Amazon Chief (97 page)

I raised my hand. "Silence!"

The Amazons grew quiet.

"Jalad," I said firmly. "We have fought three times during this tournament. You won the first round because I was busy teaching you what it's like to take the bruises you freely give your opponents. I won the other two rounds, and I won them easily. Do you honestly feel you can do better in a fourth round?"

She smiled. "I was hampered by the rules of the tournament. I was hampered by Malora -- oops, she's still supposedly Queen Malora -- warning me for fighting with my full ability. In a challenge match, there are no rules. I will have little trouble beating you."

"When our last match ended, I feared you would be ungracious. Instead, you surprised me and were amazingly gracious. However, you have not been gracious this week, and you do not have the support to remain queen. Are you sure you wish to issue challenge?"

"Quite sure," she said. "I'll have to clean house, of course, but I'm not afraid to instill the sort of leadership the Amazons need."

There were shouts about that, but I held up a hand. "She's entitled to her opinion, as wrong as the rest of us think she is. She is right. I am young. I have only been a village chief for
seven years. I have been the patrol coordinator for a little over two. Perhaps there are others here who would be better suited as queen, who would lead the Amazons better than I might. If so, I would hear all your challenges so I may consider them."

Not one other woman stepped forward. And then Malora was at my shoulder, whispering, "We need to talk."

I nodded to her. "In a minute."

I turned back to Jalad. "If I accept your challenge-"

"If?" she said. "You have no choice."

"Fine. When we hold this fight is my choice, not yours. And if you should win, then you are the new queen. Will you promise safe passage to any Amazons who wish to leave?"

Jalad considered the question. "I will, of course, allow the elderly to leave, along with their companions. I will kindly ask some of Queen Malora's closest allies to leave. But I will not weaken the Amazons by allowing, for instance, young companions to depart."

"No!" screamed Lia, running to our daughters and pulling them against her.

"Now, Beria," Malora said quietly.

I nodded.

"Jalad, of course I accept your challenge. But this is new to me, and a good queen listens to her advisors. I must speak with them before I answer further."

"Be my guest. I would prefer to know when and where within the hour."

"You will know when I choose to tell you," I said. "For now, you will hold the peace of Queen's Town, and all here will help to enforce it. Raise hand or weapon to anyone, and I will have you flogged."

Absolutely no one
gainsaid me.

"Good," Malora said. "Let's go."

I turned to her and grabbed her arm. "I want someone to keep track of her. I want to know where she is. I want my children protected."

"Vorine is already organizing the first, and your newest
friends will serve well for the second."

"Haldara, Tenda and Lilith, I require you."

They were amongst the warriors forming a screen between me and Jalad, and they were all armed. They backed their way to me, watching Jalad. When they were close enough, I said loudly enough for them to hear, "Protect my family. Trust anyone from Lake Juna or Queen's Town and no one else, but they remain with the three of you."

"Yes, Queen Beria."

As a group, we moved towards Lia and the girls.

"Lia, they're here to protect you and the girls. Let them take you to Omie's hut."

She nodded, and then they were moving away. I saw a few others peel off and surround them as well. I turned to Malora. "Your hut?"

"It's now yours, but yes."

"Who else?"

"They're already there."

And we vacated the field.

* * * *

Waiting for me were Nori, Ralla, Maya, Ping, and Omie.

"I'm going to kill her!" I spat. "She threatened my family."

"Well, this is going to be faster than I feared," Malora said. "I was afraid you'd be easy on her. Beria, will you allow me to speak my mind."

"Please."

"This is going to sound like I am giving you orders. It is advice. You are queen, and I cannot order."

"I value your advice, Malora."

"Are you fit to fight a death match?"

"At least as fit as she is." I peeled the cloth from my arm. The wound was oozing. "Nori?"

"It's a couple of scratches. We'll peel that tunic off, slap a bandage over it, and pull a new tunic over the bandage. It will sting a little, but the tight leather sleeves will hold the bandage tight. We can sew it, but that will just tear during the fight."

"Someone poke a nose out there and find a companion we trust."

Maya went to the door. "How about a warrior? Bea, get in here!"

A moment later, Bea stepped in.

"Queen Beria, how can I help?"

"Bea, I need you to run brief errands. Nori will explain. When you are done, go help protect my family."

"I would, but there's at least eight there already. I saw the entire Lake Juna contingent. They've got the hut covered."

"Nori is going to send you over there. Joelle adores you. If you need to stay after running these errands-"

"I've got it. Otherwise I'll stay close if you need me."

"Thank you, Bea."

Nori told her what she needed and where to get it. Bea was gone seconds later.

"All right. So I kill her today. Right away? So we can have a peaceful lunch?"

"Are you up for it?"

"Yes. I hurt her a lot more than she hurt me, and neither Malora nor I were trying to hurt each other."

"Are you kidding? I was fighting for all I had," Malora said. "Damn, you've gotten good, Beria." She grinned at me. "You're sure?"

I nodded.

"Swords?" Omie asked. "I have them here."

"No," I said. "Nori, I need a knife. You know why."

She nodded.

"Give her mine," Malora said.

"Sister, I would like your staff again. I beat her twice with swords, and now I'm going to show her I'm better with a staff than she is, too."

"Don't get fancy. Just kill her!" Nori said.

"No," I said. "I need to humiliate her first. I do not want an endless stream of challenges. Malora, what do you think?"

She sighed. "I prefer dealing with one fight at a time. Dead is dead. But you'll certainly send a message this way. I do find that it is more startling if no one sees it coming."

"All right. What do I do?"

"You go back out there. You tell her again you accept her challenge, that it will be a death match, and then you tell her it will begin immediately. She may rush you the moment you say it."

"I'll be ready. Malora, when you fought Parlomith, you had seventy challenges lined up immediately after."

"Yes but I don't think you should do that for your first match. You aren't established. And it's not necessary. You'll win, but if you don't, then as hated as she is, she'll have immediate challenges."

"She's good enough to handle them if she waits to rest up."

"Don't lose," Malora said.

"All right. Do I need to get my family to safety?"

"Yes. Lia is going to be livid, but yes."

"She'll protect the girls. Nori, I want to see them before they go. Please handle it however you feel is best."

"I'll use Bea to find out where Jalad is and we'll go from there."

"Vorine is watching her."

"I grabbed everyone I trusted, and they're all watching her," Ralla said.

"Nori can you get them to safety but get them back here after I win?"

"Of course," Nori said. "Let me handle it."

"Thank you."

Bea returned, handing Nori what she needed, some bandages and a fresh tunic.

"They're fine," Bea said. "Lia is very upset, and the girls are picking it up from her, but Aren, Tamma, Badra and Jasmine are there, and Haldara."

"All right," said Nori. "I need you to verify where Jalad is. Almost anyone from Queen's Town can probably tell you."

"I already checked. She's hanging out at the training circle receiving a lot of glares. No one is going to let her leave, but Vorine has runners organized to come here if necessary."

"All right. We need Lia and the girls here with their guards," Nori said. "And I need Neela, too. Get them and come back. Lia and the girls first."

Bea ran from the hut. Nori and Maya stripped me out of my tunic. Nori looked at the wounds once more, declared them minor, bandaged them, then carefully pulled a fresh tunic in place. Nori helped me tuck the knife where I wanted it.

When she was done, Malora was beside me. "Sign these." She shoved paper into my hands. I looked through them. They released Lia, Joelle and Annalise from Amazon service. I'd once had one of these before the fight with Parlomith.

I signed them.

"Witnesses," Malora said. "Maya and I will do." She signed as witness, then Maya. "They can tear them up when this is over."

"Who else needs them? Everyone here?"

Omie side. "Aren and me. She said she'd let the elderly retire. But she could order Aren and me to remain and then slowly kill us."

Malora wrote two more, and I signed them.

"Omie, you can't leave early," Malora said. "
She'll expect you to be there, and if you're not, she'll know what's up. We can't have that. We can't let anyone leave she's expecting to see. We can say Lia is with the kids, and they're howling in fear, but you have to be there."

"Send Aren with Lia. Please, Queen Beria."

"Of course. Tamma?"

"Hell," said Nori. "Yes. She and Badra can help guard. That's fine."

Malora wrote two more of the notes, and I signed them.

There was a knock, then Lia entered with the girls. Maya stepped to the door, and a moment later, Aren entered as well.

I opened my arms, and Lia stepped into them.

"That bitch," she said. "This was supposed to be a good day."

"It's still going to be, it just got a little exiting." I kissed her and held her for a minute, then pulled the girls into a hug. I saw Nori step outside, and I knew she would talk to Badra and Tamma.

Finally I said, "Lia, I am going to win, but
nothing is sure."

"Don't say that!"

"You once promised to obey me when I spoke about your personal safety, and so when I get done with this you will say, 'Yes, Beria' and do exactly what I have told you."

"You want me to leave."

"Protect our daughters. Nori is making arrangements." I turned to Aren. "You're going, too. Omie will follow."

"Omie will come with me!" Aren said.

"She can't," Nori said. "It will give everyone else away. She can fade away if it's necessary. Trust me to get her out of here."

I kissed Lia and the girls. "Go," I said. "Nori, handle it."

Lia stared sobbing, but she let Aren and Nori pull her away. The girls followed.

I turned to Malora. "Now what?"

"Now we cool our heels for a few minutes until Nori returns. Then you go make that woman pay."

"I need something to drink, and I think I need to sit," I said.

Maya pulled a chair out for me. Malora took another chair. Bea returned, and Maya sent her for cider. She was back two minutes later, and we kept her with us after that.

"Any news?"

"Nori is getting your family out of here. She's being very quiet about it. They'll be gone in a few minutes."

"What's the tone?"

"Everyone wants her dead. She doesn't have a single friend on that field."

"What an idiot," Malora said, shaking her head. "You cannot survive as queen without support, and she has none."

"Change the subject now, I think," I said. I took a deep breath. "Queen Malora, you requested an audience before lunch."

They all stared at me, then she began laughing. A moment later, the rest joined her.

"Perhaps after lunch," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. "That broke the tension."

I grinned.

"Maya," I said, "now you'll have time to actually learn how to play your fiddle."

That renewed the laughter. Maya had gotten to be pretty good, and her fiddle was always popular.

I continued to try to lighten the mood until Nori returned. "All right," she said. "They'll be a half hour away, but only someone who knows these woods will find them. Jasmine and Neela are serving as guides. Omie, they have a horse for you. They're heading for the meadow where the companions pick flowers, but then turning west to that copse of spruce trees."