Amazon Companion (40 page)

"Do they all hurt?"

"Yes."

"Unless you let me clasp your ass, I'm going to have to be satisfied with you touching me." Then she stood in front of me. "Well, she got the center of your chest pretty good, but she didn't mash your breasts. I could hold those."

"Funny," I said, turning away and pulling on my other set of clothing.

"Maya," she said, "I really am in need. I'm sure a few hours of fondling your breasts would help immensely."

I turned to her and she was smirking, and I knew she'd been staring at my ass.

"Look all you want, but no touching."

"You used to let me touch your ass," she said. "You enjoyed it."

"Is that why you whipped me there? So you could fondle it later?"

"No. The whip tends to land where I'm looking."

I guffawed, eventually rubbing the tears from my eyes I was laughing so hard. The worst part was, I believed her.

We ate a quick dinner then settled into our tent.

"Were you kidding me about needing me?" I asked her, once we settled in.

"No."

"Tell me what would help, and be serious."

"Sleep like we did last night," she said. "I particularly liked your hand on my breast."

I chuckled. "One time deal."

"I think you liked holding it. I woke and you were smiling."

"I was dreaming of a fresh peach."

I settled in, both of us growing comfortable. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Is this enough?"

"Yes."

"All right. If it wasn't, I was going to let you touch my ass."

She laughed. "I meant, no, I need more."

We slept.

We came over a hill, and there in front of us, another three miles away, was a small village. Between us were several flocks of sheep and a few herds of cattle, grazing on the plains.

"
This is Howard's Den. The people here know me," Malora said, "and they are very respectful of the Amazons. This is a small village, and their tithe is small, but always respectful, and every few years they offer a daughter of the village to join the Amazons. We will receive a warm welcome."

And then we headed down the hill.

People saw us before we arrived, shouts announcing two incoming Amazons, and we were greeted as we rode into the center of a small cluster of houses. It didn't look any larger than a typical Amazon village, but the individual homes held families, not just a single warrior with possibly a companion.

Malora was greeted, first with cries of, "Hello, Amazons," and then, "It's Queen Malora!"

We climbed down from our horses, some of the villagers giving us respectful distance while more slowly arrived, leaving their farms to join in the excitement. A large, swarthy man stepped forward and bowed, then said, "Greetings, Queen Malora."

"Greetings, Chester," she replied. "How is your family?"

"They are well," he replied. He held out his hand. "Perhaps you remember my eldest son."

Introductions were performed, and she introduced me. We met more and more of the village before someone asked for the reason of our visit.

"Has a demon broken through?" one young woman asked.

"No," Malora said. "Nothing so exciting. Simply a shopping expedition. Would anyone have good, sturdy leather for sale? We have nothing I wish to trade, but we have coins."

The villagers conferred for a moment. Chester seemed to be appointed the spokesman, and he turned to Malora. "We did not know you required leather. We will begin adding it to our tithe."

"Chester, no. Your village donates more than enough. If the villages further west understood what you did for the Amazons, and what the Amazons did for them, the Amazons would grow fat under the largess. No, this is a private transaction. We wish to buy leather and pay a fair price. My companion wishes to make more clothing for herself."

"You only require enough leather for a few outfits?" Chester said. "Consider it a gift!"

"Chester, please, allow us to pay you, although fresh cool water and a seat out of the sun while we negotiate would be lovely."

"Of course," he said. There was more conferring, and then people began scrambling. Soon, tables began appearing from every direction, and then simple awnings, and before our eyes, a small festival formed.

"They do so much," I whispered.

"I told you. They know what we do. I don't like coming because they always go to so much trouble, and they can ill afford it."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"No, they are pleased to see us, and I think you needed to see this. We will pay a fair price for the leather, and the gift of food and company is one every village should be willing to share."

Soon, there was a small feast of cold meats and fresh vegetables. We were offered water or beer, and the beer sounded good, but water was a better idea. We had more traveling to do.

The villagers clustered around, sharing their food and asking Malora questions. This young girl or that one stood off, watching her, and I saw awe in their eyes. It was cute to see.

One girl, braver than the others, stepped forward. I guessed her age at eleven. "Queen Malora, may we see your sword?"

"What is your name?" she asked the girl.

"I am Jalana," she said.

"Jalana, it is ill luck to treat a sword as a toy, but perhaps you would like to see my companion and I joust with staffs." She looked to Chester. "If you have two stout sticks we could use."

I groaned, but Malora winked at me.

"Could we?" the girl asked.

"Of course," Malora replied. Someone produced sticks for us to use, and Malora declared them perfect. We pushed away from the table, Malora handing her sword and then my staff to Chester for
safekeeping. The villagers made a circle for us. Malora hefted the sticks then tossed one to me.

"Malora-"

She grinned. "Half speed. Fight."

I didn't wait. I came after her, and my footwork was full speed, but I swung the staff more slowly, and there was a crack! as the two staffs met. The crowd cheered. She swung back for another crack! And then we were swinging back and forth, sometimes a double strike from her, the top of her staff, then the other end. I retreated from her the entire time, but her blows did not reach me.

Then she left an opening, and I reached for it, but it had been a ploy. She swept the end of my staff aside, pulling me off balance, then gently tapped my ribs with her staff. The small crowd cheered.

"Good," she said. "Again. Can you handle faster?"

"A little," I said.

We stepped it up, and again I held her off, backing away, the sticks making loud blows as they struck, sometimes as we directly blocked a swing, sometimes as a deflection. I almost caught her with a one-two, and she laughed with joy as she danced back. "Well done!" she said.

I pursued her but then soon found myself retreating. Then she did the same move to me that I had tried to do to her, pulling the blow at the last instant to turn it into a tap.

Her control was amazing. I couldn't have done that. I'd have fully hit her.

"Well done," she said. "One more."

I swung at her, and for a moment she retreated from me, but then she deflected a swing I was sure she would block, and I fell off balance. Smack, hard on my bottom. I stumbled away, rubbing my ass.

"You did that on purpose. Now I have another bruise!"

"If you won't let me touch it, I may as well bruise it."

"I have to sit on it now."

"I have liniment I can rub into it tonight."

I stared at her. "That's why you did it!"

"It sure is."

I laughed.

"I didn't actually hit you hard enough to bruise, Maya. But I should have."

She pulled me into a hug, and the crowd cheered once more.

"Well done," she said.

"Not hardly, but thank you for saying so."

She frowned. "We'll discuss it later."

Then we resumed our seats, trading our real weapons for the sticks, and settled them into place. Chester introduced us to a woman named Dana, and Dana's two teenage boys brought forth a stack each of cured leather hides. One stack was dyed black, the other was left its natural color, a pale brown.

"Dana's father was the local tanner," Chester explained. "Now she and her children operate the tannery. Others here also have raw skins available, but you asked for leather, and that means tanned."

"Of course," Malora explained. "We would be interested in the natural color and will dye it ourselves."

Dana spoke up. "With no disrespect, Queen Malora, but I can dye it better than you can." She brought forth one of the black-dyed leathers to explain, but Malora waved her off.

"No doubt you can," Malora agreed, "but we use forest colors." She turned to me. "Retrieve your coat. Let her see."

I got up from the table and hurried to our horses, running back with my coat. I showed it to Dana, who expressed joy at the quality.

"Oh, I see," she said. "This is beautiful work." She smelled it and frowned. "I have better oils for you. For this coat, you should use the best oils. I will send some with you. You will oil it once a week for the next two months, and then once a month after that. My son will help you the first time before you go."

"I thank you, Dana," I said.

"Queen Malora," the woman said, "We did not know our leather carried value to the Amazons. You have never asked for any. So when we tithe every year, I have traded some of my leather back to some of the farms to pay for extra food to send you. But I would be happy to send leather, dyed in your colors, if that carries the value the food carries."

"Dana, you are very gracious. Yes, your leather has value to us. We use little cotton or wool for our clothes, and much of what we wear is from deer and other animals, but leather such as this has great value."

The woman smiled, pleased at the words. "Forest colors? If I collect the colors of the trees, these are your choices?"

"The greens especially, as you see in this coat. You can select the colors of the leaves of any of the trees, if you find the color pleasing. But for today, we would like to buy some of this leather from you."

"How much would you like?"

"That depends upon the price. We would pay a fair price."

The woman offered a number, per skin, and I immediately whispered to Malora, "That's half the price in Gallon's Cove."

"The distance from the supply?"

"We have farms. We raise our own cattle, and we're a far larger village. She's under-charging you."

Malora turned to the woman and frowned. "We will pay a full fair price. I do not want to cheat you."

"I do not understand," she said. "I offered the price the caravans pay when they come through."

"Oh," Malora said. "And then they sell it to someone else for twice what they paid
." Malora offered a price that was ten percent greater than what the woman asked.

"You want to pay me more?"

"Yes." The two discussed the amounts we would need, and then Malora counted out coins while the woman looked through her stock and selected her best pieces. By the time we were done, I had enough leather for two full outfits, and I had never been more ecstatic.

Dana seemed pleased with the transaction as well and told us to expect more leather during the fall tithe.

I packed up my new riches, and then we were ready to go. We thanked the villagers for their hospitality, and they honestly seemed sad to see us go. Some of the children chased after us, and Jalana ran up to Malora, offering a supply of hastily-picked wild flowers. Malora laughed and accepted them, holding them in her hands as we rode out of town. Then she handed me one of the flowers and told me, "Arrange this in your hair."

I laughed and did what she ordered, and then she gave me another and another, and soon my hair was festooned with flowers.

"Is it better than pink ribbons?" I asked.

She laughed and agreed it was.

* * * *

An hour later, while we we
re passing through a dry ravine, Malora asked me very quietly, "Are you up for a gallop?"

"Only if you want to see me fall off," I replied.

"You need to do exactly what I tell you without backtalk. Dismount and pretend to check your mount's foreleg."

She gave me a serious look, and, puzzled, I did what she said. A moment later, she joined me.

"Your staff seems unsteady," she said, pulling it from its sheath on my saddle. "You should carry it. We're going to walk the horses for a bit." She pointed me in the right direction, and we began walking, the horses following along behind us. "Keep your voice down and do not look around or appear to react," she then said, very quietly. "We're being watched."

"Bandits?" I asked, tightening the grip on my staff.

"Probably. If there are only a few, they won't bother us. If they are plentiful, we will have a fight. You will defend yourself. They will be after the horses."

We walked for about ten minutes. I tried to look around without being obvious, but I couldn't see anyone. I told her that.

"Can you look without being obvious?"

"Yes."

"To our right, up the hill, you can see a shadow."

I glanced at the sky then lowered my gaze in the indicated direction, and I could see the shadow of a man, but not the man himself.

"I should have seen that," I said, looking back at her.

"I see three others, but they are harder to spot. If they do not bother us in the next ten minutes, they aren't going to."

"Why are we walking?"

"I didn't want to ride into a trap designed to unseat us, and you don't know how to fight from horseback."

"Do you?"

"Yes."

We were almost ready to breathe a sigh of relief, but it was premature, as suddenly there was a great deal of scrambling noises from both sides, and several men slid down the sides of the gully towards us, some ahead, some behind. I glanced around and counted ten total.

"Ten," I whispered.

"Two more in hiding and two more well back in case we ran backwards," she said. "Ten isn't bad. Attack when I tell you to. Take the right front, I've got the rest."

"Malora," I squeaked.

"Trust me."

The men came to a stop, and
a clearly unwashed man took the front, standing with his legs spread wide in the middle of the road. "Two Amazons," he said. "It is time for you to tithe." He pulled a cheap-looking sword.

"I changed my mind," Malora whispered. "You take him, I've got the rest."