Amazon Chief (77 page)

"I would be quite pleased to hear
advice
from the Amazon queen," Lia said.

"My advice is simple. Choose your battles.
If you do not, this relationship will fail." She paused. "And now I am speaking as the queen. I need this warrior in top condition. If you intend to fight her about your personal safety, I would like to know."

The two of them stared at each other.

"Queen Malora," I started to say.

"You be quiet," she said. "Lia? I require an answer."

Lia took a large breath before answering. "No, Queen Malora. I will not fight her about issues related to my personal safety."

"I interpret that to also include, at least until they have warriors of their own, the safety of your daughters and the training of all three of you."

"Yes, Queen Malora," Lia said. "And on other issues?"

"Oh, on other issues, I have no doubt you will have her wrapped around your finger."

"Then I will do as you advise, Queen Malora."

Malora smiled. "Thank you. Lia, I am going to repeat myself for emphasis. I require this warrior in top condition. I expect us to share that goal.
"

"Yes, Queen Malora," Lia said, taking my hand. She raised my fingers to her lips and kissed them. "I'll be sure to keep her on her toes."

"Very good," Malora said with a grin. "Thank you, Lia."

"Now, it's time for your first lesson as the chief's companion," Maya said. "You don't wait in line."

"Except behind Maya," Rora said.

Maya turned to Malora. "I don't know the protocol between chief's, when they visit elsewhere."

"She is there as my representative," Malora said. "That means she outranks the local chiefs." She looked at Lia. "The other companions should defer to you. Some of them may not, especially those of chiefs that are significantly older than Beria. That is a grey area, and I would prefer you not press the point too hard. However, where that happens, I need to know."

"Wait," said Lia. "She coordinates patrols."

"That's her official job description," Malora said. "She is there as my representative. And if you are with her, then so are you. Keep your ears open."

"Debriefings can be extensive," I told her.

"I-" she looked between us. "I believe it is time to collect food for our warriors, Maya."

Maya smiled. "I believe you may be right." They both stood up, and as soon as Lia crossed around the table, Maya threw an arm around her, and the two headed to the kitchen.
Moments later, Nori sat back down, setting a plate between herself and Rora.

"What is this?" Rora said.

"Dinner."

"What is this brown stuff all over the venison?"

"I believe it is called 'gravy'," Nori said.

"We've talked about this, Nori," Rora said. "Scrape it off."

"But-"

"Nori."

Nori sighed and began scraping the gravy to the side. I looked between the two of them.

"She's put on a few pounds," Rora said. "If she wants to get as fat as a cow, she can wait until she has retired.
As long as she is still facing off against demons and the occasional camp of bandits, she will not get fat."

"And thank you for sharing," Nori said.

"If you hadn't tried to cheat," Rora said, "It never would have come up. You only have yourself to blame."

Maya and Lia returned. I noticed that the plate Maya set down also carried no gravy. An
d then I looked at my own plate, conspicuously void of anything remotely fattening.

"Hey!" I said.

Lia grinned at me. "Malora said she needs you in top condition." But she had set the plate down to be shared, something she hadn't done before.

Nori smirked at me.

"You see?" said Maya. "We let them win about that pesky personal safety thing, and we win on everything else."

* * * *

We collected in Malora's hut after dinner, just Malora, Nori and me. "All right," Malora said. "You said you wanted to talk further."

I relayed the agreement I'd made with Lia.

"I want you to give it a good year," Malora said. "Can you make it work for a year? If it's not working after that, we'll talk about it."

"All right," I said.

"I have something else. I want you to adjust your schedule. I want you to assess the abilities of the key people at each village. I need to know who the best fighters are and, if you can acquire it without giving away your own abilities, how they compare to you."

I nodded. "All right."

"Also, for all the village chiefs that are significantly older than you are, I want to know who you would pick for chief when the current chief retires. I need the best analysis you can provide."

"I thought the villages picked," I said.

"I let them believe that. But I move people around ahead of time if necessary."

"Oh?"

"Yes. For instance, several years ago, Two Bends had a warrior who was making noises like she was going to challenge Chief Loren. I moved her."

"To where?"

"Lake Juna."

I laughed. "Is that why Astarine was so displeased when she arrived?"

"Yes," she said. "How badly did you have to put her down?"

"I didn't. She was crabby for a week or two, but then she asked Badra to let her run some of the patrols. Now she does double patrol duty. Malora, she'd be a terrible village chief. She's a good warrior, a good patroller, and she's okay leading a patrol, but if she were my village chief, I'd be asking for a transfer."

"That's what I told her when I moved her. Then I explained the headaches of being a chief. She admitted she hadn't thought about any of that." Malora shrugged. "It's not the first time someone has had ambitions without the skills to pursue them." She paused. "That analysis I asked for? I want it for Lake Juna, too."

"Lake Juna's chief isn't retiring any time soon," I pointed out.

"No, but I may need her elsewhere in a year or two," Malora said.

I frowned. "Further from Queen's Town?"

"No," she said. "In Queen's Town. Would you mind?"

I thought about being surrounded by all the people I loved most in the world. "Absolutely not. Would Badra and Tamma be able to come?"

"Yes, if they wish. I won't force them."

"Who would we be displacing?"

"No one," she said. "We'll build more huts if necessary. Anyone else you would want to bring with?"

"I like and trust most of them, but I didn't want to separate Tamma and Lia. Also, when the girls are ready for warriors, I want them kept close. It will be easier for Lia if her daughters are just across the village rather than three days' ride away."

"She won't be able to interfere with the way they are trained," Malora said. "You may want to get her used to that idea sooner rather than later."

"I believe you started that process tonight," I said. "Thank you. But did you have to suggest she be allowed to win everything else?"

Malora grinned. "I didn't tell her anything she didn't already know. You have enough to worry about. Let Lia run the household, Beria. Give her whatever she wants. Just trust her to handle it."

"Like you trusted me to handle my love life?"

"Oh no," she replied. "I'm the queen. It's my job to meddle from time to time."

"Anything else?" I asked.

"No. If you can send Maya in, I would appreciate it. We have a ceremony to make up."

"I'm sorry for dumping this on you. I thought you'd figure it out. But I didn't want to just come out and tell you in a note." But I turned to Nori. "Idiot."

"Hey!" she replied. "Enough." She paused. "I'm sorry. The voices-"

"Say no more," I said.

We got up, one of us somewhat more smoothly than the other two. Malora pulled me into a hug. "I'm so pleased," she said. "Thank you. And thank you for not resigning."

"Yet."

"A year. I need a year. Maybe a year and a half."

"She and I will work it out," I said. "It will actually be easier when the girls are older, but Annalise is only nine." I pulled away. "I'm not comfortable taking her with me. Sure, to the nearest villages, but not to all of them. Um."

"Not to the south?" Where Green Arrow was.

"No," I said, "Not to the south. And maybe not Blue Meadow." Blue Meadow was to the north, a few villages south of Northglen.

"What's up in Blue Meadow?"

"I thought I told you. The younger companions weren't, I don't know. Cheerful? It's like they're afraid of something, but none of them wanted to talk to me."

"Maya and I never stay overnight there," Malora said. "Maybe we should amend that."

"If you do, take Nori and me. And we stay together."

"You suspect something?"

"Leery, that's all. Everyone has been very proper. I've heard no muttering."

"Chief Nalatt has always been solid," Nori said.

"She has a new companion," I said. "I don't know her well."

"Krissa," Malora said. "She's not that new. She must be nineteen or twenty by now."

"Yes," I said. "And there are warriors there I don't know well, either. I don't stay overnight, either."

"I want more than Beria and I there," Nori said. "Who do you trust?"

"In a fight?"

She nodded.

"Separately, Glorana and Frida aren't very good, but together, they're deadly. They fight like one. It's almost like dueling with you,
Malora. Not quite, but almost. And Badra is always solid."

"And from here?" Malora asked.

"Best fighter or most trusted?"

"Most trusted," Malora said.

"Anyone," I said. "If I were picking, I'd start with Omie and Vorine, but you could have guessed that. Bea, too, if you want trusted and a good diplomat." I paused. "In fact, if you wanted a diplomat, Bea might be perfect. She might not catch all the subtleties, but her joy is infectious."

"Bea is good for disarming a situation," Malora said. "But she's so trusting. She couldn't do your job, Beria."

"She could," I said, "but she wouldn't enjoy it, and she would hate always looking at people carefully. However, if I get some difficult situations to resolve, I might ask to borrow her."

Malora smiled. "Of course. All right. Get out of here. We'll be out as soon as I approve whatever Maya has already concocted."

I laughed. "Thank you, Malora."

"You are very welcome, Beria."

* * * *

Maya found Lia and me twenty minutes later. We were sitting at a table with, well, almost everyone, it seemed. She sat down across the table from Lia and me.

"It's still too cold for bathing in the river," Maya said, "even for me. But we have the baths. It's not the same. But the water is warm. We're going to bathe and prepare the girls, and then the two of you will bathe."

"Maya, I have a package. Lia hasn't seen it. It's in Omie's hut right now."

"Will I figure it out if I rifle through your things?"

I laughed. "Yes."

"Is there something white in it? If not, I have something."

"There's something white," I said. "You'll figure out the rest."

"You two are being awfully cryptic," Lia complained.

"Yes, we are," Maya said. "Beria, we're changing quite a bit. Lia, the companions of our combined village tonight will see to your daughters. However, two of us will see to you. Who would you prefer?"

"You and Tamma," she said immediately. "Is that all right? Or are you busy? Maybe you're going with your sister."

"No, she is going with
two of the warriors."

"Three," I said. "Please."

Maya nodded. "I'll ask her," Maya said. "There is a portion of the ceremony for all of us, and then there will be a portion your daughters will not see. We have a couple of the companions who will bring them back here and entertain them."

Lia nodded.

"All right," she said. "Give me a few minutes."

She got up and stepped away, and a moment later I saw her whispering into Omie's ear, and then after that, Aren's. The three of them stepped away, heading for Omie's hut, and I didn't worry about it after that.

"Nervous?" I asked Lia.

"A little. Not about us. Just the ceremony. Will I know what to do?"

"Maya will make sure," I said. "She may tell you nothing more than do what you're told."

"And I'm supposed to."

"Yes, you're supposed to."

"All this ritual, all this mystery." She smiled. "It makes it seem very sacred."

"The bond between warrior and companion is sacred," I said. "We teach you; we train you; we protect you. We provide your clothing, or at least the materials to make them, and your weapons. As your chief, I also provide your horse and arrange for her feed and care. In exchange for these things, you comfort us; you soothe our souls. You are only starting to see what that means." I paused. "You didn't see my breakdown a week ago."