Amazon Companion

by Roseau, Robin

  "Beria is safe."

  "Beria was always safe, Maya," the woman said. "But Beria will remain with her mother."

  "And you will now all leave," I said.

  "Oh no," the woman said. "Riva still needs a companion."

  "She had her chance from this village," I said. "She lost."

  The woman frowned. "Yes, she did."

  I glanced past the woman. Riva was sitting up and talking quietly to the two Amazon women.

  "Did I hurt her?" I asked.

  Nori glanced around then turned back to me. "Only her pride." Then without turning her back on me she said, "Riva, you are owed a companion. I collected a present for Malora. Would that girl suffice for you? I will find a better present for Malora."

  "Yes, Nori," the girl said from the ground.

  "Well," said Nori. "That is settled." She eyed me and smiled. "And now you will be Malora's present."

  "I'm not going anywhere with you!" I said. "Take your women and go."

  She smiled. "I thought that was what you would say. Riva, give me your staff."

  Riva struggled to get up. One of the other women traded Riva's staff for Nori's sword. Nori handed over the scabbard as well, then her knife. She was left with the staff and, although I didn't realize its significance at the time, a coil of rope slung from her belt.

  The three women cleared away from us, one of the women helping Riva. I was left facing Nori, who was holding the staff with far more confidence than Riva had shown.

  "Well," she said, pacing back and forth in front of me, spinning the staff casually. "If you go willingly, it will be far more pleasant for you."

  "You're going to have to kill me," I told her.

  "I don't think so," she said. "And that would be a waste." She eyed me up and down. "So much fire. Maya, set the staff aside and go willingly."

  I raised it between us.

  "So be it. Fight." And then she waited for me.

  I stared at her, not moving. She smiled. "You don't want first swing?"

  "You want me, come and get me," I told her.

  So she did.

  The fight didn't last long. She threw two swings at me with her staff, but they were carefully designed to pull me off balance. Then in a one-two strike, she hit the fingers of one hand and then the other, not hard enough to break my hands, but hard enough I dropped the staff. Two more swings struck my arms, more firmly than my hands, and I cried out, my arms numb; she had gotten my arms like I had gotten Riva's arm. Then Nori stepped past me, whacking the backs of my legs, causing me to crumple to my knees.

  Before I could even move, or yield, she was on me, bearing me to the ground. She pulled my limp arms behind my back, and I learned why she had the rope. She began binding my hands.

  I struggled, crying out, but she worked efficiently, trussing my arms tightly. She called out for a second rope and bound my legs tightly together.

  "Someone help me!" I called out. "There aren't that many of them. Don't let them do this to us!"

  No one raised a finger.

  "Throw her over my horse," Nori said. Strong hands clasped me. I struggled, but they lifted me easily. I swore and screamed at them, but I found myself thrown over the back of a horse. I tried to slither down, but they held me in place, and then Nori mounted behind me, adjusting me across her saddle.

  "Let's go," she said.

  Traveling

  Riding the back of a horse on my stomach with my arms bound behind my back may have been the most unpleasant experience of my life to that date. I thought perhaps childbirth could be worse, but childbirth comes with the promise of a child. My ride came with the promise of slavery and, presumably, abuse.

  I didn't understand why no one had stood up to these women except me. My only consolation was that I'd kept my little sister safe.

  I tried to slide from the horse, but Nori held me firmly in place, and I think she intentionally made the ride more uncomfortable than it needed to be. I spent the entire time swearing a blue streak, threatening all sorts of dire consequences.

  "You'll never be able to turn your back on me!" I vowed. "I will kill you. I swear it."

  "You shouldn't make vows like that," she said. "You should get to know me better before you vow to kill me. You might change your mind."

  "That isn't going to happen," I told her. "Let me go!"

  She ignored me. I continued to swear, calling them all sorts of names, at least as much as I could. The motion of the horse tended to make talking difficult, even painful.

  Finally I told her, "You are a bitch with no honor, worse than any demon!"

  And that did it. She called a halt, and then she lifted my head by the hair and threw me from the back of her horse. I landed on the ground feet first before collapsing in a sprawl. Bound the way I was, I couldn't get up.

  She climbed from her horse.

  "Yes!" I thought. "I have been a big enough pain in the ass. She will cut my knots and leave." Then I realized, "Or maybe she's about to kill me. At least I won't die a slave."

  Instead, she knelt down and grabbed my hair, lifting my face to stare into hers. "I've had enough of your mouth." She raised her voice. "Bring me a gag!"

  "No!" I screamed. I tried to bite her, but my struggles were futile. Another woman approached, and I realized it was Riva. She offered a variety of cloth to Nori.

  "No!" I screamed again when Nori tried to shove some of the cloth into my mouth. Again I tried to bite her, barely missing.

  Nori leaned her face in closely to mine, her face a grimace. "We give up everything for your comfort," she said. "We spend our lives to keep your lands safe, and all we ask is a tiny amount of help. Do you think we wanted to do things the way we did? Your council has ignored our pleas to treat honorably with us. We are not the ones with no honor; that distinction goes to your council. I've had it with your vile tongue. You will be gagged. We can do it the nice way or the not-so-nice way. Choose."

  "I do not deserve this treatment! Bitch!" I told her, then clamped my mouth shut.

  "So be it." She studied me. "You were the teacher? I bet you care about the children. You seem very passionate."

  "You wouldn't," I said.

  "Open your mouth and we won't have to find out," Nori told me.

  "Go to hell," and then I clamped my mouth shut again.

  "Bring the girls!" she said.

  "No! This is between you and me."

  "It's your choice, Maya," she said. She released my head, and I fell to the dirt. "Bring them!"

  Two horses approached, and then when I looked up, I saw Morana held by one of the women, Olive by the other.

  "Is this your teacher?" Nori asked them. I couldn't see the response, but I imagined the two girls were nodding.

  "Leave them alone!" I screamed. "They didn't do anything to you. None of us did."

  "This is your teacher's fault," Nori said, and then there was a striking sound of flesh meeting flesh. Olive cried out and slumped to the ground next to me. There was another strike, and then Morana was howling, covering her face.

  "Stop it!" I screamed. "Stop it!"

  "Pick that one up," Nori said. I didn't see which one she meant.

  "I give up!" I yelled. "Stop hurting them."

  Nori immediately crouched down in front of me and clasped my hair again, turning my face to hers. When she held the rag in front of me mouth, I slowly opened my mouth.

  I didn't try to bite her as she filled my mouth with the rag. Two more followed, filling my mouth quite fully, and then she used one more to secure everything in place, tying the knot savagely.

  Then she patted my cheek. "I didn't hit them that hard," she said. "Fight me again and it will be worse." She stood up. "Throw her back over my horse. We have a long way to travel."

  We rode for hours. I tried very hard not to cry. My mouth hurt, my stomach hurt, my arms hurt, and I was angry and scared, deeply frightened.

  We didn't stop until dusk began to settle. Nori called a command, and the entire troop
came to a stop. From the back of her horse, I saw women descending from their mounts. Nori leaned over to me. "I bet that was an uncomfortable ride."

  I muttered a profanity into the gag.

  She patted my ass condescendingly, making me even angrier, if that was even possible.

  "If you struggle, all that is going to happen is you'll fall from the horse. It will hurt. You may break your neck. You may not. If you're set on killing yourself, I will allow you a duel of steel on steel in the morning. Is that what you want?"

  I actually thought about it before shaking my head.

  "Good. You show some sense." She slipped from the horse then helped me slide down the side, standing me on my bound feet and holding me steady. She turned me to face her. "Maybe by morning you'll be feeling a little more compliant. Today was only three hours. Imagine an entire day like that."

  Then, surprising me, she bent over and picked me up. She carried me a short distance then set me down gently, rolling me onto my side.

  I lay there while they set up camp.

  My arms were in agony, bound firmly behind my back. I tried to reach the knots, but my fingers were numb, and I didn't think I could have reached them, anyway. Similarly, I couldn't reach the knots on my legs.

  None of that stopped me from trying.

  From time to time I watched as Morana and Olive stepped past me, performing this task or that as they had been assigned. Neither of them looked at me, and I thought perhaps they held their earlier punishments against me. I couldn't say I blamed them.

  They had tents, small tents. I watched as Morana and Olive were forced to help assemble the tents of their respective new owners, or whatever word was correct. And then they each carried bedrolls and small packs into their tents.

  Nori eventually sat down beside me, next to my head.

  "When dinner is ready, you will have a choice. You can allow me to feed you, and I will replace your gag afterwards, or you can go hungry."

  I told her to go to hell. The gag muffled my words.

  "What's that, Maya?" she said. "You want to thank me for such a lovely horseback ride? I bet you've never been this far from home before."

  She was wrong. I'd been fishing out on the open ocean, and the fishing boats go where the fish are. But by tomorrow, we will have traveled further than I've ever been.

  We stayed there, neither of us communicating. I had long given up trying to swear at her, except in response to her taunts. Then she rested a hand on my shoulder. "Maya, I am going to tell you something. You may not believe me, but I think you should at least listen."

  I looked up at her.

  "I know you're angry. Honestly, I don't blame you. You are not responsible for your ignorance. You and I got off to a poor start, and it was undoubtedly exasperated by the way I tied you up. I didn't want to fight with you anymore, but I probably shouldn't have done it this way."

  Was she apologizing to me?

  "On the other hand," she said, "I needed you to know we're serious. I am sure right now that is little consolation to you."

  Damned right it wasn't.

  "The demons are real. What we do for your people is real. But we've actually done too good a job, and villages throughout Morehama have stopped tithing to us. Yours was not the only village, nor was yours the first to stop offering a tithe."

  "Go to hell," I replied, my words still muffled, but my intention was clear.

  "Don't be like that. I am trying to be civil."

  I didn't reply. She hadn't been even slightly civil.

  "We tried diplomacy. And there were groups of us that were ready to let a few packs of marauding demons through to stir up the countryside. But in the end, we couldn't in good conscience do that. But we need the tithe and we need the companions. We prefer when they come to us willingly, like they used to. It used to be considered an honor."

  She paused.

  "You probably don't believe me. But maybe you can ask yourself one question. What if I'm not lying?"

  And then she said nothing else to me for a long time.

  The women built a fire, and I realized that Nori had set me down near enough to the fire to receive some of its warmth. I looked up at her.

  "Yes," she said. "There is no accident here." She had set me down exactly a proper distance from where the fire would be belt. If she planned something so small that carefully, what else had she planned carefully?

  They used the fire to cook dinner, a stew. I saw them roast several rabbits, adding them to the stew; the rest appeared to be vegetables and water. And then one of the women brought a plate to Nori.

  "Hungry?" she asked me. She inhaled from her plate. "It smells wonderful."

  I looked up at her. I hadn't had lunch; I'd foolishly hadn't brought anything with me when I went out sailing. I closed my eyes, swallowed my pride, and nodded.

  "The gag is going back in later," she replied. "I know the fight hasn't left you, and frankly, I don't want to listen to you all night."

  I nodded understanding, and when she told me to turn my head, I did. She untied the knot, which took some time, and then slipped the gag from my mouth. I spit the cloth into her waiting hand.

  "Let me be perfectly clear, Maya. I will not tolerate a challenge. I will not tolerate disobedience. Fight me, and you will lose. Do you understand?"

  I opened my mouth twice, biting back sharp retorts both times. "Yes," I finally managed to spit out.

  "Good." Then she helped me to sit up, but I kept falling over again. Finally she pulled me into a sitting position but was forced to support me, half draped in her arms.

  I looked over my shoulder and glared at her. "And on our first date?" I asked her.

  She smiled. "You're not for me, much the pity." But after that, she fed both of us, alternating. The stew was quite good. Someone brought a mug to her, and I learned it was cider.

  She wasn't at all shy sharing food with me.

  She let me eat as much as I wanted, rinsing it all down with the cider. Someone took the things away, and I said, "Please untie me. My arms hurt."

  "I imagine they do," she replied. "I offered to let you come willingly, but then you threatened to kill me. I take threats like that seriously."

  I wasn't going to rescind my threat.

  "Please," I said.

  "Time for the gag," she said. "Are you going to cooperate the way you promised?"

  I hadn't cried yet, but right then I started. Once I started, I couldn't stop. I blubbered in her arms, embarrassing myself terribly.

  She didn't try to comfort me. None of the woman seemed to pay any attention to me. I imagine crying captives were common for them. I cried myself out, then Nori helped me to clean up.

  "Get that out of your system?" she asked me. I nodded, but my nerves were on the edge. "Good. Right now, you have a full belly but feel deeply vulnerable, and that is making you complacent. I do not believe it is going to last. I do not want you to do whatever you will do in the middle of the night if I untie you. I know it hurts. Your shoulders are probably in agony, and I can't imagine you'll sleep well, but a few days like this won't kill you or even do any lasting harm."

  "A few days?" I said, swallowing another sob.

  "If you remain complacent and cooperative, I may offer a more comfortable ride tomorrow. That's the best you're going to get."

  "Go to hell!" I screamed at her. "Sadist! Honorless bitch! Abuser of children! If this is how the Amazons treat their slaves, I can understand why the council stopped giving anyone to you. It's clear why you're alone." I was just getting warmed up when the cloth appeared in front of my face. I stared at it. Nori didn't say a word. I shut up, but she waved the cloth back and forth, and I opened my mouth. She filled it with the cloth and tied it off.

  But she didn't tie it as harshly as she had earlier. When she was done, she patted my cheek. "At least you seem able to learn."

  She lowered me back to the ground, with me resting on my side, and left me there.

  * * * *


  After dinner, the Amazons sat around the fire, offering entertainment. They told stories, some of them funny, many of them rather ribald. Nori was a frequent target of the stories, which surprised me, and someone named Malora was another frequent target.

  I remembered Nori had mentioned that name earlier. I wondered who she was.

  They acted out skits, some of them clearly well worn, but based on the reactions, a few were new.

  I lay on the ground, my arms crying in agony, too worn out to fume any longer.

  Then I realized Morana was sitting next to me. She caressed my hair gently. "Please don't cry again, Maya," she said. "Miari promised we'll be well-treated if we behave."

  I looked up at her. She meant if I behaved.

  "She told me I must do exactly what she says. She says I am helping to keep Gallen's Cove safe from the demons. Are the demons real, Maya?"

  I didn't know, and I didn't know how to tell her that.

  "You don't know?" she asked when I didn't respond. I shook my head. "But you know everything!"

  Her words warmed my heart but increased my guilt at the same time.

  "You knew when Dorden pulled my hair," she said. "And you know how to spell all the words. You know when bad weather is coming." She paused. "You knew how to beat Riva."

  That had been luck.

  "Miari says Riva deserved that you beat her. She never practices with the stick. Um. Staff. I'm supposed to call it a staff. Miari says I must practice with the staff beginning when I turn fourteen."

  Olive joined us, sitting near my feet.

  "Are you all right, Maya?" Olive asked.

  I nodded at her.

  "Does it hurt?"

  I nodded again.

  "Narana said if I misbehave, she'll tie me the way Nori tied you." She eyed me carefully. "I don't think I'd like that."

  I shook my head. I was pretty sure she wouldn't.

  The girls sat with me, watching the actors and storytellers and singers. Then the party began to break up. One of the women stood up and called for Morana. "Time for bed," she said, and now I knew which one was Miari. Morana hurried to her feet, running straight to Miari. I watched as the woman put a friendly arm around the young girl and led her towards a tent. Moments later, Olive sprang to her feet when she was summoned.