Chapter 67
Training and managing five hundred gemengs was tiring work. The fact that Aerlid had developed a habit of mysteriously disappearing didn’t help either.
Today, as a young, strong, ferocious gemeng challenged her for control of the tribe again, Riley felt like she’d spent the last few months going in circles.
Riley observed him in irritation. Finally she said, ‘why should I?’
He puffed up and scowled boldly at her. Then he spouted off a load of nonsense about how weak she was and so on. Mostly, it came down to her being back at square one.
She was not going to fight every damn gemeng in her tribe- or every new gemeng (Gakra’s tribe had already been thrashed by her enough times to know they had no chance)! And certainly not multiple times, for they had an annoying habit of thinking they’d gotten better (or she’d gotten worse) and coming back and demanding another fight. If anything, Riley felt like she was the one getting better. Now that she no longer had to hide her strength, and with all the fighting and hunting she was doing, she felt her skills were only improving. Not that that stopped the gemengs from challenging her…
She was starting to see why gemeng leaders killed whoever challenged them.
She regarded him coolly. She needed another way to deal with this.
‘When did you come up with this?’ Aerlid demanded. ‘How come whenever I talk to you you have another crazy idea?’
Startled, Riley replied, ‘crazy? I thought it was a good idea.’
Aerlid just stared at her. Then he said, ‘that’s the problem. I can’t leave you alone for five seconds without, without… this!’
‘You left me alone for more than five seconds.’ Riley said reproachfully.
And that just got her another stunned stare.
‘Well, do you have any other ideas?’
‘Yes, leaving and never, ever coming back to this place.’
Riley didn’t think that was an idea.
And so the tournament was announced.
‘And so,’ Riley finished, ‘whoever wins will get the opportunity to fight me. Further, I expect all challenges to go through my second. I will only waste my time fighting those who can defeat my second.’
Riley was getting very used to people staring at her blankly.
A clawed hand suddenly shot up into the air.
‘Yes?’ she asked.
‘You said no killing.’
‘That’s right.’
The hand stayed up.
‘Are you having trouble understanding that?’
There was feverish nodding from the crowd.
Riley, her hands on her hips, glared out at the crowd. ‘How hard is it to understand?! No killing. It’s very simple, and I won’t explain it again!’
Aerlid made a few more marks in the dirt before turning back to Karesh. He was watching him intently with those big dark eyes of his.
Aerlid’s eyes drifted to the things sticking out of his back. One was a wing, a dark, bat-like wing. It looked like it worked, but he couldn’t tell just from looking. He needed to do calculations, examine it carefully to see how it would move. Karesh was a very light man. That was good. But really, that wasn’t the most important thing. Whether Karesh could summon his power and manipulate it with his wings…. that was what would determine whether he would fly or not.
And of course, whether Aerlid could fix that other thing sticking out of his back. It was an ugly, twisted lump that didn’t know whether it was an arm or a wing. Fixing that would be challenging, to say the least. It couldn’t just look right, Karesh needed to be able to control it.
‘How is it you survived?’ Aerlid asked as he leant back on his haunches.
‘I don’t get noticed.’
‘But you must have had to fight sometime.’
Karesh nodded. ‘I’m fast and smart, and I guess I cheat.’
Aerlid’s eyebrows rose.
Karesh reached into his voluminous clothes and pulled out a thin, sharp shard of rock. He held it out to Aerlid, who took it.
‘One of those in the right spot ends a fight pretty quick.’
Aerlid handed it back. ‘And that’s cheating?’
Karesh nodded.
‘Your master uses weapons.’
Karesh’s eyes widened and he tensed. ‘Where I came from, it was cheating. But not here. The master can do whatever she likes.’
Aerlid nodded. ‘Exactly.’
Karesh hesitated. ‘She is a very dangerous woman.’
Aerlid couldn’t help the surprised look that came to his face. It was necessary for the gemengs to think of her that way, but he couldn’t help finding it strange.
‘She doesn’t feel dangerous. But she must be, how else could she control a tribe? That’s what makes her so dangerous.’ He said seriously. ‘You should be careful.’
‘Ah. Well. Riley isn’t dangerous if you follow the rules.’ Aerlid went on cautiously. ‘And she doesn’t like being avoided.’ Aerlid was well aware Karesh’s avoidance of her had made Riley grumpy. Grumpy was the right word, though he didn’t think that was the right word to use with a gemeng.
Karesh looked even more alarmed.
‘I suggest you don’t disappear next time she attempts to speak to you. Now, let’s get back to your wings.’
Karesh hadn’t survived this long by making himself known to his lord. The idea that he should, well…
She was an odd creature. Everything was in the right place with her. He was pretty damn sure she didn’t have arm wings growing out of her back. She moved with grace and ease. Like she belonged. And then there was that strange hair of hers. Sometimes it reminded him of the grasses around him. Of fresh air and spring time. And then it faded, her hair returning to the colour of night. Such perfection was unknown to him. He didn’t see her so much as beautiful, but right. Like the cats, and wolves and grazing beasts. All their pieces fit together. Everything belonged together, and they belonged here, in this place.
Maybe she didn’t fit with the gemengs, but she fit with the world.
Despite the conflicting emotions he felt he stood his ground the next time he spotted her approaching him. Every fibre was screaming at him to run! It didn’t matter if she seemed safe, she was the lord of the tribe!
When Riley was finally standing before him he had a very strange look on his face. So Riley gave him an odd look in return.
‘Are you alright?’ she asked.
He nodded quickly.
She frowned slightly. ‘Are you entering the tournament?’ she asked.
He shook his head, his mouth tightly shut.
‘Oh,’ she actually looked pleased. ‘So you’re not planning on challenging me?’
He was so surprised by the idea he actually spoke. ‘No.’
She beamed. ‘That’s excellent. Karesh, will you walk with me?’
He stared at her.
‘I had hoped to speak with you.’
‘Why?’ he squeaked. This woman was crazy. Why couldn’t she just behave like a normal master? This was just confusing him.
She frowned again. ‘Well, you seem quite reasonable for a gemeng. You haven’t tried to kill anyone. You haven’t gotten into any fights. I wanted to know why.’ she smiled, ‘if everyone here was like you I’d be very happy!’
Crazy was the only possible explanation.
‘I’m doing my rounds, will you come?’
He nodded. He felt… he didn’t know how he felt. It wasn’t a good feeling.
But she was the master after all.
As far as Riley was concerned, the tournament couldn’t have turned out better.
It had taken five days, but she had a second. And it was one she knew, one who was familiar with her rules.
Gakra seemed pretty happy too.
Riley kept a very close eye on him of course. She didn’t want him falling back into his old ways, didn’t want the authority to go to his head. Not that it was much authority. His sole job was to keep people from challenging her.
> No, if she was going to give anyone real authority, it would be Karesh. She had noted that he didn’t like spending time with her. But he’d gotten used to it; he no longer looked like he was about to have a heart attack every time she looked at him at any rate. He was different. Even if he didn’t enjoy it, he was a breath of fresh air for her. He was proof they could be different. Further, he wasn’t a potential rival, so she wasn’t always worrying about coming off as weak when she was with him.
Considering what she was trying to do for his people, she felt he could put up with her company.