Amazon Companion (33 page)

"What?" I asked.

"You have to wait to approach," she said. "You are new, but you should know that."

This must be the case of different rules in different places. I stepped back and took my place next to Honna, waiting for us to be noticed.

Malora had noticed us immediately; I knew she did. Her eyes were never still, after all, always scanning things around her, and I had yet to sneak up on her in the weeks I had been with her.

Eventually Valan gestured, and Honna tugged me forward. She stepped behind her warrior, and I moved to a place be
hind Malora. She tapped space on the bench next to her, so I sat down, careful with the staff across my back and setting the paper and pencils on the table.

"In her former life," Malora said, "my companion was a schoolteacher."

Valan looked surprised, settling back and arching an eyebrow. "She left the quiet life of teaching to become an Amazon?" She looked directly at me. "How long have you been a schoolteacher?"

"I was head teacher for five years and assistant teacher for several years prior to that. Most of the assistant teaching was unofficial."

"You were a poor teacher? Perhaps you felt the need to escape an uncomfortable position."

I glanced at Malora. Valan obviously hadn't heard the story.

"My opinion on whether I left my position was not solicited," I said. "Neither was that of my village elders. I do not believe anyone in Gallen's Cove wanted me replaced as teacher, not even those students who received substandard grades. However, perhaps there were discussions I did not attend."

"I do not believe I have the entire story," Valan said after looking between Malora and me several times.

I shifted on the bench to face Malora. If she wanted to tell it, she could, or she could direct me to do so.

"I brought up Maya's former position as
an introduction," my warrior said. "She is accustomed to running a school."

"And so?"

"She perhaps understands the concept of taking inventory."

"Of course," I replied.

"How long would it require to take inventory of the village stores?" Malora asked.

"A detailed inventory?" Malora nodded. "If there is assistance from someone familiar with the contents of every bin and bag, then not long, perhaps one or two hours. If I must open every container to verify the contents and the quantity, then significantly longer, perhaps a day or two
, perhaps twice that amount. If you also want to know the quality of items so you can anticipate required repairs or replacements, then significantly longer."

"What can you do in the half hour before lunch?"

"I can work through lunch if you do not require me to serve you, Malora."

"That is not what I asked."

"I would be embarrassed to present to you an inventory performed in a half hour," I said. "Five bags of various sizes containing various dried foods. Two drawers of dried meat, half full. Odds and ends for repairing tools." I paused. "That presumes the stores here are similar to the stores at Queen's Town. I presume you wish to use the inventory to assist in distributing tithe." She nodded. "It does you no good if I tell you 'three sewing kits' if I do not tell you what is in the kits. It does no good to tell you 'five needles' if I do not tell you the sizes. You will end with ten large needles useful for sewing leather and none useful for more delicate work. You will spend more time correcting the misappropriation than if you take proper inventory first."

"You allow your companion to address you in this fashion, Queen Malora?" said Valan.

"I would not have asked her opinion if I did not care for an honest, useful response," Malora said. "I believe I have been given one." She smiled at me then turned back to face the village chief. "Valan, do you disagree with my companion's assessment of the task?"

"Yes," Valan replied. "I can go in there and dictate the stores in ten minutes."

"No way," I whispered directly into Malora's ear. "Not accurate and detailed."

"Well then," Malora said, "let us go together and take inventory. Maya, you will take notes. I presume as a schoolteacher you can write legibly."

"Yes, Malora." I grabbed some of the paper and the pencils and stood up. As soon as Malora was also standing, I grabbed the bench we were on. She raised her eyebrow.

"I will need something to write on. This bench is portable although not optimal."

"Quite," she agreed, and we followed Valan towards the stores located beside the kitchen. Valan and Malora stepped inside, and I set the bench down, then knelt in front of it with paper ready.

"Five sacks of flour," Valan said. "Two sacks of sugar. One sack of salt. Dried beef." She went through the entire room, naming everything present, and I struggled to write as quickly as she announced the contents. It took about fifteen minutes, but Malora didn't comment. In the end I had a single sheet of paper outlining in rough terms the contents of the storage room.

"See?" Valan said. "How difficult is that?"

"Not at all," Malora said. "Let us return to the tables." So I collected the bench and avoided grumbling. I hoped Malora was smarter than this.

We sat back down, and then Malora asked, "Did you record everything?"

"Exactly as stated," I said. "I'm sorry, but it isn't well-organized, but I can rewrite the list in a more organized fashion if you require."

"No, no," she said. "As is will be fine." She took the list from me. "You have lovely handwriting, Maya."

"Thank you," I said.

"Now, how much flour do we have? Ah, five sacks. How big are the sacks, Maya?"

"I don't know," I said. "I didn't see them, and Valan didn't indicate."

"Were all five full?"

"I don't know, Malora."

"Was it all wheat flour, or was there also corn flour?"

"I do not know, Malora."

"Were they ten-pound sacks?"

"I do not know, Malora."

Malora continued to ask me questions. "Do we have any candles?"

"Yes," I said.

"How many?"

"I don't know."

"Big or small?"

"I don't know."

This went on for two or three minutes, then Malora turned to Valan. "I believe my companion is inadequate at recording inventory. She can't answer any of my questions, and I find myself unable to determine what your needs are from this list."

Even though I knew she was making a point, and it wasn't about my inadequacies, I bristled but kept my mouth shut. Malora laid her hand on my knee, underneath the table, and squeezed gently. I clasped her hand and didn't want to release it, so she rolled her hand palm up in mine, and we held hands for a time.

Valan did not look pleased by any of this, but she didn't comment.

"Valan, the inventory you recited is the same quality you give me every year." She slid the paper across the table. "From this list, how am I to know how much you have and what you need?"

"I have five sacks of flour," she said. "I will need more."

"You could have five hundred pounds of flour or fifty pounds," Malora pointed out. "It may be all corn flour. Now, I saw the bags, and I saw they were fifty-pound sacks, but that didn't make it to the recording, and it was not my companion's poor note taking that is to blame."

"I am sorry, Queen Malora," Valan said. "I do not believe I fully understood why you required inventory monthly. I believe I have greater understanding."

"Maya, how long would a proper inventory of just the dried goods take?"

"Twenty minutes, more or less, with help. Longer without, as I will need to search the entire storeroom to make sure I haven't missed any. I presume you mean flour, sugar and salt."

"Yes.
Valan, shall we go try again?"

Valan looked chagrined but she nodded, and we returned to the storeroom, bringing our bench with us. "Maya, I will be your muscles and Valan will be your guide, but I want you to direct us."

"All right," I said. "First let us understand what we want. Flour, divided by type, sugar, also divided by type."

"Sugar is sugar," Valan said.

"Then that part is easy. We have three types of sugar in Gallan's cove and sometimes a fourth type, but the fourth is expensive." I thought about it. "Baking powder. Herbs?"

"No herbs, that would take forever," Malora said.

"Quite," I said with a smile, borrowing her word. "What else?" We ended up with a short list of the items Malora wanted inventoried.

"Let us start with
flour," I said. "Five sacks. Are they all wheat flour? Please pull all five sacks from the shelves and pile them here." I pointed.

"That is ridiculous," Valan said.

"Nevertheless," Malora said, "I trust my companion has reasons for making me work."

I smiled.

Malora dragged all the sacks of flour. "They are all labeled as wheat flour, and they are twenty-five pound sacks."

"Are any of them opened?"

"The top one was."

"Please check it," I said. Malora opened the sack. "Wheat
flour. It's about a third full."

"Is that accurate enough?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Please check each sack for holes," I said.

"Why?"

"In case the mice have been at it."

Malora examined the bags, and she found holes. She fingered one.

"Malora, I am not an Amazon quartermaster. I do not know the implication of sacks of flour that the mice have been eating. It is my opinion to do this properly, one would empty the flour into a large, clean container and examine it carefully, perhaps sift it. I do not know if this is new flour or old flour."

Malora hefted the sacks. "They feel the same weight. Record what we found. We do not have time to delve into the details you indicated."

We finished with the flour, and then I asked, "How much flour is in the kitchen?"

"Excuse me?" Valen asked me.

"I presume the cooks have a pantry closer to the kitchen," I said. "I doubt they come out here every time they need a little
flour."

Malora smiled at me. "Leave a note for that and let's move on."

"We should at least sift the open sack to see how bad the weevils are," I said.

"Moving on, Maya."

I annoyed Valen to no end, but Malora gave me subtle grins at all my questions. In the end, we inventoried the dried goods, consuming thirty minutes in the process.

"How much flour did we use this month, Maya?"

"I have no idea," I replied. "I do not know if more flour arrived this month, and I do not know how much there was last month. Nor do I know what the kitchen stores are. I cannot tell you, Malora. I am sorry."

"Then how much flour do I need to send to Black Oak?"

"I get the point," Valen said quietly. Then she looked at me. "You are overly cautious."

"As I said, I am not an Amazon quartermaster. I am a schoolteacher. I have been here only a few weeks, and I do not know the implications of the things I asked. Would you rather my questions remain unasked?"

"No. You made good points."

"Valan, I was not trying to embarrass you, but I have been asking for proper inventory for some time."

"I understand, Queen Malora. I am embarrassed, but I am not offended. Did you warn your companion what you intended here today?"

"Only that she might be asked to take notes."

"She understood in a heartbeat what you wanted, and I didn't understand after years."

"When we are accustomed to doing things a certain way," I said, "then it is very difficult to see other ways. I am unaccustomed to nearly everything about Amazon life, so I see everything fresh and am not bound by old methods, whether they are tried and true or tried and failed."

Valan nodded. "Thank you for the lesson. Queen Malora, I will endeavor to assemble a proper inventory, and I will include the stores in the kitchen. I do not promise to empty every sack to verify the mice have not eaten too much."

I grinned.

"Then our trip today has been successful. I hear noises outside, so perhaps we have hungry warriors waiting for their meals."

"Well done," Malora told me later.

"I did nothing special," I said. "I was perhaps more forward than Valan expected. Did you know she does not like her companion approaching a conference?"

"No. That was why you waited?"

"Yes."

"Don't do it again. We are guests in these villages, but you are my companion, and you serve me, not the village chiefs."

"Yes, Malora. I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't. Did you and Honna talk?"

"She asked about how I came to become your companion, and she asked about my hair. Both led to conversations I did not think I should pursue." I explained further.

"You disagree with your punishment for being tardy?"

"No. She did. She thought I got off too easily and expressed doubt my punishment would deter further tardiness. I disagree with her receiving a beating, but she didn't offer details. Perhaps there was history."

"Is she right?"

"The punishment was not meant as a deterrent. If it were, then I would agree with her. If you wanted to offer me a deterrent, you could make me attend training. Oh wait..."

She didn't think I was very funny.

"Why did you feel this wa
s an uncomfortable conversation?"

"I do not believe you would care for me to spread my opinions regarding Amazon punishment systems. Furthermore, it could be taken as
an attempt to spread sedition. I would not wish to undermine your position by even the smallest amount."

"And the other conversation?" Malora asked.

"I did not believe you would appreciate my sharing my opinion on kidnapping schoolteachers."

She looked over her shoulder at me. "So we're back to that?"

"You asked."

"I suppose I did."

"No one has even attempted to convince me my outlook is inaccurate," I said. "Your need for a companion does not override my village's need for a teacher. Your need for companions and soldiers does not give you the right to wander through a village and say, 'this one and this one are leaving right now', most especially the way I was taken or the way Beria would have been taken if I had not interceded."

"If your village elders had continued to tithe properly, we would not have been forced to such measures!" she said hotly.

"Then perhaps you have a legitimate complaint with them. How does that translate into kidnapping a twelve-year-old girl from her mother's arms? Or taking me? You had a body count to fill, and you didn't care about the lives ruined as a result."

"The demons don't care whose lives they ruin."

"Congratulations! You're in the same league as the demons."

"Silence!" she bellowed at me.

I waited about a minute.

"You didn't give the children you tore from their mothers a chance to say goodbye. You didn't give them a chance to grow accustomed to the idea. You didn't judge their fitness for what you ask. You. Were. Wrong!"

"Silence!" she bellowed again.

"By your own rules, you take girls at fourteen, but Beria is only twelve."

She spun her horse. "Silence!"

"And is it a new policy to kidnap school teachers and other village members with positions of responsibility, or only those who stand up to you when you're doing something wrong? I suppose you wouldn't want me spreading subversion, and after the way I was hauled from Gallon's Cove, everyone else will think twice about standing up against you."

"Maya, that's enough!"

"In the villages where you got Bea, Aura and Neela, girls learn at twelve they are to go, and then two years later, they go. And the village decides, not a troop of women who have no clue who they are taking, picking this girl or that one because of how she looks."

"I said be quiet!"

"I detest the idea of a quota, but at least someone who is sickly or ill-suited to the Amazon life could appeal to the village council."

"You will close your mouth, right now!"

"For all Riva knew, Beria could have asthma. How good a warrior would she make? Or maybe she took a concussion the week before and shouldn't be on a horse for a month. Riva didn't ask."

She began moving towards me, her fist clenched. I didn't know if she would strike me or not.

"You did not inquire as to which gi
rls had no siblings, and you could easily have taken a family's only child. You did not inquire as to which families had already lost children to sickness or accident, and thus should be spared from losing another child, especially so abruptly."

"Enough!"

"You could have presented the description of an ideal Amazon and let us at least weed out the poor choices. For instance, who thinks a schoolmarm could ever become a good warrior?"

She had come along side me
, facing back the way we had come. Her fists were clenching and unclenching, and I was sure she was going to hit me. I could see the veins in her neck, and her face was bright red.

I knew if she hit me, I'd never fo
rgive her. I looked down at her fists, wondering if that's what I wanted. Did I want her to hit me?

"I am fighting with words," I said very quietly. "Why aren't you?"

"Because you're right!" she screamed. "About all of it! You are right! Is that what you want to hear?"

She sat there, panting at me. I waited for her to calm down, then asked
quietly, "Are you just saying that?"

"No," she said, approaching some level of calm. "All right, you are wrong about some of the details, but the rest -- you're absolutely right. What we did was wrong."

"May I ride with you, Malora?" I asked gently.

"Yes," she said, holding her arms for me, and I climbed from my horse to hers, letting her wrap her arms around me as I sat in front of her. She held me that way, still panting, breathing into the back of my neck.

"Do you hate us?" she finally asked. "You must hate us. You must hate me."

"I don't hate anyone," I replied.

She turned her horse, collecting the reins of mine, and then we began riding slowly down the trail. I could feel her heart pounding into my back.

"We were wrong," she said, her head against my back. "We're desperate, Maya. Nothing else we were doing was working. At least this worked, but that doesn't mean it was the right thing to do. But we can't go back to begging for table scraps, either. This problem has been growing. When I was a fresh Amazon, no warriors went more than a season without a companion. At the start of this spring over half our warriors had no companions, and most villages are down on their allotment of warriors. I have to do something."

"All right," I said. "I'll help you. You promised to let me help." I paused. "Are we agreed we don't want me talking about this to anyone outside our own village?"

She laughed. "Oh yes. We are definitely agreed on that."

"And to think, that's what started this fight, something we agree on."

We rode quietly for several miles before Malora said to me, "Maya, I need to be clear. My warriors need companions, and I will do whatever is necessary to provide them. And the Amazons need more Amazons, or soon the demons will overrun us, and once that happens, they will overrun Morehama. What we did to you was wrong, but doing nothing is more wrong. If the villages will not give us the companions and future warriors we need, we will take them. Right or wrong."

"I understand what you are saying, Malora. On the other hand, I have not yet seen these demons for myself."

"And I pray you never do."

Several more miles passed before she said, "Maya, there was one thing you had wrong."

"What?"

"I told you the day we met you would never be a warrior."

"Then why are you trying to turn me into one?"

"Let me finish. You will never be a warrior, but you are exactly the companion I need. Do you understand? I cannot stand the thought of losing you. I am very, very sorry for the way we took you from your home, but I couldn't be happier you are here."

I pulled her arms mor
e tightly around me, and she laid her head against my back.

"No one has ever treated me the way you do," I told her. "I am terrified to disappoint you, and it makes me sick when I do."

"You never disappoint me, Maya."

Of course I did, and I didn't understand why she would lie about it.

A few moments later, we sighed together.

"How close was I to getting hit?"

"What?" she asked, lifting her head from my back. "I don't think I heard that correctly."

"How close were you to hitting me?"

"I wasn't going to hit you, but I was exceedingly close to tying you over the top of your horse with a gag in your mouth."

"Been there, done that," I said.

"I can certainly understand why Nori transported you that way. You have quite the tongue."

"Honesty hurts."

"It sure does." And at that, we chuckled together.

We rode quietly after that, talking at times, lost in our own thoughts at others. As late afternoon arrived, I asked her, "Will anyone care if we arrive like this?"

"No. They will be happy to see I am content to hold my companion. They may assume we have become lovers. Would that bother you?"

"Not one bit," I said. "You're pretty enough, I guess, although you would look much better with pink
lip paint."

She guffawed.

"But you have an okay body, I guess, for a woman. You're only a little scrawny."

"My body is not at all scrawny!"

"Meat and bones," I said. "And no hair on your chest. I checked."

She laughed again. "I bet you did."

"So my point is, I guess if people assume we're lovers, I wouldn't be entirely embarrassed."

"It is not too late for you to arrive gagged."

"Have I offended you, Malora? Perhaps I should swoon instead. You are the queen, after all. Have I not been suitably impressed with your regal bearing?"

"No," she said. "You have not been. You are nothing but backtalk."

"Perhaps I believe you are strong enough to take it."

That shut her up.

I giggled. "Malora, what is the real reason Ralla gave me such a lovely coat?"

She stiffened.

"Ha!" I said. "I knew there was more to it."

"What makes you say that?"

"Do you not believe I am at least owed honesty? I'd rather you flat out said you weren't going to tell me than lie to me."

"Fine. I'm not going to tell you."

"What does she want from me?"

"Nothing. She had no nefarious motivations."

"Then it's from guilt." And Malora stiffened again. I made a mental note to make sure she was holding me so closely in the future when I needed to question her.

"Please don't ask more about it. The coat is a gift because she knows you need it."

"And because she feels guilty about something." I paused. "Did she go back to Gallen's Cove and take my sister away?"

"What? No. Your sister is home safe and sound, the best I know anyway."

"Well, she wasn't one of the warriors who was in Gallen's Cove the day I was taken," I said, "so I don't know what she has to feel guilty about. If it's an apology gift, don't I deserve knowing what she's apologizing for?"

Malora tried changing the subject to distract me. "D
o you remember what I told you about Two Bends?"

I chuckled. "I am allowing you to change the subject."

"Thank you." She kissed the back of my neck.

"It is on a river and there is a garden to tend.
You mentioned no other special rules, but you didn't mention Valan's rule."

"So today is to be a discussion of my oversights?" But she said it with humor in her voice.

"No," I replied. "I was prompting for anything similar, that is all."

"I do not want you to observe any local customs of that nature, but you should be more formal with the warriors on our travels than perhaps you are at home."

"What is the purpose of this trip? You never told me. Are we taking inventory everywhere?"

"We are visiting everywhere, and in some places there are specific things to address, like inventory. At others, we are simply visiting friends and perhaps reminding them that I exist."

"Are there threats to your rule?"

"There is always muttering. Every ruler faces that. There are always people who feel they would rule better."

"People who feel they would rule better are rarely the rulers I would want."

"That seems like an astute observation to come from someone who is only twenty-two years old."

"I teach history. The history books are filled with stories of rulers, good and bad. Do you disagree with my impression?"