Amazon Chief (86 page)

Maya found me five minutes later. "Will you help officiate a water event for the companions?"

I laughed. "As long as I won't be late for my next match."

"There's time," she said. "I have to help Malora set up the next matches, but we have a secret system. It shouldn't take long."

* * * *

My second opponent was better than my first. I didn't know much about her. She almost scored a point, a short slice across my bicep, but we both separated and she called it a scratch. Clara agreed, and the match ended five-zero.

Afterwards we stepped out of the ring together. "It was borderline," I said.

She shrugged. "It was a joy to cross swords with you, Chief Beria."

I didn't get to see Jalad or Tenda, but I watched Haldara beat down her opponent, and Lilith won through her wrestling moves. I hadn't figured out what to do about her yet.

By the end of the day, Maya posted the results. Of the seventy competitors,
seventeen had been eliminated. Seventeen were still undefeated. The rest had won an event and lost an event. We would start round three on the second day with 53 competitors.

* * * *

"Maya, may I meddle? Where are you totaling the results?" I had won my third match, an easy fight, after watching Jalad beat down yet another opponent.

"Our hut," she said. "Beria, we can't play favorites."

"I'm not about to ask you to. Much."

"All right," she said. Together we walked to her hut finding Malora and Nori already waiting.

"She can't be here," Malora said immediately.

"I would like to know how you are making the matches."

"Beria, you can't be here."

"Are you manipulating the results to keep me from the best fighters?"

"No." She sighed. "All right, this is what we did. We ranked each player, one to seventy, best to worst. Clearly, we guessed, but we think we're close. For the first round, we pitted the top half against the bottom half. So you had an easy fight for the first round. Half of you had an easy fight, half had a very difficult fight. There were a few surprises, but not many."

"All right."

"For the second round, we kept the same rankings, but we first split by win record. Then we did the bottom half against the bottom half, the top half against the top half. But you still had a fairly easy fight. You're opponent for that fight is ranked approximately twenty or so."

I nodded.

"The fight this morning we did top half against bottom half again."

"My fight yesterday afternoon was harder," I admitted. "And what is your plan for this afternoon?"

"Top half against top half."

"Put me against Jalad. I'm tired of her beating her opponents down."

"Beria, we're keeping you away from her for now. For each half, we divide it in half again. The top person in the top quarter fights the top person in the second quarter."

"Queen Malora," I said, "I would appreciate i
t if my next opponent was Jalad."

She sighed. "Go away, Beria."

* * * *

I checked the board after lunch. I was to fight Jalad. There were thirty-two remaining competitors. Twelve of us were undefeated. Using five rings yesterday we'd had seven matches per ring. I saw we were dropping to four rings with four matches in each ring.

I found Maya. "Thank you."

"Malora wasn't happy but Nori pointed out you were going to fight Jalad sooner or later. She's worried you'll get hurt."

"Haldara is a threat in that regard, too," I said. "I'll be fine."

"The doubles water tournament
is this afternoon after the matches. Please?"

I laughed. "It's not limited to companions?"

"Nope. Please, Beria."

"Are we going to win?"

"I doubt it. We'll be in the top three. There's a two deer skin entry fee with the skins divided amongst the top three teams."

"Are you going to get enough competitors to be worth it?"

She smiled. "Seventeen teams signed up."

"So we'd make eighteen?"

"Um."

I laughed. "Already signed us up?"

"I did it as Maya and partner. If you won't do it, I'll ask someone else."

I laughed. "I'd love to, Maya. Got your half of the entry fee?"

"I was hoping you'd spot me."

"Are you sure I brought skins?"

"Funny."

* * * *

My fight with Jalad was scheduled for the final set of fights. I watched Tenda, Lilith and Haldara win their matches. So far I'd been fighting with one sword, but I stepped into the ring with two swords. There had been a few other competitors with two swords, but none of them had been that good. I thought this would be the first time Jalad had faced two swords wielded by one woman.

Jalad, of course, brought her staff to a sword fight.

We were in Malora's ring for this fight, and she deliberately delayed the start of our fight until the fights on either side of us finished. Jalad and I studied each other carefully.

I'd been watching her. There were a few moves she over-extended, usually when she thought she had a point blow. I wasn't sure if I could use that or not, but she left herself open for a counterstrike if I could move fast enough.

On the other hand, she liked to use her size and strength to press her opponent around the ring, and it wasn't a large ring.

"I'm sorry," Malora said. "Let's have a clean fight. You are both undefeated, and I wouldn't want either of you disabled before your next fights."

"Don't worry about me," Jalad said. "I won't get hurt."

I really didn't like this woman.

"Ready, fight!" Malora called out.

Jalad immediately came after me, her staff fast. I retreated from her, deflecting her swings a few times and returning sword slashes whenever she left an opening, and a few times she hadn't to see what she would do.

She was actually pretty good against two swords, but she wasn't good enough to win. I wasn't even trying that hard, and I slid a sword along her arm.

"Scratch," I said, backing away.

Malora frowned. "Continue," she said. It wasn't a scratch. If I'd been holding steel, I would have opened her to the bone.

Jalad came after me twice as hard. Then I gave her a clear opening and she swung for it, but I was waiting for it and caught her staff with both my swords, barely blocking the swing.

And then I snapped out a sidekick right into her ribs. Jalad pulled back, rubbing her ribs, and Malora called, "Hold!"

"No point," Jalad said. She glared at me. "What was that?"

"If I were left rubbing my ribs from your staff, it would have been a point," I said. I knew I'd kicked her hard enough to leave a bruise. It was probably her first bruise of the event. I didn't particularly care if Malora counted it as a point. I was giving Jalad a taste of her own medicine.

"I'm sorry, " Malora said. "I must confer." She raised her voice. "Nori!"

"Here," Nori said, stepping forward. "I saw it." She stepped between Jalad and me. Malora and Nori talked quietly for a minute or two, then Nori left the circle.

"Chief Beria, a staff can crack ribs. I do not believe your kick can. We pull our strikes to avoid causing real damage. We will not count hand-to-hand strikes to the body as a point unless your opponent falls from the strike. No point."

Jalad grinned at me and lifted her staff.

"Yes, Queen Malora," I said.

"Still no points. Fight."

For the next two minutes, Jalad pursued me, swinging rapidly with her staff. I deflected some, dodged others, and reached out with my swords from time to time. If I'd been carrying steel, she would have had a half dozen minor cuts but none that were worth a point. But finally she swung so hard that when I blocked with both swords, she powered right through my block and struck my ribs hard enough to bruise.

"Hold!" Malora called. "Point to Jalad."

Jalad got the next point as well, but then early during the third point, I ducked under a particularly brutal swing then came up with a solid punch to her bicep, then I withdrew, drawing the entire length of the sword along her arm.

Point to Beria, and I suppressed a grin as Jalad shook out her arm. The real score, as far as I was concerned, two bruises to two bruises.

Jalad glared at me.

I got the next two points. My second point was almost the same as the first in almost the exact same place, but I slammed my off sword down across her arm as well. My third point involved the hilt of my sword slammed into her back, not hard enough to cause real damage, but hard enough to hurt.

Jalad got the next point, a vicious strike to my leg. I deflected it just enough to avoid my knee, but I was sure she'd been aiming to cripple. Malora called hold, and I limped away. Malora chewed Jalad out for an attempted strike to a major joint. I walked off the pain in my leg.
Malora wound down, and I stepped into position. She gave me a long, dirty look before starting the fight.

Jalad took two swings, and then the third was a high swing for the side of my head. I didn't know if she would have killed me if it had landed, but I popped up from my duck and slammed my fist into the side of Jalad's face
then retreated while slamming her three times with my swords, all of them against the top of her shoulder as hard as I could.

"Hold!" Malora was screaming. "Hold!"

I hadn't heard her call a stop before I had returned the attack, but I backed away, watching Jalad carefully. She had a hand to the side of her face, but she wasn't pursuing me. I looked at Malora.

"I did not hear you call a halt before I counterattacked, Queen Malora," I said calmly while breathing deeply. "If my attack was late, I apologize."

"No, it was not late, but it done in anger and needlessly vicious. Do not make me warn you again, Chief Beria!"

"No, Queen Malora," I said, "But I am unsure why you said my attack was in anger. Was I given cause to react in anger?"

She ignored me and turned to Jalad. "Nori, check her face."

Nori stepped into the ring. Jalad let Nori pull her hand from her face. I had broken the skin near the t
emple and it was bleeding. There was a clear mark on her cheek. I found it unlikely the bruise was worse than some she had given others this week, but it was more visible.

Nori examined it for a moment
. "You'll want to clean it after the fight," she declared. "Queen Malora, it's minor. There is no reason to call the match."

"Jalad," said Malora frostily, "If your last swing had connected, Beria would be dead."

"Nonsense," Jalad said. "If she hadn't ducked, I would have pulled it."

That was utter bullshit, but I smiled. "We're all friends here, Queen Malora. If Jalad said she would have pulled it, I believe her." That was a bald-faced lie, and I was sure Malora knew it.

"Fine," Malora said after a moment. "Point to Beria. The score is four-four. Are you both ready to continue?"

I raised my swords. "Yes."

Jalad glared at me and nodded.

"Fight."

Of course, she came after me. I was expecting it and retreated or ducked as necessary, then let her block a double sword-strike, but it pulled her staff far enough out of the way I got another side kick firmly against her ribs, almost exactly where I had before.

She grunted and swung with her staff just to put distance between us but didn't pursue immediately when I stepped back.

"No point," Malora said.

Twice Jalad almost caught me with her staff, but then I got a kick to her leg, catching her in the meaty part of the leg well above the knee. She almost went down that time, but not quite, and I barely eluded her wild swings.

"No point."

At my next opportunity I stepped inside her swing and put an elbow into her ribs on the opposite side where I'd been kicking. She shoved me away with her staff, but it wasn't a proper blow.

"No point."

But then I made a mistake, and everyone heard when Jalad firmly impacted against my leg.

"Hold!" Malora called. "Point and match to Jalad."

"Good match, Jalad," I said. "Thank you."

She didn't respond, and I soon found myself enveloped in Lia's arms.

"Are you all right?"

"A little bruised," I said. "I'm fine."

Omie took my swords, and then Joelle and Annalise were there, hugging me.

"Careful," I told them.

"I don't like that woman," Joelle whispered to me.

"You know, darling," I whispered back, "neither do I."

Then I said more loudly, "A swim is going to feel good. Maya suckered me into a competition. I need two of my deer hides."

Together, the four of us headed to Omie's hut. I collected two skins to use as my entry fee to Maya's competition. Stepping back out of the hut, Maya was waiting for me. She smiled, but it was forced.