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Serininas adventure continues. She prepares her expedition to Sparta, fights the Greek blockade of Troy and faces intrigue in the Palace. On top of it all her relationship with Aries developed.

Actonia had become very confused. This was around the sixth year of misery since her power was taken away from her. She had prayed continuously for her power to be returned and begged the Goddess to intervene with no results. She knew the Goddess was helpless, but she hoped.

She had started receiving some strange visions and dreams that were confusing to her. Actonia knew that this was punishment for what she had done, but she felt that her goal was a good one and that she was justified in doing anything necessary in order to achieve that. The priests of this nation needed to be struck down and their power over the lives of the women had to be removed by any means. Even if it meant destroying a single boy's life, it was justified. These men had slaughtered tens of thousands of innocent women and held the rest of them in terror of their lives. They had imposed incredibly harsh rules on them that deprived every woman of the freedom they desired. Therefore, one selfish, entitled boy was a suitable sacrifice. At least Actonia thought so.

Stopping the war priests and instituting a second reign of women was a glorious thing for her and she took all of the needed steps to make it happen. She remembered everything from that time.

She remembered how resistant Patinea was at first. Patinea’s resistance changed after the death of her father, and facing a marriage that her brother was refusing to stop. Facing a bleak future with a husband she didn’t love and being a mother to children from this man. That sent her into action, and it started off well. It really started off better than she ever hoped it could. Patinea took charge, her brother was unmanned and deprived of the crown, and Patinea began her reign.

Patinea was crowned in place of her brother and began her rule. She proved her strength when she struck down the priest's power and freed the Hekatin. Patinea made it a crime to prevent anyone from worshipping the Goddess. Her brother began his reluctant life as a princess deprived of all power. He was so hurt when he realized the scope of the plot, where even his own mother was on Patinea’s side in this. He was alone. He was furious at first, but he soon began to adapt better than any of them could have hoped for. The problem was he wanted much more than what was given to him and he longed for the life of a warrior. He wanted a voice in this new regime and that was something none of them could risk. In addition, his sister kept mocking and teasing him.

That’s where things began to go horribly wrong. Serin realized that, no matter how well he adapted, his sister was never going to give him anything. So, he began to study and plot. He quickly got more power than any of them ever thought possible. Actonia was shocked and horrified by his growing power and it didn’t make any sense to them. The witches were also very alarmed by Serin’s growing power. They didn’t understand the spell that they cast on him at all. There was a reason the spell was called ‘THE BLESSING', but none of them knew.

The spell was meant to be a blessing to be bestowed on a person of merit and it conferred immense power upon that person. Being female was considered a gift. Whomever The Blessing was bestowed on, was not to be ignored or mistreated. They didn’t know that, and that, was a great mistake. But then, because of her rage, Serin’s sought more and more power for herself and began studying the dark arts of the dark goddesses that had rained destruction on the land in the past. She gave herself to Lilith and began a war against them. This was a horror beyond their worst nightmares

Serin overcame their armies and got her revenge against them all. Then she revealed she no longer wanted the crown. She wanted them all to suffer under the false king as she cursed them to doom. But to their surprise, Serin freed their Goddess only to seek her help in reliving his life where he would be free from the suffering that was inflicted on him as the crown prince for no good reason. And the Goddess reset their lives, and he was able to relive his life from infancy far from the capital.

But life is so strange. He was reborn and raised in Geunafar where Actonia lived. And they met in school, and Serin restored her memory. Serin was as powerful as he was before and quickly became a very popular boy witch that taught girls in witchcraft. In Actonia’s new life, she had a little sister that suffered terribly. Her sister Jerica maintained that she was really a boy and it made no sense at all. It made no sense until Serin restored her memory.

As a boy, Serin was still immensely powerful. He was the youngest witch to pass the Hekatinian trials and be confirmed as a full witch. He was the first boy aside from Prince Edwyn to be allowed to train as a Hekatin. Serin was confirmed and employed as a teacher, and Actonia found Serin to be very effeminate and compassionate. His female students dearly loved him.

Serin was still very embittered by the events of his previous life. Serin did one of the cruelest things imaginable. He restored her brother's manhood and began training that boy to be a witch. And then, Serin took away her abilities totally destroying her power. Actonia was forced to live her life with none of the abilities she had become accustomed to. Watching at the same time, her brother grow into a very formidable witch, enjoying the life and power she once had. This was unbearable. Actonia prayed for the return of her power, and it had been six long years of suffering.

Her power had not returned, she had received no visions of the future. She was useless, at least until recently. Within the last few weeks, Actonia had been receiving visions, which were incomprehensible until now. She understood now, that the visions she was receiving were of Serinina. But these were visions of horror beyond all imagination.

It was so strange. Serinina was dressed in thick shining armor holding a golden shield and a long spear along with her fellow soldiers who were all female, just like her. She was walking along a path littered with dead bodies, swatting flies from her face and gagging at the stench of death in the air. Serinina had apparently entered a town that had been massacred.

Actonia’s next dream was of Serinina in a massive battle. This was a huge battle against tens of thousands of seasoned troops. Serinina was at the front line, along with her troops battling and stabbing large armored men across from them. They were in a desperate battle against tens of thousands. And Actonia had thought the battle Patinea fought in Ansays Harbor was a battle. That was nothing compared to this. And then Serinina rushed in and slew dozens of the soldiers in her bloodlust. It was most impressive. There were several things that made this very difficult for Actonia.

First, Serinina seemed like she was in a unit comprised of all women, as a woman, and they accepted Serinina as their leader. She was leading very competent and strong women into battle. This was a person that mocked female warriors and was now fighting alongside them. And they were fighting against men. Apparently, Serinina was fighting for a matriarchy against men. How odd was that? And Serinina was fighting as a woman. It almost brought a giggle to Actonia, thinking about the irony of it all.

And then she received a vision of Serinina leading her army here, after being crowned the queen of these female warriors. If any of them really thought Actonia would have a problem with female warriors landing, conquering the men and instituting a matriarchy here, they had another thing coming. One thing was exciting here, so Actonia began studying about the warriors that called themselves the Amazons. Their brutality against men made even the worst times of the Hekatin and the reign of women look very kind by comparison. But still, she saw Serinina instituting a reign of terror across the Golden Isles. Brutally punishing the families that betrayed her, slaughtering their sons, and taking their daughters to the Amazon's. There was little any of them could do to stop it

Actonia knew that Serinina was still enraged and embittered by how she was treated. Now, after all this time, Actonia thought she knew what went wrong with their grand plan. Their plan moved smoothly at first and had such great promise and it had a chance to work. Even Serinina followed it as expected, but it went wrong with them. They mistreated Serin horribly. That shouldn't have happened. Serin needed a lesson and he received it and learned to be better.

It was so unexpected when Serin turned to them and became a nearly fanatical follower of the Goddess. He turned to love the Goddess with all of his heart and actually enjoy being female. Unknown to her, Serinina realized her mistake and had personally apologized to the girls she had mistreated. Those girls became her friends, and they followed Serinina. They became her supporters as she became a very powerful witch. None of them knew this.

But Patinea saw this as a threat to herself and became very jealous and angry at how Serinina could get people to support her. The women that were supposed to support Patinea were supporting her brother, who she would never see as anything but her brother in her eyes. It brought out the cruel side to Patinea and then Serin was abused. When Serin got pregnant, they assumed he was raped.

It was when Patinea arranged a marriage for her brother that he began to fight back. This was unacceptable and Serinina ended up destroying them all. That's how it went so wrong, and Actonia realized that what they did was so bad. He was happy as a woman, and he was able to grow and learn from his errors, but it made no difference because of how they treated him. That was wrong. Now, they would pay the price.

Xxxxx

It was now time for some clear answers and Serinina was going to damn well get them. It was her first night in Troy and she was sure it was going to be a long day tomorrow. They had things to do and the first on their agenda was to find Helena and break the Spartan blockade. Then she was sure she was going to have to solve this problem and find out what was going on in this kingdom. Whether they had to depose Priam or not. And if that was going to happen, how to go by doing it.

But that was for tomorrow. Now, she had to deal with pushing off Aries's affections. Serinina simply wasn't in the mood right now. She held her hand out and said, “Aries, stop. I do not want to cuddle right now. We need to talk, and I want you to be honest. No one has really been honest with me. Can you be brutally honest?”

The boy stopped, he looked up with his eyes and locked with hers. Serinina could see this was no young boy. Those hard eyes were the eyes of Aries. She said, “And I am not buying this form you present yourself in. But I guess a god can appear in any form he or she wishes.”

“Fine,” replied Aries, and the man grew into a massive hulking armored man that was over twice her size now. And the massive black armored plate had spikes and horns growing out of it. It was frightening and imposing, although not for Serinina. Aries said, “Is this better?”

Serinina nodded. “Yes, now, can you answer me?”

“Yes, I can be honest. But,” replied Aries “what answers do you want?”

“You said that the Gods and you have had your eye on me for a while. So, for how long?”

“Since you were the eight or nine-year-old Prince Serin teasing your older sister Patinea in the palace, training for war, and beginning your formal education at the Maxis temple with the war priests. We all knew what was going to happen in years later.”

Serinina figured. “So why was it allowed to happen, why didn’t Maxis stop it?”

Aries snorted. “Maxis couldn’t even stop the Goddess from destroying his huge statue of himself.He couldnt protect you. He tried to protect you and thats why it required a dozen women combining their power to overwhelm the protection he placed on you. But Maxis is a fallen god. His actions and his teachings were so harsh and unforgiving. And hes very sexist against females that he inspired such resistance and hatred of his religion. He was unable to prevent the Goddess from regaining her power and when that happened, the game was up as they say. A much more powerful force had entered into his world that he could not stop. His religion began to fall and when you changed, and prognita reasserted her will on the world. His religion fell completely and it will happen again, but you are likely to make all of their religions fall.”

“And now I assume you are going to ask why I didn’t prevent what happened to you, am I right?” Aries had a knowing smile.

“Now that you ask it,” replied Serinina harshly. “Why?”

Aries took a deep breath, not that a god needs to breathe. “Because you needed a lesson. You were on the wrong path at the time. Not that any of it was your fault, really. It was the culture and what Maxis taught, the war priests, and how you were taught to treat women. But you still needed a harsh lesson and one you learned well and are better off for. Now, look at what you have become, and none of this would have happened if I prevented your transformation. Now, Serinina, you are great and very worthy of the power you will wield. Now your homeland needs a lesson that you will give to them. The only person that has grown in any of this is you. Serinina, you should be thankful.”

“I am thankful,” replied Serinina. “I am happy as a woman. I still don’t like how they treated me and that's my problem. That is why I am still furious. They tried to stop me from doing anything meaningful. I couldn’t do male things because I wasn’t male, even if it was made available for girls, and my sister was doing those things at the time. And they tried to forbid me from doing activities exclusively for females. It was so frustrating.”

Aries laughed bitterly again. “Yeah, I know. It was very entertaining seeing how you handled those bitches,” Aries said sardonically. “They didn’t want to let you fight, so you ended up fighting them. They tried to forbid you from studying to become a Hekatin and that was so interesting. You really put Falconette in her place. The witches didn’t understand that when they made you female, that you were then female. They still wanted to regard you as male even when you began accepting your sex. It was so funny, but I know it was frustrating for you. Falconette, telling you that you weren’t really a woman. You surprised them all and really put them in their place. I loved how you got in Falconette’s face and glared at her, and told her, 'I am told that I am to be crushed into corsets and draped into gowns because I am a woman. I do not stand to inherit my father's crown because I am a woman, but when I try to do something open only to women, I am told that I am a man?' Then she gave her feeble answer, and you told her you were a princess and that you were going to attend classes with the Hekatin. So she caved, and you began studying, and excelling at it better than anyone could ever conceive. They didn’t think you could really do it at all. They figured if you ever did that, it would take years, not weeks and months. You surprised and horrified them all. But only I, knew what you really wanted, and you will get your crown back, and you will rule them with an iron fist.”

“Now, Aries, let me ask you one more question. You are a male war god and proud of his masculinity and such. How can you approve of me and this?”

Aries snorted rudely. “I am not sexist. What you were taught of war gods and such is very wrong. You don’t know my sisters, do you? Athena and Dianna. How can I possibly ever think women shouldn't be warriors? That would be idiotic. I love strong female warriors. In some ways, they can be better than the male warriors in that they usually have more to overcome. My sister is always fighting with my father. He is as sexist as they come, and I have seen you, yes you, kicking his ass.”

Serinina was shocked and wondered how that was possible. But then she remembered the power she had absorbed. “Me?”

“I told you that even you don’t understand your full power. When you do?” Then Aries flashed a wide smile. “Even us gods won't be able to stop you.”

“Could I kill Prognita?” Serinina asked.

“Oh yeah, the only question is how would you want to do it.”

“I want to make a big demonstration of it to demoralize the Hekatin and signify their defeat. But, I mean, could I kill her forever in such a way she is dead. And will never rise again.”

Aries laughed bitterly. “When the first male kings destroyed her and claimed the crown, they did it with a spell and they knew it was only temporary. But you aren’t human anymore. A god can kill another god. When you realize the true extent of your power, you will be able to kill the Goddess for all time. She will never rise again. You will have to destroy her physical form and her ethereal form, and that's the difficult part, but as a goddess, that's something you will have to learn to achieve after you kill her physical form.”

“Can you teach me?”

“Yes, Some times Serinina, I think you were given the spirit of my sister Enyo. There's a reason you are so full of anger and bloodlust.”

Serinina had got so tired she began rubbing her eyes and laid in her bed. She invited Aries, “Let's cuddle now.”

The large man moved in to lay beside Serinina and they held each other tightly. It might seem wrong, but Serinina was really in her twenties by now in the body of a thirteen-year-old girl. And if you consider the spirit of the Goddess that Serinina possessed, she maybe thousands of years old. Aries said that she had the spirit of Enyo. Was that possible? Well, Patinea had the spirit of Prognita. So why not?

That would be so fascinating if it was true.

Xxxxx

Serinina had another matter to deal with, and this was a point where she was really lost. She got herself in this by thinking she could handle it. She had transformed Ajax into a woman and she could feel the seething rage that emanated from Ajax. She could not abuse Ajax. That would be stupid. Serinina would not make the mistake that her sister made in abusing and ignoring someone whom she had bestowed the Blessing upon. The Blessing was meant to enhance and empower someone in a female life. Abusing her would be the most horrible mistake. Serinina was going to have to be careful and compassionate and make sure that she helped this girl all she could. She must never be harsh or cruel to Ajax. She was going to have to use every bit of compassion and understanding she possibly had.

“I know that you hate me now” Serinina said softly.

“You have no idea,” Ajax said seething. “I would rip off your head if I could. But that's why you did this to me, wasn’t it? You want me powerless to endure and suffer humiliation. You call this a blessing, but this is a horror. Of course, as a woman, you don’t understand, and you can never understand what it's like for a man facing this life.”

Serinina laughed a bitter, harsh laugh. She flashed a knowing smile and sat beside Ajax. “Actually, you are wrong. I was born with the name Serin. I was a sixteen-year-old boy, and my horrible sister did this to me to take my power and the crown that I was supposed to get. She took everything. I understand this more than you know, Ajax. But I made the best of it all.”

Ajax laughed. “If that is true, then you were never male at all. A male cannot accept this in any way. He would fight it, and rather die than to submit to a woman's life. You disgraced yourself and your father by accepting this life.” He said arrogantly though his teeth.

“Perhaps I wasn't ever really a boy. I didn’t want to die, but I wanted revenge, and I live to see the day I overcome my sister and reclaim what is mine, and to punish those responsible. I guess that's what you also want, isn’t it?”

“I don’t see how I can possibly overcome you all,” Ajax replied. “You all crushed my army and cursed me with this. You may have made yourself into a formidable woman. You will have revenge against your sister, but what about my life now? It's all over.”

Serinina nodded her understanding of Ajax's anger and pain.

“I gave you a chance that you don’t deserve after all of the pain that you caused. All of the women you raped and enslaved. All of those lives you destroyed for your sadistic pleasure, Ajax. You do deserve to die, but I had mercy on you and I hope that I have not made a mistake. Although I fear that I have,” Serinina said.

“But I hope you can take advantage of the gift I granted you, and I will do everything to help you. I cannot abuse you the way my sister abused me. That would be foolish because it would inflame your rage against me. Specially since the one this gift is bestowed on can have immense power. If you can learn your lesson and become better for it, I will do everything that I can to help you learn and grow beyond what you would have. And I will restore your masculinity if you desire it. I promise you, Ajax. I am not like my sister, and I am not doing this to hurt you. You will not be abused and I won't abuse you because of your perceived weakness as a woman. You are a girl now, and you are entitled to all that comes with it in the Amazons. I am here to help you Ajax, and I pray to the Goddess that you understand and trust me. I know you won't now, but perhaps in time.”

Ajax was stunned now. He had expected for Serinina to humiliate and demean him as a woman every chance she got, but she was telling him that she would not treat him differently than she would any other woman.

“Ajax, it would be stupid to turn you into a woman like me, and then humiliate you for being a woman. That's what was done to me, and they will pay for it so much. I want you to learn a lesson as a woman. Others may humiliate you, but I will protect and help you deal with life as a woman. No one will hurt you,” Serinina told him, and he felt so much better now.

“And now, Ajax, we have a major, a very major, problem that you can help me with. Do you love Sparta?”

“What kind of question is that?” Ajax asked in her new high pitched teakettle like voice now. “I was born and raised there. Of course, I love Sparta. And I know they will be in big trouble now.”

“And we can help prevent their fall if we move fast. I destroyed a huge portion of the Spartan forces. That is about all Sparta had, except for their naval forces, but that doesn’t amount to much. But it may be enough to maintain control if we move them back to Sparta. But you know what will happen and that may not even be enough.”

Ajax spat, “Of course not. Those few thousand troops won't be able to restore control once word spreads that almost our total military was destroyed. The Helots will rise up and it will be the end. The naval troops will be hard pressed to stop it. I don’t see what we can possibly do.”

“I respect Sparta also,” Serinina said. “I think they are the best of the Greeks. Athens has a corrupt and self-serving society and they tend to look down on women in ways Sparta doesn’t. I have a plan that can save Sparta and end up with them in charge of all the Greek states. But it will require sacrifice and compromise in ways that the Spartan military will find unbearable and humiliating. But it is the only way and if you work with me, we can regain control and put Sparta in charge of all of the Greeks. Then we can end this war.”

Ajax was very doubtful about this, but he was interested. “Okay, you have me interested, what is this great plan of yours?”

“First, we must regain control. You will need to back me up as their King. We must get the naval forces to stand down, I would hate to destroy them. I will need to take control of Sparta, they will need to accept me as their sovereign Queen. But that's just the beginning and I think that part will be easy.”

Ajax wasn't so sure what was easy, but she did destroy the Spartan’s army. They would have little choice but to accept Serinina as their ruler, but what could Ajax do?

“You can,” Serinina continued, “let them know who I am, and what I can do. You and your wife as the former King submitting to me will be an undeniable example of my power.”

Ajax looked down in humiliation. “You intend on telling them who I am and using me as an example of my people's defeat! And you said you won't humiliate me as a woman!” He yelled in anger.

“No, I won't,” replied Serinina. “I am not using your newfound femininity to humiliate or degrade you. I will elevate you. I am using your defeat by my hands to humiliate you. But it is only a humiliation if you see it that way. This is the only way to save Sparta. Unless you want to see events play out as they will. The Helots will rise, and defeat the remaining Spartan forces there once they realize there won't be any backup coming from the war. Then, once the other Greek states realize the Spartan weakness, they will march in with their armies and conquer Sparta. I would hate to see that happen. So, they need me, and I will preserve Sparta. Once we do that, then comes the hard part. Sparta must free the Helots, all of them. Make them official free citizens of Sparta. They will be in charge of agriculture and farming. Sparta conquered the prime farmland of Greece. You will still be in control of it and, with a powerful new class of merchants in charge of it, you will be the most powerful Greek state, or they won't get any food from Sparta.”

“But, how do you think they will treat us after centuries of being a slave class with no rights,” Ajax asked.

“Angry, of course, but they will quickly realize they need the Spartan military for protection, and you two will have to learn to live together as equals. There will be resentment and anger, but they will have to learn to get over it. Especially when you make them free and allow the Helots to be employed by the military. Make some of them Spartan soldiers. Sparta will rule Greece.” Serinina smiled.

“You mean, you will!” Ajax pointed out. “If your plan works. But there is little reason for the rest of Greece to submit to Sparta when they have such powerful armies here.”

“That's where we come in to defend you if the other Greek powers turn hostile on you.”

“We will be no more than an Amazonian vassal state!” Ajax pointed out. “Under you, our great Queen.”

“Yes, but I will lead Sparta to greatness like they have never known before. Sparta will be a powerhouse leading the Greeks and you will be able to easily rebuild the Spartan army. And then?”

Ajax knew where this was going. “Then take the Golden Isles for you. Yes, I know that's your endgame, Serinina. You are power-hungry. But first, what are we going to do with the Spartan navy blockading your harbor and then with Hector conspiring with Agamemnon and Achilles.”

“That's where our navy comes in,” Serinina quipped with a smirk. “Only, we won't want to destroy the Spartan navy. We will board them, and we will do our best to not use lethal force and hope they see the writing on the wall when they are overwhelmed. I am sure a few of your big ships will have to be made examples of, and I may have to be a big showoff and display the full extent of my power. Then, prove your identity and see how much they respect you and I will help to make sure that they do respect their King Ajax."

This was something that Ajax wasn't sure was possible anymore. His wife, Archippe, was respected as the Queen of the Spartans and Archippe held power while he was gone. Even when he was there, Archippe held power roughly equal to his own. They respected each other a great deal and Ajax wondered how she would react to this. Ajax felt a slight giggle escape as he considered it. Archippe loved him and she stood by him, but he didn’t know why, now that he thought of her in a different way. She hated how he treated the lower-class women. Archippe often got into vicious arguments over how he treated some women, but she dismissed it in the end as it was his nature. But he knew she disagreed.

So, when Archippe eventually found out what had happened to her mighty husband Ajax, he guessed that Archippe would say he deserved this just like Serinina did, and she would hope he learned from it. But Archippe would want him back and Serinina said she would restore his manhood if he learned his lesson. So there was hope.

But he still wondered if the majority of his society and the military could respect him like this and he was afraid that the answer was a 'Hell No!'. Even if he could prove his identity and that part would be easy, his commanders and soldiers would reject him now. He wasn’t Ajax now. He was a conquered woman that had been defeated in battle and had submitted. In such a situation, the action he was supposed to take was clear. 'Come home with your shield or carried on top of it'. He had submitted to the enemy in defeat and was changed. This would be considered the greatest shame. That shame may even be transferred to his wife, Archippe.

He wondered if Serinina’s plan would work and he hoped it would, but it would be a vicious struggle. Spartan society would have to be dragged kicking and screaming along the way. It would be for its own good, as Ajax now understood. It was on an unsustainable course that was about to end now.

But the warrior caste would never accept the Helots being free and having to respect and pay them for their work, especially if they started to rise to become a powerful merchant class. This would have to be done at the point of the sword. It would have to be forced upon Spartan society.

He knew what was done to the conquered societies was very wrong. Ajax had played with the idea of freeing the Helots, but he knew if he ever took that action that he would have a widespread rebellion of the warrior caste who would assassinate him or depose him.

But, now that the Spartans had been defeated and another caste of warriors were about to land on the shores of Sparta, this dream was achievable. Ajax smiled and Serinina saw it.

Ajax said, “You will be a great queen Serinina. We will learn that we are lucky to have someone like you to guide us. I am loyal to you, milady.” And Ajax bowed his head. “I will help you in any way that I can.”

Many may wonder why Ajax had become so loyal and friendly to Serinina. It may seem unbelievable, and perhaps even Archippe may feel shamed by his willing submission to the woman who did this to him and his army. He should be seething with rage and be looking at the first chance to drive a knife through the girl's heart. But he could see that Serinina had a good heart. She was a very kind and compassionate young woman. He had hated what she did to him until she brought Ajax here and explained her reasons and what she expected. Then she stood up for him against her Queen, who wanted him executed on the spot. Serinina faced the older woman's wrath and took responsibility for his protection and guidance.

And then, to his surprise, Serinina understood what was going to happen in Sparta, and told him that she respected his homeland enough to want to preserve it. And Serinina had a bold plan. That confirmed it all to him. This was a noble and powerful woman who was worthy of his respect.

Ajax was going to follow this young woman's leadership and do anything he could help her succeed. Then he wondered how this would look to his warriors and his wife, Archippe. It would look very shameful and strange. But this young woman was so much more than she appeared to be. She appeared to be a young thirteen-year-old, almost fourteen-year-old teenager. It almost looked comical with her all suited up in battle armor. But it was no joke when he saw her leading from the front and fighting. Serinina was fierce and powerful and her leadership skills and the loyalty she inspired were unequaled. Serinina was great and he resolved to do everything he could to be worthy of her respect and the gift she bestowed on him. It may seem like a curse to many, but this was a precious second chance that he was not going to pass up.

He watched as Serinina sat down and closed her eyes. He knew to remain silent and observe. It looked like Serinina almost fell asleep there. Then something reached out and it almost felt like a physical touch. He repressed a girlish shriek of fear, but it was Serinina’s mind. Then he saw her in his mind smiling in satisfaction.

She said to his mind, “I didn’t know if this was really possible with you, Ajax. This mind to mind contact is only possible between females. I think I can do it with boys, but it would have to be done differently because male's minds are different. I can see you are really trying to take advantage of the gift I have offered. And I am impressed, Ajax. I figured this was a stupid thing that I did that you would fight it at every turn and that I might end up simply having to kill you.”

“It started that way. I admit that I was seething with rage at first. But I saw you protect me from the others and you explained what you wanted. I figured when you first did this that you would want to hurt me and have me humiliated or violated as a woman out of revenge for what I did to so many other women. But you showed your intentions and your character to be greater than mine. I will not let you down. Your efforts won't be wasted.”

Serinina’s smile spread wider in appreciation.

She said, “Good, now remain silent while I contact the others to prepare for battle. I must contact our navy commanders and make preparations.” And then the contact with Serinina was lost.

Serinina spent the next several minutes carefully coordinating with the Amazonian fleet commanders and their troops onboard. They were shocked when the newly crowned princess made contact with them. Still, they had been told by the Queen that Serinina was given command of the military preparations and movements, so they were to follow her commands. They were not too surprised that what she told them was very sound and had a high possibility of successfully breaking the blockade of Troy. And then they were shocked to be informed that Serinina and a new girl she was training were coming onboard the flagship. It was an enormous quadrireme, specially built for the Queen herself and for the admiral to control the fleet.

Serinina had made all of the preparations and given her fleet the battle plans to break the blockade of Troy. All that was left to do was to execute the plan. She went out of her bedroom and found Ajax and Cassandra talking about the recent events at Troy and their suspicions about Hector. Priam favored Hector as his successor for the Crown. He believed in male inheritance, not female. Serinina knew a lot about that and it caused her so much trouble.

She approached the two teens and said, “Everything is ready, Ajax.”

He looked up and said softly, “Princess, perhaps when I am like this, I think you should call me Pryyha instead.” He looked fearful and added, “Since I look like this, Cassandra suggests that I should be referred to as another female here. It was weird for her calling me Ajax and she hates Ajax.”

Serinina looked at Cassandra and nodded. “When my sister Patinea transformed me into her little sister, she immediately had my name changed. I couldn’t even keep my name, she took it away. I was referred to as Serinina by her royal decree. It was illegal to call me Serin. It was considered a crime against the Kingdom. I had to accept the facts that I had lost my name and my title and even my sex. And no one cared, she was King, and that was how it was to be. It was painful to have to endure all the changes, without being anything I could do against her power.”

"Ajax, you still identify as Ajax and I won't force that to change. I said I won't abuse or mistreat you and I was serious about that. I won't force you to change your identity. You are Ajax, not Pryyha. That's the name you had all your life and what you were born as. Cassandra, please don't demean him in this way. We can help Ajax become a better man without forcing him to change his entire identity. This is simply a lesson he needs to learn about how we live life and what we must endure as females.”

“Then perhaps, Ajax should have a female identity while he is female with us,” suggested Cassandra.

Serinina thought it over and turned toward Ajax and replied, “Only if you want it, Ajax. Don’t feel pressured to change it. If you agree and if you really desire to be named Pryyha, then I will agree to it. I don’t want to steal your identity or your past, as was done to me. But remember, we need you to retake command and the respect of your people. But while you are here with us, if you want to be, you can be Pryyha.”

Ajax thought about it, and it all seemed very useless now. He wouldn’t be spending much time here anyway. They were to break the blockade, defeat his fleet, and then take command of what was left. Then they were going to Sparta for Serinina to take command. Where he would still be Ajax, in a female form. This was going to be embarrassing and humiliating.

He shook his head at Cassandra and said, “I would love to see how good of a female I could be among you all here. But I have a different path with Serinina and I must be Ajax. It will be difficult and probably very embarrassing, but It is necessary.”

Cassandra looked disappointed, but she accepted it. “Then perhaps once it's all over we can have Pryyha here with us. I want to see what kind of girl she is.” Cassandra smiled widely.

Ajax returned her affectionate smile, “Me too, but I have a feeling that Sparta will need me. I don’t know what sex I will be. All of this depends on if I learn what you and Serinina want me to learn. Cassandra, I am sorry for what I did to you all, and I hope I can apologize to Helena. Please find her.”

“Mother is setting up an expedition to find her. She thinks she knows where she hides. Helena will be found and returned safely, and she will marry who she chooses. So don’t worry.”

Ajax looked into Cassandra's eyes and nearly cried. “I hope you can forgive me for the way I treated you. I am so sorry for what I did.”

She still looked furious. “Ajax did those things, and I don’t know if I can ever forgive him. Some things stay with us for the rest of our lives. Don’t they Serinina? You of all people know this. There's some things that go way past any ability to move on or forgive. Your family did that, and Ajax did that with me and I don’t think I can ever forgive him. Pryyha isn’t responsible if you can accept her, but not Ajax. Not ever.” Cassandra said fiercely.

“So think of that, Ajax,” she nearly snarled. “Whether you want to be Pryyha or Ajax for your life. That will determine our relationship or if I can ever accept you as a friend.

Cassandra glared daggers into Serinina’s eyes as she spat, "No matter what he learns or what kind of man he becomes, if he chooses that, I can't accept him after what he did to me. It may seem harsh, but that's how I feel. What you did those nights haunt my dreams and make me afraid. That is how I feel.” Her tone was probably the most venomous Serinina had ever heard her sister use, and Serinina had to concede. “I understand, Sister. He will be better in how he treats women from now on. If he learns the lesson, I am trying to teach him, and I think he's starting to. But he will also learn that some of the women he's hurt won't care how he has changed. They were too hurt to accept an apology. All he can do is be better and make sure he does not hurt any other women. Some wounds go too deep, Cassandra,”

“Yes,” Cassandra replied, looking up sharply.

Serinina continued, “I understand that some hurt goes too deep. It's just sad that sometimes those wounds can be inflicted by other women as well as men. Most of my suffering was inflicted by the hands of vindictive women when I was an innocent boy.”

“I never said there weren’t women just like Ajax,” Cassandra quipped. “We all know there are. And I also didn’t say I wasn’t glad you are going through all of this effort to reform Ajax. It is too late for me, but for all of the women he would have hurt in the future, perhaps some of the women who will accept his forgiveness and form a bond with him makes it worth it. I am unable to accept it, Ajax. I do hope you are strong enough to learn the lesson that Serinina is trying to teach you."

Cassandra looked away for a moment and then said, "Mother is calling for me, we are about to ride out to find Helena.” Cassandra turned and walked away

Serinina took Ajax’s hand and led him toward one of the towers and they walked up the nearly three hundred foot tall tower. It took them almost an hour to make the climb. It was not a strain for Serinina, but it was grueling for Ajax, who had been in good condition for a man. His newly transformed body was not trained for this and he was almost ready to collapse by the time they reached the top.

Serinina smiled to herself. if Ajax thought his life had become rough. But lucky for him, Serinina found a way to prevent Ajax’s new body from humiliating him too much. Serinina felt that Ajax could not endure too much of what a female life entailed. Unlike Ajax, Serinina received a full education on what living life as a female really meant. That including the really messy and humiliating times. That had nearly destroyed her. Ajax would not have to suffer all of that. He would not have to find the proper padding to protect his clothing from the grotesque and humiliating flow that every woman experienced. Serinina had mercy. No one had had mercy on Serinina.

She looked out at the blockading Spartan and Athenian ships. By far, the Athenian ships were the dominant naval force blockading them. They had a much larger fleet, but if they could take out the Spartan navy or turn them, then the Athenians would have no choice but to retreat or face destruction. Serinina looked out past the blockading Greek fleet and saw her navy out past the Greek ships blockading them in, ready to strike whenever they receive the order. Then she looked up at Ajax and smiled, “So are we ready to go?”

Ajax frowned, “Go where?”

“To our ship. The admiral's Quinquereme is right there out past the blockade. Let's go.” Serinina took Ajax's hand and she leaped up into the air dragging a terrified Ajax with her as she sailed hundreds of feet into the air. Serinina went up into the air above the blockading Greek ships, shimmering with her energy directing and empowering her leap. Then she directed her descent onto the enormous Quinquereme flagship of the Amazons.

She pulled Ajax with her as they landed on the main deck in front of the armored female admiral waiting for them. She stepped back as she did not expect this. She thought that the princess would take a fast ship and sail around the blockade to meet them. She should have known the princess and her hubris. Serinina was such a showoff. The older woman rolled her eyes and shook her head in frustration. Then she begged Athena to spare her before facing the princess.

As ordered, a massive number of small Amazonian troop transports full of Amazonian warriors snuck around the Greek fleet and boarded the huge flagship. This was the army she was going to use to board and disable the Spartan fleet.

Serinina looked formidable and ready to face whatever she had to. “Appolonia, you know the plan.” Then, she faced the crew and her assembled captains and commanders of the squadrons and spoke loudly, “Our main target in that large decorated Trireme in the center of the Spartan fleet. Our main job is to capture that ship and its commander. We must disable or capture the ships in the way and any ship that tries to interfere and prevent it. You can destroy them if you must, but try to capture the ships intact and the crew alive. I know we may have to make examples of some of them but capture as many of them as you can. Destroy any other ship that isn’t Spartan. Is everyone clear?”

The women let out a war yell in confirmation of their readiness. Serinina wished she had never doubted a woman's ability to fight. Her experience with the Amazons proved that was so wrong. The women departed to their ships and relayed the orders to their individual crews. The massive Amazonian fleet assembled into attack formation and surged forward into the Spartan fleet. They had a long way to go before they reached the Spartan commander.

The Amazonian ships assembled into battle formations. The ships all aligned in a large V formation with other ships behind them and surged forward to meet the Spartan fleet. Their female rowers were working at a furious pace pushing the ships forward as fast as possible. The bowwomen moved toward the bow of the ships in large rolls on the decks, ready to unleash a storm of arrows. The Amazon bowwomen were the best in the world, and each of them had a specially built bow that no man could pull. Serinina moved in with them, holding her specially built bow. It was made by the great huntress Dianna herself. Her bow was so strong and enchanted that not even any amazon could work Serinina’s bow. They were all ready for battle.

The Spartan commanders saw the Amazons ships assemble into formation for their attack. The Spartan ships surged forward to intercept the attacking fleet and defend their commander.

Serinina knew this was going to be a brutal fight and she resolved to spare as many of the Spartan's as possible. She knew that if they turned the Spartans to their side that the blockade would be broken. The Athenians would be forced to withdraw.

The lead Spartan ship was approaching to attack. It was now time to strike. The ships were still more than five hundred feet apart and closing. It was time and Serinina yelled, “Now.” And the bowwomen unleashed a hail of arrows upon the Spartan ships. Each arrow was deadly accurate and rained down on the Spartan defenders. Some of them struck and killed the Spartan, but most of them landed on the shoulders, arms, or legs disabling each of them. Thousands of Spartans were knocked out of the fight from the debilitating strikes. They lay on the decks screaming and the Amazonian’s continued firing at a furious pace. This was the result of the Amazon's bowwomen’s rigorous and intense training. They drew the bow and fired at such a rapid pace that it looked like a blur. It was like the sky was raining arrows continuously. Serinina’s firing was so fast, that the eye couldn’t possibly see her movements. Her pace was so unnaturally fast, that by the time an Amazonian woman shot an arrow, she had already fired five. The continued rain of arrows proved devastating for the defenders of the Spartan ships.

Serinina knew it was time to intensify the attack, and it was almost time for the boarding action to take place. She had forbidden ramming attacks unless absolutely necessary. Serinina lurched herself high into the air. She somersaulted and landed gracefully on the Spartan galley.

The remaining Spartans surged on her from all sides and she defended herself. Serinina was like a blur on the Spartan deck. Serinina had slain more than half of the Spartan defenders by the time it finally met the Amazonian ship. The Amazons crashed alongside the Spartan ship and smashed through the huge oars on each side. The Spartan ship was dead in the water when the Amazonian ships laid gangplanks on either side of the ship and boarded. The remaining Spartans were overwhelmed, and they surrendered. Then they moved on to the next ship and that is what they did. Each Spartan ship they engaged was quickly disabled and overwhelmed with as few causalities as possible until they finally reached the Spartan commander's ship.

A large part of the Spartan fleet was already disabled and had surrendered by the time the commander's ship was surrounded and boarded from all sides. The huge Spartan force stationed onboard the ship was overwhelmed and disarmed by Serinina before they knew what hit them.

The commander was knocked down with a spear at his throat. Ajax had boarded and was beside Serinina now as they held the Spartan commander prisoner. Serinina ordered him to surrender his ship and fleet, and he was refusing.

This was going to be the very embarrassing part for Ajax. It was his time to act now. He stormed forward with his adult female body putting as much authority as possible to his posture and roared, “As your King and your lord, I order you to surrender yourself, and order your fleet to lay down their arms now. We are defeated, and it would be a waste of lives and resources to fight on, only to die. There is so much more than our honor at stake now.”

“My King,” he spat out at the woman glaring at him. “Sure, my King,” he laughed. “Who are you.”

“I am Ajax, you fool. Don’t you remember me? I sure remember promoting you to commander of our fleet three years ago. I remember the ceremony and those sexy Helot girls we had to celebrate with. Sue and Hecata, I think their names were. I wasn’t really in the mood and you chose the more exotic one from Egypt and she barely survived her night with you. And I granted you this ship you had specially ordered from our shipbuilders. Then our first battle with the Byzantines trying to invade Italy and reform their empire. I remember you crushed those more advanced ships.” Ajax stood over the defeated Commander and shouted, “I am Ajax The Great. You will respect my authority or die like a dog!”

“How can this be possible,” he said in disbelief and terror.

“Serinina is very powerful, and she could demonstrate it on you if you require proof,” Ajax smirked evilly. Serinina let her energy flow, and the Commander shrieked in fear.

He begged, “No, please. I will do as you command, my lord.” Then he stood up and gave the proper orders. “Surrender; the fleet surrenders. Fly the flag and relay the orders, our fleet surrenders.”

The surrender flag was flown on the Spartan’s mast and the rest of the Spartan fleet saw it. Their colors were lowered and replaced with the surrender flag. And now, Sparta was out of the war and began to withdraw.

As the Spartan fleet began to be rearmed by the Amazons, the rest of the Greek states slowly saw the war turn against them. Being outmatched on the sea, the other Greek states saw they were unable to maintain an effective blockade and withdrew. The blockade was broken, and now the Amazons were able to supply Troy. Serinina had won.

“And now, let's meet in Troy. We have much to discuss as we repair the Spartan fleet and rebuild the crews. Commander, we must sail for Sparta as fast as possible to regain control.”

The Amazons celebrated their victory and the break of the blockade as they watched an enormous Greek army assemble and form in front of the gates. The Trojans and Amazons laughed at the pathetic display. They knew any direct attack on the walls was suicide, but the war engines the Greeks were building showed that they did intend to attack the walls.

While the great celebration feast was going on and the lords and ladies were feasting and drinking, Penthesilia was standing alone in another room. She often stayed out of the drinking and celebrating, especially now that she was preparing an expedition to rescue Helena of Troy.

Her daughter walked in with an extremely troubled look on her face. “Mother, I need to talk with you,” said Cassandra. “Seriously, it's about my adopted sister Serinina.”

Penthesilia turned to see a very serious and upset Cassandra. “What is the problem with Serinina,” asked the Queen.

“I am very worried about her and the future. I hoped with our sisterhood and companionship that she would change, but she hasn't. She is still so angry. It really frightens me.”

“Has she done anything to you, Cassandra,” Penthesilia demanded.

“No, never to me,” Replied Cassandra. “She is very sweet toward me and the other women here. She is very kind and so full of compassion. But they all seem to follow her without question. She has some very unnatural ability to rally and get support. That really worries me. That, and the anger that I always feel seething just beneath the surface, I am so afraid.”

“Cassandra,” Penthesilia demanded. “If she has not directed any of this anger at you or anyone else here, then what is your problem? Tell me about your fear!”

“You made her your heir,” Cassandra replied.

“Yes, she deserves it, you will have your crown here at Troy. We will have to fight for it, but we will win. The Greeks are slowly being defeated. Serinina’s brilliance already knocked Sparta out of the fight. The rest will follow. Making Serinina the queen of the Amazons is the will of Athena and Aries. This is without a question, so what is your point?”

“You and I both know what she intends,” Cassandra nearly shouted. “Don’t you see it? That's why simply knocking the Spartans out of this war isn’t enough. She saved as many of them as possible and she's preparing to take them back to Sparta and claim their crown. That won't be enough, she will march into the other Greek cities one by one and make them submit. And then you know what she will do with it all. I will have my crown, but it will be under Serinina.”

“Cassandra,” Penthesilia said harshly, “Serinina is the strongest. You trained beside her. She is the strongest, and you saw her fighting the Spartan's and survive. She killed hundreds of them single handedly before any of the reinforcements arrived. She is the strongest here. She is even stronger and faster than Dianna. And we never thought that was possible. Dianna is the daughter of Zeus!”

Cassandra snorted condescendingly. “Fucking Zeus. There are dozens of sons and daughters of Zeus spread around the world from that horny pig. Yeah, she's strong, but so what?”

Penthesilia laughed. “Dear Cassandra, you really don't understand. No, Zeus didn’t seduce Hippolyta or impregnate her. No. Her daughter Dianna was specially created out of thin air for Hippolyta and given the strength of Zeus himself. And Serinina is stronger and more powerful than Dianna. Serinina is prophesied to defeat the Gods of Olympus.

"Serinina defeated another dark Goddess named Lilith. In defeating her, she absorbed much of her power. Serinina also defeated the Goddess Danis Prognita. Once Serinina realizes the power she can claim, she will be nearly unstoppable. She is angry, but rightfully so because she was abused and her birthright stolen from her. We have protected yours here and Hector won't get it.”

“Mother, I don’t think you realize what I am worried about. Serinina is so power hungry and vengeful. You know that sooner or later, she will direct everything right at her former homeland. I am worried about what she will do to the people there and to her sister Patinea. She is so angry and she has some very cruel plans for that woman.”

Penthesilea smiled darkly. “They deserve it after what they did to her. As for her cruel sister, I say good. Cassandra, do you realize how devoted Ajax has become to Serinina only days after she cruelly transformed and humiliated him? Have you seen that?”

“Yes,” admitted Cassandra, “that's what I was talking about how she can get people to support her.”

“That's because we all see she is so kind and thoughtful. She has a great soul. She transformed Ajax, but she explained why. Then she protected him and promised to treat him right and never humiliate and abuse him. She promised him much if he can endure as female and learn from his mistakes. That endeared Ajax to Serinina, and they have allied themselves to save his homeland.”

"She has proven herself to Ajax. These are things Patinea never did for Serinina. Patinea never transformed Serin for any lesson and she always intended to demean and humiliate Serinina as her little sister. When Serinina learned of all the wrongs he did, and the evils of their priests, he came to understand why Patinea did it and he turned to her side in the struggle. But Patinea didn’t care and she continued to abuse and belittle her sister. She acted like a man in charge and attempted to force her sister into an unwanted marriage.”

"I am with Serinina here. Those people need a lesson, and you should stand by your sister on this. They were so wrong. I will be proud when our armies crash onto the beaches of the Golden Isles. But we have a long time until then. You stand by your sister and help her in any way you can. Please don’t try to betray her like Patinea did. She has the firm support of all of the Lords here. It would be so stupid and would not end up as it did in the Golden Isles. They will turn on you if you try to seize her crown.”

“I would never even consider that,” Cassandra said firmly.

“You better not, bitch!” A loud voice said from the door as Emily walked in with a furious look on her face. “Serinina is angry, and she is right to be angry. I am also angry. There is a reckoning. It is prophecy, and the Goddess fully supports Serinina here. And she is in love with Lord Aries. Cassandra, please don’t be a fool. If you betray Serinina like her other family did, I swear I will kill you!”