The Broken Kingdom

by Sarah Chapman

Kalgen and Shiressa quickly took up the story. Karesh wasn’t entirely sure what happened, but soon he was swaying again as he was carried somewhere.

  ‘Put him down, and don’t go far. I’ll want to look at you two as well.’

  ‘I’m fine!’ Kalgen grumbled.

  ‘So am I.’ Shiressa agreed.

  ‘I wasn’t asking for your opinion. You may wait while I examine Karesh.’

  Karesh opened his eyes to see Aerlid looking down at him. He felt a brief touch on his leg, and barely bit back a cry of pain.

  Aerlid frowned. ‘What did you do, Karesh? You’ve broken both your legs very badly.’

  ‘He flew at an ehlkrid.’ Kalgen announced, a hint of pride in his voice.

  ‘Yes, he fought it in the sky while we prepared our trap. We crushed it under a tree.’

  ‘And managed to get bitten as well I see.’ Aerlid sighed. ‘At least you have enough ehlkrid in you that their blood shouldn’t sicken you. Alright, Kalgen, Shiressa, you may leave. This will take longer to fix than I thought. I expect you both to come back tomorrow. I see your shoulder, Kalgen!’

  Karesh heard some grumbling as the two left.

  ‘I’ll fix your legs, Karesh.’ Aerlid murmured. ‘You’ll be tired for a few days, but you’ll be fine. And please, try to take better care of yourself in future…’

  Karesh heard no more as the pain in his legs eased and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

  ‘I am surprised to see you so well.’

  Karesh turned to find Avega watching him. ‘Yes.’ He replied. ‘Aerlid is very powerful.’ It was the fourth day since their return to the camp and Aerlid had fixed his legs. The first two days he had slept, but he was feeling much stronger now.

  ‘Yes, but he seems to be trapped, is something wrong with him?’

  Karesh nodded curtly. ‘Do not speak of it. He assists our Master freely, but he must stay where he is.’

  Avega nodded, accepting that, and perhaps not very interested in Aerlid’s fate anyway. ‘You spoke true, we have been welcomed here, we have been safe. I was concerned at first, when Galis the Strong took over training the children… but she has been good with them. Everyone has been… kind, and we have been safe. Though the naming… it will take time to get used to.’

  Riley had recently decided children who had not yet become warriors should have proper names. She’d told Karesh it was partly to eradicate the thinking that if you weren’t a warrior, you were nothing. A secondary reason was she hoped they would meet people who named their children at birth.

  ‘Our Master is strong. The change to the names is new… the children like it though.’ Karesh said.

  ‘But if they die…’

  ‘You’ve already seen we have ways of looking after the injured. Children are healthier than they were before the Master. They do not often die.’

  Avega smiled, ‘that is good to hear.’

  ‘I must go speak with my Master.’ Karesh said, ‘I am well enough to leave and look for more survivors.’

  Avega nodded. ‘May I come?’

  ‘If you wish.’

  Riley was not difficult to find. He found her outside the shield, surveying her domain.

  ‘Karesh,’ she greeted him, smiling. ‘I’m glad to see you well.’

  ‘I am well enough to leave again. You know of the attack?’

  ‘Yes.’ She frowned. ‘I spoke to Adila about it. Apparently that’s the knife she used to make her mark on her arm,’ and Riley pointed at her own arm, ‘the mark that looks like fire. She says it is so closely connected to her it shouldn’t matter that she hasn’t handled it recently.’

  ‘Is there anything that can be done?’

  ‘She’s done something to the knife so it glows now… Adila suggested the ehlkrid may have just been desperate and hungry, and took a chance. Either way, the knife should be more effective, however it is still a risk, Karesh.’

  ‘I know, but I will go, Master, if you allow me.’

  Riley frowned. ‘Not yet. You have only just recovered.’ She sighed. ‘It’s not a huge surprise, they attacked the camp and we have a valkar shield. I will let you go, Karesh, but not for a few more days.’

  ‘Master, I wanted to know about the hill… the doorway was not made by natural means.’

  ‘Mmm. It’s probably a remnant from the humans who lived here long ago. We…’ she hesitated, a flash of pain crossing her face, and Karesh thought she must be thinking of Aerlid, ‘we sometimes came across old ruins in our travels. If you are interested,’ and her voice sounded forced, ‘talk to Aerlid about it.’

  ‘No, I’m fine.’ He said, shaking his head, uncomfortable that he had upset her.

  Riley turned her attention to Avega. She smiled, erasing the memory of her sadness, and said, ‘Avega, yes?’

  Avega quickly nodded and looked down, not meeting her eyes.

  ‘Are you settling in well?’ Riley asked.

  ‘Yes, lord, we are well. It is everything Karesh promised us.’

  ‘I’m glad to hear that. Excuse me, Karesh, Avega.’

  ‘What will you be doing for the rest of the day?’ Avega asked Karesh after Riley was gone.

  ‘Rest.’ He said, a trifle grumpily. ‘The Master has assigned me few tasks for today. If you or the others need any help, I am to assist you.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘Do you need any help?’ he asked curiously.

  ‘No, but it is good you are free. You have no mate?’

  ‘…No.’ Karesh said, after hesitating a moment. It was not a question he had expected.

  ‘So I had heard. You do not look it, but you must be stronger than I. I offer myself to you.’

  Karesh reacted immediately, flapping his wings and flying up and away. ‘What?!’ he demanded.

  Avega frowned, tilting her head to look up at him. ‘Is something wrong?’

  ‘No! The Master will not allow it. No!’ and he flew away, up into the trees.

  Karesh did not look back, and flew high and fast. He only stopped once he was above the canopy. He looked around, at the green treetops below, at the mountains in the distance. His heart was beating fast, panic coursing through his veins. He controlled his breathing. He could not hide up here. It could be dangerous up here. Slowly, he flew back down. He did not land on the ground until he spotted the Master.

  ‘Hello.’ The Master replied quizzically as he landed in front of her.

  ‘It is not allowed.’

  Riley frowned.

  ‘It isn’t allowed.’ Karesh repeated in a calmer tone, though his wings were twitching furiously. ‘If she asks, you must say no. You will say no.’

  ‘If who asks what?’ Riley asked patiently.

  ‘If Avega asks… the answer is no!’

  ‘Alright…’ Riley said slowly. ‘The answer is no.’ she agreed.

  ‘I will not be anyone’s mate!’ he repeated, seeing she didn’t understand what he was talking about.

  Riley looked surprised for a moment. Then she said calmly, ‘if you say no, the answer is no. Karesh, you have seen many others ask me about this, you know what my response has always been. There is no reason for you to be alarmed.’

  Karesh nodded slowly. ‘Yes… yes.’

  Riley observed him for a few more moments and said, ‘I think I’ll go speak to Avega now.’

  ‘Yes!’ Karesh agreed, and flew up into the trees to wait for her return.

  Riley was more than a little surprised at Karesh’s sudden request. He’d never displayed any interest in any of the other gemengs, so she’d never thought of him having a mate or a family.

  She supposed she couldn’t be surprised at his sudden, violent aversion to the idea though, considering what the situation had been on the Plains.

  When she found Avega the other gemeng would not meet her eyes, and bowed her head submissively. This sort of behaviour irritated Riley, but she was used to it.

  When Riley finished explaining the rules regarding courtship, Avega finally looked u
p, a frown on her face.

  ‘I do not understand.’ She said finally.

  ‘Which part?’ she asked patiently.

  ‘No, I understand the rules. But I do not understand. Karesh fought an ehlkrid, he must be stronger than me. I offered myself.’

  ‘Oh? That’s…’

  ‘He is strong, and brave, and has been kind and considerate with us. It is difficult to find warriors like that. You do not often find strong and thoughtful warriors.’

  ‘Yes-‘

  ‘It is very surprising he does not have someone already.’

  ‘I guess it is.’

  ‘I do not understand why he is afraid, when he is so powerful.’

  Riley thought she knew. Karesh didn’t think of himself as strong. Until Aerlid had fixed his wings, he’d been very vulnerable. Even though his wings gave him an advantage over the other gemengs, he still felt overpowered by them. He was a little bit shorter than her, which made him smaller than all the other gemengs, except for the children.

  Riley wasn’t sure how to approach this, and briefly wished Vann was around.

  ‘Well,’ she said carefully, ‘I think it was just a surprise. Since he said no, I think it best if you leave it. I’ll… mention what you said. If he changes his mind…’ she shrugged.

  Avega nodded, clearly not satisfied with that.

  Riley left, to go find Karesh. She didn’t find him. He found her. After leaving Avega, she walked around the tribe for several minutes, and ended up outside the shield, where Karesh flew down to her.

  He did not approach her, and left himself enough room to fly away if need be.

  ‘Karesh, I’ve explained things to Avega, and she understands. She won’t mention it again.’

  Karesh nodded, though he still looked tense.

  ‘I don’t think she meant to upset you, Karesh. Um… she seems to like you.’

  Karesh’s wings flared in alarm.

  ‘Mostly because you seem kind.’ She stressed. ‘She appreciates that. I told her no, and she won’t approach you about it again. If you change your mind-‘

  ‘No!’

  ‘That’s fine too.’

  Karesh nodded slowly.

  ‘Ok.’ She said after a while. ‘If you need me, you know where I am.’

  ‘Yes.’ He agreed. ‘I know.’

  Riley headed back to the camp, deciding it would be better just to give Karesh some space to calm down.

  Chapter 49

  Vearla did not turn until her visitor was right behind her.

  ‘Vearla,’ Skachi, Speaker for the Master of the House of Corchanus, greeted her. ‘I have news.’

  Vearla turned to regard the human. He smiled when her eyes met his.

  ‘We will press the offensive against the ehlkrid. We will not wait anymore.’

  ‘What?’ she gasped.

  ‘We will fight them, as you say-‘

  Vearla could not help the moan that escaped her.

  ‘Vearla, are you alright?’ he cried in alarm as he leapt to her side.

  ‘P-please,’ she gasped, holding up her hand to stall him, ‘you cannot say… you cannot say you will kill for me?’

  ‘We will fight. We fought the gemengs, we will fight the ehlkrid.’

  Waves of pain and confusion hit her. She could barely think straight. She struggled to form thoughts, to even remain sitting.

  ‘Vearla, are you alright?’

  Panic ripped through her, I cannot be responsible for death, I cannot! At the same time, she managed to remind herself, the humans mustn’t know…they must not know…

  Vearla managed a weak smile. ‘Skachi, you know we only wish for peace.’

  ‘There can be no peace with these creatures.’

  ‘I can… I can keep you safe from all but the King, Skachi, and you cannot defeat the King anyway… there is no need.’

  ‘There is a need. It has become dangerous to leave Cavachi. We have lost our freedom. Astar suffers even more, food may soon become a serious issue for them. We plan to avoid going down that path ourselves. We will not let these creatures imprison us anymore. We will fight them, and kill them as we did the gemengs who once lived near our home.’

  ‘I can… I can protect you here…’ she managed again, some of the terrible, suffocating pain in her mind easing as she offered.

  ‘Vearla, you do not look well.’

  ‘I am fine.’ She managed. ‘I am fine. I can protect you…’

  Skachi shook his head. ‘We have voted on it. We-‘

  ‘You are right, I feel unwell.’ She said quickly. ‘Please, leave me be.’

  ‘Can I get you anything?’ he asked in concern.

  Vearla shook her head, and finally, the human left.

  After he was gone, Vearla let out a shuddering sigh. The turmoil in her mind was far worse than the panic that coursed through her body. She breathed slowly, thinking to herself, I offered an alternative. I offered an alternative. I cannot control them. I am not responsible for them.

  After several minutes of this Vearla shakily got to her feet. The whole world seemed to swing around her. She leant heavily against the mountain side, but even that seemed to tremble. It had been so long since she had felt anything like this.

  Why did I stay with the humans? Why did I not join the others in the city?

  Moving carefully, taking only a few short steps at a time, Vearla began walking down the tunnel. She hummed a broken tune to the mountain. I am sorry. I am sorry.

  Despite her failure to prevent the human’s plan to kill, the mountain hid her. No one saw her as she ventured deep into the mountain, away from the humans, away from anyone.

  When she was far, far away, deep in the utter darkness of the depths of the mountain, she slowly crumpled to her knees. She lay on the hard stone and listened to her breathing. She felt ill. To her ears, her breath felt weak and uneven. It would take a long time for this to pass.

  ‘Why did I stay?’ she murmured in Valkar to the mountain. ‘Why did I stay?’

  She listened for the mountain’s answer.

  The sky was too far. There were no mountains in the sky. That was why she had stayed.

  ‘But why with the humans? Why on earth did I stay with the Raka?’

  She listened again, focussing all her being on the mountain, trying to forget what the Raka were planning.

  ‘Lonely? That seems a silly reason now… better to be lonely, than to feel this…’

  Above the mountain of Cavachi, white wisps twisted in the sky. The wisps glinted in the sun like metal.

  A winged monstrosity flew close. Sudden activity exploded. The metal Worms broke apart, and bright light flared. There was a horrible screech as metal was torn, and fell from the sky. Light flared again, and the monstrosity hurtled down out of the sky in a free fall. The Worms stayed in the sky a little longer, watching. Then they returned to the mountain.

  Skachi returned to his home, the House of Corchanus, several hours later. His face was etched in anger.

  To lose a Worm segment! One of my own pilots!

  The discredit to his House was enormous. How long had it been since a Worm had been damaged in a fight? The damage was easily repairable, and the cost to his family was negligible. The cost in honour, however!

  The pilot was dead, so no more punishment could befall him. The Master of the House would decide if any further punishment would fall on the pilot’s family, who had so dishonoured the illustrious house of Corchanus.

  There will be another fight tomorrow. I will speak to the pilots. My men will not dishonour our house again!

  Chapter 50

  Vann walked through the campsite. The Suntree was visible to his left, and normal trees were scattered throughout the camp.

  He was not surprised when he spotted Rose, out past the shield. She often came to speak with Adila. Adila stayed near, but not too near, Aerlid, and his now relocated prison. Aerlid was often surrounded by gemengs, teaching them medicine or writing. Occasionally, Ladana visited
as well. Why, Vann wasn’t sure. She didn’t often speak to her sister.

  He did not head towards Rose and Adila, the valkar had a way of pretending everyone else wasn’t there. Riley had told him they had to be that way, but she couldn’t say why.

  He could accept that.

  He walked on.

  He had not gone far when he heard Rose call out his name. He turned, curious at her unexpected interest.

  ‘Hello, Rose.’ he greeted her pleasantly.

  ‘Vann.’ she seemed oddly… uncertain. ‘You are very busy I see, helping Riley.’

  He nodded. ‘There’s a lot to do.’

  ‘Yes. She is… ambitious.’ she paused for a moment. Vann waited. It wasn’t exactly easy for him being this close to her, but it wasn’t as bad as the first time he’d met her. Maybe he really was getting used to the effect the valkar had on him.

  ‘I may have treated you… poorly, when Riley was setting up Andalla.’

  ‘Don’t worry about it. She was treating you pretty bad too.’

  ‘Yes.’ she paused again.

  Vann did not have all day to wait around for Rose, but then she was Rose. So he waited.

  ‘You and I are both here now.’ she finally said. ‘Perhaps… we could pick up where we left off.’

  ‘Oh.’ Vann said in genuine surprise. ‘Oh.’

  She waited expectantly.

  Vann closed his eyes, tried to get himself back under control.

  ‘I’m sorry, Rose.’ he said reluctantly. ‘I can’t.’

  Now she was the one looking surprised. ‘Oh. Why not?’

  ‘It’s… I don’t really want to talk about it.’ he sighed heavily. ‘Rose, if I suddenly change my mind, I need you to judge me. Right now… this isn’t what I want.’

  Rose frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. ‘I was under the impression you and Riley were just friends.’

  ‘We are.’

  ‘Then why does she matter?’

  Vann stared at her. Perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised she could be so perceptive. She was the Judgement Master after all. And what else could possibly matter to him but Riley?

  ‘I.. I need to stay focussed right now, that’s all. I’m very busy helping, Riley, and if you and I… well, you’re very distracting.’ he tried to smile charmingly, but it came out a bit wobbly. He didn’t want to talk about this. And maybe he could say no to Rose, but that didn’t mean it was easy. ‘Please, not now. All we can be right now is friends.’