The Broken Kingdom by Sarah Chapman

Zap Zap forced her to
swim. Then he allowed her back into the boat for less than half
that time. He talked to her the entire time. He made her respond,
when she didn’t he poked and nudged and hit her. Then he took her
back in the water.
    They did that the entire day.
    When night came Vann took over. He told Zap
Zap to rest. Fish people towed the boat, and Vann talked to
Riley.
    Talking wasn’t always enough. He had to be
increasingly violent to her.
    Riley complained, saying she wanted to
sleep.
    Vann didn’t think they could risk that.

    The next day was better. They didn’t have to
hit her as often or as hard. By the end of the day, talking was
enough.
    Night came again. Vann didn’t really sleep,
he needed to keep Riley awake.
    They were looking up at the moon. Well, Vann
was looking up at the moon.
    They were having a rather pointless, and one
sided, conversation about faces in the moon.
    ‘What about a submarine, do you think it
looks like a submarine?’
    Riley grunted in response and flapped her
tail to appease him. This was not the kind of conversation she
liked.
    ‘I think it looks like a submarine. What do
you think it looks like?’
    ‘A… moon….’
    ‘Besides that.’
    Vann fervently hoped they arrived soon. He
didn’t know how long he and Riley could keep this up. At least he
could nap sometimes when Zap Zap took over, Riley though… she had
to be awake all the time.
    The lap of the water was peaceful. Maybe he
couldn’t be a submariner anymore, but that didn’t change his love
of the ocean.
    ‘Riley?’
    ‘A…moon!’
    ‘I’m going to keep asking til you give me a
different answer.’
    The boat wobbled as she thrashed her tail
vigorously.
    ‘Alright, what do you want to talk
about?’
    The boat wobbled again.
    ‘Riley! You can’t complain about the topic
of conversation and not give me a new one.’
    ‘Wasn’t… me…’
    Vann was on his feet in seconds. He looked
around. Small waves, the moonlight gilding them in silver. The
flash of fish people tails.
    ‘Zap Zap?’ he called.
    Vann carefully bent down. His lightning rod
was on his belt. He fished his SIGPEW from its protective
wrappings.
    A fish person suddenly swam over to them.
Vann realised the boat was moving solely on wind power now, the
fish people were no longer pulling them.
    The fish person had what looked like a spear
made from coral in its hand. It made a few jabbing movements. Then
it disappeared.
    In alarm, Vann whispered to Riley, ‘I think
we have a problem.’
    The look she gave him was priceless.
    ‘I see you’re getting the hang of that
face.’
    The look did not get any friendlier.
    Vann stood. His feet were apart, steady. He
wasn’t going to be thrown overboard.
    The ocean was silent, except for the sounds
of the waves. Seconds ticked by.
    ‘Riley, talk to me.’ he whispered.
    ‘Why…?’ she rasped quietly.
    ‘So I know you’re still there.’
    ‘About… what?’
    ‘Anything.’
    She was silent for a moment. He glanced over
at her.
    ‘Thick leaves… three tip grass… river
mud…’
    ‘What’s that?’ he asked.
    ‘My… recipe… for mud… roll…’
    He shot her a scandalized look.
    ‘It’s… good… for you…’
    ‘How do you know ?’ he hissed.
    ‘The… big… animals… eat … three tip… grass…
they’re big…’
    ‘Is that all?’
    ‘How… else… do… you know?’
    Vann didn’t reply for a moment. ‘Do you have
any other recipes?’ he whispered into the silence.
    ‘I haven’t… tried… the… others.’
    At his nudging Riley whispered the ones she
wanted to try out into the night.
    His heart was pumping fast. The fish people
still hadn’t returned.
    ‘…mud…’
    ‘Do they all contain mud?’
    ‘No… some… had dirt.’
    ‘I think that’s the same.’
    ‘Everything grows… from… dirt…’
    The ocean exploded. The boat rocked. Vann
just managed to hang on. He was soaked. He caught sight of Riley,
still in the bottom of the boat.
    At least she’s