2| Eris (dispute)
Morning dew still clung to spider webs, sparkling in the late autumn sun. The northern Amazon village was veiled in sleepy whispers. The winter would soon arrive and the cold kept the villagers inside their warm huts longer than normally. But in the Queen's hut a heated conversation was already in full swing.
"What?!" Yelled Queen Melosa. "That overgrown daughter of a bacchae!" She crumbled the letter that was just brought in and threw it across her hut. The messenger who brought it was just able to reach out and save it from the embers of the fireplace. "How dare she!" Melosa started pacing the small room.
"My Queen, considering the gravity of the situation, would you like me to call the council?"
"I would much rather shoot an arrow through that harpy's heart and be done with it!" The Queen vented.
"We all would, my Queen, but with the Girdle…"
"Of all the Amazon's that pass near the border, why did she have to take the party with the Girdle of Ares?!" The messenger backed away when the Queen stalked forward. Melosa didn't seem like herself and her anger was getting quite scary. Seeing the messenger shrink before her, the Queen quickly composed herself. "I'm sorry… It's not your fault." She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, a headache already making itself known. "Call the council. We have to make an offer and hope she doesn't find out what the Girdle means." The messenger hurried out of the hut and ran across the village. It would be a long, long day.
In a matter of moments the northern Amazon village was bustling with anxious women. News of the capture of their sisters travelled like wild-fire. Everyone collected in front of the counsel's hut to await the verdict on what would happen next… everyone except the Princess.
"Gabrielle! Gabrielle, wake up!" Ephiny yelled and pounded on her door. Ephiny could hear a loud groan followed by light footfalls. The door opened and a rather sleepy Princess shot her an annoyed look.
"Ephiny, you know how much I enjoy running through the mud with you in the cold and rain and hitting trees with my staff until I've got blisters all over my hands… but I don't think it's fair I should get up even before the sun." Ephiny shook her head.
"The sun has been up for at least 3 candle marks, Gabrielle. And I know you prefer talking above everything, but you really have to listen right now. Something has happened." That got the Princess' attention.
"What? What happened?" Ephiny ran a hand through her curly blonde hair.
"Commander Eurybe's delegation has been captured by the Conqueror. The council is about to consider our course of action. The Queen suggested you'd be there." Gabrielle's eyes grew wide. Two of Ephiny's and Gabrielle's friends were with that delegation.
"Any news on how Solari and Eponin are doing?" She whispered.
"Unfortunately not." Sighed Ephiny. Both friends stood in silence for a moment. Then the Princess looked up.
"I'll get dressed. Give me a moment." Ephiny knew Gabrielle didn't just mean she needed a moment to get dressed. Knowing the Princess, she was probably already thinking of scenario's to free their friends.
"We'll have to join forces with our sister villages. Then we'll finaly have a chance to wipe her off the face of the earth!" Called a heavy muscled woman, known as Commander Okyale.
"The Conqueror's army has been growing fast! The odds are not in our favour!" Pressed Ainia, the leader of diplomatic affairs. While the shouting and arguing continued, the princess sneaked inside the crowded hut and quickly found her seat.
"How nice of you to grace us with your presence, your highness." A teasing voice sounded from behind her. Gabrielle whipped her head around just in time to see a grin appear on old Alcinoe's face. It was an long standing joke between them since the Princess was often late at counsels because she overslept. Gabrielle blushed as some of the arguing Amazon's suddenly looked her way. Just then, Queen Melosa entered.
"Amazons! You were called because I received a message stating the capture of Commander Eurybe's delegation. We all know what that means. We'll have to get them back at any cost. Iphito, how's the treasury?" Iphito sat up straight and spoke with slight nervousness.
"Well, uhm, because of the storms we had to invest in rebuilding the food hut... and you know how expensive good reed is..." Queen Melosa sighed.
"So that's going to be a long shot."
"Maybe if we offered services?" Iphito tried.
"What?!" Yelled Commander Okyale. "I'm not lending out any more Amazon fighters! I think we should take her out before she gets any more feathers up her ass!" Once again the counsel members started to bicker.
"Silence!" The Queen yelled. She put the index fingers of both her hands on her temples in hopes of massaging her headache away. "Alcinoe?" She continued in a softer voice. "Do you, as representative of the Elders, have any words of wisdom for our current predicament?" Alcinoe solemnly clasped her hands together and looked around the circle of women, anxiously awaiting her reply.
"Apologise." Was her one-word answer. For a moment there was absolute silence. Gabrielle had a hard time conceiling her snickers at the astonished faces of her sisters. Apologising was as foreign to Amazons as the gods from the Norselands to an Egyptian.
"Why?" The Queen asked with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "They didn't break any rules. They got captured on the road to Feres, that's still a mile from the border!" Most of the Amazons muttered an agreement.
"Because it will show our willingness to cooperate, buy us time. And because the Conqueror is a proud woman. A ruthless, arrogant woman, but a woman nonetheless. To someone who owns more then she can spent in her entire life, what could be more precious than the apologies of your equally proud enemy?" Gabrielle watched the exchange in rapt fascination.
"So she can have a laugh at our expense, is that what you're saying?" The Queen snapped. Alcinoe sighed.
"If you want to see it that way... She can crank our feathers, as long as she won't crank our spirit. The alternative is a much darker place to go to, my Queen. It's working with her or working against her." The Queen kept silent. She knew they'd need time to prepare for war. She didn't expect the Conqueror to accept any apology or money, but it would keep the relations going until reinforcements from their sister villages arrived. She shot a sidewards glance at the Princess. Gabrielle was young and inexperienced, but she would not stand for war. She knew the girl had often enough defied her and would not be on her side in this. Melosa asked herself if it had been the right decision to adopt her into the tribe. For now, they'd have to think of a plan...
"Ainia, prepare an apology and send out as much dinars for bail as we can miss." The Queen ordered. "Okyale, find the strategists and let them examine the fortress in Thessaly." Almost in an afterthought she added: "And Ainia...send out messages to every Amazon village that has been documented to find out their willingness to join us in a possible battle against the Conqueror of Greece."
The Princess was wearing out the floorboards of her hut by pacing.
"We've got to do something Ephiny!" Ephiny sat on a chair in the corner and followed her movements with her eyes.
"At least the queen is willing to send out bail and an apology first..." Ephiny tried in a weak defense.
"You know as well as I do that that won't bring our sisters back. It will only anger the Conqueror more! Why wouldn't she listen to me and organise a rescue party?" Ephiny stood and grabbed her friend by the shoulders.
"Listen Gabrielle, you haven't been to the borders. Word goes the Conqueror hired the legendary Horde to guard the surrounding forests. Nothing passes there unnoticed, that's why no-one is allowed near there. Gabrielle frowned in thought.
"Nothing?" Ephiny started to slowly shake her head when she saw the glint in the Princess' eyes.
"No...No, Gabrielle, whatever it is you are planning, it's probably dangerous. Don't do anything rash."
"Oh, I won't. Don't worry. I'm just gonna send out a message to my own reinforcements." She grinned. "I know someone who's a master at getting away unnoticed... And he owe's me one."
