The Lord of the Plains

by Sarah Chapman

Chapter 13

  It was a very big deal. Such a big deal Riley was aware of something building up in the schoolyard for many days. It wasn’t until the end of the week that the tension reached its peak, and the thing they’d all been waiting for finally happened.

  ‘I got the tickets!’ Razra yelled at the top of his voice.

  With screams and laughs most of the children rushed over to Razra. Riley watched in consternation. She was learning rapidly the moods of her colleagues, still, she wasn’t sure if these were good screams or bad.

  She made her way over to Razra to ensure he was ok.

  ‘Take me, take me!’

  ‘Oh please, let me come!’

  ‘We’re going together, right, Razra?’

  Riley absorbed these things but they meant little to her. Razra was standing in the middle of a group of children looking triumphant. Seeing this, Riley stopped. Everything was fine.

  ‘Shut up! Just tell us who you’re going to take!’ A boy even larger than Razra commanded.

  The rabble died down and Razra looked around a bit sheepishly. ‘Well…Marilia already gave my Mum money so she’s coming.’ Then he glanced towards a boy Riley knew he didn’t like very much. Mainly because this particular boy was rather more accomplished than Razra and Razra’s mother was rather taken with the idea that he would make an excellent playmate for Razra. Razra had told her these things. At length. ‘Teztar, you get to come too, and Leina.’

  Riley was rather impressed at Razra’s mother, though she didn’t know her. Clearly, none of the three he had picked had been his choice, yet even without this mysterious mother looking over his shoulder Razra was sticking by her commands. Very impressive indeed.

  ‘Well, is that all?’ the big boy asked belligerently.

  ‘I haven’t decided yet.’ Razra said, his tone uncharacteristically meek. It seemed the bigger boy coupled with his mother’s choices had cowed him.

  At that the cries from the other children began with renewed vigour.

  Seeing that all was well, though Razra didn’t look particularly happy, Riley went back to her lunch spot.

  As the day ended Riley strode, with legs swinging, over to Aerlid. She was happy. That swinging, impractical stride was a clear sign of joy.

  As she approached Aerlid, Riley spotted a large group of children gathering around one woman. Riley slowed her pace. Razra had many brothers and sisters, and this woman had many small two legs that appeared to be her own. Riley had observed that at going home time the human children gathered around the large two legs that belonged to them, not their teachers. The gemeng children, on the other hand, gathered around each other. Perhaps this woman with the many small two legs was the formidable Razra’s mother?

  ‘What are you looking at?’ Aerlid asked her curiously as Riley watched.

  ‘Maybe Razra’s mother.’ Riley replied. Then she asked, ‘how can you tell if someone is someone’s mother?’

  ‘Well, they might look similar.’ Aerlid said, amused. ‘Why?’

  Riley observed the lady carefully and compared her to Razra. ‘I think it’s Razra’s mother.’ she said, though it would be useful for Razra to appear and walk towards one of the large two legs so she might know for certain.

  Riley began walking towards her then stopped and looked back at Aerlid. ‘Is it alright to watch how she manages the small ones?’

  Aerlid’s eyebrows rose. ‘Perhaps it would be best not to.’

  Disappointed, Riley deferred to his greater wisdom regarding all things except cats. They turned away.

  As they were leaving Riley heard a wail from behind. She stopped in alarm and looked back. It was Razra, running towards them. This concerned her greatly as this was an unusual occurrence for going home time.

  Perplexed, Riley waited until Razra reached them. He rested his hands on his knees, panting hard. ‘Why are you leaving so early?’

  ‘It’s going home time.’ Riley responded. She didn’t know what ‘so early’ meant, so she noted and ignored it.

  Just then Razra noticed Aerlid. Quickly he straightened and stopped panting. So quickly in fact, Riley became suspicious of how out of breath he had been.

  ‘Hello, sir. I’m Razra Lesian. It’s nice to meet you.’ he stuck out his hand in a very polite manner.

  ‘It’s nice to meet you too, Razra. I’m Arntar, Riley’s uncle.’ Aerlid smiled.

  Instantly Riley felt a moment of indignant jealousy, clearly Razra had been hiding his greeting skills from her. This was not how he behaved in school! And for Aerlid to be so impressed!

  Riley turned to Aerlid, ‘is that how I should greet people?’ she asked, her tone clearly showing her feelings.

  ‘I think your greeting is fine.’

  Razra was used to Riley’s strangeness by now and did not react to her question. ‘I’m sorry for bothering you, sir, I just had a question.’ he said in that manner Riley felt was clearly fraudulent.

  ‘Of course, it’s no bother at all.’

  Razra turned to Riley, a grin on his face. ‘Do you want to come to the CTA?’

  Riley looked at him blankly. She had been blindsided, and it was not a question she was very familiar with. Yet it was not nearly as bad as ‘What do you think of Astar?’

  Razra beamed, as usual taking silence to mean whatever he wanted it to mean. ‘Meet us outside tomorrow at two o’clock!’

  Then he turned to Aerlid, suddenly a model child again, ‘is that alright with you, sir?’

  Aerlid was struggling to contain his pleasure, Riley, invited on a playdate! Still, he managed to ask in a calm and dignified manner, ‘Where is the CTA?’ He said it ‘C’, ‘T’, ‘A’, unlike Razra who called it ‘ceta’.

  ‘My Mother is just over there, sir, if you’d like to ask.’ Razra pointed and Riley was satisfied to note that she had been right. The woman with the many small ones gathered around her was indeed Razra’s mother.

  ‘Thank you, I’ll go speak to her, and yes, Riley can go.’ With that Aerlid walked over, and Riley wondered for a moment if she should warn him of that woman’s great formidableness. But Razra was talking to her and the moment was gone.

  ‘It’s the new Jeitar and Molozor show! They just changed it last week! I’ve been waiting for ages! Mum didn’t take us to the last showing, I had to ask Fann’s friend’s older brother what happened!’

  Before Razra could keep going, because Riley knew he would, she interjected, ‘that’s not how you behave at school!’

  Razra, startled, said ‘well he’s old. You have to treat old people nice.’

  Riley was silent as she processed this. After a moment she had interpreted it as you treat more powerful and potentially dangerous people with respect to ensure they don’t attack you. Then, with this in mind she was instantly ashamed. ‘Yes, I understand. Thank you very much for inviting me.’ she said earnestly, hoping to make amends.

  Razra beamed, ‘well, you don’t interrupt me all the time. And I know I can count on you if Jeila tries to steal my spot if I go to the toilets.’

  Razra resumed his previously interrupted tale with gusto and they walked over to his family and Aerlid.

  Riley realised he actually wanted her to come to the theatre with him. She beamed, and her legs began swinging again.

  The fact that it was called ‘The Children’s Theatre of Astar’ might have led one to believe there was more than one theatre in Astar. Perhaps, for example, an adult’s theatre. But this was not the case. There was a Screen, much more expensive than the theatre, but it was not a theatre. There was only one theatre in Astar, only for children- as it was a frivolous exercise after all, and it was referred to by all as ‘ceta’.

  Riley was very concerned about going to the theatre, what if Molzolzor was there? Aerlid had tried to explain he wasn’t real, but this was something very difficult for her to grasp. So, Aerlid was coming with her. He was thrilled at the whole prospect.

  The CTA was on the opposite edge of the city to their home. So it was a l
ong walk to get there, though that was of no concern to them. If anything, the walk calmed Riley down. She was too busy gazing up at the giant buildings to think about Molzolzor. Aerlid, too, was impressed. As they went further into the city the streets were more often paved and the buildings increased monotonically in height. The only place he had ever seen anything like these towering monoliths was among his own people. How was it these humans could build such amazing structures yet still couldn’t come up with anything better to eat than cave mould?

  The centre of the city was filled with people. They all looked efficient and busy and took little notice of them. It was very bright, the sunlight striking off the reflective surfaces of the buildings. From further away, not right below, Aerlid could see many of the buildings had constructs on top of them. He couldn’t tell what they were from this distance and as he got closer to the buildings the angles hid them. He would have to ask Keila.

  Then they were in the centre and the buildings started to decrease in height. It was disappointing indeed to walk away from Astar. The CTA would have to be very impressive to top it.

  Eventually they came to a neat, one story building. ‘CTA’ was painted along the top in big block letters. The entrance was a pair of double doors. Outside these doors two men stood, one on either side. Aerlid spotted Razra and his family and went and stood with them, on the left. How was it, he wondered, everyone knew what was playing here and when? Did they come and ask these men? The man whose line they were in was taking tickets and people were going inside. The tickets were bars of the lovely stone, which counted as money, marked with chalk. In the other line people were buying tickets. As he watched the man began turning people away.

  ‘There’s no more room in this viewing.’ he called in a carrying voice above the queue, so he would not have to repeat himself. Then he began reiterating the schedule. Some people left, others stayed to buy tickets for other shows. Aerlid had already paid Razra’s mother for his and Riley’s ticket. Due to the distance the CTA was from where most of the people in their school lived some of the parents came and bought many tickets and shared them with the other children who wanted to go.

  Their line moved forward a large jump as a sizable group of people in front of them went into the theatre all at once. Then it was their turn and they were past the ticket checker and through the double doors.

  Inside was a single well lit room. A few chairs were in the front, though most people would be standing. In front of the row of chairs was a clear space. On either side of this space were barriers to hide what was behind. That was perhaps where actors might wait for their turn to perform.

  The children, barring Riley, seemed to know the routine. She was whipped from his side and taken down near the front of the theatre. Some of the older children stayed near the back. Razra’s mother gestured for Aerlid to follow her and he and the other parents joined her and headed to the back of the theatre.

  The room was filling up quickly. Everyone did the same as Razra’s group. There was some shuffling around of people already present, as everyone tried to ensure everyone else could see. Then it was done and the crowd stilled.

  A man, the ticket checker in fact, walked out from one the wings and onto the centre of the performing area. He solemnly observed the crowd. Then he opened his mouth. ‘Last time Jeitar and Molozor saved Astar from Molzolzor…’ he went on for a short time.

  Then he inclined his head and vacated the stage. A person came out from the other side dressed in military clothes. ‘Hurry, Molozor, we have to get there before they do!’

  ‘Coming, Jeitar!’

  Aerlid started in surprise as a giant furry thing barrelled out of the wings, following Jeitar.

  It took Aerlid a moment to realise it was in fact a human dressed in so many animal skins it looked more beast than man.

  The story continued. From down the front Aerlid heard some of the children cheering. It looked like Razra managed to talk to Riley (talk at Riley) and watch the play at the same time. Aerlid didn’t know any of the characters, but the story was quite simple so he could follow it. Jeitar ran around fighting gemengs and protecting Astar with his sidekick Molozor. Jeitar was human, so sometimes he couldn’t beat the gemengs by himself, though he always came up with clever plans to escape. Molozor fought strongly, but most of the lines were Jeitars’. When Molozor did speak it was usually, ‘yes, Jeitar!’ or ‘coming, Jeitar!’. At the end the gemengs were beaten back from Astar, for now. Of course they were coming back; otherwise what would they show next time?

  When it was over Aerlid asked Razra’s mother, ‘where do they get the costumes?’

  ‘Molozor’s and the gemeng’s costumes come from some of the things gemengs wear when they first arrive in Astar.’ So, like his own clothes, Aerlid thought. ‘Jeitar’s outfit is an old military uniform. We don’t use that type of armour anymore.’

  It looked very similar to Aerlid, but he supposed it must be different. The other character’s costumes weren’t worth mentioning, they were just everyday clothes. ‘Do they ever do plays about Astar’s founding?’ Aerlid asked curiously.

  ‘Every so often.’ She replied. ‘Jas out front will tell you the schedule.’ Then she turned around to yell at Razra who apparently needed yelling at.

  Aerlid felt a sense of satisfaction at this. Now he knew why there was a theatre and where the stories of their history came from. It wasn’t so different to how the Seiaan people had passed on their history. With no written language of their own, they’d passed on their history through their strong oral tradition. He would very much like to see a play about the founding of Astar.

  Soon they were all trundling out of the theatre. Outside people gathered in groups to wait for others still inside. Aerlid spotted Riley, Razra with her. Riley looked quite relieved to spot him and immediately veered off in his direction.

  ‘Why is the gemeng called Molzolzor?’ Aerlid asked Razra, as the little boy approached. The name had stuck with him since he had heard Riley tell him to be wary of Molzolzor.

  ‘Because he’s a gemeng! All gemengs have names like Molozor and Molzolzor!’

  Riley frowned. ‘I don’t understand.’ she said finally, because no matter how she thought about it that sentence didn’t make sense to her.

  ‘Well, the gemengs outside are real gemengs, but the gemengs who live here are gemengvals. That’s why they have names like Riley and not Rollvolzarizar.’ Razra said cheerfully.

  Riley accepted Razra’s explanation, relieved. She didn’t want to be called Rollvolzarizar. It was way worse than Rilodana, which Aerlid had originally tried to call her and which she had replaced with the far superior, ‘Riley’.

  ‘Razra!’ Razra’s mother was instantly on him.

  ‘Oh, I mean, not gemengvals, fake gemengs.’

  Aerlid kept his expression carefully calm. ‘I haven’t heard that expression here.’ he said.

  ‘It means fake gemeng!’ Razra offered cheerfully.

  ‘Am I fake?’ Riley asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

  ‘It means trash. Gemeng trash.’ Razra’s mother said sternly. ‘It’s not a word you should call your friends, Razra. Not if you want to keep them. Where have you heard that?’

  ‘Fanie.’ Razra looked shocked. ‘He said it meant fake gemeng! Because the gemengs don’t have claws and teeth, aren’t as scary as the real ones outside..’ he trailed off.

  Razra’s mother went off like a missile towards one of the older children.

  Riley looked genuinely confused as she said ‘but I’m not trash. Or fake.’ She added after a moment.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ he looked like he was about to cry. ‘Fann said Molozor was a gemeng and gemengs who live in Astar are gemeng….’

  Once again, Riley accepted his explanation easily. She wasn’t sure why Razra was so upset. ‘It’s alright, Razra,’ she said easily, ‘you can keep telling me about Rollvolzarizar.’

  Razra, gratefully, launched off into his story.

  Riley, ag
ain, was very pleased at her progression in the social arts. She wasn’t sure why Razra had been so upset. It must be because his mother was a very fierce large two legs, she decided.