The Broken Kingdom (24 page)

‘He thinks… he-… he can’t imagine any reason
I might need company at night!’

‘What do you mean?’

‘He thinks we’re together Vann.’ she rounded
on him. ‘I tried to tell him I’m just having nightmares but he
won’t listen or believe me! Masters don’t have nightmares! No, I
can’t
possibly
be afraid of anything! I’m not his Master any
more Vann! Everyone’s dead! Dead!’

‘Alright,’ he said, trying to calm her down.
‘Maybe I can talk to him.’

She grunted, ‘I doubt it.’

‘Maybe not. But even so, does it really
matter?’

‘I’m not his Master, Vann.’ she said grimly.
‘I can’t be, and I don’t want to be.’

‘Let me see what I can do.’ he said. When
she nodded grumpily Vann turned and headed back to the camp.
Privately, he thought this explained why Karesh had been so
deferential when Riley was away.

When he found Karesh he was looking very
wide eyed. ‘The Master is very angry.’ Karesh said.

‘She doesn’t think she’s your Master
anymore.’ Vann replied in imperfect Plains speech.

Karesh hesitated a moment, ‘only because she
thinks she has no tribe.’

Vann narrowed his eyes. ‘Do ten gemengs
constitute a tribe?’

‘A small one.’ he nodded. ‘But the Master
needs a bigger tribe, the biggest, with all of the gemengs.’

Vann’s eyes widened. ‘I’m not sure Riley
shares your plans for her.’

Karesh shook his head. ‘She does. She just
thinks everyone’s dead.’

‘Karesh, do you know something I don’t?’

Karesh hesitated again.

Vann crossed his arms over his chest.

Cautiously Karesh said, ‘the Sunsinger is
looking. She’ll bring them here.’

Vann stared, then he closed his eyes and
sighed. He considered telling Riley, but then what if Adila
couldn’t find anyone? ‘Has Adila found anyone yet?’ Vann asked, his
tone grim.

Karesh shrugged.

Vann looked at him a moment longer. ‘Don’t
expect Riley to thank you for this, Karesh. At least not right
away.’

Karesh shook his head. ‘She’ll be very
angry.’

‘On that note, she and I are just friends,
Karesh.’

Karesh paused again, then slowly he said, ‘a
Master who has fear won’t be followed. But a Master with a mate… it
doesn’t matter.’

Vann opened his mouth to say something and
then shut it. Then he tried again, ‘everyone’s afraid sometimes,
Karesh.’

He nodded slowly. ‘But you don’t let
everyone see.’

Vann could think of nothing else to say.
Riley herself had said enough times that she was no longer anyone’s
master. But that just fell on intentionally deaf ears.

Vann headed back to Riley.

He told her, ‘he wants you to be his Master.
He knows, he’s just pretending.’

Riley nodded moodily. ‘Perhaps I should try
sleeping on my own.’

Startled, Vann said, ‘there’s no need for
that.’

She frowned darkly at him.

‘Does it really matter if Karesh wants to
pretend we’re lovers?’

She glared at him.

‘Just forget about it, Riley. It doesn’t
matter.’

She sighed heavily. ‘Go back to the camp, I…
I’ll go scout around the camp and make sure there are no ehlkrid
around.’

Vann wished her luck, and didn’t mention
Karesh’s plans.

Whatever anger or frustration Riley felt
faded once night came. Fear crept up on her and took a
stranglehold. It ceased to matter how stubborn Karesh was being.
She was afraid. Vann came and kept her company without asking. And
when she finally fell asleep, he was there too. When she woke up,
her irritation with Karesh was forgotten.

And then, over a week later, Andalla was
introduced to the valkar princesses.

Adila and Rose escorted Ladana and Ralana to
the forest, where Riley and the gemengs were waiting. Rose’s
expression was one of restrained fury. Adila’s was tempered by
worry and perhaps guilt. Ralana looked nervous and was fidgeting.
Ladana looked bored.

They waited, not saying anything. Minutes
slid by.

And then they heard the sound of trumpets.
Riley looked up. Andalla, surrounded by the Andallites, glided down
towards them in a golden procession.

When they landed the Andallites formed a
corridor. Andalla strode through the rows of gleaming Andallites
towards the princesses.

The trumpets fell silent. Andalla,
resplendent and golden, observed the two women curiously. Ladana
gazed at him indifferently. Ralana’s eyes widened, she fidgeted
even more.

The Andallites spoke as one, ‘Andalla stands
before you!’

The two women had been told by Adila how
they should act. Ladana curtsied gracefully. Andalla’s smile began
to falter. But Ralana nearly dropped to the ground, whether in fear
or awe. Likely fear. She kept her head bowed and trembled ever so
slightly.

And Andalla’s smile began to grow.

‘We are pleased to see you.’ Rose greeted
him, bowing carefully and avoiding his name. ‘Here stand Ladana and
Ralana, the daughters of our Queen, Rilodana.’

‘I see. You were right.’ he looked at Riley
now. ‘They are far more suitable for me than you.’

Riley bowed her head and said nothing. When
his gaze moved on Riley looked up again, her attention on Andalla
and her sisters.

‘Which one shall it be? Which of you will
have the honour of being my wife?’

Ladana pressed her lips together tightly.
Ralana trembled.

Andalla looked from one to the other. Then
his gaze stopped on Ralana. ‘You may look up.’

Slowly Ralana raised her head. Her eyes were
wide, she looked very fragile and pale.

‘Why do you tremble so?’ he asked. ‘Are you
afraid of me?’ he said this with a smile curving his lips, as if
the idea pleased him.

‘I-I have heard of your power,’ she wavered,
her eyes dropping to the ground again. ‘y-your… I’m sorry, what
should I call you?’

Andalla smiled widely now. ‘You have nothing
to fear from me.’ and he held out his hand to her. ‘It is fitting
that you call me Andalla.’

A bright flush suddenly lit her cheeks. His
name affected everyone, to varying degrees. But perhaps it was not
that, maybe it was the surprise of having his hand held out to
her.

When she took his hand he smiled. ‘I have
chosen. It is clear from merely looking at you that you are by far
more worthy than your sister.’ his gaze cooled as he glanced at
Ladana, who returned his pointed look. ‘Both your sisters, they are
but ugly frogs to your beauty. You shall be my wife.’ he said to
Ralana.

Ralana said nothing, rosy-cheeked and
astonished. Ladana looked somewhat surprised at being called an
‘ugly frog’.

‘And if Ralana does not wish to marry?’ Rose
said bluntly, her gaze dark. ‘You were promised a meeting, nothing
more.’

Andalla’s smile disappeared. ‘Do you wish to
marry me?’ he asked Ralana.

She ducked her head, her hair hiding her
face.

‘You see? She is overtaken by joy at the
prospect.’ Andalla proclaimed, smiling again.

Riley was suddenly shot dark looks by Adila,
Rose and Ladana. But their attention was soon back on Andalla.

‘Your magnificence,’ Riley finally spoke up.
‘Of course, anyone would be honoured by the thought of being your
wife. But you see she is delicate. Your gloriousness may be too
much for her.’

‘Too much?’

Riley nodded gravely. ‘I understand your
last valkar wife died.’

Andalla’s face clouded, became stormy.

‘You told me yourself merely looking upon
you can send someone mad. Surely it can’t surprise you that being
married to you could cause someone to die of happiness?’

He was momentarily taken aback, while the
three other valkar women turned their iron gazes on Riley.

‘Let Ralana get to know you, see if she
could survive being married to you. Surely you wouldn’t want her to
die?’

Andalla looked down at Ralana then. ‘It
would be a pity.’ He looked up suddenly then. ‘So you are
suggesting I court her?’

Before Riley could go on Andalla continued,
‘give her gifts and such? Perhaps show her around my kingdom? Yes,
yes I see that is the best way, I must court her.’

Riley nodded, nearly dizzy with relief.
‘Perhaps with a chaperone.’ she managed to add.

Andalla agreed at once, very pleased with
the whole idea. Then he looked to Ralana, ‘Would you like that?’ he
asked.

Ralana looked up quickly and then back down.
She nodded.

Beaming Andalla declared, ‘very well! Let
the courtship begin!’ Then he turned back to Ralana and kissed the
hand he still held. ‘I will come for you soon and take you to my
kingdom.’

And very quickly he and the Andallites were
gone. Once the trumpeting had drifted into silence and their golden
glow was no longer visible, Ladana and Adila rushed to Ralana.

‘Sister, are you all right?’

Ralana nodded, slowly looking up.

‘You do not need to put up with this,
Ralana.’ Adila said. ‘We will find a way.’

‘No… no, it’s ok.’ she said softly.

While Adila and Ladana were busy being
shocked Rose approached Riley.

‘You play a dangerous game.’ she stated.

Riley said nothing. It was an accusation she
could not deny. Perhaps they were safe now, but this was only
temporary. Riley knew she could be leading them all to a nightmare.
But she saw somewhere a slim chance and it was not a chance she
could just ignore.

‘You have a plan?’ Vann asked Riley
afterwards, once the valkar women were gone and they were
relatively alone.

‘Plan may be an overstatement. But I do have
an idea.’

Vann waited.

‘Andalla has a pot. I need to get access to
it. If I can, I might be able to make a weapon strong enough to
defeat him.’

‘From a pot?’

She nodded. ‘He made it, with his own power.
He makes things with it, by… thinking about it. But I don’t know
how I’m going to get access, let alone if I can actually make
something with it, or whether it really will be strong enough.’ she
sighed. ‘And then I have to use it on him without him killing me
first. And then there’s the King to worry about.’

‘Does this courtship fit into it in any
way?’

She shook her head. ‘That was just to get me
out of his grasp, give me a chance. Vann, if this doesn’t work
Ralana may end up stuck with him.’ she paused. ‘And I doubt Rose
and Adila will just let me get away with that.’

Vann frowned, ‘it’s not as if they’re
totally innocent. They were just going to leave you there.’

‘I’m not sure that helps.’

‘Well, I guess we just need to improve your
plan. Worrying about the consequences if we fail isn’t going to
help.’

‘We? If I mess this up, there is no we. You
should disappear. And fast.’

‘
We’ll
worry about that later.’ Vann
said with a smile.