Amazon Fall

by Barbara G. Tarn

  "You're good," Marlen said admiringly.

  "I'm dangerous if necessary," he retorted, cleaning the blade on the other's clothes.

  "I know, I remember how you captured an Amazon ship," she replied, amused.

  He rose, sheathing his dagger, and finally smiled. "See, not everybody loves me or wants to work with me," he said.

  "That was one of your victims, I assume. Not another adventurer."

  "True..."

  Stuart Clemens' imposing shadow blocked the entrance of the alley.

  "Did you train with the Assassins' Guild?" the blond man asked.

  "No, why?" Gareth replied bluntly. "Are you following us?"

  Stuart nodded, thoughtful, stepping into the alley. "I admire you, Gareth Angell. I don't want to see your girlfriend cry."

  "So you've been paid to kill me?" Gareth asked, incredulous.

  "Not everyone is stupid like that man." Stuart's chin pointed at the bloody corpse with contempt. "They obviously know you're good, or they wouldn't hire professionals to get rid of you."

  "Who?" Gareth asked through clenched teeth. Surprise was turning to anger.

  "Lord Evan misses you." Stuart scoffed. "He wants you back dead or alive. I thought I'd take you back dead – I'm sure you'd prefer that – but I guess I'll pass. You'll have to be careful, though, I'm not the only one on your tail."

  "Did he already pay you?"

  Stuart shrugged. "Of course not."

  "You're the best assassin there is, why didn't you kill me?"

  "Told you." Stuart stared at Marlen. "I didn't want to see her cry."

  "You're not sentimental," Gareth snapped. "Enough lies, Stu."

  "Fine, I fancy your girlfriend, all right?" Stuart snapped back. "But I know better than killing you and forcing myself on her. Happy now?"

  Gareth was stunned speechless and Marlen blushed.

  "See you," Stuart muttered, turning his back on them.

  "Wait!" Gareth called. "You'll end upon Lord Evan's blacklist if you quit!"

  "I know. I can take care of myself."

  "Why don't we watch each other's back?" Gareth suggested. "Besides, I am looking for mercenaries, but maybe a good killer like you could be just as good."

  Stuart hesitated and turned to look at them. "I admire you more and more, Gareth Angell. The more I get to know you, the more you look like an honorable man. We have a deal."

  13. WARRIOR WOMAN

  They had reached Centropolis and were dining in a corner of the main room of an inn when Stuart's smile faded away.

  "It's time, Gari," he said bluntly, staring towards the inn's door.

  Gareth turned around and saw the elegant androgynous man coming forward, followed by a dozen armed men without uniforms.

  "Yep, we got visitors," he muttered.

  The man stopped at the head of the table, staring first at Gareth, then at Stuart with a frown. He was gorgeous and obviously rich. Long curly hair and clean-shaven face. He looked furious, though.

  "Hello, Evan," Gareth greeted. "What brought you to Mighty Centropolis, former capital of the fallen Empire?"

  "I thought that traitor told you I was looking for you," Evan replied somberly.

  Gareth sipped his wine, then stared at the angry nobleman. "You're always looking for me. I told you I'm not your slave."

  "You will be!" Evan snapped.

  "Slavery is forbidden, Evan. What do you want now?"

  "Your body, your mind, everything."

  "It's not going to happen. I'm not your slave, so you can just forget me."

  "I'll never forget you or give you up."

  "In that case..." Gareth put down his goblet. "Catch me if you can!"

  He jumped to his feet and punched the man behind him. Rena, Jakez, Stuart, Alexia and Marlen also got to their feet, but there wasn't much room for sword-fighting, so they used fists and daggers instead.

  The nobleman stepped back, leaving his mercenaries to do the dirty work. Except the six were like furies, and the fight soon spread to the whole room.

  Jakez was held still and beaten, Alexia was stabbed and Stuart knocked out. Things were getting bad for the three still standing. Evan stepped forward, annoyed, and found a blade at his throat.

  "Stop this," a husky voice threatened from behind.

  Evan hesitated and the blade pushed the frail skin.

  "That's enough!" he ordered. "Get out!"

  The mercenaries left, carrying out their wounded mates.

  "Bastard, I will find you," the lord muttered to whoever was still holding the blade on his throat.

  "You won't live long enough." This time it was definitely a female voice, but she didn't hesitate and sliced his throat open.

  The nobleman collapsed, revealing a dark-haired warrior woman who scoffed when her eyes met Gareth's.

  "Ylenia!" he exclaimed, incredulous.

  "In person." She stepped forward, passing over Evan's corpse like someone used to killing in cold blood. "We better leave before the town militia arrests us for this commotion."

  She helped Gareth and Marlen to carry the still passed out Stuart, while Rena helped Alexia and Jakez was bruised but able to walk.

  They found refuge in the house they had rented nearby, tired of paying for common rooms and innkeepers, at least they had some privacy and could conduct their business from there. They went out for meals, though, hence the involvement in the burly brawl in a public place.

  "You came right on time," Rena said, tending Alexia's wound while Marlen helped Jakez with his bruises.

  "I came in with him," Ylenia replied with a shrug. "I heard him hiring men to catch Gareth Angell and signed up. I was ready to kill Gari if he was the last man standing, though."

  "Thank you!" Gareth chuckled, not noticing his girlfriend's frown.

  "It was easy, I went behind him and..." Ylenia mimicked cutting a throat with her finger.

  "You're not an Amazon, are you?" Marlen asked bluntly.

  "No, I'm just a regular warrior woman. There are some on this continent as well, you know."

  "Thank you, Ylenia," Gareth repeated.

  "You'd have done the same for me," she teased.

  "Of course. Although I haven't seen you in years. What have you been up to?"

  "The usual. What about you? You seem different... More... I don't know... sweeter?"

  "If I am, it's Marlen's fault." He offered his hand to Marlen who was done with Jakez anyway, so she took it and sat on his lap as he introduced her and the others, including Stuart who was coming back to his senses.

  "At least we got rid of Lord Evan," Gareth said. "Will you join us, Ylenia? Rena will be happy to have another woman in this lot – she thinks there are too many men."

  "Too many?" Ylenia laughed, staring at them all. "Only three and my favorite is taken... I'll get bored!"

  "You can always spend some time with me," Rena suggested.

  "No, thank you," Ylenia answered cheerfully. "I'd rather get to know Stu Clemens better, or that bruised guy who stares at me as if I have two heads!"

  "How many men do you need to be happy?" Marlen asked, amused.

  "One in each town, one for each journey! The one who lasted longest was Gareth Angell!"

  Rena stared at her, incredulous. For her, Gareth was still uninteresting even though she'd stopped hating him. Ylenia winked and Marlen smiled. Her jealousy was gone – she liked the warrior woman.

  14. RENA'S PAST

  "Rena, why do you hate men so much?"

  Startled, the blonde looked up and stared at the fallen prince who had broken the silence of the quiet afternoon. Everybody was out for one reason or other, and the two royal offspring were alone in their rented house, since their faces seemed to be as famous in Centropolis as they were in their home-countries.

  "What do you mean?" she asked, puzzled.

  "You refuse the other sex more than anyone I know," he said. "Your hatred is deeply rooted, more than any other Amazon's. I'd like to understand why."
>
  "You know only Marlen and Alexia," Rena protested.

  "No, I was well acquainted with the Amazons' ambassador at my father's court and met many Merchantesses in my life," he replied with a smile. "I know that since Queen Joelia died of syphilis about a century ago, Queens have been more... monogamous. Princess Miria even married the Varian Emperor! Your mother might have been truly in love with Yasmine, so she had only you, but she never showed any hatred for men. As far as I know she has welcomed your father and Marlen's in her Apartment. But you... you'll never allow anyone in you Apartment, will you?"

  Rena hesitated. Jakez's analysis of the Amazon culture was pretty accurate. He seemed genuinely interested in understanding. Except it would mean revealing her most well-kept secret.

  "I don't know," she said at last. "I will have to breed at some point, but I'm not sure I'll keep the man."

  "Why not?" he insisted gently.

  She sighed and lowered her eyes. "It's probably because of something that happened a long time ago."

  She was still a child when in the vastness of the palace she had found a man who lived forgotten in a cellar. A slave for hard labor who slept between the barrels of wine he was supposed to guard when full or keep clean when empty. She remembered him with gray hair, but maybe he wasn't as old as she thought back then.

  He was a solitary man with a wild imagination, so he started telling her tales of magic, princesses, dragons and evil sorcerers – all things that kept her glued to her stool until he finished his story. He was a great storyteller, but men were forbidden to have an education. He couldn't read or write, but he entertained himself and her with those stories.

  She visited him in secret – not even her mother knew about her new friend. Not even Alexia, who was already her play mate. Until Rena turned thirteen and had her first period. Not that she told him, but he noticed the bumps on her chest and his behavior changed.

  "Come here," he'd said. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Don't tell anyone, this is bound to happen anyway during the Rite."

  She knew about the Rite that awaited her when she turned fourteen, and she wasn't sure he'd be better. His hands slipped under her tunic, touching very sensitive places, arousing her. His seduction plan went smoothly until he took her virginity – probably a little too roughly. That hurt, and she hadn't been the same since.

  She got pregnant, of course, so her mother assumed she didn't need a Rite after all. But she was sick and felt dirty and hated herself and her body. She didn't go back to her "friend" and eventually gave birth to the child of the rape – a boy who hadn't lived long.

  "Then I met Marlen, her innocence, her way of seeing men after growing up with her father and step-brother... But I haven't forgiven, Jakez. When I recovered from giving birth, I went looking for him and cut his throat. They dropped him in an anonymous grave and never asked me anything. But that disgusting being stole a part of me I can never recover. It's been twelve years, Jakez, and I still remember that awful night." She stared at him with a challenge in her eyes. "I cut it, that thing he was so proud of," she said. "I laughed when I cut him to pieces. I painted myself with his blood! When I washed it away, I felt much better."

  "It was your right," he replied. "But why did you have sex with me and Mikis, then?"

  "Mikis looked innocuous." She shrugged. "And then I learned to seduce."

  "You'd probably be disappointed if your lovers expressed what they really think of your lovemaking," he said, amused.

  "How dare you..."

  "I didn't say anything."

  "You said too much! What do you mean?"

  "Only that it's true you've learned to be seductive, but in bed you're not so good," he answered gently. "You don't feel pleasure."

  "How do you know?" she grumbled.

  "You're not the only woman I slept with, and you can't even fake it. Men don't give you pleasure. At least now I know why, and if one day you'll let me get really intimate with you – without any other woman around – I shall prove to you men can be pleasant in bed too."

  "Forget having sex alone with me, Jakez Karehen, I won't let you!" she snapped.

  "I'm not asking you, Princess. I will not rape you, and since you're not ready, I won't touch you again."

  "Why don't you teach me, since you're such a great lover?" she challenged.

  "You had sex with me or Mikis only to copy – or get to – Marlen. Until you really want it from the depths of your heart, I won't touch you."

  "You're..." Rena was speechless with outrage.

  "I'm the only man who knows your secret and will respect you for it. Don't worry, I won't divulge it. I'm trying to help you, but I'd never force you. I'm offering my hand to help you out of the bad things that happened to you. Grab it when you feel ready."

  He didn't move to go near her, though. He didn't try to touch her. He simply stayed where he was and lost himself in thoughts again.

  Rena didn't know what to think. His offer seemed sincere. It had been years since she dreamed of the rape. After killing the rapist, she had managed to forget – sort of. But talking to Jakez opened the box of memories she had so carefully buried.

  The morning after she looked like a wreck.

  "Rena, are you all right?" Marlen asked, worried, away from the others' ears.

  "Yeah, I'm fine." Rena was still curled up in bed, trying to shake away the visit she'd had in her dreams. Damn Jakez for making her remember!

  "I hope it was love insomnia," Marlen smiled, oblivious.

  "Not at all," Rena grumbled. "Bad memories. Nightmares I hadn't had in years."

  "How come?" Marlen asked, puzzled.

  "Jakez asked me something."

  "What?"

  "Why I hate men."

  "Ah. I hope you told him, pouring it out can only make you feel better."

  "Not really. You know nothing about it."

  "And I never asked because I thought if you wanted to tell me, you'd tell me. Never happened, but well... I guess I don't deserve to know by now. Never mind. If you want to talk, you know where to find me."

  "I've said too much already."

  "Jakez hasn't told anyone, so if you want me to understand, you better explain."

  "I'd rather not. I'll get over it, Marlen, don't worry."

  "Do you want me to send in Alexia?"

  "No."

  "All right." Marlen hesitated. "Rena, don't you think you should meet your father? I feel blessed I grew up with mine, don't you think you should give Shariman a chance?"

  Rena pondered. "I'll think about it," she promised.

  "Love you, Rena." Marlen blew her a kiss from the door.

  "Love you too, Marlen," she whispered with a lump in her throat.

  15. NOAVARIA

  "Jakez Karehen, what happened to your hair?"

  Startled, Jakez turned to look at the elegant woman who had spoken. She'd stopped him in front of the former Imperial Palace, now seat of the Varian King who ruled a much smaller country than the Empire that had covered the whole continent barely a century before, when the Magical Races still graced the land.

  "Ellide Marea!" Jakez recognized her. "Still the most beautiful woman of the Noavarian court!"

  She chuckled. "Always the gentleman, my prince – except there's no more Noavarian court, of course."

  "So why are you here?" he asked.

  "Well, I was stuck here when the kingdom fell, and even if the Amazons have let go of the colony, I don't feel like going back," she explained with a shrug.

  "Why, you don't like the appointed Regent?"

  "Honey, Milo Sannio is a tyrant. You don't put an army general on a throne. He might be a good strategist or a good soldier, but a kingdom is not made only of soldiers. That's why the Resistance keeps fighting – they obviously know you're alive and free."

  "Yes, I sent them word. I'm gathering mercenaries and will probably be backed up by the Amazon Queen."

  She smiled. "Good, I'll be able to go back to Noavaria, then." She caressed
his clean-shaven cheek. "I missed you, Jakez."

  His heart thundered while she kissed him. He was seventeen again and madly in love with her. She was almost ten years older but she hadn't changed, and thirteen years later she still made his head spin. Or maybe he was homesick – and she tasted like home.

  "I saw you become a man, but you were never this good-looking," she said, thoughtful. "I'm tempted to ask you to drop everything and move in with me. I can take care of you and you won't have to struggle to survive..."

  "I've been taken care of for too long," he replied. "The Amazons gave me political asylum, and I've worked on one of their ships for a couple of years."

  "And the Queen is giving you back your lands – why? Did you sire a child with her?"

  "No, but her daughter might want one." He grinned. "Maybe. One day."

  "So you seduced the Amazon princess?" she asked, amused.

  "I haven't seduced anyone, Elli."

  "You seduced me," she whispered, putting her arms around his neck.

  "Really?" he asked, amused. "You were the one who broke my heart."

  "You were just a boy, a spoiled prince. Now you're a man, and what a man..."

  ***

  "Where have you been, Jakez?" Rena demanded.

  "I met a friend," he answered absentmindedly.

  "So you still have friends?"

  "Yes. And since your mother is giving me back my lands, I find more and more people willing to back me up against the general who now sits on my father's throne."

  "Good. So who was this?"

  "A noblewoman. We have a history."

  "A history of what?"

  He glanced at her. "None of your business," he muttered.

  "Fine, keep your secrets," she retorted, storming out of the room.

  And then she got to see the woman. Older than him, but they were obviously very intimate. And he was handsome, sweet and all dreamy after meeting that woman...

  Loneliness became a heavy burden on Rena's shoulders. She knew he couldn't expect to marry for love and was probably waiting to get his throne back to pick a wife and forge an alliance as was custom in patriarchal societies. And for the first time in her life, Rena wished he would choose her to be his queen, forgetting she would have her own country to rule.

  ***

  Then it was time to go back to Noavaria to claim Jakez's throne. Jakez said good-bye to his first love before leaving Centropolis, then they all headed for the coast, where the Yasmine would take them to the Noavarian coast.