Amazon Companion

by Roseau, Robin

  This time Ree laughed. "Yes."

  "All right." I moved closer, but still remained in deeper water. I watched her carefully. She stood there, not looking confident, but I wasn't sure it wasn't a ruse.

  I stopped about three lunge distances from her, still in deep water, and we watched each other carefully.

  "Come get me," I told her.

  "I can wait here all day," she replied. "You'll get tired before I will. And probably cold. You've been in the water a long time already."

  "You're not really afraid of me, are you?"

  "Not in the slightest," she said. "I'll wait right here."

  And she did. She made no effort to come after me.

  So I ducked under the water, and she waited. She didn't even bury her face in the water. I came back up, and she hadn't moved. I floated for a few seconds, took a deep breath, then let it out and sank. I moved under water to her quickly, then braced my feet on the bottom and grabbed her legs, pulling.

  She exploded into action. I had expected her to. I lifted, pulling her feet from the bottom, but she wrapped her arms around my neck, trying to hold me under, and then she added her own legs around my middle. I stood up in the water, lifting her halfway out of the water. I took a few breaths, shimmering under her, and she tried to push down, but she didn't have as much leverage as I did. I bent over, lowering her into the water, and then I got my arms up and began pushing against her chest with my elbows. I tipped and tipped, and she began to fight to keep her face out of the water. I couldn't quite submerge her without submerging myself, so I pressed both of us into the water, my face buried in her chest, her arms around my neck, my arms around her body, her legs around mine. I stood on the rocky river bottom, holding us both underwater.

  I counted. I could have stayed like this a long time, but I wasn't sure who Nori would claim was the winner if we reached fifty, so at thirty I raised us up enough for several gulps of air, listening to her, and I timed it so when we went back down again, she got a big gulp of water instead of air.

  She immediately released me and tried to pull away. I grabbed her legs, wrapped them around my waist, and pushed away from shore, towing her along behind me.

  "No!" she screamed.

  She tried doubling forward to reach me, but I lifted her feet in the air, tumbling her backwards into the water, holding onto her feet tightly. Then I turned her so I was standing on the bottom of the river and she was faced out into the pool.

  She had no leverage, and her struggles to free her legs were only causing her to dunk under the water.

  I lifted her legs, dunking her, then I wrapped them around my waist again, pulling her closer, and when she tried to scramble up me, I tipped her into the water.

  She tapped out shortly before Nori called it, but when I pulled her up, she took a clumsy swing at me.

  "Hold!" yelled Nori.

  I could see the panic in her eyes. Nori was about to yell at her, but I held my hand up.

  "Peace, Ree," I said quietly. I pulled her to where she could stand more easily, then held her steady, and slowly the panic left her face.

  "I'm sorry," she said.

  "Hug?"

  And she hugged me before slowly climbing out of the water.

  "I would like to warm up a few minutes," I said.

  "Then Vorine is next," Nori reported.

  I climbed up to the rocks, and Malora wrapped me in a sun-warmed towel and led me to a warm spot on the rocks. I sat down, and she sat next to me, her arm wrapped around me.

  "Is anyone angry?" I asked her.

  "Omie was amazingly frustrated."

  "Whatever she did to my ankle still hurts."

  "Honey, why are you okay with this but not wrestling normally?"

  "You may have your wrestling match tomorrow."

  "Really?"

  "It's only going to last three seconds anyway."

  She laughed. "I could decide to toy with you. You won't learn anything if I finish it right away. Would you be willing to wrestle with the other companions?"

  "I'm afraid of Omie and Vorine. I'm afraid of Vorine right now. I think she is going to do something crippling."

  "She is not a bad sport. She knows you have more matches after her, and she knows if she damages you too much, Nori will call off the rest of the matches. That won't make her popular."

  "Was she asking to go last?"

  Malora didn't respond to that. "Will you wrestle the other companions?"

  "I don't want to."

  "Will you?"

  "Will you stop whipping me if I promise to run hard?"

  "Is that the agreement you're asking for?"

  "Yes."

  "And you will also wrestle me and Nori."

  "All right. I trust both of you."

  "We will be working you hard."

  I leaned against her. "Take me somewhere?"

  "Now?"

  "Soon?"

  "All right. You'll have to disable your snares before we leave."

  I nodded. I glanced over at Vorine. She was watching me avidly. "Malora?"

  "Yes?"

  "What happens if Vorine cripples me?"

  "She wouldn't. She knows you can't tell the difference between a hold that hurts and one that you have to stop before something breaks. She wouldn't use one."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yes."

  "Because I'm not pulling river rocks from the bottom and beaning people over the head. I'm not pulling them to the bottom and tangling them in the seaweed. I didn't stash rope, and I'm not tying their legs to rocks and letting them sink. There are rules, right? There are rules?"

  "Yes, Maya. There are rules. And you seem to know them."

  "I could drown someone out there. There are a dozen ways. I can drown someone in less time than Nori can count to fifty."

  "Are you threatening, Maya?"

  "No. I am playing by rules. This is in fun, and I am playing by rules."

  "She won't break them, Maya."

  I nodded and asked her to pull me to my feet. She did. I turned to Vorine and stepped up to her.

  "I do not know the types of holds you know," I told her.

  "I know."

  "I am afraid of you," I told her.

  She offered a puzzled look. "Why?"

  "You want to win."

  "Of course I do." She paused. "Oh."

  "You were looking at me like you were wondering what to break."

  "No, nothing like that. I am trying to think what works when I have no leverage. That is all. I have never hurt anyone like that. I would be deeply ashamed if I did. Omie and I fight all out, and we fight all out with the warriors, but you're a brand new companion. We're not animals, Maya."

  "Your sister learned I could take the pain longer than she can take a lack of air."

  "There are holds that hurt more that won't cause damage, but I was trying to think of some that would make you sink."

  "I'll last below the water longer than you will."

  She smiled. "We should have a good match. Your match with Omie was good. I would not have expected it. All I want is a good match, Maya. Please don't be afraid of me. I couldn't stand it." She smiled. "If you win here, maybe you will let us teach you how to wrestle on the ground."

  Omie stepped up, looking hopeful. "I'd enjoy that," she said.

  "I'll never be good."

  "That's okay. It's fun." She looked at her sister. "We love to wrestle. We want good matches. If we want a good match with you, we'll give ourselves a handicap."

  "One hand tied behind your back?"

  "You saw me with Serra," she said. "I could only win by pinning you. Right now, you would be easy, but if you let Vorine and I teach you, maybe I couldn't pin you."

  I glanced at Malora, and she was smiling.

  "You can swim, Vorine?" I asked.

  "Oh, yes," she said.

  "Meet you in the middle."

  I took three running strides and dived out into the water as far as I could, then swam q
uickly to the middle of the pool. Vorine was only a few seconds behind me. She stopped a short distance away.

  "You played a long time with my sister."

  "I tried to tire her out, but decided it would take too long. She is a weak swimmer."

  "I am better," she replied. She smiled. "Cat and mouse, or just go for it?"

  "Perhaps a little cat and mouse," and I disappeared under the water. She buried her face in the water, watching me, but I dropped out of sight of the surface. I made it to the bottom and found a rock that might weigh fifteen pounds or so. I levered it off the bottom, disturbing a few creatures below it, then I turned to where Vorine should be and kicked off the bottom. I found her legs, slowly treading water, and she saw me below her. She was smiling.

  I grabbed an ankle, and then I let us both sink.

  She wasn't expecting that, and we both went under the surface until I was standing on the bottom, holding the boulder in one arm, Vorine's ankle in the other hand.

  I pulled her closer to me while she tried to kick away, grabbing her ankle in the same arm that held the boulder, then wrapping an arm around her entire leg, clutching it to me.

  She struggled, then finally she bent over, grabbing my wrist and elbow. She tried to free her leg, but she didn't have any leverage, and she thrashed around. I held on tightly.

  She squeezed my wrist painfully, digging her fingers in, and then tried to grab my fingers, but I curled my fingers into a fist and buried it against my chest.

  She squirmed and squirmed, tugging at my arm, then pressing against my shoulder with her free foot. She pushed, and slowly I lost control of her leg. She pushed hard away from me, heading for the surface. I dropped my rock and took off in a different direction, surfacing a few seconds after she did.

  We both lay on the surface, panting, turning towards each other.

  "You play to win!" she said.

  "Isn't that what you wanted?"

  "How long can you stay down there? You were down twice as long as I was." She eyed me. "You were almost out of air."

  "You were about to tap out and we both know it," I told her with a grin.

  "Yeah, maybe," she said.

  We both slowly caught our breath, and both of us were moving closer to each other at the same time, circling carefully.

  "My turn," she said, and she disappeared below the surface.

  I immediately kicked away from her, making five strokes on my back, then doubling over onto my stomach, my face in the water. She had aimed for where I'd been, thinking I'd wait for her. I scissored, diving deep, then approached her from behind while she was still looking for me. I wrapped around her, and she spun to face me, which was exactly what I wanted. I clamped my legs and arms around her, holding on for everything I was worth.

  She struggled, clasping at my ankles locked behind her. She clasped my toes, doing something painful to them, but she promised not to damage me, so I held on.

  Ten seconds later, she tapped out, and I hauled her to the surface.

  She panted for a while then called out to Nori. "I tapped out." Vorine looked at me. "I could have gotten you to release me, but only by moves that can damage you." She smiled. "Good match."

  I had a few easy matches, then Benala jumped in. She wasn't a good swimmer, but she met me in the middle. I waited for her, and when she got close, I let her catch me. She grabbed me, spun me away from her, and applied a complicated hold involving both my arms and my neck. I hadn't expected her to be so fast.

  "Over-confident?" she purred into my ear. Then she began pressing against the back of my neck, forcing my face into the water.

  She held me under for about ten seconds, facing down into the water, but I kicked several times, slowly tipping both of us onto our backs, with her behind me. As I came further out of the water, she found herself going under. She struggled with it, but she wasn't used to having no leverage.

  She tried thrashing me back and forth, and while I couldn't break the hold she had on me, she couldn't keep her head out of the water.

  She let go of me and tried to kick away, but I grabbed her feet and began swimming backwards, lifting her feet in the air. She thrashed.

  "No way!" she said. I tugged on her with her mouth open, and she got a mouthful of river water. She came up coughing, and while she tried to collect her breath, I spun her around, wrapped around her thoroughly, and said into her ear. "Close your mouth!" I pushed her under a half second later.

  She hadn't closed her mouth, and she got a good dose of river water. She tapped out immediately, and I pulled her up, towing her to shore while she coughed and coughed.

  Ralla went last, and I was tired, but I won every match before her. It was clear immediately she could swim, and she met me out in the middle, floating a half dozen feet away.

  "You're a better swimmer than I am," she said, "and if you were as good a wrestler, you would win. But you're tired, and I know every move Omie and Vorine do."

  "Let's do it, then," I said. I didn't try playing cat and mouse. She was right, I was tired, and she could just let me tire myself out.

  She came after me, lunging at me at the last moment, and I let her dunk me under, going straight down, then I grabbed her body and clambered back up her back, breaking the surface at the same time she went under.

  We struggled back and forth for a while, one of us going under, then the other, but I was tiring faster than she was. I wrapped myself around her, got a better breath of air than she did, then let us both sink together.

  She struggled to free herself, and we looked at each other from a few inches apart. I thought I could stay down longer than she could, despite being as tired as I was. We both stilled, and she smiled. We stayed like that, and it became a fight of who could hold her breath the longest.

  I clutched her tightly, but as my lungs began to burn and burn, and I knew hers were as well, I knew one of us would give in soon.

  Instead, somehow she broke my hold, unlatching my legs behind her, then forcing my arms from around her neck, and she pushed off of me, shooting for the surface.

  I immediately kicked away, angling for the surface, but she followed along above me, and just as I broke the surface, she lunged, pushing me under. My lungs were already burning, and she was able to stay above me, holding me down. I tried sinking away from her, but she had my arms clasped, and I couldn't escape from her and swim away.

  I tapped out and she hauled me to the surface.

  "Nicely played," I told her once I had my breath.

  "Age and treachery always beat youth and beauty." She grinned as she said it.

  Slowly we swam for shore.

  Ralla was the hero for having beaten me after I beat everyone else, but I received endless accolades. I was too tired to join in the conversations as I sat shivering on the rock, but I squeezed the hands of people who offered them, letting them know I was all right.

  Malora sat down next to me, wrapping me in a second towel and holding me.

  "You scared me," she said. "You were both down so long."

  "Waiting game. I knew I could stay down longer than she could, but she outfoxed me at the end. Mine was a good strategy, but hers was better."

  Nori joined us and I turned to her. "I didn't beat everyone. I hope you aren't upset."

  She laughed. "No. Omie and Vorine are already talking about rematches with you."

  "What did I win?"

  "Your duty roster is a lot cleaner," Malora said, "and you are owed enough deer skins for another outfit."

  "You do realize I have a half dozen changes of clothes at home. If, you know, someone hadn't been in such a hurry."

  Nori laughed. "You were shouting to the villagers to form a revolt, and some of them looked like they were considering it."

  "You were being cruel," I told her.

  I heard splashing, and I saw most of the Amazons reenter the water and begin wrestling around with each other.

  "They've never done that before," Malora said.

  "We sta
rted something," Nori added.

  "My companion has agreed to wrestling tomorrow," Malora told her.

  "She did?" Nori eyed me.

  "My warrior indicates everyone is going to want revenge and suggests I be gracious about it."

  "I said no such thing."

  "So I don't have to be gracious about it?"

  "Well, you do, but I didn't say a thing about revenge."

  I nudged her playfully. "Why did you two do this?"

  "You needed it, and they needed to learn not to discount you. You are my companion, Maya, and they need to respect you. Now they all do."

  "Well, I'm done in," I said. "And I have snares to check. Please will someone go with me?"

  "We trust you," Malora said.

  "I don't want to go alone. I really am done in."

  "If you can't handle your snares, you shouldn't have them," she replied.

  "Seriously?" I asked. "Fine, I'll go alone. I didn't say I couldn't, I said I wanted company."

  I stood up, dropping the towels where they were, and angrily pulled my clothes on. I grabbed the towels I had used and stormed off. I hung the towels up to dry, grabbed my snare-checking kit, and went to saddle my horse.

  Tardy

  Malora was waiting for me when I got there.

  "What?" I asked, annoyed.

  "I don't know why I was like that," she said. "I can't go with you though. And I need Nori and Ralla as well."

  "That's fine," I said. "I'll go alone. It's not that big a deal, but I don't know what you want from me. You're the one who told me I had to find the materials for my clothes, and you didn't exactly offer suggestions better than the ones I'm following. Just when I do a few things right, you turned mean. Did I do something to deserve that?"

  "No. I'm sorry."

  "Do you think I enjoy spending an hour or so every single afternoon, going out to check snares for a few rabbits? I didn't pick this life. I was yanked from my old one, kicking and screaming, quite literally. I was good at my old life, a good teacher, and you and Nori dragged me here with nothing."

  "I know."

  "Furthermore, you insist on that damned training twice a day, and I have exactly two changes of clothing, which means I'm wearing sweaty clothes half the time. At least if I can make one more set, I can make it for the training grounds, and change into that set for training only, although I'll probably want two sets so I can launder one set now and then."