The River Maiden, part one
Skip to: part two | part three
Copyright 1999
This is the story of two women, raised as sisters, then torn apart by fate. One was born a princess and one the daughter of a warlord, but only one was fit to rule...
DRAMATIC PERSONAE:
Nerissa, Amazon Princess, sister to Joxer (Moses)
Nashama, Nerissa's sister, heir to the throne (Rameses)
Meris, Nashama's mother, Amazon Queen (Pharaoh Seti)
Recida, rogue Amazon (Egyptian Taskmaster)
Philia, confidante of Meris (Queen Nefari)
Joxer, the Mighty (Tzipporah/Miriam)
Xena, Warrior Princess (Aaron)
Gabrielle, Bard of Poteidaia (Jethro)
Pelagius, a Corinthian nobleman and diplomat (Hotep and Huy)
Dorcas, Joxer and Nerissa's mother (Yocheved)
Argo, Xena's horse (Camel)
Rating: PG-13 for violence and mature themes.
Summary: Nerissa, Joxer's unknown sister raised with the Amazons after Dorcas sets
her afloat on the river, runs into her brother by chance after she is made
an outcast from the tribe. She must choose between her past and an uneasy
future.
The sun was a distant glimmer through the thick coastal haze, but the clouds did little to veil the thick, sultry heat indelibly associated with the coastal plain. The city on the hill was a shining jewel of white marble and stone, among the richest, most opulent in all of Attica. Between the blinding white of the temples and homes was the famous Gulf of Corinth, a vast, cerulean chasm between its namesake and the lush, semitropical forests beyond.
Amazon country, but not for long.
Already the Corinthians had pushed deeper into the long-held territories of the tribe despite efforts of peace among both sides. Here and there ancient trees fell, more by the day, as the city dwellers sought more space for themselves. It had gotten to the point where skirmishes between the women warriors and their male counterparts were a daily occurance.
Under the merciless sun hundreds of strong men raised a pillar here, a wall there, doing only as they were bidden. Corinth, unlike Athens, had not yet abolished slavery, and almost all of the workers were prisoners of war, convicts, and even a scattering of Amazons. They were the ones who had decided not to starve to death out of pride a long time ago, and their scarred backs were evidence of that folly. They strained and grunted right along with the equally hard-worn men.
Far beyond the construction sites, the mansions and villas of statesmen, soldiers, and philosophers dotted the hill like enormous chess pieces. The higher the status of the resident, the higher on the hill. Near the top was the elegant home of Jolanthus, one of the most feared and respected warlords in Corinth or elsewhere. He had clawed his way up the fiercely competitive ladder through his defeats of Athenians, Centaurs, Thracians, and Amazons.
Especially Amazons...Jolanthus hated those savages worse than anything. The great battle between his forces and those of the newly crowned Amazon Queen, a wily warrior called Meris, had been the last of its kind for some time. Yet despite his almost total annihilation of the female tribe, the half-crazed warlord wasn't taking any chances. He knew how the Amazons sometimes replenished their numbers: they took orphaned girls from Corinth and sometimes went as far as to steal them from under their parents' noses. It had to end, no matter the cost.
"Kill them. If you see a woman with a baby girl, take her and do the job," he told his men, a highly trained group of assassins, murderers and assorted villains. "Including your own wives."
They had regarded him strangely, even though they were accustomed to killing, but the fierce look in Jolanthus' brown eyes had told them that they could not disobey his order. And so they rode their warhorses through the streets of Corinth, taking babies and slitting their throats right then and there. No one dared challenge the reign of terror, for Jolanthus was at the peak of his power.
Except his own wife, Dorcas. A gentle woman married to a ruthless warlord, she had borne him three sons: Jace, now eight years old and peculiar in his own way, and the twins, Jett and Joxer, now five. And there was the fourth, a cute dark-haired child just like his brothers. At least Jolanthus thought it was a he; after all, he was gone the majority of the time and really didn't stop to look under his own children's diapers to see what was underneath. But now the baby girl was four months old, and Dorcas didn't know how much longer she could hide the child from her bloodthirsty husband, especially now that he had launched a pogrom in their own city. His city.
That morning she knew it had to be done. She had been meaning to do it for some time, but as any mother knew, giving up one's own child was, in a way, giving up a part of herself.
Inside the wicker cradle, the little girl was still asleep, and her mother lifted her out with gentle arms. She opened her deep brown eyes and yawned, revealing her pink mouth.
"Joxer," Dorcas called softly to her youngest son. He emerged from the shadows, a painfully skinny boy whose lankiness was already evident. "Please fetch me the basket. You know where it is." She managed a sad smile. Jace, for all his intelligence, was a strange boy, to be sure, and Jett, Joxer's twin, was already taking after his ruthless father. Just the other day he had stolen the neighbors' prized stallion for no apparent reason.
The little boy returned with the pitched willow basket in his slender arms. Dorcas took it and gently wrapped her infant daughter within the woolen blankets inside. The girl began to protest loudly, but the patient mother began to rock her and soon she fell asleep again. One last time she set the lid into place and smiled.
Dorcas beckoned to Joxer and he followed behind, not saying a word. Their feet made soft staccato sounds on the marble floor of the sprawling villa and they stepped into the summer heat beyond. Now came the hard part. She swallowed and took her son's hand with her free arm, trying to appear as any other woman going to market. She knew the horsemen would be searching again.
They made their way through the lush garden with its reflecting pool and topiaries and under the stone gate with the family crest: a linden tree on a silver background. The agora of Corinth was just beyond, but their destination would take them through the busiest section of the city.
Mother and son tried to keep their heads down in the throng of people and animals. Indeed, as Dorcas had suspected, black-clad warriors astride equally fearsome horses patrolled the streets, their beady eyes looking for women with babies. Most had already learned to stay inside with their infants, but some had yet to learn.
A big bearded man riding a chestnut grabbed a young woman by the hair and snatched her bundle from her arms despite her screams of protest. He ungratefully tossed the baby back to her when he saw it to be a boy.
Dorcas had draped a scarf around her delicate features and prayed fervently that they wouldn't see her. As the wife of the most powerful warlord in Corinth, she was sure to be recognized. Joxer kept pace with her, his tiny legs taking two strides for every one of hers. No one seemed to notice them; maybe it was the intolerable heat working its magic.
After what seemed like an eternity of holding her breath, the young mother exhaled as she saw the end in sight. The vast gulf had several outlets into the mainland, and she had chosen the closest. At this end of town the traffic had thinned out and most of the people were fishermen or foresters. Just north were the majority of the construction sites, and of course, the Amazon camps. She swallowed hard at what she had to do.
At the river's edge, signs of the ocean were all around: shells, the briny smell of seawater, and strands of seaweed here and there. The current carried assorted debris down an unknown path into the darkened forest.
She squatted near the river's edge and set down the basket with her child inside. Next to her Joxer looked up with his big brown eyes and frowned slightly. He was too young to really understand.
Removing the lid, she saw that the girl had awakened but wasn't crying. Softly she smiled and removed the pendant from around her own neck. It bore the same emblem as the villa's gate: a linden tree. Dorcas tucked the amulet into the blankets and kissed her daughter for the last time.
"Remember me, little one. Come back to me someday. I wish I could be with you, but this is for the greater good." Her dark eyes were full of tears. She gave one final kiss and a smile. "Goodbye, my daughter."
The lid went back on and carefully, deliberately, Dorcas let the swift current carry the little cargo away. The tears came unchecked and she buried her head in her hands. Now the girl's fate was in the hands of the gods.
The basket floated merrily down the current, no different to the casual observer than any other piece of driftwood. But little Joxer knew what lay within, and hurried to keep pace through the cattails and rushes on the bank.
Why did Mommy send her away like that? She said it's for the greater good. What does that mean?
Fish swam alongside the basket, thinking it to be food, then darted away in disappointment. The colorful birds and monkeys of the sweltering forest chirped and chattered in annoyance.
As the river cut its way inland, the water became more sluggish and deep, and the parcel in turn floated more serenely toward an unknown destination. Joxer pushed aside some tall grasses and squinted to see it. He almost fell in when he heard the laughter.
It was that of a girl, no older than he. He scrambled behind the trunk of an ancient tree, afraid of being discovered. The sudden disturbance in the current carried the basket on a gentle wave into the cattails and mosses of a small, clear inlet.
Joxer saw the girl, then, a sandy blonde in a shift wearing the regalia of an Amazon even at her young age. He cowered, knowing what Amazons did to most male children. The girl splashed happily through the shallow water, placing a dripping crown of seaweed on her head. She took a step back when she saw the foreign object lodged in the cattails, and poked it nervously with the stick she carried. Then a gentle, long arm pushed her back.
"Nashama. What have I told you about..." The speaker, a tall, saturnine woman wearing a long dress, stopped herself when she saw the basket. Cocking her head slightly, she opened the lid and saw what lay within. The expression of tension on her face turned instantly to one of motherly love and understanding. She knew the baby was a Corinthian child, but she did not care. All she saw was a baby who needed a mother. And Queen Meris had always wanted another daughter and heir.
From behind the tree, Joxer smiled, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. So this is what his mother meant by the greater good.
"Bye-bye, little sister. I'll see you again someday."
The tall woman, Philia, was so in love with the dark-haired baby that she failed to notice Nashama tugging at the folds of her skirt. The party's guardians, two strong Amazon warriors, came splashing through the water and paused when they saw Philia with the child.
"Lady Philia, what...?"
She resumed her dignified expression and nodded to each of the warriors, dismissing them temporarily. Beside her Nashama jumped up and down in exasperation.
"I wanna see, Philia, I wanna see!"
She smiled. "Come then. We will show Queen Meris your new baby sister...Nerissa."
Chapter One: Twenty-Two Years Later
The pair of stonemasons barely leaped aside in time as two chariots, wheels flying and galloping horses foaming, clattered down the cobblestone road to Corinth. They shook their fists and cursed at the two drivers, both of which they knew all too well.
A few strides ahead, a sandy blonde of medium height, laughed merrily and spurred her two bays on to greater speed. Right behind her was a tall, surprisingly gangly brunette holding the reins of a team of greys. The dark-haired woman, who wore the beaded necklace of an Amazon princess, shouted to her sister.
"Hey, Shami, how'd you like a trip to the Elysian Fields?"
The younger, taller woman pulled even and jerked the horses abruptly to the left, nearly sending the other sprawling into the dirt. Miraculously she stayed upright and tried to control the squealing stallions.
"Easy, Nerissa, you nearly killed me!" Nashama, elder daughter of Queen Meris and heir to the Amazon throne, shouted back to her roguish little sister.
"Ha, you should talk! Last one into the city's got stable duties tonight! Hyah!" Her chariot inched ahead, the two greys flying on. Sparks flew from their iron-shod hooves off the roughly paved road.
The sisters crested the hill and the urban sprawl of Corinth came into view through its trademark coastal haze. The city dwellers had continued expansion into the forests, and it was barely recognizable from its status twenty years ago. The wall, for instance, had been built as a precaution after the great Battle of Corinth some ten years ago, in which Jolanthus had fought amidst the army of the once-feral warlord Xena.
People screamed in terror as the horses plowed their way into the narrow streets of the port city, wheels knocking over everything in their paths. The two Amazon princesses were concerned with one thing: winning. They often forgot that Amazons in Corinth were as welcome as the plague.
"Second born means second place!" shouted Nashama to her sister. "Come on, admit it, you've always wanted to fill my boots!"
"Not much to fill, are they?" joked Nerissa, steering the team around a tight corner.
Not looking where they were going, the two whipped their teams on up the great stone ramp of Corinth, the one that led to the main port. The horses, sweating and straining, continued to gallop on under the reins.
Workmen, some suspended from cables or straining to lift crates of cargo, were sent sprawling from their posts as the chariots blew by. Nerissa ducked under overhanging beams and nets of fish, aiming her sights on her sister, who had retaken the lead.
Then, abruptly Nashama realized that the merchants' road ended at the top of the city's main dike!
Frantically she pulled at the reins, and behind her, Nerissa did the same. The horses, sockets wide in alarm, reared up at the top of the dike, a massive wall fortified with sandbags and timbers.
Panting heavily, the two princesses exchanged a look of mutual relief.
"That...was..."
She felt it first: the strong wall had begun to give way under the horses' hooves and the iron-bound chariot wheels. The dike was collapsing!
"...close!" she finished, and then it came: a surge of briny water under a huge wave of sand, debris and broken timbers. Laughing all the way, the drivers with their teams rode the avalanche while the animals, assured of a grisly death, tried to gallop down to no avail.
At the bottom, the chariots made a final surge and with a great roar, miraculously landed upright along a deserted stretch of beach. Side by side, the sisters slowed the terrified horses to a more comfortable trot.
"Looks like I won again, huh?" Nashama said smugly to her sister.
Nerissa pulled in her horses. "You win because I let you win."
The sun was high in the sky as they turned their chariots south, back to the Amazon camp. "You don't think Mother will mind that we borrowed her chariots, do you?"
Queen Meris' tightly drawn face was red with rage. She clutched her staff tightly for a moment to compose herself. She had never liked to discipline her daughters.
"Artemis has cursed me with such irresponsible, reckless, thoughtless daughters! Have you any idea what you did today? I seek to build peace with the Corinthians and you destroy it with your immaturity and lack of judgment!" The old Amazon queen, still agile and strong even in her early forties, shook with anger. "Have I taught you nothing in all your years of training?"
Beside her stood a wiry, fox-faced man clad in the white robe of a diplomat. He shook his head as if to agree.
"Don't blame yourself, Majesty. It is not your fault that your daughters will not listen." He shot a smug glance at the humiliated sisters.
"That is enough, Pelagius," the queen replied. The statesman had served as the liason between Corinthians and Amazons for years, and never failed to express his disdain at Meris' fun-loving heirs. "I shall take care of them myself."
"Mother, one broken dike doesn't ruin years of diplomacy," protested Nashama. As the elder sister and better diplomat, she had been chosen as Meris' heir years ago.
Meris gripped the staff and shook it at her daughter. "But one weak link in a chain can destroy the Amazon nation. I won't have my own heir be that weak link."
It was Nashama's turn to turn red with rage. Her mother had never insulted her so blatantly. "I am responsible and will accept the consequences of my actions, Mother. I am sorry." Her lower lip quivered ever so slightly.
"It seems to me you do not know the meaning of responsibility, Nashama. I..." She hesitated slightly as Philia, her closest advisor, put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She sighed and loosened her death grip on the staff. "Leave me. Pelagius and I must talk."
"But Mother, I meant to..."
Meris turned her back, and Philia held up a hand as if to dismiss the elder princess. In a huff, her pretty face red with rage, she left Nerissa behind.
The tall young woman's face was a mask of disbelief and humiliation. She turned back to her mother and spoke in a soft voice.
"Mother, it was my fault. Nashama only followed me."
"You will never have to shoulder the burden of responsibility as Nashama when she becomes queen. Nerissa, you are a good daughter." Tentatively the grey-haired queen touched her mischievous younger heir on the cheek.
"She only wants to please you. She's afraid to disappoint you legacy," Nerissa explained, fixating her mother with her big brown eyes.
The battle-worn Amazon Queen offered a rare, comforting smile. "Perhaps you're right. I have work to do now, but I will see you both at the feast tonight."
Nerissa grabbed her own sword from the ground, grateful to escape her mother's wrath.
At the edge of the Amazon camp was a huge, gnarled, ancient oak, its bark chipped and scarred where countless members of the tribe had swung their weapons in practice. Nashama and Nerissa regarded it as their reflective spot when things were amiss. The younger princess, whistling cheerily, didn't need to look up to know that her sister was sitting on the lowest branch, her brows creased in annoyance. Nerissa laughed lightly.
"Come down from there. She could've done worse than that, you know."
Nashama continued to sulk, stretching out on the well-worn branch. "You heard her. She called me a weakling. That's not exactly flattering for someone who received the Rite of Caste at thirteen."
The pale, dark-haired Amazon sighed. Shami could be so stubborn when she had good cause. "Ah, well, you just need to lighten up, you know that?" With a sudden agile leap, Nerissa grabbed the branch and swung up next to her startled sister. In one hand was her leather throwing sling, bulging with liquid. "Watch."
Pelagius the diplomat appeared in view, leading his horse and scowling as he tended to do. As Nashama's green eyes widened in alarm, her younger sibling flung the payload, which turned out to be a faceful of mud, onto the unsuspecting Corinthian below. As Nerissa collapsed in a fit of giggles, Nashama gasped in horror. Below, Pelagius tried to wipe the mess out of his eyes, with little success. His voice rose an octave as it always did when he was annoyed.
"Princess Nashama! I am very disappointed in you, young lady! The Queen will know about this, you know!"
"Nerissa, why, you..."
Grinning from ear to ear, the younger princess passed her sister the bundle of rotten fruit and pebbles they had been saving for a good month. Innocence mixed with evil intent caused her deep brown eyes to sparkle. She passed the odious package to Nashama and shrugged.
"You may as well, sister."
With rarely displayed glee, Nashama dropped the mess down like a bomb. It splattered right onto the diplomat's head and sent him sprawling to the ground. In their hiding place, the sisters exchanged a high five and almost fell from the perch laughing.
"Did...did you see the look on his face when he thought you did it?"
Nerissa clapped her sister on the back to keep from doubling over. "You see? You just worry too much."
The heir to the throne pulled playfully on her little sister's pigtails. "You and your pranks, Nerissa. I don't know what I'd have done growing up alone."
"Well, you might have had to face Mother's temper alone, which is what's going to happen if you're late to the ceremony tonight!"
Quickly she eyed the position of the sun. It was a hand's width from the distant, watery horizon, and the ritual was to start at sunset.
"By Artemis! Mother will kill us if we're late!" Both sprang to the ground, ignoring Pelagius' muffled complaints from where he lay.