Amazon Chief (62 page)

"No!" she screamed, and she really began running.

Joelle made it across the finish line a quarter lap in front of me. "I won!" she said, then she collapsed, panting.

Lia was chasing after me. Annalise was laughing and telling me to run faster. She didn't understand the game. I finished the race, still carrying Annalise, and Lia screamed, "No," as I turned around and came to a stop, waiting for her. She finished a few seconds behind me, and from her expression, she understood. She came to a stop and stared at me. I didn't relinquish her daughter.

"I won," Joelle said again.

"Did you?" I asked. "Do you love your little sister?"

"Yeah, I guess," the girl said.

"Well, I am the demon, and I caught her, and now I have taken her away."

"Beria-" said Lia.

I turned to her. "Right now I am Demon! Now, what should I do with my new captive?"

"Please, Beria."

"Demon!"

"You're scaring Annalise."

I glanced at the girl, and she wasn't laughing anymore. She had her hand in her mouth and was trembling. I walked over and gave her to Lia, who pulled her into her arms.

"Calm her down," I said gently, "then we're going to talk for a few minutes. You and I are taking a ride to Queen's Town. Someone will watch the girls."

Lia stepped away with her daughter, bouncing her around a little, then setting her down and talking to her. I got a few dirty looks from both of them, but then Annalise hugged her mom.

"We're fine," Lia said, but the look she gave me wasn't friendly.

"Sit," I said, pointing. She sat down next to Joelle, Annalise in her lap. I sat down opposite them.

"Joelle," I said, "the game we just played had me playing a demon, catching you. And when I caught your sister, I took her away to my world. If I had been a real demon, you would never have seen her again. Of course, I am an Amazon, not a demon, and it was just a game. Do you understand?"

She looked over at her sister then back at me. "I guess."

"You made it to safety, but you abandoned your sister to do it. You left your mother to help your sister. I don't want you to ever do that again."

I didn't think she understood, but maybe in time.

I looked at Lia. "Given the nature of the game, the three of you should have run together at a pace you could maintain, then begun to run faster during your last two laps. If you conserved yourselves at the beginning, you may have had enough left to beat me. You could certainly run two laps in the time I would have to run five."

She glanced at Joelle and then nodded.

"All right. Wait here."

I jumped to my feet and grabbed Aura and Lin. "Watch the gir
ls. I'll be back late this afternoon."

* * * *

"Please don't be angry, Chief Beria."

"I'm not, Lia. You may ride alone or with me. It's about an hour and a half each way."

"Alone," she said tersely.

"Don't be angry, Lia."

"You're going to make us leave, aren't you?"

"No.
"

"You're going to drive us away. Coming here was a mistake."

I didn't answer that. It may have been a mistake to let them come. I wasn't sure.

"Wait here, please," I told her. T
hen I stepped through the door from the stable to the paddock. I collected my horse, leading her into the stable. I saddled her then picked one of the gentler spares from the paddock. I got her saddled as well.

I turned to Lia. "Have you learned enough to ride without help?"

"If we don't go too fast."

I pulled both horses out of the stable then helped Lia on top of hers before climbing into my own saddle. I turned towards the path then watched to see if she could follow. She struggled a little with the horse, but
the horse wanted to follow me, anyway, so there wasn't much Lia needed to do.

We rode quietly for several minutes before she called from behind me, "Chief Beria, we're doing the best we can."

I looked over my shoulder.

"No, actually, you're not.
Relax. We're going to have a nice ride, spend a little time with Maya and Queen Malora, and be back in a few hours."

"Are they expecting us?"

"No. I imagine they'll be moderately surprised to see us."

"Am I in trouble?"

"No. Relax, Lia. Tell me a story."

"A story?"

"I left Gallen's Cove when I was thirteen. I've lived here ever since. Tell me something about what I missed in life."

I kept her talking for most of the ride, turning around only to ask questions. By the time we arrived at Queen's Town, she was talking far more animatedly and, I thought, perhaps no longer angry with me. But as we rode into Queen's Town, she grew quiet.

We were noticed. Three minutes after arrival, while I was still seeing to the horses, Omie burst into the stable. She enveloped me in a tight hug.

"You were just here yesterday," she said.

"I just missed you that much," I told her. We stared into each other's eyes for a moment then separated, turning away. I would always love her, and I thought perhaps she felt the same way.

"Is this your new village member?" Omie asked me.

"Oh, sorry," I said. "Lia, this is Omie. My warrior."

"Oh," said Lia. "Chief Beria has talked about you." The
two clasped hands for a moment and exchanged pleasantries.

"Are you here all night?" Omie asked.

"Only through afternoon training," I said. "Are Vorine and Nori here?"

"Yes," she said.

"Good. I'll find you in a few minutes. I need to speak with Maya and Queen Malora."

"We're right here," said Maya from behind me. I turned around to see her and Queen Malora standing in the doorway. "What are you two doing here?" But she closed the distance and hugged me. "You're hair looks great."

I laughed. "Thanks." I buried my fingers under her hair, and she pressed against me. "Thank you," I said after a moment.

"That can't be enough."

"Later."

We separated, and I said, "I came to show Lia something, and then I want you to tell her about what happened on your way home from Howard's Den the first time."

"Ah," said Maya. She glanced at Lia, who was shifting from foot to foot and not looking directly at anyone. "Right. Lia, how are things going at Lake Juna? Have you settled in?"

"I
thought
they were going well," she said. She stressed the second word.

"Lia has taken over as our head cook," I said, "and her meals are very popular.
The children seem well-adjusted, and I am pleased she has joined us."

Lia looked at me, not responding right away, pursing her lips, then said, "Chief Beria is not pleased to have us disrupting her training schedule."

"Ah," said Malora. "New companions. Maya, do you remember your first day?" She didn't wait for Maya to respond. "She and I had quite the fight that evening. That did not mean I wished to return her to her home."

Lia looked at me with apparent speculation but didn't respond.

"Well," Malora said. "Shall we show Lia what Beria brought her to see?" She turned around and led the way to the dining hall, Maya slipping next to me to wrap an arm around my waist.

Lia and Omie took up the rear, and I heard Lia ask Omie, "So. Do you have any good Beria stories?"

I looked over my shoulder. "She does," I said, "but she isn't going to share them because her loyalty is to her former companion."

"My loyalty might be to Beria," Omie said, "but that doesn't mean I don't mind embarrassing her from time to time."

"But you're not going to do so today, are you, Omie?" I asked.

"Naw. Your hair is embarrassment enough." She grinned at me. "It's not the first time she has worn that color."

"As I recall," Malora said from in front, "You wore that color for the same offense Beria did."

"Queen Malora likes pink hair," I said. "We found it incu
mbent upon ourselves to provide her with opportunities to enjoy it."

We arrived at the dining hall. Malora turned around and said, "Omie, would you assist Beria. The case is a little heavy for one."

"Of course." She passed Lia off, and Omie and I headed to the storage room, where we would find the head and hands of Maya's demon. They were kept in a wooden chest.

"How bad is it?" Omie asked.

"I am trying to train them gently," I replied. I relayed what I had done this morning.

She nodded. "That's not bad."

"I don't have anyone I want to devote to their training. I don't want the companions to be held back. And I need to be involved in training the warriors and older companions, or they're going to suffer. If I had Nori, I'd be fine. She could train the warriors and older companions, and I could train Lia and her daughters. But I don't have anyone remotely like Nori."

"She is one of a kind," Omie agreed.

"Have you and Vorine ever felt it held you back training the companions instead of focusing on your own training?"

"If we wanted to be a village chief, perhaps," Omie said. "But we like it here, and we'd be happy staying right where we are. We're well beyond good enough for what we have to do."

I nodded. While we talked, we also pulled the chest out from its storage on a lower shelf. A moment later, with Omie in the lead, we left the storage room and headed back to the dining hall.

By the time we got there, Nori and Vorine were there.

"Good," I said. "I wanted them, too."

Omie and I set the chest on the floor. Lia was talking to Maya about something and wasn't paying attention to us, so I bent down and opened the chest. Staring upward at us through glass eyes was the demon, Lathana Jara Marquine. Maya had killed it a few months before coming to entice me to join the Amazons. One of the women at Broken Knife had preserved it.

The demon was beautiful and hideous at the same time. Its mouth was closed, but Maya had told me the tongue was long and forked, like a snake's. The creature was covered with iridescent scales and had horns that were over two feet long. Nestled between the horns was the small box that held the demon's four clawed hands. I withdrew that box then carried it to where Lia was sitting between Maya and Nori. I slid the chest to Maya; I knew she would pick the right time to open it.

I had interrupted the conversation, and they all turned to me. "Is that what we're here to see?" Lia asked, gesturing with her nose to the box.

"Part of it," I said. I returned to the chest on the floor. There was a section of leather in the box. Omie and I spread it on top of one of the tables. Then, lifting together, we pulled the demon's head from the box and set it on the table.

"Lathana Jara Marquine," Maya said quietly. And then she opened the box with the hands and set them each on the table in front of Lia.

Lia stared for a while before looking at me. "I've seen that before."

"Look at the hands," I said. "Look at the claws. Be careful, they are very sharp."

"Go ahead," Maya said. "You may pick one up."

"I don't think so," Lia said, her gaze dropping to the four hands in front of her. "They have claws on their feet?"

"They do. We didn't preserve the feet. They have four hands." Maya picked one of them up. The hand was partially closed, and she wrapped it around her upper arms. "This creature picked me up and carried me for miles as if I was nothing, her upper hands holding my arms, and her lower claws held my ankles."

"How did you get free? You told us, but I don't remember."

"Nori saved me," Maya said, and she reached around Lia to clasp Nori's hand for a moment. "Malora and most of her army chased after it, but Nori, moving faster, ran around it."

"Well, I rode a horse for part of the way," Nori said. "I only ran the last four miles."

"Lia," I said. "Pick up one of the hands."

She looked at me then at the hands, including the one Maya still held. She shook her head.

"Why are you showing me this? You said I'd never have to fight one of these."

"Your daughters may," Malora said. "Lia, it can't hurt you."

Maya pulled the claws from around her arm. She reached out with it for Lia, who shied away from it. But Nori was there, and she picked up another hand, and Lia didn't have anywhere to go. She froze, and Nori and Maya, together, began caressing Lia's face with the hands of the demon.

"No," Lia said. "No. Stop!"

"She caressed me like this," Maya said. "She transferred her hold so she had a hand free, and she caressed my face like this."

"Stop it!" Lia said. "Please stop."

Nori and Maya withdraw the hands, setting them back on the table in front of Lia.

"Go look at it," I told her. "Look closely."

"Why are you doing this?" she yelled.