Nixiesocean: Hullo again. Thank you to all who reviewed!
Obsessed Reader: Could you say "love" it one more time? lol (All in good fun).
Biancarobinson: Sorry about that. Really, I can't do anything. I'm glad you could review for chapter 2.
Lilyflowr33: I'm glad you like Lilka. Have no fear, you'll like her more when they reach shore. I'm glad you think it's good. I thought about this one night before going to bed. It took me forever to get Lilka's name right. Check if you want to know what it means.
Fairybells: You are supportive! Thank you! I will continue on this endeavor because your encouragement is so pro-active!
Book junkie from beyond: Thank you. It's picking up speed in this chapter. If you're careful, you'll catch the foreshadowing.
Now, onto the real reason we are here! The story!
Chapter 3: A Challenge
"He's protecting her, Clyde." I heard whispered outside the door.
"All the more reason to go in, Jeb. We'll catch them when they're weak and tell the captain!" Clyde whispered. "We'll convince him that Brian isn't fit for his position. We need to go in, now!" I silently moved around the room, gathering my weapons. I hid behind the door. It opened to admit both men. "Where is she?"
I stepped out from behind the door. "Ah, Fr'ain." I said. "Curiosity killed the cat." I repeated an old Fr'ain saying. "How was your attempt to find Brian and I committing immoral and elicit actions? After all, you can see my bedroll right there by the door." At this, Brian was waking.
"Clyde and Jeb." He said though yawns. "How could I have guessed?" He saw me, weapons out and dressed fully as an Amazon. "Lilka, put your sword and dagger away. I'm sure we can come to a peaceful understanding." Reluctantly, I sheathed my weapons.
"They were here attempting to prove dissolute actions on our part, Brian." I explained.
"I guessed that, Lilka. What do you two have to say for yourselves?" The first mate asked the two crewmen.
"N-nothing, sir." Jeb stammered. "Your Amazon speaks truly."
Clyde nudged this partner-in-crime. "Shut up, you!" To Brian, he spoke in a jaunty tone. "Sir, we only wanted to make sure you were fit for you position, you know, as Captain Jamison's favorite."
"Well, as you can see, there is nothing interesting going on. Go back to bed or keep cleaning those portholes. I'll be inspecting them tomorrow night." Brian snapped, now irritated.
They nodded sourly and left. I looked at Brian. "They want to take you from your position of higher authority." I said to him.
"And have been trying ever since I was promoted." He informed me. "Get back to sleep, Lilka. You'll need it. After today, I doubt your deck will be nearly as spotless." He rolled over in his bed and went to sleep. I heard light snores from his area, confirming that he was truly asleep.
I undressed into my nightclothes and put the sword next to my bow. I slid the dagger under my pillow and fell into my watchful sleep.
-Next Morning-
A gong sounded inside my dream. It pierced the sleeping world where I resided when the sun was not shining. I got up without a sound and cleaned up my bedroll and changed before Brian was even awake. The early morning light didn't completely burn off the night-fog that had encased the ship, so it was slightly damp. I took out my sword and polished it, sharpening it. I checked my bow for any cracks, none, so it put it away. Lastly I sharpened and polished my dagger and sheathed it. I left the room while plaiting my hair. I threw the finished braid over my shoulder and got to work cleaning the deck. It was plain, even in this dim light, that I had done a good work. I fetched the soap and the brush. The bucked was already filled with rainwater, so I didn't bother getting salt-water. Before I used the fresh water, I took a drink. It soothed my stone-dry throat.
I put the lye in and started scrubbing where I had left off from the night before. I finished the deck easily, my hands and arms still sore.
I went up to Captain Jamison. "Sir, the deck is finished." I said.
"Good. If you would clean the ladders." It was more a statement than a question. I took my bucket with lye and rainwater and cleaned off the ladder. After the first one, I learned to clean from the top down; I kept slipping off.
It was dark again. I left the bucket and brush where I always had and cleaned off my face. My stomach rumbled. In Brian's room, near my things, was a meal. A round, orange fruit, a clay cup with water, dried meat and some hardened bread.
I ate everything except the fruit. The outside didn't taste all that good, so I had decided to wait until Brian came back to ask him about it. He came back shortly after I had changed into my nightclothes.
"What is this?" I asked him, holding out the fruit.
"An orange. You peel it," He took it and dug his finger in. Juice squirted out, but he just pulled the outside off. "Like this." He came to where there were bite marks. "Did you try and eat the rind?" He laughed. I gave him a confused look. "The outside."
"Yes… why?"
"You're not supposed to." He explained. He peeled apart pieces of the orange.
"Then why is it there?"
"To protect its treasure, the fruit." He handed the pieces to me. He took the orange-peels and threw them into a small basket. "Eat it." I ate. The fruit tasted wonderful! I ate it all, even licking the juices off my fingers and palm. "I'm guessing you liked it?"
"Yes. I loved it!" I realized my hands were sticky still. I pulled out my canteen, which was in my knapsack, and washed my hands. "Pui e Pui or Checkers?"
"I thought we decided they were the same." He said, sitting on his bed. I looked at him with an 'I know' look. "Fine, fine. How about your game."
"Pui e Pui?" I asked, amazed. "I would think you would like to play your own game." I teased.
Those three weeks of my life were the best I ever had. I wasn't constricted to duels fought each day; I was constricted to the foul words of the women. I wasn't, in truth, acting like I should've. I should've put this man as far from me as bodily possible, yet I didn't. We were friends. In all my years on the Isle of the Amazons, I had never had such a true friend. Kayla had shown her true colors the night before I had left.
Although, with each passing day, the men looked at me more and more, not only Clyde and Jeb tried to grab me. More crewmembers tried. The captain seemed to turn a blind eye toward them, but Brian didn't. Each time, he was there, assigning grueling tasks for the offenders to do. They never seemed to learn how different I was from women they referred to as normal.
Finally, land was sighted. An hour or two later, we docked. The unloading of the cargo took another two hours. Finally, we were about to go. The captain called Brian to his quarters. I heard talking. I never truly listened in. Despite my curiosity, I allowed Brian his privacy. He came out. I trailed him, staying on his heels. I was aware that a few men were looking at me. I'm sure I was a sight. Dressed in a tunic and breeches armed with weapons.
"Lilka, you need to appear a friend, not a guard." He said after we were in his rooms. "Walk beside me, not on my heels."
"Okay." I agreed. When we left, I was casually next to him. We walked along the streets, heading toward a building at the end of the lane. He turned; taking a road that paralleled this palace. He entered through a small door on the edge of the street.
We went through a small corridor, and when he found a small door, stopped. He opened it and went through. He gestured me though. My first instinct was to gasp. These rooms were huge! Lavish décor covered the walls. Tapestries showed scenes from a great hunt. The four-poster bed was twice the size of the bed that he had occupied on the ship. I very nearly fainted. "These- these are yours?"
"Yes." He replied. "My mother will want you to sleep in the women's quarters." I looked at him. Then I grasped the reality. We would be separated for means of propriety. "I may be able to convince her to let you sleep in the spare room. Normally, for a woman, a handmaiden would sleep there. I guess in your case, though, you could sleep there."
Have I mentioned how nice he is? I agreed, moving my meager things into the adjoining room. It was nothing past extravagant. My bed, although smaller than Brian's, was still twice the size of my old one back on the Isle. The closet was empty, so I put my Amazon garb in it. The closet was still bare. I set my sandals on the bottom of the closet. I put all my things on the counter with a mirror, The Queen had one of these, and she called it a vanity. I set my bone brush and comb on the counter and set my ties inside a drawer.
I heard the door open. "Hello Prince Brian!" A high-pitched voice said. I shivered at the voice.
"Hello Lady Sera. How have you been?" I heard him reply dryly.
"Simply wonderful! Although it wasn't nearly as much fun as when you are here!" She said, accentuating nearly ever other word. I sighed. Lady Sera's back was to me, so it gave me the opportunity to ask Brian if he wanted me to come out, silently of course.
The more I thought about it, the less I thought of the idea. Not that I cared what Lady Sera thought, moreover what Brian would think. How would he introduce me? Unfortunately, my prince-friend decided for me. "I'm sure it wasn't. Oh, Lilka." He said, pointing at me. I came from around my hiding spot. Lady Sera turned to see me, a woman in breeches and a tunic, stride from behind the wall. Her blonde hair flew as she turned her wide chocolate-brown eyes onto me. They narrowed. "This is Lady Sera, Lilka." I came out and bowed. She looked at me with a critical eye.
"Who is she?" Lady Sera asked Brian. All trace of a ditsy blonde was gone. No, here was a calculating woman. "A servant of yours I suppose?"
"Yes, my lady." I jumped in. "A servant of Prince Brian." I said in perfect Fr'ain. I supposed it was simpler to speak in her language than pretend not to understand.
"Then why, my lord, is she not in the servant's wing?" Lady Sera asked him, though the question was more directed at me.
"My Lady Sera, I am, well, not strictly a servant. More of an honor guard you might say." I said, barely containing a smile. Brian had nearly choked.
"An honor guard? Prince Brian, do you not have normal guards for this reason?" She asked, her eyes hiding a hint of triumph.
"I do, my lady." He said.
"Then why is she an honor guard?" She asked, peering back at me.
"My lady, the prince and I made a bet. If one of his guards could best me at three things, then I would become his servant. Yet, if I won, then I became the only guard he would have followed him." I explained. Once again, Brian was taken by complete surprise. I ignored him. "We, my lady, were about to go settle this bet right now. I was merely putting my things into this spare room." I bowed. "If I may be excused?"
"You may." The prince said to Lady Sera's obvious despair. I left and went to go retrieve my weapons from my room. I expected to win. I heard them talking.
"My prince, do you expect that this ragtag foreign girl to best your men?" I heard the voice of Lady Sera say.
"No, but a bet's a bet." Obviously he had taken a liking to my quickly (and rashly, I might add) placed bet. I retuned.
"My lord," I said. "I have my weapons."
He nodded and we all three left. I trailed him like I had when we left the boat. I kept behind him. We left the palace, after a few gawking stares from the court lords. I held my head up high and didn't let anything bother me. We entered the training area for the guards of the palace, who lived in the nearby barracks. Lady Sera had excused herself long ago when she had spotted another court lady. I waited until Brian came back with a guard behind him. He was just barely taller than me, making him slightly taller than Brian himself. This man had a dark-blonde, light-brown, hair color and eyes that surveyed everything. They halted on me.
"My lord, is this the woman you spoke of? This scrawny thing?" I kept my mouth shut. I wasn't scrawny; I just wasn't hulking. I had muscled, but they were merely just well toned.
"Yes, Captain." He replied. This was another captain? Why wasn't he on the sea? "Lilka, this is the Captain of the guard, David."
"Hello, Captain David." I said politely in Fr'ain. "Have you come prepared?"
"Aye," He said, holding out a longer sword than mine and a larger bow than even the largest on our- their- Isle. "Which would the lady like to do first?"
"Of the three tasks, Footraces, Archery and Arms, I would like to do Arms." I chose the worst of the three to do first. I always seemed to place third in this one, though I wasn't terrible.
"Well, Captain David and Lilka, get into the sparring ring." Brian said. We climbed over the short fence and took our places. "On my signal, you may start." We waited. I squatted, holding my shorter sword low. I knew not to show any weaknesses. I kept my mind on beating this guard so we could move onto the next task, Footraces. "Go!" I stayed put, allowing the captain to close in on me. He charged, unlike most men, he didn't lift up the sword into the air, but kept it low to guard (ha, ha, not) his stomach. He closed in on me. I rolled out of the way, letting him run into the fence.
"Come on, lady, fight me!" He yelled. "Get off the ground and fight like a man!"
"I am no man!" At this, I had tumbled to face his back. He turned to block my sword. "I am an Amazon, and a good one at that!" His eyes surveyed my strengths and weaknesses. So far, he probably assumed that I did sneaky tricks, nothing bold or daring.
"Oh, so you are a warrior-woman! I thought as much!" I kept silently, focusing on my feet work and my sword work. "So, you are going to 'defeat me' and become my prince's guard? What do you plan to do next?" I jumped back, feeling the fence in my back. He charged; I easily evaded it.
I jumped up on the fence, to gain higher ground. It wobbled under my weight. The guard rushed me again, this time; I jumped up, tumbled in the air, and face his back. I put the sword to the back of his throat. "You're dead." I whispered. He dropped to his knees.
I drew back my sword. Suddenly, his foot whipped out, making me fall to the ground. Man, the ground was hard! I could see the world go black.
"The duel was over, David." Brian's voice echoed inside my head.
"T'was not over till we leave the ring. I won, you just wanted me to be beat," I heard the gruffer voice of Captain David.
"When a person says 'You're dead' the duel ends. It is how it has always been."
I opened my eyes. The Captain stood over me with his sword pointed at my throat. "You're dead." I kicked him in his… ahem… manly part. He dropped to his knees. And stood, picking up my sword in one swift movement.
"Is this duel going to continue or will you submit?" I asked. "Or will you continue to fight until your head rolls?" I pointed my sword at his throat. "Submit!"
"I submit." He said glumly. I took away my sword and walked out of the arena.
"One down, two to go." I whispered to Brian. I was a little dusty and maybe a little bruised, but all in all, my adrenaline kept me up. "Footraces are next. Is the Captain of the guard going to challenge me in this too, or is his pride too hurt?" I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"No, his pride is not hurt enough for a simple race." I heard Captain David say. I turned, there he was and standing as any man would. Confident and casual. I turned to Brian. He did not know I placed in second for the Footrace tournament.
"What is the distance, Prince Brian?" I asked. I just barely noticed the gathering clouds.
"Around the palace." He said. "The first person to cross this," He drew a line in the ground. "Wins." I dropped my gear off to the side and stood at the line. "On my mark…" The Captain stood next to me. "Get ready," He put up his arms. "Set," They were fully up by now. I tightened my muscles, readying for the start. "Go!" I lurched forward.
I could hear myself pacing my breathing. I slowed, readying for the distance. Captain David sped ahead, just barely ahead. My mind started to change into my racing mind.
Feet pounding. Breathing steady. Sweat trickling. Blinking. World shaking. Turning a corner. Feet pounding. Breathing heavy. Rain starting. Wind blowing. Feet pounding. Breathing heavy. Turning a corner. Rain pouring. Feet pounding. Breathing heavy. Water splashing. Tunic wet. Blinking. Feet pounding. Turning a corner. Blinking. Sweat soaking. Lungs aching. Feet pounding. Water splashing. Hair tumbling. Wipe forehead. Lungs hurting. Feet painful. Turning a corner. Speeding up. Sprinting. Water splashing. Passing. Being passed. Passing. Lungs aching. Water splashing. Feet pounding. Rain drenching. Being passed. Passing. Finish line. Mind changing.
I put my hand out and touching Brian's hand. A mere second later, Captain David touched Brian's hand. I was panting. Sweat soaked my whole body. I stood up, holding my hands over my head. The air was mercifully cool. My lungs ached like no one's business. I congratulated myself. Good job, Lilka. You showed Brian what you can- Stop! Stop thinking that. You had a good run, no different from any other. Keep your cool, girl. Keep your cool. Focus on Archery. Brian's pat on the back snapped me out of my trance.
"Only archery next, Lilka." He admitted. "If you win this, you're the only guard I'll have." He smiled. "However, if my Captain wins, you're a servant of mine. Are both you ready?" My auburn hair was in my face, but I wanted to win. For heaven's sake, I had never lost at Archery!
"Aye, my lord." Captain David said slowly. I turned to him. He was unabashedly looking at me. I shook my head and turned around.
"I am." I said. "Where are we to compete?" The rain was clearing up.
"At the archery range." Well duh, smart one! "It's just over here." When we passed my things, I grabbed the bow and sword. Silently, I cursed. My bow and bowstring were wet from the rain. Captain David had thought to bring a case. Somehow, I thought he knew about the rain.
"I'll need to borrow one, Brian. Mine got wet." I said as we walked to the range.
"Sure, you can have whichever you want that is in the shed." Brian offered. I nodded in acknowledgement. He sped up. The Captain took this as an opportunity to tease me about it.
"Did the savage lady forget to bring her bowcase?" He teased. I knew it wasn't mean, merely, well, teasing. "Maybe she should forfeit this competition."
"Never." I hissed. We entered the weapon-shed. I grabbed a bow an checked it's balace. Way off. I checked another. Better. I looked at each one. They were all off. I looked at the Captain's bow.
"Brian, did you say I could have any bow in this shed to borrow?" I asked sweetly.
"Yes…" He said slowly.
"Good." I said. I looked at Captain David. "I want his bow." The Captain was taken aback.
"You- you can't have my bow!" He said.
"And why not? It's in this shed, isn't it? I want you bow. You liege said I could have any in this shed, yours is in this shed." I explained, walking forward to take my prize.
"Prince Brian!" He wailed. The prince shrugged.
"She took it literally, nothing I can do about it." Brian said to my defense. "Get another bow, Captain David." The Captain glumly gave me his bow and took the bow I was about to take. It was almost balanced, the one that he took. His bow, I judged, was perfectly balanced. I grabbed some arrows and waited for the Captain to grab some. We each grabbed ten. Then, and only then, we headed outside.
Nixiesocean: Tell me if you think Lilka should win or lose. I will give you until I get back from my vacation. Which is about two weeks. When I have time, I'll write Chapter Four with the result of the votes.
Send them via PM so that it's secret! (Hehe, I love secrets!)
If I don't get any votes, I'll have to decide for myself! Which, I'll tell you, will result in me asking an eight ball my brother owns.
Bye for now!