Amazon Companion (46 page)

Then I turned to
Parlomith, but before I could say anything, Malora spoke up. "When we left Queen's Town, Maya could easily have handled the leader, although she did not perhaps have all the instincts required."

Parlomith
stood up. "And then I trained her."

"Yes," I said. "And I thank you,
Parlomith. Without your lesson, I may not have swung my staff as firmly as I did. I may not have taken the leader down so readily. I may not have taken the next four as readily, either."

"She would, however, have followed orders," Malora said. "She would have kept the leader engaged, and she may have dispatched him. She may not have. I may have had to finish it, but with him busy, I would have finished the rest."

"You don't know that."

"Fights like this are uncertain," Malora said. "But do you question my judgment on this?"

Parlomith thought about it. "No. But this is why you need me here."

"About that," Malora said. "I have made my decision. Everyone else sit down, please."

We all took our seats.

"
Parlomith, you are far too valuable a warrior to be tied to training the beginners," Malora said. "I wish you to depart Queen's Town at your convenience. I believe you should be fighting demons, not spending your time training our youth. Queen's Town is full, perhaps overfull, so I recommend you return to Northglen, or if you are not welcome there, perhaps another understaffed village could use a fine warrior such as yourself."

"But-" said
Parlomith, vexed. "I get results."

"You get results, all right," Malora said, her eyes narrowing. "But I have selected two Amazons already living in Queen's Town to train the newest companions. Vorine and
Omie get results. They get excellent results, and with Nori's blessing, I have asked them to take this responsibility. They have accepted."

"Yes!"
said Bea, jumping to her feet. She pulled Omie and Vorine into hugs. "Yes!"

"This will free Nori to more directly oversee the training at the other villages," Malora said. "It was not your training that brought this reluctant Amazon to treat the bandits with such skill, it was Nori's."

"But-" said Parlomith. "They are just girls, one of them still a companion, and the other barely able to handle the voice of one demon."

"They get results," Malora said. "They get results that please me greatly. If you doubt my word, we would be happy to provide a demonstration of their results tomorrow. But I am chief of this village, and I am queen of all Amazons, and this decision is mine!" Malora thundered the last words. "It was not yours. I had not given you my answer when I left Northglen, and when I saw your 'results' on my companion's body, the only reason you're still alive is because she begged me for your life."

"She was slacking and needed a good beating to learn her place," Parlomith said.

"Neela! What is the primary responsibility of an Amazon companion?"

"To soothe the soul of our warrior," she answered immediately.

"Aura, what does that require?"

"Um. My warrior touches me. A lot."

"Mine holds me," Bea said. "Closely. When the voices are bad, she nearly squeezes the stuffing from me."

"You beat my companion so badly she couldn't stand to be held," Malora said. "You did this in one day of training. I examined her body, and it was nearly impossible to touch her without causing her additional discomfort. And it does not soothe my soul when my companion winces under my touch. If she were a lesser companion, I would have been without her touch for a week, after leaving her in your care for a single day. Are these the results you talk about, Parlomith?" Malora said.

"Of course not,"
Parlomith said. "But-"

"But!" Malora said, "I am queen! And unless you are here to challenge me, you will depart. You may depart before a demonstration of the results my newest trainers achieve, or after. Frankly, I am hoping for after, but it is up to you."

Parlomith smiled. "Oh, I can't wait to see this demonstration," she said. "I will be sure to share it widely."

"And you will leave afterwards," Malora said. "You will never be a trainer as long as I am queen, not here and not anywhere else. You are a fine warrior and an asset to the Amazons, and I hope you graciously accept my decree."

Parlomith studied Malora for some time, and I was filled with dread she would challenge my queen. Then she stepped back. "As you say," Parlomith said. "You are queen, and I am not here to challenge you. Where will you send me?"

And that was when I knew she wasn't welcome in Northglen anymore, either. "I will not send you anywhere," Malora said. "You may go to any village that will have you, but I forbid you to train the companions.
Parlomith, you are a valuable warrior. Accept that and your sisters will accept you."

She nodded and sat down.

Malora looked around. "I believe there is one more issue to be discussed, and then I require music." She grinned. "I have heard there is a story to tell about rabbit snares. I believe I wish to hear it."

She sat down and my friends stood up. "There isn't a story," Bea said. "Not really. But." She paused. "We placed more snares."

"Twelve more," Aura said, "in places between here and Backbend Gulch."

"They don't take too much extra time to check," Bea explained. "Lidi took us out and helped us find places for them."

"She taught us to camp and make a fire," Neela said.

"So, not much of a story," Bea said. "But we thought you would want to know. We want to continue to go with you when you check your snares."

"And we thought we should share all the snares," Aura said. "And we'll all help check all of them."

"Our warriors agreed this was a good solution, as it only takes two of us to check each day, but there are four of us, so we can share the duty," explained Bea.

I stood up. "Actually, there are three, at least most days. I have accepted new duties here, and I was going to give you my snares. But I will happily go with you on some days, if I am invited."

Omie
and Vorine stood up. "Queen Malora, we believe the companions should not always practice in the training grounds here. We believe some days they should train in other locations. It is good to learn to fight in a variety of places."

Malora laughed and agreed.

And so, we had a new plan.

Autumn approached. I had trained hard, but I would forever remain incompetent. Malora told me over and over again she was proud, and I felt like I had settled in.

But then both our names appeared on the duty roster under the section labeled, "Patrol."

I stared at it for a while, unsure how I felt. And then I turned around in search of Nori, finding her in her hut.

"I'm not ready. I'll never be ready."

She smiled. "Not as a warrior. No. But Malora needs to go on patrol, and she needs you. You will not need to fight. You will only need to soothe. There are many jobs during patrol, and it is time you learned them."

"Does
Balorie know?"

"Of course. You'll be fine,
Maya."

And so, the day of our first patrol drew close. The night before we were to leave, I was nervous, and Malora understood. I took her to our hut after dinner, turning on a lamp to low, and I looked at her.

"I want to ask you something."

"Yes?"

"You used to tease me that you wanted to kiss me."

"Yes, I did."

"And that you wanted to... touch me."

"I touch you often."

"Don't be coy, Malora."

"All right. Yes."

"Was it only teasing?"

"No. It was not only teasing."

"You stopped teasing."

"I know."

I turned away from her. "You stopped teasing about when the pink faded from my hair. And perhaps you stopped when I last wore pink paint on my lips. Do I need to paint my lips pink for you to tease me again."

She came up behind me, resting her hands on my shoulders. "Maya, I stopped teasing you because it hurts too much when you say 'no'. I was teasing you, but I
was torturing myself."

I turned in her arms. "My queen, I love you. Please kiss me."

I didn't have to ask twice. She pulled me into her arms fiercely, lowering her mouth to mine, and it was the most divine taste. I melted into her arms, and I felt like I had never been kissed before.

It was not a long kiss, but it was filled with hunger and promise. When eventually she released my lips, we stared into each other's eyes.

"I do not know what to do next."

"You say one word. Yes. Or no."

"Yes."

She kissed me again, and then when she released me, she began pulling my clothes from my body, kissing me as she exposed more skin, and her mouth was heaven against me. She pushed me back to the bed, still fully dressed, and lay down atop me, kissing me, her hands touching me, not the intimate places, but her fingers were hungry, and I wanted all of her, I wanted her everywhere.

"Let me watch you undress," I said, "and then make love to me."

And she did.

* * * *

We made love not once, not twice, but many times that night, until, very late, we lay entwined together, and my heart was full.

"I have loved you since we met," she said. "I have wanted you since we met. I have wanted your maddening body and your lips, pink or otherwise."

"Was I worth the wait?" I asked.

"Yes."

"I am...unpracticed."

"You require more training," she said, and we chuckled together. "You please me beyond compare, Maya."

"I loved feeling your weight over me," I told her. "That was my favorite."

"Oh?"

"Well, I loved when you let me. Um. Taste you. Maybe that was my favorite."

"I enjoyed that, too."

"I thought that's what those sounds may have meant." I grinned at her. "I liked when you did that to me. That was my favorite."

"You have many favorites."

"I like lying here with my head on your shoulder," I told her. "Maybe that is my favorite."

"No, I don't think so," she said.

"I think, Malora, that anything I do with you is my favorite."

She played with my hair. "You need to be disobedient again."

"You liked it pink?"

"I liked being able to see you in the dark."

I laughed. "I knew you liked it pink."

We lay together for a while before she said, "Maya, it is possible in the morning you will have regrets."

"No."

"It is possible this was your fear about tomorrow."

"Tomorrow picked the night, but I picked this a long time ago, Malora. I was only waiting until I was sure."

"Sure?"

"That I was never leaving."

"Oh Maya!" she said, holding me tightly. "I have waited for those words."

"You haven't waited for me to declare my love?"

"Okay, I have waited for those words, too. But I knew that."

"Did you?"

"You show it every day."

"So do you," I said. I grinned. "Can we do it one more time?"

"Insatiable!"

It turns out, we could.

* * * *

In spite of the late night, we woke early, still entwined. I'm not sure if she woke before I did, but when I opened my eyes, I saw I was holding one of her breasts. I had done that before, but this time, I began to tease the nipple, grinning.

"We don't have time for that," she whispered to me.

"For what?" I asked innocently. "I am only seeing if you are awake."

"I am awake," she said.

"Will we be able to do this tonight?" I asked. My fingers hadn't stopped playing.

"I'm afraid not. We must be vigilant." She tried pushing my hand away, but I clasped her breast tightly and refused to let go. "Stop that!"

"If we can't do it tonight, or tomorrow night, then I'm not moving until we do it again this morning."

She laughed, flipped me onto my back, and together, we began to move.

We were still moving some time later when
Balorie said from outside the hut, "Malora? Are you in there? You're late."

"Um. We're a little busy," Malora said.

I gasped with what she was doing.

"We'll be a few more minutes."

"Twenty!" I said.

Balorie
chuckled. "We'll wait."

It
was a half hour before we emerged, and when we did, the entire village stood outside our hut. Nori stepped forward. "How long has this been going on?" she asked.

I looked at the sun, then at Malora. "I'd say fourteen hours."

She looked at the sun. "That sounds about right."

"Fourteen hours," I answered. "Although I think we slept for a few in the middle."

And they all began to whoop.

"It's about time,"
Omie announced.

"Quite," agreed Malora. "Um. We should clean up a little more."

"Go," said Balorie. "I don't want to smell sex off the two of you for the next three days.

* * * *

We got a very late start, but when I apologized to Balorie, she said, "Are you kidding? None of us could be more pleased. You two are so good together."

"Who is in charge on this patrol? You or her?"

"I am, and she'll follow my orders. You'll follow orders from either of us, but I won't tend to order you. I'll order her, and she'll order you. You will do the last thing either of us tells you, or any other warrior, for that matter."

"Yes,
Balorie," I said.

"We probably won't see anything exciting. Demons are rare, and there are no bandits. We haven't had one all summer, except for
Omie's. But if we do, you will stay out of it, and under no circumstances do you draw attention to yourself."

"Yes,
Balorie. I'm no fool."

We had experienced warriors with us:
Balorie and Malora plus Ping and Chalena. Varda was along as well, so there were two companions.

The first day was uneventful. We rode east, leaving the forest and
moving onto the dry, scrubby plains between the forest and the mountains. That was where we met with the team led by Ralla with Ree, Karena and Gaylie. Aura looked excited, the end of her first patrol and the only companion on the trip. She and I hugged.

"It was boring, a lot," she said, "but fun, too. I sat watch with
Gaylie. It was scariest at night, because we couldn't see very far, but Gaylie told me we had nothing to fear."

Balorie
and Malora received a quiet status report from Ralla, and then they headed west while we headed east.

We traveled an hour onto the plains, coming to the top of a low ridge, but we could see for miles and miles after that.

"We pause here and watch," Malora said to me as we descended from our mounts. "This part you can help with." She stood me on the top of the ridge, wrapping her arms around me. "Look in one direction, really search it." She gave me ten seconds. "Now, move your eyes right, just a tiny bit, and search there." And slowly, spending nearly a half hour, we scanned the countryside before us.

"The demons do not bother hiding," she said. "If there was one out there, it would be moving, and we would see the movement."

"I see a herd of antelope."

"Where?"

I pointed then described the location.

"Good," she said. "
Balorie?"

"I see them,"
Balorie said. "Fancy fresh meat tonight?"

All the warriors had bows. I didn't bother bringing one. I was worthless with it, anyway.

"Who gets the skin when it's four of you hunting it?" I asked.

"Five," said Varda.

"The one who saw them first," Malora explained.

I laughed. "You were all waiting
for me to say something first?"

Balorie
laughed. "Yes, but you were the first to say something, but that also means you're the one who has to skin it, which means you'll be the one who has to go for the swim afterwards."

I wasn't sure what the deal was about that, but I wasn't going to complain.

We climbed back on our mounts and began to stalk the antelope, but keeping an open eye for demons the entire time.

"Don't grow complacent," Malora told me an hour later.

It was Varda whose arrow took down the antelope, but they left me to gut it. We couldn't stop moving, so we threw it over one of the packhorses and kept traveling, returning to our patrol path.

That evening, after setting up camp, I skinned the antelope. While I worked on the skin, they butch
ered the animal and began to roast some of the steaks. The scent was intoxicating, and my mouth was soon watering. I cleaned my new skin, but we then used it to wrap the rest of the meat for travel.

We camped beside a small lake, and I went for my swim afterwards. It was cold, brisk, but I found it refreshing and was disappointed I couldn't lure anyone in
with me.

We settled down after that, a rotation for the watch set with two warriors on watch at all times. Malora and I cuddled together. I wanted to talk, but she told me to sleep, caressing my hair to soothe my body, and we fell asleep together. But then it was no time at all before
Balorie was waking us for our watch.

Malora told me how to keep watch at night, and we sat together, touching, but focused on our task. She reminded me to use my ears as much as my eyes, perhaps even more so. Our watch went without incident.

The second day began simply with a normal camp wakening for the day. People were a little tired, but we soon got moving. We all did a scan of the bleak countryside with the mountains in the backdrop, and then we mounted up and moved on.

Malora quietly talked to me about keeping up the scan. "Your horse will follow along and doesn't need you to lead it," she explained. "We need your eyes. But if your horse grows skittish, that is something you respect."

The morning was uneventful, but that was all to change.

"
Balorie," said Chalena. There was a sound to her voice.

"I see it,"
Balorie said. "Malora."

It took Malora a moment. She and I were both looking towards the west, and the trouble was to the east. She found it, then she worked her horse closer to me and quietly told me where to look.

"I see... something. What is it?"

"Demon," she said.

I stared. And stared. And stared. Until that moment, I wasn't sure I had believed them.

Then
Balorie had everyone in motion. "Varda," she ordered. "You will stay with Maya. If the demon gets past us, you will climb on your horses and set off for home, and you will not stop until you get there. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes,
Balorie," we both said.

"Malora, left flank.
Chalena, right flank. I have the center. Ping, you are stopper."