Amazon Companion (4 page)

I remembered Nori had mentioned that name earlier. I wondered who she was.

They acted out skits, some of them clearly well worn, but based on the reactions, a few were new.

I lay on the ground, my arms crying in agony, too worn out to fume any longer.

Then I realized Morana was sitting next to me. She caressed my hair gently. "Please don't cry again, Maya," she said. "Miari promised we'll be well-treated if we behave."

I looked up at her. She meant if I behaved.

"She told me I must do exactly what she says. She says I am helping to keep Gallen's Cove safe from the demons. Are the demons real, Maya?"

I didn't know, and I didn't know how to tell her that.

"You don't know?" she asked when I didn't respond. I shook my head. "But you know everything!"

Her words warmed my heart but increased my guilt at the same time.

"You knew when Dorden pulled my hair," she said. "And you know how to spell all the words. You know when bad weather is coming." She paused. "You knew how to beat Riva."

That had been luck.

"Miari says Riva deserved that you beat her. She never practices with the stick. Um. Staff. I'm supposed to call it a staff. Miari says I must practice with the staff beginning when I turn fourteen."

Olive joined us, sitting near my feet.

"Are you all right, Maya?" Olive asked.

I nodded at her.

"Does it hurt?"

I nodded again.

"Narana said if I misbehave, she'll tie me the way Nori tied you." She eyed me carefully. "I don't think I'd like that."

I shook my head. I was pretty sure she wouldn't.

The girls sat with me, watching the actors and storytellers and singers. Then the party began to break up. One of the women stood up and called for Morana. "Time for bed," she said, and now I knew which one was Miari. Morana hurried to her feet, running straight to Miari. I watched as the woman put a friendly arm around the young girl and led her towards a tent. Moments later, Olive sprang to her feet when she was summoned.

I stared after them both with dread, but there wasn't a thing I could do for either of them.

They were far too young for this.

Nori crossed over to me and sat back down next to me. "They are children," Nori said. "And we are not animals. They are not about to be introduced to womanhood. When that happens, they will be old enough to understand what they are offering."

I looked up at her.

"I was deeply in love with my warrior," she explained. "My sixteenth birthday was a long-awaited celebration for me. I wore her out that night, and I love her to this day."

I looked away. Sixteen was still a child. They were animals.

"You think I can't read your thoughts. I can."

It wouldn't be hard.

"
Many, but not all, companions join with her warrior that way. It is a very close experience, and falling in love is common, but sometimes it is the love of sisters. Sometimes, when the warrior is much older, it is more like the love between a mother and daughter. Sometimes there is fondness, but that is all. And sometimes there is not even fondness. At sixteen, if there is not even fondness, then many companions move out of their warrior's hut. Sometimes they move in with another. Often they become warriors on their own, but not always."

I looked up at her.

"Riva thinks she knows what she wants. Does your sister have the same fire you do?"

I thought about it and shook my head.

"But she still has fire."

I nodded.

"Riva thinks she has what it takes to tame an unruly companion. She does not, any more than she had what it took to beat you in a fight. But she is one of our better scouts, and she deserves the support a companion offers." Nori paused. "I wouldn't have taken you, but I needed a way to give the gift for Malora to Riva. The girl volunteered to join us, three villages ago. She is sweet and complacent. She will fit Riva better than she would have fit Malora. But I don't know what our queen will think of your fire."

Their queen. I was to be a prize for their queen. I looked away.

Nori turned back to the fire, and I followed her gaze, watching the flames.

"It's late," she said after a while. "You have a choice. You can stay out here. I imagine you will be cold and miserable. Or you can share my tent. I imagine you will be warm and marginally less miserable. If you choose to share my tent, I will not punish you for inadvertently waking me, but I will be forced to punish you if I deem it is done intentionally. So, tent or the cold hard ground. Ground?" I shook my head. "Tent?" I nodded.

It was awkward at first, but she pulled me up into her arms and carried me to a tent. She stood me on my feet, opened the flap, and then helped me to sit. "You should be able to inch in. You get the bed on the left.

I managed to squirm my way in awkwardly. Nori was actually almost kind as she helped me to settle in, laying a blanket over me. There wasn't much underneath me sheltering me from the ground, but I could already tell it was better than being outside. She closed up the tent, settled into her own bed, and said, "I recommend you do your best to sleep. I recommend also you consider how you wish to ride tomorrow."

And then she rolled away from me and lay still.

I lay there for a long time, staring at the back of her head.

I couldn't believe what a difference twenty-four hours made. I had gone from happy, if harried, to a prisoner of these women, lying in the dark, my shoulders in agony, and being carried from the only home I knew.

I began to wonder what was truth and what were lies.

I slept.

I woke, crying.

If I had hurt before, I was in even deeper agony, and the realization there wasn't a thing I could do about it made the crying worse.

I woke Nori. She rolled over. I couldn't see much in the dark, but I could see the white of her eyes as she watched me cry.

"Try to sleep," was all she said. And then she closed her eyes again.

* * * *

By morning, I was a wreck. I was angry and miserable, and I would have lashed out at anyone nearby if I could.

When I opened eyes, I saw Nori watching me. I put as much glare into my look as I could.

"Ah, the fire is back, I see," she said. "I wonder if you will channel it unwisely."

I slammed my eyes shut. Lashing out at this woman wasn't going to do me any good. I could probably make her angry, but I had a pretty good idea how far that would get me.

She sat up, pulled her boots on, then helped me from the tent, laying me on the ground. I watched as she rolled everything up, tying it all neatly.

"If you were my companion," she said, "this would be one of your duties. I bet you would rather be doing this for me right now than lying on the ground like that."

Bitch.

It didn't help that she was right.

I heard laughter, a voice I recognized, and I saw Olive and Narana working on their tent together.

"Narana is kind," Nori said. "She's younger than you. So are
Miari and Riva. Miari is firm, but she won't abuse Morana. She'll teach her better than Narana will teach Olive. Narana will let Olive slack off. The girl will probably never be a warrior, but Morana has a fighting chance with Miari."

Nori finished with the tent then walked away, leaving me on the ground.

I struggled futilely with my bonds. I don't know why I bothered, but I had nothing better to do.

I watched the camp preparations. Tents were st
ruck. Someone made a fire and put a large kettle on. Soon, the Amazons were eating. I saw Morana and Olive serving their warriors. There were no other young girls on the trip. I wondered why.

Nori settled down next to me. She had a mug and a plate of food.

"Have you decided to behave?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Good. Do you believe you and I agree on what that means?"

I nodded again.

"Excellent." She leaned forward and released my gag, pulling the very damp rag from my mouth. "Are you going to make me punish you?"

"No," I croaked.

"Good. You're learning."

"Are you going to untie me?"

"Oh, I don't trust you that much," she said.

I craned my head to look at her. "I promise to behave."

"Do you believe me about the demons?"

"No."

"And I don't believe your promise to behave."

"Please don't make me ride like that today, Nori. I'm begging you."

"Remain pleasant and I'll consider your request," she said. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Nori."

"Good." She helped me sit up then fed us both, just as she had dinner.

* * * *

Twenty minutes later, she still hadn't replaced the gag. I'd kept my speech polite, primarily by saying nearly nothing. I found myself looking up at her horse.

She looked down at me. "Are you going to behave?"

"Please untie my arms."

"No. Is that the condition for you to behave?"

I thought about it. "No."

"I'm not untying you," she said. "But I believe we can make this less uncomfortable." She pulled me to my feet, then gestured. Two of the other Amazons stepped over. Nori climbed onto her horse, then the two women picked me up and handed me to Nori,
who slung me across her saddle. I was basically sitting in her lap, her arms wrapped around me.

"Squirm around until you think you won't fall off," she ordered.

It wasn't comfortable, but it was better than yesterday. I squirmed, finding myself sliding, but she caught me. Eventually we found something that seemed to work.

"I'm going to fall off, anyway," I said, "if you let go of me."

"Try to avoid landing on your head," she suggested.

I squirmed around a little more and thought I was, more or less, stable. I was sure it amused her greatly.

"I'm going to remember the way you have treated me, Nori," I told her. "But perhaps you intend me as a sacrifice to your gods or something, and my threats are short-lived."

"If you remain civil," she said, "we can discuss that." She raised her voice. "Let's ride."

And we set out.

We didn't talk immediately, but finally she answered me. "I hold no ill will towards you, Maya. You really are destined as a present for the queen. Whether she'll want you, I cannot guess. Would you murder her in her sleep?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Of course not," I said, not at all sure I wasn't lying. "I'm not a murderer."

"But you would murder me right now, if you could, wouldn't you?"

I thought about that, too. I hated her and hated the way she was treating me, but would I murder her? "I'd do what was necessary to escape," I said. "I wouldn't kill you unless I had no other choice. But you have no right to steal us from our homes, and I wouldn't call it murder if I killed my kidnapper."

"I'd like you to consider something. I could have let Riva fight you with her sword."

"She would have killed me."

"Perhaps not. Perhaps only wounded you. She would not want to kill you. Would you have surrendered whe
n it was clear you were outclassed?"

"I was outclassed
with the staff and I didn't surrender."

"I am disappointed in Riva. She should have beaten you. Your win left me in a difficult position.
Malora may not want you, but she will understand the decisions I made."

"What happens to me if Malora doesn't want me?"

"We see if someone else does."

"And if not?"

"That will be Malora's decision. We have not faced this situation in the past."

"Will you kill me? Or will I remain a slave in some other capacity?"

"Is that what you think this is? Slavery?"

"If a band descended from the north, raiding a village and taking captives, tying them up and spiriting them away, what would you call it?"

Nori didn't respond to that, and we rode in silence for some time.

"You haven't answered any of my questions," I pointed out eventually. "I presume I will either be someone's slave or be dead. Am I correct?"

"You're not a slave."

"If I am not allowed to leave, then it is slavery. Can't you be that honest?"

"Indentured servant."

"Pretty word for slave."

"Damn it!" she yelled. "You're not a slave!"

"
Abused captive of war being given to your queen as bounty, and being told if I do not please her, I'll be killed. And the village didn't know we were at war with the Amazons, so that makes it a surprise attack. Such honor you have."

"One more word!" she threatened with a growl.

I shut up for a while, but then I just couldn't let it go.