The Lord of the Plains (71 page)

‘They didn’t undergo the Warrior’s Trial.’
Gakra was complaining.

Morning had come and everyone was
untied.

‘They defeated warriors. Tell me, what is
the Warrior’s Trial about if that is not it?’ Riley asked
calmly.

‘They didn’t kill anyone! They have no
trophies.’ But he said this without much fervour. After all, she
was right. The Warrior’s Trial was a simple affair. Once the
children reached a certain age they went out into the plains and
killed the warrior of a neighbouring tribe. Either they came back
with a trophy or they didn’t come back at all.

At this moment Riley did not feel like
reminding Gakra she was the leader now. If they felt comfortable
voicing disagreement without calling her names or threatening to
kill anyone, well, it was all to the good.

‘Now,’ she turned to the rest of the tribe,
her voice carrying easily out to those at the edges of the crowd.
‘You are all ashamed. So am I. Again and again you prove to me you
are not warriors. I intend to train you like I have trained your
children. They will be your example. If you learn to be half as
good as them you’ll be halfway to getting your honour back.’

And then… then they would deal with the
other tribes.

Chapter 63

Months passed while Riley trained the tribe.
The tribe didn’t stay in one location. As leader it was her job to
choose where they would go and how fast they would travel. Mostly,
she asked Gakra and the other tribe members for their advice. She
knew nothing about this after all. Gakra was pleasantly surprised
to find she would listen and even follow his advice.

Considering what happened to most lords who
were ousted, he was doing pretty well for himself.

Riley enjoyed moving around the plains. She
missed her trees. And the giant cats (at least the plains had
medium-sized giant cats). Other than that she found great pleasure
in her new home. There was no concrete around her anymore, no
walls. She didn’t have to hide her strength- in fact she could
flaunt it. She could race the other gemengs and leave them in the
dust and that was a
good
thing! She could run all night if
she wanted, moving silently through the tall grass, the world lit
only by the moon, her only company a sense of the aliveness of the
world around her. There was a curious sense of being alone in the
world here, a sense of timelessness. The tribes didn’t talk to each
other, so there was no news of the outside world. Of any world
other than that of the tribe.

There was a freedom here she had missed.

It was not something she ever intended to
lose.

And finally the day came when they were
ready.

Her tribe’s response the next time they were
invaded left her with a glow inside. Pride, satisfaction.

It wasn’t her plan, not really. She had
merely given them the tools and the instruction- don’t kill them,
and make sure they don’t come back. The details were left up to
them.

Riley watched, hidden so well her tribe
couldn’t spot her. The attackers were stripped, their trophies
stolen and distributed among the thieves. Then they were tied up
and sent running back to their own tribe with laughter following in
their footsteps.

It took a few more attacks and humiliations,
but eventually the attacks stopped.

And they were alone.

Chapter 64

Despite the growls and threats flying
through the air, Riley was pleased.

Finally,
finally
, they had come to
her first before tearing into each other.

‘What’s going on here?’ she asked. Her hands
were on her hips and she was trying to look serious, but she
couldn’t hide the smile from her face.

Three gemengs were the focus of the anger.
Two males, one female.

One flung out a shaking finger at the other
two, ‘I raised
his
child for
years
! And that
cowardly, lying, ugly pig knew! Let me kill them!’

Riley’s eyebrows rose. Recriminations were
now flying from the other two. This was new. Considering the
dynamic between gemeng partners she was a little curious how this
had come about. But she didn’t ask.

Instead she asked, cutting through the
insults, ‘is this true?’

She locked her eyes on the female gemeng, a
serious look on her face.

The woman hesitated. Riley’s eyes sharpened.
The woman talked, ‘y-yes, I believe so.’

‘And you are both certain he,’ she cocked
her head towards the second male, ‘is the father?’

She nodded.

‘And did you both know?’

There was uncomfortable nodding.

‘I’ve provided for her and her children for
years! You
must
let me kill them both! They made me their
slave!’ the deceived male demanded. He rounded on Riley, his eyes
glowering and gleaming. ‘Let me kill them.’

Riley shook her head. Then she looked the
three over. Her gaze locked on the other male. ‘You’ll have to take
over care of the child. Do you want anything more to do with it?’
she said to the first male.

He looked at her as if she was crazy. When
she didn’t say anything he said, ‘no.’ as if he couldn’t believe
anyone would ask something so obvious.

She felt a pang of despair. Did these people
feel anything? Did they care for anyone? Was there no one they
could let down their guard with?

‘Alright. You and you,’ she said as she
watched the parents. ‘Will have to make recompense to this man for
your deception. I believe if both of you share half your food with
him for… how long did you look after the child?’

‘Seven years.’ the man said bitterly.

‘Seven years then.’

All three gaped at her.

‘I can live with that.’ the first man said,
startled, as if he couldn’t quite believe it, as if he hadn’t
conceived of satisfaction without violence.

The other two just nodded dumbly.

But they didn’t argue or complain. And the
man they had deceived was happy. So the threat of violence was gone
and a child had a new father.

The atmosphere had changed.

When Riley walked through the camp she heard
insults flying, but the threats of violence- and requests to commit
violence- had decreased rapidly. Why, the tribe went days without
anyone asking to kill anyone else! She spent enough time hiding and
spying on her tribe that she was sure they weren’t just hiding
their fighting from her. They had actually
changed
.

She stopped by a gemeng who had just been
called a whole host of names by another gemeng and had
walked
away.

‘Why did you do that?’ she asked
curiously.

The gemeng gazed at her, he was her height
(which made him on the short side for a Plain’s gemeng). ‘Well, you
never let us kill anyone.’ he sighed. ‘You’re pleased I didn’t
fight him?’

‘Is that the only reason?’ she asked, her
mood plummeting.

He stared at her, his brows crinkled. ‘You
don’t want fighting. I don’t fight. You happy with me.’ he
scrunched up his face, as if thinking hard. ‘What else is
there?’

And despair came to her as she studied this
confused gemeng. They
hadn’t
changed. Everything was
exactly
the same. The lord of a tribe defined gemeng life.
She was stronger than them. They feared her. So they would obey
her, and even try to please her. But that was all. There was no
more to it than that.

Riley and the gemeng went their separate
ways. Riley barely noticed.

What more could she do? The moment she was
gone everything would revert back to what it had been, for the
change was purely superficial. But what else could she do?

Riley gathered herself. Her mouth set in a
grim line. Well, nothing. All she could do was show them another
way and hope this way of living would come to mean something to
them. And then when she was gone… if this way of life meant
anything to them, they’d have to protect and maintain it
themselves.

Chapter 65

The days ran into each other. The last was
the same as the next. But that was ok. Despite her realization that
the tribe was really just the same as before, Riley was happy.
Everything was going well. That was, until someone got the bright
idea to challenge her for control of the tribe.

Not someone from
her
tribe though.
No, a stranger just wandered in one day from the grasslands and
demanded to challenge the leader of the tribe. It was a surprise,
but she defeated him easily. The gemeng then decided he would stay
with the tribe. He’d gazed around, hackles raised, as if daring
anyone to disagree. It had been unexpected, but she saw no reason
to refuse him. She explained the rules and asked if there were any
questions. The newcomer had looked at her as if she was crazy. Then
he’d asked if he could find somewhere to sleep. When she said yes
he proceeded to go get into six fights in the space of four
minutes. That was how long it took before Riley realized what was
happening and managed to stop him.