Sisters in Arms

Amala spends some time with her sister Snoe, but keeps a scheme from her.

63.

Sisters in Arms

 

They had secluded Amala as soon as they had returned to Westmark, and of course this made the townspeople all the more curious.   Thankfully, her room in the Ducal Tower was on the top floor and far away from prying eyes.    They were visited briefly by Ollie, bringing Aidan to see her sisters, but they didn’t stay long.

They sat with her as she finally calmed down enough to sleep for several hours in the early morning.   Snoe went all over Westmark acquiring as much of the Faesidhe Tree leaves as she could find.   

There were extremely few remaining, and as the news of the destruction of the tree had spread, few were willing to give up the last of the leaves.

After several hours of bartering and begging, Snoe returned with three leaves and immediately brewed a tea for her sister.

When Amala awoke, they forced her to drink as much as she could.    Then she fell back asleep for a few hours, so Snoe sent Mathlyn and Nansea off to get some sleep after their exhausting night.

It was mid afternoon when Amala woke again and, to Snoe's relief, the tea seemed to have restored most of her faculties to her.

“Hi,” Amala said to her sister, who was sitting next to the bed working on links of chainmail.

“How are you feeling?”

“Ashamed and pathetic.”

“There’s no need of that, Amala.    Very few people saw you arrive.”

“Good.”

“Are you hungry?”

“No, not really.    I am tired of lying down though.    Do you know what sounds good to me?”

“What?”   Snoe asked, intrigued.

“I want to spar.”  Amala grinned, “I’m serious!   We haven’t sparred for probably half a year.”

“You want to spar today?   Are you sure you’re up to it?”

“I can still beat you, little sister.”   She kidded, though in truth, Snoe was certainly close to being her equal.

“You really want to spar?”  

Amala nodded.

“Well, okay - let me make sure the room is not being used.   I’ll send one of the guards to check and to put our weapons there.”

“That sounds good.   It will work off some of this nervous energy.”

“You seem very calm to me.”

“Well, compared to before, I am, but it’s still there, underneath.”

 

Snoe rang for the servants and made preparations without leaving Amala’s side.     It had been their favorite thing to do together since Amala had began to train Snoe in swordsmanship.

 

Snoe had matched her determination and daily discipline and as a result had nearly equaled her older sister in fighting with twin swords.    They used blunted weapons of course, but very seldom did they injure the each other.

Instead, it was a very physical form of exercise that they both greatly enjoyed.   

 

Half an hour later the two of them quietly slipped into the weapon training room of the Ducal Keep and locked the doors behind them.  

“I never thought I’d fight you while you were wearing a dress and with hair longer than mine.”   Snoe jested.

“Well I never thought I would fight you with you speaking to me.”   Amala countered, reflecting on all the changes that had occurred since the last time they had faced off.

“Ready?”  Snoe asked, holding her swords up in the en garde position.   Amala advanced and their match began.

 

To anyone watching the duel, it was a truly spectacular show.   Both Drow women fought with incredible speed and accuracy.   One could hardly see the swords as both women attacked and parried, feinted and counter-thrusted.   Like crazy dancers they moved about the room, perfectly matched and understanding the technique of each other.

Amala was amazed at her sister.    She had always had the speed and precision, but she usually held back just a bit, second-guessing herself, which would sometimes open up holes in her defense that Amala could exploit.    But a change had come over her and she was moving with complete confidence now.   Never had they been so equally matched.  

“How are you doing?” Snoe asked her after they had sparred for a while.

“Fine - and you are much improved on your assurance.”

“Well of course, I am a Queen now!”

“Don’t remind me!”   Amala exclaimed, “We won’t be able to do this because you’ll be off issuing decrees, hosting grand balls and having royal heirs.”

“Well not right away.”  Snoe giggled, “We haven’t even consummated our royal marriage yet.”

“Really?”

“Things just haven’t been right.   We’re slowly warming up to it, though.   Last night things were quite warm until Nansea came running to tell me that you were in a bad state.”

“Sorry, I didn’t really know what I was doing, but that was Mathlyn’s idea to go get you.”

“I’m glad she did; I’m out of practice.”

“You’ve improved little sister.   Too bad we can’t keep practicing like this or you’d begin to whip me all the time.”

“I doubt that.   Even feeling sick you are stronger than me.”

“It‘s just the lust fuelling me.   I sure hope you never experience this.”

“If I do, I’ll just keep the King very happy.”  Snoe laughed.

“You have bonded with him --  soul to soul, I mean- haven’t you?”

“Oh yes, that happened before we married.”

“Snoe, I’m really happy for you and Aedric.”    She said, struggling to keep a tide of emotion from making her sound weak.

“Amala, you know there is a simple solution for your Ssinssrigg-Chath, don’t you?”

“What?   Faesidhe leaf tea?   There’s not much of that left, and though it helps a lot, it isn’t really a solution, sis.”

“No, I don’t mean that.   I mean that you should just mate with Carn.”

Her blunt statement so surprised the older sister that she missed a parry and got the edge of Snoe’s blunt sword on her ear, knocking her backwards.

“Amala, oh my heavens, are you alright?”   Snoe disengaged and rushed over to her.   Amala stood there, holding her bruised ear.

“Why did you let your guard down?   I would have killed you right now if this had been actual combat.   You can’t let injuries to your opponent steal your focus.”

“Obviously!”  The albino girl snorted, “Let’s look at it.”

Amala displayed her ear, and Snoe sighed in relief, “It’s still attached, though you’ll have a nasty bruise.”

“I’m not used to you using verbal attacks.” 

“What verbal attack?   I wasn’t trying to shock you, Amala.   You and Carn need to mate if you want to get control of this condition.”

“I can’t believe you are saying such a thing!  If Mom heard you suggest something like this…”

“I think she’d agree with me, Amala.    It’s what you need, isn’t it?”

“What makes you think it’s Carn that is affecting me?”   She tried to act confident and relaxed, but the mere mention of his name was making the fever swell up inside her.

“Oh please, Amala!”   Snoe laughed, “You practically bore a hole through him the last couple of days during the negotiations with the Faesidhe.   You looked as if you could have taken him right there in front of everyone.”

“Snoe!”  Amala blushed, though in all honesty, she had considered that very idea several times, “Stop saying such things!”

“Are you denying it?    Your eyes are burning like coals right now just due to the mention of his name.    Obviously you are drawn to him.”

Amala’s shoulders slumped and she nodded, “Sis, you have no idea.    I almost went to him last night, before Mathlyn and Nansea came to my aid.    It is the scariest thing I have ever faced, because I can’t control it.   Ever since I saw his gorgeous face, I have… wanted him.   Oh how I’ve wanted him!”  

Amala shivered with desire, but looked at her feet in shame.

“You should talk to him, then.   Then make love.”

“It’s not as simple as that.   He’d be scared to death of me in this state.”

“Oh, I don’t think he’d complain any.”

“I’m not sure, Snoe - I think it would be assuming too much to think he’d just happily agree to sex.    He is still dealing with feelings for Sialia, and he says I remind him of her.    That might upset him.”

“Or it could give him what he wants as well.    Amala, he is obviously in love with you!”

“I don’t know - I’m just a close friend, I’d say.”

“Surely you can’t be that blind!   I’ve seen the way he looks at you.   He desires you as much as you desire him.”

Amala tilted her head back and laughed, “Oh, I can assure you that this isn’t the case.    But it’s pointless speculation anyway.   I’m going to try to fend this lust off.   I don’t want some primitive mating urges to force me to do something that I wouldn’t normally do.   Besides, Mom would say the same thing - fend it off.”

“I disagree, Amala.    She’d tell you that if you loved him and knew that he loved you, quickly get married and then deal with your lust in a proper manner.”

“Well, we’ll see what she says when she and father arrive in a few days.   In the meantime, I think the Faesidhe leaves will keep me sane.”

Snoe sighed and shrugged, “It’s your choice, I guess.    You both might be soul-mated already.   Quick, tell me what Carn is thinking right now!”

Immediately Amala thought of one crystal clear thought, “He’s coming to me tonight!”

“Well?”   Snoe asked when she didn’t immediately reply.

“I don’t know, sis.  Look, I’m obviously doing better, don’t you think.”

“Yes, you seem to be in your right mind.”

“Well then, I should be alright by myself tonight.   I didn’t sleep much at all last night and I used up a lot of energy while in my state.   I feel dead on my feet right now.    Give me a shot of tea and let me go to bed and I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?   I think you should have someone with you.”

“I’ll be fine, Snoe!   Locked inside the ducal tower, with guards posted at all the entrances - I won’t go crazy and sneak out, I promise.    I just sleep better when I’m by myself.”

“I’ll tell you what - I will see what Mathlyn and Nansea think.    You can tell them what you told me and if they agree, then alright.   But we’re going to sleep in the rooms next door so the fever won’t get the best of you.   I don’t want you seducing a guard or something.”

“Don’t worry; it’s completely zeroed in on Carn, and he’s not here, so I will behave.   Let’s go talk to the ladies right now!”

“Okay, I guess you do seem in control right now.”

But as Amala and Snoe hurried to find the two Sylvan ladies, Amala was anything but in control.  

 

 

Reviews

[Elina]

"They were visited briefly by Ollie, bringing Aidan to see her sisters, but they didn’t stay long, sensing that Amala was not in the mood for visitation." This seems to be a bit of a run-on sentence.
"...when Amala again awoke, and to Snoe’s relief, the tea had seemed to restore..." Perhaps something along the lines of "...when Amala woke again and, to Snoe's relief, the tea seemed to have restored..."
"...seldom did either one injure the other one." You can omit the final "one," as it is a bit repetitive.
"Well I never thought I would fight you with you speaking to me as we spared." This seems rather redundant. You may want to re-word it a bit. Also, there are a couple different spots where you have "sparing" or "spared" instead of "sparring" and "sparred."