He shouldn't have teased his sister chapter 12

By Jasmine Monica
They settle a few last minute issues and prepare to travel to the Shattered Isles
Pattenia and Serren settle some issues on their own
Chapter 12

Seraphine watched the two teens in front of her. They held each other's hands, and she could see the love in their eyes went deep. This was still going to be an incredibly difficult thing for them both.

She said to them, “I know you aren't looking forward to this at all. Ryan is going to hate this, and so will you, Veronica. A marriage in the Church of Serren is very strict. First off, it's done in the customs and language of the Shattered Isles. I know both of you have studied early English and you know the language well. You better brush up on it because that’s how the priest conducts the marriage. And then, the honor and OBEY part is very serious in the church of Serren. You, Veronica pledge yourself to Serren and swear to obey him and be under his guidance and protection for the rest of your life. He will swear to guide you and protect you. There’s more, but that is the basic concept. And since this is a mutual marriage, you both will speak your part and make your vows. They are very much from the middle ages and came from the second age. If this wasn't a mutual marriage...”

Veronica asked, interrupting her mother, ”How could it not be?”

“The church of Serren does contract marriages where the wife may not agree, but her disagreement doesn’t matter, the priest marries her to the man and bonds them anyway. It's a custom from the middle ages that they still do today. That's what Pattenia was facing and why she was so desperate to do what she did. Laws here prohibit such marriages and they aren’t legally binding in any way. But the people who do this are in the culture of the Shattered Isles and that binds them anyway. And since you two are planning to travel to the Shattered Isles, this marriage and the bond will be binding to you two. This will be serious, but you are going there to change the culture. Now, have you thought about how you are going to accomplish this?"

Veronica thought for a second and said, “Well, once we get there, the first thing we are going to have to do is to make contact with the young prince Bismark and find out what he really wants. Tabitha said she still has some people within the palace and they can help get the Prince out so we can contact him. I think it will be simple after that if what Tabitha says about him is true and he wants to be transformed into a girl.”

Seraphine spoke up and interjected, “But Bismark has been removed from the line of succession anyway so transforming him won't really matter. Turaun has made his youngest son Otto his heir. Just like when Serren was transformed and most people then agreed that he could not inherit the crown as the younger sister.”

Veronica smiled cruelly. “I think it will be easy to handle Otto. Just like Bismark fears his fate as King. I think Otto will understand once we explain the curse and being stuck in Hel serving the Goddess of Death. I think he will reject being the heir then and want no part of it. The only problem then will be dealing with Turaun. There are a few things we can do. We can use threats to get him to comply with us. Threaten him with having an accident and be removed. Or we can try to reason with him and see if he wants to break Serren's curse and start a new age or continue with it which will result in him being condemned in Hel for all time with his children and future descendants, suffering eternal torment and suffering under Hela's cruelty for all time. Or, he can break the curse. If he doesn’t see reason, then we can always do it the hard way. Do you think there's a chance your father can be reasonable, Tabitha?”

“There's a chance,” Tabitha said hopefully. “My father isn’t stupid. If we are united. Even my mother, Nemeria, supports me in this. If we all confront him together to try to get him to see what will eventually be his fate and what his children fear. Him and his children being condemned in Hel for all time. Serving and suffering under the Goddess of Death, not being dead but not being alive either. He may finally see it and help us. I just don’t know.

"The problem is Serren and his madness. He is a god to them. His words and the culture he designed with his own will is unquestionable. But Turaun was the first king in centuries to dare question it. He refused to kill me at birth because he loved me so much. And he has questions about Serren. I think there is a good chance we can get him to see reason.”

“But what about his opinion of the Hekatin?” Asked Veronica.

Tabitha replied, “He hates them. But the problem is that their conduct and what they did is nothing to really be proud of. Most men rightfully fear the Hekatin's agenda after they revealed their hand on Serren. Men don't want to be powerless under them any more than we want to be powerless under the priests. They are two sides of the same damn issue and we must change that. There must be equality and unity. And we have to get the men to see that we are a new breed of Hekatin that has no intention of subjugating the men under our fist.”

“That was my intention,“ said Millicent. “I wanted equality between the two sides. I wanted an age where men and women were equal. But the Hekatin's zeal for a rule of women and Pattenia's first few edicts really ruined it. Men saw her order that only women could inherit and that the crown would go to the eldest girl. They saw that and the Hekatin starting to form a rule of women over them. They resisted as soon as Serren started to rally them against her. My age of equality never happened. But the problem was the priests. We had to first destroy them and we needed the Hekatin to destroy their power over society first. Unfortunately, the men saw that as the rule of women being re-established, and it never got the time to be reformed. Maybe we can do it right this time.”

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Serren stood there proudly in his bedroom next to his bed. Serren, the powerful self-titled God of War, the first divine king of the Shattered Isles, worshiped and revered by his people. The conqueror of the Shattered Isles and the destroyer of the Hekatin and their rule of women proudly stood there next to his bed. It was an ironic image, he stood there wearing his elaborate lacy pink Gown and crushed in his tight constricting corset. His very ample cleavage was threatening to spill out of his gown's very low neckline. Perched on his bright red heels. And he was having trouble controlling the leakage from between his legs after having bent over his bed for the past hour until his husband finished with him. His very large and powerful husband, Thor.

Serren turned and passionately kissed his husband on the lips and slipped his tongue in his husband's mouth, tasting him. Serren loved his husband. Hela thought this would be suffering beyond his imagination, but it wasn’t in any way. It was thought that such a strong man being turned into a woman and a wife would be humiliation and suffering, but Hela didn't really understand Serren's contradiction at all.

Serren, as a child nearly a thousand years ago, had been a man's man. He was suddenly turned into a girl at sixteen in one of the most traumatic and horrifying ways possible. It became a living nightmare he was unable to escape from. His sister turned him into a girl and then proceeded to humiliate and abuse him. She took his life, and everything from him and left him with nothing. Serren was able to find some sort of peace and joy as a woman. He adapted better than anyone could have thought possible. But his sister's cruelty prevented him from being completely happy as a girl. Her cruelty and abuse made any real happiness impossible and he simply could not allow it to continue. Serren fought Pattenia and regained his manhood and proved to her that he was a force to be reckoned with. He showed Pattenia that what she did was a tragic mistake. He thought he had just cursed himself with his deal with Hela. He didn’t know he had cursed his entire family and all of his future children to service here. The Goddess Progenita had great plans for Serren as the princess. But Serren did not know that. All he knew was the suffering that had been inflicted on him and the agony of losing everything in an instant. And the agony of being trapped in a life he wasn't meant for.

Hela had thought that turning him into a girl would be a crushing humiliation but it was really a blessing. Serren adored being a woman, and he loved his husband Thor. And now, after almost a thousand years, there was hope to break this curse.

The latest king of the Shattered Isles was beginning to question the way things were. He was not totally brainwashed by the dogma of the religion. His son Bismark did not want to rule the Shattered Isles and wanted to become a woman. Bismark reminded him of himself at that age. The only thing is he was not afraid to reveal his nature. Bismark had approached his sister and begged her to turn him into a girl. Turaun was going to get a bigger shock from his youngest son Otto. And his daughter and her friends were about to give him the shock of his life. It was going to be fun.

He knew this all had to happen. Turaun needed to allow this change to occur. Serren had to turn against them now. Turaun did not know what he was starting. Sure, his nation was generations more advanced than the rest of the world and his power was immense. He was leading his nation into war and he would likely destroy the United States Navy. The Shattered Isles was an island nation with over a thousand years of experience in war at sea. Their fleet was very powerful and they would likely devastate American military and strategic assets. But that would leave the United States with only one option left and they would do it. The U S would then unleash its nuclear arsenal on the Shattered Isles. The Isles had anti-missile defenses but not enough. And once the U. S. did that, other nations would respond, and it would be a global disaster. Turaun needed to be replaced. The entire society he created needed to fall. Serren now knew he had made a mistake, and he needed to help correct it.

But Serren also knew that Veronica and her friends wanted to rescue him. There was no need for that, but it had to be done for the good of everyone. Perhaps a second chance is what he needed. But, after everything was done, Serren would want to return to his husband. But maybe then he wouldn't be stuck in Hel.

A curious smell in the air caught Serren's attention. It was an unpleasant smell he knew very well. It was the smell of rotting flesh. It was an overpowering sickening smell that filled his entire bedroom. He looked up to see her. She was a horrifying and sickening sight. Hela appeared in his bedroom, smirking as best as she could. The rotting flesh was hanging from her arms as she stood there. Pieces of flesh hung from her body, and her legs were so thin they were skeletons. The rotting flesh on her face was so thin that her face was a skull. This was Hela, the Goddess of Death, and she was much more powerful than Progenita. Serren made the deal with her to imprison and kill Progenita. He made the deal to accept a curse on himself and he had killed Progenita.

The Goddess laughed, “I can sense you have hope that this curse can be lifted from you, little girl.”

“Yes,” Serren said with a smirk. “Veronica can do this. And Bismark won't use the power you have granted to my family at all. He won't end up cursed. No matter what, this curse will be broken, and you will have little choice but to release me when Veronica comes. Haven't you had enough frustration with me anyway? Nothing you did hurt me.”

Hela laughed at Serren. “After being such a glorious and mighty man and self-titled God of war. Coming here and becoming a woman was a shock that took years for you to accept. You suffered a lot and gave me so much delight. And then making you marry Thor and become his wife. That also took a lot for you to accept. Being deflowered by your husband that first night was great. I saw it crush your masculine pride, and he did it over and over and you had no choice. Don't tell me you didn’t suffer. It took you years.”

Serren shook his head. “No, only a few months at most to accept Thor as my husband. And now, for over eight hundred years of pleasure and delight as his beloved wife. Even if the curse is lifted, I will still stand by his side.”

“But Veronica wants to change everything,” Hela pointed out. “She will make me release you in your own time period for a second chance. And there will be a catch when I do. You will be a clean slate, just as you were the first time and you won't know Thor, or this curse. Or the results. You will be reborn as an infant with no knowledge of this. And we will see how it goes.”

“With Veronica there overseeing the events,” Serren smirked wider.

“Except she will have to contend with the society and your arrogant father. Her chances will be slim.” Hela returned Serren's smirk, certain that Veronica would fail in her mission.

“I think that my feminine nature will be stronger this time. And my beloved Thor will be waiting for me. There is much to look forward to.”

Hela laughed bitterly and replied sardonically, “Yes, I didn’t know you had such a strong feminine nature when I cursed you. You made it all into a blessing. I can understand your sister's frustration in how you turned everything she did into a blessing. She turned you into a girl, and you excelled at it and became very happy and popular. You were much stronger as a girl than a boy. Then you became pregnant and you felt so much joy instead of bitterness and humiliation. But her treatment was what ruined it, and she got to enjoy that. Until you rebelled. She has not been happy here at all.”

Serren laughed, “Yes, married to Runtick for 800 years. Being his wife. She deserves it. I have one request if this is going to happen, Hela.”

She looked at him with her shrunken eyes and asked, “What is it?”

“If I am to be reborn and try again. Make me into the most beautiful woman in the entire Kingdom.”

“I will contact the Goddess of beauty, Freyja. But, Progenita did go through a lot of effort to recraft you into a stunningly beautiful woman. You want to be even more beautiful?”

“Yes,” Serren said confidently. “I want my beauty to be unequaled.”

Thor spoke up at this point, "I will make it happen. You will be prettier and wiser than even the Goddess Freyja is. Even Hela fears her power.”

Thor saw a brilliant smile on Serren's face and felt like laughing. His feelings had grown for Serren over the years. Serren was precious. He knew that Serren would fall for him, and that's why he agreed to Hela's request that he take Serren as his bride. He knew Serren had a feminine spirit and was even able to see it. He knew this would happen, and Hela didn't. She was very shocked by Serren's acceptance of this marriage. Hela was actually pissed, and it was only Thor’s protection that made sure that Hela didn't destroy Serren. They were married and Serren was under his protection now. Hela just had to deal with it and not harm Serren anymore.

Serren was still a very powerful woman. Her spirit was unconquerable. By contrast, Pattenia's spirit was very weak. She was spiteful, cruel, and very malicious. Progenita made a disastrous error in making Pattenia her vessel and King. She wasn’t fit to be king and it caused Serren horrible suffering. The big problem then was what was done to him didn't need to be done at all. It was a horrible injustice on him and made him feel like a sacrifice. His sister Pattenia even said so. She said to Actonia the night before his transformation, “If he needs to make a sacrifice for the women of the Shattered isles, then he will make that sacrifice.”

That meant his feelings didn’t matter. He was irrelevant, just something to move out of the way. He didn’t matter, his feelings and dreams were irrelevant. He was nothing but a human sacrifice, and that pissed him off. No one really cared about him or his feelings. And they paid more than they could ever have guessed for that injustice and cruelty. If there was to be a second chance, things would have to be done very differently.

Veronica and Tabitha, and the witches she personally trained were now preparing to travel to the Shattered Isles to make those changes to the country, and confront the King. Serren knew they were headed into danger. He turned toward his husband Thor and pleaded, “Please, my beloved husband. Protect them and make sure they are successful. And make sure that Turaun sees reason.”

He kissed Serren deeply and replied, “I will, my love. I know how important this is to you.” And Thor vanished. She already missed him. He knelt and prayed that his husband was successful. Then he prayed to Freyja to make him beautiful for Thor.

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Pattenia sat in her room alone wearing a tight constricting corset and a heavy elaborate pink lacy gown. Two of Serren’s women came into her bedroom early and dressed her according to his desire. She knew this was revenge for the women she sent to dress him day after day, giving him no say in how he was dressed. So she sat there stiff from the corset and humiliated. She now knew that the way she had treated Serren was very wrong.

Her memories went back to the time when she first seized the crown of the Shattered Isles from her brother and the pride she felt at her new found power and how she wielded it. She remembered those first glorious months she wore the crown and how hurt her brother was at the loss of his entire life. He hated her then and wanted to murder her. But she had done some great things. Within the day, she held a council and declared the worship of Progenita the state religion. She lifted all of the edicts that forbid the worship of the Goddess. Preventing worship of the Goddess became a crime against the crown. That was resisted but her force of will pushed it through despite all of the objections. Then she declared that the crown will go to the eldest female. She remembered the celebrations went through the night. The Hekatin celebrated and the bells tolled for their new found freedom and it was all her doing. Then she declared contracted marriages to be illegal. She worked hard to make things better for everyone and to start a new golden age for the people. She enjoyed making things better for the people she now ruled. There was resistance and she fought a minor rebellion from the family that she had been contracted to wed into. And she won that war. She brought women into the army and made great progress. But it was only to last a little over a year.

During that time, her brother’s anger grew, and turned into a rage at what he had lost,wanting it all back. He felt cheated. He told her that she stole his crown. He took control of his new family through intimidation and force. Then Serren forced the Hekatin to restore his manhood. He retrained himself to fight and became twice as good as he was before.He then formed an alliance with his new family, the Malnaes, and brought in the Onseys and the Anseys. He spent a little over a year reforming the Ansey army after their defeat by Pattenia and started a war. The Shattered Isles went into a civil war and Pattenia did her best to defeat Serren. Serren exterminated her witches in those lands and restored the rule of man over women.

Pattenia quickly found out that Serren was a great military commander. Engagement after engagement, he defeated the armies she sent. He was always several steps ahead of her and knew her army’s weak spots and exploited them. He defeated her even when he was vastly outnumbered and she thought she had her brother’s forces in a trap. But in reality she had been the one that really marched into his trap and came back totally defeated. Even when she tried her trick with the Griffins and huge War Hawks like she did in her war on Ansey’s Isle, did not work. Serren had trained his forces to counter them and the Griffins and Hawks were killed. After the warh he hunted them all down and hunted them all to extinction.

That is when she knew that Serren was fighting a war with no mercy. He exterminated entire cities and burnt them down. Like when he landed on Wensey’s Isle. Wensey was the first family to rally to her after she seized the crown. Serren invaded and exterminated every member of the Wensey family and burnt their castles and cities. The leading members of the House were all executed. She watched as Baldic and his sons and daughters were all hung, drawn and quartered. He didn’t treat the Fawnaes much better. The Denaes were mostly lost when she had seized the power and turned Serren into a girl. Pattenia was all that was left and no one wanted to marry her and surrender their family name to her. He hunted down every last member of the Denae family and killed them. She lived long enough to watch Serren undo all of her progress and destroy her legacy. She was totally vilified while Serren was honored and celebrated through the land as their liberator. He was the savior and the conqueror of the Hekatin. He saved them from the witches and solved that problem for all time. But, Serren had committed a genocide by then. He exterminated all first born girls, and killed much of the Hekatin.

But out of everyone, Pattenia figured that Serren’s wife, Nemeria suffered the worst. Serren considered her marrying him as his husband to be a betrayal of his love. She forced him into it. During his pregnancy, he didn’t really have the will to fight it and went along with it then. He delivered his twins and fought for his life back. He restored his manhood and began beating her into submission and restored his status as her husband. Then he declared the rule of man again and took control. Then Serren declared that first born girls of every noble family must die. Making an example with hiseldest daughter Blaze. He killed that infant girl in front of Nemeria.

Pattenia knew she had done wrong when she started abusing Serren over and over and having him humiliated and abused. His anger grew and grew and he refused to forgive her.

The big issue was that she didn’t see how Serren had become a powerful member of the Hekatin. He had come to believe and love the Goddess Progegita. He became a very devoted believer of the Goddess and saw her mission to free the women. He did understand it all. He was very loyal and loved her, and agreed with her mission at first. The sad thing was it didn’t mean anything to her. Pattenia didn’t care. She had a lifetime of resentment and hatred toward her brother and didn’t care about his transformation. She wanted to see him humiliated, and to suffer as she had suffered. So his devotion and love turned to hate and he became a monster devoted to undoing all of her progress. He took control and restored the rule of man just to spite her. He knew he was wrong but he didn’t care either.

Pattenia would have liked to enjoy that Serren was again turned into a girl here, and forced to live as a girl. Then to top off the humiliation, Hela had forced him into a marriage with a strong powerful man. But Serren seemed to adapt to it, and even enjoy the life. Serren fell in love with the man he married. But he still hated her with a passion and did everything possible to make her life here a misery.

Pattenia had hoped that she would finally be forgiven after eight hundred years. But she had not been. She knew that her little brother Serren still harbored intense anger at her after this much time. The pain of what she had inflicted on him did not go away. She had been trapped in a loveless, crushing marriage with Runtick for this long, never getting easier. She was married to him when she arrived here in Hel with the Goddess of Death conducting the wedding. That was to be her punishment and eternal torment. It seemed fitting to Serren, and this wedding was what prompted her to rebel and execute the plot to change her little brother and seize the crown from him. He seemed to think she hated him for being a boy, but that wasn't it. So, trapping her in the same marriage was her eternal punishment. Serren was happy with it.

His fate was to be a girl and she saw him a few times in the eight hundred years they’ve been in Hel. Strangely, he seemed very happy, and he was even happier with his enormous husband, Thor. How could Serren be happy as a girl when he was so miserable while he was living as a girl, and how could he ever adapt to having a husband over him? It was totally mystifying to her. But, Serren seemed to have a talent for turning a curse into a blessing.

She should not have been surprised that a spell called the Blessing would end well and make him happy. And she had been told he would be happy as a mother, so why was she so shocked and surprised and resolved to take it away from him?

Now, after eight hundred years, it was not a surprise at all. She knew why he was so angry and was willing to do anything to strike back at her in any way possible. Even to the extent of doing what he did with such joy. It was not a surprise anymore.

Once three of the powerful noble families rebelled under Serren's leadership and inspiration, she knew everything was lost. She had been warned before the change that if that situation wasn’t avoided it would then turn into a nightmare. All of their lives were in danger. It was inevitable in hindsight. Being under the women's power was the men's worst fear, and everything appeared to be leading in that direction, and all they needed was a spark to strike. Serren provided the rallying cry and it happened. They went through great effort to avoid that. It was thought that dressing Serren as a girl and forcing him to live that life would turn the men against him. Instead, it only inspired them. Serren used it to inspire resistance. Then it happened and the rest was lost. Serren killed the Hekatin witches and restored the rule of man over them. Pattenia should have known that with Serren's strength, this would never work. No matter what they did, Serren would hate it and use everything he had to undermine and destroy them.

Serren seemed to blame her, their mother, and the entire Hekatin, for every injustice and abuse he had endured from then on. He blamed her for his rape at the hands of Prett and his friends, even though she had nothing to do with it. It didn’t matter. He blamed her for it, saying that if she had not turned him into a weak, helpless girl, it wouldn’t have happened. He blamed her for all of the pretty comments and how everyone dismissed him from then on because he was only a girl. He blamed her for the second assault he suffered at the hands of Prett when he was released. He blamed her for everything.

Then he blamed the women and sought to conquer them and destroy Pattenia’s progress. Territory after territory fell to Serren’s rule of man. City after city fell. The families that stood with Pattenia fell too. His march was unstoppable and temple after temple also fell to Serren’s army. Then he killed the Goddess herself. The witch moon vanished from the sky and the Hekatin witch’s spirits fell. They knew they would be destroyed and there was nothing to stop it now. Their liberation was very short lived and only a few of them knew this was their doing.

His rage and anger could not be understated in any way. His anger was immense, as was his response. Later, she asked him why he was so cruel to them, and his answer was stunning. He only wanted them to see his strength, and that it was wrong to sideline him. He also wanted them to know they had made a mistake, and it was going to cost them all a lot.

But now things appeared to be happening that might undo it all. There was a second chance coming and she would welcome it. Only this time, she would stand by her brother against them. Serren was right. The Hekatin was evil and needed to be destroyed. She would not join them this time. She would not blame her brother for her life. They must stand together this time.

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Seraphine had found the right priest to marry them, and the two lovers had filed their paperwork in the church to be accepted as members. Veronica had taken the test to show that she knew about the religion and the Book of Serren. She had gone through the introduction ceremony and pledged to obey the religion and follow the priests, and Serren in the Book. Ryan followed her and pledged to do his part, and they were now ready for their wedding.

None of it was a surprise to Veronica. She had studied the hateful book. She knew what was going to be expected of her and her life. She was going to have to forget about being a powerful woman and learn to be submissive and follow Ryan's lead on things and obey his word as if it were a command. She also knew he was going to hate it and may not ever want to be a man after this. She hoped he did want to continue being a man. Ryan was a good man.

She looked into Ryan's brilliant brown eyes in the shadow of the darkened room. They had a few minutes alone together before the wedding. She knew Ryan had serious doubts about this and said to him, looking into his eyes. “Ryan, I know this will be very difficult for you.”

Ryan looked at her with a serious expression. “And for you too. You will be surrendering everything to me, Veronica. I hate having to do this to the one I love. How can anyone consider this love is beyond me. They are scum.”

“I know,” confirmed Veronica. “But we have to do this. It is the only way, and then we will be able to stop it. But first, we need to be accepted as part of their society. A horrible injustice and a tragic mistake occurred eight hundred years ago. This is the only way to correct it. Ryan, you need to be strong enough. The priest will sense any doubt you have. We must profess our love, accept our obligations, and the mark of Serren on your hand. We will be bound for all time. I love you, Ryan.”

They held each other and Ryan knew she loved him. Veronica embraced Ryan as they held each other tight. It was about time to begin and walk into the chamber with the priest and his assistance to be wed to each other. Veronica knew she loved Ryan so much. Ryan was bewildered by the events in the past few weeks. He went from a changed and persecuted girl to being rescued and then engaged to one of the most powerful witches of this generation. How was this possible?

The two walked into a massive darkened chamber lit only by candlelight. It really looked like an ancient church from the thirteenth century. They stood in the center of a large circle with the priest in front of them. He wore the darkened robe of a priest from the church of Serren. There were images of Serren on the colored stained glass and a large statue of Maxis standing over them. Pattenia tried to destroy the religion, but she failed in the end when Serren rescued them and then appointed himself as their god.

The priest began the ceremony with Veronica, of course. They had to make sure she fully understood this marriage and was agreeing to it. That was more vital than anything else at the moment. He assumed the man would be all for this. Normally, the womans concent to the marriage was vital in the United States. But not the way they were going to perform the marriage using magic. It still helped in some cases if she was willing. He spoke to her in his natural language, hoping that she would understand.

So, he looked at Veronica and asked her if she fully read and understood a wife's duty as outlined in the gospel of Serren.

Veronica agreed, “Yes, I have, Sir. I consent to this wedding.”

“Do you understand that you will be placing your life, your body, and your soul under your husband's guidance and his protection? This is no small commitment. He will be your guide, your protector, and your master. You will submit to his guidance in your life and devote yourself to his happiness. Is this understood and agreed to?”

“Yes, sir, I agree. I love Ryan.” She looked into Ryan's eyes to make sure he was staying strong for this. It would be terrible if he backed out of it now. “We intend to make a life in the Shattered Isles after our wedding.”

“That is good,” replied the priest. “I wish more of you would stay here and spread the word and our culture in the US to fight the defilement of the sexes here. But it is your choice.”

“So, you will devote yourself to your husband's happiness and his life. You will love him and remain by his side. You will fulfill your duty as his wife. You will never displease him or refuse or argue with him. He will become your guardian and your master, to guard you against your feminine sinful and treacherous womanly nature. You will also guard yourself against that.”

“Yes, I do.” She replied strongly.

Then he turned to Ryan and he braced himself for the nonsense he needed to agree on. That's how he saw all of this male domination. The priest said in early English, the language of the Shattered Isles, “You, Ryan, will love your wife, Veronica, and remain by her side. You will be her master, and protector for her life. You will remain vigilant of her sinful nature and guard her against sin, her natural female treachery, and evil. You will be firm and loving toward her, even if she is naturally incapable of really loving you in return. It is just a woman's nature.”

“Yes, I will.” He replied in the language of the Shattered Isles.

With both parties in agreement, the priest ignited the circle they were standing in and he started chanting in early English. The flames rose as the two teens pressed their palms together and gazed into each others' eyes. The priest spoke of this sacred commitment they were making to each other and chanting a spell. Then he marked the husband and the wife with runes of their commitment of marriage to bond them for life. Then Veronica was marked on her heart with an obedience rune and Ryan as the master of the marriage. The flames rose higher and higher. It got hotter in the circle until it was almost unbearable as the priest kept chanting. The heat seared the runes into the teens. Veronica could handle the pain, but Ryan seemed to start complaining and then screaming out in pain from the heart of the flames of the circle. It was really painful.

Then the flames were sucked into the two teens as a sign of their marriage and the ceremony was done. The priest told them where they could get a visa and permission to enter the Shattered Isles. And where an embassy was.

The experience was truly traumatizing to Ryan. He was a regular mortal until a few months ago and didn't understand or comprehend what had just happened. They walked out of the church a newlywed couple and got in the car. Ryan turned to his new wife and demanded harshly, “Why didn't you warn me about that. We were enveloped with FLAMES. I was on fire and it hurt, Veronica. I know it had to be done, but you could have warned me that was what a witch wedding consisted of.” He nearly snarled.

Veronica looked over at her new husband and replied,” No, that is not a typical witch wedding at all. This is a wedding in a church of Serren that bonds the wife to the husband's authority for life. We don’t typically do that at all. This bonded me to you, and I am almost compelled to obey your will. We don’t do it that way at all.”

Ryan felt really sick. He never wanted to do anything like that to her. Ryan started hating these people for pushing him into this. He turned to look into Veronica's eyes. His eyes were inflamed, and he said with a tight jaw, “These people need to be destroyed, and I am so glad to be a part of it. Let's get this done. But, Veronica, is there a way to undo this?”

“Yes, I think my will is strong enough that I can resist. And we can undo it when the time comes. Now, all we need to do is find the Shattered Isles consulate and make arrangements to emigrate. Then link with the witches there and make plans to turn the young Prince Bismark.”

Ryan groaned and said sarcastically, “You make it sound so easy.”

Veronica giggled and said sardonically, “I never said it would be easy. But it is doable if we do it right. It will be mostly up to the other witches and me. And I will have to go to Hel alone. You can't go there. That will be my job alone. I have to rescue them.

Veronica parked at another house to pick up the other witches Tabi had trained. The witches that fled the Shattered Isles with her when her plot was discovered by the Authorities. Tabi was there and they all packed into the car. Tabi was their leader, then Michelle, Julie, Arcadia, and Vankia piled into the large luxury car.

It was then that Veronica wondered if this would really work. Her mother Seraphine said it would. The identities of the witches would not be discovered when they filed for travel and immigration to the Shattered Isles. Seraphine had got them all new identities, except for Veronica but she was unknown, and Ryan couldn't be helped. She had already got him his identification. He was the weakest link among them all.

Veronica wondered how the Shattered Isles authorities would react to his six months of dressing and living as a woman and then reverting back. From what she had heard, the Shattered Isles had a little problem with transsexuals. If a man wanted to become a woman among them, fine. But then they would have to live that life, including the restrictions and life chosen for them. The priests would allow it but wonder why any man would subject himself to such a life. But it was done. And a man that had chosen to live that life and revert back after deciding it wasn’t for him would be a plus in the priests' view.

Tabitha and the other witches were strong. Their link to the Hekatin would not be discovered. Tabitha was Mary now, and her being the Royal Princess would not be discovered. Seraphine was confident of it. That included the numbers that were tattooed on the outside of the girls' arms. Those numbers signified the girls were condemned to death. Those numbers were removed by the Hekatin here. And they had been taught to suppress their power deep within them so the witch hunters could not detect them.

They all went through the formal introduction, and many of the girls laughed and were impressed with Ryan's marriage to Veronica and thought it was slightly funny. They all oohed and made other embarrassing gestures at first. They were all headed toward the Shattered Isles consulate in New York. It would be a long drive for Veronica.

So, after the initial discussions and some playful comments about the marriage, many of the girls started falling asleep or listening to music on their headsets.

About halfway to New York City, Veronica heard Ryan giggle lightly at a thought he had. Veronica looked over, while keeping her eyes on the road. She asked, “What is so funny, Ryan?”

“Just a thought I had about Serren. It’s slightly embarrassing for them all and it is something that I read but is rarely talked about. It was his transformation to a woman and how he was treated by the priests who loved and supported him as a man. That part is not really talked about that much, but it is funny to me.”

Veronica laughed. “It is a big black mark on the priests. It showed their stupidity. But that part was a big part of the witch's plan and supposed to be a lesson to Serren. The priests saw Serren's change as a sign from above that he was unworthy and did not have Maxis' blessing. He did, but the priests didn’t know. And then, they all turned their back on him. For instance, days later, he was able to escape his royal escort and flee to the Temple of Maxis and beg for help. There was no help to be had from them. They treated him as a girl, which was the witch's plan. He was seen as a helpless girl and subject to that treatment. He was alone and helpless. The priests mocked him, belittled and even threatened him. They would not help him. It was stupid, none of them knew what was coming from Pattenia and no one would help them either. Pattenia destroyed their power and ran them from their temples. Serren would finish the job when he retook his power. The lesson the witches hoped he would get, weren’t understood and made no sense to him. Pattenia was in control and started the reign of women. It was supposed to be a liberation but it wasn’t for Serren. The lesson fell flat and just angered Serren. It was embarrassing all around. But it did seal the priests' fate. He took control of the church, reformed it around his divinity and power. The old priests were executed with the Hekatin. They are no laughing matter now. The priests are powerful and vicious. Be aware of them, and don’t underestimate them,” Veronica warned the girls, and Ryan. “That would be a fatal error.”

@@@

Veronica had finally made it to New York City in her car full of teenage girls and her new husband, Ryan. They found the Shattered Isles consulate and pulled into the parking lot. The girls had woken up and prepared themselves for a very unpleasant time. Vankia felt a small giggle threaten to escape her lips as she thought of the irony of this mission. But it was no laughing matter in any way. They had barely escaped the Shattered Isles alive. They had been captured, marked with numbers that signified they were sentenced to death. They had been imprisoned in a horrible concentration camp that was basically an extermination camp for the condemned to die. They had been tortured and brutalized. They escaped and fled the country and made it to the United States with luck and a lot of skill. Now they were committing a deception to return to the Shattered Isles. Vankia wondered if they were all sane to try something so crazy.

Veronica knew what they all must be thinking, and they seemed to look to her as their leader. Even Tabitha was doing it who at first hated Veronica was doing it now. She had come to respect the girl. Veronica said to her new girls, “This is going to be dangerous if we succeed. We are going there to rescue a persecuted child and help the young prince find his way. We are going to try to overthrow the entire regime and we must succeed. A catastrophe happened eight hundred years ago due to stupidity and arrogance which resulted in future generations of girls being condemned to misery and death. It must be corrected, and it has fallen to us to try it. Be aware of what we are going into, we must be mad to try such a dangerous thing at our age, but we are the only ones. Remember now, we are not witches. Don’t even think of our abilities. They don’t exist, take off our jewels and our pendants, and everything that marks us as a member of the Hekatin. They are bound to have witch hunters in there. They can't do anything to us here, but they can deny us entry, or let us enter and blunder into a trap. Either outcome would mean we have failed. The women there as well as future generations of women are relying on us to succeed. So, let's go free them.”

Veronica wondered how inspirational her speech was to the girls looking up to her. They all seemed riveted to her every word and seemed to be inspired by it. Veronica figured it was good. They were all inspired to do something incredibly stupid.

Veronica had called in ahead of time and made an appointment and explained what they wanted. It was about time so everything should be ready. The people there should be waiting for them. The girls all followed Veronica around the corner of the building and entered the large glass doors to the Consulate of the Shattered Isles. It was a very secure place and Veronica saw the imposing armed guards dressed in black suits and wearing Kevlar. Then she saw the robed witch hunters dressed in their robes with the insignias and badges on their chest. Everyone in the building looked at the newcomers with extreme suspicion. A group of American girls coming into the consulate of the Shattered Isles was bound to arouse a lot of suspicions. The Witch Hunters wouldn't take their eyes off the group of very suspicious looking girls who just entered the building. The girls made sure their abilities were suppressed deep within them. They approached an official in the front desk where Ryan handed her ID to the man and explained that they had an appointment.

It was all confirmed, and they waited until a very official-looking man left his office in the back and came to the group of girls. He introduced himself as a member of the state department of the Shattered Isles and immigration. He led the girls to his office and sat behind his desk. He also had the look of extreme suspicion. He asked for Veronica's papers and she handed him the papers that she had filled out, along with the papers that were given to her by the priest that married her to Ryan. Ryan handed his papers over and the one the priest gave him.

The man looked at them with an extremely critical eye and seemed to frown in the end. “I can find nothing wrong with any of this. Actually, you come highly recommended by a very high-ranking priest from the Church of Serren. I know him, and I respect him very much. And he explained what you said to him Veronica. You wanted to live a more simple life, with strong traditional values of what a woman's life should really be. You want to be valued, loved, and protected by your man in a society that respects those very traditional values. That's what the priest said you said to him. If it's true, I can understand and respect it also. Veronica, please explain in your own words why you want to give up this life, and emigrate to the Shattered Isles and live as part of that society.

Veronica looked at the man and said, “I don't feel like I have much here. I am living in a society that says I am equal and strong as a man and try to take away what it means to be a woman. I feel like I am living a false life here and I can't handle it. I have married Ryan in the church of Serren and I want to be respected by a society that has those traditional values and has not been corrupted by modern values. Can you understand, sir,” she said very submissively and respectfully. She felt like she was going to choke on the words she just said.

The man said that he understood and agreed with her. Then he dismissed the other girls and kept Ryan and Veronica there and subjected her to an intensive question and answer session in the language of the Shattered Isles. She passed and so did Ryan.

Then they were subjected to a very intimidating question and answer session with a powerful high-ranking inquisitor from the church of Serren. It was a grueling two-hour season. The man from the state department questioned all of the girls, then they had to face the inquisitor. They all passed in the end. Their documents were approved and they were given IDs from the Shattered Isles and approved for immigration to the Shattered Isles.

They slept overnight and the following day went to LaGuardia Airport where they boarded a Shattered Isles Airways flight going to Denaerk City.

After finding their seats they sat and getting ready for the long twelve hour flight to somewhere in the Mediterranean.

She saw the robed Inquisitor watching everyone. That must be security for the airline. He watched Veronica occasionally but kept watching everyone else. He didn’t sleep during the flight at all. The engines roared to life and they taxied onto the runway and then flew into the skies. She watched as they left behind them the United States on their way toward their destination.