Amazon Companion (12 page)

"Good. Now pay attention." She gestured with her nose to Nori.

We spent an hour working solo with the staffs, practicing our grip and our stance, practicing swings, making sure we kept our balance. My shoulders loosened at first, but then began to hurt.

"My shoulders," I said to Malora at one point.

"They hurt?"

"Yes."

She nodded, but she didn't give me permission to stop.

Finally, Nori had us square off against our warriors. "Single swings at a time," she directed. "Slowly."

I turned to Malora. She held her staff confidently. "Take it slow and easy," she said. "You are getting used to holding it. Whenever you're ready."

I swung at her, and she deflected my swing, then the other side of her staff came around, slower than in a
real fight, much slower, but even with an easy swing, I had fallen off balance. She tapped my back with her staff. I never got mine into position.

"What was that?" she asked me. "Again."

I did better, and she didn't get any easy taps against me. Nori moved from group to group, coming up behind me. She set her hands on my shoulders. "Swing slowly," she ordered, so I did. Malora blocked and began to counter, but Nori said, "Hold," and Malora froze. "You're done with the staff today, Maya. That's enough on your shoulders."

"Oh
, thank you," I said. I lowered my staff and slumped.

"Now you thank your instructors," Nori said.

I turned to face her. "Thank you, Nori," I said.

"And your partner," she said, so I turned to Malora. "Thank you." I wasn't sure I was thankful to her.

"Put the staffs away," she said, "then you run."

"No," I said slowly.
"Please, no."

"Do not argue with your training instructor
s," Nori said. "I better not have to tell you again."

I took Malora
's staff from her and headed for the shed. It was obvious where the staffs belonged, so I put them both away and looked around. The shed was a bit of a mess, but I didn't want to think what would happen if I stayed to straighten it. I returned to my warrior.

"Do you need a demon chasing you?" she asked me. It was asked wi
th a certain amount of kindness.

"Whatever," I said.

She ignored my tone. "I will set a pace," she said. "If you are unable to keep up, I will become the demon again. And no backtalk." Maybe she didn't completely ignore the tone.

I nodded. "The shed needs organizing."

"Were you tempted to linger?" she asked.

I nodded, and she smiled.

"Come on."

She set a modest pace to begin, one I could keep. We ran in circles, Malora talking gently the entire time, not saying anything I needed to remember. I was soon panting badly, but she was running alongside me with breath to spare.

We ran five circles, and I was beyond ready to be done, but not once did she threaten to become the demon. Then we walked a sixth circle before she allowed me to collapse in the grass facing the advanced warriors.

"We stretch now," she said, "but you can watch."

I had to admit, it was fascinating. It took a minute or two before I realized the companions were not partnered with their warriors. Instead, they seemed to be organized by ability.

Malora directed me through my stretches, explaining what was going on while we watched the warriors.

"Oh, oh," she said. She glanced over at Nori, but she was busy and hadn't noticed whatever Malora had seen. "Maya, run. I need a staff. Run."

I didn't hesitate. I jumped to my feet and ran for the storage room, grabbing the first
staff I found and running back. By the time I returned, Malora had waded into the women. I ran to the edge of the training circle, but Malora held her hand out, and I ran to her, thrusting the staff into her hand.

Then I turned and ran for Nori.

"Nori," I said, "Malora may need you."

She looked up, then glanced at the training ground. "Did she send you?"

"No."

Nori watched for a moment then turned to the warriors. "We're done. Put your
staffs away and run."

"Yes, Nori," Lidi said. "Thank you." But as Lidi stepped past her, Nori reached out and took the staff from her. Lidi turned, then relinquished the weapon to Nori with a nod.

"Come on," Nori said to me. "I'm sure it's nothing."

But we hurried to the edge, arriving in time to see Malora berating two of the women. I didn't understand what was going on, but she was angry. She was gesturing with the staff.

"What's going on?" I asked Nori.

"We missed most of it. Varda and Bea don't like each other. Their warriors should have handled this. Malora shouldn't have been involved."

"All the warriors were sparring."

"So they didn't see whatever Malora saw."

"If Varda and Bea don't like each other, why are they training together? That seems like a recipe for disaster."

"You need to trust the woman next to y
ou, even if you don't like her. Pay attention."

I turned my focus back on Malora, trying to understand. Finally I caught up with the conversation. "Your dispute is over two years old," she said. "In that time, neither of you has honestly atte
mpted to move past it. We are too small a group, and what we do is already difficult enough. We cannot allow this sort of antipathy to fester. I had thought you would grow past this, but I see I have been wrong."

Neither girl said anything.

Malora looked around, her eyes settling on me. "Maya. There is rope in the storage shed. Bring several pieces."

I stared at her, frozen. Was she
going to tie them to the post? My eyes glanced at it, but Nori said quietly, "Do what your queen has ordered, Maya."

With dread in my heart, I ran to the storage shed, finding the bin with the coils of rope. I selected several pieces, then ra
n back. Maya gestured me to her, then she took one of the coils of rope from me. She winked at me, and I thought perhaps everything would be all right.

She tied the rope in a complicated fashion around Varda's body and chest. She used a second rope around
Bea. Then she pulled them back-to-back and tied the two harnesses together. They had some give, but by and large, they were forced to stand back to back. But it didn't look like it would be difficult to untie. That was next.

She took
a staff from one of the warriors and laid it between Varda's and Bea's shoulders, stretched out horizontally to each side like a pair of wings. Then she lashed their wrists and arms to the staff, using another set of complicated knots.

"There," she said. "That stays until you figure out how to remove it yourself." She raised her
voice. "No one is to help them in any fashion."

"What if we can't get free?" Bea asked.

"Then you better get along really well," Malora replied and then addressed their warriors. "Chalena and Clara, I should not have had to deal with this. If I am forced to deal with this any further, the four of you will share an appropriate punishment."

"Yes, Queen Malora," the two warriors said.

She turned back to the companions, bound together. "The two of you are valued members of this community. I am no longer interested in excuses or accusations. You are both guilty of fostering this ill will between you."

"But she-" Varda began to say.

"Silence!" Chalena told her companion. "The queen just told you she was tired of accusations. Weren't you listening?"

Malora turned to Nori. "My companion is done for the morning and has other duties to learn."

"I'll handle things here," Nori said.

Malora nodded and turned on her heel, heading for the huts.
I scrambled to catch up to her. She glanced over at me. I wasn't sure if she needed calming down. She was clearly fuming. She didn't slow down.

"Tell me what you need, Malora."

"Give me a minute, then calm me down," she replied.

We arrived at the huts and she turned to me. "We should bathe, and then I'll show you how we do laundry. You are going to need more clothes. Do you know how to sew?"

I nodded. "But I don't know if I could duplicate this." I gestured to myself. "At home I traded for most of my clothing and rarely did anything more complicated than repairs."

She led me into the hut. We collected soap and towels. I had nothing else to change into, but I collected a change for her, and we headed for the pools. Arriving, I set her clothes where they would collect sunlight to warm them then I helped her undress. She dived into the pool, and I was a minute behind her, bringing the soap.

We both splashed around for a minute, then I lured her to me and began bathing her. She was practically trembling.

"Tell me what happened."

She looked over her shoulder at me. "What have you guessed?"

"Nori said they don't get along. That was obvious by the time you were done."

"Good instincts to get her. I didn't need her help, but she needed to see I was forced to deal with it, and if it had been two warriors instead of two companions, I may have needed her at my back."

"I wasn't going to try to judge the situation. Better safe than sorry. My only concern was that I might embarrass you by fetching her."

"Why would I be embarrassed?"

"By t
he implication you couldn't handle it."

"As you said, better safe than sorry, and if you retrieve her without my asking, then you are a worried companion, not an overreacting queen. You handled it perfectly. But the next time I order you to do something in a stressful situation, do it without hesitation."

"I can promise to try. I cannot promise to succeed."

"Why not?"

"I thought you were going to tie them to the post and whip them. I don't think I could stand helping you do that, even if they deserved it."

She frowned. "I am your queen."

"I am a school teacher, not a warrior, and I wasn't exactly a volunteer to the Amazon way of life, Malora. You cannot expect me to become an Amazon overnight. I do not know if you can expect me to become an Amazon at all. I have never seen someone whipped and can't imagine it."

"I need to be able to count on your unconditional support."

"So if you are about to do something wrong, I am still to blindly support you?"

"I wasn't about to do s
omething wrong."

"But that's what unconditional support means. Is that what you're telling me?"

"Yes, it is."

"Even if I know you are making a mistake?"

"Yes."

"Even if you haven't given me an opportunity to explain why it is a mistake?"

"Yes."

I continued to bathe her, washing the same areas more than once.

"Maya, tell me what you are thinking."

"I think you can't count on me."

She turned to face me.

"Maybe in time," I amended. "I don't know. I'm not a puppet. I am not accustomed to blind obedience. You should know that by the way I defied my village elders in front of your senior warrior."

"You do not trust me to lead my people."

"It is not my business how you lead them, or if they trust you to do so, but you are suggesting I am to help you do something even when I think it is wrong."

"If I had witnessed a whipping offense, would you have interfered?"

"If it had been Morana or Olive, probably. I do not know Varda or Bea. They were not two of my students
, so I do not feel responsible for their behavior. If Nori had taken my sister, then there is no way I would ever let you whip her. I am very glad she is safe at home from your post in the ground."

"You doubt my judgment."

"I believe whipping someone is barbaric, and I cannot believe anyone you whip is going to forgive you afterwards. I would not want someone at your back who hates you. I understand fear of being whipped is a significant motivator, but I cannot understand how the actual whipping would improve something when the woman you are whipping is someone you may need to count on later. I will tell you this; if you ever tie me to that post, you better start looking for a new companion."

We stared at each other, then I added, "I am sorry. You wanted me to calm you."

"We need to resolve this," she said. "I will not ask your help for a whipping. Can I count on you otherwise?"

"Yes."

"No hesitation, Maya."

"I cannot promise that. Maybe in time."

She nodded. "I guess that will have to do."

"As I said, Nori knew I was willing to question authority before she claimed me, and I did not volunt
eer. Nor do I recognize your authority to take me. I have agreed to do my best, but you are in no position to complain. You are getting exactly what you knew you were getting."