Amazon_Signs of the Secret

by Ms. Becky J. Rhush

  Keeping her words low, Laidea leaned in to palm the table edge, and filled Hippolyta in on the last thirty cycles of Gragore’s violent quest for the consecrated. She told how this chosen child would be born of the blood and of it’s fire. An Amazon. That the child would rise up to a path of its’ own choosing, becoming a savior of the Amazon Nation, or its’ destroyer. She carried deep into the story of Perseathea’s mother Bria, and how the consecrated would descend from her bloodline. And after an hour’s time, she revealed the last of what she knew to Hippolyta, explaining exactly why she believed Gragore had brought war to GarTaynia.

  Afterward, Hippolyta leaned back in her chair, silent, her face plagued by thought. Laidea dropped her gaze back down to the candle between them, most of its’ wax now melted and pooling at it‘s base, stretching waxy fingers across the table.

  “Since the moment Askca was born, Perseathea has feared this day…” Laidea nailed a stiff finger into the table, “what is happening right now. Gragore holds more than our lives in his hands, Hippolyta. He holds fate, and he will stop at nothing to get what he wants.”

  Hippolyta straightened her posture, ignited back into the conversation. “What if he is unable to capture Askca?”

  “He will come for Palius.”

  “And if he can not capture her?”

  “He will kill Perseathea.” Laidea stared up from the candle. “That’s his bargaining chip. Askca for Perseathea.”

  “What do we need to do to stop him?”

  “We can’t. Three generations have been powerless to stop him. His army is too great and too vast now. They cover many lands, not just our own, and they are growing. Gragore gets what he wants… and he wants Askca.”

  “That’s what I don’t understand.” Hippolyta cast a cautious glance around the tavern, making certain their words were private. “That day of the battles, why didn’t he capture Askca then? Instead of Queen Perseathea?”

  Laidea shrugged. “I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense to me either. All I can reason now is that he wants us to come to him.”

  “So we give him what he wants? We walk Askca right up to his front door?”

  “It could be her destiny.”

  “Laidea,” Hippolyta hesitated, a sound of skepticism in her voice, “I don’t know if that’s the best idea. Why can’t we hide Askca or-”

  “She was hidden.” Laidea cut in.

  Of course she wanted to hide Askca. Her and Perseathea both did. That is what they had tried to do from the beginning. But now, everything was catching up. Their daughter was now exposed. Gragore knew who Askca was. Where she was. It was just a matter of time before the young warrior would face him… one way or another. At least this way, Laidea could be there with the girl. Protect her. This fated meeting would be on Amazon terms.

  Laidea didn’t know exactly how it would happen. Yes, her company was heading straight into Gragorian territory, right up to the warlord’s fortress door. But she had no intention of announcing their arrival. Her actual hope was to sneak in and rescue Perseathea unnoticed, as impossible as that sounded. If she could get in and out of that fortress unseen, and back to GarTaynia safe with Perseathea, her plan was to bring war to Gragore. Storm the entire Amazon Nation down on him. Obliterate his army once and for all, Perseathea and Askca at her side. That is not to say, that if she got the chance to assassinate Gragore while in the fortress that she wouldn’t take it. She would.

  It did plague her mind though, wondering just how the warlord had found Askca out. And did he know of Palius yet? Gragore had his ways of getting information, but it pitted in Laidea’s stomach, not knowing exactly who had sold Askca out. Who else could know the secret? And how did they know when the young warrior did not even know herself?

  “Laidea,” Hippolyta interrupted the woman’s thoughts, “I’ve worried for you, and now knowing all of this, I see why you carry such burden.”

  Laidea leaned back in her chair, keeping her eyes from her friend. “Gragore has Perseathea.”

  Hippolyta palmed Laidea’s rigid hand. “I know.”

  “If I don’t get to her….” She closed her eyes, taking in a slow breath. “That’s the dark truth of this, Hippolyta. All of this, it won’t end. It can’t. Not until Gragore is dead.” She leaned in, her hand pulling from her friend’s, her fist turning white. “And if I lose Perseathea, or those girls…. If Gragore succeeds in producing the consecrated, he will rise to the highest known power in the land, Hippolyta. He will destroy the Amazon Nation.”

  Chapter 44

  “Girls.”

  Sae-mond swaggered up to our table, his dark curls bouncing in his eyes. As he pulled a chair up next to Saratiese, I felt my skin go hot, irritation spreading like a rash across my neck. Something in the tone of his voice bothered me. He said ‘girls’ as if singing the word. Between his greasy grin and lanky frame, he looked like a snake in a tunic. I didn’t like him.

  “I’ve just summoned the healer if you have need. He’s on his way now.”

  I took a swallow of mead, uninterested. Saratiese nodded to him in acknowledgement, but also opted for another sip rather than replying.

  “This tavern makes a marvelous feast of foods.” The snake went on. “Get whatever you desire. Bartamius gave me plenty of coin.”

  “We already ate.” I said, not bothering to look up at him. I instead put my attention on the noisy crowd, hoping he would go away.

  “The moment we came in the door.” Saratiese said. “I couldn’t wait a moment longer after those caverns.”

  I eyed the girl, imploring her not to go into needless chatter with Sae-mond. If she did, he’d stay, and that was the last thing I wanted. But, Saratiese failed to notice my petitioning look, which prompted Sae-mond to scoot in beside her, taking her banter as an invitation.

  “I’d wager you went hungry for days down there.”

  “Oh gods,” Saratiese pulled up into posture, happy to share details. “You have no idea. Nearly starved.”

  “You look a bit gaunt.” Sae-mond looked Saratiese over, his hungry expression suggesting she looked anything but gaunt.

  I rolled my eyes. “This coming from one of the thinnest men I’ve ever been witness to. She looks gaunt?”

  “By the time we got here,” Saratiese prattled on, “I could have eaten you had you been put to flame properly.”

  I curled my lip, repulsed by the comment. Unfortunately, I concoct a mental image of anything mentioned… whether I want to or not. I knew what Sae-mond was thinking and that’s where my mental image went, much against my will. Had I actually envisioned the boy being food, say, a headless piece of bony chicken, it would not have been bothersome.

  Sae-mond put a hand through his dark curls, licking his lips. “We can arrange such an adventure. If you’re up to it.”

  Saratiese’s face contorted and she edged away. “That’s not what I meant.”

  My skin felt like it might crawl off my body when Sae-mond spoke. I didn’t like him before Lokran’s, but I couldn’t quite figure why. Maybe I felt exposed around him since he had known my secret. Maybe I didn’t know if I could trust him yet. Whatever the reason before, the reason now was his imperial strutting. And his greasy grin. But mostly, I think it was his attempts to woo Saratiese.

  “My apologies, dear lady.” His tone dripped out like syrup, and this time, it triggered something in me.

  “Lady? That’s it.” I waited, teeth on edge, staring him down. I felt hostile, and I wasn’t even certain why.

  “What would you have me call her?”

  “She’s a warrior, not your hand maiden.” I pushed out of my chair, leaning my palms into the table, hovering at Sae-mond‘s face. “She’s a warrior! Warr-i-or! Do you not understand?”

  The young man stared at me as I eased back into my chair. Saratiese sat silent, her eyes as big as moons, staring into her mug as if she could hide there.

  “Why are you so offended, Askca? I was only-”

  “I’m offended by your
words. They slither out as limp as a dead snake.”

  I said it, hoping, begging for a reply. Leaning back in his chair, his eyebrows arched like curious caterpillars, but he didn’t say anything. I took another sip of mead, but after a swallow, I eyed the boy.

  “I think it would serve you well to just keep your vulgar tongue to yourself, Sea Pond.”

  “It’s Sae-mond.”

  “Not anymore it’s not.” I mocked, feeling the heat on my neck spread to my face. “I have no concern for your foolish name. You may have afforded us the coin to eat, but that doesn’t mean you can expect crude compensations, So-long.”

  I turned to Saratiese with a snicker, quiet satisfied with my remarks, and plopped back in my chair. I didn’t know if it was the mead or just my lack of patience this far into the quest, but I was feeling bold.

  “Ask a… question.” Saemond mocked under his breath, begging everything in me to punch him in his mouth.

  “What?” The word cut out from my lips like a blade.

  “What is it, Askca? Why do you scorn me?”

  “You really need a reason?” I asked, dumbfounded by his attempt at confrontation. I hadn’t exactly come across as pleasant with him so far, and I clearly didn’t care for him. Why he would encourage me into a further war of words was beyond me. It only served to rile me more, and if this were to come to blows, well… the boy was as sturdy as a soggy pond reed.

  He squared his jaw. “Tell me why.”

  “There are so many reasons….”

  He tapped the table with an impatient finger as I tallied in my head. “What?”

  “What what?” I dug back. I had my reasons. I had plenty of reasons. But some of them I was not about to admit in front of Saratiese. “I don‘t have to explain anything to you.”

  He must have took that as me backing down, because he puffed out his chest, leaning into the table like a gloating bullfrog on the attack.

  “I afforded you the coin to eat, drink, and have-”

  “You’ve afforded nothing!” I pounded a fist into the table, surprising even myself. Saratiese kept quiet, her eyes still on her ale as if it was her shield of defense.

  Sae-mond, realizing that he was pushing me into a very aggressive place, and that he couldn’t fight his way out of a potato sack, sunk back, crossing his arms.

  “I’ve done nothing?” He murmured without making eye contact.

  “Not for me.” I took another drink of my rapidly disappearing mead.

  “Oh really?”

  Unable to believe he was bowing up again, I cocked my head. Staring at him. Daring him. “Oh really.”

  Sae-mond slinked an elbow up on the table, pointing a stained finger in my face. Undoubtedly, he had been drinking as well. Too much too, I’d wager, by his suicidal actions. “Heed me, Askca. If you think you can-”

  “Did I not just tell you?” I cut him off, feeling as though my patience were no longer shortened, but had left the tavern altogether. Even with my hazy brain there were things I was not about to say in front of Saratiese, no matter how far his goading went. “I have more important things on my mind than quarreling with you.”

  Sae-mond stared at me with a blink, as if I had at once confused and offended him.

  “I am going for another drink.” I pushed up from the table. “That is, if it’s alright with you… Sea-Fawn.”

  Sae-mond cursed me under his breath.

  I made my way through the mesh of sweaty, drunk people, in search of the ever vanishing barkeep. When I got to the hectic bar, I then noticed the large bellied server deep in the crowd. Leaning into the bar, I gave an aggravated sigh. A shriveled old man tottered out from the back room carrying a plate of hot meats. His brown spotted hands shook as he offered the plate to the oily looking fellow seated next to me. After taking the man’s coin, the old man looked to me with a squint.

  “Whatta ye want?”

  “Jug of mead.”

  He nodded his balding head, wobbling away. I turned back to the crowd, leaning back against the bar on my elbows. Kelius and Malaia sat with Saratiese now, and Sae-mond looked to attempt jesting with the women, but none of them seemed to notice. The three were instead laughing with one another, Saratiese, of course, the most red faced of the bunch. I felt a slight twinge of jealousy. At least it’s not Sae-mond and… why do I care?

  I snickered at myself, surprised by my reaction. I turned to see if the rickety old man had returned with my drink yet, but he still tinkered off in the kitchen, most likely confused in his old age. I turned back, watching Saratiese. Now some strange village man hung over her shoulder. He looked to be inviting her to dance. Jealousy panged again.

  “She won’t go with him.” I said under my breath, realizing I was trying to reassure myself. I shrugged it off. Probably just the mead.

  Chapter 45

  “We will stop him, Laidea. We will.” Hippolyta tried to calm the Commander. “But what I don’t understand is how he knows of the consecrated anyway?”

  Laidea took in a long breath, her head warm and her words fuzzy. It had already been such a long day. But every word had to be spoken. Understood. And Hippolyta was her most trusted companion after Perseathea.

  “Gragore has traveled the lands since his youth. He’s quested after the consecrated for countless cycles, planting his seed in most every female he has encountered. He and his men have raped hundreds, if not thousands of women. They travel over many lands, pillaging and raping, making a name for the warlord Gragore. Once they’ve conquered far into the east hills, cycles later they sweep back, returning to the women they defiled. Seizing the male children. The boys are brought up in Gragore’s ranks to multiply his army. Create loyalty. Female children are sometimes left behind so in cycles to come, he can come back and pollute them as well. But more often, they are slaughtered.”

  “Gragore’s army is of his own seed?”

  “A goodly portion… or that of his men. A smaller portion is there for the coin and plunder. The power Gragore promises.”

  “A bastard army.” Hippolyta let the phrase hang there.

  “Gragore is the great and wicked defiler.”

  “But how did he find Queen Perseathea?”

  “I don‘t know.” Laidea shook her head. “After the last battle of Qkuose, Bria took Perseathea and traveled the new lands until she found another Amazon sisterhood. No one knows for certain how Gragore found her, but when he did he killed Bria and took off into the night with her daughter. Perseathea was just a child at the time, no older than Palius. She was a child slave until the age of bearing. That’s when his seed was forced upon her. Gragore took her till her belly held his child.”

  “Askca.” Hippolyta said under her breath. “Perseathea had no choice but to try to escape. She was with her first child, a sacred thing. If she didn’t run, her child was damned. If it were male, Gragore would corrupt and abuse it, twist him into a thing of evil. If it were female he would most certainly butcher it. So she ran, knowing her child would be better off dead in her belly than alive in Gragore’s hands.”

  “Why Bria’s bloodline?”

  “It is believed that Bria was blessed by the Goddess. She stood the only one left alive of her sisterhood after the last battle of Qkuose. Her sisters lay dead, mingled among the bodies of the entire enemy force. They say

  the gods favored her because she alone was left, the only one to live through a massacre of thousands. It is said that the child to descend from Bria’s blood, must also carry this blessing.”

  “The blessing of invincibility.”

  “The highest of all powers.” Laidea took a deep swallow from her mug.

  “Gods Laidea, you’ve known these things for how long now?”

  “Since that day I met Perseathea in the jungle. The day Askca was born.”

  “And you’ve told no one until now?”

  “No one but my sister Balena, the day we gave Askca to her.”

  “But Palius was raised by the tribe’s mother.�
�

  “We told the council that we found her, but Palius believes that her mother was a brave warrior who died giving birth to her. We wanted her to know that her mother loved her… even if we couldn’t tell her who her mother truly was. That’s why I had to come on this quest, even if Perseathea is… dead. I have to protect Palius and Askca.”

  “That’s why you defended Palius that first night.” Hippolyta said, connecting things in her head.

  “She has a rite to fight in her mother’s name. She could be the consecrated. I have to watch over them, Hippolyta. They may not have come from my womb, but they come from my heart. I was destined to love them just the same.”

  Hippolyta stared for a moment, then tipped a look inside Laidea’s empty mug. “It’s a wonder what this ale does for you.”

  “What?”

  “You’re never this… open.” Hippolyta cracked a smile. “I like it.”

  “I don’t.” Laidea poured another mug, then took a swig.

  “Queen Perseathea, Askca, and Palius… they will return home with us. They will.”

  “They have been kept from me their whole lives, Hippolyta.” Laidea slurred. “They could be taken away forever.”

  Hippolyta took the woman‘s hand. “It won’t happen. I will die first.”

  Chapter 46

  “Here ye are, missy.”

  I took the jug from the shaky old man before anymore mead could splash onto the bar. When I turned back to the crowd I was pleased to see most of the company sitting at my table. The girls were engaged in conversation, belly laughing and eating, drinks all around. Making my way back through the tight crowd, I nuzzled back into my chair next to Saratiese pouring her another drink.

  "So as I was saying,” Valasca shouted in a slur, “my hands were trembling and I-"

  "And what did the healer say of those hands?" Laidea cut the brave off.