The Broken Kingdom (17 page)

He saw Riley lower her sword.

It looked more like a man, a man with black,
bat like wings.

Riley lowered her sword as the man
approached and landed lightly on the very tip of the branch upon
which she stood.

He was tall and reminded her of Andalla. But
his colouring was dark where Andalla’s was golden. His features,
though perfect, had a sly, devilish cast to them. And he wore a bit
less than Andalla; he was bare chested, his only clothes a pair of
ragged, though clean looking, black pants.

‘Hello.’ Riley greeted him. ‘Are you the
King of the Ehlkrid?’ she guessed.

His smile widened.

‘I am indeed. Hello, Your Majesty, is more
common, but I’m not such a stickler for details.’

Riley said nothing. If this man was anything
like Andalla, she would have to be careful.

‘I admit to being very curious about you.
Who, I wondered, could have the Judgement Master of the valkar play
messenger for her?’

‘Adila isn’t the Judgement Master.’ Riley
corrected automatically. ‘Rose is.’

His smile faded ever so slightly. ‘I don’t
care.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Riley said quickly, ‘your… Your
Majesty.’

‘I’m not Andalla.’ he frowned at her a
moment. But then his smile returned. ‘But that brings me to
this.’

‘Hm?’

Suddenly, he grabbed her by the waist. He
moved too fast for her to react. She was hoisted over his shoulder.
Shocked, Riley fought back. She kicked his chest and tried to get
out of his grasp.

But he didn’t even flinch. Instead, he
launched himself back into the air.

From below, Riley heard yelling. One arm was
pinned to his neck, but the other still held her sword. The chance
for peaceful talking had passed.

Riley slashed at him with her sword. It
might not kill, but she would make it hurt!

The King laughed.

Riley slashed at him as he flew and laughed
and the ground got further away.

Suddenly a new set of wings obscured her
vision.

Karesh!

The King’s laugh stopped. Riley felt a
chill. She renewed her struggle, but she felt as helpless in his
grasp as if she were a child.

She couldn’t see what was happening. Then
she heard a cry. Then… then she saw a dark shape hurtling towards
the ground.

The King suddenly halted his ascent.

He grabbed her leg and pulled. Suddenly she
was hanging upside down, his hand around her ankle.

He smiled at her. ‘Now, you won’t be needing
that anymore.’ and his eyes went to her sword.

Her eyes met his.

His smile widened. ‘Let go.’

‘It might hit someone.’ she managed.

‘It might.’ he waited, smiling.

Riley didn’t let go. It was all she had. It
didn’t work, but it was all she had!

His smile faded. He threw her up in the air.
The world spun. He grabbed her again. Now she was the right way up,
prevented from falling to the ground only by his hand around her
wrist. She felt like a rag doll.

He grabbed her sword from her tightly
clenched fist. And then he dropped it.

His smile was back again.

‘Why are you doing this?’ Riley gasped.

His smile widened, his eyes twinkling.
‘Andalla has always wanted a valkar for a wife. For some reason
they always objected. Now I have one, and not just any valkar
either. I have their princess.’ He smiled at her again.

‘Now do you want to be a happy princess, or
a sad princess?’

‘I-I’m not. I’m only half valkar.’

He shrugged. ‘Your mother is still their
Queen. You know, you’re starting to make me lose patience.’ His
smile disappeared. ‘Happy princess, or sad princess?’ he
repeated.

Riley was silent.

He waited.

His smile returned, but different than
before. There was a malicious edge to it now. ‘Sad princess it is
then.’ And he threw her back over his shoulder and resumed
flying.

Far below, the forest got smaller and
smaller, until it disappeared from her view.

Down below, Karesh shakily got to his feet
as Vann screamed for Adila.

Chapter 23

T
he air began changing.
First it was cold and fresh, then somehow it was dusty and empty.
The blue sky became darker. At first Riley thought it was just
night, then it took on the colour of dried blood. No stars were
visible, and the moon was gone.

The King began descending. She saw black
spires of rock rising into the darkness. She heard the sound of
water before she saw a vast ocean below. There was little light to
see with, the water seemed dark and stormy.

Finally, the King landed at the opening of a
small cave in a spire of rock that rose from the ocean. To her
left, as she faced the cave more rocks led down towards the ocean.
As the rocks dipped into the water they began rising again, leading
to a small island.

The King dropped her unceremoniously on the
ground.

Riley got up slowly.

‘Welcome,’ the King announced, ‘to your new
home.’ and he smiled that devilish smile.

Riley stared at him a moment. Then she went
back to looking at the ocean. ‘How did we get here?’ she asked in a
low voice.

‘By flying, didn’t you see?’ and he laughed
again. ‘I wouldn’t suggest wandering around, my subjects are not as
friendly as I am.’ he smiled.

Riley turned around again at the sound of
his voice. She didn’t say anything, she struggled to keep her
expression neutral.

His smile faded somewhat. Then he gestured
to the cave. ‘Your palace, princess.’

Riley walked into the cave, glancing at him
out of the corner of an eye. He followed.

The cave was not very deep. There was
nothing to say about it, it was merely an empty cave.

‘Not what you’re used to?’ he asked
archly.

‘How long are you planning on keeping me
here?’ she asked.

His smile faded. ‘As long as I please. After
that, well, you can find your own cave.’ and he smiled again.

Riley said nothing. There was nothing to
say.

Suddenly his smile disappeared entirely.
‘You know, most women like being kidnapped by me.’

Riley could not hide her shock.

‘But you have that look about you,’ he went
on, ‘like you’re going to try and claw my eyes out while I’m
sleeping.’ he advanced on her menacingly. ‘I don’t think you quite
understand yet just how powerless you are.’

Riley resisted the urge to take a step back.
‘You’ve already proven your strength, Your Majesty.’ she managed,
trying to sound submissive.

His smile came back, but it had that
malicious edge to it again. ‘Of course I have, but then you look
like a very mulish woman. And I do so like my eyes.’

Riley looked at the ground, trying to keep
her anger from her voice. ‘Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t hurt
you.’

‘True. But the effort offends me.’ he smiled
down at her.

And then she found herself pushed backwards.
Riley looked up in alarm. The King smiled and waved at her.

She tried to stop it, hold back, but she was
pulled inexorably towards the edge of the rock spire. And then she
was hanging above the water. If she could just move her arm, she
could reach out and touch the ledge.

Suddenly she was no longer held. She plunged
into the water. She tried to swim, but she couldn’t move. All she
could do was hold her breath.

And then when her lungs were burning and she
could hold on no longer she was suddenly yanked upwards. She broke
the surface, gasped for air. She was up by the ledge again. She
caught sight of the King, saw his smile.

And then she was back in the water.

And it kept going. Soon all she was aware of
was his laugh and her burning, aching lungs. She never had enough
time to catch her breath, she gasped, coughed up water, and down
she went again. And he laughed.

Sometime later she became aware of a sharp
pain in her leg. She couldn’t see what it was. All she could try
and do was breathe. An ehlkrid had caught hold of her leg. When it
was pulled out of the water with her, it caught sight of the King.
And it let go, falling back into the water. She didn’t see, didn’t
know why her leg hurt so badly.

All she knew was that she couldn’t breathe,
that she was drowning. And for a time, it was as if she was back in
Strong Swimmer’s body.

All thought fled.

Much later, the King stopped.

Riley was dropped onto the ledge before the
cave. Her leg buckled, she fell to the ground. She coughed and
gasped, vomiting up water.

And then she collapsed, her breath coming
hard and heavy. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, blinking every now
and then.

She heard a chuckle. That was all.

Riley did not know the time, but she was
very tired. She hobbled into the cave, wet and cold and bleeding.
She sat and kept her eyes carefully from the King because what
would he see there but rage?