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  "Yes, because I want to run into Malora's swords," said Vorine. "Our only chance is if we work together. We don't practice this enough. Demon fights aren't like this."

  "Bandit fights are. Today we were the bandits," Clara said. "Weren't we?"

  "Yes," said Malora. "You fought with better skill than bandits do, and better discipline. But when we run into bandits, it is always when there are a lot of them and only a few of us. Other than other Amazons, you are unlikely to ever face a swordsman significantly better than Maya."

  I turned to her. "Than me?"

  "The occasional bandit is better than you. I've never met one as good as any of the warriors here."

  The sword was my worst weapon. Well, after the whip.

  We continued the discussion of what went well, what went poorly.

  "Why did you advance in a line instead of surrounding us?" Maya asked.

  "We really wanted to take Maya down first," Clara explained. "If Balorie or Ralla were here, we wouldn't have needed to give so much attention to you and Nori. Still, we were sure she'd be quickly overwhelmed by the companions."

  "You disrupted our plans with the whips," Beria said. "I bet it would have ended far differently otherwise."

  "It would have," Nori agreed.

  "Why me first?" I asked.

  "Easiest target," Malora explained. "They couldn't afford to go after you half-heartedly just to keep you busy because they're afraid I'll find a chance to take out whoever was on you. If they ignored you entirely, you would do pretty much what you did anyway."

  "You still haven't answered Malora's question," Nori said. "Why didn't you surround us? Malora and I are very good at supporting each other."

  "We were afraid you would all shift as a group, destroying us in parts," Vorine explained. "If you could disengage for just a few seconds from the group facing you, Queen Malora, then you and Nori could easily destroy the two or three of us facing her."

  "All right," Malora said. "I understand your reasoning, but as the one facing you, having you lined up like that was easier than if we'd been surrounded."

  "I'm not sure," Nori said. "If they had split up at a distance to come after us, we'd have done exactly what they were afraid of. We would have rushed one group or another."

  "Exactly," said Vorine.

  "And they didn't have time to surround us properly once they were closer," I pointed out. "There was too much chaos."

  After that, we discussed ways they could more effectively attack us. Finally we wrapped up with Nori saying, "We train very hard to fight as individuals. With the size of demons and the need to react quickly, we don't train as groups, and we don't travel where there are bandits without one of our best fighters along, so even the bandits aren't much threat. But I'd like any two of us to be able to handle a bandit attack, so we'll do more of this. For now, we're done until this afternoon."

  Malora pulled me to my feet. Neela and Nori helped Lidi up, and we all headed for the river.

  The water felt good.

  Companions

  Three years after Nori had taken me from my home, I still struggled with my place amongst the Amazons. I had, more or less, settled into the Amazon lifestyle some time ago. Although I had shown well in the group fights, my improvement as a fighter had ceased, and I would never be a warrior. In a society where "she's a good fighter" is not only the pinnacle of compliments, it's about the only compliment, I felt like a failure.

  I hadn't admitted that to Malora in some time.

  At home in Gallen's Cove, I had been a respected teacher. I had felt like a valuable, contributing member of the village. I was able to motivate and teach my students, and they learned what they should. Almost as importantly, they seemed happy while doing it. Complaints from parents were isolated, and the only complaint from the village elders had been that I worked too hard.

  That had been a complaint I had been happy to accept.

  In Queen's Town, everything was different. My main duty could have been called "Queen's Girlfriend." I loved Malora, I really did, and I loved most of the other women living in Queen's Town. But I felt like a hanger-on, little better than an ocean lamprey.

  So I took on other duties. As the queen's companion, I was often referred to as the senior companion. Within Queen's Town, it was my responsibility to organize the duties of the other companions. How they served their warriors was between each companion and her warrior, but there were duties for the entire village, and I coordinated those. It wasn't difficult and took only an hour or so a week to keep duty rosters current.

  Of course, I assigned myself to the duties, and whenever there was a scheduling conflict, I tended to resolve it with my own name. The companions also learned that I was a push over when they wanted to trade duties. After all, they were all destined to become warriors, valued Amazons, and I was just the queen's girlfriend. Whenever I found myself scrubbing the pools or collecting firewood for someone else, I felt a mix of useful and used.

  But manual labor, no matter how well done, never fulfilled me. I was just a convenient pair of hands doing a job anyone else could do. Worse, it was a never-ending job. I wasn't actually improving the pools or building a permanent wood supply. The pools would collect more scum and debris; fires would burn. I didn't feel like I accomplished anything.

  And so, I assumed more duties. I became the public face of the Amazons in a way, coordinating the tithe and recruitment of new companions. Much of my time was spent pleading with the western villages, normally through written letters, but frequently in person. The more eastern regions appreciated the Amazons, but the western provinces were so isolated from the demons, they viewed us as unnecessary and didn't feel they should help support us. By visiting in person I was sometimes able to change their minds, but it was slow, and not even I was satisfied with my rate of progress. Complaints from other Amazons were endless, and it was hard for me to ignore them. After all, I thought they were right.

  I also pleaded with the villages to tithe properly. The eastern villages, the ones nearest to our forest, nearest to the demons, were steadfast in their support. But as one proceeded west across Morehama, the villages were decreasingly likely to wish to help us. Our personal visits had helped, and we had begun to receive increased tithe, even to the point of luxury goods. But there were still shortages.

  As I was now managing distribution of the tithe, I was blamed personally, at least by some Amazons, for every shortage.

  And so I worked harder and harder, writing more letters, finding new ways to plead.

  But I was failing. I had failed to become a warrior, the goal of every new companion, and I was failing in the other important duties.

  It preyed on me.

  * * * *

  I had partially solved the companion problem. That may be overstating my success. I had improved the situation and done so in a fashion we found palatable, more or less.

  Amazons selected companions in the spring, once the world was dry enough to travel. Traditionally, this had been done by the villages of Morehama sending us new companions to a tent village assembled on the edge of the plains near our forest. The girls would arrive, some brought by relatives, some sent via caravans, but most arriving with the spring tithing.

  Amazons in need of a companion would visit the tent village and, through one process or another, select a companion. The young girl may or may not be offered a choice in the matter, depending on the village.

  This system worked when the villages were sending sufficient companions, and in the past, there were even years there were an excess of companions. These girls would be divided evenly amongst the villages and taught to be warriors, available as necessary for new warriors in need of a companion.

  That hadn't happened in several decades, and by the time Malora became queen, a shortage of companions had long set in, and the overall population of the Amazons was wavering. The way I was taken was an extreme measure forced upon the Amazons -- and Malora -- by circumstances.

  I
had taken it upon myself to solve the problem, and my demon's corpse had made that easier. The following spring, I had toured a portion of Morehama, and that was how Beria had become an Amazon. I couldn't tour all of Morehama, of course. There were hundreds of villages, after all. I knew we occupied only a portion of our world, but it was a big portion.

  I'd made Malora agree to three things: we would enforce no quota, it would be up to each girl if she wished to become an amazon, and each girl would not be companion to a particular warrior without her own consent.

  How did this work? It is perhaps time to describe the spring collection, three years after I was taken from Gallen's Cove.

  * * * *

  We ran the collection beginning two weeks after the tent village meeting dispersed. All Amazons requesting a companion gathered at the tent city, but of course, only a small portion were satisfied. And so, two weeks later, we gathered again on the edge of our forest.

  Malora went with me each year. She didn't need to, but she didn't want to be away from me, and the villages enjoyed a visit from the Amazon Queen. Also, while the recruiting methods we were using were my plan, Malora's presence enforced my authority. All told, there were twenty warriors traveling with Malora and me. This wasn't remotely everyone who needed a companion, but we couldn't afford for everyone to go. If we had extra recruits, we could take them back and help them find warriors when we got home, but I deemed that unlikely.

  I was the only companion.

  Two years ago, we had cut a straight line to Gallon's Cove, visiting villages in the area of Gallon's cove and along the route to and from. The next year, we went south. And so this year, we went north.

  The trip started poorly. Some of the warriors were pleased to be going, not having traveled west of the plains since becoming an Amazon themselves or perhaps just anxious to see portions of Morehama they had never seen before. But others resented the need to travel. At the bonfire the night before we departed, one member of the latter group addressed her concerns.

  "Queen Malora," the woman said, standing up. I fought to remember her name. "You would have us beg for companions. This is not how we have done it in the past. The villages sent us companions, and the warriors picked. This is how I became a companion. This is how everyone here once became a companion."

  "Tarine," Malora said, "the villages did send companions. Did you not see?"

  "Fifteen," she said. "All of Morehama and they sent us fifteen girls. And then you expected us to woo the girls, leaving it their choice which warrior to select."

  Malora sighed, and I reached out a hand, setting it on her leg. She looked down at me, seated on the ground. "Did you want to address this?"

  "Not really," I whispered quietly. "But perhaps I should."

  Malora looked up. "My companion will address this, Tarine," she said, then she bent down and helped me to my feet.

  I looked around for a moment before addressing Tarine directly. "Tarine, no one here controls how many girls the villages send. They send who they send. We can beg from a distance for them to offer more girls, but that has not worked."

  "Your own village was one that should have been sending girls, but chose not to," she said, glaring at me.

  "That is true," I agreed. "At the time I became a companion, I was a twenty-two-year-old schoolteacher. I do not believe you can blame me for the actions of my village elders. Can we agree on that?"

  She glared at me, looking for someone to blame, but she knew blaming me wasn't fair.

  "Also, this problem has been a long time building," I said. "My village stopped tithing and sending girls about the time I was born. I understand other villages stopped even sooner, and the problem has grown from there. So I do not believe you can blame Queen Malora, either. Are we agreed on that?"

  "It is the villages we should blame," Tarine stated firmly. From the muttering, most of the Amazons agreed with her.

  "That is almost entirely, but not completely true," I replied. "In Gallen's Cove, it was the village elders who made the decision. I was too young to know how the decision was made, and I have not asked about it since. But there is a small amount of blame the Amazons must accept."

  That wasn't a popular opinion, and I heard shouting. Tarine herself stalked up to me and demanded I justify my assertion.

  "If everyone quiets down!" I yelled, "I'll explain." It took a minute, and Tarine herself had to ask them to be quiet.

  "I would hear what fault the queen's companion believes we carry."

  "Simple," I said. "We did not properly present our case and prove our need." I paused. "Tarine, give me your sword. I need it."

  "What?" she said. "You have a perfectly good staff, and I've seen you with a sword. You can barely hold it properly."

  "Tarine, I am sorry," I said. "I did not explain myself. May I see your sword? I see that it looks somewhat different from Malora's, and I would like to compare."

  She eyed me carefully, but she pulled her sword and carefully handed it to me. I examined it briefly, pronounced it a fine weapon, and returned it with thanks. After she sheathed it, I asked, "Did you understand my point?"

  "You had a point?"

  "The Amazons have been demanding companions, but we have not adequately explained the need. If you were unwilling to loan me your sword for a brief examination without a proper explanation, why should the villages send us something far more valuable to us: their daughters?"

  "Because we need them!" she said. "The voices-"

  "I know," I said. "We need them. But they have never seen a demon. They have never heard the voices. Most of the villages west of the plains have never seen an Amazon. I never had, until Nori came to my village and took me away."

  "But you expect us to ask. Ask. Amazons do not ask! We are owed."

  "I disagree and agree with you," I said. "We are owed. But we ask."

  "You would have us beg. Who are you to force an Amazon to beg?"

  "What would you have us do, Tarine? Perhaps you feel all companions should come to us the way I was. We should just go from village to village, rounding up all the girls, then walking amongst the girls, taking whom we please. Is that what you want?"

  "Yes."

  "So you would have the Amazons known as kidnappers and slavers?"

  "It is not kidnapping or slavery!" Tarine spat, and she was on the edge of losing it.

  "Tarine, how do you think my mother viewed it?"

  She didn't have an answer for that.

  "Tarine, I was delivered to Queen Malora with my arms bound behind me, my legs tied, and a gag in my mouth. How do you think I viewed it?"

  "You shouldn't have fought Nori, and everyone knows what a mouth you have."

  "So I was supposed to cooperate with my kidnappers and enter into what I viewed as slavery complacently. I understand." I shook my head. "That's what Nori wanted. It didn't work very well for her."

  "And yet, here you are," Tarine said with a smile. It wasn't a friendly smile.

  "Yes, here I am," I said. "Do you know why?"

  Again, she had no answer.

  "I am here because Malora asked me a question. She asked me, if everything she and Nori said was true, what did I owe the Amazons? I thought about it and agreed to be her companion. And so we go to ask the villages, what are we owed?"

  Tarine wasn't happy.

  "We're not going to solve this tonight. You need to decide if it's better for a new companion to obey you because she fears you, or obey you because she honestly believes you have her best interests at heart. I hope you pick the latter."

  I sat back down.

  Tarine wasn't convinced. She couldn't find anything wrong in what I said, but the idea that Amazons had to ask for companions stuck in her throat.

  And she blamed me.

  What else was new?

  * * * *

  We set out the next morning, and just our luck, it was raining and cold. The weather put nearly everyone in a foul mood, and of course, I took the blame for that as well.
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br />   Not by everyone, not by a long shot. Many of the warriors were grateful for what we were doing. You could almost guess which village a particular warrior was from by how she treated me. I worried that, as the only companion, they would expect me to handle all their duties, but Amazons are well capable of seeing to their own needs, and no one pressured me in that way.

  However, if the warriors were going to entice a young girl to become her companion, she also couldn't be too frightening. Warriors who hadn't the comfort of a companion tended to irritability, and irritability is not an attractive attribute.

  I spent breaks doing what I could to soothe nerves. But there were twenty warriors in need and one poor queen's companion, and I was not universally loved.

  The first village we visited after traveling west of the great prairie was called White Pine. White Pine was secluded, deep in its own forest, and had not been visited by any Amazons in living history. They had neither tithed nor sent us any companions in a very long time, either.

  We rode into town on a cloudy day, and I worried there was to be rain again later in the day. We were all tired and muddy, and I was nervous. This would be my first opportunity to demonstrate to these Amazons that my recruiting methods were valuable. Some of them had come with me the previous year, but most were new. I understood I was on trial, as far as they were concerned.

  We were greeted not with outright hostility, but there was a great deal of distrust. We didn't look that much different than a band of marauders. My companions didn't necessarily help to defuse things, glaring at the villagers with as much distrust as the villagers offered us.

  We rode as a group to the town square and dismounted. Malora, Nori and I handed off our horses to a couple of warriors from Black Oak, and then we stepped forward to address a small collection of townspeople.

  "Do you know who we are?" I asked with a smile.

  "Amazons," one of the men said. He spat on the ground. "You're not welcome here."

  There was muttering from the women behind us, but Malora gestured, and they drew quiet, more or less.