Amazon Chief (72 page)

"I see."

"I may ask for a short extension on my deadline."

"I might grant it."

"Maya, I believe I am going to need you very, very badly before dinner. And if possible, am I welcome to spend a night or two?"

"Of course," Malora said.

"I'll be around," Maya said.

"Thank you."

I stopped between Rora and Nori next. "Thank you for your help the last time I was here."

"You're welcome," Rora said.

"Am I welcome at training this afternoon?"

"Are you going to beat up half my warriors?"
Nori asked.

"Four is hardly half."

She chuckled.

Finally I made my way to Omie. She smiled and we clasped hands.

"I would like some of your time this afternoon. Alone. Very alone." I turned to Aren, sitting next to her. "She's going to need you desperately when we're done."

"Of course," Omie said. "After training?"

I nodded. "Thank you."

I collected food for myself and found a place to sit, eating lightly and listening to the conversations around me. When the meal was over, it was Bea's companion who took my plate for me. I wasn't expecting it, but I thanked her.

At training, after we ran, Nori sent the companions off for their training. "I had exercises in mind for today," she said. "But we're going to do something different. Beria, how many of my warriors did you beat up the last time you were here?"

"I believe there was mutual beating," I said. "I still have bruises."

"She earned each and every bruise," Bea said.

"Well, we're going to have a little tournament," Nori said. "Beria, pick your first opponent."

"You."

She laughed. "Malora and I are judging."

I sighed. "Fine. Neela."

"Oh sure, pick on me," Neela complained. We both moved into the training circle. I had two practice swords; Neela had one.

We faced off, but then Nori said, "Neela, do you think you can beat her?"

"You're funny, Nori."

"Do you think you'll score any points?"

"We're playing to a hundred, right?"

That earned her some chuckles.

"Beria, how many deer hides do you have?"

"I don't know. Maybe six."

"You owe a deer hide to anyone who scores a point," Nori said.

"I do, do I?" I asked. "And what do I have the chance of winning?"

"You get to live and remain unwounded."

I sighed. "Fine." I wondered if I were being punished again.

"Ready, fight," said Nori.

Neela didn't stand a chance, but I had to fight carefully. It wasn't enough to win. I didn't want to give up any of my hides. I moved around Neela quickly, and it only took a minute or two before I had three points.

"Hold," Nori said. "Back away."

We stepped apart, and then I turned to Nori.

"Pick your next opponent."

"We're only playing to three?" I asked.

"Pick your next opponent."

"Fine. My old companion."

"Narsana, come up and join Neela."

"What?" I said. "I'm fighting both of them?"

Nori grinned at me.

"To three points?"

She nodded. "On each."

Narsana joined Neela. She smiled, but she was probably still intimidated by me, even all these years later. I lifted my swords, and Nori called, "fight".

This was harder, of course it was, and I knew Nori had been teaching the warriors here to fight toget
her. But they weren't that well coordinated together. Glorana and Frida were a much greater challenge. I got a strike on Neela, two more on Narsana, then in a flurry, the last three I needed.

"Hold," Nori called. "Next, Beria?"

"May I speak privately with you?"

"No."

I looked amongst my choices, wondering who I wanted to end up gifting my hides. "Bea," I said. Lidi, Gaylie and Vorine were gone; Omie was teaching the companions, and there were only warriors with us this time.

"You're not offering skins to the companions? They need them more than the warriors do."

"They would just get in the way," Nori said. "Ready, fight."

Bea almost got me twice, and one of the times Neela almost scored a point as well.

"Next opponent?" Nori asked.

I lost my first skin when it was five opponents. I'd managed to knock Bea out of that fight early, getting three strikes on her fairly early, but then Chalena scored across my back. I never paused and finished the rest of them very quickly including a cruel strike across Chalena's neck I should have pulled more than I did.

"I'm sorry," I said, panting.

"I'll consider it a cheap deer skin," she said, "and a lesson to guard my neck better."

But then I was facing all six available warriors.

"Seriously, Nori?" I asked.

"You won't lose more than three more skins," she said with a grin. "Maybe you should try harder."

"Maybe you should show me how, training leader."

"Ready, fight," she said.

They advanced on me together, fanning out and trying to flank me. I backed away, keeping distance. Bea was on my far
left and Chalena on my far right, and if I let them surround me, it was all over. I backed more quickly until I stood next to the whipping post, blocking Chalena's route to me and interfering with Neela's. I feinted towards the center then rolled around, coming after Bea and exposing my back to Chalena. I knew she'd come around the whipping post, and I immediately reversed direction, landing two strokes on Chalena as I moved past her, breaking their line of advance.

She spun for me, but I continued to roll past her and got one more stroke on Neela. Chalena tried to pursue me, but it was just the two of them for a moment, and I got one more stroke on each of them, finishing Chalena. Then I backed away quickly as
the rest came after me in a disorganized swarm.

I let them chase me around after that, moving left to right as much as I moved backwards, reaching out to score a strike when I could, but largely playing defense.

Bea got a strike on me, costing me another deerskin, but I responded with two on her sword arm and one against her leg. She went down, tangling Neela, and I used the confusion to lay two swords across Narsana, added to the one I'd gotten early. Neela was next, and Clara wasn't difficult after that.

I backed away, panting, watching them and wondering what Nori would demand next. I glanced over briefly and saw her and Malora standing together, watching, and Malora was grinning broadly. She said something to Nori, but I didn't hear it.

But then my opponents all stood up and were congratulating me. Bea pulled me into a hug, and then so did Chalena.

"I'm sorry," I whispered again.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "You were amazing, Beria. Thank you."

When they finally finished, I turned to Nori and Malora.

"Congratulations, Beria," Malora said. "I am very proud of you."

I felt too raw and used to appreciate her words. It hadn't felt like a win. I'd been trying to get enough skins to trade for a coat for Lia. I'd just been set back at least two months, and I didn't even understand why.

But I nodded to them. "Thank you," I said. What else was I supposed to say?

There was time remaining after that. Nori assigned exercises for all of us to do but then pulled me aside.

"Do you know why?" she asked quietly.

"No. I presume you're still mad from the other day and are punishing me for it."

"I'm trying to teach you to stay alive against difficult odds," she replied. "I'm trying to give you a chance to learn something when you come here. If they were well-trained bandits, you might have killed all of them, but you came away with significant wounds, wounds that can fester, wounds that can slow you down before your next fight. If winning five to four is enough, then you are willing to take risks that might win the fight, but when there is real steel involved, those risks can still kill you."

"I am never going to face more than one opponent who fights as good as my sister, Nori," I said.

"Are you sure? What if someone tries to stage a coup, and it's just you, Malora and Maya against an entire village? It's not enough to kill them. You need to live to see another day, as do Malora and Maya."

"Then we're probably in trouble, because I don't usually carry two swords, and the results would have been drastically different if I'd only had one."

"Maybe you should start carrying two."

I eyed her carefully. "Do you know something I don't?"

"Threats to Malora? No. But that doesn't mean there won't be one someday."

"Why are you and Malora pushing me so hard lately?" I asked. "What is going on?"

"Nothing, Beria."

"Yeah, right. And you both keep evading my questions. Come to think of it, so do Rora and Maya, which means they know, too. I don't need this right now, Nori."

"Today was training, Beria. I gave you something to think about. That's all."

"And cost me a third of my skins."

"You'll get more."

"You have no idea what plans I had for those," I said. "How many did you think I was going to lose?"

"All of them. For every one less than four, I owe a skin to Malora."

"She wagered on me?"

Nori nodded.

"Well. You had a choice in the matter. Apparently, when I come to Queen's Town, choices are shoved down my throat. I'll keep that in mind."

I stalked away from her and began the exercise the others were doing. I imagined Nori as my imaginary opponent.

* * * *

Maya caught up with me before I could pull Omie away. I intended to take her to the Lover's Tree. It was private and for once, I could have a conversation around here without everyone else listening. Instead, Maya put an arm around me and drew me to the side.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey."

"We all watched you. You're amazing, sister. I'm so proud of you."

"Yeah, thanks," I said.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you so angry?"

"Are Malora and Nori actively discouraging me from visiting Queen's Town?"

"No. Why would you think that?"

"They're going out of the way to give me reasons to stay away."

"What happened?"

I told her. I had assumed she had known, but it was news to her.

"You'll get more," she said. "I know it doesn't sound fair, but when has Nori ever done anything to you that, in the end, wasn't fair?"

"She took my sister from me."

"You have to go that far back?" she asked.

"First thing I thought of," I replied. "I had plans for those skins." I told her about wanting a coat for Lia. "I don't know how many skins I'm going to need to trade, but a lot more than the four I have now."

"If she hadn't made it so expensive for you, would you have avoided getting hit?"

I didn't answer that. Of course I wouldn't have.

"I came to talk to Omie," I said. "And it wasn't going to be an easy conversation. Now I'm too pissed off." I began swearing. "Tell you
r warrior to back off. If she wants my resignation from either of my current positions, she can have them. If she wants to banish me, she is free to do so. But she gave me an ultimatum, and when I came here to try to work through it, they pull this shit. Fuck this. I don't need it."

I shrugged away from her and stormed off, heading for the stable. Maya tried to stop me, but I told her to leave me alone.

* * * *

Omie caught up to me while I was saddling my horse.

"I thought you wanted to talk," she said.

"I changed my mind," I said. "I'm sorry."

She moved closer. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"No." I moved away from her to the other side of the horse, checking things that didn't need checking.

"What's wrong?" Omie asked. "Beria, come on, it's me. Talk to me."

"Nothing to talk about," I said sullenly.

"Come on. I know you're upset. I think you're probably upset about several things. But I don't have a clue why. It seems like you're angry with everyone. What's going on? If I did something wrong, will you at least tell me?"

"You didn't do anything wrong, and I'm not mad at everyone. Just half of everyone."

"I heard you were here while I was on patrol."

"Did you hear details?"

"Some. I heard you beat up half the warriors who were here."

"They gave as good as they got."

"That's not what I heard," she said. "And we were watching you fight today."