The Lord of the Plains (11 page)

‘Bed.’ Aerlid supplied.

‘Bed. I will sleep on the floor.’

‘Riley-’

‘When do I get my parrying dagger?’ she
asked, excitement back in her voice.

Aerlid closed his eyes. Riley was like that.
When she thought the conversation was over, it was over. But a bed
would be a welcome change, so he wouldn’t argue about it now. He’d
have to buy an extra one sometime soon. Well, if furniture was
priced like food, at least it shouldn’t be too expensive.

Wait… what had she said? ‘You still want a
parrying dagger?’ he asked, his voice weak.

‘Yes!’ she beamed.

‘You know most people suffice with just one
weapon, would that not suit you? And you really should master one
weapon anyway before moving on to two.’

‘No, two suits me.’ Was that contempt in her
voice? Where on earth had she gotten such ideas? He’d certainly
never spoken to her of dual wielding. She was still talking, though
he wasn’t paying as much attention, ‘and I should practice now.
I’ll practice both styles. You teach me hand to hand and sword
fighting at the same time. Why can’t I learn to use one and two
weapons at the same time?’

Aerlid opened his eyes and sat up. He looked
deeply into her eyes. The wan tiredness dropped from him and he
shone, shone like he did in the forest. His hair was silver-
moonlight, not grey, his eyes dark- like night. Sometimes you could
see a flicker of starlight in there. There were no lines on his
face and his skin did not tan. ‘Seta?’

Riley just looked at him, as if he hadn’t
said anything- or if he had and it hadn’t been directed at her.

His movements deliberate, Aerlid reached
inside the neck of his shirt and pulled out a necklace. On the end
was a clear, empty orb. He held it in front of her.

‘Do you know what this is?’ he asked,
straining to remain calm.

‘It’s your necklace.’ She said, clearly
uninterested. ‘I think I can learn to use two swords!’

Aerlid sighed and closed his eyes, the shine
dropping off until he looked mostly human again. It took a moment
before he could speak again. ‘You realise I can’t teach you much
about that style.’ he said, his voice hollow. He struggled to
maintain his composure. He turned his mind back to the
conversation. He vaguely remembered seeing a dual-wielding style
once or twice before, (Flent, was it called?) but he’d never learnt
it, never seen enough of it to understand it. Then, remembering
what else she had said, added ‘and that is not really comparable!’
Seta had not fought with sword and a parrying dagger anyway. Seta
had not shared Riley’s interest in fighting. He squeezed his eyes
shut as his heart thumped against his chest.

Riley was talking again. ‘I can teach
myself. And it is.’

He tried a different approach, arguing with
her rarely got him anywhere. ‘Well Riley, before we invest in
another weapon for you, I would like you to make a wooden one- and
not out of any of our furniture.’ Not that any of it would be any
great loss, but he would probably have to pay to replace it.

‘Really? Can we go get some wood?’ she
asked, her excitement palpable.

Aerlid had to think about this for a moment,
dragging his mind back to the conversation at hand. He couldn’t
leave Riley outside while he was at work to go look for wood
herself, and he was so often too tired after work to do much except
sit. Part of that was because he was still recovering from the
testing centre, and it would be some time before he was healthy
again. Perhaps in the park? He’d have to ask Keila. Though that
gave him another idea. ‘I could bring you to work…’ he said slowly.
Jania had already said it was alright. It would be a good chance to
expose her to humans and to show her part of the city before she
played with Keila’s son. Also, it would be good to expose her to
someone else’s Seiaan. It couldn’t be much worse than staying here
alone all day.

‘Really?’

‘Hmm…’

Aerlid opened his eyes and straightened up
in the chair. He looked at her carefully through eyes that always
went curiously pale when he changed his appearance. If a plain,
human colour had to be used, were his eyes more light than dark?
‘Riley, humans are very different to you and I. They are very
different to gemengs.’

Riley nodded at him seriously, her eyes wide
in her little face.

‘They are soft, Riley, what would not hurt
you could kill them. They get hurt easily, they die easily.’

‘Do you understand? You have to be very
gentle with them.
Very
gentle.’

‘They are soft.’ she repeated in a tone that
made him think she understood. ‘I have to take care of them.’

A smile twitched his lips. ‘You have to take
care
around
them.’ He sighed and brought her closer in a
hug. ‘Watch them closely, see how they behave with each other. Be
very cautious. You are different to them, and they know it.’

Riley looked around in awe as Aerlid led her
through the city to the clinic, though she remembered what he’d
said last night and stayed close to him. They left early so there
were few people about, and Riley solemnly stepped out of the way of
those that were about, as if merely standing in their way might do
them harm.

Aerlid opened the door of the clinic and
gestured for Riley to enter ahead of him. The room was shabby but
clean and tidy. The wallpaper was an uninspiring brown (the brown
of paper bags and cardboard boxes), the chairs though had a modicum
of stuffing in them, a step up from their apartment. There was a
box in one corner of the room with colourful toys for children and
a counter along one wall behind which sat Jania the
receptionist.

When he entered Jania was the only one
there. She greeted him with a friendly smile. Riley looked at her
solemnly. She was being very solemn lately.

‘Hello, fena.’ she said politely.

Jania peered over her desk at Riley. ‘Why,
is this your little girl?’

‘My niece, yes, fei.’ Aerlid did not in fact
like pretending to be related to Riley, and had explained to her
that they were not- it was just for show. ‘Yes, this is Riley. Is
it alright for her to stay here today, fei?’

‘Why of course! My,’ she squinted at Riley
from behind the desk. ‘What interesting hair you have there, child.
I’ve seen my fair share of gemengs I think and I’ve never seen hair
like that.’

Riley didn’t respond, she’d paid attention
but it had meant nothing to her.

Aerlid on the other hand had to work hard to
still his suddenly racing heart. Her hair. Such beautiful hair.
Such inhuman hair. This old lady, indeed, all the workers at this
clinic had contact with gemengs- sick gemengs. He was pretty sure
the views these people had towards gemengly strangeness were quite
different to that of the general population. He remembered the man
at the testing centre- he’d been around gemengs a lot too. Yet the
flashes of summer in her hair had unmanned him completely.

While he was thinking all this Jania invited
Riley to sit down, and would she like to play with the toys?

‘Where did those toys come from?’ Aerlid
asked, stumbling as he tried to turn his thoughts to something
else.

‘My husband made them.’ Jania smiled, lines
forming around her eyes and mouth. Smile lines. ‘Our children are
grown now so I brought them here, something for the children while
they wait.’

Aerlid looked at the box curiously, which
Riley was pawing through. ‘What did he make them from, fei?’

‘Oh, mostly wood from the park.’

Aerlid looked at Jania quickly. You could
gather wood in the park?

She smiled, ‘if the wood has fallen on the
ground anyone can use it. It isn’t good enough to be used in
production, no reason to let it go to waste.’

Aerlid thought about that curiously, could
he make a wooden dagger for her from the sticks in the park? He
gave Jania a smile and thanks and went to sit by Riley, who was
being very grave in her playing with the toys.

‘You do not like them?’ he asked.

‘I do not want to break them.’ she replied
as she delicately picked up a block and turned it round and
round.

‘I am sure you will be careful, but that
does not mean you cannot enjoy yourself.’

Riley smiled, and then it grew wider. ‘Like
with the cats?’

Aerlid had to bite his tongue for a moment
before replying. It nearly killed him to say, ‘yes, like with the
cats.’

Then, to spare himself any more torture he
stood and went to chat with Jania while he waited for patients to
arrive.

When Keila arrived she rushed over gushing,
‘Ooh, is this your niece? My, isn’t she pretty!’

Riley looked up as Keila advanced on her,
somewhat startled at her speed. ‘Hello, fena.’ she said.

‘O-oh…’ Keila’s words faded as she crouched
by Riley. ‘What interesting hair you have there…my, I’ve never seen
the like.’

Keila, suddenly a tad faint, turned back to
Aerlid. ‘Well, we better get started hmm?’ she said with false
cheerfulness before straightening up and walking quickly to her
office.

Riley looked at Aerlid as if to ask, ‘may I
play now?’

He gave his permission and looked at her
hair sadly. Such beautiful hair, all her family had hair like that.
He sighed. Perhaps it was too strange for the humans. He would have
to think about this.

‘Will you be ok here on your own?’ Aerlid
asked.

Riley nodded. ‘I will take care of
them.’

‘Take care around them.’ he said with a
smile then turned to enter his own office as he saw the door open
and the first patient of the day arrive.

Riley was fascinated by the coloured blocks
and things in the box. Some were broken and old and didn’t work
right anymore, though she didn’t know this. She picked them up and
turned them over, inspecting them on all sides. These were for
playing? Like trees? After inspecting each one Riley carefully
placed it beside her before going on to the next. There were blocks
for building- not many so the structures she would create would be
on the small side, flimsy cards with pictures on them, and little
figures made out of wood. There was one with wheels and one that
looked like the ’creature’ - the human guards.

As the clinic filled up children approached
the box. Riley had never had to share before- except with Aerlid
really, so she wasn’t overly familiar with the concept. However she
was to take care of these weak ones, so she very seriously shared
the toys out with all the children. She kept few for herself,
content to watch the weak ones as
they
played.

‘Pow pow, pow’ a little boy was waggling the
guard around at a green block. ‘Pow, die gemeng, die!’

‘I wanna play!’ a little girl cried,
‘Gimme!’

‘No, you’re too young to play with gemengs.’
the little boy said sternly. ‘They’re too dangerous for you.’

‘Hush!’ a woman leaned down to the children.
‘Meitar, let Jeina play - oh,’ she looked at Riley for a few
moments. The look on her face said she wasn’t quite sure…was she
human? There was something about her, her colouring was different,
though without the flash of summer in her hair it was hard to
notice. ‘Put those toys away and come sit here.’

The children grumbled and climbed up onto
the chairs next to their mother. The mother kept shooting Riley
looks until it was time for them to leave.

Whenever he could Aerlid came out and
checked on Riley. Jania seemed fond of her and offered her
lunch.

Riley wasn’t sure what to say, she thought
she should wait for Aerlid. Jania took her silence as a yes and
brought her a sandwich. Riley was once again amazed, she asked what
this stuff was, and that stuff, and it was strange tasting to her.
‘You’ve never seen bread? Poor dear…’

When Aerlid returned Riley told him of
bread, a dark grainy substance which stood guard around things she
recognized. She asked what animal it came from.