Amazon Chief (75 page)

Glorana laughed. "She really uses that last one. Yalta loves it, but when I tried it with Rahna, she wasn't quite so amused. I'd consider it cautiously."

"I'll give your exalted advice all due consideration," I said. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

I was waylaid once more on the way to the latrines. And twice on the way back. All three times were for trivial items, and I was sure the women involved were simply trying to tease me.

When I got to Lia's hut, she was straightening up, making the beds and such. She turned to me with a smile. I closed the distance to her, and she pulled me into her arms. The kiss was long, warm, and full of promise.

"Ah," she said. She pulled me closer to the bed, then knelt down in front of me and helped me out of the boots. Her feet were already bare, and a moment later we were back under the covers, although otherwise fully dressed. We nestled in each other's arms for a moment, then she pressed me back against the pillow and loomed over me.

"Beria,"
she said. She caressed my face. I watched her, but then she brushed her fingers over my eyes, and I closed them. She bent over and kissed each eye, then nestled against me.

"I love you, too," she said. "I have for a long time. But I needed you to settle things with Omie."

I turned my face to look at her. She kissed me, although it was done quickly.

"I don't want to talk about that right now," she said, "and we don't have to talk about it if you never want to, but we can if you want. Later today, next week, next year. I know you love her. I suspect you'll call me by her name from time to time. I don't promise to always take it well, but I'll always forgive you later."

She caressed me again. "I hope she and I will be friends, and Aren and I. It may be that's not what you want. It may be too painful for one or the other of you. I don't know if you and Aren are friends."

"Not really," I said. "We get along, but we sort of avoid each other."

"Well, I want you to try to fix that," she said. "But it may be that Aren and I will talk about it."

"Did you just say 'yes'?"

She smiled. "How would this work?"

"We'll keep both huts. I'll use mine more like, I don't know. An office. When Malora comes to visit, she and Maya can have it. If you and I want privacy, we can go there, if we can't have it here."

She smiled.

"What about when you travel?"

I turned away, but she pulled my face back to her. "Why are you about to shut me out?"

"I'm not," I said. "I'm about to tell you why I fought with Malora, but I'm not sure I can look at you when I do."

"You better be able to look at me," she said.

"She gave me an ultimatum."

"About me?"

"She demanded I take a companion. It got ugly."

"Because you didn't want one?"

"Because you were waiting for something, and I didn't know what. I thought it was because you wanted to let the girls grow up a little longer, or something like that. You should know most of Queen's Town knows our business. It got loud at times."

"Were you angry she made it a demand?"

"I was angry she was meddling and no one would leave me alone about it. In the end, before she let me leave, she was quite blunt."

"Tell me, Beria," Lia said.

"She gave me a week. Resolve the situation with you or let Maya find someone else."

Lia pursed her lips. "I understand why you didn't want to tell me."

"Yesterday Nori did something completely unrelated that made me angry all over again. I almost left without talking to Omie, but she found me, and we talked. But in between, Maya tried to calm me down. I told her to tell her warrior to back off and leave me alone. I told her that if her warrior was dissatisfied with the way I was handling my jobs, she could have my resignation for either or both of them. I told her if she wanted to banish me, she could. But otherwise she should back off."

Lia snuggled down and curled into me more tightly, then waited quietly.

"Omie calmed me down. Later, everyone was surprised I hadn't left. They made me hang out for a while before I could come back here."

"How were things left?"

"Malora told me the most important thing I do
right now is resolve this. She told me if my job as patrol coordinator were in the way of resolving this, she’d allow me to resign. It's not what she wants, but she'll allow it."

I turned my head to look at Lia.

"You'd resign a job Malora wants you to keep? For me?"

I nodded.

"What if you don't resign?"

I looked back at the ceiling. "I called Malora a meddling old woman."

"Oh shit," she said.

"Yeah. I think we're both lucky you aren't sharing a bed with a blueberry."

"A blueberry?"

"Malora is fond of dying Maya and me when we misbehave."

"She'd dye you blue?"

"It's more of a purple, I guess. Yeah. She kept Maya that color for three months once before she relented. That was a long time ago." I grew quiet.

"What?"

"Bad story," I said. "For another time."

"All right."

"In spite of being a meddling old woman, Malora was right. I need a companion. A full time companion, Lia. And I know it's not fair, but I pretty much need an answer soon."

"Like, in the next five minutes?"

"In the next three days."

"And if I can't answer that quickly?"

"I'll go beg for an extension."

"Will you get it?"

"I don't know."

"Tell me about traveling."

I turned to face her. "I need a full time companion. I need you to go with me. Maybe not every single trip. I don't think you'll ever go on patrol, but that's only three nights."

"Is there anything you can do so the trips aren't so many days?"

"If I go more often. It plays havoc with the patrol schedule."

"Tamma's warrior will just need to be flexible," she said. "Can we take the girls?"

"Maybe in another year or two," I said. "They're learning a lot. On the other hand, I heard about an altercation."

"I handled it."

"I know you did.
I'm not faulting anyone. I also go to Gallen's Cove every year or so. I would want all three of you to go along. Maya and Malora go, too. Usually there are a few others. It's a little vacation."

"That's on the coast? Is it pretty?"

"I'll take you sailing," I said.

She kissed my ear then set her fingers across my lips. We lay quietly for several minutes. "You're asking me to be gone from my daughters. A lot."

"I know. I can resign. Then I'll be gone on patrol, but you'll stay here."

"And you're asking me to make a permanent commitment. You're asking me to vow myself to you."

My heart started to sink. It was too much. Just like Malora and Nori had been pushing me too hard lately, I was pushing her too hard.

"I'm sorry," I said. I started to roll away. "It's too much to ask."

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked firmly, tugging me back into place. "Don't you recognize negotiation when it slaps you in the face?"

I turned my head to look at her.

"Oh Beria," she said, caressing my face. "I told you I love you. But it's complicated, and we're working it out."

I smiled tentatively.

"We'll try it," she said. "You will not resign. Yet. I may not go on every trip with you. I may ask you to find a way to make them shorter. We may discuss ways of taking the girls. If we cannot make it work, then you will resign. That's my offer."

"Was that a yes?"

"To you accept my offer?"

"Yes."

"Then it's a yes."

I pulled her to me, my heart leaping with joy. She had said 'yes'. I held her tightly, then I pushed her away enough I could kiss her, and then I crushed her against me again. She giggled in my arms. Finally she pushed away.

"We're late for training."

"They can train without us."

"If we're late, perhaps we should be really late."

"Oh?"

"I'm wearing far too many clothes for you to teach me how to make love to you. Perhaps you should do something about that."

And so, I did.

We got more privacy than I expected. The entire village cooperated. The girls were invited to "slumber parties" several nights a week. Lia and I made good use of the time alone.

Lia was an enthusiastic, creative lover.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, and so I should back up. The day after Lia accepted my proposal, I wrote a note and handed it to Frida
along with two deer hides. "I need this in Queen's Town, and whoever you send will need to wait for a response. The note to Queen Malora, the hides to Nori. She'll know what to do with them." She sent Aura and Lindara.

Queen Malora,

Twelve members of Lake Juna would like to visit Queen's Town three days from today. We would like you, your companion, Nori and her companion, Omie, Vorine, Bea, and Clara present. If Gaylie and Lidi can be there as well, it is appreciated.

If this schedule does not work, please advise.

Yours,

Chief Beria

Lake Juna was overjoyed with the news. We had a bonfire the first night. No one was surprised, of course, but we received congratulations. We had told the girls before dinner. Annalise didn't seem to appreciate the upcoming changes, but Joelle seemed pleased. "Will you be our Mama now, too?"

At that, I had to turn to Lia. "Will I?"

"You better be," she said, "or this will be the shortest warrior-companion relationship ever."

I turned back to Joelle. "In private, you should call me Beria. In public, it is still Chief Beria. Even Maya calls the queen by her title. Well, sometimes, anyway."

"And me?" Lia asked. "Am I to call you by your title?"

"Only when making a point," I said with a grin.

And so, we announced everything at the bonfire. Yalta immediately asked, "Does this make her the chief's companion, and I can dump on her the associated duties?"

I laughed. "I am still patrol coordinator for Queen Malora, and Lia will be traveling with me at least part of the time. The two of you will need to work it out."

"Wait," Lia said, "I have to do Yalta's job?"

"No," Yalta said, "I can stop doing your job. Oh, the mischief I can make with my newfound hours of freedom."

"What types of jobs?" she asked.

"Well, managing the companion duty roster, for instance," Yalta said. "Being mother hen to all the other companions. Doing your warrior's laundry."

"You never do my laundry," I retorted. "If I had known that was an option, you would have been."

Yalta laughed. "Nice try. Coordinating for royal visits; managing inventory in the supply room and communicating with the Queen's Companion in Queen's Town. Don't worry. I'll teach you what to do."

"Wait," said Lia. "I get to write the companion's duty roster?"

"Yes," Yalta said, "but you will notice I schedule myself the same as I do anyone else. You'll still be mucking stables."

"Mucking stables?" Lia looked at me.

"Y
alta has been going easy on you since you took over the cooking, but I remember Serra used to muck stables, and she was the cook at Queen's Town."

"The chief's companion has to muck stables?"

"Maya mucks stables," I said. "In fact, when I was a companion, and I imagine this hasn't changed, whenever one of the companions had a scheduling difficulty she couldn't resolve, we could go to Maya, and she would trade with us, or sometimes just take the task without asking for a trade."

Then I looked at the girls. "For that matter, it is Amazon tradition that everyone who rides the horses is responsible for their care."

Annalise, now nine, didn't understand the implications, but her eleven-year-old sister, Joelle did.

"I have to muck stables?"

"Right alongside your mother," Lia said.

"If I have to muck stables," Joelle said, "then I should have my own horse. I'm old enough."

"If she gets a horse, I want a horse!" Annalise said.

"The day your mother puts you on the duty roster alongside all the other companions," I said, "is the day your mother and I will discuss whether you are mature enough to care for a horse each."

"We'll help them," Lena said. At sixteen, she was the youngest companion at Lake Juna, not including Joelle and Annalise.

"They will do the work to care for their horses themselves," I said. "They will do their duty on the duty rosters themselves. I expect all companions to help each other, and I expect older companions to help guide younger companions. But they will do the work themselves, and if they are not old enough, big enough, or mature enough for the responsibilities, they are not old enough, big enough, or mature enough to have a horse."