by Robin Roseau
"What?"
"Challenge me. Your fight is one month from today in the afternoon."
"Malora, no!" I said. "I don't want it."
"You know the alternative. Challenge me, Nori!"
"Omie!" I called out. "You are my witness."
"Witness to what?"
"Malora, I hereby challenge the Amazon Queen to a duel to the death for leadership of all Amazons."
"Nori, the queen accepts your challenge," Malora said strongly. "Your fight for leadership of all Amazons is to be one month from today, any time you choose that day. I will allow you to withdraw your challenge at any time between now and when swords clash."
"What are you doing?" Omie screamed.
"Shut up, Omie," I said. "Let's go."
"Find them!" Malora said. "Tell Maya I love her. Tell her I need her. Beria, if your companion is not ready to return, you may stay with her. If she never wishes to return, I release you both from Amazon service."
"No!" said Omie. "We're both coming back."
"She's fifteen," Malora said. "It's not going to be her decision this time."
And then I was on my horse, and we were heading west.
* * * *
Omie disparaged me for the first hour. I finally pulled us to a stop and said, "Think about it, Omie. Just shut up and think about why Malora ordered me to challenge her, and why she gave me permission to withdraw my challenge any time I desire."
After that, she was quiet. We rode on opposite sides of the river, watching carefully. Periodically, we found signs of their passage.
"They were moving slowly," Omie said.
"Not surprising," I replied. "They were traveling all night, and Beria was hurt. Maya knows no one is following her, so she's protecting her sister."
We kept up our pace, emerging from the forest late in the afternoon.
We stared out across the plain. "How well do they know their way across?" Omie asked.
"Poorly," I replied.
"There are bandits," Omie said, "and Beria was hurt."
"Maya would have thought about that. Think. Think."
"Would they stay to the river?"
"Maybe for a while, but it curves north."
"Then they followed it until it curved north."
"They may follow it after that, hoping it curves west again, or perhaps following it all the way to the coast, then turn south."
"No," Omie replied. "Maya's running. Beria is hurt, and she's frantic. She's got one thought: get Beria home. That's a straight line. Nothing fancy. She's not thinking."
"Maya is always thinking," I said. "I treated her badly, and she was hurt and scared, and still she ran verbal rings around both Malora and me together. I had thought I could cow her, but it only made her more stubborn."
"Will she come back with us?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"I know."
Omie's voice cracked. "Will- Will Beria?"
"If Beria won't return, you can remain with her, if she'll have you."
"Vorine-"
"I'll send Vorine, if she wants to come, or you can rejoin us later. We're agreed, they would follow the river?"
"South side," Omie said.
"I bet she doesn't know it curves north," I countered.
"Fine," she said. "You take the north bank, I'll follow the south."
* * * *
We followed the river, riding until it was close to full dark. Periodically, we saw more signs, and Omie grinned at me each time.
When it grew dark, Omie wanted to press on, but I told her the horses wouldn't last if we did that.
"We could catch up to them," she protested.
"Omie, the only way we're catching up to them is if Beria is so sick they're forced to stop, or they encounter bandits and are too hurt to continue."
"Then why are we following their trail? There's a faster route to Gallen's Cove."
"In case they stopped for Beria or there are bandits."
She stared at me, and we set up camp.
* * * *
The next day, the river curved north. It took us three hours before we found where they had left the river, heading due west. Maya had picked her place carefully, and it was only from some broken vegetation that we had the right path.
"Isn't there a village in this direction?" Omie asked.
"Several," I said.
"She's probably still a little purple. She kind of stands out."
"I bet she's been scrubbing hard at her hands and face."
"She's been scrubbing for two weeks and it hasn't washed off. That was a really shitty trick."
"She'd have been okay with it if she'd gotten even a little warning. I think it was getting laughed at before she knew the joke that had her most upset," I replied.
"You heard her play the fiddle. She's never played like that before."
"We've all been pushing too much on her. If it wasn't this, something else was going to cause her to snap. This trip was supposed to be a vacation for her. She wasn't supposed to have any responsibilities. That's why Malora brought all of us, too. Malora wanted Beria along, and I was there for more company."
"She used to say that her village elders used to make her take time off for recreation. Now the only recreation she has is for fishing, and even that's rare. Beria has been worried about her."
"Malora too, and Maya feels responsible for every companion she's talked into joining us."
"And I took her sister," Omie said. She took a deep breath. "I bet they go to one of the villages."
"Probably," I agreed.
We followed the trail as best we could.
Late that day, we lost the trail. We spent an hour looking for it, but we had firmly lost it.
"We can check the villages," Omie said. "If they haven't been to any of them, we should take the fastest route to Gallen's Cove."
"Yep," I agreed. We headed for the first of the villages, riding into the village just at dusk.
Amongst the plains villages, Amazons are popular. We were warmly greeted and offered a place to stay for the night. Instead, we asked them about Maya and Beria.
Fornacht was the village elder. "No," he said. "We've had no visitors except a caravan."
"Fornacht," I said. "Do you know who I am?" He shook his head. "Do you know who Queen Malora is?"
"Of course. Everyone knows Queen Malora."
"Well, one of the Amazons is Queen Malora's companion, and the other is Omie's companion, the queen's companion's sister. They are heading home to see their parents, but Malora has an urgent message for both of them."
"They haven't been here," he said. "I wish we could help. You know we always help the Amazons when we can."
"The queen's companion may have looked a little unusual," Omie said. "And my companion was hurt. We want to help them."
He shrugged, and I believed they weren't hiding anything.
"How close is the next village north?" I asked.
"Two hours or so, I reckon," he replied. "You can't miss it." But then he judged the sun. "Moonless night though. Maybe you can miss it in the dark."
Omie swore, but we accepted a place to sleep. Some of the villagers were willing to be displaced, but we happily took a spot in one of the barns. They fed us handsomely and replenished our supplies.
Omie paced for an hour before finally climbing into her bed.
"The sooner you sleep," I told her, "The sooner we start in the morning."
"We should split up," she said. "You check out the villages; I'll head straight to Gallen's Cove."
"No. Frankly, if we run into trouble, I want your sword by my side, and if we catch up to them, I want you there to talk to Beria. And you need me to make promises to Maya. She's barely going to trust my word; she won't believe Malora gave you that much authority."
"And she isn't going to believe you, either, without me."
"So we stick together."
We slept fitfully, and Omie woke me well before daylight. She
already had the horses saddled, and she was only waiting for me to roll up my bedroll. The eastern sky was just barely lightening by the time we were moving.
It was two villages later when we found them. Well, found their trail.
"That's Beria's horse!" Omie said.
"I know," I replied. "Keep your voice down. If they're still here, we don't want to spook them." We approached the stables. All their horses were in the paddock, although they looked a little done in. Outside the door, I whispered to Omie, "Wait out here and keep a look out. Whistle if you see them run."
She nodded, and I slipped into the stable door. No one was there, and I checked carefully. I collected Omie.
"Nothing," I said.
We went in search of someone. Everyone was already working the fields, but we found an old granny hanging up laundry. She stopped and stared at us as we approached.
"Well, I'll be," she said. "Two groups of Amazons in three days. Are you looking for your friends?"
"Yes, we are," Omie said. "Have you seen them?"
"They stayed a day and left two days ago. You'll want to talk to Mardina."
"Where will we find Mardina?" I asked.
She pointed to one of the houses. "She's half deaf, so you'll need to speak up."
Omie and I exchanged looks and headed to the house. "Think they're still here?"
"No," I said. "But we can find out how they were doing."
We approached the house and knocked firmly at the door. Not receiving an answer, I opened the door and called out, "Mardina! Mardina! Are you here?"
"You don't have to yell," said a woman's voice. "Of course I'm here. This is my house, isn't it? Where else would I be?"
I thought that was a perfectly good question.
"May we come in?" I replied.
A moment later, a gnarled hand appeared, clutching the edge of the door. The owner pulled the door wider, and I stared down into the most wrinkled face I had ever seen. The woman was tiny and stooped, but her eyes were bright, and she eyes us carefully.
"I bet you're looking for your friends," she said. "They're not here. Stayed a day. Left two days ago."
"How were they?" Omie asked.
"The one looked real sickly. Had some sort of skin condition, I think."
I nearly cracked a smile.
"The other seemed tired and spent most of the day sleeping. Talked in her sleep."
"Did you see which way they went?"
"Nope."
"That's my companion's horse in the paddock," Omie said.
"The one, the sickly one, she said Queen Malora would be by."
"Queen Malora sent us," I said.
The woman eyed me. "I've got something, but I'm supposed to give it to Queen Malora."
"I'll get it to her," I said.
"Are you going to pay for the two horses and the clothes they bought?"
"They didn't trade the horses they had?" I asked.
"If you were really sent by Queen Malora, shouldn't you know about that?" Mardina said. "They asked us to keep the horses and said Queen Malora would be picking them up. They left some of their things -- it's all in the stables. They bought new clothes and two new horses, and they left the note."
"May I see the note?" I asked.
"Are you Queen Malora?"
I sighed. "No, I am Nori, Queen Malora's most trusted advisor."
She squinted her eyes at me. "It's easy to say you're the trusted advisor, but doesn't every advisor say that?"
"She really is," Omie said. "I'm not. But one of them is my companion."
"Which one?"
"Probably the one that slept. She wasn't feeling well."
"Well," Mardina said, "I can't imagine three sets of Amazons coming through, so if you're going to pay for the horses and the clothes, I should give you the note, too." She stepped aside, inviting us in, then we followed along behind her as she hobbled further into her house. It was a simple, one-room house, and she stepped towards the kitchen area, reaching to a shelf and pulling down a folded piece of paper. She hobbled back to me and held it out.
"I didn't read it," she said. "My eyes aren't what they used to be."
I took the note and opened it.
"Malora. You aren't welcome in Gallen's Cove. We will tithe, but you are getting no more recruits. If you come to take any, you'll take them over my dead body. M." She was even angrier than I had predicted.
I folded it. "What do we owe you for the horses and clothes?"
She named a figure, and miraculously I actually had enough coin with me to pay for it, barely. I'd be selling some of the pack animals before the trip was over. I paid her, and she led the way across the street to the stables.
She pointed out the horses we were allowed to take. Omie caught them, and we recognized all of them. Then she showed us where the rest of Maya's things were. There was tack for the horses and a bag with their Amazon clothing. I stared at the contents for a minute then handed it to Omie and told her to ready the horses.
"Are you sure you don't know where they went next?" I asked the old woman.
"I didn't say that. I said I didn't see them leave. They went with the caravan. It was heading to Parson's Gate."
Five minutes later, Omie and I were mounted and heading north to Parson's Gate. We got ten minutes out of town when I pulled us to a stop. "This is foolish," I said. "They're going to Gallen's Cove. They've got no money and almost nothing else, and Beria is hurt. They're going home. We can beat them there and wait for them."
Omie looked at me, nodded, and we turned west.
Gallen's Cove
It took us three more days, riding hard, to make it to Gallen's Cove. We were sure we would have gotten there ahead of Maya and Beria.
"Let's go straight to their parents," Omie said. "We can wait there."
"If they see the horses, it will spook them."
"Okay, let's go there. If they aren't there yet, leave me and take everything south to Klindara. It's not that far, and I can send for you."
I thought about it. "I'll bring all the mounts there but trade one of the pack animals for something else and buy some different clothes. Then I can watch the roads into town."
She nodded, and we headed to Maya's parents. I'd only been there once, but Omie knew the way, and we dismounted in front of the house. We stepped to the door, paused, and then knocked politely.
Renee, Maya's mother, opened the door, and I knew instantly they were already here. Her face flashed anger at us, then she schooled her features, but it was a struggle.
"Hello, Renee," Omie said brightly. "How have you been?"
Renee took a moment to answer. "Omie," she said, her voice forced. "And you must be Nori. I remember you. What are you doing so far from home?"
"Renee," I said, "You already know. I saw it in your face. They're already here. We're not here to cause trouble. We desperately need to speak to your daughters. I cannot impress upon you how desperately."
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, the false smile gone from her face. "You should perhaps go back home and leave the good people of Gallen's Cove alone."
"I love Beria," Omie said. "Renee, I love your daughter."
"She is too young for you to say words like that," Renee said. "Go away." She began to close the door." I pushed forward, blocking the door.
"Renee," I said, "We just need to talk to them. I swear."
"I'm not sure your promises mean very much in this house," she said to me coldly. "I remember how you took my daughter away the first time." She looked at Omie. "And you should be ashamed of yourself. How could you let that happen to my daughter?" She screamed the last words.
"I wasn't there. Renee, I wasn't there to stop it. I'll never leave her again. We'll stay here, if that's what she wants. I'll never leave her unprotected again."
"Renee," I said, "Are they here?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Renee, Maya is going to want to hear what I have to say. There were twenty
-four demons. Seeing as many as three together is uncommon. There were twenty-four. Don't you think Maya wants to know if Malora is alive?"
Renee stared at me. "You can tell me, and I'll tell her."
"A conversation," I said. "That's all I want. One conversation. Ten minutes. We came alone, just the two of us. We need to talk to them, urgently."
"Leave. Tell your queen to stay away from Gallen's Cove. Get out of my house."
"Renee," Omie said, "Beria is owed justice for what was done to her."
Renee narrowed her eyes. "I'm listening."
"One conversation with Maya," I offered, "and I will do everything in my power to see to it the woman who whipped your daughter pays dearly."
"And the other women who helped?" she asked.
"They're only companions. They aren't responsible."
"Get out. My daughters are only companions. Only? Get out!"
"I didn't mean it like that," I said. "Maya would know I didn't mean it like that. I meant that in that village, especially in that village, they had little choice. Please, is Maya here?"
"She's not in this house." Renee paused, then smiled. "You want to get a message to them?"
"Yes, very much so."
"Search the house. They aren't here. Then leave. And I'll consider giving them your message."
"Omie, go look," I said.
"No," Omie replied. "Renee said they aren't here. I believe her."
Good girl, I thought.
"You're right, of course," I said. "Renee, a conversation. That's all I ask, but it has to be soon. Malora's life is at stake."
"So she is alive! Not that anyone here cares."
"Just tell that to Maya. A conversation, and then she is free to make her own choices."
"I want to see my companion," Omie said. "We need to see them both."
"I'll think about it. Get out of town. One of the farms east of town will let you set up camp. Someone will find you."
"Renee, soon. It has to be soon. Today."
"It will be when Maya decides, and no sooner. For all I know, you have a spy watching me, and I am not leading you straight to them."
"Come on, Omie," I said. "Renee, I know Maya loves Malora. She is going to want to talk to me."
"It will be her decision," was all Renee would promise.
* * * *
Omie and I set up camp in a fallow field. "I think this is the same field as two years ago," I said.