The Lord of the Plains (78 page)

‘Soon for us or soon for them?’

‘For you. I was quite clear.’ Adila had been
the Judgement Master a long time. When it was necessary, she could
get a quick reaction. ‘You have questions. I can’t answer them, and
it would be better if you got them sooner rather than later.’

They were of course, speaking in Valkar.

‘I’ll tell Riley.’

Riley was with her recently formed council.
They were sitting in a circle, a large space between them and the
rest of the tribe. Riley had asked for quiet, and the council was
giving it to her.

Karesh and Gakra were with her, as were the
seven other members of the council. It hadn’t been too difficult to
choose the other members- trying to train the gemengs quickly
revealed those willing, or able, to change and think and those who
weren’t. The group was a mix of ages, genders, and strength.

‘You understand?’ Riley was asking.

‘I see what you’re saying.’ A young man was
saying, cautiously but also bravely- it was a manner reminiscent of
Karesh. He had passed the Warrior’s Trial a few years ago, but was
one of the weaker members of the tribe. He was a circumspect,
observant man, who chose the moments to show his strength
carefully. ‘But the warriors need a way to test their strength
against each other. Perhaps other challenges could be allowed,
aside from those directed at you.’

Currently, Riley was trying to set up a
loose system of laws. There would be rules that would govern
everyone, even her. Eventually, she hoped the council would become
responsible for such things, without her. At the moment they really
just gave her advice. She handled disputes and problems personally.
That she was seen to consider and follow their advice was important
though. It was a start.

‘I will consider that.’ Riley said
seriously. ‘Are you all agreed?’

There was a round of nodding. She gazed
intently at Karesh. He seemed more nervous than usual. Despite
that, he nodded.

She glanced up, about to say something else,
when she spotted Aerlid hurrying over to the group.

She looked back at her council. ‘Alright.
Make the announcement.’ She stood and walked over to Aerlid. ‘What
is it?’ she asked.

He had a curious look on his face. It was
hard to pin down- happy, concerned, excited, grim.

‘The City of the Valkar.’ he said. And then
he looked up.

Riley looked up too. And she stayed looking
up.

‘Yes, that’s it.’

‘I see it. When did it get here?’ she
finally looked down. ‘Surely we would have spotted it coming.’

‘It hides well. But it came here by normal
means.’

‘Through the sky?’

‘Yes.’

‘That’s a normal way to travel?’

Riley was vaguely aware of noise behind
her:

‘Challenges may only take place by
permission of our lord. They will take place within the challenge
square. Only those related to the challengers, or members of the
council will witness the challenge. A challenge cannot take place
without at least three witnesses.’

‘Comparatively, yes.’

‘Alright. Can you reach it?’

‘Oh, easily. Yes. But… Riley, I would like
you to visit the city, though I’m afraid I can’t take you. You’d
have to reach it alone.’

Surprised, Riley blinked. ‘Why?’

‘It’s one of the protective measures on the
city. No one can bring anyone else to the city, so humans can’t
capture and force any valkar to take them there.’

Riley gazed up at the thing above. It was
hard to pick out details from here. It was a vaguely shoe shaped
blob in the sky. It cast a shadow, like a cloud, on the ground. It
was mainly green, as if it was covered in forest. But it was also
brown, as if it was a piece of earth, forest and all, floating in
the sky. Some parts of it caught the light and shone and
flashed.

‘How am I to get up there?’ she asked, more
than a little sceptical.

‘It would be best if we did it at night.
Even if you can’t make it, you won’t die.’ he said seriously. ‘If
you fall you’ll reach the ground safely. It won’t be
dangerous.’

‘…any other fighting will be considered an
attempt at murder. An attempt will be punished by servitude to the
victim until…’

‘And why is that?’

‘Valkar… they do not easily kill.’

Riley frowned. She didn’t think
she
killed easily. ‘And you’re certain?’

‘If I’m wrong about the stairs, Adila or I,
or someone else in the city can catch you.’

‘Are you certain about that?’ she said with
some emphasis.

‘…a successful attempt will be punished by
death…’

‘I am.’

Riley looked down at him. Her frown was
still there. Then she looked back up. ‘How am I to get up
there?’

‘It will be easiest to show you at
night.’

‘Alright. Tonight then.’

The city was not right above the tribe, so
Aerlid and Riley walked some way from the tribe until they were
beneath the city.

Adila had already left. Riley hadn’t seen
her go.

The moon was shining brightly in the dark,
star-dotted sky. The night was humid, but a cool breeze made it
pleasant. Light and laughter and cooking smells drifted from the
camp. The grasslands were quiet, except for the sound of the
wind.

Aerlid was gazing at the sky. Whether at the
moon or the city, Riley didn’t know.

He looked down at her. He had a frown on his
face, it bordered on sadness.

‘Watch me.’ he said softly. ‘You can’t sing,
but your humming should be enough.’

He looked away.

And then he sang, one pure note. As he sang
the moonlight shimmered and changed. It coalesced, and in front of
him, gathered. Aerlid stepped onto the moonlight, as if it was a
stair. And he sang again. And the moonlight gathered in front of
him, a little higher. Again, he stepped up.

The notes came together, became a song. And
he was singing and climbing through the night, up the glittering
stairway.

Riley stared. He had ascended, far above
her. Her eyes latched on to the first stair. It was still
there.

And so she tried to step on it.

It was like stepping on air.

Perhaps the valkar could do that, but she
couldn’t. Her foot hit the ground.

Alright then
, she thought. Riley
moved a little way away from Aerlid’s staircase. He was still
climbing above, in a straight path.

Riley began humming, one of the moon songs
Aerlid sung. Nothing happened. The moonlight stayed where it
was.

She gazed around, still humming.

Minutes dragged by. She did not look up at
Aerlid. She just hummed and looked around for her staircase.

And slowly, slowly, she saw. Light was
moving sluggishly, but… it was less moonlight, what was moving for
her could easily have been mistaken for mist. Well, shiny mist, but
certainly not light. Even so, she started in surprise, her humming
catching. The mist-light quickly began falling apart,
dissipating.

Quickly, Riley began humming again. And it
came together, into a lumpy lump. It was not quite in front of her,
as Aerlid’s had been. Riley took two steps so she was in front of
her lump. She was still humming.

She stepped up onto it. Her foot began to
sink. Her heart joined it. But then it stopped. She stood, both
feet off the ground, and sank a little more. Aerlid hadn’t done
that. But at least she was standing on her first step.

She kept humming. She couldn’t describe it,
but she had a better idea of what to hum now, of what tune the moon
wanted. Though it wasn’t just the moon. She had a sense of another
presence, the city. It was part of this song too. The next step
came quicker than the first. Again, it was not quite in front of
her. She had to stretch to reach it. It was like the first, not
quite solid.

Out of the corner of her eye she could still
see Aerlid’s staircase, solid and gleaming and formed out of light.
But she did not think of that. She hummed. And climbed.

The steps came quicker, though not nearly as
quickly as Aerlid’s. It did not take long for her to realise she
could not hold more than two steps at a time. As soon as she began
humming the third the first began disappearing.

A tremor of unease passed through her. The
city was
high
, and her staircase didn’t fill her with
confidence.

But Aerlid had said he would catch her.

So she didn’t wonder how far she would fall
before that happened.

She hummed and climbed into the night.

Aerlid gazed down from the city, his heart
in his mouth.

Riley took a flying leap through the sky.
She landed on the next step. Stood, looked around.

‘Is there something wrong with her?’ a man
standing next to him asked.

Aerlid was not in the mood for talking.
Riley was still standing on her stair. It took her about a minute
to form each step, and then they were too far apart, and even
worse, weren’t heading directly towards the city.

‘Do you beat her around the head every night
before bed, Aerlid?’ the man continued curiously. ‘Because it
doesn’t take Tagalid more than a seventy fifth to get up here, and
he’s a rock!’

‘I know who Tagalid is!’ Aerlid growled. A
seventy fifth corresponded to about thirty minutes. It had taken
Aerlid about twenty. Riley had been climbing for five hours. If she
managed to keep the path straight she could be in the city in
about… well, considering how long it took her to make a step… it
would be under an hour. Considering the way her path was going,
she’d be lucky if she
ever
got here. ‘Go away, Dearlid,’ he
pronounced it dee-ar-lid, ‘I don’t want to talk.’

Of course, the man ignored him. ‘Have you
lobotomized her?’ he asked. ‘You know, I’ll go get Aela,’ this was
pronounced ay-ee-la, ‘I’m sure she can tell you what’s wrong with
her.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with her! And who is
Aela?’ The fact that he didn’t know her probably meant she’d been
born in the city.

‘A Moonsinger, she heals too.’

Aerlid snorted.

‘Much better than you, I’m sure. Otherwise
you’d know what was wrong with her.’