The Broken Kingdom

by Sarah Chapman

  With every passing second, the situation worsened. Maybe there was still a chance she could beat him, but it got smaller and smaller with every passing moment.

  ‘You can’t interfere.’ Karesh said urgently, suddenly putting a hand on his arm. ‘If you do, the tribe won’t respect her.’

  ‘Fine. You can keep the tribe. She and I can go somewhere else.’ He tried to raise the SIGPEW.

  It was hard, but Riley let go. He was too strong and too fast. The only way she was going to beat him was if she could trick him into leaving her an opening. And it had to be a big opening. So she stopped fighting so fiercely. She let him beat her around, hurt her more than he could just yet. His confidence grew, and Riley stumbled more and more.

  It wasn’t all faked though. She was hurt. She was getting hurt. If he didn’t make a huge mistake soon, he was going to kill her.

  It was terrifying and painful. She was vaguely aware of a commotion in the crowd. She thought she heard Vann yell.

  But she had to focus.

  And then she slipped. She was surprised. Then she realized her leg was bleeding, did not have the strength to hold her up. She looked up. He was above her. It was too late. His claws gleamed and dripped with her blood.

  He raised his claws above his head, far higher than they needed to be to rip her to shreds.

  Riley didn’t think. She lunged with her sword. His face changed from glee to shock. The sword buried into his chest and emerged from the other side. He slowly crumpled to the ground and the sword was pulled from her grasp by the weight of his body.

  Riley tried to stand. But she slipped again.

  And then someone’s arms were around her.

  ‘Are you alright?’ Vann was saying angrily. ‘Go get Aerlid!’ he shouted to someone.

  ‘Yes… yes, I’m ok.’ Her mind seemed to be moving very slowly. ‘No… no, don’t let him near me!’

  ‘Riley you’re hurt. You’re really hurt.’

  She shook her head. ‘No, I don’t care. Don’t let him, Vann. Get the ones he’s been training… get Adila…’

  Suddenly tired, Riley wasn’t really aware of what happened next.

  She seemed to be swaying far above the ground. And then she was in her tent and people were all around her. She spotted a flash of silver hair.

  ‘No! Don’t let him near me!’

  ‘Riley, please,’ Vann was saying, still near her. ‘You need help.’

  ‘I would rather die.’ she said vehemently. Summoning all her strength, she turned to Aerlid, ‘Get. Out.’

  Chapter 54

  ‘Is she going to be ok?’ Aerlid asked from within his circle.

  ‘Yes.’ Vann said heavily. ‘You trained them well… and Adila helped.’

  Aerlid sighed in relief. ‘She was unreasonable as a child too.’

  Vann didn’t respond to that. ‘So was that man really the son of the Ehlkrid King?’

  ‘Considering his strength? I can’t think of any other explanation. That’s not too unusual, he and Andalla probably have quite a few descendants wandering around.’

  ‘Are any more going to show up?’

  ‘I can’t say. Unlikely, considering what happened to this one, if there are any more nearby with enough of the King or Andalla’s blood in them to be a threat.’

  ‘Do you think the King sent him?’

  Aerlid shrugged. ‘I’d be surprised if the King even knew about him. He could have just been ambitious.’

  Vann nodded and headed back to Riley’s tent to share the knowledge. He entered the tent to find Riley, heavily bandaged and sitting up. Karesh was with her.

  Vann gave Karesh an icy look. ‘Riley, we need to talk.’

  ‘About what?’ she said almost irritably. She didn’t like being cooped up in the tent.

  ‘Karesh wouldn’t let me help you.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘It was clear you were losing. I was going to try shooting him with my SIGPEW. Karesh stopped me.’

  ‘Is that where those teeth marks came from?’

  Startled, Karesh covered his forearms. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘if I had let him he would have destroyed the tribe. You won, it was unnecessary.’ A flash of irritation crossed his face as he said, ‘I do not want you to die.’

  Riley sighed. ‘Alright. Karesh, I want you to listen to Vann as you would to me. Vann can deal with the consequences of his choices.’

  Karesh frowned but he nodded. ‘Yes, Master.’

  He left soon after. Vann sat down next to Riley, carefully putting an arm around her.

  ‘I don’t like it in here.’ she said grumpily.

  ‘Look, you can see outside.’ Vann pointed to the open flap.

  ‘I want to go outside.’

  ‘Alright.’ Vann replied easily. ‘Go outside then.’

  He got a dark glare for his troubles.

  Though Riley was shuffling around outside her tent in a little over a week, she was by no means recovered. Her carers would have preferred she stop moving and stay inside, but that wasn’t likely to happen.

  Mostly she was too weak and sore to go far, so she would sit outside her tent looking grumpy. She soon got the idea to take over teaching the gemengs Astarian writing and reading, leaving Aerlid more time to work on his book.

  The gemengs were learning a new word for themselves; Mixed.

  From the looks on the faces of her students, it was clear her teaching had not improved. However, they kept their views to themselves, she was the Master after all. Vann took great pleasure in pointing it out to her though.

  Slowly, she recovered, and her little walks around the campsite grew longer. The camp grew slowly during that time, the gemengs that were not yet with them were much further away, and not all could be convinced to leave their refuges.

  No further action could be taken until she was better, but she and Vann began to talk about contacting the humans themselves, as it looked like the humans weren’t going to find them.

  Eventually Riley started hunting again, and then finally she was declared fit by her carers. Considering she’d spent the last week hunting with the warriors, Riley didn’t think much of that proclamation.

  Chapter 55

  ‘Captain Endis, do you have an explanation for this?’ Commander Reista of the Coastside Submariners demanded.

  ‘How would I know, sir? Vann was the one who always talked to the fish people.’ Garis replied.

  ‘Yes…’ there was a heavy silence as both considered Vann, who had gone missing months ago.

  ‘They’re trying to speak to us.’ Garis prompted finally. Being a submariner hadn’t gotten any easier since Vann’s disappearance, and had in fact become a lot more dangerous with the ocean ehlkrid. There weren’t many, but even one was a serious issue. They all made Molk look as dangerous as a fishperson. It was tough to admit, but the submariners were having trouble protecting the supply routes; they weren’t all closed yet, but many were. They simply didn’t have the submarines necessary to protect the supply ships.

  Garis was worried about Vann, but more than that, he missed having a decent second-in-command, a man who was calm and in control even when the sub was sinking. None of the men who’d replaced him even came close to Vann.

  ‘Yes.’ The Commander sighed. ‘Yes, they are. Well,’ and he lifted himself out of his chair with a sigh, ‘I guess I better go speak to them.’

  ‘You, sir?’ Garis replied, unable to hide his surprise.

  ‘Yes, me, Captain Endis, and you can wipe that smirk off your face. I can’t get anything intelligent out of the people who listen to the fish people, so I guess I’m going to have to speak to them myself.’

  Zap Zap anxiously flapped his tail while he waited, clinging to a small fishing boat in the Coastside docks. The No-Tails who lived in Vann’s wave, Coastside, were behaving very oddly. It was distressing, particularly when he knew what was at stake. He’d forgotten what it was like trying to communicate with the No-Tails before meeting Vann. Now he
remembered there was a reason he’d avoided them.

  Most of the screaming had stopped now, and the remaining No-Tails were mostly pointing and gawping. A few were aiming weapons at him, and it took all of Zap Zap’s courage to stay where he was and not leap into the water, away from the weapons he had taken his name from.

  When he tried to talk the No-Tails, humans, he reminded himself, Vann call them humans, they began talking excitedly amongst themselves, ignoring him. It was very frustrating.

  Eventually, a human that was a bit rounder than the others strode purposefully out onto the pier overlooking Zap Zap’s boat.

  Zap Zap looked up at this large, frowning man and said, ‘you Vann’s friend?’

  ‘I am Vann’s boss.’ The man replied, after only a minor pause. ‘I am Commander Lart Reista of the Coastside Submariners.’

  ‘I Zap Zap, I Vann’s friend.’

  ‘Yes, I have heard of you. Vann isn’t here, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Zap Zap know-‘

  ‘You know?!’

  Zap Zap hesitated, remembering what Vann had told him. He knew what it felt like, to lose a friend, so it was hard for him not to reassure the people who might be missing Vann. But Vann had warned him. ‘Yes, Vann no visit. Vann not here. Vann always visit Zap Zap. Zap Zap friend.’

  ‘Yes,’ the man sighed, ‘I had hoped… nevermind. Why are there so many fish people in my bay, and where did you go?’

  ‘Go…’ Zap Zap did not often lie, and he wasn’t sure if he should lie now, especially when he needed the help of these people. He decided for the moment to pretend he didn’t understand. ‘Go? Monsters in ocean, worse than Molk, bad, bad monsters. Eating fish people. Dying. Came here, safe, hope is safe.’

  ‘Ah… so the ehlkrid are causing problems for you too.’

  ‘Can fish people stay? We help. Be useful. Please, please…’ Zap Zap trailed off, hopelessly.

  The man was silent for what seemed like a long time. Finally, his voice heavy he said, ‘if Vann were here he would want me to say yes. I don’t think he ever forgave me for the mountain, for that girl… Yes, Zap Zap, you may stay. I am not a sentimental man, and don’t for a moment think I’m doing this for Vann. Your people have been useful allies in the past, and I don’t see why that should change, though I’m not sure Astar would agree…’ he mumbled. Louder, he said, ‘You can stay in the bay-‘

  The man was cut off by Zap Zap’s happy splashing.

  ‘Thank you, thank you! Zap Zap tell clan, we be helpful! I go tell clan, then Leader come talk, come up with plan, we be helpful!’ and Zap Zap splashed off under the waves, leaving the boat rocking in his wake.

  Commander Reista, bemused, watched him swim off.

  Chapter 56

  Vann found Riley late in the afternoon by her tent. She’d just returned from hunting, though judging from her damp hair, she’d been back long enough to bathe.

  ‘So, are you going to let your students escape?’ Vann joked.

  Riley stretched and frowned. ‘What do you mean escape? But I guess so, yes. I’m having Muress, Gurak and Lakenda take over the teaching. Aerlid will check the progress of the students, but I want him to focus on that book and the future doctors.’

  Vann smiled, but it faded quickly. ‘Are you busy right now?’

  ‘Why, do you need me for something?’

  ‘Only if you don’t have anything else to do.’

  ‘It depends, are you going to claim I’m a bad teacher?’

  ‘I would never do that.’ he said innocently.

  ‘You did, just five seconds ago!’

  Vann smiled. ‘It can wait. I just wanted to talk about something.’

  ‘Ok.’

  Vann hesitated. ‘Can we go somewhere more quiet?’

  Riley turned and began opening her tent flap. Vann quickly stopped her saying, ‘no, not there. How about by the river?’

  Riley shrugged. ‘Lead the way.’ she said.

  They walked around the campsite and followed the river as it wound its way away from the camp and into the trees.

  ‘It could go badly with the humans,’ Riley said, ‘but I think we have to contact them. The tribe is well organized now, there’s no reason to put it off any longer.’

  Vann nodded distractedly.

  ‘I don’t want to let them know where the camp is, but we’re going to have to move closer to Astar at some point.’

  Riley waited expectantly for Vann to say something. When he didn’t she said, ‘you know, this part of the river is as quiet and secluded as the part we passed five minutes ago.’

  ‘Huh?’ Vann stopped suddenly and looked around. They were far from the camp. All around were the smells and sounds of the forest. ‘Y-yeah. I guess so.’

  There was another pause before Vann said, ‘maybe we should sit down.’

  Riley sat down at the edge of the river. She took her boots off and dangled her feet in the cool water. She kept her eyes on the forest though, lest something attack them.

  Vann got down more awkwardly, crossing his legs.

  Riley glanced over at him. ‘Is something wrong, Vann?’

  ‘No, I wouldn’t say that.’

  She kept her eyes on him. He was not looking at her, his eyes kept flicking around.

  ‘What did you want to talk about?’ She asked.

  Vann breathed out heavily. He closed his eyes for a moment. ‘Ok.’ he looked at her then. ‘Ok.’

  Riley waited.

  ‘Um.’ his hands fidgeted in his lap. ‘I’ll always be your friend, Riley, whatever happens, whatever you say.’

  Riley frowned, confused, but she didn’t say anything.

  ‘Maybe I should apologise first. I don’t know if I should be saying this. You know I would never want to hurt you, right?’

  Riley nodded slowly.

  ‘But I don’t know if I can ever be completely sure that I’ll always feel this way. But I… I care about you and I want to tell you. Ok. Riley I- I… I love you.’

  ‘Oh.’ Riley looked genuinely surprised, her face went bright red. ‘Oh.’

  Vann looked at her. ‘Do you… do you care about me too?’

  ‘U-um, well.. I-I haven’t thought about you like that for a long time.’

  Vann sighed, bowing his head.

  But Riley continued on, ‘I mean, th-that’s not what I- um, I-I don’t want to be friends!’

  ‘What?’ Vann cried. If rejection hurt, this was so much worse. His heart seemed to plummet all the way to the bottom of the earth. His eyes burning he said, his voice hoarse, ‘but all this time-! D-don’t I mean anything to you?’

  ‘No!’

  Vann went very quiet.

  ‘No, that’s not what I mean!’ Riley hurried on, blushing furiously, stumbling over words. She felt like every word she said was wrong. She tried to calm down.

  ‘What do you mean then?’ he replied hollowly.

  Riley suddenly leant over and grabbed his hand. ‘Please don’t look at me like that,’ she pleaded. ‘I-I’m not good at this.’

  Vann gripped her hand tightly. He’d imagined this so many times. But he’d never imagined it going this badly. ‘And I am?’

  Riley frowned at him. ‘I’ve met all your lovers.’

  Vann’s mouth was wide open now as he stared at her, but he stopped himself from saying anything as Riley said, ‘I want to be special to you.’

  ‘You are.’ he said hoarsely. ‘You are.’

  Riley looked at him for a long moment, as if trying to believe that.

  ‘I love you.’ he repeated. ‘Did you miss that? I’ve never said that to anyone else. Please, just tell me how you feel. What do you want from me?’

  Riley stared at him nervously. But she tried to calm down. Tried to think. Well, she knew the answer. But she never knew some things could be so difficult to say. ‘I… I’ve never… I’ve had friends before, Vann.’ she closed her eyes, couldn’t look at him. ‘I never, ever thought of you like them. But I… we had to be something, and y
ou didn’t- you weren’t interested. I can be your friend.’ she opened her eyes. ‘But I… I don’t want to.’

  Vann looked at her for a long drawn out second. And then he kissed her. It was short and nervous and when he pulled away they were both flushed.

  ‘Is this what you want?’ he whispered, so close he could only see her eyes.

  She nodded. But then she said, ‘o-only if I’m the only one.’

  He smiled. ‘That’s no problem at all.’ Then they kissed again. It was longer, more sure. They held each other tightly.

  When they broke apart again Riley rested her head on his shoulder, breathing heavily.

  Vann held her close, he couldn’t seem to stop smiling. But as Riley rested against him, concern started to worm its way into his heart. His smile slowly faded.

  Vann cleared his throat, ‘um… what if this doesn’t work out?’

  Riley stiffened against his chest. ‘Then I guess.. we go back to what we were before.’

  Vann could hear the hurt in her voice, feel her tension. And he hated that he was the cause. Again. ‘I’m sorry, I-’

  Riley moved away from him quite abruptly. She grabbed his hands tightly and held his gaze. There was something burning in her eyes, it could have been anger, or determination. ‘I’ve managed before, if you change your mind, I’ll manage again.’ she said heatedly. ‘But let me try.’ and she glared at him.

  He stared at her. ‘I don’t want to hurt you.’ he said, his voice little more than a breath. ‘I can’t, can’t promise anything.’

  She smiled, but there was something painful in the smile. It faded though as she spoke, ‘I guess I’m not surprised. I mean, I’ve met all your other-’

  ‘Hey!’

  She smiled. Then it faded and she became more serious. ‘I’ve never really done this before, I mean there was someone….’ she stopped that train of thought. ‘I don’t know how this works, or how long I’ll feel like this. I don’t know Vann, and you don’t need to promise me anything, ok? Just… if we both want each other now, can’t we be together?’

  Vann looked at her and let out a breath he felt like he’d been holding a long time. He let go of the uncertainty he’d been worrying at for so long. He would never know unless they tried, and they’d never have a chance if he was so caught up in worrying about his feelings changing. Vann smiled at her, ‘that sounds good.’ and he pulled her back into his arms.