

‘My name is Riley, I just want to talk!’

‘Leave now, before I tear you to pieces!’
the beast thundered.

‘No. Please,’ she held up her hands. Her
sword and dagger hung from her belt- the belt and scabbards were
the same old ones though the weapons were new. ‘Do you want me to
disarm myself?’ She asked. ‘I am not here to hurt you.’

The creature let out another roar and
charged at her again.

This time, Riley stood her ground. She was
wearing her everyday clothes, so it didn’t really matter if he
ripped them.

The creature collided with her. Riley caught
him, stopped him. She did not even tremble, though it hurt. The
creature let out a surprised squeal.

‘I’m not going to hurt you.’ she repeated.
She stepped back, her hands up again. ‘See? Now, can we talk?’

Finally, the creature straightened up. He
looked at her with wide, dewy eyes. He was entirely covered in
coarse, brown fur, and his nose was decidedly pig like. ‘Who are
you?’ he asked.

‘My name is Riley.’ she held out her hand
and smiled. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you.’

The man stared at her hand, then her face.
Slowly, as if expecting it to bite, he shook her hand. ‘Jaleg
Mightyroar.’ he said.

‘Is Olef here?’ she asked, looking around.
He had been the leader. He would be good to talk to.

‘Dead.’ The man replied flatly.

Riley should not have been surprised, and
yet she was. ‘I see.’ she managed. ‘Are you the leader then?’

He nodded.

‘Alright. We should talk.’

Jaleg didn’t move.

‘Would you like to talk here or do you want
to sit down?’

‘Here.’

‘Alright. Well, I’d like to help you.’

As she and Jaleg talked, other gemengs crept
from their hiding places. Eventually, they came to see what they
were talking about and Riley found herself with a small
audience.

It took a while for what she was suggesting
to sink in. Mostly, they thought she was crazy.

She was getting used to that.

But she remembered these people, their fear
of each other, of a mysterious lord.

‘You want to help us defeat our lord?’ Jaleg
finally asked, his eyes wide.

Riley nodded. ‘Yes. I’ll show you how to
defend yourselves. Then you won’t have to pretend to live in houses
that are falling down.’ She looked meaningly at the buildings that
were not quite as decrepit as they looked. ‘After that, well, you
might need to leave.’ She told them about the ehlkrid. As with the
other gemengs she met, she mentioned the mountains. She wasn’t
going to hide what she thought was the safest place from them.

Jaleg looked at her critically, his big eyes
narrowed. ‘Alright. We’ll humour you.’

Riley smiled. ‘When does your lord usually
come?’

‘Whenever.’ Jaleg shrugged.

‘I see. Well, I’ll train you and show you
how to fight together. And then you will defeat him.’

It took over two weeks to get to the
Plains.

During that time Vann spent a lot of time
talking with Saris. Or Seris. Vann, much to his chagrin, found he
had the same difficulty remembering Messenger’s name as everyone
else. So he called him Messenger, just like everyone else.

Messenger was intrigued about how Vann had
talked to the fish people. He had been surprised. Vann noted a
certain wariness in his manner, as if he was not quite ready to
believe gemengs could be useful- and equals- unless he saw it
himself. But he had listened and was willing to reserve judgement
until he met them himself, which was a far cry more than what the
other Astarians were willing to do.
They
thought he- and
Coastsiders in general- were crazy.

Messenger’s willingness to have his mind
changed was vital, Vann quickly realised. His word alone would not
be enough to convince anyone Riley wasn’t trying to invade them.
Though a little voice inside said, he needed to be open too. Maybe
she
was
dangerous. He acknowledged the voice. But he didn’t
think it likely.

And Vann liked Messenger. He was interesting
to talk too. The fact that he was willing to talk about where
gemengs might have come from was rare and refreshing. They had a
good time sharing theories about anything and everything. Messenger
had his own share of stories as well. Cavachi sounded like nothing
Vann had ever seen, though he got the feeling Messenger wasn’t
telling him everything. He would talk about the stories the Vachi
had about the gemengs, and then he would skirt away, as if trying
to avoid something.