by Travis Bughi
“Chara!” Adelpha cried out.
Adelpha ran over to the old woman’s side. Her height stood out even more now that she was paired with the shorter, older one.
“Chara, what are you doing dashing down the stairs? Do you want to break a leg?” Adelpha scolded.
She offered an arm to assist Chara down the rest of the stairs, but the old woman just sighed and helped herself over to one of the seats. She looked much stronger than Emily had originally thought.
“I’m fine, really,” Chara replied. “I just, I thought I heard her.”
Emily felt bad for causing such a disturbance. It seemed her decision to enter this tavern had turned out bad for everyone. Not to mention, if her mother found out she’d visited the amazons, Emily would be in real trouble. Then she remembered her brothers were still waiting outside and cleared her throat.
“I’m very sorry,” Emily said. “But I really need to know how to get to the marketplace from here. Just point out the direction, and I’ll be on my way.”
The old woman’s head snapped up at her words. The old eyes pierced through her, and Emily froze under the gaze. Slowly, Chara stood up and walked towards her. Emily took a step backwards into the door as the old woman approached, but Chara didn't stop until her face was inches from Emily’s. The farmer watched Chara’s eyes sweep over her face, along her body, and, at last, down her hair. Emily thought that there was something strangely familiar about this amazon named Chara.
“What’s your name, girl?” Chara asked.
“Emily Stout,” she replied, though with hesitation.
“Stout, huh? Is your mother’s name, Mariam?”
“No, it’s Molly.”
The woman nodded and smiled.
“But your father’s name is Paul, isn’t it?”
Emily’s jaw fell open before she answered.
“Yes, but how do you know that?”
Chara reached down and grabbed Emily’s hands. The touch felt warm and gentle.
“Because,” she smiled, “I’m your grandmother.”
Chapter 10
“Her amazon name, her real name,” Chara explained, “is Mariam, not Molly.”
Emily’s grandmother spoke casually as she led them back towards the market at a leisurely walk. She held Emily by the arm while Abe and Nicholas walked just beside them, still staring with lips parted in disbelief. Adelpha followed along a full, two paces behind, but the other amazons had stayed in the tavern.
Nicholas and Abraham had been stunned when Emily had first emerged with the two amazons, but they had jumped in shock when the older woman revealed she was their grandmother. Their silence and their shared, wide-eyed stares echoed Emily’s as Chara filled the void with answers to questions they didn’t know they’d had.
“The name means rebellious,” Chara continued, waving the word in the air with a hand. “I should have known the trouble I was asking for when I gave her that name. She always loved it, though. It must have been difficult to switch to Molly. Do me a favor and call her by her real name from now, will you? Thank you. She’ll like that, trust me.”
Emily nodded, her attention wrapped intently about Chara’s every word and mannerism, taking in the sight of their long-lost relative. It was obvious now why Chara had looked so familiar to Emily. Her hair, despite having gone grey with age, had the same wavy pattern that Emily and Molly had.
Mariam, Emily thought. Call her Mariam.
Although Chara’s face had aging lines, the freckles in her cheeks still showed and had even darkened with sun exposure. Even the way she walked—silently, with her thin frame and small feet—was all too familiar. Emily found that Chara and she were keeping stride with ease.
Yet there were differences, too. For one, Chara was much more talkative, and that was immediately apparent. Emily had never known her mother to speak idly about the past, the present, or the future. Chara, on the other hand, seemed to want to know everything.
“How old are you, Emily?” she asked.
“I’m sixteen years—” Emily ended her sentence abruptly, not knowing by what name to call her grandmother.
Fortunately, Chara noted her hesitation.
“You can call me Mother,” she patted Emily’s arm. “We amazons take our bloodlines seriously, and all women who gave birth to you are your mothers. By that same coin, all women you give birth to will be your daughters.”
“What about sons?” Nicholas piped up.
Chara turned her eyes to look at Emily’s younger brother as if seeing him for the first time. She faltered before drawing in a long breath and pursing her lips.
“Well, we don’t normally keep our sons,” she grimaced in apology. “However, I suppose it could still work, calling me Mother. There are a few amazons who keep in touch with their sons after giving them away, though it’s frowned upon.”
“Why’s that?” Abe jumped in.
Chara turned to her other side, seemingly surprised to find a second male nearby and speaking to her.
“Your name is Abraham, right?” she asked, then continued when he nodded. “Nicholas and Abraham. Such strange names. I would have thought Mariam would have given her daughter an amazon name at the least. Anyway, Abraham, the answer to your question is that it’s a part of who we are. Themiscyra is as much a city of women as it is a sanctuary for women. Although some women see no issues with visiting their sons at the nearby villages, or meeting with their lovers more frequently, it’s still discouraged.”
Abe and Nicholas looked to each other. The shock of meeting a new family member was crumbling before the flood of curiosity that welled in them—and Emily, as well. If Chara had hoped to stem the tide by giving that short answer, she had instead shattered the dam. Emily felt a smile creep across her lips, almost feeling sorry for what was about to occur.
Yet she thought wrong, because Chara was quicker than the boys.
“Ah ah,” the old woman held up a finger. “You each had a turn, now Emily. You have a question, don’t you?”
Many, Emily grinned widely. The first of which was following them, and Emily turned to look back at the tall, dark-haired amazon just a few paces away. Adelpha met the gaze, and her face wrinkled in disdain before looking away.
“Yes, Mother,” Emily said to Chara, though it felt odd to call her so. “If you’re my mother, then does that make Adelpha my sister?”
The big amazon scoffed and laughed, her voice loud enough to be heard over the increasing noise. Chara was leading them back toward the market, and every street brought more people and shouting into the air. Up ahead, Emily thought she recognized the busy road her family had traveled along to reach the market square. As for Adelpha, she kept her face turned away and crinkled her nose.
“No, she is not,” Chara shrugged.
The chatter of people and the clatter of carts returned, and the streets were growing wider. We must be nearing the market by now, Emily mused. She looked at Abe, hoping to get some sort of sign that they were heading in the right direction, but both her brothers were focused on Chara, watching her with a look of surprised embarrassment and barely contained curiosity. Emily could hardly blame them. Family was important to the Stouts, or at least she thought it was.
Paul’s parents had died before Emily was old enough to remember them—Nicholas was too young, as well—but Abe said he could remember their faces and nothing more. From then on, it had only been the five of them, and they had looked out for each other. All they’d ever known was family. Now they knew there was another, and the Stout children immediately felt indebted to her. Respect for elders was a not just a formality on the Great Plains; it was a method of survival. The older generations knew more, their age both an earned and given mark of someone who knew how to survive. To ignore one, especially one who was family, was about as foolish as seeking a banshee’s wail.
It was silly not to know about Chara, Emily realized. Neither she nor her brothers had ever asked about their mother’s parents, and Emily shook h
er head trying to figure out why her curiosity had never led her to ask. Emily had just assumed they were dead—like they had assumed Mariam’s origins were no different from their father’s—and Mariam had let them do so. Did she even know Chara was alive? Emily contemplated asking Chara but decided that the old amazon would have no idea. Besides, all that would be revealed as soon as they reached the market.
“Now for my own questions,” Chara smiled. “You first, Daughter. Are you really of age?”
“No, no,” Emily shook her head. “I’m only sixteen. I have another two years.”
“Don’t be daft!” Chara laughed. “You are no man! You are an amazon. At sixteen, you are of age. You are a woman now!”
“Really? You think I’m an amazon?”
“Of course you are. You’re my daughter.”
Emily liked the sound of that! She hadn’t thought of herself as an amazon yet. Sure, her mother had been one, but she had left that life long ago, and Emily had never known anything except the Great Plains. Emily still didn’t understand what an amazon was, but she remembered her mother killing a behemoth with a single arrow, and that was something she would give anything to do.
But how could she? Emily didn’t know anything about bows. She didn’t even know anything about the world beyond a few days walk of her farm. That didn’t seem to make a difference to Chara, though, or perhaps she didn’t know how inept Emily’s combative skills were. Emily grimaced, knowing that Chara was in for an unpleasant surprise.
Emily tried to pull her mind from Chara’s words. They were meant as a compliment, but reminded Emily of her inexperience. She looked to Lucifan, noticing the sights around them becoming more familiar, and realized they’d entered the market square. The bank she’d seen before with its terrifying gargoyles perched on top loomed before her, and Emily looked for her parents.
“Mother,” Emily tapped Chara’s arm. “Molly—eh, Mariam—is here somewhere. Abe, do you see them?”
“There!” Abe pointed from his vantage point.
As if following his command, the crowds parted just enough for them to see past all the bodies, creatures, and carts to Emily’s mother and father. It looked as if they had finished selling the last of the meat, a stack of empty crates sat off to the side near their family’s cart. The unicorns were already hitched, ready to haul the considerably lighter load out of the city and home. Paul was standing nearby talking to a minotaur and hinting that they had done well, which made Emily’s heart soar. Chances were they were negotiating a price for the labor the minotaur would give on the Stout’s farm. The meat must have sold at a high price, because the minotaur Emily’s father was negotiating with looked youthful and strong with rich brown fur. Emily’s mother was carefully packing the empty crates into the cart, taking her time and glancing up from time to time to search the crowds. She kept looking east, towards the sea.
“Mariam!” Chara cried out.
Emily’s mother jumped and dropped the crate in her hand, letting it clatter to the ground and startling Paul. Her eyes went wide, and her head snapped toward the group, catching sight of them just before the crowds closed again and blocked Emily’s view.
“Mariam!” Chara repeated and released Emily’s arm to barrel through the crowds.
“Mother!” came a familiar voice shouting above the market’s ruckus.
Emily took off as quickly as she could, following Chara as she pushed past people with no concern for their voices of disapproval. Abe, Nicholas, and Adelpha took up the pursuit, too, falling in line behind Emily and trying not to be left behind. Emily couldn’t help but think that, for a short, old woman, Chara had a lot of youth left in her.
Through the crowds, Emily’s mother burst into view. She caught sight of Chara, and the two paused just a few paces apart.
“Mother?” her lips whispered, eyes wide in astonishment.
“Yes,” Chara threw open her arms, “it’s me!”
They closed the distance and fell into each other’s arms. Chara’s grip stretched tightly around her long-lost daughter, and they spun to the side with the force of their impact. Chara’s eyes and cheeks ran wet, while her daughter’s dripped thick tears down from closed eyes.
“Oh, Mariam,” Chara said, smiling as she cried. “It’s you. You’re here. I missed you so much!”
“I missed you, too. I can’t believe it’s you! What are you doing here? Lucifan? You never went to Lucifan.”
“I started going again when you left,” Chara planted a kiss on her daughter’s cheek. “I’ve been making this journey every year since then, hoping I’d see you again. I was beginning to think I never would.”
“I’m sorry, Mother. Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know!”
Their hug tightened, tears flowed freely, and Emily and her brothers stood dumbfounded nearby. Adelpha, standing next to them, looked equally amazed. The two women’s tight embrace was drawing looks and attention from the market, as well, and people were beginning to take wide paths around them. Through the crowd, Paul emerged, the worry on his face fading quickly to relief and then ending in astonishment. His eyes looked from his wife to Chara, and then ended on Emily, who in turn gave her father an unhelpful shrug. So they stayed, watching in silence, and Emily couldn’t help but feel a harsh pang of jealously strike her chest. Never, in all her life, had she received a hug like that from her mother.
“I’m sorry I ran off, I wanted to tell you, but—”
“It’s okay, Daughter,” Chara whispered. “My anger died long ago. Don’t speak of it. I forgive you, and I forgive him. I’m just so happy to see you again.”
“I should have come back,” she answered.
“I told you not to speak of it. It’s in the past. Leave it be. I forgive you, and I love you.”
Their grip loosened just enough for them to pull back and look each other in the eye. Chara was a hair shorter than her daughter, yet the look Emily’s mother gave the older woman said she was as tall as a minotaur. They smiled at each other, and Chara wiped a tear from the other’s cheek.
“You’re crying,” she said. “You never cry.”
“I cry, sometimes. Age is softening me.”
“Then I am a bed of flowers,” Chara pulled her daughter in and kissed her cheek.
They were drawing longer looks from those in the market square now, but the two women did not seem to care. They held on a moment longer, and Mariam gave Chara’s shoulder a lingering squeeze before breaking contact. Both sets of eyes had a tinge of red.
“I take it you’ve met my children?” Mariam asked, wiping away some remaining moisture from her eyes.
“Yes, they are quite lovely,” Chara nodded. “The males are beautiful, and the amazon especially.”
Emily’s heart skipped a beat at being called an amazon again. Somehow she felt honored and privileged, despite knowing both were completely unearned. Emily looked sidelong at Adelpha for confirmation, but Adelpha just rolled her eyes and looked away.
“Who is this?” Emily’s mother indicated Adelpha. “She looks to be as old as my oldest.”
“This is Adelpha. I’m her surrogate mother. Her real mother was taken by a basilisk.”
Emily’s mother took a deep breath and gave Adelpha a meaningful glance. The big girl’s face did not change from mild annoyance, though, not even when Mariam gave her a deep nod.
“At least she died painlessly,” she said.
“So they tell me,” Adelpha muttered.
An overzealous grunt came from behind them, and the group turned to see the minotaur had returned and was talking to Paul. Emily blinked, realizing she’d been so absorbed in her mother and grandmother’s actions that she’d missed the big beast’s return. Emily’s ears also perked at the sound it had made, recognizing it as the minotaur’s final grunt of agreement. The beast-men used a deep, throaty sound that sealed their deals with others. As far as the minotaur was concerned, whatever terms of agreement had been decided on were now sealed in blood. If either party brok
e the oath, the other had the right to kill the criminal. It was a right minotaurs were known to exercise. That was something Emily had been taught early— never cheat a minotaur.
“I take it that’s the man you left me for?” Chara asked.
“Mother!” Mariam chided.
“Oh, I’m just playing,” she smiled. “Come on now! We can’t have a little fun?”
Paul stepped forward and took off his straw hat before nodding to the old woman. The minotaur stayed behind, his attention shifting elsewhere to demonstrate his complete lack of interest in human affairs. Paul turned to his wife, and his gaze softened.
“Does this mean I can call you Mariam again?” he asked. “In front of the children now, instead of just at night?”
A smile spread slowly across Chara’s lips, while Mariam’s eyes went alight with fury. Paul, though, appeared completely oblivious, and Emily realized she had grown a smile, too.
“Yes, fine,” Mariam looked to Paul, then to Chara, then back to Paul. “Yes, fine. Mother, this is the man I left you for, and Paul, you may stop calling me Molly.”
“The Dylans are going to be so confused,” Paul replied, then bowed to Chara again. “As for you, it is a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Chara said, though her tone did not sound as convincing as her smile.
The first awkward silence followed those cool words, but Paul didn’t appear offended in the slightest. Instead, he turned to his wife and gestured slowly towards the unicorns with his eyes.
“Damn it,” Mariam said, covering her eyes. “Mother, I’m so sorry. I wish we could spend more time, but my family and I need to leave the city soon. We need to get as far away as possible before we camp for the night. It’s a full day’s journey from here to our farm. Damn! This just isn’t fair at all.”
Mariam rubbed her forehead, visibly pained and gritting her teeth. Emily and her two unusually silent brothers slouched and let their mouths gape. They had only just begun to know their grandmother! How could they part so soon? Paul looked deeply apologetic, too, clasping his hands together and bowing his head. Only Adelpha lightened in mood, sighing quietly in relief. Fortunately, everyone had manners enough to ignore her.
