Princess Roxie Rides Out
The hooves of her horse clattered on the bridge over the Silver River as she left the city of Ystragarth. The sun was rising behind the Hexen mountains, the mountain they called the ‘Sleeping Witch’ was casting long shadows over the plains below.
Concern was etched into the face of Princess Roxandra. Where was Tarathala, her younger sister? She should have come home yesterday! It is only a morning’s ride from Draen, it is a good road, how could she have come to harm?
She should have raised the alarm, but Tara had sworn her to secrecy. Of all the people in Ystragarth, only Roxie knew of Tara’s love for Shevak, the only son of King Sciuridan of Heidraen. They’d been lovers for many months now, but had managed to keep the secret from all, but especially from Sciuridan and from the King of Ystragarth, Hengentre. The two kings loathed the sight of each other, the two cities had been at war for so long that no-one could remember what had started it.
Although things had settled to an uneasy peace, Shevak had been betrothed to Princess Blaire of Aestrador, as part of a treaty sealing an alliance between Heidraen and Aestrador, an alliance which could only spell trouble for Ystragarth; and both Tara and Roxie were promised to princes from Solithage…
So Roxie had much on her mind. Prince Thommorr of Solithage disliked her almost as much as Princess Blaire resisted her marriage to Shevak.
And Roxie had an even bigger secret of her own.
One day, she had been bathing in the Silver River, nude, when, to her surprise, a stone had plopped into the water a few feet away. She’d turned in alarm, and there was Princess Blaire, looking stunning in the afternoon sun, as she’d slipped out of her clothes and entered the river. For a while they’d played in the water like children, but then, in the warm sunshine on the banks of the Silver River, Blaire had shown her what it meant to be loved by a woman. Gentle, unhurried, caresses, the feel of Blaire’s tongue on her tumescent nipples and clitoris, a tumultuous orgasm that she would remember until she died. And she completely understood why Blaire could not love, or be loved by, Shevak in that way. Nor, she knew, could she in her turn ever love Thommorr.
What a tragedy that Kings and Queens use the hearts of their children as weapons of war! Roxie had tried to tell her mother, Queen Barbaria, that she could not marry Prince Thommorr, but Barbaria had flown into a rage, and threatened to thrash Roxie within an inch of her life if she didn’t do as she was told and mend her contumacious ways!
She hadn’t dared tell Barbaria of her love for Blaire, she knew that, politically, Barbaria would never stand for it. However, emotionally, it could be different, as the stories told in the taverns of downtown Ystragarth had reached Roxie’s ears, stories of Barbaria’s sapphic and incestuous love for her own younger sister, Queen Penelope of Aestrador… but……could that really be true? Sisters? Nominally sworn enemies? If it was true it could bring the whole order of the Four Cities of the Silver River to chaos…
Tara had shown no sign of any knowledge of this, when Roxie had hesistantly told her of what had taken place between her and Blaire. Tara had not been shocked; she and Roxie had always been close, and in return for Roxie’s confidence had told her of her secret assignations with Prince Shevak deep in the Forest of Draen; and how the very next day, when her parents though she would be spending the day with the sage and High Priestess, Eulalia, in the Northern Forest, she would in fact be turning south towards the Forest of Draen.
So Roxie’s mind was a jumble of love, secrets, and concern; but concern was uppermost as she guided her faithful stallion, Philo, on to the road that she knew her sister must have taken.
She had no guard, trusting only in her sword, strapped to her back, and in her faithful horse.
The sun climbed higher as she first followed the river and then took the road toward the forest, that avoided the perils of Heidraen. She passed crosses, these were a common sight, especially here near the silver mines, where the slave miners were routinely punished with the cross for the slightest misdemeanour. The lucky ones were tied up, and released after a while, the unlucky ones were nailed to their crosses to hang until they died. Their naked bodies blistered in the sun – these were slaves from the mines, they never saw daylight. At first their bodies were white against the dark wood of their crosses, but soon enough they turned lobster pink in the intense heat.
These were of no interest to Roxie; occasionally they’d crucify someone worth looking at but usually they were toothless ruins, wrecked in the mines, or skeletons from whom life had long since passed.
But she’d ridden an hour since passing the mines, and so she thought it odd when a further cross came into view as she rounded a bend in the road. The victim had his back to her, but she wasn’t overly concerned, probably some farm slave caught stealing and dealt the ultimate punishment by his master – life was cheap, and slaves were cheaper.
But as she drew close she began to realise that ‘he’ was a ‘she’, and it wasn’t every day that she saw a girl crucified. Since her encounter with Blaire female bodies were of greater interest to her than male ones. She altered Philo’s course to take a closer look; it wasn’t far from the road.
Still working on the farm slave theory, she drew alongside the cross.
She screamed, and Philo reared up in startled surprise.
It was Tara.
And she was dead.
“Tara! Tara! My God, what have they done to you? Tara? Tara! Speak to me, please, my lovely sister, speak to me!”
But it was no use. Tara hung lifelessly, blood dried where it had flowed in streams from the nails in her wrists and feet. Her body was scarred and bruised, and it was obvious not only that she had died, but had died with more than the usual cruelty meted out to crucifixion victims.
She called for help, none came, and then she considered that whoever had done this might not be far away. But she couldn’t leave Tara here – no way!
Philo supported her as she used her sword as a tool to price out the nails, and, as carefully as she could, she succeeded in getting her sister down.
She stood for a moment, her dead sister in her arms. Sciuridan and his henchmen must have done this. The implications of this were overpowering. Hengentre and Barbaria, infuriated and bereft, would instantly declare all-out war on Heidraen. Aestrador would fight wuth Hendraen – she and Blaire would be enemies, not just political enemies, but on opposing sides in a bloody war. Could she bear that?
What alternatives did she have? Hide the body here somewhere? She could not bear to think of Tara, disposed of like old rubbish, rotting forgotten in an unmarked grave.
“I’m sorry, Tara. I’m sorry, Blaire” she said, through her tears. With Tara’s body on the horse with her, she set a dismal course back toward Ystragarth.
The hooves of her horse clattered on the bridge over the Silver River as she left the city of Ystragarth. The sun was rising behind the Hexen mountains, the mountain they called the ‘Sleeping Witch’ was casting long shadows over the plains below.
Concern was etched into the face of Princess Roxandra. Where was Tarathala, her younger sister? She should have come home yesterday! It is only a morning’s ride from Draen, it is a good road, how could she have come to harm?
She should have raised the alarm, but Tara had sworn her to secrecy. Of all the people in Ystragarth, only Roxie knew of Tara’s love for Shevak, the only son of King Sciuridan of Heidraen. They’d been lovers for many months now, but had managed to keep the secret from all, but especially from Sciuridan and from the King of Ystragarth, Hengentre. The two kings loathed the sight of each other, the two cities had been at war for so long that no-one could remember what had started it.
Although things had settled to an uneasy peace, Shevak had been betrothed to Princess Blaire of Aestrador, as part of a treaty sealing an alliance between Heidraen and Aestrador, an alliance which could only spell trouble for Ystragarth; and both Tara and Roxie were promised to princes from Solithage…
So Roxie had much on her mind. Prince Thommorr of Solithage disliked her almost as much as Princess Blaire resisted her marriage to Shevak.
And Roxie had an even bigger secret of her own.
One day, she had been bathing in the Silver River, nude, when, to her surprise, a stone had plopped into the water a few feet away. She’d turned in alarm, and there was Princess Blaire, looking stunning in the afternoon sun, as she’d slipped out of her clothes and entered the river. For a while they’d played in the water like children, but then, in the warm sunshine on the banks of the Silver River, Blaire had shown her what it meant to be loved by a woman. Gentle, unhurried, caresses, the feel of Blaire’s tongue on her tumescent nipples and clitoris, a tumultuous orgasm that she would remember until she died. And she completely understood why Blaire could not love, or be loved by, Shevak in that way. Nor, she knew, could she in her turn ever love Thommorr.
What a tragedy that Kings and Queens use the hearts of their children as weapons of war! Roxie had tried to tell her mother, Queen Barbaria, that she could not marry Prince Thommorr, but Barbaria had flown into a rage, and threatened to thrash Roxie within an inch of her life if she didn’t do as she was told and mend her contumacious ways!
She hadn’t dared tell Barbaria of her love for Blaire, she knew that, politically, Barbaria would never stand for it. However, emotionally, it could be different, as the stories told in the taverns of downtown Ystragarth had reached Roxie’s ears, stories of Barbaria’s sapphic and incestuous love for her own younger sister, Queen Penelope of Aestrador… but……could that really be true? Sisters? Nominally sworn enemies? If it was true it could bring the whole order of the Four Cities of the Silver River to chaos…
Tara had shown no sign of any knowledge of this, when Roxie had hesistantly told her of what had taken place between her and Blaire. Tara had not been shocked; she and Roxie had always been close, and in return for Roxie’s confidence had told her of her secret assignations with Prince Shevak deep in the Forest of Draen; and how the very next day, when her parents though she would be spending the day with the sage and High Priestess, Eulalia, in the Northern Forest, she would in fact be turning south towards the Forest of Draen.
So Roxie’s mind was a jumble of love, secrets, and concern; but concern was uppermost as she guided her faithful stallion, Philo, on to the road that she knew her sister must have taken.
She had no guard, trusting only in her sword, strapped to her back, and in her faithful horse.
The sun climbed higher as she first followed the river and then took the road toward the forest, that avoided the perils of Heidraen. She passed crosses, these were a common sight, especially here near the silver mines, where the slave miners were routinely punished with the cross for the slightest misdemeanour. The lucky ones were tied up, and released after a while, the unlucky ones were nailed to their crosses to hang until they died. Their naked bodies blistered in the sun – these were slaves from the mines, they never saw daylight. At first their bodies were white against the dark wood of their crosses, but soon enough they turned lobster pink in the intense heat.
These were of no interest to Roxie; occasionally they’d crucify someone worth looking at but usually they were toothless ruins, wrecked in the mines, or skeletons from whom life had long since passed.
But she’d ridden an hour since passing the mines, and so she thought it odd when a further cross came into view as she rounded a bend in the road. The victim had his back to her, but she wasn’t overly concerned, probably some farm slave caught stealing and dealt the ultimate punishment by his master – life was cheap, and slaves were cheaper.
But as she drew close she began to realise that ‘he’ was a ‘she’, and it wasn’t every day that she saw a girl crucified. Since her encounter with Blaire female bodies were of greater interest to her than male ones. She altered Philo’s course to take a closer look; it wasn’t far from the road.
Still working on the farm slave theory, she drew alongside the cross.
She screamed, and Philo reared up in startled surprise.
It was Tara.
And she was dead.
“Tara! Tara! My God, what have they done to you? Tara? Tara! Speak to me, please, my lovely sister, speak to me!”
But it was no use. Tara hung lifelessly, blood dried where it had flowed in streams from the nails in her wrists and feet. Her body was scarred and bruised, and it was obvious not only that she had died, but had died with more than the usual cruelty meted out to crucifixion victims.
She called for help, none came, and then she considered that whoever had done this might not be far away. But she couldn’t leave Tara here – no way!
Philo supported her as she used her sword as a tool to price out the nails, and, as carefully as she could, she succeeded in getting her sister down.
She stood for a moment, her dead sister in her arms. Sciuridan and his henchmen must have done this. The implications of this were overpowering. Hengentre and Barbaria, infuriated and bereft, would instantly declare all-out war on Heidraen. Aestrador would fight wuth Hendraen – she and Blaire would be enemies, not just political enemies, but on opposing sides in a bloody war. Could she bear that?
What alternatives did she have? Hide the body here somewhere? She could not bear to think of Tara, disposed of like old rubbish, rotting forgotten in an unmarked grave.
“I’m sorry, Tara. I’m sorry, Blaire” she said, through her tears. With Tara’s body on the horse with her, she set a dismal course back toward Ystragarth.
I for one would love to hear more about the intrigues of the cities of the Silver River!
. The writing was first rate as usual and really drew me in! And the fact our two lovers are going to be fighting each other soon...oh I can only think of so many exciting battle scenes between the two warrior princesses...
The sound of a big crash behind you one of the most distinctive in the world!
I was new here too a little while ago! I hope you have as much fun as I do on this site!