what I was going to ask of her would split her loyalties. And there was every possibility she would choose the sons over the Amazons.
I wasn't looking forward to it.
Mel's shop and home was in a hundred-year-old school set on about an acre on the Near West Side of Madison. She'd bought the place from the city ten years earlier. There were two buildings on the property-the old school itself, where Mel and her family-her mother, grandmother, and Harmony, her teen daughter-lived and worked, and the old gym/cafeteria. That's where I along with a couple dozen other Amazons had stayed last fall.
We entered the main school from the side, through the basement. The shop's door was in the front, but it would be locked. The basement was where Mel's grandmother, an ex-high priestess, ran her fortune-telling and other new age arts business. It was also where Mel's mother, a warrior, kept her gym.
I was hoping to see either of them first, as a warm-up of sorts before facing Mel.
I opened the door and walked into a room filled with the last thing I'd expected to see-babies. There were at least a dozen of them, tucked inside round-bottomed plastic seats. The kind of combination seat/carrier the baby I'd lost had been in.
I froze; it was like walking into a nightmare.
Behind me Bern muttered, 'Babies.'
My body relaxed, released the air I'd been holding in my lungs. She saw them too. For a second I'd really thought. . well, Bubbe, Mel's grandmother, was a powerful priestess. I wasn't completely sure she couldn't have known I was coming and plotted the perfect greeting. Be planning to make me sort through the lot of them to try to discern the baby I sought as some kind of worthiness trial.
As if on cue, the old priestess walked into the room. She had a baby propped up on one shoulder and was rubbing some kind of root over her sleeve. When she saw me, she stopped.
'You are here,
One of the babies on the floor began to fuss. With a shake of her head Bubbe walked over and shoved the root into his mouth. Loud sucking noises followed and the infant quieted immediately.
She moved to another seat, this one empty, and placed the child she held inside. Standing, she said, 'My days of watching babies, they should be over, but Dana, she has convinced my daughter to run a program for new mothers in the old gym. And me, I'm left with these. . ' She gestured to the seats and sighed. Her gaze on me, she asked, 'How about you,
I wasn't sure how to answer. I wanted a baby, a particular baby, but not for myself. I hoped Mel's grandmother wasn't looking into my future. . near or otherwise.
'You know me, Bubbe. My only wish is to keep the tribe strong. I do that by being a dedicated queen.'
She puckered her lips. 'If only that were such a clear path.' Her blue eyes were sad, reminding me what she had done to protect the tribe. She'd stolen Mel's son and made her think he had been born stillborn. All to keep his birth and Mel's desire to keep him from driving a wedge between her granddaughter and the tribe.
It hadn't worked. Mel had left anyway and Bubbe had borne the secret for years. She'd revealed the truth to Mel last fall, but I didn't know what had happened after that or if Mel had forgiven her.
I studied the older Amazon, trying to read her body language, but she was, as always, inscrutable. I'd given up and was turning to introduce Bern when another female rushed into the room. This one was young, flushed in the face and stinking of old milk: Dana, a hearth-keeper who had come to live with Mel when she learned she was pregnant with a son. I hadn't seen her since then.
'Zery!' She rushed toward me, her face glowing.
Before I could dodge her enthusiastic greeting, Bern had stepped forward and shoved the basket full of produce between us.
'Oh.' Dana stopped short. She glanced at Bern, her eyes filled with curiosity but zero intimidation. Dana was one of those rare beings who found good in everyone so saw little to fear from anyone.
It was strangely reassuring to see that hadn't changed.
'Have you seen him?' She stopped next to one of the carriers and scooped a bundle from inside. The baby was red and ugly, with eyes that were screwed shut against the light. 'I named him Pisto,' she murmured.
Named after my lieutenant who had been killed by the son. . my lieutenant who was also Dana's sister.
Thinking of Pisto, I reached out a hand.
'Don't touch him.' Mel's voice rang out from across the basement.
I curled my fingers into my palm. My friend hadn't changed much, not that in nine months I expected her to. She was dressed much like I'd seen her last, with a few minor tweaks-wearing shorts instead of jeans and a sleeveless instead of long-sleeved tee. On her head was her favorite Badgers cap and in her hand was a staff.
That was different-not only that she held a staff but that she held it with such ease. I'd always known she had the talent in her, but she'd denied it for so long. .
'Looks like Harmony isn't the only one who's been working with your mother,' I remarked.
She paced forward, the staff in front of her. 'Why are you here, Zery?'
'We are friends, remember?' I motioned at Bern to set the basket on the ground. She complied, then stood with her hands shoved into her pockets and her body looking deceptively relaxed.
Mel, however, wasn't fooled. She shot a glance at the warrior, then laughed. 'Which am I supposed to be swayed by? The gifts or the intimidation?'
'Neither. I just want to talk to Peter. Is that wrong?'
She tossed the staff from one hand to the other, then leaned it against the wall. 'No, not at all. Let me ask you a question. What do you love, Zery? Really truly love?'
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I hadn't expected the question, wasn't sure I had an answer. Then I realized I did. 'The Amazons.' The tribe was my life.
'Really? The Amazons? Or the tribe? Do you want to help and protect each individual or some myth that exists only in your mind?'
I held up a hand to stop her. 'We've had this argument before. You don't like the tribe, don't want to rejoin, fine. I accept that. I'm not here to bring you back.'
She took a step toward me. Her hands were at her sides, empty. For any other artisan it would be an innocent stance, but Mel wasn't any other artisan. Her father had been a son, and as I'd learned during our last time together, she had not only artisan but warrior and priestess talents too.
She was, I realized, a prime example of why mixing with the sons was dangerous. There was no predicting how strong a baby from a son and an Amazon would be. Which reminded me of someone else. Mel's daughter had a son for a father too.
'How's Harmony?' I asked
Mel tensed, every inch of her except her fingers; they wiggled.
I hadn't said it to tweak her, but I quickly recognized that I had.
'Is Harmony why you're here?' Her body was so taut now I could almost feel the magic strumming off her.
A few feet away Bubbe murmured something I couldn't hear. The tension flowing through Mel lessened but only slightly.
'It's just a question, Mel.' The words came out soft and sad. Since Mel had left the tribe, there had been a gap between us, but now it seemed to have widened to a chasm. Standing there next to women I'd loved, who had supported me through some of the worst times in my life, I felt very alone.
Mel closed her eyes and balled her hands into fists. When she opened her lids, I could see some of my sadness reflected back at me in her gaze.
'We know. We know why you're here.' Then she opened her mouth and expelled a gale-force wind. For the second time in days I flew backward-this time smashing into a wall.
My second collision with something solid and ungiving in a week did my back no good. I grunted and closed
