Amazon Chief (9 page)

"They won't wait all morning," Nori said, "but they're giving you time to think about all of this."

"Why?"

"Because everyone knows what we're talking about. Everyone knows this is a big decision for you. Everyone wants you to forgive me and decide to come with us. We're trying to give you the time you need to get used to the idea."

"The idea of not hating you, or the idea of going with?"

"Both ideas, I guess," she replied. "I bet forgiving me is harder than deciding to go with us."

I looked around again and felt guilty they were all waiting for me.

"Are you going to make Omie leave without me?"

"No. I am going to tell Queen Malora that you accepted my apologies and that I think you would make a very good Amazon."

We climbed to our feet, then she held out a hand to me. I stared at it for a moment, then clasped hands with her.

"I hope you leave with us, Beria," she said. "Omie needs you, and I hope you and I can become friends."

"You want to be friends with me? I'm only thirteen."

"Yes, Beria, I want to be friends with you."

I hadn't expected that.

* * * *

It turned out that Omie was
n't the only Amazon to remain behind in Gallen's Cove. An older Amazon named Ralla was also staying. I was a little disappointed that Omie's sister wasn't staying, and I didn't see Careen. We watched the rest of the Amazons ride away, and I told her I was sorry for her sister.

"Why's that?"

"Careen decided not to go."

"Oh. She said 'yes', but she wants time to say goodbye to her family."

"Oh," I said. "That's good then. What do we do now?"

"We find out what Ralla and Jasmine are doing," Omie said. "But you and I will start training." She led me over to where Ralla was standing talking with Jasmine. Jasmine was a quiet girl, five years older than I was. She'd always been nice to me, and I was happy to see her.

"What are your plans, Ralla?" Omie asked.

Ralla turned to us. "Jasmine wants to know what it's like to live rough," Ralla said. "We're going to pack up like I do for one of my trips, but we'll just circle around and come back here every afternoon. I warned her spending hours in a saddle can take some getting used to, so we're going to do half days."

"Beria is concerned about training," Omie said. "So I'm going to begin teaching her the staff."

"And running?" Ralla said.

"Of course," Omie said.

Ralla turned to Jasmine. "Did you want to stay for that?" Jasmine nodded. "Well then, we'll train with you for an hour or so, then leave you, but we'll be back this afternoon."

Omie looked around then smiled. "We can stretch where the queen's pavilion was," she said. "The grass is packed down there." She tugged me with her, then pulled me down into the flattened grass.

For the next twenty minutes, Omie taught Jasmine and me how to stretch. I never knew there were so many different ways to stretch. Ralla helped Jasmine, and Omie helped me.

"We're being gentle on you today," Omie said. "Over time, you will stretch further and further, working to become increasingly limber. Nothing should hurt, but you want to stretch further and further over time." Then she demonstrated how much further she could bend her legs than I could.

"I'm going to learn to do that?" I asked, pointing at her.

"Not all at once, but yes," Omie said. "Your sister can do this."

"Really?"

She nodded.

Then Ralla spoke. "Some of the villages have other stretches," she explained. "Jasmine, you would end up learning them, as I visit all the villages frequently. Beria, you may learn some of them, too, but for now, the ones that matter are the ones Omie is teaching you."

I nodded understanding.

We finished stretching, and Omie said, "We stretch every day, and then we run. We're going to go a little easy on you today, but we're going to push you harder than you think you can take. I want to see both of you push yourselves."
She climbed to her feet then reached down and pulled me to mine. I saw Ralla did the same with Jasmine.

No one had ever helped me stand up before, but Omie did it casually as if she hadn't even had to think about it. She tu
rned away, saying, "Keep up now," and began jogging to the edge of the field, the four of us running alongside her.

At first it was easy. We went once around the field, and then she said, "We'll go faster, now that you're warmed up." And then she moved into a run.

We ran, and ran, and ran. Soon I was panting for air, and so was Jasmine. But neither Omie nor Ralla seemed winded.

And Ralla was actually kind of old.

"Faster," Omie said, when we began to lag. "Imagine there's a demon chasing you, Beria."

I imagined that thing my sister had shown us, and I ran faster, at least for a while.

Jasmine slowed down before I did, and I heard Ralla urging her to keep running. I tried to slow with her, but Omie said firmly, "Keep up, Beria!" And so I ran with her, panting, my heart pounding.

But finally I came to a stop, bent over with my hands on my knees, panting. Omie circled around.

"You have more in you," she said.

I shook my head.

"If there was a real demon chasing you, would you have stopped?"

I looked up at her.

"Do you understand?" she asked, and I nodded. "One more lap?" I straightened, and we began running again, but at the end of that lap, I collapsed in the grass, lying on my back and panting.

Omie knelt down next to me. "Queen Malora told me you were worried I wouldn't be honest with you."

"I didn't mean-"

"I know you didn't," she said. "At home, we'd make you keep running. You have more in you, and we make you run until you don't. We're not going to do that today. This is a part of training you won't like at least until you have learned where your limits really are. You aren't there, even if you think you are."

"This wasn't," I said, still gasping, "so bad."

She smiled. "No. It's not."

She let me catch my breath, then pulled me upright until I was sitting. "Ready to learn about the staff?" And I nodded.

Omie stepped away for a minute. Maya had left us with a tent with supplies. Omie collected four staffs from it then gestured. I got up, and I saw Ralla pull Jasmine to her feet, and the three of us collected around Omie.

She turned to Ralla. "I know I'm the new companion trainer," she said, "but I've never started with raw recruits."

"You've seen it done enough times," Ralla said. "
You'll be fine."

Omie nodded. "Let's do it this way. Ralla, if you can stand here, holding a staff. Beria and Jasmine, behind her and try to copy her."

We each took a staff. Ralla took her staff in two hands and stood with her legs offset about shoulder width apart. I studied her for a moment then tried to emulate her. I saw Jasmine doing the same.

Omie walked around both of us, making adjustments to how we were standing.

"The staff is both weapon and shield," she said. "Ralla and I will show you. Quarter speed, Ralla." She squared off to Ralla, sideways to us so Jasmine and I could both see. She nodded to Ralla, and Ralla took a swing with her staff. Omie blocked it, then it was her turn. She swung, slowly, at Ralla, who blocked it. The two of them took turns like that for a while, then Omie said, "Hold" and stepped back.

"That means 'stop'," I said.

"Yes," Omie said. "That means stop fighting. New companions train with their warriors. Once you've had a little experience, you will start training with others, but we don't allow that at the beginning because one of you is likely to make a mistake, and we don't want anyone getting clobbered."

I looked at Jasmine. "I wouldn't hit you too hard," I said.

Jasmine looked at Ralla, and she looked a little nervous.

"Trust me," Ralla said, and Jasmine nodded.

"You're with me, Beria," Omie said. She pulled me to the side, then whispered to me, "Don't tease Jasmine."

"I'm sorry," I said. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, not normally. Jasmine is scared. She would be a good companion, but she won't be a warrior any more than your sister will. Just don't tease her about training, okay?"

"Okay."

We separated a little, and then Omie said, "We start slow. It's not about power at this point, it's about getting used to holding the staff and building your reflexes. When we start real sparring, there are rules we'll teach you. Those rules, by the way, are ignored in a real fight."

I nodded.

"You saw what Ralla and I did. You can start."

I took a gentle swing at her with the staff, holding on with both hands, but trying -- slowly -- to hit her with one end. She blocked my swing and immediately returned it with the other end of her staff, also swinging slowly, and I blocked it. We did that a dozen times each.

"Hold," she said. "Good." She turned away and watched Ralla and Jasmine for a minute.

"H
old," Ralla said, stepping away. "Omie, did you see it?"

"Yes," Omie said. She stepped sideways and took a position in front of Jasmine. "Swing at me," she said. Jasmine did, and Omie said, "Hold!" in a firm voice. "Freeze like that.
"

Jasmine froze, and Omie stepped away, then around behind Jasmine. She adjusted Jasmine's stance, saying, "If you were swinging faster, you would fall off balance like this. You need to
remain centered."

Ralla stepped forward again. "Again," said Omie, watching. Jasmine and Ralla exchanged a few strikes, and Omie said, "Better. Try a little faster now."

She watched them for a minute, then stepped in front of me, raising her staff. "A little faster," and I nodded.

We practiced that for an hour with Ralla quietly adjusting Jasmine from time to time, Omie concentrating on me. Then I heard Ralla cry, "Hold," and step away from Jasmine.

"We're going to head out," she said. "I don't want Jasmine tired out before we even get started." I was sweating, and so was Jasmine, and I was ready to be done, too.

"This doesn't seem that bad," I said. "Actually, it's kind of fun. Why does my sister hate it?"

Omie and Ralla exchanged looks. "We should show them," Omie said finally. "If we're trying to be as honest as we can."

Ralla nodded, then Omie said, "You two, sit down. Ralla and I are going to spar, full speed, but we'll pull our blows." She looked at me. "Ralla is much better than I am, but I will do my best."

I nodded understanding, taking a seat next to Jasmine.

Ralla and Omie squared off, several paces away from us. Then Omie said, "Fight." There was a moment's pause, and then she swung her staff at Ralla.

It was fast! But Ralla deflected it, counter-swinging at Omie. After that, Omie was on the defensive, Ralla driving her around in circles, Omie launching the occasional attack, but it was clear she was outclassed. Finally Ralla did a maneuver that was far to fast for me to follow, and Omie was on her back in the grass, Ralla's staff against her chest.

I stared.

They paused like that, then Ralla bent forward and helped Omie to her feet. "Point to Ralla," Omie said. She turned to Ralla, paused, then said, "Fight!"

Omie seemed to do better this time, as little as I could tell, but then there was a thud, and Omie fell back, rubbing her ribs.

"Hold!" I yelled.

Ralla and Omie both stepped back, then turned to me. "Y
ou don't get to say that, Beria," Omie said gently.

I climbed to my feet and ran to her. "She hit you!"

"She did," Omie said. "And it hurts."

"She's supposed to pull her blows."

"She did," Omie said. "She didn't crack my ribs. It's just a bruise."

"Let me see," I demanded. I turned around and glared at Ralla.

"Your companion seems protective," Ralla observed.

I turned back to Omie. "I said, let me see!"

She loosened her tunic and let me pull it up. There was a growing bruise across her left ribs. "It's just bruised," Omie said.

I looked at it. "This is the part Maya hates."

"She also hates watching Malora fight," Omie said. "She's afraid Malora will get hurt. She doesn't like it when she gets hit, and she likes it even less when she hits someone else. It's just a bruise, Beria."

I looked at it, then carefully pulled the tunic back in place, helping my warrior. I stood up. "That's two to nothing?"

"Yes," Omie said. "Please go sit down again."

I wanted to argue with her, but I returned to my place on the ground. She turned to Ralla and said, "Fight."

The two exchanged blows for a moment, then Ralla did something to sweep Omie's staff out of the way and tapped Omie -- gently -- on the head.

"Darn it," Omie said. "You always get me with that one."