Amazon | Nineteen
Anger sizzled inside of Rhea, Achilios held a sword much too large for his body as he stumbled among men who were much larger than he was. Bastian sat astride a horse in front of her, she followed behind them on her own horse, Deacon sat astride his own – his back straight and very cocky. He seemed as if he had taken back his leadership, he was in his element – or so he thought.
Bastian turned to look at Rhea who stared angrily at Deacon's back. Bastian would not be surprised if whilst his brother slept she tried to murder him; Bastian was not opposed to the idea either. He hated the fact his brother had taken his control away from him, Bastian now had to keep quiet and let his brother do what he wanted. Yet he did not want his brother to do anything, he wanted Rhea to leave with him.
Yet the stubborn woman was prepared to leave, to head back to her community. Only they would not accept her in, he knew that, she had abandoned her people to run off with a man. No matter what they would not forgive her, they believed that she was a monster that she should be cast out to die on her own.
Bastian knew that Rhea denied that fact, she did not want to believe it.
"Stop," Deacon called and Bastian turned his head to face his brother whose horse was moving, "We will set up camp off the road for the night."
The men began to collect food and drink from the large trailer two bulls were pulling. Bastian slid off his horse and helped Achilios who was sent to collect fire wood. When he arrived back at their camp Rhea was tied to a tree, her face pulled into a look of pure horror.
Bastian turned his head to find a woman dancing in the nude, men cheering and shouting taunts at her. Bastian could gather from Rhea's expression that the woman was Amazon. One of the men reached out to hit the woman and Bastian moved like lightning, he grabbed the man's wrist and then the other as the man tried to hit Bastian out of the way.
"Do not!" Bastian's voice roared as the men stopped laughing and cheering, their taunts ceased as Bastian glared at them. "You demean a woman so?"
"She is not a woman!" A man called out and the few around him cheered in agreement, "An Amazon she is, wants t' kill us all like yer bitch over there Bastian."
"I will not have you treat a woman in such a way in my presence," Bastian's voice ordered and the men glared at him, "That goes for any women you have in this camp. They will be in my sights, touch them and Deacon will lose valuable members of his regiment."
"It is just a bit of harmless fun brother," Bastian turned his head to face his brother who held a woman to his side. She was also nude, it was clear Rhea's women were being forced to be whores.
"It is cruelty brother," Bastian threw the man he held to the ground, snatching the woman who had been dancing and the one at his brother's side. "I want all women to my tent immediately, if I find any of you have hidden a woman..." Bastian trailed off and met his brother's narrowed gaze, "I will kill you."
The women were clothed soon as Rhea watched Bastian, he handed them all food and Rhea noticed there were less than ten women who had survived. It made her sad she had never spent any time with any of the women who were now being treated with such cruelty. Rhea wrapped her arms around her body as the women sat around her and ate quietly.
"Thank you," one of them whispered as Rhea looked up. The woman was looking at Bastian, "It is very... interesting and welcoming that you would save us."
"You're welcome," Bastian grunted and his eyes flickered to Rhea, "I could not let them harm you."
"It reminds me of a story," an older woman spoke up. She was not old yet was much older than the others, "The Legend of She. She had been a Queen of our people and had lived near the Spartans; she had been half Spartan and had been close to her father. She was not a favourite Queen, in fact the way she was with men was concerning, she was friendly with them."
The woman shook her head and continued, "Yet she fell for a man." The woman's eyes flickered toward Rhea who sat away from the women, "He had been a strong Spartan warrior. He helped us in a time of peril, we were hunted down, and our numbers dwindled. We won that war, they do not mention it, and neither do the Athenians. Yet she gave up her title and she was never heard from again."
"How is that significant?" A young woman asked the woman in confusion.
"A man has helped us once again," she spoke, "I cannot believe they are all monsters."
"You can speak only for yourself," another woman spoke up and glared at the rest of the women, "They are monsters. They murdered our sisters; they have taken us from our home. I do not see how any of them could be good. That Queen was a blinded fool," the woman spat and glared at Bastian who stepped away from the women.
Rhea gulped and stood, her legs shook as she entered Bastian's tent. She supposed she should not invade Bastian's privacy but she had needed to get away from the women. They disapproved of her, they would not accept her, and they hated men and possibly thought she was like that Queen from that legend. It was a legend a myth, no good Amazon would do that.
So why did Rhea have such strong feelings for Bastian?
The tent opened and Rhea looked up, Bastian stood in the doorway looking concerned, "Are you well Rhea?"
"Fine," she answered shortly, "Why?"
"You do not seem..." Bastian trailed off with a frown, "Well."
Rhea turned her back to Bastian and stared down at the furs she would sleep on at night. "Is that really any of your business Bastian?"
"I will make it my business," he determinedly walked over to Rhea and touched her shoulder, he spun her around and she stared at him. For the first time Bastian thought that he knew her, he could see who she really was. She was vulnerable; her eyes shimmered with unshed tears, hurt. Bastian did not like seeing her hurt, he felt sick, and he knew she was not feeling the best.
He wrapped his arms around her; Rhea seemed to melt into his embrace. One tear slid out of her eye and fell to his skin, he felt it but he did not comment on it. He stroked back her hair as she began to sob, she felt rejected from her kind, lost and lonely. Bastian did not know how he could help, he knew that he just needed to be there for her – otherwise she'd feel even lonelier.
"I apologise," Rhea sobbed as she pulled back and tried to leave Bastian's arms.
He grasped her arms, "You do not need to apologise for being vulnerable."
"I am not supposed to be vulnerable," she sounded like a soldier, "I cannot be vulnerable – I do not deserve to be."
Bastian stared down at the woman he cared for, "You do deserve to be vulnerable. You deserve the world and so much more," Rhea stared up at him with a suspicious expression, "You do not need to leave with them, you do not need to become an Amazon again or be one anymore."
"And where will you have me go?" Rhea asked, "I will not come to Athens again Bastian, I refuse to be one of those women, if I were to have daughters I will not subject them to such a horrible lifestyle."
Bastian almost told her that she would not have daughters. "We do not have to go to Athens," Bastian found himself believing in his words, "We could go to Sparta, they have better laws concerning women. We could perhaps even get ourselves some land and a farm."
"We," Rhea murmured, "You say we as in we are married, we are not married Bastian."
"I would like to be," he murmured and Rhea froze.
"You cannot want to marry me," Rhea pulled back and shook her head, "You cannot."
He narrowed his eyes, "You do not know my feelings, the extent of them. I care for you a great deal," he kissed her on the forehead; "It would do me a great honour if you were to become my wife."
"Rhea," they both turned their head to see little Achilios staring at the both of them, his eyes wide. "Deacon is going to execute one of the Amazon women."
Rhea pulled away from Bastian and hurried out of the tent, a crowd seemed huddled around Deacon. Rhea pushed through the crowd and could hear Bastian calling after her but she wasn't paying any attention to him. She pushed through the crowd to see one of the women with her head bowed and she was on her shins – her forehead touching the dirt ground.
The other women cried out, their rage clear as they shouted profanities and threats. The men cheered Deacon on, wanting him to remove her head from her shoulders. Rhea went to move forward but was held back by someone. She screamed as Deacon brought his sword down, removing the woman's head from her shoulders. Rhea fell back and she could not hear anything, it was all a blur as the other women were rounded up by Bastian.
She looked up and stared at Deacon, he had a dangerous smirk on his face, and he held the sword in his hands – blood dripping from it. Rhea couldn't help but shake her head, he was a monster. She didn't trust him, in fact if she could avoid him for the rest of her time in the camp she would. Her heart pounded as she tensed when she felt someone lay a hand on her shoulder.
She turned her head to look at Bastian; he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him. He led her back toward the tent; Achilios was serving the women, giving them furs and meals. Rhea turned away from them, her head turned down as Bastian led her into the tent. The flaps closed behind them and Rhea's body shook, she felt frozen as Bastian held her close.
It seemed vulnerability was hitting Rhea. She did not like it; in fact she did not understand why she was so emotional. She pulled back and looked up at Bastian, "I am sorry."
"Do not be sorry," Bastian insisted as he touched the back of his fingers to Rhea's cheek, "It is hard for you, I understand."
"But I do not understand," Rhea shook her head, "I have never been as emotional, not even as a child."
"That is because you are in a different part of your life," Bastian stroked her hair back, "You are opening up more of yourself. You are not ignoring certain aspects as you may have been taught."
"I do not know if I like it," she muttered pathetically.
"You do not have to like it," Bastian shook his head, "But it is still a part of you Rhea, you cannot ignore it." So they stood there, Rhea did not step out of his arms and he did not let her go, he needed to be there for her. Bastian knew he could not let Rhea go after this. She was either ignoring it or forcing herself to be unaware of what was going on between them. But Bastian knew; Bastian knew that Rhea was the woman he wanted to marry.
He just had to convince her that she wanted him too.