PAULA

On this particular morning, when Beatrice and Jenny were brawling over the maid, Lily,  and Roberta was once more inside the Palace confines, Lady Paula had slept poorly for some reason and kept yawning. The Queen was sinking faster these days and the King, or Teddy, as she had learned familiarly to call him in the last few months, was at the poor lady’s bedside a great deal, waiting for the end, which could not long be delayed.

Although a loving and attentive husband in his wife’s final days, as a conscientious ruler he still needed to attend to important affairs and this he did for three hours each morning. He liked to have the Lady Paula standing by during these tedious sessions. She would stand near the large windows, sometimes looking out over the small Private Courtyard and sometimes the main courtyard where the nightly whippings of defaulting Golden Guards took place. Last night Bertha had received her second punishment in a week, getting twenty lashes this time, weakly applied as usual. Why the Commandant didn’t dismiss her, Paula could not make out. She probably wasn’t even a good lover! Paula couldn‘t imagine her to be a good anything! Although the Commandant and she were getting to be almost an embarrassment recently with their ill concealed affair.

When not staring at the goings on outside, Lady Paula contented herself by looking around the large Presence Chamber and the myriad of petty officials and humble petitioners who pestered poor old Teddy until he became almost frantic.

The two Golden Guards, stood discreetly on either side of the entrance, scrutinising all the visitors as they came in and never taking their eyes off them until they left. Since the attempt involving Rowena and her alleged collaborator, the traitor Roberta, security was very tight. The only other naked woman visible to the visitors was the Lady Paula, who tried to look haughty, as befitted a Great Lady. Even after several months’ experience, Paula still occasionally found that nudity and haughtiness did not always go too well together - but she was getting there and these days the diminutive former parlour maid was the haughtiest nude in the Kingdom!

This particular morning, while Jenny was being pulverised by her comrade and friend Beatrice, Lady Paula was watching the dried blood from last night’s flogging being washed off the polished marble flagstones where the whipping post was situated. She knew that only one defaulter had been spotted at today’s morning parade, and that was Charlotte, one of the two Personal Attendants on the King. As in Roberta’s time the two personal attendants were inspected separately, one at a time - so that the King was never left unattended even for a few seconds.

Paula had witnessed the inspection and had been incredulous when Charlotte had been summarily sentenced to one hundred lashes for her slovenly turnout.  The Commandant had personally inspected both girls. Paula had seen Charlotte and there had been nothing in any way amiss with her appearance. She wondered whether the increasing erratic Commandant were losing her reason.

If Charlotte had been shocked and terrified at the savage and unwarranted award, she did not show it. With that calm acceptance of discipline that was the hallmark of the elite Guard she had saluted smartly and returned to her duties. Paula stole the occasional glance at the soon to be flogged Charlotte and marvelled at her calm demeanour. Once again Lady Paula, who had served as a frequently punished auxiliary for a time, wondered why there was so much competition to enrol in a unit which treated its members so harshly and, in this case, so monstrously unfairly.

She went over to the opposite window and looked down at the Private Courtyard. Now that the well had been uncovered and the day’s supply of water taken up, there was not a tremendous amount of activity there, in fact it was as quiet as the grave. Even so, there did seem to be some violence going on in the Guard’s Rest Room. If a fight was in progress then the two quarrelsome Golden Guards in question had best be careful not to be found out! Quite a few unexplained bruises and cuts had been overlooked in the past few months, despite a likely breach of the strict rule against unauthorised brawling, but a crackdown was about due. It could just be that this particular quarrelsome couple would be made an example of.

Paula rather hoped the pair’s fighting each other would not be found out.  In Paula’s opinion, it was better to get these petty squabbles settled quickly rather than allow resentment to feste, and a good quick fight, such as appeared to be in progress right now, was the best way to go about it. And this had been Roberta’s view.

In any case, the Lady Paula  was getting to be a bit sick of all the punishments of late. Some of them, like the impending flogging of poor Charlotte,  had been as grossly unfair as they had been savage. There should be a better way of regulating the Golden Guard than bloody and capriciously awarded floggings every night. Not that morale seemed to be adversely affected by so many women’s  painful and disfiguring experiences. But, by this time, Lady Paula was tired of watching. Seeing Roberta on the punishment stand had been different, of course! But that had been a long time ago and in any case she had long since forgotten her former Mistress.

Looking up, she saw a raven perched on top of the opposite roof. The bird seemed to be staring right into her eyes and with unnatural intensity. It winked! Paula nearly fell through the floor. She knew enough of sorcery to be well aware that this was no ordinary bird. Something significant was afoot today! Perhaps the creature constituted a threat of some kind. She was undecided over whether to have the bird shot when she felt a great need to leave the Presence Chamber for a few minutes.  It was not an upset stomach, but a compelling feeling that she needed to be outside, that drew her away from the King‘s side.

Coming out into the open courtyard she felt the cold air against her tender skin for the first time since leaving the now forgotten Roberta. Because of the King’s insistence on her twenty four hours a day seven days a week nudity she had never  felt much like coming out of doors in the winter. And although  it was now springtime it was still far from warm. Today, in particular, was chilly in the extreme! She looked at the two Guards on duty outside the Royal apartments, where Roberta had once mistakenly thought a wasp had stung her, almost two years ago. Both Guards stood rigidly upright and unmoving. Paula felt colder than ever merely by looking at them with their tall and almost naked bodies. She felt colder still when she realised  that they would be standing there, motionless in the chill breeze, for seven hours until at last they were relieved.

She decided to walk around the Guard’s living quarters and, as soon as she was out of sight of the two gate guards, she felt a hand on her bare shoulder. Looking round she saw a naked girl, younger than she and clearly not a Golden Guard or an auxiliary. Paula knew all the auxiliaries well and this delicate raven haired beauty with the battered face and bruised body was not one of them.

“Go straight to the King, Lady Paula, and tell him you are not well. Then go to your room and lock the door. Do not come out until you hear my voice telling you that all is safe. Hurry! There is no time to lose. Don‘t worry, Lady Paula! All will be well - I promise you!”

Paula immediately obeyed this amazing woman, who seemed not to feel the early morning chill any more than did the hardy Guards. She realised, as she sped to the King’s side, that she ought to have asked this strangely compelling apparition what  right she had be here in the first place let alone naked and issuing orders to the future Queen.

Ten minutes later she was in her room, locking and bolting  the solid door behind her. As she lay on her bed she thought about that strange naked dark eyed and beautiful girl. For she was very, very lovely, despite her battered face and black and blue body. The girl had clearly been attacked recently - either that or she had been involved in a pretty ferocious fight. It had been a fight, decided Paula. Without having any reason to do so, she knew that girl was a warrior - of a sort.

Paula had only once seen a woman involved in a fight using her bare fists and that had been when Roberta had fought and killed Bernard at the bandit’s camp several months ago, not too long  after she had helped her to escape. She found herself fantasising about Amy’s injuries and how they had been acquired. As she constructed a likely scenario, involving this slim but obviously very exciting young woman, she found herself becoming sexually aroused.

What Paula needed was a proper relationship, one that went beyond being slapped on the bottom from time to time! But the King’s loyalty to his dying wife meant that this was impossible for now. So Paula was forced in upon herself. Physical violence had always been a thing that turned her on sexually, even if the nightly floggings had become stale entertainment of late. She had masturbated times without number when watching the long suffering Roberta’s back  being whipped to a bloody mess and also when she had relived these unpleasant episodes later.

Now she found her hands reaching down to that familiar place between her legs as she writhed on the bed, imagining Amy exchanging hard blows with whatever opponent had done such damage to her and ultimately triumphing. For she had no doubt that Amy had triumphed; that had not been a recently defeated woman who had told her what to do with such authority.

Twenty minutes after she had locked herself in her room, feeling more than a little ashamed of her timorous behaviour, a commotion could be heard from down below in the King’s Presence Chamber. Soon after this, footsteps became audible running towards her room and there was banging on her door and shouting at her  in a rough and coarse voice to come out in the name of the People - whoever they were! She still had a dagger in her room and she ran and got it out of the drawer where it had lain for months. If the intruders did manage to get in she would not die without putting up a fight.

The sounds increased in volume and intensity, with curses, shrieks and, finally,  the groans of dying men. At last silence returned. A knock on the door was accompanied by the sound of Amy’s voice telling her that it was safe to come out. She opened the door and saw several bodies lying in the corridor. She recognised two as belonging to recently recruited servants. Obviously the Palace had once more been infiltrated by rebels. Roberta , with her uncanny knack of spying out traitors, would have spotted them right away, had them arrested and sent down below for the Chief Torturer and his buddies to play with.

“Come with me, Lady Paula!” said the bruised young woman. “And why don’t you put on some of those fine clothes  that have been languishing in your wardrobes? I realise that Her Majesty, the Queen, is still alive, but it is nevertheless wrong for you to be naked. The King will assuredly agree when he sees how fine a lady you are in those wonderful garments! Get dressed and come with me!”

Once again it did not occur to the Lady Paula to disobey. Not that it wasn’t a very welcome command! She had been longing to dress up for ages and was heartily sick of shivering all day! Long gone were the days when she had found nudity exciting.

On returning to the Presence Chamber Paula saw a very disturbed scene. The King, her adored Freddy, had been slightly wounded and was having his arm dressed by a surgeon. Five very dead looking bodies were being taken away by members of the Golden Guard. And overseeing these clearing up operations was Roberta, wearing her sword, arrows and quiver - and not only that!

“What HAS been going on?” asked an astounded Lady Paula, dressed in all her finery and looking very imperious.  “Is it OK for me to stop forgetting Roberta now, Freddy?”

****************************************************

ROBERTA

“You must be mad to come back here, Roberta!” spluttered Amelia as she was released from the blonde giant’s iron grip. “They’ll kill you this time, after torturing you so horribly that even you will scream for mercy. Why didn’t you get out of the country when you had the chance?”

“Shut up, Amelia! Come with me and be quiet, or I’ll send you both to dreamland like those two idiots over there!”

“Yes, they are a couple of fools!” agreed Joanna, who was rubbing her arm and trying to restore some feeling  now that it had been released from Roberta‘s brutal grasp. “And it wasn’t even much of a fight! Pathetic, in fact!  Jenny should be whipped just for being so bad at unarmed combat. She needs six weeks non-stop training to bring her up to scratch , does that one!”

Both girls found themselves being propelled towards the living quarters and were astonished when Roberta pushed them inside the Commandant’s room. This was a kind of holy of holies as far as ordinary Guards were concerned. It was an open secret that Bertha was brought here for the purpose of being made love to, but no other Guard would dream of setting foot in here!

“You are mad, Roberta! Fucking insane!” said Joanna. “I hope you make it clear you forced us to come in here. Mind you,  people only need to look at you to see nobody could resist you. You are totally amazing these days! How did you get such an amazing body? I want one just like it! You aren’t a mere human any longer!”

“Pull the bed to one side and stop talking. You  two are really beginning to piss me off!” ordered Roberta. She felt like telling Joanna that she, too, could have a body like hers - if only she had seventy years to spare!

It took both Joanna and Amelia five minutes to shift the heavy bed, revealing a square stone underneath it. Roberta then ordered them to pull up the flagstone by the metal ring in the middle. Once again it took both strong and sweating women a long time. When they saw what was under the stone they gasped in sheer astonishment. Inside the recess was the uniform of a golden guard together with a small packet.

“That’s very like your sword, Roberta! It IS your sword! And  it’s your  belt too! I see your number etched on it! How did your uniform get here?”

“It was hidden here after I was drugged and robbed. “ replied Roberta. “See that sachet? That’s what is left of the drug they used to poison my food. The stupid women were afraid to be seen disposing of them so they hid them here. Also the witch who prepared the potion wanted the evidence to always be where you have found it. Don’t ask me why! I can tell you from personal experience that these witches are a law unto themselves! I suppose she wanted the Commandant to be under her power. Bertha and the Commandant conspired together in this diabolical plot. They were behind the attempt to kill the King that night and they wanted me out of the way. When the plot failed they had me accused and convicted. And this morning they are going to try again to assassinate the King and his beloved favourite, the Lady Paula.”

“How do you know they are going to try again?” asked Amelia, still not entirely convinced. Joanna was completely convinced, though and was having difficulty keeping her hands off Roberta's incredible muscles! She worshipped her already!

“Never mind that! We must warn His Majesty! One of you must go and rouse the rest of the Guard and then come to the King’s Presence Chamber. You, Amelia!”

Amelia went to sound the alarm and returned pale-faced to tell Roberta that the entire Guard except for the two unconscious fighters, the pair of gate guards, the two personal guards and the three of them were asleep and could not be roused.

“Drugged, the lot of them, just like me! We have no time to lose, girls!” shouted Roberta. “Don’t ask questions! I don’t know all the answers myself! These bloody witches play their cards very close to their chests - even my dear sweet Amy!”

In a few minutes the three Golden Guards, together with two hastily alerted Gate Guards, were at the door of the Presence Chamber. The two Personal Attendants looked at Roberta with the same amazement that her presence had caused Amelia and Joanna a few moments ago. Hawk-eyed Roberta took in the scene at a glance and didn’t like what she saw.  Talk about arriving in the nick of time!

“That pair talking to the King! Who let them in? Are you two blind!” shouted Roberta who was now wearing again the weapons that had once been stolen from her.

Two men looked around and saw seven Guards coming straight for them, swords drawn. Before they could do anything they had been overwhelmed,  disarmed and killed. At the same time at least twenty other armed men burst into the room and Roberta and her six companions automatically formed a protective circle around the King, preparing to do what they had been trained for and defend him with their lives.

Then another naked woman appeared,  herself armed with a deadly looking sword . It was the awesomely lovely Amy, fresh from ordering the Lady Paula to safety, and she neatly killed two of the attackers before taking her place at Roberta’s side.

“The Palace is crawling with these bastards, Roberta! I must go and protect your drugged comrades, for they are helpless the way they are. It’s going to be a busy few minutes! Have courage! We shall defeat them and you will be the one to kill the most. Just leave a few for me! It‘s going to be a really super fight!”

With these words, the incredible Amy vanished. Roberta had a vague idea that a raven was fluttering overhead and then she was slightly wounded in the side. From then on the fighting was too fierce for her to notice anything save the flashing blades of the rebels who had gained access to the Palace with such ease, thanks to the foul treachery of she knew who.

Against seven of the Golden Guard, even the score of attackers stood little chance. Roberta alone accounted for six in as many minutes and the group, fighting as one, soon had the odds against them reduced and then eliminated. The four surviving attackers surrendered their weapons, kneeling and begging for a mercy the scurvy knaves  would not have extended to their conquerors had the positions been reversed..

“No prisoners!” ordered Roberta, whom no one thought to disobey, despite her fugitive status. The wretched rebels were summarily slaughtered where they knelt.

“We’ve saved the Chief Torturer some work!” joked Roberta as she sheathed her bloody sword and  turned to see how the King was. His Majesty, a worthy descendant of a long line of warrior kings, had taken his part in the recent battle and was slightly wounded. Roberta saw that the hurt was trivial.

“Where is the Lady Paula and where is the Queen?” he asked.

“Paula is safe and the Queen was not a target this morning” answered Roberta. “They know she has not long to live.”

Amy  reappeared after seeing that the drugged Guards were no longer in danger. A few, who had drunk hardly any of the affected water, were recovering already and preparing to rid the Palace of the remaining invaders. Several rebels were trying to get into Paula’s room but Amy and Charlotte were sent to deal with them and it took only a few minutes for the pair to slay the lot. At one point Amy was impaled to the wall by a rebel sword. She pulled the weapon out of her body and killed her astounded attacker before he had time to draw breath. No trace of any wound could be seen on her!

“You’ve got an unfair advantage, Amy!” laughed Charlotte. Charlotte was beginning to realise that her coming whipping might not after all take place and this made her happy, despite the continuing danger.

By this time more and more of the Golden Guard, less heavily drugged than the others, were beginning to recover. Hearing the commotion, they all made for the sound of battle and after no more than twenty minutes from the time the attack started, the rebels had all been arrested and put to death. The Commandant and Bertha, attempting to flee, were run down and captured several miles away from the Palace.

The two traitors were loaded with chains, tied to horses and dragged across the rough ground back to the Palace. The pair were then  brought before the King. Bertha was trembling in every limb, but the Commandant was defiant and unafraid, despite knowing she had only a short and horribly painful future ahead of her.

“I won’t ask you why you betrayed me, former Commandant!” said the King, with a richly dressed Paula at his side. “But I want to know all about your fellow conspirators. I want names and I want them all - fast!”

“I will say nothing! Long live democracy. Long live the Republic!” replied the former Commandant.

“To the torturers with her!” said the King and the former Head of the Golden Guard was dragged away.

Bertha was by far the easier nut to crack - as Roberta had known she would be. She told all she knew and was then taken away herself to be tortured. It was at this point that Amy remembered her sister, still in the dungeon and still being tormented by the Chief Torturer and his gay friend, the Town Tormentor of Rockwell Green.

“May sister Felicity be released, darling?” she asked Roberta.

Roberta looked at the King, who nodded.

“How could We have forgotten that poor woman’s plight! Release the wronged Felicity at once, Commandant Roberta! Then be back here. We have much to discuss today with you! But first you should have your wounds treated.”

“My so-called wounds are no more than scratches, Your Majesty, if I may be permitted to say so! I shall indeed be  back in Your presence soon!”

After giving instructions for the still comatose Jenny and Beatrice to be locked in the cells, prior to being sentenced for fighting, she went down to the dungeon, that dread chamber where she had been tortured almost to death eighteen months ago.

************************

FELICITY

Felicity hadn’t quite got it right about the Torturers’ schedule.  Her immersion experience was indeed drawing to a close, but the heated irons were nowhere near hot enough as yet to be applied to her chest and stomach. These people were perfectionists to their fingertips - artists, in fact! While the torturers were waiting for the dreaded irons to become white hot, she was put on the rack and given a bit of a quick stretch. Like Roberta before her, she was to be convinced for the rest of her life that this very painful experience had added inches to her height!

The Town Tormentor was given the task of turning the ratchet, just as son as a furiously struggling Felicity had been firmly secured to the horrible instrument. It took all seven of the dungeon staff to subdue her and, with the exception of Julian, the Town Tormentor, they were rugged and hairy chested men with terrific muscles and hard, hard bodies which they left uncovered above the waist. As she was wrestled into submission by these macho men, Felicity reflected that life down here wasn’t all bad!

“Who are your dastardly fellows in this evil plot against the Throne?” asked Julian in his prissy self important voice. What a fucking fairy, thought an enraged Felicity as her joints cracked and strained and her sinews and ligaments tore away from their moorings. She’d need weeks of rehab to get over this!

“I am a loyal member of His Majesty’s Golden Guard, you pathetic fairy arsehole! God, if I had just five minutes with you, my friend, you’d know a thing or two about the practical side of pain - not just the theory!”

Soon the irons were deemed sufficiently hot to be applied to the muscular Felicity’s magnificently sculpted body and a fresh stage in the “interrogation” began. Felicity, like Roberta a few months ago, smelt the odour of burned flesh and saw a spiral of blue smoke ascending into the dank dungeon air from her freshly scorched chest and belly.

In a few minutes time, iron number one had started to cool off and was no longer glowing so fiercely that it hurt the eyes to look at it. It still hurt the body to be touched by it, though. Did it ever!  Iron number two was taken from the fiercely glowing brazier and applied twice, thrice and four times to the squirming, writhing body of Senior Golden Guard Felicity. As iron number two began to glow less fiercely and the first one was ready to be used again, even Felicity wondered how much more of this she could take without screaming and begging them to stop.

Then the door burst open and the chamber was soon full of her comrades, led by Roberta. And Roberta was wearing the Commandant’s insignia!  Roberta looked stronger  than ever - and mad as hell! Was Felicity ever glad to see her! With Roberta, at her side and armed with a sword , was her favourite half - sister, darling little Amy. Poor Amy looked a bit knocked about and the protective older sister Felicity, despite her weakness after nearly two days of non stop torture, couldn’t wait to sort out the person responsible.

“Who did that to you, Amy? I’ll teach them to hit you! Just let me get at the bastards!”

“Celestine did it, but don’t worry! It’s all taken care of, Felicity. You should have seen what I did to her!” replied Amy proudly looking down at her bruises. “And when Mother has finished with her, there won’t be much left of her for you to do anything to!  Mummy‘s really, but really, pissed of with her this time!”

“Two of you take Felicity to her quarters!” ordered Roberta. “Don’t even think about reporting for duty for at least a week, Senior Guard Felicity! I’ve been tortured myself and I know how long it takes to get over it!”

FINALE

Shortly after Felicity had been freed, the ex Commandant was brought down to be tormented herself. Within minutes they had attached her to the drowning machine and her head was being immersed in the tank. Roberta left the torturers to their grisly task. The last she saw of her former Commandant, that once mighty lady was spluttering and gasping prior to going under again!

Roberta felt no pity. She had been shocked beyond measure at the traitorous woman’s words of defiance. Democracy! Whatever next? The very idea!

Twenty minutes later, Bertha, screaming and weeping, was brought down and strapped to the table. Soon the white hot irons were searing her flesh and her screams were so loud that they could be heard all over the Palace. The King , upset by the irritating noise, ordered her to be gagged.

Three days later, the pair were brought up to be hung upside down and whipped in front of the entire Golden Guard. This was the first flogging since the abortive rebellion.

The ex Commandant, silent to the end, died under her lashing, which was what the King had decreed and Roberta had intended. Bertha was given far fewer lashes and within a week, shaven headed and hobbling on whipped feet like Roberta eighteen months ago, was led off to a lifetime’s hard labour on Hell Island.

As soon as things began to get back to normal, the two rivals for the fickle Lily’s love were brought before the new Commandant.

“What have you to say for yourselves?” asked Roberta.

“We were both guilty of fighting, Madam Commandant!“ said Beatrice, speaking for both girls, now firm friends once more after several days in a dark cell to think things over and reflect deeply on the error of their ways. “We are truly sorry for letting the Golden Guard down!”

“I award twenty lashes each. And Jenny needs to be trained in unarmed combat! I saw enough of that fight to see that her performance was a disgrace! It really sucked, Jenny! Until I judge you to be fully fit to carry out all the duties of a Golden Guard, you are stripped of your uniform. In six weeks you will fight Beatrice again. I do not necessarily expect you to win, but you must put up a very much better show next time! Since your little set-to was instrumental in at least two of the Guard being away from the refectory and happily not being drugged, I suspend the whipping for now. Should you offend again, be assured that the lashes will be added to your punishment on that occasion.”

“Golly! I can’t believe we got off so lightly! That would have been a hundred for sure a few days ago!” said Beatrice as the pair went back on duty, Beatrice to guard duty and poor Jenny, minus her equipment,  to be trained to fight bare handed. (Long before  her six weeks intensive training were done she was to be one massive bruise! But, when the time came to fight her friend and rival again - officially and in the line of duty this time - she managed to last a very respectable length of time against Beatrice and was reinstated.  She managed to do a lot of damage this time before being knocked out again and put in the infirmary for a month.)

“I imagine she’s been whipped often enough herself to know the lash is not always the answer.” said Jenny. “I guess there will be a lot less blood on the parade ground of an evening in future! She‘ll make life much harder in lots of ways, but our backs won‘t get shredded so frequently, and when they do it will be because we really deserve it.”

The guard Charlotte, who had been awarded one hundred lashes shortly before the attempted coup, was similarly let off her punishment.

“I know you fairly well, Charlotte! You do make the odd slip up, but this time you get the benefit of the doubt. I imagine you were punished as a way of upsetting you and making you less attentive. You more than made up for any fault in your turn out by your bravery on that day. We could not have done it without you!”

The King appointed the totally rehabilitated Roberta to temporary command of the entire Army as well as the Golden Guard. Her first action in this capacity was to lead an expedition against the now banned Ladies’ League for Truth and Decency in the part of the country where she had spent so many painful hours being flogged for doing no more than wearing the King’s uniform - albeit a very exiguous uniform!

The League’s ringleaders were brought back and handed over to the Chief Torturer, who, together with his friend from Rockwell Green, made many very interesting discoveries concerning the ability of humans to stay under water for longer and longer periods. These findings were to be the subject of a scientific paper submitted to the Torturers’ Annual Convention later that year  - a paper which earned both men tremendous kudos. Both of these accomplished and dedicated torturers rose, in time, to the very top of their profession.

Alfonso’s band were also hunted down and killed, except for the leader, who was also brought back and given three horrific weeks in the dungeon before being taken to the Men’s Hell Island, where he found many fellow bandits with whom to labour and toil.  He was joined by more and more as the years went by.

Felicity left the Golden Guard three months after the coup and married her long time gentleman friend. Roberta was glad to see her go. Felicity was a fine woman, but she had exercised an unfortunate influence on some of her younger comrades who had begun to show  disturbing signs of a sexual and romantic interest in men. Roberta soon stamped that out, and for a while, the floggings resumed their previous severity until Sapphic love once more became the norm.

As Roberta succinctly put it, “ I want to lead a band of  hard women, not a bunch of silly giggling girls!”

Amy and Roberta remained quite inseparable for the rest of Roberta’s exceptionally long tenure as Commandant. Despite throwing herself into the thickest part of the fighting on hundreds of occasions, Roberta, although horribly wounded time and time again,  did not get the glorious death  in battle that she had wanted as a romantic girl. Mysteriously, her wounds always healed quickly and left no scars.

The Queen died a month after Roberta’s return and Paula became Queen soon after. She had several sons in the years that followed and the future of the Royal House was assured.

When Roberta finally retired, she and Amy went to live together near to where she had first met Queen Paula. On their first day of retirement Roberta looked at her face in the mirror. Something had been puzzling her for a while, now.

“I seem to look younger all the time, these days, darling Amy! And so do you. Have you an explanation, you adorable little witch?”

Amy blushed prettily, looking hardly seventeen years old, despite being every second of thirty eight.

“Actually, Roberta, you’re a witch like me these days and have been since I fought Celestine for the second time. Mummy decided on it when Celestine behaved so badly. My bad sister looks older and older these days, being no longer a witch herself after you took her place. Oh, Roberta my sweet! We’re going to have such fun together, casting spells on all and sundry!”

“Nice spells, I hope!” said Roberta. She doubted it, somehow. Amy was a mischievous little darling, even after all this time!

“Of course, sweetheart!  Well - fairly nice ones!  Don‘t look at me like that, Roberta! It‘s not our fault if some people don’t have a sense of humour! Is it?”


THE END