The Broken Kingdom

by Sarah Chapman

  For some reason, they all seemed pleased to see her too. She couldn’t say why that would be. Perhaps she was imagining things.

  She didn’t know whether it was her who said it, but someone asked Karesh to organize them. And then Vann was taking her away.

  Quiet descended, they were alone. And finally she could relax and let everything out. Planning needed to be done, but not right now. Faces flashed past, names she had already counted and said goodbye to before. None of those people were here. No one she knew was here. And so she had to say goodbye to them again.

  Chapter 34

  Later that day she summoned Karesh. Vann sat next to her, Karesh in front.

  ‘Karesh, how many are there?’ she asked.

  ‘Less than a hundred. They are not really warriors, Master, mostly young children and those not yet warriors. Galis, the mate of Bulag led them. She is a warrior, however she is pregnant now and cannot fight yet.’

  Riley nodded, having expected that. Those most vulnerable had always stayed deeper in the caves, places the humans had not visited. She did not remember Galis, barely remembered her from the dozens of survivors that had arrived that morning.

  ‘But they know you, Master. They have learnt well.’ he hesitated.

  ‘Karesh,’ Riley said, her eyes narrowing. ‘I’d prefer it if you’d share your plans for me with me. Out with it.’

  Hesitating a moment longer, Karesh said quickly, ‘you can find the others, Master, those you didn’t control. You can teach them again, change the gemengs. These young children will grow up knowing the new ways. And you can create your new world. One without fear.’ He looked at her earnestly.

  Riley sighed. Vann touched her shoulder briefly, said nothing. They had in fact talked about all this before Karesh’s arrival. This wasn’t much different than what Riley had feared. Karesh had had nothing before she had come, was it really so surprising he had latched onto what she had briefly been creating with such force?

  ‘Alright.’ she said.

  Karesh’s eyes widened. Then he slowly smiled.

  ‘I suppose several hundred dead is nothing between friends.’ she said bitterly. ‘I don’t want you out fetching any new gemengs, Karesh. We need to deal with these first. We need to deal with Andalla first. If I fail where he is concerned, he will likely kill everyone with me. Do you understand?’

  Karesh nodded. ‘After you defeat him.’

  ‘It may be better for everyone to leave and go with you, until he is sorted out.’

  Karesh’s look became ever so slightly stubborn.

  ‘It is a choice I will give to the others.’ she said firmly.

  ‘Yes, Master.’

  ‘But in case they decide to stay,’ his expression brightened, Riley continued anyway, ‘we’ll need a shield. I’ll explain it to the others. But we’ll need a shield from Adila. And we need to improve the camp now that we have so many here. We’ll need tents, and more hunting parties. We need to keep this place clean, latrines away from the camp and the water.’

  ‘I’ll arrange it, Master.’

  ‘The vote first.’ she insisted.

  Karesh was soon arranging the enlargement of the camp, the survivors happily helping. Galis had kept the survivors well organized on their journey, and they had supplies with them, possessions carried deep into the caves and out again. Still, making tents for everyone would take time. Riley and her few gemengs had not even bothered making tents for themselves.

  Karesh enlisted Galis’ assistance in organizing the survivors. He watched her carefully, noting how she took control of her group. When he gave her an order she hesitated, clearly considering whether or not to obey him. But she was still pregnant, she could not fight him.

  After, he thought, when she has the child she will consider challenging me. Not the Master though, I don’t think she is fool enough for that. It didn’t matter though; even if Galis challenged the Master, the Master would prevail and only cement her authority.

  Despite how much work there was to do, Karesh was happy. Going behind the Master’s back and attempting to manipulate her made him deeply uncomfortable. She would be well within her rights to kill him for that. Frequently, he had to remind himself that she probably wouldn’t, and that he was just supporting her original plan. He could not let go of her vision, which had become his hope. Even if he angered her, he had to take the risk. And now, it had paid off. The Master had accepted her role.

  He was relieved too, at the reaction of everyone at Riley’s suggestion. They’d been aghast at the thought of leaving. Newly reunited with those thought lost, why would they give that up for a threat they perhaps didn’t really understand? And anyway, they were gemengs. Violence was not new to them. The Master had only begun to change that. Whatever the reason, their cooperation with her vision would make everything easier.

  As a small army bustled around, Riley tried to have a conversation with Adila. The other valkar had already left.

  ‘But we’ll need to forage, Adila. We can’t stay cooped up in one place, otherwise we’ll starve. It would be even better if we could move around, and head somewhere fresh.’

  ‘I have been thinking on it.’ she said cautiously. ‘I’ll try, but I do not know if it will work. And it will be stationary. I’m afraid your foragers may end up ranging far.’

  Riley nodded, not surprised.

  ‘The best I can do is create a permanent door. A valkar shield will keep the ehlkrid away better than my knife. Even with so many here, they may not attack.’

  ‘Last I heard, the ehlkrid were not attacking the humans very much, and they have valkar shields, and a far bigger population.’

  ‘Humans are not good prey for the ehlkrid. But if they keep the shields entirely up, the ehlkrid would not attack them anyway, they can’t get through. A shield with an opening is something else entirely. I will try, but I make no promises it will work.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Adila paused, as if about to say something. But she shook her head and walked off to start setting up her shield.

  The extent of the camp was marked out, including a section of river. Then Adila briefly disappeared. When she returned Ladana was with her, as were a few other valkar.

  Riley watched as something like a very small metal trough was placed at the edges of the camp. It was no more than an inverted triangle, less than two centimetres in height. It was sunk into the ground until it was not protruding at all. It stopped at the stream and continued on the other side and then came back again. Once it was placed Adila took a pouch from her belt and began carefully spreading the contents into the trough. Whatever it was, it glowed and shone hotly.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Vann asked.

  ‘I am preparing the shield. This will… make it easier for me to make the shield into a specific form. It is extremely valuable, I will collect it when the shield is no longer needed.’

  ‘What is it?’ he asked curiously.

  ‘It is… flame, collected from the sun.’ Adila stepped back and began emptying the flames into other sections of the trough.

  ‘How did you get that?’ Vann asked incredulously.

  ‘On my visit to the sun.’

  ‘You’re telling me you’ve been to the sun.’

  Adila nodded. ‘I have. My great grandmother was the first Sunsinger to visit the sun. It is a journey all Sunsingers wish to make, but few can. I have only been once.’

  ‘That’s unbelievable!’

  Adila smiled. ‘It is quite common for Moonsingers to go to the moon. Nearly all go at least once, some go more than that. Aerlid has been twice.’ And her smile faded.

  She stepped back quickly and began singing, her comment quickly covered by her song.

  The tiny flames spread out along the trough, becoming thinner but still so bright. A hot, red glow was visible above the trough. It would be a good marker of the edge of the shield.

  When that was done Adila turned and headed over to the other valkar. Two large, mossy piec
es of wood had been tied together into a triangle and set into the ground, forming a door. Riley would need to duck to get through it.

  When the other valkar stepped away Adila began singing.

  After some time she stopped. A valkar handed her another long stick. Adila emptied the last of the flames from the pouch onto the end. She sung a short song and then handed the stick to Ladana.

  Ladana took it to the approximate middle of the campsite and placed it. When she sang it was not like Adila. Singing was perhaps not the right word. It was more a humming, a vibration, a low conversation Riley’s ears could not quite catch, that thrummed through the earth.

  Riley watched, her eyes widened as the stick grew roots that sunk into the earth. Ladana stepped back as a new tree started to grow. Branches sprouted and then finally… leaves. Leaves that were flames.

  The song faded away. Silence.

  Then Adila said in quiet awe, ‘that’s very impressive.’

  Ladana smiled briefly. ‘Thank you, Sunsinger. Shall we test our work?’

  Adila nodded, ‘does the flame run through it?’

  ‘It does. It will grow like a… normal tree.’

  They headed over towards the door.

  ‘Riley, will you go through the door?’ Adila asked.

  Riley quickly ducked through the door, straightened. She looked back.

  ‘Alright, now try coming over the flames.’

  Riley hesitated a fraction of a second before stepping over the low, warm flames. She frowned.

  Adila nodded. ‘Vann.’

  Vann went through the door and came back over the flames, looking somewhat confused.

  Adila then asked the same of Karesh.

  He also got through the door easily. But when he tried to come over the flames he couldn’t. Light suddenly shimmered in front of him, and he could go no further. He came back through the door.

  Adila smiled. ‘It works. It will only keep out those with ehlkrid blood, no matter how little. It won’t disrupt the plants and animals in this area. Nor would it work on Andallites. Be careful near the water. It’s unlikely, but they may swim under the shield and come up that way.’

  Riley smiled, gazing back at the shield that she could not see. The only sign was the red glow above the trough. ‘Thank you, Adila, Ladana. This is perfect.’

  Chapter 35

  Things became much busier after the survivors arrived. The campsite took shape over many days, as new tents were constructed and paths were laid out. Guards were always set by the river and the door. They could no longer assume the ehlkrid would stay away during daylight.

  And then Andalla finally took Ralana to his kingdom, with an entourage of Riley, Adila and Rose. Andalla still appeared quite taken with Ralana, who was still somewhat fearful or in awe of him. Riley merely listened and noted.

  And then she received the news she had made herself forget.

  Adila was with her, as was Rose and Vann. But when Aerlid appeared out of the forest and stopped in front of the door Riley felt a rush of fear.

  The shield would be no bar to him, and so they walked out past the shield to meet him. He waited. He seemed oddly smaller than before. He did not hold himself so tall, he seemed almost embarrassed.

  Though the idea of having him close very nearly overshadowed his potential usefulness, Riley managed to say softly ‘I may want to keep him with me for a time.’

  Rose shot her a hard look. Stiffly she whispered back, ‘what for?’

  ‘He might be useful. I’m not… sure though. Only if it’s… safe.’

  They came to a halt a short distance from Aerlid.

  ‘Aerlid.’ Rose greeted him, her voice harsh.

  His eyes flicked from her to Riley and back again. ‘Rose.’ he replied hoarsely.

  ‘I fear I know why you’re here.’

  He nodded quickly. His eyes flicked back to Riley. He held her gaze for a moment, then looked down at the ground. As he spoke his eyes flicked up and down, ‘please, I must know, is Seta there? I- I don’t have to, but Adila could judge you, she could look?’

  ‘No.’ Riley said flatly in a tone that brooked no discussion.

  He let out a sigh, but he nodded.

  Riley glanced at Vann then. He nodded. She looked back at Aerlid. Now that the time was here, it seemed impossible to suggest.

  Awkward silence reigned.

  Rose glanced at Riley. Her eyes were narrowed, impatient.

  ‘I don’t know if it’s safe.’ Riley whispered in response. ‘I-’ she glanced at Adila, who met her gaze calmly. Could the other valkar give her the answers she wanted? As soon as she thought the question she knew they could not. At least not everything.

  Her resolution firmed, in a strong voice Riley said, ‘Aerlid, Rose will take you back to wherever you were. And you will not be able to escape.’

  He nodded, his eyes downcast. He looked up at Adila, ‘Adila,’ he asked, ‘can you go check… go check…’ he failed for a bit, ‘the… body you made… can you see if Seta is there?’

  Adila shook her head sadly. ‘No.’ she said softly.

  He looked back down at the ground again. And then back up at Riley, and then down again, up and down, ‘I’m sorry, for what I did to you… but my first debt is to Seta,’ his voice became earnest, desperate, ‘after I fix what I did to Seta I can fix what I did to you.’ he held her gaze then, pitiful desperation emanating from him. ‘Perhaps an explanation would help?’ he asked hopefully.

  ‘I think we’re long past that, don’t you?’ Riley said icily. But pity softened the fear she felt for him, and she backtracked to that and said less coldly, ‘I do have a suggestion though.’

  He perked up at that hopefully.

  ‘Not for Seta, or for anything else you have done. But I may let you help me… if I can be sure you will never harm me again.’

  He faded a bit, ‘I never would, except for Seta.’

  Riley’s gaze narrowed. ‘That is not something I will risk. This is your only chance. I don’t need you, though you may be helpful.’

  He looked down again, his hands fidgeted somewhat. He looked up at Adila, ‘will I have to hurt her for Seta?’

  Again, Adila shook her head, ‘you never had to. So only you can answer that.’

  He looked down again. Then up, ‘can you judge me?’ he asked of Adila.

  ‘Aerlid,’ she sighed, ‘you know I have never been able to do that. I cannot give you certainty, only you can say what you will do.’

  ‘I owe a debt. I have no choice.’ he cried desperately.

  Adila closed her eyes. Then she opened them, was about to speak. She stopped and looked over at Rose. They shared a look, Rose did not look pleased, but then she never did.

  Adila spoke to Aerlid, ‘we would not leave you alone with Riley anyway, even if she allowed you to stay. So if you stay here, until Riley wishes you to leave, I will stay also. I don’t know what you will do, Aerlid. But what you do I can… I can minimize the damage.’

  His gaze seemed to clear at that, he straightened somewhat. Some of his old self came back as he said, ‘you could stop me, Adila. You are a Sunsinger. I couldn’t… hurt anyone with you here.’ he looked at Riley as he said that last and held her gaze. ‘What would you have me do?’

  ‘I have some questions.’

  ‘About what exactly? I hardly think I can help you train now. You have surpassed me.’ and he smiled then, shedding more of his… shame.

  ‘No… about… various people.’

  His eyes widened, and he looked very pleased. ‘I won’t get too excited, but I will be more than happy to answer any questions you have.’ His gaze moved behind her then to the campsite. ‘What’s going on here?’

  ‘I’ll explain. Aerlid,’ her voice hardened. ‘I want you stay in one place in the campsite. I also want you to continue teaching the gemengs medicine. And I want you to… record your medical knowledge.’

  He sighed, ‘on what exactly? Never mind, I’ll figure it out. Very well, wh
ere shall I be staying?’

  ‘Karesh will show you. Go.’ she moved out of his way as he walked towards the campsite. He looked up once at the invisible shield and then ducked under the door. Riley had intended to show him herself, to minimize his contact with others perhaps. But she wanted to talk to Adila.

  They all turned and watched him go. Adila looked troubled, Rose was her usual self. Vann stood near Riley. He touched her arm briefly.

  ‘What do you make of him?’ Adila said quietly.

  ‘He’s quite mad.’ Rose said matter-of-factly.

  ‘I never noticed, but he must have been this way so long… perhaps it is the only way he can be… I wasn’t there…’ she sighed.

  ‘I don’t like this.’ Rose said, turning towards them. ‘But it is your choice. He does not know his own mind, you cannot trust his seeming normalcy. Do not keep him here any longer than necessary.’ she looked intently at Riley, who merely nodded.

  ‘I will be careful. I have never been before, with him, Rose. But I will be.’ Adila promised.

  When Riley entered the campsite Aerlid was already in his allocated, secluded corner. Karesh had helped him set up. When Karesh saw Riley approaching he quietly drifted off.

  ‘You have everything you need?’ Riley asked brusquely.

  ‘To write a book and teach the gemengs? No, but Karesh will make me parchment, pen and ink. I imagine I’ll have to teach the gemengs how to read now too. And choose a language to write in.’

  ‘They have been learning Astarian.’ Riley replied. ‘I don’t care how you do it, as long as it gets done.’

  He merely nodded.

  ‘The valkar made me new weapons. They don’t work.’ Riley said and handed him her sword. ‘Adila told me they have a soul. Can you fix them?’

  Aerlid inspected the beautiful sword and frowned in exasperation. ‘Fearlid made this, there can be no better weapon for anything that doesn’t involve killing. I doubt they’ll let me go make you a new one now. Hmm… let me think on it, I may be able to do something.’