In the Dungeons of the Ice Queen (F/F) (Fantasy) (Finished)
Barzon wants to be good but just doesn't know how. Wonderful palace intrigue. Such a rich environment. Great work. Keep it up, please.
A List of my stories:An Unlikely Savior Completed
Spy Task Force Completed
Tale of an Archer Completed
The Bandit Scout on Newhome updated 05/30/23
That was a very long part, but very interesting. The humiliation with the dress was nice, but then the new dimension of betrayal and politics is even better. One of these sisters will soon be bound by a not-so-friendly person, and I don't care who it is. I only know for sure it will occur. Great stuff.
The Tangled Maiden completed
Bound to be Dared April 8
Spy Camp March 19
All My Stories On This Site
Bound to be Dared April 8
Spy Camp March 19
All My Stories On This Site
I concur [mention]Beaumains[/mention] - Ann´s humiliation was excellent. The Idea was very good. It begins with Ann´s undressing by the maids. And the Game of Thrones is exquisite. Isa seems to be totally oblivious to her sisters ambitions ..... I speculate a bit: Maybe Ann saves Isa at some point?Beaumains wrote: ↑9 months ago That was a very long part, but very interesting. The humiliation with the dress was nice, but then the new dimension of betrayal and politics is even better. One of these sisters will soon be bound by a not-so-friendly person, and I don't care who it is. I only know for sure it will occur. Great stuff.
[mention]rafeylovesbonds[/mention] [mention]Mineira1986[/mention] [mention]ninterz[/mention] [mention]Beaumains[/mention] [mention]Caesar73[/mention] [mention]potato[/mention] [mention]TimChimp[/mention] [mention]GreyLord[/mention] Thanks to everyone for the comments, Thanks for your comments, enjoy part sixteen!
Chapter 16
“I finally get it!” Were the words that came out of Bazzon’s mouth when he barged into the cave.
Clementine was naturally intrigued, the dragon had left the cave to ‘meditate’ and he hadn’t come back until a day had passed, and now he returned with an excitement uncharacteristic of him.
“What exactly did you realize?” Clementine asked as she put aside her tea.
“Why you hate being here so much” Bazzon replied.
“Great, so are you going to let me go then?” Clementine asked, expecting anything but an affirmative answer.
Bazzon seemed to be caught of guard and his excitement quickly faded, although it was hard to tell what something so far from the human form was feeling, Clementine had become good at reading the emotions of the dragon.
“Don’t worry, whatever your idea was you can still tell me” Clementine said before picking up her cup of tea again “I may still be your prisoner and all, but I’d be lying if I said that things had not improved since you began to take me outside every day.
Bazzon sighed before fully emerging out of the water. He then laid aside, encircling the table Clementine was sitting on almost completely as he curled up his body around it.
“I thought that since you were a princess in your land, you’d feel better if you were one here too” Bazzon explained.
“What do you mean by that?” Clementine asked “You do realize that princess are not usually captive right?”
“Well, maybe not in this way” Bazzon replied “But you should know that a good amount of them are just trapped in a different way, though political unions and zealous overprotection that draw them out of the world, just like your situation”
“That’s unusually smart to say for you” Clementine said after taking a sip of her drink “So, you intend of making me a princess, what do you mean by that?”
“Well’ I’ve been on dire need of someone to deliver my message to the people of the island, as you can imagine moving around without causing trouble is an issue for me” Bazzon explained “Also, I have a feeling that people would be much more eager to listen to me if a pretty woman like you deliver my message”
“So, you get your pretty spokeswoman and less work to do, what do I get?” Clementine asked “And don’t say ‘whatever you want’ because we both know that the one thing I want the most is something you won’t ever give me”
Bazzon looked up as if to find an answer in the darkness of the cave ceiling, he had learned not to promise the princess ‘whatever she wanted’ because he knew that he was not willing to let her go, but then what should he offer to her?
“How about a seat by my side” Bazzon explained “I already ask you for advice whenever I have trouble with the island, would you be satisfied if I allowed you to take decisions alongside me”
Clementine rested her head on her hand, while she was not eager to spend much time delving into the politics of an island that was still very much unknown to her the offer that Bazzon had just made her put her in position that she had been eager to acquire since she began to realize that the dragon could be swayed in her way, a position of power, probably more power than she even had in her home kingdom.
“I accept your offer Bazzon” Clementine replied “From now on I am the princess of Ormsa”
Queen Isa woke up with feeling a heavy weight below her chest, the type that makes breathing difficult and quickly takes one out of peaceful sleep. Isa opened her eyes slowly but when she caught a glimpse of who was laying over her eyes immediately became opened as plates.
“Ann!?” Shouted as she tried to move away.
But she couldn’t Ann was straddling her and had her pinned down, she couldn’t get away from her and soon she found herself even more pinned down. Ann grabbed her hands and pinned them down to the bed at the wrists, and just when Isa thought she couldn’t take more Ann leaned closer to her.
Isa’s eyes were fixed on Ann’s lips as they approached her face, but when Ann’s lips opened it wasn’t her voice what came out from inside her mouth.
“Get up sister, you’ve overslept” Isa heard her sister say.
They it became clear, she was once again having a dream and it wasn’t Ann pinning her down to the bed, it was her sister, sitting beside her and trying to wake her up.
Isa woke up feeling the consequences of the drinking she had indulged in last night, her stomach ached and her vision was blurry, but her sister didn’t really seem to care, if anything she seemed annoyed at her.
“I’ll go tend to some matters sister, breakfast is already being prepared for you” Alessia said once her sister was able to stand up from the bed “Even though its past midday”
“Before you go…” Isa interrupted her sister “Mind answering me a question?”
“Sure” Alessia replied.
“Yesterday, when I took Ann to her room, she told me something about you that I’m not sure if I should believe” Isa began her question.
Alessia was already nervous when she had left her alone with Ann in her cell yesterday, but her sister words made the nerves she felt yesterday incomparable to what she had felt yesterday.
“She told me something about you wanting to betray me, that she had heard you say something about it when she was in the dungeon with you”
“You must be misremembering sister” Alessia said as she went back to the bed to sit beside her sister “You know I, your little sister could never bring myself to causing you harm, you know, besides waking you up early sometimes”
Alessia hugged her sister and kissed her on the forehead, trying her best to cut short those suspicions she was having.
“You were drunk after all, maybe you had a nightmare?” Alessia asked.
“Yeah that must be it” Isa said as she stood up from the bed “You can go attend to what you must, I’ll manage”
Alessia left the room as she hid her angered expression caused by her sister’s carelessness, it was like after she had come clear with her conspiracy yesterday hiding her hatred towards her sister had become harder, but she would only have to bare it for a little while longer, afterwards she could finally be where she deserved to be.
For the time being, she walked towards Ann’s cell, making it clear to every guard she walked past that they had seen nothing. Even though most guards would be turned to her side once she enacted her plan it was still better not to lay any suspicions until the time came.
Ann was sitting down on the carpet with a cup of hot tea on her hands, still in front of the fire, covered with the queen’s cape and dressed with the dress she had ragged to escape. When she woke up she quickly managed to slide her manacled hands below her legs to put them in front of her, which became really useful when her retainers came to serve her food. But the brief moment of peace she found amidst her captivity was interrupted when she heard the entrance to her cell being opened.
In came Alessia, and immediately upon seeing her Ann knew that whatever was happening meant trouble.
“On the chair, now” Alessia ordered after closing the door behind her.
“You do realize I’m still chained up right? Just like you left me yesterday” Ann tauntingly replied as she removed the queen’s cape from over her, showing that she was telling the truth.
“I said on the chair, now!” Alessia reiterated “You know what I want you to do”
Ann glared at Alessia and laid her cup of tea aside, she stood up and hopped towards the chair until she could sit on it. Once she was sitting down Alessia removed her restraints, which didn’t really surprised Ann since she had already seen that Alessia was carrying rope with her.
Ann sat still as Alessia tied her to the chair, binding her arms behind the backrest and tying them at the wrists and elbows, making them touch with no regard for Ann’s pain. Then she tied her chest with ropes above and below her breasts and one around her waist to which she tied her already bound wrists. Her legs were bound at the tights, above and below the knees and at the ankles and were pinned to the seat at the lap and to the railing underneath the chair by her ankles.
After she was done tying her, which took her less time than one would expect, Alessia stood in front of Ann who kept glaring at her, already telling her with just those eyes that she knew what she was up to.
“I know you heard something yesterday, and I know that you told my sister about it” Alessia told Ann “But it doesn’t matter, it is too late for her to catch up with it, not like she would ever listen to a prisoner like you”
“If you are so unbothered by what I tell her why bother coming here and tying me up just to tell me this” Ann replied.
“You better not try me” Alessia said as she leaned forward and forcefully laid her hands on Ann’s thighs “Because if you do, when I get away with my plan I’ll make you wish you could return to this cell”
Alessia let go of Ann and went back to standing menacingly in front of her.
“Understood!?” She asked.
“Sure…” Ann muttered.
“Good” Alessia said “But to help you keep quiet about this, I’ll lend you a hand”
Without warning, Alessia shoved a rag inside Ann’s mouth, which she quickly prevented her from spitting by tying the scarf the queen had given Ann around her head once again, pressing her tightly over her lips to keep the rag inside her mouth.
“Maybe if you keep quiet I’ll have some mercy on you once I get rid of my sister” Alessia said before leaving.
Ann was left alone to ponder what little options she had left. It the events with the queen yesterday had confirmed that the queen indeed had a heart as she seemed to care at least for her, which she could use to eventually let her escape, the knowledge of her sister’s plot to overthrow her left something very clear to her, she would have no chance of using any type of leverage she had over the queen to escape if her sister indeed managed to overthrow her.
Alessia crossed paths with her sister on her way back to her room, upon being asked the queen said that she was going to see Ann, which Alessia was not pleased to hear, but she hid that fact and merely asked her to be weary of what she said.
“One other thing” Alessia said to her sister before they could part ways “Ann won’t surrender to you like you want her to, or at least not until you do something”
“And what may this something be?” The queen asked curiously.
“If I’m not mistaken, the reason she keeps citing as the cause of her not giving up is that her friends are still out there right? At least that was what her rebel friend said” Alessia said.
“You’re right, well then, what do you suggest we do?” Isa asked.
“We should take care of those friends or course” She said as she leaned closer to her sister, almost speaking to her in the ear “And I know exactly how to do that”
“Mind telling me?” The queen asked as she leaned closer to.
“You just listen”
The plan Alessia told her about made complete sense, she told them about the crystal ball they had stolen from Ormsa, that she was aware of, but she had never thought of what her sister suggested her. She had been taking the stolen crystal ball as a loss until her sister made her realize just how useful it could be.
Once her sister was done with her explanation Isa agreed to carry out her idea, even after what had happened yesterday she still wanted to see Ann surrender to her, in fact, maybe because of what Ann had tried yesterday she wanted that to be realized even harder.
Then the queen continued her way towards Ann’s cell, and upon reaching it she was met by an already bound and gagged Ann, which saved her a lot of work since after all she was there to punish her for her actions the previous night.
“Seems like my sister saved me the work of punishing you” Isa said as she sat on the chair opposite to Ann “Well, this is what I told you would happen if you caused a scene, and look at you”
Isa extended her hand towards Ann, pointing at her, She was indeed a sight, the impressive body the queen had gazed upon yesterday was now reduced a defenseless, helpless damsel in distress, bound and gagged before her.
“Mpghghg” Ann tried to make herself heard through her gag.
“Sorry, but part of your punishment means that you have lost your speaking privileges” Isa replied “If you don’t like it, maybe you should think about causing a scene the next time”
“Mphghg mpghghg ghppp!” Ann tried to warn the queen of the gravity of what she had to say, but again, her gag made her speech unintelligible.
“And since you’ve already been punished it seems like I don’t have much else to do here” Isa said as she stood back up again “But before I leave I’d like to tell you something”
The queen walked behind Ann and rested her hands on her shoulders, the she leaned towards her and laid her head on her shoulder, and spoke almost to her ear.
“Remember what you told me about your friends?” The queen asked, sending shivers donw Ann’s spine “How they will come to save you”
“Mpghg” Ann grunted angrily as she glared at the queen, having already lost the little appreciation she had gotten for her the previous night.
“Well don’t be so gloomy” Isa said “After all, they will be joining you very, very soon”
Ann then heard the shimmering noise of Isa’s staff, and when she looked besides her she saw the tip shinning blue. The next thing she felt was her body become weak and her mind become dizzy, she had already been put to sleep with magic so she knew very well that was happening.
Chapter 16
“I finally get it!” Were the words that came out of Bazzon’s mouth when he barged into the cave.
Clementine was naturally intrigued, the dragon had left the cave to ‘meditate’ and he hadn’t come back until a day had passed, and now he returned with an excitement uncharacteristic of him.
“What exactly did you realize?” Clementine asked as she put aside her tea.
“Why you hate being here so much” Bazzon replied.
“Great, so are you going to let me go then?” Clementine asked, expecting anything but an affirmative answer.
Bazzon seemed to be caught of guard and his excitement quickly faded, although it was hard to tell what something so far from the human form was feeling, Clementine had become good at reading the emotions of the dragon.
“Don’t worry, whatever your idea was you can still tell me” Clementine said before picking up her cup of tea again “I may still be your prisoner and all, but I’d be lying if I said that things had not improved since you began to take me outside every day.
Bazzon sighed before fully emerging out of the water. He then laid aside, encircling the table Clementine was sitting on almost completely as he curled up his body around it.
“I thought that since you were a princess in your land, you’d feel better if you were one here too” Bazzon explained.
“What do you mean by that?” Clementine asked “You do realize that princess are not usually captive right?”
“Well, maybe not in this way” Bazzon replied “But you should know that a good amount of them are just trapped in a different way, though political unions and zealous overprotection that draw them out of the world, just like your situation”
“That’s unusually smart to say for you” Clementine said after taking a sip of her drink “So, you intend of making me a princess, what do you mean by that?”
“Well’ I’ve been on dire need of someone to deliver my message to the people of the island, as you can imagine moving around without causing trouble is an issue for me” Bazzon explained “Also, I have a feeling that people would be much more eager to listen to me if a pretty woman like you deliver my message”
“So, you get your pretty spokeswoman and less work to do, what do I get?” Clementine asked “And don’t say ‘whatever you want’ because we both know that the one thing I want the most is something you won’t ever give me”
Bazzon looked up as if to find an answer in the darkness of the cave ceiling, he had learned not to promise the princess ‘whatever she wanted’ because he knew that he was not willing to let her go, but then what should he offer to her?
“How about a seat by my side” Bazzon explained “I already ask you for advice whenever I have trouble with the island, would you be satisfied if I allowed you to take decisions alongside me”
Clementine rested her head on her hand, while she was not eager to spend much time delving into the politics of an island that was still very much unknown to her the offer that Bazzon had just made her put her in position that she had been eager to acquire since she began to realize that the dragon could be swayed in her way, a position of power, probably more power than she even had in her home kingdom.
“I accept your offer Bazzon” Clementine replied “From now on I am the princess of Ormsa”
---
Queen Isa woke up with feeling a heavy weight below her chest, the type that makes breathing difficult and quickly takes one out of peaceful sleep. Isa opened her eyes slowly but when she caught a glimpse of who was laying over her eyes immediately became opened as plates.
“Ann!?” Shouted as she tried to move away.
But she couldn’t Ann was straddling her and had her pinned down, she couldn’t get away from her and soon she found herself even more pinned down. Ann grabbed her hands and pinned them down to the bed at the wrists, and just when Isa thought she couldn’t take more Ann leaned closer to her.
Isa’s eyes were fixed on Ann’s lips as they approached her face, but when Ann’s lips opened it wasn’t her voice what came out from inside her mouth.
“Get up sister, you’ve overslept” Isa heard her sister say.
They it became clear, she was once again having a dream and it wasn’t Ann pinning her down to the bed, it was her sister, sitting beside her and trying to wake her up.
Isa woke up feeling the consequences of the drinking she had indulged in last night, her stomach ached and her vision was blurry, but her sister didn’t really seem to care, if anything she seemed annoyed at her.
“I’ll go tend to some matters sister, breakfast is already being prepared for you” Alessia said once her sister was able to stand up from the bed “Even though its past midday”
“Before you go…” Isa interrupted her sister “Mind answering me a question?”
“Sure” Alessia replied.
“Yesterday, when I took Ann to her room, she told me something about you that I’m not sure if I should believe” Isa began her question.
Alessia was already nervous when she had left her alone with Ann in her cell yesterday, but her sister words made the nerves she felt yesterday incomparable to what she had felt yesterday.
“She told me something about you wanting to betray me, that she had heard you say something about it when she was in the dungeon with you”
“You must be misremembering sister” Alessia said as she went back to the bed to sit beside her sister “You know I, your little sister could never bring myself to causing you harm, you know, besides waking you up early sometimes”
Alessia hugged her sister and kissed her on the forehead, trying her best to cut short those suspicions she was having.
“You were drunk after all, maybe you had a nightmare?” Alessia asked.
“Yeah that must be it” Isa said as she stood up from the bed “You can go attend to what you must, I’ll manage”
Alessia left the room as she hid her angered expression caused by her sister’s carelessness, it was like after she had come clear with her conspiracy yesterday hiding her hatred towards her sister had become harder, but she would only have to bare it for a little while longer, afterwards she could finally be where she deserved to be.
For the time being, she walked towards Ann’s cell, making it clear to every guard she walked past that they had seen nothing. Even though most guards would be turned to her side once she enacted her plan it was still better not to lay any suspicions until the time came.
Ann was sitting down on the carpet with a cup of hot tea on her hands, still in front of the fire, covered with the queen’s cape and dressed with the dress she had ragged to escape. When she woke up she quickly managed to slide her manacled hands below her legs to put them in front of her, which became really useful when her retainers came to serve her food. But the brief moment of peace she found amidst her captivity was interrupted when she heard the entrance to her cell being opened.
In came Alessia, and immediately upon seeing her Ann knew that whatever was happening meant trouble.
“On the chair, now” Alessia ordered after closing the door behind her.
“You do realize I’m still chained up right? Just like you left me yesterday” Ann tauntingly replied as she removed the queen’s cape from over her, showing that she was telling the truth.
“I said on the chair, now!” Alessia reiterated “You know what I want you to do”
Ann glared at Alessia and laid her cup of tea aside, she stood up and hopped towards the chair until she could sit on it. Once she was sitting down Alessia removed her restraints, which didn’t really surprised Ann since she had already seen that Alessia was carrying rope with her.
Ann sat still as Alessia tied her to the chair, binding her arms behind the backrest and tying them at the wrists and elbows, making them touch with no regard for Ann’s pain. Then she tied her chest with ropes above and below her breasts and one around her waist to which she tied her already bound wrists. Her legs were bound at the tights, above and below the knees and at the ankles and were pinned to the seat at the lap and to the railing underneath the chair by her ankles.
After she was done tying her, which took her less time than one would expect, Alessia stood in front of Ann who kept glaring at her, already telling her with just those eyes that she knew what she was up to.
“I know you heard something yesterday, and I know that you told my sister about it” Alessia told Ann “But it doesn’t matter, it is too late for her to catch up with it, not like she would ever listen to a prisoner like you”
“If you are so unbothered by what I tell her why bother coming here and tying me up just to tell me this” Ann replied.
“You better not try me” Alessia said as she leaned forward and forcefully laid her hands on Ann’s thighs “Because if you do, when I get away with my plan I’ll make you wish you could return to this cell”
Alessia let go of Ann and went back to standing menacingly in front of her.
“Understood!?” She asked.
“Sure…” Ann muttered.
“Good” Alessia said “But to help you keep quiet about this, I’ll lend you a hand”
Without warning, Alessia shoved a rag inside Ann’s mouth, which she quickly prevented her from spitting by tying the scarf the queen had given Ann around her head once again, pressing her tightly over her lips to keep the rag inside her mouth.
“Maybe if you keep quiet I’ll have some mercy on you once I get rid of my sister” Alessia said before leaving.
Ann was left alone to ponder what little options she had left. It the events with the queen yesterday had confirmed that the queen indeed had a heart as she seemed to care at least for her, which she could use to eventually let her escape, the knowledge of her sister’s plot to overthrow her left something very clear to her, she would have no chance of using any type of leverage she had over the queen to escape if her sister indeed managed to overthrow her.
Alessia crossed paths with her sister on her way back to her room, upon being asked the queen said that she was going to see Ann, which Alessia was not pleased to hear, but she hid that fact and merely asked her to be weary of what she said.
“One other thing” Alessia said to her sister before they could part ways “Ann won’t surrender to you like you want her to, or at least not until you do something”
“And what may this something be?” The queen asked curiously.
“If I’m not mistaken, the reason she keeps citing as the cause of her not giving up is that her friends are still out there right? At least that was what her rebel friend said” Alessia said.
“You’re right, well then, what do you suggest we do?” Isa asked.
“We should take care of those friends or course” She said as she leaned closer to her sister, almost speaking to her in the ear “And I know exactly how to do that”
“Mind telling me?” The queen asked as she leaned closer to.
“You just listen”
The plan Alessia told her about made complete sense, she told them about the crystal ball they had stolen from Ormsa, that she was aware of, but she had never thought of what her sister suggested her. She had been taking the stolen crystal ball as a loss until her sister made her realize just how useful it could be.
Once her sister was done with her explanation Isa agreed to carry out her idea, even after what had happened yesterday she still wanted to see Ann surrender to her, in fact, maybe because of what Ann had tried yesterday she wanted that to be realized even harder.
Then the queen continued her way towards Ann’s cell, and upon reaching it she was met by an already bound and gagged Ann, which saved her a lot of work since after all she was there to punish her for her actions the previous night.
“Seems like my sister saved me the work of punishing you” Isa said as she sat on the chair opposite to Ann “Well, this is what I told you would happen if you caused a scene, and look at you”
Isa extended her hand towards Ann, pointing at her, She was indeed a sight, the impressive body the queen had gazed upon yesterday was now reduced a defenseless, helpless damsel in distress, bound and gagged before her.
“Mpghghg” Ann tried to make herself heard through her gag.
“Sorry, but part of your punishment means that you have lost your speaking privileges” Isa replied “If you don’t like it, maybe you should think about causing a scene the next time”
“Mphghg mpghghg ghppp!” Ann tried to warn the queen of the gravity of what she had to say, but again, her gag made her speech unintelligible.
“And since you’ve already been punished it seems like I don’t have much else to do here” Isa said as she stood back up again “But before I leave I’d like to tell you something”
The queen walked behind Ann and rested her hands on her shoulders, the she leaned towards her and laid her head on her shoulder, and spoke almost to her ear.
“Remember what you told me about your friends?” The queen asked, sending shivers donw Ann’s spine “How they will come to save you”
“Mpghg” Ann grunted angrily as she glared at the queen, having already lost the little appreciation she had gotten for her the previous night.
“Well don’t be so gloomy” Isa said “After all, they will be joining you very, very soon”
Ann then heard the shimmering noise of Isa’s staff, and when she looked besides her she saw the tip shinning blue. The next thing she felt was her body become weak and her mind become dizzy, she had already been put to sleep with magic so she knew very well that was happening.
Bazzon seems more and more cleaver as the tale progresses. Others, maybe not so much.
A List of my stories:An Unlikely Savior Completed
Spy Task Force Completed
Tale of an Archer Completed
The Bandit Scout on Newhome updated 05/30/23
Indeed Bazzon is clever and cunning - well the Queen is obviously not, and her sister is cruel and full of herself. She seems very certain of her success ....
Wonderful tale!
Two very kice arcs are occuring at the same time. It is hard to imagine how Ann's arc will go any different than Alessia overthrowing her sister. That game seems to have only kne end. Or are Ann's friends finding a way to get her out? Anyhow, Alessia seems to deserve being roped up the most now. The dragon/princess interactions are still great too and are so creative.
The Tangled Maiden completed
Bound to be Dared April 8
Spy Camp March 19
All My Stories On This Site
Bound to be Dared April 8
Spy Camp March 19
All My Stories On This Site
-
Mineira1986
- Centennial Club
- Posts: 619
- Joined: 4 years ago
The dragon-Clementine story has some "Beauty and the Beast" vibes. However, I find it hard to believe that Clementine will accept her new position as princess of a new location, when a couple of chapters ago she clearly stated "this will never be my home".
The other story followed a more logical path, with Alessia and Isa's relationship having problems from the start (their differences clearly stated from the beginning). But, why would Alessia worry about Isa's reputation by showing Ann as her pet, and does not object displaying the rebel leader as a trophy? Because she objects Isa doing this to one of her enemies, but the rebel leader is her enemy as well and does not receive a mention. Could've been interesting to see some of the guests' reactions to this (after all, in previous stories, it's been stated that Ann is a famous knight and comes from a famous family).
Finally, it seems that Ferine and company won't have to steal Isa's staff just to make her a little less powerful. They could just make her drunk, hehe. Ann runs away in front of a drunk Isa and she doesn't even think to use her magic. Something to think about =).
The other story followed a more logical path, with Alessia and Isa's relationship having problems from the start (their differences clearly stated from the beginning). But, why would Alessia worry about Isa's reputation by showing Ann as her pet, and does not object displaying the rebel leader as a trophy? Because she objects Isa doing this to one of her enemies, but the rebel leader is her enemy as well and does not receive a mention. Could've been interesting to see some of the guests' reactions to this (after all, in previous stories, it's been stated that Ann is a famous knight and comes from a famous family).
Finally, it seems that Ferine and company won't have to steal Isa's staff just to make her a little less powerful. They could just make her drunk, hehe. Ann runs away in front of a drunk Isa and she doesn't even think to use her magic. Something to think about =).
@rafeylovesbonds @Mineira1986 @ninterz @Beaumains @Caesar73 @potato @TimChimp @GreyLord Thanks to everyone for the comments, Thanks for your comments, enjoy part seventeen!
Chapter 17
Clemntine quickly got used to her new life as the reluctant princess of some freezing forgotten island in the middle of the sea of frosvoll. It was far from the same she had been doing in Beroux, a much more illustrious land if one many say so, but she couldn’t help but see that she was having a positive impact in the land.
With her mediation the inhabitants of the island found that compromising with their draconian overlord was far easier and much better on their part. Clementine was able to find clever solutions to save peasants from predatory taxation and to exempt some merchants from the excessive tariffs their ships had to pay in port.
But even still there was something that hung over the heads of everyone in the island like a sword ready to fall at any moment, and that was the still undisputed lordship the so called ice queen still held over the island.
Because even though the people of the island, even clementine, had come to think of the dragon as not so bad they could not allow themselves to forget that the ice queen only allowed him to rule over the island as her vassal, and that if things should call for her, she would certainly come and remind everyone of her presence with a blizzard strong enough to ruin the island completely.
This was what prevented Clementine from doing what she always wanted to do as a ruler, even though she could ease the taxing and repression, while the island remained under the authority of queen Isa she would not be allowed to release the peasants, to redistribute the land or anything that closely resembled an opposition to the order the legacy of ice kings and queens had created.
And Bazzon was always quick to remind her of that, that even though her allowed her to serve as princess, she was still just that, a princess while he was the king of the island.
It was then when Clementine began to put in action the next step of her plan. She had gone from prisoner to princess in a very short span of time, and now that she was so close to grasping true power she didn’t want her rise to power to be stopped until she had her revenge on the woman who had put her there.
When Ann woke up she quickly realized that she was tied to some sort of contraption. Her arms were extended horizontally to her sides, shackled in place at the wrists and elbows to the frame behind her. A metal plate pinned her body to the frame at the waist, and her legs were shackled slightly separately at the ankles.
Ann looked around and only got a better image of how she was tied up when she caught a glimpse of Bryla, who was tied up just like her at her right. They were both bound to an iron frame which mimicked the shape of their bodies, it was roughly shaped like a T, but it had room at the bottom to accommodate the bound feet and a small piece on top to accommodate the head, but it was still far from comfortable. It forced the captives to remain standing in an awkward position and quickly tired them out.
After catching a good glimpse of how exactly they had been bound Ann tried to talk to her, but something interrupted her.
“Mpghg!” Was all that came out of Ann’s mouth.
She was still gagged, just like the queen had left her. Bryla was gagged too, with the same bit gag that Ann had already seen on her mouth when she saw her being displayed at the party, but thankfully for her, her clothes had gone back to normal.
“Mpghg…” Bryla grunted in response as she idly struggled against the shackles holding her to the metal frame, knowing very well that it was futile.
The room where they were in was cylindrical and crowned in a cupule, all made out of cold gray stone like the rest of the castle, but they had never seen this room before, which wasn’t saying much considering that both of them had been mostly confined to their cells until that moment.
Before them and in the middle of the room was something covered by a large cloth sheet, its form couldn’t be discerned through the cloth covering it, but it was large, by far the largest object in the room, albeit the only other two which it could be compared to were the iron frames to which the captives were bound.
“Greetings my prisoners” Isa announced upon entering the room though a door which sat right between the two captives “Are you ready to finally submit to me?”
“Mpghgh!” Bryla grunted without hesitation.
“That’s what I expected, at least from you that’s it” The queen turned to look at Ann “What I’m actually curious about is seeing what sort of response I will get from my favorite prisoner”
Isa tried to caress Ann’s cheek but Ann moved her face away, even though the queen could have done it anyway she caught the hint and merely chuckled at the sight of Ann showing resistance.
“Very well, time for an explanation” The queen said as she removed the blanked from above the large object in the middle of the room.
Upon being removed, the blanket revealed a large perfectly smooth crystal sphere of dark blue color, even though it seemed transparent the of Ann and Bryla was quickly lost inside it upon looking at it. They had seen something similar before, it was just like the sphere Ferine had taken from Kluzelda’s ship, but only much, much larger.
“Since this is a kingdom of islands, and of islands which sit far north where storms are cruel and travel is difficult, out people long ago devised a solution to keep the different islands of the kingdom under control” The queen explained “The crystal spheres, allowing us to communicate between islands without needing to bother traveling”
While Ann was still trying to catch where the queen was going with her explanation, Bryla already knew it. The information she had revealed to Alessia was catching up with her, there was no way that what the queen was saying didn’t had anything to do with what she had told Alessia about the crystal ball Ferine had stolen.
“I’ve been informed by my sister that one of your allies stole one of these, the one which I had left for the island of Ormsa and my admiral Kluzelda” The queen continued “So what do you say about giving them a call?”
It was the dead of night in Ormsa when Herifa was woken up by a subtle but impossible to ignore humming which came from right inside her tent, the tent she once shared with her sister.
When she opened her eyes it became clear to Herifa from where the sound was coming, as a bright light came from within a cloth bag, the same cloth bag in which Ferine had brought the crystal ball in.
This could only mean one thing, someone was trying to communicate with their crystal ball, and there was only one which could remotely activate the lesser ones like the one they had, the master orb, the one held in the kingdom’s capital. Which could only mean one thing, someone from the queen’s palace was trying to communicate with them and Herifa doubted they were friends.
In a hurry, Herifa woke up Ferine, Eyiel and Rhys, who quickly incorporated themselves in the situation once Herifa told them as fast as they could the gravity of the situation.
“What should we do then?” Eyiel asked “Can’t we just not answer?”
“If they are remotely activating this one I’m pretty sure they know we have it” Herifa answered “After all, the must have noticed its absence alongside Kluzelda’s when the retook the city”.
“Should we answer then?” Ferine asked “If so, what should we expect from whoever is calling us?”
“I don’t know…” Herifa muttered “I hate to be so useless, but I really don’t know”
“Here goes nothing then” Eyiel sighed as she removed the cloth from above the sphere.
The initially blinding light which came from inside the sphere quickly took shape, and it wasn’t the shape of something the onlookers liked to see.
The queen was standing right in front of the sphere while behind them Ann and Bryla were chained to some weird contraptions which held their bodies in place while gags had been placed inside her mouth to keep them quiet
“Took you long enough huh?” The queen said as she smirked.
“We answered, what do you want?” Herifa answered trying to hide the fear in her voice.
“Well, before we get to that, I’d like to remind you of something” The queen said as she took a step towards Bryla and grabbed her by the jaw, forcing her to stare at the crystal sphere “As you can see I still hold your big sister captive”
“Leave her alone!” Herifa screamed with impotence from her side of the vision.
“No need to be so alarmed, as you can see I’ve gone to great lengths not harm her or your friend” The queen said as she walked towards Ann, filling the impotent onlookers with even more rage “But If this situation keeps going, I can’t confirm that this current affair will last much longer”
“What!?” Eyiel asked as she grabbed the sphere with both hands.
“Just like you heard it amazon, if you remain as a thorn on the boot of my reign, I will have to start taking out my frustrations on these two lovely things, and it would be a shame if that happened don’t you think?”
“Hey, don’t forget we have a prisoner of your own too!” Ferine barged in.
“Oh, right, Kluzelda” The queen replied “About her, why don’t you surrender to her and allow her to take you to me?”
“You can’t be serious…” Eyiel grunted.
“Oh I am very serious” The queen replied “You can try what you want with her, I don’t care, but if you are not on the way to my dungeons by tomorrow morning, your friends will pay the price”
There was not a single one of them who was not filled with impotence and the rage it brought with it, Ann and Bryla had to watch helpessly as they were made into damsels in distress, hostages to win over the surrender of their friends.
On the other side, Herifa, Ferine, Eyiel and Rhys had to watch as that despicable woman who the queen threatened their friends without them being able to do anything, practically forcing them to obey her despite not even being there.
“What should we do?” Herifa asked.
“I think the answer is pretty clear, unless you want to see these two pay the price of course” The queen interjected before anyone else could answer.
“I hate to admit it but she’s right” Ferine spoke lowly “We can’t risk her hurting our friends, and the only way we seemingly have to stop her is by surrendering”
“And how do we know that she can be trusted!?” Eyiel argued, unable to believe what she was going to have to do.
“That’s the worst part” Ferine muttered “We can’t”
“Oh, you have my word” The queen said from the other side of the sphere “As much as that’s worth to you”
The four looked at each other regretfully, knowing very well what they had to do next but desperately wanting not to do it.
“Fine, we’ll comply with your terms…” Herifa spoke in a regretful voice “What do you want us to do”
“Well, like I said, I want all three of Ann’s friends to be on the way to Jokulsa by tomorrow morning, tell them to surrender to Kluzelda and have her take them to Ormsa to be shipped here”
All four of the girls were quick to notice one large omission in what the queen was saying.
“What about me?” Herifa asked.
“Oh, you can surrender yourself too if you want, but I don’t care” The queen replied “Your sister has already been broken”
Before Herifa could even ask what the queen meant the sphere turned black again leaving them in the darkness.
On the other side, the queen looked smugly at her enraged captives, who were fiercely glaring at her from their secure place in their restraints.
“Oh don’t worry, you didn’t think I’d really hurt didn’t you” Isa asked as she moved to stand in front of Ann “Cheer up dear, soon you will be I company of your friends”
Back on the rebels’ tent Herifa lit up a candle and looked at the regretful faces of her allies once again before asking the question.
“So, we do what she asked us?” She asked.
“I guess we have no choice” Ferine sighed “But don’t worry, we’ll find a way to escape”
“Hey don’t you think this is the exact moment when we should think of plan!?” Rhys asked with uncharacteristic determination “We still have plenty of time before morning, Kluzelda is still asleep and the queen even told us that Herifa can remain here! Come on, we can’t just give up like this!”
“I also don’t want to give up but, what plan can we even think of? The queen has already told us what will happen if we don’t comply” Eyiel replied.
“Oh, we are going to comply” Rhys replied with a grin on her face “In fact, our plan will come into fruition when she least expects it, when she thinks she has already won!”
“Well, we’re all ears then” Ferine said as she sat comfortably “What do you suggest?”
“You just listen”
In the following hours Rhys made show of what her role in the group was, she knew she was the weakest of her friends, that her shy and awkward demeanor alongside side with her almost natural submissiveness didn’t made her into a charismatic leader, but there was something that she hid very well beneath that façade of a shy defenseless elf girl, and it was her intelligence.
In a matter of hours she thought of plan that could let them save her friends and escape with them in a way that almost seemed too perfect to be real, but at the same time had no flaws anyone could point out, so they ended up agreeing with it.
A few hours later when the sun began to shyly shine on the horizon Herifa entered Kluzelda’s room. The amazon was sitting against a post to which she was tied to a with her hands behind it and her torso bound at the waist, with her legs tied to at the ankles and knees. On her mouth was a cloth cleave gag without stuffing but enough thickness to muffle her speech.
“Wake up, you have a trip to make” Herifa said as she began to untie Kluzelda from the post.
Almosta immediately after she opened her eyes, Kluzedla was plunged back into darkness by Herifa putting a black blindfold over her eyes.
“Mpghg…” Kluzelda grunted.
“Oh don’t worry, we’re not going to kill you” Herifa said as she secured the amazon’s restraints, in fact, we’re sending you back home, and with a prize on top of that!”
“Mpgh?” kluzelda tried to ask.
After a long walk through lands Kluzelda could not know of her blindfold was removed and she found herself on the far outskirts of the city, at the edge of the forest which divided those land controlled by the queen and those controlled by her rebel enemies.
“Let me tell you what’s going to happen Kluzelda” Herifa spoke as she stood right in front of the pirate “Your queen has won, she has offered me a deal that I can’t deny, and it’s a deal with two parts”
Kluzelda looked around and caught a glimpse of those three girls she had captured not so long ago inside her ship, they were standing on the distance, but she could clearly see them.
“We have to release you, and on top of that you must take those three as prisoners to the queen” Herifa spoke regretfully “Don’t worry, we have already talked this through and they won’t resist”
Kluzelda did not give credit to what she was hearing, it sounded far too good to be true.
“I’ll untie you know, and you’ll have to deliver a small message to the queen” Herifa said before getting to work with the pirate’s restraints.
After being unbound, Kluzeda rubber her sore wrists which were criss crossed by red marks of ropes and only then addressed Herifa.
“What is the meaning of this?” She asked.
“It’s nothing more than what it seems” Herifa replied “Here, tell this to the queen”
As she said that Herifa showed the crystal sphere to Kluzelda, who laid a hand on her and saw the other side lit up, showing the room of the crystal sphere with two contraptions which were now empty and a seemingly bored guard standing in front of the door.
“Huh.. hello?” Kluzelda asked as she took a closer glimpse into the sphere.
The guard sprang into action, seemingly spooked by Kluzelda’s voice coming from nothing, but he quickly caught wind of what was happening.
“Tell the queen I already have the three captives, and that I’m on my way to Jokulsa”
The guard hastily left the room, most likely to delivered that message to his queen.
“Now tell me little rebel” Kluzelda said “Now that I have the chance, why shouldn’t I take you too with my crystal sphere”
“The queen didn’t asked for us” Herifa calmly replied “You wouldn’t want to disobey her orders would you?”
“Fine, I’ll come back for you one day on my own then” Kluzelda said “And make you pay for what you did to me”
“All at its due time, for now focus on the task the queen gave you” Herifa said as she handed Kluzelda a large amount of coils of rope “Good luck”
The rebel leader walked away from Kluzelda and into the woods while Ferine, Eyiel and Rhys regretfully did the opposite, although not as regretfully as they had expected. If someone was still incredibly mad about having to surrender it was Eyiel, who would never welcome being bound no matter the circumstances, Ferine was now careless about it, after all it wouldn’t be first time she got captured, and Rhys was far more thrilled than she wanted to show or admit.
“So, I get to take you back to my ship then huh?” Kluzelda asked as the three stood in front of her.
“Just be quick about it” Eyiel muttered.
“Oh don’t worry my fellow amazon” Kluzelda said as she began to wrap rope above Eyiel’s breasts “I will take my time”” She continued as she tightened the ropes.
Ferine and Rhys watched still and silently as Kluzelda restrained their friend, they watched her tie a chest harness which framed her breasts and pinned her upper arms to her back, tie her wrists together in a tight boxtie and bind her legs together at the knees. And her friends watched knowing very well that they will be next.
Ferine was tied next, much like with Eyiel her chest was framed in a tight secure harness which prevented most upper body movement, but her hands were tied straight and parallel behind her back, with her elbows bound too, something that Kluzelda could get away with thanks to Ferine’s smaller back. And just like with Eyiel, Ferine’s legs were tied at the knees.
Lastly was Rhys, who was shyly waiting for her turn. She saw Kluzelda uncoil more of the rope Herifa had given her while she mustered up the courage to speak up the first part of the plan she had deviced.
“You know I’m a mage right…” She spoke shyly “So… I thought that as a show of out complete surrender I should provide you with this”
Rhys extended her hands towards Kluzelda and showed a particular instrument, a hollow ball of wood covered by soft leather with two leather harnesses coming from its opposite sides which ended in a buckle.
“These ballgags are made to keep mages like us from casting spells, since I have no intention of disturbing your mission I thought I should provide with means to ensure that” Rhys spoke with her legs nearly shaking because of the nerves.
“Thanks, I’ll use this shortly” Kluzelda replied as she patted Rhys on the head.
Out of the three Rhys was the least strictly bound, all the ropes Kluzelda tied around her amounted to just her wrists bound crossed behind her back, a small set of ropes encircling her chest below her small breasts and pinning her arms to her back and her legs tied at the knees, restraints so tame that they made the much more strictly bound Eyiel and Ferine envious of their elf friend.
But if there was one thing they were not envious of was the gag that she had applied on her mouth. Locked behind her teeth and tightly buckled behind her head, catching many of her red hairs in the way, it made them envy her friend just a bit less.
“I assume you didn’t bring one too” Kluzelda asked as she looked at her other two captives.
“What do you think?” Ferine asked tauntingly.
“I’ll have to make do then” Kluzelda sighed “Much like you did with me”
Kluzlda ripped two pieces of cloth from the bottom of Rhys’ robes, she then put one inside Ferine’s mouth, and then she tied a rope around her head that went between her teeth and kept the cloth inside. The same that they had done with her the first time they gagged her, and the same she shortly did with Eyiel shortly after.
And when they though Kluzelda was done she added just one more detail to their already strenuous bondage. She tied a rope to each of the prisoners’ chest harness, attaching them to each other leaving some slack for her to grab.
“Come on, let’s get walking”
With Eyiel in front, Ferine in the middle and Rhys on the back, the three were walked towards and into the city, which was still rebuilding after the battle that had taken place there. Even though the reparations were keeping busy most of the people few of them ignored the arrival of Kluzelda and her three captives.
Some just took a brief glimpse and went back to what they were doing, others ogled at them for as long as they could, which could mean until they left their sight or until someone brought them out of their trance.
The first one to interrupt Kluzelda and her procession of prisoners was someone who Eyiel recognized from the time when she was exposed in front of a set of pirates, so it was needless to say that Eyiel wanted to never see them again or at least not in this condition.
“Kluzelda, you’re alive!” The other pirate said.
“I am, and I came back with a prize” Kluzelda answered as she pointed behind her with her thumb.
“That’s great, what are you going to do with them?” The pirate asked.
“Oh, I have a mission to take them to the queen” Kluzelda answered “Is my ship ready for travel? It took some nasty wounds the last time I sailed”
“It’s as good as new Kluzelda, and has been eagerly awaiting your return since your departure”
And so the three were taken aboard Kluzelda’s ship once again, there Kluzelda was greeted cheerfully by her crew, who quicly suggesting dying the captives to the mast where they could be displayed for everyone to see, but surprising for both the crew and her captives she decided against that and simply ordered to have them taken to the much more discrete lower deck cells.
There they were untied from each other and thrown together inside the room which functioned as a cell, Rhys and Eyiel, who had already spent an awfully long time on that ship, breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Kluzelda apparently hadn’t prepared any special treatment for them again.
A few minutes after being left alone Eyiel and Ferine started to try to remove each other’s gags by laying their heads at the height of each other’s hands in hopes of having the other catch wind of how the knot had been tied.
Rhys was out of the question not because of her unique gag which in fact would be easier to remove, but because part of the plan consisted in keeping her gagged.
“Mpghg mpghg” Rhys tried to get her friends attention.
By the time both Ferine and Eyiel managed to assume a normal sitting position again Kluzelda had already entered the room and was standing at the door, looking at them with the dim light that came through the door behind her.
“I can remove your gags if you want, as long as you stay put and don’t ungag your other friend” Kluzelda said as she moved to rest against a wall and allowed more light to fill the room.
That gesture sure came as surprising for the captives, especially for Rhys and Eyiel who remembered Kluzelda as a much crueler captive.
“Let me help you with that” Kluzelda said as she walked towards the prisoners to remove their gags.
She untied Ferine’s and Eyiel’s gag, allowing them to spit out the cloth muffling her sounds and making their speech unintelligible.
“Just remember, don’t take this as me giving you chance to try anything funny, you’re still captives on my ship remember?” Kluzelda said as she moved to leave the room.
But before she could stand out of the room she was stopped by Eyiel’s voice, asking her a question that she didn’t really wanted to answer, but one that she had seen coming already.
“Why the sudden change in attitude?” Eyiel asked “I’m not eager to be tied to the prow again, but why the change?”
Kluzelda sighed and faced her prisoner again, whether she liked what a her sincere response would be or not did not matter, it was not in the amazon code to lie not to dodge questions.
“Well, I ended up getting some respect for you during the time you kept me captive” Kluzelda spoke “It was strangely humbling to be put through the torture I usually subject my prisoners to, and so it was to be tied up by someone weaker than I” She said as she looked at Rhys, making her blush.
“So, we’ve convinced you to change your methods?” Ferine asked.
“Maybe, but for now rest assured that I no longer believe you to be deserving of any punishment” Kluzelda replied “Hell, your friend and that elf may have convinced me about love between amazons and not amazons being possible”
Kluzelda grabbed the door to close it, but she spoke a few last words before leaving.
“It’s a shame It won’t amount to much now” She said.
Too ashamed to keep talking about what she had found out about herself during her time as a captive Kluzelda left the room, leaving her captives alone again and with great surprise after seeing that change of heart in her captress.
Even though Ferine and Eyiel briefly discussed using this newly discovered facet of the pirate to their advantage Rhys made sure to remind them, through struggling and moaning, that trying anything at this point was out of the question. If they didn’t arrive at Jokulsa as captives Ann would suffer the consequences, and for their plan to work they had to arrive as captives, so all talk about trying anything between the thief and the amazon was cut short.
Chapter 17
Clemntine quickly got used to her new life as the reluctant princess of some freezing forgotten island in the middle of the sea of frosvoll. It was far from the same she had been doing in Beroux, a much more illustrious land if one many say so, but she couldn’t help but see that she was having a positive impact in the land.
With her mediation the inhabitants of the island found that compromising with their draconian overlord was far easier and much better on their part. Clementine was able to find clever solutions to save peasants from predatory taxation and to exempt some merchants from the excessive tariffs their ships had to pay in port.
But even still there was something that hung over the heads of everyone in the island like a sword ready to fall at any moment, and that was the still undisputed lordship the so called ice queen still held over the island.
Because even though the people of the island, even clementine, had come to think of the dragon as not so bad they could not allow themselves to forget that the ice queen only allowed him to rule over the island as her vassal, and that if things should call for her, she would certainly come and remind everyone of her presence with a blizzard strong enough to ruin the island completely.
This was what prevented Clementine from doing what she always wanted to do as a ruler, even though she could ease the taxing and repression, while the island remained under the authority of queen Isa she would not be allowed to release the peasants, to redistribute the land or anything that closely resembled an opposition to the order the legacy of ice kings and queens had created.
And Bazzon was always quick to remind her of that, that even though her allowed her to serve as princess, she was still just that, a princess while he was the king of the island.
It was then when Clementine began to put in action the next step of her plan. She had gone from prisoner to princess in a very short span of time, and now that she was so close to grasping true power she didn’t want her rise to power to be stopped until she had her revenge on the woman who had put her there.
---
When Ann woke up she quickly realized that she was tied to some sort of contraption. Her arms were extended horizontally to her sides, shackled in place at the wrists and elbows to the frame behind her. A metal plate pinned her body to the frame at the waist, and her legs were shackled slightly separately at the ankles.
Ann looked around and only got a better image of how she was tied up when she caught a glimpse of Bryla, who was tied up just like her at her right. They were both bound to an iron frame which mimicked the shape of their bodies, it was roughly shaped like a T, but it had room at the bottom to accommodate the bound feet and a small piece on top to accommodate the head, but it was still far from comfortable. It forced the captives to remain standing in an awkward position and quickly tired them out.
After catching a good glimpse of how exactly they had been bound Ann tried to talk to her, but something interrupted her.
“Mpghg!” Was all that came out of Ann’s mouth.
She was still gagged, just like the queen had left her. Bryla was gagged too, with the same bit gag that Ann had already seen on her mouth when she saw her being displayed at the party, but thankfully for her, her clothes had gone back to normal.
“Mpghg…” Bryla grunted in response as she idly struggled against the shackles holding her to the metal frame, knowing very well that it was futile.
The room where they were in was cylindrical and crowned in a cupule, all made out of cold gray stone like the rest of the castle, but they had never seen this room before, which wasn’t saying much considering that both of them had been mostly confined to their cells until that moment.
Before them and in the middle of the room was something covered by a large cloth sheet, its form couldn’t be discerned through the cloth covering it, but it was large, by far the largest object in the room, albeit the only other two which it could be compared to were the iron frames to which the captives were bound.
“Greetings my prisoners” Isa announced upon entering the room though a door which sat right between the two captives “Are you ready to finally submit to me?”
“Mpghgh!” Bryla grunted without hesitation.
“That’s what I expected, at least from you that’s it” The queen turned to look at Ann “What I’m actually curious about is seeing what sort of response I will get from my favorite prisoner”
Isa tried to caress Ann’s cheek but Ann moved her face away, even though the queen could have done it anyway she caught the hint and merely chuckled at the sight of Ann showing resistance.
“Very well, time for an explanation” The queen said as she removed the blanked from above the large object in the middle of the room.
Upon being removed, the blanket revealed a large perfectly smooth crystal sphere of dark blue color, even though it seemed transparent the of Ann and Bryla was quickly lost inside it upon looking at it. They had seen something similar before, it was just like the sphere Ferine had taken from Kluzelda’s ship, but only much, much larger.
“Since this is a kingdom of islands, and of islands which sit far north where storms are cruel and travel is difficult, out people long ago devised a solution to keep the different islands of the kingdom under control” The queen explained “The crystal spheres, allowing us to communicate between islands without needing to bother traveling”
While Ann was still trying to catch where the queen was going with her explanation, Bryla already knew it. The information she had revealed to Alessia was catching up with her, there was no way that what the queen was saying didn’t had anything to do with what she had told Alessia about the crystal ball Ferine had stolen.
“I’ve been informed by my sister that one of your allies stole one of these, the one which I had left for the island of Ormsa and my admiral Kluzelda” The queen continued “So what do you say about giving them a call?”
It was the dead of night in Ormsa when Herifa was woken up by a subtle but impossible to ignore humming which came from right inside her tent, the tent she once shared with her sister.
When she opened her eyes it became clear to Herifa from where the sound was coming, as a bright light came from within a cloth bag, the same cloth bag in which Ferine had brought the crystal ball in.
This could only mean one thing, someone was trying to communicate with their crystal ball, and there was only one which could remotely activate the lesser ones like the one they had, the master orb, the one held in the kingdom’s capital. Which could only mean one thing, someone from the queen’s palace was trying to communicate with them and Herifa doubted they were friends.
In a hurry, Herifa woke up Ferine, Eyiel and Rhys, who quickly incorporated themselves in the situation once Herifa told them as fast as they could the gravity of the situation.
“What should we do then?” Eyiel asked “Can’t we just not answer?”
“If they are remotely activating this one I’m pretty sure they know we have it” Herifa answered “After all, the must have noticed its absence alongside Kluzelda’s when the retook the city”.
“Should we answer then?” Ferine asked “If so, what should we expect from whoever is calling us?”
“I don’t know…” Herifa muttered “I hate to be so useless, but I really don’t know”
“Here goes nothing then” Eyiel sighed as she removed the cloth from above the sphere.
The initially blinding light which came from inside the sphere quickly took shape, and it wasn’t the shape of something the onlookers liked to see.
The queen was standing right in front of the sphere while behind them Ann and Bryla were chained to some weird contraptions which held their bodies in place while gags had been placed inside her mouth to keep them quiet
“Took you long enough huh?” The queen said as she smirked.
“We answered, what do you want?” Herifa answered trying to hide the fear in her voice.
“Well, before we get to that, I’d like to remind you of something” The queen said as she took a step towards Bryla and grabbed her by the jaw, forcing her to stare at the crystal sphere “As you can see I still hold your big sister captive”
“Leave her alone!” Herifa screamed with impotence from her side of the vision.
“No need to be so alarmed, as you can see I’ve gone to great lengths not harm her or your friend” The queen said as she walked towards Ann, filling the impotent onlookers with even more rage “But If this situation keeps going, I can’t confirm that this current affair will last much longer”
“What!?” Eyiel asked as she grabbed the sphere with both hands.
“Just like you heard it amazon, if you remain as a thorn on the boot of my reign, I will have to start taking out my frustrations on these two lovely things, and it would be a shame if that happened don’t you think?”
“Hey, don’t forget we have a prisoner of your own too!” Ferine barged in.
“Oh, right, Kluzelda” The queen replied “About her, why don’t you surrender to her and allow her to take you to me?”
“You can’t be serious…” Eyiel grunted.
“Oh I am very serious” The queen replied “You can try what you want with her, I don’t care, but if you are not on the way to my dungeons by tomorrow morning, your friends will pay the price”
There was not a single one of them who was not filled with impotence and the rage it brought with it, Ann and Bryla had to watch helpessly as they were made into damsels in distress, hostages to win over the surrender of their friends.
On the other side, Herifa, Ferine, Eyiel and Rhys had to watch as that despicable woman who the queen threatened their friends without them being able to do anything, practically forcing them to obey her despite not even being there.
“What should we do?” Herifa asked.
“I think the answer is pretty clear, unless you want to see these two pay the price of course” The queen interjected before anyone else could answer.
“I hate to admit it but she’s right” Ferine spoke lowly “We can’t risk her hurting our friends, and the only way we seemingly have to stop her is by surrendering”
“And how do we know that she can be trusted!?” Eyiel argued, unable to believe what she was going to have to do.
“That’s the worst part” Ferine muttered “We can’t”
“Oh, you have my word” The queen said from the other side of the sphere “As much as that’s worth to you”
The four looked at each other regretfully, knowing very well what they had to do next but desperately wanting not to do it.
“Fine, we’ll comply with your terms…” Herifa spoke in a regretful voice “What do you want us to do”
“Well, like I said, I want all three of Ann’s friends to be on the way to Jokulsa by tomorrow morning, tell them to surrender to Kluzelda and have her take them to Ormsa to be shipped here”
All four of the girls were quick to notice one large omission in what the queen was saying.
“What about me?” Herifa asked.
“Oh, you can surrender yourself too if you want, but I don’t care” The queen replied “Your sister has already been broken”
Before Herifa could even ask what the queen meant the sphere turned black again leaving them in the darkness.
On the other side, the queen looked smugly at her enraged captives, who were fiercely glaring at her from their secure place in their restraints.
“Oh don’t worry, you didn’t think I’d really hurt didn’t you” Isa asked as she moved to stand in front of Ann “Cheer up dear, soon you will be I company of your friends”
Back on the rebels’ tent Herifa lit up a candle and looked at the regretful faces of her allies once again before asking the question.
“So, we do what she asked us?” She asked.
“I guess we have no choice” Ferine sighed “But don’t worry, we’ll find a way to escape”
“Hey don’t you think this is the exact moment when we should think of plan!?” Rhys asked with uncharacteristic determination “We still have plenty of time before morning, Kluzelda is still asleep and the queen even told us that Herifa can remain here! Come on, we can’t just give up like this!”
“I also don’t want to give up but, what plan can we even think of? The queen has already told us what will happen if we don’t comply” Eyiel replied.
“Oh, we are going to comply” Rhys replied with a grin on her face “In fact, our plan will come into fruition when she least expects it, when she thinks she has already won!”
“Well, we’re all ears then” Ferine said as she sat comfortably “What do you suggest?”
“You just listen”
In the following hours Rhys made show of what her role in the group was, she knew she was the weakest of her friends, that her shy and awkward demeanor alongside side with her almost natural submissiveness didn’t made her into a charismatic leader, but there was something that she hid very well beneath that façade of a shy defenseless elf girl, and it was her intelligence.
In a matter of hours she thought of plan that could let them save her friends and escape with them in a way that almost seemed too perfect to be real, but at the same time had no flaws anyone could point out, so they ended up agreeing with it.
A few hours later when the sun began to shyly shine on the horizon Herifa entered Kluzelda’s room. The amazon was sitting against a post to which she was tied to a with her hands behind it and her torso bound at the waist, with her legs tied to at the ankles and knees. On her mouth was a cloth cleave gag without stuffing but enough thickness to muffle her speech.
“Wake up, you have a trip to make” Herifa said as she began to untie Kluzelda from the post.
Almosta immediately after she opened her eyes, Kluzedla was plunged back into darkness by Herifa putting a black blindfold over her eyes.
“Mpghg…” Kluzelda grunted.
“Oh don’t worry, we’re not going to kill you” Herifa said as she secured the amazon’s restraints, in fact, we’re sending you back home, and with a prize on top of that!”
“Mpgh?” kluzelda tried to ask.
After a long walk through lands Kluzelda could not know of her blindfold was removed and she found herself on the far outskirts of the city, at the edge of the forest which divided those land controlled by the queen and those controlled by her rebel enemies.
“Let me tell you what’s going to happen Kluzelda” Herifa spoke as she stood right in front of the pirate “Your queen has won, she has offered me a deal that I can’t deny, and it’s a deal with two parts”
Kluzelda looked around and caught a glimpse of those three girls she had captured not so long ago inside her ship, they were standing on the distance, but she could clearly see them.
“We have to release you, and on top of that you must take those three as prisoners to the queen” Herifa spoke regretfully “Don’t worry, we have already talked this through and they won’t resist”
Kluzelda did not give credit to what she was hearing, it sounded far too good to be true.
“I’ll untie you know, and you’ll have to deliver a small message to the queen” Herifa said before getting to work with the pirate’s restraints.
After being unbound, Kluzeda rubber her sore wrists which were criss crossed by red marks of ropes and only then addressed Herifa.
“What is the meaning of this?” She asked.
“It’s nothing more than what it seems” Herifa replied “Here, tell this to the queen”
As she said that Herifa showed the crystal sphere to Kluzelda, who laid a hand on her and saw the other side lit up, showing the room of the crystal sphere with two contraptions which were now empty and a seemingly bored guard standing in front of the door.
“Huh.. hello?” Kluzelda asked as she took a closer glimpse into the sphere.
The guard sprang into action, seemingly spooked by Kluzelda’s voice coming from nothing, but he quickly caught wind of what was happening.
“Tell the queen I already have the three captives, and that I’m on my way to Jokulsa”
The guard hastily left the room, most likely to delivered that message to his queen.
“Now tell me little rebel” Kluzelda said “Now that I have the chance, why shouldn’t I take you too with my crystal sphere”
“The queen didn’t asked for us” Herifa calmly replied “You wouldn’t want to disobey her orders would you?”
“Fine, I’ll come back for you one day on my own then” Kluzelda said “And make you pay for what you did to me”
“All at its due time, for now focus on the task the queen gave you” Herifa said as she handed Kluzelda a large amount of coils of rope “Good luck”
The rebel leader walked away from Kluzelda and into the woods while Ferine, Eyiel and Rhys regretfully did the opposite, although not as regretfully as they had expected. If someone was still incredibly mad about having to surrender it was Eyiel, who would never welcome being bound no matter the circumstances, Ferine was now careless about it, after all it wouldn’t be first time she got captured, and Rhys was far more thrilled than she wanted to show or admit.
“So, I get to take you back to my ship then huh?” Kluzelda asked as the three stood in front of her.
“Just be quick about it” Eyiel muttered.
“Oh don’t worry my fellow amazon” Kluzelda said as she began to wrap rope above Eyiel’s breasts “I will take my time”” She continued as she tightened the ropes.
Ferine and Rhys watched still and silently as Kluzelda restrained their friend, they watched her tie a chest harness which framed her breasts and pinned her upper arms to her back, tie her wrists together in a tight boxtie and bind her legs together at the knees. And her friends watched knowing very well that they will be next.
Ferine was tied next, much like with Eyiel her chest was framed in a tight secure harness which prevented most upper body movement, but her hands were tied straight and parallel behind her back, with her elbows bound too, something that Kluzelda could get away with thanks to Ferine’s smaller back. And just like with Eyiel, Ferine’s legs were tied at the knees.
Lastly was Rhys, who was shyly waiting for her turn. She saw Kluzelda uncoil more of the rope Herifa had given her while she mustered up the courage to speak up the first part of the plan she had deviced.
“You know I’m a mage right…” She spoke shyly “So… I thought that as a show of out complete surrender I should provide you with this”
Rhys extended her hands towards Kluzelda and showed a particular instrument, a hollow ball of wood covered by soft leather with two leather harnesses coming from its opposite sides which ended in a buckle.
“These ballgags are made to keep mages like us from casting spells, since I have no intention of disturbing your mission I thought I should provide with means to ensure that” Rhys spoke with her legs nearly shaking because of the nerves.
“Thanks, I’ll use this shortly” Kluzelda replied as she patted Rhys on the head.
Out of the three Rhys was the least strictly bound, all the ropes Kluzelda tied around her amounted to just her wrists bound crossed behind her back, a small set of ropes encircling her chest below her small breasts and pinning her arms to her back and her legs tied at the knees, restraints so tame that they made the much more strictly bound Eyiel and Ferine envious of their elf friend.
But if there was one thing they were not envious of was the gag that she had applied on her mouth. Locked behind her teeth and tightly buckled behind her head, catching many of her red hairs in the way, it made them envy her friend just a bit less.
“I assume you didn’t bring one too” Kluzelda asked as she looked at her other two captives.
“What do you think?” Ferine asked tauntingly.
“I’ll have to make do then” Kluzelda sighed “Much like you did with me”
Kluzlda ripped two pieces of cloth from the bottom of Rhys’ robes, she then put one inside Ferine’s mouth, and then she tied a rope around her head that went between her teeth and kept the cloth inside. The same that they had done with her the first time they gagged her, and the same she shortly did with Eyiel shortly after.
And when they though Kluzelda was done she added just one more detail to their already strenuous bondage. She tied a rope to each of the prisoners’ chest harness, attaching them to each other leaving some slack for her to grab.
“Come on, let’s get walking”
With Eyiel in front, Ferine in the middle and Rhys on the back, the three were walked towards and into the city, which was still rebuilding after the battle that had taken place there. Even though the reparations were keeping busy most of the people few of them ignored the arrival of Kluzelda and her three captives.
Some just took a brief glimpse and went back to what they were doing, others ogled at them for as long as they could, which could mean until they left their sight or until someone brought them out of their trance.
The first one to interrupt Kluzelda and her procession of prisoners was someone who Eyiel recognized from the time when she was exposed in front of a set of pirates, so it was needless to say that Eyiel wanted to never see them again or at least not in this condition.
“Kluzelda, you’re alive!” The other pirate said.
“I am, and I came back with a prize” Kluzelda answered as she pointed behind her with her thumb.
“That’s great, what are you going to do with them?” The pirate asked.
“Oh, I have a mission to take them to the queen” Kluzelda answered “Is my ship ready for travel? It took some nasty wounds the last time I sailed”
“It’s as good as new Kluzelda, and has been eagerly awaiting your return since your departure”
And so the three were taken aboard Kluzelda’s ship once again, there Kluzelda was greeted cheerfully by her crew, who quicly suggesting dying the captives to the mast where they could be displayed for everyone to see, but surprising for both the crew and her captives she decided against that and simply ordered to have them taken to the much more discrete lower deck cells.
There they were untied from each other and thrown together inside the room which functioned as a cell, Rhys and Eyiel, who had already spent an awfully long time on that ship, breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Kluzelda apparently hadn’t prepared any special treatment for them again.
A few minutes after being left alone Eyiel and Ferine started to try to remove each other’s gags by laying their heads at the height of each other’s hands in hopes of having the other catch wind of how the knot had been tied.
Rhys was out of the question not because of her unique gag which in fact would be easier to remove, but because part of the plan consisted in keeping her gagged.
“Mpghg mpghg” Rhys tried to get her friends attention.
By the time both Ferine and Eyiel managed to assume a normal sitting position again Kluzelda had already entered the room and was standing at the door, looking at them with the dim light that came through the door behind her.
“I can remove your gags if you want, as long as you stay put and don’t ungag your other friend” Kluzelda said as she moved to rest against a wall and allowed more light to fill the room.
That gesture sure came as surprising for the captives, especially for Rhys and Eyiel who remembered Kluzelda as a much crueler captive.
“Let me help you with that” Kluzelda said as she walked towards the prisoners to remove their gags.
She untied Ferine’s and Eyiel’s gag, allowing them to spit out the cloth muffling her sounds and making their speech unintelligible.
“Just remember, don’t take this as me giving you chance to try anything funny, you’re still captives on my ship remember?” Kluzelda said as she moved to leave the room.
But before she could stand out of the room she was stopped by Eyiel’s voice, asking her a question that she didn’t really wanted to answer, but one that she had seen coming already.
“Why the sudden change in attitude?” Eyiel asked “I’m not eager to be tied to the prow again, but why the change?”
Kluzelda sighed and faced her prisoner again, whether she liked what a her sincere response would be or not did not matter, it was not in the amazon code to lie not to dodge questions.
“Well, I ended up getting some respect for you during the time you kept me captive” Kluzelda spoke “It was strangely humbling to be put through the torture I usually subject my prisoners to, and so it was to be tied up by someone weaker than I” She said as she looked at Rhys, making her blush.
“So, we’ve convinced you to change your methods?” Ferine asked.
“Maybe, but for now rest assured that I no longer believe you to be deserving of any punishment” Kluzelda replied “Hell, your friend and that elf may have convinced me about love between amazons and not amazons being possible”
Kluzelda grabbed the door to close it, but she spoke a few last words before leaving.
“It’s a shame It won’t amount to much now” She said.
Too ashamed to keep talking about what she had found out about herself during her time as a captive Kluzelda left the room, leaving her captives alone again and with great surprise after seeing that change of heart in her captress.
Even though Ferine and Eyiel briefly discussed using this newly discovered facet of the pirate to their advantage Rhys made sure to remind them, through struggling and moaning, that trying anything at this point was out of the question. If they didn’t arrive at Jokulsa as captives Ann would suffer the consequences, and for their plan to work they had to arrive as captives, so all talk about trying anything between the thief and the amazon was cut short.
Clementine is playing this very clever. And the arrogant Queen has no idea that her own sister is about to remove her from the Throne.
Poor Ann is in no Position to help and must watch helplessly as her friends have to submit to her captors wishes.
But there is still Rhys plan ..... the tension is growing - another excellent part @banshee !
Poor Ann is in no Position to help and must watch helplessly as her friends have to submit to her captors wishes.
But there is still Rhys plan ..... the tension is growing - another excellent part @banshee !
These last few chapters have been really good, I love how the duality between the two villain sisters and I wouldn't at all mind seeing Isa get tied up too. However, it also seems like Alessia will be a much bigger problem for the adventurers to deal with than the careless Isa.
Thats a long chapter, but it is very interesting. I am eeally curious whether Isa had expected that plan to work. It seemed a little naive to believe her as I don't think many would do that for a friend. Will Kluzeda become the spoiler?
The Tangled Maiden completed
Bound to be Dared April 8
Spy Camp March 19
All My Stories On This Site
Bound to be Dared April 8
Spy Camp March 19
All My Stories On This Site
@rafeylovesbonds @Mineira1986 @ninterz @Beaumains @Caesar73 @potato @TimChimp @GreyLord Thanks to everyone for the comments, Thanks for your comments, enjoy part seventeen!
Chapter 18
“So, have you read my proposal for the reforms to the island’s government” Clementine asked as she saw Bazzon return from his daily swim in the freezing waters of Ormsa.
“I did” Bazzon replied before drying himself.
“And?” Clementine asked as she saw that Bazzon had fell silent “Anything against it?”
Bazzon laid around the table where Clementine was sitting and sighed, letting out a puff of warm air. He really didn’t have any good arguments against Clementine’s suggested reforms, her arguments for the release of the serfs and seizure of the property of the pirate captains were pretty convincing, but there was still something that didn’t sat right with him.
“Since you’re so quiet I assume you don’t, shall we start implementing them then?” Clementine asked, already suspecting that Bazzon had much more to say.
“I agree with your plan for the reforms Clementine, it’s just that I don’t know how they may sit with queen Isa” Bazzon replied.
Clementine pouted in an over acted way, she knew that the dragon was easily swayed by her beauty so she was more than willing to use that weapon to her advantage in order to advance her agenda.
“I apologize for that, but the truth is that when I made the deal with queen Isa for this island things like what you are proposing were never in the question” Bazzon explained “And I think the two of us know the queen well enough to know that she wouldn’t quite like what you are proposing”
Bazzon tried to per Clementine with one of its paws as he usually did when trying to calm her down, but this time Clementine moved away from him, surprising him and making him step back his advances.
“Are you going to let that hold you back?” Clementine asked.
“It’s not that, it’s just that…”
“Then what is it?” Clementine asked “I thought these were your lands and that the queen was merely giving them back to you, isn’t that the case?”
“Yes but…”
“But what?” Clementine asked again “Really, how can a dragon like you be so fearful about doing something like this!?”
Before keeping the argument going, Bazzon took a step back and made a brief reflection. What Clementine was saying was right, he was a dragon! The apex predator of the world, his claws cut through armor and his breath melted swords! Why should he be afraid?
“I have reasons to fear the queen Clementine” Bazzon spoke with sorrow.
Seeing the change in tone in Bazzon’s voice, Clementine decided to once again get close to the dragon, laying her hands on his scaly crestfallen head.
“It was her ancestors who drove mine out of these lands, that staff which was handed down to her by her mother might be in the hands of an unimpressive woman now, but it still is the weapon that once drove dragons out of these islands…” Bazzon explained regretfully, in a tone never heard coming from the dragon by Clementine or anyone before “That is why I am afraid”
Clementine patted Bazzon’s head and took a few steps back to look at him in the eyes.
“I too was taken out of my home without my consent you know…” Clementine spoke with all the irony that entailed “And in some way, the person who did this to me is related to the one that drove your ancestors out of their land”
Bazzon seemed unresponsive to what she was saying, so Clementine had to push a bit further to make him realize that for a creature like him, fear shouldn’t even be afterthought.
“I too am afraid, but do you think I let prevent me from doing what’s right?” Clementine asked.
“No…” Bazzon replied lowly.
“So if I, a frail young woman, can do it, you, a giant fire-breathing dragon should be more than able to!” Clementine spoke with increasing motivation “Stand up Bazzon! Let that fear be the reason you fight to right the wrongs brought upon your ancestors!”
Queen Isa awaited the arrival of her prisoners on her throne, sitting with her legs crossed and her arms laying on the armrests. She was wearing her long warm blue dress again and her long braid of white hair fell down her right shoulder.
When she heard the heavy doors leading to the throne room opened she immediately raised her gaze and was met by the sight she expected, Kluzelda had returned and behind her she was walking the three friends Ann wouldn’t shut up about. All of them bound and gagged.
“My my, if it isn’t Ann’s friends finally arriving” isa said as she leaned forward to take a closer look at her new captives.
The one in front, Eyiel, was by far the biggest. A tall muscular woman of long blonde hair, hazel eyes and slightly tanned skin. She was wearing a light brown gambeson and pants of a slightly darker tone of the same color, above them she wore boots that reached below her knees.
She was bound with ropes appropriate for someone of her strength, thick and sturdy coils of hemp rope framed her chest, pinning her arms to her back and holding her hands in a strict boxtie.
The woman behind her was smaller in almost all sense of the word, even though the tight black leather armor she was wearing highlighted her athletic features it was clear that she had not trained her body for the same sort of brute force her friend in front of her had. Her hair was black and cut short and her eyes were of a similar dark color.
The ropes used with her had been much tamer, although that could not be extended to the strictness with which they were tied. Her chest was also framed in ropes, not only above and below the breasts and underneath the armpits but also at the waist, where her wrists had been tied to her body as well as her tightly pressed elbows.
The woman at the end of the three was by far the smaller, both in stature and in frame. She was thin and only slightly shorter than her friend in front of her. Her skin was very pale, her eyes blue and her hair short and red. Her pointy long ears gave away the fact that she was an elf.
Out of the three she was also the most lightly restrained, with her hands being bound crossed behind her back and her arms being only secured to her body by ropes running below her small breasts. The only restraint that she shared with her companions was that tied around her knees to prevent her from running, although now they didn’t have anywhere to run to.
But the most notorious detail of the elf’s bondage was the gag in her mouth, a large ballgag of black color which was tightly buckled behind her head and prevented her from production any sound that was understandable and not greatly muffled.
“I must congratulate you Kluzelda, even after your shameful capture you still managed to come back to me with a pleasant surprise” The queen said as she stood up from her throne and began walking towards the prisoners.
“It was all I could do after what happened to me in that battle” Kluzelda replied “I needed some way to repay you for my mistakes after all”
“Then consider the repayment as worth it” The queen replied “The only other thing I will ask of you for now is to take these prisoners to the dungeons, the guards there will tell you where I want them”
“Of course my queen” Kluzelda concurred “You heard her ladies, get walking!”
And so the three prisoners kept being walked around like animals, taken downstairs and through long hallways at a humiliatingly slow pace forced upon them by their restrained knees which gave passerby’s ample time to stare at them in their misery.
But even in this humiliation they had to stay calm, otherwise all that they had gone through until now would have been for nothing, so they reduced all the complaints they had to occasional muffled groans and moans which were dampened by their gags.
Eventually they reached the dungeons, long stone hallways dotted with barred cells at its sides, but they weren’t put in any of those cells. Apparently the queen had thought for something special for them.
A large and heavy wooden door which stood aside from the others was opened by the guards standing at its sides with great effort. The room inside was so large and dark that the light that entered through the door wasn’t enough to illuminate it fully, so the guards came in and began to lit up the room’s torches.
Eventually what was inside the room became clear thanks to the torchlights. It was a long hallway dotted with columns, and from the end row of columns hung chains and manacles, the prisoners did not need any questions or answers to know where they were being taken to.
The end row of columns also stood atop a small stone platform, so when the prisoners were taken up to be chained they stood a few feet above the floor, giving them an ample sight of the room and whoever saw them a more exposed view of them.
Eyiel was the first to be untied and restrained again, this time with chains and to the pillars. Had circumstances been different Eyiel would have least tried to fight off her captors, but in the current circumstances all she could accomplish by doing that was making things worse, so with great effort she held back on her violent instincts and allowed her captors to do as they pleased.
Eyiel had almost become familiar with the position she was tied in; she was chained spread eagled between the two columns much like it had been done to her when she was displayed in Ormsa.
“Brings back memories doesn’t it?” Kluzelda asked after she was done restraining Eyiel.
“Mpghgg” Eyiel couldn’t hold back her grunt.
As a kind of final detail, Kluzelda gave Eyiel a slight push forward, so she was not standing directly on the floor below her but leaning forwards while standing on the short stone ramp which lead to the platform they were being displayed in, only being prevented from falling forward by the chains holding her captive.
Ferine and Rhys were tied next in the exact same way as Eyiel, chained spread eagled between the columns and being left leaning in a forward angle towards the entrance of the room, so whoever came in could have a nice view of their restrained bodies.
Between Eyiel and Ferine their captors had left an empty space between two columns, and all three prisoners already had a good guess of who was going to be put in there.
After their captors left they were left alone in the torchlight lit room for a few silent moments. They shared some looks but they were not of concern, until then, and despite what it seemed, the plan had gone alright, and they just had to keep playing up this role if they wanted it to keep going in the right direction.
After a long time, or at least long for the altered perception of the prisoners, someone entered the room. It was a woman who the prisoners found to be very similar to the queen, they didn’t know it but this woman was Alessia, the queen’s sister. But she was the least of her concerns.
With her and grabbing her by an arm Alessia carried Ann with her, who the captors were able to easily recognize despite the blindfold that covered her eyes and the white cloth that covered her mouth.
Despite being rather expected, of course the sight was not pleasing to the prisoners, who let out some muffled complaints at the sight of their imprisoned friend.
“Silence!” Alessia quickly shouted as soon as she heard them.
Ann was able to hear them to, and she began to fear that the queen had gotten away with exactly what she wanted.
With her vision still impaired Ann was chained like her friends in the space which had been left between Eyiel and Ferine, and much like them she was also given a slight push forward so the restraints would stretch her body even more. Only then did Alessia remove Ann’s blindfold, allowing her to see what was happening.
Much like she had feared, Ann was met by the sight of her friends, all bound in chains like her and with gags in their mouths, Ferine, Eyiel and Rhys, they were all there, captives of the queen and with seemingly no escape.
“After I’m done with my sister, I will have my revenge on you” Alessia said before walking out of the room.
Yet again the prisoners were left alone in the dark dungeon where they hung from chains. Ann tried to make some communication attempt with her bound friends, but of course she couldn’t accomplish much, much like them she was gagged, and the cloth inside her mouth made sure that her speech was unintelligible.
But strangely she found out that her friends didn’t seemed nearly as worried as her, even though she could clearly see that they were less than pleased with the situation, their looks resembled much more one of annoyance than of distress.
When Ann was starting to think that maybe, and in a way she did not understand, not all hopes were lost, the door to the dungeon was opened once again and in came only one person, the queen.
Queen Isa smugly walked towards her captives, the heels of her boot echoing across the room with every step she took towards them driving all attention to her and her smug confident face, the one that can only be seen in someone who is convinced about their victory.
“So, Ann, are these your friends you kept telling me about?” Isa asked as she stopped a few feet in front of the prisoners “Because they don’t seem like they will be of much help to you now”
The queen laughed at her remark and at Ann, who she was pleased to see slowly become more and more defeated with each passing second.
“Don’t worry, I won’t harm them” Isa said “Unless you give me a reason to of course”
“Mpghgg” Ann grunted through her gag,
“After all they are the best leverage I could have over you” Isa continued “I would never miss a chance to use them against you”
“Mphggh!” Eyiel joined in Ann’s muffled complaints.
“Oh I know it must be hard for you” Isa responded to the complaints “After all, Ann has already told me about how used you all have gotten to escaping predicaments like this, but sadly for you, you’ll find no escape out of this one”
The queen made a brief pause to gloat over her four chained captives and taste the delicious taste of absolute victory.
“From now on you will become permanent residents in my dungeons” The queen said “So I hope you get used to chains and gags, you’ll be wearing them a long time”
When the prisoners saw the queen make move the expected that she was going to leave, but instead she walked towards them. She climbed up the platform they were displayed on and behind them, and then she began untying your gags.
“But I’m not all evil you know” She said as she began untying Ferine’s gag “Since this will probably be the last time I let you talk to each other in a long time, I might as well let you enjoy the moment”
The queen ungagged each othe captives, or at least she did until she got to Rhys, whom she stopped in front of.
“I’m sorry but I won’t take my chances with you, little elf mage” She said “You’ll have to content yourself with hearing your friends talk while you stay silent”
The queen walked away from the prisoners and towards the door, which was opened by the guards a few minutes before she got to it.
“You wont get away with this!” Ann shouted from the other end of the room.
“I already have” The queen replied with a smirk on her face before leaving the room.
After the door was closed Ann looked absolutely defeated, she tugged the chains with impotent fury and only to see them remain unyeliding to all of her efforts until she tired herself out and simply allowed her weight to be carried by the chains.
“I’m sorry…” Ann said regretfully “I’d love to say that I’m going to get you out of this one, but I…”
“Calm down Ann” Ferine interrupted “We have it under control”
Ann looked at her left where Ferine had been tied beside her, her teary eyes showed nothing but confusion towards what she had said.
“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but this is actually all according to plan” Ferine explained “And you have Rhys to thank for that”
Ann turned to her right to look at the other end of the row of chained prisoners she was part of, and from there Rhys smiled at her as much as her ball gag allowed her.
Without any way of knowing about the plan Ferine was explaining to Ann, queen Isa walked smugly along the castle corridors until she reached her room, where she was surprised to see that her sister was already waiting for.
“Oh, what brings you here sister?” Isa asked as she saw Alessia sitting at the edge of her bed.
“Well, it seems like my big sister has finally managed to her favorite prisoner to surrender” Alessia said as she stood up and walked towards her sister “I just thought that she deserved a reward for that”
Alessia closed the door behind her sister and before the queen could ask any questions she retrieved some silky white ropes from below her cloak and subtly showed them to her sister.
“Can your sister interest you in a reward?” She asked.
Since it was extremely rare to have her sister suggest to tie her up and not the other way around Isa accepted Alessia’s proposal without any questions or second thoughts. She allowed her sister to push her onto the bed, where she straddled her and grabbed her arms by the wrists forcing them above her head.
“Just like in the old days sis” Isa said as she delighted herself with her sister’s treatment.
“Yeah, just like in the old days” Alessia replied as she began tying her sister’s hands together above her head and to the bed’s headboard.
After Alessia was done tying her sister’s hands she moved to her legs, which she tied using the queen’s own pantyhose to tie her ankles together and bind them to the bottom of the bed, leaving her sister stretched along the bed.
Isa had already begun to idly struggle to enjoy the bondage her sister had put her in when she felt her sister’s weight over her again. She was once again straddling her and she was holding something in her hands.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you said” Alessia said as she showed a panel gag of white leather to her sister “What is bondage without a gag?”
The queen happily allowed her sister to gag her with the panel gag, which was tightly pressed over her lips and buckled behind her head right below the bottom of her braid.
After she was done gagging her, Alessia stood up from the bed, although this was slightly disappointing for Isa, who knew that it meant that her sister wouldn’t play with her and would just limit herself to leave her in her restraint until she wanted, that was already enough for her, so she didn’t mind much. But she was brought out of her dreamscape when she heard her sister take something from the bedside table.
The queen opened her eyes and looked besides her towards where she had heard the sound, and she saw her sister, taking her crown and putting it on her head. She was confused and tried to ask her what she was doing, but her gag rendered her question into unintelligible moans.
“Oh you know how long I’ve waited for this, don’t act surprised” Alessia responded “Or maybe you’re actually so stupid that you really didn’t even suspect it”
Alessia looked at the crown on her head in the mirror while trying not to distract herself much with the reflection of her bound sister behind her.
“I won’t lie to you, when you told me that Ann had told you something about my plan to betray you I got slightly worried” Alessia said as she accommodated the diadem on her head “But thankfully you weren’t smart enough to give credit to what she said, lucky me I guess”
“Mpghghg!” Isa tried to scream, in complete disbelief of what she was seeing and hearing from her sister.
“Don’t try to scream, nobody will help you” Alessia said as she moved to stand at the bottom end of the queen’s bed “Everyone is so fed up with your rule anyway”
“Mppgh?” Isa tried to ask.
“You know, the whole giving Ormsa over to the dragon, not dealing with the rebels and only capturing Ann’s useless friends when you could have also taken the remaining rebel leader haven’t been popular decisions in court” Alessia explained “If you were anyone else you’d either be executed or spend the rest of your days rotting in a cell for your crimes against the serpent isles, but after all, you’re still my sister”
Isa watched with fear as her sister spoke those words to her, she was feeling something she had not felt in a very long time, and it was true fear brought by her helplessness.
“You’ll have some privileges as a prisoner, that’s all I’ll tell you” Alessia said “But for now, reflect upon your crimes, I have to take care of your problems”
“Mpghghg!” Isa moaned as she saw her sister leave the room carrying her staff of ice.
Chapter 18
“So, have you read my proposal for the reforms to the island’s government” Clementine asked as she saw Bazzon return from his daily swim in the freezing waters of Ormsa.
“I did” Bazzon replied before drying himself.
“And?” Clementine asked as she saw that Bazzon had fell silent “Anything against it?”
Bazzon laid around the table where Clementine was sitting and sighed, letting out a puff of warm air. He really didn’t have any good arguments against Clementine’s suggested reforms, her arguments for the release of the serfs and seizure of the property of the pirate captains were pretty convincing, but there was still something that didn’t sat right with him.
“Since you’re so quiet I assume you don’t, shall we start implementing them then?” Clementine asked, already suspecting that Bazzon had much more to say.
“I agree with your plan for the reforms Clementine, it’s just that I don’t know how they may sit with queen Isa” Bazzon replied.
Clementine pouted in an over acted way, she knew that the dragon was easily swayed by her beauty so she was more than willing to use that weapon to her advantage in order to advance her agenda.
“I apologize for that, but the truth is that when I made the deal with queen Isa for this island things like what you are proposing were never in the question” Bazzon explained “And I think the two of us know the queen well enough to know that she wouldn’t quite like what you are proposing”
Bazzon tried to per Clementine with one of its paws as he usually did when trying to calm her down, but this time Clementine moved away from him, surprising him and making him step back his advances.
“Are you going to let that hold you back?” Clementine asked.
“It’s not that, it’s just that…”
“Then what is it?” Clementine asked “I thought these were your lands and that the queen was merely giving them back to you, isn’t that the case?”
“Yes but…”
“But what?” Clementine asked again “Really, how can a dragon like you be so fearful about doing something like this!?”
Before keeping the argument going, Bazzon took a step back and made a brief reflection. What Clementine was saying was right, he was a dragon! The apex predator of the world, his claws cut through armor and his breath melted swords! Why should he be afraid?
“I have reasons to fear the queen Clementine” Bazzon spoke with sorrow.
Seeing the change in tone in Bazzon’s voice, Clementine decided to once again get close to the dragon, laying her hands on his scaly crestfallen head.
“It was her ancestors who drove mine out of these lands, that staff which was handed down to her by her mother might be in the hands of an unimpressive woman now, but it still is the weapon that once drove dragons out of these islands…” Bazzon explained regretfully, in a tone never heard coming from the dragon by Clementine or anyone before “That is why I am afraid”
Clementine patted Bazzon’s head and took a few steps back to look at him in the eyes.
“I too was taken out of my home without my consent you know…” Clementine spoke with all the irony that entailed “And in some way, the person who did this to me is related to the one that drove your ancestors out of their land”
Bazzon seemed unresponsive to what she was saying, so Clementine had to push a bit further to make him realize that for a creature like him, fear shouldn’t even be afterthought.
“I too am afraid, but do you think I let prevent me from doing what’s right?” Clementine asked.
“No…” Bazzon replied lowly.
“So if I, a frail young woman, can do it, you, a giant fire-breathing dragon should be more than able to!” Clementine spoke with increasing motivation “Stand up Bazzon! Let that fear be the reason you fight to right the wrongs brought upon your ancestors!”
---
Queen Isa awaited the arrival of her prisoners on her throne, sitting with her legs crossed and her arms laying on the armrests. She was wearing her long warm blue dress again and her long braid of white hair fell down her right shoulder.
When she heard the heavy doors leading to the throne room opened she immediately raised her gaze and was met by the sight she expected, Kluzelda had returned and behind her she was walking the three friends Ann wouldn’t shut up about. All of them bound and gagged.
“My my, if it isn’t Ann’s friends finally arriving” isa said as she leaned forward to take a closer look at her new captives.
The one in front, Eyiel, was by far the biggest. A tall muscular woman of long blonde hair, hazel eyes and slightly tanned skin. She was wearing a light brown gambeson and pants of a slightly darker tone of the same color, above them she wore boots that reached below her knees.
She was bound with ropes appropriate for someone of her strength, thick and sturdy coils of hemp rope framed her chest, pinning her arms to her back and holding her hands in a strict boxtie.
The woman behind her was smaller in almost all sense of the word, even though the tight black leather armor she was wearing highlighted her athletic features it was clear that she had not trained her body for the same sort of brute force her friend in front of her had. Her hair was black and cut short and her eyes were of a similar dark color.
The ropes used with her had been much tamer, although that could not be extended to the strictness with which they were tied. Her chest was also framed in ropes, not only above and below the breasts and underneath the armpits but also at the waist, where her wrists had been tied to her body as well as her tightly pressed elbows.
The woman at the end of the three was by far the smaller, both in stature and in frame. She was thin and only slightly shorter than her friend in front of her. Her skin was very pale, her eyes blue and her hair short and red. Her pointy long ears gave away the fact that she was an elf.
Out of the three she was also the most lightly restrained, with her hands being bound crossed behind her back and her arms being only secured to her body by ropes running below her small breasts. The only restraint that she shared with her companions was that tied around her knees to prevent her from running, although now they didn’t have anywhere to run to.
But the most notorious detail of the elf’s bondage was the gag in her mouth, a large ballgag of black color which was tightly buckled behind her head and prevented her from production any sound that was understandable and not greatly muffled.
“I must congratulate you Kluzelda, even after your shameful capture you still managed to come back to me with a pleasant surprise” The queen said as she stood up from her throne and began walking towards the prisoners.
“It was all I could do after what happened to me in that battle” Kluzelda replied “I needed some way to repay you for my mistakes after all”
“Then consider the repayment as worth it” The queen replied “The only other thing I will ask of you for now is to take these prisoners to the dungeons, the guards there will tell you where I want them”
“Of course my queen” Kluzelda concurred “You heard her ladies, get walking!”
And so the three prisoners kept being walked around like animals, taken downstairs and through long hallways at a humiliatingly slow pace forced upon them by their restrained knees which gave passerby’s ample time to stare at them in their misery.
But even in this humiliation they had to stay calm, otherwise all that they had gone through until now would have been for nothing, so they reduced all the complaints they had to occasional muffled groans and moans which were dampened by their gags.
Eventually they reached the dungeons, long stone hallways dotted with barred cells at its sides, but they weren’t put in any of those cells. Apparently the queen had thought for something special for them.
A large and heavy wooden door which stood aside from the others was opened by the guards standing at its sides with great effort. The room inside was so large and dark that the light that entered through the door wasn’t enough to illuminate it fully, so the guards came in and began to lit up the room’s torches.
Eventually what was inside the room became clear thanks to the torchlights. It was a long hallway dotted with columns, and from the end row of columns hung chains and manacles, the prisoners did not need any questions or answers to know where they were being taken to.
The end row of columns also stood atop a small stone platform, so when the prisoners were taken up to be chained they stood a few feet above the floor, giving them an ample sight of the room and whoever saw them a more exposed view of them.
Eyiel was the first to be untied and restrained again, this time with chains and to the pillars. Had circumstances been different Eyiel would have least tried to fight off her captors, but in the current circumstances all she could accomplish by doing that was making things worse, so with great effort she held back on her violent instincts and allowed her captors to do as they pleased.
Eyiel had almost become familiar with the position she was tied in; she was chained spread eagled between the two columns much like it had been done to her when she was displayed in Ormsa.
“Brings back memories doesn’t it?” Kluzelda asked after she was done restraining Eyiel.
“Mpghgg” Eyiel couldn’t hold back her grunt.
As a kind of final detail, Kluzelda gave Eyiel a slight push forward, so she was not standing directly on the floor below her but leaning forwards while standing on the short stone ramp which lead to the platform they were being displayed in, only being prevented from falling forward by the chains holding her captive.
Ferine and Rhys were tied next in the exact same way as Eyiel, chained spread eagled between the columns and being left leaning in a forward angle towards the entrance of the room, so whoever came in could have a nice view of their restrained bodies.
Between Eyiel and Ferine their captors had left an empty space between two columns, and all three prisoners already had a good guess of who was going to be put in there.
After their captors left they were left alone in the torchlight lit room for a few silent moments. They shared some looks but they were not of concern, until then, and despite what it seemed, the plan had gone alright, and they just had to keep playing up this role if they wanted it to keep going in the right direction.
After a long time, or at least long for the altered perception of the prisoners, someone entered the room. It was a woman who the prisoners found to be very similar to the queen, they didn’t know it but this woman was Alessia, the queen’s sister. But she was the least of her concerns.
With her and grabbing her by an arm Alessia carried Ann with her, who the captors were able to easily recognize despite the blindfold that covered her eyes and the white cloth that covered her mouth.
Despite being rather expected, of course the sight was not pleasing to the prisoners, who let out some muffled complaints at the sight of their imprisoned friend.
“Silence!” Alessia quickly shouted as soon as she heard them.
Ann was able to hear them to, and she began to fear that the queen had gotten away with exactly what she wanted.
With her vision still impaired Ann was chained like her friends in the space which had been left between Eyiel and Ferine, and much like them she was also given a slight push forward so the restraints would stretch her body even more. Only then did Alessia remove Ann’s blindfold, allowing her to see what was happening.
Much like she had feared, Ann was met by the sight of her friends, all bound in chains like her and with gags in their mouths, Ferine, Eyiel and Rhys, they were all there, captives of the queen and with seemingly no escape.
“After I’m done with my sister, I will have my revenge on you” Alessia said before walking out of the room.
Yet again the prisoners were left alone in the dark dungeon where they hung from chains. Ann tried to make some communication attempt with her bound friends, but of course she couldn’t accomplish much, much like them she was gagged, and the cloth inside her mouth made sure that her speech was unintelligible.
But strangely she found out that her friends didn’t seemed nearly as worried as her, even though she could clearly see that they were less than pleased with the situation, their looks resembled much more one of annoyance than of distress.
When Ann was starting to think that maybe, and in a way she did not understand, not all hopes were lost, the door to the dungeon was opened once again and in came only one person, the queen.
Queen Isa smugly walked towards her captives, the heels of her boot echoing across the room with every step she took towards them driving all attention to her and her smug confident face, the one that can only be seen in someone who is convinced about their victory.
“So, Ann, are these your friends you kept telling me about?” Isa asked as she stopped a few feet in front of the prisoners “Because they don’t seem like they will be of much help to you now”
The queen laughed at her remark and at Ann, who she was pleased to see slowly become more and more defeated with each passing second.
“Don’t worry, I won’t harm them” Isa said “Unless you give me a reason to of course”
“Mpghgg” Ann grunted through her gag,
“After all they are the best leverage I could have over you” Isa continued “I would never miss a chance to use them against you”
“Mphggh!” Eyiel joined in Ann’s muffled complaints.
“Oh I know it must be hard for you” Isa responded to the complaints “After all, Ann has already told me about how used you all have gotten to escaping predicaments like this, but sadly for you, you’ll find no escape out of this one”
The queen made a brief pause to gloat over her four chained captives and taste the delicious taste of absolute victory.
“From now on you will become permanent residents in my dungeons” The queen said “So I hope you get used to chains and gags, you’ll be wearing them a long time”
When the prisoners saw the queen make move the expected that she was going to leave, but instead she walked towards them. She climbed up the platform they were displayed on and behind them, and then she began untying your gags.
“But I’m not all evil you know” She said as she began untying Ferine’s gag “Since this will probably be the last time I let you talk to each other in a long time, I might as well let you enjoy the moment”
The queen ungagged each othe captives, or at least she did until she got to Rhys, whom she stopped in front of.
“I’m sorry but I won’t take my chances with you, little elf mage” She said “You’ll have to content yourself with hearing your friends talk while you stay silent”
The queen walked away from the prisoners and towards the door, which was opened by the guards a few minutes before she got to it.
“You wont get away with this!” Ann shouted from the other end of the room.
“I already have” The queen replied with a smirk on her face before leaving the room.
After the door was closed Ann looked absolutely defeated, she tugged the chains with impotent fury and only to see them remain unyeliding to all of her efforts until she tired herself out and simply allowed her weight to be carried by the chains.
“I’m sorry…” Ann said regretfully “I’d love to say that I’m going to get you out of this one, but I…”
“Calm down Ann” Ferine interrupted “We have it under control”
Ann looked at her left where Ferine had been tied beside her, her teary eyes showed nothing but confusion towards what she had said.
“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but this is actually all according to plan” Ferine explained “And you have Rhys to thank for that”
Ann turned to her right to look at the other end of the row of chained prisoners she was part of, and from there Rhys smiled at her as much as her ball gag allowed her.
Without any way of knowing about the plan Ferine was explaining to Ann, queen Isa walked smugly along the castle corridors until she reached her room, where she was surprised to see that her sister was already waiting for.
“Oh, what brings you here sister?” Isa asked as she saw Alessia sitting at the edge of her bed.
“Well, it seems like my big sister has finally managed to her favorite prisoner to surrender” Alessia said as she stood up and walked towards her sister “I just thought that she deserved a reward for that”
Alessia closed the door behind her sister and before the queen could ask any questions she retrieved some silky white ropes from below her cloak and subtly showed them to her sister.
“Can your sister interest you in a reward?” She asked.
Since it was extremely rare to have her sister suggest to tie her up and not the other way around Isa accepted Alessia’s proposal without any questions or second thoughts. She allowed her sister to push her onto the bed, where she straddled her and grabbed her arms by the wrists forcing them above her head.
“Just like in the old days sis” Isa said as she delighted herself with her sister’s treatment.
“Yeah, just like in the old days” Alessia replied as she began tying her sister’s hands together above her head and to the bed’s headboard.
After Alessia was done tying her sister’s hands she moved to her legs, which she tied using the queen’s own pantyhose to tie her ankles together and bind them to the bottom of the bed, leaving her sister stretched along the bed.
Isa had already begun to idly struggle to enjoy the bondage her sister had put her in when she felt her sister’s weight over her again. She was once again straddling her and she was holding something in her hands.
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you said” Alessia said as she showed a panel gag of white leather to her sister “What is bondage without a gag?”
The queen happily allowed her sister to gag her with the panel gag, which was tightly pressed over her lips and buckled behind her head right below the bottom of her braid.
After she was done gagging her, Alessia stood up from the bed, although this was slightly disappointing for Isa, who knew that it meant that her sister wouldn’t play with her and would just limit herself to leave her in her restraint until she wanted, that was already enough for her, so she didn’t mind much. But she was brought out of her dreamscape when she heard her sister take something from the bedside table.
The queen opened her eyes and looked besides her towards where she had heard the sound, and she saw her sister, taking her crown and putting it on her head. She was confused and tried to ask her what she was doing, but her gag rendered her question into unintelligible moans.
“Oh you know how long I’ve waited for this, don’t act surprised” Alessia responded “Or maybe you’re actually so stupid that you really didn’t even suspect it”
Alessia looked at the crown on her head in the mirror while trying not to distract herself much with the reflection of her bound sister behind her.
“I won’t lie to you, when you told me that Ann had told you something about my plan to betray you I got slightly worried” Alessia said as she accommodated the diadem on her head “But thankfully you weren’t smart enough to give credit to what she said, lucky me I guess”
“Mpghghg!” Isa tried to scream, in complete disbelief of what she was seeing and hearing from her sister.
“Don’t try to scream, nobody will help you” Alessia said as she moved to stand at the bottom end of the queen’s bed “Everyone is so fed up with your rule anyway”
“Mppgh?” Isa tried to ask.
“You know, the whole giving Ormsa over to the dragon, not dealing with the rebels and only capturing Ann’s useless friends when you could have also taken the remaining rebel leader haven’t been popular decisions in court” Alessia explained “If you were anyone else you’d either be executed or spend the rest of your days rotting in a cell for your crimes against the serpent isles, but after all, you’re still my sister”
Isa watched with fear as her sister spoke those words to her, she was feeling something she had not felt in a very long time, and it was true fear brought by her helplessness.
“You’ll have some privileges as a prisoner, that’s all I’ll tell you” Alessia said “But for now, reflect upon your crimes, I have to take care of your problems”
“Mpghghg!” Isa moaned as she saw her sister leave the room carrying her staff of ice.
Most intriuguing 
First and foremost Isa got finally presented the bill by Allissa for her arrogance and foolishness. She deserves that - and more. Alissa seems totally sure that her Coup d´etat is a rousing success. She has every reason to believe that ... She is totally unware that things are not going to plan:
There is Clementine and Bazzoon. Clementine did really well - surely Alissa and Company do not expect an attack from that side. A beautiful dialogue! And there are the adventurers finally reunited. So Ferine tells Ann about the plan Rhys came up with ... somehow I have the feeling Alissa is in for a surprise, when she wants to deal with her Sister´s mess.
First and foremost Isa got finally presented the bill by Allissa for her arrogance and foolishness. She deserves that - and more. Alissa seems totally sure that her Coup d´etat is a rousing success. She has every reason to believe that ... She is totally unware that things are not going to plan:There is Clementine and Bazzoon. Clementine did really well - surely Alissa and Company do not expect an attack from that side. A beautiful dialogue! And there are the adventurers finally reunited. So Ferine tells Ann about the plan Rhys came up with ... somehow I have the feeling Alissa is in for a surprise, when she wants to deal with her Sister´s mess.
So very true, @Caesar73. Excellent work, @banshee.
A List of my stories:An Unlikely Savior Completed
Spy Task Force Completed
Tale of an Archer Completed
The Bandit Scout on Newhome updated 05/30/23
@rafeylovesbonds @Mineira1986 @ninterz @Beaumains @Caesar73 @potato @TimChimp @GreyLord Thanks to everyone for the comments, Thanks for your comments, enjoy part seventeen!
Chapter 19
Freedom for the serfs, redistribution of plundered goods and tax relief for firsts necessity imports were the biggest takeaways from the speech that Bazzon gave to the people of Ormsa when he emerged from the freezing waters to address the people from the port. Beside him was the island princess, Clementine, who had been taken there by ship by the former city guards, now turned her royal guards.
When the people of Ormsa were told that they would be governed by a dragon, these reforms were the last thing they expected, but that didn’t mean that people were displeased with them.
Crowds of people who once despised Bazzon now cheered him as he retreated back into the water after his speech, some unable to believe that what they heard was real and not a vivid dream of a reality they had only dreamed of until then.
After Bazzon left the port once his speech was done, princess Clementine, who was a much prettier face to speak with, stayed behind with the intent of replying to any doubts. But considering that disgruntle elements of the island, like the pirates or aristocrats appointed by the queen were either arrested or missing in the previous days, most questions were not critical with the reforms.
However, there was one question which made eyebrows raise and made discomfort grow among the crowd. A young scholar, probably a foreigner since the ice kings and queens had never put any stake on the education of the people of the island, asked: ‘what do you think the queen will do about these reforms? Do you expect her to look the other way? Or do you really think that she has no issue with what you are proposing?’
While a few people almost got violent with the man who posed such question, the princess halted them as she considered it a fair question.
“Should the queen interfere with the reforms we are proposing, that would only cement her as an enemy of the people of the islands” Clementine explained “But since we are aware of the queen’s character, we cannot discard the possibility of her trying to stop us, but in that case we will make sure to defend the rights we’ve conquered, won’t we?
The princess was cheered as people shouted all forms of affirmation. Now that they were free from the oppressive rule of the ice queen and her subordinates they weren’t willing to let go of their newfound freedom, no matter how much the queen wanted to oppose them.
A few hours later Clementine was taken back to Bazzon’s lair, where she met by Bazzon, who was nervously waiting for her as he sat on the rocks above the cave’s water. Most people wouldn’t be able to tell what a dragon is feeling, but after so long with him Clementine was able to tell that nerves were racking the body of Bazzon.
“It is done, you have nothing to fear now” Clementine said as she left the boat that took her to the cave “And now you are loved by the people, they see you as their liberator, the first ruler to ever listen to their demands, isn’t that the type of ruler you want to be?”
“What you tell me pleases me, but it’s not the reforms I fear, what I fear is the retaliation we might see when news of what’s happening reach the ears of the queen” Bazzon explained.
“If that happens the people of this island are more than ready to fight for the rights they’ve conquered against those who wish to take them away from them again” Clementine explained “And while I would like to discard the possibility of armed conflict, it is worth reminding that you are probably sitting on top of the largest volunteer army of the islands”
“I don’t want war to come to this land Clementine” Bazzon argued.
“But at the current point it is more than likely that it will come” Clementine replied “You knew that very well when you enacted your reforms”
“That is not what I mean Clementine” Bazzon said as he stood up “What I mean is that we can’t allow the queen to make the first move”
“Oh…”
Clementine turned red as if ashamed of not even having considered what Bazzon was suggesting, but when she briefly pondered his idea in her mind it didn’t took long for her to realize that he had a point.
“Well then, let’s hear your strategy for this war” Clementine said as she sat on her chair.
When Ann was taken out of the dungeons and put back into the high cell at the end of the tower she wasn’t surprised to see that the queen was already there, waiting for her while tied to a chair. Even though the sight had its impact, after all Ann was seeing her days long captor captive herself, she was not as surprised as her, after all, unlike her, she had seen it coming.
“Mpghg!” Isa moaned as she saw her sister drop Ann into the room.
“I really can’t believe she was what you asked for, but I guess I’ll let you have her” Alessia said as she began to add some more restraints to Ann “You wanted to spend time with her, and now you will”
When Ann was taken out of the cell where she was with her friends she was tied with ropes again. Her chest bound in a harness which framed her breasts from above, below and a t the sides while also pinning her arms to her back. Her arms were bound at the wrists and elbows, with the latter being painfully forced to touch.
Upon reaching the cell where the queen had been left waiting for her, Alessia tied Ann’s legs together, binding them at the ankles, above and below the knees and at the thighs. All of this to then cap off her bondage by joining the ropes around her ankles to the ones around her elbows, putting the knight in a very strict and tight hogtie.
“Enjoy your time with your pet sister, I have a crowning to attend to” Alessia kissed off teasingly.
Ann was left alone with her once captor, whose situation now resembled much more that of her than anything else. By raising her gaze Ann was able to see how she had been tied. Her legs were bound to the front legs of the chair at the ankles and knees, her lap bound to the seat and her torso to the backrest at the waist and above and below her breasts. Her arms were also bound, but since they had been draped over the chair’s backrest Ann couldn’t see them.
The queen was gagged with the same white leather panel gag that her sister had applied on her when she tricked her into bondage in her room. A device so specific for its job that it made the rag Ann was forced to keep inside her mouth by a white handkerchief look precarious.
But aspects aside, it was undeniable that they now shared their condition, they were both prisoners in the new regime, no matter what was their role in the previous one.
Ann feared that this turn of events may affect the plan her friends had told her about, but there wasn’t much she could do to help them in her current circumstances, or at least not alone.
Despite being proud, Ann was not arrogant, even though she sometimes had to wrestle with it, she rarely allowed her pride to get in the way of her goals, and she wouldn’t make an exception this time.
“Mpghgh!” Ann moaned as she crawled pathetically towards the queen, who limited herself to stare at her in silence.
As Ann raised her gaze she was able to see the distinct look of defeat in the queen’s eyes, it was clear that she wasn’t thinking about anything but her failure, a sensation she already knew, but that at the moment wasn’t of any use to her.
“Mpghgg!” Ann moaned again.
The queen shyly raised her gaze, it was a start for Ann, if she began to think that if she managed to keep this going she could accomplish at least something.
A few moments after Ann was taken out of the large cell, the three remaining prisoners were also taken out to a much less grand cell where they were once again restrained, although this time in a much less complex way.
After standing up for so long the three craved some time sitting down, but this obviously was not part of their captors’ concerns, so once inside their new smaller cell they were chained to the walls with their hands manacled above them. Being only able to get some relief by leaning against the wall behind them.
But they remained stoic and silent, thinking that it was the better way not to let on that they were actually planning something, and the opportunity to enact their plan came sooner than expected.
When guards began to leave the dungeons in great number it became clear that something was happening, and when they heard the guard who was specifically watching over the door to their cell leave they immediately knew that this was the right moment to strike.
“Ready Rhys?” Ferine asked as she turned to look at the elf.
“Mpghg!” Rhys moaned in affirmation.
The elf’s tongue traced the lines of the magical rune that she had discretely carved into the insides of her gag, just below the leather where it couldn’t be noticed unless it was inspected very closely. And by tracing all of the scripture’s lines the rune activated, casting a spell on the one who did so.
The spell made the gag’s buckle untighten and left the gag hanging loosely around Rhys’ neck, and with her mouth unoccupied Rhys was free to cast a spell to set herself and her friends free, which she promptly did.
“Finally” Eyiel sighed as she rubbed her wrists “What now”
“Guess I’ll have to take care of this door” Ferine said as she reached one of her armor’s discrete pockets “Shouldn’t be that difficult”
From her pocket Ferine retrieved one of her many hidden tools that Kluzelda hadn’t bothered searching for. This time it was a lock pick with which she easily opened the doors lock, making way for their escape.
“This is surprisingly empty” Eyiel said as she looked around only to find the dungeons deserted “What got to all those guards?”
“None of our concerns” Ferine said “All we have to do now is rescue Ann, she must be waiting for us in that tower”
“Right” Eyiel said “Let’s see if they have some weapons around here in case things get messy”
“I know you’re angry but try to keep things stealthy okay?” Ferine sighed.
“Okay okay” Eyiel sighed “But just in case”
Only one guard had been left protecting the dungeon’s armory, which Rhys put to sleep with magic while her friends argued about who of them should take him out. With the weapons unguarded Ferine took a sword and a couple of daggers while Eyiel made herself comfortable with a large axe. Rhys had never been good with weapons and her magic was all she needed for the most part, but she still grabbed a dagger for good measure.
With little to no obstacles on their way aside from a few locked doors or distracted guards which supposed no real threat or impediment for the three escapees, they followed the directions to the tower that Ann had given them to the best of their abilities.
But upon opening one particularly large door they realized that the first real threat to their escape came in a rather unexpected shape.
The door lead to a balcony like corridor that surrounded the ballroom, where a large ceremony was taking place. According to what they could see by stealthily peaking above the railing, it was a crowning ceremony, which struck the three as weird since according to what they knew this palace already had a queen who they had already met.
However, the new queen in place seemed to be that woman who they had seen take Ann to the cell, Alessia, and after the crown had been put on her head by a well-dressed priest she had a lot to say.
“I know that a difficult heritage has been left to me by my less than capable sister” She spoke to the crowd “But I want you to be sure, that I will amend all of her mistakes!”
Her words were met with cheers, a distraction which gave hopes to the escapees which desperately wanted to remain hidden.
“First of all I finally reconquer Ormsa, not as a vassal governed by an unruly monster but as lands of our own!”
Alessia’s promise was met with cheers, but the adventurers who had seen the ‘unruly monster’ in question could not help but wonder how exactly did the new queen plan to take on it.
“Once the beast is taken care of, I will dispose of all the remaining rebels that my sister was too weak to take care of!” Alessia contined.
Her words kept being met with cheers by a crowd which seemed to be very pleased with her takeover.
The adventurers reached a door in the opposite end of the balcony hallway, it was locked so Ferine had to get her lock pick again and get to work, but opening this door turned out to be surprisingly harder than the one in the dungeons.
Unbeknowsn to them, who were busy waiting for the lock to make one more click that signaled that the door was finally opened, the new queen of the serpent isles raised her gaze, probably as a sign of her dominace, but she saw something that she wasn’t expecting to see, and it was something that deeply angered her.
“And if you’re eager to serve your new queen my subjects, I have something to order you” Alessia spoke to the crowd “I hope you are as eager to obey as I am to command”
The crown began to mumble among them, wondering what the queen was planning. But the adventurers didn’t pay much attention, they were to busy wanting for that damn door to open.
“My first order as queen is…” Alessia spoke as she grabbed the ice staff which her sister once held “Capture those escaped prisoners!”
Alessia pointed her staff high towards the opposite end of the ballroom, making all eyes in the room look at that very same direction. The escapees were only aware of what had just happened to know that they were most likely screwed.
Atop the high cell which the queen had once designed to be the residence of her favorite captive and that she now was forced to share with that very same captive in equal condition by her sister, the once queen was getting some progress done with Ann.
Upon realizing after a lot of difficult communication what it was that Ann wanted her to do, the queen had managed to knock the chair she was sitting on to the ground, where she was now laying one her side on while still tightly tied to the chair, with some restraints becoming even tighter due to the fall.
Once she was on the ground Ann eventually managed to crawl behind the chair and put her face within the reach of Isa’s hands. Once she had done that the once queen began to search for a way to pull down Ann’s gag. In other circumstance she would have relished the feeling of touching her face, but in the current one she had much more pressing priorities which prevented her from getting any enjoyment.
Once her mouth was free of cloth packing Ann did not speak a word and instead put her lips and teeth to use and began trying to work on the knot tying the queen’s hands.
Isa could not believe it, Ann, who she had kept as prisoner this whole time, was now helping her.
After a lot of difficult work since Alessia’s knots were very precise while Ann’s mouth very much wasn’t, the queen’s hands were finally free and with that taken care of she was able to dispose of the rest of her restrains much more easily. Once she was free from the chair the queen removed her gag and took a deep breath, she was shaking with fear and nerves, but she was determined not to let this opportunity go by.
“Let me help you with that” The queen said before Ann could even think that the queen would betray her.
“I take it that you understand the value of this truce right?” Ann asked as she felt Isa begin to untie her chest harness.
“I do” Isa replied with determination “We have a common enemy now, until that’s taken care of, you’re no longer my captive”
“Good to know that” Ann replied not without irony, since she still found it frustrating to hear that the queen apparently had no qualms in putting her back in chains once they were done with Alessia.
Once Isa was done untying Ann they both sat on the carpet, Ann stretched her muscles and rubbed her sore skin, which despite being protected by the tight full body gambeson she was wearing still felt the sting of the ropes all the time she had spent tied up.
“What now?” Isa asked.
“My friends told me that they were going to make an escape, they had a plan after all” Ann said as she stood up stretched her back “But we can’t expect them to do all the work”
Isa thought about what Ann had said for a second and pondered about telling her what she thought about it.
“Ann, I’m afraid your friends might not have gotten too far…” Isa spoke shyly “My sister is taking over the castle after all, they might have only escaped to be captured again”
Ann was worried for her friends, she could barely hide it, and she knew that the queen had no reason to lie to her, it was very likely that just like she said, her friends were being put back in chains as they spoke. But she wouldn’t let that scare her away from escaping.
“It’s on us then” Ann said confidently.
Chapter 19
Freedom for the serfs, redistribution of plundered goods and tax relief for firsts necessity imports were the biggest takeaways from the speech that Bazzon gave to the people of Ormsa when he emerged from the freezing waters to address the people from the port. Beside him was the island princess, Clementine, who had been taken there by ship by the former city guards, now turned her royal guards.
When the people of Ormsa were told that they would be governed by a dragon, these reforms were the last thing they expected, but that didn’t mean that people were displeased with them.
Crowds of people who once despised Bazzon now cheered him as he retreated back into the water after his speech, some unable to believe that what they heard was real and not a vivid dream of a reality they had only dreamed of until then.
After Bazzon left the port once his speech was done, princess Clementine, who was a much prettier face to speak with, stayed behind with the intent of replying to any doubts. But considering that disgruntle elements of the island, like the pirates or aristocrats appointed by the queen were either arrested or missing in the previous days, most questions were not critical with the reforms.
However, there was one question which made eyebrows raise and made discomfort grow among the crowd. A young scholar, probably a foreigner since the ice kings and queens had never put any stake on the education of the people of the island, asked: ‘what do you think the queen will do about these reforms? Do you expect her to look the other way? Or do you really think that she has no issue with what you are proposing?’
While a few people almost got violent with the man who posed such question, the princess halted them as she considered it a fair question.
“Should the queen interfere with the reforms we are proposing, that would only cement her as an enemy of the people of the islands” Clementine explained “But since we are aware of the queen’s character, we cannot discard the possibility of her trying to stop us, but in that case we will make sure to defend the rights we’ve conquered, won’t we?
The princess was cheered as people shouted all forms of affirmation. Now that they were free from the oppressive rule of the ice queen and her subordinates they weren’t willing to let go of their newfound freedom, no matter how much the queen wanted to oppose them.
A few hours later Clementine was taken back to Bazzon’s lair, where she met by Bazzon, who was nervously waiting for her as he sat on the rocks above the cave’s water. Most people wouldn’t be able to tell what a dragon is feeling, but after so long with him Clementine was able to tell that nerves were racking the body of Bazzon.
“It is done, you have nothing to fear now” Clementine said as she left the boat that took her to the cave “And now you are loved by the people, they see you as their liberator, the first ruler to ever listen to their demands, isn’t that the type of ruler you want to be?”
“What you tell me pleases me, but it’s not the reforms I fear, what I fear is the retaliation we might see when news of what’s happening reach the ears of the queen” Bazzon explained.
“If that happens the people of this island are more than ready to fight for the rights they’ve conquered against those who wish to take them away from them again” Clementine explained “And while I would like to discard the possibility of armed conflict, it is worth reminding that you are probably sitting on top of the largest volunteer army of the islands”
“I don’t want war to come to this land Clementine” Bazzon argued.
“But at the current point it is more than likely that it will come” Clementine replied “You knew that very well when you enacted your reforms”
“That is not what I mean Clementine” Bazzon said as he stood up “What I mean is that we can’t allow the queen to make the first move”
“Oh…”
Clementine turned red as if ashamed of not even having considered what Bazzon was suggesting, but when she briefly pondered his idea in her mind it didn’t took long for her to realize that he had a point.
“Well then, let’s hear your strategy for this war” Clementine said as she sat on her chair.
---
When Ann was taken out of the dungeons and put back into the high cell at the end of the tower she wasn’t surprised to see that the queen was already there, waiting for her while tied to a chair. Even though the sight had its impact, after all Ann was seeing her days long captor captive herself, she was not as surprised as her, after all, unlike her, she had seen it coming.
“Mpghg!” Isa moaned as she saw her sister drop Ann into the room.
“I really can’t believe she was what you asked for, but I guess I’ll let you have her” Alessia said as she began to add some more restraints to Ann “You wanted to spend time with her, and now you will”
When Ann was taken out of the cell where she was with her friends she was tied with ropes again. Her chest bound in a harness which framed her breasts from above, below and a t the sides while also pinning her arms to her back. Her arms were bound at the wrists and elbows, with the latter being painfully forced to touch.
Upon reaching the cell where the queen had been left waiting for her, Alessia tied Ann’s legs together, binding them at the ankles, above and below the knees and at the thighs. All of this to then cap off her bondage by joining the ropes around her ankles to the ones around her elbows, putting the knight in a very strict and tight hogtie.
“Enjoy your time with your pet sister, I have a crowning to attend to” Alessia kissed off teasingly.
Ann was left alone with her once captor, whose situation now resembled much more that of her than anything else. By raising her gaze Ann was able to see how she had been tied. Her legs were bound to the front legs of the chair at the ankles and knees, her lap bound to the seat and her torso to the backrest at the waist and above and below her breasts. Her arms were also bound, but since they had been draped over the chair’s backrest Ann couldn’t see them.
The queen was gagged with the same white leather panel gag that her sister had applied on her when she tricked her into bondage in her room. A device so specific for its job that it made the rag Ann was forced to keep inside her mouth by a white handkerchief look precarious.
But aspects aside, it was undeniable that they now shared their condition, they were both prisoners in the new regime, no matter what was their role in the previous one.
Ann feared that this turn of events may affect the plan her friends had told her about, but there wasn’t much she could do to help them in her current circumstances, or at least not alone.
Despite being proud, Ann was not arrogant, even though she sometimes had to wrestle with it, she rarely allowed her pride to get in the way of her goals, and she wouldn’t make an exception this time.
“Mpghgh!” Ann moaned as she crawled pathetically towards the queen, who limited herself to stare at her in silence.
As Ann raised her gaze she was able to see the distinct look of defeat in the queen’s eyes, it was clear that she wasn’t thinking about anything but her failure, a sensation she already knew, but that at the moment wasn’t of any use to her.
“Mpghgg!” Ann moaned again.
The queen shyly raised her gaze, it was a start for Ann, if she began to think that if she managed to keep this going she could accomplish at least something.
A few moments after Ann was taken out of the large cell, the three remaining prisoners were also taken out to a much less grand cell where they were once again restrained, although this time in a much less complex way.
After standing up for so long the three craved some time sitting down, but this obviously was not part of their captors’ concerns, so once inside their new smaller cell they were chained to the walls with their hands manacled above them. Being only able to get some relief by leaning against the wall behind them.
But they remained stoic and silent, thinking that it was the better way not to let on that they were actually planning something, and the opportunity to enact their plan came sooner than expected.
When guards began to leave the dungeons in great number it became clear that something was happening, and when they heard the guard who was specifically watching over the door to their cell leave they immediately knew that this was the right moment to strike.
“Ready Rhys?” Ferine asked as she turned to look at the elf.
“Mpghg!” Rhys moaned in affirmation.
The elf’s tongue traced the lines of the magical rune that she had discretely carved into the insides of her gag, just below the leather where it couldn’t be noticed unless it was inspected very closely. And by tracing all of the scripture’s lines the rune activated, casting a spell on the one who did so.
The spell made the gag’s buckle untighten and left the gag hanging loosely around Rhys’ neck, and with her mouth unoccupied Rhys was free to cast a spell to set herself and her friends free, which she promptly did.
“Finally” Eyiel sighed as she rubbed her wrists “What now”
“Guess I’ll have to take care of this door” Ferine said as she reached one of her armor’s discrete pockets “Shouldn’t be that difficult”
From her pocket Ferine retrieved one of her many hidden tools that Kluzelda hadn’t bothered searching for. This time it was a lock pick with which she easily opened the doors lock, making way for their escape.
“This is surprisingly empty” Eyiel said as she looked around only to find the dungeons deserted “What got to all those guards?”
“None of our concerns” Ferine said “All we have to do now is rescue Ann, she must be waiting for us in that tower”
“Right” Eyiel said “Let’s see if they have some weapons around here in case things get messy”
“I know you’re angry but try to keep things stealthy okay?” Ferine sighed.
“Okay okay” Eyiel sighed “But just in case”
Only one guard had been left protecting the dungeon’s armory, which Rhys put to sleep with magic while her friends argued about who of them should take him out. With the weapons unguarded Ferine took a sword and a couple of daggers while Eyiel made herself comfortable with a large axe. Rhys had never been good with weapons and her magic was all she needed for the most part, but she still grabbed a dagger for good measure.
With little to no obstacles on their way aside from a few locked doors or distracted guards which supposed no real threat or impediment for the three escapees, they followed the directions to the tower that Ann had given them to the best of their abilities.
But upon opening one particularly large door they realized that the first real threat to their escape came in a rather unexpected shape.
The door lead to a balcony like corridor that surrounded the ballroom, where a large ceremony was taking place. According to what they could see by stealthily peaking above the railing, it was a crowning ceremony, which struck the three as weird since according to what they knew this palace already had a queen who they had already met.
However, the new queen in place seemed to be that woman who they had seen take Ann to the cell, Alessia, and after the crown had been put on her head by a well-dressed priest she had a lot to say.
“I know that a difficult heritage has been left to me by my less than capable sister” She spoke to the crowd “But I want you to be sure, that I will amend all of her mistakes!”
Her words were met with cheers, a distraction which gave hopes to the escapees which desperately wanted to remain hidden.
“First of all I finally reconquer Ormsa, not as a vassal governed by an unruly monster but as lands of our own!”
Alessia’s promise was met with cheers, but the adventurers who had seen the ‘unruly monster’ in question could not help but wonder how exactly did the new queen plan to take on it.
“Once the beast is taken care of, I will dispose of all the remaining rebels that my sister was too weak to take care of!” Alessia contined.
Her words kept being met with cheers by a crowd which seemed to be very pleased with her takeover.
The adventurers reached a door in the opposite end of the balcony hallway, it was locked so Ferine had to get her lock pick again and get to work, but opening this door turned out to be surprisingly harder than the one in the dungeons.
Unbeknowsn to them, who were busy waiting for the lock to make one more click that signaled that the door was finally opened, the new queen of the serpent isles raised her gaze, probably as a sign of her dominace, but she saw something that she wasn’t expecting to see, and it was something that deeply angered her.
“And if you’re eager to serve your new queen my subjects, I have something to order you” Alessia spoke to the crowd “I hope you are as eager to obey as I am to command”
The crown began to mumble among them, wondering what the queen was planning. But the adventurers didn’t pay much attention, they were to busy wanting for that damn door to open.
“My first order as queen is…” Alessia spoke as she grabbed the ice staff which her sister once held “Capture those escaped prisoners!”
Alessia pointed her staff high towards the opposite end of the ballroom, making all eyes in the room look at that very same direction. The escapees were only aware of what had just happened to know that they were most likely screwed.
Atop the high cell which the queen had once designed to be the residence of her favorite captive and that she now was forced to share with that very same captive in equal condition by her sister, the once queen was getting some progress done with Ann.
Upon realizing after a lot of difficult communication what it was that Ann wanted her to do, the queen had managed to knock the chair she was sitting on to the ground, where she was now laying one her side on while still tightly tied to the chair, with some restraints becoming even tighter due to the fall.
Once she was on the ground Ann eventually managed to crawl behind the chair and put her face within the reach of Isa’s hands. Once she had done that the once queen began to search for a way to pull down Ann’s gag. In other circumstance she would have relished the feeling of touching her face, but in the current one she had much more pressing priorities which prevented her from getting any enjoyment.
Once her mouth was free of cloth packing Ann did not speak a word and instead put her lips and teeth to use and began trying to work on the knot tying the queen’s hands.
Isa could not believe it, Ann, who she had kept as prisoner this whole time, was now helping her.
After a lot of difficult work since Alessia’s knots were very precise while Ann’s mouth very much wasn’t, the queen’s hands were finally free and with that taken care of she was able to dispose of the rest of her restrains much more easily. Once she was free from the chair the queen removed her gag and took a deep breath, she was shaking with fear and nerves, but she was determined not to let this opportunity go by.
“Let me help you with that” The queen said before Ann could even think that the queen would betray her.
“I take it that you understand the value of this truce right?” Ann asked as she felt Isa begin to untie her chest harness.
“I do” Isa replied with determination “We have a common enemy now, until that’s taken care of, you’re no longer my captive”
“Good to know that” Ann replied not without irony, since she still found it frustrating to hear that the queen apparently had no qualms in putting her back in chains once they were done with Alessia.
Once Isa was done untying Ann they both sat on the carpet, Ann stretched her muscles and rubbed her sore skin, which despite being protected by the tight full body gambeson she was wearing still felt the sting of the ropes all the time she had spent tied up.
“What now?” Isa asked.
“My friends told me that they were going to make an escape, they had a plan after all” Ann said as she stood up stretched her back “But we can’t expect them to do all the work”
Isa thought about what Ann had said for a second and pondered about telling her what she thought about it.
“Ann, I’m afraid your friends might not have gotten too far…” Isa spoke shyly “My sister is taking over the castle after all, they might have only escaped to be captured again”
Ann was worried for her friends, she could barely hide it, and she knew that the queen had no reason to lie to her, it was very likely that just like she said, her friends were being put back in chains as they spoke. But she wouldn’t let that scare her away from escaping.
“It’s on us then” Ann said confidently.
Nice addition. I am still in love with the Clementine/Bazzon story line as the dynamic is so interesting. Clementine has a lot of theoretical knowledge about ruling but is naive and actually powerless while Bazzon is powerful and could not care less about the details as long as his belly is full.
So the coup has finally happened. Isa was indeed naive. It's a shame the plot to save everyone failed.
So the coup has finally happened. Isa was indeed naive. It's a shame the plot to save everyone failed.
The Tangled Maiden completed
Bound to be Dared April 8
Spy Camp March 19
All My Stories On This Site
Bound to be Dared April 8
Spy Camp March 19
All My Stories On This Site
Like @Beaumains, I am enjoying the Clementine/Bazzon story line. Ann is making some progress but what is happening to her friends?
A List of my stories:An Unlikely Savior Completed
Spy Task Force Completed
Tale of an Archer Completed
The Bandit Scout on Newhome updated 05/30/23
Yes, the Clementine/ Bazzon story line is intriguing - and I have the feeling the new Ruler is in for a surprise
Interesting to see captor and captive working together. If Ann´s Friends get away? We will see. Wonderful chapter!I am so looking forward to the next chapter @banshee !
A List of my stories:An Unlikely Savior Completed
Spy Task Force Completed
Tale of an Archer Completed
The Bandit Scout on Newhome updated 05/30/23
@rafeylovesbonds @Mineira1986 @ninterz @Beaumains @Caesar73 @potato @TimChimp @GreyLord
Thanks to everyone for following the story, I hope you enjoyed it. If there are any comments you'd like to make about the story, its world or its characters feel free to do so, I'm as open to praising as I am to criticism.
Chapter 20
When the announcement that Ormsa was declaring its independence from the serpent isles and that it was ready to enforce its demands was given to the people of the island by Bazzon and the Clementine, they were surprisingly met with cheers.
A lot of people who up until a few days were mere serfs and low end burghers gladly offered themselves for the task of enforcing their demands on the tyrannical ice queen, who would no doubt come to crush them if they did not make their demands clear.
But Bazzon and Clementine decided it was best to keep their offensive low, taking only three ships which had been seized from pirates and manning them with the best the island could offer. The small fleet was spearheaded by Bazzon, who swam faster than the boats, and Clementine served as an admiral for the three captains.
At this time of the year the winds on the serpent islands blow north, making this time the best to attack the capital swiftly and effectively.
While Bazzon would have been content with enforcing his demands for independence, the same could not be said about Clementine, who in her chambers in the largest ships was already devising a plan for what should come after their victory.
Faster than she could have ever imagined, she had gone from prisoner to princess, and she did not want her rise to power to stop there. She now had a bigger grasp on real power than she ever did back in her homeland, where his parents and older siblings would have never allowed her to rule as she pleased, here, in these freezing forgotten islands, she could finally climb the last step towards real power.
And the only thing she needed to climb that step and finally become a queen was a kingdom.
A long yet undetermined while after being knocked out upon being discovered trying to save Ann, Ferine, Eyiel and Rhys woke up from the induced slumber to find out that they were once again in the dungeons.
Rhys was the first one to wake up, and as such she was the first one to get a glimpse of her surroundings. They were once again in a special cell, larger and more complex than the regular stone cubicles that the rest of the cells consisted of.
She was quick to notice that she had been tied up again. She was sitting on a wooden chair with her hands draped over the backrest and tied crossed behind the wrists. She was pinned to the backrest below her breasts and at her waist while her legs were tied together at the knees and ankles, with the later also being tied to a railing underneath the chair to keep her from moving her legs.
And since her captors already knew of her magic abilities they had of course gagged her, and by the time she woke up a rather large pool of saliva had already formed on her lap because how much the ballgag in her mouth had forced her to drool.
Rhys was also able to see her still asleep friends, which had been thoroughly bound just like her and were neatly displayed in their restraints around her.
Eyiel had been tied to a column, with her hands shackled behind her head and tied together, her waist, knees and ankles also pinned to the stone pillar by more chains. The posture she was tied in highlighted her muscles in a way which Rhys was more than pleased to see, her arms flexed behind her head, her abdomen and legs stretched, aside the circumstances, the sight wasn’t really that bad for the elf.
Ferine probably had the worst treatment out of the three, she was bound extremely thoroughly by rope. Her chest was framed in a tight and overly complex harness which pinned her arms to her back, her arms themselves were tied together at the elbows and wrists, with the later being also pinned to her waist. Her legs were bound together at the thighs, above and below the knees and at the ankles. Had it been just that it would have been harsh, but not something Ferine couldn’t bear, what made the whole ordeal worse for her was the fact that she was hanging from the ceiling, tied to a pulled by her ankles for apparently long enough to make face appear much more red than usual.
It was only natural that she was the one to wake up next, in fact, it was surprising that she had not been the first one to wake up. When she did she tried some movements, but she quickly tired herself out and realized that she wouldn’t accomplish much by doing that.
“Mpghgh!” She complained through her gag, another ballgag.
“Mpghg” Rhys moaned silently in response just to show that she was awake too.
Much like Rhys had done earlier, Ferine also inspected her surroundings, finding herself captive once again made her angry of course, but the time for anger could come later when they had escaped again. The problem was that she wasn’t really seeing a way for them to escape again.
By the time the door to the cell opened with the loud cracking sound of its old wood and the screech of its iron frame Eyiel hadn’t yet woken up, so only Ferine and Rhys could see their visitors.
It was the new queen of the serpent isles, Alessia, she had entered the room still in the dress her sister wore when she was the queen and wearing the crown that signaled her status as the monarch.
Behind her entered two female guards which were dressed in black, covered in cloaks and had their faces covered by black handkerchiefs from the nose down, only allowing those who saw them to see her eyes and a small glimpse of their hair, since the rest of their heads were covered by a hood.
Alessia walked in front of Eyiel without giving notice to the other two prisoners, apparently offended by seeing the amazon asleep at the moment of her arrival. She slapped her lightly across the face to get her to wake up until she saw movement in her face.
Of course the first reaction of Eyiel upon waking up was struggling madly against the chains holding her to the column to no avail until she noticed the futility of her efforts. Had she not been gagged with a tight leather panel gag she would have spat on the face of her captress.
“Now that you’re all awake we can get started” Alessia said as she moved to stand in the middle of the three prisoners “You were taken captive by my sister, but she was negligent with your interrogation considering how much you know about our enemies”
Alessia walked around her captive, ogling at their bound defenseless bodies that to her seemed to be asking for punishment.
“So now I’ve come to finish the work my sister was to weak to do by herself” Alessia said as she grabbed Ferine from behind, clasping her hands around her thighs “You will tell me all you know about the rebels, and if you refuse, I’ll have to get those words out of your mouths by force”
One of the guards then laid a bucket filled with water under Ferine, who was quick to see what her captors were planning. And so were her friends, who began struggling and moaning to somehow getting their captors to stop even though they knew that they were far from the point of reasoning with them.
“So, will you talk? Or do we have to give you a small incentive?” Alessia asked.
Upon asking the question the moans and struggles of her prisoners went quiet, it was clear that even if their gags were removed they would still haven’t spoken a thing about what they knew.
“Good, it’s more fun this way”
One of the guards then let loose the pulley holding up Ferine, allowing her head to fall into the bucket of water and effectively preventing her from breathing. It wasn’t the first time Ferine was tortured, but it never got better for her. She tried her best to use her experience to remain calm, but by the time her head was pulled out of the water she was gasping for air through her gag.
Of course Rhys and Eyiel voiced her discomfort with seeing their friend being tortured before them, but the chains and ropes holding them made her struggles futile, not to mention that their gags turned their complaints into mumbles.
“Was that enough?” Alessia asked as she turned to look at the other two prisoners.
Even though they would rather never see their friend put through that torture again Ferine’s glare told them something: ‘stay quiet’, despite what it seemed, they knew that Ferine was strong, that she could take what she was being put through, but for how long they didn’t knew, and that worried them.
“Seems like they’ll need a little more motivation” Alessia said “Shall we continue then?”
One the guards got ready to lower the pulley to sink Ferine’s head I the water again, but she was interrupted by someone suddenly and loudly entering the room. The guard who entered was breathing heavily and resting his hands on his knees, he was clearly tired.
“Explain this interruption at once!” Alessia shouted.
“The queen, she has escaped with the other prisoner!” The guard informed.
Everyone but the guard who had his eyes tsill on the ground was able to tell by the grimace which crossed Alessia’s face that there was something in the guard’s words that she really didn’t liked.
“The queen you say…” Alessia muttered, making the guard instantly realize what his mistake had been “I am the queen!”
Alessia’s scream scared the guard so much that he fell back, even the other two guards which were acting as torturers took a step back upon hearing Alessia voice her rage.
“I’m sorry, I mean Isa, your sister!” The guard excused himself “She has escaped and we’re currently looking for her!”
“I see” Alessia replied “I’ll handle this matter personally, you two stay here until the prisoners are ready to talk”
Alessia walked out of the room where she was followed by the guard who told her the news while the three prisoners were left alone with the cloaked torturers, who had explicit orders not to stop what they were doing.
When Alessia arrived at the top of the tower where her sister was held with Ann she saw that there was no mistake in what the guards had reported to her. A window was broken and looking at the floor below the tower through the broken glass did not reveal any body below. They had somehow untied their restraints and jumped to freedom unscarred.
“How is this possible!” Alessia asked to the guards that had accompanied her.
“We don’t know” One of them replied.
“We assume your sister might have used magic during the fall, but by the time we entered the room they had already escaped” Another one explained.
“We need to get them now, It’s too early in my reign for me to have this sort of problems”” Alessia said as she began to walk out of the room “And when I capture them again I’ll make them miss this fancy little cell I gave them”
The guards deduction hadn’t been that inaccurate for his rather plain knowledge about magic. Isa had indeed used magic to cushion her and Ann’s fall with a strong gust of wind which landed them safely on a pile of snow from where they could more easily traverse the roofs of the castle.
Of course it was still not an easy task, particularly for Isa who had been imprisoned in just her nightgown and now had to bare walking on the rooftops of the castle while barely shielded from the chilling wind that blew from the sea, something Ann’s gambesin was much more protective against.
“Where do we go now?” Isa asked as she tried to somehow protect herself from the cold.
“I must rescue my friends, if they were captured again I doubt they’ll manage to escape on their own” Ann replied “Where does your sister have them and how do we get there”
“The only safe way to get to the dungeons in through the sewers” Isa replied “Its not a nice place, but nobody should look for us there”
Isa guided her once captive and now fellow fugitive towards an open sewer which was covered by a barred iron trapdoor. Ann had to put all of her strength in lifting it and she only managed to hold it open enough time for both of them to get in and then she had to drop it.
Much like Isa had told her and much like she herself had expected, Ann found the place less than welcoming mostly because of the smell, it was a sewer after all it smelled just like one would expect. But if there was one thing that they could take comfort in that awful place was that at least the cold wasn’t as unforgiving there when compared to the castle rooftops.
Through tight corridors and evading touching the thin streams of water below them the two escapees skulked along the sewers with the sole company of the sound of their heavy breathing, water leaving from the ceiling and the occasional sound of a rat.
“How do we get to the dungeons?” Ann asked as they came to a crossroads.
“Whichever leads down should be it” Isa replied “But I don’t think we should go there…”
“My friends are there!” Ann cut the queen short “It may be your sister who has them captive now, but it was you who brought them here in the first place, so I won’t allow you to stop me from rescuing them”
“But if we get caught who knows what my sister will do to us!” Isa argued.
“Stay behind if all you will do is bother me” Ann said as she turned to walk along the sewer which lead down “This alliance will end eventually and maybe its better for you to stay far from me”
Isa lost sight of Ann as she descended into the sewers darkness, the knight was now solely guiding herself by touching the walls and walking forward in hopes of not coming across something that stopped her.
“Wait!” Ann heard Isa from far behind her.
Ann stopped and looked behind, where she saw Isa walking towards her and illuminating the way with a tiny dot of blue magic light illuminating the tip of the queen’s index finger.
“I can’t do this alone” Isa said after stopping behind Ann “If I stay behind I’ll most likely get captured again, so I’ll better take my chances and go with you to the dungeons”
“It’s the least you can do” Ann said pretending not to care, but actually rather glad to see that she would have some help “Come on, lead the way”
After descending once again Isa informed Ann that they were just at the level of the dungeons, and all they had to do was find a good way to sneak out of the sewers without being spotted.
Most likely because all of the guards were looking out for the escaped former queen and her favorite prisoner, the dungeons were quite devoid of security. To the poit that when Ann slightl lifed a trapdoor to take a look outside she suspected it might be a trap.
But whether it was a trap or not it didn’t matter, they still had to get out regardless and so they did. Even though Isa wasn’t a master in combat she felt safe with her magic, which could not be extended to Ann, who very much wanted a weapon with her.
Under the stealthy guide of Isa they walked to one of the armories. The guard protecting it was put to sleep by magic for the second time in that same day, this time by Isa’s magic. There Ann grabbed a sword which was very much her preferred type and then they began looking for Ann’s friends.
“Any idea of where they could be?” Ann asked as she stealthily walked along the dungeon corridors.
“If they are not in any of these cells I don’t know” Isa replied “I ordered to have them taken out of the cell you were in with them a while after you were taken out of it”
“Great” Ann sighed.
They kept skulking through the long stone corridors which were dotted with empty and not so empty cells on its sides. Although Ann tried not to call too much attention to her to prevent causing a commotion Isa quickly had her attention caught by one of the prisoners.
“Kluzelda!” She said as she ran towards the barred door of a cell.
Inside the cell was Kluzelda, the pirate who had brought Ann’s friends to these dungeons. She had her hands manacled together above her head and chained to a wall.
“Queen?” Kluzelda asked “What are you doing here? Didn’t your sister capture you?”
“I got some help escaping” Isa replied as she shyly looked towards Ann.
“We can’t waste time with this, I must find my friends” Ann said as she grabbed Isa by the shoulder.
Isa shrugged off Ann’s hand and turned to look defiantly at her.
“We can’t leave her behind!” She argued “She’s my friend too!”
“Something tells me that your friend doesn’t have a very high opinion of me” Ann said as she glared at the bound pirate “How can I know that you won’t turn against me once you have her help?”
Ann stared down at Isa already realizing that she was not going tor receive a response, and she did not, at least not from Isa.
“I can help you” Kluzelda said “I know where they took your friend, the elf, the amazon and the woman in the catsuit right?”
“Where are they?” Ann asked as she moved Isa away.
“You’ll have to release me if you want me to tell you” Kluzelda replied with a grin on her face.
Ann sighed, even though she would rather see that woman stay in chains for much, much longer she could not afford to delay finding her friends any longer, after all, who knows what was being done to them at that very same moment.
“Fine, release her Isa” Ann said “And you should also release all of the other prisoners don’t you think?”
“What?” Isa asked confusedly.
“If you really want to take your kingdom back from your sister you should start making amends with your former enemies” Ann replied “And since we’re here, its seems like a good place to start”
Although Isa found Ann’s argument convincing, the reason Ann gave was not the actual reason why she wanted more prisoners to be released. Even though she didn’t want to leave people unfairly imprisoned behind her actual motive for releasing them was to have a larger force to fight those looking for them.
“So, where are my friends?” Ann asked after Isa was done releasing Kluzelda.
“Mphghghg!” Ferine grunted as she was pulled out of the water again.
The time her head was kept below the freezing water was being extended with each time she was dipped in, to the point that she began to suspect that the next time that was done she might not come out so well as the previous ones.
“Mpghghgh!” Eyiel moaned as she tugged the chains in a desperate yet futile attempt to break free of them.
“Will you talk now prisoner?” One of the guards askes as she knelt before Ferine to be able to more easily look at her in the eyes.
Ferine silenced her gasps for air to glare daggers back at her captress, she may have been in distress, but she would never allow herself to show weakness to her captors.
“That’s a shame” The guard replied as she stood back up again “considering that you won’t be able to take much more of this I think that we should start with one of your friends”
The guards took a look at the other two prisoners, with their bodies immobilized by the restraints and their complaints silenced by the gags it wouldn’t be hard to make them talk, but that was they thought about Ferine and she still had not spoken.
“How about you amazon?” One of the guards asked as she walked towards Eyiel “Your body sure looks strong, but who knows what will you say when these muscles are no longer enough to protect you”
The guard began to open one of the buckles that kept Eyiel’s gambeson closed, having her clothes opened and her body revealed made Eyiel remember the treatment Ferine had given to Kluzelda, and she began to fear that she would receive the same treatment.
“I have a better idea” The other guard said “That amazon will be too much trouble to break, so I suggest we take an easier approach”
The other guard had moved to stand right behind Rhys and was now grabbing her head from behind, forcing her to look up.
“Mphhghghg!” Eyiel moaned loudly at the mere implication of Rhys being tortured.
“You’re right” The other guard said as she moved away from Eyiel and towards Rhys “Maybe torturing her would even make the amazon speak, don’t you thnk?”
“Mpghgh!” Eyiel grunted as both guards turned to look at her.
Rhys could not bear this anymore, she was sure that she was not going to be able to stand any type of torture, not what she had seen being done to Ferine, not whatever it was that they were going to do to Eyiel, And neither did she stand seeing her friends being tortured in front of them.
So she intervened.
Her actions caught even her fellow captives by surprise, after all it was surprising even for her when the opportunity had presented itself for her, but now that she had a chance to make use of it she wouldn’t let it go to waste.
When they were captured again, apparently her captors were either too dumb or too lazy to check the ballgag that Rhys had left hanging loosely around her neck in the case that exact situation of recapture presented itself, so now that she had that magical gag in her mouth again it was time to use its magic once more.
By tracing the edges of the rune Rhys was able to make the gag fall out of her mouth and before the two guard had caught wind of what she had done she screamed a spell which freed her and her friends from the ropes at the same time.
Although Ferine’s fall to the ground was less than gracious, the sound of Eyiel’s chains falling to the floor and the sight of her impressive body preparing itself for a fight was enough to scare the two guards enough not to care about Ferine.
When Ann entered the room Kluzelda had guided her to she was surprised to see her friends completely free of restraints while instead the ones tied up were the two guards who had been sent there to interrogate them, who were hogtied on the floor to be precise.
“Seems like you didn’t need that much did you?” Ann asked as she took a look at the scene.
“We could say the same” Ferine replied “You don’t like you’re captured either”
Ann and her friends shared a chuckle which was caught short by the sight of Isa appearing shyly from behind Ann.
“Calm down, things have changed” Ann said as she stood between her friends and Isa “There’s a new queen in place as I think you’ve noticed, and no matter what we think of Isa she’s on our side at this moment”
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend I guess” Ferine sighed “At least for now”
With the awkward alliance established, the three escaped captives armed themselves with weapons stolen from the armory again and began to run out of the dungeons in the middle of the already huge crown of prisoners which had been freed by Isa and who were doing the same.
“Where do we go!?” Ferine asked as she struggled to make herself heard above the noise of the crowd.
“The port, we should be able to escape the city from there!” Ann replied.
By the time they had gotten out of the dungeons the escaped prisoners had already sown chaos on the castle, battling the guards with the weapons they had stolen from the armoires and making their way out of the castle.
It seemed like a clear path to take, and it was until someone placed herself between the exit gate of the castle and the escaped prisoners, with her eyes particularly fixated on one of them. Those of her sister, Isa.
“You’ve gone too far sister!” Alessia shouted as she struck the ground with her ice staff “Too far for you to keep benefiting of being my sister”
Isa took a step back while the other prepared themselves to fight.
“Once I’m done with you I wont take you back to that fancy room you call a cell!” Alessia said as she began to harness power at the tip of her staff “I’m going to send you to the deepest dungeons of this castle where you will never be seen again”
“The staff is the key to her power, lets take it away from her and she’s done for” Ann said before charging into the fight.
Even though Alessia’s limited knowledge of magic limited her ability to use the staff to the full extent of her power, her martial training still made her a formidable opponent for the joined forces of Ann, Ferine, Eyiel and Rhys combined. Even with the little grasp she had over the staff’s power it was still more than enough to keep her enemies at bay.
But eventually the ice conjured by her staff was met with a force no ice can stand against. Fire, dragonfire to be precise.
Breaking through the castle gate after sowing chaos in the port, the dragon Bazzon had come back from Ormsa and apparently he had done so with great anger. And like if that hadn’t been enough of a surprise, on his back he carried princess Clementine, who was apparently giving him orders.
One swift and almost incidental strike of the dragon’s tail was enough to kick the ice staff away from Alessia’s hands, an event which shocked her enough to allow her enemies to get a jump on her and restrain her.
Using the very same ropes she was bound with a while ago Ferine tied Alessia’s hands behind her back and then tied her ankles together, preventing her from being a problem again. All of this while Bazzon proclaimed the offense he had taken by the new queen’s promise to take the island he had been given by Isa away from him.
“Seems like things are on our favor don’t you think?” Rhys asked as she watched the dragon sow chaos around the castle”
“We can’t have bad luck all the time can’t we?” Eyiel asked as she draped an arm over Rhys and pulled her towards her body.
“I know its seems like we have already won, and with that thing on our side I can see why” Ann said as she took a step towards her friends “But before we celebrate, I think we should take care of some loose ends”
Ann as well as her friends and nearly everyone who was listening turned to look at queen Isa, who stood alone in the middle of the crowd, feeling the gaze of the all the enemies she had accumulated pierce her from side to side.
Thanks to everyone for following the story, I hope you enjoyed it. If there are any comments you'd like to make about the story, its world or its characters feel free to do so, I'm as open to praising as I am to criticism.
Chapter 20
When the announcement that Ormsa was declaring its independence from the serpent isles and that it was ready to enforce its demands was given to the people of the island by Bazzon and the Clementine, they were surprisingly met with cheers.
A lot of people who up until a few days were mere serfs and low end burghers gladly offered themselves for the task of enforcing their demands on the tyrannical ice queen, who would no doubt come to crush them if they did not make their demands clear.
But Bazzon and Clementine decided it was best to keep their offensive low, taking only three ships which had been seized from pirates and manning them with the best the island could offer. The small fleet was spearheaded by Bazzon, who swam faster than the boats, and Clementine served as an admiral for the three captains.
At this time of the year the winds on the serpent islands blow north, making this time the best to attack the capital swiftly and effectively.
While Bazzon would have been content with enforcing his demands for independence, the same could not be said about Clementine, who in her chambers in the largest ships was already devising a plan for what should come after their victory.
Faster than she could have ever imagined, she had gone from prisoner to princess, and she did not want her rise to power to stop there. She now had a bigger grasp on real power than she ever did back in her homeland, where his parents and older siblings would have never allowed her to rule as she pleased, here, in these freezing forgotten islands, she could finally climb the last step towards real power.
And the only thing she needed to climb that step and finally become a queen was a kingdom.
---
A long yet undetermined while after being knocked out upon being discovered trying to save Ann, Ferine, Eyiel and Rhys woke up from the induced slumber to find out that they were once again in the dungeons.
Rhys was the first one to wake up, and as such she was the first one to get a glimpse of her surroundings. They were once again in a special cell, larger and more complex than the regular stone cubicles that the rest of the cells consisted of.
She was quick to notice that she had been tied up again. She was sitting on a wooden chair with her hands draped over the backrest and tied crossed behind the wrists. She was pinned to the backrest below her breasts and at her waist while her legs were tied together at the knees and ankles, with the later also being tied to a railing underneath the chair to keep her from moving her legs.
And since her captors already knew of her magic abilities they had of course gagged her, and by the time she woke up a rather large pool of saliva had already formed on her lap because how much the ballgag in her mouth had forced her to drool.
Rhys was also able to see her still asleep friends, which had been thoroughly bound just like her and were neatly displayed in their restraints around her.
Eyiel had been tied to a column, with her hands shackled behind her head and tied together, her waist, knees and ankles also pinned to the stone pillar by more chains. The posture she was tied in highlighted her muscles in a way which Rhys was more than pleased to see, her arms flexed behind her head, her abdomen and legs stretched, aside the circumstances, the sight wasn’t really that bad for the elf.
Ferine probably had the worst treatment out of the three, she was bound extremely thoroughly by rope. Her chest was framed in a tight and overly complex harness which pinned her arms to her back, her arms themselves were tied together at the elbows and wrists, with the later being also pinned to her waist. Her legs were bound together at the thighs, above and below the knees and at the ankles. Had it been just that it would have been harsh, but not something Ferine couldn’t bear, what made the whole ordeal worse for her was the fact that she was hanging from the ceiling, tied to a pulled by her ankles for apparently long enough to make face appear much more red than usual.
It was only natural that she was the one to wake up next, in fact, it was surprising that she had not been the first one to wake up. When she did she tried some movements, but she quickly tired herself out and realized that she wouldn’t accomplish much by doing that.
“Mpghgh!” She complained through her gag, another ballgag.
“Mpghg” Rhys moaned silently in response just to show that she was awake too.
Much like Rhys had done earlier, Ferine also inspected her surroundings, finding herself captive once again made her angry of course, but the time for anger could come later when they had escaped again. The problem was that she wasn’t really seeing a way for them to escape again.
By the time the door to the cell opened with the loud cracking sound of its old wood and the screech of its iron frame Eyiel hadn’t yet woken up, so only Ferine and Rhys could see their visitors.
It was the new queen of the serpent isles, Alessia, she had entered the room still in the dress her sister wore when she was the queen and wearing the crown that signaled her status as the monarch.
Behind her entered two female guards which were dressed in black, covered in cloaks and had their faces covered by black handkerchiefs from the nose down, only allowing those who saw them to see her eyes and a small glimpse of their hair, since the rest of their heads were covered by a hood.
Alessia walked in front of Eyiel without giving notice to the other two prisoners, apparently offended by seeing the amazon asleep at the moment of her arrival. She slapped her lightly across the face to get her to wake up until she saw movement in her face.
Of course the first reaction of Eyiel upon waking up was struggling madly against the chains holding her to the column to no avail until she noticed the futility of her efforts. Had she not been gagged with a tight leather panel gag she would have spat on the face of her captress.
“Now that you’re all awake we can get started” Alessia said as she moved to stand in the middle of the three prisoners “You were taken captive by my sister, but she was negligent with your interrogation considering how much you know about our enemies”
Alessia walked around her captive, ogling at their bound defenseless bodies that to her seemed to be asking for punishment.
“So now I’ve come to finish the work my sister was to weak to do by herself” Alessia said as she grabbed Ferine from behind, clasping her hands around her thighs “You will tell me all you know about the rebels, and if you refuse, I’ll have to get those words out of your mouths by force”
One of the guards then laid a bucket filled with water under Ferine, who was quick to see what her captors were planning. And so were her friends, who began struggling and moaning to somehow getting their captors to stop even though they knew that they were far from the point of reasoning with them.
“So, will you talk? Or do we have to give you a small incentive?” Alessia asked.
Upon asking the question the moans and struggles of her prisoners went quiet, it was clear that even if their gags were removed they would still haven’t spoken a thing about what they knew.
“Good, it’s more fun this way”
One of the guards then let loose the pulley holding up Ferine, allowing her head to fall into the bucket of water and effectively preventing her from breathing. It wasn’t the first time Ferine was tortured, but it never got better for her. She tried her best to use her experience to remain calm, but by the time her head was pulled out of the water she was gasping for air through her gag.
Of course Rhys and Eyiel voiced her discomfort with seeing their friend being tortured before them, but the chains and ropes holding them made her struggles futile, not to mention that their gags turned their complaints into mumbles.
“Was that enough?” Alessia asked as she turned to look at the other two prisoners.
Even though they would rather never see their friend put through that torture again Ferine’s glare told them something: ‘stay quiet’, despite what it seemed, they knew that Ferine was strong, that she could take what she was being put through, but for how long they didn’t knew, and that worried them.
“Seems like they’ll need a little more motivation” Alessia said “Shall we continue then?”
One the guards got ready to lower the pulley to sink Ferine’s head I the water again, but she was interrupted by someone suddenly and loudly entering the room. The guard who entered was breathing heavily and resting his hands on his knees, he was clearly tired.
“Explain this interruption at once!” Alessia shouted.
“The queen, she has escaped with the other prisoner!” The guard informed.
Everyone but the guard who had his eyes tsill on the ground was able to tell by the grimace which crossed Alessia’s face that there was something in the guard’s words that she really didn’t liked.
“The queen you say…” Alessia muttered, making the guard instantly realize what his mistake had been “I am the queen!”
Alessia’s scream scared the guard so much that he fell back, even the other two guards which were acting as torturers took a step back upon hearing Alessia voice her rage.
“I’m sorry, I mean Isa, your sister!” The guard excused himself “She has escaped and we’re currently looking for her!”
“I see” Alessia replied “I’ll handle this matter personally, you two stay here until the prisoners are ready to talk”
Alessia walked out of the room where she was followed by the guard who told her the news while the three prisoners were left alone with the cloaked torturers, who had explicit orders not to stop what they were doing.
When Alessia arrived at the top of the tower where her sister was held with Ann she saw that there was no mistake in what the guards had reported to her. A window was broken and looking at the floor below the tower through the broken glass did not reveal any body below. They had somehow untied their restraints and jumped to freedom unscarred.
“How is this possible!” Alessia asked to the guards that had accompanied her.
“We don’t know” One of them replied.
“We assume your sister might have used magic during the fall, but by the time we entered the room they had already escaped” Another one explained.
“We need to get them now, It’s too early in my reign for me to have this sort of problems”” Alessia said as she began to walk out of the room “And when I capture them again I’ll make them miss this fancy little cell I gave them”
The guards deduction hadn’t been that inaccurate for his rather plain knowledge about magic. Isa had indeed used magic to cushion her and Ann’s fall with a strong gust of wind which landed them safely on a pile of snow from where they could more easily traverse the roofs of the castle.
Of course it was still not an easy task, particularly for Isa who had been imprisoned in just her nightgown and now had to bare walking on the rooftops of the castle while barely shielded from the chilling wind that blew from the sea, something Ann’s gambesin was much more protective against.
“Where do we go now?” Isa asked as she tried to somehow protect herself from the cold.
“I must rescue my friends, if they were captured again I doubt they’ll manage to escape on their own” Ann replied “Where does your sister have them and how do we get there”
“The only safe way to get to the dungeons in through the sewers” Isa replied “Its not a nice place, but nobody should look for us there”
Isa guided her once captive and now fellow fugitive towards an open sewer which was covered by a barred iron trapdoor. Ann had to put all of her strength in lifting it and she only managed to hold it open enough time for both of them to get in and then she had to drop it.
Much like Isa had told her and much like she herself had expected, Ann found the place less than welcoming mostly because of the smell, it was a sewer after all it smelled just like one would expect. But if there was one thing that they could take comfort in that awful place was that at least the cold wasn’t as unforgiving there when compared to the castle rooftops.
Through tight corridors and evading touching the thin streams of water below them the two escapees skulked along the sewers with the sole company of the sound of their heavy breathing, water leaving from the ceiling and the occasional sound of a rat.
“How do we get to the dungeons?” Ann asked as they came to a crossroads.
“Whichever leads down should be it” Isa replied “But I don’t think we should go there…”
“My friends are there!” Ann cut the queen short “It may be your sister who has them captive now, but it was you who brought them here in the first place, so I won’t allow you to stop me from rescuing them”
“But if we get caught who knows what my sister will do to us!” Isa argued.
“Stay behind if all you will do is bother me” Ann said as she turned to walk along the sewer which lead down “This alliance will end eventually and maybe its better for you to stay far from me”
Isa lost sight of Ann as she descended into the sewers darkness, the knight was now solely guiding herself by touching the walls and walking forward in hopes of not coming across something that stopped her.
“Wait!” Ann heard Isa from far behind her.
Ann stopped and looked behind, where she saw Isa walking towards her and illuminating the way with a tiny dot of blue magic light illuminating the tip of the queen’s index finger.
“I can’t do this alone” Isa said after stopping behind Ann “If I stay behind I’ll most likely get captured again, so I’ll better take my chances and go with you to the dungeons”
“It’s the least you can do” Ann said pretending not to care, but actually rather glad to see that she would have some help “Come on, lead the way”
After descending once again Isa informed Ann that they were just at the level of the dungeons, and all they had to do was find a good way to sneak out of the sewers without being spotted.
Most likely because all of the guards were looking out for the escaped former queen and her favorite prisoner, the dungeons were quite devoid of security. To the poit that when Ann slightl lifed a trapdoor to take a look outside she suspected it might be a trap.
But whether it was a trap or not it didn’t matter, they still had to get out regardless and so they did. Even though Isa wasn’t a master in combat she felt safe with her magic, which could not be extended to Ann, who very much wanted a weapon with her.
Under the stealthy guide of Isa they walked to one of the armories. The guard protecting it was put to sleep by magic for the second time in that same day, this time by Isa’s magic. There Ann grabbed a sword which was very much her preferred type and then they began looking for Ann’s friends.
“Any idea of where they could be?” Ann asked as she stealthily walked along the dungeon corridors.
“If they are not in any of these cells I don’t know” Isa replied “I ordered to have them taken out of the cell you were in with them a while after you were taken out of it”
“Great” Ann sighed.
They kept skulking through the long stone corridors which were dotted with empty and not so empty cells on its sides. Although Ann tried not to call too much attention to her to prevent causing a commotion Isa quickly had her attention caught by one of the prisoners.
“Kluzelda!” She said as she ran towards the barred door of a cell.
Inside the cell was Kluzelda, the pirate who had brought Ann’s friends to these dungeons. She had her hands manacled together above her head and chained to a wall.
“Queen?” Kluzelda asked “What are you doing here? Didn’t your sister capture you?”
“I got some help escaping” Isa replied as she shyly looked towards Ann.
“We can’t waste time with this, I must find my friends” Ann said as she grabbed Isa by the shoulder.
Isa shrugged off Ann’s hand and turned to look defiantly at her.
“We can’t leave her behind!” She argued “She’s my friend too!”
“Something tells me that your friend doesn’t have a very high opinion of me” Ann said as she glared at the bound pirate “How can I know that you won’t turn against me once you have her help?”
Ann stared down at Isa already realizing that she was not going tor receive a response, and she did not, at least not from Isa.
“I can help you” Kluzelda said “I know where they took your friend, the elf, the amazon and the woman in the catsuit right?”
“Where are they?” Ann asked as she moved Isa away.
“You’ll have to release me if you want me to tell you” Kluzelda replied with a grin on her face.
Ann sighed, even though she would rather see that woman stay in chains for much, much longer she could not afford to delay finding her friends any longer, after all, who knows what was being done to them at that very same moment.
“Fine, release her Isa” Ann said “And you should also release all of the other prisoners don’t you think?”
“What?” Isa asked confusedly.
“If you really want to take your kingdom back from your sister you should start making amends with your former enemies” Ann replied “And since we’re here, its seems like a good place to start”
Although Isa found Ann’s argument convincing, the reason Ann gave was not the actual reason why she wanted more prisoners to be released. Even though she didn’t want to leave people unfairly imprisoned behind her actual motive for releasing them was to have a larger force to fight those looking for them.
“So, where are my friends?” Ann asked after Isa was done releasing Kluzelda.
“Mphghghg!” Ferine grunted as she was pulled out of the water again.
The time her head was kept below the freezing water was being extended with each time she was dipped in, to the point that she began to suspect that the next time that was done she might not come out so well as the previous ones.
“Mpghghgh!” Eyiel moaned as she tugged the chains in a desperate yet futile attempt to break free of them.
“Will you talk now prisoner?” One of the guards askes as she knelt before Ferine to be able to more easily look at her in the eyes.
Ferine silenced her gasps for air to glare daggers back at her captress, she may have been in distress, but she would never allow herself to show weakness to her captors.
“That’s a shame” The guard replied as she stood back up again “considering that you won’t be able to take much more of this I think that we should start with one of your friends”
The guards took a look at the other two prisoners, with their bodies immobilized by the restraints and their complaints silenced by the gags it wouldn’t be hard to make them talk, but that was they thought about Ferine and she still had not spoken.
“How about you amazon?” One of the guards asked as she walked towards Eyiel “Your body sure looks strong, but who knows what will you say when these muscles are no longer enough to protect you”
The guard began to open one of the buckles that kept Eyiel’s gambeson closed, having her clothes opened and her body revealed made Eyiel remember the treatment Ferine had given to Kluzelda, and she began to fear that she would receive the same treatment.
“I have a better idea” The other guard said “That amazon will be too much trouble to break, so I suggest we take an easier approach”
The other guard had moved to stand right behind Rhys and was now grabbing her head from behind, forcing her to look up.
“Mphhghghg!” Eyiel moaned loudly at the mere implication of Rhys being tortured.
“You’re right” The other guard said as she moved away from Eyiel and towards Rhys “Maybe torturing her would even make the amazon speak, don’t you thnk?”
“Mpghgh!” Eyiel grunted as both guards turned to look at her.
Rhys could not bear this anymore, she was sure that she was not going to be able to stand any type of torture, not what she had seen being done to Ferine, not whatever it was that they were going to do to Eyiel, And neither did she stand seeing her friends being tortured in front of them.
So she intervened.
Her actions caught even her fellow captives by surprise, after all it was surprising even for her when the opportunity had presented itself for her, but now that she had a chance to make use of it she wouldn’t let it go to waste.
When they were captured again, apparently her captors were either too dumb or too lazy to check the ballgag that Rhys had left hanging loosely around her neck in the case that exact situation of recapture presented itself, so now that she had that magical gag in her mouth again it was time to use its magic once more.
By tracing the edges of the rune Rhys was able to make the gag fall out of her mouth and before the two guard had caught wind of what she had done she screamed a spell which freed her and her friends from the ropes at the same time.
Although Ferine’s fall to the ground was less than gracious, the sound of Eyiel’s chains falling to the floor and the sight of her impressive body preparing itself for a fight was enough to scare the two guards enough not to care about Ferine.
When Ann entered the room Kluzelda had guided her to she was surprised to see her friends completely free of restraints while instead the ones tied up were the two guards who had been sent there to interrogate them, who were hogtied on the floor to be precise.
“Seems like you didn’t need that much did you?” Ann asked as she took a look at the scene.
“We could say the same” Ferine replied “You don’t like you’re captured either”
Ann and her friends shared a chuckle which was caught short by the sight of Isa appearing shyly from behind Ann.
“Calm down, things have changed” Ann said as she stood between her friends and Isa “There’s a new queen in place as I think you’ve noticed, and no matter what we think of Isa she’s on our side at this moment”
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend I guess” Ferine sighed “At least for now”
With the awkward alliance established, the three escaped captives armed themselves with weapons stolen from the armory again and began to run out of the dungeons in the middle of the already huge crown of prisoners which had been freed by Isa and who were doing the same.
“Where do we go!?” Ferine asked as she struggled to make herself heard above the noise of the crowd.
“The port, we should be able to escape the city from there!” Ann replied.
By the time they had gotten out of the dungeons the escaped prisoners had already sown chaos on the castle, battling the guards with the weapons they had stolen from the armoires and making their way out of the castle.
It seemed like a clear path to take, and it was until someone placed herself between the exit gate of the castle and the escaped prisoners, with her eyes particularly fixated on one of them. Those of her sister, Isa.
“You’ve gone too far sister!” Alessia shouted as she struck the ground with her ice staff “Too far for you to keep benefiting of being my sister”
Isa took a step back while the other prepared themselves to fight.
“Once I’m done with you I wont take you back to that fancy room you call a cell!” Alessia said as she began to harness power at the tip of her staff “I’m going to send you to the deepest dungeons of this castle where you will never be seen again”
“The staff is the key to her power, lets take it away from her and she’s done for” Ann said before charging into the fight.
Even though Alessia’s limited knowledge of magic limited her ability to use the staff to the full extent of her power, her martial training still made her a formidable opponent for the joined forces of Ann, Ferine, Eyiel and Rhys combined. Even with the little grasp she had over the staff’s power it was still more than enough to keep her enemies at bay.
But eventually the ice conjured by her staff was met with a force no ice can stand against. Fire, dragonfire to be precise.
Breaking through the castle gate after sowing chaos in the port, the dragon Bazzon had come back from Ormsa and apparently he had done so with great anger. And like if that hadn’t been enough of a surprise, on his back he carried princess Clementine, who was apparently giving him orders.
One swift and almost incidental strike of the dragon’s tail was enough to kick the ice staff away from Alessia’s hands, an event which shocked her enough to allow her enemies to get a jump on her and restrain her.
Using the very same ropes she was bound with a while ago Ferine tied Alessia’s hands behind her back and then tied her ankles together, preventing her from being a problem again. All of this while Bazzon proclaimed the offense he had taken by the new queen’s promise to take the island he had been given by Isa away from him.
“Seems like things are on our favor don’t you think?” Rhys asked as she watched the dragon sow chaos around the castle”
“We can’t have bad luck all the time can’t we?” Eyiel asked as she draped an arm over Rhys and pulled her towards her body.
“I know its seems like we have already won, and with that thing on our side I can see why” Ann said as she took a step towards her friends “But before we celebrate, I think we should take care of some loose ends”
Ann as well as her friends and nearly everyone who was listening turned to look at queen Isa, who stood alone in the middle of the crowd, feeling the gaze of the all the enemies she had accumulated pierce her from side to side.
That was quite the finish! Lots of Drama and ups and downs. It would be interesting so learn what fate will befall Alissa and Isa. Who knows? Maybe an Epilogue will tell us @banshee ? I don´t know if you have planned one
I really liked this story, It may even be better than the previous one but that just goes to show your evolution as a writer. I do agree with @Caesar73 in that an epilogue would be nice though!
No! No! It can't be over. We need to know what befalls Alissa and Isa. We need to know how Clementine becomes a queen. We know how much Isa likes to be tied up. We should see her get her wishes. And how will Alissa respond to being hogtied. There is just so much we need to know, @banshee.
A List of my stories:An Unlikely Savior Completed
Spy Task Force Completed
Tale of an Archer Completed
The Bandit Scout on Newhome updated 05/30/23