Amazon

Without stopping the Amazon healer stepped into the Queens hut. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dark interior and when they did, she focused on the Queen. "You asked for an update on the prisoners, my Queen?"

"I did." Queen Terrine answered as she looked up from the scroll she was working on. Laying her quill down, the young Queen gave the old healer her undivided attention.

Myrine, who had been a healer for thirty summers, hesitated. One of the prisoners, the youngest one at that, was refusing treatment and would become violent when approached.

Terrine raised an eyebrow at the, usually, outspoken healer. "Is there something wrong with the prisoners?"

"No." Myrine quickly answered. "Most of the wounds have been tended to. But one soldier is refusing to let me treat him, my Queen."

"Really?" Terrine stood and walked over to her window, which had a view of the prisoners hut. "Which one?"

Myrine followed her Queen to the window. "The youngest one. I've tried to treat him twice and on both occasions, he has become violent."

Terrine narrowed her eyes at the hut. "What are his injuries?" Oh yes, she knew of the youngest prisoner. He saved the life of her sister, Polemusa, during battle before being captured, along with his entire legion, just three days ago.

"He has an arrow through his right shoulder and a large gash across his ribs. It's the arrow that I'm worried about, my Queen. He still bleeds." Myrine knew that her words would cause the Queen added stress but that couldn't be helped. If the boy wasn't treated soon, she feared for his life. A life that was to be spared for saving the Queens sister.

A hiss escaped from the Queens mouth as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I will see to him, myself." Terrine said as she turned and left her hut, heading for the one holding the prisoners. She was a skilled healer herself and would see to it that the boy was treated, with or without his corporation. She waved the guards aside as she approached. Ducking her head, she entered. "The soldier that is causing Myrine grief, where is he?" She asked one of the guards that had followed her inside.

"He's in the corner, my Queen." Tecmessa answered and leaded her over to the corner where the troublesome boy was laying, curled in a ball. "I didn't know Rome used children for soldiers. He can't be more than fourteen or fifteen summers."

Terrine snorted. "He is old enough to handle a sword, that is all the Romans care about." She waved Tecmessa away so she could concentrate on the matter at hand. "I'm told that you refuse to let my healer tend to your wounds." She lowered her voice so that he is the only one within the hut that can hear her. When he doesn't answer, she moves closer but jumps back just in time to avoid the perfectly aimed kick to her chest. She grabs the foot before he is able to lower it which causes him to squirm and twist, trying to break away.

"A little young to be a soldier, aren't you Roman?" Terrine inquired as she dropped the foot and watched as he curled back up into a ball. "I'm here to look at your shoulder."

"No!" The boy screamed and moved further into the corner, which caused the arrow to shift in his shoulder. Crying out, he wrapped a hand around the shaft of the green and blue feathered arrow.

Terrine reached forward and knocked his hand away when she released that he was going to try and pull it out himself. "Don't you have any sense, Roman?" She hissed in anger and frustration. "You pull that out yourself and you'll bleed to death!"

The boy, who was now staring down at his blood covered hand, snorted, weakly. "What does it matter, Amazon bitch?!" He spat out. "You're going to kill us all anyways, this way I go by my hand instead of yours!"

Unconsciously, Terrine took a step back from the venom in the boys voice. Tilting her head to the side, she couldn't help but feel a small amount of respect for the young soldier. He was brave, she had to give him that. "What's your name, Roman?" She asked, not making any attempt to move closer. "My name is Terrine and I'm Queen of this tribe."

"I know who you are, Amazon." The boy grunted out in obvious pain. "My Uncle will not let my death go unpunished. He'll bring thirty legions from Rome and wipe this tribe from existence. I take comfort in that fact."

Terrine couldn't tell if the boy was bluffing or not. He sounded serious and she couldn't help but feel a pang deep within her stomach at his chilling words. Did he really have an Uncle with that much power? No matter, because she wasn't going to let him die by her hand or by the arrow in his shoulder. "Sorry to disappoint you, Roman, but you are not going to die on this day." She turned her head towards the door. "Tec, I require your assistance." She turned back to the boy trying to formulate how to get the arrow out without him reacting violently. Hearing the guard step up beside her, she motioned towards the prone lad. "Hold him." Was all she said and within minutes the boy was restrained and kicking like a wild stallion. Moving around to his head, she reached over and ripped the bloody tunic he was wearing away from arrow. She hissed when she saw the greenish-yellow puss; a sign of infection. With skilled hands, she broke the head of the arrow off and began to push it through and out his back. Ignoring his anguished screams, she removed the offending object and tossed it aside. Looking around for something to clean the wound, she grabbed his, untouched, bowl of water and dumped some into the wound. She watched with satisfaction as some of the puss began to drain out along with dark, red, blood. By this time, his struggles had ceased and she could only assume that he had passed out from the pain. "Go to Myrine and tell her that I need something for infection." She instructed the guard.

Tecmessa left go of the boy, stood, and left the hut in search of the healer. She rubbed her arm where she had been kicked and frowned at the already forming bruise.

Meanwhile, Terrine was busy removing the filthy Roman armor to get a better look at the gash across his ribs. Blinking, she sat back on her heels when she encountered a tightly wrapped bandage that spanned the boys chest, several times over. "Odd." She mumbled to herself as she began to unwrap it. If the boy had been injured prior to the attack three days ago, why was he even there? She was pulled from her thoughts as the end of the bandage fell away only to reveal a pair of perfectly sized breasts. Her eyes darted away from the boys chest and to his face. "So this is why you fought so hard, Roman?" She shook her head. Now this was a surprise. The young Roman soldier wasn't a boy at all but a young woman posing as a boy by the looks of things. "Full of surprises, aren't you?" She asked the prone figure as she used the same bowl of water and a piece of a clean cloth torn from her skirt to clean off some of the caked mud and blood. Gentle fingers prodded the gash across the ribs and she concluded that it was healing fine on its own. Her eyes were drawn to shoulder once again but not because of the wound. There was something just beside the wound that caught her attention. It was a marking of an animal paw. She traced the paw with her finger, vaguely feeling the heat coming from the infected arrow wound. "I've seen this before." She whispered and indeed she had. There was a tribe to the north that she was friendly with. Their Queen, Zihal, had been a dear friend of her own mothers. That's where she had seen the marking before. The entire tribe, Zihal and her two daughters, Lykopis and Laodoke, included, had the marking. It was given to them at birth by a Priestess of Artemis to show that the new arrival belonged, entirely, to the Goddess. "Who are you, little one? And why do you hide behind the mask of man?"

Rushing back, Tecmessa entered the hut with an armful of supplies. "My Queen?" She offered the herbs and bandages to the silent Queen then left to retake her post outside.

Terrine took the supplies without a word and began to combine the herbs into a mixture that would rid the young soldier of the infection and fever. Satisfied, she gently pushed the paste into the wound and covered it with a bandage to hold it in. She then added the left over herbs to the remaining water and forced the unconscious girl to drink it. When there was nothing left for her to do, she pulled a nearby blanket over the girls naked chest and left the hut to see Myrine.

-0-

Myrine looked up from her fire when she felt another enter her hut. "Tecmessa told me that you got the arrow out." It was an offhanded statement. The Queen never ceased to amaze her.

"I did." Terrine moved over to one of the two chairs that had been placed near the fire.

"He let you?" Myrine asked with a touch of mirth.

Terrine shrugged and gave the old woman a sheepish look. "There was no choice given."

Myrine moved over to the other chair and sat down, facing the Queen. "There is something on your mind, no?"

"The soldier isn't what he appears to be." Terrine locked eyes with Myrine.

"He isn't Roman?" Myrine didn't know what the Queen was talking about.

Terrine sighed and looked into the roaring fire. "I mean he isn't a he at all. He is a she and I'm pretty sure that she wasn't born a Roman, just raised as one."

Myrine was silent for a moment then started to chuckle. "Nothing is ever as it seems with you, is it, little one?" She reached over a hand and patted a bare knee. "Tell me what makes you think she wasn't born a Roman?"

"When I took the arrow out and cleaned the wound, I noticed a marking on her shoulder." Terrine explained. "It's a paw print and I know I've seen it before." She watched as Myrine's smile faded and her eyes grew serious.

"A paw print, are you sure?" Myrine wanted to know. "A wolf print?"

Terrine thought about it and nodded. "Yes, It is a wolf print. I've seen the same marks on warriors from the northern tribe."

Myrine was silent for a moment then pulled down the neck of her leather dress, showing off a wolf paw print. "Was it like this?"

"It was." Terrine confirmed as she eyed the elderly healers own marking. "But it wasn't red, it was blue."

"Blue? Are you certain?" Myrine's brows furrowed as she stood and began to pace around her hut. "That's impossible."

Terrine frowned. "I can assure that it is possible because that girl has it." She had no idea what was making Myrine so unsettled. "It's the same shape and size as yours but it isn't red. It's blue and the ink is as bright as the day it was placed on the skin. The ink is enchanted by the Priestess, isn't it? To last forever?"

Myrine stopped her pacing and searched Terrine's face for any sign of deceit but found none, not that she was expecting to. "Blue is the sign of the royal family, my Queen." She explained as she sat back down. "The last child born to the royal family was Queen Zihal, youngest. A son, Tibus, who is being raised by his father in Athens. And that was twenty summers ago."

"Obviously he wasn't the last." Terrine said, dryly. She wasn't used to being not believed Especially by someone who she was close to. Myrine had always been like an Aunt to her and was the only one to believe her when she said that she would be Queen instead of her older sister, Kyme. She did become Queen because Kyme was killed in a Centaur attack before she could ascend the throne. But now Myrine was looking at her like she was lying to her. "I tell the truth, healer." She said, stiffly. "See for yourself when the girl awakes." She stood and left the hut, returning to her own to think.

To Be Continued...