Amazons

By Barbara G.Tarn

Marlen grew up in the Kingdom of Noavaria, knowing her mother was an Amazon. One day the Amazon Queen herself knocks at her father's door. Marlen moves to the Queendom of Maadre and becomes the companion of Princess Rena, the man-hater.
Welcome to the Queendom of Maadre, where women rule. Love, betrayal, exploration and relationships in this story of the Amazons Country.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Unicorn Productions
• Release date: May 7, 2016

Barbara G.Tarn

Barbara G.Tarn had an intense life in the Middle Ages that stuck to her through the centuries. She prefers swords to guns, long gowns to mini-skirts, and even though she buried the warrior woman, she deplores the death of knights in shining chainmail. She likes to think her condo apartment is a medieval castle, unfortunately lacking a dungeon to throw noisy neighbors and naughty colleagues in. Also known as the Lady with the Unicorns, these days she prefers to add a touch of fantasy to all her stories, past and present – when she’s not wandering on her fantasy world of Silvery Earth or in her Star Minds futuristic universe. She’s a writer, sometimes artist, mostly a world-creator and story-teller. Two of her stories received an Honorable Mention at the Writers of the Future contest. She writes, draws, ignores her day job and blogs every other day.

Book preview

Amazons

by Barbara G. Tarn

***

Barbara G.Tarn copyright © 2016

electronic edition by Unicorn Productions

May 2016

***

Table of contents

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

The Author

Part One

1. MARLEN

She wasn't in a hurry to get home – her step-mother's home. Not that her father's new wife was an evil woman. Quite the opposite, she was very sweet and they were friends. But Marlen knew her real mother was somewhere else, far far away in another country beyond the treacherous ocean. Her father had told her she could visit her real mother at eighteen, and she was counting the days. She looked forward to sailing to the legendary Queendom of Maadre.

Marlen was seventeen and had grown up on the outskirts of Noavaria, capital of the eponymous kingdom that had sprung out of the collapse of the Varian Empire. Long brown hair and sky-blue eyes, she stopped on the river shore, longing to get on a barge, reach the sea, cross it and meet the woman who had given her life.

She didn't have real friends, only acquaintances. Her social life was mostly in her head, where she imagined friends and suitors that didn't exist. Actually, she had a suitor, but she preferred unreachable young men to him. Daydreaming was better than living.

When she finally reached the cottage, her step-mother – who had a dirty-blond mane like her step-brother – barely lifted an eyebrow.

You could have warned me you'd be late, I was afraid something bad had happened to you, she chided.

Marlen had never been abused by that woman, who had always talked to her like an adult, even when she was a child. Marlen respected her and obeyed with no need for the other to raise her voice.

Sorry, Olimpia, she apologized. I stopped on the river shore to watch ships go by and I didn't realize it was late.

Your father has visitors, he told me to send you in as soon as you arrived, the woman said, averting her eyes with a sigh. Even though Marlen was only five the first time she'd seen her, Olimpia never managed to be called Mother.

Marlen quickly braided her hair and went to her father's office, excited. A visit! She wondered who it would be, and if they came by river or by land.

She found him with a blonde woman who was the same age as Olimpia but much more beautiful – golden locks loose on her shoulders and a rich gown with an unfamiliar cut. Marlen's heart skipped a beat as she gaped at the guest who looked like a queen or a faery from the legends.

Then her eyes glanced at the two young girls who stood behind the gorgeous woman. One was the teenaged version of the blonde, the other had red curls, and both had similar gowns in the same fashion, with dragon pendants around their necks or hanging from their ears.

Amazons! Marlen couldn't believe her eyes. She'd seen only paintings of them so far – they lived beyond the ocean, had a dragon as a symbol of their goddess and their queens were always blondes, but never married.

She glanced at her father who was lost in thought. Nobody spoke, but Marlen felt the Amazons' eyes on her. She stared at her feet, cheeks burning, waiting for someone to say something.

Father, she ventured, since her father didn't look like he was aware of her presence.

The blonde woman rose and hugged her with a sigh.

I... I don't understand! Marlen protested, confused. Yes, her mother was an Amazon, but she was sure she wasn't blonde!

You're one of us, the woman said, releasing her but keeping her hands on her shoulders. You're the daughter of my best friend – you look exactly like her!

You know my mother? Marlen asked, surprised.

She knows her very well, her father snapped, focusing on the women. So well, she didn't even realize sorrow was killing her.

Xavier! the blonde protested.

It's true. Marlen's father's voice was sour. Marlen, this is Julianna, Queen of the Amazons, the most selfish person in the world.

Enough, Xavier! The Queen's voice was shaky and her eyes filled with tears. I've told Yaz many times she should have you both at Maadre! But she always refused, and only you know the real reason.

The real reason was her secret and she took it to the grave, he retorted.

Marlen had never seen her father so hostile. It was obvious the beautiful queen had no power over him.

My mother... is dead? she realized.

She was weak, a silly sickness was enough to take her, her father answered bluntly.

It wasn't a silly sickness! Julianna protested. But she was sick of living, she added. Don't blame me, Xavier, I never forbade you to see her, nor did I order you to take away her daughter!

Quiet! Marlen's eyes filled with tears. She was sick of the bickering between her father and the Amazon queen. Father, you promised to take me to her when I turned eighteen!

Honey, I wasn't expecting her to die young. Her father looked exhausted now. She didn't want you in the Queendom until you were eighteen. It's up to you now. She's not here to see what you'll become anyway.

Marlen clenched her teeth, glaring at him. They would discuss that later. It was obvious there were things he wouldn't say in front of the queen. She inhaled deeply and averted her eyes from her father's distressed face.

When the Amazons left, her father relaxed. She started rummaging in his drawers.

Looking for something? he asked, now mildly amused.

Did Mother leave something for me?

A diary and a letter. I was supposed to give them to you on your eighteenth birthday.

She snorted. I want to read them now.

You bossy little Amazon, he teased.

Father! she scolded, glaring at him.

He chuckled. Fine. He leaned to touch something under his desk and a secret drawer opened.

Marlen gasped at the sight of the leather-bound notebook with a folded parchment on top of it.

You know what's in there, don't you? she asked, taking the notebook and the letter. You didn't want to tell the Queen, but you know why she wanted it this way.

Yes. He sighed, looking away. My only mistake, and Julianna's, was to obey her.

***

Marlen had never seen a harbor. Or rather, she was too young last time she'd been on a ship. She observed with curiosity galleys and galleons of all sizes while her father explained the various flags. Noavaria's port was at the mouth of the river that ran through the capital. A bunch of inns and taverns lined the waterfront with warehouses behind them. Not really a town with inhabitants, just a place to stop on the way to either the capital or the other coastal towns.

Marlen stopped dead in her tracks seeing her vision materialize – a galley with black sails. She'd dreamed of such a ship for years, and now here it was, real and gently swinging in the harbor.

That's an Amazon ship, her father said.

I saw it in my dreams! she said, amazed. Like a lingering memory or a recurring vision... Did you bring me here on one of these?

"No, although your mother might have shown you one. They don't really reach