Amazon Chief (15 page)

"No. Well, yes," Omie said. "But she actually enjoys wrestling this way. That was the whole idea. This was Queen Malora's idea. Maya's been working too much and getting snippy with everyone."

I nodded.

"She headed for the stable. We'll give you about five minutes."

I nodded again and turned to the stable. When I arrived, Maya was clearly fuming, muttering to herself while she prepared her horse.

"Hey," I said.

She turned to me. "Ah, they sent an emissary."

"I don't know what that means."

"Diplomat. You're supposed to calm me down."

"Yeah," I said. I stepped over to her and pretended to be checking her horse with her. "What's going on?"

"I don't have time for this!" she said. "Take an afternoon off? It's not like the work isn't going to be waiting for me, so instead of getting the letters written this afternoon, I'll have to do them after dinner. But I had other tasks planned for this evening, so I'll have to do those even later tonight. Which means I will also neglect my warrior. We'll both wake up crabby tomorrow because neither of us is going to sleep well, and tomorrow is going to be shitty too. And at some point in there, Malora and I will have a fight besides, perhaps over dinner in front of everyone else, but more likely tonight in our hut or tomorrow morning when we both are short on sleep. I'm sure you'll hear us. Our fights frequently are at volume."

"You fight with Queen Malora?"

"Of course I fight with her, Beria. She thinks she can tell me what to do."

I almost snickered. Almost. I managed to keep a straight face, but it was an effort, and Maya certainly knew it.

"She's the queen, Maya."

"She's also my girlfriend, and she assured me when I agreed to become her companion that it wasn't another word for 'slave', but some days, I'm not so sure."

Then from behind me the stable door opened, and I presumed it meant the other companions had arrived.

"Beria," I heard Queen Malora say. "Go find Omie's horse. I'm sure it will take you a few minutes to find the right one."

"In other words," Maya interpreted, "Don't come back when you hear screaming."

"There isn't going to be any screaming," the queen said.

"Don't be so sure," Maya said. "Go on, Beria. I guess we're going to have our fight even sooner than I anticipated."

I fled from the stable out into the paddock.

There wasn't any screaming. A few minutes later, I saw Malora and Maya walking away from the stable, Malora's arm over Maya's shoulder. I collected Omie's horse and pulled him into the stable and began to get him ready for our ride. A minute or two later, the other companions arrived, all of them chatting excitedly.

I decided Maya could handle her own fights and focused on my own responsibilities. I finished first and turned to help the other companions, but I kept an eye open for my sister. Omie, Vorine and Ralla arrived first, but I made busy work, and Omie let me alone.

Then the stable door opened again. Maya and Malora entered, Malora's arm still around her companion. I watched as the queen turned Maya to her, and Maya wrapped her arms around her warrior's waist. Malora lifted a hand to Maya's cheek and bent her head.

I'd never seen a tenderer kiss.

I felt someone step to my side, and I recognized my own warrior
simply by her size. It had become automatic. I reached over and set my fingers on her neck, but I continued to watch my sister.

I hadn't really thought that hard about it. Yes, I knew they were together, but I hadn't really thought about it. But watching them, there was no question what they meant to each other. I knew they fought; I had just seen the edge of a fight. But I watched them, and when I could see Maya's face, she was smiling, no lingering signs of the fight in her face or her posture.

She was in love. She was clearly in love, and from the way Malora was looking at her, I knew it was mutual.

Then they separated, and Maya turned to us. I immediately looked at Omie, uncomfortable at being caught watching my sister kissing her lover.

"But she's so old," I said.

"Not that old, Beria," Omie said. "You know Benal
a was my warrior?" I nodded. "Benala said she's never see Malora like this, not since she and Nori-"

"She and Nori?" I asked, astounded.

"You didn't know? Malora was Nori's warrior, I guess. I wasn't here yet."

"Do all warriors and companions..." I trailed off.

"No," she said. "And you are only thirteen, so don't even think about it."

I looked back. Malora had disappeared, but Maya was busying herself with her horse. And she was smiling.

"I'll be fourteen this summer," I told Omie with a grin.

"We are not having that discussion, Beria," Omie said. "You are
too young, and you will be too young at fourteen, too. If you want a discussion about the birds and the bees, you can have it with your big sister. Consider it an opportunity to make her blush."

I smiled at that idea.

"It's time to go."

I rode in front of Omie and Careen in front of Vorine. I was surprised to see Jasmine on her own horse. I leaned against Omie and quietly spoke in her ear, asking about it.

"Because Ralla can't keep her hands off Jasmine if they ride together," Omie said.

"You can't keep yours off me, either," I said. She was constantly touching whatever bare skin I had available to her.

"Please tell me you know the difference, Beria."

I laughed. I hadn't experienced the difference, but I knew what she was talking about.

We had a nice afternoon. I learned how to set rabbit snares, and then we arrived at the furthest point in our trip. We checked the snares there, moving a couple, and then Vorine and Omie pulled all of us into a circle.

"There are two rules this afternoon," Vorine said.

"You must wrestle with anyone who asks you to wrestle," Omie said.

"And you must have fun," Vorine added.

"You may, of course, also ask anyone to wrestle," Omie explained. "And you all have done this enough you can call your own pins. Submission holds are allowed, but apply them carefully, especially with the newer companions, and give them a chance to tap out."

"Omie, and I will also do some informal training for anyone who wants it," Vorine said. "Maya, that means you."

Everyone looked at Maya and chuckled.

"Don't push it," Maya said, but she was smiling. "Bea, will you wrestle with me?"

We had fun. I wrestled with nearly everyone and twice with my sister, three times with my warrior. I lost those bouts, but I won against Careen and had fun with Bea. Afterwards, we lay in heaps in the grass, most of us exhausted. My head was in Omie's lap.

"All right," said Vorine, "We're going to go around and each say something about this afternoon. I'll go first. When Queen Malora offered Omie and me this job, of training all of you, I was very afraid we weren't ready. I still feel overwhelmed teaching you."

"You're doing a great job," Maya said. "Both of you."

"I agree," said Ralla.
"I knew both of you could teach wrestling, but I thought the other skills would be beyond such new warriors. I was terribly wrong."

"I knew they could do it," Bea said immediately. "It's nice to be right all the time."

That earned her some laughter, then we all turned back to Vorine. She was blushing, and when I looked up at Omie, so was she.

"Well," Vorine managed to say. "I was going to thank all of you for being such patient students. Instead, I guess I should thank you for your faith as well." She turned to Omie.

"Vorine spoke for both of us, so I am going to speak only for me. I want to thank Ralla for helping us. I want to thank my own companion for embracing our lifestyle so readily."

"Unlike her older sister," Maya said.

There were chuckles. "Yes," Omie agreed. "Hush now, you'll get your turn. I want to thank Bea for giggling so loudly during wrestling."

"She's definitely the most fun to wrestle," I said. "After my own warrior, of course."

"Ralla?" Omie said.

"I am pleased to see the new companions joining in so wholeheartedly," Ralla said. "I am also pleased to see Omie and Vorine." Then she hugged Jasmine. "And I want to thank my companion for everything she does for me."

That left us quiet for a moment. Then Ralla turned to Maya.

"My turn," she said. "I'm sorry about the fight I had with Nori and Malora." She paused for a moment then turned to Bea and pulled her into a hug. I didn't hear what she said, but when they separated, she said, "I suppose Bea is next."

"I had fun," Bea said. "I think everyone knows that."

As the youngest, they picked me to speak last. "
I don't know what to say," I said. "Instead, I have a question. We're not just companions. We're not just Amazons. But we're friends, too, aren't we?"

"Yes," Omie said. "We're friends."

"Good," I said.

* * * *

As an Amazon companion, nearly everything I did centered on my warrior. We shared a bed and we shared our meals. She was my martial arts trainer. I braided her hair, and she braided mine. When we rode somewhere, I rode on her horse, sometimes in front of her with her arms around me, sometimes behind, my arms wrapped around her waist. I had my own horse, which Omie taught me to ride, but she preferred I ride with her when it was possible.

There were days we were never apart, and except when I had other duties for the entire village, i
t was rare we were apart for long at all. I saw far, far more of Omie than I did of Maya.

I didn't have the type of relationship Maya had with Malora. I understood that even at the beginning of their relationship, Malora treated Maya as a lover, even though they weren't lovers. Omie didn't treat me that way at all, even though she touched me constantly. But
the touches were innocent, and even at thirteen I understood the difference.

I
t was a shock when Omie returned to patrolling. At some level, I knew it would happen, but when it finally did, it left me dismayed. I'd been an Amazon for several months, and I saw the other warriors leaving on patrol, some of them taking their companions, some of the companions remaining home. But I never made the conscious thought that Omie would go on patrol. It was late evening as we were climbing into bed that I understood.

"Will you take me for a ride tomorrow afternoon?"

"Beria, don't you check the duty roster?"

"I have duty?"

"No. I do. I leave on patrol in the morning. I'm sorry, I should have told you."

"What?" I asked. "Am I going?"

"No. You're not ready yet. We start taking companions with us, just to get your feet wet, so to speak, later this summer, but you won't go with us every time I go until you're at least sixteen."

My heart began to pound. I realized she would be in danger. "Will you be okay?"

"Of course."

"You need me!" I said. "What will you do about the voice?"

"Clara and Bea are going," Omie explained. "Bea will take the edge off for me. I'll need you badly when I get back. You will see that you have no duties the day I return. We'll arrive about when morning training is done, so watch for us."

The next morning, we woke early. I checked all her gear for her, realizing I should have been aware she was leaving so I would have done it yesterday. Everything was in good repair.

I cried as she rode out of the village, but I didn't let anyone see. I wasn't sure why I was crying. But then I cleaned up, and it was time for morning training. It felt entirely wrong not having Omie there. Ralla and Jasmine weren't there, either, but Malora helped Vorine until Omie returned.

Before lunch, I examined the duty roster. The patrol duty roster extended for two months, and I saw Omie's name appearing periodically, far more often than I liked. But then I realized that patrol duty lasted three days, and there were always four warriors on patrol, and so a warrior could expect to be gone a third of the time.

Then I checked my own duty roster. Sure enough, as Omie had said, I was assigned no duties the day Omie returned from patrol. The two-week roster didn't extend far enough to see if that was always the case, and when I checked, the same wasn't true for all the other companions whose warriors went on patrol without them. I went in search of my sister, finding her with her warrior. They turned to me.

"Queen Malora, may I speak with Maya for a few minutes?"

"Of course," she said. Maya caressed Malora's face briefly, then grabbed my arm and pulled me to another table. We sat down facing each other, and she said, "What's up?"

"I have no chores the day Omie gets back from patrol."

"That's right," she said.

"The other companions do."

"Yes, probably."

"Was it an accident?"

"No, it was quite intentional. Omie has a little more need than the other warriors whose companions don't patrol with them. She only has one voice, and it hit her harder than it usually does. If you weren't here, then I would have made sure I was free to help her, or I would make Balorie schedule Omie only during trips when Malora was bringing me, too."