The Lord of the Plains (87 page)

It was not something that was in itself
interesting to her. It had nothing to do with fighting.

And yet, it was so important.

It hit her then, as if a light went on in
her mind. Other things may not be interesting but they could be
important. Knowing other things could help her. She
needed
to know other things.

She looked at Aerlid, a look he had not seen
before in her eyes. Aerlid knew so much. She needed to find out
what he knew. Uninteresting little tidbits like gemengs are half
human might help her as much as knowing how to climb a tree or
wield a sword. Well perhaps not
quite
that useful, but
still…

She decided she would be more enthusiastic
when Aerlid tried to tell her things. But right now she had some
humans to meet.

The strange, dark-eyed, silvery haired man
returned over an hour after he’d left.

‘Riley has returned.’ he said. ‘I’m afraid
she has travelled far and needs some time to rest, but she will
meet with you shortly.’

‘And what was she doing?’ Mr Briggs
demanded.

Mr Briggs reminded Vann very much of his own
commander, though with an even smaller sense of humour.

They were gathered around a fire in the
human encampment, sitting in camp chairs. Watches were set at all
times; even if they seemed friendly enough, Mr Briggs was not going
to take any chances this deep in the Plains. Close by was one of
the large, loud military trucks. Right now it was quiet and
still.

Messenger was also sitting with them. His
manner had changed completely once he saw Aerlid. Vann quickly
realised his guess had been right, Messenger had not told him
everything he’d learned in Cavachi. Vann had never heard of the
valkar before, but apparently Messenger thought they were
wonderful.

Right now, though, it was hard to pay
attention to the conversation. The sounds of the plains caught his
attention- bugs chirping, the howls of wolves and cats, the sound
of the grass rubbing against itself. The fire flickered and cast
wild shadows around the campsite and the nearby truck. Up above,
the moon glowed brightly. The stars glittered coldly against the
night sky.

It was hard to sit still.

She was coming.

When she finally arrived it was with such
little fanfare Vann nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard her
voice.

‘Hello.’ came an achingly familiar voice
from behind.

Vann turned, his eyes wide. She was
alive!

The soldier who had escorted her through the
camp looked very putout that she had spoken before he could
introduce her. Well, it was hard to tell with that helmet. Not that
Vann was paying attention to
him.

‘I’m Riley.’ she said with a smile. She
seemed surprisingly at ease, considering she was surrounded by
heavily armed humans. ‘Thank you for coming to visit. I hope you’ve
enjoyed your stay so far.’

Mr Briggs, caught off guard by her manner,
didn’t know what to say, and remained silent.

Her eyes flicked around the group. She
paused on Vann and for a moment, her smile faded.

And then it came back even bigger. ‘Vann!’
she said, her eyes twinkling. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I… I could ask you the same question.’

‘Well, I live here.’ she said, confused.

‘The question is why.’ Mr Briggs suddenly
lurched to his feet, his eyes hard. ‘Neiteis Briggs, Commander of
the Astar Military, and member of the Council of Astar. Soldier,
you abandoned your mission in Coastside. Explain yourself,
Meilis.’

‘Mei-? Oh, right. No, my name isn’t Meilis,
I don’t have a family name. That was just made up.’

Mr Briggs eyes widened, but Riley continued
unabated. ‘Anyway, I apologise, Commander, but I couldn’t stay in
Coastside anymore. Have you been there?’

‘I have.’

‘A woman suggested to me that I let the
submariners do what they wished with me. That’s why I left
Coastside.’

‘Who said that?!’ Vann exclaimed, rising to
his feet.

‘I don’t know her name.’ she said levelly,
her eyes meeting his again. ‘But why I came here and united the
gemengs is something else. Commander, may I sit?’

The Commander narrowed his eyes. ‘Please.’
He gestured to one of the soldiers to bring another seat over.

When it arrived Riley sat next to Vann. He
slowly sat down, his eyes on her.

‘And who are you?’ Riley asked, her eyes on
Messenger.

‘My name is Saris, but you can call me
Messenger.’

‘Alright.’ she did not ask why. ‘So,’ her
eyes were back on the Commander. ‘You want me to explain myself.’
she leant back in the chair and gazed at Mr Briggs thoughtfully.
‘Mr Briggs, you may not have noticed, but the people of Astar,
human and gemeng alike, are afraid. All the time.’

Mr Briggs said nothing.

‘If you have lived in Astar all your life
perhaps you haven’t noticed. But I come from outside, and what I
felt in Astar was new to me. Your people are afraid of the gemengs.
It rules everything they do. It came to me that I could do nothing
about this from inside Astar. The problem was what was outside. So
I left. I’m sorry I left under false pretences, but there was no
other way to do it. I would never have been allowed to leave Astar
alive. What I am trying to do here, Mr Briggs,’ and she leant
forward, ‘is change the gemengs’ way of life. So humans no longer
have to fear them.’

‘An interesting story. But why unite the
tribes, why make yourself lord over all the Plains?’ his tone was
hard, his eyes harder.

‘Ah, well. Actually, it’s good you’re here.
Do you know where gemengs came from, Mr Briggs?’

Messenger’s eyes lit up. He leant
forward.

‘I do not.’ Mr Briggs stated.

‘A long time ago, another group of people
were here. They were called the ehlkrid. Mr Briggs, they are the
ones who attacked and destroyed the human cities. They are the ones
who forced the humans into caves. And they are the ones who bred
with humans and created the gemengs.’

‘Are you saying,’ Vann said suddenly, ‘that
gemengs are part human?’

Riley nodded. For a moment her eyes were on
his. And he couldn’t breathe.

‘I am.’

‘Do you have any proof?’ Mr Briggs asked,
his tone even harder than before.

‘I have… a source I trust.’ For just a
moment her eyes were on Aerlid. And then she was focussed on Mr
Briggs again.

‘The valkar!’ Messenger suddenly cried. ‘The
valkar told you!’

Riley was momentarily taken aback. ‘How do
you know of the valkar?’

‘He met one in Cavachi.’ Aerlid said.

‘Cavachi?’

‘It doesn’t matter.’ Aerlid waved her
question off.

Mr Briggs mouth was turned down in a dark
frown.

‘I know this is hard.’ Riley said to him.
‘And you don’t need to believe it. But there is something you need
to know. The ehlkrid are coming back. Within a year they will be
here. You need to prepare.’

Mr Briggs eyes widened at that. ‘You make a
lot of claims!’

‘Mr Briggs, whether I am lying or not will
be revealed in a year’s time. The ehlkrid are much, much stronger
than the gemengs. I’m giving you a chance to prepare. Don’t waste
it.’ she stood. ‘This has been a lot to take in. You are welcome to
stay here as long as you like, but I have my own preparations to
do. I have united the tribes, Mr Briggs, so that we might stand a
chance against the ehlkrid. Not so I can attack Astar. Goodnight.’
and with that she turned and left.

Aerlid stood as well. ‘Goodnight, gentlemen.
We will speak again tomorrow.’

When they were gone Mr Briggs spoke. ‘She
talks nonsense!’

‘Why would she lie about ehlkrid?’ Vann
asked. The night felt empty with her gone. ‘Mr Briggs, if it’s true
Astar and Coastside need to prepare.’

‘It’s curious.’ Messenger added, his face
thoughtful. ‘It matches with some of the things I heard in Cavachi.
It could be she’s telling the truth. I would like to stay, Mr
Briggs, and see what we could learn. It looks like she is on much
better terms with the valkar than we are.’

‘Astar will be warned.’ Mr Briggs agreed.
‘And we will stay. We need to know if she’s a threat. I want you
both to find out what you can. And this goes without saying,’ and
he looked at Messenger warningly, ‘but don’t believe everything you
hear.’

Chapter 74

The next day after breakfast Riley went to
the human campsite. A soldier escorted her to where Mr Briggs,
Messenger and Vann were sitting discussing things. Her eyes
lingered on the back of Vann’s head for a moment.

After her initial surprise she had been
relieved at his presence. Vann would listen to her, he would give
her a chance to explain. She felt she could trust him. And of
course, there was that familiar twist deep inside, the tingle of
excitement whenever she saw him. But she ignored that. She needed
to focus.

All three turned their attention to her and
she forced herself back to the present.

‘Good morning.’ she said. ‘I’m afraid only I
and Aerlid can speak Astarian. I have some time, if you would like
I can show you around my tribe.’

The three shared a quick glance. Then
Messenger and Vann stood. ‘Thank you.’ Messenger said. ‘We’d like
that.’

Riley glanced up at the sky. All she saw was
vast, blue sky and a few fluffy white clouds. Then she looked down
at Mr Briggs. ‘Mr Briggs, it’s very impolite to keep the Predators
camouflaged.’ she said, her smile fading slowly.

‘And what makes you think there are
Predators with us?’ he answered glibly.

‘There are three.’ she said, and her smile
vanished. Mr Briggs paled. ‘I’d like it very much if we could be
honest with each other.’ she said. She turned, ‘if you’re ready, we
can go now.’

The camp of the gemengs looked organized and
busy, Vann noticed. The gemengs were huge, tall and brawny and had
a certain savage pride. Mostly, the gemengs ignored them, though
Riley frequently stopped, switched to Plains speech easily, and
spoke with some of them. Just as easily she switched back and would
continue talking to him and Messenger.

It was not a lovely language, it was
guttural and growly.

Messenger soon began asking Riley to tell
him the names of things in this other language. Riley was
surprised, and pleased, at his interest. Vann listened too and
tried to remember everything she said.

In a way, Vann thought the whole situation
was surreal. Here he was, walking around the Plains with a woman he
had pursued relentlessly. And they were behaving as casual
acquaintances. But what could he say with Messenger here? And what
would he say even if they were alone?

So far they had talked about the gemengs and
what life was like in the plains, but not about why they were
here.

Noon came. They arrived before a large tent.
They stopped, Riley suggested they eat.