What price strength?  The saga of Alelneia


[Author’s note:  This is another of my stories of Panthelia.  As always, the characters and 
locations are my own creation.  Please feel free to get in touch and let me know what you 
think.  Also, note that the prisoner spoken of at the beginning of the story is Ricerd, and 
you can see how he got there in “BJ and Renee: Justice”.]

Chapter I.
  It was another glorious dawn in the valley of An-Har-Ezil, but Alelneia didn’t notice it.  
She was in the hut that served her people keeping an eye on her prisoner.  Her prisoner 
was a tall, imposing man, but Alelneia knew the truth, that he was a weak, empty man.  
He had been brought to her village by a friend of the Amazons, a troll named Frereder, or 
“Fred”.  As she looked at her prisoner, it was hard for her to understand why this man 
was worth the trouble.  On the one hand, she didn’t mind jailing him, as he had used what 
strength he did have to hurt and abuse others.  On the other hand, in the depths of her 
mind, she found it hard to understand how this fool could hurt anyone.  You would have 
to be weak and helpless indeed to fall victim to this idiot.

   As she considered these things, a young woman entered the hut and said “Alelneia, the 
Queen would like to see you.  I’ll keep an eye on him for awhile.”  Alelneia had no idea 
what it was about, but she just shrugged her shoulders and set off over to the Queen’s 
building.

     When she entered, she saw that only Queen Adalain was in the room.  Now, the queen 
was not normally someone who was obsessed over ceremony or ritual, but she usually 
had a few people around to take care of things, so Alelneia knew that something unusual 
was afoot.

     “Welcome, Alelneia”, the queen said.  “We have something important to discuss.”

     Alelneia bowed her head and said “Of course my queen, how may I be of assistance?”

     “Alelneia,” the queen began slowly.  “You know that you are like a daughter to me.  
Ever since the death of my sister, your mother, I have looked after you as if you were my 
own child.  Indeed, in many ways, you are my child, as I was never able to have any.  I 
am very proud of you.  You have worked very hard to overcome all that you have gone 
through in your life. That makes what I have to do now all the harder.”

     Alelneia raised her eyebrow at the queen’s statement, but decided not to interrupt her 
aunt.

     The queen continued with a look of sadness on her face.  “My dear, someday you will 
have to rule our people, and I’m afraid that there is a lesson you need to learn, and you 
cannot learn it here.”

    “What lesson is that?” Alelneia asked in surprise.

    “I have heard of your meeting with Frereder’s friends in their grove.  It has confirmed 
to me something I have long feared is true.  You are a very strong warrior, and I know 
that your mother would be very proud of you if she saw you today, but you are missing 
something even more important, compassion.”

   “What, I don’t understand?” Alelneia asked in wonderment.

   “It is not something that I can teach you or show you, it is something that you will have 
to learn for yourself.  Also, I’m afraid it’s something that you cannot learn here in our 
village.  I am laying on you a task that will be difficult and I have a feeling will be very 
hard on you in the long run, but if you are to lead our people, you must finish it.  I must 
ask you to leave our village, and not return until you know the meaning of these words “It 
is impossible to have compassion without humility.  Pity perhaps, but never compassion”.

   “What in the world is that supposed to mean!” Alelneia burst out.

   The queen smiled sadly and said, “That, child, is what you need to learn, and until you 
learn it, you are to leave this village.”  Even as she said these words, a tear formed in the 
corner of her eye and started to track down the side of her face.

     “What are you talking about? I’m the strongest fighter in the whole village!  You 
yourself have said that you would want no one else at your side in battle!  Strength, 
training, these are the amazon way!” Alelneia raged.  

    The queen looked at her sadly, “My child, there is so much more to life than mere 
strength.  The greatest strength is not in the arms, or the legs, but it is in the heart.  Yes, 
you are a great warrior, maybe the best our people have produced in a generation, but you 
need to learn strength of the heart as well.  Now go, this is not open for discussion.”

Chapter II

    The next morning, Alelneia set out.  She wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to 
do.  This “quest” that she had been given made no sense at all.  While her aunt was 
widely regarded as being a great and wise queen, Alelneia had always suspected she was 
a bit soft, and this sort of nonsense about humility and compassion just confirmed her in 
that assessment.  She knew she could wander around the countryside for ages, just 
looking for the meaning to that statement, so she knew she had to come up with some sort 
of a plan.  Finally, after much thought as she trudged on her way, she decided to return to 
that grove.  Hopefully she would be able to find Fred there.  She knew that it was Fred 
that had spoken to the queen, so hopefully the troll would be able to give her some idea 
of what the queen wanted.

    She was lost in these thoughts, when down the road a bit, she heard a scream.  
Hurrying along the path, she turned a corner and found 3 bandits robbing a trader and his 
wife.  Without even thinking, she slipped her travel pack off her shoulder and advanced 
on the bandits  “If I were you , I would leave here and leave these people alone”, she said 
as she approached.

    The bandits just looked at her and leered.  “Oh, and little girl, what is one little waif 
like you going to do to us?  You should have hidden in the woods until we were gone.  
But now, it looks like we are going to have an even better day”, he said, as he looked at 
her fully loaded travel pack.

    The bandit pulled out a long knife and advanced on her, but he quickly learned that this 
young woman was not the easy mark she appeared to be.   With lighting reflexes, she 
dropped to the ground and swept the bandits legs out from underneath him.  Than, as he 
lay on the ground in surprise, he felt the impact of her elbow driving into his temple.  
Before his buddies could even cry out, she was back on her feet and took a ready stance.  
The other two bandits advanced, a bit unsure of themselves, but they were still 2 on 1, 
and this woman was a tiny creature, barely 5’ tall.  With the same lightning speed she had 
shown before, she sidestepped one bandit’s knife thrust, and drove the heel of her hand 
underneath his chin.  Even as his eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground, she spun 
around and drove a brutal kick into the chin of the last bandit.

    The trader came up to her “Thank you, thank you!  You have saved our lives!”

   Alelneia cut them off, “You must be stronger, I will not always be around to deal with 
scum like this, and you need to be strong to survive in this world.”.  With this, she just 
picked up her pack and continued on her way.

   As she continued on her journey, she was  struck by how weak everyone was.  It was 
obvious that few people worked on their strength and ability.  However, she had to admit, 
deep down, she was bothered by something else as well.  While these people were weak, 
and soft, they had something that she didn’t.  She saw husbands and wives together, and 
children, and by all of their actions, by the looks they showed to one another, she knew 
that they shared something deep down that she had not felt.    She wasn’t able to put her 
finger on it, but she knew that they all had a closeness with one another that was totally 
foreign to her.

    Alelneia had never had much use for people, but somehow, watching the closeness that 
others shared, she felt a gnawing emptiness inside.  Maybe this was what the queen 
wanted her to learn.  However, even as these thoughts imposed on her, she pushed them 
further away.  All her life, she had learned to rely on her strength, her skills.  There was 
nothing more that she needed.  Sometimes, she even managed to convince herself of this.

Chapter III

    Over the next week, she kept wandering onward, turning this way and that, just 
looking at the world.  She could have long since been at the grove, but somehow she just 
felt driven to keep going and to see the world around her.  She was no closer to finding 
out what that mission her aunt had given her meant, but deep down, she was ready to 
admit that what she had seen already proved that she was missing something in her life.  
As she continued on her path, she once again heard a scream up ahead of her.  With a 
feeling of “here we go again”, she went up the path, expecting like before to see a scene 
she could deal with easily.  However, this time things were very different.  There was 
only one bandit, but this was not just any bandit.  His name was Bertold, and he was well 
known among Alelneia’s people, as one of the most ruthless and cruel people around.  He 
was wanted in a number of kingdoms for his crimes.  Alelneia had met him once before, 
when he had been captured and taken to the amazon village.  However, somehow he had 
managed to escape one night and continued his predatory ways.  Although Alelneia had 
not been responsible for guarding him that night, she still felt that capturing him would 
somehow redeem some lost honor of her people.

    Even as these thoughts were going through her mind, it was obvious that he also 
remembered her.  “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the little Princess of the Amazons.  What 
are you doing in a place like this?  No matter how you got here, you will fetch a pretty 
penny from your Queen I’m sure.”  With that he put his dagger aside and approached 
Alelneia.

     As they squared off, Alelneia felt nothing but a surge of confidence.  She had worked 
for years to build her up strength and skill, surely they would be more than enough to 
deal with a foul scum like Bertold.

    The fight was over almost before it began.  Alelneia feinted with her left arm and came 
around with a kick that would have removed Berthold’s head if it had connected.  
However, he was no longer there, and with an almost contemptuous sneer he cracked her 
across the back of the head, knocking her out.


   When she awoke, she was in a damp, musty stone cellar, chained by her arms and legs 
to the wall.  Bertold was there, just watching her.  “Well, well, it seems our little warrior 
finally decided to wake up.  You know, I had actually expected a better fight out of the 
“warrior-maid of the amazons”, but it just wasn’t to be.  Don’t worry though, you will go 
home as soon as your dear auntie coughs up the gold I want.  However, don’t think that 
you will get home in one piece.  You were a real mouthy little girl when I was a guest of 
your aunt, and I think you need to be taught respect.”

    Berthold picked up an iron bar and walked over to Alelneia.  He placed the bar under 
her chin, letting her bare skin feel the cold of the metal.  He then raised the bar and 
cracked her across the arm with it.

And she remembered:

  She remembered many years before.  She was just a small girl, and was out playing 
alongside a ravine near the village.  Her friend had thrown a ball too hard, and Alelneia 
was trying to run underneath it to catch it.  Her foot caught a damp spot along the edge of 
the ravine, and slipped.  She fell into the ravine and landed on her arm.  In her minds eye, 
she could see the grotesque shape of her arm, as it suddenly had two extra elbows in it.

    Bertold again raised the pipe, and this time he drove it into her stomach.

And she remembered.
 
   She was sitting in her hut with her mother.   “But mother, it hurts, do I have to try to 
work out again?”

    Her mother answered, “Yes, stop whining about the pain.  It’s not the Amazon way.  
You must be strong.  Only through strength can we prevail.  Make your mother proud and 
work hard.  Your arm will only get better if you work at it.”

    Bertold again raised the pipe, and this time he smashed it across her hip.

And she remembered.

   This time, she was a couple of years older.  Her arm still pained her, but she never let 
anyone know about it.  She was such a strong little girl, the strongest in the village.  
However, she remembered walking into her hut.  There, in bed was her mother.  She was 
frail and drawn, with her skin sagging on her whole body.  In every way, she was weak.  
That was the last time Alelneia ever saw her mother.

   Again Berthold raised his pipe, but after this blow, Alelneia felt the welcome abyss of 
sleep, as she fell unconscious.

   A few hours later, she again awoke, aching across her entire body.  It was cold, it was 
dark, and she hurt terribly.   She did something that she had not done in many long years.  
She cried.  All the strength and self assurance that she had cultivated for all those long 
years had fled away from her, and she hung there on the wall as a scared little girl.  All of 
the work she had put in, but she was again that little girl at the bottom of a ravine, 
clutching her arm.  All those years, she had relied on herself, and her own strength.  Now 
though, she found herself totally helpless.

   Over the course of the next few days, she faded in and out of consciousness as she hung 
there on the wall.  Sometimes Bertold was there with his pipe, sometimes she just hung 
there in the dark, damp cellar.  Always though, was the feeling of helplessness.  

   Once again, Bertold came down to the cellar. “Well, well.  Hello there my dear.  Maybe 
you won’t be here much longer though.  I’ll send the message to your auntie a bit later to 
pay up, but I think that before I do that I’ll have a little more fun.”  He reached for his 
iron bar, but just as he reached it, the door to the room exploded inward.  Standing in the 
door was 8 foot tall of solid muscle named Fred.

    Bertold took his bar and hit Fred as hard as he could across the shoulder.  Fred just 
grinned and reached out and grabbed the bar.  He then reached out and grabbed Bertold 
by the throat and shook him around a bit.  Bertold managed to slip loose, and cracked 
Fred across the skull with the iron bar.  Fred looked stunned, but only for a moment, as 
he lashed out with his arm and knocked Bertold into the wall.  Bertold slumped there as 
he fell unconscious.  Fred then took the iron bar, and twisted it around Bertold’s  hands as 
a pair of crude manacles.

     Fred then went over to the wall and pulled Alelneia’s shackles out of the wall with 
nothing but brute force.  He then gently took Alelneia into one arm, even as he threw 
Bertold like a sack of potatoes over his other shoulder and marched off.  

    “It be okay now Alelneia, everything be okay”, the troll said to Alelneia as he carried 
them off.  

Epilogue:

    A couple of weeks later, Alelneia was back at home.  Fred had taken her there to heal 
from her injuries.  While she was getting better, she was still so ashamed.  She was a 
failure.  She could not bear to face her aunt.  She knew her people needed a strong ruler, 
and he she was, an abject failure. Her people needed strength, but she was not strong.  
She remembered seeing her aunt the night Fred brought her in, but since then, Alelneia 
had avoided her like the plague.

    As Alelneia sat in her hut, the door opened, and the queen walked in.  “I’m sorry 
Alelneia,” she started.  I knew that this would be hard on you, but I had no idea how 
hard.”

    Alelneia looked up at her aunt, the Queen with a pair of bloodshot eyes.  “Please, don’t 
make me leave yet.  I know I’m a disgrace, but I need time to heal before I’m ready to 
face the world again.”

    The Queen went over to Alelneia and gently put an arm over her shoulder “Make you 
leave?  You are not going to go anywhere.  I want you here with me.  I know that these 
last weeks have been very hard for you, but you are not a disgrace.  There is no disgrace 
in losing to a stronger opponent.  There is always someone stronger out there.  We’ll talk 
more about this later, but you need to rest.”.

    Later that day, Alelneia went outside and saw the hustle and bustle of life in her 
village.  She had never realized how busy the place was.  She had always been so 
involved in herself, her training that she had missed the life going on around her.  Then, 
nearby she heard a small cry.  A small child with a toy wagon was crying.  One wheel 
had slipped off her toy.  At one time, Alelneia would have ignored the child, or maybe 
just made some statement about how amazons don’t cry.  This time though, she felt the 
cry of the child in her own soul.  She remembered how not that long ago she was crying 
too.  Silently, she walked over to the child and gently hugged her with her injured arm.  
At the same time, she took the wheel in her other arm, and slipped it back onto the 
wagon.

     Queen Adalain watched this out the window and smiled.  It was a start, a very small 
start, but a start indeed.  She knew that for all the pain her niece had suffered, in the end 
she would be a better person, and a better leader for her people.  As she absently put her 
hand to the growing lump on her breast, she knew it was not a moment too soon.