The Broken Kingdom (22 page)

what do you mean?
he boomed inside
her head.

‘Ocean.’

no. but the King has recently liked privacy
from his subjects. he used to live elsewhere, closer to his
people.

‘There seem to be many ehlkrid living in the
ocean here, but in my world, the oceans are relatively free of the
ehlkrid.’

the door is not in the ocean. it is on land,
it is hard for the ocean dwellers to get there.

‘On land?’

yes. and in the sky. if you make doors in
water… things flow together and flood. it is easier to use land or
sky. sometimes he has done it. not this time. but the land is not
here. it is in a different place, you would need to swim or fly to
get there. and there is no point in me helping you.

‘Hmm…’ Riley absorbed that for a moment,
already knowing he couldn’t help her, before asking something else,
‘could the King and Andalla kill each other, if they wanted
to?’

yes. but they don’t. for a long time now,
all has been a game to them. games get very boring when you’re the
only one playing.

‘And he really thinks women like being
kidnapped by him?’

yes. he tells me women like him, he is
handsome and dangerous and mysterious. women want to be swept off
their feet by someone like him. he tells me he is every interesting
woman’s dream. but he is not so bad as Andalla. Andalla would
believe it.

‘He seems to believe it enough.’ Riley
muttered.

But she noted it all anyway. Rarely now did
she talk about how to defeat Andalla and the King. It had become
clear weeks ago that their people didn’t know. Or weren’t going to
say. So she asked of other things.

Later, Riley returned to the King’s
cave.

And the next day, she was taken back to
Andalla’s land.

For the few, but painfully long, weeks Riley
had been away they had not strayed far from where she’d been taken.
Their camp had started to look permanent. Adila spent an awful lot
of time around them, in case they needed her, she said. Vann had
seen Karesh talking with her a few times, about what, he didn’t
know. The last few days though, Vann hadn’t seen her. When Adila
was around the gemengs relaxed; Adila’s presence was a stronger
deterrent to the ehlkrid than her knife.

Vann saw Karesh speak to Adila often, but
sometimes Vann got the feeling Karesh did not like having Adila
around. He’d speak sharply to the gemengs, and be in an unusually
ill mood. Vann was starting to suspect the other gemengs were
thinking Adila could replace Riley as their Master, which
apparently Karesh would not tolerate.

Karesh’s belief in Riley eased the sharp
edge of his impatient fear. Adila’s nonchalance towards Riley’s
kidnapping was intolerable. Sometimes Vann felt the only ones who
really wanted her back were himself and Karesh.

Perhaps he was being unfair to the others
though. His dark mood, and the difficulty communicating, meant Vann
didn’t make much effort anymore to speak to the other gemengs, and
mostly brooded on his own. Karesh was really the only one he spoke
to these days. Adila had not done her trick to make them able to
understand each other again; Karesh had probably forbidden it,
seeing as his Master had been so against it.

A few weeks after Adila’s failed attempt to
rescue Riley, Vann spotted Rose walking through the trees towards
them, Adila by her side. Painful hope blossomed within him, if
Adila couldn’t help, perhaps the Judgement Master could?

He got to his feet and waited. He was too
worried and tired to pay much attention to her loveliness, though
it tugged at him. He felt a moment of relief to know he did indeed
have
some
self-control. His ability to resist Adila didn’t
count; he already knew she wasn’t at all interested in him.

Rose was frowning, but that was not
unusual.

‘Vann.’ she greeted him grimly, her eyes
inspecting the campsite. Karesh and the gemengs who were in the
camp were getting up and approaching.

‘I’m afraid I have some bad news.’ she went
on.

‘Is Riley hurt?’ Vann demanded.

‘What? No.’ she seemed taken aback. ‘I don’t
know what the situation with Riley is. No, I’m afraid Aerlid has
escaped.’

‘Excuse me?’

Rose’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

‘How did he escape?’ Vann managed, his mind
reeling.

Rose pressed her lips together tightly. Then
she said, ‘because he wasn’t restrained.’

‘What? I thought you put him in the valkar
version of jail.’

‘We did.’

‘And he wasn’t restrained?’

‘It was… voluntary.’ Rose again managed
through gritted teeth.

‘How is being in jail voluntary?’ Vann
demanded.

‘For the valkar, it is. I judged him and
found he understood his crimes completely, he is aware of the
depths to which he has fallen. And so there didn’t seem to be any
need to restrain him.’

Vann gaped. His gazed moved to Adila. Rose
noticed and retorted, ‘I am the Judgement Master!’

Vann looked back at her with a glare. ‘I’m
having some trouble understanding.’ he said icily. ‘You’re telling
me valkar don’t imprison their criminals?’

‘They are punished. But valkar usually
accept their punishment. So there is no need to bother with…
restraints. My judgement of Aerlid… I… I made a mistake.’

Vann opened his mouth, then he snapped it
shut. He counted under his breath. Tried again. ‘Perhaps it’s good
she’s been kidnapped then.’ his voice was ice. ‘So tell me, what
are your plans now?’ his mouth snapped shut again lest he start
screaming at her.

‘He is either going to go after Riley or
Onsa, to look for Seta. When he does he will be caught and next
time… he will be restrained. I assure you, he will not escape
again.’

‘Well, seeing as you didn’t do anything to
stop him, I hardly think you can call it escaping.’ Vann shot
back.

‘I came to warn you. Adila will stay for now
in case he comes here. The other Sunsingers are locating Onsa. This
will be dealt with, Vann.’

‘I’m afraid I have little faith in your
abilities now, Rose.’ he shut his mouth again. Then he promptly
turned on his heel and stormed off. If he spent another second
looking at her he was going to start seeing how well a lightning
rod worked on a valkar.

Rose watched him go. Some of the anger
drained from her face, changing to something closer to regret. Or
as close as she was willing to come in public.

‘Every judge makes mistakes. So does every
Judgement Master.’ Adila said.

Rose didn’t respond.

‘I have made many mistakes in my time.’
Adila sighed. ‘It is a very difficult thing to look at someone’s
heart and know their actions by it. Part of him may know, but
perhaps he hides it from himself at the same time. More experienced
judges are there to help.’ she prodded gently. ‘Later, Rose, you
can reflect on your judgement. Now is not the time.’

‘He is right to be angry. Riley may be in
great danger.’

‘Steps can be taken to prevent that.’

‘It seems Andalla and the King have already
done that for us.’ Rose said drily. She left then, without another
word.

Chapter 28

R
iley smiled politely as
Andalla again called her ugly. Privately, she thought it was rather
good he thought her ugly.

‘Your magnificence,’ Riley began after he
lapsed into silence. It was preferable to calling him Andalla, and
the feelings that came with that.

His golden eyes fixed on her.

‘I have been thinking, I’m really not good
enough for you.’

‘I know.’ he said bluntly, his eyes
narrowing.

‘And of course, neither is anyone else. But
I know of someone who is better for you than me.’

‘Hmm?’ he looked at her suspiciously. ‘Go
on.’

‘The Queen has two other daughters, your
magnificence. Two, real valkar princesses. I understand the valkar
have so far objected to you marrying any of their princesses.’

He was very close to glaring at her now.

‘But if I talk to them, perhaps I can
convince them to let one of the princesses meet you. And surely,
once she meets you she would be honoured to be your wife.’

The suspicion disappeared from his gaze. He
almost looked curious. ‘And you could arrange a meeting?’

‘The Judgement Master is my messenger, your
magnificence. I can arrange a meeting.’

‘And you think she’ll fall in love?’

‘Unless she has very poor taste.’

‘Yes, but valkar do have strange ideas.’

‘Do you actually doubt your magnificence,
your magnificence?’ Riley asked, the surprise not faked.

‘No, no, of course not.’ Then his eyes
narrowed suspiciously again. ‘You’re willing to leave me?’

‘Oh. I cannot bear to shame you any longer,
it pains me to know how unworthy I am of you.’

‘Yes. Yes. Hmm.’

‘Let me talk to them, your magnificence, let
me introduce the valkar princesses to you. Real ones.’

He glanced at her again, some lingering
suspicion in his gaze.

‘There are two, Your Majesty. The eldest is
called Ladana, the youngest is Ralana. Which would you prefer to
meet? Or both, so you can take your pick.’

‘I could choose?’

‘You can do whatever you please, your
gloriousness.’

‘Both, yes, I’ll have to meet both. Perhaps
some sort of competition, to win my favour.’ he mused. ‘Very well!’
he announced. ‘I’ll return you at once! Do not fear, I will keep
the King away so you may arrange the meeting.’

Riley bowed her head and said nothing.

Chapter 29

V
ann looked up in
surprise and spreading relief as a golden man with leaf shaped
wings descended. In his arms he held Riley, who had a blank
expression on her face.

He landed and Riley was allowed to climb
from his arms.

‘I will be waiting.’ he said to her.

‘I know.’ and she bowed. ‘Your
magnificence.’

He smiled and began ascending. Riley
surreptitiously watched him to make sure he had actually left. Only
once he was gone from sight did she look to Vann and the
others.

‘Riley!’ Vann called, running over to her.
‘You’re back.’

She smiled slowly and nodded, as if she
couldn’t quite believe it. ‘Yeah. Yes.’

‘Are you alright?’ he stopped in front of
her and touched her shoulder.

‘I’m just a bit tired.’ she sighed and
closed her eyes. ‘Vann, I… I… I don’t know if I can pull this
off.’

‘Come sit down.’ he led her over to the
fire. The gemengs kept a respectful distance. ‘And here,’ he handed
her her sword with a smile.

‘You found it!’ she said in relief, quickly
taking hold of it.

‘What happened?’ he said as they sat.

‘It was terrible.’ she said as she put her
face in her hands. ‘It was the only way I could escape, Vann. I
couldn’t think of anything else.’