SCARLETS DOMAIN

But there was work to be done.

"Come, Lia. You take one set of armour and I'll take
the other. Pinky, you obviously can't came with us.
You stay and cover Gudrun, who will facilitate our
escape with her arrows if need be."

We took the Amazon's clothing, and I was intrigued to
see that Lia had no qualms about wearing everything
that the blonde had worn, even her loincloth. I drew
the line at that.

Finally

"Do you think Gudrun will be OK with Pinky?" asked Lia
as we picked our way down the hillside into the
encampment.

"How do you mean?"

"Its just the way he took those girls apart." She
shuddered. "He enjoyed it too much!"

"Oh," I said. She was right. A man, like a wolf, once
he gets the taste of blood, is a dangerous thing. "I
think Gudrun can look after herself," I reassured her.

In our Amazon garb, we managed to pass unnoticed into
the encampment, greeting their soldiers as casually as
we could. We made our way towards where we had seen
Ritta.

"Have you a plan?" asked Lia.

"Not really, but if we wait until nightfall, we stand
our best chance. At least we're in now and they won't
be watching for anything from inside the encampment.

We found Ritta supervising the training of a
detachment of Amazons.

"No, no," she was saying in that strange eastern
accent of hers, "you fight like small girlies!" She
gestured to one of her White Guards. "She show you how
to split the groin areas of your enemy!"

The two Amazons in the enclosure looked nervous as the
guard climbed in, drawing her sword. They backed away
together, their weapons at the ready.

Suddenly Ritta laughed. "I think it isn't very fair!"
she said. "Two onto one - let me even the odds!"

With that she climbed into the ring herself, but
instead of drawing her own sword, she took the weapon
from the White Guard, leaving her unarmed.

"There, that is better, I think! Now you try to kill
her!"

The two girls glanced at one another, then emboldened
by the situation, charged at the unarmed woman with a
yell.

With a speed that defied belief, the White Guard
side-stepped the thrust of the first girl, seizing her
sword arm, and whirling round behind her. With her arm
pulled almost from its socket, the girl yelped and
dropped her sword.

There was a scream and the horrible sound of
splintering bone as the Guard lunged forward, driving
the sharp beak of her helmet into the side of the
ribcage of the second girl, who had not had time to
react.

She slipped to the ground, coughing blood while the
White Guard retrieved the discarded sword of her first
victim.

The remaining girl backed away, whimpering as the
Guard advanced menacingly towards her. Urine trickled
between her legs, wetting the sand.

"Enough!" cried Ritta. "We cannot kill too many of
you, or there will be no one left for the enemy!"

The White Guard relaxed, and tossed the weapon to the
feet of the girl, who collapsed sobbing to her knees.

Lia looked shocked.

"So you see," I said, "we have our work cut out!"

We waited until nightfall. For one thing, any attempt
on Ritta's life, even if it was successful, would be
unlikely to include our own survival if carried out
during daylight. It was best to wait until she, and
the other Amazons slept.

After dark, when Ritta had retired to her tent, the
camp was far from silent. Sound carries through the
night, and we could hear the cries of Amazons as they
slaked each others lust, or sobbed away their fear.

The cries of death are so much like the cries of
passion and despair.

Of course Ritta's tent was guarded, but the two girls
that stood outside the entrance were just novice
warriors. If one tried to sneak into the encampment
from outside undetected, the crack night-guards would
likely plant an arrow in your back. Once inside,
however, the place was as soft as an exposed belly.

I staggered towards them, pretending to be drunk.

"You... you look very pretty!" I said to one of the
girls, a blonde with sparkling grey eyes.

Her wary expression softened with the compliment. So
young, so naive, I thought, and obviously impressed by
my uniform. I walked towards her, smiling, and put my
hand on her shoulder. Her hand was on her sword hilt,
but already it was too late for her. All I needed was
a little more distance from her watchful comrade and
to be sure Lia was in position.

"So young," I murmured, repeating my thoughts, "would
you comfort an old soldier like me, I wonder?"

She smiled with a radiance...

My knife grated against a rib and her left breast
quivered as it slid beneath it. I felt her heart
trembling in protest against the intruding blade, and
then become still.

Her smile vanished, and her eyes widened in a brief
moment of uncomprehending pain. She was dead before I
let her slip to the ground, her almost naked body
quivering on the impact and her black novice apron
falling aside to expose her sex.

I could watch this in safety, for I knew that as her
partner had realised the attack, Lia had come from
behind, wrapped her arm around her throat and driven a
knife into her back, splitting her heart from behind.

This one fell on top of my blonde, coming to rest with
her face inches from hers. Blood dripped from her
mouth into the mouth of my victim.

Lia and I slipped quietly into the front vestibule of
Ritta's tent, and then quietly moved aside the flap of
her inner chamber.

Ritta was not asleep. She lay languidly on her bed,
her eyes hooded and one hand between her legs as she
watched a couple of naked girls wrestling before her.

I nodded to Lia. I had hoped that Ritta would be
asleep. If she had a lover, we could have killed them
both. This wasn't going to be easy, but there was no
turning back.

We burst into the bedchamber. The two girls stopped
fighting and stared open mouthed as we lunged for
Ritta.

She was fast, but even so we would have had her, if it
had not been for her 'entertainment'. Indeed my sword
was inches from her groin, when I felt the thump of a
naked sweaty female body drive onto my back.

I was driven forward and I twisted, throwing her to
the ground. Ritta moved quickly out of range, so I
vented my anger by skewering the downed wrestler in
the stomach as she lay sprawled.

The other wrestler had distracted Lia in a similar
way, but as I turned away, I saw to my horror that she
now lay on the floor, unarmed. Ritta had her sword,
and was pressing the point into the back of her neck.
She also had her own sword now and was pointing it
directly at me.

"Well, girly Antiope, now you must drope your weapon
or your friend die horribly, then you die just as
nasty!"

I looked at the other naked wrestler, who stood
panting beside her mistress. As her erstwhile
adversary moaned, she was galvanised into action,
running over to her, and holding her head as she
started weeping.

Ritta was right. I doubted that I could beat her now,
and it would be a needless waste of Lia's life if I
were to try in any case.

Also, I realised with a shudder, that she knew who I
was.

Will continue in chapter 9...