The Broken Kingdom (51 page)

Zap Zap nodded, his face disappearing under
the waves and reappearing. ‘They are killing us, whenever we go to
hunt, and our friends of the other waves.’ His voice was hard to
hear, as he kept putting his head under the water. Perhaps he meant
it that way.

‘There is room still in the bay, if you want
to invite more to come.’ Reista said carefully.

Zap Zap shook his head. His tone pained, he
said, ‘no, already lost contact with all close and now… it is too
dangerous to travel to the waves further, I would not make it, and
they would not make it all the way here… if they still live…’

Reista was surprised at how much the fish
person’s grief affected him. ‘Perhaps they found somewhere
safe.’

Zap Zap did not reply.

‘And if they did not, you and your people
are here. We must take heart from that.’

Zap Zap nodded, still mostly hidden by the
water. ‘Yes, nothing Zap Zap can do…’

‘Well, unless things change here…’ and he
thought of Astar, ‘there is nothing we will do either. I can only
hope Vann has not completely abandoned Coastside. If he does have a
plan, we will know soon enough.’

Zap Zap looked up, his gaze intent.

‘Astar found Vann and Riley Meilis. They’re
sending a delegation to… speak to him. Unfortunately, he’s not near
the ocean so I can’t send you.’

Zap Zap made a sound like a sigh. ‘Yes, Zap
Zap guess.’

‘I’ll be sending a few people from
Coastside, perhaps they’ll bring him back.’

Zap Zap shook his head. ‘No, he like Riley,
he gave her leaper tooth. Zap Zap found.’

Reista frowned. ‘I see… well, I just wanted
to let you know. And to see if you were going to reveal any of your
secrets.’

Zap Zap suddenly smiled. ‘Vann’s boss
sneaky.’

‘You have to be to get to my position.’ He
said and he heaved himself to his feet. ‘Personally, I’m not in any
position to bear any ill will towards the gemeng. Right now, we
have bigger problems.’
I will plan and prepare as best I can,
and hope Astar changes its mind soon… and if not…

Zap Zap nodded. ‘Better than before, still
bad.’

‘And unless something changes, nothing will
get any better.’
If it has to, Coastside will stand on its own…
we will endure.

Chapter 63

‘
I
promise I will, Vann,
but not right now, you know I can’t do it now. I love you, but I
won’t be able to keep control of the tribe if I’m weak.’

The inside of their tent felt more cramped
than usual. It still felt strange to tell him she loved him, she’d
kept it inside for so long. Strange, but right too.

‘I know. I know.’ Vann replied, his grey
eyes intent. He held her hands tightly. ‘Please, just give me a
time. I know I said I couldn’t be completely sure before, but I am
now. I want to spend my life with you, not just the next ten
years.’

Riley couldn’t help smiling at that, her
heart flooding with warmth. Vann returned the look and for a moment
they were silent and the tension was gone.

Riley went on more carefully. ‘Me too. You
know I’m going to step back one day anyway. I promise, after we
take Astar and defeat the King I’ll do it.’

‘And if the plan doesn’t work?’

‘Then… then it doesn’t matter anymore, and I
can do it right away.’

‘And if it does work?’

Riley hesitated. ‘A year, I promise I’ll do
it within a year afterwards.’ Part of her looked forward to that,
once she was no longer managing the tribe she and Vann would be
able to spend more time just… being together. At the same time, she
wondered whether she’d be able to keep him interested, once it was
just them and they didn’t have so many other tasks to occupy them.
Not that she would mention that to him; she had a pretty good idea
what his reaction would be.

‘Ok. I can live with that.’ Vann
replied.

Riley sighed. Vann still looked worried, but
he smiled at her. ‘Come here.’ He said and pulled her into a
hug.

This conversation had been a long time
ending. Riley had tried to put it off, avoid it. Vann had allowed
her to get away with that for only a little while, and had
eventually insisted on discussing it. And now, it was done.

Finally Vann pulled away with a sigh. ‘I’ve
gotta get going.’ he apologized.

‘Me too.’ Riley admitted. They left the tent
together.

‘How’s it going with Ellis?’ Vann asked.

Riley smiled. ‘It’s kind of nice. I’m still…
I don’t know if I can trust him completely. I don’t know if I ever
will…’

Vann gave her arm a squeeze. ‘You don’t need
to trust him completely, as long as you’re happy.’

Riley smiled.

‘I’m glad you have a friend.’

Vann was momentarily surprised to see Ellis
at the council meeting. Well, there was no reason for him not to be
there. Riley wasn’t here today, but then she didn’t come to all the
meetings. It had quickly become clear, however, that the council
was highly ineffective when she wasn’t present, so Vann attended
the meetings she missed. The Mixed were far more comfortable around
Vann than Riley, and Riley liked giving them the opportunity to
admire and respect a human.

‘What’s wrong with the rotation?’ Vann
asked.

‘Some of the warriors would like to opt
out.’ A council member said. ‘They would like to stay outside the
shield with the Master.’

‘Permanently, you mean?’

He nodded.

Vann had to think about that. With the
Mixed, that could easily turn into a reputational war, with
everyone deciding to move outside to prove how strong they were. It
could also make it easier for some to decide to stay entirely
inside the shield, creating something of a special class, separate
from the others. On top of that, it could create something of an
aversion to any extra means of protection, much like they had
towards the use of weapons. At least fighting the ehlkrid had
weakened much of their traditional prejudices.

Vann shook his head. ‘The rotation system is
working fine right now. The warriors already spend less time inside
than most anyway, and when they are inside they’re on guard duty. I
think enough has been asked of them.’

The man, who was a warrior, almost preened
at that. Inwardly, Vann smiled.

Then Ellis piped up. ‘Why? If the warriors
stay outside the weaker members of the tribe could always stay
inside.’

‘To be quite honest, it hardly makes any
difference.’ Vann replied easily. ‘With Riley here, the ehlkrid
rarely attack anyway.’

‘And her sword.’ another member of the
council piped up. ‘Even her sword terrifies them.’

‘Perhaps we could hang some of her clothes
around the perimeter then.’ Ellis joked. ‘I think the Master would
approve such an opt out system.’

The feeling of the council suddenly changed.
Vann kept his expression neutral with great effort. Suddenly, the
council wondered if this man knew the Master’s wishes better than
he did. And for the council, that was still all that really
mattered.

‘I’m not sure you’re familiar with how the
council works.’ Vann replied calmly. ‘Riley isn’t here, the council
is authorized to make decisions in her absence.
That
is what
she wants.’

‘Yes, but only while you’re here.’ Ellis
said, ‘and I think she expects you to know her wishes.’

The council quietly began discussing Ellis’
words in hushed tones. Vann heard someone whisper, ‘… they have
been fighting recently….’

Fighting was
not
the right word to
describe what they’d been doing.

Instead of telling everyone to mind their
own damn business, Vann coolly asked ‘Do you want to go get her
then?’

The way in which he said it was enough. The
council faltered, fell quiet.

Ellis carefully looked around at the council
members, then at Vann. ‘No, that’s ok.’ he smiled. ‘I’m sure you
know what she wants.’ but he said that last part in such a way that
the talk resumed. He stood and left, leaving Vann fuming.

Later that afternoon, Ellis was summoned. He
found Riley waiting outside her tent for him.

‘You tried to undermine Vann.’ she stated
coldly.

Ellis looked momentarily shocked, then
confused, then a little scared. It was just enough to move Riley
from anger into slight guilt at frightening him. ‘No, no, I’m
sorry. I went to watch, you know I like to watch, I-I thought that
was ok. I disagreed, that’s all.’

‘Ellis, I want the council to have the
confidence to make their own decisions. You just tore all that up,
and you made them think that somehow, you know what I want better
than he does.’

‘I… you want the council to decide things
without
you?’ He said in consternation. ‘I’m sorry, it’s
just not done that way where I’m from. The lords who have councils…
they’re just there to agree. You mean you actually don’t want
that?’

‘No,’ Riley sighed.

‘I… I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I mean,
everyone knows how it’s been…’ Ellis suddenly went a little pink,
‘I guess I thought I was protecting you.’

‘What? How what’s been?’

‘You’ve been fighting with Vann.’

‘We haven’t been fighting.’ she said
angrily. ‘Is that what people are saying?!’

Ellis nodded.

Riley’s expression suddenly stilled. Though
she worked hard on presenting a certain face to the tribe, perhaps
she had to be more careful. But then, maybe it didn’t matter. The
tribe would see things had not been perfectly perfect for a brief
moment, but that nothing changed between them, that Vann’s position
didn’t change.

This needed to be discussed with Vann. Riley
made her excuses and was about to leave when Ellis said, ‘wait, are
you mad at me?’

‘Huh? No, it’s fine.’ she paused. ‘Maybe
stay away from the council for a while. And Vann’s word is as good
as mine. He has my full support. Always.’

‘Got it.’

Ellis brushed from her mind, Riley wandered
off to find Vann.