Green Eyes

“A toast to our friends and heroes,” Micaela stood at the head of the head table, calling to the gathered Amazons arrayed around tables on the training grounds. “Without their courage and sacrifice, we would’ve lost a sister and maybe more,” she added, patting the heavily bandaged Emmanuelle seated next to her.

After Selene’s colossal screw up, Micaela and Jared had snuck around to the east and then darted into the southern camp without being detected. Thanks to the excitement that the Navi had caused, only two Bloodies were guarding the central tent where Jared guessed Emmanuelle was being held.

After quickly and quietly dispatching the guards, they ducked into the tent to find that Jared’s guess had been, as usual, spot on. Emmanuelle was tied to the central post, bruised and bloodied and barely conscious. As they untied her, they could hear Mara and Selene fighting for their lives thirty feet away.

Micaela had dragged her second to the woods while Jared went off to fetch Selene and Mara. She had just gotten Emmanuelle into the woods when she heard an explosion of sorts followed by the sound of soldiers getting knocked over like dominoes. Five minutes later she rendezvoused with the twins who were carrying a half-conscious Selene.

After traipsing an hour west and a little south, they finally camped out for the rest of the night. The Esthorian, who had the most competent medical knowledge, patched up Emmanuelle as best she could, given their supplies while Selene recovered her strength. After about four hours, Selene had rested enough to heal the Anorian, easing her bruises and cuts but not completely restoring her because if she did, they would’ve had to carry her.

They had crashed immediately upon staggering back into the camp, just after the sun signaled the new day. And now, that evening, they were holding a party to celebrate their success.

“To Selene, the brave Navi whose power is only matched by her heart,” Micaela raised her glass to the mostly recovered woman next to her. “To Mara, whose cunning and ferocity cut into the heart of the Kalashonians,” she continued, gesturing to the older woman seated on the other side. “And to…” Micaela faltered as she looked for Jared who was absent. “To Emmanuelle,” she amended on the fly, “who courageously endured capture and torture and has now been returned to us.”

The Amazons raised their glass in a toast and they took a refreshing draught of the wine. Micaela sat back down and the meal began. There was laughing and talking among the gathered women and more than a few came up to either her or Emmanuelle, congratulating them on a successful rescue or successfully not getting killed.

Strangely Micaela barely noticed it. After half an hour of festivities, the Amazonian leader sighed and leaned over to Mara.

“Where’s your brother?” she whispered.

The smile on Mara’s face faded slightly as she scanned the tables for Jared. He wasn’t there. “After what you’ve put him through the last few weeks, my guess is he doesn’t exactly feel welcome here,” she replied, a tinge of coldness in her voice, before turning back to another Amazon who was asking her for the story of what had happened.

Micaela sighed inwardly. So far all they had done was badger each other, even to the point of violence a couple of times, yet the fact that he didn’t feel welcome here bothered her, something she found strange.

But she knew what she had to do. Downing the rest of her glass, Micaela quietly slipped out from her chair and disappeared into the night.

*******

“Sorry I haven’t been around much, buddy,” Jared soothingly spoke to Barak as he began to brush down the horse.

Aside from the horses, he was by himself in the structure the Amazons called stables. He had spent so much of his time trying to train the Amazons that he hadn’t had time to visit his faithful horse. That was something he was now regretting. All that time and energy wasted on people too proud and sexist to even consider gratitude.

“He’s a beautiful horse,” a feminine voice called from the entry of the stables.

Jared turned to see Micaela standing there. “Shouldn’t you be at a party or something?” he growled dismissively. For the first time since he could remember, he was having a peaceful moment and this insufferable woman had decided to ruin it. As usual.

“I came to see you,” she said softly, coming up to him. “Want a hand?”

“He won’t mind,” Jared guardedly replied.

Micaela took a brush from the hook and began brushing down the bay’s other flank. “He is without a doubt the most magnificent animal I have ever seen,” she commented. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize him immediately when we ambushed you.”

“Thanks for the reminder,” Jared snorted, causing Micaela to wince involuntarily.

“Well, we didn’t know who you—”

“Why are you here?” Jared cut off sharply. “Are you here to insult me and my gender more? Spew more of your sexist nonsense? Look, you got what you want. You got your friend back and I’m gone in the morning. Can’t you just leave me alone?”

“I’m here to apologize,” Micaela declared quietly.

That caught Jared off-guard. “You’re what?” he questioned like an idiot.

“I am sorry,” Micaela repeated, ducking underneath Barak’s neck so that she could look Jared in the eyes. His sapphire eyes were cold and hard as he regarded her suspiciously.

“I mean it,” she said, her amethyst eyes pleaded. Jared merely crossed his arms. He clearly didn’t believe and for some reason that the Esthorian princess couldn’t begin to fathom, she desperately wanted him to.

“Look, for my whole life, I’d been taught that women were inferior to men. Things to be seen and not heard, expected to do as they are told and not question their men,” Micaela looked away, leaning her hands on the railing. “We were told where to go, sit where we were told to sit, say what we were told to say, and marry who were told to marry. And for most of my life, I had accepted that as the way things are supposed to be.

“Then I went to Kalashon and saw…” she looked back up to Jared and her voice trailed off for a moment before returning her gaze back to the dark forest. “I saw what women could be. They were man’s equal and could be whoever they wanted to be. I realized that my people had been mistreating women for centuries and my father was one of the worst of them. When he tried to sell me to Manasseh, well that was the last straw. I hated him with every fiber of my being. Can you understand that kind of rage?”

“You could say so,” Jared allowed cautiously.

“Of course you can,” Micaela nodded. “Anyway, once I came here and saw how women had been mistreated around the world, all that hatred and anger went from my father to all men, anger that kept building for 15 long years. Men, I decided, were the enemy. The best that could be achieved would be an uneasy peace between the genders where one ruled the other. I made it my mission to make sure it was women who ruled.

“But then last night you proved me wrong,” she went on. “You risked your life to save a woman you barely knew and who had treated you with nothing more than disdain. That was shocking enough. But what really got me was how we fought together.”

“Oh?”

“All we’ve done since you arrived is fight and bicker,” Micaela explained. “You’d prod and I push back. Then I’d prod and you’d push back. But last night…” she trailed off. “Last night we moved together as a team, one an extension of the other. I’d never thought that a man and woman could work together like that but I can’t deny my own experience. You showed me what real equality looks like and it’s forced me to rethink my beliefs about men.”

“That’s a hard thing to admit,” Jared observed, joining her at the rail.

“Part of wisdom is knowing when you’re wrong,” Micaela answered. “The other part is admitting it. The truth is Jared, I was wrong about you. You have done nothing but try to help since you got here. Your training probably saved my girls lives the other day and you risked your own neck to save Emmanuelle. And all I’ve done is treat you with disdain and contempt and for that I’m truly sorry. I do have to ask one thing.”

“What?” Jared continued staring out in to the black forest.

“Why?” she questioned. “Why did you stay? Why did you go after Emmanuelle knowing how much we have hated you?”

“Six weeks ago I wouldn’t have,” Jared said.

“So why did you now?”

“For the longest time, I have had the belief that people are inherently selfish, untrustworthy, and worthless,” Jared explained. “Given my past, I think you can understand why.”

“What changed?” Micaela pressed.

“I met Selene,” he said. “She has a heart of gold unlike anyone I’ve ever met. She truly, deeply cares about everything from her best friend to the ants on the ground. She is kind almost to a fault, selflessly giving herself to anyone in need. Being around her started to make me rethink my belief.

“Then I met another woman named Jael,” Jared continued. “She was different. Jael had risked her life so that she could give her daughter a better life than she had. Then she risked her life again to shelter us. Finally, I saw her sacrifice her life so that we could escape.”

“Did you love her?” Micaela asked, oddly apprehensive of the answer.

“No,” Jared denied. “I admired her courage and strength but I didn’t love her. I couldn’t because how can you love someone you believe will betray you?”

He paused to shake his sandy brown hair. “Of course seeing her sacrifice herself showed me how wrong I was about, well, everything,” Jared said. “I had to admit that there are good, honest, selfless people in the world and that those people are worth protecting.”

“And you saw that in us?” Micaela asked, a little surprised.

“You left a life of ease and comfort to live out in the sticks because you wouldn’t bend on your beliefs,” Jared replied. “You have dedicated your life to give life to those who have been oppressed, abused, and just had bad luck in general. Above all, anyone can see that you truly love these girls; you’d give your life for them in a heartbeat. I don’t know what else could constitute being a good person.”

“Thanks,” Micaela commented.

“Oh you drove me nuts; you still do,” Jared returned.

“I couldn’t tell,” Micaela flatly responded.

“I don’t know how to handle you,” Jared admitted, running his fingers through his hair. “You’re constantly goading me, prodding me, pushing me and when I push back, you stand your ground. You’re not afraid of me. I’m not used to that. I don’t know how to deal with someone who has the guts to stand up to me.

“So I did the only thing I knew how to do: I fought back,” he continued. “I insulted, I threatened, and I even broke your arm. Were you a jerk? Sure, sometimes. But I sure didn’t help things. Somehow you got under my skin in a way that no one ever has before. I didn’t, I don’t,” he corrected, “get it but you get to me. So instead of extending an olive branch, I just kept pushing your buttons which meant you pushed more of mine and so on. I guess you’re not the only one who needs to apologize, huh?” Jared said wryly.

“Are you, the great Jared, saying you’re sorry?” Micaela mischievously queried.

“This is hard enough as it is,” Jared groaned tilting his head back.

“Sorry,” the Esthorian said in a tone that indicated the opposite.

“Yes, I am saying I’m sorry, princess,” Jared apologized playfully.

“Apology accepted,” Micaela replied in a courtly voice.

“Too bad it took us so long to call a truce,” Jared observed. “I feel like we could’ve been great friends.”

“Who says we can’t?” Micaela inquired. “Unless you’re still planning on leaving in the morning?”

“Sure you want me to stick around a little longer?” Jared asked.

“I think we could use a little more training,” the Amazon leader replied. “If you’d be so kind.”

“We do need to get Selene to Jerel soon,” Jared pointed out soberly. “But we could stick around a few more days.”

“Great,” she said. “So we’re friends now, right?” Micaela asked after a moment’s pause, sticking her hand out.

“Yeah, friends,” Jared took Micaela’s hand and shook it. Then they did something neither ever thought they would.

They gave each other a real, genuine smile.