38 Limitations (Part I)

Brightise and Clober were following Neleah at a safe distance, so that if someone spotted them, they wouldn't know that Neleah was aware of their presence, or that she had even suggested this plan herself.

"You have a good chance of getting in," Neleah had told Clober before they had set off. "The Queen would never turn away a little girl. You though..." she had trailed off as she'd turned to Brightise. "You might be too old."

"I'm only 18!"

"You are past training age."

"What's the training age?"

"Six to sixteen."

"Okay, I'm definitely past training age."

Neleah had pondered the issue for a bit. "Do you have any special talents?" she had asked hopefully.

"Actually, yes. I do."

"What are they?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

Brightise had hesitated. "Well, I know a part of them. I have yet to discover the rest."

Neleah had frowned. "Interesting..."

A few minutes later, she had jumped back into the river and dunked her head underwater. Brightise and Clober were supposed to follow the bubbles she made as she swam all the way to Lake Fallad. This was definitely not how Brightise had envisioned the last part of their journey, but she was not complaining.

Even if her age and ignorance about her Fire Powers prevented her from being allowed to join the Amazon tribe, Clober would still be able to. She was the right age and she could manipulate smoke with her hands. Maybe she could even do it with her eyes or mind if she was taught how to, but even so, she was certainly more powerful than the average five-year-old.

"Clober?"

"Yes?" Her sister turned towards her as they walked along the river bank at a steady pace.

"You heard what Neleah said, right?"

Clober titled her head uncertainly. "Yes?"

"The ladies at the Amazon camp might not let me stay."

"Are they bad ladies?"

"No," Brightise answered hurriedly. She did not want her sister to be afraid of them. "No, they just might only have room for little girls."

"Why?"

Brightise bit her lip in thought. "Because... Well, they take up less space than big girls like me."

Clober frowned deeply. "But you will stay."

"I will try," Brightise answered carefully. "But if they don't let me... I want you to be a brave girl and stay at the camp without me."

"No!"

"Morral will meet us there, remember? If she comes and neither of us is waiting, she might leave and go looking for us elsewhere. She will be really worried."

"I don't want to wait alone!"

"You won't be alone. There will be other little girls like you. And Neleah will be there. You like Neleah, right?"

Clober nodded reluctantly.

"I thought so," Brightise said with a smile. "Maybe her sisters are little like you. You can ask her about them later."

"After we see the Queen?"

"Yes, we have to lie to the Queen and pretend we never met Neleah. You have to act like you don't know her or like her."

"Because Neleah made a mess in the throne room and the Queen got mad?"

"Yes, let's try not to make a mess like Neleah, or the Queen will get mad at us too."

Clobber giggled gleefully at the thought.

"Maybe we should try not to burn it down," Brightise muttered under her breath as her sister started humming a song carelessly.

Maybe it was a perk of being part-Elf, but Neleah did not even resurface once along the way. She kept swimming under the water, her long blond hair and fair skin almost invisible, until they reached the part where River Quost merged into Lake Fallad. When Brightise had asked her what she would do about her armor, the Amazon had shrugged.

"I'll just stash it in those bushes. I have sets of armor with my name on them hidden all over the place. They're just too heavy and uncomfortable to carry around."

"Let me guess. The Amazon blacksmith does not like you very much either."

"Yes, I've always wondered why. How did you know?"