He shouldn't have teased his sister chapter 11

by Jasmine Monica
The Americans figure out how to deal with the crises
Chapter 11

Madam President Shannon Marshal was wondering what she should do at the moment. She had been informed an hour ago that an emissary from the Kingdom of the Shattered Isles wanted to speak to her about their upcoming meeting with their head of state Turium. They were all going to expect answers very soon. She knew what they wanted and she wasn't sure if she could do what they would demand. From the tone of their demands and what she had been told of their King, she had a feeling that refusing their demands would lead their two states into war. The Shattered Isles would consider a refusal an act of war and respond accordingly. A huge fleet from the Shattered Isles was sailing toward them, so it was obvious that they were expecting a refusal. Turaun was expecting a war.

The President was sitting at a large conference table with the rest of her advisers and cabinet. The chairman of her joint chiefs, General Raymond King. One of their first five star flag officers since the second world war along with ther Secretary of Defense, Madam Halow, and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Nancy Ambar. They were all desperately trying to find answers to this problem that would not lead their nations into a war.

Most nations daring to threaten war would be laughed at unless they were a nation like the Russian republic, or the Peoples Republic of China. This was a large island chain in the pacific, somewhat like the United Kingdom. But they had a massive fleet with very advanced tech that was roughly a generation ahead of anything the United States had. This was nothing to dismiss out of hand. Raymond King had told her that this fleet could cause them damage and it seemed likely that they would blockade their ports. The United States had not been under a naval blockade since the war of 1812. She was at a loss here.

Nancy spoke up in the silence. “Madam President Being that your your campaign was based on respecting civil liberties and that as an American President you are duty-bound to uphold such liberties, I think you only have one available response. We know what their king wants. Their ambassador strongly hinted at it. They want the return of their citizens to face punishment in their homeland. These people came here and asked for legal asylum. Their reason was religious persecution and their Princess Tabitha and many others are sentenced to death there. We cannot, in good conscience, return them. To do that would not only betray everything you claimed to stand for but everything you represent. And we know how their nation operates. Our ambassador to their nation has stated repeatedly that living among them is a nightmare. He said it was the hardest post he ever served in.”

They needed to know more so Marshal looked at her Ambassador to the Shattered Isles and asked, “You have lived in Denaerk for years now. What can you tell us about their society and their nation?”

“Their country is a nightmare,” said the United States ambassador to the Shattered Isles. He had lived there at the United States Embassy for several years. “I have prepared a few videos for you all to watch. I was allowed to record a few of their rallies and ceremonies before I left to report to you.”

He looked up at the screen on the wall and pressed a button on his remote and the image of a huge rally appeared on the screen. There were tens of thousands of uniformed soldiers arranged in enormous military columns in the center of some massive stadium. They were standing in front of a huge gleaming statue of Serren in his full armor, holding his new sword, Revenge, high in the air and wearing his crown. He was immortalized there for all time. Standing under the statue on the raised platform overlooking the soldiers was their King Turaun, wearing his military uniform and holding the same enchanted dark sword.

The Ambassador spoke, “This is a military rally I was allowed to observe before I left. It is chilling and you may have trouble understanding them so I will translate for you.

"First, every soldier and officer knelt in submission and prayed to the statue of Serren, their first Divine King of the Shattered Isles. Then they all started singing and saluted their King Turaun."

The Ambassador used a laser pointer to indicate, “That is their national anthem and see their flags of the War Hawk flying in the air. The War Hawk is the symbol of the house of Denae. I hate that Anthem and I heard it every morning. Hear how aggressive and militaristic it is and it also speaks about men being honorable and holding power forever. It also speaks about the glory of King Serren and the downfall of Pattenia and the rule of women. It's a terrible song but they love it and sing it before every rally. And hear this other song they sing. It's just as aggressive and militaristic. This is an ancient song from the age of Maxis that they love to sing about the everlasting glory of Man and the soldier. Now listen to Turaun. I will help you understand.”

King Turaun started giving an aggressive and bombastic speak. It was incomprehensible to most of the people in the room so the Ambassador helped translate. He spoke of his glory as the King and his divine right. Then his upcoming meeting with the American president and the witches that lived there. How they may have got control over society and the government if they weren't careful of the witches' deception. But now, the religion of Maxis was spreading in some American states. Then he hoped the woman president would be reasonable to him but they doubted it because no woman can reason and that's why he had called for a mobilization of the army and that they were preparing for war against the United States. And the soldiers must prepare for victory.” On the film, the soldiers cheered and chanted the name of their King.

President Marshal spoke up, “Why can't I understand him? I thought they spoke English in the Shattered Isles.”

“They do,” The Ambassador replied. “But they speak a very early dialect of the language that is incomprehensible to modern English speakers. It's more Saxon than English as we know it.”

Then they watched Turaun rile up the soldiers more and more with his talk of victory and the danger of the witches living in America. Including his villainous daughter Tabitha who ran away.

“Their country is a medieval nightmare. Especially for women. They revealed themselves to the world about a generation ago and it was a big shock to them. We didn't even know about the Shattered Isles before that. They had isolated themselves much like Japan did after their civil war.

"Serren lost the crown to his sister and fought a brutal civil war to regain the crown. Then he clamped down on womens' freedom and persecuted their witches. They fled the country and then he shut the country off from the rest of the world.

"They only recently opened their borders and made contact with the other nations and their attempts were almost comical. Like watch this video of their emissaries in the UK trying to establish diplomatic contact with them not even knowing what country they are in. You see them dressed as they are twenty years ago going into Morpeth asking to see the King of Northumbria.” He laughed.

They all laughed at the image on the screen of them walking in dressed as knights and such, asking to see the King of Northhumbria. They all laughed.

“Those people were almost institutionalized. Same result when they went into Tamworth asking to talk with the King of Mercia. Those first attempts were a disaster and almost got their emissaries institutionalized for mental illness. That is until they realized these people were real diplomats from some medieval nation that didn't realize those early English kingdoms had unified and called themselves the United Kingdom now.

"But they didn't make that disastrous mistake again. They sent out people to research and study the new nations of the world after that and made successful diplomatic contact with many Asian and European nations after that. Still, most of the world was horrified by the arrival of this new nation on the world stage and how they treated their citizens. Especially their women. But this new nation was exceptionally powerful and cannot be ignored.”

He cast his eyes down in sadness. “Living there among them has been a nightmare. But someone must do it. But that is one of the most horrible countries I have ever had to represent the United States diplomatic interests in. Women are savagely oppressed in that country. They call it the Rule of Man and it's no joke. Women have no rights.

"In Saudi Arabia, they are treated as Minors and need a guardian to speak for them and give them permission to do almost anything. The Shattered Isles makes that look progressive. In this country, they can't even go out without a man escorting them. They are treated like mindless animals. And a woman is executed almost daily for some reason there. They can't speak for themselves and any attempt to be an individual can get them in big trouble with the inquisition. And they hunt witches relentlessly.

"They believe in witches and fear them and it goes to their first King Serren which we will get to shortly. That is one crazy story. But they have witch hunters and an inquisition. It is their firm belief, started by Serren, that women are cruel and their nature is treachery. They believe they can't trust women at all. Women must be controlled or killed. Men hold all positions of authority. Not women. Women are forbidden to hold any power. Even the mother has no say in anything. Trying to speak out can be dangerous.”

He let that hang in the air and then continued,” They have a very strict religious theocracy and their society is very militarized. You see the statues of their first great King Serren and they pray to it. They study from the Book of Serren. They also have a religion of Maxis. They used to worship him but he has been superseded by King Serren who defeated Maxis and placed himself as the head of the religion and declared himself a God and a divine King. They pray to him and ask for his favor in battle.”

The president said, “That is about what I expected. So tell me about Serren.”

Their ambassador played a video on the screen where a great number of solders were kneeling and praying to a statue of Serren and asking for his blessing for an upcoming battle. That was before they departed on their fleet heading toward the American east coast.

“Serren is their God King. He was their first king in the new age. The Story says a bunch of witches including members of his own family, his own sister and mother turned him into a girl on the day he was supposed to be coronated as their new King at sixteen years old. And they treated him very cruelly.

"He was beaten, humiliated, he suffered the life of a woman and they forced it on him. He was given no time to adjust, then he was abused by males, molested, assaulted and raped. Then his sister used witchcraft to impregnate him. He suffered a pregnancy and gave birth to twins.

"He started studying witchcraft and became a very powerful witch himself/herself and eventually got found allies. Then he returned to being a man and waged war and won. Then he began savagely oppressing the women and killing all of the witches. He lived from 1263 to 1347. He died during the black death in the fourteenth century. He was a mighty ruler and a great warrior from what we can see.”

The president was very distressed at the news so far. Then she said, “I see your point. But I am afraid that we may have to do as this nation asks to maintain friendly diplomatic relations with them. Now, bring in their ambassador and let's talk with him.”

A guard opened the door to the conference room and let the ambassador to the Shattered Isles enter. Few of them were shocked by this man's appearance. He walked in wearing medieval black robes of a priest. At least his sword was taken by the Secret Service but he clearly had a scabbard for the sword. It was empty. He walked in and sat down across from the female president.

The American Ambassador spoke up, “Madam President. Do you see that insignia of the flame on his robe? And that medallion he's wearing around his neck and that symbol on his arm.”

She nodded.

“He is a witch hunter and a high-level member of the Inquisition. And that symbol means he has murdered women with his own hand. He has killed witches.

The President turned to the newcomer and asked, “Why has your country sent a witch hunter of the inquisition as a diplomat to speak with me?”

The man looked up with an arrogant sneer and snapped, ”My King needed to be sure that none of you were part of that infernal order of witches we call the Hekatin. You never know with women.” He smirked at the President and the other females in the room. “They cannot be trusted at all. But, luckily that infernal order has not compromised the executive branch but it is only a matter of time. I am happy to report that it has not happened yet.”

The President frowned, “The Hekatin, what is that?” She asked trying to be reasonable to this arrogant man.

“The Hekatin are an ancient order of female witches that nearly destroyed our entire nation. They tried to take over and destroy everything we stand for,” The Ambassador sneered arrogantly. “Those women chose to destroy an innocent boy who never laid a hand on any of them and crushed his spirit and his life. They were evil just every woman was and that’s why we can't allow women in power in our country to have power. The men in your country should follow our example.

“And if any of us were members of this Hekatin?” inquired the President.

He frowned. “Then any negotiations would be no use and the results would be very unpleasant.” He said darkly. “But none of you are Hekatin. But since you are still women, my king has a feeling that you will be unreasonable as women usually are.”

“Can you explain why you have nearly five hundred heavy warships headed toward both of our coastlines,” the President asked threateningly. “Some may consider this a hostile act.”

“Because your country is ruled by women,” the Shattered Isles ambassador snapped. “The ships are prepared for that. We seriously doubt women are capable of being reasonable so they are headed toward your coastline.”

“We are very capable of being reasonable,” The present replied. “What is it you want so badly?” The American President inquired.

The ambassador smirked arrogently and reached into his leather briefcase he was holding and pulled out some papers. He looked across the table and said, “You are the director of intelligence. You are the head of the Centrel Intelligence Agency, from what I am told by our intelligence.”

The man across from the Ambassador nodded, “Yes that is my position here.”

“Good,” The Ambassador smirked knowingly. The smirk sent chills down everyone in the room. It was a ruthless knowing smirk. “I have been given this information by our Security administration of the Shattered Isles. My king has instructed me to give you this information.” The Ambassador handed the stack of papers to the man across from him.

The man read the first paper and the room saw him suddenly lose all color in his face. He was shocked. He didnt know that many details of specific operations happening. But he knew enough to be horrified. He sudddenly asked, “These are names of our opretives within the Shattered Isles. I assume all of those names are people we have operating within the Shattered Isles. How did you come by this information?” He assumed one of them was selling out the other agents. “Who gave you this?”

“No one,” The Ambassador replied with a chilling smile. “We have our ways. As you can see, those are the names of each and every agent you have operating within my country. Every one. And you have no traitors selling out his other agents. We have strict security and we can tell who is supposed to be there, and who isn’t. Who is not where hes supposed to be, we can tell these things and we have our ways. We also know other nations have agents spying on our operations. We are about to clean house as you say.” He smiled an evil cruel smile.

“Will you at least give us time to withdraw them,” The Secretary pleaded.

“I have a better proposal. If we can reach a deal, then your agents can remain there and alive. Only if we can reach a deal. And then, we may give them something more. Perhaps we will allow one of your agents to have a big break in his case and find out some of our really secured military projects and stumble on vital information and documents. If we can reach a deal. If not, we will make an example of them all.”

The President demanded, “Okay, so what is it you want?”

“We demand the return of the Princess Tabitha Denae, and her other accomplices. Those women fled to your country and requested asylum in your country. They are traitors and highly dangerous people. We need them returned so they can face justice.”

“In the interests of maintaining friendly diplomatic relations. I will grant your request. You only had to ask. If you consider it this important to your nation, we will grant your request to return your criminals. You can tell your king that.”

Their ambassador smiled warmly and nodded, “I am glad we were able to resolve this issue without hostilities. We had not been expecting that. I will be happy to inform my King that your country is willing to help us.

He stood up and nodded.

This had been very unexpected. Women were usually so unreasonable and unwilling to compromise. Especially when they get power, they tend to be very unreasonable and it leads to chaos. But sometimes, some women in power can be reasonable. Especially those that had been trained and are submissive. This woman may be one of those women who are naturally submissive to male authority. He thought to himself as he left to inform Turaun this great news.

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Tabitha and Veronica were sitting beside each other with Ryan on Veronica’s other side. Lady Fawna and Seraphine was sitting across from them with Tabi's Mother Millicent with them. Millicent began the discussion. “We called you here because we have a very serious problem. A crisis has occurred and we need to accelerate our plan.”

Veronica and Tabi looked alarmed. “Accelerate how much? “

“Now, actually,” Millicent replied with a very serious look. “Our president has totally conceded with the King of the Shattered Isles to return the Hekatin, and you Tabi, to face judgment there. We need to move now as authorities will be coming for you. We need to change Ryan to a man today and prepare you all for your mission to the Shattered Isles.”

The teens looked very alarmed. Tabi asked, ”How could the president do that? She totally conceded to their King. I was assured we were safe here. How could this happen?”

It was Seraphine that replied this time. “The President was backed into a corner. She had no choice and was bound by their treaty and international agreements and law. Like when American criminals go overseas, we have various extradition treaties with other nations that they are bound by that treaty to return them here for trial. We had the same treaty with those nations to return their criminals whether we like it or not.

"We have a treaty of friendship and cooperation with the Shattered Isles and that includes extradition of criminals. The President was bound by that agreement if she wanted to maintain diplomatic relations with them, and not war. Their ambassador made it very clear that they were very prepared to go to war over this. They want you badly Tabi. We must move right now. Veronica?”

Veronica looked up.

“You have been studying the Book of Serren haven’t you?”

She nodded with distaste in her mouth. “Yes, I read it all. I learned their religion. I know what I will have to do. Ryan also read it and knows his part.”

“Good, and you read the history of the Shattered Isles and all about their religion, culture and history. So you two will know what's expected. When we restore Ryan’s masculinity, you two will have to get married.”

“If this works,” Millicent boldly said, “then you will be helping correct a horrible mistake that I made around eight hundred years ago. And there's even a possibility you can prevent it from ever happening. But that will be more difficult.” Millicent said looking at Veronica. “You have been given immense power for a reason, Veronica. And this is a great chance to make a huge difference in the entire world. Tabitha will be with you along with her accomplices.”

“Can you tell me what you mean when you say I can correct a mistake you made and maybe prevent it from ever happening?” Veronica asked.

Millicent braced herself and replied,”There are two things you could do here. First, you, Tabi, and her friends could go to the Shattered Isles and help her little brother Bismark become the girl he wants to be. And save him from a horrible fate. And then help her other brother Otto avoid that fate.

"Then Turuan would have no blood heirs. His family would face destruction then. It wouldn't save the Isles or overthrow the regime. You would have to confront Turuan and rescue him from his fate which would be harder but doable with your power Veronica.

"That's one of the things you could do. And the other thing you could do, and I would help you do it, is to go back in time eight hundred years and rescue Serren from his fate to prevent him from ever being changed and abused.

"That would require going to the date of Serren's birth and convince Aanya to teach him about the Goddess and to value women so he can be his sister's ally instead of her enemy. And then convince Gerrick to allow it to happen and help him. You would have to stay there for decades for this mission to help guide them and his sister to help and respect Serren.

"And for that, I would also have to teach you how to shield yourself from my power. I was a very powerful goddess back then and I wouldn’t be happy with you in that time. Your first mission would be to rescue Serren from his curse in Hel, and the Goddess of Death Hela. So that he can be reborn.

"We have spoken about the missions and decided you should do them all. First, rescue the Royal Family from the curse and help Bismark and Otto. That would break the curse for this time. Then go rescue Serren and his sister so they can be reborn again and then try to stop the curse from ever happening. I think you can accomplish them both. And if you do, I will give you the greatest gift you ever wanted. You will be born as a girl and experience a girl's childhood as she grows up. It's what you have always wanted.”

Veronica smiled with pure joy. But she wondered if she would be able to do what these women and the fallen goddess set for her. Could she go to Hel itself, confront the Goddess of Death, and rescue Serren and Pattenia from their eternal curse and prevent another brutal dark age that existed to the current day?

Millicent sensed exactly what Veronica was thinking and was afraid of.

"I know that the world considers that age the start of the end of the middle ages and the beginning of the renaissance, or the age of enlightenment. But it was still a very brutal age of warfare, cruelty, death, and that women had little to no say in the course of their lives.

"Yes, there were some women rulers of nations at the time. But their rule hung on a spider's silk. Elizabeth faced many challenges to her rule and she could have relations with men. But she could never marry. If she married, then a man would take control of her life and her power.

"There was Ekaterina of Russia and her rule was challenged and stood on a spider's silk too. She had her husband killed and took control of the nation. And even then, she was often challenged by her sexist son Paul who challenged and criticized her rule and opposed a woman ruling. She had to be very careful with him and often excluded him from any power and went through great effort to make sure he was away from power. He still took power after her death even though she chose his son Alexander to succeed her. It was still a dark time for women, and for many people.

"This is why you need to succeed Veronica. This is Serren's mad legacy. Veronica, you know everything you need to succeed. You are the only one who can do this. It is up to you to prevent this dark age from happening.”

Veronica thought for a second and commented sadly, “I read about Pattenia in the history of the Shattered Isles. It seems that the golden age of women that she had planned on creating turned into her nightmare and Serren's Dark Age.”

Millicent nodded in acknowledgement. “That was my mistake and Pattenia's own doing. She could not give up her resentment of her treatment by Serren and the other men ignoring and belittling her. And the fact that he was chosen and not her. And her wanting a reign of women in general caused such a violent backlash against her.

"Serren's rage at what he lost and what happened to him caused such a violent reaction and hatred in him that he devoted his life to undermining everything she stood for and to destroy it forever. He succeeded and I should have seen his internal strength. He was bred and born for greatness and leadership. It could not be denied and he refused to be denied. And anyone who tried to would become his enemy and he was bound to win in the end. He could either be great, or the worst evil. He was largely a monster of our own creation and we can prevent that.

"That is your task now Veronica and, to do it, you must overcome me in my time and teach me a lesson I won't forget. So, can you do what you must, including what you need to do in order to even enter the Shattered Isles?”

Veronica looked down sadly knowingly, and said, “Yes, it will be difficult. But it must be done and I will have to totally demean myself.”

Then Millicent looked at Ryan and asked him, “Can you do what you must as a man, for Veronica and yourself to enter the Shattered Isles?”

Ryan looked down in shame and replied, “Yes, but I really don't want to treat Veronica like that. I know it's needed. But Veronica, if I do this to you, I will hate myself. I doubt I would even want to be a man anymore after acting like that to you. Do you think you could accept me as a woman?”

“Ryan, you are a man and you have proven it by how you act,” Veronica pointed out. “You hate being a woman. How can you consider this now?”

“It’s a feeling I have.” Ryan replied, “So could you?”

Veronica looked into Ryan's sad eyes and embraced him. “Yes, I love you Ryan. It will take getting used to your female body if that’s what you chose in the end, but I can accept it.”

Then Millicent said boldly, “Good, so now, let's turn Ryan into the man he was meant to be. If he chooses to return to a woman, we can do that after this mission. But Ryan, really consider what you will be asking. You have been miserable as a woman. I doubt you will be happy and you have nothing to be ashamed of now. You will be doing what is necessary in order to keep her safe. You will have nothing to be ashamed of. And Veronica knows it. It won't be a reflect on your character as a man in any way. Now, stand before me and prepare to become a man again.”

Ryan stood up in front of the women dreading this now. It had been all he could think about for months and had looked forward to being returned to a man. But not now, knowing what was going to be expected of him after reading a husband's duties in the Book of Serren. All he could feel now was dread. He couldn't imagine ever treating a woman like that. Even a cruel woman like Tabi. No woman deserved that and any man that would, was lower than scum in his mind. And now he was expected to do it, and the fate of the entire world depended on him acting like a misogynistic asshole. He wasn’t looking forward to this at all as Millicent put her hand on Richards chest and began chanting the spell to restore his manhood.

Millicent may have been a defeated Goddess that lost her powers. She was human but she was still an exceptionally powerful witch of the Hekatin. Ryan felt the tingling feeling as the witches' energy entered his body. The tingling spread through his body and he felt himself change. He felt his vocal cords strengthen and his voice deepen, that was the first thing he felt as his entire body distorted. His large breasts shrank into his chest and his skin thickened. His bone structure strengthened. His breasts shrank into his chest and his chest became layers of muscle. His shoulders widened. The soft curves of his face straightened into the hard angular lines of a man's jaw and face. His hips shrank and his entire body’s soft structure grew into layers of hard muscle. It was what he had hoped for since this had been done to him. He still felt the dread of what he was now expected to do with this new strength. Richard was a young man once again and he felt he should be delighted. But he was not.

He could have the life that he wanted now. He had his life and his very identity back. What much of the Hekatin and the Goddess didn't realize for regular humans and men is that much of their identity as a person is in their sex that they are. It's the same for women too. That is the core of their identity as a person. And when that was stripped from them, their identity and everything that they are was taken from them.

It must have been so much worse for Serren and Ryan wondered if any of them could begin to understand. Serren was the crown prince and meant to be king. He had trained and studied his entire life to be a leader and the greatest warrior in the entire Kingdom. So when he was changed into a girl and made the princess and Pattenia's little sister. His entire identity, his future, and life were stripped from him in an instant and he was left was nothing. Add to that, Pattenia took great delight in throwing everything he lost right into his face as she took his future for herself and left him with nothing but seething anger and rage. It was no wonder he lashed out the way he did. He wondered if the Goddess could begin to understand that.

Millicent looked into Ryan's eyes as if she sensed his thoughts about Serren and she replied, “I didn’t understand it then. But I understand it now. Much of what you thought was a total mystery back then and I could not understand his point of view or why he was so hurt and enraged at us. I was angered by his refusal and his hatred at us. I understand it all now. And this is what we must prevent from ever happening. I won't understand it when you come to interrupt my plans. I will be upset at these people coming in to change my plans. I won't understand why, but you must make me understand it as you protect Serren, and help him become the man he should be and help his sister know that she is loved and valued and respected. This will all be on you and Veronica and Tabitha. I hope that you can do it.

Veronica nodded that she could do what was expected of her. Then Millicent and Seraphine talked among themselves and then cast a very large and powerful spell. Millicent looked at Ryan and said, “Now people will know you are male again and accept you. They will think that the time you weren't here was you wanting to experience life as a woman. But now you are back and they will accept you.”

Normally Ryan would have disapproved of this choice. It would be humiliating having people think that the time Ryan wasn’t around was him wanting to live as a woman. He wouldn’t want them thinking that about him but now he didn’t care. That was a good choice in case he chose to return to that life after all of this.

Millicent looked at the two teens holding each others hands and said, “We now need to make plans for you to travel to the Shattered Isles. First, you two will need to get married by a priest from the Church of Serren, that way it will be accepted by their government. I know its uncommon for people your age to marry unless it's in a nation like this. But the situation demands you two must be bound together so Veronica will be safe there. Do you understand Ryan? And what you must do?”

He nodded sadly. “Yes, and I am really not looking forward to treating the girl I love that way. I know the situation demands it, and her safety will depend on me doing my part. And marrying her in the Church of Serren. I will do it for her.” How stupid did that sound? Ryan would marry her in the Church of Serren, dominate her, control her life in the way of the religion all for her. It sounded really stupid to Ryan's ears. But it was true. This was all for her. And he hated this.

Ryan wondered how Serren got so much power that he was able to bind and destroy a Goddess. Then replace her and make the religion centered around him. These were things that he doubted even these very powerful witches could even attempt.

Veronica saw Ryan's thoughts and replied. “Serren, then Serrenina, was so angered and hurt by what was done to her that she gave little thought to herself anymore. She wanted power and dominion over everything by then. She started studying and doing the Dark and forbidden arts. The very dangerous and forbidden arts with things we should never even consider.

"Serrenina summoned Death itself. She made a deal with Death in return for power. Serrenina called on the Goddess of Death, Hela from Hel. She made a deal for the power to bind and destroy the Goddess Progegnina. She didn’t care if that power would curse her with an eternity of subservience in Hel.

"So Serrenina spent months learning everything she could from Hela. She returned as the most powerful witch ever. She took control of the Malneys that she was then a member of after marrying their daughter and becoming her wife. She lost her last name and became a Malney. She took control of the Malneys by threatening their Lord, her father in law, by saying that if he didn't surrender control and abdicate for her, that he was going to have an accident like Gerrick did. Lord Malney said that even if that did happen, his elder daughter would take control then not her. Serrenina smiled at him and said what happened to Serren when he expected to inherit his father's position and title could happen to the Lord Daughter Jewel. Serrenina would seize power from her and take control by force but she will take power one way or another. It can be a humiliating and violent seizure of power that will destroy Jewel and she will be humiliated and suffer, or he can give it to her.

"The Lord agreed and he abdicated and gave Serrenina control of the house of Malney. Serren then reinstated the rule of Man on the Malneys land. Women were evicted from their positions of power, they were subjucated. The witches were killed or expelled and Serrenina reinstated the Church of Maxis and their witch hunters. Serrenina made an alliance with Onseys house and the defeated Anseys. She spent months helping the Anseys raise another formidable army and they allied and went to war against the Kingdom, with Serrenina leading them. We know the rest. Serrenina regained his manhood, waged total war, he was brilliant, powerful and unbeatable on the field and defeated Pattenia.”

Veronica let that all sink in and then she told her boyfriend Ryan, “Ryan, we will have to go to Hel, and see Hela herself to rescue Serren and Pattenia. If we want to change history and prevent that catastrophe from ever happening.”

“How can we ever even think of confronting Hela?” Ryan demanded loudly.

“Well,” Veronica said smiling to Millicent. “Once we help Bismark, Otto, and Turaun to break the curse on his family, Hela's hold on them will be weakened. Then she may be more willing to work with us. If not, we may have to do things the hard way but be aware she is a very powerful Goddess. Hela is the goddess of Death. She taught Serren how to subjugate and destroy Progenina.”

Millicent then asked, “What about Actonia. She is also trapped there serving for an eternity.”

“She stays,” Veronica snapped harshly. “She caused the whole catastrophe. She was the brains and the inspiration behind the whole plot to transform Serren and give the crown to Pattenia. It's her doing. She caused it; we don’t want her messing it up again. She stays in Hel and pays for what she did while we will try to make a better world.”

Millicent frowned. She wanted to protest that she was the inspiration behind it all then, Actonia was just doing Progegnina's will. But she knew Veronica was headstrong and had made up her mind. And Actonia was really eager to do it all. She relished in Serren's suffering and humiliation and did nothing to help him cope.

Perhaps Veronica was right. Without Actonia egging Pattenia on, Veronica could help the siblings learn to value and love each other. That would take a lifetime and they would have to arrive there on the day of Serren's birth to make sure he was raised right this time. He would have to be taught to respect and value women and to bond with his strong and adventurous sister. He would have to make sure Pattenia knew she was loved and valued. So that she wouldn’t grow up resenting and hating Serren.

Veronica looked down and then said softly, “Ryan, I have a feeling we will be spending decades in the thirteenth century. But first, let's prepare for a trip to the Shattered Isles today and we need to get married. My mother Serephine knows a priest from the church of Serren that can marry us.”