Amazon Companion (2 page)

I laughed. Grandfather had been gone long enough we were able to talk about him without growing maudlin.

Gallen's Cove was a small village. Counting the people who lived on the nearby farms, there were just over three hundred people who called Gallen's Cove "home", some living as far as an hour by stout horse from the town. A third of the townspeople were fishermen; another third were farmers. The last third covered all the other duties an independent town needs: smith, cooper, teacher, and all the other tradesman you find in a village of our size. As times were peaceful and bandits scarce, there was no militia. There was no need. The winter storms were our only enemy.

Food was plentiful. Wood for fires was plentiful. Metals for tools were scarce and dear, but we made do.

The visitors came during one of my enforced days of relaxation. On this day, I had taken a skiff out onto the waters of the cove, toying briefly with venturing out onto the open ocean. But I decided the challenges were not consistent with relaxation, and I remained in the cove.

I didn't notice the visitors while I was sailing. It wasn't until I had beached the skiff and turned towards home that I noticed the disruption.

There were women on horses riding through the village, rounding up all the villagers! I watched as two women dismounted from their horses and, without knocking, entered the home of Laru Brightcheeks. I stopped and stared, and moments later the women emerged, herding Laru and her two young girls in front of them. One of them saw me staring and nudged her compatriot. The second spoke to the first, then hurried to me.

"Everyone to the town square," the woman said, her voice accented. She was dressed in rough clothes made from the hides of animals. She wore a long knife on one hip and a sword on the other. A hand rested on the hilt of the sword.

"Who are you people, and by what right do you disrupt the peace?"

"Get to the town square," the woman said, partly drawing her sword. "Now!" She stepped forward, and I backed
away, but she stepped past me and began driving me towards the square. I joined with Laru and her daughters. The two women herded the four of us to the center of the village, pulling their horses behind.

Reaching the square, we found more women, an even dozen, standing guard over those of the village that had been rounded up. There weren't many men; the fishermen were out in their boats, and the woman seemed to have ignored the surrounding farms
. Still, there was a sizeable portion of the village standing in the square, everyone looking a mixture of scared and confused. Some of the younger children were crying, but no one appeared to be hurt.

Grandmother and Juna stepped up to one side of me.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"Nothing good," Juna
said. "You're too young to know about this. Try to work your way around, calming the children. Do nothing rash."

"Yes, Elder Juna," I said. They both nodded at me, and I began working th
rough the assembled people, stooping down to talk quietly to the children, one or two at a time, assuring them that everything was fine.

I don't know if they believed me; they shouldn't have, as I didn't believe it myself.

Small groups of the women, usually two at a time, sometimes four, continued to herd the remaining villagers into the square. They appeared firm but I didn't see them abuse anyone.

I found mother standing with Beria. Mother hugged me and tried to keep me with her, but I told her Juna had asked me to calm the children. She released me to my task.

It took some time after I had arrived at the town square, but then there weren't any others to gather, and the villagers of Gallen's Cove found ourselves surrounded by thirty rough-looking women. They were all dressed similarly, their clothing constructed of various animal leathers and fur, and they were all armed. Most of the women carried swords, but a few had long sticks instead. They weren't using them like canes, but I saw a couple of the women using them while herding the villagers, not hitting anyone, but using them almost like a moving fence.

I'd never seen
live swords before. We hadn't needed them. It was hard not to stare.

One of the women raised her hand. The villagers were milling about, talking amongst each other, and the woman wasn't getting the attention she wanted.

"Quiet!" she bellowed, and that got her the desired attention.

From around the square, I saw the elders begin moving slowly in that woman's direction. Everyone else grew still.

"That's better!" she looked angry. "This village has broken treaty with us. We are owed tithe and we are here to collect."

Tithe
? Treaty? Who did these women think they were?

"Go home!" I heard someone yell. Someone else called out, "By what right do you disrupt our peace?"

"Silence!" the woman yelled. Then she paused as if she was considering her response. "You pathetic people, living here in your peaceful village far from danger. Do you think your peace comes without a price?"

"You haven't been through a winter gale if you think the ocean is peaceful."

"A winter gale is far better than the demons we keep far from your homes," the woman called out.

That was when I knew who the women were: Amazons.

Everyone knew the stories about the demons and the Amazons. The demons came from the volcanic mountains far to the east. They had first appeared centuries ago, ravaging all of Morehama. Mighty warriors had stood against the demons, but no man could stand against them. The demons weaved magic that wrapped around a man's mind, putting him into a waking sleep, ripe for the plucking. Entire armies had fallen.

But then one woman, tall and lithe, stood against one of the demons. She took up a sword, strode forth,
and scythed down one of the demons, and then another. Other women saw what she was doing, and they all collected the weapons at their hands, the fallen weapons from their fathers and husbands, and they drove the demons back to their mountains.

It appeared the demon magic didn't work on a woman's mind, and the demons didn't know how to fight someone who could fight back.

That first woman's name had been Amazonia, and the women she led became know as Amazons. And in the centuries following, they had kept all of Morehama safe from the demons. In return, Morehama offered tithe to the women.

But the demons hadn't been seen in years and years, lifetimes.

The woman continued to talk.

"This village has not paid tithe in twenty years. You have owed us ten percent of your crops, ten percent of your fish, ten percent of everything you raise and make, and you have not offered one grain in twenty years. You have ample food and can spare some
for the women who keep you safe. We are here to collect!"

Juna strode forth. "We owe you nothing!"

"Silence!" The woman said, and I saw Juna's jaw tighten. "Furthermore, you also were to offer us one girl child in five, delivered to us immediately after her fourteenth birthday. We are here to collect."

"The demons are long gone from our lands,"
Juna said, her voice raised to carry. "They were slain generations ago."

"That is not true!" The women said. "You see no demons here because we drive them back into their volcanic homes."

"That is the lie," Juna said. "Twenty years ago, one of your sisters stayed a time with us, and she told us she had never seen more than the occasional scouting party of demons, and then only three times herself."

"And so you admit the demons are not dead," the strange woman said. "And you admit we are the ones who keep you safe."

"Scouting parties of demons are not going to venture so many days ride from their mountains," Juna said. "Collect your tithe from villages closer to the danger."

"We collect our tithe from all of Morehama!" the woman said. "You owe us twenty years of tithing." Then she smiled. "We are not cruel. We do not expect you to pay us all at once. We will even forgive half your debt. You will pay double tithing for the next ten years."

Then she smiled. "And we would not impoverish the village of your young girls. Today we take three. In the future, you will send us one of every five girls."

"We will do no such thing!" Juna said, slamming her cane to the ground.

The strange woman stepped forward, partially drawing her sword. She towered over Juna, but Juna stood her ground, and then the other elders stepped up next to her.

There was a staring match between Juna and the woman. Then the two spoke, too quietly for me to hear. I moved closer, trying to hear, coming to a stop in the gap between the rest of the villages and the line of elders. I stood immediately behind Juna, but still I couldn't hear.

Finally the woman took two steps back, and I thought Juna had won. I was ready to cheer, but the stranger raised her voice.

"
Miari, Riva, Narana, choose your new companions from anyone assembled here, twelve years or older."

I stared in shock, growing even more shocked when three of the strange women, looking triumphant, strode forth. They stopped in front of Juna, and then I nearly cried out as Juna stepped
from their path, and all the elders made a gap in their line. Juna ended up standing immediately next to me.

"You can't let them," I said.

"We have no choice," Juna said quietly to me.

The three strangers stepped past us and began to walk among the villagers, stopping here and there to examine this girl or that. I couldn't believe the council was allowing these women to kidnap three of our children.

Some of the parents tried to hide their children. Other children cried as soon as they fell under the gaze of one of the three women or another. Mother tried to shield Beria, but one of the women pulled her forth and stared at my sister. Beria stood strong and silent, but the woman moved on, selecting instead a quietly crying Morana. Morana was small and very sweet, and I couldn't believe Juna was letting the woman take her.

"Juna-"

"Silence."

"But-"

"Our choice was three or to pay our debt all at once."

The woman led Morana firmly by the arm, pulling her through the assembled townspeople. Rania, Morana's mother, cried quietly while clutching at Beacon, her firstborn, who would turn fourteen in another three weeks.

A second woman made her choice, selecting Olive. Olive was a quiet girl, but always very brave. She looked back at her mother but didn't resist when the strange woman dragged her away.

"This is barbaric, Juna," I said. "Do something."

"What would you have me do?"

"Reason with them."

"I did. They won't hurt them. They become companions."

"What does that mean?"

"Servants. Perhaps more."

"More?"

"Don't be naive. You're not a child anymore."

"Morana is only thirteen and Olive just turned fourteen!"

"I know."

The last woman didn't seem to find anyone she wanted. Maybe she would leave unsatisfied. She moved all the way through the crowd, finally working her way back to me. She stared into my face from two feet away, and I realized she was considering taking me.

We studied each other. She was younger than I was, perhaps eighteen or nineteen. Her features were weathered, her body firm.

None of the three women had spoken during her search except for the polite, and perhaps surprising, request for someone to step aside as they each worked their way through the assembled village folk. But this one asked me, "What is your name?"

"Maya Softpeace," I said.

She eyed me up and down. "I like your looks."

I put a hand on my hip and stared at her. If she touched me, I'd bite her hand off.

The Amazon leader stepped forward, standing next to the woman. I wasn't sure if this was
Miari, Riva or Narana. And I didn't know the leader's name.

"We normally select younger companions," the leader said. She was speaking to me, and she eyed me. I glared at her.

"Riva," said the woman. "This one would fight you. Five years from now, maybe you could handle her fire."

"There was one other," Riva said. She stepped away from me, and part of me felt relief, and then part of me felt guilty another girl would be taken instead of me.

I watched Riva, and she took a direct line to my mother.

"No," I said.

Riva stepped past my mother and clasped Beria by the arm.

"Juna, do something!" I said.

"I'm sorry, Maya," Juna said.

I stared as the woman tugged Beria by the arm, leading her on a path that would take her right past me.

"No!" I yelled. "You can't have her!" Juna's cane was right there, and she wasn't even leaning on it. I snatched it from her and, raising it above my head menacingly, ran at the girl attempting to steal my sister. "Leave my sister alone!"

I attacked, catching the girl largely by surprise.
I lowered the cane firmly on her arm, forcing her to release Beria, then I shoved her from my sister, interposing myself between my sister and her would-be kidnapper.