Free The Lord of the Plains by Sarah Chapman Page B

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