Authors: Robin Roseau
"I've got this. She's not as good as she thinks."
* * * *
And she wasn't, but she was still good.
She smiled when we stepped into the ring. She was probably remembering she'd won the first bout. She may not remember how much time I spent bruising her. I wasn't going to worry about that. I was going straight for the win.
Malora gave us her typical talk. "I did not like the nature of the match the last time you two met, and I better not see any of that behavior this time."
"Of course not, Queen Malora," I said.
Jalad muttered something. I didn't much care what it was.
Malora called the start and Jalad came after me, her staff swinging. I deflected twice, and about five seconds into the fight, I scored my first point. I deflected her staff then stepped past her, both swords slapping firmly against her arm and twice more across her back.
She spun around, her staff reaching out for me, but I was waiting for it and was outside range before the staff would have reached me.
"Hold!" Malora yelled. "Jalad, did you have any doubt in the quality of those strikes?"
"You hadn't called hold, and you are the referee," Jalad countered. I didn't like her tone, and I didn't like the lack of a "Queen Malora" on the end of that sentence.
I was going to enjoy beating her.
"Ready, fight," Malora called.
I didn't wait. I reached right through Jalad's arms, right below her staff, and punched her firmly with the tip of my sword, right in the center of her chest. I then brought the second sword down in an arc and would have slammed it in the same spot, but Malora called "Hold" and I froze with the tip of my right hand sword stopped an inch from Jalad's chest.
She shoved me away with her staff. I backed away, watching her.
"Point to Beria. Two to nothing. Fight."
This time, Jalad came after me. I deflected a flurry of swings, backing away towards the whipping post. I scraped my right hand sword along her arm, but it was just a scratch, and Malora didn't call it.
Then Jalad made a swing right for my knee. I manage to deflect it lower, and her staff slammed into my leg
at something approaching full strength. I went down, and Malora screamed, "Hold!"
Jalad wasn't going to stop, either. She'd already lifted her staff for another swing, but Malora was there standing between us. "Back off!" she yelled.
Jalad stepped back slowly. A moment later, Nori was there.
"I'm fine," I said.
Nori leaned close to my ear. "That was too close, Beria."
"I know."
She checked my leg anyway. I bit back a complaint. She pressed her hands against the leg.
"It could be cracked, Beria."
"It's not. I got my weight off of it and absorbed some of the energy. That's why I went down. Help me up. I'll walk it off."
She pulled me to my feet then steadied me as I limped around a minute.
Malora turned to Jalad. "If she is unable to finish this match, I will declare you forfeit. This is not a challenge match! This is your last warning. One more strike at a joint, and you are disqualified and will face whatever other disciplinary measures I can envision." Then she looked pointedly to the whipping post. "Do I make myself clear."
"You're getting weak in your old age, Malora," Jalad said. It wasn't said loudly, and I wasn't sure if everyone else heard it, but Nori and I certainly did. "Look, your pet warrior is fine."
Nori caught my eye. "Have you figured it out yet, Beria? Have you figured out why you have to win?"
"I'm not going to let that bitch win. Why hasn't Malora done something about her in the past?"
"She kept her head down."
I took a breath then began bouncing on both legs. My right hurt, it hurt quite a bit, but I wasn't going to let it stop me. It wasn't broken, and that's all that mattered.
Nori cleared the circle and I took my position. "I am ready, Queen Malora," I said.
"I'm done messing around," Jalad said.
"Fight," said Malora tersely.
I beat the crap out of Jalad. I put three swords across her shoulder with as much force as I could. If I'd used a staff, I'd have broken her collar. For the next point, it was a long slice across her neck, and I left a serious mark. Malora didn't say a word. For the last one, I slipped past her staff then punched her twice in the back before raking both swords across the small of her back.
Match to Beria.
Jalad glared at Malora, but I moved in front of the queen, and I saw Omie on the side. She was holding both my swords. My real swords. They were sheathed, but she had them if I needed them. Every warrior from Queen's Town was there, and they were subtle about it
, but they each had real steel near at hand.
Jalad stormed off. Malora stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder.
"Good job, Beria. Do it again tomorrow, but maybe avoid a second strike to your leg."
I turned around and hugged her.
My leg looked horrible. As soon as Lia saw it, she was running from the hut, screaming for Malora. Two minutes later, Malora, Maya and Nori all crowded into the hut. Aren took the girls for a walk, and Nori knelt down to look at the leg.
"It's fine," I said. "It's just a bruise. I'm walking fine."
"It's going to hurt tonight. You aren't going to sleep well."
"I'll survive." I smiled. "Jalad has more bruises like this than I have. Haldara and I both made sure of it." I smiled. "Is there a party tomorrow? I hope Haldara and Tenda don't leave."
"They won't," Queen Malora said. "They're getting awards."
"Lilith?"
"No award, but she said she'd stay until it's over."
"Good."
"Nori, how is the
leg?"
Nori poked at my leg and I winced. "Stop that!"
"It seems to be tender," she said. She turned to Lia. "She might sleep poorly. You need to stay with her. Keep the voices away. If she wants to go for a walk, go with her. She might be unsteady. Keep her on safe ground."
"Do you want the girls in here tonight?" Maya asked. "I bet we can find somewhere else for them."
They all turned to me.
"Yes," I said.
"I'll make sure they know to be careful," she said. "No roughhousing."
"They're good girls."
"Then why was Joelle on kitchen duty this afternoon?"
"Um."
Maya laughed. "I see everything, Beria. Have you really forgotten? Did Jalad hit you in the head? Or maybe the ass?"
"Yeah, yeah," I said. "My leg is fine."
"It's not fine," Nori said. "It will heal. It's going to look worse tomorrow. Lia, as long as she can walk without trouble, don't freak out too much, but I'll be checking it."
"I should disqualify her for this," Malora said. "Beria, are you absolutely sure you can beat her tomorrow?"
"Yes, Queen Malora."
"I would rather see you beat her," Malora said. "Nori?"
"Trust Beria," she said. "But if she's limping tomorrow-"
"I can beat her with a limp," I said.
"No!" said Malora. "If she's limping tomorrow, that's it."
I sighed. I was pretty sure I was going to be limping in the morning, but I'd walk it off.
After that, they all cleared out, and a few minutes later, Aren returned with the girls. They were subdued.
"Mother," asked Joelle, "Are you all right?"
"My leg hurts," I said, "but I'm fine. Did you want to see?"
She nodded, so I stuck out her leg where she could see the bruise. She knelt down and stared at it then looked up at me. "Don't let her hit you again."
I chuckled. "That is excellent advice, and I will do my absolute best to follow it."
* * * *
Nori had been right. I slept poorly. I felt bad, as I kept walking Lia, but she told me, "I can handle one bad night. You worry about you. What can I do?"
"Just let me hold you," I said.
"I love you so much, Beria," she said. We snuggled together, and I tried to sleep.
Still, I woke early and a little worn out. Lia was a little ragged, too, but together we stirred. Aren opened her eyes and told us, "I've got the girls." Then she nudged Omie.
We got outside. I took three steps and Lia said, "You're limping!"
"She's fine," Omie said. "Keep it down. She's just stiff."
I flashed Omie a look of gratitude.
We cleaned up then Lia served both of us for breakfast. The three of us sat together, eating slowly.
"Did you want hot tea?" Lia asked.
"No, this water is fine."
"Maybe a hot breakfast is better."
"Please don't fuss," I said.
"What weapons today?" Omie asked.
"Swords," I said. "Steel."
Omie chuckled. "I wish."
We finished breakfast about when Nori showed up. "Lia, is she limping?"
"She was," Lia said. "Nori?"
"I'm fine," I said. "Please stop worrying."
"I wish it was Haldara instead," Lia said.
"So do I," I said. "I'm fine. Nori, I'm not sure it's a good idea for Malora to be in the ring today."
"I know, but she has to be. We're all watching, and Malora isn't that old."
I nodded. "How much time do we have?"
"Two hours."
"We're a bit early. Whatever shall we do?" I looked at Lia. "Ever done it in a kitchen?"
"We're not doing it in the kitchen!"
"Aren and I have," Omie said.
"I didn't need to know that," Nori complained.
"She likes to use the cooking tools," Omie added. "We wash them later."
Nori gave a look that was priceless, and I began laughing.
"You know what I haven't done in a while?"
"What's that?" Lia asked.
"Gone fishing in the river here."
"I don't want you on those rocks," Nori said.
"Oh please," I said. "I'm fine."
"I don't care. Do not make me wake Malora up to make it an order."
"I'd have to wake Malora up to get a fishing rod from my sister, anyway," I said. "Fine. What do you recommend? Perhaps you want me to put my feet up and take up knitting."
"We could go see all the skins I'm going to win when my warrior beats Jalad two hours from now," Lia said. "Mar said a few other chiefs joined the wager."
Nori snickered.
"What?" Lia asked.
"A few other chiefs? It was about thirty chiefs."
"There are a hundred and fifty deer skins in that room?"
"And sixty rabbit skins, but remember, the chiefs who wagered on the second and third place winners will get some of the skins."
"So Jalad's chief is going to win a bunch of my skins?" Lia said.
Nori smiled. "Jalad's chief isn't here, and no one took the time to let anyone else know the village could let someone else wager on her."
"So who gets those skins?"
"It goes based on who wagered, so Haldara and
Senai."
"
Senai?" Lia said. "From the village where-"
"Yes," said Nori, "but do you think Maya would have let
Senai get this far if anyone had wagered on her?" She grinned. "I believe it is a tie between Lilith and Tenda."
"And both their chiefs wagered?"
"They did."
"Well," said Lia, "That's all right then." She thought about it. "So whether or not Beria wins today, I won the wager?"
Nori nodded. "But Beria is going to win today. Isn't she?"
"Yes," I said. "She is."
"What will the division of skins be?"
"Well, I believe Jasmine said something like, 'those girls are going to split thirty skins'. So that would be half to first place, then
probably twenty rabbit skins to second and the last ten to third, or five each to Tenda's and Lilith's chiefs."
"I'm going to get seventy-five deer skins?"
Nori smiled. "Yep."
She turned to me. "I am a far, far better hunter than you are, my sweet!"
I laughed. "When I go hunting, I fill our bellies."
"Pshaw. You just bring home more work to me, and I'm the one who actually fills our bellies." She turned to Omie. "You know, she doesn't even butcher them. She makes me do it."
"I figure you have a particular way you want it done, dear," I replied. "I wouldn't presume."
"Did you even teach her how to
butcher a deer?"
"Um," said Omie. "That would involve knowing how myself. Hey! I taught her to catch the deer. I taught her to clean it and dress it out. I taught her how to get it home. And I taught her how to deliver it to the kitchens
after divesting it of its all-important hide. What happens after that isn't my concern."