"They will heal. As for now, they are under numbing herbs.” Valasca shook her hands, staring at them with a glazed look of wonder. “I can’t even feel them.”
The Commander glanced around the table. “Has everyone seen the healer?”
Most of the company gave a collective nod, too consumed by their food to speak.
“And everyone has the supplies they need?”
“There are a few of us left to do that.” Kelius admitted.
Valasca huffed, apparently aggravated that Laidea had interrupted her extraordinary tale. Noticing this, the Commander dipped her head in a playful gesture of respect.
“Go on.”
The brave nodded, re-energized. “Oh. Umm. So then…." She slurred, the ale doing more of the talking than she was. "I had to get the dagger. My hands were pounding. Throbbing- Oh wait." Valasca interrupted herself. “Has everyone seen my hands?”
We all nodded as she displayed the bruises. Again.
“More than once." Kelius chimed in.
"What’s odd is,” the girl went on, “I’m not feeling any pain now."
"I'm certain she's not.” Hippolyta nudged an elbow into Laidea's ribs. "She's had so much drink I’m surprised she isn’t dancing on the table in tribute to those purple hands."
"The night is young." Laidea chuckled, obviously feeling more relaxed than earlier in the evening.
“Oh, oh!” Valasca put her palms up as to stop everyone in their seat. “And if we feel any pain, that lady over there,” she pointed to a loose looking woman at the bar so entangled in her own laughter she fell to one knee and had to be heaved back to her feet by the gruff man next to her, “she told me and Belsiphiny that there were more numbing herbs where those came from and-”
"You spoke to one of the women here?" Malaia interrupted.
"Yeah….” Valasca answered, sounding uncertain.
The elder warriors shared in a condescending giggle, while it was clear by their wide eyed stares that the braves didn’t understood. Saratiese and I giggled along, but secretly I was a bit uncertain what the jest was.
Kelius leaned into the splintery table, whispering to Valasca. "Most women here don’t worry themselves with healing, or any other skill unrelated to the tavern or its men."
Belsiphiny’s sucked in a loud breath. "This is a brothel?"
“A what?” Lathenia asked, causing Laidea to nearly choke on her ale.
"Of course it‘s a brothel.” Malaia replied. “Have none of you thought to look around?"
All the braves glanced the place over, including Lathenia, who appeared lost on what to look for. I glanced about too, but tried to remain inconspicuous. With all my badgering Sae-mond, I hadn’t stopped to eyeball the locals. I doubted Saratiese had either.
"I was watching Askca bicker with Sae-mond,” Tilliandre added as if she read my mind, “I didn’t much look at the other people.”
I shot the brave a hot glare.
"Valasca! What happened?" Belsiphiny interrupted the brothel discussion, unable to take any more suspense. Her fervor drew Valasca right back into the tale, and into yet another display of bruised hands.
I looked around the tavern, but didn’t see Sae-mond anywhere. Laidea probably had him off on another errand. Part of me believed that she was keeping him busy because she was afraid to hear his message. Or to believe it. I didn’t know which. But either way, the tavern was doing us all some good. We hadn’t had a chance to catch our breath since leaving GarTaynia, and the ale seemed to be casting a magic spell over our moral.
I looked around the table at my friends, all engrossed in Valasca’s epic tale as if they hadn’t been witness to the whole thing. Laughing and drinking, they carried on, talking over each other and indulging Valasca. Another glance around the tavern’s noisy crowd still didn’t turn up Sae-mond, which honestly made me happy. If I wanted time alone with Saratiese, I knew I’d better take it now. I didn’t have any idea if we’d have another free moment and the quest would only get more dangerous from here.
“I need some air.” I nudged Saratiese. She nodded, and we slipped away from the table.
“Should they go?” Hippolyta leaned into Laidea‘s shoulder. “I thought Sae-mond was about to give his message.”
Laidea took another swallow of ale. “Sae-mond left.”
“Left?”
“Yeah… said he had coin left over for more weapons.”
“Oh.” Hippolyta said in suspicious tone.
“I know, but I’m not nervous. If he were planning to pull something, now would not be the time. Too many people in here. Too many big, burly drunk ogres just waiting for an excuse to lay into such a petite man.”
“Just for the fun of it.” Hippolyta agreed. “I think half the company is leery of him anyway. If he brought more soldiers in here, well… our girls have enough drink in them to feel no pain.”
I took Saratiese by the hand, zigzagging through the lawless tavern as the music and ale flowed over me in warm waves. We stumbled across the dirt floor until reaching the doorway, then jutted to the outdoor tables. The cool night air hit me in a tingle and I sighed, sinking into the refreshing sensation.
"Too hot in there.” I said, pulling at my leathers to fan my chest. “Had to catch my breath."
"Yeah.” Saratiese slid sprawled fingers through her dark, sweaty hair. “Me too.”
I stared on her for a moment, captivated by her autumn hair as it danced across her shoulders, her blue eyes glittering in the fall of night. But as soon as she caught me I glanced to my feet. Sara had a way of doing that. Of stealing me away from the moment. Of pulling me out of mid-thought. She had always been noticeably beautiful, but sometimes I felt bowled over by it, as if I had only just realized it for the first time.
“You alright?” She asked.
“Want to go for a walk?”
Saratiese agreed and we began a lazy stroll up the winding path.
“Gods….” She stopped partway, gazing up at the starry heavens.
I stopped too, awestruck by the same shimmer. “It’s striking.”
“So peaceful.” She whispered. “I’ve never seen so many.”
“Me neither.” I paused. “Maybe it’s a good omen.”
Once we reached the edge of Pahll-sus, I noticed a grassy slope reaching up into an overlook for the village. I took in a deep breath, wiping my sweaty hands on my leathers.
“You want to go up there?”
“Sure.” She said, hurrying ahead.
We sprinted up the hill, racing as we laughed, heading further out of the glow of Pahll-sus. I scrambled up the last few paces, dropping into the grass next to Saratiese.
“You cheat.”
She grinned at that, and we both stared back up into the gleaming of midnight. This high on the hill the black sky was aglow with even more stars twinkling under the shine of a full moon.
“It’s so quite up here.” I hugged my knees into my chest, the warm breeze sweeping through my hair, cooling me. My heart pounding.
“Askca?”
“Hm?”
“What’s going to happen when we get back?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are things going to be… different?”
“Well,” I shrugged, “I ‘spose that depends on how fate plays out. As far as Masseeia, I-”
“No.” Saratiese broke in softly. “I mean, between us.”
My heart leapt into my throat, stealing away any words.
Saratiese went on.
“I just, I need to know because so much has happened on this quest. I can’t go back to the way things were.”
“I can’t….” With my heart trembling, my words left me again. I struggled to breath. Dropping my eyes to the grass I felt Saratiese lean into my shoulder.
“You can’t what?”
The words warmed over my ear on the girl’s breath, sending my heart to pound even faster.
I swallowed. “I can’t go back either.”
She pul
led from my shoulder, looking at me. I watched her lips curve into a relieved smile. I waited there, my hands still sweating. Quivering.
“I’m sorry, Askca. For all the-”
“No.” I whispered. “None of that matters anymore.”
Her smile faded. “But I’m just… I’m scared.”
“Of what?”
“You.”
“What?”
“Hating me again. Changing your mind.”
“Sara, I never changed my mind.”
“But… wait. What?”
“I just stopped fighting. You and me, we belong together. It‘s always been that way.”
Under that ocean of stars, I fell silent. Something told me that this was the sort of moment people wait for. A moment I would always hold in my heart, treasure, and never forget. Some moments you never know how much you want, how much you need, until you‘re in the middle of them.
Seeing the gentleness, the devotion, glowing in Sara’s blue eyes, it struck me. No one had ever looked at me the way she was looking at me now. She knew me like no one else and it made me feel safe. Our predestined moment carried in on the warm night breeze, and in its’ perfection, I fell into my first kiss.
Chapter 47
“Girls.” The voice jerked me out of the embrace like a splash of ice water to the face. I swung around. Silhouetted by the moonlight, the Commander stood there, staring at us. Saratiese and I froze in the awkward silence.
“Commander?” I muddled out, wringing my hands like they might jump off my arms if I didn‘t keep a constant rub on them. Glancing over at Saratiese, I could see her face turning red, even in the dark. Laidea took the last pace up the hill, letting the uncomfortable silence hang.
“Yeah…” She said in a tone that suggested she were stifling a giggle, “sorry to interrupt.”
Oh gods…. I wanted to dig a hole and jump in it. My own cheeks started burning under embarrassment and I just wanted the Commander to leave. To turn around, walk down the hill, and forget she ever saw me.
“No. Uh, no.” I rambled, not really certain what I was trying to say. Or what I could say. “You didn’t interrupt anything.”
Denial. I guess denial was my plan of action. The moment the Commander cocked an eyebrow, again clearing her throat in an effort not to laugh, I realized my plan wasn’t going so well. Which made me blush even more, thus completing the circle of failure. Saratiese, of course, had apparently been struck mute and was of no help whatsoever.
“Sae-mond is about do deliver the message.”
“Yes, Commander.” I bobbed my head anxiously, still trying to pretend as if nothing had happened.
“Good.” Laidea said. “I’ll see you two down
there.”
“Yes.” I sputtered, the word shooting out of my mouth by accident.
Not talking when caught doing something seemed to be a problem. The Commander stared at me, making me long to hide in that imaginary hole again, until she relented into a half grin. Turning without a word, she headed back down the slope.
Once back in the tavern, Saratiese and I huddled in around the table with the rest of the company. Most of the crowd had already left, stumbling home to pass into sleep under a drunken fog. Only a handful of the tavern women remained, idling nearby with three intoxicated men, drinking their last round before retiring to their nightly business. The Commander sat between Sae-mond and Hippolyta, fresh ale in hand, a grave look weighing on her face. My embarrassment faded at this, as she was clearly too concerned for the moment to care what she had seen on the hill.
“Out with it then.” She said, and the rest of us went quiet.
Sae-mond looked to the table of Amazons, that same red flush blaring up his neck. “First, I am to tell you that your Queen is alive.”
A relieved sigh carried around our table.
“Gragore is trusting her to his finest chamber. His concubines are tending her.”
“Why would he do that?” Laidea cut in, tone skeptical.
“I don’t know.” Sae-mond shrugged. “Bartamius only informed me of so much. I know she had a bad time of it when she first arrived, but now she is being kept in comfort, alive and well. But most urgent, I am to tell you that Gragore is expecting you. You are walking into a trap.”
Our company exploded into questions and cursing. Laidea lifted a calm hand to us, her face like stone.
“Of course he’s expecting us.” She said. “Why else would he take Queen Perseathea? He wants us to follow her. If you truly are his messenger, tell me something of use.”
“Yes… of course.” Sae-mond said, the rest of us pinning him to the chair with our eyes. “Bartamius has advantage on the inside. He has many aiding him. They are planning a way to get your Queen out of the fortress unseen.”
“Why?” Laidea interrupted again, her tone cold.
Sae-mond shrunk back. “Why?”
“Why would Gragore’s men aid Bartamius?”
“I… I don’t know. I only know what I’ve been told and-”
“And what is it you’ve been told exactly?”
“That I am to leave in the morning and return to the fortress by dusk tomorrow. After I give Bartamius word that your company has made it to Pahll-sus, he will advise me of the current status of the plan. Then I am to return here with word for you.”
“What are we supposed to do in the mean time?” Hippolyta ground her elbows into the table. “We can’t just sit around and wait for-”
“Wait.” Laidea cut her friend off with another raised hand. “You are telling me to bring this journey to a halt?”
Sae-mond glanced apprehensively around the table, hesitant to say. “Just for a couple days. That way you can rest your company, get them fresh.”
Kelius flit eyes to Laidea. “That doesn’t sound like Queen Perseathea, Commander.”
“No,” Malaia shook her head, “it doesn’t.”
The braves gave a collective stare, watching the elder warrior’s exchange doubts.
Laidea crossed her arms, leaning back in her chair with a creak. “I don’t think I believe you, Sae-mond.”
“But-”
“You haven’t told us anything of value.”
“But I-”
“What should we do with him?” I asked, well satisfied at the thought of harming the boy.
“No. Wait. There’s more.” He lifted his palms in surrender. “Please, let me finish.”
“Alright.” Laidea squared her jaw, already looking worn by the conversation. “But you will do well not to waste anymore of my time.”
“I won’t, I won’t….” He shook his head, dark curls springing into his eyes. “One of your warriors, Masseeia-”
Laidea leaned in. “What of her?”
“She is helping Gragore.”
Hippolyta gasped. “What?”
A rush of whispers circled our table and I couldn’t help but feel somewhat vindicated. I knew something was going on with the First Commander. I knew there was a clandestine purpose behind her announcement. But I never expected this. For her to turn against her Amazon name? She was the most committed, most dedicated, most decorated warrior of GarTaynia, under the Queen herself. The thought of it clenched into my chest like a cold hand squeezing my heart.
“No!” Malaia shouted, pounding a fist into the table. “That’s impossible.”
“We know she has a hard heart, but she is a sister.” Kelius looked to Laidea, searching for reassurance in the Commander‘s face. “She would never break her vow.”
“I think he’s telling the truth. At least with that part.” I spoke up. “The First Commander refused to lift a hand in the Queen’s return.” I looked around the table, once again beseeching them the way I had at Assembly. “She wouldn’t even allow us the steed we needed for this quest.”
“It’s true,” Saratiese added, “she tried to convince us that Queen Perseathea was dead.”
The warriors looked to each other in uneasy silence.
“But
…” Malaia looked past me to the Commander, “to betray her allegiance?”
“It’s possible.” Laidea let the words settle.
I could see in her eyes that it hurt the Commander to think Masseeia would commit such treason, but I could also see that she believed it. After several silent moments, she turned to Sae-mond.
“What is Masseeia order?”
“To track your company to the fortress.” The boy swallowed. “Deliver you into Gragore’s hands… no matter the cost.”
Mouths dropped all around the table.
“I knew she was a traitor.” The words crawled out of Laidea’s mouth like a cockroach.
“If we get her off our trail,” Kelius began, “she will certainly report it to Gragore. He will send troops out after us.”
“Why would we want to do that?” Valasca asked. “Then we’ll have the First Commander and troops after us.”
“Askca is high priority.” Hippolyta explained. “Gragore wants her at any risk.”
“He’ll send out as many men as it takes,” Laidea added, “meanwhile weakening the numbers at the fortress. Less look outs on the wall-”
“Because they’re looking elsewhere.” Kelius finished the thought.
“Exactly.” Laidea said, flitting eyes back to the Sae-mond. “Is that all?”
“Yes.”
“Alright,” she perked up her posture, “then braves, it’s time you get to the inn. Get some rest.”
The younger girls nodded, pushing up from the table one by one in an intoxicated swagger. After they were gone, Laidea looked to her warriors.
“Gragore’s fortress is only a day’s walk from here and this is likely the last solid sleep offered us. You can drink more ale, but I’d advise sleep.”
The warriors gave a collective nod, pushing up from the table.
“If you need me….” Malaia hovered at Laidea’s side. The Commander answered with a nod. “I know. Thank you.”
The warrior dipped her head, then walked out the tavern door.
“Kelius.” Laidea glanced up at her friend. “You resting with Tilliandre?”
“Yes, Commander.” The woman nodded, giving her black dreads a shake, then turned to leave. Hippolyta stayed place at the Commander’s side as Saratiese and I made our retreat.
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