#laveth

"Be dismissed."

All those who had not been directly involved scattered, headed back to their beds amidst much disgruntled murmuring and gossiping.

Laveth watched them go until just a few remained. On a whim, she called a straggler back. The woman was obviously disgruntled, but unwilling to disobey. Not a word was said about her manner. She pulled her subordinate in for a murmured order and sent her off at a run.

Lynn eased back, growing wary with the addition of this third body. Blair and Sheba were more than enough for her personal effects. One foot shifted another step back and Laveth snapped into action. She charged and tackled Lynn to the ground before the alcohol permitted her to realize what had prompted the attack.

Loose stone bit into her arms and back with the force of the larger woman's weight pressing into her, hands pinning wrists, torso bearing down. Lynn writhed and growled, gaining a knee to the side for the effort. Stunned by the clarity of the pain and only began struggling again when the runner returned with rope.

It scratched and chafed at the skin that it was wound around, pinching in some places. Her breath quickened and she began twisting and pulling until blood welled around the ropes. Warm, slick blood and prickling pain. They tied her wrists and elbows, ankles and knees. The world lurched. A shoulder dug itself into her stomach. The stone below bobbed gently with the steps of the runner who had helped tie her moments ago.

There were so many ways that an amazon's body could both wield weapons and be used as one itself. The motions were burned into her muscles, had been cultivated there all her life. Words were superfluous. Yet it was words, hers among them, that had decided on war. Words had butchered her sisters' esteem for her. Now words had tied her up and branded her an outsider.

At the base of Ne Myri, the Amazons dropped her. To the right, her belongings were laid. Left, a hunter's knife thumped into the ground a hairs breadth from striking her injured shoulder. 

Lynn laid still and listened to the sound of departing foot falls, breathing slowly. Everything ached. Laveth had added new bruises and scrapes to the symphony of pains which hadn't been tended by healing magic other than her own. Her rough introduction to the mountain base ignited everything.

Blair had to call her name twice before she fully registered that the healer had stayed behind.

"Sheep belong with their flock," Lynn mumbled.

Blair knelt and grabbed the knife.

"Go back, Sheep."

Frost crunched underfoot, loose stones slipping to confuse the woman’s already hindered balance. Her head swiveled towards the footpath leading up to her village, vision trailing along a second or two later. It was far later than she had intended to return, only the night watch would be up and about, but even that was far too many potential witnesses to her current state. They abhorred drunkenness and after the first drink, Lynn hadn't understood why. When the fourth hit her with it’s new depth of hindrances, she began to understand. It had worn off some by now, but she knew it was still obvious what she had been doing. The scent alone was more than enough proof.

Near the crest of the slight slope, she stumbled, nearly diving face first into the ground. A hand shot out of the darkness and caught her under the arm, yanking her to her feet. She giggled despite herself.

“Lynn! What- You reek of that filthy dredg those people drink.”

“Blair! Oh, thank the ancestors it’s you!” The other woman slapped a hand over the entire lower half of Lynn’s face only to have it dragged away. Still, the drunk obligingly lowered her voice. “Lish- listen, I forget where I bed. Sleep, I mean. Imma need your help.”

Blair glowered and shook Lynn hard, forgetting for a moment that the shoulder she held still ached from the last battle. Alcohol only blurred the pain so much. The runt yelped, twisted away frantically, and fell into the frozen earth.

“That stuff is poison, Lynn! You’ll be sick the moment it wears off. What demon possessed you to drink so much?”

Light? Why was there light at this hour? Lynn looked up, confirming the moon and stars, then stretched to look around Blair’s looming figure again. Firelight. Oh. Oh shit. It was a lantern.

“Blair, shut the fuck up!” she hissed. The others were waking. It was still too soon after their loss, everyone was shy of noises. Especially in hours of vulnerability. It was already too late, whether Blair listened or not, the warriors were going to investigate. Everyone would know. 

No one had ever done this in Lynn’s life time. She rattled her sluggish mind, trying her damndest to recall the punishment. Was there one set? Would Laveth know it if there was? A devilish cast of curiosity stole her expression as Blair continued to yell and lecture. Healers were good for that.

Lynn clamoured to her feet, tucking the arm of the injured shoulder close to limit jostling. “Yeah, sickness, dizzy, slow mind, don’t care. Ey, you know the punishment?”

“Punishment?” Blair shifted back on her feet, momentarily confused by the switch. Always healers were focusing more on the body than the world it lived in. “Why should I know that? I’ve never been so stupid!”

Other warriors were leaving their homes now. Lynn caught only a few faces, though all were familiar. The number struck her. So few were left, but no one was being persecuted for taking on that needless battle. She watched for it every day, no one else felt the overwhelming guilt that ate at Lynn’s insides every hour. They slept soundly in their beds while half of their sisters were in ashes.

The mischief from earlier turned black while the growing crowd parted. Laveth was given a wide berth out of respect. Her hair was braided tightly back in rows of varying thickness for the night and her cloak was halfway falling off one shoulder to reveal rumpled night clothes. She gestured for Blair to move back and was given an ample gap.

Lynn knew that she would be asked to speak alone. Most high ranking warriors were given the courtesy of a private judgement before the public event. Laveth gestured again, commanding Lynn to follow. Obstinately, she held fast. Feet planted in a wide, firm stance, thumbs tucked in her belt. 

“Lynn.” This was a command as well as a reprimand. “Do not test me.”

“So stiff. C’mon, relax.” She smiled a little too hard and wide. “You need to get drunk and fuck hard. Maybe then you’d appreciate life enough to break sword when you should.”

“Blair,” the commander barked.

She stepped forward attentively. Lynn hated her for being so eager to please. More like a sheep than a warrior. “Bring the traitor’s essentials. All of them. I value life enough to leave her a means of self defence.” Blair darted away, dragging another sister along to help gather Lynn’s gear. “The traitor,” Laveth’s voice rose to instruct all who were present, “will not return. This is no longer your sister. She is an outsider and any attempt to return will be treated as an enemy infiltration.”

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This is what I've been working on for the last week or so. There's more to add, but I think this is a bit of an excessively long text post as is.