From the Chronicles of Unlikely Lovers:

To Receive the Flames: Amazonian Love 2

Copyrighted © 2007 Arden Ashart

Toxis leaned over her friend, studying the unconscious form. Aella looked terrible. She’d not been well before the battle with the Greek men, but now she looked near death.

Toxis sighed. This was beyond her skill to heal, and the traveling oracles, which were often very versed in herbs, were not near the village as far as she knew. She or one of the other Amazons could mend the gashes and bruises, but that would do nothing for Aella’s fatigue and possible injuries inside.

Perhaps…She scoffed at herself. She was becoming rather weak to even think of the men village. But Aella had found comfort with her man slave, and had not been well since Hippolyta had called for her return three years ago. Perhaps it was time for Aella to go back to her man and her son. It was ludicrous, but she wasn’t getting better, even with the nearly daily treatments she had been receiving.

Maybe it was time for both of them to go back. Some part of Toxis—certainly not the Amazon part, but somewhere within herself—wanted to see the child she had borne two years ago. It had been a male, and she’d left it with its father, but she had never stopped thinking about it.

Toxis sheepishly looked around for other Amazons, afraid that her thoughts would be revealed on her face. She and Aella were alone, though, because Aella had dragged herself back to her hut before passing out, though she’d not made it inside.

There was nothing for debating it, Toxis decided, since she knew she would end up taking Aella to the men village, and thus returning there herself. Going quickly to retrieve her horse, she brought the large animal to Aella’s home, then picked her friend up, and her up onto the animal. Then she climbed up behind Aella, holding her as best she could.

She went quickly through the forest, fearing what might happen to Aella if she was left untreated. Her decision to take her to the men village rather than the healing hut was sheer stupidity. She would likely be reprimanded for it, maybe punished if Aella was to die. But by the time she managed to convince herself that Aella would be better cared for in the healing hut, she was closer to the men village.

The men village had changed very little in the years, the homes were still strutting out in the middle of the world, still crude and un-flowing with the land.

Toxis’ heart began to pound as she steered her horse into the village, toward the blacksmith shop in the center where Calyx…

She felt something when she thought of Calyx, but she wasn’t sure what. She could hear the sounds of him working with hammer and anvil; her anticipation increased.

Then she saw him, hammering away at a piece of metal. The shirt he wore was drenched with sweat and pressed against his chest, hanging open half-way down. Beads of sweat dripped off his dark brown hair, running along the sides of his face and over his forehead.

Calyx looked up as she brought her horse to a stop. Their eyes locked and time stretched.

“Toxis?” he finally said, like he couldn’t believe she was there.

Something tugged at her heart, whether joy, sadness, or shock she didn’t know. “Calyx,” she mumbled.

Then his eyes shifted from her to Aella, who still lay limply in Toxis’ arms. He dropped his hammer and it made an impression in the dirt where it landed with a heavy thud.

“What happened?”

Toxis shook her head, recovering from her mental reprieve. “They continue to come, stronger and faster than before. Aella did not fair well in the last battle.”

He came forward, extending his arms for his twin sister. Toxis passed Aella down to him and then jumped to the ground and followed him inside his cabin.

As Calyx entered the interior room, she stopped at the doorway. Cane sat in the floor, playing with two small boys. The three of them looked up as Calyx entered with Aella in his arms.

“Aella?” Cane climbed to his feet as Calyx laid Aella down on the pallet against the wall. He went to her, kneeling, feeling for a pulse, then running his hands through her hair and over her face.

Toxis watched him out of the corner of her eye, but her focus was on the smaller of the two boys who now sat alone in the floor watching their fathers.

Kairos… Her son. He looked much like his father, his nose and mouth were the same, but his hair was more blond than brown, a shade not that different from her own. His little eyes shone brightly as he watched the activity around him. He was so small, yet so big. She had held him but a moment before giving him over to Klonie, who had taken him here, to the men village, to be raised by his father.

Calyx touched her arm and she looked away from Kairos, guiltily, and turned away from Calyx in the same motion.

“You don’t have to be ashamed of him, Toxis. Of us,” he whispered to her.

“But I do,” she whispered back. “I am.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Then you are a fool. I am an Amazon.”

“Aella is an Amazon,” Calyx countered in the same hushed voice. “Look at her, she has compassion for us. You are her friend; you cannot be that different—”

“I am not Aella!” Toxis yelled, anger suddenly gripping her. Then when both of the children turned to look at her, fear suddenly lighting their eyes, she calmed just as suddenly as her temper had flared.

Cane had turned to look at her over his shoulder and it was then that she realized something. His eyes were moving, he was taking in details. He could see. The one time she had seen him those years ago, he had been blind.

Her eyes traveled back to Kairos and she felt like crying. Instead, she turned to leave Calyx’s home, but he caught her arm.

“Don’t go, Toxis. Stay...”

“I will not.” She broke away from him, turning and walking swiftly to the door.

“Kairos has asked about you. About his mother.” Calyx said as she passed through the door. She stopped, looking back over her shoulder. But instead of looking at Calyx, her eyes snagged on Kairos. He had asked about her? His eyes were large and rounded as he looked at her with some kind of curiosity.

She turned back around, looking at Calyx. “I cannot stay. I must inform Hippolyta that I brought Aella here, and that she is wounded.”

Calyx ground his teeth together, but nodded his understanding. “Will you return?”

She bit her tongue. “Yes.”

Then she left, and the sound of her horse kicking up dirt and starting off immediately into a fast pace was loud, even inside the house.

Cane turned to look back at Aella. She did not look well. Her face was very thin and there were dark circles under her eyes. As he ran his hand down her arm, he felt her bones through very thin skin. Her hands were frail. Her skin was a pale, unhealthy color that made him sick to his stomach.

“Calyx, take the boys out, please. I don’t want them to see her like this.”

“Kairos, Tristan, come. You may meet with our guest later, after she has recovered.”

“What happened to she?” Tristan asked, scurrying to his feet and evading his uncle’s hand to go to his father’s side. He peered under his father’s arm to look at the strange creature.

“What is a she?” Tris asked, looking up at his father.

“I will explain later, Tristan, please go with your uncle,” his father said.

Calyx caught the boy’s arm and gently led both of them from the room to the outdoors.

When Cane was alone with her, he lowered his head to her chest. He felt like crying from so many different emotions that swirled through him. Relief, the old love that he still felt for her, and worry. She could still die.

Her jerked himself fully awake and rushed to retrieve what herbs they kept, then returned to her.

He took a knife and carefully cut away her clothing to reveal a bone-thin, bruised body. Some places were so discolored they looked almost black. And the dried blood covered her chest, stomach, sides, her left shoulder and down one leg. She was such a mess that he couldn’t tell where the largest and most painful of her wounds would be.

But he tended her, he tended her gently, cleaning away the blood, applying the herbs to the bruises. He tended her for hours, until he was satisfied that she would live for the immediate future and he was too tired to do anything but lay beside her.

-------

“How is she now?” Xenos asked. He was sitting outside on a loose bale of hay, bouncing Kairos on his knee.

“Still sleeping. Cane treated her wounds well. I think she will live, but we should seek out Ajax in the morning, just to be sure.”

The older man, Ajax, lived on the opposite side of the village, but was known for both his skills with most types of blades and with most types of herbs. Also a sort of surrogate father who had raised Calyx and Xenos in their younger years, Ajax was part of their broken family.

“I will fetch him at first light, then,” Xenos said. He had been away when Toxis had brought Aella, and had yet to see his sister, but if Calyx said she was alright for now, that was all he needed.

“Uncle Xenos,” Tris said, looking up at him. “Papa said he would tell me what a she is, but I’m tired of waiting for him. Will you tell me?”

Xenos smiled at his little nephew. Living like they did, hidden away and among only men (because they were slaves to the Amazons) neither Tris not Kairos had ever seen a female before Toxis had arrived earlier in the day. Tris did not know what a woman was now, but in a few years, when he was older, the women he would encounter would very much change his life. Unless they were like Aella, and that was rare, they would use him for one thing and one thing only, oftentimes with only one means in mind—a child. If the child was a girl, he would never see his daughter, but if the child was male, he would be left to raise him on his own. The latter situations had happened to both Calyx and Cane. It was only a matter of time before one or the other would happen to Xenos as well.

“A she is a woman, a different kind of man,” Xenos said. “You’ve heard talk of the Amazons, yes, Tristan?” The boy nodded. “The Amazons are all women. They have longer hair than we do, and large breasts,” Xenos made a motion with his hands to outline what he meant.

Calyx choked. “I don’t know that that is necessary, Xenos.”

“Well, how’s he to know if he doesn’t know what a woman looks like?”

“The dress?” Calyx suggested.

Xenos waved his hand dismissively. “That’s not a trustworthy way. The Amazons all have large breasts; it’s the surest way for a young boy to tell the difference.”

“Hmm,” was all Calyx said.

“I’m not sure I understand,” Tris said.

Xenos gave the boy a lop-sided grin. “You will. When you’re ready, you will.”

“Is the one inside the house with Papa a woman?”

“Yes,” Calyx nodded.

“Why is Papa in there with she and not out here with us, like we play every afternoon?”

“You papa is very attached to that woman, Tris,” Xenos said.

“Why would he be at-tached to she?”

“Well, because he loves her.” Xenos said, putting emphasis on the correct word.

“Loves? You mean, like how I love Papa, and Kairos?”

“Something like that,” Xenos said.

“Well, I still don’t understand,” Tris said.

“Then why don’t you wait for your father? He can probably explain it better than I can,” Xenos said, ruffling the boy’s brown curls.

---------

Aella felt herself wake, but it was slow and painful. Her head was throbbing and certain parts of her body screamed, some burned and others just felt really tender.

She groaned, breathing in deeply, wanting to shake her head and go back to sleep. She just wanted the oblivion of it.

The scent she caught when she inhaled was not something she expected. It was something she had not smelled in years, but it had been an element in her dreams those years. It was spice and sweat and male.

Her eyes flew open. Cane was leaning above her, a tender smile on his face as he touched her cheek. His eyes shone with tears and hers suddenly welled up too. She raised her arm, despite the soreness and the mental protests, to touch his hair. She could smell him, feel him pressed against her, the heat from his body. It all felt so real. His eyes were so bright and vivid and moving. He could see. He was looking at her, not just feeling her with his fingertips.

“Is this a dream?” she murmured.

He shook his head slightly. “No, Aella. This is real.”

“How can it be real?”

“Toxis brought you here. She said you did not do well in the last battle.”

She gazed at him as she tried to remember. It was true, she had been sick and had not been in any condition to be in the battle, but had had no choice. Alkidike had pushed her to it. So she had fought and received more wounds than she had dealt. Embarrassed and not wanting to deal with the world or her mother, she had practically crawled back to her hut and beyond that she didn’t remember anything.

Aella touched his face. “If this isn’t a dream, how can you see?”

“It’s a bit of a story; I’ll save it for when you’re stronger. Can you eat?”

She felt queasy at the mention of food and shook her head no, but abruptly stopped when the movement shot pain through her throbbing head.

“Alright. Just rest, then.” He pulled her into his arms, circling her with his warmth and security. She rested limply there, feeling safe and loved. She remembered this feeling and loved it that much more for all the trials the last three years had brought her. It was so sweet to have Cane back that she felt tears spill over.

“I’ve missed you,” she mumbled, rubbing her face against his bare chest.

“I missed you as well, Aella,”

--------

Toxis knelt low before the greatest warriors the world knew. Hippolyta sat tall before her, her chosen few flanking her on either side. Only one chair was empty: Aella’s.

“I bear news of Aella, my Queen,” Toxis said softly, respectfully, but loud enough to be heard.

“Tell me,” Hippolyta commanded.

“She was badly wounded in the battle. I found her much later near her hut, unconscious.”

“So where is she now?” Hippolyta demanded.

“I…My Queen, I took her to the men village.”

“The men village!” Alkidike, one of the oldest Chosen who sat among the Queen, leapt from her seat, her eyes flaring as she came toward Toxis.

Toxis knew the look in Alkidike’s eyes and stood, backing up at the same time, but she wasn’t fast enough to avoid Alkidike’s hand across her cheek. The slap stung and the warrior in Toxis leapt out, ready to fight back, to retaliate. And she would have, had she not been in her Queen’s presence.

“Alkidike!” Hippolyta scolded.

Still furious enough to have smoke pouring out of her nostrils like a dragon of old, Alkidike submitted to her Queen’s will and returned to her seat, gripping the edge of the chair with knuckles gone white, glaring daggers at Toxis where she stood. The flaring hatred in the room was heavy on Toxis, wearing her already tired body down.

“Why did you take my chosen to the men village?” Hippolyta asked.

Toxis decided to be frank. “If you’ll allow me, Highness?”

Hippolyta nodded.

“Aella has hid it well, but she has not been able-bodied since leaving her man slave in the village. She has had nightmares and sicknesses. None of our herbs have cured her. In taking her to the men village, I hoped that she might become better.”

Alkidike yanked in a very furious, very audible breath, her nostrils flaring. But Hippolyta was calmer, despite irritation at the temporary loss of one of her council members.

“You will go back to the men village, Toxis, and see that Aella is healed. Let her have the time she needs, but do not let her be wasteful. The armies of Greek men are growing closer and I need my warriors, but they must be of sound mind and body. See to her, Toxis. This is the charge I give to you.”

Glaring her anger at Alkidike, Toxis lowered her head. “Yes, my Queen.” Then she turned and made her escape from Aella’s hateful mother.

She was to stay with Aella, to watch over her, protect her as she recovered. It was both a curse and a blessing. She would be forced to contend with Calyx. The man was…strange to her. When she was near him, the things she knew of men ceased to exist and most all she could think about was being with him, holding him, claiming him and being claimed by him. And Kairos…

She might finally be able to know her son, and she was not weak or any less of an Amazon for doing so. Hippolyta had ordered her to remain in the men village with Aella.

Yes, she decided, this was good, for all the problems that it posed. It was good.

----------

“How is she, Papa?” Tristan asked his father when they went into the woods the next day to gather berries, roots and herbs.

“She is improving, though it will be some time before she is well.” Cane said, reaching out among the thistles to gather a ripe bunch of blackberries.

Tris walked behind him, swinging his empty basket against his knees. “Uncle Xenos said she is a woman, and that the other one with us now, that she is a woman, too.”

“Yes, they are both women.”

“I do not understand what a woman is.”

Cane sighed, turning and kneeling down in front of his son. “It is hard to explain. A woman is…a creature alike and yet very different from a man. They think differently than we do, act differently, but they are still very much like us. They are human beings just like men are.”

“Xenos said they have breasts,” Tris said, making the same motions over his chest that his uncle had.

Cane laughed. No doubt, that was where Xenos’s mind was because he had recently been claimed as an Amazon’s lover. She was older than Xenos by almost ten years, but she was still young, and the Amazons were prime examples of how to age gracefully. The two of them had been sneaking off to make love in secluded places since she had claimed him. Not many moons from then, Xenos would be a father, Cane had no doubt. The question of the child’s gender decided what that meant for the young man, though. Xenos’ life would soon change and the time till then was dwindling with each passing day.

“Yes, that is a defining trait of a woman, Tristan. They have breasts like that to feed their children when they are infants.”

Tristan screwed his face us. “Feed them?”

Cane thought about it for a moment. “You’ve seen the calf suckle on his mother, haven’t you?”

Tristan nodded vigorously for something he finally understood.

“It is kind of like that, except a woman holds her baby while a calf stands.”

“Oh…Did I suckle when I was little like a calf?”

Cane’s heart sank and he pursed his lips, but said, “No, you didn’t.”

“Oh…I don’t remember any woman coming to let Kairos suckle on her. Did he suckle on his woman?”

Cane laughed then. “Not simply woman, Tris. Mother.”

“Mother? Like Father, like papa?”

“Yes, except a woman.”

“Oh…Did Kairos?”

“No, Kairos did not suckle from his mother either.”

“Why not?”

“Inquisitive today, aren’t you?” Cane asked, rumpling his son’s hair.

Tris pushed his father’s hand off of his head. “I want to know!”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that.”

They were quiet for a moment as they gleaned what they could from the forest, and Cane breathed a sigh of relief. Tris had given up for the time being. He needed a moment to think, anyway. It would be difficult to keep Kairos and Tristan from disturbing Aella while she recovered, but they could. The boys were curious mites, but not without respect for the men who had so far brought them up.

“Where is my mother?” Tristan asked.

“Your mother…” Cane paused. Should he tell his young son that the unconscious woman in their home was his mother? Then Aella would never get any rest. But he would not lie to Tristan. Never would he do that.

“Your mother is the woman in our bedroom.”

Tris stopped walking and titled his head. “The one who was asleep?”

“Yes,” Cane said, grateful for the simple answer.

“Can I see her?”

“She’s hurt right now and needs to rest, but yes, soon, you can see her.”

“Oh, okay.”

Cane continued gathering what he could from the forest and when his basket was full, he started putting the foods into Tris’ basket.

---------

Cane was tending their fire later that night, stirring the large pot and watching Toxis watch Calyx out of the corner of his eye. The Amazon who had once put a dagger to his throat, intending to kill him, was softening, he thought. She watched his brother with something akin to confusion and fear, maybe curiosity, but the desire in her eyes and the way she watched him was obvious. Kairos was testimony to the fact that their nights had been blissful, brief though Calyx indicated that they had been.

When Toxis had returned not long ago and informed them that the Amazon Queen Hippolyta had said that Aella was to recover in the men village, and that Toxis was to stay as well, Cane had known that the next moons would be very interesting.

When Toxis had finished speaking, Cane had looked over to Calyx and found the man with a small grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye. Calyx planned to seduce Toxis to him again, it was obvious for any man to see.

“Where’s Tristan?” Cane suddenly asked. Kairos was asleep inside, down for the night, but Tris was usually awake enough to eat with them.

“He was playing with the blocks…” Xenos said absentmindedly as he peeled the vegetables.

Cane looked to the corner of the house where Tristan’s abandoned blocks lay and suddenly knew where the boy had gone.

“Calyx will you watch the broth?”

Cane rushed into the house, to the room where Aella was resting. He opened the door and found Tristan sitting next to the pallet where Aella slept. He was rocking back and forth, his thumb in his mouth as he watched her.

“Tristan, I told you to let her rest.”

“He’s alright, Cane,” Aella said weakly without moving. Cane went forward and found that the two of them were staring at each other. The solemn way mother looked at son made his stomach twist up. Fate had taken their early years from them and all three of them would bare the scars of that for the rest of their lives.

But looking at them now was precious. Cane sat down, pulling Tris into his lap and holding the boy close, looking at Aella as he said,

“Isn’t she beautiful, Tristan?”

“I think so,” Tris nodded.

Aella laughed windily. “I can’t be beautiful; I feel terrible.”

“You’ll feel better with time,” Cane promised.

“And food?” Aella asked.

He smiled. “I’ll bring you a bowl.”

“I’d rather sit outside with everyone.” Aella said.

Cane frowned. “Do you think you’re strong enough for that?”

“Yes…yes, I do.”

“Alright, then,” Cane stood up, placing Tris on his feet and leaned down to grasp her hand. He pulled her up, steadying her so she could focus on pushing herself up. When she finally stood, shaky and a little hunched, but steadily, Cane released her arm, but kept a hold of her hand.

When she nodded and they started moving toward the door, Tris raised his hand up to her. She smiled down at him and took his hand. His was so small compared to hers, but bigger than she remembered.

When he’d been barely a minute old to the world, she’d held him close to her, knowing that she would have to leave him soon, and played with his hands and feet. Ten perfect little fingers and toes; he’d been a beautiful infant who looked just like his father.

The memory was so bittersweet that she pushed it away and focused on walking out into the fresh air.

Toxis jumped up from where she had sat near Calyx when they stepped outside. “You should have come for me,” she scolded, going to take Aella’s other side, reaching around Tristan, who refused to let loose of Aella’s hand.

“I’m fine, Toxis,” Aella protested.

Nonetheless, both Cane and Toxis brought Aella to sit near the fire beside Xenos, who smiled at her. It was the same devilish smile that he had possessed all his life, the one that endeared him as the always-little-brother to her.

“You’ve grown,” she mumbled, reaching out to touch the stubble that grew black on his jaw line.

“Three years can do that to a boy,” he reached out to touch a bruise on the side of her face. “You don’t look well, Aella. Perhaps you should have stayed abed.”

“And miss the fresh air and company? Never.”

Tris climbed over his uncle to rest curled up in Aella’s lap. She smiled with tenderness in her eyes, reaching down to brush his dark brown curls from his forehead.

“He looks like you,” she said, looking up at Cane as he sat down beside her.

“He has your eyes, though,” Cane said.

She looked down at her son, finding that he was staring wide-eyed up at her.

“Papa said you are my mother,” Tris said, then stuck his thumb back in his mouth.

“I am,” Aella said, a note of pride in her voice.

“I do not understand what a mother is, truly,” Tris mumbled, almost to himself.

“Perhaps you should watch and see what you can learn,” Aella suggested, still playing with his hair. “You might glean all sorts of useful information that way.”

“Maybe…but that sounds boring.”

She chuckled. “Mayhap it is.”

----------

Hippolyta stood on the top of the hill, overlooking the carnage that had engulfed her world. At first, when the men had started arriving, she has anticipated a few swift battles with light casualties. She had expected them to learn that they could not best the Amazons and then leave. They either had not learned, or this bunch was too heedless of such warnings, for they continued to come.

When it had become apparent that things would not stop in the path they had started, Aella had wisely advised her to seek out one of the traveling oracles for advice. Aella, young though she was, had been right in her worry, and knew that things would not improve for their people.

Before the stones infused with the powers of the gods, the old oracle woman, her hands shaking as she brushed over the stones, had predicted a grim fate.

They would continue to come, continue to attack, and this time, different from the last ones, they would not stop. When pressed as to how many would come, the oracle could not say. When pressed as to how long they would come, she did not know. She saw black swirls around the Amazon people, she said, and a certain grim fate, though what she could not say.

Vague though the gods’ messenger had been, she had told Hippolyta one thing—that this was not over, would not be over very soon. It was a war.

And here lay the proof, stretched out before her across the once beautiful grasslands along the woods. Bodies were strewn everywhere, the blood soaked into the ground. Weapons clustered what ground would be left. Among the dead, her living people walked, gathering up their fallen sisters for a proper burial, killing the dying who could not be saved, and gathering up what weaponry and goods could be used.

No longer, Hippolyta vowed as she watched the buzzards begin to circle, would she allow these misdeeds to go unpunished. When she returned to the tribal village, she would summon her war council.

Looking Death forbiddingly in the face, the Queen of the Amazons prayed that Aella would recover swiftly. She prayed that her decisions in the days to come would be good for her people, not destructive. But most of all, she prayed that this would not be the end.

---------

Xenos knocked on the wood of the cabin’s frame, inching his way into Ajax’s cabin. It was somewhat early, but the older man would no doubt be up. He’d never been one to sleep too much, anyway.

“What is it, Xenos?” Ajax asked as he came from the adjourning room, his hands dirty with soil. He’d obviously been working in the garden.

“Toxis brought Aella home yesterday. She’s well enough to be up a bit, but Calyx wants you to take a look at her.”

Ajax stared blankly at him for a moment, then a broad smile broke out across his face. “So…she’s returned.”

“By no will of her own,” Xenos said, sitting down in one of the chairs in the kitchen-space. “She was unconscious when Toxis arrived.”

Then Ajax frowned, the old man’s wrinkled face crinkling. “What happen to the child?”

“She did not do well in the last battle.”

“Ah…Those Greeks will keep coming, you know. I’ve heard wind of what the oracle told the Queen; that it’s a war.”

“Please, Ajax, don’t curse us further.”

“Not intentionally, my dear boy. Not intentionally!” Ajax said as he sat down beside Xenos. “So tell me, how goes your visit from the Amazon?”

“Adria had been rather…affectionate, lately. I wonder what it means.”

“Well, it depends on what you mean by affectionate, doesn’t it now?” Ajax asked. Xenos groaned. “Do you mean she’d been bringing you things; gifts, or spending more time in your bed?”

Xenos laughed and groaned at the same time. “What if I said the latter?”

“Then you’ve served your purpose well, Xenos.”

Xenos’ smile suddenly faded. “Have I? She told me when she first selected me that she did not seek a daughter, just peace for some time. If I have given her a child, have I deserved my purpose?”

“Hard to say,” Ajax leaned forward. “if she told you that before the…sport began.”

“Well.” Xenos stood up. “This is not what I came here for. Can you tend Aella?”

“Hmm, I can,” Ajax nodded. “Allow me to gather my things, and I’ll walk back over there with you.”

Ajax went back inside and piddled away a few minutes, gathering up some things he thought he might need. Truth be told, he had missed Aella, and looked forward to speeding her back to health.

But Xenos’ tale of woes bothered him. The dilemma that he had revealed was something of a tricky one. But he trusted Xenos to know what was best for himself and his Amazon woman. He trusted his son to do the right thing, in the end.

Xenos waited for Ajax to gather his things, and then together, they walked back to the cabin. Calyx was out working in the smithery, but he was only one of few who were up and about in the men village.

“Good morning, Ajax,” Calyx said, his focus on the metal he was beating.

“Calyx.” Ajax said as he studied the metal, the way Calyx was hitting it. “You’re beating it too hard, Calyx. It will become weak in that spot if you don’t let up now.”

Calyx looked up at Ajax with a lopsided grin. “You marked my work once, old man. Now I am grown, and I will decide for myself.” Nonetheless, he did hit it lighter, but still hard enough to produce the loud, echoing tink-tink-thunk.

“Aella is still asleep,” Calyx said.

“Ah, well, I’ll wait for her to wake, then. No point in denying the girl her sleep. It’ll help her heal, after all!”

-------

Aella woke up slowly, feeling warm and tingly on the inside. She opened her eyes to see Cane, still asleep. His gentle breath fell on her face, his eyelids twitched some, but other than that he slept peacefully.

She felt content to just watch him, hold him. She’d missed him so much; there had been very few minutes when she’d not thought about him or Tristan. “I wonder what Cane would think of that?” “He wouldn’t do that.” “How much has Tristan grown? What I wouldn’t give to just…”

When she’d fallen in the heat of the last battle, her thoughts had been centered on her lover. She’d wised fervently that he could hold her as she passed on to the Great Goddess. That she could see him one last time, feel his kiss, hear his voice. She’d both welcomed death, to escape the reality that he would never again be hers, and shunned it, because she needed to be with him again.

Now, all of her dreams were a reality. How long it would last, she didn’t know, but for now, she had her family back.

“What are you grinning about?” Cane asked, his eyes blinking open slightly, a smile curving his lips.

“You,” she moved closer and slightly above him, leaning down to kiss him. It was a sweet, good-morning kiss.

“Why would you think about me, mistress?” he asked, teasingly, rubbing noses with her.

“I missed you, you worthless slave.”

He pretended shock. “My lady, I am honored, that you could miss the likes of me…”

Then they both laughed, though it hurt Aella’s ribs and she stopped, winded, after just a second. She laid her head on Cane’s chest and he rubbed her back and played with her hair. Though she was still too weak and wounded to make love, they slept naked with each other, a sweet kind of torture.

“Will you tell me now how you can see?” she asked after a moment, melting into him as he rubbed her.

“It wasn’t long after you left. Tris was just beginning to walk. He stumbled around everywhere, but he could get away if he wasn’t being watched closely. Of course, about that time, Toxis left Kairos with Calyx, and between the three of us, and me not being able to see, the two of them were quite a handful. Ajax very rarely helped. He just like watching us chase the little tramps.

“One day Xenos and I were watching Tris while he waddled around outside. Calyx called for Xenos, and he went inside for just a moment. I talked to Tris, trying to get him to talk back to me so that I would know where he was. He was quiet for a long time, and I started to fear. I stumbled around on the ground, trying to find him, but he wasn’t there.

“I panicked…I was calling wildly for him when I heard him cry. I could tell by that cry that he was terrified of something and I ran blindly toward him. He was in the woods, but that didn’t stop me. He must have been running toward me as I was to him because he flew into my arms one second and I was on the ground the next. My head hurt like hell and I passed out.

“I woke up later, back here in the house. Xenos had followed me into the woods, but hadn’t been able to prevent my fall. He said I hit the ground really hard, and that there was a knotted root under the back of my skull. But when I opened my eyes…I could see. It was blurry and made me dizzy, but I could see.”

Aella raised her head up and looked into his eyes. They moved as he searched her face, then she smiled, kissing each eyelid.

“Does your sight still make you dizzy?”

“On rare occasions. Most any discomfort from being able to see went away within a moon,” he reached up and touched her cheek. “You’re even more beautiful than I felt with my fingertips.”

She made a small snort. “I’m not beautiful. I’m bruised and worn. There are dark circles under my eyes and my skin is very pale.”

“You’re beautiful to me, Aella. And all you need is food and rest, and all of those things will vanish.”

“You were ever hopeful,” she smiled, then kissed him.

“One of us had to be,” he mumbled against her lips.

“I’m hungry,” she said.

He nodded, sitting up and picking up her tunic. They dressed each other. It was painfully erotic, brushing skin and touching as they did, the little kisses in hidden, hallowed places, the way hands roamed.

They came outside holding each other’s hands.

“Ah, they have come,” Ajax chucked from his seat beside the fire. “back to join those of the waking world.”

“There are times when it’s tempting to not return,” Cane said as he sat down. Aella bent down and gave Ajax a firm hug around the shoulders.

“How’s my girl?” he asked with a smile.

“Getting better, I think. I’m glad to be home.”

“Good, good! Xenos fetched me this morning, said I need to take a look at you. I had been fearin’ something right terrible,” the old man confided.

Aella just smiled. Ajax had been part of the family for a long time. Though he was not Calyx’s and Aella’s father (as far as they knew. They both displayed Roman features, and Ajax was Greek) he treated Aella like his own daughter. He was one of the few steady figures in her life, and the fact that he took care of Calyx and Xenos, and now Cane, Tristan and Kairos, endeared the old man to her.

“Well, let me take a look at you,” Ajax said.

Aella let him looked her over. He had a special salve that he’d made from the forest plants that worked wonders on bruises, and for the cuts, he had a powder that sped the healing and reduced the chance of infection, but both burned on her tender, raw skin.

“But for the sore muscles, like I know you have—you’re squirming all over the place, Aella—I recommend a good rubbing. Cane, that’ll be your job.”

“A rubbing, huh?” Cane asked with peaked interest.

Ajax nodded, handing Cane a bottle. “Scented oil,” he wagged his eyebrows. “You know what to do with it.”

Aella smiled at what they were implying and when Cane sat down behind her, she rested back against him, smiling when he made erotic promises in her ear.

“Where’s Toxis?” Xenos asked suddenly as he spooned out soup into bowls and passed them out.

“Hunting,” Calyx said, sitting aside his metal to join the others.

“And it’s too early for the boys to be up, I suppose, hmm?” Ajax asked. When Cane nodded, he scoffed. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to wait. I won’t leave without seeing my grand-boys.”

They ate in silence for a long moment, enjoying the cool weather, good food, and each other’s company. Cane and Aella were wrapped up in their own little world, feeding each other, making eyes at each other.

Calyx watched them, noting the effect Cane’s teasing had on his twin sister. He tucked those bits away for later use on Toxis. He had made a vow to make her fall in love with him, and that meant he would need everything at his disposal.

The word seemed to spread like wildfire, changing the very atmosphere of the men village. An Amazon rider came hard and fast from the far end of the forest. Whatever she told the men who rushed toward her, they ran to tell others. Soon, men and boys were running around everywhere. Things were being tossed about carelessly, dropped on the ground, people scrambled, stumbling over each other. The chaos seemed to ripple out from the Amazon rider in waves until it nearly encompassed the entire village.

Xenos caught one of the young boys who was running aimlessly about by the shoulders and demanded to know what was happening.

“The Amazons are coming here! We have to leave!”

The boy wretched himself free of Xenos and ran away. Xenos watched him, but didn’t chase him. The words he’d spoken made no sense, though, so he headed off to find a man who might know what was really happening.

Cane caught up to him. They looked gravely at each other as they looked for someone. Several people had similar reports to the boy’s.

Until they found one man who did know what was happening: “The Greeks continue to come. The Amazons are overwhelmed and are falling back here. We are ordered to prepare to leave for they do not think they will be able to hold this village for long.”

The news was sober and the two brothers stood there staring blankly for a moment after the man had left.

“Toxis is in the woods, hunting. She doesn’t know what’s happening.” Cane said finally.

“And I don’t know where Adria is.” Xenos said in horror.

Cane grasped his arm firmly. “We will find her, when the Amazons arrive. But we don’t know how long we have and we must be ready.”

They ran back to the house and as they neared, Calyx and Ajax stood.

Cane told them of the Amazon’s falling back. Calyx did not take it well; he looked into the woods, like he expected Toxis to magically appear for him. But she didn’t. After a moment of turmoil that flashed across his eyes, he turned to the others.

“We must be ready to fight, and to flee. Xenos, pack what food can be carried. Cane, the weaponry. Keep what we need and then pass the rest out to the other men. I’ll get what the boys will need.”

Aella caught Calyx’s arm as he made his way back inside. She was standing, if looking a little weak and tired. “She’ll be back.” She motioned to the tops of the trees, in the general direction of the Amazon’s tribal village. Smoke rose into the sky, thick black smoke that he suddenly smelled. Was the tribal village burning, or was it a very large signal fire…?

“What can I do to help?”

Calyx gulped, his eyes fixed on the smoke. “The children.”

She nodded and followed him inside.

Tristan and Kairos were still asleep, despite the increased noise and the sudden weight to the air. Such innocence, she marveled as she lay down in the floor beside them. They were so little, and so unaware of the danger that came at them. They were young and she vowed that despite what would soon happen that they would remain that way.

A scant few hours passed as the men prepared to leave their homes behind. Their worlds had centered on this village and now they were forced to abandon it. They had little that they would need that could be carried. And even though the packing went swiftly, the lull of shock did not have long to settle, for the Amazons came.

First one, then three more, then a few more, they stumbled into the men village, weapons drawn with blood laden on their clothing and skin. They ran through the village, shouting to move, shouting to leave the village, and then, as if in a wave that traveled with force and power; Amazons and the Greek warriors spilled into the village from the woods.

Chaos descended. The sounds of the fight—metal on metal, shouts, groans, war cries—echoed through the village. People were trampled in the escape. The Amazons fought violently, attempting to buy time for the men, their slaves, as they fled, but their numbers were dwindling and the Greeks seem to pop up from the ground, uncounted.

Calyx watched in muted horror from his blacksmith shop as the fight came toward the center of the village. It was moving too fast to be outrun at this point, but he turned suddenly and scooped Kairos up into his arms, motioning wildly for the others to follow him. It was too loud for words.

Xenos was carrying the most of any of them, and Cane held a crying Tristan to his chest. Aella was the slowest of them, still weak from the last battle, but Cane pulled her along furiously as they ran. Ajax was with them as well, urging them on from the rear of their group.

The wave of violence hit them hard from behind and they lost each other. Calyx turned to grasp Xenos’ hand before he fell, but they were suddenly surrounded by foe and friend alike and neither of them could see Cane, Aella, or Ajax. But they could not linger there; the wave moved on and carried them with it, so that they were lost.

--

Cane fell to the ground hard, using his shoulder to take the brunt of the fall in an attempt to protect Tristan.

He heard Aella yell his name, felt the brush of her hand on his arm. He tried to reach for her, but the feet that attempted to stomp him to death rolled him on and, though he tried desperately, he lost his grip on Tristan. His son’s cries were soon lost in the din of noise and while he fought to go against the flow, he was carried away from where his child lay, in danger.

--

Aella was wounded from the crush of people around her. She had a dagger, more useful in the tight mass than a sword, but still difficult to wield. She swung at one of the armored men that had his back to her. And then, unwillingly, she was dragged into the fight.

Her wounds faded from her mind and she went into a killing frenzy. She couldn’t see Cane, or either of her brothers, and it angered her greatly to think that they were in danger, could already be dead. And she forced that trepidation, that rage, into her sword arm. The dagger became an extension of her hand and the armored Greek solider fell before her as she weaved through them.

Her people were so few, it panicked her. The men they fought usually had numbers on them, but it had never been like this. Was the battle so lost as this, already? She would not let it be so—she slashed again and again, as if her blade alone could even the odds against her sisters.

A child’s cry caught her attention and she turned her head in a painful jerk and her eyes grew wide and her heart raced anew. Tristan was huddled in a little ball beneath heavy, stomping feet, about to be crushed. She didn’t see Cane anywhere as she dived for her son, putting herself between him and those around them.

A heavy metal boot that would have crushed her child landed hard on her shoulder blade and she gave a cry of utter pain.

Tristan raised his tear-streaked face to her and whispered, “Mother?” like he feared that she would abandon him.

“Hold strong, Tristan, be brave.”

With those words, he wrapped his little hands around her neck, clinging to her fiercely. He would not let go and neither would she.

The crush of the people was extreme now that she was down on the ground. She tired to push up, to break through the people, but she had no luck. Always, she was shoved back down.

Then suddenly there were hands on her shoulder, pulling her up from underneath the crush. Aella pushed up while the hands pulled and managed to find her feet, though she was shaky.

She turned around to see who had helped her. Klonie, one of her dearest friends, smiled at her. The older woman’s face was covered in blood while her teeth shone white.

“Hurry, Aella. Leave,” she said.

“I intend to. Will you be alright?”

“I’m not wounded, or carrying a boy child. Go!” The last word came out as a yell as Klonie turned to do battle with an approaching Greek.

Aella would have offered Klonie a prayer of protection and blessing, but the chance was gone. Klonie was gone, melting back into the violent world around them.

She wasted no time; she fled. She ran as fast as she could, clutching Tristan to her as he clung and whimpered against her neck. The going was rough; there were bodies strewn everywhere and though she realized with an Amazonian satisfaction that they were Greek, they were hard to get over. There were swinging blades all over the place, people crushed up against each other, some who were fighting were so close that a dagger would be a more effective and wieldable weapon. Everywhere there were cries of death and vengeance, the scents of blood and gore, the sights enough to brand themselves into the mind. She kept Tristan’s head pressed into her shoulder, though he hardly tried to lift it, to keep him from seeing the carnage around them.

At last, she could see the end of the field of battle, where the frayed edges of the fighting faded away. The air was becoming more breathable and the crush less imposing. She was so close, so close, when a blade slashed down her back. She cried with the searing pain, throwing her head back. Reaching for her dagger as she recovered from the initial shock, she spun around and knifed the Greek across the belly, spilling blood and life organs over the ground and her boots.

Too late, she realized that Tristan had lifted his head and had seen the foul deed done. He looked at the dead man covered in his own blood with horror, then looked back up at her with an equal, but different kind of revulsion. He began to squirm horribly, fighting her and screaming suddenly for his papa.

She pulled him close to her, restraining his arms and looking him dead in the eyes, holding his tiny body hostage with her own.

“This world is not always pleasant, Tristan. Sometimes things we do not like must be done.”

“I don’t like my mother! I want my papa!”

“We will find your father, Tristan,” Aella clutched him back to her even though he continued to squirm. Her heart was breaking. He didn’t like his mother. He knew so little of her and already she had given him reason to hate her…

As they broke from the field, Aella’s run faltered. She was suddenly very tired and too weary to carry the screaming, struggling child anymore. Stumbling into the woods, she collapsed against a tree. Despite her resolve to keep a strong hold on Tristan, he managed to remove himself from her arms. He fell to the ground in a type of roll, springing to his feet and running away from her. He tripped, though, not a few feet from where she lay nearly unconscious.

A paralyzed look on his face, he turned, leaning on his arms, to look back at her from the ground, attempting to scoot back.

Feebly, Aella raised her hand to her son, whispering his name since that bit of breath was all she was capable of. The gash on her back and her abused body was quickly failing her; she could feel it.

The last thing Aella saw through her blackening haze and tears was her son, the infant she had given up to preserve from harm, running from her with a child’s determination.

--------

Cane gently rubbed the gash that ran from Aella’s shoulder blade to the small of her back for the tenth time. It had stopped bleeding, but it brought him some semi-balance of comfort. She was shaking with a fierce fever and the new wounds etched into her already trampled body could very likely become infected.

He had found Tristan running blindly through the forest not long after having found his way off the field.

The boy had been crying hysterically, panicked, shaking, and very frightened. Cane had held his son close to him for long moments, shushing the boy and urging him to calm. When he’d finally be able to talk, around his hiccups, he’d said Mother had killed a man, that there had been blood and…then he had fallen back into tears.

Cane had given Tris to Xenos and gone on in search of Aella. He’d found her nearly dead. Getting her to their camp, deep in the woods, had not been easy for the gash across her back, but he had done it.

She had not woken since that time. He put the rag aside and laid down on his stomach next to her, brushing mangled hair from her face to behind her ear. Her lips were a slight tint of blue. It was cold outside in the open forest air and he’d removed all of her clothes to check her for more grievous wounds, thus she was probably frozen. The air was good for the wound, anyway.

Xenos had a fire going, over which he was roasting meat that Toxis (who had found Xenos not long ago, and thus been re-united with the group) had brought earlier before setting out in search of the Queen. Tristan and Kairos were wrapped up in the only extra blankets they had grabbed before fleeing their village. Because they had no more cover, Calyx was attempting to create a shelter from the coming winds; cutting down large branches from trees and putting them against the large slab of rock that they were camped near. He was layering the branches on thickly and covering them with everything from more leaves and branches to mud from a creek nearby. He used large chunks of rock around the base to keep the branches still. Though small, the alcove would shelter all of them provided they stayed close together, and, considering the circumstances, it was coming along nicely.

Silence reigned over them as each worked and the children slept. Each listened for the sounds of an approaching horse and rider, be the rider Toxis or an enemy Greek, but heard nothing for a long while, even after the sun, the god Apollo’s chariot, had set deep behind the earth, leaving behind deep, beautiful, but blood-reminding, colors.

Calyx, Xenos, and Cane ate very little, only what they had to keep their stomachs from growling. None had the strength for food, really. Too much had happened in that day. They had lost everything material in their possession, and the Amazons, their protectors, no longer had a clear-cut advantages or even victories. The Greeks descended on them like the tide does the shore; relentlessly in choppy waves, but always, always, without ceasing and in great volume of numbers.

Cane had nearly lost Tristan, could still lose Aella. And Toxis having not returned from her quest to find Hippolyta worried Calyx something fierce, so that he fidgeted most of the time.

When they had wasted away all the time that they could, Calyx urged them into the shelter. Cane took Tris into his arms and Xenos carried young Kairos. Then Cane returned to help Calyx with Aella. They put her on her stomach, in the center of them all to keep her warm, tossing the edge of Kairos’ large blanket over her bottom and thighs. Then they bedded down for the night, except for Calyx, who sat anxiously at the low fire, waiting for his lover.

He’d nearly fallen asleep when he heard the sounds of a rider approaching. Toxis jumped from her horse, but was to weary and the impact of the jump was too much on her. She started to fall, but Calyx was already up on his feet, catching her.

She looked up at him, tiredness warring with sudden lust. Calyx saw it as well, felt it where their bodies were pressed together, from chest to waist. He started to harden and she realized it as soon as he did.

Smiling coyly, some of her weakness forgotten, she reached her head up and teasingly pecked his lips with hers. He stood immobile for a long moment while she taunted him, then he took her lips in a demanding kiss and started pulling at her tunic and the animal skin pants she wore. Finding the strings on the back of the tunic, as he had years ago in escapades that had led to Kairos’ conception, he pulled and unknotted them, shoving his enlarging manhood into the V between her legs. When he had her tunic loose, he pushed it down her shoulders, lovingly caressing the skin that was revealed, until the rough material fell from her arms.

When she pulled his shirt from his pants and over his head, they went gently to the ground, rolling over each other, touching, teasing with hands, teeth, nipples, and more private areas, joining in indescribable ecstasy numerous times under the starry sky, in the cold of the night, their sounds of passion soft, but carried by the wind.

---------

The shelter that Calyx had worked so hard to build the night before was rather crowed with five grown adults and two children huddeled in it, but that by virtue meant that it was warm.

As Xenos sat up, keeping Tris’ head where it was on his lap, he blinked his eyes, trying to focus on the world outside of the triangle entrance. It looked like it would snow. He turned to look at the occupants of the small refuge; Aella still lay on her stomach in the middle, with Cane practically wrapped around her. Kairos was snuggled against Tris, who had slept close to Xenos all night. Off to the far pointed end, about five feet from the wall, Calyx and Toxis lay in a naked tangle of limbs, her head on his chest, under his chin, his fist in her hair.

Xenos smiled, then immediately felt a pang of envy. Breathing in deeply, he moved Tris gently to the ground, putting the corner of a blanket under his young nephew’s head, then climbed from the warmth to the cold outside.

There was a slight cold, but it carried a bite, especially since they had not left the village terribly prepared for winter. He wanted to find Adria, needed to find her desperately, but he had no clue where he might start. The woods were vast and could easily make a lost man out of the unwary. He did not know what the Amazon Queen had decreed for her people—Adria might be somewhere unreachable, like in the woods sanctuary where only women could tread. Or she might have fallen in the battle, could be lying wounded somewhere.

For a brief moment, he stood immobile, unable to breathe as his mind tormented him with images of Adria hurt, dead, and dying. He pictured her being found on the field of battle by the Greeks, of being taken prisoner, beaten and raped. He saw her trying to crawl through the woods, yelling—but really only barely whispering—for her people, her sisters’ help. He saw her strung up in a tree by a rope around her neck, as was one of the ways the Greeks defiled the brave women they had managed to slay. He heard his name on her lips, in her dying breath, and as she stopped breathing, he felt his breath catch.

With that he was jerked from the mental images, breathing hard. He had to find her. Setting off into the blizzard winds, he marched with determination until a voice from the shelter stopped him.

“Xenos? Where are you going?”

He turned, surprised by the voice. Toxis sat at the edge of the branches, dressed in the traditional tunic and skin pants of the Amazons. She sat back with an air of easy as she watched him, like she had caught him doing something he should not be doing and knew he would not run.

“Adria. I have to find her. She could be hurt.”

She watched him with sad eyes for a long moment, and when she spoke, her voice was low and deep in her throat. “You must stay here. There is no way for you to find her; our people are scattered. A list of the dead and missing is being prepared. In a few days I will venture back to the woods sanctuary and see if she is listed there for you.”

Xenos felt a sudden rage; determine whether Adria lived or was dead by a list of the dead!? No, he wanted to see her alive, to hold her, feel her breath on his shoulder, her hands on his back.

“That is not satisfactory,” he ground out, his fists clenched at his sides.

“That is the best that can be done, Xenos. Remember that our people are at war. …I am sorry.”

“Sorry! What know you of sorry! You have your lover, and your son and both are healthy and whole and here—here with you. I know not how Adria fairs—dead, dying or alive and my mind—” He broke off suddenly to grip his head like he had a sudden, fierce headache. “will never leave me be until I find her. Toxis, I beg you, for the love you have with my brother,” he looked back up at her. “Let me find my lover.”

“Xenos, I cannot.” Toxis replied, rising easily to her feet. “I will stop you by force if you run.”

She must have seen the look in his eyes, his plans betrayed there. His dismay and hopelessness quickly turned to rage that boiled in his blood. He let out a fuming yell and charged her instead of attempting to flee. He swung at her, striking her side once, but that was all. Toxis was a trained Amazon warrior, and though Xenos had had some semi-balance of training in his youth, he was little match for her.

Toxis easily cornered him, blocking two punches, landing him one squarely in the jaw, then knocking his knees out from under him so that he fell hard to his back. She was on him in a second, pressing her hand to his neck, cutting off his air but for the bare minimum.

Struggling furiously under her, Xenos tried in vain to raise Toxis off of him, but she used her body weight to keep him mostly still.

Some minutes passed while she allowed him to vent his frustration in his struggles and when he finally submitted, he was winded and sweaty.

She backed gently off of him, still cautious for another attack, but he only lay on his back, panting, and groaning his anger at her and fear for his lover and other emotions.

“What happened?” Calyx asked from beside the burnt-out fire. Apparently he’d woken and been watching them for some time, probably from near the beginning.

“Adria,” Xenos breathed from where he lay on the ground. Then he sat up and looked into his brother’s eyes, pleading, seeking an ally. “I have to find her, Calyx.”

Calyx looked at Toxis, she shook her head slightly. “We are to stay in small groups, hidden, until a messenger arrives.”

Calyx started to tell his brother that he could not go in search of her, but the look Xenos’ eyes was more than he could bear to tear down so harshly. “She’s most likely safe, Xenos. Adria is a strong warrior, capable beyond the skills of most.”

“Aella is skilled as well, and she fell!” Xenos protested.

“A single case of a tired and distraught woman, Xenos. Don’t you think, if nothing else, Adria would fight to get back to your arms? Have faith in her, in the Goddess to preserve her.” Toxis said.

“Faith may be enough for some, but others need action,” Cane said from the shelter. He was crawling out, then stood up, brushing dirt from his pants. “Let him go.”

“Cane, it’s not safe,” Calyx said impulsively.

“The woods are crawling with Greeks, and even if you did manage to find her—what would you do then? She’d be no safer than she is now.” Toxis said.

“At least then I would know she is well, and I’m there for her. You,” Xenos spoke this pointedly to his brother, “take for granted the ability to be able to hold and make love to the one you love.”

“That is low, Xenos.” Calyx said, drawing himself up with stiff, wounded pride where he sat.

“It’s truth!” Xenos insisted.

“Xenos, you cannot go out there—”

“Let him go, Calyx.” Cane insisted, standing between his brothers. “Do not tell me that when word came that the Greeks were to attack that the thought of fleeing us to find Toxis did not occur to you. Do not tell me that you did not burn to heed it.”

Calyx stood, nose to nose with him. “I did burn to find her,” he said in a low voice. “but I refrained. I held the urge back because I knew it served nothing but my own comfort, my own peace of mind.”

“But you felt it. Can you then find no sympathy for your little brother?”

“I feel much sympathy for him, but that does not extend to allowing him to risk himself, or us, to satisfy his mind. It pains me that he cannot ease his fears, Cane, do not misread me, but he must trust—”

“Your Goddess?”

“Yes,” Calyx said, a fierce look in his eyes.

“As I said, not all can have such passive faith.” Then to Xenos, over his shoulder, Cane said, “Go, Xenos.”

Xenos stood, poised to run, even despite his tiring battle with Toxis. Cane stood firmly blocking Calyx, but Toxis moved, ready to run the young man down when he moved to flee.

“Xenos. Go.” Cane said again, more firmly.

Without further hesitation, Xenos turned and sprinted away, into the woods, Toxis hot on his heels.

Calyx had not moved, but he glared at Cane with fierce anger. “You could have just sent him to his death.”

“It was always his choice, Calyx. Never yours.”

Calyx almost looked like he would shed tears. “Then what is a brother for?”

--

Toxis chased Xenos, caught between letting the boy vent more of his frustration and bringing him back before he was hurt or they crossed paths with a Greek war party. He was swift, quick on his feet and able at dodging the woods.

She had decided that he’d run off enough steam to be easy enough to bring back to their camp when she spotted movement down to the right ahead of them. Her heart jumped into her throat. Greek soldiers.

She went to pounce on Xenos, to bring him to the ground foliage before the soldiers spotted either of them, but realized with horror that she had slowed when she’d spotted the group of eight. Xenos was too far from her; she could not stop him now.

Cursing, she brought herself to a quick halt from her dash and hunkered down in the shrubbery, hidden. Xenos was aware of the Greeks’ presence, and aware that she had stopped perusing him; he crouched and continued persistently with caution. She watched him, knowing he was too far to be brought back, and that he wouldn’t go back willingly. Now, she willed him on in secrecy. It was the only thing that would keep both of them alive; she had left the camp without her spear or even a dagger and there were eight down there. But if he was caught, she would fight, to the death if she had to. She could go back to the camp with Xenos, and go back saying that he had eluded her (despite the disappointment that would be in Calyx’s heart of her), but she knew in her very soul that she could not bring Xenos back to his brother dead or dying.

She had not realized that she’d been holding her breath until she breathed again as Xenos crested the horizon as she saw it, safe from this band of Greeks.

“Be strong, my brother. Be brave and be wise, and may the Great Goddess keep and protect you from harm. Always,” she whispered the words, then turned to go back to the camp, much slower than she had left it.

When she emerged into the slightly cleared area, met with Calyx’s pain as he stood from the now-roaring fire, she felt a profound sense of disappointment in herself.

“Calyx, I’m sorry. His heart was set,” she said feebly, by way of explanation.

He didn’t answer. She felt like crying then, at his neglect and obvious shame of her. She turned away from the camp, and thought of fleeing into the woods to let herself cry, but remembered the Greeks. And told herself that she was no coward.

She did not need a man; this was what they did to her. When she’d discovered that she was pregnant, carrying Calyx’s child, and knowing that she would not be able to stay with him like Aella had with Cane, she had cried and cried then, angry that Calyx had not been her hero then. And now! Now she cried for failing him.

Wiping tears furiously from her face, she turned back around and marched up to the fire and said gruffly. “We will remain here until the Queen’s messenger finds us. Cane, you and Calyx will further fortify the shelter. I will hunt and see what materials can be salvaged from the men village.” With that she turned on her heels and then fled into the woods, on the pretense of hunting to feed them all.

Later that morning, Aella woke. Kairos and Tristan were running around the camp, giggling and squealing; it was a pleasant sound to wake to. She hoped fiercely that Tristan would have forgotten about her killing the Greek, but she rather doubted it. She’d watched her own mother kill when she’d been close to his age, and the images, smells, and the texture of the blood and torn flesh when Alkidike had taken her little hand and pressed it against the dying man’s wound would be with her forever.

She was naked, she realized when she went to push herself up from her stomach, and her back ached from the gashed wound. Her bag was across the shelter that covered her; she reached for it and though the movements pulled at the barely sealed wound, she managed to wrap her fingers in the material and drag it to her. She opened it as she leaned on her elbows and pulled it open. Inside, she found the extra tunic that she had packed just before they’d fled the house.

It was painful to pull it on, but she managed with some bit of time, and since the ties were in the front, she laced it most of the way. Once she had the tunic on she felt a sense of pride; it had been a draining act. Getting her deerskin pants on was much easier, and only then did she venture out of the shelter.

A bit of the woods was cleared out around them, though not by much. A fire blazed in a circle of stones. Cane was turning a spit laden with meat over the flames, and Calyx was doing something with a piece of cloth. The boys were now sitting quietly, playing with a set of blocks, building up towers and taking great pleasure in knocking them back down.

She went toward the fire, intending to sit beside Cane, but faltered, suddenly dizzy and feeling nauseous.

Cane jumped up from his seat and came to her, catching her around her shoulders and supporting her weight.

“You should be resting, Aella.”

She smiled for Cane, trying to reassure him, but as her eyes fell on Tristan, her smile faded. It was obvious that he remembered; his eyes had gone wide and the blocks lay scattered, no longer holding his attention. He stared at her for a long moment with that look of terror on his face, then he leapt up and ran to Calyx. He caught his nephew around the waist and whispered something to him, but Tristan shook his head vigorously.

“He’ll be alright, Aella.”

She shook her head, doubting his reassurance. “He will never forget it, and he will never trust me again.”

“He’ll trust you again, it will just take time.”

“It will never be the same, though,”

“That’s part of life, Aella. Come, sit down, you would be in the dirt now if I wasn’t holding you up.”

He took her to the fire, sitting her down beside him. Calyx pushed Tristan back toward a waiting Kairos and the boy gingerly left the safety of his uncle’s arms.

“Where’s Toxis? And Xenos?” Aella asked.

“Xenos had gone to seek out Adria,” Cane said gently before Calyx had the chance to pounce on the subject. “And Toxis is either hunting again, or she’s gone to retrieve what materials she can from the village.”

Aella was watching the disgust and anger and fear warring on Calyx’s face, but then she turned to look at Cane. “What do you mean, find what she can?”

Cane’s eyes were deep and sad as he pointed to the treetops, far above them, in the direction that the men village was. Large clouds of smoke were rising and floating along in the winds, blocking out that part of the sky. Some were extremely black, and others were lighter colors, but the sheer mass of the smoke took her breath away.

“They burned the men village? Like the tribal one?”

“These men spare us nothing,” Calyx said bitterly. “Nothing.”

Aella’s anger burned as she stared at the smoke. Calyx was right, the Greeks had taken much from her, and from her people, and they would keep coming. Now, the Amazons fought an uphill battle that was going to be very difficult and costly to wage. The bastards had burned the tribal village, the scattered, hidden huts that the Amazons themselves inhabited. They came in waves, taking the lives of her sisters, they wasted the land, burning and destroying. It was because of the Greeks that Aella would never be the same in her young son’s eyes now, because she had had to kill one of them. It was because of the Greeks that Xenos had gone out there in search of his lover, into danger, she was sure.

Hopelessness warred inside her with a need for vengeance and absolute victory. Her wounded body could take little more before it failed, but her wounded Amazonian pride refused to bow now. These Greeks would pay, and they would pay dearly, with their lives, their possessions, and if many more of her people were of the same frame of mind that she was, their villages and home-bound people as well.

The Greeks had not spared the Amazon’s men. Normally, on the rare occasions that the Amazons moved into enemy territory, they spared the women there, oftentimes take some of the braver ones back with them, training and teaching them to be Amazons. It was against their moral code to kill the women held hostage by the Greek men. But Aella wondered, as great as the carnage of her people was, would this rule become void? Would her people kill the Greek women, in vengeance, one for each Amazonian man slain?

All were silent for a long time until Toxis returned. Though what she had brought back was little, her arms were full. Her face was a grim mask of smoke smudges and dirt, her eyes a dull color as she nearly fell down next to the fire, her burdens spilling from her hold. A small deer was strapped to her back, evidence of her successful hunt. In the load she had carried, from what Aella could see, there were blankets and clothes, but not much more.

Cane watched Calyx scooted over to where Toxis was leaning over, panting. He wrapped her up in his arms. Her head jerked up, shock and surprise marking her face, but Calyx only shook his head. She was obviously too tired to question his sudden need to comfort her for she allowed him to hold her for a long time, and though no one commented, Cane knew she was silently crying. He could only imagine the atrocities she had seen when she’d gone back to the men village to gather what she had.

Calyx, his entire focus on his lover, removed the deer from her back, leaving the bloody carcass on the ground. Standing, he pulled Toxis up and when she couldn’t stand on her own, he picked her up, carrying her toward the creek, to wash the blood away.

Cane and Aella spent the next hours skinning the deer, gutting it, roasting some of the meat and preparing other strips for drying. They skinned the hide, preparing to make it into a soft covering. When Aella grew tired, Cane sent her back to the shelter to sleep. Not long after that, Calyx returned from the river, carrying Toxis, and put her to bed as well.

Kairos and Tristan were quiet for most of the day. They were used to playing on their own while their fathers and uncle worked, though today much of their quiet stemmed from the changes in their young lives. They were not in their home and Uncle Xenos had run off into the woods. For Kairos, the time was much more troubling, because he knew his father was angry and hurt. They played like that, silent and quiet, for many days.

---------

Many days passed after Xenos left his family to find Adria. Calyx forgave Toxis for not retrieving him, and some days later, seemed to have mellowed toward Cane for his support of Xenos’ flight.

Once it was clear that things were better between them, Toxis recovered quickly, once again becoming the powerful and ever-watchful warrior. She hunted for the group, almost on a daily basis, bringing in game as small as rabbit and as large as deer. Once in a while, she would go with Cane or Calyx and gather berries and roots and leaves, anything edible from Mother Nature, but only once in a while for the Greeks were still abundant in their woods; it was safer to travel alone.

Together, while Aella slept, the three of them managed to make the shelter bigger. Using cloth and vines for ties, they made a box shape skeleton with strong sticks, forming a high roof and a sturdy wall. From there, they laid on what branches that were still good from the previous shelter and gathered new bits. They used as much mud, mixing dirt and water from the creek, as possible. When they had finished putting a wall on one end of the rectangular hut, it was large enough for them to sleep comfortably inside. Though, whether from real gain or the loss of Xenos, none knew, nor spoke of.

Though Toxis returned to the men village several times after the initial day, she found little else that was useful. It seemed that other Amazons had had the same notion of collecting what was left because after the first few days, nothing could be found in the now barren land.

The snows came within days, and though the land and the air had been cold before, a new chapter of harshness engulfed the small family. They did not have sufficient clothing to keep warm, and to find wood and bring it back, to keep the fire blazing, almost took more energy than they could muster. Kairos and Tristan stayed within the hut for the most part, sleeping and eating what their fathers brought for them, huddled against the wall, blessed with the majority of the blankets.

The creek froze over numerous times through those days, but not so much that the water became inaccessible. The thin layer of ice was easily breakable, and once the water was given a chance to warm some over the fire, it was fresh and easy to drink. Cleaning their few clothes, though, was not a task that any relished for the freezing cold, but it needed to be done for cleanliness’s sake. Calyx nearly lost his hand one time, because he washed for too long and it left his hand frost-bitten.

One of the few times that Toxis braved the growing strength and number of the blizzards, she found her way to the holy place, where some of her people were gathered for the winter. There, she found a list of the dead, complied as it had been told to her that it would be. She searched the list over, finding more Amazons than men, looking for any familiar names. She didn’t find Adria, or Xenos. She did not find Klonie or Ainia, two of hers and Aella’s dearest friends. But one name that she did recognize listed there was Alkidike.

When Toxis told Aella that she had found her mother’s name listed among the dead, Aella had stared blankly into the fire for a long time, hardly moving, not saying a word. She’d been fairly recovered by then, considering going with Toxis on the next hunting trip, though in those moments, Aella had looked frail and fragile all over again.

Cane had rubbed her back, trying to comfort her. At last, she had said, “It was the Goddess’s will, and I do not question it.”

Despite the hunger and the cold and the miserable conditions and elements in which they lived for an unknown amount of days, not all was bad. When Aella was recovered enough to go with Toxis out hunting, to wash clothes, and to tend the fire, she and Cane made love. At this point they had managed to expand their shelter so that it was made of four small rooms, barely big enough to lie in, that formed a large square shape. In the center, they had built a fire that was kept going through all hours of the day and night for warmth. In the privacy of their own corner, Cane had seduced her like he never had before.

He’d drawn her to him, pulling her down into their blanket, and touched her. He’d used his hands and mouth to keep her warm, even as, piece by piece, he’d removed her clothing. She’d writhed under him when he’d suckled her nipples, grinding her hips against his. He had stroked every inch of her skin, using the friction and his own body heat pressed to hers as he disrobed to warm them both to a fever pitch. When he’d slid inside her, the cold air around them was the last thing on their minds; they were focused instead on the incredible rubbing and warmth where their bodies met as he thrust into her.

---------

Xenos nearly collapsed along the trail, which would have been fatal for the slickness of the ice and snow, and the sheer drop into dark-white oblivion on his right. Adria caught him, pulling him back against her front to steady him. He was bone-weary, possessing barely the strength to continue on. But their group was immigrating through the dead of winter to the holy place and had to push on, before the snow carried in the dark clouds on the horizon reached them.

“Be strong, Xenos,” Adria whispered in his ear.

With dwindling strength that was obvious in the way he was shaking, he pushed back up right and mumbled back, “For you, Adria, anything.”

Nearly ten days ago, Adria’s group of eight Amazons and three men had been found by one of Hippolyta’s messengers. The woman had told them that she was to send every Amazon and Amazon man to the holy place, where the reminders of their people were gathering. There, they were planning their attacks on the Greek, how to exterminate them from the land for all time. Preparations were already being made for new villages, as well.

When one of the oldest of the four men in the group had pointed out that the holy place was not for men, but women only, the Amazon messenger had told them that the traveling oracles had gathered there and told of the Great Goddess’s will. The men, who were part of the Amazon tribes, were to be welcomed in the holy place like the Amazon women. That they must all band together to face and defeat this great foe.

Satisfied, their lead Amazon, one named Klonie, had led them off soon after the messenger had gone on in search of others. They’d been traveling for more than four day without food, water, or rest and Xenos was not the only one to be weakening.

Xenos looked up at the darkening sky, his snow-coated eyelashes making it difficult for him to see. By looking up, he took his balance off of his feet and nearly fell again. This time when Adria caught him, she stopped walking, sinking down to her knees in a gesture that showed her own weariness.

“Klonie, we must rest,” she called to the tall woman who headed up the group on the trail.

Klonie looked back at them, her eyes framed by snow. When they had first begun to tire, around a day into their travels, she had urged them on with a firm hand, deliberately throwing out insults to push them on. She had led them well and effectively, but as Xenos looked at her now, he saw none of that. Klonie was as tired as the rest of them were, as weary and as defeated.

She swallowed as her eyes traveled over each member of the group slowly. She tried to breathe in deeply, but the effort caused a coughing fit.

“Ainia,” Klonie wheezed when she stopped heaving. “What say you?”

Ainia, probably the youngest in their group, looked around as Klonie had. “We need rest.”

“But the snow…” one of the men protested weakly from where he lay against the rock wall. “We have to keep moving or we’ll be buried alive.”

“How much further is the holy place from here?” an Amazon asked.

“Not much,” Klonie answered.

Then the Amazon who has asked the question reached for her belt and raised the horn that was tied there. “Do you think we are close enough to summon help?”

“Can you blow it without killing yourself?” Ainia asked.

She nodded, then pressed the animal horn to her lips. The first blow came out in a muffled sputter, but the second rang clearly through the valley, bouncing off of the ice-crystallized cliffs, muffled only slightly by the snow. She blew it two more times, then collapsed back against one of her sisters, nearly unconscious.

Klonie nodded. “We will rest, but not here. Here is too dangerous. Come, we move on.” She pulled one of the men up and pulled his arm over her shoulder, letting him lean some of his weight onto her and moved on. Groaning and protesting, but following Klonie unquestioningly, they all moved back to their feet and followed.

-------

“Greetings from the Amazon Queen, Hippolyta,” the messenger said, her arms held up to show that she carried no weapons in her hands. She was armed, however, with a long sword strapped to her back one way and a long spear across it over the other shoulder.

Toxis greeted the Amazon with the same open handed gesture before the two embraced like long-lost sisters. Aella stood from her place beside the fire and started to open her arms wide, but then the messenger made a reverent bow and Aella remembered her place as one of Hippolyta’s council. It was one of honor.

“Sisters, Brothers, the Queen has sent for all Amazons and their men to meet in the holiest of holy places. There, we have plans in progress to destroy the Greek men once and for all. Our men there are already planning and gathering to rebuild their village as well. From that place, we will return to our lives and our homes with the Greeks’ blood.”

Toxis made a triumphant noise. “Death to the Greeks!”

“How many messengers were sent out?” Aella asked.

“Many, my lady. Many more than I could number or name. Hippolyta calls her people to her, and you, as a member of her most sacred council, must be there soon for you are to be among those who lead us.”

Aella nodded in understanding, but said nothing more as she sat back down beside Cane. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Toxis took the Amazon messenger aside and asked many more questions of her, and some time later, they shared a meal with her, and then she was gone again, off to retrieve more of their people home.

“We are perhaps a week’s travel from the holy place.” Toxis said much later that night as they all prepared for rest. Kairos lay asleep in her lap, cradled tenderly in her arms. She was rocking him, and had been gazing at him since their meal, but now her eyes went from Aella to Calyx and then Cane and back again as she spoke.

“But the boys won’t be able to travel as fast or for as long as we can,” Cane pointed out.

Toxis nodded. “I estimate it will take us close to two weeks to reach the holy place. It may seem like a long time, but my guess is that Amazons will be returning home for many more moons to come as the messengers scour for them.”

“We’ll leave at dawn, then, hmm.” Calyx said from where he stood near the fire, warming his hands. He looked around them at the sort of home they had created. “I’ll almost miss this place. It was just starting to feel like home.”

Cane sighed. “We may never know home again. Even once the Greeks are defeated, the re-building will take a great many years.”

“But it will happen,” Aella said fiercely. “It has to happen. There is no other way. How else will our people survive if we don’t rebuild and continue to grow?”

Aella’s comment was what they all feared, but none said anything. They feared that their world would never be the same again, and in many ways it would not be. In many ways, it was already drastically and permanently different. A deep-seated sadness chased each of them to bed that night, so that Calyx and Toxis, Cane and Aella, held onto each other in an almost desperate way. Tristan and Kairos, though, slept like they always did, near each other, mostly oblivious to the woes of their parents.

-------

The journey to the holy place was indeed rough, especially on Tristan and Kairos. Neither of them understood why they suddenly must move. They were hungry and very quickly tired and had not the endurance that the adults had. Most of the way, they were carried, allowed to sleep within a wrap against a warm shoulder.

The terrain which they crossed was dangerous with the ice and snow. Oftentimes, the paths that would normally be etched into the ground were hidden by snow. The cliffs they crossed were steep, the valleys deep, the plains and fields long without any source of shelter from the harsh, cold elements, the rivers were deep and either frozen or freezing. The times when they had had to stop and hide against a rock, hidden as much as possible from the wind, huddled all but skin to skin, brought home the reality that they could die out here and none would know. None would find them. It was a heartbreaking and disheartening notion, the reality of it weighing heavily on each of their shoulders. Kairos and Tristan were their main focus, each having silently vowed that the children would make it alive to the holy place.

Nearly three weeks after they had left their almost-home, they arrived at their destination. Though from the outskirts of the holy place, it did not look like much, once the guards led them toward the interior, they saw that it was anything but dead with the winter. Centered around a huge, tall and old tree that towered so high above the head and was so big around that a hundred people could not join hands and go all the way around its trunk, a village, a mixture of the men village and the Amazonian tribal village, lay stretched out, growing in each direction. There were roaring fires and people bustling around everywhere. There was no shortage of food, or drink, or clothing. Buildings, mostly like the cabins that had been found in the men village, were finished daily, people being moved about and given their own space. It was a village of mammoth proportions.

Tristan and Kairos were the first of the group to receive warmer clothing. Two of the older Amazons, who had long ago retired their spears, greeted the group when they entered the main part of the village, passing warm fur tunics and pants to both of the nearly-asleep boys. Not long after, Aella, Cane, Calyx and Toxis were given new clothing as well, and led to one of the newer cabins that had been finished just that morning. Inside, they found soft pallets, a warm fire blazing, stocks of meat in the corner and other goods that were part of everyday living, goods that they had not had in many months.

Aella was summoned to Hippolyta only hours after they had arrived. She thanked the man who had been sent to summon her, then turned and knelt on the floor near Tristan. He didn’t shy away from her, but neither did he look at her; his gaze remained fixed on the fire.

“Tristan,” she said softly, waiting until his eyes focused on her. “I must go see our queen. Would you like to come?”

Tristan looked up at his father, who nodded encouragingly to the boy. He looked back at his mother and nodded, reaching his little arms up so that he could grasp her neck. She cradled him in her arms, like she had done on their journey, and stood.

“We will return before the sun sets,” Aella promised.

Calyx nodded as Kairos crawled into his lap. Cane kissed her gently on the lips, squeezing her hand, then ruffling Tris’s hair before they left.

“Mama?” Tristan asked as she walked toward Hippolyta’s hall.

“Hmm?”

“What does Hippolyta look like?”

“You’ll see,” Aella promised.

When she reached the hall, she climbed the stairs with dignity. The priestesses that stood outside shared a look among each other; it was unheard of for one of the chosen woman to bring a child into the hut, let along a boy child, but Aella refused to leave Tristan with them when pressed. So the high priestess there blessed both of them, then pulled the curtain aside and allowed them to enter.

The hall here was much like the one in the tribal village had been. At one end was a huge hearth with a roaring fire and lined along one all was an assortment of meats and foods from Nature.

Seven woman sat in a semi-circle in the center, some of the spaces between them empty for those lost or not yet arrived. Aella’s spot was on Hippolyta’s right, the queen on her left, and her mother on her right. Sitting down, Aella looked to the empty spot where Alkidike had once seat, wondering if she was pleased or saddened by her death.

“Hello, child,” Hippolyta said. Aella turned to look at her queen and found that she was speaking to Tristan.

“Hello,” Tristan said back in a small voice.

“What is your name?” the queen asked, a small smile playing across her face, her eyes twinkling slightly.

“Tristan.”

“Ah. The name of a brave warrior. We are honored to have you with us, Tristan.”

He was suddenly shy, hiding in his mother’s shoulder. Hippolyta laughed a little, but quickly turned serious again, returning her attention to the matter at hand.

“We are pleased you have lived through these times of hell, Aella. Many of our people have not.”

“I am aware that we have lost many, my queen. It is a thing that pains me greatly. And we will never be able to properly bury them all.” Aella said.

Hippolyta nodded her agreement with Aella’s words. “Eight of my council have fallen within the last moons. I am somewhat uncertain as to the first course of action—to garner what people we have left and attack the Greeks, removing them from Artemis’s good earth forever, or to re-build our villages, or to see a new eight elected for the council.”

“There are nine of us left,” Kyme, one of the more trusted members, said. “With the Goddess’s blessing and your consent, my Queen, I believe we can govern our people until times of peace present the chance to choose the new eight.”

“I agree with Kyme, my queen,” one of the others said.

“I am of the opinion that we destroy the Greeks first, then begin our re-building,” another said.

“How can we attack them with nothing?” another asked. “We must gather our strength and our people, prepare with what little time and resources we have, otherwise another attack will only be in vain, losing us more lives than—”

“We’ll lose more lives if we sit here and do nothing!”

“We are not doing nothing! There is a great difference between doing nothing and biding one’s time.”

“As long as the Greek men are out there, stalking our people who still remain in their groups, following our messengers, and seeking ways to find this, our most holy place, we will never be safe.”

“Asteria is right! We cannot move on as long as the Greek hound us.”

“We must destroy them first, then the rest will fall into place with the Great Goddess’s will.”

“No! Let us seek the guidance of an oracle, one who is not familiar with the situation here.”

“And where will you find an oracle who has not heard of this monstrosity, who is not affected by it already, eh?”

The den of noise in the hut was enough to make Tristan squirm and Aella slightly ashamed. Never before in her few years on Hippolyta’s council had these wise and brave women fallen into such squabbling. The times were dire, yes, but that did not allow for this behavior. Normally, one would speak, from the wisdom of her experience and heart, and others would speak slowly after. Never was one interrupted or talked over. Never was such disrespect evident.

Aella looked to Hippolyta, who did not look pleased with this turn of events, either. Holding Tristan close to her so that he would not be so afraid, she said in a voice full of command and authority, not in a shout or a whisper,

“Hold your tongues, all of you. What madness is this that has descended Hippolyta’s chosen warrior women? Where is your honor and your respect for one another, for your Queen, and the Great Goddess Artemis?”

The others in the room fell silent, as if they had just realized their misbehavior, like they were chastised children. Into the void she had created, Aella spoke,

“My Queen, I beg you listen to what I have to say. I do not think we should actively seek to do battle with the Greek men. We are assured that there will be other battles with them, so we have no need to seek them out. Allow us to rebuild some of what was lost, to recover our wounded, bury our dead, re-gather our provisions and console our children.” Aella touched Tristan’s hair with this, looking down at him, drawing the other Amazons’ attention to him as well. “The Greeks will seek us out eventually and when they do we will be ready for them—we will fight them on our own ground and our own terms. That will put them at a large disadvantage, so that perhaps, though we know they will outnumber us, we will have a chance. Wait for the storm to come to us. Use this time the Goddess has given us to prepare. To do otherwise, I think, would be truly foolish and wasteful.”

Hippolyta looked at Aella long and hard, her eyes drifting to Tristan, who was staring up at his mother with a look of awe on his face that she could quiet so much noise and speak with such skill and power.

“Always, always listen to the children,” Hippolyta whispered as her eyes remained on Tristan. She whispered the words to herself, like she was having an inner battle. Then she seemed to draw herself out of it. “Your son looks at you with admiration, Aella. If I knew nothing else of you, that would tell me much. But I know that you have the heart of a kind one when many other Amazons do not, that you have wisdom beyond your years and how you came by it, I know not. But I heed your words and make my judgment here and now based upon them. It will be as Aella says, for I trust her and believe this plan will work. Go now, all of you. You know what must be done.”

Everyone, in silence, stood to leave, but Hippolyta motioned for Aella and Tristan to remain. When the other women of the council had left the chamber, the queen reached out and touched Tristan’s hair. The boy, still shy, tried to hide in his mother’s arm.

“I bore a son once, when I was much younger. He looked much like his father.” Her eyes were haunted. “He was grown, almost five-and-twenty, when the Greeks slain him not many moons ago, along with his father, the only lover I have ever taken. My heart weeps for them so, Aella, that I cannot keep my mind focused on the tasks at hand.”

“My queen, I’m so sorry.”

“As am I, Aella. But listen well to me. I am growing old, and now my mind is wrought with grief for my lost love and my child. Soon, very soon now, I will step down. I will choose a new Queen of the Amazons. I do not know if it will be you, yet, but I know that whoever it is, you will be invaluable to her. Please remember my words, Aella; you are one of the few I trust to act in my stead when it becomes too much for me.”

Humbled, Aella bowed her head to her Queen. “I will always protect you, my queen. I will always honor you.”

“I know. Go now, back to your man. I’m sure he’s waiting for you.”

Aella stood and bowed with Tristan still in her arms. Her heart ached for Hippolyta, that she had lost her child and her only lover. It made Aella that much more anxious to return to Cane, to endear herself to Tristan. It brought her to realize that she did not know when any of them would die. She must make the most of what time they did have, unknown though it was.

“Papa!” Tristan said, suddenly gleefully, reaching over Aella’s shoulder. She turned and found Cane walking toward her from the bonfire in the center of the holy place.

Tristan climbed from his mother’s arms into his father’s where he snuggled against his shoulder, settling in for a nap.

“What’s the matter, Aella? You look so sad.” Cane asked, his beautiful big eyes fixed on hers. She was sad; she felt like crying in some remote corner of her soul.

“Kiss me, Cane, kiss me long and slow,” she whispered. And he did; he pressed his lips to hers, massaging her, his tongue dancing and dueling at the same time with hers. She wrapped her arms around him, one to his back and the other around Tris, and his free arm curled around her waist, pressing her hips against his while he thrust slightly against her as he hardened.

She would tell him later what had transpired in the Queen’s tent, but for right now, as they turned and walked ideally back toward the cabin on the fringes of the holy place, arm in arm, Aella realized that she could remain here, with Cane and with Tristan. The conventional rules of her Amazon culture were, in some ways, as broken as their burnt villages in the far-off distance. It would take generations to re-build and become as they had been, if ever.

And though in some ways, she realized she would soon be bound like never before, in the important ways, she was free. Free to be with her man, to raise their son, and to make more children. She smiled at Cane, then kissed him again, heavy burdens gone from her shoulders.

------------------------------

This was much longer than I had hoped it would come out to be, but overall, I like it. It is a satisfactory conclusion for Aella and Cane, and it even tells Calyx and Toxis’s story as well, one which I wanted very much to be told. I hope the tale has entertained all who read it, for it has certainly been a joy to me.