Amazon Challenge

by Robin Roseau

  "No," she replied. "It was on the other side of the road."

  "Oh, I guess you're right."

  We didn't hear anything that night or the next day. But very early the following day, two voices spoke out from the edge of our camp. "Nori and Omie, if you want to see our sisters, you will come with us."

  I never scrambled out of a tent so fast, and Omie was even faster. There were two young men waiting for us. They had come on a single horse, and one of them was holding it.

  "Hello, Dannick," Omie said. "Chandor."

  "Omie," said one of the boys. "Leave all your weapons and saddle one horse. No knives, no swords."

  We both dropped our swords and knives back in the tent. I hoped they would still be there when we got back. Omie saddled my horse, and then we were both up and following the boys.

  It was still dark, and as we drew closer to the harbor, we rode into a deep, deep fog.

  "Where are you leading us?" I asked.

  "You'll see," one of the boys said. "No questions."

  They led us down to the water, a rocky beach. They climbed from the horse, and we stepped down next to them. I looked around, but I couldn't see more than twenty paces in the thick fog.

  "Come with us," the oldest of the two boys said. I guessed his age to be about twenty-one, a few years younger than Maya. The two led us down the beach a short distance, and ahead in the fog I saw another figure standing next to a small boat. At first I thought it was Maya, but then it turned out to be another young man. The two brought us to the third, and then they turned.

  "You're going to do exactly what we say."

  "Of course, Dannick," Omie said. Dannick appeared to be the oldest.

  "If you try anything, we'll kill you," Dannick added. "You two can probably kill us here on dry land, but we're going out onto the water, and Maya tells us neither of you swim that well."

  "We're just here to talk, and then your sisters can decide what they want to do."

  "Maya can decide what she's going to do, but Beria isn't of age, and our parents will decide."

  Omie made a sound of distress, but I put a hand on her shoulder. "It will be okay," I whispered. "Trust me."

  She half turned to me. "I need her, Nori."

  "I know."

  "Get in," Dannick said, gesturing to one of the small boats. "Middle seat. Chandor, stay here with the horses."

  "Get in," I told Omie quietly. She climbed into the boat and I followed her. We took the middle seat, and a moment later, Dannick and the third brother were pushing the boat into the water. They gave it a good heave, and we floated away from shore. They hadn't gotten in.

  "Hey!" I said.

  "Relax," Dannick called out. I watched as they moved to a second boat, shoved it into the water, then climbed aboard. They sat down on the middle seat, facing backwards, and each grabbed a large oar, setting into place in the oarlocks on the sides of the boat. I looked around our boat, but I didn't see any oars, or anything else, for that matter. Our boat was completely empty except for Omie and me.

  The two boys rowed backwards for a moment, until their boat was even with ours, then they turned away from us and began rowing away. After another moment though, our boat began to turn, following theirs, and I realized the front of our boat was tied via a rope to the back of theirs.

  Once we were following them, they turned away from shore and began to pull harder on the oars, working in tandem. They towed us out away from shore, and pretty soon all we could see in the fog was our own boat, their boat, and the water immediately around us.

  "Keep track which direction is land," I whispered to Omie.

  "Directly behind us," she said.

  "No," I said, "a little left."

  "Are you sure?" she said.

  And then I saw the other boat turn to the right, turning us. Then they did what seemed like a full circle, then a second, and I had absolutely no idea which direction it was to shore.

  "We're in trouble," I whispered.

  "We can pull in the rope and jump aboard their boat."

  "If we do, they'll untie the rope and be gone before we can gain a foot. I bet they have a quick-release knot on their end."

  "The sun will come out eventually," Omie said.

  "Sure," I said. "This is just a prank. Lord knows, Maya owes us a few."

  "Owes you, perhaps," Omie said. "I'm not the one who hauled her away from home with her arms tied behind her. She says she forgave you, but are you sure?"

  "Maybe you can appeal to their kindness and let you go back to shore with them," I suggested.

  "And then throw them overboard and come back for you? I'm pretty sure they know that trick."

  I sighed.

  They towed us for about twenty minutes, never saying a word. Then one of the boys leaned forward and released our rope from their boat, and a second later, they were rowing away.

  "Hey!" I called out.

  "Maya will be along soon," Dannick said. "If she doesn't change her mind."

  "Don't worry," the other brother added, "it's a slow leak. You shouldn't need to bail for at least another half hour."

  "If it doesn't rain," Dannick added.

  I looked over my shoulder at the back of the boat, and there was already about two inches of water in it.

  "Oh hell," I said. "She wouldn't."

  "She may not even be party to this," Omie said. "This could be Renee getting rid of us."

  "How will she find us in this soup?" I hollered out.

  "Look in the water!" came the reply. "You'll figure it out."

  Omie and I immediately turned to the task of searching the water, rocking the boat in the process.

  "Oh no," I said. "We're going to tip over!"

  "Settle down and keep your weight in the middle," Omie replied.

  "I've never been in a boat in my life!" I said. "And I bet you haven't, either."

  "Beria loves me," Omie said. "I know she does."

  "She may not know. Maya may be protecting her from us."

  "Maya wouldn't do this. I don't care how mad she is, she wouldn't kill us."

  "Do you have any idea where shore is?"

  "Not a clue," she said.

  It was absolutely still, not even a ripple on the water, and no way to tell which direction was which.

  But we looked in the water, and to the left was a small float, presumably anchored in place. Omie pointed to it.

  "Apparently we're not in some random location out in the bay," I said. "But how did they find it?"

  "I have no idea," Omie said. "If Maya finds us out here, she'll demonstrate another skill of hers we didn't even know existed."

  "I took her from everything she knew," I said glumly.

  "Until a few weeks ago, I think she has been glad you did, more or less," Omie said. "She loves Malora, and Beria said she never had friends. She has friends with us." Omie paused. "She won't abandon us here."

  We sat there for another ten minutes, and the water in the back was noticeably higher. We still hadn't come to a solution to our situation, but then I heard the sound of oars striking the water. I couldn't tell where it was coming from, but after another minute, a boat appeared in the gloom.

  "Maya?"

  The boat came a little closer then it turned sideways to us, and I saw Maya rowing the boat by herself, Beria in the back of the boat, huddled under a dark shawl.

  "Beria!" Omie called out. "Beria! Are you okay?"

  Beria didn't answer but looked at us sadly.

  "Well," said Maya. "Aren't you in a sticky situation? Feet wet yet?"

  "Is this your revenge?" I asked.

  "No," she said. "Just being cautious. Any funny games, and we leave you. The boat will sink before the sun burns the fog off. Behave yourself, and we'll toss you a bucket to bail with and one oar. We'll be long gone before you reach shore. What do you want?"

  "Beria," Omie said, "I'm so sorry. You know I'd never let anyone hurt you. That woman is an animal! Please, I love you."

 
Beria didn't answer.

  "Please, at least tell me you're okay."

  "She's healing," Maya said. "You left us there. You knew who was chief of that village, and you left us there! At least you could have given us permission to go to Broken Knife."

  "I know," I said. "Malora is absolutely sick over it."

  "By what right did you treat us that way, Nori?" she screamed at me. "Talk about cowardly, leaving me that note, then telling the companions there to enforce it."

  "I'm sorry."

  "Great. You're sorry. Just great. Did neither of you spend ten seconds considering the ramifications of what you were doing to us?"

  "We didn't know-"

  "No excuse! You knew I wanted to leave that village, and you knew why. If nothing had happened, I'd have been livid, but you both knew I wanted to leave because I was nervous something would happen."

  "I'm sorry," I said. "It was a mistake."

  "It wasn't just a mistake. A mistake was when I damaged a few flowers in Loren's garden. You two left us there intentionally!"

  "We didn't know-"

  "You didn't know that was the last place I wanted to be? Seriously?"

  She had a right to be angry, even before Beria's mistreatment. I took a deep breath. "Maya, you have every right to be angry. Even if Beria hadn't been so badly abused, you had every right to be angry. I told her not to do it."

  "You must not have tried very hard."

  "You're right," I said. "I didn't. We had a major demon incursion, and the only thought Malora had for you was keeping you safe. She thought you would be safe. She knew you would be angry, but she was willing to deal with that. You would be mad for a few days, but you would get over it after making all of us suffer for a while."

  "So you're suggesting I'm the unreasonable one?" If she could have glared any harder, I'm sure she would have.

  "You have no right to be angry we didn't bring you. You have every right to be angry Malora didn't give you permission to go home immediately. I'm sorry, I didn't think of suggesting that. We didn't know the depth of the incursion. If it had been the ten demons we expected, we would have been back the following day or at the latest, the day after. I will not say whether she was right or wrong to leave you behind, because it was her choice, and it was a judgment call. Sending you to Broken Knife or sending you home would have been better, but I'm not sure either of us would have trusted you to go where you were told. Tell me, Maya, would you have gone home, or would you have followed us the moment you left Green Arrow, once you were sure the companions there wouldn't stop you?"

  She stared at me, not answering. "What do you want, Nori?" she asked. "You can't possibly expect us to go back with you, and there's no way you can take us back. Say what you intend to say and we'll toss you a bucket and a single oar. The fog will burn off in a couple of hours and you'll be able to find the beach."

  "Maya," I said, "There were twenty-four demons. There was a significant battle, then cleanup."

  "Twenty-four?" She looked at Beria for a moment, but I could see the uncertainty in her eyes. "Anyone hurt?"

  "Two deaths, none from Queen's Town. A few battered bodies, readily healing. No new warriors."

  "Vorine? Bea?" she asked.

  "They're fine. Everyone from Queen's Town is fine." I paused. "Maya, during the demon fight, Malora took two more voices. She needs you. Add to that the stress from what happened, and then you running, and you can imagine the shape she's in."

  "And I should care, why?" she asked, her cold expression back now that she knew the people she cared about were fine. "You are always take, take, take. You all do. Well, I've given enough. Tell your queen to find a new companion."

  "Beria!" Omie called out, her voice cracking. "I love you. You know I love you!"

  "Quiet, Omie," Maya said. "Beria isn't the one making the decisions today. She's fifteen."

  "Maya," I said, "Malora is a wreck. And Parlomith has challenged her for leadership of the Amazons. The fight is in just over three weeks. She'll lose if you don't go back."

  Part Three

  Maya

  Lying

  "You bitch!" I screamed. "You're lying! No one would support Parlomith. We solved the companion problem, and that woman is a psychopath! No one would ever follow her. Everyone loves Malora."

  I dipped the oars in the water and began rowing away.

  "I'm not lying!" Nori yelled at me. "Maya! She's a psychopath. I agree, and she won't live more than three days, but Malora will be dead! You care about her, Maya. You love her. She's going to die if you don't come back with us."

  I stopped rowing, slowly coming to rest in the water.

  "Please, Maya!" Nori yelled. "She's going to die. Come talk to me. Just come talk to me."

  I turned around and rowed back slowly, stopping far enough away they couldn't cause any mischief. I turned the boat so we could look at them.

  "Maya," Nori said, "I'm not lying. Do you think Parlomith would dare to do what she did if she didn't have a plan?"

  I stared across the water.

  "Malora's a wreck. She's grown dependent on you. You need to get back there and help her so she can get ready for the fight. We have to leave today."

  "I don't believe you," I said numbly.

  "Maya, I need you to listen to this next part, the whole thing. Don't row away. Please, I'm begging you. Don't row away."

  "I'm listening," I said, "but you haven't earned an oar or bucket yet."

  "Omie," she asked, "You were very angry at me when we left Malora. Why?"

  "You challenged her to a death match," Omie said.

  "What?" I screamed. "Nori, why?"

  "When is the death match, Omie?"

  "The same afternoon as her fight with Parlomith," Omie said.

  "Maya, do you understand yet?"

  "No."

  "She'll fight Parlomith in the morning. If she wins, then I withdraw my challenge. But even if Malora looses, she'll hurt Parlomith, at least a little, and Parlomith will be worn down. An hour later, she'll face me. An hour after that, Ralla, and then Balorie, Ping, Vorine, and virtually every other of Malora's current allies. One of us will kill her, but Malora will still be dead."

  "No," I said, catching a sob. "No. You're lying. You'd have to challenge Parlomith, and she can put you off."

  "No. You challenge the position, not the person. I have a challenge match with the queen of the Amazons in three weeks, whomever that is."

  I stared at her. "Malora is going to die?"

  "If you don't go help her," Nori said, "Yes, in all likelihood. and I'm pretty ragged, too. I'll win only if Malora can do some significant damage. And if Parlomith kills me quickly, she'll probably kill five or six more challengers before Loren or Mar get her."

  "My sister will be dead, Maya!" Omie said. "If that happens, my sister will die." She turned to Nori. "You didn't explain until it was too late! I should be there. I didn't challenge her."

  "You're staying with Beria," Nori said. "Malora gave me permission to free you both from Amazon service. You're staying with your companion, Omie."

  "It won't help if I go back," I yelled to Nori. "We deserted. I know what that means."

  "No, you didn't," Nori said. "I read the note Malora left for you. It said to go home after three days. You went home. Sometimes you still call this home. Sure, most of the time you mean Queen's Town, and that's what Malora meant, but it's not what she said. You went home to see your parents. That's all. You didn't desert."

  I studied both of them. My heart had been breaking for a week.

  "Omie, is Nori lying?"

  "No," she said. "Well, I didn't see the note, but when Malora sent us after you, she told Nori over and over no one can know, and I said Beria didn't desert, she's not a deserter, and Malora said neither of you were, that you just went to visit your parents, and we were to help make sure you got back home okay. Maya, I love Beria, and I'm your friend. I wouldn't take her back for another whipping, and I wouldn't do that to you, eit
her. And you know Nori wouldn't, either."

  I didn't know what to do.

  "Maya, there were twenty-four demons."

  I stared at her.

  "How many dead?"

  I gave her a summary of the battle, finishing with, "No one from Queen's Town was seriously hurt. My new voice is especially... persistent."

  I turned to my sister, who was watching me. "Beria?"

  "Maya," she said to me, "I love Omie. I want to be with her. And I'm a good Amazon. We can't let Malora die. We have to go back. I'm well enough to go back."

  "Your back isn't healed."

  "Momma gave me more ointment, and it's healing. There's almost no infection, and as long as I'm careful, it doesn't hurt too badly."

  "It's all my fault you got whipped, Beria!"

  "No, it's not. It's that woman's, and we're going to go back and see Malora give her justice. You know that's what we're going to do, so please, I really want to hold my warrior now."

  And the look in my little sister's eyes made my decision for me.

  I looked at Nori and Omie. Omie's expression was full of hurt and need for my sister, and Nori full of fear.

  "Maya," Nori said, "Malora told me to promise whatever I had to promise, and she'd stand by it. What do you want?"

  "Parlomith dies."

  "No question," Nori said.

  "No more villages where the companions are treated poorly."

  "I don't know if I can promise that, but I vow to do my best, and Malora will too."

  "What about the companions who helped her?" I asked.

  "You know they had little choice, Maya. Please don't ask me for something beyond what I can give."

  "They helped her, Nori. They held me pinned to the ground while they tied my sister to the whipping post. They held me down while Parlomith made me count the strokes. Not a single one spoke in our defense. Not a single one warned us." I paused. "One was cautiously kind afterwards. But the rest helped her."

  "Maya," Nori said, "I understand your anger, but what do you want me to do? Do you want me to promise to whip them for following their village chief's orders, as odious as those orders were?"

  I stared at her. "So you don't offer full justice for my sister."