Amazon Companion by Robin Roseau Read Free Book Online Page A

refusal."
    "Because I do not believe I can tie your hands in front of you sufficiently that you will not free yourself in the middle of the night. I do not believe I can tie your hands in a fashion you couldn't knife me in my sleep. I do not have much practice in tying someone."
    "You could have fooled me," I said. "Could I at least have some respite if I promise to behave while you retie them later?"
    "I would, Maya, but I believe once you achieve the respite, you would do anything necessary to avoid being tied again. You may intend to behave now, but I do not believe you would willingly allow me to tie you again, and I do not want to use the amount of force it would require to make you comply. If nothing else, it would undermine my authority with everyone here."
    "Well, we can't have that, and it's not like a prisoner of war has any rights to humane treatment."
    "And we were doing so well," she said. She held the gag up.
    "If my words didn't strike close to home, they wouldn't hurt."
    "Perhaps I don't choose to argue with a babbling idiot. Now open."
    "For someone who professes to protect the innocent, you sure are going to great lengths to prove what a hypocrite you are." But I opened my mouth and let her stuff the gag back in. After that, I ignored her.
    Eventually she left me there, retiring to her tent without me.
    Which is exactly what I'd been waiting for.
    I waited an hour, pretending to doze. They had set out a watch, but it grew dark, and no one paid any attention to me. I shifted around against the boulder, looking for a sharp edge. It took a while, but I found one, and I began rubbing the ropes against it.
    At first I couldn't tell if it was doing any good, but then I felt a little resistance, and one small strand caught on the sharp edge. I tugged harder, and I felt it give. I hoped it was the rope that gave and not the rock. Several minutes later, I caught another strand.
    Slowly I worked at the knots.
    They were well tied. It felt like I was gaining ground, but still, my arms remained bound tightly.
    One of the guards came by, checking on me. She knelt down. "You should sleep."
    I cocked my head. It wasn't like I could speak to her. I mumbled into the gag.
    She studied me for a moment, but she didn't check the k nots. Finally she stood and wandered away.
    I went back to working on the knots.
    It was some time later, and I felt a major knot give way, but still my arms remained bound. I thought perhaps my wrists were marginally looser, but the ropes ran all the way from my wrists to above my elbows, and I was going to need to cut a lot more rope than I had so far before I was free. I continued to work on it.
    A while after that I almost shouted in glee when I felt another knot tear.
    "You know," I heard from over my voice. "An Amazon doesn't waste resources."
    I looked over my shoulder, and Nori was watching me, leaning against the boulder.
    I mumbled into the gag.
    "It looks like you were making progress," Nori said. " Balorie told me you were working on it."
    How had she known?
    I screamed into the gag, frustrated.
    "You know I have to punish you," she said.
    I shook my head.
    "I don't blame you, of course. I would have done the same thing, but I wouldn't have gotten caught at it. Or if I had, I would accept my punishment. "
    I called her names into the gag, but they were so deeply muffled, she wouldn't be able to tell what names they were. I was sure my intent was clear, however.
    "I am feeling magnanimous," she said. "So I will give you a choice: an extra-uncomfortable remainder of the night, or an uncomfortable horse ride. Choose carefully. Horse ride?" I shook my head.
    "All right then," she said. She stepped around the boulder, and I saw she was holding more rope. "If you fight me on this, you're going to get both punishments. Do you understand?"
    I nodded.
    She helped me to lie down, then she checked my knots. "Progress," she said, "but not enough I need to retie this. Bend your legs." She pulled my legs