"All right, Miss Dana, I'm ready for my close-up!"

The camera lenses whirred as they zoomed in.

"Roll fi lm," Dana called tonelessly.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen." Caster placed both hands lightly on the stand's railing. "I reference, once again, Clinic Study T-714 and introduce this fi lmed record of the fi nal, climactic battle for Tristaine!"

She paused. "Cut! Patana, distribute the weapons, please!"

Dana saw the bald Amazon trot quickly behind the wall of the stadium. She emerged carrying an armful of swords and crossbows.

* 175 *

"Come on, you lot," Patana called. "Myrine, Perry! Pa.s.s these out. I'll get the rest."

Dana's stomach clenched again. Obviously, Jesstin and her warriors were still expected to fi ght barehanded, only this time, against weapons that could kill. She looked up and saw that Caster was deep in conversation with Theryn, and their talk was growing heated.

Shann's warriors were watching Jesstin.

Jesstin was watching Shann.

Tristaine's queen looked like she had slept as little as Jess and Brenna. Shann sat erect on the cushioned bench in the review stand and held Kyla's hand. Kyla's eyes worried Brenna. They were unfocused and distant.

Theryn's Amazons all held weapons now. Most held crossbows, swords, and daggers, but two of the slightest fi ghters carried what looked like pistols.

Suddenly Theryn bellowed, "Caster, I forbid it!"

Brenna watched, dumbfounded, as Theryn vaulted from the review stand. She landed awkwardly, but apparently with ankles intact. The uneasy rumbling that had started to move through the watching Amazons in the risers subsided as she stalked toward Patana.

Wake up, daughtera. J'heika, rise!

"Tell me what to do," Brenna whispered. Yesterday, Camryn had been standing so close to her she would have heard the prayer.

"I said stand down, Amazon!" Theryn clenched the bunched fabric at Patana's throat. "I ordered all battles be fought without harm!"

"Caster changed that order, and she was right, Theryn."

Patana gripped her mentor's arms. "Be honest, adanin, you knew this was coming! How else could it end?"

"What?"

"Let us fi ght, Theryn! Let's fi nish this at last, and give Tristaine the queen and the high council she deserves!"

Theryn shook off Patana's grip and wheeled on Myrine. "Has Caster poisoned you with this b.l.o.o.d.y swill, too?"

* 176 *

"No." Myrine looked as dazed as Brenna felt. "I mean, no, I didn't know anything about all-Patana, what-"

Theryn pushed Myrine aside and strode back beneath the review stand.

"Caster! I forbid the use of weapons! If we had to sacrifi ce Camryn, so be it. But I'll not allow one more drop of Amazon blood-"

"Your bosom heaves once again, Theryn." From the railing, Caster lifted a placating hand. "Now, think back. We have already fi lmed you on a horse in front of your triumphant warriors, yes?"

Theryn folded her arms, every line of her body defi ant.

"Remember our story?" Caster coached. "A converted Jesstin tries to convince Tristaine to incorporate under the City. But Tristaine resists! Your warriors defeat Jesstin, Theryn! Then my protocol converts your warriors! Amazons become Citizens! City gets silver! You get throne!"

The mockery in Caster's tone registered with Grythe, who cast a blistering glare at her. Brenna realized Shann was studying Theryn with intense interest.

"Yes, we defeat Jesstin's warriors, Caster," Theryn retorted, "but then, according to our truce, Shann and her Amazons are to be exiled. Not murdered! We risk more deaths if any warriors carry weap-"

"Oh, please, you'll have plenty of Amazons to sp.a.w.n our New Tristaine, Theryn." Caster seemed nettled by the delay. "Remember, all the villagers who escaped us, or migrated, as you quaintly put it, will come back. You'll have your own followers down there. And you'll even have those Amazons in the stands, the less competent of Shann's warriors. That's practically all of old Tristaine to rule!"

"Everyone lives." Theryn's voice was strained. "Caster, there will be no more bloodshed."

"Just a little bloodshed," Caster corrected. "Just those ten little warriors down there, give or take a few. We did get Camryn's death on fi lm yesterday, but that's hardly enough, Theryn. The fi lm must have some carnage if it's to be authentic!"

* 177 *

Caster turned a glowing smile on Shann. "And Tristaine's barbarian queen must see it, if she's to be humbled."

Brenna had never wanted to do anything but heal others, but now she realized she was capable of killing even if she wasn't physically threatened. She would think about that unpleasant revelation later.

"All right, get ready to fi ght, you people!" Caster snapped her fi ngers. "Roll 'em, Miss Dana!"

"Wait!" Theryn's cape swirled as she spun and walked toward Jess. "Dana, stand down!"

"At ease!" Dana yelled to her troops. Her mouth was dry.

The d.a.m.n stadium seemed to be teeming with hostile Amazons and spooked soldiers with rifl es. "Lower your weapons, I said!"

"Theryn, get back up here!" Now Caster's voice was ominously shrill. "Dana, I am paying your commission, not that ridiculous Amazon queen wannabe!"

Brenna moved to Jess's side as Theryn reached her, and she felt that strange spiraling down of energy again.

Theryn hesitated, and her struggle for self-control aged her face a decade. Brenna sensed waves of outrage radiating from her, and something heavier, more like defeat or despair. Jess's own dark energy broadcast her grief and wariness.

Brenna realized with a jolt that she was, for G.o.d's sake, reading energy waves, and she looked up at Shann. Tristaine's queen stood at the railing now, just as she had yesterday, but try as she might, Brenna could read nothing in her pale features.

"All right, Jesstin." Theryn won her struggle for restraint, and her eyes on Jess were cold as slate. She spoke quietly, so only Jess and Brenna heard her. "I'm going to order my warriors to break ranks. We'll try to keep Caster's mercenaries off you. You and your Amazons, get Shann and her council out of the village. Then blow the dam and send that b.i.t.c.h up there to h.e.l.l!" She smiled without mirth. "I don't care how many Amazons either of us have to lose to achieve that."

"Theryn!" Caster's fury was rising. "Get your pagan a.s.s up * 178 *

here! I will order your warriors to attack right now. Don't you dare test me!"

"Theryn, slow down." Jess's gaze was locked on Shann.

"Things got real hot, real fast. Just watch me and follow my direction."

Theryn stepped forward into Jess's s.p.a.ce, and Brenna knew that was not a wise move. "Do you imagine that you and your cohorts are the only Amazons in this stadium who love Tristaine, Jesstin? Sweet Gaia, the gall of the young and righteous! We have no time to plan, so spare me your indignation. Caster knows nothing of the dam, Jess."

"All right, Dana! Get those cameras rolling!" Caster was snapping her fi ngers, rapidly. "And you, you, bald Amazon! Attack!

All of you, attack!"

Pulsing silence fi lled the arena.

"I'll get the women I love to safety, Jesstin. You do the same."

Theryn's eyes fl icked to Brenna. "Once they're safe, Shann can send Tristaine to a cold but righteous sleep. If you have a better strategy, I'm listening."

Jess looked at Brenna.

Brenna nodded. "We can trust her, Jess. She means it."

Then Grythe screamed. It was a raw, ugly sound that ripped the air and triggered the destruction that followed.

Brenna didn't remember Elodia's promise to Camryn until she saw the dagger in her hand. Elodia was racing across the arena toward them, targeted on Theryn. Brenna knew no Spanish and so didn't understand exactly what she was shouting, but one thing was clear. From the names Elodia screamed, she believed killing Theryn would avenge Camryn and free Tristaine's queen.

Time telescoped again.

"Elodia, stand down!" It was Shann's voice, but Elodia was too deep in her thirst for revenge to hear her.

Grythe leapt from the review stand and landed behind her wife like a frightened spider crazed to protect her egg sac. She emitted that soul-shriveling scream again and dashed toward Elodia.

* 179 *

Jess bolted after Grythe, and Vicar and Hakan were on a dead run to intercept them both.

Brenna didn't see which of Dana's mercenaries fi red, but the fi rst bullet hit Grythe in the back. Astonishment crossed her beautiful face as she crumpled into the dirt.

Elodia fell a bare second later, shot by at least two different rifl es.

Dana was screaming hoa.r.s.ely, racing from soldier to soldier, yelling orders into white faces. She saved the Amazons from an immediate bloodbath, but it was harrowingly close.

Vicar crouched beside Elodia's body and felt for a pulse at her throat. Brenna recognized the gesture as the formality it was.

The girl was dead.

The Amazons on the risers, stunned by the sudden violence, began to step down onto the fi ghting fi eld.

Caster still screamed orders, but she was largely ignored.

Theryn dropped to her knees beside her wife. Grythe still lived.

Brenna could see the erratic lift and fall of her breast, but a small pool of blood was forming beneath her, soaking into the earth.

A surreal silence fell.

"Jesstin!"

Every eye fl ew to the review stand. Shann was staring down at Theryn, her hand poised over the railing, waiting. Her graceful fi ngers trembled.

Gently, Theryn let her unconscious wife come to rest on the ground. She got to her feet. She looked at Jess and at Brenna, and then she turned to address the Amazons who followed her.

"Hear me, sisters!" Theryn's voice rang through the stadium.

"Caster seeks to violate the truce that would have preserved our clan!"

"Theryn!" Caster screamed. "My right hand to G.o.d, Theryn, I will order you shot where you stand!"

"We fi ght for Tristaine!" Theryn didn't even glance at Caster.

She raised one hand to her Amazons. "We fi ght for Shann!"

Shann's fi ngers twirled, signaling Jess.

"Amazons, attack!" Jess shouted, and the battle for Tristaine began.

* 180 *

CHAPTER NINE.

Several soldiers fi red blindly when the war cries erupted, galvanized by Caster's screamed commands. Four Amazons were hit immediately: three from Theryn's band, who lived, and Ayla, a warrior from Jess's side, who did not.

When Brenna dared throw a look at the review stand, it was empty.

Jess and Theryn led their separate cadres of warriors well, like warhorses pulling Shann's chariot in tandem. After the fi rst outbreak of gunfi re, the smoky fi ghting fi eld was cleared fairly quickly and the wounded Amazons carried to the stadium's inner chambers.

Within minutes, Brenna was with the injured, kneeling between Perry and two other bleeding women she didn't know.

She was coated with gore to the elbows for the second time in two days. The part of her that was calm also appreciated the effi ciency of the Amazons, who kept her supplied with fi eld dressings and fresh water, even in the full throes of battle.

"They're stable." Brenna turned to Amber, another of Jess's Amazons who had healing skills. She pulled her shoulder down to make sure Amber would hear her over the chaos of war cries and rifl es. "Keep them here. This hallway's pretty safe!"

Amber shouted something back that sounded like agreement, but Brenna had already hit top speed on her run back toward the arena. The heart of the battle still centered there, though Amazons and soldiers alike had begun to branch out into the village itself.

Brenna burst out of the stone archway leading into the stadium.