Amazon Challenge (33 page)

"She has fifteen years of conditioning to obey me when I tell her to do something."

"Which is why you were gagged," Malora spat. "You are infuriating!"

Nori chuckled. "What else is new?"

"Are you going to whip them?" I asked.

"Of course not," Malora replied. "Not if they publicly apologize, promise to never do it again, and ask for mercy."

I looked down and said quietly, "That's all I wanted. I withdraw my charges and will address the remaining issues with my warrior in private."

"All this was-"

"Her protecting me," Beria interrupted. "Again."

"Quite," said Malora. "I wasn't going to whip them, Maya."

I looked up. "Maybe if you didn't keep everything to yourself I would have known that."

"Maybe if you trusted me, you would know I wouldn't hurt them."

"Maybe if the two of you talked to each other, all of this could be avoided," Nori said. "You can both take blame."

We both looked at her, paused a moment, and nodded. "I suppose," I said petulantly.
"I guess we should go back and you can pass sentence." I began to turn away, but Malora stopped me with a hand on my arm.

"Not so fast," she said. "Are you going to apologize for disobeying me?"

"Of course not," I said. "Are you going to apologize for what you did?"

She sighed. "No."

"You two are idiots," Nori said. "Both of you."

"What Nori said," Beria said. Omie wisely kept her counsel to herself.

"Malora, you say that I was wrong to disobey you, that when you try to send me away, I should go without argument. Is that accurate?"

"Yes."

"Then let us review the times I have disobeyed. The first time, I saved Ping's life and probably Omie's. Does anyone wish to disagree?"

"No," Malora said, "but you in turn needed to be rescued."

"There was no way to predict what would happen," I said, "but we know Ping was about to die, and by disobeying, I saved her life. Can you honestly say you would rather I had run away and both Ping and Omie had died?"

Malora didn't want to answer.

"Tell me," I added, "do you think I could have lived with myself after that?"

Malora glared.

"Go on," I said, "tell me I'm wrong. Tell me I should have let them die."

Malora didn't say a word, and Nori said quietly, "We know. She is infuriating."

"Quite," said Malora.

"The next time I disobeyed you on something like this was when you tried to keep me out of another demon fight. In that fight, I helped you kill yours and I distracted Balorie's long enough for the rest of you to kill it. If I hadn't, Balorie would probably have been killed. Does anyone care to disagree?"

Malora growled but said, "No."

"The time you successfully prevented me from disobeying, my sister was brutally whipped. Care to disagree?"

"No."

"This most recent time when I disobeyed, I was able to undermine support for Parlomith sufficiently that you were able to enact changes you wanted to make. Do you believe you would have had the political power to enforce those changes if I hadn't been here to speak?"

"Probably not, but that's not the point!"

"The point is, every time you have issued an order I have disobeyed, the results were better than if I had obeyed. Maybe you should stop issuing orders like that!"

Malora looked at Nori, her expression a plea for support.

"Maya, she is the queen and your warrior. When she issues an order, you need to obey, right or wrong."

"But-"

"Malora, she's not going to obey orders to leave you."

"But-" began Malora. But Nori held up a hand.

"Maya, she's not going to stop trying to protect you. Malora, she's not going to stop disobeying you when you do it. But you are
the queen and her warrior. You need to show mercy because her heart is in the right place, but you need to punish her in a lasting fashion for her obstinacy. She isn't going to repent."

Nori looked back and forth between us. "Malora, you may find her somewhat less hard-headed if you aren't as heavy-handed and realize that she's not as helpless as you think she is."

I began to smile at that, but then she turned to me. "And while you have been right, you eventually are going to be wrong, and you're going to get yourself killed. Malora's judgment on your skills and the situation is better than yours."

"Her head is clouded when it comes to me."

"Yours is similarly clouded," Nori said. "We're going to go back there. Three of us are going to make promises. Four of us are going to ask for mercy. Do I make myself clear, Maya?"

I paused then nodded slowly.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go back looking very meek, and when Malora asks, I will ask for mercy. But I'm not making any promises or apologies. And
Malora, this argument is not over."

"I didn't think it was," she said quietly.

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

"I thought that was settled," Malora said. "There's nothing we can do."

I nodded, still angry. "I guess everything is settled." I looked at the whipping post but didn't say anything.

"Come on then," Malora said, stepping past us.

She didn't reach for me. Neither of us was ready for that, and she needed to be the queen, not a warrior seeking comfort from her companion. The rest of us followed behind as she led the way back to the bonfire.

The other Amazons were talking; we could hear them as we approached, but as soon as Malora appeared, they grew quiet. She strode to her place before the fire then said, without looking at us, "You
four take your seats."

Malora waited until we were seated, pacing before the fire slowly while doing so. She paused another moment then asked, "There was a question about complaints pre-dating mine."

Beria stood up immediately. "I withdraw my complaint, Queen Malora."

"Thank you, Beria," Malora said. Beria sat back down, and Malora asked, "Maya?"

I didn't stand, but I said clearly, "I withdraw my complaints." But I wasn't happy, and I was sure everyone knew it.

"Thank you, Maya," Malora said. She strode back and forth for a moment then looked out across the Amazons. "You can imagine it was an interesting conversation."

There were a few nervous chuckles.

"That leaves the original issue. Nori, did you wish to say anything?"

Nori stood up. "Queen Malora, I apologize. Omie and Beria would not have disobeyed you if I hadn't interfered, and Maya would not have been able to. I promise, I won't do it again. I ask for your mercy."

Malora stepped over to her, studying her old companion and dearest friend. "I ask much of you, Nori, and I count on you.
I shall continue to do both. Sit."

Nori sat, and Malora turned to Omie and Beria. "You two."

Omie popped to her feet, Beria only slightly behind her. "We are sorry for disobeying you," Omie said. "We won't do it again. We ask for your mercy."

Malora stepped closer. "And you, Beria? Is this going to happen again?"

"No, Queen Malora," Beria replied, not lifting her eyes, but she glanced over at me. I nodded to her. "I do not believe what you did to my sister was right, but in the future, I will follow your orders. I ask for your mercy in my sentence."

Malora frowned but said simply, "Sit, both of you."

Then she stepped to me, stopping in front of me. "And here we have the woman at the center of it all. What do you have to say for yourself, Maya?"

I stood up and stared her in the eye.
"You tried to send me away. Again. And this time, you did it in a fashion guaranteed to anger me, not giving me a chance to voice protest. You did it at a time you needed me. You did it in a fashion that endangered yourself because you were afraid what would happen if you died. If you had died, I wouldn't have been there to hold you."

I felt the tears begin to crawl down my cheeks.

"I wouldn't have been able to kiss you one more time. I would have learned you were dead only when Nori or Vorine or whoever was still alive afterwards came to tell me, but that would haven't been for weeks, while my sister and her warrior dragged me, kicking and screaming, to the far side of Morehama. I would have spent weeks not knowing if you lived."

The tears were in full swing now.

"You were wrong, Queen Malora. My place is at your side, now and always. It is wrong to send me away. It is wrong to disobey my queen and my warrior. I do not know which of these is more wrong, but I will always stand by your side."

I looked down, scrubbing the tears away. "I know you must punish me.
I have left you between the sharks and the pounding surf. I hope you are able to show mercy."

Malora stood there, staring at me,
then she reached out and lifted my face by the chin. She offered a smile. I tried to return it, but I was filled with sorrow, realizing how closely I had come to losing her, and with dread, wondering how severely she would need to punish me after my speech.

She brushed my lips with her thumb then leaned forward and kissed my tears away. "Have heart, Maya," she whispered to me. "Sit," she said louder.

Then she stepped away, prowling back and forth for a moment.

"This is what makes Maya such an amazing companion," she said softly.
"So much passion. It is ironic that her most vexing quality is at the same time her most endearing."

She came to a s
top, looking out over all of us. "Amazon laws are clear. The queen must be obeyed. Anything else leads to anarchy, which we cannot allow. Amazon laws are also clear on the punishment for an offense of this nature. However, I am queen, and while it would be too much to pardon these four, it is within my power to show mercy." She smiled. "Perhaps a little less mercy for the one who refuses to fully accept my authority."

Malora prowled back and forth
again. "You shall all share a common punishment, but then I am afraid my disobedient companion has an additional punishment." She looked around for a moment and sighed. "Serra, are you ready?"

"Yes, Queen Malora."

"Then proceed. I believe it will take the longest to prepare my companion."

"Beria will take as long," Serra said, "but I have recruited assistance."

I was confused. She'd already had a prepared punishment? And I had a pretty good idea what it was. Then what had everything we had just talked about been for?

T
he companions of Queen's Town, excepting Beria and me, stepped forward, carrying small benches. They set them in front of the fireplace, then Serra ordered the four of us to move to them, our backs to the fire.

"All of you will close your eyes," Malora ordered. "Keep them closed."

I knew immediately what was happening, although Beria probably did not. I remembered the scent of the magic oils Serra had used three years ago to strip the black from my hair.

I heard the titters as everyone realized what was happening. I heard Nori's name mentioned a few times, although pink hair for her would be far less drastic than it was for me, as her hair was so short.
Still, I thought it might bother her more than it bothered me.

"Queen Malora," I said, "three of the four of us have already guessed this punishment."

"Then it shall remain a surprise to the fourth," Malora replied.

I wasn't sure
whom it was that worked on my hair. I thought perhaps it was Jasmine, but she didn't speak, and I didn't ask.

They stripped the color, and then Malora said, "You may open your eyes for a moment."

We all opened our eyes and looked at each other. Beria looked shockingly different in sandy hair instead of black, and she stared equally at me. Then she pulled at some of her own hair so she could see it.

"Most of you know what is happening," Malora said, "so there is little point in asking you to close your eyes
again. We will begin with my companion."

Serra did it herself, tipping me over backwards to dip my hair into the
dye and working it in. After a few minutes, she set me back up with a towel over my shoulders. Beria stared at me.

"It's pink," she whispered.

"I've gotten better," Serra said. "We're going to let that set before we rinse it out. It will last longer."

She did Omie next, then a grim-looking but stoic Nori, saving Beria for last. Beria was a little upset, but she clutched Omie's hand and said nothing, accepting the treatment.

Then Serra went around, rinsing our hair out and drying it. Bea stepped forward and brushed my hair.

"I do not care for the ponytails," Malora said. "Please pull it out of the way for now." So Bea arranged my hair in a bun on the top of my head."

Omie and Beria's hair got brushed out to hang about their shoulders, a shocking amount of pink.