Tip of the Spear

by Marie Harte

  To look at the group of women, one would not see physical similarities. Tall, short, dark, fair. Yet every woman in the tribe handled a spear, a bow, and a knife with skill. Even gentle Isadora could hit a target at fifty paces, every time.

  My family, Thais thought with happiness and a rising excitement, finally looking forward to the night’s activities. Thank you, Good Mother, for this precious time with friends.

  Breathing heavily and drenched by the time she reached The Cave, Thais noted the torch sitting inside—proof the others waited within. She followed the dirt trail past the crystal imbedded in the black rock, further through the cold spots, where warriors long-dead lingered to protect the cave’s spirit, and further still until she found the majesty of Goddess Cave, where the very first Amazon had sprung to life.

  The interior glowed, turning the turquoise lagoon in the middle of the massive cave into a shining pool of welcome. The spirits in the pool shimmered, sparks of white light glittering like diamonds over the water’s surface.

  “I, for one, needed a bath,” Isadora said with a sigh as she floated naked in the water.

  Yara scrunched her nose. “As does Luiza.”

  “I heard that,” Luiza growled and splashed Yara in the face.

  Thais grinned, sat down and cooled her feet in the healing water. Sweat trickled down her chest, dampening her top. “I am so glad we’re here. Just think, three days of fun, food and—”

  “Drink,” Isadora added helpfully, holding a wineskin in one hand. “I swiped it from Pilar’s tent.”

  Everyone shrieked with laughter. “That witch,” Thais gasped. “Can you imagine her face when she realizes some of her precious wine is gone? Ooh, I want some.”

  “Me first,” Luiza said.

  “Then me,” Yara added.

  Pleased with the way their night was unfolding, Thais ignored the quiet unease lingering in her belly and once again thanked the Goddess. Determined to enjoy herself, she avoided thoughts of strange men and relaxed.

  Though time had passed, Thais’s heartache and guilt had not. Already four long years lay behind her as she sought the crown she’d been commanded to retrieve. Justice, Hinto had said, would not be found in the Territories unless he brought it to those deserving of it. On this, Thais agreed. She would find Aaron Bartel and his men. She would track down her enemy sisters, Pilar, Renata, Marcela, and the others. They would pay for their disloyalty and pay dearly, for their crimes hurt more than those of the men.

  Most males had no heart, no true spirit in line with the Great Mother. But the Amazons did, and for them to turn on each other… No wonder the tribe was all but crushed. Such offense against everything the Goddess taught—

  “Thais?” Hinto’s soft voice brought her head up. He walked toward her in nothing but his jeans. His chest and face looked damp, his hair wet and dripping down his back. Without his shirt and hat on, he looked so much larger, so much stronger. Muscles rippled as he moved, and when he raised an arm to slick back his hair, the prominent bulges he displayed made her want to reach out and touch, as if to gather such strength to herself and hold onto it for the coming battles she would face.

  “Are you okay?” He stopped a few feet from her. His gaze trailed down to her hand, and he frowned.

  She squeezed her fist and realized she’d cut herself with the shard from her mother’s spear. Blood trickled onto the dirt until she stood, pocketed the piece, and wiped her hand on her bandana lying near.

  “I’m fine. Where is the water?”

  “There’s a stream a few paces that way.” He nodded behind him. “There’s no one close and no trace of predators near.” He paused. “I’ll start a fire.”

  She appreciated his sense that she needed to be alone and left him and her poor memories behind. The stream turned out to be hip deep in the center and colder than anything she’d ever experienced. Making good use of it, she washed every part of her she could think of, wishing she’d remembered to buy soap in town.

  As if she’d asked for him, Hinto called her name. “Thais?”

  Swearing, she crouched low, aware the water reached the tops of her breasts. But at least in this position she could spring to action if need be. Sprawled on her back in the water wouldn’t give her any sense of defense.

  “Holy shit,” he said and whistled when he appeared from out of the tree line. “You sure do clean up nice.” Hinto stood there staring, his gaze moving over her too quickly to rest on any one part of her. He’d put on a clean shirt but hadn’t buttoned it, and the sight of his bare chest only partially hidden warmed her from the inside out.

  “Why are you here?” she asked, wishing she didn’t want so badly to touch him. Why was she so intent on touching a man, one with a talent for irritating her?

  “Thought you might want some soap.” He held up his hand. “I’ll leave it right here.” He placed it on top of her clothes but didn’t move away.

  She waved her hand to shoo him away, but the arrogant male crossed his arms over his chest and continued to watch her.

  “You want the soap? Come get it.” He grinned.

  Did he think she wouldn’t take his dare? Unlike many of the women living in the Territories, Amazons had no shame of the bodies the Goddess gave them. To assimilate into this culture and prevent male aggression, she covered herself from head to toe day in and day out. But the Goddess knew, she sorely missed her leopard hides.

  Here, finally, she had the freedom to be herself. Yet she crouched low in the water because of him. Hinto. A male.

  She raised a brow and smiled, then rose to her feet. The look on his face was worth more than a dozen victories. His jaw clenched, his eyes narrowed, and he took a step in her direction.

  Thais reached the soap and picked it up. When she straightened, Hinto stood an arm’s length from her. He stared from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, lingering over her breasts and the V between her thighs.

  “Damn,” he breathed, clenching his fists by his sides. “You win.” To her consternation, that part between his thighs stood out in relief in his denim trousers.

  She deliberately turned her back on him and walked back into the water, immersing herself to cool off the sudden heat that consumed her. When she surfaced, Hinto had gone. Thais grinned, exhilarated to have won this bout with the male. He might have an unanticipated effect on her, but she clearly had one on him as well.

  As she soaped herself, thoroughly enjoying her bath, she wondered about him. She’d seen naked males before. A few babes at home, some younger men while hiding in the Territories, and the elderly Chow Yen when he’d grown sick and needed help bathing. Thais had a rough knowledge of the male physique. She’d also been told how a woman conceived, though she’d never seen humans engage in the act. The jungle was full of creatures repopulating the forest. But she found it odd that only men seemed to enjoy the act, and not necessarily to beget children.

  Thais shivered and hurried out of the water. She slicked the water from her and dressed, leaving off the breast binding that caused her much discomfort. She’d be damned if she’d suffer more because of Hinto’s presence. If her breasts bothered him, he could look away. She glanced down at herself once again clothed. She couldn’t see much beneath the thin shirt and vest she wore overtop. In just the shirt she could see the outline of her nipples, peaked due to the decreasing temperature. Hugging herself, she retraced her steps to a campfire. Over the fire lay a tripod made of metal, from which a small pot hung. The aroma coming from it made her mouth water.

  Hinto looked up from the pot he stirred, his stare lingering over her vest and resting on her face. “You’re playing a dangerous game, honey.” His gritty voice did funny things to the pit of her stomach.

  “Perhaps you should think twice before challenging me to anything. I’m not afraid of you, Hinto.”

  Instead of growling back at her, he smiled. “Why, Thais, I do believe that’s the very first time you’ve used my name. I’m growing on you, ain’t I?’
>
  “Like a disease,” she muttered, and he laughed. She walked toward the fire and sat down on her blanket, on the opposite side from where he’d set his things. “What are you fixing?”

  “Rabbit stew. I found one while you were bathing.” He licked his lips and stared at her chest. “And I’m just gonna say it, straight out. I’ve never seen a more perfect body in all my life. So yeah, you won our little dare, but I’m going to be dreaming about you for years to come. So I’d say I’m a winner too.”

  She frowned. Trust Hinto to ruin her petty triumph. The way he continued to stare at her chest made her self-conscious. “Stop it.”

  His eyes widened with feigned innocence. “Stop what?”

  “You know,” she muttered. “I’d love to know what’s so interesting about breasts, anyway. Everyone has them.”

  “But not everyone has what you have.” He lifted his hands and sighed. “They’d fit in my palms perfectly. Wanna see?”

  She rolled her eyes, not sure if he was serious or joking. She decided to pretend the latter, not sure how she felt about a real request for such touching. Though she never would have admitted it to anyone, she was more than curious about these strange feelings he evoked. Never before had she wanted to know a man’s touch. Hinto made her wonder, made her ache with those lingering glances and heated stares.

  “You sure?” he asked again and stirred the pot. “Because I’m thinking a part of you wants to see what it would be like. Hell, I’ll even sit back and let you run the show. You tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

  While the idea held appeal, an instinct for self-preservation told Thais that letting Hinto anywhere close to her personal space would be a disaster. Though she had every confidence in her abilities as a warrior, when it came to mating, she’d never before been tested.

  She knew damned well Hinto had.

  “No. Just the meal.”

  “Suit yourself.” He mumbled something else she couldn’t quite catch.

  Ignoring him, she ran her hands through her hair, cringing at the knots left by the cold water and harsh soap. She rummaged through her pack and found a tortoise shell comb. Slowly working through the tangles, she repeatedly slid the comb through her hair, mesmerized by the fire.

  “Here,” Hinto said into her ear. She jumped and would have fallen back had he not steadied her with a warm hand to her shoulder. “Your stew,” he said with amusement.

  As she picked up the bowl and the wooden spoon he handed her, she started to take a bite when he settled down directly behind her. She stiffened, conscious her knife sat by her side but was not on her person. Stupid.

  “Relax,” he chided, the rumble of his voice pressing through his chest against her back. “I’ll finish combing your hair while you eat.”

  “No, I can—”

  “Yes, you can. But I want to. My hair’s not nearly as long as yours, nor so soft.” He combed it gently. “It won’t hurt us to build a small measure of trust before we find Gregor, will it?”

  He had a point. They were stuck together, like it or not.

  “What did Kitty promise you in exchange for this trip?” Something about a woman named DeeDee?

  “A bounty on Gregor’s head.”

  Gold. Funny, she’d started to think better of him. But like all the other Territory men, apparently Hinto wanted wealth.

  “And Kitty promised to give a friend of mine back her contract.”

  “Contract?”

  He continued to comb her hair, his strokes surprisingly gentle. “DeeDee works at Kitty House. She needed money to pay some debts her dead husband ran up. She can’t have children, so she whores for Kitty until her debt is paid. She shouldn’t have to.”

  “Oh.” Thais ignored her relief, that she hadn’t misjudged Hinto. Then again, what did her feelings about the man matter?

  She ate some of the stew, relaxing with food in her belly, a warm fire at her front, and a warm body at her back. As soon as she thought it, she stiffened. She’d let a man sit behind her. Not Yara, Isadora or Luiza, but a man. She slowly put the half-finished bowl down and tried to turn, but he wouldn’t let her. Her pulse began to pound, anxiety forcing her to question the blatant disregard of everything she’d ever been taught.

  “Uh-uh. You agreed to sit here while I comb your hair.” When she didn’t move, he swore. “Thais, if I’d wanted to hurt you, I would have already. Shit, I watched you walk toward me in nothing but your skin. You walked right back into that water unmolested. If that’s not trust, I don’t know what is.”

  Though he had a point, she couldn’t help feeling angry. What was wrong with her? Thais didn’t care for men. She had no intention of breeding with them, nor did she plan to become involved with anyone while on this quest for the queen. What concerned her most was this bizarre level of trust she felt for a man she didn’t really know.

  She let out a soft breath as the comb gently massaged her scalp. A guardian who survived the death of her queen did not have the right to happiness and comfort. No matter that she hadn’t completed the ceremony officially appointing her station, Thais knew what sacrifice meant. A guardian lived and died to protect her charge. Yet the queen, and most likely her successor, lay dead, while Thais what? Relaxed in front of a fire?

  For years she’d lived without, always on guard. Responsible for her sisters and Estefina’s last request, she hadn’t relaxed. Until tonight when she sat with a stranger, a male, and felt more at peace than she had in years. Guilt gnawed at her, obliterating the calm Hinto’s ministrations had given her.

  “That should do,” he murmured and stood. He handed her the comb, his eyes shuttered. “Why don’t you get some sleep? You look like you could use it.”

  Instead of arguing, she nodded. She had nothing else to say.

  Territory men had slaughtered her tribe, her mother. Her sisters were even now out in a foreign world surrounded by the unknown, out of her reach, beyond her control. She shivered in the night wind and curled up under her blanket atop her thin bedroll, her knife in hand. As she stared into the fire, she wondered what her mother would have thought about Hinto, and why she cared.

  Later in the night, she blinked at the dying embers cloaked in darkness. She’d been so cold, so incredibly close to crying, something she hadn’t done since her mother passed. The dreams had been bad tonight.

  Thais strolled along the trail trying hard to recapture the levity of her days spent with her friends. Their time in The Cave had restored her faith in life, in the Goddess, and in their friendship. But with each step she took closer to the village, the louder her internal alarms clamored for attention.

  She passed the outer perimeter to the village. No one stood sentry.

  Luiza stopped suddenly in front of her. “Do you hear that?”

  Thais considered the silence and what it might mean. She clasped her knife in hand and tossed her bag to the ground. “Come with me, quietly. Something is wrong.”

  The others nodded and fell in behind her. Making no sound, they moved with stealth over the ground they called home. Heading off the trail into the jungle, they skirted the main camp and moved instead through the housing huts, where they would less likely be seen. Except there was no one to hide from. The children, the elders, and the infirm had all disappeared.

  She led the others through the shadows of their dwellings. They passed no one. They heard no one, until they pushed past their homes.

  What Thais saw when she entered the main camp shook her well-ordered world. Blood colored the earth like an evil stain. Foreigners, women and girls, babes and pets alike, littered the ground. In shock, Thais could only stare. The familiar faces she’d grown up with, loved and hated, teased and fought with, didn’t stare back.

  “What happened here?” Isadora’s shaky voice reverberated through the unnatural quiet.

  “Find the queen and the princess,” Thais managed, praying her mother did not lie among the dead.

  As they searched, Thais noted small round holes in se
veral of her tribe, injuries caused not by rocks, but by something else. Ancient stories of guns and fire makers, from before the Time of Dying, streamed through her mind. But she pushed those thoughts aside as she searched in vain for survivors.

  “Here!” Yara yelled.

  The four of them gathered around the princess. She lay sprawled upon the ground, covered in blood yet still alive.

  “Princess Estefina.” Thais quickly knelt.

  Isadora held her head in her lap, and Yara hurried to her mother’s hut. She returned quickly with a bag full of medicine. “What happened, princess?”

  Thais couldn’t understand such devastation. Warriors, she could understand dying. But the elders? Pets? Babes? By the Goddess, they’d killed innocent children.

  “Not a…gift…” Estefina coughed up blood, and Yara wiped her lips. “The males… Not from the Goddess. Killed us… all.”

  Luiza’s tears streamed down her face. “I saw Mother. She was missing her head,” she said in a choked voice.

  “Estefina, what of your mother?” Thais asked. “We cannot find the queen.”

  Fresh tears leaked over the princess’s cheeks. “They took her. Over there.” Her shaky hand pointed beyond the queen’s dwelling. Luiza hurried in that direction. “We were feasting. Singing of the past.”

  Yara smeared white paste over Estefina’s wounds, and the princess stopped to gasp in pain.

  “Nucca root. It will speed the healing,” Yara said in a low voice.

  After a moment, the princess took a deep, shuddering breath and spoke again. “The first night we celebrated. The men were pleased enough to breed with our chosen. But they didn’t appreciate the honor bestowed them. More of their kind surged from the north.” She drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The males demanded more. More wine, more women.”