After relieving the village of Dore from its Viking occupiers, Drustina is angered to learn that the occupying Vikings have consumed all the stores gathered for the winter. Thus when the invaders returned to Yorvik they would leave the Saxon women and children to starve.
In an 'out-of-character' fit of revenge, Drustina decides to curb the Viking appetites for excess in a particularly malicious way.

The Angry Mermaid 90
Or
Y Morforwyn Dicllon 90.

Drustina was standing on the bank of the river examining the Vikings’ longship when one of the older village women approached her. She turned and smile encouragement.

“Yes lady? What d’you want?”

The woman kneeled low and clasped her hands in beseechment.

“How am I to address you madam? Are you truly the leader of this mighty band?”

“Yes and you need only call me Lioness. I don’t stand on title or ceremony.”

The villager’s eyes widened as her jaw sagged and her fear vanished from her countenance.

“Then it is true! You are the Lioness of Carthage!”

Drustina nodded impatiently.

“Yes I am woman, but I repeat, we have not time to stand on ceremony. Is there somewhere I can bathe? I have my season upon me?”

The villager’s eyes widened even further as she realised the goddess before her was admitting to that most female of conditions. Drustina saw the relief in the villager’s eyes as she was confronted with a problem she well understood and could readily solve. The menses was something that both levelled them and made the lioness mortal in every village woman’s eyes. The villager rose off her knees, smiled with no little relief and tugged Drustina to a building that obviously served as some sort of wash-house. Drustina recognised the stonework as Roman and realised the Saxons had simply taken over the building and added to it with wooden structure where the original Roman craftsmanship and masonry had either decayed or been struck. By now more village women had approached and the first villager instructed them.

“Start the fire! Make hot water for the Lioness sisters! Quickly now!”

Drustina smiled her gratitude and sent a written message to Carl.

“They have a hypocaust here husband. Send a messenger to our womenfolk then join me in the waters. You’ll love this!”

Drustina was pretty certain that all the village women were illiterate for there was nobody of any obvious noble rank. After she had set a charcoal stick to a piece of leather, the crude note was handed to a young woman who dashed off with the message.

“Our women will be pleased to learn of this,” Drustina declared as she examined the hypocaust.

The first woman asked in surprise.

“Are you saying there are other women in your band?”

“Of course. They are safely set aside but now it’s safe, we shall bring them down off the moor.”

“Might I ask how many?”

“Only a score or so; mostly my family and attendants, though some of my longstanding companions have their wives also.”

The villager’s face clouded.

“Now the great hall is burned, we may not have places enough. There were never any separate guest apartments anyway for we are but a small village.”

Drustina wagged her head as she explained with a smile.

“Woman, we have travelled all the way from Wessex, up the Welsh Marches, lodged at the great fortress of Deva then crossed the Pennines at Mancunium and slept in fields for all but a few nights. I’ll be sleeping under the stars again tonight, just as my men will. Find room for our women and you will have been hospitable enough.”

The relief was evident in the woman’s expression and the gratitude became evident as she chased the other women to be speedy with the water. While the fire heated the water, Drustina’s band fed only on their rations, which was cause for more relief and gratitude amongst the villagers.

Since the Viking raiders had appeared, nearly all the food including the vital food stores for the winter had been pillaged and consumed. Drustina was angered by the Viking’s greed and destruction for taking the stores meant for the winter would have condemned the villagers to a slow death by starvation. She decided to teach the Vikings a brutal lesson. While sharing her bath with her husband, she spoke quietly of her plan to Carl who smiled evilly.

“Take the youngest Viking; I saw one with what seemed to be his father or uncle. The kid cannot be more than sixteen years. Go into the woods and pretend to kill him. Find a wild boar, or preferably a couple of young ones; kill them and pretend we are cannibalising the boy to eat. Boar’s meat looks like human flesh especially a young suckling pig.”

Carl’s smile turned to a grin.

“You’re a bad bitch my lady but I love your ploy. Mind now, it’ll do no end of damage to your reputation!”

“Get the boy healthy again and we’ll make him the messenger to Harald. If that butcher can kill a sixteen-year-old lad then he’ll eventually know my sword or I’ll die trying. Failing that, I hope he finds death at the edge of another worthy Saxon sword.”

Carl nodded slowly as he concurred with his companion.

“There’ll be a long queue waiting to kill that one Dru. He’s committed many a foul deed.”

Drustina’s anger sat cold within her. There was a very personal reason for her wishing to meet Harald Coldblood again.

That day in The Havre when Cold-blood had encountered her during the Viking Cavalry exercises, she remembered the rape with no little anger. Even though she had not resisted and had given him every intimation that their forced union was inconsequential, the need to right the wrong lay like a hard stone within her. He had raped her and her revenge would be a desert best served cold.
The village women were shocked that Drustina, a woman no less, should find no fault in choosing to share her husband’s bath even while her menses flowed. They were even more surprised that Carl did not object. They were shocked to learn that Carl even knew of his partner’s times and dates.

Despite these cultural surprises the thing that stunned and stupefied them most of all was learning that Drustina owned both male and female parts in her own body.

True, she presented fully as a woman when clothed, and a very attractive, curvaceous woman at that but in the bath where the first Saxon woman attended Drustina and her husband, the Saxon villager almost dropped her bucket of scalding water when she espied the unbelievable incongruence.

“My God! It is true! The lioness is also a lion!”

“Careful with that damned bucket girl! Or the lioness will be neither but a scalded eunuch!”

The woman stood trembling as she regained her composure then slowly she chose her words.

“Do you consider yourself man or woman?”

“What do I look like?”

The woman mumbled grudgingly but respectfully.

“A woman my lady; and a very attractive one if I might say; pray, might I be so bold as to ask how came you by those awful scars?”

Carl interjected as he sat with legs parted wide and making no secret of his masculinity.

“They are all scars from battle lady. Sword, arrow, spear and fire no less; my wife has seen much bloodshed, more even than I have seen. I would add also that in addition to being a mighty warrior, she is truly a woman, and a mother ... and a father no less.”

The village woman fell silent. The information overload had left her dumb. When she sidled nervously from the room Carl turned and grinned to his companion.

“The tongues will be wagging soon. How long will we be staying here?”

“Until we get a response from Cold-blood or until I’m happy that the village is safe, that is, the men are returned from Edrinor’s army training.”

“That could be weeks. We might miss Ethelred’s wedding to Sonala.”

Drustina shrugged.

“We only attend as witnesses ... I think.”

“We are important witnesses though Dru. You seem to forget your importance sometimes. Remember, you have become a power in this land, an important military power; and furthermore, all the Brithonic chiefs I spoke to along the Welsh Marches accept you as a spokesman on their behalf. To a man they told me they had all heard of ‘The Lioness of Carthage’.

You have the power to weld these peoples into one nation Dru. Dore is but a small village of little importance; why do you bother with it when you have kingdoms and crowns in your hands?”

Drustina frowned thoughtfully.

“But we must remember the little villages Carl, the lesser beings in this great pantheon. It is from the little things that legends and sagas grow. Great oaks Carl; great oaks.”

“Aye; that’s the truth. Come on, the girls will be here soon, they’ll all be wanting to share the luxury of this hot water and we’ve got stuff to see to.”

He stood up as the water cascaded off his powerful shoulders. Drustina felt her loins grow warmer as she looked up and smiled while her heart beat that little bit faster. She secretly cursed that she was menstruating otherwise she’d have jumped his bones there and then. As they dried each other off she felt his calloused fingers accidentally graze her nipples and she sagged forward urging him to continue.

“Oops sorry darling,” he apologised as he went to snatch his hands away.

She reached out swiftly and gently returned them to her breasts.

“Don’t stop! That was delicious. Just be gentle, like you were just then. That’s right, just like that. Ever so gently.”

He continued gently doing as she bid until she felt the waves begin to flush through her body and she finally orgasm’ed without any contact to her lower body.

Once her needs were met, she pushed back against his chest and nestled into his arms as she heard his heart beating. Then she felt his manhood hardening so she twisted around, knelt at his feet and gently took it in her mouth. It was Carl’s turn to gasp as he responded quickly but gently. He had long ago learned how to treat his companion, his queen. No violent, masculine, thrusting when she took him this way. Yes, it was a strain for him to resist the temptation to drive forward and upward but at these times, it was for Drustina to set the pace and he invariably enjoyed an excellent outcome. His jaw sagged and he groaned as she relieved him of the pent up tensions from the battle.

They lay, naked for almost an hour until a noise outside the door alerted them to familiar women’s voices. Tara, Drustina’s older sister was marshalling the women and restrained them before calling through the door.

“Are you still in their Dru?”

“Yes; wait a minute! We are bare!”

Even Tara released an involuntary snort as she confirmed the situation.

“Is that the royal ‘we’ or the marital ‘we’?”

“What d’you think!?” Drustina snapped irritably before she saw the funny side of it.

Carl and Drustina then exchanged grins as the sniggers outside the door betrayed the youth of Tara’s companions. Gisela and Symone's sniggers were the most obvious. The couple heard Tara scold them and they reluctantly dressed before unlocking the door and allowing the other women in. The two teenaged girls wore knowing smiles but Carl and Drustina simply smiled at Tara and the other, older women before making their excuses and leaving.

In the village square, they found Althred negotiating the ransoms with the Viking prisoners and there was much argument amongst the wounded men as the lesser chiefs debated who amongst them was likely to command the highest ransom. Drustina ignored the cacophony of despairing debate until she came to the young lad she had been seeking. She reached down felt his arm then turned to Carl and nodded.

“He’ll do, he’s probably the tenderest.”

Carl made a bit of a show of seizing the boy and instructing some of the Saxons to take him away. An older Viking looked up and demanded to know where they were taking the boy.

Drustina simply shrugged and looked down as though totally unconcerned then replied.

“My men must eat; we don’t steal from our allies the Mercians; so a nice tender Viking piglet will serve as food tonight. Don’t worry, his end will be quick.”

There was a stunned silence amongst the Vikings then a roar of protest from the man who’d asked.

“You’ can’t do that, you’re bloody cannibals!”

“As I said; my men must eat! Just be thankful it’s not you, you’ve obviously fed well on the Saxon food stores. Look at the fat belly on you. Did you intend leaving these women and children to starve after you return to Yorvik and your blood-lust king? The only reason we didn’t choose you is because the younger Viking will be tender and sweet. Now shut up or you will follow him!”

“But he’s my son!”

“So you brought him here thinking it was going to be a cake-walk! Well I’ve news for you Viking. This is war and it isn’t pretty!” Where else can my men find meat? They haven’t time to waste hunting for deer or boar; and besides, you’ve probably hunted the forests hereabouts out of game!”

The horror in the father’s eyes was evident but he made no more protest. Drustina left the prisoners to the attentions of the healer who was already preparing herbal brews to sedate the unfortunates destined to be gelded. She returned to the Saxon woman who she now realised was probably the lead woman in the village.

“Later, when you feed these gelded thugs, make sure you boil plenty of red clover in their broth. It will speed their womanliness and reduce their aggression. I want you to feel safe once we are gone, at least until your menfolk return. Do you grow Flax hereabouts?”

“Some, not a lot.”

“Pity; that would add to the effectiveness of the broth. Remember, plenty of red clover flowers and don’t boil it for too long.

It will also reduce their strength but that will make you safer. So long as they can still till the fields and tend the livestock, they’ll be some use to you.”

Having organised the collective castrations of the prisoners, Drustina joined Carl and several of her band as they marched the wailing teenager away into the forest. Once well away from the village and deep into the forest, she stopped and prepared a fire. This act terrified the boy and she let him stew while she despatched a trio of her band to hunt out some wild boar.
When she had first scouted the village she had heard them grunting and snuffling during the night and her keen sense of direction and smell had soon found evidence of their recent rooting amongst some oak trees in search of truffles. Within the hour her companions returned successfully with two dead young squealers. They were quickly butchered and cooked to return to the village and feed her men.

During the cooking Drustina had taken the boy aside and finally relieved him of his terror. She sat him down with Carl while she explained what was to be done.

“Right you little Viking sod! Do as we tell you and you’ll keep your balls, don’t and your father dies. D’you understand?”
The boy’s eyes widened with uncertainty for a moment until he realised what the murderous queen was saying.

“You mean I'm not to be killed and cooked?”

“Of course not you stupid little bugger! We don’t eat people, what the hell d’you thing we are? What we are going to do however; is send you as the messenger to that pig of a Viking king Harald. I’ll give you a written message. Can you read?”

The boy wagged his head. It was as Drustina expected, few Viking commoners could read or write. She had Carl and the remainder of the band detain the boy in the forest whilst she and the others returned with the butchered piglets and pretended they were the remains of the boy. As the meat was shared out amongst the Saxon soldiers, they were advised to pretend it was human flesh after having been reassured it was actually suckling pig. In the village she prepared the letter to Harald Cold blood and returned to the forest. The letter advised the Viking king that unless the boy returned with a reply within a month, (plenty of time to get from Dore to Yorvik and back,) then all the Vikings, including the chieftain who was the King’s nephew, would be put to the sword.

She then had the king’s nephew write a letter to his uncle while the remaining ransomees could make whatever marks they could to plead with their families to pay the ransoms.

The following morning, the boy was led some twenty miles northeast of Dore and released close to the River Trent so that he could easily find his way to the Umbre estuary. All Drustina could do now was await events. For the next month she organised her men to help repair the great hall and supervise the Viking invader’s enslavement.

~o00o~

During that month she was mildly intrigued to see how the emasculation and feminisation of the prisoners progressed. None of the Vikings realised that the seemingly tasty broth they were fed twice a day was dosing them up with natural plant phytoestrogens derived from the red clover. As the changes progressed they believed their increasingly soft and sensitive breasts were due to their having been castrated. They were also utterly demoralised by their having had their penises removed to force them to squat like women to relieve themselves. When in the company of other men in the future, there would be nothing so demeaning as having to squat to urinate while the other men simply stood and expelled from their organs. To add to their debasement, the Vikings’ hides were becoming softer and more sensitive to pain.

Consequently, there was much despair as they remained imprisoned while they compared their terrifying, bodily developments. Drustina and her knowledgeable healer were creating a compliant, weepy, sensitive coffle of slaves that squeaked with fear at the slightest threat of pain or violence while they passed a few basic secrets to the womenfolk concerning the correct herbs and plants to continue the progressive feminisation.

When the Vikings’ wounds were recovered and their groins healed they were set to work contributing to the rebuilding of the great hall. In the confines of the village they could be closely monitored and supervised to prevent any escape attempts.
During the rebuilding, it soon became apparent to the Vikings themselves that their male musculature was being diminished and they were struggling with physical tasks that they would previously have easily accomplished. Drustina sometimes watched as their frustration manifested itself in tearful, effeminate outbursts as fully sized, once male individuals stamped their feet and beat their massive fists uselessly against the timbers they were trying erect or move. It brought a malicious smile to her cheeks as she thought to herself.

‘Now you know what it’s like to be as weak and vulnerable as a woman you brutes!’

She was sat one morning watching the work when a commotion by the river disturbed her reflections. A small boat had arrived with a half dozen crew including the teenage messenger she had despatched to Yorvik four weeks earlier. She received the boy as she still sat overseeing the great hall.

“You nearly missed the deadline lad, what kept you?”

“King Harald wouldn’t believe it at first then when his efforts to locate our band failed he was forced to accept your message as fact.”

“So what was his reply?”

“He is prepared to pay your ransom for his nephew.”

“Good; what of the other ransomees?”

“Not all their families have agreed; I have a list of those prepared to pay.”

Drustina took the list and her examination concluded it was a better than expected result. The silver and gold would help the village to buy supplies to get through the coming winter and help to offset the monies she owed to those of her band who had joined on a more mercenary note when she was preparing for the expedition in Wessex.

Not all of those who were companying her on the grand tour of southern Britannia had been her earlier volunteers. Most of her earlier Gaulish volunteers had remained in Wessex to overhaul their ships. Drustina was relieved that after checking the figures she now had enough money to pay her followers.

With that load off her mind, she turned to the boy.

“You’d better go and find your father; he’s working in the village square. You’ll find your father a very changed man, not quite the brute he used to be. Still he’ll be shocked and excited to learn his son is in good order. Go on lad, what’s keeping you.”

“You mean I’m free to return to Yorvik?”

“Yes, collect your father and go; now! Before I change my mind!” You can take the other ransomees with you. We’re keeping the rest as slaves. When you get to Yorvik, you can tell Cold-blood that all of the band except you has been unmanned. The villagers are keeping the un-ransomed men as gelded slaves.”

“Are you saying all of them are gelded, even the ones who fetched a ransom.”

“Yes. None of them are any good to me; they’ll not be much good for anything except work. You’ll understand when you collect them. Go on lad; go before I change my mind. Run!”

The teenager dashed away calling out names. Viking slaves stared in disbelief at the ‘ghost’ approaching them until they realised there had been some sort of deception about the cannibalism. The boy’s father burst into tears at the sight of his son’s seeming resurrection then he turned to look at Drustina through altered eyes. He at least had somebody to carry on his line. As for the other ransomees, as soon as they were released, they made post haste for the waiting ship. Drustina wondered what their families would make of the feminised geldings that were returned to them.

She smiled with a deep visceral satisfaction; especially as she wondered what Harald Cold-blood would do when he learned that his only nephew and known male heir was now also a sterile, feminised, eunuch

She watched them departing down river then smiled as she turned her attentions to the issues affecting the village of Dore. Issues like the shortage of food that would face the whole village through the winter. She could only hope that the village’s share of the ransom money would tide them over to buy meat and bread.

The following day as they were preparing to depart, Drustina was relieved to find a large band of Saxon men returning from the Ranks of Edrinor’s army. Their training complete, Edrinor had released them to their various villages and peasant duties. Even as a group of men peeled off the Saxon column and returned to Dore, Drustina was calling Carl and Althred to her side.

As soon as the village men are settled back in the village, we leave for Nottingham and Edrinor’s court. We’ve been here too damned long as it is. The village men will be able to manage the control of the slaves. We leave at dawn gentlemen. I suggest the men get some sleep, but you and I will have to debrief the Saxon men first. Come on; I don't want them condemning their wives and daughters for not having resisted the Vikings even unto death. Most women would rather live and see their children safe than die and let them starve. The sermon was not lost on Drustina's companions for she was woman they had grown to love and respect, a woman who had led them successfully through many a challenge.

~~oo000oo~~