The Broken Kingdom (27 page)

As a small army bustled around, Riley tried
to have a conversation with Adila. The other valkar had already
left.

‘But we’ll need to forage, Adila. We can’t
stay cooped up in one place, otherwise we’ll starve. It would be
even better if we could move around, and head somewhere fresh.’

‘I have been thinking on it.’ she said
cautiously. ‘I’ll try, but I do not know if it will work. And it
will be stationary. I’m afraid your foragers may end up ranging
far.’

Riley nodded, not surprised.

‘The best I can do is create a permanent
door. A valkar shield will keep the ehlkrid away better than my
knife. Even with so many here, they may not attack.’

‘Last I heard, the ehlkrid were not
attacking the humans very much, and they have valkar shields, and a
far bigger population.’

‘Humans are not good prey for the ehlkrid.
But if they keep the shields entirely up, the ehlkrid would not
attack them anyway, they can’t get through. A shield with an
opening is something else entirely. I will try, but I make no
promises it will work.’

‘Thank you.’

Adila paused, as if about to say something.
But she shook her head and walked off to start setting up her
shield.

The extent of the camp was marked out,
including a section of river. Then Adila briefly disappeared. When
she returned Ladana was with her, as were a few other valkar.

Riley watched as something like a very small
metal trough was placed at the edges of the camp. It was no more
than an inverted triangle, less than two centimetres in height. It
was sunk into the ground until it was not protruding at all. It
stopped at the stream and continued on the other side and then came
back again. Once it was placed Adila took a pouch from her belt and
began carefully spreading the contents into the trough. Whatever it
was, it glowed and shone hotly.

‘What are you doing?’ Vann asked.

‘I am preparing the shield. This will… make
it easier for me to make the shield into a specific form. It is
extremely valuable, I will collect it when the shield is no longer
needed.’

‘What is it?’ he asked curiously.

‘It is… flame, collected from the sun.’
Adila stepped back and began emptying the flames into other
sections of the trough.

‘How did you get that?’ Vann asked
incredulously.

‘On my visit to the sun.’

‘You’re telling me you’ve been to the
sun.’

Adila nodded. ‘I have. My great grandmother
was the first Sunsinger to visit the sun. It is a journey all
Sunsingers wish to make, but few can. I have only been once.’

‘That’s unbelievable!’

Adila smiled. ‘It is quite common for
Moonsingers to go to the moon. Nearly all go at least once, some go
more than that. Aerlid has been twice.’ And her smile faded.

She stepped back quickly and began singing,
her comment quickly covered by her song.

The tiny flames spread out along the trough,
becoming thinner but still so bright. A hot, red glow was visible
above the trough. It would be a good marker of the edge of the
shield.

When that was done Adila turned and headed
over to the other valkar. Two large, mossy pieces of wood had been
tied together into a triangle and set into the ground, forming a
door. Riley would need to duck to get through it.

When the other valkar stepped away Adila
began singing.

After some time she stopped. A valkar handed
her another long stick. Adila emptied the last of the flames from
the pouch onto the end. She sung a short song and then handed the
stick to Ladana.

Ladana took it to the approximate middle of
the campsite and placed it. When she sang it was not like Adila.
Singing was perhaps not the right word. It was more a humming, a
vibration, a low conversation Riley’s ears could not quite catch,
that thrummed through the earth.

Riley watched, her eyes widened as the stick
grew roots that sunk into the earth. Ladana stepped back as a new
tree started to grow. Branches sprouted and then finally… leaves.
Leaves that were flames.

The song faded away. Silence.

Then Adila said in quiet awe, ‘that’s very
impressive.’

Ladana smiled briefly. ‘Thank you,
Sunsinger. Shall we test our work?’

Adila nodded, ‘does the flame run through
it?’

‘It does. It will grow like a… normal
tree.’

They headed over towards the door.

‘Riley, will you go through the door?’ Adila
asked.

Riley quickly ducked through the door,
straightened. She looked back.

‘Alright, now try coming over the
flames.’

Riley hesitated a fraction of a second
before stepping over the low, warm flames. She frowned.

Adila nodded. ‘Vann.’

Vann went through the door and came back
over the flames, looking somewhat confused.

Adila then asked the same of Karesh.

He also got through the door easily. But
when he tried to come over the flames he couldn’t. Light suddenly
shimmered in front of him, and he could go no further. He came back
through the door.

Adila smiled. ‘It works. It will only keep
out those with ehlkrid blood, no matter how little. It won’t
disrupt the plants and animals in this area. Nor would it work on
Andallites. Be careful near the water. It’s unlikely, but they may
swim under the shield and come up that way.’

Riley smiled, gazing back at the shield that
she could not see. The only sign was the red glow above the trough.
‘Thank you, Adila, Ladana. This is perfect.’

Chapter 35

T
hings became much busier
after the survivors arrived. The campsite took shape over many
days, as new tents were constructed and paths were laid out. Guards
were always set by the river and the door. They could no longer
assume the ehlkrid would stay away during daylight.

And then Andalla finally took Ralana to his
kingdom, with an entourage of Riley, Adila and Rose. Andalla still
appeared quite taken with Ralana, who was still somewhat fearful or
in awe of him. Riley merely listened and noted.

And then she received the news she had made
herself forget.

Adila was with her, as was Rose and Vann.
But when Aerlid appeared out of the forest and stopped in front of
the door Riley felt a rush of fear.

The shield would be no bar to him, and so
they walked out past the shield to meet him. He waited. He seemed
oddly smaller than before. He did not hold himself so tall, he
seemed almost embarrassed.

Though the idea of having him close very
nearly overshadowed his potential usefulness, Riley managed to say
softly ‘I may want to keep him with me for a time.’

Rose shot her a hard look. Stiffly she
whispered back, ‘what for?’

‘He might be useful. I’m not… sure though.
Only if it’s… safe.’

They came to a halt a short distance from
Aerlid.

‘Aerlid.’ Rose greeted him, her voice
harsh.

His eyes flicked from her to Riley and back
again. ‘Rose.’ he replied hoarsely.

‘I fear I know why you’re here.’

He nodded quickly. His eyes flicked back to
Riley. He held her gaze for a moment, then looked down at the
ground. As he spoke his eyes flicked up and down, ‘please, I must
know, is Seta there? I- I don’t have to, but Adila could judge you,
she could look?’

‘No.’ Riley said flatly in a tone that
brooked no discussion.

He let out a sigh, but he nodded.

Riley glanced at Vann then. He nodded. She
looked back at Aerlid. Now that the time was here, it seemed
impossible to suggest.

Awkward silence reigned.

Rose glanced at Riley. Her eyes were
narrowed, impatient.

‘I don’t know if it’s safe.’ Riley whispered
in response. ‘I-’ she glanced at Adila, who met her gaze calmly.
Could the other valkar give her the answers she wanted? As soon as
she thought the question she knew they could not. At least not
everything.

Her resolution firmed, in a strong voice
Riley said, ‘Aerlid, Rose will take you back to wherever you were.
And you will not be able to escape.’

He nodded, his eyes downcast. He looked up
at Adila, ‘Adila,’ he asked, ‘can you go check… go check…’ he
failed for a bit, ‘the… body you made… can you see if Seta is
there?’

Adila shook her head sadly. ‘No.’ she said
softly.

He looked back down at the ground again. And
then back up at Riley, and then down again, up and down, ‘I’m
sorry, for what I did to you… but my first debt is to Seta,’ his
voice became earnest, desperate, ‘after I fix what I did to Seta I
can fix what I did to you.’ he held her gaze then, pitiful
desperation emanating from him. ‘Perhaps an explanation would
help?’ he asked hopefully.

‘I think we’re long past that, don’t you?’
Riley said icily. But pity softened the fear she felt for him, and
she backtracked to that and said less coldly, ‘I do have a
suggestion though.’

He perked up at that hopefully.

‘Not for Seta, or for anything else you have
done. But I may let you help me… if I can be sure you will never
harm me again.’

He faded a bit, ‘I never would, except for
Seta.’

Riley’s gaze narrowed. ‘That is not
something I will risk. This is your only chance. I don’t
need
you, though you may be helpful.’

He looked down again, his hands fidgeted
somewhat. He looked up at Adila, ‘will I have to hurt her for
Seta?’

Again, Adila shook her head, ‘you never had
to. So only you can answer that.’

He looked down again. Then up, ‘can you
judge me?’ he asked of Adila.

‘Aerlid,’ she sighed, ‘you know I have never
been able to do that. I cannot give you certainty, only you can say
what you will do.’

‘I owe a debt. I have no choice.’ he cried
desperately.

Adila closed her eyes. Then she opened them,
was about to speak. She stopped and looked over at Rose. They
shared a look, Rose did not look pleased, but then she never
did.

Adila spoke to Aerlid, ‘we would not leave
you alone with Riley anyway, even if she allowed you to stay. So if
you stay here, until Riley wishes you to leave, I will stay also. I
don’t know what you will do, Aerlid. But what you do I can… I can
minimize the damage.’

His gaze seemed to clear at that, he
straightened somewhat. Some of his old self came back as he said,
‘you could stop me, Adila. You are a Sunsinger. I couldn’t… hurt
anyone with you here.’ he looked at Riley as he said that last and
held her gaze. ‘What would you have me do?’

‘I have some questions.’

‘About what exactly? I hardly think I can
help you train now. You have surpassed me.’ and he smiled then,
shedding more of his… shame.

‘No… about… various people.’

His eyes widened, and he looked very
pleased. ‘I won’t get too excited, but I will be more than happy to
answer any questions you have.’ His gaze moved behind her then to
the campsite. ‘What’s going on here?’

‘I’ll explain. Aerlid,’ her voice hardened.
‘I want you stay in one place in the campsite. I also want you to
continue teaching the gemengs medicine. And I want you to… record
your medical knowledge.’

He sighed, ‘on what exactly? Never mind,
I’ll figure it out. Very well, where shall I be staying?’

‘Karesh will show you. Go.’ she moved out of
his way as he walked towards the campsite. He looked up once at the
invisible shield and then ducked under the door. Riley had intended
to show him herself, to minimize his contact with others perhaps.
But she wanted to talk to Adila.

They all turned and watched him go. Adila
looked troubled, Rose was her usual self. Vann stood near Riley. He
touched her arm briefly.

‘What do you make of him?’ Adila said
quietly.

‘He’s quite mad.’ Rose said
matter-of-factly.

‘I never noticed, but he must have been this
way so long… perhaps it is the only way he can be… I wasn’t there…’
she sighed.