Amazon Chief (12 page)

"Beria is only thirteen, and that woman last year tried to take her when she was twelve. Come back next year."

"I'll be fourteen this summer, Mama," I said. "And Omie needs me now, not next year."

"I misspoke," Ralla said. "We take them in the spring the year they will turn fourteen. If Beria were from one of the plains villages, and she were to join us, it would have been three weeks ago."

"You already took Maya," Mama said. "Take someone else's daughter. It's not right to take two daughters from one house."

"Mrs. Softpeace," Omie started to say.

"I told you to call me Renee!"

"Renee," Omie said again. "My sister and I are both Amazons. We have no other sisters, only an older brother. One of our cousins moved in with my parents to help my mama out, once I left, but in my village, it's a source of pride for two daughters to join the Amazons, and the entire village helps out when that happens."

"Mama," I said, "You know I love you and Father. But you raised me to live up to my responsibilities."

She pushed away from me, sniffling, and looked at me. "I'm proud of you, Beria," she said, "you and Maya both. But are you sure you're doing this for the right reasons?"

"What reasons do you think I'm doing it for?"

"To be like your sister and to get away from your teacher at school."

I looked down. "I admit I thought of both of those," I told her. But I reached backwards and clasped Omie's hand. "But Omie needs me. And I think I'd be a good Amazon. Maya will be there to look out for me, and I'll be there to look out for her, too."

Mama put her hand on my cheek and said, "I think you'd be a good Amazon, too." Then she looked past me. "But if you don't bring her home to visit, you'll hear about it from me!"

"I promise, Renee," Omie said. "I'll take good care of her. It's a long trip, but we'll come as often as we can."

"Renee," said Ralla quietly, "It's not unheard of for parents to visit us, if you and your husband can get away."

"My husband could come?" she asked. "I thought men weren't allowed."

"Men can't fight the demons, and we don't let them live in the forest, but from time to time,
they come to visit. Other times, we meet somewhere in the middle, maybe one of the plains villages. And you can send letters. They can take time to arrive, but we get them eventually."

"Maya has been sending letters," Mama said. "And you, young lady, will do the same!"

"Yes, Mama," I agreed.

She rose from the table and turned away, drying her tears. She puttered around for a moment before turning back. "When do you leave?"

"When the rest of the Amazons get back," I said.

"Several more days," Ralla explained.

"Then I expect you here for dinners," Mama said. "Do I make myself clear?"

I turned to Omie, and she nodded. "Both of us, Mama?"

Mama stared at Omie for a moment. "Yes," she said. "Both of you." She turned to Ralla. "You two are also welcome."

"That's not necessary, Renee," Ralla said.

"I know it's not necessary," Mama said. "Please come this evening, unless you have another commitment."

"We'll be here, then," Ralla said. "Thank you. Can we bring anything?"

"We're going for a ride down the coast," I said. "But I'm taking Omie out on the cove this afternoon. We can try to catch some fish."

"Your father catches plenty of fish for us," Mama said. "Just bring your appetites. Where are you staying at night?"

"We have a camp set up in one of the fallow fields," I explained.

"We have room here, if you would prefer a roof over your heads."

"We're used to tents," Omie said. "But thank you."

"Then I expect you to take care of your pets before you go, Beria," Mama said. "You may let them go outside."

"Yes, Mama," I said.

"Make sure they don't get loose in the house," Mama said. "Do you need me to pack a lunch for you?"

"That's very generous, Renee," Ralla said. "But we have a good trail lunch."

"I baked fresh bread this morning," Mama replied. "There's a spare loaf."

"You just invited guests for dinner," Ralla pointed out.

"And I can make more bread, Ralla," Mama said. "Beria, go take care of your spiders. They haven't been fed in two days."

"Spiders?" said Omie. "You have pet SPIDERS?"

I turned and grinned at her. "Chandor is allergic to dogs."

Omie immediately turned to Renee. "Your daughter has a mark on her ankle. What is it from?"

"Left or right ankle?" Mama asked. "And how is it you know about that? She's only thirteen."

"Right ankle," I provided. "And I told her."

"That was the man-o-war
sting, wasn't it?" Mama asked.

I turned to Omie and crossed my arms in front of me.

"You should have heard her howl," Mama said, "but the scary one was the shark that bit Chandor."

"It wasn't my fault!" I said.

"It most certainly was your fault," Mama said. She turned to Omie. "She dangled him into the water, calling out, 'here, sharky, sharky'. It's all fun and games until someone gets bit by a shark."

"It wasn't a shark!" I said. "Why does everyone insist on calling it a shark? It was only a barracuda, and it barely nipped him. And he was giggling while I did it."

"He wasn't giggling after the fish bit him," Mama said.

Omie finally lost it, cracking up.

"It's not that funny," Mama said sternly.

"She tried to tell me it was Maya, dangling her in the water."

"Where do you think I learned it?" I asked hotly.

Omie shut up, turning to look at Mama.

Mama shrugged. "If Maya ever did that to Beria, she never got caught. But there's a much bigger age difference, and Maya babysat Beria from the day she was born. I wouldn't put it past her."

I turned to Omie. "See?"

"Oh, don't take that tone with me," she said. "You have pet spiders?"

"Only four," I said. "Come on, you can help me let them go."

"Oh, I don't think so," Omie said.

Mother began to smile. "The big strong Amazon is afraid of spiders?"

"I've had my share of spiders today," Omie said.

"Come on, Omie," I said. "I'll show you my room."

* * * *

She wouldn't even look at the spiders.

* * * *

Later, out in the cove, she didn't think it was at all funny when I dangled my feet in the water saying, "Here, sharky, sharky, sharky."

I loved being an Amazon. Oh, it was hard, especially at first, and I missed my family. But I had Maya. Although I was closer in age to my brothers, of all my siblings, I loved Maya the most. She was the one who always protected me, and she was the one who held me when I cried. And so I had Maya and quickly made more friends.

In the evening of the day after we arrived at Queen's Town, there was a ceremony. Maya took all the new companions aside before the ceremony and talked to us individually. I don't know if she told the other new companions what she told me, but she said, "Beria, this ceremony is very important. The details need to remain a secret to you, but if your warrior tells you to do something, you must do it without hesitation."

"Of course, Maya," I said.

Up until the ceremony, I'd been wearing my own clothes. Twice during the trip from Gallen's Cove I asked Omie when I would get my own Amazon clothes. She told me, "When I'm ready to give them to you."

And so I'd asked Maya if I could have some, and she told me, "Your warrior will see to your needs, Beria." And then she frowned at me. "You already asked her and didn't like the answer you gave her."

I looked down. "Was that wrong?"

"It's no different than asking Mama for permission to do something, then going to Father when you don't like the answer Mama gave you."

"So are you Mama or Father?" I'd asked her with a grin.

She hadn't answered that. "If you don't understand something Omie tells you, you can ask me about it. But I expect you to tell me when you've already talked to Omie."

"I'm sorry, Maya," I said, and I was. I hadn't thought of it that way.

And so I arrived at Queen's Town, still dressed in my clothing from home. Vorine and Omie showed their hut to Careen and me. Omie was right; it was small. It wouldn't be too bad for one warrior and her companion, but it was going to be cozy for all four of us. The beds were big and consumed much of the available space. On the other hand, the beds were big, and there was ample bedding.

Vorine saw Careen and I eyeing the space and said, "If Maya can get us building supplies, then it's temporary."

"It's great," I said. I made a point of stretching. "Much better than the tent, and a lot more places for spiders to hide."

Vorine grinned at me, as I'd told the story of Omie and the spiders over a bonfire during the trip here. Omie made a disgusted noise and said, "You can learn some of your companion duties right now, Beria. There is laundry to do."

The next day was the ceremony. She took me to the pools
. I was a little self-conscious about it, but we bathed each other, then Omie dressed me in a simple, white shift. I helped her into her clothes. Then she braided my hair in the Amazon style, and I braided hers.

It was at the ceremony she gave me my first Amazon clothes. I loved them.

"Congratulations," she whispered to me while hugging me. "You are now officially an Amazon." She slipped her fingers against the back of my neck and buried her face in my neck. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

* * * *

Being an Amazon was hard.

Omie had warned me, and so had Maya, but even with their warnings, I wasn't ready for the first day of training at Queen's Town. After breakfast, but before training, Maya pulled me to the side and said, "Beria, today when we train, you mustn't quit until your warrior gives you permission."

"I know, Maya," I told her.

"If she tells you to run faster, you must run faster."

"I know."

"The first several weeks were the worst for me."

"Maya, I know," I told her, a little annoyed.

My sister heard my tone and frowned.

"I'm sorry," I told her right away.

"Be careful with that tone, Beria," she warned me. "You can get away with me in private, but if you try that on Queen Malora or Nori, they'll make you regret it. And it will break her heart, but Omie can't afford to let you get away with it, either."

"I said I was sorry," I snapped at her.

She backed away, holding her hands up. "Remember what I said." And then she joined her warrior in the grass. Omie called me over as well, and then it was time to stretch.

Stretching wasn't bad. Omie had already taught me the exercises, but Nori taught them fresh. We stretched, and then Nori declared it was time to run. Everyone climbed to her feet and set off. "Maya, set a pace for the companions, please. Bea, you may run with the companions or with your warrior."

Bea was one of the companions. All told, there were fourteen warriors living in Queen's Town and nine companions, but that day, four of the warriors were on patrol along with two of their companions. I would meet everyone over the first week. Bea chose to run with the companions.

Nori set a pace for the warriors and my sister for the companions. She set a brisk pace, although at first I didn't have any trouble keeping up. I was surprised when Omie ran next to me. "You aren't running with the warriors?"

"For now, I run with my new companion," she said. "Keep up with Maya." I glanced around and saw Vorine running next to Careen and Ralla with Jasmine. I was surprised to see Malora running with Maya, but halfway around the field, she picked up her pace and caught up to the warriors, pulling into step alongside Nori.

We went once around the field, and then Maya said, "Faster now." Immediately she pulled a few steps ahead of me, Jasmine and Careen also lagging while the other companions easily kept pace with my sister.

"Keep up," Omie said. "Beria, keep up!"

I stepped it up, struggling to catch up to my sister.

Jasmine was tall and lanky, with long legs, and she seemed to struggle less than Careen and me. We made it twice more around the field, but when Maya began a fourth circle, I thought I was going to die. Careen and I both slowed down.

"Keep up!" Beria said, and from the other side of Jasmine, I heard Vorine urging Careen to greater speed. "Beria you won't like it if you don't keep up. Maya is running slower than she is supposed to, Beria. You can keep up."

I tried, but I couldn't catch up to my sister, and Careen wasn't doing any better.

That was when I heard a "crack!" from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, and I saw Queen Malora, coiling a whip. She reached out with it again and it went "crack!" immediately behind me. She hadn't touched me with it, but I yelped in surprise.