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He woke, his neck and arms unbelievably stiff from his unforgiving position, the skin on his wrists rubbed raw by the bindings. Blinking like a startled rabbit in the bright sunlight, he made out the outline of a figure approaching. Once he could focus he saw that it was yet another woman dressed similarly to Sana, yet younger with strawberry-blonde hair pulled into a braid that fell halfway down her back. Her eyes were dark and vulnerable and she was refusing to look at him. Probably to keep her wits about her, he thought smugly, aware of the effect he had on women. Not Sana however, an inner voice argued. He frowned and paid it no heed.

The girl had knelt before him and set a modest plate of food aside, pulling out a knife and holding it tightly in trembling hands as she reached to untie his bonds.

'Do not try to escape, the Chieftess has given me permission to…'

He did not allow her to finish.

With speed a viper would envy he was on her feet and had taken her firmly with him, holding her arm baring the knife against her jugular, his other arm wrapped unyieldingly about her waist. Now free, Achilles was more that sure that he could slit this girl's throat by her own hand, yet there would still be many other warriors to hinder his escape, perhaps too many even for him. Besides, he was not accustomed to taking the life, or even hitting, women especially when they were barely older than adolescents like the one he was currently holding. No, better to use her as a living shield.

'Now listen here girl,' he intoned quietly and menacingly. 'We're going to calmly make our way out of this hut and I'm going to barter you for my freedom.'

'That won't be necessary Lord Achilles,' he rotated both of them to see the speaker, Sana, accompanied by several other female warriors all with arrows pointed directly at him. At the sight of her Chieftess, Achilles felt the young girl shake slightly. He was quite respectful of the fact that she had only just shown fear now, the true making of a warrior, just without the skill.

'Please Chieftess Sana, forgive me, I could not contain him,' she begged. An older, hardened woman laughed bitterly, her bow trained on the man meticulously, grey eyes glittering.

'Sana I told you it was foolish to send such an untrained and incompetent girl to bring the Greek his food.'

'Silence,' Sana commanded in a bored tone, all her attention fixed on the young girl. 'There is nothing to forgive Xante, it was wrong of me to place such a responsibility on one so young as Elya kindly informs me.'

The woman Elya tossed her hair over one shoulder, casually ignoring her leader's slight. Sana stepped forward to address Achilles.

'I suggest you release her this instant, for killing her will certainly get you no where, and I'm sure you agree it would be a pointless death.' Achilles knew when he was beaten, and with a sigh he released his hold on the girl Xante. Once free she scrambled to the safety of her fellow women her eyes wide in an innocent face. She could not be more than seventeen summers, same as his cousin. Sana sidled closer to Achilles and dropped her voice to a whisper only meant for his ears.

'And I wonder, are you the type to kill a woman? Or to strike her if she truly deserves it?' He did not answer and she promptly clapped his hands in irons, certainly a more effective way of keeping him prisoner.

'Perhaps you would care for a tour of the camp,' she said brightly and pulled the chain hard, giving him no choice but to follow her out of the hut and into the sunlight.

To his utter amazement, the entire camp consisted entirely of women; from the youngest child teetering on unsteady feet to the aged grey-haired maids gossiping and weaving garments. He looked around in bewilderment, women everywhere. He'd never seen so many women without a single male in sight. The camp was made up of at least a hundred and fifty people no, correction, women and was made up of many large wooden huts with thatched roofs in several rings of circle formation. He was standing on the edge of a large clearing where communal gatherings obviously took place; hence the large ring of rocks for a fire. Several dead animals were being cooked on smaller fires. The camp was well concealed by a dense shield of trees and greenery with sentries on watch constantly throughout the day. There was a shielded path leading away from the camp and it was down this path that Sana led him.

'I feel a history lesson is in order,' said Sana cheerfully, sprawling by the side of the lake. The path that they had followed had opened up to a glorious oasis natural pool to be used for bathing. Achilles sat uncomfortably on a rock never taking his eyes off Sana.

'Our tribe was started by my mother when she was barely fifteen, and heavily pregnant with me. She loved reading and had learnt about the ancient teachings of the Amazon women, women who kneel to or please no man. They provided shelter, food and fought for their freedom without any man to guide them and yet were still victorious. My mother and a handful of oppressed Trojan women decided to follow that way of life, my mother named as their leader as I now am.'

'How do you survive?' He asked. 'Without men how do you not simply die out?' She laughed and dipped her feet in the water.

'We are aware that men have their uses,' she smirked at him over her shoulder. 'And as customary with the Amazons once a month we travel to the nearby towns and villages to bed a man of our choosing. If a child is conceived and it is a boy we abandon it at the village. If it is a girl we nurture and train her as one of our sisters.'

'The village's wives must not approve of your methods,' he remarked lightly and was rewarded by her laughter. He turned serious. 'How many children have you conceived?'

'As Chieftess I have not yet bedded any man as I found none to be worthy of my choice,' she turned her attention back to the lake. 'No mere farmer will father my child.'

She said no more but instead began to wade into the water until it was up to her knees and reached down to splash her face and upper arms with the cooling liquid.

'Why am I here?' Achilles asked and she paused in her movements to meet his probing stare, blue and brown eyes studying each other meticulously until finally she deemed his question worthy of an answer.

'You trespassed in out woods, something all nearby men know much better than to ever dare doing, so now you are my captive until I feel it fit to release you back into your petty war.'

He was slightly taken about by her possessive claim to him until he noticed her subtle lingering gaze at his well-muscled chest. He almost laughed aloud; Sana the formidable Chieftess of the Amazons desired him. The notion was most amusing and quite interesting to the warrior. Therefore it was not surprising when, later that night, he dreamt of himself and Sana in some very erotic situations that would most definitely merit his throat being slit if he ever decided to share them with her.

Next chapter: Achilles gives a lesson in swordplay and things begin to heat up between him and Sana.

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