by Travis Bughi
“The branch for your bow?” Emily asked.
Heliena withdrew her knife and started to cut the branch off. Emily quickly looked to the treant, waiting to see it twist in pain or moan out loud, but it remained quiet and still. It didn’t even seem to notice when Heliena snapped off the branch. The sound made Emily wince and reminded her of breaking bones, but the treant remained motionless.
“That doesn’t hurt the treant?” she asked.
“What?” Heliena looked at Emily as if she were daft. “Of course it doesn’t. Take your own if you like.”
Emily looked back at the treant and, although Heliena seemed to be correct, did not test the theory.
“What now?” Emily asked. “We watch the others?”
Heliena’s eyes flew up. “Who’s watching Belen?”
“No one, far as I know,” Emily sighed.
“Damn!” Heliena said. “I’ll go watch her now. Don’t worry, I’ll stay in sight.”
Heliena took off, taking her branch with her. Emily sighed and hoped they hadn’t just missed their chance to catch the traitor. They weren’t going to get another shot until it was too late.
Emily took her post at the treant’s head and watched the amazons come forward to cut pieces of the treant’s branches off. Emily winced and checked the treant each time, but still it did nothing. She wanted to walk back and see if its face twitched, but she didn’t want the treant to look at her again. She felt like she had let the creature down enough already.
Altogether, fifteen branches were cut off, one for each of the expectant mothers in the group, plus Heliena’s. Each had the bend needed to make the recurved shape of an amazon bow. All that needed to be done now was for the wood to be shaved and carved to the approximate dimensions. No wood was cut for arrows though. The amazons did not use treantwood to make expendable ammunition. They had more respect, and sense, than that.
“Are we going to let it go now?” Emily asked Adelpha.
“Of course not,” Adelpha scoffed. “That thing would kill us all. We’ll leave it tied down until the morning, and we’ll only cut enough restraints to allow it to struggle free. We’ll need a head start on it. It might run to inform the elves we’re here.”
Adelpha turned back to watching the other amazons.
“Adelpha?” Emily asked again.
“What?”
“Why doesn’t anyone speak with the treant?”
Adelpha paused before answering. Apparently, Emily had asked a difficult question.
“Do thieves speak with the people they rob?” Adelpha replied.
“I guess they wouldn’t,” Emily replied and looked back at the treant.
Emily was still standing outside its gaze because she had been avoiding it carefully. However, her mood was changing, and the earlier guilt she’d felt was inching her closer to action. She sighed and walked over to the treant’s searching eye.
It sighted her immediately and focused on her. Emily tried to shrink under its gaze, but that was a difficult task due to the treant’s massive eye, so human despite a bark covered lid and a bushy, leafy brow. The sadness shining through the large circle was apparent as well. Emily was beginning to feel worse.
“Why won’t . . . you release me?” it asked.
“We don’t want to hurt you,” Emily said. “They—we won’t release you because you’ll only hurt us.”
“I must . . . stop you,” the treant said. “You will . . . hurt others.”
“We’ll what?”
Emily was surprised by that. In fact, she didn’t entirely know what the treant meant. She was just about to ask it again when she was interrupted by shouting.
“You stupid girl! Look what you’ve done!”
“I knew it!”
Emily dropped her question for the treant and ran around it to the other side.
“Let go of me!” Belen yelled.
The woman was being held by two amazons while Heliena hoisted up a handful of wooden sticks.
“She was going to make a cage,” Heliena explained. “A cage for the basilisk.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Belen yelled and jerked an arm free from one of her captors.
“Then what were you going to do with them?” Chara asked, still sitting under a nearby tree. “You certainly weren’t going to make a bow out of that, were you?”
“Someone put that in my pack!” Belen yelled. “Those aren’t mine!”
“Oh, my apologies,” Heliena said, putting a hand to her chest. “I didn’t realize. They just happened to fall out of your pack then? Someone else’s I suppose?”
“You bumped into me and spilled my pack!” Belen’s teeth were clenched in a fit of rage. “Those are planted! I’m not the traitor, you pathetic piece of manticore waste! Someone put them there. Her! She did it!”
Belen pointed an accusing finger at Emily, and the rest of the amazons turned accusing eyes toward the little farmer girl in their ranks. Emily involuntarily shrunk from the gaze, seeing in a heartbeat that a good half of the amazons believed Belen’s words without question.
“It’s not me!” Emily shouted back. “I’ve been watched this whole time!”
“It’s true,” one of them shouted, Emily missed who in the crowd. “I’ve had my eye on her since we came over the hill.”
“She did it before then,” Belen seethed, stepping forward. “She planted them on the Great Plains.”
“And how could I do that?” Emily countered. “I’ve never even seen a treant. Where did I find the wood to plant this evidence? I came to you all empty handed.”
Belen choked on her own fury, and many of the amazons startled at the truth of Emily’s words. They turned from the outsider, slowly, and narrowed their eyes at the older woman who was starting to shrink back.
“Well,” Belen stuttered and swallowed. “Well, it was her then!”
She pointed at Heliena, but an unexpected ally came forward.
“She’s been watched, too,” Adelpha said. “Did she also plant evidence back on the plains? How many others will you accuse before you speak the truth? If you’re so innocent, then please, why don’t you tell everyone what you were doing before the raid on Okamoto Karaoshi in Lucifan?”
Belen’s mouth snapped open and then shut. Her look swept quickly from hatred to surprise, and every amazon eye saw it. Then the surprise turned to worry.
“Where was I when?” she clarified, much calmer now.
“Just before the attack on the samurai,” Adelpha repeated. “Emily saw you sneak out of the tavern and return just before the attack.”
“She was with me!” Gaia stepped forward.
“You lie!” Hanna stepped out of the crowd. “I saw you enter that room alone. I always wondered why you lied about that, but I didn’t say anything out of respect. Now I find you’re covering for the old woman? I call you a liar!”
“And I’ll slit your throat!” Gaia screamed.
“Shut your mouths, all of you!” Adelpha boomed.
Every amazon tensed, knees bent and hands curled in fists. It seemed to Emily that nearly every woman was ready to draw her knife, and the only thing keeping them at bay was that Adelpha would be the first they’d have to fight. She stood tall, fearless, and enraged in the center of them all, one vein in her neck popping out from rage barely contained. Emily felt her hands itch for her bow.
“Listen to me, all of you!” Adelpha shouted again. “There is a traitor amongst us. That much is known. Now, in this moment, our allegiance is to the group, not to individuals. We must stand together—”
“Impartial!” Emily yelled, echoing the angel.
“Impartial!” Adelpha nodded. “Yes! Now, I promise you, no blood will be split this day. Whoever stands accused will be brought back to Themiscyra to stand fair trial. However, we must each be honest now. We must pour out all we know of each other to ensure the proper criminal is found. We will not let emotions take us in this! We love each other. I would sacrifice myself for any of you. This trai
tor, though, whomever she is, is not one of my sisters. I hope you feel the same. Now, stay calm, and don’t speak unless I say so. Hanna!”
“Gaia said she was with Belen, but I saw her enter a room upstairs alone,” Hanna said. “I didn’t say anything at first, thinking maybe Belen was already there, but then I realized I never saw Belen go up or come back down the stairs. I didn’t know why Gaia was covering for her.”
“Can anyone confirm this?” Adelpha waited a moment, but no one spoke up. “Can anyone deny this? Say you saw Belen going up and down the stairs while in the room with Gaia?”
No one spoke up. Adelpha whirled and pointed to Emily.
“What did you see?” the princess asked.
“I was upstairs, hiding in Heliena’s room so I could sneak onto Okamoto’s ship with the rest of you,” Emily said, making sure to be brazenly honest. “I saw Belen sneak out after the plans were made and sneak back in just before the attack.”
“You’re going to trust a farmer over me?” Belen sneered.
“I said to be quiet, hag!” Adelpha screeched, taking a step closer to Belen and bearing down on her.
Belen’s upper lip curled, but she went silent.
“Now, Gaia,” Adelpha turned. “Speak the truth, or you might find yourself wanting come Themiscyra. Did you cover for Belen? If so, did she tell you where she was going?”
Gaia’s eyes flicked to Belen, and Adelpha roared and stepped forward.
“Look at me!” she yelled. “Don’t you take your eyes away either. Answer me!”
Gaia, for all her size, shrunk under Adelpha’s fury. She looked down at her feet and mumbled something.
“Louder,” Adelpha said.
“I covered for her,” Gaia spoke. “She did not tell me where she went.”
“It was a man!” Belen burst out. “I was visiting a man.”
“A samurai man?” Chara asked.
“Chara, stay out,” Adelpha’s voice rivaled a diamond in hardness. “Belen, continue.”
“There’s nothing more to tell!” Belen yelled. “I wanted the comfort of a warm bed before a fight, is that so much to ask?”
A silence fell over the investigation. Belen’s friends waited impatiently for their leader to prove her innocence; Gaia, especially, seemed both overly eager and yet regretful for the part she’d played thus far. The rest of the amazons waited to hear the verdict, all of them suspicious and yet unsold.
“A man so late at night,” Adelpha hummed. “Straight to his bed and then back, you must have known him. Not a stranger, then?”
“No,” Belen said. “I know him well. He’s a knight.”
“You can say he’s a damn minotaur for all I care,” Adelpha scoffed. “The only thing I want to hear is the truth. If you knew this man so well, then I am truly perplexed. None of us have ever seen you with this man you claim to know. Anyone? Can anyone name this man?”
No one spoke.
“There’s a reason for that,” Belen said.
“And what is it?”
“I,” Belen paused. “I can’t say.”
“You’re married,” Emily said, voice soaked in realization.
The amazon group turned to their newest member as she stepped forward with eyes alight. Emily nodded to herself slowly, and then the amazons turned back to Belen, just in time to see her reel with shock and fear.
“What did you say?” Belen asked after a pause.
“You heard me,” Emily replied. “You’re married, aren’t you?”
“You have no authority here, farmer. I will not respond to you.”
“Then respond to me,” Adelpha said, taking a step closer to Belen. “Are . . . you . . . married?”
“What? No!” Belen said, though no strength was in her voice.
None came to her aid, and Belen looked back and forth amongst the crowd. A lump seemed to have swelled in her throat and her shoulders were tense. Then, defiantly, her body relaxed and she sighed.
“Yes. I’m married.”
The amazons gasped and put hands up to their gaping mouths. Even her friends took a step back in surprise.
“Belen!” Gaia yelled in shock and disbelief.
“Tie her up,” Adelpha commanded.
Chapter 6
Adelpha made it clear that Belen was to stand trial as promised. No guilty accusation was to be leveled yet, not until every voice had been heard. Still, though, what came to light was already damning enough. Emily, with Quartus’ words ever ringing in the back of her mind, struggled to give Belen any notion of being innocent.
At first, the amazons were quite shocked to find that Belen was the traitor. However, as it was soon brought up by Iezabel, it would have been a shock no matter whom the traitor turned out to be. Even Heliena and Emily, though most suspected, would not have been met with grinning expressions had they been found guilty. The amazons prided themselves on their close relationships with each other, and there was nothing common about one of their own plotting to kill another. After the surprise wore off, Gaia and Belen’s other followers made a gallant attempt to argue for Belen’s innocence. However, their lack of knowledge about Belen’s suspicious activity and marriage weakened their resolve for Belen’s cause. Also, when asked who else could be the traitor, they looked at Emily.
Adelpha said to save it for the trial at home—effectively dismissing them—and the amazons solemnly returned to carving their bows. The bows would not be finished that day or the day after. It would take a good few months to sculpt, dry, and properly prepare each bow for use. By the time the pregnant amazons had their children, their bows would be ready. Hanna described in great detail to Emily the joys of giving a newborn amazon her first bow, having done it so many times before.
“You know,” Hanna whispered, “I said this child would be my last, but I also said that the last time, and the time before that. I’ve had a few sons, too, but they’ve been given over to the surrounding tribes. I feel no need to visit them with so many daughters around me. There’s just something about bringing a woman into this world and giving her the tools to be strong.”
Emily wondered then what Mariam had thought when she gave birth to her only daughter. She must have thought that instead of giving her the tools to fight the world, she would keep the world from fighting her daughter. At least, that’s how it seemed, since Mariam had done everything imaginable to keep Emily from exploring the unknown.
Fortunately, it hadn’t worked.
“How many times have you been to Lucifan?” Emily asked Adelpha.
“That last time was my third trip.”
“How come you never tried to have a child, if you don’t mind me asking? Isn’t that the purpose for amazons going to Lucifan?”
Adelpha paused before answering.
“I had thought about doing it this trip, but having you come by, and the plot to kill me, kind of stalled my efforts. But truthfully?” Adelpha looked at Emily now. “I went to Lucifan just to travel. I wanted to see it so badly as a child, and once I did, I only wanted to see more. Also, I haven’t quite found the right man, yet. To some amazons, it doesn’t matter, but to me it does.”
“Ha!” Emily smiled. “There’s two things we have in common.”
“Hm, I must have bad taste then.”
They both laughed as they watched the others strip their branches of leaves and bark, exposing the raw wood underneath that would be used to make the new bows. Kirke and Leda were helping each other out. Kirke was stripping the leaves and twigs off one while Leda stripped its bark when she was done. Emily smiled for a moment and hoped that the twins’ daughters would be just as close as their mothers were.
Emily thought of home again, as she often did whenever she looked at Kirke and Leda. She thought about Abraham and about Nicholas and hoped to see them again soon. She wondered what they were doing now, but she already knew. They would be helping Father and Mother tend to the crops and making sure the buried seeds produced the results needed for the family to survive. Emi
ly hoped they were getting along just fine without her help.
Then, Emily thought of Sir Gavin Shaw. He was a knight in Lucifan, just a few years older than her, and had shown her such kindness and trust when she’d met him. She pictured his handsome features and green eyes, wishing to see them again. She daydreamed about drawing her fingertips along the rough edge of his chin, teasing out a smile. She did not know when she would be returning to Lucifan, but she would certainly seek him out. Chara would have to be left behind, though. Emily’s grandmother had made her disdain for the knighthood very clear to Emily as soon as she saw Gavin’s charm working its magic.
The amazons stayed next to their treant prisoner throughout the rest of the day, whittling down their future bows and making more arrows. It was understood that each amazon should fill her quiver when she had the time, especially when they were so deep into Angor. Sentries were set up, half from Adelpha’s followers and half from Belen’s to keep anyone from making a rash decision. At least, that’s what everyone assumed Adelpha was doing when she assigned posts for the night, though Adelpha never said as much. The only thing that pleased Emily was that Adelpha gave her second watch. With any luck, Emily would be awoken just before the banshee choked her. Though perhaps, maybe, just maybe, there would be no nightmare tonight. Belen had been captured, and her damage had been prevented. The only thing they sought to do now was to return home and put the wretched woman on trial for her crimes.
They laid out their bedrolls away from the treant, though not so far that they couldn’t hear if it struggled free. Emily was sure, if that happened, they would feel it first and hear it second. As the night crept over them, Emily contemplated how scary it would be to fight a tree among trees in the dark. For that reason, the amazons made a fire that night, just in case.
Emily laid her head down to rest and closed her eyes. The sound of the fire snapping, crackling, and popping broke the silence of the forest and helped put her mind to rest. Though when her eyes shut, all she could picture were the huge, human-like treant eyes staring at her.
She shuddered and went to sleep.
* * *