The Broken Kingdom (30 page)

Later, Vann came to Riley’s tent as he often
did. And as usual, he felt the usual thrum of anticipation at being
so very close to her in such a private place. It distracted him,
but he stayed focussed and resolutely ignored those thoughts. She
needed a friend. And he’d already hurt her too much in that
regard.

They had talked long and hard about her
plans, but he could not see where treating Adila and Rose so badly
fit into it.

He carefully raised the question.

She shook her head, did not answer.

As night fell he left, worried but not
doubting her. He went to his own tent, situated close to Riley’s.
Like hers, it was constructed from animal skins and had enough room
for him to stand up straight and lie down comfortably. The floor
was covered with more animal skins, which he slept on. They were
surprisingly comfortable. The tents provided only a modicum of
privacy, and he could hear the hushed conversations of people in
the nearby tents, and the loud snores from those already asleep.
Nights in the forest were mostly cool, but on particularly humid
nights he would leave the front flap open in the hopes of catching
a light breeze.

Vann knew Riley did not sleep well when she
was alone, she often woke in the night and sat by a fire, or near
the edge of the shield by the flames. She slept sporadically, but
she slept. And so she put up with it and did not ask him to keep
her company.

But sometimes he woke too and noticed. He
would come out and sit by her for a time. Sometimes she would go
back to her own tent after a while and manage to sleep. But on
nights when the fear was hitting her very hard, she would stay by
the flames, showing no signs of ever leaving. And so he would
offer, and she would accept.

But it was not often.

Chapter 38

‘
I
s there a reason you
want an audience?’ Adila asked Riley, her voice hot with anger.

‘It’s none of your concern, Sunsinger.’

‘I am a judge, not a performer.’

‘I’m sure you’ll manage.’ Riley replied and
walked off to stand by Andalla, fervently hoping Adila
would
manage.

On the other side of Andalla stood Ralana.
Aerlid was in front of the group, alone and waiting. Rose was also
present, Vann was not. Riley did not want Andalla to remember his
face if anything went wrong.

‘Adila is going to judge Aerlid,’ Riley
explained to Andalla. He had almost been excited at the prospect of
seeing a judging, and it had not been hard at all for Riley to
convince him to come. ‘I’m afraid the new Judgement Master, Rose,
has already failed to judge him correctly. The valkar judges are
not well organized these days, your magnificence, there will likely
be a change in leadership soon.’

He merely smiled, perhaps at the thought of
some of the highest of the valkar being perceived as
incompetent.

And then Adila whacked Aerlid with her
staff. Aerlid crumpled to the ground, the staff following him,
keeping contact with his head.

Andalla’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘And
that’s how they judge?’

‘Not all, your magnificence. Adila is
perhaps the most gentle judge. Rose suffocates her victims with
roses.’

Andalla nodded knowingly.

Riley stored this information away. Aerlid
had not known whether Andalla had ever witnessed a judging. Now she
knew this was his first.

Adila soon righted her staff. She looked
unsettled as she said, ‘I can’t.. I cannot tell you much. I can
tell you nothing.’

Angrily, Riley exclaimed, ‘and you used to
be the Judgement Master! Is there none among you who can do your
job?!’

‘I told you-’ Adila began.

But Riley turned, muttering to Andalla she
said, ‘your magnificence, were the valkar always so useless?’

‘They are beneath my notice.’ he said
magnanimously, ‘they are quite disappointing.’

Riley agreed. Adila stared at her, as did
Rose.

Aerlid rose to his feet and rubbed his
head.

‘Oh please, don’t be disappointed, Andalla.’
Ralana pleaded, ‘Adila is no longer the Judgement Master, she’s
supposed to be resting, enjoying her last years. I’m sure the other
judges would do a better job!’

Riley knew Ralana did not mean to be unkind.
Andalla seemed amused and as they left he was in a good mood.

Riley sighed in relief. And then Rose was
scolding her.

‘You were told Adila could not judge Aerlid.
What is the meaning of this?’

Riley didn’t reply and started heading back
to the campsite.

Behind her, Adila demanded angrily of
Aerlid, ‘you raised her, Aerlid, what is wrong with her?’

‘Perhaps exactly that.’ Rose responded
calmly, though her eyes were sharp.

Aerlid shook his head. ‘Please, Adila, you
must calm down. She likely has some plan in mind she hasn’t thought
through. I can assure you, her intentions are good.’

‘She has sold Ralana to Andalla, and treats
us as her slaves.’

Aerlid shook his head. ‘She will not share
her plans with me Adila, but please don’t do anything rash. She
must have some plan, she would not do all this for nothing. She is
not cruel or unkind, Adila,’ Aerlid said earnestly.

Adila observed Aerlid for one angry moment.
And then she stalked off after Riley.

She did not catch up to her until she was in
the camp. Adila stopped some way behind. And she started
singing.

Riley turned. There was not a hint of guilt
or regret on her face, merely mild surprise. She waited, watching
Adila as she sung.

A shadow drifted over the sun, the world
became dark and cool for a moment.

But that moment lengthened out, became
darker, colder. Riley suddenly looked up.

And Adila’s song cut off.

The world was very quiet.

Riley looked back to Adila, fear was now
evident in her eyes. The world was as dark and cold as night.

‘This is easier for me than making a
shield.’ Adila stated, her body tense and blazing. ‘Should Ralana
be forced to marry Andalla, this is how your world will always
be.’

‘J-just me?’ Riley asked.

‘Yes. Just around you. If your people stay
with you however, they will have to live in eternal darkness.’

Riley nodded slowly. ‘I see.’

She waited a moment.

‘Can you bring the sun back now?’ she
asked.

Adila waited. The minutes stretched out. She
could see Riley was getting increasingly afraid. She waited until
the other woman was on the verge of panicking. And then when Riley
was visibly trembling, Adila sung again.

And slowly the sun came back.

Riley heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

‘There is no one in this world who can save
you if I choose to take the sun away.’ Adila threatened. ‘No other
Sunsinger can undo what I do.’

Riley nodded fervently, and Adila left.

Still somewhat shaky after the daytime
darkness Adila had summoned, Riley went to have another of her
unfriendly conversations with Aerlid.

He looked up sharply as she approached. ‘Are
you alright?’ he asked.

‘What do you know of valkar wedding
traditions?’ she asked.

‘Riley,’ Aerlid said, ‘you must apologize to
Adila now, explain yourself, make something up. If you say it was a
mistake, you were trying to help Ralana, she may forgive you. Your
attitude is almost as bad as your actions.’

‘Aerlid, I asked you a question.’

‘I cannot help you if Adila takes away the
sun.’ He said harshly, ‘I have no sway over the sun. The most I
could do is ask the moon to shine brighter. You need to make
amends.’

Riley observed him coolly. ‘Are you done?’
she asked.

He sighed and nodded. ‘I see you have your
reasons, I just hope you’ve thought things through. But alright.
Weddings are very rare among the valkar… let me think…’

‘What about royal weddings?’

He looked surprised. ‘I don’t remember the
last time a Queen married. Rilodana never did, neither did her
mother…’

‘Does Andalla know?’

‘What? Of course not.’

‘What about Ralana?’

Aerlid shook his head. ‘Why, I don’t think I
even know what we do for royal weddings.’ he looked at her for a
moment, his eyes narrowed. ‘I see. Well, even if I could tell you,
Rose and Adila will doubt anything that comes out of your
mouth.’

Riley nodded, relaxing a bit. ‘That’s fine.
If asked, you must back me up.’

He nodded slowly. Then, ‘what happened to
your hands?’

Momentarily caught off guard, Riley looked
at her hands. There were small cuts and scratches on her hands and
forearms, though only the ones on her hands could currently be
seen. She could not actually remember getting them, and only
noticed them after fighting the ehlkrid. ‘Nothing.’ she said
curtly. She turned and left, ignoring everything else he tried to
say.

After that there was nothing she could do
but wait. The next part of her plan required being in Andalla’s
kingdom. So she would have to wait until Ralana visited again and
needed a chaperone.

‘Did anyone else notice the sun?’ she asked
Karesh.

He nodded. ‘Yes, but it came back quickly
enough there was no panic. Do you need any bandages?’

She was momentarily caught off guard by the
change in topic. ‘What? No.’

‘Your hands.’

‘They’re just scrapes, Karesh, they’re not
even bleeding. No, I’m fine.’

He nodded and then quickly moved on to
another topic, ‘Master, you need a name.’

‘My name’s Riley.’ She had long ago dropped
the fake surname, ‘Meilis’, she’d used in Astar.

‘But you need a name, so everyone can know
you are Master, and so the tribe can take your name.’

‘Ah. You mean like Riley the Fierce?’

Karesh nodded. ‘But not that.’

‘Why not?’

He frowned, tried to hide it, ‘that is too
common. Many gemengs take that name, you need something more.’

She nodded. ‘Riley the Very Fierce
then.’

Karesh stared for a moment. Then he said,
‘yes.. yes, that’s not bad.’ he hesitated, ‘perhaps we can think
about it.’

Riley narrowed her eyes. ‘Karesh, if you
don’t like Riley the Very Fierce you can come up with a name
yourself.’

Karesh nodded eagerly at that suggestion and
was about to say something when Riley said, ‘And how about a name
for yourself, Karesh? If I need a name surely you do too!’

Karesh hesitated, frozen.

‘You don’t want a name?’ Riley relented.

‘Perhaps you have a point…’

As Karesh was clearly uncomfortable with the
idea, Riley dropped the issue and said, ‘were you going to say
something else?’

‘Ah, yes. You also need a flag.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘For your tent, so it can be distinguished
from the others.’

‘You want to put a flag on my tent.’

He nodded.