Malora was generous answering my questions, and I had many. It was late one night while she was easing my latest pains that I asked, "Do you still patrol?"
"Yes, although not as often as the other warriors."
"You aren't listed on the duty roster."
"I have a new companion to train," she said.
"Lidi and Gaylie are listed."
"Not for another two weeks," she said. "We don't send a warrior away from her new companion for the first month."
"You aren't listed in two weeks."
"Are you anxious to be rid of me?"
I couldn't answer immediately. She was working the muscles of my lower back, and it felt too good. But finally I responded. "No, I am not anxious to be rid of you." I rolled over to look up at her.
"Hey, I wasn't done."
"Are you afraid if you aren't here to watch over me, I'll run away?"
She didn't answer immediately.
"Are there other reasons as well?"
"Yes," she said. "That's part of it. I told you, as queen, I don't patrol as often as the other warriors. Nori doesn't, either, although she patrols more than I do. She and I also visit the other villages. You will go the next time I go."
"There's more though, isn't there?"
"Your duties are more complicated than those of the other companions."
"They don't seem drastically more complicated."
"You're still settling in."
"I have duties you haven't taught me?"
"You will find the other companions will begin to come to you to sort out their difficulties."
"Nearly all of them know more than I do about being an Amazon."
"And yet they will come to you, anyway. As I am the leader of all Amazons, you will, over time, become the leader of the companions."
"I-" I paused. "I couldn't."
"Tell me. How long would it have taken you to free yourself from the puzzle I gave Varda and Bea?"
"Assuming I could get my co-prisoner's cooperation? No more than a few hours. Are there rules about the puzzles?"
"Only the ones I state when I apply them," she responded. "The only rule I listed was they could not receive help of any sort. I could have phrased it differently. I could have said they could receive no physical help."
"I could have offered suggestions."
"If I had phrased it that way, yes. And the way you responded when they came to me for their freedom means next time, they are likely to ask." She shifted on the bed, reasserting physical contact, before continuing. "You were a school teacher. You are accustomed to leading. You are well-suited for this role."
I thought about it, then narrowed my eyes, although she probably couldn't see. "Why else aren't you going on patrol?"
"Why are you sure there is more?"
"Are you evading my questions?"
"I want to oversee your training. For now."
"Nori cracks a whip as well as you do."
"Nori needs to be free to oversee everyone's training."
"I am a burden?"
"You are a welcome burden," she said, clasping my hand.
I turned away. I wasn't accustomed to being a burden. But Malora turned my face back towards her. "There is one other reason, Maya. It is the most important."
"What?" It was said petulantly, and I regretted it as soon as it was out. "I'm sorry."
She caressed me. "I needed you more than any of us realized. I am not ready to part from you, and you are not ready to join a patrol. At the very least, you must ride better than you do, but optimally a companion does not join a patrol unless she is ready to be a warrior, or at the very least can protect herself in an attack."
I clasped her hand, looking up at her dim shape in the dark.
"Do I help?" I asked softly.
"Yes."
The thought made me glad. I didn't realize it at the time, but that was probably the moment I began to fall in love with her.
"Roll over now," she said. "I wasn't done. I need this time with you at least as much as you do."
Obediently, gratefully, I rolled back onto my stomach, and I was asleep before she was done.
* * * *
A week later, I asked Malora what I needed to do to make more clothes for myself.
"You must obtain the leathers and furs," she said.
"You've seen me shoot a bow."
She didn't laugh, although I could tell she wanted to. "Yes."
"If I am dependent on my ability to shoot to remain clothed, I fear you will soon have a naked companion. I do not believe that would enhance your reputation."
"Our hunters feed the village," Malora said. This I already understood. "The meat belongs to all. Everything else belongs to the hunters who took down the animal."
"All right."
"Some warriors hunt for both themselves and their companions."
I smiled. "So I am not dependent on my bow. I am dependent on yours."
"You would be, but my duties do not allow me to spend the time to hunt for my own clothing, much less mine and yours both."
"Then how do you stay well-dressed?"
"I am queen. From time to time a hunter gives me her kill."
"And so I am dependent upon the gift from another hunter?"
"Yes, but not the same way I am. If you cannot hunt for yourself, then you must convince another hunter to hunt for you. You could ask me, but as I said, I do not have time."
"So I should ask another hunter to hunt for me?"
"I would rather my companion not ask for charity."
"Are you going to tell me what to do?"
She smiled. "I believe you admitted a fondness for puzzles. This is my first for you. You may not ask for charity."
"I am hopeless with a bow."
"You will improve, but perhaps not fast enough to keep yourself clothed."
"I could fashion a snare."
"We snare small animals, such as rabbits, but you must tend your snares. We do not torture the animals. We do not snare large animals, and it would take a great many rabbits to cloth you properly. I would rather you not look like you are clothed in patchwork."
"Will you teach me to snare rabbits?"
"I do not have time," she said. "And frankly, you don't, either. You could manage snares around the village, but you would rapidly deplete the local rabbit population."
"You have not forbid me from learning to set snares."
"No. But I require they be properly constructed and maintained, and teaching you to set them will take someone time. You know your schedule by now, and you know my needs for your time."
I thought about it. "You said I needed to learn to ride better."
"Yes."
"You said you need me."
"Yes."
"And we agree I need to learn to hunt."
"Or acquire your clothing in other ways."
"Could we not ride a circle each day?"
"And check your snares while we are at it?"
I smiled. "Yes."
"Learn to construct a snare and catch a few rabbits near the village, and then we will see."
I paused. "My mother used to say 'we will see' which nearly always meant 'no'."
She laughed. "It means 'yes, if I approve of your ability to set a snare and later skin the rabbit'. But you still have two puzzles to solve. Do you know what they are?"
"Find someone to teach me to set a snare, and find a hunter to give me larger skins. And neither can be done from charity."
"Exactly. Do not embarrass me."
"I won't." And I didn't.
The next day, I began to serve Nori meals again. The first time, she raised an eyebrow, but she accepted graciously, and I didn't explain. Malora saw what I did and laughed, but didn't otherwise comment.
It was a week later over lunch that Nori broached the topic. "After training this afternoon, I was going to check a few rabbit snares. Malora, may I borrow your companion?"
"You may invite her. I do not know if she h
as other duties scheduled."
"I can move them," I said immediately. "Will we be back by dinner?"
"Barely," Nori said. "We may need to go out again tomorrow and the next day, if your schedule is free."
"I will make it free," I replied.
I had domestic duties I had planned for the afternoon, but there were none that were pressing. I was on dinner duty the following three days, but I was sure I could trade. I cleared dishes for Malora, Nori and myself then went in search of someone to trade duties with. I checked the duty roster first then approached Varda.
"Varda," I said. "You have breakfast and lunch kitchen duty tomorrow."
"Yes."
"Will you trade both of those for dinner tomorrow?"
"Sure. Why?"
"I need to help Nori check her rabbit snares." She smiled. I'm sure she understood. Everyone had seen me serving Nori again, and I'm sure a few people had guessed why.
After that, I found Vorine and traded two nights of dinner duty she was assigned for the one night I'd had assigned. I had tried for one-for-one, but she was a tough negotiator. I was willing to offer two-for-one when they were breakfast and lunch, as those meals are typically less complicated, but I wasn't upset with Vorine's negotiating. I made the changes to the posted duty rosters, arriving at the training grounds seconds before I would have earned a punishment for being late.
"Close one," Neela whispered to me as we began to stretch. "Or wouldn't Malora punish you for being late?"
"Oh, I don't believe I am immune," I said. "But I wasn't late. Unless Nori waited for me."
"If she did, it wasn't obvious."
Training started when Nori started it, after all, and the definition of "late" was to miss the first stretching exercise.
We worked with swords that day, and I was hot and sweaty when we were done. As I lay panting in the grass after the final run, Nori knelt down and told me, "Clean up and meet me at the stables as quickly as you can."
"Yes, Nori," I replied. I turned to Malora, expecting her to bathe with me, but she told me to go ahead; she could see to her own needs.
"But-"
"Go on," she said with a smile. "Don't leave Nori waiting."
I ran.
Ten minutes later, I entered the stables. Nori was waiting for me.
"Did you free your schedule?"
"Yes. That's why I was almost late for training. Nori, did you deliberately wait for me?"
"I let a conversation go another minute or two than I would have if you had been on time. I may not do it again."
"Thank you."
"As you are free for the next few afternoons, today we will check my existing snares and set one more. We'll set another one tomorrow and two more the day after."
I smiled.
"Saddle both our horses." She sat and waited for me.
The horses weren't kept in stalls; instead, we had a large paddock for them, half open field, half in the trees. I had to find both horses, and neither of them was accustomed to me. Nori's, of course, wouldn't remember me from our trip here, and I hadn't ridden mine that many times.
I found mine first, leading her to the stables. I tied her off to the hitching post then went in search of Nori's. The search took a few minutes, and Nori looked impatient when I returned with her horse.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I caught the wrong horse first."
"What?" She said. "Oh. I was thinking of something else. You're doing fine, Maya."
I saddled first her horse, then my own. When I was done, I checked them both again, the way Malora had taught me, tightening the cinches one final tug. Nori checked them herself as well, then she pointed to a small backpack. "Bring that as well." I collected the pack and climbed on top of my horse, a gentle filly named Fleetfoot. It was a misnomer, which is probably why Malora had given her to me. She was steady and willing, and that was the type of horse I could ride.
"My snares are to the north," she said. "Can you find Backbend Gulch?"
"Half an hour..." I looked. "That way?"
"Yes," she said. "Good. All my snares are near Backbend Gulch, and we will set one more today."
She had me lead, and once I took the wrong path. It took me several minutes to realize it. I turned my head to look at her. She returned my gaze, offering an innocent expression. "How far would you have let us go this way before you turned us around?"
She smiled. "Another few minutes."
"I'm sorry."
"You figured it out."
I turned us around, eventually leading us to the gulch.
"Can you find this place again without getting lost?"
"Yes," I said.
"The path will look different in different light."
"Maybe that was what confused me," I said. "I came in the morning the last time, and it was cloudy."
She nodded. "I do not believe your warrior will want you venturing this far from the village alone."
"Afraid I'll take off?"
"Afraid you'll get lost. All right. We leave the horses here. They'll enjoy the grazing." We were in a small field at the exit of the gulch, the river forming the gulch here muddled but moving slow and wide. "I have three snares on this side of the river, and we will set the new ones on the other side."
"There is a safe place to cross?"
"A half mile that way," she pointed downstream. "It is wide and shallow. The horses can take us easily, and we won't even get our feet wet. And they do not seem to mind wet feet, at least not in the summer. In the winter, it is a different story."
I nodded understanding.
Nori showed me how to find her snares. The first one was empty, but she showed me how to check for it and taught me how it worked. She let me reset it when she was done.
"Good," she said after making minor adjustments. "We'll check it again tomorrow."
Her next snare held a rabbit. We could hear it even before we saw it.
"Do you know how to dispatch it?" she asked.
I shook my head.
So she showed me, explaining what she was doing. She clasped the squirming creature by the neck, removing the snare, and then stepped twenty steps away. Soon the rabbit hung limply from her hand. "Reset the snare," she said. I did, then looked closely and made my own adjustments to hide it better.
"Good. Do you know why I didn't kill it in place?"
"Because this is a rabbit run." I indicated the path the rabbits took. "But they will stop using it if they become scared of it."
"Yes. I move my snares if I go a week without success or every few kills. Do you know what to do with this?" She held up the rabbit.
"I have cleaned countless fish. Is it similar?"
"Is your knife sharp?"
It was. I didn't have a sword, but Malora had given me her second best knife, and maintaining all her weapons and my own was one of my duties. I nodded.
"Right now, we only gut the rabbit. They are easier to transport while still wearing their skins. We will skin them at home." She watched as I carefully cleaned the rabbit. "Good," she said when I was done.
"No more difficult than a fish," I said. "And less slimy."
She smiled.
Her third snare was empty. "If this one is still empty the next two days, we will move it," she said. "Let's go set a new one across the river."
We returned to the horses. I tried to give the rabbit to Nori, but she said, "Oh no. Carrying those is your responsibility. You're here to help me. Remember?"
"Yes, Nori," I said. And I strung the rabbit over the front of the saddle. Nori led the way to the crossing. Once across the river, we climbed back off the horses and she led the way to a "likely place to find more rabbit runs."
She talked as we searched, explaining what she was looking for. Finally she turned and smiled. "Do you see?"
I nodded. I even found a pair of rabbit tracks in the dirt.
"Supplies are in your backpack," she said. "But tomorrow we'll need to assemble more." I pulled off the backpack, and she showed me
the snare, ready to attach to a trigger branch of the tree. By now I had a basic understanding, and Nori watched as I set the snare, offering only two suggestions as I did so.
"Good," she said when I was done. "You'll be an expert by the time we're done. Now, do you think you can get us home without any wrong turns?"
"Yes."
"Lead the way."
I didn't take the wrong path, although it was close once. I stopped at a branch in the trail and wasn't sure which way. Nori stopped behind me and waited.
I looked over my shoulder at her. "Which way?"
She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "You said you could find the way home."
I climbed from my horse and stepped down one of the paths. I found a soft place, but I didn't find any sign of recent hoof prints. I did find deer tracks. "The deer have been here more recently than we have."
She smiled but didn't say anything.
I found hoof tracks on the other path. I climbed back on top of Fleetfoot and set down the trail. I looked over my shoulder.
"What would you have done if you had found hoof prints on both tracks, or on neither of them?"
"Asked you which way."
She smiled. "And if you were alone?"
"I would have marked the turn and proceeded down one of the paths somewhat further. I can always backtrack."
"If you become hopelessly lost, stop wherever you are when you realize it. Settle in and wait for us to find you."
"I'd be so embarrassed."
"And you should be, but that is better than many of the alternatives, and the further you wander, the further you will travel from your expected route, and the longer it will take us to search for you."
"I understand."
"The policy for people who are late is to wait half again as long as they were gone before sending searchers. So if you were to be gone for two hours but are not back after three, then we would begin to look for you. If night falls, then we assume you will make camp. If you are to be gone for more than a day, then we give you one extra day in good weather and up to three in foul weather." She paused. "If we do not find you readily, we may assume you have chosen to run. I strongly encourage you to be where you are expected to be."
Amazon Companion Page 14