Amazon Maidens 7: Queens and Princesses
By Littlesilverstar, silverstar222b@yahoo.com
Bloody battles and shifting alliances as women of two nations fight for their lands


Princess Katarina sat alone in her war office, placing and moving small metal
figurines on a large map of the island. Even from inside the building, she
could hear the faint thunder of the Amazon cannons as they pounded the city
walls. With almost all of her own artillery destroyed by a squad of brilliant
and ruthless Amazon infiltrators, Katarina knew that it was only a matter of
time before the Amazons smashed their way into the city. Unless...

"My Lady!" The door burst open and a young officer rushed in, face red with
excitement. He bowed to her. "Sorry for not knocking, my Princess. But I have
an important message."

"What is it, Lieutenant?"

"Two ships have returned to the harbor. The ship-of-the-line Frederick VI and
the frigate Roslyn II are here! With all their cannons and full complements of
men."

Katarina's darkly tanned face broke into a smile, the first in many days.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go."

* * *

Katarina, the Colonial Governor, and the highest-ranking officers in the city
stood by the docks, watching as men hurriedly unloaded the cannons from the
ships and rolled them one by one into the city. The Princess looked at the sun
setting in the western sky. "Position the guns all around the city, but don't
bring them up onto the walls until it gets dark. I want the operation
completed before sunrise," she directed the officer in command of the
unloading. "Leave twelve guns on the Frederick VI and eight on the Roslyn II.
That should give us forty cannons to defend the city walls. As soon as they're
all in place, open up on the enemy. We'll hit them by surprise while it's
still dark."

As the officer saluted and hurried off, she turned to the others. "Our cannons
now outnumber theirs two to one, and we've destroyed their siege towers. But
their army still outnumbers us two to one, and we should never underestimate
their intelligence, especially with the Amazon Queen herself commanding the
army. Meanwhile, General Norton and his men are still under siege at San
Sebastian. We're still in deep shit, and we've heard nothing from Princess
Jenova or Lieutenant Colonel Summers. If there's still no word by tomorrow,
we'll have to send an expedition to rescue Norton."

"My Lady, I would advise against dividing our forces like that," said a
general.

"It is a risk," said Katarina. "But with the cannons, we should be able to
defend the walls for a while. We cannot let Norton and his men get captured.
The Amazons have gruesome ways of executing male prisoners. Especially with
that Princess Livia in command over there."

* * *

Katarina watched as the last cannon was hauled up to the top of the wall. She
looked up at the sky. From the position of the stars, she judged that it was
about four in the morning. In the distance, the Amazon cannons were still
firing.

There was a sudden, much louder BOOM. About fifty yards away, an Amazon
cannonball scored a direct hit on three men, blowing two of them to pieces and
sending the third to land painfully on the ground, screaming and minus half of
his right leg.

"Keep working!" Katarina ordered her men. She hurried over to the impact site
of the cannonball. "Get a tourniquet on that leg and get him to the
infirmary!"

A sergeant shook his head as a pair of men hauled the groaning, wounded
soldier away. "We've been losing five or six men each hour to those bloody
cannonballs. And others are maimed like that poor sap."

"Well, not for much longer," said Katarina. "All the cannons are in place."
She turned to the artillery officer in command of the men on the walls. "Load
and aim at the muzzle flashes. I'll give you the command to fire. We've
already passed the word along. As soon as this first cannon goes off, everyone
will open up with everything they've got."

"Yes, my Lady." The men loaded a round metal ball into the gun and prepared a
charge of gunpowder. A soldier stood ready to light the fuse.

Katarina nodded. Taking a deep breath, she said in her calmest voice, "You may
fire when ready, Captain."

"All right! Fire at will, boys and girls! Let's see how those sexy but evil
Amazon bastards like it when we shoot back!" said the captain. The cannon went
off with a loud BOOM. All along the city walls, there were more shots and
muzzle flashes. "Now, reload! Quickly!"

The artillery duel was short but decisive. Taken by surprise and outgunned,
the Amazons, despite their markswomanship, could not withstand the new
Royalist firepower. The impacts of the Amazon cannonballs on the city walls
quickly ceased. Cheers rang out from inside the Colonial Capital. Katarina
remained calm, not joining in the shouting, but allowed herself to pump her
fist in triumph when no one was looking.

A scout with a spyglass gave a report at first light. "We count the wreckage
of twelve enemy cannons on the field. The Amazons must have carried the others
off, but our artillery now outnumbers theirs five to one. I doubt they'll try
anything now."

"Not conventional attacks," said Katarina. "But they always seem to have
something up their sleeve. However, with our attack, we've cut down on their
options. That's something. Good work, boys and girls."

When the excitement had died down, Katarina went for a stroll by the docks,
listening to the sound of the water lapping up against the wooden planks. It
all seemed so peaceful. It was hard to believe that there was a lethal Amazon
army encamped less than three miles away.

Suddenly, a flash of movement on the water caught her eye. A crude, makeshift
raft was making its way to shore. On it was a woman in a tattered, bloody
Royalist uniform. Katarina stared. "By the gods. Summers, is that you?"

"My Princess!" The female lieutenant colonel stumbled off the raft as soon as
the water was shallow enough to wade in, and staggered to shore.

Katarina caught her and sat her down on a rock. "What happened?"

"Livia gave us less than a warm welcome. We'd worked out a signal with Jenova
and we rode away when she signalled that we were in danger, but Livia was one
step ahead of us. She had a force of handpicked girls waiting in ambush, and
we were captured. Jenova argued on our behalf, but Livia was having none of
it. Then, when the Amazons were distracted, we tried to make our escape, but
the Amazons rode or shot us down one by one. I rode through the Dead Forest,
all alone. Just as I saw the light of the edge of the woods, an Amazon caught
up with me. I killed her with a musket ball, but not before the bitch shot an
arrow at me and killed my horse instead. Her horse ran off, so I walked the
rest of the way. When I got near the besieging army, I went to the shore,
built a raft, and paddled my way here." She looked around. "Have any others
returned?"

The Princess shook her head. "You're the only one."

"Damn." Summers sighed. "I was hoping..."

"If any of the others are still alive, we will rescue them." Katarina quickly
explained the developments that had occurred at the Colonial Capital, and
described her plan to break the siege of San Sebastian.

Summers immediately stood up. "If you're going, then I'm going with you." She
suddenly stopped, realizing who she was talking to. "If that is your command,
of course, my Princess."

Katarina laughed. "It's all right. You more than anyone else have earned the
right to go. And I think we're familiar enough with one another by now that
you can drop all this Princess and Royal Highness stuff. Just call me
Katarina. Oh, and one more thing. In light of your recent heroic service to
the Crown, I hereby promote you to full colonel."

Colonel Summers smiled. "Thank you, Pr...I mean Katarina."

Katarina laughed again. "I guess it'll take some time to get used to it."

"Yes. Although actually, you are Queen Katarina now, since your evil usurper
brother has murdered your father."

Katarina nodded, but said, "The Queen part will have to wait until the
coronation at the Great Imperial Cathedral, as is tradition. Right now, we
have more pressing matters to worry about."

* * *

The Amazon scouts, all slender, petite teenage girls, rode up to the female
warriors' camp. In the distance, the Amazon cannons were chipping away at the
walls of the fort of San Sebastian. Princess Livia looked up, an eager
expression appearing on her face as she saw her scouts returning. "Report,
Commander," she ordered the leader of the group.

"My Princess." The girl dismounted and bowed. "We rode the enemy down and
slaughtered them. All the men who rode out of the fort are dead." She motioned
with her hand, and a girl stepped forward, carrying a large bag. She dumped
out the contents, revealing a dozen decapitated male heads. "As for the twenty
Royalist women, we killed seventeen of them and captured two. The last
apparently got away."

"Too bad about that," said Livia. "But I suppose there's nothing we can do
about her now. Where are the prisoners?"

The scout commander motioned again, and another girl stepped forward, dragging
two bound young women in Royalist uniforms behind her. At that, Princess
Jenova, who had been watching in the background, stepped forward. "Is that any
way to treat female warriors? Tying them up and dragging them like animals?"

"Quiet, little sister," growled Livia. "They are traitors to their sex, and I
have no sympathy for them." She turned to one of her officers. "Keep them tied
up, and don't let them escape this time!"

* * *

Katarina, the Governor, and her senior officers, including Colonel Summers,
were having a council of war. "I'll need both ships," said the Princess.
"We'll need to transport as many men as we can to San Sebastian. And by men, I
mean women. Female soldiers will be lighter for the ships, and better able to
match the Amazons' speed in combat. We can fit 350 women on the Frederick VI
and 250 on the Roslyn II, with room for a skeleton crew of 80 male sailors to
man both ships."

"It is risky, my Lady," said a general. "Such a small force going up against
Livia?"

"True. But it is our only chance. Norton can only hold out for a few more
days, and we don't have time to wait for more ships or come back for a second
load of troops. I'm hoping that Jenova will help us."

"Do you really think Jenova and her girls will ally with us against her own
people?" asked a colonel.

"There's a chance, if the army we bring is all female. But even if Jenova
doesn't help us openly, if she can convince enough of the Amazons simply to
sit out of the battle, then the odds will be tipped enough in our favor for a
good chance of victory."

"What of the Colonial Capital?" inquired the Governor.

"You will be in command here while I am away. Keep double sentries on the
walls during the day and triple sentries at night. Every second cannon is to
be loaded with canister. If the Amazons offer a parley, send only women to
meet with them, and instruct them to agree to nothing other than a simple
cease-fire. And above all, do not, under any circumstances, send an army
outside the walls to attack the Amazon positions."

"Yes, my Lady," said the Governor.

Katarina looked around the room. "We will get through this," she said in her
calmest voice. "To victory."

"To victory," echoed the men and women in the room.

* * *

The two Royalist ships approached the fort of San Sebastian at dusk. "Drop
anchor here," ordered Katarina. "We'll row to shore in the small boats when it
gets dark. Ladies, prepare your gear. Gentlemen, you will stay and man the
ships."

After the sun had disappeared beneath the western horizon, 600 female Royalist
soldiers landed on the beach. In the distance, they could hear the booms of
cannon shots and see the muzzle flashes lighting up the darkness.

"Colonel Summers."

"Yes, my Pr...I mean Katarina?"

"Take four girls and head towards the Amazon camp. Try to find some of
Jenova's loyal girls or Jenova herself. You've been here before, so hopefully
you can recognize some friendly faces. Tell Jenova that I am here and that I
call for a truce."

"Yes, Katarina." Summers motioned for four young women to follow her, their
figures disappearing quickly into the darkness.

The Princess, although she was busy posting sentries and positioning her
soldiers so that they would be ready for combat at a second's notice, couldn't
stop thinking about the scouts she had sent out. Finally, about forty minutes
later, Colonel Summers and her girls returned, accompanied by a slender Amazon
woman with raven hair and dark brown skin. "This is Commander Allura," Summers
introduced her. "She's one of Jenova's staff officers."

"It is good to finally meet you, Princess Katarina," said Allura. She bowed
formally. "I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

"I'd like the good news first, please."

"Most of the Amazon army has left. We slipped away a little at a time to make
the men in the fort think we were all still here. Jenova and Livia are both
gone. The Queen sent for reinforcements so she can concentrate on capturing
the Colonial Capital first, and ordered both of her daughters to join her.
With the capital captured, this fort cannot stand on its own. Well, I guess
you have the bad news now too."

"How many Amazons went to the capital and how many are still here?"

"Seven thousand went to join the Queen, and there are a thousand still here.
About half of them are loyal to Livia, and the rest follow Jenova."

Katarina nodded. "I have six hundred female soldiers with me. With our
combined forces, we can outnumber Livia's loyalists more than two to one, if
you will join us."

Allura frowned. "Please understand, Princess Katarina, that my heart is on
your side. I have spoken with Princess Jenova about the future of the Amazons,
and she has spoken highly of you and what she has learned from you. I am even
willing to go so far as to order an Amazon army to fire on our own sisters in
order to help you. But the Amazons would not follow such an order. Perhaps if
Jenova were here, they might...but then again, perhaps not even then. Even
when the army we're helping is all female. Old loyalties die hard, and most of
the girls haven't had the close contact with the women of your nation that
Jenova and I have had."

"Our first plan was not battle, but to threaten them," said Colonel Summers.
"Force them to surrender."

Allura let out a small laugh. "You don't know Livia's loyalists. They don't
surrender."

Katarina sighed. "I understand. You've done a courageous thing by going this
far."

"I will offer what aid I can regarding intelligence about Livia's loyalists,"
said the dark-skinned Amazon.

"I thank you," said the Princess. "Come on, let's get to work."

* * *

"All right," said Katarina. She was surrounded by Colonel Summers and her
other officers, along with Allura. "Livia's loyalists are camped too far from
the fort for the aid of its guns, and too far from the coast for our ships'
guns to help us. We'll have to do without artillery support on this one."

"We can't bring the guns off the ships?" asked a captain.

Allura shook her head. "Our cannons smashed the docks into pieces long ago.
Your big ships can't pull up to shore."

"And the cannons are too heavy to put in the rowboats," added Katarina. "No,
this will be a good old-fashioned infantry battle. Someone once said that
artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl. Well, this
is going to be a vulgar brawl. The good news is that the enemy won't have the
use of their cannons either. We're going to make sure of that." She turned to
a young officer. "That's where you come in, Lieutenant. You'll command the
sniper division. On my signal, your girls will take out the artillerywomen
with your long-range rifles." The young woman saluted and nodded.

"We'll attack at dawn, split into three divisions. Colonel Summers, you'll
command 250 girls who will attack from the seaward side. I'll take a second
division of another 250 girls and circle around into the woods. We'll wait
until the Amazons begin concentrating their counterattacks on the first side,
then hit them from the rear." Katarina turned to another officer. "Major,
you'll command the reserve of 100 girls. They'll shore up any weak points."

"We have a slight advantage in numbers, but the Amazons are more than a match
for us," said Katarina. "They can fire arrows faster and at a longer distance
than our musket balls, and our bayonets can't match their swords in
hand-to-hand combat. The element of surprise is key. We cannot let them shower
us with volleys of arrows or reach us hand-to-hand in large numbers. We have
to break their back with massive, sudden firepower and somehow, hopefully, get
them to surrender. Everyone clear?"

The women around her nodded. "I'd love to join you guys, but political
considerations dictate that I have to sit this one out," said Allura. "Best of
luck, though."

* * *

Katarina and her division of female soldiers crept as silently as they could
through the dark forest. When she judged that they were in the best position
possible, she raised her arm and the girls stopped.

Through gaps in the trees, she could see the tents and campfires of the enemy.
She took a deep breath, feeling that surge of excitement and anticipation that
she always felt right before a battle. She looked over at the slowly
brightening eastern sky and whispered to her troops.

"In a few minutes, I'm going to signal the snipers, and they and Summers'
division will attack. We'll wait here. Don't fire until I give the command.
Take aim and pick your targets. Shooting blindly won't do us much good. Good
luck and let's kick some ass. May the odds be *ever* in our favor."

Katarina kept a close eye on the Amazon camp, watching and waiting. Finally,
when she judged that it was just light enough, she made a hand signal. The
lieutenant in command of the sniper division signalled in response.

Two seconds later, fifteen Amazon artillerywomen's heads exploded in unison,
struck by high-powered rifle bullets. At the same time, Colonel Summers and
her girls fired volleys of musket balls into the camp of Livia's loyalist
Amazons.

The surviving Amazons, although taken completely by surprise, reacted quickly.
The ones who had been asleep woke up in a flash and were ready for battle in
an instant.

Each of the fifteen Amazon cannons was crewed by a four-woman team. The
survivors of each team did not panic, and knew exactly what to do. They began
turning the cannons around, positioning them to fire into Colonel Summers'
division, one girl from each team reloading as the other two maneuvered each
cannon. The heavy guns took time to reposition, but the snipers' rifles took a
long time to reload.

A second volley headshotted another fifteen Amazons, but then the remaining
survivors were ready to fire. Seeing this, the major in command of the
Royalist reserves ordered a volley fired into the artillerywomen. Muskets were
less accurate than rifles, however, and although several more Amazons dropped
to the ground dead or wounded, half a dozen cannoneers succeeded in getting
their shots off. The Amazons had thoughtfully switched from the round metal
balls they had been using to batter the fort's walls to grapeshot, and
Summers' girls got a nasty whiff of the grape, with a couple dozen of them
brutally splattered dead, and another couple dozen with painful, bloody
wounds. At the same time, Amazon arrows began impacting Summers' division.

"NOW!" screamed Katarina. Her girls fired devastating volleys of musket balls
into the Amazons' rear. The Princess herself, who had targeted an Amazon with
a fancy headdress, smiled grimly as her musket ball exploded her target's
head. Meanwhile, the combination of the snipers and the major's reserves had
finished off the rest of the Amazon cannoneers before they could reload the
big guns.

Some Amazons managed to bring down Royalist girls with arrows or thrown knives
or axes, but the outcome of the battle was never in doubt. Livia's loyalists
had been taken by surprise, and had taken too many losses before the survivors
realized what was happening. But to their credit, they fought like lionesses.
The thought of surrender never entered their minds.

Katarina, after reloading her musket, shot down another Amazon officer,
bayoneted a charging swordswoman right in the throat, then threw the musket
like a spear at an enemy who was about to throw a real spear at her, the
bayonet impaling her right in the heart. She then drew her double-barreled
pistol in her left hand and her sword in her right.

Some Amazons were racing for the woods, either on foot or on horses. Volleys
of musket balls were fired at them, and some of the Amazons fell to the dirt,
but others escaped into the cover of the trees. The Amazons without horses did
back handsprings instead of running to make themselves harder to hit. Katarina
fired her pistol at a rider, sending the girl flying off her horse to land
face first on the ground, stone cold dead. She used her second barrel to kill
an enemy about to fire an arrow at her.

Another Amazon archer took aim at Katarina. The Princess executed an aerial
cartwheel, the arrow flying safely between her legs as she was upside down.
Katarina continued her no-handed tumbling pass, doing a blazing fast series of
whipbacks at the Amazon as she reached for another arrow. She crashed into her
as she ended her tumbling run with a full twisting layout, knocking her to the
dirt and sending bow and arrow flying. The Amazon pulled a knife, but Katarina
kicked the weapon away, kicked her opponent in the face with her big black
boot, stunning her, then finally did a back bend while holding her sword over
her head, impaling the Amazon right in the heart. She elegantly stood up
straight again and looked around.

The area was littered with bodies, some Royalist girls, but many more Amazons.
One Amazon on the ground suddenly sat up, hurling a knife right at Colonel
Summers. The colonel caught it neatly with one hand and hurled it back at her
assailant. The blade impacted the Amazon right in the eye.

"Nice catch, Colonel," said the Princess, going over to join her
second-in-command. "And nice throw."

"Thanks, Katarina." Summers' bayonet was red with blood, her uniform was
stained with gunpowder, and she had a small cut on her cheek, evidently from
an Amazon blade.

A rustle came from one of the Amazon tents. Immediately, several dozen muskets
were pointed at it. "It's over!" shouted Katarina. "We won. You lost. Now just
surrender."

"Not so fast," came from inside the tent. Two female figures, their hands
bound, were shoved outside. The frightened-looking young women wore Royalist
uniforms. Colonel Summers immediately recognized them as two of the women who
had set out with her on that fateful expedition that now seemed so long ago,
the one that had gone so wrong. Behind them, two muscular Amazons stepped out,
swords in their hands, staying behind their human shields.

"We have a little insurance," said one of the Amazons. "Now let us go, or
these bitches get it."

"You cowards!" shouted Colonel Summers.

"Scream all you want. Ain't much you can do to us now," smirked the second
Amazon.

"Two more of them getting away won't make a difference," said Katarina to
Summers in a low voice. Looking over at the enemies, the Princess then called
out loudly, "You will release them when you get to the edge of the camp."

"Sure," said the first Amazon. They began making their way towards the woods,
keeping their hostages shielding them. Meanwhile, the other Amazons, the ones
loyal to Jenova, who had sat out of the battle, came out to watch the scene.
Allura came over and stood next to Katarina and Summers.

"All right, that's far enough," said Katarina. "Now let them go."

"Sure, time to let them go." With that, the Amazons brutally stabbed the
hostages in the back, then began doing rapid standing back handsprings towards
the cover of the woods.

With cries of rage, the Royalist ladies began aiming their muskets, but before
they could fire, there came the whooshing sound of dozens of arrows. The
Amazons loyal to Jenova had fired a volley at the two murderers. Each of them
was hit with at least ten arrows and fell dead to the dirt.

"We should have done that a long time ago," said Allura, lowering her bow. "My
apologies for not joining you in the battle."

"No apology is necessary," said Princess Katarina. "It is too much to ask one
to make war upon her own people."

"When they do something like this, taking honorable female warriors hostage
and then murdering them in cold blood, they are not our people anymore,"
Allura responded. Katarina and Summers both nodded, each squeezing one of
Allura's hands in affection.

Then the cleanup phase began. Although General Norton and his surviving men
had come charging out of the fort as soon as they realized what was happening,
the battle had been so quick that by the time they got to the scene, it was
over, and in fact would later enter lore as the Seven Minutes Battle, a rather
small skirmish in the Amazon Wars, but an important one. Many of the men
developed erections at being rescued by the sexy girls in their blue and white
uniforms, the midriff ties and three-quarter length sleeves designed to show
off their flat hard abs and slender but muscular forearms.

"49 of our girls dead, and 73 wounded," Summers reported to Katarina. "About
75 Amazons escaped, the rest were killed."

The Princess shook her head, her long black hair flying back and forth. "I
wasn't expecting casualties like this. Those Amazons' reaction with getting
those cannons turned on us was frighteningly fast. I doubt even our most elite
soldiers could have pulled that off that quickly."

The dead Royalist girls were buried with full military honors in the San
Sebastian cemetery. The wounded, from the battle and from the fort, were
loaded aboard the Frederick VI, which was to do duty as a hospital ship. It
could take women and men back to the Colonial Capital much faster than the
overland route. Katarina sent the smaller, faster ship, the Roslyn II, to hunt
for other ships that had been sent out on patrol and bring them back to the
capital. The dead Amazons' corpses were cremated and buried in mass graves,
with the express approval of Allura and her girls. "They have lost the right
to traditional, honorable Amazon burial," said Allura.

That evening, Princess Katarina, General Norton, and Colonel Summers met for a
council of war in a drafty stone room inside the fort of San Sebastian. They
were joined by Allura and another of Jenova's officers, a young woman named
Kezia. Kezia shared Allura's jet-black hair and dark brown skin, although she
was shorter. There was considerable tension in the room, as Amazons still were
not used to accepting males as equals. Although Allura seemed to at least be
open to the idea of respecting General Norton, Kezia was not so noble. She
seated herself at the opposite end of the room from the general. Allura was
next to her, with Summers next to Norton and Katarina in the middle.

"I have about 500 girls fit to fight," said Katarina. "Allura and Kezia have
500 Amazons, and General Norton has 2000 men healthy enough for battle. But
even with these forces, plus what we have at the Colonial Capital, we still
only have half as many troops as the Amazon Queen's reinforced army. And the
Queen has other soldiers on this island, while this is the only army we have
here. Not only that, but my evil brother the usurper could send another army
against us. We cannot win through force. We must convince the Queen to agree
to a truce."

"You speak of our 500 Amazons as part of your side?" said Kezia angrily. "My
opposition was to Livia's fanatics, not my Queen! I will never lay a hand
against my Queen! And especially not with MEN at my side! Men who stayed
hidden in their fort while the girls did the fighting!"

"Now wait a minute," said General Norton. "We got out as fast as we could, but
the battle was over by the time we..."

"Must I take this backtalk from a MALE?!" cried Kezia. "What kind of Amazons
are we? By the Mother Goddess, this would have been unthinkable a week ago!"

"The kind with the brains, and the balls, to think outside the box," said
Allura. "Let's remember, we stayed out of the fight too. We're not exactly on
a high horse ourselves."

Kezia pouted, but conceded the point. She grumbled, "I will still never, under
any circumstances, take up arms against my Queen."

"You know, if you'd actually listen to Katarina, you might realize that taking
up arms against the Amazon Queen is exactly what she's trying NOT to do,"
Colonel Summers spoke up. Kezia looked like she was about to make an angry
retort, but a sharp look from Allura caused her to keep her flap shut.
Meanwhile, Katarina gave Summers a look that politely indicated that she
should tone down the sassiness just a tad.

"If we can get back to business, please, ladies and gentleman," said Katarina.
"Now, Allura and Kezia, you know the Queen well. In a conflict between Jenova
and Livia, whose side would she be more likely to take? Which of her
daughters' personalities is the Queen's most like?"

"Neither," said Kezia, at the same time that Allura said, "Both." That reduced
the tension somewhat, as everyone in the room giggled.

"She's like Jenova in that she thinks outside the box, and doesn't make rash
decisions," said Allura. "All of her actions have a lot of thought behind
them, and I do believe that she sincerely wants the best for her people. On
the other hand, I can see where Livia gets her ruthlessness from. The Queen
once ordered the extermination of every single male in a tribe that rose up in
revolt against us, as an example for the other tribes. Jenova would have just
executed one out of every ten men and let that be example enough. The Queen is
also harsh when dealing with Amazon citizens who stray. A couple of years ago
she personally beheaded an Amazon who was caught embezzling from the public
treasury, and she's granted very few clemencies compared to other queens."

Katarina nodded slowly. That wasn't really what she wanted to hear. But she
would have to work with it. "We will take our combined forces to the Colonial
Capital," she said. "We will get along. We will learn to get along, because
our lives depend on it. ALL of them. We will hold our army in the woods, and I
will go out under a flag of truce to meet with the Queen. If you will
accompany me under that flag, Kezia and Allura, I will be very happy to have
you. Hopefully, we can reach an agreement with her."

"And if we can't?" asked General Norton.

"Then may the gods have mercy on us all. Because she won't."

TO BE CONTINUED...

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