"I told you not to swim here!" I looked up and blinked at Parlomith, then she reached down and said, "Give me your hand."
"I've got it," I said, but she reached for my hand clasping the boulder. She clasped my hand and pulled, releasing my clasp on the boulder, and I began being pulled downstream, my wet wrist difficult for her to hold. I banged against the boulder, then flailed with my other hand, wrapping it around her wrist, and she pulled me from the water.
I lay on the boulder for a moment then I stood up. "What the hell was that? Were you trying to kill me?"
"I was trying to save you, you fool!"
"I told you I had it. Did you see my swim?"
"Yes."
"Could you have duplicated it?"
She looked at the water, mentally tracking the path I had taken. "No."
"Other than the tree branch I was avoiding, you were the most dangerous part of that swim. To be honest, it was fun, and if I weren't so tired out, I'd do it again. If I knew you wouldn't rip my hand from a solid hand hold at the end of it."
She looked at the water. "You aren't serious."
"No, actually." She turned back to me.
She paused. "What should I have done instead?"
"You didn't need to do anything, not for me, not after I said I had it, but if I had needed help..." I knelt down, wet my wrist, then held out my arm. "Grab my wrist, not my hand."
She did, and I adjusted her hand. "Not so tight yet." I rotated my wrists in her grip, grabbing her wrist as well. "Now, no matter what happens, don't let go. Got it?" I tried tugging my wrist from her hand, but try as I could, she had a solid grip.
"Got it," she said.
"Wet hands are slippery."
She looked back at the river. "You could have been killed. I told you not to swim here."
"I could have been killed if I hadn't deflected Suza's blow, and I was a whole lot closer to death under your careful watch than I was in the water."
"Companions should not talk back to a warrior, not even the queen's companion."
"I talk back to the queen; what makes you more special than her? And warriors should know their limits before telling someone else who clearly knows a lot more than she does what to do." I pointed at the water. "This water is near my limits, but not past them. I would not swim here after a large rain or during the spring melt. But I do not swim in the ocean during a storm, and I do not swim near the mouth of the cove when the tide is running fast. I know my limits with the water. Do you?"
"Swimming near your limits leaves you one unforeseen tree branch from disaster."
"The unforeseen tree branch is why the river is near my limits. If I had someone watching for tree branches, this water isn't that bad. I'd have been out of the water sooner but I had to watch for the branch, and then I had to wait for it to pass me."
"You did that while tumbling downstream?"
I smiled and then stepped past her, walking along the tumbled rocks towards my clothing upstream.
"There are sharp rocks," Parlomith said from behind me. "If you wait here, I will retrieve your clothing for you."
I turned to her. "Thank you. And thank you for not wanting me swept to my death."
She nodded once then began striding upstream, returning a few minutes later with my armful of clothing. I pulled everything on, and then together we walked back to the village. I would have preferred to avoid her company, but I didn't have time to sit out on the rocks, and I knew Malora would be expecting me.
* * * *
That night in bed, Malora tried to pull me into her arms. I was black and blue everywhere she touched, and I pushed her away.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," I said.
"Why won't you let me hold you? Are you angry with me?"
"Of course not," I said. "I have a few bruises from training."
"Oh. You did well. Thank you. This was important. I needed to see how they train here. I know it wasn't easy for you. Now I have to decide what I'm going to do. For that, I need to talk to Nori."
"Did you receive any reports about me?" I asked, trying to sound innocent.
"Parlomith talked to me."
"Oh." I couldn't imagine it was good.
"She suggested I leave you here for a couple of weeks. She offered to knock you into shape."
I froze. "What did you decide?"
"I told her I couldn't be parted from you that long but thanked her for the offer."
I relaxed, slowly, dreading she was about to suggest we would stay here for a while. "What time do we leave in the morning?"
"Early. We have a long way to go, and I want to make it as far tomorrow as we can. We'll have to ride our own horses and move quickly. I wish you were more experienced on a horse, but you'll be fine."
I finished relaxing, relieved. "I'll have everything ready to go by first light."
We lay for a while, me on my side facing away from her, distance between us.
"Maya?"
"I'm awake."
"I really need to touch you."
I rolled back to face her, then reached and found a hand. I put it on my cheek.
"Thank you," she said. "The voices are bad tonight."
"Do you know why?"
"Stress. They're stronger when there's stress."
Perhaps stronger with the embarrassment of having a worthless, embarrassing companion. Still, as embarrassing as I was, I was sure I could help her calm the voices.
"Does it help if I touch you?"
"Yes."
"What touches are best?"
"Any. Gentle but not too soft. As intimate as you can stand."
I pushed her onto her back, moving closer. "Allow me to do this, Malora." I lowered the length of my body against her and I felt her sigh right away. I lay my head on her chest, then I told her, "Your lower hand can caress the back of my neck and my upper shoulders, if soft touches help."
Instead, she clasped my skull, sliding her fingers under my braid, and that was okay, too.
My left arm was pinned underneath me, but my right was free, and I touched her, caressing her face and stroking her shoulder and arm.
"Is this good?"
"Yes. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Are you just trying to get my naked body against yours?"
She laughed nervously. "I'm afraid that's what you think."
I brushed my fingers across her lips. "I was teasing."
"I know. I wasn't."
"Tell me and I'll believe you."
"I need the touch for the voices, Maya. I'm not asking for more than you want to give."
She sighed several times.
"Am I helping?"
"Yes. Can you sleep like this?"
"Can you?"
"Yes."
"Then sleep, my queen," I said.
She caressed my face.
"Hey!"
"I'm sorry, but... You haven't called me that before."
"Called you what?"
"My queen. You've called me Queen Malora, but never 'my queen'."
"What's the difference?"
"My."
"Well, you are, aren't you?"
"I am very pleased you feel that way."
"Until you decide to return me home, you are my queen."
"Then I am your queen forever," she said. "I will never choose to return you home."
I didn't understand.
* * * *
I slept heavily, exhausted, but I woke before her. Sometime in the night she had moved me to her other side, but still I lay atop her.
I was somewhat surprised to find I was cupping one of her breasts.
Slowly I released it, pulling my hand away, then climbed out from the bed and pulled my clothing from the tent. I dressed quietly.
I turned east. The sky was lightening, I could see through an opening in the trees, but it was not yet day. I turned to the stables, found our tack in the dim light, then one-by-one, caught our horses. I prepared them for the day's travel then left them. I w
ent to the kitchen. The cook was already there, preparing breakfast for the village, and she had packed several days' meals for us. It was all ready to go.
"If you wait just a moment, I'll have a hot meal for you."
I thanked her, collecting everything, and then hurried back to my warrior. When I arrived at the tent, I heard movement inside.
"Maya?" she called out.
"I have your breakfast, but my hands are full."
She poked her nose out of the tent, and I presented her with a breakfast sausage. She slipped out of the tent, pulling her boots on, and then we sat together, eating quickly.
"Better this morning?"
"Yes," she replied. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." I was glad I was at least of some use to her. But I'd seen her looks of disappointment yesterday.
Mar and Slip caught up to us at the stables as we were placing the last packs onto the horses. Malora turned to Mar as I finished readying the horses and pulling them from the paddock. I held their reins as Malora and Mar spoke briefly. It seems like an intense discussion, and both of them glanced at me a few times, but Slip moved to me and tried to distract me.
"Don't worry, Slip," I said. "I already know what it's about." I moved further away with the horses and pretended they needed attention. I triple-checked that everything was ready while Slip stood watching.
Several minutes later, Malora and Mar walked over. "Ready to go?"
"Yes." I held her horse's head while she mounted, and then I climbed aboard my own horse.
"Thank you, Mar," she said. "It has been an illuminating two days."
Malora turned her horse, and my heart jumped when she turned west.
She'd said we would go west. She said we'd travel faster through the western plains. But she had also said if she ever decided to send me home, she would take me herself. I wondered if that was what she was doing.
We rode quietly for a while, and then Malora asked me, "What did you think of Parlomith as a trainer."
"I do not believe I am qualified to comment," I said after a moment's thought.
"I am deeply aware of your qualifications, Maya. I asked you a question. I want an answer."
I thought about it. "I believe Parlomith achieves results."
She turned her horse, blocking the path, and I came to a stop. "I want a complete answer. Do not play word games with me."
She looked angry, and I wondered when she would begin yelling at me, either about my poor performance on the training field, or my trip down the river.
"I believe I would rather train with you or Nori. Or Vorine and Omie. I believe I would rather fight Omie in an all-holds-allowed wrestling match than train under Parlomith. But she would probably achieve results. If you had left me with her, I would have run at the first opportunity. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
Then I smiled. "On the other hand, I wouldn't mind introducing her to water wrestling."
Malora laughed briefly.
"Tell me why you feel so strongly. Maya, I really need to know."
"While I dislike training anyway, at least you and Nori understand there are differences in students. She spent the entire time bullying me. I believe she thinks she was helping, but it was still bullying." I paused. "The question I have is whether she trains the same way you did before meeting me."
"You know," Malora admitted, "that's a fair question, and I'm not sure I want to think about the answer too hard. I may not like what I decide."
"Why are you asking me this?"
"She has asked to become the companion trainer at Queen's Town."
"So we're heading west to take me home before you accept, right?"
"No, we are not."
"I see. Have you accepted her offer?"
"I am still thinking about it."
I didn't have a response to that. I'd told her what I felt.
"Maya, as you said, she gets results."
"Then I guess there's nothing more for me to say."
I stepped my horse past hers, heading west. After a moment, she rode past me to take the lead again.
We didn't talk again that morning until it was time for lunch. An hour later, we broke through the last line of trees, and the plains were before us.
To my chagrin, we immediately turned south, now riding side-by-side.
Hours later, we arrived at a small lake, an hour before dusk. Malora paused her horse, staring at the water then judging the sun. "This is the best location for several hours," she said.
"If we stop, I would swim."
"I think I would, too. I didn't bathe yesterday."
"We have soap. I wish we could wash our clothes, but I don't know how we would dry them. They would grow musty if we packed them damp."
She nodded, and we climbed from our horses. She helped me settle the horses and set up camp, then we grabbed the soap and stepped to the edge of the lake. We disrobed together, then she glanced over at me.
"Maya!"
I turned to her. "What?"
"I heard about your trip down the river."
"I thought perhaps you had."
"I told Mar I trusted your judgment. I see I was wrong to do so. I am very embarrassed."
I stared at her. "What are you talking about?"
"You have dozens of bruises from your trip down the river. You could have been killed!"
I straightened up. "I have dozens of bruises," I spat. "That is true. But not a single one is from my trip down the river. This one," and I pointed, "is from Suza. So is this one, although it is nothing compared to the one that Parlomith placed on top of it. All the rest are from your new trainer of companions."
She stared at me. "That isn't true."
"Believe what you want."
I turned away and began to wade into the water, but she stopped me with a hand on my arm. She began examining the bruises carefully, each one.
"These are all from a staff!" she said. "Every single one!"
"I told you. And you called me a liar. I bet if you asked Parlomith, she would explain she was teaching me to defend myself, or perhaps accuse me of bragging."
"Bragging?"
I relayed that part of the conversation, and her expression grew even more incensed.
"Oh," I said, "Don't pretend to care now. You couldn't have been more disappointed in me. I saw the looks you gave me."
"What looks?"
"The looks that said how disappointed you were in me, and how much I embarrassed you."
"Well you are mistaken."
"I know what I saw."
"And I know what I saw when I saw your body."
"You were wrong."
"So were you."
"I saw the looks."
"You saw looks of disapproval and embarrassment, but you were not the target. Parlomith was."
I stared at her.
"I was going to turn her offer down until you said you thought she'd get results." She examined my body again. "This is barbaric!"
"Thank you for leaving me in her gentle care." I pulled away and stepped into the water. Malora followed me, and we waded out into the gentle water.
"This is why you didn't want me holding you last night."
"Of course. I told you I had a few bruises. But what's the difference? You're going to get rid of me sooner or later."
"That's ridiculous."
"I'm a pitiful, worthless excuse for an Amazon," I said. "I have it on good authority. I am an extreme embarrassment, and the only reason you accepted me was because you couldn't force anyone to take me and you couldn't send me home."
"That's ridiculous," she said. "Who would tell you something like that?" She paused. "Parlomith."
I turned away and began bathing.
"I'm going to kill her!" she screamed. "Pack up, we're turning around!" And then I had to run in the water to catch up to her and stop her before she got to shore.
"Let go! I know we've been riding all day, but we can get halfway back tonight and she'll be dead by noon."
She turned to me. "The relationship between a warrior and companion is sacred. Sacred! She interfered, and she knew what she was doing when she did it. Her actions directly impinged on your ability to do the most important duty you have! She knew you wouldn't want to be touched after she did this to you."
"Maybe," I said. "So?"
"So I'm going to kill her! I needed you last night."
"Didn't I help?"
"You did, but any other companion may not have, and if we hadn't grown to trust each other, I may not have been willing to express my need after you pushed me away. It would have put a wedge between us."
"Honestly, Malora, she doesn't think that subtly." I tugged on her. "Right now, I need a swim, and so do you. Come swim with me. I promise I won't dunk you."
She didn't crack a smile, but the joke opened a crack in her anger.
"Please, Malora. Come swim with me. Calm down. She can't hurt me now, and you should decide what to do when you are calmer. You should talk to your advisors. And if you are going to kill her, invite her to Queen's Town and let me take her swimming."
"No," she said. "If she's going to die, it will be my hand, not yours. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, Malora. It was a joke. Mostly. Come on. I don't want to ride half the night. Do you have any money?"
"Money?"
"How far out of our way are the villages on these plains?"
"What do you want to buy?"
"Clothes. Fishing hooks."
"They won't have fishing hooks on the plains, and they won't have Amazon clothing."
I pulled her arm.
"They'll have leather," she said. "I have money."
I smiled. "Please, Malora. Swim with me."
We swam.
"Are one and a quarter Amazons safe if we go to one of the villages?"
"A quarter?" she said, pulling me very carefully into her arms while we bobbed in the water. "Are you an entire quarter Amazon?"
"I was rounding up."
"Was it a serious question?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Then the answer is: maybe. You and another companion? No. I wouldn't let you go. But I am somewhat more capable than a companion. And while you don't believe it, you are more capable than anyone stupid enough to take on two Amazons."
"It's safe?"
"Yes. The villages here know what the Amazons do anyway. It's the bandits that are the danger."
Amazon Companion Page 32