The Lord of the Plains (55 page)

‘Wait!’ he grabbed the door.

She stopped, glaring at him from narrowed
eyes.

‘My name’s Vann.’

He was surprised she shook his hand. It was
so fast. Her skin was soft and smooth. So human. He didn’t grab her
hand, but allowed it to slip away. His hand seemed to pulse where
it had touched her.

She began closing the door again.

‘Wait!’ he cried again.

She stopped, but the door was only open a
slit now.

He stared at those green eyes peering from
the darkness of the room beyond.

‘There are other places to eat, where
submariners don’t hang out. You don’t have to stay in there-’

‘No.’

‘I could just give you direc-’

‘No.’

And the door was slammed in his face.

To say Vann was stunned was an
understatement.

Someone was putting beer before him.

‘Said no to you too, huh?’ Gavann asked.

‘She wouldn’t even let me give her
directions!’ he cried in disbelief. Disbelief was easier than all
the other feelings she awakened in him.

‘Yeah… well, maybe she thinks you’re
depraved too. Like the rest of that lot.’

Vann took a sip, then set the beer back down
on the table. ‘I’ll try again.’ he was determined. He’d been
rejected before. He’d accepted it and moved on. But not with her.
Giving up did not cross his mind.

The need to know this creature had lodged in
him.

‘Um, ok. We’ll all enjoy seeing you shot
down again.’ Gavann grinned. ‘Can you do it somewhere public next
time? You know, so we can watch?’

Vann just glared at him.

Two more rejections later Vann was stumped.
He needed to know
why
she was so fond of ‘no’. More, he felt
himself slipping dangerously into that unknown country called
Panic.

Every time he saw her he was awed and
unsettled and so many different things. And yet her voice was so
normal. It was a lovely voice, with so many different inflections.
But it was a normal voice. And her hand had felt so human. The mix
captivated and entranced him.

The feelings didn’t go away. If anything
they became stronger and deeper every time he saw her.

He approached Riley in that moment after the
fighting was over and before she cloistered herself in her rooms
again. His chest felt painfully tight and it felt like there was a
lead weight in his stomach. What would it take just to get a smile
out of her? What did he have to say?

At least she waited for him. Her arms were
crossed and she was glaring at him. But at least she waited.

‘Hi.’ he said.

People were scattering from the
courtyard.

She didn’t say anything. Her mouth was
closed tightly.

At least she didn’t say no as soon as she
saw him.

‘Are you enjoying Coastside?’ he asked,
building his courage up to ask.

Her eyes narrowed even further. It was a
glare within a glare.

‘You don’t want to see any of it?’

‘Not with you.’ she finally said. ‘How many
times do I have to say it?’

‘Why?’ he asked.

‘You do know I’m a gemeng, don’t you?’

‘Yes.’ She mentioned that a lot. ‘Why does
that matter?’

Her expression didn’t change. Perhaps there
was only so much suspicion and leave-me-aloneness that could fit on
one face. Even if that face was Riley’s.

‘Do you have someone, back in Astar?’ he
asked calmly, but he had to drag those words out of himself. It
would make sense. He could understand that. He’d back off then. He
didn’t go after other guy’s girls. Not that he’d had much luck with
this one, a little voice (which he ignored) said.

Her expression changed to outright
surprise.

Before she could say anything though, he
realized he wouldn’t back off. Whoever he was, he’d find himself
with some competition.

‘N-no.’ she stuttered, too astounded to say
anything but the truth. ‘Of course not.’

Vann almost smiled. Then ’why ‘of course’?’
he asked.

She peered at him, as if she was trying to
catch him out in a lie. ‘What’s wrong with you?’ she said, though
it wasn’t angry, exasperated mainly.

‘Riley, I don’t understand why you’re so
against Coastside.’

Her eyes were on him. ‘I’m a gemeng. You’re
a human. Besides…’ she trailed off. ‘I have to leave.’

‘Listen, I know what it’s like to be away
from home, but maybe if you get out a bit more you won’t find
Coastside so bad. And I don’t understand why it matters that you’re
a gemeng.’

She just stared at him. She was not smiling,
but Vann found it a lovely change from her usual expression.

‘Maybe it matters in Astar, but not in
Coastside.’

‘Do humans often go out with gemengs in
Coastside?’ she asked.

‘No but… most gemengs around here try to
kill you, so,’ he shrugged.

She shook her head.

‘Do you not like humans then?’ he asked
suddenly. Maybe she thought they were too soft, he thought, like
what Azra thought of the shore siders.

Maybe she thought they were nothing but
ghosts.

She looked stunned again. She gathered
herself then and said, ‘I’m not staying in Coastside. I’m sorry,
I’m not going anywhere with you.’ and she started walking away.

‘Wait.’ Vann walked quickly to catch her.
‘Ok, how about we just be friends?’

Chapter 42

‘Ok, how about we just be friends?’ he asked
her.

He was very close. No closer than was
acceptable between two strangers, but to her it felt very
close.

Riley was gazing at his grey eyes. Alann
Turis had grey eyes too. But she had discovered there were so many
differences between two pairs of grey eyes. Vann’s eyes were
captivating. She could lose herself in them for hours, taking note
of the vagaries of them.

He had a distracting way of catching the
eye. Riley would be minding her own business, glaring at everyone
to forestall any more invitations to dinner. Then something would
catch her eye and she would turn and it would be Vann.

She could have trained herself to stop
looking, but in another place the shine that caught her eye could
be a claw or a sword. So she accepted it and turned and looked.

He looked at her in an astonishing way, as
if she was the only person alive. It was a way that twisted her up
inside. It excited and frightened her.

You didn’t look at your friends like
that.

And she was pretty sure you didn’t hope time
might stop moving so you could gaze in your friend’s eyes for hours
with nobody noticing. And perhaps you might want to look elsewhere
too, for there was more to a face than eyes. But anywhere else was
far too dangerous. His eyes were bad enough.

No, that’s not what friends did.

She could not imagine this man as ‘just’ a
friend.

She woke up every day with a mixture of
anticipation and dread. It was hard to turn him away. But she
needed to. She wasn’t staying in the human territories any longer.
She needed to know. She needed to test herself. She couldn’t stay
here any longer. She didn’t want to know Coastside. She wanted to
leave
!

And on occasion, when she felt herself
slipping, that maybe it would be alright, she remembered Peitar.
And that jolted her out of it faster than a shock with a lightning
rod. Though at the same time a part of her would be saying Peitar
didn’t even
compare
to this man…

Riley shook her head. ‘No. I don’t want to
be friends.’ she turned to leave again. She was surprised her voice
didn’t wobble.

But once again he called her back.

He was always doing that.

He looked so lost and confused. ‘But why?’
he asked.

‘I don’t owe you an explanation.’ she
snapped suddenly, unable to bear it any longer.

She turned and stalked away.

He didn’t call her back.

Chapter 43

Captain Turis and his squad, minus the
gemeng, sat down at Aleitar’s table. They’d been looking for him
for a while, though he’d only just returned to Coastside.

‘I’m Alann.’ Alann introduced himself.

Aleitar set down his mug and shook his hand,
introducing himself. And so on for the entire squad.

‘Do you know why we’re here?’ Alann asked
him.

Aleitar nodded as he glanced at their faces
in turn. ‘Yeah, there’s been a lot of talk. Hey, some friendly
advice, you need to watch yourselves.’

‘What do you mean?’ Alann asked, narrowing
his eyes. He noted the man was drinking alcohol.

‘I mean Commander Reista ordered everyone to
play nice, but the submariners are getting… they’re not…’ he
hesitated. ‘Look,’ he started again. ‘I’m from Astar too, I know
how shocking this place is at first. But you guys need to calm down
and stop insulting everything and everyone here. We lost a lot of
people in the Molk attack. Let’s just say if you guys all went home
in boxes nobody here’d care.’

Alann observed him coolly for a few moments.
‘So how long have you been in Coastside?’

‘About three years.’

‘I notice you’re drinking.’

Aleitar sighed. ‘Why does it matter- I know
how it looks to you, but tell me, what does it matter?’

‘It’s wasteful. It wastes resources, time
and is poor for the health.’

‘Firstly, it’s not a waste. If you’d spent
weeks trapped on a sub with water up to your ankles all the time
and fighting gemengs you’d want a drink when you got back.
Secondly, I don’t know any submariner who’s died from drinking too
much. Do you know the life expectancy for submariners who don’t get
transferred shoreside? Not long.’

‘The military personnel located in Astar
have always managed without drinking.’ Alann said tightly.

‘How many gemengs do you run into around
Astar, hmm? Count them for me. Go on.’

Alann just narrowed his eyes further.