The amazons all looked at one another in surprise. “The human who beat the minotaur?”
“And slayed two demigods,” Erolina affirmed. “Skotádi and Kynigó. He slew them both and broke their Alchemy Tower, casting its rubble into the depths of the sea.
Apollonia’s mouth dropped open. “You mean, the stories are actually true?”
“Technically, I think it was you and Philiastra who brought down the tower,” Storgen corrected.
“If that is the case, you have brought us a worthy breeder indeed.”
“He will be no breeder.”
“You claim him as your sole property?”
“He is not property. He is not slave or serf. He is the man I love, and I have taken him as my husband, and given myself to him as his wife.”
A wave of disgust passed through the older amazons. The younger ones were confused.
Apollonia folded her arms. “Did you come just to flaunt your heresy in our faces?”
“I came to save your lives. War is upon you. The War Goddess Nisi leads an army from the Empire of Erotan to attack your eastern shores.”
The amazons all became nervous. The younger ones particularly.
“Why have we not heard of this?”
“I thought Erotan wished for us to join with them,” Rodania said. “They even sent us tribute.”
Apollonia feigned indifference. “It’s the same strategy we used against the Nymphs. They thought to lull us into complacency, but it won’t work. We will face them on the field of battle and drive them back into the sea.”
“There is more,” Erolina said, her tone commanding. “There also comes a great host from the west. An army of dragons and golems sent by Agadis. Both armies will arrive in the morning.”
Now, the amazons became visibly frightened. They looked to Apollonia for leadership.
“Can it be? What will we do?”
“What can be done? What do we do?”
Apollonia stammered with the weight of the situation. “I…I don’t know. We’d be pressed in from both sides. There’s no way we could win.”
Rodania and the other veterans became somber. “Are we doomed at last?”
Apollonia held up her sword. “Do not despair. Our Queen will lead us to victory. We are amazons. Loyalty brings victory!”
Storgen placed his hand on his forehead. “Are you crazy? You can’t fight them! You’ll be completely wiped out.”
Erolina placed her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t waste your words. I will use their law to gain audience.”
Erolina drew her dagger and slashed her palm. Holding out her fist, she allowed her blood to drip out onto the grey sands. “I come seeking a trial of refusal.”
Apollonia jeered. “On what grounds?”
“That is not your right to ask. You will take me to your Queen, without harm to me or those who have traveled with me. That is the law.”
Apollonia gritted her teeth. “Come with me.”
The amazons led them through the gatehouse beneath the wall. Storgen didn’t like needing Erolina to push him in his chair, but their pace was so quick, he’d have no hope of keeping up otherwise. He looked up at the encrusted murder holes above them, ready to rain down boiling oil from above at a moment’s notice.
Once they were past the portcullis, they were introduced to a wasteland of rotten mud and fetid fields. In many places, worms had surfaced just to breathe, and oily crows circled above in the sky. What few slaves there were attempted to plant and harvest as best they could, but there were too few to make an impact. Sometimes three or four amazons stood over a single slave, threatening with the whip or making good on the threat as the slave slopped through the mud, looking for tubers or an errant potato.
Everywhere little girls trained. Swordplay, grappling, archery, marching in formation. The adults drilled them mercilessly, teaching them to show no pain, teaching them to be savage, beating out any softness from them. Those that lagged behind or showed weakness were singled out and punished before the others, their hair cut short to mark their dishonor. Only the girls with the longest hair were given a full ration of food. Here, only the strong thrived. This was a place of cold steel and biting air. This was the realm of the amazons.
Storgen watched in silence as they traveled towards the central keep. Everywhere, there were crates of food from the Empire. Cans of barra meat, fresh vegetables and fruit, mostly gone now.
“I don’t understand. These lands could be rich and fertile. Why are they not being cultivated?”
Apollonia snapped around as if she meant to hit him. “Shut your mouth, male. Such tasks would be beneath us. Only slaves are given such tasks.”
“Do not speak to my husband disrespectfully,” Erolina warned.
“And you…I would see you dropped into a fiery pit to roast alive slowly, painfully, and I would watch every moment of it.”
Erolina was stunned.
“Why do you hate her so much?” Storgen asked. “She came here to save you.”
“I told you not to speak in a woman’s presence.”
“Well, I mean, if you’re afraid to answer I can certainly understand that.”
Apollonia stopped in place and spun around. “I fear nothing. Neither death nor pain.”
“Then show your mettle and answer the question.”
“She doesn’t deserve an answer. She ruined my life! I should have been born from the blood of a warrior, from a worthy breeder, a leader of men. Someone of worthy standing. Instead, she cursed me by conceiving me with a beautician! She flawed the very marrow in my bones. Her treachery stains every drop of my blood. You have no idea what my life has been like. When I came here, I was thought of as a laughing stock. I have had to fight, and challenge, claw and bite my way into earning the respect of proper huntresses. You could never understand what it means to fight every day to overcome your limitations and prove your worth.”
“I might understand more than you realize. If it makes you feel any better, your father is now one of the most powerful men in the world, and chief counsel to the high-godmother Reinala herself.”
Her mood improved visibly. “Is he really?”
“And he is also the man who has engineered the massacre of your people.”
Her mood soured again. “Still, I would rather die with honor than live under a curse.”
Erolina spoke quietly, touching the locket around her neck. “You have always been cursed, daughter, you just don’t know it yet. By conceiving you in love instead of duty, I was trying to give you a chance.”
“A chance at what?”
“Happiness.”
They moved through the gatehouse of the second line of defense. A barricade of earthen works, wooden pikes sticking out of the mounds like dour porcupines, moats of water fouled by the bodies of disobedient slaves. Frowning wooden forts created embrasures of defense, looking over the frigid lands with rotting ballistas and dying cauldrons.
The third line was made from neither stone nor wood, but bones. Stacks and stacks of human thighbones, twice as tall as a man. A wall of death and rot. Stacks of skulls formed the battlements. Spines and pelvises formed the buttresses. Even the ground they trod here was laid not with cobblestone, but with thousands upon thousands of tightly compacted finger bones. It was staggering to see so many human remains gathered in one place. A monument to a thousand years of raiding and looting. Temple walls to venerate the violent history of the amazons.
The great hall was adorned with gold and silver. Food overflowed here, with goblets of mead and bushels of grapes ready for the Queen and her court to enjoy. Even the slaves were better fed here, taking on a pallor nearly approaching healthy. Maps made from fine silk lined the walls, each successful raid and campaign meticulously catalogued in fine detail, written in blood. Bronze braziers burned with scented wood, and various vicious chained animals licked their wounds from recent sport fights.
Yet for all the beauty of the hall, this place felt even colder than outsid
e. Powerful huntresses whispered and schemed amongst themselves. The threat of violence was thick in the air. Behind false smiles and feigned reverence, robed council members studied one another as one might study a wild beast of prey. This was a pit of vipers.
Upon her throne of black wood and dark velvet, Queen Erotas watched dispassionately as the visitors approached. Already, the rumors burned their way through the court, messengers whispering in the queen’s ears.
She was a tall woman like her daughter. She wore the centuries of her life like a badge of honor, her thick, leathery skin a layer of chainmail over tight, stringy muscles. The right side of her face was scarred from burns. She looked down past her nose at Erolina as she stepped up to the podium, spears pointed at her from all directions.
Queen Erotas held up her aged hand. “The prodigal daughter returns. Do you seek redemption in death?”
Erolina took a breath and crossed her fists in salute. “Queen Erotas. In my youth, I did everything you ever asked of me. I allowed you to mold me into the heir you wanted. I squashed my own nature and adopted the role of a loyal huntress of the tribe. At your command I lied, I cheated, I stole, and I killed.”
“Surely you don’t expect me to apologize.”
“I didn’t come looking for an apology. I came here to save you. All of you. This island faces utter destruction. I have brought a ship. It will be a tight fit, but it is large enough for us to make our leave. If we leave now, we can escape the fires. But we must depart at once.”
Many of the court members were clearly concerned, but the Queen remained dispassionate. “Yes, I have already heard the rumors of the news you bring. A supposed sneak attack on our shores from both nations at once. Do you think me stupid, Silver Reaper? That in the opening campaign of the largest war in ages, both Agadis and Erotan would divert a huge portion of their forces just to come here?”
“It is true. Lord Krýo Fidi of Agadis is pulling the strings behind the scenes. He seeks our utter destruction.”
“You claim he is our enemy, yet you were his wife. How can I trust a traitor who has pledged herself to my enemy? Besides, do you really think I would abandon the field of battle before the enemy presents itself? A more likely scenario is that he has sent you here to convince us to abandon our fortress, so that he may attack our island undefended.”
“I swear I tell you the truth.”
“Only an amazon may swear here, and you are no amazon.”
The doors to the west flew open, and a scared huntress ran inside, panting heavily. “My Queen, an army of dragons has been spotted approaching from the west. They are less than half a day off.”
The doors opposite opened, and another scout ran inside, her face wet with perspiration. “My Queen, a fleet of steel ships steams at us from the east, brandishing banners of Erotan. They destroyed our trireme envoy. They will be here by morning.”
A shiver of panic rippled through the court, but the Queen silenced them with a harsh tap of her staff. “We should be grateful that the fates have presented us with such an unparalleled opportunity for glory.”
“There is no glory in defeat.”
“Of course YOU wouldn’t honor amazon traditions.”
Erolina stood up straight. “I am asking you to uphold amazon traditions. Don’t throw a punch when a tap on the shoulder will do. Don’t make a threat when a kind word will accomplish the same goal. And don’t go to war when negotiations can achieve the same end.”
The Queen snorted. “You mock our ways.”
“Not at all. Allies are more useful than enemies, friends are more beneficial than rivals. These are amazon principals of warfare. I’m sure you must know them. Do not expend more resources than is necessary to achieve a result. To do so would be wasteful.”
“You quote our holy texts, but they drip of cowardice when they come from your lips.”
“From my lips?”
Erolina turned around to address the growing crowd of frightened amazons. “I should have had the courage to say this years ago. Queen Erotas has squandered our lives and our resources in pointless wars just to keep herself in power.”
The Queen stood up. “How dare you? I made us great.”
“You made us feared. My time living with the humans has shown me what we really are. All over the world, we are hated. Our very name a byword for terror and slaughter.”
“They hate us because we are strong.”
“They hate us because we are a plague. We spread death and suffering everywhere we go. We sow blood and fear and terror. Our name is synonymous with needless destruction and petty vengeance. We turn thriving villages into wastelands, we turn wholesome families into mass graves, we turn children into corpses.”
The older amazons steeled themselves against her words, but many of the younger ones nodded in agreement.
Erolina held out her hand. “I once stood where you all now stand. I once craved the glory of battle and the thrill of victory. And I found it. I was a renowned champion, undefeated, unchallenged. I walked without fear and without peer. But I also walked alone. And no matter how much glory I won, it could not fill the hole inside my heart. No matter how many times I fought, I always came home to an empty room when I was done. I have found a better way. An honest way. An ancient way.”
“You ask us to abandon who we are.”
“I ask that we embrace who we really are. Before we were cursed, our ancestors basked in the love of men and family. Their hearts were filled, and their joy was real. Raelyn took that from us, but we can take it up again. I have tasted the fruit of family, and it was sweeter than any glory, more filling than any spoil, more useful than any slave…”
Erolina looked into her daughter’s eyes. Apollonia was resisting her words, but when she saw her mother’s loving gaze, something stirred inside of her.
“…Once, was when I had the joy of being a mother. A real mother, not a drill instructor, not a cold warrior mentor…”
Erolina smiled. “And I loved her with all my heart, and when she was taken from me, I died inside.”
Apollonia reached up to her cheek, and was surprised to find tears there.
Erolina took Storgen’s hand. “The second time was when I fell in love with this man. The man I choose not as a breeder, but as my husband.”
She leaned in and kissed Storgen passionately. The audience gasped in shock.
Queen Erotas tapped her staff. “Again you desecrate the proper use of men. You shouldn’t sound so confident. Did your last marriage turn out well for you?”
Erolina’s heart sank at the mention of Krýo, but when Storgen looked into her eyes, she drew strength from his confidence.
“You can do this,” he whispered.
Erolina stood up again, more powerfully this time. “I speak to all of you, my sisters. Have you never looked up at the stars and wondered, ‘is there nothing more?’ Well, I did as well, and there is, and I found it, and I offer it to you this day.”
The older amazons were disgusted, but many of the young ones were ashamed to realize they agreed.
The Queen tapped her lips. “Hmm. You have become quite the orator. You didn’t used to be like that.”
“Yeah, well, my husband is pretty mouthy, I guess he’s rubbing off on me.”
Queen Erotas took out a ceremonial golden dagger and tossed it at Erolina’s feet.
“So, does this mean you accept my trial of refusal?”
“A trial of refusal is the right of an amazon. You are no amazon.”
Apollonia frowned. “But her words were proven to be true. Our enemies bear down upon us and she has rushed to our aid. Why do you dishonor her?”
The Queen gave a cruel smile. “I offer you a deal, outsider. Cut your hair off, and I will consider your offer of escape.”
Everyone in the crowd was shocked.
Rodania stepped forward. “Surely you can’t be serious, my Queen. To ask that of a huntress is…”
“How many times must I reiterate, she is not a h
untress. But if she follows my command, she may prove herself worthy of one.”
Erolina stood there, visibly shaking with the indignity of it all. Apollonia was visibly disturbed by what she was witnessing.
Erolina slowly crouched down and picked up the knife. She felt the weight of it in her hand as she ran her fingers through her long, silver hair. “Fifty-two duels I fought in my career, and not one opponent claimed my locks.” She gripped the handle tightly. “I will do this if it will save the lives of my sisters.”
The amazons were visibly disturbed as Erolina gathered up her hair behind her head and placed the blade at the base. Even many of the oldest and most jaded among them had to turn away as Erolina sawed and cut away.
Apollonia was speechless.
The blade hit the podium. Erolina stood there, her hair fallen around her feet. What remained was a short bob, hanging down limply just past her ears. She looked stripped of respect, yet she stood before them with a regal presence beyond anything they had ever witnessed before.
Many of the younger amazons could not help but admire her courage in the face of shame. Even Apollonia was moved. “How can you endure such shame?” she asked.
Erolina glanced over at the bandages around the stumps of Storgen’s knees and shoulder. “This is nothing compared to the guilt I feel every day.”
Queen Erotas drank in the sight of Erolina standing there, stripped of her honor. “Very well, you may now depart. I grant you and your companions permission to leave with your lives.”
Rodania turned to the queen. “You said you would consider her words.”
“I did, and I have, and I have rejected her offer.”
“On what grounds?”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you. We are amazons. We would rather die with our honor intact, than live a life without purpose. She asks us to abandon everything that is dear to us.”
“Is your life not dear to you, mother? Are the lives of your sisters not dear to you? Is the life of your granddaughter not dear to you? No matter where we go or what we do, we will still and always will be amazons. I am not asking any of you to abandon who you are; I am inviting you to embrace every part of yourself, even the parts that have gone so far neglected that they have atrophied. We are warriors, but we are also women. We need love like a plant needs water and sunlight. We are strongest when we have something to protect, we are driven when we have someone to nurture. Our nobility comes from our ability to care for others, not just ourselves.”
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