Usual disclaimers apply.
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Chapter 50
Auntie had magicked us home and Mama and I had quickly become the center of attention in the village. The new horses were drawing quite the crowd and the fact that Eve had already managed to find her seat on her unusual mount impressed even Mama.
Mama had felt for certain that Eve's new horse would need more time to get used to her but it was as if they'd known each other forever. Eve simply asked Mama to put her on the horse's back and held onto his mane. Mama began to lead the horse with his halter and Eve kept her seat on him. Watching them was quite the deal as they gave the visual of having done that forever.
"Any ideas for a name?" Mama finally asked removing Eve from her horse and releasing him into the paddock.
"I have a couple," Eve hedged. "But I need to watch him a little more first. I think his name needs to be as unusual as he is, but," Eve looked around and noticed all the commotion. "Cool." She mumbled as she continued to watch the Amazons watching the unusual horse.
"It looks as if you know," Mama quipped as she turned and watched as Mom brought Argo the second to the paddock and then looked to me. "Going to get your horse?"
"Yup." I whistled and waited for a moment. Finally, my new friend slowly began to walk towards me and I reinforced the whistle command to have him come towards me.
"Show off," Mama commented.
"I try," I chuckled finally grabbing the stallion's harness and scratching him behind the ears. "Okay, boy, you head out with the rest of the family and let me find the perfect name for you."
Watching him run towards our pregnant Argo I wondered what his name would be. I had a few ideas but knew that there would be a perfect name and I would know it when I heard it.
Relaxing into the steady rhythms of the village as it began to get back to normal I shook my head as Emily and Zoe slipped between the slats of the fence. Now standing in the enclosure with the horses Emily took Eve's hand and tugged. "Come on, Trouble. We have to talk to your new horse. It's important."
Rolling her eyes Eve complied after Mom and Mama nodded towards her. "Okay, but this had better be good."
"It is," Zoe huffed. "He wants to know what name you picked out. And he has something to tell you." Sticking her tongue out to tease her older sister Zoe turned on her heel and headed towards Eve's horse.
"Hello," Zoe waved towards the horse's face and smiled when the stallion knelt down and allowed all three girls to scratch behind his ears.
Hearing Emily giggle we watched as the horse knelt fully and allowed all three of them on his back. Slowly standing up he walked towards us and allowed my moms and I to pat his nose or scratch behind his ears. "Hi there," I patted his nose and scratched behind his ears. "You are a very handsome creature." I began. "And I know you will be perfect for Eve."
The stallion shook his head up and down causing the three girls on his back to giggle. A small crowd had begun to form again and noticing the girls holding onto his mane a little more firmly I simply waited. The horse reared very little and let out a long whinny before trotting around the paddock and then stopping in front of us once more. "Well done," Mama's voice was low but dangerous. "And all of you know better than to do that without an adult with you."
"But Mama," Eve protested. "Chaos wouldn't let anything happen to us."
"Chaos?" Mom asked.
Emily and Zoe nodded, "Yep. His name is Chaos."
Eve pointed to the Amazons behind us and giggled. "It seems to fit."
Turning around I held in my chuckle while Mama put her hand over her mouth to hide hers. Mom merely shook her head. "Don't you all have something better to do than watch our daughters on Eve's horse?"
Hearing some snickers from the crowd we waited as they slowly dispersed. "Is your horse happy with his name?" Mom asked Eve.
"Is he?" Eve asked the twins waiting patiently while they sat and patted his neck gently.
"He really likes his name," Emily finally volunteered. "He says Trouble and Chaos go together real good."
"Isn't that that the truth?" Mama posed rubbing her arm after Mom punched her on the upper part of it after the quip.
"What about you, Sam?" Eve called as Chaos kneeled once more and allowed the girls to slip from his back. "What are you going to name your horse?"
"I'm not sure," I replied watching my mount play with Mavri and Haven. "I have a few ideas but nothing seems to be sticking."
"He does have unusual markings," Mom stated while helping the twins and Eve back to our side of the paddock.
"Yeah," I sighed. "I've never seen a horse with markings like his. He needs a special name." I watched as he made friends with almost every horse in our herd. "He seems calm…." I began.
"He is," Mama affirmed. "But he's also a leader. Watch how he engages the others, how he gets them to do what he wants."
Feeling a tug at my braid I looked down into Mom's smile. "Like some other natural born leader I know." She quipped.
Shaking my head, I put my arm around Mom's shoulder and gave her a hug. "I don't know about anyone else, but I'm starving."
"Me too!" Emily cried. "Let's go eat, Sam." Grabbing my hand Emily began to tug me towards the dining hut.
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"No." I held my hand up to Rosa. "I'm telling you that isn't a good idea."
"I say it is," Rosa had her hands on her hips and was staring at me. "Iz was one of the best in her age group for staff. Why can't we have Eve and Iz challenge each other with staffs?"
"Yeah, Sam." Eve interjected. "Why don't you want me challenging Izzy with my staff?"
"Hush, little bit." I narrowed my eyes at Eve and finally sighed deeply. "Fine. Staffs it is," hearing the cheers from the junior warriors and girls from my tribe I finally saw a little fear cross Rosa's face.
"This is great," I heard Addy whisper to Eve. "I'm going to help Mavis and Alex take bets."
Seeing Eve nod her head and grin I could only hope that Izzy wouldn't be a sore loser or that Rosa wouldn't want everyone to know about this friendly sparring match after it was over. If word got out…. Well, after the last time Eve sparred with someone that wasn't quite approved by the moms…" I shook my head shaking the unpleasant thoughts from my head.
Kneeling in front of Eve, I made her look at me, "Okay, little bit, listen carefully. You remember what happened when you sparred with Levon?"
Smiling broadly Eve nodded, "I kicked his ass."
Taking a big breath, I nodded, "Yes, you kicked his ass, little bit. But do you remember what Mama and Mom told you after that match?"
Looking at her boots Eve finally looked at me again, "They told me no more sparring with Centaurs even if they were my age mates because I could really hurt them." Frowning Eve looked at me again, "I don't understand what that has to do with this, Sam. I mean it's not like Izzy has an extra leg for me to accidently break."
"Exactly," I sighed. "No breaking legs, Eve. This is a friendly sparring match. I don't want to end up in the healer's hut explaining to the moms why we are there again."
Rolling her eyes Eve took a deep breath, "Fine. But I'm not going to let her win."
"Fair enough, little bit." I smiled at Eve and tugged a braid. "Do your best and make sure Mom doesn't find out about the betting or this match will be the least of your worries."
"I know," Even gave me a toothy grin. "We are going to clean up today." She said confidently. "I am so going to kick Izzy's ass," turning around Even moved to the center of the makeshift ring. Looking back at me she smiled and yelled in English, "And then you can kick Rosa's ass."
Hearing my friends laugh I shook my head and moved to the center of the ring. "Ladies today we are having a friendly match between Princess Eve and Princess Izabelle. The weapon of choice is staffs. The match is over when one of the opponents surrenders or one of the judges ends the match."
"Who are the judges?" A voice called from the crowd.
"Me, Rosa, Zivah, Daria, Rory, and Celeste." I replied. "Opponents ready?"
"Yep." Izabelle answered.
"You know it," Eve confirmed.
"Alright," fighting the voice in my head that said this wasn't going to end well for any of us, I did the last thing I probably should have, "Match begin!" I shouted moving out of the way as Eve and Izabelle began to fight.
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"Where in Hades did she learn that move?" Rosa asked watching as Eve did a somersault only to stand and turn quickly hitting her sister from the back.
"Her big sister, where else?" Rory informed Rosa dryly. "You truly think with Sam as a sister Eve isn't pretty much the top of her class, as well as the class above her…." Rory trailed off as Rosa's dark eyes widened.
"She can take on eight and nine year olds?"
"Easily," Zivah confirmed. "Sometimes two at a time."
"Only if she has Addy and Mavis with her as back up," Daria interjected. "Though with Alex now thrown into the mix I'm thinking six against four will be good odds."
"Maybe." I nodded. "But we may need to up that to seven against four once Alex gets a little more proficient with the staff."
"I've seen Alex spar," Rosa winced as her sister was hit on the back of the thigh by Eve's staff. "She's pretty good for her age."
"Not as good as our girls our," Daria boasted. "The moms had no idea what they were doing when they made Sam start the junior staff warriors."
"That is so going to bruise," Daria commented as Izzy took a staff to the cheek.
"Watch out, little bit," I called. "Not so hard on the face."
"Got it!" Eve called back getting another strike on Izzy, this time on the girl's upper arm.
Seeing Izzy's face change for just a moment I wondered what would happen next. I smirked as Izzy charged at Eve head on causing my sister to trip over a small rock in the impromptu arena. When Eve's staff dropped Izzy managed to get a strike on Eve before Eve grabbed the staff with both hands and tugged it towards herself. Shaking my head, I reminded myself to talk to my parents about how much she picked up just through observing.
Watching as Izzy fell on top of Eve the staff match quickly became the young Amazon version of street fighting. "Rosa grab Izzy, I'll get Eve."
"I might need help," Rosa admitted as we grabbed for our sisters.
"Same here." Tugging at Eve I finally managed to get her away from Izzy. "Handing her a rag I shook my head, "Get the blood off your lip." Kneeling I looked at Eve's face and chuckled. "Just a little split, it will heal on its own. What about you, Izzy?"
Holding her nose the girl glared at Eve, "I'b fine."
"Sure you are," rolling my eyes I motioned for Zivah to check her out. Waiting for a few moments I smiled when Zivah stood and grinned at me.
"Not broken, just bloody. She'll live."
"Told you," Izzy huffed.
"Yeah, yeah," Rosa had given Izzy a rag as well and the girl was still pinching her nose. "How are we going to explain that bruise on your cheek to Phoebe?"
"Who cares?" Izzy pulled the now bloody rag from her face. "Not like she's our mother."
Feeling a sensitive chat coming along between the sisters I moved to the center of the ring. Calling all the judges to me we finally agreed on the course of action. Moving to Rosa I made sure she was alright with the decision before announcing it. "Alright, ladies, the judges have discussed matters and have the decision.
"On the matter of who got the most strikes, that honor goes to Princess Eve. However," I held up my hands to quiet the crowd. "In the matter of the win, we agree it was a draw since it ended so abruptly. Figure out how to best change your wagers unless this was one of them. And I'd recommend everyone do that later. We're going to have company soon."
Young Amazons took my warning and scattered as fast as they could. They all knew about my hearing and figured they wouldn't want the company that I heard coming towards us. "Should I be worried?" Rosa finally asked as she held onto her younger sister.
"Nah," I grinned. "It's just Mama and she's usually okay with these impromptu Amazon sparring events."
"She should be as often as we have them and she finds out," Daria quipped.
Shaking my head at my girlfriend I motioned for her to grab Eve. "Come on, let's head out. I think Mama is going to want to talk to Rosa and Izzy."
"What?" Rosa looked at me in fear. "Why?"
"Don't worry, it'll be okay. Just know that she and Mom are really good listeners. Though Mom is better at the sensitive chats than Mama." Winking at Rosa I let Eve on my back and headed towards the closest path in the woods with my friends right behind me.
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Taking her sister by the hand Rosa sighed. "I think we need to talk, Iz."
"About what?" the younger girl began to walk with her sister towards the village rubbing her sore cheek every few steps.
"About Mom and Mama and Phoebe."
"I don't want to talk about that," Izzy huffed stopping short when she finally heard Xena's footsteps.
"Hi there," Xena's eyes scanned the area and she shook her head. "So who won?"
"It was a draw," Izzy huffed before Rosa could answer. "Eve got the most strikes but we had to be separated from fighting so the judges called a draw."
Kneeling in front of the little girl Xena placed her thumb and forefinger under Izzy's chin. "That must have been some staff move to get your cheek like that."
"I guess," Izzy huffed. "She bloodied my nose too." Holding up the rag as proof the girl grinned once more. "But I managed to split Eve's lip."
"Well that's something," Xena acknowledged. "Trouble is a fair fighter; it must have been a good one."
"It was." Izzy agreed.
"So what are you doing here alone?" Xena stood and addressed Rosa.
Shrugging Rosa sighed. "Sam said you wanted to talk to us and that even though the queen did sensitive chats better you were capable."
"Yeah, well, Sam is right." Moving towards a large tree Xena sat down under in and waited for the girls to join her on the ground. Pulling a couple of granola bars from her pack the warrior hand one to each girl and allowed them to try it before passing them her water skein.
"How is it you came fully prepared with snacks and water?" Rosa asked.
"I have many skills," Xena replied chuckling.
"Uh-huh," Rosa took another drink of water and then looked at her younger sister slowly eating the granola bar. "So what did you want to talk about?"
"Straight to the point, I like that," the warrior leaned against the tree and straightened out her legs crossing them at the ankle. "I hear it's been a little hard at Phoebe's lately."
Xena let the statement float in the air for a while seemingly relaxing against the tree. Rosa finally spoke quietly, "It's strange, Xena. When we were first getting to know Phoebe it was easy. It seemed like a perfect fit, but now…."
"Now the honeymoon is over." Xena stated.
"What does that mean?" Rosa asked.
"It means that you are starting the transition from getting to know one another, from being friends, to becoming a family."
Taking the last bite of her granola bar Rosa nodded, "I guess that makes sense."
"It does," Xena confirmed. "Especially when Phoebe is acting more like a parent than a friend."
"She's not my mother!" Izzy announced loudly. "She can't tell me what I can and can't do." Crossing her arms over her chest Izzy glared at Xena.
Nodding at the girl Xena waited a few moments before speaking, "See that's where you are wrong, Iz."
"What do you mean?" Moving closer to Xena Izzy finally allowed the warrior to pull her onto her lap.
"I mean," Xena brushed dark hair from Izzy's eyes, "that Phoebe has every right to tell you what you can and can't do in regards to certain things."
"But it's not fair," Izzy protested.
"It's not fair that your moms died." Xena agreed. "But you are here with us now and you have a chance for another woman to love you as a mother."
"But what about my mamas?" Izzy asked quietly.
Holding the little girl on her lap Xena opened her arm and allowed Rosa to curl into her side. "I think that your mamas would want you and Rosa to be happy. I know that I'd want my girls to have someone to love them if I couldn't be here for them myself."
"Really?" Rosa asked quietly.
Xena nodded, "Remember there a lot of girls in this tribe that can talk to you about this; there's a lot of love in this tribe if you give us a chance."
"Maybe," Rosa admitted.
"Addy came to us when her family was killed, Daphne became my sister when her father died, but she was already becoming family before his death."
"Zivah too, right?" Izzy asked.
Xena nodded, "And let's not forget Rory and there are at least a dozen other girls that came to us because they needed a family."
"What about Alex?" Izzy prodded.
"Well, Alex is a special case," Xena admitted. "A bit like Daphne. Alex's father is alive but he wants her to grow up among Amazons. So she studies with the tribe all day and goes home to him in the evening. Daphne though only saw her father when she could because he thought it was better if she lived here all the time. It was still a hard transition when he died, but she had already been living with our mom for a while before it happened."
"So Phoebe really could tell me that I wasn't supposed to walk in the trees alone yet? That I needed somebody with me in case an accident happened." Izzy asked.
"Yes, Iz." Xena tapped the girl's nose. "Phoebe had every right to tell you that and to ground you from tree walking for the week."
"I still don't like it," Izzy conceded.
"You don't have to like it," Xena replied. "Just know that she does that because she's seeing you as a daughter. It may take a long time before you ever see Phoebe as a mother, but just remember that she loves you, Iz. Both of you," Xena amended kissing the top of Rosa's head.
"You think?" Rosa asked quietly.
"Well," Xena moved to look Rosa in the eye, "Who else would put up with a certain teenager who thought it was okay to disappear and not let anyone know where she was going because she didn't like being told no by the weapon's master?"
"I still think I should have been allowed to use the bow and arrow to shoot that melon out of Alma's hands."
"And I'm glad Eponin said no, little girl." Xena smirked. "Weapons aren't for tricks, Rosa."
"I know, Xena." Rosa smiled slightly and moved away from the warrior's side. "I think that Izzy and I are ready to go home. We need to talk to Phoebe. Right, Izzy?"
Hearing a deep sigh Xena looked at the little girl in her lap, "Yeah. I guess we do. I'm not happy about everything, but at least she didn't hand us our butts in a sling the way the mamas would have."
Rosa grinned, "Yeah."
"Just give her time," Xena remarked with a grin.
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Thanks for the PM, comments, favorites, and follows. They are appreciated.
For those of you wondering what Sam and Eve's horses look like- please use the links provided.
Sam's horse is called the Black Sea Horse or Chernomor. I envision her horse as looking like this: breed/black-sea-horse/
Just type in the link without the spaces in the beginning and you should be able to find it rather easily.
search?q=Chernomor+black+sea+horse+russian&biw=1600&bih=883&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjf-fXv6nPAhXMSyYKHeyvBv0Q_AUIBigB#imgrc=jSSpeuDl45ImKM%3 A
More information for the horse is at this link- just take away the space at the end in between the 3 & the A
As for Eve's horse: It is a Marwari Horse. A very rare horse used in India by warriors. It's main identifying feature are the ears which turn inwards. You can find a lot of information here:
Again- just take out the spacing.
If you follow this link you'll see a few horses that are similar for me to Eve's horse. The main thing is to take my description and make sure you place those ears if you want to "know" what Chaos looks like.
https: search?q=deep+copper+black+mane+marwari&biw=1600&bih=883&noj=1&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj93veFvqnPAhVRgSYKHRvCDSYQsAQIHw#imgrc=_
Again. Just take out the spacing. If you can't access them just PM me and I'll send you the links.
Happy reading, Kik.