"Share my plans and stick to them?"
"Yes. If you depart from them dramatically, even innocently, it may not be interpreted innocently."
"I understand."
"Can you make a fire?"
"Yes."
"In the rain?"
I thought about it. "Yes."
"If I asked you to make a fire right now, could you?"
"I didn't bring anything-"
"I better never hear that answer again."
"Nori, you didn't exactly give me the option to pack when you took me from my home. I don't have a fire starter kit. Or a spare pair of socks."
"What are you going to do about it?"
I thought about it. "Tomorrow I will ask to borrow from my warrior. I do not have a permanent solution. I will find one. Are you angry with me?"
"No. I am impressing upon you the importance of being prepared."
I looked over my shoulder and grinned at her. "I came quite prepared."
"Oh?"
"I'm with you."
She laughed, and I turned back to the path.
We arrived back at Queen's Town. Nori watched as I settled both horses, thanking each of them quietly for her service to us. "Let us skin my rabbit," she said.
"One rabbit seems like a poor return for an afternoon's outing," I suggested.
"Which is why we're setting more snares," she replied. She led the way to the kitchen. Serra was already working on dinner, but she saw what we carried.
"Oh, fresh rabbit. We'll add that to the stew. Hurry up and get it skinned." She gestured to the chopping block used for skinning and dismembering the smaller creatures that made their way to our kitchen. I set the rabbit in place.
"Start here," Nori said with a gesture.
I worked slowly, doing what she said, and soon I had divested the rabbit of his skin.
"Quarter that," Serra directed. So I cut the rabbit into sections and delivered them to her. "Thank you."
After that, Nori showed me the remaining preparations for the skin. "Now it must dry," she said. "We will hang it in my hut." I followed her to her hut and hung the skin as she indicated.
"Good," she said. "Same plan tomorrow."
"Thank you, Nori." I replied. "How did you know?"
"I asked your warrior why you had started serving me again."
"And she told you I wanted you to teach me to snare rabbits?"
"Yes. I thought perhaps you were hoping I would go easy on you during training."
"I do not believe I have enough to offer you that you would ever go easy on me during training."
She laughed. "You are right."
"My warrior was wrong."
Nori lifted an eyebrow.
"I had no expectation you would offer to teach me to snare rabbits simply for serving you a few meals."
"Perhaps you will continue to serve them to me."
"Perhaps I will," I agreed.
"If you didn't expect me to teach you, then what did you expect?"
"I expected to wait another week then ask what I could trade for lessons."
She laughed. "Why not ask immediately?"
"Because I would still consider it a favor, and I cannot ask favors from someone who isn't a friend."
"And so serving me is an offer of friendship?"
"I have not entirely forgiven you for the way we met. I know you treated me the way you did not because you took my threats seriously, but because it would make me more complacent and ready to agree to anything when you presented me to Malora."
"I did not dismiss your threats, Maya."
"Am I wrong?"
"No. And so you offer friendship anyway?"
"Dwelling on what is past is not helpful."
"And perhaps when you run, I will be more inclined to be poor at finding you again?"
"I have no such illusions. But perhaps I will not run. And perhaps having friends will make it easier to decide to stay."
"Then I welcome your offer of friendship, Maya. Malora told me she presented you with two puzzles, related but separate. You appear to have solved the first. You have not solved the second. Or did you think you had?"
"No, I did not. I thought this was the easier puzzle. It has been solved far more rapidly than I expected."
"Perhaps you should ask your warrior why that might be."
"You offer a third puzzle?"
"I do. And I will say this. There is no obligation."
"You want something from me, but you are not asking clearly." I cocked my head. "You offer an intriguing puzzle. I thank you for the gift."
She smiled. "I thank you for your company today."
"Company you did not need if you hadn't gone out yesterday afternoon to set the snares we checked today."
She laughed. "You figured that out, but perhaps you are mistaken in the first half of your statement."
I replayed what I had said. "You offer a fourth puzzle?"
"Consider it a portion of the third."
"I daresay you have offered enough clues I do not need to ask my warrior. I only need to think."
"Then I offer one more clue: you must still ask your warrior, or at least you must do so before you should act on this puzzle. If you choose to act, of course. As I said, there is no obligation."
I nodded, intrigued.
"Thank you, Nori," I said.
"You are welcome, Maya. Go on now. Let your warrior know I have returned you, and I look forward to dinner."
I nodded and went in search of Malora. She was in conference with Ralla, but she asked me to stay, indicating I should draw a chair next to hers. As soon as I was seated, she began touching me while continuing to talk to Ralla.
I paid little attention to the conversation. Instead, I paid attention to Ralla, or more exactly, to Ralla's clothing. Ralla did not have a companion, and her clothing was ill tended. She was hard on her clothing, and I could not tell if it had been mended poorly because she had been in a hurry, because she did not have the materials to do a better job, or because she had poor skill with needle and thread.
Malora and Ralla completed their conversation, and I had my plan. They stood up, and I stood with them.
"Ralla," I said, when it was clear they were done.
"Yes, Maya?"
"You do so much for the Amazons," I said.
"Thank you for noticing."
"You have no companion."
"This is true. My most recent companion is now a warrior, living in another village, and I have not yet found another companion."
"I hope I am not rude, but may I ask: how long have you been without a companion?"
"Three years. And it is not rude to ask, when not asked rudely. Is this idle conversation? I have duties."
"Actually, no, it is not idle conversation. There are duties a companion has for her warrior, simple duties, but some of them take time, and you are very busy. Is someone handling these duties for you, or are you forced to do them yourself?"
"Myself."
"I am still a new companion, and my time is quite full, but I can find perhaps time to offer assistance to someone who does so much for the Amazons, and by distant extension, my old home of Gallen's Cove."
"Oh?"
"I have some skill with needle and thread," I explained.
"Ah. And I have little."
"I have no materials for repairs."
"I have materials, and I can acquire more."
"I am not yet accomplished at sewing new clothes, but I can repair old clothes if the damage is not too extensive, and perhaps even if it is extensive, but I may not be efficient at it. If you were to leave me with a piece or two, and the materials required, I would be pleased to repair them for you." I turned to Malora. "If I am not breaking protocol."
"You are not," my warrior replied. "That is a generous offer."
I turned back to Ralla and waited. She studied me for a moment then smiled. "Most of my clothing has been repaired, poorly, by me. I would be happy to leave you a piece
or two. I have a tunic I will leave with you that requires only the old repairs restitched."
"Thread and needles arrive as tithe," Malora said. "They are not to be squandered, but they are free for use to anyone who needs them. You will find them in the store room."
I already knew this, but I thought Malora repeated it so that Ralla would also know that I knew.
"Well then, I shall have a piece for you before the stories tonight," Ralla replied. "But then I am gone for a week or two."
"If you have more than one piece to repair, perhaps you can leave them with me, if you can spare them."
She smiled. "I have more than you can do in a week even without your other duties."
"Leave them with me and indicate which you would like completed first," I replied. "I will complete them as my schedule allows."
"Very generous," she said. "Thank you, Maya. It would please me to look less like a resewn doll."
Ralla took her leave, and Malora began laughing. "It didn't take you long to solve the puzzles I gave you."
"The second is not solved yet," I said. "Is she going to ask you what I want as Nori did?"
She laughed again. "You figured that out?"
"I asked how she knew."
"Ralla won't need to ask me. She already figured it out."
"I have not offered a trade. I offered a service. And I will continue to offer services. I have no expectations my puzzle is solved. But I believe I am on a path to solving it, over time."
"Ralla does not like to be in debt, and she will strive to ease the debt. There are others who will not even notice."
"Then eventually I will figure that out, and perhaps I will be less quick to assist them."
"A deer skin is worth a lot of mending."
"I know, and I need many deer skins. And the people whose mending I do need skins for themselves. As I said, I have not solved my entire puzzle."
She hugged me, then held me closely.
"Are you all right?" I asked her.
"Yes, but thank you for being here. I missed you while you were gone."
"I have needs."
"I imagine you do."
"Nori was not pleased I left the village with her while unprepared for the unexpected."
"Was she more specific than that."
"The discussion arose as to whether I could light a fire if needed. She was not happy when I told her I could not."
"You do not know how to light a fire?"
"I do not know how to light a fire with my bare hands."
"Oh. There are ways."
"There are easier ways I already know, but they require flint."
"And perhaps waxed starters."
"Perhaps. I told her I would ask my warrior for the loan of a kit."
"You should have your own," she said. "There is flint in the store room, a small supply." She paused. "The food in the store room is under Serra's management, but no one managing the other supplies."
"Is that one of my duties?"
"It hasn't been in the past."
"I will not offend anyone if I assume responsibility?"
"No, as long as people can find what they need, and you do not impede them from doing so."
"Am I suddenly offering to take weekly inventory?"
"Perhaps informally, with a formal inventory far less often."
"I saw paper in there, but not that much. I am accustomed to ready access to paper. The elders provided all I requested."
"As teacher?"
"Yes. The only admonition was to avoid waste."
"Make a list of our needs as you see them, and we will discuss it next week."
"Yes, Malora." I paused. "I have another issue to discuss with you."
"Can we discuss it over dinner?"
"It should be in private, I believe."
"Tell me what it is about, then."
"I believe Nori is asking whether I will serve as her companion."
Malora raised an eyebrow. "How do you come to this conclusion?"
I relayed the high points of my conversation with Nori, stressing that she told me to ask Malora why the first puzzle was solved far sooner than I had expected it and that she felt she was well-paid simply with my company.
"Ah. I understand now. I will tell you a little, and we may discuss more tonight if you like, or in the future if you decide to wait." I nodded, and she went on. "She is asking if she may turn to you for comfort."
"Is that a euphemism for something else?"
"Absolutely not. I'll come back to that. She is asking if you will comfort her soul much the same as you do mine."
"I think I understand. I do not believe I should allow this."
"Why not?"
"I am your companion."
"I am your warrior, and only your warrior."
"You did not allow me to make the same promise."
"No, I did not."
"If she touches me the way you do, won't you be hurt?"
"If she touches you all the ways I do, yes. But if she touches you the way I do in front of others, no. I would be pleased my warriors have the gift of your comfort."
"I think I understand."
"The rules are subtle. You share my bed and only my bed."
"That is not subtle," I said with a grin.
"No, but the lines can be subtle and easily violated."
"She is not allowed to touch me like a lover. And while you and I are not lovers, you touch me like one."
"That is it exactly. And she is not to take your time from me. Nori would not seek to abuse that, but it is your job to manage, not hers." She paused. "The comfort you offer is addicting."
"She will ask for more than I should give?"
"Probably. And I will not be angry with her, but I will be hurt if it detracts from my time with you."
"I should tell her 'no'."
Malora frowned. "Perhaps, but not for that reason. The reason to say 'no' is if you do not wish to help her, maybe because you haven't forgiven her, or perhaps because she makes you uncomfortable."
"Why does she ask me instead of another?"
"Because she respects you."
"That's ridiculous. I am a poor Amazon."
"You are an excellent companion and an amazing person, Maya. You stood up to her. No one else did, in any of the other villages she visited, and you did so with a great deal of passion. She was hoping I wouldn't want you."
"She made sure I'd be deeply indebted to you for untying me."
"Is that what you believe? She delivered you in a fashion that I could easily reject you without anyone taking offense."
She'd given me more to think about. "We should go to dinner."
"We should. Have you decided?"
"What do you want me to do?"
"Decide for yourself."
"Do you want me to say 'no'?"
"No, I do not. Nori is my friend. But she has other choices if you are uncomfortable." She took my hand and pulled me to dinner, caressing me the entire way.
We had almost reached the picnic tables where we ate during good weather when I stopped her. "Neither Karena nor Ralla have companions."
"You are correct."
"Do they have the same needs as you and Nori?"
"They do, although not all of them as strongly."
"Are they getting those needs satisfied by the other companions?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because the other companions don't have enough compassion to give more than they already are."
"Were you going to tell me?"
"If you didn't ask." She smiled.
"Same rules as for Nori?"
"Yes." She caressed my cheek. "Please don't run away, Maya. You are needed here, and maybe you are beginning to understand how urgently."
I grabbed her hand and kissed it, then finished pulling her to dinner.
Over dinner, I served her and Nori, and when I served Nori, I laid my spare hand on her shoulders, my fingers resting at the open skin of th
e back of her neck. She tensed and then froze in place. But then I felt her shuddering under my hand.
I leaned over her, pressing my cheek against hers, my front pressed into her back. "Thank you for the lesson today," I told her.
She turned partly to face me, and I thought I saw pain in her eyes.
"Nori? Did I misunderstand your question?"
"No," she said, and I could barely hear. "Is this your answer?"
"It is."
"Thank you."
But the pain didn't leave her eyes, and I couldn't soothe it all away at once. I stood up, brushing against her, then kept contact while I sat between her and Malora, pushing the two of them apart. I put a hand on Malora's leg while keeping my arm pressed against Nori's.
"She needs you more right now," Malora whispered into my ear. "I'll take what I need, and I'll have more of you tonight."
And so I ate with one hand, the hand closest to Malora, while I used my other hand to continually touch Nori. Every time I brushed against her bare skin, she shuddered slightly. Towards the end of the meal, I leaned towards her and whispered, "You need more than this."
She turned to me and nodded.
"Take what you need."
"Are you sure?"
I nodded.
She clasped my arm in both her hands, then began running one hand up and down my arm. She was trembling, and I never thought I'd see that.
I didn't really understand how this helped her, but it seemed to be what she wanted.
On my other side, now that I was done eating, Malora had claimed my hand in hers, holding it together on top of the table. I glanced around the table, and no one was paying particular attention to us. Indeed, many of the warriors were cuddled closely with their companions, but that had seemed normal. But no one found it amiss I sat between Malora and Nori like this.
I leaned to Malora. "No one cares?"
"They know what you're doing. Do you?"
"Working on it. I don't think she's getting what she needs."
"Tonight will be bad for her, once you leave her. Tomorrow she will ask to take one horse."
"Do I agree?"
"Yes."
I thought about everything for a while, then when I was due to clear the table, I lifted Malora's hand to my lips and kissed it slowly. I did not kiss Nori's. And that was the difference, I decided.
Both of them sighed when I separated from them, but I had more duties as companion. I cleared the table.
It wasn't every night, but many nights after dinner the village gathered around a fire, and this was to be one of those nights. I found Malora. She pulled me into her arms then whispered, "Find an excuse to spend time with Nori until the fire is lit, but then I want you with me."
Amazon Companion Page 15