Amazon Chief (24 page)

Then we both watched.

It was a toss-up which way the spider would choose to go, but then Bea quietly drew her own sword. Whenever the spider tried to go the wrong way, Bea stood in the saddle, reaching with her sword to gently tap it in a different direction.

The horse didn't really like that and began dancing around underneath Omie, but she never turned around to see if there was a reason for it.

Finally, after five nudges from Bea, the spider began crawling up my warrior's back.

It was hard not to giggle. Omie looked over her shoulder at us. "What's so funny back there?"

"Nothing, Omie," Bea said. Omie hadn't looked closely enough to see Bea had her sword out, and as soon as Omie's head turned forward, Bea slowly worked her sword back into its scabbard.

Then we both watched the spider as it decided what to do.

Bea turned around. "I hope it's not poisonous," she said, loudly enough for Omie to hear.

"All spiders are poisonous," I said. "But most are harmless to people." I eyed the spider carefully. "Omie once told me none of the spiders in these woods were dangerous, so I'm sure that one's fine."

That was about when the spider reached Omie's shoulder, so when she turned around to ask what we were talking about, she got a real good look.

She screamed and began batting at the spider. It gamely hung on for a moment or two, but then it went flying, never to be seen again, but still she batted at herself, brushing away at invisible creatures only visible in her imagination.

Ahead of her, the other warriors had all stopped and turned around. Clara and Ping were both grinning, but not outright laughing. Bea and I, on the other hand, didn't hold back.

Omie gave a final shudder before glaring at us.

"How did that get there?" she finally asked.

"Crawled," Bea said.

"I do not believe it crawled," Omie replied.

"That's what spiders do," I said. "Well, some jump. That was the kind that crawled. Sort of slowly, actually, although I imagine if you'd been a fly, it would have moved faster."

Omie turned her horse all the way around to study Bea and me. "I believe there is more to this story," she said.

"Well, I suppose it might have been a jumping spider," I replied. "It finally jumped away, but maybe it flew. You hit it kind of hard, though, so maybe it wasn't the spider's idea."

"Beria," she said, "How did that spider get on my shoulder?"

"I swear, Omie. It crawled all the way from your saddle, up your back and onto your shoulder."

"And how did it make it to my saddle?" she asked.

"It was carried as if by the hand of a goddess," Bea told her.

"That's very poetic, Bea," I said.

"Thank you, Beria," she replied. "Maya loaned me a book on poetry."

"That's Maya for you, always the teacher," I said.

"Bea!" said Omie. "Did you put that spide
r on me, my saddle, or my horse?"

"No, Omie," Bea said immediately. "I most certainly did not."

"Beria, did you?"

"How would I do that?" I asked. "I'm way back here, a good fifteen feet away."

She narrowed her eyes at me.

"Daylight is burning, Omie," Ping said, turning her horse back up the trail.

Bea and I spent the next fifteen minutes snickering, earning us several dirty looks from my warrior. Finally I whispered to Bea, "Maybe we should shut up while we're ahead."

"I think you're right," she replied. "But it was damned funny."

A half hour later, we stepped out of the forest onto the rough, eastern plain that sat between our forest and the mountains of the demons. The sun was in our eyes, and all of us shaded our eyes for a moment while looking around.

The previous team wasn't here yet; discounting the Spider Incident, we had gotten off to an early start and had made good progress through the forest. Until Balorie arrived, Ping was in charge of our group, and she called a halt. We climbed from our horses. I stepped forward and collected Omie's reins from her as well, handing her a canteen. We each drank, and then we began our scan of what we could see.

"Beria," Omie asked me quietly, "Did you lie to me?"

"Not that I'm aware," I said.

"I think you lied to me."

"That's a harsh accusation," I said. "Would you care to tell me when I lied so I am able to defend myself?"

"About the spider," she said.

"It crawled. I swear. Bea and I both watched it crawl all the way up your back."

"I believe you," she said. "I also believe the spider was lifted onto my saddle, although I discount the whole portion about the goddess involved."

I didn't say anything.

"You and Bea both denied helping the spider into position on my horse," she added.

"I didn't lie to you, Omie," I said quietly. "But I may have engaged in a tiny amount of misdirection."

"I don't know what that means," she said.

"It's a word Maya taught me one day," I said. "I'm sure she can explain when we get back. It's really quite interesting."

"Beria..."

I sighed. "Am I in trouble?"

"If you lied to me, you are."

"I swear:
I haven't lied to you, at least not that I know of."

"So you had nothing to do with the spider's trip from somewhere in the forest to my shoulder?"

"I never said that, Omie."

"You certainly did."

"When?"

"When I asked you if you put it there."

"I remember telling you it crawled up your back, which, I will add, it did. I don't remember making any other statements on the subject at all."

"You denied putting it on my saddle!"

"No I didn't. I asked you how I could have put it on your saddle and pointed out there was a great deal of distance between us at the time. I don't believe it's at all fair to use my good natured honesty to put me in trouble."

"If you did nothing wrong, then being honest about it wouldn't get you into trouble," she replied. "Beria, did you somehow put the spider on my saddle."

"No."

"Then how did it get there?"

"It crawled. Bea and I both watched it."

"And you didn't say anything to me?"

"It wasn't going to hurt you, Omie. It was a harmless wood spider. It may have been attracted by the horse flies."

She didn't say anything else. Ping spotted Balorie and her group a few miles off but declared we would wait here for them, and told us to continue our lookout. I started to feel guilty.

"Am I in trouble?"

"For lying? Yes."

"I haven't lied! You just don't ask the right questions."

"Feeling guilty?"

"Yes."

"Your sister talks rings around Malora and Nori. The rest of us don't even try to argue with her. Beria, I don't like feeling like you lied to me, even if you haven't."

"I didn't lie," I said.

"I stopped accusing you. I am now telling you it feels like you lied to me."

I sighed. "I didn't put the spider on you or your saddle. I put it on the back of your horse. It crawled from there. You asked generic questions and let me distract you, and then you asked such specific questions that it was easy to answer truthfully."

"How did you put the spider on my horse from behind Bea?"

"I passed her on the trail and then let her pass me again."

She glanced at me for a moment, and I could tell she was angry.

"I'm sorry. It was a harmless spider. It couldn't have hurt you."

"What if I had been so startled I fell off my horse? I could have gotten hurt. Or what if you were wrong, and it wasn't as harmless as you thought?"
She shuddered. "And I hate spiders. You know that."

"I'm sorry."

"But I'm not that upset about the spider. I'm upset because when I asked you about it, you went out of your way to avoid telling me the truth."

"I didn't think you'd let me get away with it!" I said earnestly. "Maya would keep asking questions until she figured out how I was twisting things around. It's like a game. But then you dropped it, so I made a point of telling Bea we should let it go while we were ahead, practically admitting to it. And then I could have shut up, or continued to lead you astray. I could have started suggesting a variety of ways it could have gotten to your horse." I paused. "I'm sorry. I was playing a game Maya and I play. I wasn't trying to deceive you."

She was quiet for a while then said, "It felt like it."

"I'm sorry."

She didn't say anything else until Balorie and her group were almost on us.

"It was a harmless spider," she said. "Please don't play that game with me in the future."

"I'm sorry."

"I know." She put an arm around me and gave me a quick hug.

* * * *

It was mid-afternoon on the next day when we saw the demon. Balorie saw it first, quietly pointing it out. "Look for more," she said.

Once I saw it, I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I stared.

"Beria... Beria.... Beria!"

I stared at the demon. "It's... it's..."

"Huge," Omie said. "Look at me. Beria, look at me."

I turned to face her.

"Get back on your horse, turn west,
and ride for the forest. Do you remember the horn signals?"

I nodded.

"Do not stop until you are a hundred yards into the trees or you hear recall on the horn. Do you understand?"

I nodded.

"Ride quickly but not quickly enough to have an accident, and slow down when you reach the trees. Go."

I didn't wait. I ran for my horse, then slowed down the last steps so I didn't spook him. I collected the reins, climbed on top, and took one last look at my warrior.

"Go," she said.

I turned my horse west and gave him
his head, but every few seconds I looked over my shoulder.

Two minutes later, I heard a horn, but it was a battle cry. It wasn't until I reached the trees that I heard what I was waiting for, the recall signal. I pulled my horse to a stop and turned slowly. A minute later, the recall came again, but the horse was tired, and I let him walk back to the east. Ten minutes later, I met them as they rode west. As I got closer, I could see Bea riding in front of Balorie, and I knew it must have been Balorie who took the voice. I searched all five of them with my eyes, especially my warrior, but they all appeared whole.

But as we grew closer, I slipped from my horse and ran for Omie, who slipped from her own and pulled me into a crushing hug.

"Thank you for obeying me," she said a minute or two later.

I didn't have words. All I could do was hold her, my heart still filled with the fear of what could have happened to her.

I felt as Omie slowly relaxed, my touch driving away the demon voices she carried. Finally I turned in her grip but kept her arms around me, and I placed my hands over hers before looking up at Balorie.

"Are you all right?" I asked.

She nodded. "Bea is taking care of me." She glanced at Clara. "Thank you."

"You don't have to take every voice, Balorie," Clara said. "You could share, you know."

The two grinned at each other.

"You're welcome," she added.

"Isn't anyone going to thank me?" Bea asked. "This is rough duty for me, too." It was said to lighten the mood.

"I know for a fact she's done nothing but thank you for the last ten minutes," Clara said. "Uppity companion."

"No one is hurt?"

"Not a bruise," Balorie said. "Easy one." But then she winced and buried her face against the side of Bea's neck. "Although a little persistent," she mumbled. "If you two are done fondling each other, we have a patrol to ride."

"
I could use a swim," Ping said. I glanced at her and realized she had demon goo in her hair. It was green and pretty gross. "And I think I could use some help cleaning up."

"I'm busy comforting the big warrior," Bea said, looking at me. "That puts you on demon ichor duty."

Ping pulled a dollop of goo from her hair. "I've had worse."

"Yeah," said Balorie. "You didn't break your leg this time."

"Once!" Ping said. "It happened once! At least I've never been swatted by a tail like someone I know."

I turned to my horse, but Omie pushed me towards hers, and so for the next couple of hours, we rode together, mine following along behind us.

* * * *

By the time we made camp that night, Balorie had relinquished Bea. Her face was creased, but it was always creased, so she must be handling the voice all right.

"She's catching up to Queen Malora," Omie told me. "She's trying to spare everyone else. But you've seen how Malora relies on Maya. She can only go on like this for so long."