by Sky Croft
Blake gave one of her all-knowing smiles. “When you’re ready.”
Shale rubbed her temple. Blake always had been able to read her, even from the start. Now, as her wife, Blake was an expert at it. “Blake, you’re exhausted...”
“So are you.”
Unable to refute that, Shale closed her mouth, deciding to save her breath. She knew that if Blake had made up her mind to stay up with her, there would be no changing it. “Yet Kale and I are the ones with the reputation for being stubborn.”
Blake rested her head on Shale’s shoulder, a small smile playing on her features. “Only because no one dares to say that about the queen.”
“I just did.”
“Yes, but you did it in a nice way.”
The corner of Shale’s mouth curled upward. She turned her head so she was eye to eye with Blake. “You always make me smile, Blake, even when I think I can’t.”
“That wasn’t a proper smile, Shale, far from it.” Blake pressed her lips softly to Shale’s cheek. “But I promise I’ll keep working on it.”
A single tear rolled down Shale’s cheek, and Blake gently removed it with her thumb. “I wish my mother had never birthed triplets.”
Blake’s look conveyed that she wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment. “She should’ve stopped at two.”
“I almost lost you and Kale today.” Shale swallowed convulsively, becoming choked up. “I couldn’t bear the loss of either of you. I don’t know how I’d have coped if... It was so close.”
“Sweetheart, stop.” Blake twisted herself around, as if to see Shale better. “I’m fine. Kale’s fine—well, she will be. You didn’t lose us. We’re here with you.” She gripped both of Shale’s arms, the contact clearly meant to comfort and to verify her words.
Shale nodded, taking a shaky breath to try and gain control of her stampeding emotions. She leaned forward, seeking solace, which Blake instantly gave, opening her arms and enfolding Shale into a warm, secure embrace. Blake whispered words of reassurance in her ear, seemingly content to hold Shale for as long she needed.
When Shale eventually calmed, she found she was emotionally drained as well as physically and she thought now she might be able to sleep. But before she was willing to try, she still had one more thing of importance to discuss.
As Blake tenderly tucked a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear, Shale whispered, “I know you must be upset with me, Blake. Furious even.”
Blake looked confused for an instant, then recognition appeared to dawn on her. “I suppose I should punish you for defying your queen’s order.”
Shale nodded, straightening her back. “I’ll accept any you have to give. Gladly so.”
Blake sighed. “As a wife, I was moved deeply that you stayed with me, Shale. Please know that.”
Shale nodded again. “But?”
“But as your queen, I have to know that you’ll follow my command. Whether you like my decisions or not.”
“I understand. Truly. And though the realization that I’ve defied my queen brings me great shame, I’m not at all ashamed of the action I took today.”
“You were right, Shale. I admit that,” Blake said. “But your queen gave you an order. Not once, or twice, repeatedly. You should have followed it.”
“I don’t think...” Shale broke off, unsure as to how much she should say. She had never disappointed Blake before, let alone her persona as queen. She wasn’t sure where the lines as her wife ended, and the lines of her queen began.
“Shale.” Blake winced, looking hurt by her hesitation. “You can say whatever you wish to me, there are no divides between us.”
Shale gazed into Blake’s green eyes, and was completely assured by what she saw there. She finished her sentence. “I don’t think you were speaking to me as queen.”
As Blake went to protest, no doubt going to say that she couldn’t have been any clearer in her instructions, Shale held up a hand to delay her. “Not from your heart anyway. You were speaking as my wife. You wanted to protect me, as I wanted to protect you. As queen, it made no strategic sense to lose the queen’s life for a single warrior’s. As a wife, you were trying to protect me from what you considered would be the worst loss.”
Shale took a breath. “I think you ordered me to release you to spare me the ultimate decision of choice—so afterward I couldn’t blame myself for what I’d done, and wouldn’t be eaten up by guilt. That’s not an action of a queen, it’s an action of a wife. A loving wife who was intent on saving her spouse extra heartache.”
Blake had been frowning throughout Shale’s speech, but now her expression began to clear, as if Shale’s reasoning was starting to sink in. Several moments passed, then Blake regarded Shale with awe. “You know me better than I know myself. When you screamed, I could see that the choice was ripping you apart. I wanted to spare you that.”
Shale brushed her knuckles over Blake’s cheek in a caress. “And I love you for such a selfless act. We were both motivated by the right reasons. We merely wanted to protect one another.”
Blake nodded. “It comes with the vows.”
“But I must confess that at the time, I thought you were speaking as my queen. Only now when I’ve had chance to reflect, did I see your true intentions.” Shale paused, wanting to be truthful. “I still defied you as queen, Blake. I should still be punished.”
“I appreciate your honesty.” Blake delayed only an instant, as if she’d already come to her decision. “You defied a queen’s order, but in so doing you saved my life. I’d say the two cancel one another out.” At Shale’s look of surprise, she added, “What you’ve been through today is punishment enough.”
Shale didn’t know what to say, so she leaned in and kissed Blake’s forehead.
“There is one thing you can do for me,” Blake said coyly.
Shale gamely tipped her head. “Anything.”
Blake held out a hand. “Come to bed.”
Shale finally smiled—properly this time, and with some feeling.
Blake’s eyes sparkled in the firelight. “Now that’s a smile.”
The smile only grew as Shale took Blake’s hand, stood, and followed her to the bedrolls. She lay down on her side, as the bump on the back of her head was still tender, and released a contented sigh when Blake snuggled into her.
It didn’t take long for either woman to fall asleep, the trials and tribulation of the day melting away as they drifted into slumber, safe in one another’s arms.
“I THINK WE should sleep till late in the morning. Maybe even noon.”
“You have my vote,” Kale murmured. She was curled up behind Amber, arms around her middle. She felt the blanket tighten as Amber tugged it closer. “You’re still not cold, are you?”
“It’s the remnants of that damned cave.” Amber moved the hands that were around her waist. “You’d better hold me closer.”
Kale released a chuckle. “I detect an ulterior motive.” She pressed her body tightly against Amber’s, so not a single gap was between them. “Better?”
“Much.”
“Is your collarbone giving you much grief after that climb? You did well to manage the rope up the shaft yourself.”
“My worry about you helped distract me. Though I’ll admit I’m feeling it now. Still, I’m sure the pain’s minor compared to your head.”
“Those herbs I drank helped some. Mind I should think so, after such a repugnant taste.” Kale scrunched up her face. It wasn’t a taste that you soon forgot, but the herbs were strong, and they did help to relieve the pain.
“They are awful,” Amber said, clearly knowing from personal experience. She twisted her neck and glanced back at Kale. “You look adorable with that bandage around your head.”
Kale rolled her eyes. “So you keep saying, Amber.” She released a long-suffering sigh. “But I’m telling you now, as soon as we start to travel it’s coming off. I bet it looks ridiculous.”
“No, you look ad...” Amber broke off at Kal
e’s warning scowl. “Tough. Really tough.”
Kale barked a laugh. “I bet.”
“When we get home, we’re going to hang Senna’s greave up on our cabin wall, with the rest of our keepsakes.”
Kale smiled, and pressed soft lips to Amber’s shoulder. “I’d like that.”
“Shale won’t mind, will she? She did find it, after all.”
“Not in the slightest. Shale knows we’ll take good care of it.”
“That we will. Senna saved you, I owe her everything for that. And when I meet her in the Elysian Fields, I intend to thank her for it.”
“That’s if you get in.”
Amber drove an elbow back into Kale’s ribs. “Very funny.”
“Ow. You definitely won’t get in if you keep attacking injured, defenseless women.”
“Defenseless, you?” Amber scoffed. “Hardly.”
“That may have been a bit of a stretch.” Kale chuckled at Amber’s pointed look. “All right, a lot.”
Amber grinned as she settled into her bedroll. A yawn soon overtook Kale, and she nuzzled into Amber’s neck.
“Are you still cold?”
“Not with you as my blanket.”
Kale gave her an affectionate squeeze. “Anytime, Amber. You know that.”
“I’M GLAD TO be back in my own clothes.” Kale looked down at herself. The shirt and trousers she’d worn yesterday had now been replaced by her usual skirt and top. “Don’t get me wrong, Amber, they certainly came in handy down in those caves, but I don’t know how you wear them all the time—I’d overheat, especially when training or sparring.”
“You get used to it,” Amber said. “Remember, I’ve worn such clothes since I was young, so I barely think about it. Though it’d be nice to have more variety to my selection of clothes.”
To Kale’s despair, she noticed Amber was mixing another concoction of herbs for her to drink. Unfortunately for Kale, her head was still hurting, so she needed the pain relief. The drink really was vile, but it was the better of two evils, so she’d just have to force it down. She was somewhat envious of Shale, whose pain had apparently eased, for she’d turned down the offer of pain relief.
Amber swilled some water into the mug, and stirred in the herbs with a wooden spoon. She carried it to Kale.
“Thanks.” Kale accepted the drink and took a sip. “Ugh.” She pulled a disgusted face. “On second thought, take it away.” She tried to pass the mug back to Amber, but Amber shook her head.
“Drink it down. You know it helps.”
Kale relented, pinching her nose to stop the awful smell from wafting into her nostrils. She concentrated solely on the mug, taking as long a drink as she could, trying to finish it in one go. She had to stop, and was discouraged to find the mug was still half full. “This is torture. It’s bad enough that you get injured, but then this? I don’t know which is worse.”
The only saving grace, in Kale’s opinion, was that breakfast was currently being served—Shale and Blake were nearby, dishing out food onto plates. Though given the late hour, it was actually time for lunch. They’d all slept in, relaxing after yesterday’s events. Kale felt rested from the long sleep, but a decision had been made to stay put for the day, or however long it took, to give Kale a chance to recover from her injury. Kale had insisted that one day would be enough, but Blake had told her to wait until the next morning, and reassess how she felt then. There was no major rush to return home, so they could delay if needed.
Shale brought a plate of food to Kale. Once Kale had finished her drink of herbs, Shale swapped her mug for the plate. “Here. This will help to take away the taste.”
Kale ate some quickly, more than relieved when the vile taste in her mouth was replaced by the much nicer taste of bread, then cheese, and finally apple. No one felt like hunting, so they were making do with the supplies they had leftover from their visit to the town of Pyrrhos. The bread was now a tad stale, but it was edible, so Kale didn’t complain. She gave Shale a grateful nod, since her mouth was full.
Silence fell as the four women tucked into their meal.
Kale felt eyes on her, and she saw Shale was regarding her oddly, her lips twitching as if amused by something. Kale immediately knew the reason—the bandage around her head. She realized that if the roles were reversed, she’d be teasing Shale non-stop, making every quip she could about how silly Shale looked. Though Kale had no wish to look stupid, she didn’t want the wound to become infected, so the ridiculous bandage would have to stay in place. At least for now.
Kale scowled at her twin. “Not one word, Shale.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“I can see what you’re thinking.” Kale raised a cautionary finger. “Not one word.”
Shale nodded seriously, then her face cracked into a smile.
“So, Blake,” Amber pushed a lock of red curly hair behind an ear. “Are you looking forward to being back in charge of the tribe?”
“Yes and no,” Blake said. “Yes, because it’s in my nature, and I miss the day-to-day running of things. I like the routine.” She bit into her apple and chewed it as she appeared to think about her next words. “But no, because when I get bogged down with work, or caught up in something that needs my immediate attention, I can’t always spend as much time as I’d like with Shale.”
Kale jostled Shale with her arm. “She’s worried what you get up to.”
Blake gave her a look. “I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.”
“I manage just fine, Blake,” Shale said. “I know you have important work to do.” Her voice lowered conspiratorially. “Kale’s always bothering me for attention anyway, so it’s not like I get lonely.”
Kale made an indignant noise in the back of her throat. Not satisfied with just that, she picked up the apple core on her plate, the juicy flesh of it long gone, and hurled it at Shale.
In an impressive display of honed reflexes, Shale’s hand whipped up and caught the core shooting toward her, just before it struck her in the chest.
Amber whistled. “Nice catch.”
Kale had the desire to throw something else, but there was nothing left on her plate. “I think you’ll find it’s the other way around, Shale.”
“That may be.” Shale shrugged a shoulder. “But you know you love me anyway.”
Three sets of eyes locked onto Kale, all clearly awaiting her response. Kale grew self-conscious, which was a rare state for her to be in. She narrowed her eyes. “Shale, I swear...”
“What?” Shale batted innocent eyelashes, though the eyes behind were chock full of mischief. “You don’t love me?” Her lower lip stuck out in a pout. “Your own twin?”
“We’re in public,” Kale said, from between gritted teeth.
“Don’t mind us.” Blake smiled amusedly, obviously enjoying herself.
“We’re hardly public, Kale.” Amber folded her arms, as if in protest. “I’m your partner, and Blake’s your sister-in-law.”
“Fine.” Kale released a sigh. “I do, yes.”
Shale shook her head, looking confused. “You do, what?”
Kale clenched her jaw. “You’re not going to relent until I say it, are you?”
A smirk. “No.”
“My head is starting to hurt again,” Kale said, in an attempt to get out of it.
Amber laughed. “No one’s falling for that.”
Another sigh. “All right, all right.” Kale kept them all waiting for a moment longer. “I love you, Shale.” As everyone smiled, she added, “But not so much when you embarrass me by emotional displays like these.” Shale grinned. “I love you, too.” She put down her plate, crawled to where Kale was seated and hugged her.
“What did I just say, Shale?” Despite her protestations, Kale returned the embrace.
Chapter Twenty-three
THE NEXT DAY the four Amazons left the stone forest behind, and headed toward home. Each woman was now rested and well enough to travel. The group walked at a sl
ow pace, traveling back the same way they’d come—using the same routes that they knew were easily passable.
While on their journey, autumn had descended, and had now firmly taken control from summer. Many of the trees had changed color, from simple greens to a rich variety of browns, rusts, and oranges.
“I love this time of year.” Blake stopped to admire a particularly bright tree, its red leaves striking against the backdrop of blue sky. “The trees are so pretty.”
Though the seasons had changed, the weather hadn’t yet cooled enough to be of issue, and they were all hoping to make it back to the sanctuary of their cabins before the inevitable decline of nice weather.
Blake bent down and picked up a red leaf that had fallen off its branch. The color was vivid, and had attracted her eye. She studied it for a moment, then let it flutter to the ground once more. Most of the trees near their village were fir trees, and didn’t offer the variety of color change that these smaller trees did, so she was taking the time to appreciate their beauty. There was no rush to continue, as Amber and Kale were behind a short ways.
“I bet Zayla will be glad to see us,” Shale said.
“I’ll be glad to see Mother myself.” Blake smiled at the thought. “I’ve missed her.”
She enjoyed the close relationship she shared with her mother. She had always been able to confide in her, even when she went through the awkward adolescent phase that every young girl went through. Both she and her mother were similar in nature and temperament, and they shared the same views, so they rarely ever disagreed.
Shale linked her arm through Blake’s as they walked onward. “That’s understandable. You two are very close.”
“I can’t wait to show her what we’ve found. She’ll be moved beyond words to see Zephyra’s urn.”
“And I can’t wait to tell Zayla about our trip, and how much trouble you’ve been getting into.”
“It wasn’t just me, Shale!”
“No, but you certainly played your part.” A droll chuckle. “Don’t let me forget the snake.”
“As if I could,” Blake muttered.
