"We'll join the warriors," Vorine said, "if you truly don't need us."
"Maybe after one or two bouts?" Omie asked with hope, her sister grinning at her.
"I'll wrestle Omie," said Bea, "if she promises not to be too mean."
"All right. Wrestling is a form of unarmed combat," Malora explained. "But there is no hitting, kicking, or striking of any sort. Also, no biting." That earned a few chuckles. "It is poor form to use a companion's hair against her. The winner is determined in one of several ways. She may pin her opponent. Vorine, please allow your sister to pin you. This is only a demonstration."
The two stepped forward, faced each other, then bowed. Omie stepped forward, then in a move too fast for me to see, she grabbed her sister, did something, and suddenly Vorine was lying on her back on the ground, her sister lying crosswise atop her.
"Vorine's shoulders are both pressed to the ground at the same time for an uninterrupted heartbeat," Malora explained. "My heartbeat, not that of my startled companion."
Everyone chuckled at me. I shrugged good-naturedly. Malora knelt down and slapped her hand against the ground, then lifted Omie's hand in the air.
"A match is won due to a pin. Or a combatant may tap out. Vorine, please gently demonstrate. Omie, tap out."
Vorine and Omie stood up, danced around each other for a moment, then Vorine took her sister to the ground with a grunt from each. The next I saw, Vorine had hold of Omie's wrist, stretched away from Omie's side, with one of Vorine's feet locked into Omie's armpit for leverage. Omie struggled for a moment, then she began tapping the ground with her free hand.
"The third way a match ends is if I declare a winner," Malora explained. "I may do so for any reason I choose. The most obvious is someone is either incapacitated or clearly outmatched. I will also pause any match if I believe someone has been hurt." She paused. "For our newest companions, we will start down. Omie and Vorine, please demonstrate."
Omie settled down on her hands and knees, and Vorine came up behind her, wrapping one arm around her sister's back and under her belly, the other on Omie's wrist.
"Fight," commanded Malora, and suddenly they were both in motion. Malora let it go for a few seconds, then called, "Hold!" and both girls froze then slowly separated.
"Questions?" the queen asked.
I raised my hand. "It seems there is an advantage to one of the combatants in the down position."
"It may seem that way," she replied. "With the new companions, I do not want anyone climbing to her feet. Hands and knees only. I do not want broken wrists from takedowns. Other questions?"
"Omie and Vorine, thank you." They took their seats, and then Malora asked, "Who would like to go first?"
Vorine's hand flew into the air. "And who are you wrestling?" Malora asked her.
Vorine climbed to her feet, grinned, and then bowed to Malora. "Queen Malora, would you wrestle with me?"
Malora laughed and said, "I would love to." She gestured Vorine forward. "For demonstration purposes, let us have a brief period of combat at half speed. Omie, will you begin the fight, then separate us when we have demonstrated, and we will have a real bout."
Omie stood back up, waited for them to both nod, and said, "Fight!"
Malora waited for Vorine. The two circled for a moment, then Vorine made a move. She clasped Malora's wrist, turned, and sent Malora flying over her hip. Malora hit the ground, but she had hold of Vorine and continued the roll, ending with Vorine underneath her on her stomach. For the next thirty seconds Vorine tried to escape from Malora while in the meantime, Malora tried to flip her onto her back. Then Omie called a halt. She spoke briefly to them again, then Malora let Vorine climb to her feet. The two of them squared off again, they bowed.
Malora said, "This is now full speed for the match. It is not a training match, Vorine."
"I know."
"Ready... Fight!"
Again, Malora waited for Vorine. Finally the girl closed the distance and tried to grab Malora. I didn't see what happened, but Malora fell to the ground, with Vorine on top of her. But then there was a brief movement, and I watched as Malora lay on her side, Vorine between her legs, tipped halfway upside down, her neck and shoulders pressed into the dirt. There was a pause, then Omie spanked the ground. Malora let Vorine free, then Omie lifted Malora's hand in the air.
The two women hugged, and I heard Vorine thank Malora for the fight.
I couldn't believe how quickly it all happened.
"Omie, would you care to wrestle with Bea, subject to her request?"
Omie laughed. "Of course. Start down?"
"Yes," said Malora. So Omie settled onto her hands and knees, and Bea settled over her. Malora began the fight, and Bea immediately began scrambling, tumbling Omie onto her face then attempting to roll her onto her back.
From beside me, Vorine whispered, "Omie is fighting at half speed to give Bea a chance."
The two women struggled on the ground for a short while, then, almost slowly, Omie somehow turned the tables, rolling Bea onto her back. She settled her weight over Bea's chest, but Bea managed to keep one side of her back off the ground.
"Omie is not very good at pinning people this way," Vorine whispered.
"She's small."
"Yes. She depends upon trickery and technique. She'll try this for a while, but only to give Bea a chance to resist, then she'll do something smarter."
I watched, my heart pounding, as Omie remained on top of the struggling Bea. Bea squirmed and fought, and I heard grunting and panting from her, but she couldn't extricate herself from Omie. On the other hand, Omie couldn't pin her, either.
"Here it comes," Vorine whispered.
Omie did... something. I didn't see what, but then Malora slapped the ground. "Well done, both of you," she said.
"Me and Neela?" asked Aura. The two of them moved into the ring.
"If you want to join the warriors," Malora said to the sisters, "go ahead." Omie pulled her sister to her feet after whispering to me, "next time", and the two of them ran to join the older women.
Malora got Neela and Aura settled, and then they wrestled. Neither of them knew any technique, so there was a lot of rolling around, but eventually Neela found herself with Aura straddling her chest, kneeling with her knees pinning Neel's shoulders to the ground. Match over.
"Next up, Maya and Bea." I rose to my feet with trepidation, my heart already beginning to pound. Bea was younger than me, but she had been a companion for a while, and I didn't think this fight would last any longer than the last one did.
Malora turned to Bea. "Will you allow Maya to choose the initial position?"
"Sure," she said with a smile.
"You start down," I said.
"All right."
"Bow first," Malora said. So we bowed to each other, then Bea lowered herself to the ground. Malora helped me get settled properly over her. I realized it was rather intimate with my arm wrapped around her, my chest against her back.
"Ready... Fight."
I tried to pull Bea's supporting arm out from under, thinking I could push her the rest of the way to the ground. But instead, she reached up underneath her body, grabbed the wrist pressed against her belly, and then she began to roll away from me, taking me right over her back. I landed on the ground on the other side of her, flat on my back with her on top of me.
I couldn't have been more surprised.
Bea immediately tried to pin me. She flattened herself on top of my chest, trying to use her weight to press me to the ground. It worked for an instant, but as soon as I felt both shoulder blades against the ground, I began to struggle in earnest. I managed to roll away, lifting one shoulder from the ground, and Malora didn't spank the ground.
I could hear Neela and Aura both shouting out recommendations, Neela cheering for me, and Aura for Bea. Nothing either said made any sense to me, but it heartened me.
I struggled underneath Bea. She kept moving around on top of me, trying to use her weight to pre
ss my shoulders into the ground, and several times she succeeded, but none long enough for Malora to slap the ground. For my part, I struggled, attempting to squirm away from her.
That went on for a while, and I could hear Bea panting above me. My heart was pounding, and I was breathing hard as well. I knew if I didn't do anything different, I would tire, and Bea would eventually pin me. I wasn't willing to give up that easily. I took a deep breath and then thrust at her.
She flew off me. I couldn't have been more surprised.
I rolled onto my stomach and, panting, rose to my feet.
"Hold!" Malora said immediately.
Bea was facing me on her knees, and she was panting, although not as hard as I was. I knelt over, resting my hands on my knees, and sucked in air.
"Maya down," Malora said.
I blinked at her. I didn't understand.
"No take downs for the new companions," she said. "You are too likely to get hurt. Hands and knees, Maya."
"Is that a penalty?" I gasped out, "For standing?"
"No. Bea was down first. Your turn."
I nodded and lowered myself back to the ground. Bea moved around me and settled above me, panting into my ear, her right arm wrapped around me, her left hand clasping my left wrist.
"Ready, fight!" Malora said, not giving us any more opportunity to catch our breath.
I tried to emulate Bea's move on me, but she was expecting it. As soon as my hand left the ground to grab her wrist, she yanked on my waist, pulling me off balance. Two more yanks, and she had me tipped over onto my side. I immediately spread my legs and flopped onto my stomach. If I wasn't on my back, she couldn't pin me. Bea scrambled on top of me. She snaked an arm underneath mine then around behind my neck. Then she began using my own arm as a lever to flip me onto my back.
I tried to scramble away from her, but with a grunt, she flipped me over, throwing her weight on top of my chest again.
I was right back where I'd been only a few seconds ago, Bea scrambling around on top of me trying to use her weight to pin my shoulders, me trying to scramble away from her. I rolled left. I rolled right. I kept her from pinning me, and twice I almost got away from her, but she yanked hard and slammed me onto my back.
Bea changed her tactics. She was stretched across my chest with one hand clasping my left bicep, her chest pressed against mine. She released my arm and reached behind my neck in a hug. She reached with her right hand, stretching, and slid it under my right knee. She hooked the knee and pulled. I tried to fight her, but she managed to clasp her hands and began to squeeze. Then she used her legs and, with all my leverage gone, she rolled me onto my shoulders.
Two seconds later, Malora slapped the ground. Bea slowly released me, and I lay there, panting. She backed away, then reached out a hand for me.
"Good match," she said.
I couldn't even respond. She climbed to her feet, still holding a hand out to me. I stared blankly at it.
"Take her hand," Malora whispered to me. I reached out. Bea clasped my wrist and pulled me to my feet.
"Thank her," Malora whispered.
"Thank you, Bea," I panted. I couldn't look at her. I may have put up a struggle, but it was a decidedly one-sided match.
"Good match," Malora said.
I turned to her. What was she talking about?
* * * *
I was still wearing the clothes Malora gave me the night of the companion ceremony, alternating with the clothing I had been wearing the day Nori took me from Gallen's Cove, clothing ill suited for the Amazon lifestyle. I spent a great deal of time doing laundry.
Other than training, my duties themselves were not at all difficult. I applied myself and was able to mend Malora's clothing, my stitches carefully applied to be neat and strong. When Malora tore one of her leggings badly enough it could not be repaired with stitching and required a replacement section, she taught me how to properly cut and size the replacement and stitch it into place. I thought to use the same technique to duplicate my own clothing, but Malora's store of material was limited.
"You will need to learn to hunt," she told me. "For that, you need your own arrows." She had given me a bow, but an Amazon makes her own arrows. And so I learned that skill.
And I had new incentive to learn to shoot the bow, as I then proceeded to lose or break the arrows I had so painstakingly crafted.
I went to bed sore and aching every night, but every night, Malora came to me with her creams, and she soothed my body and thanked me for being her companion. If I wasn't too tired, we may lay awake together afterwards, holding each other and talking quietly. Sometimes I had questions about the Amazon life or about the people I was getting to know. Sometimes she told me how she spent the time when we weren't together. Sometimes we talked about the weather.
She was brutal with me during training, but away from the training ground, she treated me with care and tenderness. She seemed interested in my opinion and consistently expressed appreciation for the things I did for her.
And she touched me, she touched me a great deal. If we were standing apart, perhaps while she was dealing with assigning a patrol or a minor discipline issue, or even just talking to one of the other warriors about the hunt, I could see the tension in the set of her shoulders or her furrowed brow. So I would approach, perhaps excusing myself from my own conversation with another women or one of the young companions. And as intent as she was in her conversation, and as quietly as I might approach, she always knew as I drew near. She would reach for me, every time, and as I came close against her, perhaps brushing fingers against her arm, I could see her physically relax. I could see the tension ease from her body, and a smile creep onto her mouth.
She didn't pressure me for more, although I thought perhaps she would welcome a loving touch. But she touched me and she held me, and even when she was easing the aches of my tired body and bruised muscles, I could hear her sigh in her own relief.
I was needed.
I vowed to make her proud.
Solving Puzzles
I failed in my vow. For the first time in my life, I failed in something I set my mind to. But the telling of that would come out of order, for it took months for me to fail. I must first explain more of what life was like for the Amazon warriors, and more about the type of women they were.
The Amazons were, after all, warriors, and they were warriors for a reason. I know I had my doubts when I was first taken, but everything they did was consistent with what they had said all along. They were at war, and Queen's Town was near the front of that war.
There were a dozen warriors living in Queen's Town, four without companions, and Malora told me all the Amazon villages should have twelve warriors, or as close to twelve as could be maintained, along with their companions and, from time to time, a retired warrior. "But we have had attrition, and several villages are down to eight or nine warriors. And ideally, each warrior has a companion, but as you can see, we have not been able to maintain that, either." She paused. "We will continue to recruit until we are at full strength again."
I pursed my lips. "When?"
"Every spring," she said.
"So I have almost a year to come up with a better plan."
She smiled. "Yes."
"Will you listen when I present it?"
"Yes, but I do not promise to try it, or to not utilize other methods at the same time."
Of those twelve warriors, four were always on patrol, passing through the Dark Forest and watching for demons coming from the mountains beyond. The villages maintained overlapping patrols, so every piece of land was covered by the warriors from two villages.
Malora's duties were varied. She was not directly responsible for the organization of the Amazons. Instead, Nori and some of the other women held the direct responsibility, and Malora oversaw them all and resolved disputes. On the training grounds, it was Nori that led the training, and Malora who either worked with me or acted as an assistant. Ralla coordinated the patrols with the other
villages, but it was Balorie who organized the patrols for our village, coordinating with Ralla.
Amongst the companions, while I was considered senior due to my association with Malora, I was, of course, one of the three junior companions, in spite of being older than most of them. Prior to my arrival, the companions shared the management of the training grounds, but they were happy to allow me to coordinate. I learned from them what they had been doing, which wasn't much, and implemented minor changes. I handled some of the duties directly, such as keeping the equipment shed organized, and shared the duties with the other companions.
Ping's companion, Serra, was one of only two companions older than I was, and she was the head cook for the village. All of the other companions reported to her, including me.
There was a duty roster with a copy maintained in Malora's hut, posted near the door, and the public copy posted on a sheltered bulletin board just outside the kitchen. There was a hierarchy of importance. For instance, Balorie posted the rotation for patrols, listing warriors and their companions. After that, Serra posted kitchen duties. Other duties were then posted from amongst those not otherwise assigned. We were each expected to handle our other duties around the posted duties.
Training was a constant, and if you were at Queen's Town, you attended training.
I learned much of this during my first few days as Malora's companion; the rest I began to learn over time.
Patrols were the most important part of Amazon life. Patrols consisted of four warriors, usually accompanied by at least one of their companions, two being more common, and sometimes all four companions would go on patrol. From watching the duty roster, I couldn't detect any pattern. Serra and the newest recruits were the only companions that hadn't been on patrol by the time I'd been in Queen's Town for two weeks.
Each patrol lasted three days, and it wasn't until some time later that I was to learn the details of how they were conducted. Patrols were overlapping, so one patrol would head out to relieve the previous patrol; that team would return several hours after the first had set out, so the meeting distances couldn't be too far away.
Amazon Companion Page 13