The Broken Kingdom (7 page)

Aerlid bowed his head. ‘Yes, Seta. I am so
sorry… Very well, we will put her there for now. When I’ve finished
your new body we can put her back.’

Karesh, who had his arms around the fish
person looked in alarm between the two.

‘Aerlid-’ he began.

‘It’s alright, Karesh. Everything will be
fine.’

The fragile cocoon ripped and tore.

She opened her eyes, her vision was blurry.
She tried to get up. She felt as though she was moving. Had she
gotten up?

Her vision cleared somewhat, but still, it
was like looking at something down a long tunnel. The world was
flat, nothing to be seen.

Riley tried to rub her eyes. The world was
moving around, as though she was walking. Or being carried? She
didn’t remember walking.

She tried to get up.

Her vision darkened.

Fear gripped her. Was she dying?

She fought. It cleared.

It was a struggle just to see. She couldn’t
hear anything. She tried to touch her ears.

She felt nothing. She did not feel her arm,
her ear.

Riley frowned.

She did not feel her face.

She tried to get up.

Something was hurtling towards her.

The world wobbled dangerously. Then she was
looking up at Karesh’s face.

His mouth was moving. The words came from a
long way away, but she heard them. She smiled in relief.

She tried to say something back. She did not
feel her mouth.

Then she heard words, her voice. But the
words were not what she intended.

Karesh, continued talking, and again, Riley
tried to speak. Didn’t he see what was wrong?

And then Karesh was walking. Riley wanted to
follow. And she was. She saw that she was.

But she had a feeling
she
wasn’t
doing the following.

And she could not feel her legs. Fear
gripped her. How was she following him? She tried to look down. But
her vision stayed resolutely on Karesh’s back.

Her vision faded.

She couldn’t hold on.

Riley drifted in and out of consciousness.
Her vision faded, came back.

She tried to call to Karesh, to wave her
arms. She tried to get up.

But she had only sight and sound, and they
weren’t working like they should.

Was she being carried?

Why did the words that came from her mouth
not sound right?

And then… then relief flooded her.

Aerlid.

Karesh might not see, but Aerlid would. He
would save her.

Her vision cleared as she tried to see him,
catch his attention. ‘Aerlid!’ she tried to say, ‘Aerlid!’

Aerlid came towards her, ‘Seta!’ he
cried.

Confusion felled her. He seemed happy to see
her. What was wrong? Why couldn’t he tell something was wrong?

Words that were not her own were spoken in
her voice. Aerlid spoke back.

Sick fear curled in her stomach. But she
couldn’t feel her stomach.

Her vision wobbled. She was going somewhere.
She tried to stop.

She tried to scream.

And then relief again, her name. She heard
her name.

‘Where is Riley, by the way?’ Aerlid
asked.

I’m here! She tried to say. Help me, Aerlid,
I’m here!

But the words were different, and relief was
ripped away.

‘She thinks she’s dead.’ Her voice replied
callously.

What?
What?!

‘Ah. I suppose that’s for the best.’ Aerlid
replied.

And her screams that no one heard drowned
out everything else.

Riley saw the fish person. Heard the
words.

And then… she was ripped from what was
hers.

She didn’t know what was happening. Tumbled,
confused.

Then something. She felt another being. For
a moment she knew it entirely. She
was
it. And then it was
gone. Shattering beneath her fall, the shards of the fishman’s mind
disappearing into nothing.

Gone.

And then she could move again.

But everything was wrong. She couldn’t
breathe. Everything was
wrong.

‘It’s alright Karesh, everything will be
fine.’ Aerlid said.

Karesh fell quiet. The fish person was
slippery and inert in his arms.

A few moments passed. He didn’t know what
the Master and Aerlid were doing, but they were still and
silent.

And then the fish person started thrashing
wildly. A strong tail whacked his face.

He couldn’t hold on.

The creature flipped and flopped and tumbled
into the ocean.

Karesh scampered to his feet.

It was floundering about in the ocean like
it couldn’t swim. The other fish people swam closer to it. They
grabbed it, tried to settle it.

Karesh spun and stared at the Master and
Aerlid.

‘What happened?’ he demanded.

The Master smiled. Karesh didn’t like that
smile. ‘Free at last.’ she said.

Aerlid looked haggard. ‘It will be alright
Karesh. It’s going to be fine.’ he rubbed his eyes.

Karesh looked back to the ocean. The fish
people had disappeared, the flapping fish person with them.

Chapter 10

H
ands everywhere. Cold,
wet. No air. Can’t breathe… can’t breathe… can’t breathe!

And then… glorious air! But it tasted
strange. It did not fill her as it should.

Vision returns. Waves, all around. Sky. And
then faces. Grey and slimy faces, but familiar.

She gulped in the air. Water came in too,
she coughed. Hands were holding her up. Where were her legs?

She knew these faces, had seen them before.
She tried to speak.

A strange noise came from her throat. Her
mouth wasn’t forming the words like it should.

Would they even understand?

But she knew these faces. For a short time,
she had been learning their language.

She tried to calm down. But the sea was too
close. She didn’t know how to swim. It kept getting in her
mouth.

She splashed, tried to stay afloat.

Muscly, grey arms flashed in front of her
eyes. She stopped splashing. The arms stopped too.

It took her a moment to realise what had
happened.

And panic overtook her.

Riley did not know how long it took for her
senses to return.

But when they did she found she was in
shallow water, fish people all around.

They swam close, made funny shapes with
their mouths, then moved on. Hands were holding her up. Someone was
offering her fish.

She caught sight of her tail. It was long
and silvery, longer than her legs had been. It was splashing and
moving about in the water.

And yet it hurt. She was trying to move her
legs apart, to walk. She tried with all her might, but the tail
stayed resolutely together. Everything was wrong. But it was all
too real.

So she stopped thinking about how she had
come to be here, how afraid she was, how she didn’t know how to
swim or breathe with this body.

She knew one thing.

She forced herself to become calm. And then
she moved her mouth and batted her eyelids in the way Zap Zap had
shown her. She knew very little in the fish people language, but
she knew his name.