The Broken Kingdom (44 page)

Chapter 55

‘
C
aptain 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

V
ann 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 you 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?’