Amazon Chief (96 page)

She shifted at the last moment, taking the strike against her hip, and then she was spinning, her sword coming around, and I stepped backwards rapidly.

We traded blows and slashes, and then she got me with her off hand, a slash across my forearm. It stung! She had drawn first blood. I stepped back rapidly, putting distance between us, but she pressed me, and I barely avoided two more strikes before another landed, almost in the same place.

I bashed her swords aside hard enough to disrupt her flow and backed away, lashing out twice with the staff to put some distance between us. I glanced for a moment at my arm. The cuts were shallow, but they were bleeding, and eventually it would wet my hand and make my hold on Maya's staff slippery.

Malora waited for me, and she was breathing hard. I was barely winded. Oh, my heart was pounding in my chest, but I was barely breathing, and she was panting.

I went after her.

This time she was the one to retreat, and I knew she was leading me to the whipping post. I let her. Just as she got to it, I swung at her, and she did exactly what I thought she would; she stepped around behind it, expecting me to slam my staff into the side of the post. But I reversed, and when she came around the other side, she ran right into the end of my staff. It thudded firmly into her chest, knocking her back. She flailed in surprise. I rapped the other end of the staff against her right arm, hard enough to make it go numb for a moment, then stepped in, grabbing her left wrist. I pulled, sending her over my hip, and she slammed into the ground at my feet.

I then applied an arm bar on her hand, wrapping my leg around her arm, bending her elbow against the side of my hip, her left sword pointed harmlessly into the air, and my staff resting heavily on her right wrist. I applied pressure to her arm and froze.

As did she.

"Who in the hell taught you that?" She asked loudly.

"Nori. Omie. Ralla. You. I don't know." I responded as loudly.

"I yield," she said.

"You can free your right hand." I said it more quietly.

"You can break my left arm and be away before I have leverage. I yield."

I untangled us and pulled her to her feet. She was panting heavily, and when I looked into her face, I didn't like the color.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said. "I told you, I'm getting old. Hug me now."

And I did.

Everyone else was silent. I felt both our hearts pounding in our chests, and Malora continued to pant heavily. Nori was there, taking her swords from her, and Omie took the staff, and still I continued to hold my queen.

"Thank you, Beria," she said. "You have made an old woman very, very proud."

"How much of what you did was for this day?"

"Oh honey. Everything."

"Our fight about a companion?"

"I was queen without one. I didn't want you to try the same. You're going to need her. And I needed to know she loved you."

"She does."

"I know."

"I'm sorry about that first fight with Jalad. I didn't know. Why was Nori so angry when she thought I had come to challenge you a year ago."

"It would have looked like betrayal. This is retirement."

"I wouldn't have."

"I know."

Then we separated, but she held my hand. We stepped forward, and I saw Maya, her hand in her mouth, but she saw we were both okay, and she dropped her hand. She and Lia were leaning against each other.

Malora looked out over the assembled Amazons.

"I have a few things to say," she said. "And I hope you will allow me to stay them all."

She turned to me. "First, there is this."
Then she raised her voice to its full volume. "All hail Queen Beria of the Amazons!"

She dropped to one knee and bowed her head to me.

"Get up!" I yelled.

But instead, Nori stepped forward. "She said, All hail Queen Beria of the Amazons!" And then she knelt to me as well. And a
half moment later the assembled Amazons yelled out, "Hail, Queen Beria!"

Even Lia was kneeling to me, and my own sister.

I looked out over all of them. They were kneeling to me.

"Queen Malora, get up! This is wrong."

"I am no longer Queen Malora," she said. "You are queen. I am simply Malora. But if you order it again, and lend a hand, I will rise."

"Get up," I said, and I stepped forward, lifting her by her elbows. She rose and let me steady her. Everyone else continued to kneel.

"All of you. Get up!"

Nori chuckled and climbed to her feet, and I had to steady her for a moment, too. When had Nori grown unsteady?

Then everyone else stood up and cheered for a moment until Malora held up her hand. They quieted, and she said, "I told you, I have several things to say. Queen Beria, may I say them?"

"In a moment," I said. "Is there a ceremony, or am I now queen?"

"That fight was the ceremony. You are now queen."

"And everyone here has to do what I order?"

"Or challenge you. Yes."

"Well then, as my first official act, and before you say anything else you wish to say, I say this: Queen Malora has been my queen for as long as I have been an Amazon, and she will always carry the title queen. What she invites each of you to call her is between you and her, but in public, I better hear her called by her proper title. She is now and will forever be called Queen Malora of the Amazons."

"Queen Beria-"

"Do not 'Queen Beria' me!" I told her. "You are Queen Malora and you remain Queen Malora." I smiled and said sweetly. "Do you hear me?"

She laughed. "Yes, Queen Beria. Did you have more to say?"

"Oh, I am sure I will. Will your speech be lengthy?"

"Perhaps."

"Then may I hug my companion and my sister and my warrior first?"

"By all means."

And the three of them closed the distance to me. I hugged and kissed Lia, squeezing her tightly. And then Maya was in my arms, whispering into my ear, "I am so proud of you, little sister. Thank you."

I accepted a shorter hug from Omie, and I thanked her.

Then Nori was there. "Let me see your arm, Queen Beria."

"Yes, Nori," I said holding out the arm. She looked at it, then took a clean, damp cloth and cleaned it quickly. She wrapped a dry cloth around it and then made me hold it. "It won't need stitching. I'll give it more attention in a while, or your companion can see to it."

"Thank you, Nori."

She stepped away, but Lia moved to my other side and leaned against me. Maya was next to Malora. Malora hugged her, then said loudly enough for me to hear, "You know I like to pace when I talk."

And so Maya stepped to stand next to me, a hand on my shoulder, flanking me on the side opposite Lia.

Malora looked over the crowd. "This woman, our new queen, is my choice to succeed me. I have trained her for twenty years, identifying her talent from her first days with us. Oh, I didn't put my eggs all in one basket, and there were others, but it was Beria who showed true talent even as a young companion."

She looked around. "Everyone here has supported me for so, so long. And now I ask you to please accept my choice. She is young, but she is wise for her years, and she will be surrounded by good advisors. She is wise enough to listen to them."

She paced around a little. "She'll make mistakes. We all make mistakes, after all. She'll make decisions you won't always like. But I know this. She will be a fine queen. Tell her when she's wrong, but remember to also see what she does right. There are always too many people who see only the things they would do differently, and not the things a leader does well."

She turned to me. "Queen Beria, you do not inherit the challenges I faced. The Amazons are far stronger than we were twenty years ago. That is due in an exceedingly large part to your sister. I forever bless the day she arrived in my camp, bound hand and foot, gagged, and ready to kill anyone who got near her."

The Amazons laughed.

"I could not have led remotely as well as I
have without Maya at my side. I could not have solved the problems remotely as well as Maya solved them for me. It took time, but we are now strong against the demons."

She got a cheer for that.

"You have a good companion at your side, one who would have been an Amazon many years ago, but she honored her mother's wish and remained behind. But she is here now, and she brings two young daughters, the future of the Amazons, with her." She looked around. "Please someone tell me that someone brought the girls back."

"We're here!" said Yalta. "Let us through! Small children in back here."

The crowd parted, and Yalta and Rahna stepped forward, pressing a pair of stunned-looking girls along in front of them.

Joelle stopped and stared. "You fought with Queen Malora?" she asked. "You told me Amazons don't fight when they're mad at each other!"

The assembled Amazons laughed, but I held my hand up. "Joelle," I said, "it is very, very complicated. Your Mama will explain later."

"Oh no she won't," Lia said. "
Maya explained it to me, and she can explain it to her nieces, too!"

I smiled. "Maya!"

"Sister."

"That's Queen Sister to you."

She laughed. "Queen Sister."

"Would you explain this to my daughters sometime later?"

"I would enjoy doing so."

Joelle
cocked her head. "Queen Sister?"

"Your Mother is the queen now," Malora said. "You should call her Queen Mother."

"She should not!" I said. "I am still Mother. Queen Malora, do not confuse them."

Joelle and Annalise looked between the two of us, then they turned to face each other. "Adults are confusing.
"

There was more laughter.

"Queen Malora," I said, "I believe you were speaking."

"Yes, but I seem to have lost track of my thoughts." She turned to me. "Do not say it."

"You were discussing my excellent companion."

"Oh, yes. Trust her. Lean on her. Hide nothing from her. She is every bit the woman Maya is, which means she's going to see it, anyway. There is no sense denying it."

"That's the truth," Maya and Lia said together.

Malora went on. "Listen to your advisors. Surround yourself with women you trust, then trust them. But in the end, make up your own mind. And while you're at it, make sure you include people who disagree with you."

"Like Queen Malora did when she untied me from Nori's ropes!" Maya said.

"Just so," Malora said with a smile.

She looked around. "I'm sure I had more to say. I had a long speech. I spent months writing it. Where ever did it go?"

She turned to face me. "I am so proud of you, Beria. My heart is bursting with joy, which is much better than the bursting it tried to do earlier."

She paused for the laughter, but it was forced. No one liked to think about her growing old. I certainly didn't.

"Now, Queen Beria, I have a
request."

"If
it is within my power to grant, I will certainly grant it," I replied.

"There are a few more events scheduled, and a bonfire tonight. May Maya and I continue to host them?"

"Of course," I said. "This is your event."

"Thank you," she said. "I also have a few more recommendations for your immediate consideration. Perhaps I may seek an audience before lunch."

"I would value that," I said.

She turned to face the audience. "The schedule for the remainder of the day is on the board." She pointed. "Maya has assigned companions to manage them. There will be an awards ceremony tonight. I have already talked to you if there is special reason for you to be there. It may be some of you will wish to depart for home. Unless Queen Beria directs otherwise, then I will grant you happy travels and thank you for your
presence and participation this week. We had an excellent tournament."

She got cheers for that.

She looked around. "That's all I have."

"Then if there is no other business," I said.

"There is!" I heard from the left.

I turned, and the crowd parted to admit Jalad to the circle. She was carrying a staff.

"Queen Beria, I feel you are ill suited to serve as queen. I hereby challenge you for leadership of the Amazons."

The assembled Amazons all reacted at once, much of it negatively. I let them yell at her for a minute, rather pleased by the reaction. Malora stepped to my side and whispered, "Talk to me before you do anything."

I nodded to her.

From around the circle, several Amazons stepped forward. None of them had weapons drawn, but they were all carrying weapons, and they were all people I trusted. The didn't set up a wall between Jalad and me, but it was as good as a wall.