Amazon Chief (45 page)

I smiled. "Please tell me you're not on my case about that now, too."

Jasmine smiled, but neither of them answered more plainly.

I absorbed everything I could, and then Ralla and Jasmine returned to Queen's Town the following morning.

* * * *

"Chief Beria?"

I looked up. It was late in the evening. Malora and Maya would arrive for our trip in another two days, and I was still studying maps and making notes.

"Hello, Tamma," I said. "Come on in." I noticed she was alone, but she was carrying steaming mugs of cider. "Oh, a blessing on your home," I said. "Thank you."

"May I speak with you?"

"Of course. Is this a chair conversation or a cuddle together conversation?"

"This is a 'let me soothe your soul while I ask a favor' conversation."

I laughed and gestured to a little sofa Rora had made for me last year. We moved together, and Tamma settled next to me, her hands moving for my open skin, quieting the voices. We sat together for a while, and I sighed.

"Thank you," I whispered. "I sleep so much better after one of your visits. Does the favor you are about to ask involve me losing you for a while?"

"A while, maybe," she said. "Or maybe not. My sister's letter last week -- do you know the complete contents?"

"Maya only told me about your mother. I'm so sorry, Tamma."

"Thank you, Beria," she said. We sat quietly for another minute, then she said, "My sister doesn't ask me to come to White Pine. She asks if she may come here for a while."

"Of course she is welcome," I said. "Does she bring a family?"

"Two daughters. They are eight and ten."

"Their father?"

"Fatherhood did not please him."

We sighed together.

"They are all welcome. We will need to produce an escort."

"I have not told you everything," she said. "I have talked to my warrior. She is uncomfortable escorting my sister and her daughters with just she and I. I am sufficiently trained when it is just the two of us, but adding young children leaves more to watch over."

"Then we will find a solution," I said. "Or did you already have one in mind?"

"We have ideas, but no particular solution we prefer ahead of another."

"You bring me a puzzle to solve then. How soon does she wish to come? It would be easier now or after the spring melt has dried."

"Her letter did not say," Tamma replied. "I believe she would accept whatever opportunity we may produce. There is more."

"Oh?"

"She may wish to stay for more than a brief visit. You may not know this, but when Queen Malora, Maya and Nori came to White Pine, both my sister and I wanted to leave with them. My mother begged for one of us to remain, and so my sister let me choose to stay or go. I chose selfishly."

"Becoming an Amazon is not a selfish decision."

"It was to me. I was unhappy. I have been very happy with Badra. I miss my sisters and little brother, but I made the right decision to come. And Lia made the wrong decision to stay, even though it was our mother's wish, and we would perhaps both be saddened at having deserted her when she asked one of us to stay."

"Does your sister's letter indicate she wishes to become a companion? And her daughters are very young."

"There is perhaps precedent for the latter. And no, she does not say. She only asks to come visit, and it is only a hint that she wishes the visit to be longer than a week or a month. She did say, 'Aside from my daughters, I have no life here'."

"You have another sister, and a brother?"

"Yes. My brother was a good boy, but he has become a man much like our father. I believe this is the basis for her desire to leave. Chief Beria, my brother would let her come to visit, but he would perhaps attempt to block an attempt to move."

"Does he have power?"

"My father was the mayor for a long time. Arden does not have that power, but he has the power of a brother over a sister."

"That has power?"

"In White Pine, it does."

"And so, we need more than a minor escort?"

"I do not think so, but perhaps."

"All right. Anything else?"

"My sister is an excellent cook."

I laughed. "Was that a bribe?"

"Yes."

"If they come to visit, they visit us as honorary Amazons," I stated. "They will train, but train lightly. If they choose to stay, they may still train lightly, but they will train properly."

"I have other favors."

"Of course."

"Do not separate us, Lia and me."

"Of course not."

"If they choose to remain, they may need their own hut. Badra will allow them to visit, even an extended visit, but I do not believe I can ask her to accept two young girls and my sister in a one room hut."

"I imagine that would dampen your relationship. Tamma, you bring puzzles to solve, but I do not believe they are difficult puzzles. However, I believe this is important enough I must ask Queen Malora to become involved."

She pulled away and I saw her smile. "Why do you think I came to you now rather than waiting three weeks?"

* * * *

In the morning two days later, Malora, Maya, Ralla, Jasmine, and, to my
pleasure, Nori and Rora rode into Lake Juna. I was very pleased to see all of them. I was ready to go, but I asked Malora if we could speak first. "And actually, I think I need all of you, and we need Badra and Tamma as well."

"I wanted to see her," Maya said. "I remember her mother and wanted to offer my condolences."

"How long will this take?"

"Possibly only a few minutes," I said. "It may be that I will present a puzzle to you, and you will want to solve it immediately or use the time on the trail to discuss solutions."

"Ooh, Maya, your sister brings us a puzzle," Malora said. "Perhaps solving it will occupy your thoughts during the trip."

"Nori, are you attending our trip?"

"I am," she said.

We released their horses and pack animals into the paddock, not bothering to relieve them of their burdens, although Maya settled her staff into place on her back. I hugged everyone, and Malora asked for a tour of the village before we talked.

"And I believe we have cider warming for you," I said. And so I offered a tour, ending at the dining hall. Morning training was about to start, so after Malora greeted everyone, speaking with them for a few moments, we sent them on their way, retaining Badra and Tamma. The companions served cider to all of us, and we took seats.

"So, this puzzle," Malora said.

I explained as succinctly as I could.

Malora frowned, and I feared she was unhappy. "I am quite disappointed, Beria," she said.

"I am sorry, Queen Malora. I thought it would be okay."

"Well, of course it's okay," she said. "Here I thought you were presenting a real challenge, and instead you offer something so easy to solve. I had thought we would give something for Maya to chew over for days and days."

"My apologies, Queen Malora," I said. "I did not recognize this goal. I shall strive harder next time."

"See that you do."

"Well, perhaps I will summarize," Malora said. "Lia wishes to visit. She comes with two daughters, somewhat young to be Amazons. It is undetermined at this time the duration of the visit, and Lia herself may not know how long she wishes to remain. There may be some interference in an attempt to leave White Pine, especially if it looks like she is attempting to leave permanently. And, of course, she would need a proper escort."

"And there is the matter of housing, if her stay becomes extended."

"And her status, and that of her children," Malora added. She turned to my sister. "Maya, did you wish to solve this puzzle now or discuss it at length?"

Maya elbowed her warrior. "We could change our spring recruitment plan to cover the northern areas," Maya said, "collecting Lia on our way through White Pine. But there are difficulties."

She looked around at us.

"Oh, come on," she said after a moment. "One of you must see the difficulties?"

"I do, of course," Malora said. "I am the queen. I see everything. But I did not want to steal the puzzle from anyone else."

Maya chuckled. "Uh huh. Right."

"If we wait until the spring drive, that is still some months off, and while Tamma hasn't clearly said so, I believe a more timely solution is requested."

Tamma didn't say anything, but her posture suggested I was correct.

"Also," I added, "if we acquire Lia during a recruitment drive, it may look like we are recruiting her, which could lead to other difficulties."

"Yes," said Maya. "And we were just there two years ago. We haven't been to the southeast coast in five, and they have been slacking off. I wanted to go glare at them in person."

Nori chuckled. "No one glares quite like our little Maya."

"Well then, Maya," Malora said, "did you care to try another solution?"

"I know what I want to do," Maya said. "I don't know if you'll like it."

Malora smiled. "You know I am helpless to resist anything you desire, Maya."

"Let's go get her. Now. Queen Malora can visit White Pine to offer condolences to the town for the loss of a friend of the Amazons."

Tamma's smile was all the answer I needed to know what she preferred.

"Keep going, Maya," Malora said.

"We're already heading north. Let's go to North Glen as planned. Then we detour to White Pine. Grab Lia and her daughters and bring them back with us. Then finish our tour to the south. We'll need to warn those villages we'll be a week or ten days later than planned. And while we're there, let's browbeat more building materials from them. As long as we're there and all that." She turned to Rora. "Do we ask too much from them?"

"Good goddess, no," Rora replied. "I suggested we start our own mill here, but-" Then she broke off. "Um. Malora said 'no'."

I thought there was a longer answer than that. Everyone else seemed to know what they were talking about, but if they didn't want to share with me, that was fine.

"My point is this: White Pine is only sending us a few trees worth of lumber each year. Yes, they mill and dry the lumber for us, and that has additional value. Even the years we've asked the most from them, they do not tithe to the same level the villages closer to home do. Howard's Den devotes a significant amount of attention to helping the Amazons, and in White Pine, we don't even rate an afterthought. Go tell them what you want and tell them to be happy we don't leave someone there to check their books."

"If we ask for material for one hut, the brother will know why," I said.

"So we'll ask for enough for ten," Maya said.

"Demand, Maya," Rora said.

"So fierce," Maya said with a grin. "Perhaps we should let you negotiate for us."

"Twenty huts, coming right up," Rora replied, matching Maya's grin.

Malora looked around, checking consensus, before turning to Badra. "Can you tear yourself away for, hmm. Perhaps two weeks? Lia may need some time before she could leave."

I raised my hand, causing Malora to laugh. "Yes, Chief Beria?"

"Whose responsibility is it to coordinate with Queen's Town and Black Oak if we just caused a patrol scheduling difficulty?"

"Yours," she said.

"Queen Malora, as the chief of Queen's Town, if we just caused a scheduling difficulty, may we turn to Queen's Town for assistance?"

She laughed. "Of course. And we can coordinate with Valan in another few hours." She looked at Badra. "Coming with us?"

Tamma looked at her warrior, and I knew immediately the answer.

"Yes," Badra said, laughing. "But now we have just given
Glorana and Frida a puzzle to solve, as neither Beria or I will be here to handle it."

"As for the rest of the puzzle," Malora said, "this would be difficult if there were male children, but as there are only girls, there is little complication. Chief Beria, I give you permission to offer honorary Amazon status to whomever you wish, but if the stay looks to become permanent, they must offer pledge as true Amazons. They will be trained as appropriate. I will not force Lia to become a warrior's companion, but if the daughters are still here at fourteen, it will be complicated if they do not pledge to a warrior. I would not necessarily evict them, but it would be simpler if there were no uncomfortable questions to answer. We do not acquire camp followers."

"Tamma? Do you care for this solution?"

"Yes," she said. "I do not profess to know my sister's heart, and this may turn into a wasted trip. She may have changed her mind by the time we arrive."

"Twenty huts," Rora said. "I would love material for twenty huts. Is that sufficient reason to detour?"

Malora and Maya communed with a glance. "Yes," they said together.