“I doubt you have anything to offer that might convince us otherwise, but have your turn. Speak.” “Well, I trained the young girls in my tribe back home to become strong warriors. Even my mother, usually hard to impress, admitted I was good at it. I could do this for you, too. And you would pay me only if satisfied with my training and according to the number of warriors I train for each tribe.” “Sounds fair to me,” Boras confirmed. “Don’t listen to her, Evandros! Old Boras is charmed by her but you will know better. We don’t need her. There will be no war between our tribes as long as we don’t want to see us wiped out by one another. Besides, we have our warriors trained by ourselves. Why should we trust a stranger who has an interest in weakening us at best?” Evandros massaged his temples. “Now, who is right and who is wrong?” Deipyros of Chonar raised his voice. “Speaking for Jason who had to leave earlier and for me, I would advise not to take this risk. It is most possible Zeuxippe is right and we would regret our decision.” Nobody had noticed the old man had gone. “You fear being overthrown by one woman? Surely you do not trust the strength of your warriors, then.” Boras’ objection resembled a laugh. “Why not pass this into the hands of the gods?” The man sitting next to Zeuxippe had stood up and held a spear in his hand, the embodiment of self-confidence itself. “I shall challenge her to a fight. If she wins, she may train our warriors. If not, she has to leave our territories at once.” Zeuxippe was enraged. “How dare you, traitor-” Penthesilea interrupted her. “That is an excellent idea. Let the gods decide. I accept your challenge.” She turned to the others. “Or does anyone not agree that the immortals know best what to do in this case?” Objection would mean blasphemy. “So it is. Let it be a fist fight. No blood shall be shed on the Council’s Place,” Evandros announced slightly relieved and waved them towards another place with more space for the fight. The tall man handed his spear to his bodyguard then turned to Zeuxippe. “Don’t worry. She will never win. I will see to this.” He didn’t doubt his victory for even the blink of an eye and surely didn’t rely as much on the gods as on himself. Penthesilea examined him carefully. Though not having immense visible muscles he seemed to be very strong by birth and definitely had to be a good fighter. When Evandros gave the signal, he instantly attacked giving Penthesilea no other chance than to throw herself aside in order to avoid his blow. She ducked and ended up behind him, trying to land a powerful kick in his stomach. Unfortunately, he was faster than expected even with his much higher weight and managed to evade her kick easily. The woman could keep her balance but was too close to him now. He knew that, too and grabbed for the arms. Realizing this would be the end of the fight and her leaving in shame, Penthesilea grabbed his wrists instead so she could let go of him at least, if need be. Trying to unbalance him she whirled but he barely followed her movement one step to the side. There was no other way. She let him go, pushing him then caught up and pushed him again with her whole body. Though striking his chest hardly, she would never have succeeded to bring him down if she hadn't fished for his angle with her foot at the same time. Thus ridding him of secure stand, he fell to the bottom obviously startled by the fact that he had been beaten by a woman. “I think it is clear now that I will not plot against you. The gods do not lie, no matter what some of you may think.” Her breath was still irregular from the huge effort. Did she really just overthrow the tall young king? She would never have bet on it before. Evandros stood up. “So the gods have decided. Penthesilea, you are allowed to stay and establish your tribe as your mother wished. Train our warriors and join the Council of Nobles as is appropriate for a woman of your rank.” He seemed to be reassured at last. “No leader will do you or your tribe any harm.” A warning glance to Zeuxippe made clear that the Orcheon was already known for escapades. Feeling the last warmth of the setting sun, Penthesilea rejoiced in her heart and gladly accepted the offer to stay and get known to the other leaders. However, Zeuxippe excused herself almost immediately after the new queen had taken place next to Deipyros. She found most of the kings approachable at least and Boras by far the kindest one. Evandros refrained from their talk and asked only a few questions but wasn’t as hostile as before. The young dark-haired king didn’t take part in the chat either, probably because he still had to stomach his defeat but she made sure to pay tribute to his extraordinary fighting skills. He was undoubtedly much better than her. Deipyros opened up when he learned that the new queen had met his wife Moira and one of his two daughters. His tribe was very small. However, he had set his heart on it and on his family. She was surprised that except for the two youngest leaders, Serkon and Zeuxippe, each one of the kings had two children but only Evandros and old Jason an heir. When the Amazon left late in the night she found someone waiting at the Council’s Place entrance. It was Serkon of Dekanos whom she had beaten, watching her approach with an intransparent gaze. “Never have I thought a woman to win over me in a fight,” he admitted. “But I have never seen a woman fight like that before either. You truly earned your place in the Council as you do your tribe. Nonetheless, it hurts being defeated in front of the other leaders.” “There is nothing shameful in it. It was a just fight and with pure force, I would have never won. They know that.” She lifted her clenched fist. “Don’t let it come between us.” He hesitated for quite a while. “I won’t.” “Together, we can achieve goals any of us can but dream of on their own. Your strength and my tricks – we would make a good team, don’t you think?” “Agree.” He hesitated again. “So we’ll see us tomorrow at the drill ground, I assume?” “I’ll be there.” “Be careful. You haven’t won the warriors over yet and some of them are much more difficult to convince than a couple of kings.” Watching him leave the Amazon gave in thoughtfulness. Could he be the ally she so desperately needed along Boras?
6 Comments
7/10/2017 02:27:45 am
I am happy for Penthesilea and Serkon of Dekanos is great and wise. Want to read more :D
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7/10/2017 04:35:17 am
Glad you're enjoying it so much :D We can do that together because well, I LOVE shooting a scene with the both of them ^^
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10/3/2018 12:54:57 am
Okay this looks like the start of a romance!
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10/3/2018 09:28:21 am
Aaah, comments work again today? That's good!
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9/16/2019 06:56:00 am
Aaah, the good old times without cc, photo editing skills and age restriction 😆
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