Amazon Chief (91 page)

"I love you, too." She glanced at the
faster water. "Do you suppose we should rescue Maya?"

"Maya knows there are forty other baby sitters if she gets tired of the job," I said. "They don't need sitters anymore, anyway."

"Maybe not at Lake Juna," Lia said. She glanced at the water. "But I worry they think they are better swimmers than they are."

I grinned. "Maya swims out there."

"Do you?"

"I have. It's serious work. Ralla did once or twice. She's a good swimmer. But Maya won't let anyone else."

"Not even Malora?"

"No. She once taunted Nori out and then had to rescue her."

"Seriously?"

"Was Nori embarrassed! We gave her a hard time for weeks."

"Show me."

I laughed. "You're just trying to get me tired out."

"Omie taught me those wrestling moves I want to try on you. I need any advantage I can find."

"Even tired I can pin you if we wrestle."

It was a good day.

The fourth day of the tournament started with the two girls fighting. It was unclear over what. Omie and I physically separated them, and then an angry Lia confronted them.

"What was this about?"

Joelle crossed her arms and clamped her mouth shut. Her sister did the same.

"Answer me!" Lia demanded.

"She pinched me!" Annalise complained.

"Why did you pinch your sister, Joelle?"

"She had it coming." But then she shut her mouth and tightened her arms around herself and refused to answer any further questions. But then she looked down and said, "I'm sorry."

"We are guests here," Lia said. "Do you think Omie and Aren like waking up to screaming girls?"

"I'm sorry, Omie," Joelle said. "I'm sorry, Aren."

"We will accept your apology once you have accepted your punishment," Aren said. "Amazons do not fight amongst themselves. The demons are the enemies, and we work together. If you have a dispute, you work it out. If you cannot, you bring it to your warriors or your village chief. As companions, you can also approach the chief's companion or, if necessary, the senior companion. Do you know who that is?"

"Maya," Joelle said. "What is my punishment?"

Lia looked at me. I wasn't sure why she was asking me. She normally handled the discipline for the girls.

"Annalise," I said. "Your sister said you had it coming but refuses to explain why. Did you do something that should earn you punishment?"

"I take it back," Joelle said. "She didn't do anything."

I didn't believe that for a moment. "Joelle, did you just lie to me?"

She refused to answer, but after a moment, she said, "I'll take her punishment, too."

"Joelle," I said, "I believe we need to know what started this fight. Answer me."

"She said something I didn't like," Joelle said. "I shouldn't have pinched her."

"Omie, what is the current punishment in Queen's Town for companions caught fighting?"

"It depends upon the severity of the fighting and sometimes the cause. It also depends greatly on whether they show remorse. In this case, the severity of the fighting was minor, one of the companions accepts responsibility, and she appears to show honest remorse. Normally, if she were my young companion," and she looked at me when she said it, "I would
assign her to a day or two of exceedingly boring duties. However, Maya has honest need of both of them today."

"Then perhaps we shall ask Maya to give this one the worst duties she has available."

"No!" Joelle said.

"Excuse me?"

"Please don't tell Maya. Please, Mother!"

The 'Please, Mother' did me in. Lia saw it in my face, too.

"Very well," said Lia. "Aren, do you believe you can use this one's assistance in the kitchen late this afternoon?"

"I believe I can."

"Then Joelle, this afternoon while the rest of us are swimming, you will present yourself to Aren, and you will
cheerfully
perform any task she assigns. They may be particularly unpleasant tasks. I had better hear that you were a perfect assistant."

"Yes, Mama," Joelle said. "Thank you, Mama."

"You will remain on kitchen duty from the moment Aren needs you until dinner is served. If you are pleasant and willing, that will be the end of it. If you are unpleasant, there will be fresh consequences. And you know I will be in there helping, once we're done swimming, and you know I'll be able to tell at a glance if you've behaved properly or not."

"Yes, Mama," she said.

"All right. Apologize to your sister."

"I'm sorry, Annalise."

"It's okay, Joelle."

I actually didn't like using chores as punishment. Chores were something that needed
to be done. But I had to admit: boring chores were a good deterrent, and it provided a pair of hands to do a job no one wanted to do.

"We're not quite done. Joelle, what are you going to do the next time your sister says something you don't like?"

"I don't know. I won't pinch her."

"Well, that's an improvement," I agreed. "You could explain to her why she's wrong."

"What if she's not wrong?"

"Then you could explain to her why you didn't like what she said and change the subject. If you're too angry to do that, you can
walk away and do something else. If you are really, really angry, you may come to me, and I will help you work out the anger."

"How?"

"Probably the same way I do. I hit things with a staff."

She looked up. "You do?"

"Not people. Not anything I'm not supposed to hit."

"Like, maybe, a tree?"

"Yes, but that is unkind to the tree. But you have the idea. If I'm in between angry, then I might ask a few warriors to spar with me."

"You beat them," she said.

"Not if I ask enough of them," I said. "I get good exercise, learn to fight better, and calm down at the same time. But if I'm really, really angry, that can be a bad idea, because if I'm that angry, I might make mistakes, and then people can get hurt, people who don't deserve to get hurt."

"You hurt that woman two days ago," she said. "Were you angry?"

"That woman likes to hurt other women," I said. "She needed to know what it's like. It was a training lesson. I want to point out that I am a village chief. You are not. I do not want you thinking it is your place to teach anyone a lesson."

"No, Mother," she said.

"All right. Now, you are going to make everyone's beds up, and then we are going to start our day."

"Yes, Mother," she said.

* * * *

"Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it," Omie said.

"Will Aren mind having her in the kitchen?"

"She would have said something if she did. She doesn't let anyone walk over her. She'll find good tasks for Joelle. What do you suppose Annalise said?"

"I have no idea, and I didn't think I wanted to know."

"You almost caved when she called you 'Mother'. It didn't really sink in until then. You're a mother."

"Does that make you a grandmother?"

She laughed. "Malora."

"Yeah," I said. "I think she loves it, too. I wonder what she would have done."

"Oh, probably the same." She smiled. "Motherhood fits well on you."

"Thanks. You know who I can't see as a mother?"

"Who?"

"Ping."

"Oh, I don't know. I bet she's fabulous. Strict, but fabulous."

"I can't believe Ralla and Jasmine were talking about it."

Omie laughed. "Yeah. I love Ralla to pieces, but as a mother? No, I don't think so."

"You know, when we left
Gallen's Cove, I thought Jasmine couldn't wait to get away. I didn't know why, but I was sure she'd never be back. And now they live there. Well, just a few miles away."

Omie's smile faded. "Jasmine told us why."

"Oh?"

"It was at a bonfire, years ago, shortly after you became chief. She was being abused."

"Oh hell." I thought back. "Her father died before I even remember."

"She had a stepfather," Omie explained. "He wasn't a bad man, I guess, but his brother was."

"Oh hell," I repeated.

"When Ralla pulled the pieces
out of her, she began asking questions, then she got really quiet. But she went on a long trip three days later, and she didn't take Jasmine."

"Oh oh."

"She went to Gallen's Cove, found the guy, and beat the crap out of him. Then she told him he was leaving Gallen's Cove. She'd be back, and if she ever found him again, the beating she'd just given him would be nothing. He'd be crippled for life, and she'd take his manhood besides. She chased him out of town with nothing but the bloody clothes on his back, then following him on her horse for the next forty miles."

"Oh wow. How did you find out?"

"She presented herself for Queen's Justice when she got back. Malora literally took her arm, slapped her on the wrist, and told her if it ever happens again, she'll get the same. Then she hugged both of them."

Smiling, we grabbed Vorine, and the three of us headed to the training grounds. They helped me stretch, and then we went for a short run to warm up a little more.

We were down to eight competitors. We were down to one ring, as everyone would want to watch all the fights. We had one event scheduled in the morning and probably two in the afternoon.

Jalad was still undefeated, but I would be damned if she was going to win the event.

The field began to fill. Maya had companions running hither and yon, taking care of last minute arrangements, making sure there was plenty of water for everyone to drink, and otherwise taking care of the details. I saw my companion deep on some task or other, but I knew Maya would get her to watch when it was my turn. Somehow, no matter how busy it was, Lia was always afforded a ringside seat.

I turned to Omie. "It's going to start getting tense."

"Yep."

"I don't know if the girls should watch."

"I think you shouldn't worry about that," she said. "I will mention your concerns to your mate, but you need to think about one thing, and one thing only. Feeling good?"

"Yeah." I smiled. "Twenty years later, and you're still watching out for me."

"We'll always watch out for each other."

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure."

"Lia brought this up yesterday afternoon. She pointed out that I'm happier here than at Lake Juna."

Omie didn't respond.

"She's probably right. All my friends are here. Is that because there, I'm the chief, but here, I'm just Beria?"

"Aura is there."

"Aura and I are friends, I guess, but she's always been a little reserved, at least with me. We don't kid around or anything."

"Is it because Maya is here?"

"Not just Maya and Malora, but you and Vorine. Nori and Rora. And Bea."

"You don't mention your old companion."

"Narsana? I know. Is that terrible of me?"

"She adored you. She still does."

"I know. She was a good companion at a time I really needed one. I guess I love her, and sometimes I miss her, but I never wake up and think, 'Narsana used to do that for me' or 'I wonder what Narsana would think'."

"I know what you mean."

"Lia told me that if Malora ever offered to let me come home, I should say yes. But she told me she needed me at Lake Juna, so I don't want to ask. Do you think I should ask? Lake Juna is built and runs smoothly. Glorana and Frida could run it now."

Omie smiled. "I think you should focus on your fights today. I think if you want to come back to Queen's Town, you probably can, but if you think about that today, you'll be distracted. Please, Beria, focus on the tournament until it's over."

"Of course. I just wondered what you thought. Would you want me here? Would that be too close?"

"Idiot. No. But please, let's talk about your fight this morning."

"Tenda," I said. "She's good. She's really good."

"Yeah. Decided how to play it?"

"I'm going to use my staff."

"Oh," she said. "Oh. That's just mean."

"Malora ordered me to win. I can probably beat Tenda with swords, but I'm not sure. I know I can beat her with staff."

"Anyone you're worried about?"

"Lilith, but I hope she beats Jalad. And Haldara was really tough yesterday."

"You won."

"It was awfully close."

"Senai is still in."

"I know."