The Broken Kingdom (48 page)

Razra hadn’t thought of that. He wasn’t very
ambitious, and had no great passion for his job, so the fact that
he hadn’t moved very far up the ladder since Riley’s first
re-appearance had never bothered him.

‘She was my friend.’ Razra insisted.

‘Well, I’m not so sure she was mine.’ Jann
said. He looked up as Mr Brigg’s secretary poked her head out into
the hallway. ‘Jann Geggis? You may enter now.’

‘Well, I guess I’ll see you next time Riley
does something… weird.’ Jann finally said. ‘See ya.’ And he entered
the office, leaving Razra alone in the hallway.

Concerned, and for once his thoughts not on
Astar’s food supply, Razra headed to the stairs and made his way
home.

Chapter 60

R
iley sat with the
council, as she did most days. She tried to take a back seat while
they discussed things, but they weren’t quite ready for that
yet.

Currently they were discussing the
appropriate punishment for a fight that had broken out among some
of the Mixed.

‘No one was killed, but some of the warriors
will be off duty for at least a week.’

‘The reasons are irrelevant.’ Riley said.
‘We don’t settle our differences by trying to kill each other. No,
everyone should be punished.’ One day perhaps more leniency or
understanding could be given, but right now Riley was still trying
to teach the Mixed not to kill each other over every little thing.
They were more cooperative than the people of the Plains, but their
first instincts were still towards violence. She tried not to think
of her lost people, but that just made her think of the ten who had
survived. She saw them frequently of course, and every time she did
she thought of all those they had lost because of her failure.

The council quickly agreed.

‘That seems a bit over the top. Should the
man who merely defends himself suffer the same as the aggressor?
Excuse me.’

Riley looked up in surprise as Ellis made a
spot for himself and sat down next to her.

Pushing aside her irritation at this
intrusion, Riley replied, ‘there was no
merely
defending,
Ellis. It was a brawl. What are you doing here?’

‘Taking part in governance.’ he said with a
pleasant smile as he looked around. ‘Hello, I am Ellis. I’m much
like your Master.’

‘In the same way everyone here is like me.’
Riley responded. She was about to say more when Ellis interrupted
again, ‘I was under the impression these gatherings were open to
everyone. Don’t you want every member of your tribe to understand
and take part in their rule? Or are you just dressing up tyranny?’
his gaze held hers intently.

Off balance, Riley struggled to respond in a
way that didn’t depend entirely on irritation. ‘Ellis, you arrived
here yesterday, after trying to take over. What applies to the rest
of the tribe does not yet apply to you.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ he said, and then he smiled
that surprisingly sudden smile. It was charmingly embarrassed. ‘May
I just sit and observe then? Surely there’s no harm in that.’

‘You may observe. Over there.’ Riley
pointed.

‘What’s wrong with here?’

‘You’re nearly sitting in my lap. Do you
often do that in your homeland?’

‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ Ellis did not go anywhere,
but he wriggled a little away from Riley, forcing the rest of the
council to move to make more room. ‘Is this better?’

‘That’s not what I said.’ Riley said
stonily.

‘You mean there’s another reason you don’t
want me here asides from proximity?’

‘I am not accustomed to repeating myself. I
have done it three times now. Over there.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ and he smiled that charming
smile again. It was very effective. Then he said, ‘perhaps I just
like being near you.’

Riley gave him a look that was more confused
than anything else.

But Ellis moved, and the meeting went
on.

‘He’s confusing.’

‘Confusing how?’ Vann asked as he came up
behind her and put his arms around her.

They stood near their tent. Riley was
watching Ellis intently as he chatted with some other Mixed. He had
come to every council meeting. It wasn’t just that though, he had a
way of popping up next to Riley and acting as if he was supposed to
be there.

‘He says stupid things. Why is here? He
doesn’t like this place, he was very disappointed when he saw all
the tents.’

Vann shrugged. ‘Maybe he likes you?’

‘He came here to take over. But he hasn’t
challenged me.’ Riley said, ignoring him. ‘Do you think this is
some strange way of trying to do this?’

‘What, by flirting with you?’

Riley made an annoyed noise.

Vann laughed at her.

When it subsided Vann asked, ‘do you really
think he’s still trying to take over?’

‘I don’t know
what
he’s doing.’

‘Hm, well, if he’s going to stay here we
could make him go through training and earn his place as a warrior.
Though if you’re worried about his intentions, he might just make
friends and build support. He’s very charismatic.’

Riley made another annoyed noise.

‘Should I take that to mean you
noticed?’

When Riley didn’t respond Vann said, ‘don’t
worry about it just yet, Riley. We’ll keep an eye on him. If
something comes up, we can deal with it.’

Riley reluctantly agreed.

Riley was soon given something else to worry
about besides the ever-present Ellis. Karesh returned and with him
came a surprise.

‘They’re human.’ Vann said in shock.

‘I thought they were funny looking.’ Karesh
replied.

‘Where were they, Karesh?’ Riley asked as
she observed the ragged group of diminutive people.

‘They were on this small shelf of rock that
jutted out into the ocean. There were caves, but they weren’t very
deep. It looked like they’d caved in a long time ago. It’s nearly
impossible to get to them without flying, I had to carry them up.
They survive by fishing off the rocks, they have no boats.’

‘And they just agreed to come?’ Riley
asked.

Karesh shook his head. ‘When they saw me
they were surprised. They didn’t think there was anyone else in the
world but them. They’re difficult to talk to, we don’t share a
language, but if you speak Plains speech and wave your hands it’s
ok.’

Riley nodded, and smiled. ‘This could be a
good opportunity. Vann, I think you should deal with them mostly,
they might be more comfortable around you.’

Vann nodded. ‘Most likely. Alright, I’ll get
them set up.’

‘And how was Kalgen, Karesh?’

‘Nervous.’ Karesh replied. ‘He kept looking
at me whenever he made a decision. He got better though.’

Riley smiled in amusement. ‘I can’t imagine
you’d be very comfortable if I decided to watch you lead a
mission.’

Karesh hesitated before saying very calmly,
‘if that’s what you wanted to do.’

She laughed. ‘Well, I’m glad to hear you
have no complaints about Kalgen. I’ve had no issues with the
survivors he’s brought in, so I’m satisfied he’s doing a good job.’
She sobered then and said, ‘Karesh, there’s something else I need
you to do.’

‘Yes, Master?’

‘We have a newcomer.’ Riley hesitated. ‘I’m
not sure I trust him.’ She admitted. ‘Though he hasn’t done
anything nearly every other gemeng hasn’t tried before. I want to
put him into one of the groups you train. I… I guess he’s charming,
he acts like he has authority and people give it to him. I need you
to make sure he doesn’t get treated as anything other than a new
member of the tribe.’

Karesh thought about this carefully. ‘Yes,
Master. I’ll take care of it.’

Ellis observed the newcomer carefully. He
was a small and delicate man, and clearly had authority here. Riley
had introduced Karesh to him personally, so whether she liked it or
not, she was also treating
him
like someone special.

‘Ellis, you and I must talk.’ Riley said
after Karesh departed.

‘Of course.’ he said and smiled
disarmingly.

‘You seem to think you have a position in my
tribe that you do not. You have no position here, Ellis, you are
nothing.’

‘What have I done?’ He asked, his blue eyes
going wide.

Riley narrowed her eyes, as if it was
obvious.

‘Listen, maybe I don’t know your customs or
something, I am from pretty far away, but I really haven’t meant to
offend you.’

Riley relented slightly, wondering if she
was overreacting.

But then he smiled again at her, and she
felt oddly threatened. Why was that?

‘I don’t want to be anything here.’ he said
gently. ‘Well… that’s not true. I see how lonely you are. I used to
be lonely too… I know how it feels. Those you command, those you’re
so different from… they can’t be your friends.’ and he looked sad
for a moment, his eyes downcast. But he shook it off and smiled up
at her again. ‘I just want to be your friend.’

‘I have Vann.’ she said in surprise.

‘He’s your partner.’ Ellis chided, and
hearing him acknowledge that calmed Riley. ‘I want to be your
friend. It’s different. You need more than one person…’

Riley said nothing for a moment, but the
threatening feeling was gone. And so she considered what he
said.

‘I’ll admit, I came here looking to take
over. But that’s only because I have no place where I come from.
Let’s just say I made a few mistakes back home. I thought I needed
to conquer this place and take over to find my home. I’ve tried to
live with humans you know, and pretend I was like them. But they
always find out, and people weaker than you get mad even though you
just wanted to be friends. I could never be weaker, so I had to be
stronger- and like I said, that caused…. that caused some
problems.’ He sighed. ‘I didn’t handle it well- uh, I’m getting off
track. What I’m saying is, I thought of this place the same. It
didn’t occur to me I wouldn’t have to take over and set ground
rules and all that first to find my place.’ he smiled at her. ‘I
can just be here. And I thought we could be friends- I mean, we’re
both half valkar.’