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The following totally fictitious writings of M Coolham are intended for the sole readership of those of LEGAL AGE. The ADULT ONLY material contained within is also for personal use only where local standards permit scenes of violence, torture and sex. Please do not read further if any of these subjects offend, or if you are not of legal age.
This is a work of fiction. The author does not condone violence of any sort.
The following is under Copyright and is for your sole enjoyment. Your cooperation in not using the material in any other application without the express permission of the author is requested. Thank you.
Interrogation of an Amazon
CHAPTER EIGHT
Arrival
"Land up ahead!"
The Admiral joined Tevo on deck. The familiar sight of the Thoranian shoreline greeted them.
"Another couple of hours and we'll be at the dockside," said Costall.
"We must be sure to make the most of our arrival," said the Captain. "Here's what I think we should do".
Tevo told Costall his plan, the fat man nodding in agreement.
"Trem," the Admiral called out.
The bos'un came up from below looking bleary-eyed.
"Sir?"
"Drop anchor half a mile out," said Costall. "Send a rowing boat ashore and alert the King to our impending arrival. Tell him - tell everyone: 'be prepared to witness a once-in-a-lifetime vision'".
* * *
An hour and a half later people started to gather at the dockside. Nemo ordered a position to be reserved for him on the battlements overlooking the port.
It was warm, a refreshing breeze coming off the sea. The sun had risen three hours earlier and had chased away the clouds. It was as if the sky was joining in the party.
"There she is!" a sentry exclaimed.
Everyone strained to see, looking in the direction he was pointing.
The Lynx came into view, its sails billowing, the wind tugging at the flags that topped the masts, the Minotaur heads still pinpricks in the distance.
* * *
Below decks Glaina slept soundly. Since dawn the sailors had been preparing the ship for its arrival. For the first time since departing Lumana she had been left in peace.
* * *
"Strip," said Tevo, smacking his hand on the table.
Sempha stood motionless.
The boat was at anchor swaying gently. The wind had died down. The only sound in the Admiral's cabin was of the men breathing heavily. Drops of sweat dotted their upper lips.
"Strip I said," Tevo raising his voice. "Or do you need some help from the crew?"
The Princess stood in the centre of the room. Extra soldiers guarded the door, Rufus and his number two inside the cabin, the remainder outside.
Rufus wiped his sleeve across his mouth conscious of the bulge in his trousers. All four men wrestled with their composure.
Sempha knew that dignity was surprisingly powerful; a weapon with which she was amply blessed.
"Keep your men at bay," she said. "I will do as you ask".
The senior officers sat and watched in calm anticipation, the guards' faces less controlled. Four pairs of eyes stared at the blonde woman. Four hearts started to quicken.
She bent down, undid the bow at the top of her boots, and unpicked the pale-brown laces that criss-crossed her shins. Sempha removed her dark brown knee-length calfskin boots using the heels for leverage. She placed them neatly by the table. The men noticed the gold polish decorating her toenails, matching that of her fingernails.
Next her brown leather skirt. She looked down to her side and felt for the buckle. She drew the leather through the clasp and allowed the material to fall at her feet. As she stepped to one side, the men noticed the muscles working in her long shapely legs, her buttocks wobbling gently. Her green sleeveless jerkin came down to her hipbones revealing her sheer white panties, held together on both sides by bright silver ringlets. The Princess picked up the skirt, folded it, and placed it on the table above her boots.
Sempha looked down at her chest and unthreaded the laces that held her cotton jerkin closed. She coiled them carefully and placed them next to her skirt. Like a practiced seductress the Princess gripped the bottom of her jerkin, her arms crossed, and in one slow steady movement pulled the material up her body and over her head.
For weeks to come the men replayed the action in their minds, slowing down the sequence to appreciate every nuance. They remembered her intake of breath, her expanded chest, the jerkin rising up her torso, the display of her concave abdomen. Then the reveal of her breasts, the hem catching on her prominent pink nipples causing her tits to bounce and sway. They recalled her thick yellow hair, trapped in the material as her arms reached upwards. Again and again they re-ran the woman drawing the top up over her head and off to her right, her shiny hair escaping the jerkin's clutches and falling down across her shoulders. Even now, weeks later, they flushed when they re-visited the sight of her hair being flung back, her breasts jiggling, her sinews like a sculpture outlined beneath smooth bronze skin.
She folded her jerkin and placed it by her skirt. Sempha looked at the Admiral, over to the Captain, and back to the Admiral.
"I'll be back for these," she said purposefully.
The men were unable to retain eye contact with her. They swallowed, intimidated by the supremely beautiful woman standing before them, her breathing measured, her demeanor calm. All they wanted was to feel her toned arms, run their hands across her flat stomach, kiss her full lips, stroke her stupendous breasts, inhale her scent, and press their lions against her muscled thighs.
RAT-TAT-TAT
A knock at the door snapped them out of their reverie.
"What is it?" asked Costall.
"The men are ready," replied Trem from the other side of the door.
"Thank you bos'un," said the Admiral. "We'll be out in a minute".
It took all their discipline not to throw the regal temptress to the floor and spread her wide - take turns with her body. But duty called. She was the prize that would appease the King.
"Tie her hands," said Tevo, reluctantly.
Rufus stepped forward. Without being asked the Princess placed her arms behind her back and he tied her wrists together. He lingered, taking in her powerful shoulders and the lines of muscle that ran down each side of her spine. The sight of matching dimples just above her firm buttocks rewarded him.
The soldier tied the knots extra tight. He delighted in watching her fists clench and unclench as the rough cords bit into her skin.
'I'll teach this haughty bitch a thing or two,' he thought.
"Thank you," she said turning around. Her feline aquamarine eyes blazed out from behind a veil of straight blonde hair but there was no sign of discomfort to soil her features.
Again she flung back her head, again her breasts quivered, again her muscles tensed, again the men missed a heartbeat.
Sempha walked up onto the main deck, enjoying the sun on her face and the breeze in her hair. The sailors were lined up either side of the deck and, as one, turned to see who it was they'd been summoned to inspect. As if on command they fell silent, their mouths agape. The Princess strode ahead, Tevo in front of her, the Admiral behind. She looked neither left nor right. She knew the effect her body was having on the men; that she had enormous power over the opposite sex.
"Stop and turn around," said Tevo.
She did so.
Sempha stared straight ahead, her gaze meeting Rufus who stood by the steps from where she had appeared. He thought she was looking at him. She was not. Rather, the Princess's mind raced, her brain running endless calculations. She knew that Cercia's group could not be far from the castle.
"This is Princess Sempha," said the Admiral, his arm spread needlessly towards her. "Our mission was to capture her. Our success is a tribute to you all".
The men cheered and threw their hats into the air.
"This is the first time that Thorania has played host to an Amazon Princess," he continued. "We are honoured to have witnessed this historic event".
The men congratulated themselves, slapping each other on the back. They knew reward would follow; reward in addition to the bodyguard they had used for two days solid.
"Do we get to whip her?" asked Wex. "Looks like she needs bringing down a peg or two".
Murmurs of approval from the throng.
"Maybe later," said Costall.
The Admiral turned to face the Princess. Close up he could see goose bumps on her skin, her nipples harder and more prominent than before – pinker even. The sun glinted off the silver ringlets that adorned her panties.
"Prepare her," he said, proudly.
* * *
After hours of sawing and hammering Puno stood back to inspect his work. He had built a wooden coffin, seven foot long, five foot wide, and eighteen inches deep. A slat divided the box into two compartments, one six foot three inches long, the other space nine inches in length. The slat slid into position from above. He checked that it operated smoothly.
Puno turned his attention to the coffin's lid that was peppered with small air holes spaced in irregular fashion. A hinge in the lid gave access to the shorter compartment. There was also a trapdoor located at the other end of the lid.
Satisfied with his endeavours, he called for assistance from his colleagues.
Amphora lay quietly. The cuts on the back of her body had healed leaving scabs of dried blood. The wound on her shoulder wept, though less than the day before. Her breasts were painful, extra sensitive to the touch and scarred with welts and sores. Congealed blood covered her damaged aureole and ruined nipple.
They tied Amphora's hands behind her back. She struggled against her aggressors, every movement of her swollen tits causing her to wince.
Two on each side, and one at her head, they lifted the Amazon and dropped her into the box. She cried out, her wounded shoulder taking her weight as she landed. The warrior lay facing upwards, her feet by the slat that closed off the smaller compartment. They placed a chain across her neck and attached the links to manacles set into the coffin's floor. Breet repeated the exercise at her waist. Puno and the dungeon master spread her legs as far as the space would permit. Ennuta tied one foot, Clen the other. She was secured to the base in the shape of a shallow 'Y'.
Amphora looked about, assessing her situation. The links clinked quietly as she tested their strength. The bonds afforded her some movement but, held against the base, she was unable to summon enough leverage to threaten the restraints. Stretching out her toes she could feel the wooden slat at her feet.
Puno walked away and returned moments later with a container. He placed the box on the floor next to the coffin. Twice more he left, each time to fetch another crate.
The man knelt beside her head. He noticed the fire in her cat-like eyes, the amber as bright as ever despite the torment suffered by her remarkable body.
"Amphora," he said. "Where will we find the Princess?"
She looked away.
"You have endured a savage beating," he continued, "a humiliating parade, a brutal whipping, an impressive session on the rack, and rigorous abuse of your breasts".
He stroked her quivering tits, the lightest pressure causing her to grit her teeth and swallow.
"But my method of interrogation is……is……subtler," he smiled. "Please. Give me the information I seek and I will spare you, loath though I would be to miss this opportunity. I would think hard before you decline".
"There is no greater pain than what has already been inflicted," said Amphora. "I have not uttered a word to any of you. Nor will I, you repulsive scum". Her eyes bored into his.
"Your insults are meaningless," said Puno, impassively. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
He got to his feet and carefully removed the cover from one of the containers. His expression was that of a man savouring the moment before satisfaction of a long-held desire.
* * *
Sailors leaned into the capstan. The oak groaned under the weight of the anchor being raised. A full compliment of sails hung from the masts. Small triangular flags strung from the rigging announced the arrival of a ship in triumph. The symbol of a Minotaur crushing a serpent flew from the highest mast, a motif that Tevo had prepared for this very occasion.
The breeze stiffened and the Lynx made way. The helmsman brought the rudder round to the west and the ship headed directly towards the coast.
"She's coming this way," said Jemius's mother to her daughter. Women and children, fathers and sons, lined the harbour, many with flowers to greet their heroes.
Keen-eyed observers amongst the crowd thought they saw a mascot attached to the ship's steep bow. From so far out they could not be sure. As the boat grew closer the image became clearer. A sentry on the battlements was the first to confirm their suspicions.
"There's a woman tied to the bow," he yelled. "And she's naked!"
The Lynx drew nearer the port.
A fanfare from the castle made everyone turn around.
"Listen up! The King wishes to make an announcement," the speaker boomed.
"Yet again Thoranian troops have been victorious. The prisoner you see tied to the bow of the Lynx is none other than Princess Sempha, leader of the Lumana Amazons".
Roars of approval from the crowd.
"Feast your eyes".
The people turned back to the water. At a quarter of a mile out everyone could see the bound woman. Two hundred yards from shore, the crowd got their first proper look at the Princess.
Sempha resembled a bird in flight. Her arms were tied back, ropes securing her elbows and wrists to the hull. Her ankles had been tied to chains that ran down from the deck. With her limbs pulled back, and her body falling forward due to the steepness of the bow, the Princess's breasts hung down swaying like pendulums in tune with the ship's movement. Her thick blonde hair blew in the strong breeze; loose strands clung to her body.
Thorania's port was deep allowing most boats to draw alongside the harbour. The Lynx was no exception. A hundred yards out the sails were gathered and the crew scurried from place to place fulfilling last minute duties. But no one was looking at the sailors.
The Princess was soaked, her body covered in goose bumps, her nipples hard. People reached out to touch the helpless mascot but she was suspended well out of harm's way.
Once alongside the sailors hauled up their trophy. They tied her hands behind her, their filthy tunics rubbing against her body while they held her.
"Get your hands off me," she snarled.
Wex yanked back her head.
"You don't give the orders around here," he said, his mouth inches from her face.
He went to kiss her but Costall pulled him back.
"That'll do," said the Admiral.
Wex tweaked her nipples before letting her go.
"I'm going to teach you some manners – your highness," he sneered
The Captain stepped forward and drew back her hair. He placed the puma headband around her head in a mock coronation.
Wex tied a collar around her neck from which ran four leashes at opposite points. No one noticed him pull the buckle an extra notch, the leather tight against her windpipe. Tevo took one rope, Costall another, Rufus the third, and Trem the fourth. They took the Princess ashore.
Crowds lined the streets as they led Sempha towards the fortress. The people noticed the play of muscle in her legs and stomach as she walked, her magnificent breasts swaying in time with her strides. When she neared they tried to establish eye contact. But Sempha held her gaze straight ahead. She ignored the taunts.
"The mighty Amazon leader. Not so clever now".
"Twenty-five lashes for the bodyguard. Give her fifty. Make her bleed".
"Send her to the dungeon master. Make her pay".
She passed in front of them. Their heads followed as she walked on. From behind they saw her muscled arms, her triceps taut. Her shiny hair swung revealing, half by half, her smooth back. Her wrists were secured criss-crossed just above her round firm buttocks, her forearms hiding her dimples. Her calves were pronounced, the look of a woman wearing heels.
And then she was gone.
Some people ran ahead to get one last look.
The party of five reached the fortress. The double doors opened and she was led inside, trumpets heralding her arrival.
From the courtyard it was a short walk to the inner castle. A soldier opened the heavy oak door, pretending to bow as they entered.
* * *
Thirty minutes later they woke the captive who lay tied to the cannon below decks. She had been in a deep sleep dreaming about Sempha, her leader in a far-off cave lying secure under bearskin covers. As Glaina came round the sweetness of her dream slipped away. She found comfort from the knowledge that the Princess was safe back in Lumana.
Glaina was taken from the ship and into the castle. Her hands had been chained behind her back, her elbows too. They dragged her backwards through the streets, the soldiers using her strong copper-coloured hair rather than ropes. She struggled to stay on her feet but each time she found her footing they quickened the pace. By the time she was hauled into the castle, Glaina's heels were bloody. Clutches of hair had been torn from her scalp.
The crowd could see that this prisoner was another stunning Amazon beauty. Yet where the Princess was serene and fine, the bodyguard was provocative and sexy. The men dreamt of having Sempha, the action nice and slow. They wanted to plunder Glaina's flesh; to pump her raw.
The crowd saw that the Princess's body had been completely unmarked. This other Amazon, however, had clearly been abused. Her torso, thighs, and breasts were strips of red, black oily residue in some places, mutilated flesh in others. Her nipples were darkened husks, her face streaked with white, her hair matted and dirty.
People recognized the similarity between this victim and the one who had been whipped.
"Are they sisters?" a man said to his friend.
"I think they're twins," he replied with a grin.
"What a find!"
Days earlier Amphora's escort had taken her to the healers. Glaina was less fortunate.
* * *
"I'd like to volunteer as an outrider," said Neepa.
"Fine," said Cercia. "Take Zula with you. Rejoin the main group four hours from now".
Cercia knew that the Thoranians had lookouts guarding the approaches to their capital. The closer the Amazons got to the fortress the more likely it was that they would be spotted. Two groups of two acted as outriders, skirting ahead and to the side of the main group to pick off the Thoranian sentries.
The four outriders left. Ten minutes later, the remaining Amazons had finished hiding the remains of their camp and headed for the castle.
Cercia walked in the middle of the sixteen warriors, protection of their leader the number one priority.
'Another twenty four hours and we'll be there,' she thought.
* * *
"One last time," said Puno. "Where is the Princess?'
"Never," she snarled.
Amphora's senses reeled with a new breed of fear but she couldn't identify the nature of the terror. She had heard of people being buried alive, of being enclosed in coffins, claustrophobia slowly driving them insane. The warrior had mentally prepared herself as best she could for these possibilities. Although she didn't relish the prospect of either ordeal, for her there was something much worse, a phobia that made her vulnerable in a way she was powerless to prevent – her most closely guarded personal secret….……that day twenty years ago when she had been playing by the stream. Their putrid smell, their pincer mouths, their furry bodies. Her spine chilled. Amphora drove the memory from her mind.
Puno picked up the lid and placed it on the box. Darkness engulfed the Amazon, pinpricks of light the only indication of life outside the coffin. Her heart raced. She closed her eyes and forced her thoughts to another place.
She lay undisturbed for several minutes. The temperature inside the coffin began to rise. She sweated.
The torturer removed the top from the first container. We wore gloves. None of the creatures inside had eaten for days. Puno prodded and poked, enraging the beasts.
He pulled back the end of the lid. Light entered the coffin but Amphora was unable to see what he was doing. Her breathing deepened.
Puno lifted the crate and tipped its contents into the small compartment. A few clung to the container but he brushed them out. Before any could escape he removed the slat and closed the lip.
Blackness surrounded the Amazon once more.
Silence.
Amphora felt a tickling sensation on the soles of her feet. The feeling rose up her legs, increasing in density. It moved to her waist, then into her cleavage. She wrestled against the chains but the peculiar touch intensified, reaching down her back. Her body felt odd all over; touched in some strange way.
The Amazon closed her eyes, trying to decipher the codes.
Then it was on her neck, in her hair, across her eyelids, along her lips, against her nose. It was everywhere.
She felt a nip on her inner thigh. Then another, this time against her stomach. Then three. Then ten. She lost count. Her whole body was being bitten and stung.
Spiders!
She was covered in spiders. Not just spiders. Beetles, ants, cockroaches, hornets, lizards, wasps, locusts.
"Mmpphhh".
She dared not open her mouth.
"MMPPHHH".
She twisted and turned. Every movement resulted in more bites. She felt the squish of insects crushed beneath her, heard the crackle of their fragile shells give-way under her weight, their slimy innards mashed against her skin.
"MMPPHH".
Puno opened the trap door above her face and looked down at the bound woman. It was a marvelous display. She had lost some of her colour and was slick with sweat. A funnel-web spider sat on her shoulder. The hairy body of a tarantula made its way up her throat. A yellow-jacket wasp hovered above her face, and a green hornet rested on her breast. Red ants, black scarab beetles, and a hoard of other creatures ran across her body.
"Ready to talk my precious?" he asked, grinning.
Amphora opened her eyes wide, a flash of amber fury, and immediately closed them again, afraid that ants might climb onto her eyeballs.
"Where's Sempha?" asked Puno.
She screwed up her face and shook her head. A wolf spider fell off. A locust took its place.
"I take that as a no," he said and closed the trapdoor.
Puno took the top from the second crate. These animals were more dangerous. He took care when lifting the container.
Amphora heard the hinges squeak.
The interrogator dumped the contents between her feet and slammed the lid.
THUD. THUD.
THUD.
Darkness again.
Something grasped her right ankle and moved towards her knee. The same on her other shin. Amphora heard spitting. She froze.
Snakes!
A strong warm body wrapped itself around her left thigh and started to exert pressure. She tensed her muscles trying to stay calm.
But a third sensation between her legs made her gasp. She felt her labia being parted. One of the reptiles crawled through her pubic hair and onto her stomach. The creature slid down her kidney and tried to burrow under her back. Using her head and heels she managed to raise herself to escape its touch. But it slid further underneath her body and appeared at her other side.
Insects continued to gnaw at the Amazon. A smoky-brown cockroach beat its wings against her mouth.
She bucked and thrashed but the chains held her securely.
The python released her leg, crawled up the side of the coffin, and encircled one of her breasts. The boa constrictor around her waist settled. The snakes began to squeeze. Slowly the pressure grew. It became harder to take full breaths. She craved oxygen but feared to open her mouth lest beetles invaded.
"MMPPHH".
A copperhead snake slid into her hair. She heard it hissing, its head millimeters from her ear.
Puno opened the trapdoor.
"Enjoying the company?" he asked. "You know what I need. Tell me where your leader's hiding and I'll free you".
The Amazon was taking shallow breaths using only her nose. Her left breast had swelled, the python settling around the base of her tit, its green body and yellow eyes vibrant in the torchlight. The boa constrictor's natural camouflage made it hard for the man to see it wrapped around her stomach. The copperhead hissed. She flinched. Puno enjoyed her fear.
Red ants gorged on her blood. Bite marks appeared on the Amazon's neck and shoulders, her arms and torso, her face and legs.
"Did you know you talk in your sleep Amphora?" said Puno, dropping a lizard onto her forehead.
"And did you know there's a word you often utter always followed by expressions of pleading - and the thrashing of your limbs?"
'He can't know,' she thought. 'Please – don't let him know'.
The Amazon swallowed hard.
"You're good," he said. "But I'm better. I waited patiently while you slept lest you betray yourself. And you did".
'He has to be bluffing,' she told herself.
"So I have a surprise for you," he said, smirking. "Call it a gift".
He snapped the trapdoor closed.
The snakes squeezed harder. The copperhead moved across her throat, its pink and red stripes discernible in the pinpricks of light. The pain in her breast was excruciating, exacerbating wounds from the whipping and the vice. But the stress across her waist was worse. She felt her organs being compressed, her breathing becoming constricted. The Amazon was desperate to open her mouth – to cry out – to breath in – but her face was a mass of wings, legs and black bodies. Ants crawled everywhere: in her ears, between her toes, in her damaged shoulder, across her scalp. They feasted on her ruined nipple and nibbled at her eyelids.
Once again Amphora heard the lid open. She screwed up her eyes even tighter. There was a scurrying sound.
* * *
"Zula, " said Neepa. "You go ahead. I'll catch you up".
Zula left.
When her fellow outrider was out of sight Neepa reached into her pouch. She found the piece of chalk.
* * *
Tevo and Costall had agreed to withhold from Nemo any mention of Haalet's capture. They knew that the news would have to be broken eventually, but timing of the announcement was critical to their futures – to their lives.
"Let's delay until the Princess breaks under torture," the Captain had said. "Nemo's unpredictable. Possession of the Princess and the gold might outweigh the loss of his son".
"I agree," the Admiral had said. "With luck he'll be so mesmerized by Sempha and the treasure he'll be willing to forgive our transgression".
* * *
Nemo sat on his jeweled throne raised on a dais. His bodyguards stood behind him, their spears at the ready. Torches burned in iron cylinders hung from the massive pillars that supported the vaulted ceiling. He looked towards the huge oak doors at the other end of the room.
A side door opened and a short man appeared holding a scroll.
"My Lord," said the messenger. "I bring you good news. We have the Princess and request…………"
"Just bring her to me!" said Nemo.
The vast doors swung open and the party entered. Her collar had been removed. Trem and Rufus each gripped one of her arms as they marched her forward. She wrestled them away and they went to grab her again.
"Leave her," said Nemo.
Sempha strode towards the throne, her skin radiant, her eyes the colour of diamonds – cool and hard. She stood before the King, naked but for her puma headband. The four men who had led her sat in chairs that lined the walls. Guards from the King's own troop manned the door to the throne room, inside and out.
He came down from his throne so that their eyes were level. Nemo circled his prize, looking her up and down. Her aura rendered him momentarily speechless. His eyebrow twitched. He did not want her to know she had any kind of power over him. But he was confused by the Princess's surreal beauty. One half of his psyche wanted to worship her, the other to rape her. His palms sweated.
"We meet at last," said the King.
The Princess stared ahead.
"I'm sure you know why you're here," he said, standing in front of the Princess. "But if there's any doubt in your mind, allow me to explain. You have three things I want. Your body, the Amazon treasure, and your services as my personal slave".
Silence in the room.
Nemo cleared his throat.
"The first and third are easy, but I suspect the second will be harder".
"You will have none of them," said Sempha. "Not today. Not ever".
The King laughed. The others smiled.
"I'm not sure you're in a position to be giving orders my precocious friend," he said. "Let me tell you what happens from here. This evening you will be tied to my bed and I shall use your body as I please. Unless you tell me what I wish to know, tomorrow you will be taken to the dungeons for questioning. Our dungeon master has been working diligently on one of your bodyguards I believe. I'm sure he'll find time for you".
He wiped his hands against his trousers.
"I'm told he's developed a new piece of apparatus – something he calls the 'device'. I'm sure it's quite hideous. He's very inventive and loves his work. For your sake I hope he doesn't use it on you".
She blinked.
"After you've been broken, and my men have recovered the gold, I'll enjoy the riches of Lumana while you endure a life of servitude".
"Perhaps I am sufficiently outnumbered to prevent you from having me tonight," said the Princess. "I can live with that, disgusting though it is. I have the mental strength to blot your inferior body from my mind. Anyway, I doubt you've got it in you. You're scared of me".
He slapped her face.
"As for your pathetic torturers…." She glared at Nemo. "You're a fool if you think they can break me. I'm an Amazon - not a Thoranian. You'll never have the satisfaction of making me talk".
The King smiled. He liked his women feisty.
"Take her to my chambers".
* * *
Puno lifted the third container and opened the cover a centimeter. The creatures pressed against the top in an effort to escape. He knew that these animals needed to feed every thirty-six hours or else they starved. On his instructions, their food had been withheld for more than two days.
"Don't eat me," he said. "Eat her".
In one swift movement he opened the coffin's lid, smacked the underside of the crate, and watched the beasts slide onto the Amazon's feet. He snapped the lid closed.
Amphora knew the smell immediately. She wretched.
"NOOOO".
A cockroach flew into her mouth. Its legs scratched her tongue. She spat it out.
Vampire bats landed on her body. Famished, they bit into her breasts, her cheek, her thighs.
The Amazon wretched violently.
"I can't stand this," she shrieked.
The trapdoor opened a centimeter. Puno's faced peered in.
The warrior had lost all her colour. She lay transfixed - white. She was sweating profusely, horror etched into her face. A bat clung to her neck, its furry body rubbing against her jugular.
"Shall I leave you to your thoughts?" he said.
He closed the door.
The bats flapped against her body, their black eyes shiny in the thin light.
"NOOOO," she yelled. "Come back!"
The trapdoor opened.
"Talk, bitch".
He brushed a tarantula away from her mouth.
"The hills," said Amphora, tears streaming down the side of her face.
"Not enough," said Puno, dropping the door.
The vampire's sucked, the hooks on their wings caught in her flesh.
"PLEEAASE".
"Which hills?" asked Puno through the air holes.
He heard the woman throwing up.
"The caves," she sobbed. "The caves by the sycamore trees".
Puno removed the lid. Bats and wasps flew out. He looked down at his victim. She shook with hysteria.
The dungeon master walked over to the coffin.
"I have the information you require," said Puno.
The dungeon master smiled.
"Congratulations," said the ogre. "I will remember this".
Puno grinned. He turned back to Amphora.
"If you've lied to me, " he snarled, "if we don't find her there, you'll go back in this box with a hundred bats until we find her".
Ennuta came to inspect the Amazon.
"Shall we leave her?" said the skinny woman. "It might be interesting to watch the python burst her tit. Or listen to her gurgle as the boa constrictor crushes her to death. Now that she has talked her purpose has been served".
"Perhaps another time," said the dungeon master. "I want her alive. I have experiments I wish to conduct on her".
One by one they removed the animals and lifted the Amazon out of the coffin. She was lifeless in their hands. Defeated.
She offered no resistance. Puno and Breet chained her to the floor. They left her to ruminate. Amphora shook. Tears ran down her cheeks. Her wounds, her pain, were as nothing to the feeling of remorse that overtook her body – her soul.
Clen walked over.
"This just arrived," he said, handing a note to the dungeon master.
He read it to himself. "Delivered: the other bodyguard – her sister".
The dungeon master looked down at the tied warrior.
"It seems we have company," he said.
* * *
"Everyone down," Cercia ordered.
The sixteen Amazons crouched low amongst the long grass. They were in a gully, trees fifty yards away on either side.
They waited.
Cercia listened intently. She knew she'd heard noises up ahead.
The sound of clanking armour came from their right. Then their left. The Amazons froze.
Cercia drew her sword. The others followed suit.
"You're surrounded". A voice from ahead of them.
A Thoranian soldier appeared as if from nowhere.
One of Cercia's archers swung around raising her bow.
Other soldiers stood up. Twenty of them blocked the Amazons' way forward. The archer hesitated.
"Drop your weapons". The women looked frantically to their right. Another twenty men came out from the copse.
A second Amazon reached for her bow.
"Obey. Drop your weapons". This time the command came from their left.
More men appeared. Lines of soldiers looked at the women from three sides.
Cercia looked behind her but there was no way out. A fourth group of Thoranians blocked their escape. Cercia calculated there must be close to a hundred men.
'Outnumbered but not outgunned,' she thought.
Her and sixteen warriors against one hundred soldiers. Plus the four outriders who'd hear the commotion and take the soldiers by surprise by joining the fight from behind.
'Worth a try,' she decided.
"Draw swords!" she yelled.
Instantly, seventeen blades glistened in the sun.
"Drop your weapons or she dies," said a solider off to the left. "My name is Britt. I am the commander here. Do as I say!"
Cercia turned and saw Neepa. Tolana's sister was held from behind, a dagger against her throat, the laces of her jerkin missing.
Three men threw Zula to the ground, her hands bound behind her back, her arm badly gashed.
"Is she one of yours?" asked Britt.
The Amazons awaited Cercia's command.
Another solider approached Neepa and placed his sword between her breasts.
"Do you want her to be split open?" said Britt. "Right here".
Neepa struggled, the knife tight against her neck.
"One false move and she dies," said Britt.
Neepa winced.
A scuffling sound came from the other side. Cercia looked to the right. She saw the other two outriders brought out from behind the soldiers and pushed to the ground, their arms pinned to their sides by lassoes.
"Drop your weapons," said Cercia, quietly.
With reluctance, the women threw their swords to the ground.
"Knives and bows too," said Britt.
Men approached from all sides. The Amazon's weapons were removed. The trapped women stood and watched, frustration boiling inside them.
Britt stepped forward.
"Who is your leader?" he asked.
Silence.
"I said, who is your leader?"
The Amazons remained impassive.
"She's the leader". A female voice. "The one with the short hair".
Neepa stepped away from the soldiers. The men who had been holding her sheathed their swords and daggers.
"Thank you Neepa," said Britt.
Cercia's jaw dropped. Her blood rose.
"Why did you do it Neepa?" asked Cercia. "Why?"
Neepa smirked.
"I'll come and visit you in the dungeon, dear Cercia. Then I'll tell you why – between lashes".
Cercia rushed at the traitor. Six men stood in her way and restrained her.
Neepa laughed.
"Chain them," said the spy.
A Thoranian tossed a bag to the ground. It landed with a clunk, its contents spilling onto the grass. The soldiers picked up the chains and spread them out. They lined up the Amazons.
"Not the leader," said Britt. "I'll look after her".
The guards dragged Cercia over to their commander, the woman wrestling against her captors.
"Hold her," said Britt. He enjoyed watching her struggle. Her viciousness surprised him for someone her size.
He looked across to his number two.
"Tie the others," said Britt.
Once shackled the women formed a line, each Amazon joined to the next with chains attached to neck collars. None could escape alone. For added security, the soldiers bound the prisoner's wrists behind their backs.
The Thoranian commander turned his attention to Cercia.
"Strip her," he said, calmly. "And tie her".
While her colleagues watched helplessly, Cercia's clothes were ripped from her body, the soldiers using brute force and knives. When they were finished she stood naked, her arms in the air, her elbows at right angles. Her wrists were held in cuffs that hung from a wooden bar, the beam attached to a collar they had placed around her neck.
"How did you find us?"' asked Cercia
"Do you take us for fools?" said Britt, studying the Amazon leader's defenceless body. "Didn't you think we knew you'd make some puerile attempt at a rescue?"
He ran his hand across her taut belly.
"And of course the notes that Neepa left for us were helpful," he said.
Britt looked over to his number two.
"Take them to the castle".
Soldiers tugged at the line of women, pushing and goading them into action.
"If you give us any trouble, here's what happens," said a tall soldier.
A whistling sound broke through the sound of clanking chains.
"Aaarrgghhh".
Cercia stumbled but held her footing, the breath stolen from her lungs. Blood oozed from a deep cut across her naked back. The soldier pulled back the whip. He turned to the chained warriors.
"Any slacking, she gets it again".
The Amazon leader turned in Neepa's direction and spat.
"Nnnnggghhh".
The whip smacked against Cercia's back, ripping her skin for the second time.
"No one spits at a soldier of the King," said the tall guard. "Insolent bitch"
* * *
Sempha lay on the King's bed. She was tied face up, spread-eagled, naked but for her headband. The Princess had been washed. They had applied no decoration to her face; there was no paint that could have enhanced her innate beauty.
She had been left alone. Her mind held a single thought. 'Cercia can't be far away. I know I can delay until she arrives'.
* * *
Glaina was tied to the 'T' in the dark chamber. Every cell of her body ached. She wrestled with the ropes but she was held fast. They had not decorated the warrior. Although her face was unmarked, her body was already too badly scarred.
She kept her mind focused on just one thing. 'Cercia's on her way'.
She steeled herself. 'I WILL hold on'.
* * *
Amphora wept, her back against the damp stone floor, her limbs chained wide apart. 'Glaina…………someone…….. anyone……….release me from this hell'.
They had mutilated her body. That she could handle. But that they had broken her will, that she had betrayed her leader, was more than she could bear.
She wanted to die.
Only one hope kept her spirit alive – that she might somehow save the Princess before it was too late.
To be continued…
* * *
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