The Lord of the Plains

by Sarah Chapman

Chapter 60

  Mostly, the days were all the same. She learnt the routine of the gemengs, how they hunted and how they moved throughout the plains. While they screamed and yelled when attacking other tribes, they were silent as the night while hunting. The subtleties of family life became clearer to her. Mostly, the glue that held gemeng couples together was the children. Once all the children had taken the Warrior’s Trial, the family disappeared, as if it had never existed. One of the parents, the physically weaker one, was almost like a ghost, ever present, soundlessly completing chores that needed to be done, but not actively participating in the family.

  Incursions from other tribes were frequent. The power relations of the plains were constantly changing. Riley found it greatly frustrating, she was trying to teach her tribe to be less violent and yet every week another tribe would attack them and someone would die.

  Hers or theirs, it didn’t matter.

  The tribe had moved on from their original location some time ago. Wherever they stopped, Riley and Aerlid always made their own camp some distance away from the main tribe. Living within the tribe would have been just too much.

  It was night now. Their carefully guarded fire was crackling merrily and stars were shining brightly overhead.

  ‘What can you do about the other tribes?’ Aerlid was saying. ‘The only way they’ll stop attacking is if they become part of your tribe.’

  Riley blanched at that thought. She could hardly control the gemengs she had.

  ’Well, we can be more successful defending ourselves then.’ Riley said obstinately. ‘They don’t fight smart- if they would just work together and not announce themselves when they’re going to attack.’

  ‘But that’s dishonourable. How are you going to convince them to do that? Even if you force them, they won’t like it. They’ll see it as a sign of your weakness. You’ll lose respect.’

  There was a very dark look to her eyes. She glanced at him but said nothing.

  After a while, she said ‘what they consider honourable has to change sometime. Why not now?’

  Aerlid shrugged. ‘It’s up to you.’

  ‘Also…’

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘I’d like you to teach some of the gemengs medicine.’

  Aerlid stared.

  Riley looked at him, as if this was a perfectly reasonable request. ‘I’d like them to see that skills other than fighting are useful.’

  ‘You want me to teach these barbaric monsters medicine?’

  Riley frowned darkly.

  Aerlid started, ’I’m sure they’re capable of learning what the humans call ‘medicine’,’ he said hurriedly, ‘but what I do is a bit different.’

  Riley shrugged. ‘Teach them whatever kind you like. I’ll let you choose your students.’ Then she stood.

  ‘I see you have the hang of delegating.’ Aerlid muttered.

  Riley raised an eyebrow at him and smiled. ‘Well, I can’t do everything.’

  The next day Riley tried to teach her tribe how to fight together, and not separately in close proximity to other people. She quickly found respect wasn’t the issue. The gemengs had no concept of working together. What might have looked like working together to an ignorant bystander was really just warriors going about their own business in the same space as other warriors. Even while hunting the giant grazing beasts- or especially then, they worked alone. Even if they shared the meat from the giant grazing beasts afterwards, that was not a sign of working together, but was merely to say, ‘hah! look, I am such a fabulous hunter I could not possibly eat everything I killed myself! You incompetent hunters may have my leavings!’

  She spent no more than two days with the adults before narrowing her group down to just the couples. Perhaps they would have a better understanding of working together. But that was no better. Firstly, one couple would not work with another couple any more than a normal gemeng would work with any other. Secondly, one partner in the couple was less a partner and more a silent servant, hovering at their master’s elbow.

  Finally, Riley turned to the children. They were younger, perhaps they were less set in their ways, more willing to change. And hadn’t they almost, almost worked together to harass and tease her? Perhaps she could work with that.

  So Riley gathered the children and told them that if they’d worked together they’d have been able to steal her weapons right off her belt. And wasn’t that far more than any of the adults had accomplished? When she saw their eyes light up with devilish glee she knew she had a chance.