Amazon Chief (6 page)

"If you face me," said Vorine, "You're on the right side. Your clothing is on the middle of the bedding. Do you need help?"

"I can't reach the laces in back," I said.

"I'll help," said another voice, and I recognized Careen's voice. Careen was a couple of years older than I was. We didn't have much to do with each other. I was surprised to find her here, but realized it sort of made sense.

I heard rustling, then an arm bumped against me. "Here," Careen said, clasping my arm and tugging. I followed where she led me, and then I found a small pile of clothing. I sorted through it, finding my pajamas from home. "Turn around, and I'll help you out of your dress."

It took a lot of squirming around,
but Careen helped me out of my clothes, and then I squirmed into my pajamas. "What do I do with the dress?"

"Hand it to me," Omie said. "I'll take it to Maya. They'll have someplace to hang it up."

"That's what we did with mine," Careen said. She took my dress from me and I saw, barely, as she handed it out to Omie.

"You can set the rest of your clothes
just past the pillows," Vorine said. "Sometimes I sleep with mine inside the bed."

"In your clothes?"

"Next to me," she said. "So they're warm in the morning."

I put my clothes where Vorine told me, finding a pack to set them on so they weren't on the ground. Then I fumbled to crawl under the blankets. It was chilly.

"If you hurry before Omie gets back," said Vorine, "You can decide if you want the inside or the outside. The inside is warmer, but it's also cozier."

"Warmer sounds good," I said with a grin, settling in. I could feel Careen just a few inches away from me, bundled under her covers with Vorine.

"Following in your sister's footsteps?" Careen asked me.

"Hopefully not quite," I said. Vorine barked laughter.

A moment later, Omie was at the tent door, slipping in. She was far more graceful than I was, slipping out of her boots and setting them with the shoes, then closing up the tent door. She crawled up the bedding, and began crawling over me before she said, "Oops, sorry," and moved to the side. I heard her fumbling through the pack above my head, and then she squirmed out of her clothing and into something else. She slipped into the bed and turned to face me.

"Slumber party," she said.

"Yes," said Vorine.

"Do you always sleep in tents?" I asked.

"When we're in the field," Vorine replied. "But we have huts at home."

"Huts?"

"A one room house," Omie explained. "Normally each warrior gets a hut to share with her companion, but Queen's Town is overfull. Vorine and I are sharing a hut, and our old warriors are sharing a hut."

"I think we're going to build some new huts this summer," Vorine said. "Maya is trying to get us the materials we need?"

"Maya is?" I asked.

"Yes," said Vorine. "Do you understand about the tithe?"

"That's when we send you food."

"That's when the villages send us food," Omie said. "At least for tonight, you're an Amazon, Beria."

I thought about it, and my heart swelled. "Really?"

"Yes," she said. "Isn't she, Vorine?"

"Tonight, everyone in this tent is an Amazon," Vorine declared. "After tonight, we'll see."

"All right," I said, "The tithe is when the villages send us," and I stressed that word, "food."

"They also send us other things."

"Like the materials to build huts?"

"Yes, sometimes, if we ask," Vorine said. "Or something. You know, I don't know. But Maya said she'd get us materials, so she'll get us materials. She didn't explain how, and it didn't even occur to me to ask."

"So, to answer your question," explained Omie, "at home we sleep in beds in our huts. When we're traveling or on patrol, we sleep in tents. When there are a lot of us, Queen Malora has that pavilion you saw, but when she is on patrol or when she and Maya are traveling without the rest of us, she sleeps in a tent just like this one."

I tried to envision my bookish sister sleeping on the ground in a tent, but I realized my sister had changed quite a bit in the last year.

"Vorine," said Omie, "I heard another voice here. You've met Beria, but I'm not sure who else is in here with us."

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Vorine. "Careen, you know Beria."

"Yes."

"And this is my sister, Omie. Omie, this is Careen."

"Pleased to meet you," Omie said. "Are you and Beria friends?"

"Um," said Careen. "I'm a little older than her."

"We're in school together," I explained, "but she is two grades ahead of me, and we don't really play together or anything."

"Two years make such a difference?" Vorine asked.

"Um," said Careen again. "Beria is my old teacher's sister."

"So?"

"Some of the other kids don't like to play with me," I explained. "They're afraid I'll tattle on them."

No one said anything for a minute, and it felt awkward.

"Maybe I should go," I said quietly.

"No!" Omie and Vorine both said at the same time, and Omie put a hand on my shoulder, pressing me into the bedding. "Please don't go, Beria," Omie said, and there was a great deal of emotion in her voice.

"Do you two fight?" Vorine asked quietly.

"No," said Careen. "I hang out with my friends. I don't have anything against Beria."

I didn't care for Careen that much. She'd been a troublemaker for Maya. I didn't say anything.

"Beria?" Omie asked.

"What?"

"Do you and Careen fight?"

"No." But I didn't elaborate.

The tent was silent for a good ten seconds, and then Omie said, "This is where we're all going to act like Amazons. As your warrior, Beria, if I ask a question, I expect an answer."

"I answered," I said. "We don't fight."

"And yet, there is something you aren't saying."

I didn't know what to do, except I suddenly felt a great need to flee. The evening had been going really well, and I was excited at the thought of camping out, but I felt like I was on the spot, and I didn't like it.

"She doesn't want to bad mouth me," Careen finally said. "I used to pick on her."

"That was a long time ago," I said.

"And cause trouble for her sister," Careen added.

I didn't respond to that. That was far more current.

"How much trouble?" Vorine asked.

"Not a lot," Careen said. "I didn't mean it."

I felt Omie next to me, shifting position, and then her mouth was over my ear. "Is she lying?" she asked quietly.

I thought about it. Maya had never complained, but I knew Careen had been one of the girls most likely to cause her consternation.

Yes, Maya taught me that word, too, but it had been directed towards me at the time.

I answered Omie's
question with a couple of nods.

"If I ask a question," Omie whispered to me, "I expect an honest answer. Do you understand?" And I nodded. She leaned away. "Vorine and I are together a lot, which means the two of you would be together a lot. Initially, we would be sharing a hut, and it isn't that large a hut. Furthermore, you are both companions at the same point in your training, and you would need to train together and do other duties together. If there is a problem, we need to know."

"I'd be the youngest," I said. "Does that mean I'd get all the crappy jobs?"

"No," Vorine said firmly. "You would get Omie's crappy jobs, and Careen would get mine."

I laughed. I thought that was funny, then I sobered. "What if Careen tells me to do something?"

"You answer to me," Omie said, "Not Careen. Now, if Vorine tells you to do something, you will want to think long and hard before ignoring it."

"But I wouldn't tell you to do the things Careen is supposed to do for me," Vorine said. "However, the two of you may find that you prefer trading duties."

"Like what?" Careen asked.

"One of you may be better at mending," Vorine said. "For instance. Or perhaps you would trade because one of you wants an afternoon off for something else, so you might do your duties and the other's one day, then the next day, she would do yours."

"So I don't answer to her," I said, "And I don't have to clean up her messes."

"Right," Omie said.

"What if we have a fight anyway?"

"It would depend upon the nature of the fight," Vorine said. "Disputes should first be directed to your warrior or settled in a supervised fashion on the training ground. If you fall outside the rules, there are consequences. There is a low tolerance for physical altercations."

"It's important to remember the real enemy are the demons," Omie said. "You need to know you can trust the woman next to you."

"If the two of you cannot live in the same hut," Vorine explained, "that's temporary and will be resolved. But if you can't live in the same town, that is a bigger deal."

"I don't have a problem," I said.

"Neither do I," responded Careen.

Omie whispered into my ear, and I felt her take my hand under the covers. "Squeeze my hand if you're being completely honest."

I gave her hand two quick squeezes. I was fine with Careen, as long as she didn't think she could boss me around. I thought I was going to get enough of that.

"Careen," said Vorine, "You understand that if you give me the sort of trouble it sounds like you gave Maya, you won't enjoy the consequences."

"I won't," she said.

"All right," Omie said after a minute.
"It's late, and sunrise comes early."

Omie cuddled me all night. I hadn't shared a bed with anyone in a long time, and the ground was firm, but I slept better than I would have expected. I woke a few times with her arms around me, shifting position a little each time I woke. Then I woke again, and it was light enough to see. I opened my eyes and saw the back of Careen's head. I heard her and Vorine murmuring quietly to each other. I shifted a little, and from behind me, I heard Omie say, "Thank you, Beria."

She still had her arms around me. I rolled over to look at her, our noses inches apart.

"For what?" I asked.

"I haven't slept that well since Vorine became a warrior," she replied.

From behind me, I heard Vorine say, "I haven't, either. Thank you, Careen."

"I didn't do anything," Careen replied.

"You were here," Vorine explained. "You let me hold you. Thank you."

"Do you understand?" Omie asked me quietly.

I nodded.

"I have to. Um."

"Right," Omie said. "So do I. Get dressed and I'll show you."

It was awkward getting dressed in the tent, and I was a little self conscious about it besides. I turned my back on all of them and pulled my clothes on as quickly as I could. The air was chilly, so I was glad to have my cloak with me. Omie showed me how to take care of my morning needs, and then she took me in search of breakfast.

"In the future," she said, "once you know what you were doing, you would bring breakfast to me. This morning we'll do things together."

We ate, a simple meal of biscuits and eggs, but there was plenty of food for everyone, and Omie encouraged me to eat as much as I needed, but don't over fill. Afterwards, she showed me how to clean the dishes. Then I turned to her.

"Now what, Omie?"

"Well," she said, "have you decided?" She looked at me hopefully.

"Do I have to decide today?" I thought about it. "You're leaving today, aren't you?"

"We have other villages to visit," she said. "It's a big decision to make on short notice, but we have so many villages to visit."

"What if-" I thought about it. "What if I hate the fighting part, like Maya does? She didn't have a choice, but I do, don't I?"

"Yes," Omie said. "You have a choice. Beria, if you think you're going to turn me down, I would rather you told me."

"So you have time to find someone else?"

She nodded.

"You could stay here," she said, "and think about it. I think we're coming back this way. You could go with us then, if you want to go."

"But you're going to try to find someone else, aren't you?"

"Yes. Beria, I don't want to pressure you. I really want you to come with us. I need you. But if you aren't going to come, then I need to find someone who will."

"If I don't decide now, then if I decide to go later, what happens?"

"If I don't find someone else at one of the other villages, then I'd be happy to have you. I'd rather you said 'yes', but I understand your caution."

"What if you find someone?"

"There are other warriors who need companions."

"Like Nori?" I must have grimaced, as she saw my expression.