by Shawn Sodman
Kristieana leaves as Isen follows behind her. Outside, Evelena says to everyone, “We may as well make camp here.”
“I'll scout the area,” Kristieana says. She transforms into an eagle and takes flight. Looking down, she can see the cottage with the shrubs. Unlike the last several days of travel, she now sees a few more trees on the landscape. Far off on the eastern horizon, she can see several structures. She flies towards them, and soon she can see a stream with a small village along the bank. She circles back to the others and lands.
“How does it look?” Evelena asks.
“There's a small village ahead,” Kristieana answers. “I think we could reach it by midday tomorrow, but I didn't see any threat that could reach us in the night.”
“Good,” Evelena replies.
Later, as everyone relaxes around a fire, Sven stirs a pot full of stew. Ambra and Kelik have been out gathering food with Ya’leigh, and they are now returning to the camp. “Sven,” Ambra says, “we found some king peppers.”
“Oh,” Sven replies, “those will be good in the stew. Unless someone does not want it to be spicy.”
“Are they hot?” Isen asks.
“Yes,” Ambra answers. “Very hot.”
“Can I have one?” Isen asks.
Ambra hands him one of the five red colored peppers in her hands and says, “I wouldn't eat one if I were you.”
“I love spicy food,” Isen says. “It can't be that hot.”
“Have you ever eaten king pepper?” Sven asks.
“No, why do you ask?” Isen asks.
“No reason,” Sven replies. He looks at Ambra with a knowing smile.
“They are pretty hot,” Kristieana says. “I'll bet you can't eat a whole one.”
Isen says. “I'll do it.” He takes a deep breath as he looks at the pepper that is about the size of his fist.
Isen takes a big bite out of it when Kristieana says, “You may want to eat it faster, before it gets too hot.”
“I don't know what you're talking about,” Isen says as he takes another bite. “It's not that h-ho-hot...” Isen swallows what is in his mouth and runs over to his backpack, pulling out his wineskin. He begins to drink as fast as he can. “It burns!” he gasps in between desperate gulps. Kristieana and the others begin to laugh as Isen continues to drink. “The water's not helping!” he yells.
They laugh harder as Ambra opens her backpack and takes out a dried sponge fruit that they had taken from the Monastery on Sapphire Lake. She pours some water over it from her wineskin. The dried fruit absorbs the water and grows to its full ripe, plump size. Ambra says, “Here, Isen, eat this.” Isen runs over, grabs the blueberry-like fruit, and takes a bite from it.
“Is that a sponge fruit?” Gelana asks.
“Yes,” Ambra replies.
“May I have one?” Gelana asks.
“Sure,” Ambra says as she takes another from her backpack.
Isen sticks out his tongue and fans it with his hand. “The fruit helped but it still burns,” he says.
Yentroc says to Kristieana, “You're the one who dared him to eat one, so you should help him.”
Kristieana laughs and replies, “Very well. I'm not sure if this will work, but let me try something.” She approaches Isen and says, “Hold still.” She holds her right hand in front of Isen's mouth and casts a spell. Her hand glows green and for a moment. Kristieana asks, “How does that feel?”
Isen sighs with relief and says, “That's much better. Thank you.”
“So,” Sven says, “if you want stew without peppers, Sven will make that first. Then Sven will add one pepper to stew for those who want it spicy.”
“Well, I don't want it spicy,” Isen says.
Sven looks around and asks, “Who else wants plain stew?” When no one else says anything Sven laughs and says, “Look like Isen is only one.”
“You can't blame me,” Isen says, “I had enough spice to last me for a year.”
After re-hydrating her sponge fruit, Gelana takes a bite. “Mmm,” she says as walks over behind Kel'ana, who is sitting and watching the fire. “Remember what we used to do with these?” Gelana asks her sisters.
“Don't you dare,” Kel'ana warns, but it's too late. Gelana reaches around with the dark, soft fruit, and rubs it all over Kel'ana's face. “You wench!” Kel'ana yells as she jumps up and wipes her face.
“Sorry,” Gelana says as she quickly backs up and laughs at Kel'ana. “I couldn't resist.”
“That stain won't come out for days!” Kel'ana says angrily. She magically creates a small spout of water in the palm of her hand as she leans over and begins to scrub at the purple fruit on her cheek and forehead.
Ambra takes out another dried sponge fruit and pours water over it. Instead of eating it, she pinches off a small piece, and rubs it along a lock of hair.
“What are you doing?” Kelik asks.
“What does it look like?” Ambra replies. “I'm dyeing my hair.”
“Why?”
“Why not?” she asks as she begins to eat the rest of the fruit. Ambra's long blonde hair now has a purple streak in the front.
Sven continues to cook as the others begin to put up their tents. Isen says, “I'll take first watch tonight.”
“I'll join him,” Kristieana says.
“Sven will take second watch,” Sven says as he looks up from the pot of stew.
“I haven't been on a watch yet,” Kel'ana says, “I'll watch with Sven.”
“I'll get up on third watch, then,” says Garrin.
Ya’leigh says, “I'll watch with Garrin.”
“That was easy enough,” Isen says.
“I suppose so,” says Evelena. “I still wish that you men didn't feel the need to be on every shift.”
“All right, Isen,” Sven says, “your food is ready.” Sven scoops out a bowl full of stew and hands it to Isen. “Now to add some spice.” Sven takes out his knife and begins to cut one of the king peppers into small pieces, stirring them into the pot.
Lyra comes over and smells the stew. “That smells good.”
“Sven thinks you will like it,” he says.
Lyra stands there for a moment taking in the aroma before finally saying, “Sven, I'm sorry that I yelled at you earlier.”
“You do not need to apologize to Sven,” he says. “We have already talked about this before and you are right. Sven needs to trust you more.”
Ja'noa, overhearing the conversation, speaks up and says, “There is another way we could do it.” Everyone looks at Ja'noa as she continues, “Lyra could make me invisible. I have much more practice sneaking around. If I got into trouble, I have my daggers. They wouldn't see them coming.”
“We would have another advantage if someone else went,” Evelena says. “The rest of us could keep Lyra strong with our own energy. She could maintain the invisibility longer than if she went on her own.”
“Well, if you can make someone else invisible,” Isen says, “just use the spell on me. They wouldn't stand a chance.”
“Thank you for the offer,” Evelena says, “but we really must try to hone our skills. It's not as if we are trying to make things difficult on ourselves, but we must learn to do it on our own without outside help.”
“I forgot,” Kianna says. “You are on your Rite of Passage.”
“I hope you understand, Isen,” Evelena says. “We appreciate the skills that you and the others bring to the group, and we will continue to work together, but if we were to let you do all the fighting while we just hid, we wouldn't be able to test ourselves and improve.”
“I understand,” Isen replies as he sits down and begins to eat his stew.
Chapter 12
Third Night Watch
Near the end of the first shift, Kristieana and Isen are tending the fire. There is plenty of wood, and Isen tosses another log on to keep it going. As Isen sits down, he looks over at Kristieana, who is laughing to herself.
“What's so funny?” Isen asks.
“I'm just thinking about you eating that pepper earlier,” Kristieana answers with a smile.
Isen can't help but find a bit of humor in the thought. He smiles and says, “I can't believe you dared me to eat it when you knew how hot it was.”
“I'm sorry,” she says as she tries to hold back even more laughter. “Ambra tried to warn you.”
“Well, I'm going to listen to her from now on when it comes to plants,” Isen says.
Kristieana looks up at the half moon directly overhead and says, “The other night when we were on watch, I asked you about Sven.”
“Yeah,” Isen replies, “I remember.”
“I never got the chance to say I was sorry,” Kristieana says. “I used you to embarrass him, and I shouldn't have.”
“It's all right,” replies Isen. “You're just looking out for Lyra.”
“I'm glad you understand,” Kristieana says.
“I really don't think that Sven would do anything to hurt her,” says Isen.
Kristieana sighs and says, “I hope you're right. At this point I think I just need to let Lyra figure out men for herself.”
“So, speaking of men,” Isen says. “Sven says there is a man in your life. Is that true?”
Kristieana thinks for a moment before finally answering, “Yes, sort of.”
“What do you mean, 'sort of'?”
“It's not like we made any promises to each other or anything,” Kristieana explains.
“So it's not serious then?” Isen asks with a grin.
“I am not burdened with any commitments, if that's what you mean,” Kristieana elaborates. “But don't give yourself any ideas.”
“Why not?” Isen asks with a laugh. “I'm a good man.”
“I'm sure you are,” Kristieana replies with a smile.
Isen stands up. As he walks over to Kristieana, he says, “So this other man must not have been that great if you didn't want to make any commitment. Or you did want a commitment, but he didn't?”
Kristieana thinks back to the mountain when she asked Chance to stay. She remembers Chance telling her that as long as men were leaving their families to fight in a war, he had to go as well. She remembers telling Chance that the war could take years, and she couldn't promise to be there when it was over.
Isen sits next to her and asks, “That's it isn't it?”
Kristieana looks up at him and answers, “It's not that simple, but yes, he went on his own way.”
“I would say that it's his loss, then,” Isen says as he takes her hand.
Somehow, despite Isen's foolish behavior at times, Kristieana's pulse begins to quicken. She pulls her hand away and says, “I'm sorry, but I am not looking for a relationship.”
“I didn't say anything about a relationship,” Isen says as he gets up to put another log on the fire. Isen picks up a log, then suddenly drops it. “Ow!” he yells as he shakes his hand.
“What is it?” Kristieana asks as she comes over to him.
“I think something bit me,” Isen says as he looks at his hand. “A bug or something on the log.” He looks at his thumb and says, “Yeah, something bit me right there.”
Kristieana says, “Let me take a look.” She takes his hand and looks at the very small bump on his thumb.
Isen takes her hand and holds it. “I think I'm going to live,” he says as draws her hand to his lips and kisses it.
“You are such an idiot,” Kristieana whispers as Isen reaches around her back and pulls her close. Even at Kristieana's height, she must look up at the taller Isen. He leans in as she closes her eyes. They kiss slowly for a few moments, and after they stop, Kristieana says with a grin, “You're still an idiot.”
Suddenly they hear Sven's voice say, “It looks like Sven is not only one who gets distracted on watch.”
Kristieana and Isen quickly turn to see Sven and Kel'ana standing on the other side of the fire, closer to the tents. Kristieana breaks free from Isen's grasp and angrily says, “Goodnight, Isen.”
Kristieana storms past Sven, and Kel'ana begins to follow her. “Wait,” Kel'ana calls to her. Kristieana takes a few more steps before stopping to allow Kel'ana to catch up. With Sven and Isen still by the fire, Kel'ana quietly asks, “What's wrong? Why are you so mad?”
“That shouldn't have happened between Isen and me,” Kristieana explains.
“Why?” Kel'ana asks. “Because of Chance?”
“Shh,” Kristieana says while looking back at Isen and Sven. “Just...please don't say anything to anyone. I'll sort it out with Isen tomorrow.”
“I won’t,” Kel'ana replies. Kristieana walks back to her tent as Kel'ana joins Sven and Isen by the fire.
“Is she angry with me?” Isen asks.
“You should probably ask her about tomorrow,” Kel'ana says as she sits down by the fire. Isen walks back to his tent as Sven sits down by the fire. Kel'ana asks, “What did you mean when you said that you weren't the only one who gets distracted on watch?”
“The first night that we took watches,” he says, “Sven and Lyra were on watch together.”
“Did you kiss Lyra?” Kel'ana asks, sounding excited.
“No,” Sven protests. “Lyra fell asleep on Sven's lap and Sven lost track of time. Kristieana came out and told Sven that his shift ended hours before. Kristieana was not happy with Sven. She said that Sven was too distracted by Lyra.”
Kel'ana nods her head and asks, “Were you?”
Sven, surprised by the question, looks up at her and says, “It was not like that. Now, Sven would like to talk about something else.”
“Oh, I'm sorry,” says Kel'ana.
“It is all right,” Sven says. He looks at Kel'ana's face and says, “The blue stain on face looks lighter.”
“Don't remind me,” Kel'ana grumbles.
“Is Gelana always that mean to you?”
“Ever since we were little,” Kel'ana answers. “It's not serious, though. She was just having fun.”
“Do you girls ever fight for real?”
“Not really,” Kel'ana replies. After thinking a bit she adds, “I suppose some of us have been in real fights, but nothing that ever ruined any friendships.”
“What about Kristieana?” Sven asks.
“Sven,” Kel'ana replies, “are you trying to find out about Kristieana so you can embarrass her like she did to you?”
“No,” Sven answers. “Sven was not asking for that reason. Sven was just curious if she has always been so... confrontational, or if she just does not like Sven.”
Kel'ana smiles and says, “Well, I'm afraid it is just you. She doesn't fight with any of us. Although there is one Amazon of the Silver Moon who she does not get along with at all. Her name is Va'leen.”
“Why does she not like her?” Sven asks as he stands up and grabs two pieces of split wood for the fire.
Kel'ana laughs, “Do you promise that if I tell you, you won't try to embarrass Kristieana?”
“Sven promises that he will not embarrass Kristieana,” he says. He tosses one of the logs onto the fire and drops the other nearby to grab later.
Kel'ana says, “You dropped something.”
Not used to her humor, Sven replies, “Yes, Sven meant to. Now, tell Sven about this, Va'leen.”
“Fine,” Kel'ana sighs. “It started out a few years ago when Kristieana was just beginning her Rite of Passage. She attempted to make her first claim to a male when Va'leen challenged her. Kristieana was younger and far less experienced than Va'leen. The challenge was to use staffs to knock the other to the ground three times. Va'leen defeated her easily and even allowed her a rematch. Kristieana was humiliated at the hands of Va'leen. After that Kristieana trained every day and less than a year later, Kristieana would challenge a claim that Va'leen had made. Kristieana won and since then the two of them have challenged each other at every opportunity.”
“It sounds like they have quite the rivalry,” Sven says.
“They did,” Kel'ana says, “unti
l about a year ago. The two of them were fighting over a man, and it got so bad that the elders had to stop it. They were both so bloody at the end of the fight that the male they were fighting over just left. Since then, the two of them have kept a distance from each other.”
“Do fights over men often get that bad?” Sven asks.
“No. You almost never see blood spilled in a regular challenge,” Kel'ana answers. “Many times the two Amazons will agree to a simple test of skills, similar to Va'leen's first challenge to Kristieana. They try to knock each other down three times. Or, they use sparring weapons or staffs to try to strike each other for points. Sometimes they wrestle until one of them gives up. When two Amazons do not like each other, they may have what is called a 'blood challenge.' That ends when one of them bleeds. The first person to draw the blood of the other becomes the winner. Va'leen and Kristieana had several of those.”
Sven asks, “What kind of challenge was it when elders had to stop them?”
“They were supposed to fight until one of them gave up and said aloud that the other was better,” Kel'ana replies. “Since both of them were proud and stubborn, neither was willing to say it.”
“Have you ever fought for man?”
“No,” Kel'ana says with a laugh. “We aren't allowed to claim a male until we begin our Rite of Passage, and this is only our first month into it.”
“Sven understands,” he replies. “So, none of you have claimed a man, then?”
“Not yet,” Kel'ana answers. “I am sure either Gelana or Yentroc will be the first to make one.”
“What happens when man is not interested in being an Amazon claim?” Sven asks.
Kel'ana explains, “A man can deny an Amazon's claim. In that case the Amazon who attempted the claim receives a black bead of dishonor.”
“Hmm,” Sven thinks for a moment. “What happens when two Amazons fight over man in challenge, and man wants to be with the loser instead of the winner?”
“First,” she says, “the Amazon that won gains any white honor beads that were bet from the loser. Then, if the man is not interested in the winner, she will receive a black bead for the denied claim. The loser, however, must stay away from the male even if the man wants to be with her. That hardly ever happens, though. Amazons don't like to challenge another Amazon's claim unless they are certain the male is interested in them as well. It generally isn't worth risking the chance of denial even if they are confident they can win the challenge.”
