The evening after she told Amerizon of her frightful ordeal at the hands of Fraulein Power, Queen Deena again walked to the Temple of Beletiva where Amerizon regularly prayed. As the two tall, beautiful women walked back to the Palace together, the sky was overcast and Luna's Light did not brighten their dark forest path.  They walked in silence, and Amerizon could not see Deena's face in the darkness.

"I-I promised to tell you of the tragic result of my failure and cowardice!" Deena said, a bit hesitantly.

"Oh Deena, not if it's going to be too painful for you!"

"It WILL be painful Veronica, b-but I must tell someone! All on this Island know of the tragedy, but none know my cowardly complicity caused it!"

"Tell me if you think it will help, Dear Friend!"

With a little gulp of remorse, Deena took up the story, once more. "It happened almost a week after I disobeyed the Beast by going to Mary's funeral! After she punished me in the most bestial way, for most of the day, she ordered me to return home to this Island! Fawning lap dog that I'd become, of course I obeyed her!"

"I never had the heart to tell my Mother, then the Queen, of my disgrace, but she knew some terrible weight oppressed my mind! I hid the loss of Athena's Girdle, the Lariat of Truth and my Tiara from all, by obtaining copies to wear! Of course, the copies were devoid of all power! If I had only made a full confession of my shame to Mother, we might have done something before it was too late! Oh...(sob)...what a cowardly fool I was!"

Amerizon clasped Deena's hand, and squeezed it comfortingly. "We've all done things we wish we could change!"

"Yes, but I'd gladly give my life if I could change that! Well, I learned later Fraulein Power was returning, via way of Paris from Africa, where she had attacked Drusilla! (See Fraulein Power On Safari.   Fraulein Power On Safari ) She defeated that Magnificent Woman, with those power mesh gloves, a new weapon that she had just obtained somewhere! It was those same evil gloves that gave the Beast the means to defeat and murder Mighty Maid the very next day! The Devil horribly abused poor Drusilla, and then sold her into the worst kind of sexual bondage, to be the plaything of wealthy perverts! How she must have suffered!"

"Dear Heaven! How horrible! What of Drusilla's Ruby Pendent? It was the Ruby that was the source of her incredible powers, those of a virtual Demi-Goddess! If she still wore it, no one could have imprisoned her!" Amerizon asked.

"I'm sure Gerda took it, but as far as I know the pendent was never found! I often pray to the Goddess that the Ruby never falls into evil hands! One that wears that jewel and knows its secrets, would be as powerful as a goddess!"

"That WOULD be a fearful calamity!" Amerizon sighed.

"I knew Gerda was still terribly angry at me for my disobedience, even though she punished me so cruelly for it! She was savagely vindictive and never forgave a slight, so I feared some further horror was in store! I never conceived how horrible it would be, or that her vengeance would fall on another!"

"As she flew over the ocean she must have recalled she was near this concealed Island! It was I who cravenly told her the location, after it had been a successfully guarded secret for millennia!"

"I believe Fraulein Power was looking for me, but as she flew across the island, she must have espied my mother on her morning ride! She would easily have guessed it was the Queen! Mother was unmistakably regal even without her crown and scepter, and thanks to my craven weakness, there was little Gerda did not know of This Blessed Island! How better to punish me than by attacking my beloved mother! She had spoken of doing it, more than once!"

"Fraulein Power swooped down like a vulture, and without warning, knocked Mother from her mount!"

"Mother leaped up in all her regal wrath, resolved to deal with this audacious interloper wearing the hateful Nazi symbol on her costume!"

"When Mother challenged her, Gerda's only answer was a punch to the jaw that near knocked the astonished Queen off her feet!"

"On this Island, Blessed and given by the Goddess, so long as no man sets foot upon it, all Amazons are as powerful as if they wore Athena's girdle, and Mother was our greatest warrior! Yet, Gerda wore her power suit and those devilish power gloves! After that first unprovoked punch, Mother swiftly fell victim to Gerda's brutal attack!"