A Short Summary from the first two parts of this series:
Queen Amerlin one of four fighting queens in the valley of the Forest Amazons currently at war with each other discovered a threat to all the people of the valley in the form of Queen Contrez leading a large army from the distant smoking mountains to conquer their land. It would take all the people of the valley unified to hope to meet and defeat this threat, and none of the queens due to the war would just surrender their crown and leadership. To try and save the people, Amerlin invoked an ancient ritual of the ‘Duel of the Queens’ where the queens formally fought each other hand to hand to the death until only one queen remained to rule over all. The others accepted and they fought two battles in which two of them were eliminated, Amerlin survived the first one and then won after a mean spirited struggle against the other survivor becoming the one queen and with precious few months to spare to organize and prepare her combined people for the new war threatening them.
When Contrez did arrive that summer with her army, the war began and slowly over several months both sides were badly cut down until only fifteen hundred or so fighting women and men remained on each side, and Contrez unable to establish a foothold in the forest valley finding herself faced with short food supplies and would have to go home in defeat or risk it all in a final battle that could wipe both sides fighters out to the point that the survivors from both lands could well die out from a lack of people to protect them. Contrez realized she was in a bad way and in a truce meeting tried to get Amerlin to surrender but was refused.
Searching for some way to save face and their people, Contrez who had heard of the queen’s duel of the four queens from prisoners they took offered to meet Amerlin in a similar fight, winner takes all, but not to the death but rather fighting to total domination where one surrenders not only her kingdom and her people to the victor, but agrees to become the slave of the winning queen. Despite a clear advantage that Contrez had height and weight wise to Amerlin the smaller queen agreed and they fought the better part of a day and in to the evening with both sides at the edge of breaking several times and both close to death in what would became a very dangerous and deadly mirror hold duel that could easily kill, and both knew this final duel hold had to be what won the fight. Despite a near comeback in this hold by Contrez, Amerlin was able to regain the control she had over her larger foe earlier in the fight and Contrez was for all purpose of the word broken. However, her fierce love for her own people’s safety and for their sake, she was making her willing to fight to the death if that’s what it took. Amerlin realizing this offered her a verbal promise she would try to save her people but made no promises for Contrez’s own future. Instinctively knowing Amerlin had spoken honestly, it was enough to make Contrez yield the fight and take her own chances.
Amerlin had been struck and impressed by the defeated queen’s sense of honor and duty to her people, and it rose even further when she had discovered the reason for the attack, which was that Contrez’s homeland could no longer support her people due to some kind of disaster and they had to move and find a new home or perish there. In a move that surprised Contrez as Amerlin led her before her defeated people, she returned the defeated queen to her people, but with it came marching orders to return to their home, gathering all the people they could, as well as supplies and equipment, and abandon forever their homeland and return to the Forest Valley. Here they would be spread out among the villages that made up the Forest Amazon kingdom, and at that time Contrez would formally surrender her crown to Amerlin and take her place as her slave.
Amerlin knew she was taking a chance with Contrez as she had close to ten thousand of her people still in the smoking mountains, though few of them female or male were skilled at fighting, they could still prove a dangerous force if she rallied them and led them here in a final desperate assault against her own diminished fighting people. Yet she went with her gut instincts that said she would keep her word and let her go and started her own preparations in turn for their arrival several months from now.

And now . . . The Third Story of the Series:

Before Contrez had left leading her surviving army away, Amerlin had received enough information to know that she would if she returned as she expected them to, arrive with close to ten to twelve thousand people. It would be enough to restore a lot of the losses to the four main villages. Contrez would also be bringing with her a new craft in the form of open field farming, something that did not work well with the deep forests of her kingdom, but there was the open plains at the southern end of the kingdom and she made a decision to create a fifth main village where most of these ‘farmers’ would go at the edge of the forest where the Sur River left the forest and wound across the plains.
These decisions and others she had to make as she was figuring on Contrez to return in the middle to late spring went forward as abandoned huts in villages from those who died in the wars of the four queens were rebuilt and workers sent from all the villages to begin the construction of the fifth village from scratch. There was also the matter of several hundred prisoners taken during this last war. She along with her warrior leaders and some of her other advisors reviewed each prisoner, some she ordered executed outright for what they had done in the war, a double handful she freed completely allowing them to become free men and women in the villages. The rest however she found herself offering them two options of becoming a slave of the people and attempt to earn their right to become free men and women, or else to be executed. About ten percent of those chose death and were granted it, while the rest accepted the slave status, drawn perhaps by the fact they could earn their freedom.
These were put immediately to work on the rebuilding efforts as well as to prepare the new village for the expected arrivals. It was not the only thing Amerlin prepared for however. She was still suspicious of the defeated queen, and she had enough people to possibly start a new war, or worse if someone eliminated her that person could lead all that was left in a final war against her and the Forest Valley. Until then, Amerlin had held back a third of the women from being required to be fighters and over half the men as well, considering them not as good a fighter as women. This rule she set aside now ordering all women except those bearing child to train as a fighter and having three quarter of the men begin training as well on the possibility of another war. If Contrez came in peace, that would be good, but if not, she planned to be as ready as possible to make them regret choosing war a second time. A third and particularly careful duty, the queen set for herself was the selection of a new ‘chieftess’ to rule each village in her name, her testing of each woman was hard and vigorous of both their mind, their beliefs and their bodies before they proved themselves enough to satisfy the Queen to be placed there. She wanted good loyal fighting women in charge, not would be contenders who declare themselves a queen and perhaps start another war.
Scout camps were also established using the limited horses remaining they had out to two weeks travel away along the expected arrival route of Contrez’s people with the scouts to use horse relays to send information and messages back and forth. These were manned starting in early spring the earliest the mountain people were expected, but it would not be until late spring before the people were first seen. A quick survey of the people arriving was conducted from a distance and then the news rushed back to Amerlin that just under eleven thousand men and women were there, but the numbers that looked like fighters were about the same as had left in defeat. For all practical purpose of the word, Contrez was still in charge, she had been seen among them in a position suggesting she was in charge, and this pleased Amerlin. Making sure the scout and his horse was well fed and rested, she sat down and prepared two letters for Contrez, the first was a set of marching orders telling her to shift the direction of her march giving reference points along the way in a manner that would have them arrive at the forest edge about halfway along the kingdom’s edge so travel to the villages were split somewhat equally rather than a long march from the Northern end where she was going now towards Amerlin’s village for those ending up in the southern end of the kingdom. There they would camp about ten miles out from the forests edge initially and be broken in to five camps each going to a different village based on what they had to offer skill wise. The second was a bit more personal but also business like in which Amerlin welcomed Contrez back, hinting she was looking forward to a personal meeting between them, but then getting down to business explaining she wanted her to determine how many people she had and their skills in several general categories and to let her know as quickly as possible so they could start to sort them out even before they arrived at the first camp out on the plains.
It would take just over a week for that message to get out there by horse and the returning message was delivered from Contrez. “My Queen and Mistress, I was delighted to receive your letters and it shall be done as you have ordered. We have had a few problems on the journey here, including three formal challenges which I defeated for the rule of my people. There are understandably many who are unhappy with abandoning our homeland, and the news of the coming split of the people has caused some of them to mutter of causing trouble and I am dealing with them as I discover them, but I urge you to be aware that there may be troubles when we get there. Supplies were low food wise when we left and we have for a couple weeks now been living off what we can get from these empty upper plains and that is not much as we ration what’s left carefully. Beyond that however I look forward to reaching you and formally surrendering the people and ending the war and to the better life you had promised us.
It was enough for Amerlin to make a few new plans including calling in the wider spread scouts and adding them to the route that Contrez would soon be following with orders to enter the camp of Contrez as each scout camp is reached and report to her directly for duties until they arrive at the first camp for breakdown. Workers were also quickly gathered and dispatched to the planned second camp sites where the five groups would be gathered and a hut built there and in it she had gatherers as well as those skilled with smoking meats fill these huts with food providing enough to give them all a welcoming feast, and to this she planned to have hunters go out and on the day of the arrival also have them arrive with a good quantity of fresh meat to add to what was in the huts. Amerlin’s goal here being two fold to both welcome the people and also to abate the hunger and rationing and thus improve their feelings about the change in their lives about to come.
Over the remaining days work moved forward quickly, it was clear that the fifth village was not close to being ready, enough to house a thousand or so comfortably but not the expected three thousand she planned to send there. The work in the rest of the villages were very close to completed or just completed, but not enough time to really make a difference on the last village, though Amerlin had some shift there anyway to get at least a few more hut homes ready by time they showed up. A follow up letter to Contrez to advise her of the state of the villages came back within two days as the distance was very close now for their arrival and with it heartening news from Contrez’s own hand. “My queen, I thank you for your words, but do not worry about the uncompleted village or such in other villages. To be honest, we had been expecting when we arrived that we would have to build for all our people from the ground up. To hear that so much had already been done has already been spread among the people with me, and it has had a very desirable effect as a lot of the grumblers have fallen silent, their belief they will enter a new land and home where they would be unaccepted and scorned as different for the most part shattered, though some still refuse to accept until they see with their own eyes and some have chosen to remain silent for now and let the events unfold before making any judgments which I feel is understandable. The speed of the scouts bringing these notes suggests we may be very close and will come within sight of our new home in the next day or so. I am going to push the march a bit harder because of this that we arrive soon after daybreak rather than late in the day so the people can use the day to get things sorted out. I’ve also used the lists you sent me and have started the breakdown of the people in to the five camps so that we can move quickly when we do arrive. “
This set off the final preparations as horses were used in the forest something not normally done to hasten word to the other villages to begin the meat hunt and for all to be brought out to the huts where they will meet and greet the arriving new villagers. Amerlin herself after a nap that afternoon joined the hunters that night in a hunt to procure meet and followed it along with the bearers and her own guard to the upper plateau arriving at dawn and able to see even from there the arriving people though they were a good dozen or so miles yet away from the first camp.
All her own parties in place at the prepared second camps to await the breakdown, Amerlin with a small guard went forward to meet Contrez at the first camp to begin the formalities, her own small personal camp set just a few miles away where she would prepare Contrez for the formal surrender. As they arrived and stopped, Contrez came forward and formally knelt before Amerlin and at a signal from her rose and gave a signal and from the camp a pair of young horses were brought out and presented to Amerlin as a gift for her riding pleasure. Nodding acceptance at the gift, Amerlin stepped forward raising her voice as she had before so it carried a distance and could be relayed back to those beyond earshot. “Welcome to your new home, there will be a brief rest here while preparations are made for your queen to formally surrender to me and then you will be broken down as Contrez has chosen in to five camps to go to five villages.” Pointing at the distant huts about five miles closer to the forest she continued, “Those huts will serves at a gathering point for each of the camps and you’ll stay there and rest on the plains today and travel to your new home in the morning, each hut and those around it are carrying enough food and fresh meat for all to have a small feast to celebrate your arrival and the end of your journey as you begin a new life, not as the people of the smoking mountains, but as the people of the valley forest just as we all call ourselves. That name is now a part of your past and history, never to be used again except for historical purposes in the telling of tales of your past. For now, rest good people and we will soon began the formal ceremonies.”
There was a smattering of cheers at the announcement and it slowly grew as word filtered back through the crowds and smiling Amerlin had Contrez follow her to her smaller camp to prepare. There Contrez found herself quickly stripped and given a simple tanned loincloth to wear and nothing else and the ceremony was explained to her. It was similar to the one before the army before they left. Dressed as she was, she would step before her people and loudly announce that she had met in formal combat with Amerlin with the winner claiming the loser’s kingdom to save both from complete destruction, and after a hard fight she had lost and yielded to Amerlin. Then she would formally surrender the people to Amerlin renouncing her right to call herself queen and declare herself the war prize of Amerlin and take a place behind her completing the ceremony.
For Amerlin, time was critical here, she did not want the people to get restless at the moment and get them split and on their way to each of the camps and the two rode out to the first camp where the formal ceremony was carried out, and like before, as Contrez stood up she cried “Hail Amerlin, our rightful queen and savior, Hail Amerlin!” and the shout was echoed by those up front. That formally done, the breaking of the first camp to the five smaller village camps began and within an hour movement began as each chieftess introduced herself to their new villagers and led them to the second camp where the food and meat awaited them and an overnight camp was established and the feast preparations began. Amerlin and Contrez stayed at the first camp until the last of it had dissolved and was enroute to the second camps closer to the forest before bringing Contrez with her and visiting each of the smaller camps where she gave a new welcome speech able for all to hear her now as the numbers were much smaller.
“As I had said at the larger camp, I welcome you all to your new home. Things will be different here as you adjust from living in a warm to hot forest as compared to the much colder mountains. We have many laws and rituals that you will soon learn, but many you will find are the same or very similar to those you already knew at your former home and will find it easy enough to adapt. There have been some that are worried you would not be treated as equals, but I have declared you all as Free Women and men of our home, and you have all the same rights any other free man or woman has who was born here. If any do not treat you in such a fair manner speak to the village chieftess or her council and the matter will be resolved, if they can not, let me know and I will investigate it myself and if there is punishment deserved it will be given, if need be by my own hand. There are some who are also upset because of the dividing of the people among five villages but this is necessary to bring skills you have to each of the villages and to spread you more or less evenly among the villages rather than isolate you alone in one. Even the new fifth village, which will be primarily people from the mountains, many of our own villagers have elected to also move there and join you and help you adjust to your new home. Know also this that the distance between the villages is not too severe, the nearest one to yours is at most a day away and by foot and boat you can oft travel from one end to another of the valley in just four days, and if you do not have duties in your own village that need be attended, you will find that you can freely travel to the other villages so you can keep in contact with your friends I hope that this will put most of your fears at rest while you learn of your new life, and know that I am willing to help as much as any villager may.”
It was a good speech judging from the quiet murmurs she caught, and this happened in each of the five camps. Satisfied, after visiting the fifth and final camp, Amerlin and her group returned to her own small camp as evening was slowly closing in. A second but definitely smaller tent was pitched next to Amerlin’s spacious one for Contrez, but still larger than the ones the guards had and after a meal where everyone gathered for the camp, the guards took their posts and both Amerlin and Contrez retired to their respective tents to rest.
Amerlin was herself quite tired, she had been up close to forty hours now and she was soon asleep, and hoped Contrez was doing the same. She didn’t need to worry, Contrez having pushed her people’s march through the night before was just as tired and she slept soundly as well when she laid down to rest. Over in the five camps, a similar scene was occurring, the arrivals after the long day and night march plus the events of this second day were tired, the feasts made and consumed gave them full stomachs, something they had not had for a while and most went to sleep quickly with hopes of a better future in the morning.
For a good five or six hours, Amerlin slept well but as she awoke to answer the calls of nature and relieve herself, she found herself looking at Contrez’s tent and considering things. Almost as if her thoughts had called her forth, Contrez still in just her loincloth stepped out of the tent and saw the queen not far away. Amerlin approached and could see a restless look on the face of Contrez and had to admit she was a bit restless as well. The view of Contrez as she was dressed was also sending other signals as well to her and she decided it was time to answer some of them and get a fuller measure of her new slave as well as tend to some other matters that had to be dealt with. The tents here however were not the right place for such matters, her queen’s status not withstanding some things she preferred privacy for.
Getting a trio of guards off duty up and giving instructions to the guards on duty at the camp of where she was going she left specific instructions to not be disturbed except for an emergency. That done, five horses were brought out and she, Contrez and the three guards turned towards the woods and a specific point she had in mind. It took a few minutes to find it though it was not too deep in from the forests edge and posting her three guards around the base with orders to ignore anything they heard up there except a command from her own lips, she easily sprang up in to the branches disappearing in to the darkness and called for Contrez to follow.
As Contrez climbed she found herself coming on a sturdy platform set in the upper branches of this particular tree and from it they could look out over the moon lit plains at the five camps. It was a hunter’s platform, and a good sized one about twenty feet on a side and roughly square. The view taken in for now, Amerlin had Contrez remove even the loincloth and then gave her permission to strip her down as well leaving them both naked and alone. Contrez saw a light in Amerlin’s eyes and there was interest in it, but instead, Amerlin suddenly stepped forward and caught her slave up and brought her hard to the flooring with a slam, and locked her legs around her head in a punishing scissors. “There will be a time for other pleasures my slave” Amerlin half whispered, but you have a lot of punishment to yet serve for the many lives you cost us both in the war and tonight you will pay a part of that debt.”
With only a few hours before dawn and the expected breaking of the camps, Amerlin wanted to probe her new slave’s abilities to fight as well as absorb damage. Within a couple hours she was convinced her flexibility was well above average, and like herself, her ability to take punishment was extremely high. There was a lot more she wanted to test but a sudden call from below of the Queen’s name from a guard and scowling at the interruption she went to the edge with Contrez next to her and called down asking why the interruption. “There is a man here from one of the camps, he brings news of plans to have several attack you in the morning and to replace you with a new leader of their choosing.” That got a look of worry from Amerlin and one of alarm from Contrez and she quietly swore and started down, but Amerlin stayed her move. “Send him up here that he may speak to us and be alert for others nearby, any one seen and suspicious, slay them on the spot!”
There was a rustle of branches below as the man climbed up and looked startled at the state of undress of the two women but he knelt briefly to Amerlin and bowed to Contrez as well. “My Queen and Lady, I was approached after dinner by a handful of men and women who are not happy with being under Amerlin’s rule feeling one of our people should rule instead. They sought to enlist me and others there in our camp and had close to a dozen willing to throw in and try to sneak from the march tomorrow and find you and your party and attack in an attempt to get past the guards quickly enough to kill you both. I pretended to agree but after all was asleep went to the queens camp and was told to come here, I Die you whore queen and destroyer of my people!” The last came out as a shout as he drew a blade from somewhere and charged the queen clearly looking to plunge the knife in to her.
Amerlin reacted with her own actions dropping to partial crouch and advancing, but Contrez was even faster from the side as she charged him and took him down in a tackle that almost sent them both over the side of the platform but she gained control within moments and twisted the arms so violently that he had no choice but to drop the knife and try desperately to break free before she did break the arms. “Release him!” Amerlin growled her anger at the attack clearly evident as she bent and picked up the knife and with a quick flip sent it plunging across the branches to plunge in to the trunk of a different tree putting it forever out of the man’s reach.
Contrez looked at Amerlin in complete surprise at the order to release him but did so her reluctance apparent to the queen, but she was in charge here and she made her will known as she addressed the man. “You were a fool to try that, and even if she had not taken you down and disarmed you, I would have. For your actions you have forfeited your right to life. I give you two options here, you can choose the cowards way out and step off the edge and plummet to the ground and your death or face me in a fight to the death.”
The man’s face was pale in the limited light that filtered on to the platform but he said “I’ll fight you if it means a chance to remove you as a threat!” and charged at her. The fight was almost over as soon as it had begun as the queen easily blocked a few blows and then surged in and trapped him in a bearhug. Moments later her arms bunched as they tightened and his head snapped back with a high pitched whine as he sought air denied, and then his rib cage fully gave way to the pressure breaking fully driving bone in to lungs and heart and getting a brief spray of blood from his lips before he went limp in death. Hoisting the body up over her head, she ignored the shocked look on Contrez’s face and pitched the body off the platform. The sound of it alarming the guards and sending them scrambling up in to the branches despite the queens’ orders until she called down and said all was OK up there and to return to guard at the base with extra vigilance.
Contrez shook her own head in something akin to disbelief, she knew she was good with a bearhug, but the speed and ferocity that Amerlin had displayed just now to her eyes made her own seem weak and she suddenly had a new respect for Amerlin’s abilities. Amerlin however missed that all as she looked down, disgust on her face, and finally turning to Contrez declared. “This session tonight is over, I do not doubt he spoke truth about the others and they probably put him up to trying this sneak attack first. We will return to our camp, you will dress and take horse and go to his camp and I don’t care if you have to wake the entire camp along the way, find me those conspirators and bring them to my camp shortly after dawn. I grant you the right to speak with my voice in this and only this manner to secure any of my guards to help in your search.”
Contrez nodded and apologized to the queen, her face red even in the limited light. I should have found this before it got this far, but Amerlin cut her off. “You could not possibly hope to know what is on the mind of over ten thousand people, we can only be watchful and be ready to act when we do have the evidence to act upon. Now go and find those who would want us dead.” It was dismissal and Contrez was soon on her way to the camp in question, but not before she saw Amerlin call her own guards before her. “I gave specific orders that I was not to be disturbed except for an emergency but one of you sent an assassin to me without proof the emergency existed and worse without first removing all his weapons as you know you must before I will allow a stranger to approach me. Now which of you failed in her duties to her queen?”
Contrez could only shake her head in dismay and sadness, knowing instinctively whichever guard it was, she or he was apt to be in a kind of trouble she would not wish on anyone. Then with three guards she had secured to help her she entered the camp and waking the chieftess as well explained what happened and secured a few more guards and began to wake up some of the camp seeking news and information on who the traitors were.
When dawn did arrive and it was time to start to wake the whole camp and break for the trip, the search was called off for now but Contrez did return with seven prisoners with her. Contrez wanted to hold the camp there to search further but the chieftess over rode her authority and said if they were held, the traitors would know they were being sought, better to move now and keep them from suspecting and Contrez had to agree at the logic. The seven prisoners seemed to be enough to satisfy Amerlin for now and she said as much and that they would get the remaining names from these prisoners after they reached the village, and gave orders for them to be taken to her village instead. Initially, Amerlin had planned to march with those going to her village so she could get a better feel for what was on their minds, but after last night she changed her plans and her own small camp along with the prisoners broke quickly and on horseback left at once arriving late morning instead of the late afternoon as the rest were expected to.
The prisoners were promptly sent to a hut to be held, and Contrez could not but notice a new prisoner as well in the form of one of the guards, her hands bound behind her back in part by her own spear now broken in three pieces and she was not looking too happy as she saw the other guards and even friends staying well away from her as if she was tainted in some way, and perhaps by these people’s customs she was. Amerlin however ignored this except to give orders and then showed Contrez where her main hut was that was also her home and now Contrez’s as well and then began an almost leisurely walk around the village showing her many of the key buildings and introducing Contrez to key people such as the local priestess, the task masters and mistresses and the various key people who oversaw some of the day to day crafting duties as well as the hunters of the village.
By time this was over, the leading edge of the new arrivals had just arrived, and Amerlin showed she was a working queen as well as she pitched in helping the chieftess and others to get the new arrivals settled in before sunset. Satisfied that this was done and in the morning new work for them to fit in to the village would begin, she called it a day herself and led Contrez back to the main hut and then through it in to the adjoining ones that were her living quarters. Looking around Contrez saw she had given herself a plenty of open room, furnishing were sparse except the bed itself, which was large enough to sleep not just her but three or four other people of similar size comfortably. Half expecting this was where she would also have to sleep, Contrez started towards it, but in a sudden move, Amerlin grabbed her hair from behind and jerked her back and dropped her down across her extended knee backbreaker style, one hand sank in to her womanhood and the other in to a breast claw style and she poured on the pressure as she coldly told her, “You presume above your station slave of mine. Only a free man or free woman may come at my bidding to my bed and share it with me, a slave has no right to such unless I extend to them such a privilege and you are far from reaching the point where such a privilege may be granted to you.”
Releasing both claw holds that had Contrez writhing in both pain and surprise, Amerlin rose dropping her to the floor and told Contrez to follow her and led her in to her ‘special chamber’. Letting her look around at the large but bare room she said “I use this room to interrogate prisoners who deserve my personal attention and to handle those whose punishments are such that as Queen, I am to administer it, including those who must forfeit their life. When I am not using it for such, this will serve as your living place until you have proven yourself worthy enough to sleep in my chamber at a place of my choosing.”
Contrez lowered her head and knelt before Amerlin asking “How may I earn that worthiness my queen.” Amerlin smiled but it was not a friendly one as she replied. “By hard work serving the needs of this village as the taskmasters and mistresses or I set before you. You must also complete your punishments for those who died as a result of this war and in particular for the death of my favored man at your own hands.” That almost got a shudder of fear and worry from Contrez. She was not afraid of hard work, doing so for the village needs would not be a problem. She had already endured some of Amerlin’s ‘punishment’ for the deaths and felt she could deal with it though it was going to be long and painful. The part that scared her was the fact she had singled out in particular the one man’s death and wanted serious vengeful punishment for it, and that might be the hardest part of it all.
Amerlin watched the expressions quickly pass across Contrez’s face and knew she had struck a sensitive point, but she was also not about to cut the former queen any slack either in terms of what she planned for her to do, however given the events of the last couple of days. . . . “The journey for you and your people has been long and hard, especially the final forced march, and then of course last night you and I had no proper rest as we dealt with the would be assassin and started the search for the others who plot against me. The fatigue is plain upon your face and in your body, so this night you will rest. The punishment can wait until tomorrow, as well as starting your other duties to both the people and this village in particular.” That said, she turned and left Contrez in the chamber to pick a spot to lie down and sleep, and closed the door behind her and secured it before she undressed herself and turned in for the night.
For Contrez, that proved somewhat simple enough, the lanterns high in the rafters were in such a way there were a couple of low light pockets at several points along the edge of the hut, and to one of these she retreated and laying down on the thickly matted floor she soon found herself curling up and falling asleep from the fatigue she had endured from being awake for so long, and slept soundly until Amerlin came in and woke her with a hard kick to the rear end. Handing her a simple and plain linen pants and shirt without comment, Amerlin turned and left Contrez to dress and come outside where she found the queen waiting on her. Many in the village were already up and about and from the sun’s position it had been daylight a couple hours already.
Leading Contrez towards a nearby swift moving stream that joined to the Sur River, she pointed out how one curve of it had been reinforced with a small log wall to keep the faster moving waters from carving away the land at the curve, then leading her about a hundred yards further upstream the came to an unprotected curve and Amerlin told Contrez, “I am specifically tasking you to by yourself build a protective wall along this curve so the stream will not eat in to the land and become a future danger to the village. No other people may help you in this task, though you may get any tools and supplies you need from the task masters and mistresses. I am giving you twelve days to complete this task to the satisfaction of first the taskmasters and then my own inspection. Get started!” and with that she turned and walked away leaving Contrez to deal with her new duties as a slave, and what was clearly a part of her overall punishment for leading the war against the people here. The work seemed simple enough to the mind of Contrez, and she soon had axe and rope in hand and had been shown where she may cut down trees for the task and begun her work. It would prove a bit harder than expected as the swift waters though only a few feet deep made securing the work a bit harder than expected and Contrez lost a handful of the logs she had cut to the fast moving waters.
The stretch she had to do was a bit over a hundred feet long, but by the end of the day, she had picked up enough of the tricks to do the job that she had the uprights driven in deep along the whole stretch and had actually lashed a set of logs behind the first set up uprights to protect the first 8-10 feet of the bank, and after an inspection from a taskmaster and his suggestion, added dirt behind the wall backfilling it to keep the logs from being loosened up. This was all done as the last of the day’s light was fading and she returned the tools to a taskmaster’s shed until the following morning. Returning to the queen’s main hut she found her in the front chamber she saw a stretcher coming out from there and realized it was carrying the guard who had failed her duties and apparently had been punished by the queen herself. Her body was a battered and badly bruised and bloody mess and at least one arm was broken as well as they carried her towards the small temple that was the home of the Warrior Priestess, and she went inside and found the queen in her own chamber and looking at her told her to wait outside a few minutes as she finished speaking with a young and powerful woman that clearly had ‘fighter’ written all over her. Several minutes later, she left the queen’s chamber and told her to go in, but also gave her an unfriendly stare as well for some reason. Uncertain as to who she was and how she could act or react, Contrez met her stare and said nothing as she turned and walked in to the bedchamber.
There she found the queen awaiting her return and told her to go in to her special chamber and strip down. As Contrez did so she turned and found the queen already stripped and standing there watching her, a fierce looking light in her eyes, and she could not but notice the room had the strong smell of sweat in it, and realized the guard she saw being taken out had been punished in here, and apparently now the queen was looking to take some out of her as well as she had the right to. Instead, she crooked a finger for Contrez to follow her back in to her personal chamber and pointed towards one corner of the chamber where she saw a part of the floor didn’t exist and a slow moving stream passed underneath that spot. It was clear the area had been deliberately dug out to create a bath of sorts about five feet wide, ten feet long and after the queen signaled Contrez to get in and wash about four feet deep in the middle and three at the edges allowing easy climbing in and out. As she hit the water, she found it cool but not too cold and refreshing and after a couple minutes of rubbing at herself most of the dirt and mud had been worked loose to be floated away by the current. Then the queen came in herself and joined Contrez and closing in on her smiled as she quickly wound her arms around the larger woman in a bearhug and started to squeeze her, the pressure steadily increasing until she had Contrez gasping for breath and writhing in pain. The arms of Contrez rose more than once clearly wanting to lock around Contrez in a bearhug of her own and then fell, realizing she was taking a part of her punishment here and held herself as tightly in check as she could willing to take this and whatever else the queen may dish out until she had satisfied her punishment in the queen’s eyes. That bearhug would last the better part of an hour before she released it and allowed Contrez to finish her washing and exit the waters.
Amerlin was right behind her, and as Contrez turned to go to her room, Amerlin told her to stop. Doing so and turning back towards the queen, she waited to see and hear what was on Amerlin’s mind. “The laws forbid a slave from entering my bed and even a free woman must be granted permission to enter it, but the law also allows me the right to extend this privilege to anyone, even a slave, and I am of a mind to allow this for you this one time, but understand this. . . .If you accept the privilege know that when you are on my bed, I am the absolute ruler there, any whim or request I ask for must be obeyed without question, any question I ask must be answered immediately and truthfully even if the answer may offend one of us or if you’d rather not answer at all. Are you willing to take such a chance in my bed?”
A glow lit the eyes of Contrez at the invite, she could sense there was more hidden in the offer, it all but screamed a trap of some kind, but she sensed also that one of the ways to earn the queen’s favor and perhaps her freedom was to roll with what was thrown at her and not refuse any challenge or offer like it or not. Sketching a short bow she replied, “I accept the offer with pleasure, what is your wish my Queen?” For the first time a real smile seemed to touch the lips of Amerlin and she replied with almost good humor. “For starters when we are in this or the special chamber where you sleep, if we are alone, Never, Ever, bow to me again, save that for out in the public areas!” It was a small but pleasant surprise and perk granted Contrez and one she accepted with pleasure and then following Amerlin’s instructions she climbed on to the bed and laid on her back, already suspecting what she was about to do. Contrez had been expecting the bearhug as this seemed to be part of what the queen liked but this time she shifted higher up and began instead a series of breast smothers that left her gasping for breath and slowly and steadily weakening under the punishment. Time and again her hands and arms started to come up wanting to fight back and then went limp as she fought her natural instincts and accepted the punishment, though Amerlin was very much aware of the hands and the obvious desire. Giving Contrez a good bit of air this time, she asked, “You’d love to get those arms around me and crush the breath from me wouldn’t you, admit it?”
Gasping from her lack of air, Contrez could only nod yes, she was after all bound to answer truthfully, and seconds later the smother went home again and she tried to outlast it once more. Seconds later Amerlin’s voice close to her ear and softly said “Let’s take this all the way to a KO this time, Go ahead and see if you can crush me before I can smother you out!” Looking up in shock at the face of Amerlin she saw her nod her head yes, and a second later, the arms snapped up and around the queen and poured on the pressure trying to make her pass out first from a lack of air or pain. Weakened as she was, her arms were still powerful and she could see that Amerlin’s head was thrown back, mouth open seeking air and getting none. “Gotcha!” was the thought in Contrez’s mind and then she settled in to the serious struggle, she was short on air already and weakened from the earlier smothers and had to do a lot of catch up to make the queen pass out first. The struggle would last the better part of the next two minutes as the strength and stamina of both women were quite high, but in the end, the arms around Amerlin unlocked as Contrez spiraled down in to darkness smothered out. Minutes later she awoke to a pungent smell in her nose as Amerlin capped a small vial and smiled down at her. “Not a bad start for tonight’s session if you can keep this up another week, you’ll have worked off all your death debt except for the one man of mine you killed.”
It was clearly meant as a high compliment from Amerlin, and Contrez immediately suspected that others who found themselves being punished by the queen usually fared a lot worse and took longer to pay their punishments. Yet the referral to the one death had surfaced again, and it was clear that whatever that punishment was, it would not be pleasant, and may end up killing her as she had killed him during the war those months ago. Knowing that speaking on this might be the wrong move, and ruin whatever she had built up so far with the queen, Contrez decided to take a chance and asked. “Have you decided yet on when I should be punished for that, and how it is to be? I’d like to be able to put that in the past for us both if possible.” Amerlin was silent for several seconds to this, and there was a look of annoyance on her face that clearly said that Contrez was pushing her luck by asking at this time, but in the end, she answered “I have not decided yet on any of that but you can be certain when I do decide, you will not like it, and you may not survive it, though I will do my best to ensure you do survive and regret the action for the rest of your life.” It was a warning, plain and clear and Contrez decided to not push the matter further and waited for the queen to resume her punishments, but instead the mood seemed to have been broken, and she told Contrez to return to her room and go to sleep, she would have a long hard day ahead of her. Taking her at word, Contrez left at once and settled in the other chamber and after several long minutes fell asleep that would be restless at best as her mind kept drifting to what kind of punishment the queen would choose for that death, and her fertile imagination could think of a good many, all unpleasant.
When morning came, Contrez woke on her own and quietly dressed and found the queen up as well and the two went outside at the same time, the queen to walk around the village as it stirred to life while she headed for the hut where most common use tools were kept and drew what she needed and began to work further on the stream wall as her task was still yet a few days of work to go at least. It was a little bit after the sun reached the zenith when one of the taskmasters came to her and told her the queen wanted her in her chamber. Curious as to why she was being summoned at this time of day, she asked the taskmaster why but she just shrugged and suggested she get going and not keep the queen waiting. That struck home and she hastily put her tools up and hurried to the queen’s chamber, finding her busy in the main public room and noting her arrival signaled her to go in to her own room and wait.
Several minutes later, the queen came in and told her to strip down and enter the special chamber, and stripped as well and followed her in before revealing what was going to happen. “We still have the unresolved matter of those prisoners to be resolved. By our laws, they have earned death for wanting to kill me but there remains the fact others may still be free out there trying to gather others to help them cause the death of me, and that is where you come in. They need to be questioned severely and forcibly to make them yield as much as possible before they are killed. Normally I reserve this for myself, but I want to know what you are capable of as well so I am going to turn this first one over to you when they shove her in here shortly and allow you to get whatever you can from her before she dies. For the most part I will remain in the background, watching and listening; I will not interfere unless you find yourself in trouble as you break her.”
Further discussion became irrelevant as a pair of guards arrived with the first prisoner and thrust her in to the room, the door closed behind her and the sound of the bar dropping in to place was heard. The sight of Amerlin and Contrez in the nude before her startled her, but then Amerlin quietly said, “Begin the interrogation.” And stepped back allowing Contrez to get all the information she could from the prisoner. The ordeal for her would take close to three hours as Contrez first tried straight questioning and used some basic rough the person up tactics and then told her she was sentenced to death and how well and how much she told freely would mean the difference between a quick and almost painless death or a slow and torturous one. It became clear soon the woman was unwilling to talk on the matter and Contrez after catching her in several lies went to the hard route and began to use holds and grips to punish and slowly break her down, eventually turning it in to an open fight as she controlled her and dared her to fight back. Contrez easily controlled the fight and it was clear the other woman knew how to fight but was just plain outmatched as Contrez locked her in to one intense hold after another and then released her trying to make her yield every last secret. Eventually however the damage she took became too great and the prisoner passed away, but not before they had at least three more names from her.
The body was carted away and a second prisoner brought in even though it was approaching nightfall, and this time Amerlin showed her own style which was not so much a rapid switch but rather severely painful holds that she kept on for extended periods slowly and steadily raising the damage levels, each hold concentrating on a different part of the body as the second prisoner, a male this time was slowly broken and yielded names as well. It took longer than Contrez’s style but he also surrendered the same names plus two others before he was too far gone and she quickly broke his neck ending his suffering.
By now both women were tired and Amerlin after stepping outside and seeing the moon near the zenith called the night done, and for them to both get some sleep. As Contrez turned to enter her room Amerlin said, “You did well with the one you had but you took a lot of chances and could have found yourself in a bad way several times had your prisoner seen what I saw. We’ll sleep in a bit since the night is half gone, and you won’t be working the wall but be with me as we tackle the remaining prisoners. Once we have all we can get from them we’ll see how much the words of them all match and we’ll have those captured and brought here as well.”
That next day would prove interesting for both women; the remaining prisoners found themselves spending the night with the two dead bodies, a sign of their own fate and one of the prisoners made a desperate attempt to escape breaking through the hut walls only to be caught within a short distance and killed by the spears of several guards. Amerlin when she found out congratulated the guards for their fast actions, and soon the four prisoners found themselves locked in the chamber and facing both Amerlin and Contrez both as they quickly gave them a chance to confess all for a quick death and one took the option telling all he could. The other three chose the hard way and paid it over time before they also gave up their lives. As the last one was carted off Amerlin and Contrez compared notes and found several names that all knew and Amerlin gave orders for them to be captured to the guard and they began a search of each village to find them over the next several days.
While this went on however, Contrez returned to work on the stream wall and continued to take her punishments at night. This lasted until the third night when Amerlin once again granted Contrez the privilege to enter her bed if she was wild enough, it was an offer that Contrez immediately accepted. Immediately, Amerlin went to the bearhug and started to punish her, but after barely a minute, Contrez was caught out as Amerlin asked her if her bearhug was her own favorite hold, and if so why. For a moment Contrez froze, but then relaxed and admitted that she did enjoy the bearhug most of all. When pushed on the why, she told Amerlin that she frowned on women who relied primarily on their legs which are naturally stronger than a mans in a fight, that she believed that a good woman fighter must be good all around. As for the bearhug, it allowed two to try and outdo the other seeking the best grip and she enjoyed the competitiveness and the fierceness of the hold that can quickly render a person unconscious, or kill them, or be used to extract surrender.

That got a smile of sorts from Amerlin and she surprised Contrez again when she replied in turn, “I’m glad to hear that for a number of reasons, one in particular because you have a fighting style I want to see in more of my fighters. Once you eventually win your freedom, and I strongly suspect you will, I am looking at having you join with the fighting women, and if can prove yourself, I will promote you quickly to team leader and then a warrior leader and in that position you can train the women to use their entire body and be more versatile in their fighting ways.” The plans of Amerlin did come as a surprise, Contrez had herself wondered if she would ever become free and what would happen afterwards, to hear the queen say she would and her planned support to put her in a position of power restored her spirits which had been quite low ever since she had lost that fight on the sacred isle.
“I am honored that you wish this” she quietly said, “In time I do want to be free after I have paid my debts to you and the people. I hope that I can clear the matter of the punishments soon and put that behind us once and for all.” It was part suggestion those last words and a reminder of the debts she still owed and her desire to finish them, and Amerlin replied herself. “The main part of the debt that I was punishing you for has been paid, a good part of it when you showed your loyalty to me on the hunter’s platform a few days ago. There is still the personal debt however to deal with and that is one you will have to face and no escaping it either if you hope to ever become free, and I have just decided what that punishment shall be.”
That got the attention of Contrez and she looked at her queen expecting her to tell her now, but she was not ready yet to reveal it saying instead. “Tomorrow, you will work on the stream wall until the high sun, then return to your room and rest until sunset. At that time, I will reveal your punishment, and I warn you, it will be very severe as it should be, and you may not survive it if you are less than what I think you are capable of handling.” A worried look crossed the face of Contrez and Amerlin saw it and said to her, “You earned this punishment because of who you killed and within sight of me, which I can not forgive. Because it was not a direct or indirect threat to me and I had not named him my chosen yet, you did not earn a death sentence. If you had you would not be here now as you are. But still law requires what you did to my favored must be severe and that is what it shall be. Now go to your room and rest, you will need all you can get for work tomorrow and later on that night.”
Contrez nodded her head as the queen released her from her hold and rolled off the bed, and despite the queen’s rule to not bow in that room did so and turned and went to her own room and tried to sleep. It would not be an easy one as her mind kept waking her up from dreams of what kind of punishment will occur. Dawn would find her out at the stream already working on the wall as she tried to get as much done as possible before mid day when she was supposed to stop and rest. This she did, but before she returned to her room to rest, she stopped at the small temple of the Warrior Goddess to pray for the strength to face her punishment that night. That done, she did return to her room, and surprisingly found herself quickly falling asleep for the next several hours, until a hard kick to her side woke her up and she reacted and rolled to her feet and in a fighting stance and found herself facing the queen, and a pair of fully armed guards with her.
A scowl was on Amerlin’s face, and she was fully nude as well and apparently ready to begin the punishment of her. Her only words for the moment were to strip down, which Contrez hastily did and then waited to find out what her fate will be. “Know and understand this slave of mine, if you ever want to earn your freedom you must endure and survive this punishment that I shall name, you have the right to refuse it but if you do each time it is offered afterwards the punishment will be longer and harsher, do you understand this?” Contrez nodded her head acknowledging this and formally asked, “What punishment shall I pay for my crime?” Amerlin’s scowl deepened and her voice dropped deeper as she revealed it. “Because you killed my favored male whom I wished to be my male choice, and because you killed him with a bearhug, you punishment will fit the crime, you must endure my own bearhug without fighting back from sunset to sunrise and survive it. You may brace against it, but not fight me or try to escape any bearhug or bearhug style hold I use. Will you accept the punishment?”
Contrez had an immediate flashback as she remembered the would be assassin and how easily Amerlin had killed him and wondered if this would be her fate as well. Yet she also remembered Amerlin’s words saying she would not try to kill her, but she would remember it for the rest of her life, as well as her warning of last night. The risk of death was there, but that would depend on her own abilities to handle the punishment, and she somehow felt she could trust the queen and she would keep her word and not kill her, or at least not deliberately. Looking squarely at the queen she said, “I understand the punishment and accept it, let it begin when you are ready as I am now.”

A small satisfied smile briefly crossed the lips of the queen at the words and she said to the guards without looking at them “Withdraw, secure the door and take your posts and post the outside guard, no one in or out until dawn when you will call to advise me that it has arrived.” Both guards gave a quick salute and backed from the room and the door closed and both women heard the heavy bar go in to place on the outside. The smile returned again to the lips of Amerlin and she said quietly, “I knew instinctively you would accept, but it took a lot of courage to do it, now it begins and with the Goddess of War looking upon you, you will survive this.” A moment later she closed and caught Contrez in a fierce bearhug and her head snapped back and a scream came involuntarily from her throat at the pressure. The rest of the night would soon devolve in to a haze of pain and agony as the Queen punished her with every type of bearhug imaginable including smother style ones, and often combined other holds with them adding to the torment she had to endure.
At one point well in to the session, the queen complimented her for her ability to handle it and how seldom she had passed out, but she did not relent on her punishment either, even as she admitted she would like to have her fight back but this was not the time for such, but she’d have such a chance in the future. For her part, Contrez just nodded in acceptance, her own breath in too short a supply from the constant attacks to spare any for words, but there appeared a look briefly in her eyes as she considered the words, though it quickly disappeared as the queen locked her in yet another punishing bearhug combo hold and began the punishment anew, one of anticipation to match herself against the queen bearhug to bearhug.
The hours did pass however, and it was close to ten hours from when the queen locked her in to the first bearhug when a loud knock sounded on the door and a guard’s voice came from beyond announcing dawn had arrived. Amerlin true to her word had Contrez in a state near passing out when it came, but as soon as it was announced, she instantly released her hold and allowed Contrez to collapse to her knees gasping for breath as she stepped back and dropped to her own knees breathing hard just a couple of paces away from her. The pace had been hard for them both, Contrez had taken every bit of the punishment she had earned, and Amerlin had herself used most of her own strength and stamina and her arms were bone tired from the extended punishment but there was also a smile on her face as she watched Contrez.

“You did as I suspected you would, and you survived it. I am pleased that I had not misjudged your abilities, as I would have mourned your loss had you failed and left this world for the great hunt in the next.” Slowly, Amerlin rose to her feet the smile still there and called to her guards, “Release the door and withdraw the guard, your duties for this night is done. Have one posted at the outer door of my chamber with orders to not disturb me unless there is an urgent matter to be dealt with.” Looking back down at Contrez and noting her own breathing was slowing back to normal the smile on her lips twitched and she told her. “Your punishment for the deaths you have caused has been paid off, including the personal one to me. Now you can concentrate on earning your freedom without the worry of that on your mind.”
The smile on Amerlin’s lips grew a bit more, and in an almost conversational tone she said, “You know, we have an unusual condition here for a possible bearhug duel between us, your own body is battered and sore from this last night, but your arms are undamaged and still strong. On the other hand, my body is undamaged but my arms are sore and tired. I wonder who would pass out to the other’s bearhug given these conditions?” It was clearly not a command from the queen, but the offer was there that was clear enough, she was willing to match against Contrez to a knockout if she was up to testing the theory.
Contrez looked up with interest and the light of fight was back in her eyes. Slowly she stood up and faced the queen; her voice was hoarse from her long session of gasping for air, often denied that night, but she asked a favor of the queen anyway willing to risk her anger but almost certain it would not happen. “I would meet you in this, but ask a boon in return that I think you may be willing to grant.” Amerlin’s eyes rose a bit and she nodded for her to proceed, “I recall the other night on the isle when we were going to struggle until one of us begged to end the match and be put out, but dawn interfered with no winner. . .” Contrez stopped, she didn’t have to say more as she saw the answer in the queen’s face, but Amerlin still asked, “I will grant the boon, but ask if you feel up to doing this?” Contrez’s response was silent but certain as she dropped to a partial crouch her arms partially opened for the lunge to seek a bearhug, and smiling Amerlin did the same, the extra challenge silently agreed to. Moments later, their two bodies smacked in to each other and tumbled to the floor as they began the fight, both determined to see the other beg the match to end.
It would be almost two hours later before Amerlin half staggered out from the special chamber, wincing herself with each step and closed the door behind her, but not without a long look at the unconscious form of Contrez laying there. Telling her guard she would be sleeping most of the day and locking the outer door from her side she crawled in to bed, and as she laid down in her own bed, her mind went back to the final couple minutes of the struggle. The fight had ended essentially in a draw, neither had yielded and asked for the fight to end, but the long pounding of the night before plus their combined efforts in their had taken its toll on Contrez and she had passed out from sheer exhaustion, and went to a deep sleep on the spot. Amerlin recognizing the signs decided to let her sleep. The duel was not likely to be repeated under those conditions again, but she was certain that sooner or later the ‘beg for the match to end’ duel would be held between them in one form or another.
As she considered Contrez, Amerlin knew what had to be done. Rising from her bed, she went to a chest and opened it and rooting around a bit withdrew a small vial of liquid, and took it in to the chamber where Contrez slept. Kneeling next to her, she carefully allowed a single drop pf the liquid to fall on a black band around her neck, and after capping the vial waited a couple minutes and then reached for the band and easily snapped it and removed it from her neck, leaving it laying in the cleavage of her breasts where she was sure to find it, and realize what it meant, she rose and returned to her chamber and her own bed and went to sleep, a satisfied look on her face. One black band down, and two more to go to earn her full freedom. Contrez was off to a good start she had done in a week what most took months to do to win free of the black bands of a slave. But could she do the rest? Only time would tell.