Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 ï>¿The Courier by EC

   Chapter 23 - Homecoming

   Cecilia Sanchez and Maria Elena Rodriguez-Torres quietly stared out
through the van's windows as the line of lights in the distance marking the
edge of Danubikt Moskt grew brighter.  Within a few minutes individual
buildings came into view; then suddenly the vehicle passed the first houses
lining the city's edge.  The van turned onto a street of nicer residences
and passed a yellow sign that marked the edge of the Danubikt Moskt
collar-zone.  A few meters beyond was the house where Vladim Dukov had
lived before he was Prime Minister, and where his son Vladik now lived with
his wife and two sons.

   The van turned from the side street onto a tree-lined boulevard leading
towards the city center, but then veered to the northeast to go towards the
University District.  Soon the part of the city most familiar to Cecilia
and Maria Elena came into view, a section of houses built around 1910 that
were almost completely hidden by large trees.  A short distance beyond lay
the university, but the van's driver was not taking them that far.

   During the entire trip neither Maria Elena nor Cecilia felt inclined to
talk.  Now that she had some rest, Cecilia was awake enough to feel the
painful sores covering her feet and to fret about what would happen when
Victor and her nephew Pedro saw her naked and collared.  As for Maria
Elena, the momentary happiness she felt upon leaving the Royal Residence
had faded back into emotional numbness and a fatigue that was deeper than
anything she had ever experienced.  She was dead tired from not having
slept, but also she was still in shock from the events that had torn at her
over the past week.

   Finally the van pulled to a stop in front of Merchant Victor Dukov's
house.  Victor stepped outside, with Jason and Pedro shyly following.  The
side door of the van opened and the two women got out.  The moment had come
for Maria Elena to return to her lover's arms and for Cecilia to begin her
radically changed life.  For a moment the two women stood quietly, simply
staring at their loved ones but unable to speak.  Everyone was
uncomfortable, not just because of the experiences that Maria Elena and
Cecilia had just endured, but also because no one was used to seeing Victor
and Cecilia naked and wearing Temple collars.  Pedro, especially, seemed
not to know what to make of seeing his authoritative aunt wearing nothing
but a collar and a subdued expression.

   It was Jason who broke the silence.  He stepped forward to take Cecilia
in his arms.  Victor followed suit and embraced Maria Elena.  At first she
couldn't react.  She wanted to feel joy at being back in Victor's arms, but
couldn't feel anything at all.  She hated herself for her lack of emotion,
but then the numbness lifted and she started crying.  She hugged Victor
hard as her old personality asserted itself through the trauma of the past
week.  She realized it would take time, but eventually she would indeed
recover.

   The cops in the van drove off and everyone went inside.  Jason had a
practical issue to deal with, the condition of Cecilia's feet.  He helped
her upstairs, unwrapped her bandages, and put more disinfectant on her
sores.  He told her that if she stayed off her feet she would be much
better the next day, and that calluses that would protect her would start
forming within a few days.  His own feet were covered with thick calluses,
from spending four years living without footwear whenever weather
permitted.

   Cecilia summarized what had happened at the Royal Residence, focusing on
that awful moment the Royal Guard pulled open the cellar door and she saw
Maria Elena as she was being beaten and raped.  Then she related the day's
other events, right up to the moment she and Maria Elena passed the corpses
of the two treasonous Lords and headed out to the van.

   There was a lot missing from Cecilia's narrative, because she had no
information concerning what had become of Grand Duchess Anyia.  She had
overheard one of the servants mentioning that she had been beaten by her
mother, but had not seen the punishment herself and did not know if it was
true.  She had no clue what had happened to the Grand Duke.  To that Jason
responded:

   "Well, you'll be in court tomorrow and I'd imagine Kim will fill you
in."

   Jason ran Cecilia a bath and carried her to the tub so she wouldn't have
to get on her feet.  Being carried made Cecilia feel like an invalid, but
Jason was insistent.  She had to stay off her feet until the next morning
so they could heal.

   A few minutes later Jason lifted Cecilia out of the bathtub and set her
on a towel on her bed.  As he carried her, Cecilia's feelings about him
changed.  She now was helpless and dependent upon him.  Not only was she
feeling weak in his strong arms, but also she realized that during her time
she was collared he would be in charge of what was going on in her life. 
He knew what she needed to do about her feet, just like he knew how she
would have to make the transition to properly performing Public Penance. 
It was the collar that would make her dependent upon him.  Anytime in the
past, she would not have found submitting to his direction acceptable, but
at that moment she realized that she didn't mind.

   *****

   Victor had his own set of psychological issues to contend with as he
held his traumatized lover in his arms.  He felt horribly guilty that she
had suffered so much at the hands of his own niece, the daughter of his
brother.  Of course the reason why that had happened was because of a
unique set of legal circumstances that had just been terminated, but at the
moment that was not any consolation.  The fact that he had spent the week
totally helpless, fretting about her situation but unable to do anything to
assist her, wore on his conscience.  He was ashamed of his own
helplessness.

   Finally Maria Elena calmed down enough that Victor was able to take her
inside.  In the living room he saw the full extent to which she had been
abused.  Her body was covered with bruises.  Her bottom had taken the brunt
of the abuse and was covered with painful welts.  Beyond her backside the
welts thinned out somewhat, but no part of her body: not her legs, nor her
back, nor her arms, nor her breasts, had been spared from the continuous
whippings from Lord Vidmarkt.  Victor was enraged by what had happened, but
for him there would be no revenge, because the Lord who had abused her was
dead.

   As soon as Jason had taken Cecilia out of the bathroom, Victor ran a
bath for Maria Elena.  She was exhausted, but grateful for the opportunity
to get cleaned up and simply relax.  For a long time she had no desire to
get out of the tub; she just wanted the hot water to relax her sore body
and clean away the psychological filth of her time at the Royal Residence.
She was desperately hungry, which Victor sensed.  He brought her a snack of
bread and fruit, which she devoured while still sitting in the tub.

   Once she finished eating Victor contemplated Maria Elena's dirty hair,
which was still dishonorably loose.  Looking at his lover's loose hair was
a bizarre experience for him, because it had been many years since had he
seen the unbraided hair of a woman he loved.  When he was still in high
school his future wife had her hair unbraided, but the day she graduated
and formally became a woman her hair was properly done up, as was the hair
of every other woman in the graduating class.  He thought back to the
moment he saw her at the graduation ceremony, no longer a high school girl
but an adult...  a woman who had made the transition to honorable
citizen... and the woman he knew he was destined to marry.  Since that
ceremony he had never seen her hair loosened, because his wife was a proper
Danubian who strongly believed in protocol.

   Throughout his life, Victor's prejudices about braided hair had been
typical for any Danubian man.  The only women he had seen with unbraided
hair were foreigners, who had all kinds of weird customs not practiced in
the Duchy.  A lot had changed since he graduated from high school,
especially the influx of huge numbers of foreign tourists walking around
Danubikt Moskt with their hair flowing loose in the wind.  Loose hair now
was a common sight, but still it set tourists apart from everyone else. 
Dishonorable...  totally dishonorable...  those foreigners.

   And yet...  seeing Maria Elena's thick black hair loose around her wet
shoulders gave Victor a strange idea.  He was tempted to touch it... 
something he would not have dreamt of doing with his deceased wife.  Maria
Elena was a foreigner herself, so she really did not understand what a huge
taboo it was in Danubian culture for a man to see a woman's loose hair, let
alone touch it.  He cautiously reached out and felt a loose strand.

   Maria Elena did not understand what Victor wanted.  She remembered that
she had not yet shampooed her hair and assumed that was what her lover
wanted to do, help her clean her hair.  She handed him a shampoo bottle. 
Victor took a deep breath and complied, putting some shampoo into his hands
and working it into her hair.  It was at totally surreal experience for
him, something that probably no other Danubian man had ever done, certainly
not one without a foreign partner.

   By the time Maria Elena got out she had spent nearly 40 minutes sitting
in hot water, which helped to soften her welts.  Victor helped her out of
the tub and assisted her as she dried off.  He led her to his bed, hoping
to continue the moment of intimacy, but as soon as she lay down she was
asleep.  He looked at her bare body, but remained fascinated at the thought
of her loose hair.  He took a strand in his hand, knowing that as soon as
she got up the next morning Cecilia would restore her braids and that would
be the end of the strange intimacy he had shared with her.  She would go to
court, come back later in the day, and then life would return to normal. 
But for him the memory would remain...  the memory of doing something
forbidden with his lover that probably no other man he knew had ever done
or even thought about doing.

   *****

   The next morning it was Pedro who woke up everyone in the house.  He had
to go to school, which meant that either Cecilia or Victor had to get up to
serve him breakfast.  Victor went downstairs to cook for the boy, because
Cecilia needed to braid Maria Elena's hair and Maria Elena needed to
bandage Cecilia's feet.  As soon as those two tasks were accomplished
Officer Vladik Dukov passed by in a police van to take the two women
downtown to the Central Courthouse.  Before Criminal # 101025 could return
to her normal life, her collar from the Royal Residence would have to be
removed and replaced with one from the Ministry of Justice.

   Victor stayed behind with Pedro.  Although it no longer was a secret
that he and Maria Elena were lovers, he saw no point in sharing that detail
with the world by showing up wearing a Church collar in what was likely to
be a public hearing.  Instead he would finish sending Pedro off to school
and simply go to his office.  As much as he wanted to be present to see
Maria Elena officially returned to the Ministry of Justice, he knew that
the public scandal would be bad enough as it was and for the Prime
Minister's brother to be seen at the Courthouse wearing a collar was not
something the public or the government needed.

   *****

   A few minutes later Vladik delivered his passengers to the Central
Courthouse.  The steps were crowded with people: most of whom were family
members, friends, and former co-workers of the 30 servants who were to be
transferred back to the Ministry of Justice that morning.  The criminals
had not been in contact with their families since their internment in the
Royal Residence, so the relatives were desperate to find out what had
happened to them.  The crowd completely filled the steps and part of the
street below, with only a narrow passage down the middle to allow police
officials and criminals to pass.

   Maria Elena was not surprised to see her classmate Carmen and several
other norteamericanos standing among the crowd, their bare bodies standing
out among the mostly clothed throng of bystanders on the steps.

   Just as Vladik drove up to the Central Courthouse, five Spokespersons
led 30 naked criminals out of the Central Police Station and across the
Plaza.  The Spokespersons walked in single file, each leading his or her
respective clients.  Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna was the fourth in the group,
because the Spokespersons had organized their walk according to seniority.

   The Priestess who had organized the previous day's seizure of the
servants followed the Spokespersons, accompanied by several other Clergy
members.  As she walked in her long black dress, she looked more severe
than ever: the no-nonsense woman who had taken on the Royal Family and won.

   Kim signaled to Maria Elena and Cecilia that they needed to fall in
behind her and march with the other criminals into the Courthouse.  They
joined the line of naked clients and followed her up the steps and through
the main door.  The criminals and their Spokespersons passed through
another set of doors that led into the main trial chamber.  The
Spokespersons then stood off to one side, while the criminals knelt in
formation in front of the judges who made up the nation's Supreme Judicial
Tribunal.  The audience filed in next, quickly filling the seats off to the
side of the chamber.  Parents and employers were given priority for
seating, but a few seats in the back remained open for friends and
co-workers.  Maria Elena and Cecilia noticed that Carmen and one other
classmate had managed to get seats near the wall.  The majority of the
crowd would have to remain outside, but the police had rigged up some
speakers to keep the people waiting on the steps abreast of what was going
on inside the courtroom.

   "DOC-DOC DANUBE!"

   The spectators, Spokespersons, and police officers immediately stood at
attention and saluted, while the criminals and people performing Public
Penance knelt forward and placed their heads on the ground.  The Supreme
Court Justices entered the room and took their seats at the bench. 
Cecilia, kneeling naked with a group of criminals, felt awkward as she
placed her head on the floor.  According to protocol, her knees were
slightly spread and she arched her back, completely exposing her bottom and
vulva to everyone standing behind her.  The position had forced open her
labia.  A slight breeze blowing through the courtroom felt cold as it
touched the wetness of her vagina, making her aware just how exposed she
really was.  A part of her that was reserved only for Jason now was on
display to hundreds of spectators.  She tried to force her mind off her
embarrassment, telling herself that she was only one of 20 naked women
kneeling in the same position, but that did not help her at the moment.

   Cecilia and Maria Elena had expected a lengthy legal procedure, perhaps
a reading of names or some other form of official protocol.  However, as
soon as the room was silent the Chief Justice called out:

   "Minister of Justice Hoshtukt!  Are you present in this courtroom?"

   "Yes Chief Justice, I am present!"

   "Grand Duke Midchatk XXIX!  Are you present in this courtroom?"

   "Yes Chief Justice, I am present!"

   "Very well.  Please step forward!"

   The Chief Justice addressed the kneeling criminals next:

   "You will kneel upright for the remainder of this hearing.  Remember
your Paths in Life as criminals and do not speak unless spoken to, and do
not move until directed."

   Silently the group of criminals knelt upright.

   Maria Elena was curious to see the Grand Duke.  He was wearing "simple"
Royal Attire: an embroidered suit styled from the late 1700's and a
tri-corner hat that had been popular in Europe before the French
Revolution. He did not have his cape and crown, which would have
constituted full Royal Attire.  He appeared subdued, in spite of the fact
that, unlike his wife, he was not being forced to perform Public Penance.

   The Grand Duke did something that at the moment did not mean anything to
Maria Elena and Cecilia, but was significant in the eyes of the Danubian
people.  When he approached the Chief Justice, he took off his hat. 
Throughout Danubia's history, no King or Grand Duke had ever taken off his
hat before a civilian official.  The Danubian sovereign was aware of the
break in protocol and nervously held the hat in his hands as he stood
before the bench.  The Chief Justice did not display any reaction, because
he had been forewarned by the Prime Minister of the upcoming change in the
role of the nation's Royal Family.  However, the audience stared at their
sovereign's bare head with wide eyes.

   In a barely audible whisper Cecilia translated the remainder of the
hearing into Maria Elena's ear...

   "Grand Duke.  This Court is honored by your presence.  Our understanding
is that you wish to address a matter of concern to your household and to
the Ministry of Justice.  Is that true, Grand Duke?"

   "Yes Chief Justice.  What you have said is true.  I have come before you
to address the issue of the criminals currently serving in my personal
residence as Royal Servants."

   "Yes, Grand Duke?  How do you wish to address the issue of your
servants?"

   "Chief Justice, the Royal Family wishes to release control of all
criminals currently assigned to serve in the Royal Residence.  We request
that this Court reassign formal custody of all the criminals kneeling
before you, specifically that they be returned to the custody of the
Ministry of Justice and cared for as stipulated by the National
Constitution of the Republic of Danubia and the National Code of Criminal
Justice.  The Royal Family wishes to formally declare that these criminals
have no further obligation to myself or to any other member of the Royal
Family."

   "May I ask why you are requesting the reassignment of your servants,
Grand Duke?"

   The Grand Duke took a deep breath.

   "There is legislation pending in the National Parliament that will
revise the role of the Royal Family and assure that our status meets the
needs of modern society.  One of those changes will be that everyone
working in the Royal Residence will be a salaried public employee instead
of a criminal servant.  I have agreed that the change is appropriate for
both the needs of the Royal Family and the needs of the Danubian Republic.
The position of criminal servant will be abolished, and therefore it is
inappropriate to retain such servants on any property being utilized by the
Royal Family."

   "Very well, Grand Duke.  To make sure this Court and the nation
understands exactly what you wish to do, I shall repeat my understanding of
your desire for the Royal Servants.  Your wish is for them to be reassigned
to the Ministry of Justice and for them to permanently leave your service.
Is that correct, Grand Duke?"

   "That is correct, Chief Justice.  The Royal Family is requesting they
permanently be reassigned."

   "Minister of Justice Hoshtukt!  Does your Ministry agree to accept
custody of the criminals currently assigned as servants to the Royal
Family?"

   "Yes, Chief Justice.  The Ministry of Justice accepts reassignment of
the Royal Servants and will assume custody of them as ordinary criminals."

   "What will be the condition of their reassignment, Minister of Justice?"

   "Each criminal's original sentence will be reinstated.  Each criminal
will return to service for the Ministry under the direction of their former
Spokesperson.  The Grand Duke and I reached that agreement last night. 
However, I will request one change in the status of these criminals from
this Court."

   "Yes, Minister of Justice?  What is that change?"

   "I have determined that the criminals have proven themselves trustworthy
enough to be assigned collars with brass rings.  I wish to make that
request to this Court."

   "This Court grants your request, Minister of Justice.  If you believe
these criminals have earned the privilege of wearing the brass ring, then
this Court will comply with your desire."

   "Thank you, Chief Justice."

   The Chief Justice then turned his attention to the Grand Duke.

   "Grand Duke, this Court has granted your request and the former servants
of the Royal Residence are reassigned as of this moment.  This Court again
thanks you for your presence and your service to the nation.  If you wish
to depart from this courtroom, you are free to do so."

   The Grand Duke then did something else totally unheard of from a
Danubian sovereign, he saluted the Chief Justice, who stood and saluted
back.  Again the crowd looked at him with bewildered expressions, because
he had just shown himself as a subordinate to a civilian official. 
Ignoring the stares of his audience, he calmly put on his hat, did a sharp
about-face, and walked to the back of the room.

   Not many people in the courtroom had yet noticed, but waiting for the
Grand Duke was his father-in-law, the nation's Prime Minister.  The two men
left the courtroom and walked down the steps of the Central Courthouse,
stepping through the waiting crowd and descending to the Central Plaza. 
From there they walked to the National Parliament Building.  The Grand Duke
was thoroughly depressed and what little fight he had in him was gone.  The
events over the past 24 hours had left him totally demoralized, something
that Vladim Dukov planned to exploit as much as possible.  Within two hours
the Sovereign would address Parliament, speaking on behalf of passing
reforms that would formally strip him of his remaining power.

   *****

   Once the Grand Duke departed, the only part of the reassignment hearing
remaining was to re-collar the 30 former Royal Servants with Ministry of
Justice collars.  The fancy collars of the Royal Family needed to be taken
off each criminal's neck, to be replaced with the drab collars used by the
Ministry of Justice.  Maria Elena noticed a definite change of mood among
her fellow servants now that the collar technician had come out with the
collar extractor and a cart carrying 30 new collars with brass rings. 
Already the criminals had been formally transferred but, there was an old
Danubian saying that went:

   "Dreams are what's in your head; reality is what's around your neck."

   The Chief Justice felt no need to delay.  Even as the collar technician
was still getting set up, the judge ordered the first Spokesman to step
forward with the four criminals assigned to him.  The criminals immediately
stood up, moved forward with their custodian, and resumed kneeling.  A
moment later the technician ordered the first of the criminals to come
forward and kneel at a sturdy metal post with handles that was about a
meter high.  The criminal grabbed the handles and remained still as the
technician lowered a scary-looking device that looked like a huge pair of
pliers over her head.  The official mounted the collar extractor on a loop
at the top of the post and with several clamps attached it around the Royal
House collar.  A moment later there was a sharp metallic clank and the
distinct sound of breaking metal.  The latch of the Royal House collar was
snapped and a second later it was off the criminal's neck.  The technician
repeated the extraction with the other three criminals of the first group.
Then he set the extractor aside and ordered the first criminal to resume
her position at the post.  He lowered a second device over her head, the
implement that would replace her broken Royal House collar with one from
the Ministry of Justice.

   The young woman was still a criminal, but she was happy about the
change. Maybe she was not completely free, but she certainly would have a
lot more liberty than she had experienced any time over the past year.  She
would walk out on the street, go to work, eat when she wanted, and sleep in
her own bed.  More important than anything else, she would have the freedom
to talk.  For a person who had just endured what she had to face under
Grand Duchess Anyia...  that was enough for the time being.

   Once the first group of criminals was re-collared, their Spokesman took
them out of the courtroom.  Unlike the hearing that formally ended a
criminal's sentence, there would be no formal ceremony because the
sentences were not ending or being reduced.  The former Royal Servants may
have felt elated that they would be returning to their families and their
normal lives, but from the point of view of the court a reassignment was
not the same thing as a release, and thus nothing to celebrate.

   Because she lacked seniority, Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna's group was the
fourth out of five to be re-collared.  Like her companions, Maria Elena was
hugely relieved once the collar of the Royal Family was off her neck.  Once
the Ministry of Justice collar had replaced it, she knew that she was
wearing the proof that Grand Duchess Anyia had no further claim on her.

   As soon as the last of her group was re-collared, Kim immediately led
her seven foreign clients and Cecilia out of the courtroom and down the
steps outside.  There were joyous reunions between the criminals and their
various friends, host families, and co-workers.  Maria Elena was cheerfully
greeted by Carmen and the other classmates, who whisked her off to the
university to celebrate her return.  The six other clients disappeared as
well, leaving Kim and Cecilia standing alone on the stairs.

   *****

   Spokeswoman Lee-Dolkivna invited Cecilia to have lunch at a cafe near
the Central Police Station before returning to work in her office.  As they
returned to the police headquarters, the two women noticed that the
building was extremely quiet.  They walked past the building's cafeteria
and saw that it was completely packed with police officers and civilian
employees, all crowded around a large television set.  The normal
programming had been canceled, replaced with live coverage of the nation's
Parliament.  Across the bottom of the screen were the words:

   Valkt Dukokt Regis trebet dek Legitkci eta Derechekti Koronkti

   Translated into English the words meant: Royal Grand Duke renounces the
Rights and Powers of the Crown.

   Kim and Cecilia could tell the Danubians were mystified at the event
unfolding on television.  Why would the Grand Duke go to Parliament and
surrender all his formal powers?  It didn't make any sense, but obviously
it was what the Sovereign wanted, because he was the one who had introduced
the legislation.  Grand Dukes up until that moment had the right to
introduce legislation, but that was a power they rarely had exercised. 
There was huge irony that the Grand Duke had formally introduced a bill
that, if passed, would be the last legislation ever submitted by a member
of the Royal Family.

   Parts of the Grand Duke's speech were replayed as the two women watched
with the crowd of Danubians.  The Grand Duke had a stricken look on his
face as he rambled on about the need for the Danubian Royal family to
change its role to adapt to the needs of modern society.  Kim remembered
that had been the same line he had spoken when he was in court returning
the Royal Servants to the Ministry of Justice.  She guessed those words
must have come from the Duke's father-in-law, a statement that would spare
the Royal Family from having to admit the real reason they were being
forced to surrender their powers.

   "The needs of modern society"...  what total bullshit, thought Kim to
herself.  It was because of Anyia that the Grand Duke was forced to give up
all of his privileges.  Kim felt sorry for him at that moment, because he
was being forced to surrender not only his Constitutional authority, but
that of all the future Grand Dukes who would come after him.  The
Spokeswoman sympathized with him because he really had not done anything.
His only crime was not to make a stronger effort to control his wife's
excesses, but Vladim Dukov was convinced that failure constituted
dereliction of duty.  Kim understood the Grand Duke's appearance in front
of Parliament was to be his punishment for that failure.  It turned out the
punishment would be severe indeed, much more severe than it sounded when
Dukov first mentioned it.  The Sovereign had been forced to stand before
the Legislature and ask to be permanently stripped of everything that had
been passed down to him by his forbearers.

   The Danubians were not so na�ve to think that the Grand Duke would
surrender all of his privileges if something unknown to the public had not
forced him to do so.  The fact that Vladim Dukov was standing right behind
him, as though to prod him forward, offered a clue that the surrender of
Royal Privileges was coerced.  The Duke's forlorn expression offered
another clue, as did the expression of the Prime Minister.  Vladim Dukov
seemed different from what the public was used to: he appeared cold,
hardened, and ruthlessly determined as he waited for his son-in-law to
finish his speech.

   There was no question the legislation would pass, because the Grand Duke
was the one who had introduced it.  However, among the deputies there was
endless chatter why the Grand Duke had requested such a radical reduction
in his status.  Some of the deputies took him at his word; that the change
was needed to meet the needs of modern society.  Most of the deputies knew
better.  They realized that there must have been a hidden scandal that had
caused the Grand Duke to relinquish his privileges.  The deputies also
realized that Vladim Dukov must have known what the scandal was.  The more
perceptive deputies also understood that whatever had caused the Duke to
present the legislation, it probably was something better left as a secret.

   Kim and Cecilia could tell that most of the cops and Ministry employees
surrounding them in the cafeteria were deeply troubled by what the Grand
Duke was doing, because he remained a popular figure in Danubian society.
Certainly no one wished him any harm or embarrassment, nor did anyone
really want the Royal Family to lose any more of its influence.  The room
was full of discussion why the Grand Duke had made such a grave decision.

   As they listened to the arguments and speculation about what had
happened to the Grand Duke, Kim and Cecilia felt guilty.  They did not have
to speculate, because they knew the awful truth.  As much as they wanted to
jump into the conversation and correct all the mistaken guesses circulating
around the room, they didn't dare do so.

   Many of the women in the cafeteria expressed concern over Grand Duchess
Anyia.  She had not been seen with the Grand Duke, which was unusual for a
public appearance.  She was so pretty and poised, such a wonderful partner
for the nation's Sovereign.  Wherever he went, she was at his side, always
displaying a new outfit.  Already the women missed her fashionable
clothes...

   Suddenly Kim realized something important from what she overheard. 
Grand Duchess Anyia was starting to have an impact on Danubian society with
her constant display of new and expensive clothing.  That was behavior the
Danubian public had not seen before and it was a change that many of the
nation's women, especially the younger ones, found fascinating.  Danubia
always had been one country where people did not waste a large portion of
their personal incomes on fashion, which the Danubian Church condemned as
"the evil worship of cloth".  Was it possible that, if left unchecked,
Anyia Dukov might have transformed that part of Danubian culture?

   *****

   Maria Elena's returned to Victor's house with the norteamericanos who
wore collars in protest of her sentencing, plus a few others who had not
participated in the Public Penance but still wanted to celebrate her
reassignment.  They accompanied her to the house, hugged her goodbye, and
departed back in the direction of the university.  Victor and Maria Elena
hugged each other as they were reunited.  The previous night she had been
too exhausted to really care what was going on, but now, with the Ministry
of Justice collar on her neck and after having spent an afternoon with her
classmates, she truly felt that she was home.

   Victor and Cecilia talked to Maria Elena about what had gone on that
day; namely that the Grand Duke had surrendered most of his Royal Powers
and requested that all Royal Property be transferred to the Interior
Ministry.  Victor then told the two women that he wanted to pray and give
thanks to the Ancients that Maria Elena had safely returned.  They went out
into the back yard and under the stars they prayed, with Victor leading the
prayers.

   *****

   Later Maria Elena and Victor returned to his bedroom.  For a long time
she lay quiet while he studied the fading welts and bruises that still
covered her body.  He touched her tenderly.  She had expected that, after
the rough treatment at the hands of Anyia's assistant, she would be afraid
of being touched.  However, her love for Victor far overwhelmed the trauma
she had just endured, and she longed to feel his hands on her body again.
Gradually she took control and got him to lie on his stomach.  She massaged
him, rolled him over, and worked him into an erection.  When he tried to
sit up and take her, she pressed her hand on his chest to silently command
him to lie back down.  She continued to work him into an erotic frenzy with
her touches, but let him know that she was the one who would control their
love-making that night.  Finally she straddled him and lowered herself over
his hard penis.  She gently rocked back and forth as he pumped semen into
her.  He climaxed and slowly went limp as she continued to straddle him.

   Maria Elena took longer to climax, but finally she did have an orgasm.
It was extremely important to her...  because she felt that until she had
made love with Victor, she would not truly have escaped the torment she had
endured in the Royal Residence.  The orgasm that night might not have been
one of her best, but at least she had it.

   The couple fell asleep in each other's arms.  As she drifted off to
sleep, Maria Elena finally felt that she truly had returned home... 
returned to the place where she belonged.



   Chapter 24 - Anyia's Journey

   Upon arriving at the first church along the route Anyia had to walk over
the next three days, the Clergy allowed her to rest, eat, and relieve
herself.  Then they led her to a stone platform that had chains with cuffs
suspended over it.  They placed her wrists in the cuffs and immobilized her
with her hands over her head.  Anyia started to cry, because she thought
she was about to be whipped.  However, the Clergy members only wanted to
bathe her.  They covered her in soap and then rinsed her off with cold
water.  The Priestess then unbraided Anyia's hair and shampooed it.  The
Clergywoman ran a comb through the younger woman's hair and announced that
it would remain unbraided.

   "If you can demonstrate to me that you understand the meaning of your
experience over the next three days, I will re-braid your hair before you
assume the collar.  You need to prove yourself, however.  To have your hair
braided will be a privilege to be earned, not a right to expect.  Do you
understand me, Anyia Dukov?"

   "Yes, Priestess."

   The Priests splashed her with several buckets of frigid water and then
left her to shiver until the cool morning breeze had completely dried her.
During her three-day walk she would be bathed in the same manner at sunrise
and sunset.  She was not allowed to touch her own body so she could not
bathe herself.  She could not dry herself with her own hands; she had to
wait for the Creator to dry her body with the wind.  The frigid water and
being left to shiver was to remind her how exposed she was; her bare body
presented to the mercy of the elements of the Realm of the Living.

   Once she was completely dry, the Clergy members unchained Anyia and led
her into the church.  She knelt in the proper position of Penance, with her
hands placed on the ground in front of her, her head touching the floor,
her knees spread and her back properly arched.  She was the Grand Duchess,
but like any criminal or servant, she could feel the cool air blowing
against her exposed vulva and sphincter.  Her bottom still had some
belt-marks remaining from the punishment her mother had given her the day
before and five sets of welts crossed her thighs.  She was humbled, with
nothing to set her apart from anyone else who was beginning Public Penance.
Her hair fell dishonorably around her face, but she was grateful for that.
Her eyes were covered and her view of the world concealed.

   The Priestess prayed, first in silence and then with a prayer in Archaic
Danubian.  She ordered Anyia to kneel upright and conversed with her,
asking her about some of the mundane details of her life before she became
Grand Duchess.  The questions may have seemed trivial, but the Priestess
was determined to completely understand the young woman in front of her,
and often one can gain more insight from a trivial interest than from a
major event.  The conversation drifted to a friend that Anyia had in high
school, an American exchange student called Jennifer Thompson.  As she
talked, Anyia was able to forget about the present and go back in time,
about five years in her life.

   Jennifer was a year older than Anyia.  Her school year abroad started
badly; within a month she had earned the enmity of the school's teachers by
behaving like she would in the US, doing things such as skipping classes
and smoking in public.  About six weeks after classes started, Jennifer was
caught smoking in a park and brought by the police to her school.  The
director was furious with both her and her counselor and ordered the girl
to be switched in the gymnasium in front of 400 classmates.  She was
stripped, ordered to lie over a chair, and given the maximum punishment a
student could receive, which was 25 strokes.

   Jennifer's behavior calmed down after she was switched, but she always
fascinated Anyia.  The most important detail was her bright red hair. 
Anyia had never seen a girl with red hair before...  not only red on her
head but also thick red curls covering her vagina.  The American's hair
obsessed Anyia during the entire year they were together in school. 
Jennifer was a senior, so when her class graduated she had to have her hair
braided for the final ceremony.  Anyia was the one who braided Jennifer's
hair and was elated to finally have the chance to touch it, comb it, and
shampoo it.  However, Anyia admitted that what she really wanted to do was
to run her fingers through the thick red curls covering her friend's vulva.
She felt horribly ashamed of her thoughts because of the taboo Danubians
had about people of the same sex touching each other.

   Jennifer spent a second year in Danubia attending classes at the
National University before she returned to the United States.  That was the
year Vladim Dukov campaigned to become Prime Minister and Anyia's romantic
attentions became focused on the sons of her father's political associates.
Jennifer pursued her college classes while Anyia finished high school, so
the two friends saw little of each other.  Although they now were
separated, Anyia continued to think about Jennifer and longed to be with
her and see her naked.  However, during the few times they saw each other
the two young women had no reason to take off their clothing and Anyia
never saw Jennifer in the nude after graduation.

   Anyia admitted that watching Jennifer's punishment always fascinated
her. She remembered the entire incident in loving detail: Jennifer's
terrified teary face, her lovely body, the cruel red switch marks on her
white skin, and the girl's screams...  yes, Anyia remembered all of it. 
She wished she could have been Counselor Tolkiv, the prim imposing teacher
who struck Jennifer and admonished her.  Anyia spent endless hours
masturbating over the incident and over the memory of Jennifer's punished
bottom.  Each time she was about to climax, she imagined herself whipping
Jennifer.

   The Priestess thought about Anyia's confession.  Could it be that
Jennifer's switching was an important event in Anyia's life, a single
incident that fired up her imagination?  That would make sense, because
Anyia was fascinated with collecting foreigners, pushing them into
servitude, and physically punishing them...  Could it be that her real
desire dated back to her unfulfilled fantasy of touching and punishing her
American classmate?

   *****

   A few minutes later the Priestess ordered the Grand Duchess to lie on a
mat that had been placed on the floor of the church.  The Clergy member
stripped off her dress, hung it on a hook on the wall, and lay on a mat
next to Anyia.  Two Priests entered the room and also stripped off their
robes.  They set their mats a few meters away from the women and promptly
fell asleep.

   Anyia was exhausted but could not fall asleep for several minutes.  She
studied the mosaic on the church ceiling, which she guessed must have been
completed in the late 1700's, judging by its style.  The topic of the
artwork was a common religious theme popular at the time; a griffin
battling a ball of fire in a darkened sky.  Surrounding the main battle
were black-robed winged figures that were immensely old.  The figures were
praying and looking at the battle with concern.  The image was a
representation of the time-old fight between the Creator and the Destroyer,
with the Ancients offering up their prayers to help the Creator win.  For
several centuries Danubian artists had used mythical animals to represent
the Creator in such works of art, although that practice was dropped in the
mid-1800s.

   Anyia's thoughts returned to school and specifically to her friend
Jennifer.  She hadn't thought about Jennifer for a long time, because her
father already was Prime Minister by the time Jennifer left Danubia.  Anyia
had become so different since that time in high school...  or had she? 
Maybe she was indeed the same person, but one that had been allowed to
develop her fantasies to their extreme.  Not many people have the chance to
do that.  Everyone has fantasies, but maybe it is just as well that most
people cannot realize them, because to have unlimited access to one's
fantasies was to eventually to become corrupted and fall into the trap
Anyia Dukov had fallen into.

   For the first time in her life the young woman regretted that she had
become the Grand Duchess.  She wished she could have been a simpler person,
leading a normal life...  and not becoming the terror and the degenerate
she had turned into.  To be simple...  like her brother, or her former
housemate Kimberly Lee, or even like her father...

   Her father...  Anyia realized how superior her father was to her, the
extent to which he was indeed a better person.  Her father was Prime
Minister, but the position had not corrupted him.  He was still the same
man he had been before he was elected.  Unlike his daughter, whatever
fantasies he had were left in the back of his mind.  His duty as Prime
Minister was to serve the nation, not to have the nation indulge him.

   Anyia thought to herself: that was my duty too, but I failed.  I could
have done so much good with my title, and all I did was cause trouble.  Now
I have to start over.  I've wasted so much and now I have to see how I can
make up for that.

   *****

   Anyia knew that she would never again wear a crown.  The crown
traditionally worn by Grand Duchesses was in storage and would remain there
until her successor was coroneted.  The one she had bought from Monaco no
longer existed.  Undoubtedly her father would have its jewels appraised and
then exchange them for gold ingots for the National Treasury.  It was
equally likely he would attempt to sell off her expensive collection of
clothing.  Perhaps Kimberly Lee or Cecilia Sanchez would be tasked with
posting the items to one of those Internet auction sites.

   Anyia cringed at the thought of having her clothing and jewelry
auctioned, but she knew how her father thought about such matters.  He felt
that it was his duty to the nation to attempt to recover as much of the
money his daughter had spent as possible.  There was no way he could come
close to recovering the total amount she had wasted, but he would be
determined to do what he could.  Every time he could purchase an ingot and
return it to the National Treasury was a small redemption for his own
dishonor for having raised such a daughter.

   As she lay on her mat staring at a mosaic on the ceiling, Anyia
continued to think about her father.  At first she resented him for being
such a miser, for having no appreciation for the good things life had to
offer.  However, there was no question that if there was any man in Danubia
who met the country's definition of honor, it was Vladim Dukov.  Anyia
realized that her father had not changed at all when he became Prime
Minister.  He was the same man with the same outlook on life; a firm belief
that the Creator had placed him in the Realm of the Living to serve.  Being
a collared criminal, or a Spokesman, or Prime Minister made no difference
to him.  Each position for Vladim Dukov was simply a form of service to the
Creator and his fellow Danubians with differing demands and expectations.

   Anyia knew that her father was not a martyr.  He did not make
unrealistic personal sacrifices, nor did he expect anything unrealistic
from others.  He disapproved of the writings and beliefs of people such as
St.  Augustine and Gandhi because he felt their expectations of people were
cruel and unreasonable.  He enjoyed a good meal or a good glass of wine or
a comfortable bed as much as anyone else.  However, he remained a simple
man with simple needs.  He wanted only enough from the material world for
him and his family to be healthy and comfortable.  To have anything more
than that made no sense to him, because to have anything more would mean it
had to be denied to someone else.  His reasoning was that the Creator had
given him a certain level of well-being, something that everyone in Danubia
deserved.  To want or expect anything beyond that would be dishonorable.

   Anyia was just beginning to understand why her father was so appalled by
her lifestyle.  His disapproval went beyond how she treated her servants or
even her willingness to betray Danubia.  He could not understand her
insatiable quest for more...  more servants...  more dresses...  more
adoration.  She was living in a nice house with a husband who loved her and
was well-liked by the public: why wasn't that enough?  Indeed...  why
wasn't that enough?  That was one of the questions she would have to answer
over the next several days.

   *****

   Anyia's next night was not a night of reflection, but a night of
discomfort.  The weather had changed and there was a cold drizzle falling
during the entire walk.  She shivered as the cold water dripped down her
bare skin and her feet sloshed through muddy puddles.  The Priestess
shivered as well, but suffering in such a manner was part of her
profession, something to be withstood stoically.

   Although Anyia was not able to think about much except being cold, wet,
and muddy, the walk of the second night did help clear her mind.  It is
hard to think about one's past or the deeper issues in life when one is
exposed and shivering on a cold wet dark country road.  When daylight came
and Anyia saw the second church along her path looming in the distance, she
felt deep gratitude toward the Creator for having made it through her
second night of her journey.  There would be just one more night, and then
she would arrive at the Temple of the Ancients.

   *****



   After sleeping through the morning hours, Anyia and the Priestess spent
the second afternoon of her journey talking in a quiet park near a small
stream.  The weather was clearing, but everything was still wet and the
park was completely deserted.  It was a perfect setting for a quiet
conversation, even though Anyia's uncovered body was shivering in the damp
air.

   "You must learn to withstand the weather, Anyia Dukov.  Your Path in
Life is to forsake all clothing, and you must train your body to accept the
consequences of your actions."

   "Yes, Priestess."

   The Clergywoman spent much of the second day lecturing her ward about
the futility of owning too much of the material world.  She berated Anyia
about the impact that her materialism had on the country and everyone
surrounding her.  She understood that the Grand Duchess was aware of the
evil she had committed against her servants and there was no point wasting
her time belaboring something she already knew.  The big issue was not
Anyia's cruelty, but her greed and her insatiable desire for more things
and more servants.  The Priestess believed that was the root of the Grand
Duchess's problem...  greed and an extreme feeling of entitlement.

   The two women sat in silence for a while as the sky continued to clear.
Finally the sun came out and heated the air.  Anyia was grateful to feel it
shining on her exposed body.  Abruptly the Priestess changed the subject by
taking a folded newspaper article out of a folder she was carrying.  It was
a front-page article of that morning's paper.

   "You are not the only one who must atone for your actions, Anyia Dukov."

   Anyia saw a picture of her husband standing at the Prime Minister's
podium in the National Parliament, with her father standing right behind
him.  She read the following:

   Royal Grand Duke renounces the Rights and Powers of the Crown

   The Royal Grand Duke of the Republic of Danubia formally introduced
legislation in the National Parliament that requested the revocation of
most Royal powers and privileges yesterday morning...

   Anyia read several paragraphs and started crying.

   "He shouldn't have had to do that, Priestess.  It was my fault...  I was
the one who...  I mean, he didn't do anything...  "

   "Anyia Dukov, the Creator has determined that your husband must
sacrifice what is most dear to him, just as you must sacrifice."

   "I...  I've destroyed him...  and the Royal Family...  I've ruined
everything...  "

   "I don't think that is true, Anyia Dukov.  It was the proper time... 
that's all.  The time of the Royal Family has passed, and you and your
descendants must make your way in the Realm of the Living just like anyone
else.  The change was necessary.  Necessary and predestined."

   Anyia forced herself to read the rest of the article.  The Priestess
continued:

   "You are still the Grand Duchess, and your husband is still the Grand
Duke, even if your role is now only ceremonial.  You still have your duties
to the nation.  You still have your husband and your marriage, and
eventually you will have your children.  You do have a Path in Life, Anyia
Dukov."

   "Yes, Priestess...  I suppose that's true.  But I can't see how my
husband is going to forgive me for what I did to him."

   "Both of you will have to come to terms with what has happened.  It
won't be as hard as you think, Anyia Dukov."

   *****

   When the sun set that evening, Anyia had to endure another frigid bath
before the prayers that would precede the final part of her journey.  The
Priestess had one surprise for the Grand Duchess: she told Anyia that she
needed to have her hair properly braided before leaving the Church.  Anyia
was elated at having that part of her life return to normal.  It was
something small, and yet for her significant, because she understood that
she had already passed through the worst part of her personal abyss.

   The final part of Anyia's journey took her through Danubikt Moskt.  The
two women entered the outskirts around 9:00 pm, just as most people were
settling down in their houses.  For several hours Anyia and the Priestess
walked through the deserted streets of the city's suburbs.  They emerged
into the historical business district and approached the Old City Wall. 
Their trip led them right though the city's main plaza and past the
National Parliament Building.  By the time they approached the Temple of
the Ancients, the sky was starting to lighten in the east.

   *****

   Anyia was expecting to be collared in an elaborate ceremony, probably
with Grand Prophet # 4 present along other members of the Church hierarchy.
After-all, this was a momentous moment in the career of the Priestess and
the history of the Danubian Church, the collaring of the nation's Grand
Duchess.

   The Priestess knew her ward well-enough to understand that she expected
her to make a big deal out of her collaring.  It was precisely because of
that anticipation that she decided that Anyia's collaring would be simple.
Upon arriving at the Temple, the Priestess led the Grand Duchess to the
back of the building, to the spot where the fire-pit was located.  She
ordered the young woman to stand still while she put her hands around her
throat to measure her neck size.  She wrote the measurement on a small
piece of paper and handed it to a Temple attendant.

   Anyia looked around, finding it hard to believe that no one else was
present.  She was deeply disappointed.

   "Anyia Dukov, wearing the collar is an agreement between you and the
Creator.  In the presence of the Creator you are not any more significant
than anyone else."

   Anyia struggled to answer: "Yes, Priestess."

   The attendant returned with a Temple collar.  The Priestess placed the
collar in Anyia's hands and told her to kneel.

   "Take a look at this collar, Anyia Dukov.  Tell me what you notice about
it.  Is it any different than a collar that we normally issue?"

   Anyia turned the collar over in her hands.  It had the typical smooth
appearance of a collar issued by the Temple.  At first she thought it was
just an ordinary collar, but then she noticed that...  there was no hole
for a key.  Her heart skipped a beat, because she realized there was no way
to unlock the collar once it was on her neck.

   "I...  there's no keyhole, Priestess."

   "That is correct, Anyia Dukov.  This is a permanent collar.  It will
remain with you for the rest of your natural life.  Once it is on your
neck, you will never take it off."

   Anyia started trembling.

   "Yes, Priestess."

   "A condition of this collar is that you will never discuss with anyone
in the Realm of the Living why you are wearing it.  Your Penance is between
you and the Creator.  Do you understand me, Anyia Dukov?"

   "Yes, Priestess."

   Anyia was still scared, but the Priestess's last words greatly put her
at ease.  She would be formally prohibited from ever talking about the
actions that had led her to the Temple, which meant that she never would
have to explain herself to anyone.  No journalist could question her; no
one could speculate about why she was doing what she was doing.  By taking
the collar, Anyia would free herself from her past and the consequences of
what she had done over the past several years.  She knew that was the only
way she could hope to redeem herself.

   The Priestess recited the basic protocol that Anyia would have to follow
once the collar was on her neck.  She would have to properly kneel every
time she spoke to any public employee or Church official and she would
officially become property of the Danubian Church, with the Priestess as
her assigned custodian.

   Just as the sun was rising, the Priestess finished her recital of the
protocol.  She placed her hands on Anyia's shoulders.  After a short prayer
she asked the Grand Duchess if she was ready to accept the collar.

   "Yes, Priestess.  The collar is my Path in Life and I accept it."

   "Very well, Anyia Dukov."

   The attendant handed the Priestess a special set of clamps specifically
for permanent collars.  Anyia felt the metal surround her neck.  The
Priestess placed a small flat piece of wood under the open latch of the
collar to make sure her skin would not be pinched when the device was
closed.  She nodded at the attendant, who squeezed the clamps.  The collar
clicked shut and the Priestess removed the wood.

   "Stand up, Anyia Dukov."

   Anyia stood up.

   "The Church will always refer to you Anyia Dukov, because to us, that is
who you are.  However, when you leave this Temple, the world will see you
as the Grand Duchess.  You will serve; the Church as Anyia Dukov, and the
nation as the Grand Duchess."

   "Yes, Priestess."

   "I will summon your father and your husband to escort you from the
Temple.  My understanding is that you are to perform a service for the
public today."

   *****

   Anyia discovered that the Temple had an underground pool and bathing
area beneath the main floor.  Normally the area was off-limits to anyone
other than Clergy members and attendants, but the Priestess decided that
Anyia should be properly cleaned up before leaving the Temple.  She ordered
a male attendant to take Anyia downstairs and bathe her.  She also decided
that because the Grand Duchess was about to make her first public
appearance after being collared, it would be important that she be properly
shaved.

   Anyia expected another frigid bath, but the pool was fed by a natural
hot spring that had been the reason that location was chosen for the Temple
3,000 years before.  While the attendant watched, the Grand Duchess
gratefully immersed herself in the hot water and allowed the soreness from
all that walking to wash away.  When the attendant called her attention,
Anyia got out of the water and knelt.  The attendant led her to a wash room
and told her to stand with her hands behind her head.  He shaved her
armpits with an old-fashion straight-edge razor before turning his
attention to her vulva.  He lathered her with soap and quickly scraped away
the final vestige of any modesty.  He ordered her to get on her knees and
stretch forward so he could shave the small amount of hair remaining on her
backside.  She felt his fingers spreading her labia and moving her skin so
he could remove everything.  Whenever the Grand Duchess knelt, everyone
present would have an unimpeded view of her vulva and sphincter.  Once she
was properly shaven, the attendant ordered her to return to the pool.

   A few minutes later the Anyia's father and husband showed up at the
Temple to retrieve her.  They were initially surprised that the Grand
Duchess already was collared and that the ceremony had not been made
public. However, the Priestess explained that Anyia's collaring was between
her and the Creator and that there was no purpose in making that into a
public spectacle.  The Priestess then told the two men what she had told
Anyia; that she was strictly prohibited from ever talking about why she had
been collared.

   The Priestess then sent for Anyia.  She was freshly bathed and shaven
and naked as a person possibly could be, with the pale skin of her recently
shaved vulva contrasting with her tanned body and highlighting its
exposure. It was obvious her personality was deeply changed, just by
looking at her.  She was quiet and seemed to be withdrawn.  The Grand Duke
and the Prime Minister realized that she was in no mood to converse about
anything, so as they escorted her from the Temple they left her alone with
her thoughts.  The Grand Duchess was grateful for the few moments of
silence.

   Once on the street the group was escorted by two cops as they walked to
the Parliament Building.  Anyia quietly followed her father and her
husband, trying to ignore the shocked expressions of passers-by.  She knew
that the entire nation would have their shock later that day, because she
had to attend a public event dedicating Danubikt Moskt's new power plant.
As the Grand Duchess, she would be the most important person at the
ceremony, which would be televised.  All of Danubia would see her exposed
body on their television sets that evening.  If it was a slow news day, it
was likely the fact Danubia's Grand Duchess was publicly naked would make
international news.

   Anyia cringed as she entered the Parliament building.  As her father led
her and her husband to his office, dozens of deputies and staff members saw
her naked body.  She noticed most of her spectators cast glances not only
at her attractive figure, but also at her collar.  She felt a small relief
as she entered the Prime Minister's office, but she knew the relative
privacy would be only momentary.  She also knew that, at that moment, the
people who had seen her were telling their co-workers about having seen the
Grand Duchess wearing a Church collar...  and not just an ordinary Penance
collar, but a lifetime collar.

   Dukov's receptionist let the group into the back office, where a lawyer
from the Interior Ministry already was waiting.  Dukov took his place
behind his desk, while the Royal Couple and the lawyer stood together.  As
soon as the Prime Minister was still, the Grand Duke and the lawyer saluted
and the Grand Duchess went to her knees.  Vladim saluted back, ordered
Anyia to rise, and ordered his guests to take seats.

   "You will understand that, as salaried employees of the National Parks
Service, you will need to review and sign contracts to continue performing
your duties to the nation.  The Minister of the Interior has prepared
contracts for both of you.  Please review them, and if you find the
conditions acceptable, you will sign."

   The Royal Couple followed the Prime Minister's order to read their
contracts.  The positions of Grand Duke and Grand Duchess were described as
"historical ceremonial performance", a term that typically was used for any
public employee paid to perform historical re-enactment on properties owned
by the National Park Service.  The contract outlined health benefits, a
salary, specific duties, and also included causes for dismissal and
grievance procedures.  One major difference from an ordinary contract was
that the agreement stipulated that the Royal Couple had to reside at the
Royal Residence and perform their duties on a 24-hour basis.  Another major
difference was that the position was only semi-hereditary.  If at all
possible any new Grand Duke should be a direct descendent of the previous
Grand Duke, as long as that person was qualified to hold the position.  In
the case of breach of contract by the current Royal Couple, the Interior
Minister had the right to dismiss them.  In such a case, all direct
descendants of King Vladik the Defender would be eligible to apply for the
position of Grand Duke or Grand Duchess, from which a panel of history
professors would choose the most qualified candidate as a replacement. 
Treating other National Park Service employees with disrespect, any contact
with foreigners not previously approved by the Prime Minister, and any
financial transaction not approved by the Minister of the Interior were
included as grounds for immediate dismissal.

   *****

   Later that afternoon the Grand Duchess of the Republic of Danubia took
her position with her husband and her parents at the entrance of the new
power plant.  The ceremony was typical of such an event, with traditional
dancers and music, as well as several songs performed by the children of
the new plant's employees.  When the singing was over, the unclothed Grand
Duchess passed out flowers and prayer cards to the multitude of children
crowding around her.

   No one said anything about the naked Grand Duchess, because doing so
would have been an act of disrespect towards the Danubian Church.  However,
throughout the event the news cameras focused on documenting Anyia's body
and there were plenty of spectators and plant employees who wanted pictures
of her.  She had to kneel in the traditional position of Penance during
parts of the ceremony, placing her shaven vulva on full display.  The news
cameramen had no reservations about getting close-up shots of the Grand
Duchess while she was kneeling.  Anyia was well-aware of her exposure, but
she was performing Penance and had forfeited her right to any modesty.

   That same night, Anyia's fans and admirers watched her performance at
the power plant dedication ceremony on television, transfixed by the idea
she was performing Public Penance.  Because the public did not know the
real story behind what had happened the previous week, most of her audience
assumed that she was collared because she had regretted her materialistic
lifestyle and "the evil worship of cloth", as the Church put it.  That
assumption had a strong impact on thousands of young women who had been
following her wardrobe.  The Grand Duchess had repented of her materialism,
inspiring many others to do the same thing.  Over the next week hundreds of
young people, mostly women but also some men, reported to Churches and
Temples around Danubia to ask for collars and start performing Public
Penance as a gesture of rejecting fashion.  Many of those admirers took
oaths to remain collared as long as the Grand Duchess remained collared,
not realizing that she was wearing a permanent collar that would never be
taken off her neck.