The fleets meet at Trafalgar and Patinea starts to realize the very serious consequences for her actions against her sister as the merciless force lands on her shores

Serinina stood on the bow of her newly christened Imperial Spartan ship, ISS Victory. This was the largest ship ever built and people had thought Nero had gone mad with his enormous palace ship. This ship was hundreds of feet long with rows of massive catapults on each side. There were rows of enormous ballistae ready to fire through ports under the deck.

She looked up at the towering sails and the oars that propelled the ship through the sea. She had 10 of these monsters ready to unleash destruction on an enemy fleet. On the mainsail was the symbol of the Spartan military. To modern readers, it would look like a deformed blood-red A. It was really the Lacedaemon symbol that they used on all military units.

She had thousands of ships headed toward Trafalgar. Her fleet was going to break through the strait and meet with her troops at Brest. Then they were going to land on Anseys Isle and occupy it all the way across the sea to the Onsey land and Wensae was going to get a surprise. They were going to stop at the main wall the Romans built centuries ago. But they had to first crush the Golden Isles laughably named imperial fleet.

She stood on the bow of her ship and commanded them to set sail for the strait of Trafalgar. Her arsenal ships led the way, followed by her enormous quadrireme warships and the triremes. They headed for battle.

Her fleet was approaching Gibraltar. She briefly wondered if the crews of the Golden Isles knew how hopeless their situation was. How overwhelming her numbers were and how totally outclassed they were by the size of her ships. And it wasn't just the size either.

She saw the fleet assembled against her, blockading the strait. It was an impressive fleet. But there was one main difference here. The crews of her ships were drilled for combat. They had lived through the battles at Troy and Greece. They did endless combat drills and they knew what they were facing. She knew the fleet of the Golden Isles wasn't drilled for combat. Most of those ships were cargo vessels that shipped food and supplies to the other Isles. They had been refitted for war but their crews rarely if ever faced real naval combat. No Nelson was leading them. They had no hope for victory. They would be outgunned, outnumbered, and outfought. Let's see how they deal with facing veterans of naval combat that have faced enemy ships before.

Her arsenal ships were almost the size of a twentieth-century dreadnought. She stood on the bow of her flagship and yelled in a magically enhanced booming voice to the opposing fleet. “You have this one chance to break formation and leave. I will let you all leave in peace. If you force us to fight, then I will have no mercy on you. I will destroy you all. I will give you one hour.”

They had to see that her fleet vastly outnumbered their fleet. They had to see these enormous powerful ships could smash through their fleet without her other ships’ help. Their ships had no long-range projectile weapons. All they had was boarding actions and their archers. And those ships’ crews had no training in ship to ship combat. They weren't soldiers. They were sailors, so when it came time to face the trained naval troops and soldiers of her fleet, they would stand no chance. Their resistance would utterly collapse.

Serinina received an enhanced booming voice in return, “We can't let you pass. We know you will invade our home and we are loyal to our King Patinea. If you force a fight, we won't have any mercy on traitors like you, Serinina.”

Serinina realized that they must be led by a witch. There could be more witches that might try some of their tricks on her fleet.

“So, there are Hekatin in your crews on your ships. You think they will protect you from my power. Think again, if you dare try any of your witch tricks on me, I will use my tricks and burn your fleet down. Ask any of the witches what I did to Guanefer.”

Then she called up a lightning storm. The wind picked up across the strait, blasting the fleet of the Golden Isles. Powerful bolts of lightning struck the masts and ships, causing little damage, but killing some crewmembers on those ships. Then, Serinina ended the storm. She felt the witch's power trying to create a storm on her fleet, but the witch's power was totally ineffective. Serinina yelled, ”You better stop it or the next storm will be much more powerful. That was just a warning.”

The witches felt it was a bluff and tried to create a storm anyway. Serinina lost her temper and called on a few very powerful bolts from the sky that struck three of their ships. The ships went up in a blaze and sank within minutes.

Then Serinina roared, “Do you want this to continue? I can finish your fleet without us firing a shot at you, but I would like to keep this as a conventional fight.”

Her Megaships sailed forward to get within firing range of the Golden Isles imperial fleet. They sailed within range and turned to fire large broadsides into the enemy fleet. Huge flaming fireballs were ignited and sent into the blockading fleet.

Their witches did their best to stop the flaming trebuchets and catapult projectiles from smashing into their ships. Some of their attempts to turn the projectiles or stop them were successful, but others smashed into the ships. The ships that took the projectiles were put out of action. They ended up with huge flaming holes in their sides. Or the balls ignited the rigging and sails.

The witches realized very quickly that their fleet stood no chance against the Spartan fleet. Within minutes of action, almost half of the Golden Isles ships were sinking. The other half turned and fled. They knew that to flee would open up their coastline to invasion, but they could not stop this fleet.

Another quarter of the ships were destroyed while preparing to flee. Out of the original eighty ships that were blockading the Golden Isles, less than twenty had survived, and they were quickly hunted down and sunk. Serinina had defeated the Golden Isles fleet at Trafalgar, and they sailed on. They sailed around Spain and around the mainland of the Golden Isles. They prepared to land their troops on the rocky coastline of Anseys Isle.

Xxxxxxxx

“My Lord,” A voice called out as they entered the throne room and knelt before Patinea. “I have just received news that our combined imperial fleet has been destroyed by the Spartans at Trafalgar.”

“How is this possible?” Patinea demanded. “My commanders told me that no fleet could break their blockade at the Trafalgar Strait. How could they have been defeated?” This was unbelievable. They had done blockades in many different ports. Their siege at Anseys during the restoration was so successful. They nearly crushed the Anseys. Her commanders assured her that they could successfully bottle up the Spartans at the Strait of Trafalgar and they would never have to worry about the damn Spartans landing here. More than eighty of their largest and best ships were blockading the straits. Now she had been told her fleet had been defeated.”

“I don’t know, my lord,” replied Baldic. “I have received news that all of our ships have been destroyed. There were no survivors. The Spartan Fleet sailed into ours and crushed our ships. They are now sailing on to Ansey Isles and will be landing within the hour. Ampar said their agreement still stands. He will surrender to Serinina and let her use his isle as a staging point to project her power further."

Patinea knew there was no way to avoid the Spartans landing forces on the Golden Isles. Her last hope had been defeated at Trafalgar. Her fleet was crushed, and there was no way to prevent the Spartans from landing now. They were coming and she didn’t even have the ships to try to blockade Anseys ports anymore.

There was nothing they could do. She only hoped her army could deal with this. Of course, she also had her creatures. The huge Hawks and her Griffins could help her. But something gave her the feeling that it would be a horrible idea. Something made her think that Serinina had a plan for dealing with her large creatures. They would not crush Serinina’s army the way they had descended and crushed the Anseys. Patinea didn’t know what made her think that, but she got this very unpleasant feeling. And someone once told her that if she feels it, that it means its already too late.

Xxxxxxxxx

Serinina was sailing into Anseys’ Harbor. It was about the only place except for Cork that was a good stop for a real amphibious landing. They had no idea of the hell headed their way. She hoped that Ampar and his son Rhuntick had kept their part of the deal. Rhuntick had married Andromeda and they were now husband and wife. Rhuntick was satisfied.

Ampar's wife, Rhuntick's mother, had been killed in the war when they were betrayed by Patinea and she was angry at Ampar for breaking the alliance. Now Ampar had agreed with an alliance with the Spartan’s Empire and agreed to cede to the Spartans.

Serinina hoped that Ampar was going to agree to keep the deal and let them land. She knew it was asking a lot. She was asking Ampar to surrender his land and his holdings, his very political power to the Spartans. It would mean they no longer had much of a say in anything when Serinina’s troops landed. It would all belong to her, but she intended to reward Ansey handsomely following her occupation. Ansey would be the regent. And she would possibly even place Ansey in charge of the Fawnae or Malnae lands once she dissolved and had those families executed for treason against the crown. They betrayed her and watched as her sister stole her name and her life. Then they swore loyalty to Patinea. That would have a severe cost.

Anseys’ coastline grew and her triremes approached the Harbor. Once the ships had reached the docks, they began offloading thousands of troops. Her ship approached the dock, and she walked down to see Ampar with a very troubled look standing there with his guards. She saw what was left of his loyal soldiers standing further away. The army was less than what they had once been. Ampar used to have a vast, imposing army here that would make any battle for this island treacherous. Patinea decimated his army with the creatures she controlled. She hardly had to fight at all. She killed lady Ansey and badly hurt Rhuntick. But that was about it.

Serinina descended from her ship and approached Lord Ampar Ansey. The man along with his guards knelt and pledged feilty. His son and his new wife followed them in kneeling.

Ampar said, “I honor my commitment to our deal. I surrender Anseys Isle and all of our forces to you, Lord Serinina Denae.” He bowed his head.

Serinina shook her head. “I am not a Denae anymore. My name is Serinina Ares. My husband is Ares.”

“My apologies, my lord, Serinina Ares. The surname fits you well. This island, its people, and forces are now yours to command.”

“Rhuntick, how are you and your new wife getting along?” Serinina asked.

“She's having trouble learning to obey,” Rhuntick said. “She's almost as bad as your sister.”

“No one is as bad as my sister. Maybe you should learn to respect and honor her,” Serinina snarled at the boy. “Instead of trying to force her to obey. She's a wife, not a servant. I can’t believe you tried to force me to marry you. You are lucky I made this deal for you Rhuntick. You better learn to respect it, or it will all be for nothing. There's a reason my sister was so panicked. She did all of this to avoid marrying you. I gave Andromeda little choice in the matter, but she can leave you if she wishes. It will make no difference in the end.”

“You had to agree to this, or my father wouldn’t have agreed. You had no choice either Serinina,” stated Rhuntick harshly.

Serinina laughed as they watched the massive number of troops walking off the ships and headed toward the docks. Thousands at a time. Serinina laughed as she gestured to the enormous number of massive ships out there and the giant army marching from the ships.

“Rhuntick. This agreement was just to avoid a fight that you would have no chance in. I didn’t need Ampar’s deal to seize this island. I could have done it without any deal. Your army wouldn't have stood a ghost's chance. I could have crushed you all. I only gave you all a chance because your family was the only one with the courage to oppose my cruel sister. But I didn’t have to make any deal. Look at that fleet. It's still holding over a hundred thousand troops."

Endless troops descended from the ships and headed inland. They looked at the fleet and laughed, Ampar said, “No wonder Trafalgar was such a one-sided battle. I bet our fleet wasn’t even ready for those monsters. That was so funny it caught Patinea by surprise when she was informed of her fleet's defeat.”

They laughed as they watched tens of thousands of troops walk from the docks and assembled into the formations. Then they began to march away and Ampar said,” If they are headed toward the Wensae or Onsey lands, be aware, there is no agreement with them.”

Serinina shrugged, “I don’t care. I don’t need any agreement. They aren't ready for twenty thousand battle-hardened Spartans. Baldic's forces will fall. I doubt any of their family or forces are left on Wensae.

Xxxxx

“My Lord,” Shouted Actonia as she approached the King's Chamber. “The Spartans are landing on Anseys Isle unopposed. Ansey has totally surrendered control to your sister. They are now marching toward Baldic's lands. His family and forces safely evacuated weeks ago, as you know. Onseys are requesting asylum, and we have accepted them. Most of them know there's no opposing this. I know they all hope, like you, that your combined army will be enough to hold them from occupying the mainland. You are all wrong. I see that Serinina’s army will defeat yours if you ask for a fight. But she is willing to accept peace between your two nations.”

“There are no two nations.” Patinea sneered. “There's just a military occupation and treason going on. There will be no peace with this occupation of the Golden Isles. We will defeat my sister.”

“No,” replied Actonia. “You won't. You are a fool. You will lose what you have left and give the Spartans the excuse they need to attack us directly. We will all be kneeling before Empress Serinina because of you.”

Actonia really hoped that Patinea understood. However, one of the things she admired about Patinea was the strength of her determination. That's what first convinced her that Patinea would make a strong King.

When Patinea felt she was right, then nothing could stop her determination to go after it. She was a force of nature. But Actonia also realized that this strength could also be a great fault. Actonia realized that Patinea was going to lead them all to their doom, and it was too late to stop it. She had already set Patinea up to become the King. Patinea had been crowned the King, and there was little anyone could do about it.

Patinea was going to refuse to deal with her brother, who was leading a much stronger rival Kingdom. The crushing naval defeat at Trafalgar should have shown Patinea that her sister's kingdom was much stronger than her own. She had best try to keep peace between them.

Patinea's anger at Serinina and her conviction that she was better made her refuse to deal with Serinina in any way. Even Edwyn and Victoria tried to reason with her, but it made no difference. Patinea thought Edwyn's strength could help the Kingdom, but Edwyn simply said, “I am very powerful. I have been given the strength of Michael and Gabrial. But even I can't contend with Lilith’s power. This is something entirely new, and Serinina will destroy me.”

Patinea said, “Edwyn, you and Victoria go and deal with Serinina. Kill her or make her step down and surrender. Those are your orders.”

“I can’t stop Serinina, my lord,” Edwyn pleaded, trying to get Patinea to understand. “She is much stronger than I am. Serinina is possessed by an ancient and potent evil,” Edwyn warned. “I can’t defeat her. No one can.”

“I have seen your amazing abilities Edwyn,” Patinea encouraged him. “And your sword Glorious. You may be the only one who can defeat Serinina. Or there is no hope for us. I am the chosen one, not her. The Goddess chose me to lead. Actonia saw it in her visions. I am the Vessel of the Goddess. Not Serinina. I say you do have the strength. It is the will of the Goddess.”

Actonia spoke up even though she didn’t really wanted to. “Yes, you are the Vessel. You were meant to be King. I saw that and I saw Serinina. But you were brutal and not really fit. The Goddess also saw that, and that in time, Serinina would grow and claim the crown. That was also seen and approved once your sister learned what she had to. But you were too brutal, we were all too brutal. Serinina suffered and saw her suffering as the will of the Goddess. She, thought the Goddess hated her. The Goddess ripped her life apart and placed you in charge. So, she did the only thing she could. She allied herself with an even darker power. She researched our history and learned of a goddess that even Prognita feared. A goddess we dared not even speak of, such horror would unleash death across the Golden Isles. Serinina allied herself with Lilith and released Lilith on us. Then she claimed Lilith’s power for herself, and she has now totally subjugated Lilith and claimed her Crown for herself. Sorry, Patinea, but even the Goddess knew you were not worthy. She intended all along that Serinina become the King. You were only to prepare the way. You were not doing the Goddess's will. You were doing your own when you abused Serinina. Now you have unleashed Hell. You have sent Edwyn and Victoria to their deaths. They won't return alive.”

Patinea roared in frustration, “Can anyone defeat my sister? I thought that this revolution was the will of the Goddess.”

“The revolution to throw down the church of Maxis and end the subjugation of women was the will of the Goddess. You abusing your little sister was not. That was a betrayal of the Goddess. You are not the chosen one anymore. You betrayed your sex in more ways than you know. Your sister, mistakenly believing it was all the will of the Goddess, blames her and will destroy the Goddess. Thanks for that, you deserve all of the credit.

“It's also a lot of my responsibility. I set it all up, and I was thinking the Goddess wanted to set women in control again. I thought we were headed for a reign of women once more. The Goddess didn’t want that. Even if so, abusing a woman the way you did your sister was a betrayal of everything and has created our worst nightmare. Perhaps we deserve it all.”

Xxxxxx

Serinina had watched her fleet offload their endless troops for over half of the day. Nightfall was a mere hour away. Her fleet had offloaded seventy percent of their total troops and it wasn’t finished yet. Her troops had assembled in an open field outside of this island's capital next to a large temple of the Church of Maxis. More columns of troops were streaming in by the hour. The Island’s home troops that were loyal to the House of Ansey were also assembled with her army.

Then she called one of her generals and commanded, “Destroy that vile temple. Bring me the priests, bind them, and bring them here.”

“As you command, your Majesty.” Troops marched toward the temple. It wasn’t much of a fight, but the priests tried a little of their magic to trick or overcome the troops. They had some success until Serinina sent a powerful lightning bolt striking very near the priest causing the most trouble, and she warned in a booming voice, “If you try to fight the troops coming for you. I will have you all killed. The Church of Maxis must fall. The church is a vile and corrupt church that has caused so much resentment and hate at the regime that was solely directed at me as if I was responsible for their persecution. I will not allow it to continue!”

Resistance to the troops had stopped after that. The priests were tied up and carried out of the temple. They were placed in front of Serinina lined up in a row. Then she began seeing smoke rising out of the temple, and the troops began smashing the buildings. War engines were placed in front of the Temple and began bombarding it with heavy stones. The large temple was going down. Serinina watched with a satisfied smile.

The priest cried out, “You defile the sacred temple. This is blasphemy!”

“Your religion is corrupted and your god Maxis has fallen,” Serinina said. “He has no power and I have turned Maxis into a girl. He now serves the Hekatin and counts himself lucky to be their maid and not in Erebus or Tartarus with Hades. You have a choice, to renounce your god and go live your lives or die. If you want to live, stand and renounce Maxis and give an oath.”

One of the youngest priests stood up and said in a shaky voice, “I was raised to love Maxis, but I always questioned the priest's brutality toward the women. And I questioned the rules they enforced against women. I was never comfortable with it all, but I tried to stay faithful.

"When I heard what your sister, the girl King, did, making you the princess, the statue of Maxis falling, and the earthquake that destroyed the temple, I knew this religion was falling, but I had to act faithfully here. The Anseys firmly believed in the rule of man even after the conquest. Even after Patinea sent her creatures to decimate the army and her troops landed. She allowed the temple and the priests to remain as long as they took no hostile action against the women or the regime. Our lord Ampar returned from prison, and peace reigned. But my faith was shaken. However, after all of that said, I renounce Maxis. That religion has obviously fallen, but I don’t believe the Goddess is good either. I see how her followers treated you. What she did to your life was wrong. Her creatures tormenting our population. I can’t believe in such a vicious god either Serinina.

“Neither do I have any loyalty to the Goddess Prognita. I hate her and her religion. I hate her followers as well. The Hekatin have something very nasty coming their way.”

Serinina said in a booming voice to her army and her followers. “The Religion of Maxis and the Religion of Prognita are to be suppressed. The old edicts that were in force before Patinea overrode them are now enforced. Witches will be hunted, and worship of the Goddess is forbidden. Worship of the God Maxis is also forbidden. The Priests will also be hunted. The Temple of Maxis is to be rededicated to our Goddess Athena. The Daughter of Zeus and sister to my husband, Ares. The remaining Hekatin are to be told that they have a week to leave, any that remain after a week will be subject to the Inquisition.”

A group of female priests that had come from Themyscira with the fleet went into the temple to begin their work rededicating the temple to Athena. It was clear that now, Serinina was sorry and trying to repair her relationship with the Goddess. Athena was still angry at Serinina for attacking her and it would take more than dedicating a destroyed temple to her to mend that relationship. Ares kept trying to get Athena to forgive Serinina, but it was a difficult task. Athena was vindictive.

Serinina then met with the leaders of her armed forces.

“Now we will occupy the surrounding area and search for potentially hostile forces. You will march north and occupy and subjugate Onsey on the northern half of the Isles. And the other army will cross the sea and occupy the Wensae on the southern tip of the mainland up to the wall. I have also ordered another hundred and fifty thousand troops to arrive within the month.

"You have your orders. The units marching toward Onsey and Wensae have their lists of people to find. The main families have probably fled to the nation's capital. But I suspect many of the distant and removed families are still there. They are probably hoping that they will not be hunted or that we do not know about them. The grandparent's siblings, their brothers and sisters who had family removed from the main Onsey’s and Wensae’s. Their sons and daughters, and their children on down the line. They probably think we don’t know about them, or don’t care. They will find they are wrong. We have their names and addresses, and perhaps the main line may have people in hiding. Find them all and bring them to me. And anyone who tries to shelter them is to be considered a traitor. Find all of the rat traitors and their children. Every single one of them is guilty of treason. The adults have forfeited their life. And their children have forfeited any future as free men and women.

"Go carry out your orders!”

Serinina watched as her army marched out to follow her orders. She knew that this was going to be a very difficult and cruel occupation. But it was one that they deserved. Onsey’s area fell almost without any opposition. There were some of the troops left that were still loyal to the family. Their resistance crumbled almost without any fight. There were very quick skirmishes between the Spartan phalanxes and Onsey’s troops. The Onsey’s troops fell back and surrendered. The bulk of the Onsey’s forces and their family fled to Denaerk and swore allegiance to Patinea.

Serinina led her forces up to the Onsey’s territory and overcame their armies. Their resistance was weak at best. They were quickly defeated, and she occupied their main cities and then she went out to the countryside to visit the smaller towns and made sure they were all loyal to her. She left a sizable garrison in the main cities, and she went on to Wensae.

Serinina’s fleet was ready to transport her forces across the sea on to Wensae’s territory. She looked at her generals and lords and said, “These people are our enemy. Wensae was one of the first to swear loyalty to my sister. They stood with her from the very beginning. They were happy to see what happened to me. No mercy to any of the Wensae. Find them all, take them, their uncles, aunts, on to the grandparent's siblings and the great grandparent's siblings and their descendants. Find them all and end the Wensae’s for all time. Destroy every single member of the family on to the once, twice, and all removed. You have their family members from all family lines. Search and find them all.”

The ships docked and the troops forced their way into the docks and gained control. What was left of the Wensae forces stood no chance of maintaining any sort of control with the thousands of Spartan troops flooding the docks that then proceeded to spread out to the countryside. The Wensae forces were crushed, and there was no mercy there. Some tried to surrender when it was clear that they were overwhelmed and were going to be defeated. Serinina killed them all as they tried to surrender. They had their chance to surrender and swear loyalty to her when they arrived. They forfeited that chance and tried to resist. There was no mercy after that. She took no prisoners after they tried to fight her overwhelming forces, and she quickly gained control over the main cities. Her forces spread out to the smaller towns. The campaign took only weeks until she reached the wall. Ampar succeeded in upgrading the wall. This would be an excellent barrier against Patinea's forces when they arrived to try to defeat her. She looked up at the towering wall that Ampar and Wensae rebuilt. She inspected the fortifications and camps for her forces. She stationed some of her garrisons to guard the wall and had scouts to report if Patinea was sending forces in to attack.

Serinina heard reports during her occupation that her special squads were carrying out their particular set of orders. The squads with the names of the families had found many of the people they were sent for. Those people were in custody and being taken back to Ansey in chains.

Her other special inquisition squads were rounding up the members of the Hekatin. The Hekatin were finding out that the Inquisition squads were too highly trained for them. Resistance only meant death. There was no mercy on the Hekatin. Many of the others surrendered to her Inquisition squads.

The Inquisition kept a careful eye on everyone. Their effectiveness made the Purgatorists under the Church of Maxis look kind by comparison. Yes, they were brutal and made life for women very bleak and short if they were revealed to be a witch. But the Purgatorists didn’t know magic that well. They didn’t have the training to find magic users. They were easy to avoid.

There was no deceiving the Inquisition. They had an extremely high level of magic training and knew exactly how to find members of the Hekatin. The Hekatin’s connection with the Goddess and their training sang out to the Inquisition. There was no way to deceive them. They always found members of the Hekatin no matter what, and anyone who tried to shelter them were treated the same way. A feeling of hopelessness descended on the entire Hekatin. They all began fleeing to Patinea. Serinina began to travel back to her palace on Ansey to meet those that had been taken into custody.

The trip back to Asneys Isle was rough. She made it back to Rooks Rock Port and took one of the ferries back to Ansey. She went from there back to her castle. The Ferry Service that used to ferry goods and people back and forth had been requisitioned by her military and enlarged to ferry massive numbers of troops onto the mainland in preparation for an attack. They all knew that Patinea’s royal army was going to come sooner or later and they were going to be in for a very rude surprise. Serinina’s forces weren’t going to flee battle like Ansey’s troops did. Patinea’s now nonexistent navy had no hope of blockading Ansey from the rest of the Kingdom. Not to mention that her forces now occupied roughly half of the Golden Isles. Serinina hoped that Patinea wasn’t stupid enough to try to drive her off of the Isles. Still, Serinina knew that Patinea was that stupid. This was going to be a hopeless fight for her.

She walked into her now enlarged royal chambers that had her enormous iron throne waiting for her. This was the royal chambers for the Ansey’s, which really held little power except on half of this island. The chamber had been enlarged to represent the real power that Serinina held on this land and extended to mainland Europe. Not much expense was spent on this. Serinina suspected that she would soon be sitting on Patinea’s throne in Denaerk.

She sat on her throne and then commanded, “Bring in the remaining family members of those who betrayed me.”

Hundreds of bound and hooded prisoners were forced into the royal chambers at sword point. Serinina said, “You no longer need to be hooded.” With a flick of her finger, their hoods vanished from their heads. There were dozens of adult men and women with dozens of children. Many of them had no idea why they were arrested and taken into custody. They were afraid to say anything.

Serinina spoke with a powerful, majestic voice, “You are the remaining family members of the cowards that fled. Some of you are what remains of the Wensae line. You may not carry that name, but I know you have descended from their grandparent's siblings and removed from the main family. But you are still here and remain a threat. Or you descended from the Onsey who refused to join Ansey in their rebellion. The wife of their family once approached me for my loyalty when they should have offered me theirs from the very beginning. But you swore to Patinea, and that was a mistake. Now your families are doomed.”

One of the eldest members stood up and raged, “So this is what it's about. None of us are even considered part of noble households. The heads of our families carry no titles at all.”

“That's a lie,” said Serinina harshly. “You are carrying the title of Baron. There's a reason for that. You all betrayed me.”

“I had nothing to do with it.” Said the Baron. “I had nothing to say about the matter at all. The decision to swear to Patinea was made by Duke Onsey and I couldn't leave him as part of the family. Even if we are removed from the main family. It is unfair to hold us accountable. Especially as many as you have here. Many of these men and women hold no titles or power at all. Yet they are here in chains awaiting your judgment.”

“I also had nothing to do with the conditions many of the women were living under,” said Serinina in a cold tone. “I was made to pay for things that happened nearly a thousand years before I was born. You weren't there that day, but I am sure you heard about it and had such a laugh of the prince ready to be crowned King who was suddenly made the princess and his sister got the crown. Is any of this funny now?”

“I never thought it was funny, and I think what happened was wrong,” said the Baron. “But there was nothing I could do about it. I think it was terribly unfair. But I was powerless to stop it or do anything about it.”

“So was I,” countered Serinina. “As many of you probably know. This has very little to do with you, just as what happened to me had almost nothing to do with me personally. Life is full of such things, so why try to be fair? Life is unfair, the Goddess is unfair. So I am a bitch too. Everyone over the age of fifteen will die. Your children will be taken to Greece as slaves. Take the adults to the courtyard and execute them all. The children will be shackled and taken to Greece.”

Ajax approached, “So you are going back on what you said about freedom. You are making these children part of a new servant class?”

“Yes,” retorted Serinina coldly. “But only on a much smaller scale than what you all did. Your ancestors enslaved the entire population of your conquered people. These are only a few dozen entitled noble children. There’s a huge difference. Most of the people here will know freedom under my rule.”

“What about the Hekatin?" Ajax asked accusingly.

“They sought to enslave us all.” Serinina shot. “There’s no mercy on them.

The prisoners were taken out, and she began hearing screaming and crying as they were led to the chopping block. The children were led out with their parents and forced to watch the beheading before they were taken to their fate.

Another group of shackled prisoners was led into the chambers and forced to kneel before their empress. Their hoods were removed and Serinina asked in a tone filled with cold ice, “Were my warnings unclear before. I said you were all to leave a week ago. Was the warning unclear?”

The women only looked up defiantly.

Serinina laughed, “Or perhaps you all thought you could avoid detection from my inquisition just like you all operated your religion right under the Purgatorist's nose. Those men don't know how to find you. You knew how to avoid their detection. You thought it would be the same, didn’t you?”

Serinina saw the look of disbelief in the Hekatin women's eyes. “There is no avoiding the inquisition. They are unavoidable. I was a Hekatin and I have trained them in the arts. I have taught them how to detect your power and your connection to the Goddess Prognita. They know what to look for and how to root you all out. They will find every last one of you. You cannot avoid their detection. They are not like those priest fools who did not know how to find you. You operated your religion right under their nose for hundreds of years, growing your power until you were ready to strike at the heart of the kingdom and destroy me by turning me into a girl, then take over. My inquisition will root you all out and exterminate the Hekatin for all time. Every last one of you will be found this time and you won't be allowed to rise again. There will be nothing left when I am finished with you.”

Serinina stood proudly in front of the terrified women. The girls began crying as she glared at the subjugated terrified group. Suddenly, a massive bronze spear materialized in Serinina’s hand. “You thought you could transform me into a girl and mistreat me and that would be alright because I was nothing but a helpless teenage girl that couldn’t do anything against you. It didn't work out that way. Now that teenage girl is an adult woman and she is very angry at what was done to her. She already wiped out the Maxis. I crushed the God Maxis himself and he's nothing but a girl serving Patinea. Now it's time to wipe you all out.”

Another group of shackled prisoners was led into the chambers and forced to kneel before their empress. Their hoods were removed and Serinina asked in a tone filled with cold ice, “Were my warnings unclear before? I said you were all to leave a week ago. Was the warning unclear?”

The women only looked up defiantly.

Serinina laughed, “Or perhaps you all thought you could avoid detection from my inquisition just like you all operated your religion right under the Purgatorist's nose. Those men don't know how to find you. You knew how to avoid their detection. You thought it would be the same, didn’t you?”

Serinina saw the look of disbelief in the Hekatin women's eyes. “There is no avoiding the inquisition. They are unavoidable. I was a Hekatin and I have trained them in the arts. I have taught them how to detect your power and your connection to the Goddess Prognita. They know what to look for and how to root you all out. They will find every last one of you. You cannot avoid their detection. They are not like those fool priests who did not know how to find you. You operated your religion right under their nose for hundreds of years, growing your power until you were ready to strike at the heart of the kingdom and destroy me by turning me into a girl, and then take over. My inquisition will root you all out and exterminate the Hekatin for all time. Every last one of you will be found this time and you won't be allowed to rise again. There will be nothing left when I am finished with you.”

Serinina stood proudly in front of the subjugated and terrified women. The girls began crying as she glared at them. Suddenly, a massive bronze spear materialized in Serinina’s hand. “You thought you could transform me into a girl and mistreat me and that would be alright because I was nothing but a helpless teenage girl that couldn’t do anything against you. It didn't work out that way. Now that teenage girl is an adult woman and she is very angry at what was done to her. She already wiped out the Maxis cult. I crushed the God Maxis himself and he's now nothing but a girl serving Patinea. Now it's time to wipe you all out.”

Serinina approached the frightened group of women and stood inches from the eldest woman who appeared to be in charge of them.

“What made you think that you could steal my life and my name away? That you could have me abused, raped, impregnated, forced to deliver, molested and sidelined. Did you think that having my life stolen, someone with my political power would never be able to fight back? What made you think there would be no consequences to what you did to me?”

“You were so young,” the eldest woman protested. “You were the young prince and raised to love Maxis. You didn't know what was really going on. You didn't know of the sadistic brutality of the priests or the fear we all lived under. But you were raised to believe that women were inferior and you needed to control us. That is something we all had to end and we couldn't allow another follower of Maxis to get the crown. We all did what we had to. But not all of us agreed with you being raped or abused. The plan was for you to learn and grow, but your sister was too cruel. She refused to listen to reason.” Her tone was apologetic.

“I will give you one chance to live,” Serinina said coldly in a tone that could freeze the air. “I know some of you have brothers or sons. Would any of you agree with him being treated as I was treated?”

None of the girls agreed. One of the oldest girls stepped forward and said, “I know my brother is only a boy, but that's what he was meant to be and I wouldn't let anyone abuse him.”

“What if the Hekatin decided that he must be made into a girl,” Serinina asked. “Would you agree to that?”

She shook her head and said, “Being a girl is a blessing, to be elevated in status in the Hekatin. It was stupid to do what they did to you but there was a reason they did that, to give you a chance to grow. They betrayed it all by doing what they did to you when you were a girl. I would protect my brother from that because I know he wasn’t meant to be a girl and couldn’t handle the life of a woman.”

Serinina laughed, “I almost couldn't but I had to deal with a lot of the women's frustrations being laid on me. But, a lot of my frustration was in learning all of this stuff that was withheld from me. Yet, I was blamed for it. But I didn't know because the Hekatin history was only for the eyes and ears of young girls. I didn't know any of it. Do you really think your brother is really less than you because he's only a boy?”

The older girl thought for a second and then replied, “Of course he is less. He is only a boy. You studied under the Hekatin and you know this. Even Lilith agrees. Males need guidance from superior females. Males can't control their anger.”

Serinina smirked, “As I found out, some women also have problems controlling their anger. Their inability to control anger isn't exclusive to only males. And part of the religion of Maxis was condemning females for their inability to control our emotions. And you know that as women we do tend to be very emotional. Some women also need guidance.”

The older girl looked down. Serinina continued, “So do you really think that because some males are unable to control their anger that makes women superior? Can any of you honestly say that women are always in control over their emotional outbursts?”

They all knew the answer to that and Serinina asked, “So what else makes men inferior and in need of guidance from a strong female?”

Few of them had an answer. So Serinina said, “Males are strong and they can be very intelligent. Men have proven in the last thousand years that they can be good leaders and they have created this society. They were successful in overthrowing the rule of women and suppressing the Goddess. Your religion is obviously wrong just like theirs is obviously wrong for condemning women as inferior. Both religions are wrong. I am here to bring a new way that can elevate both sexes. My Goddess respects both sexes for their strengths and their weaknesses. If you are willing to give her a chance, I will teach you about Athena and her brother, Ares, who is also my husband. She is a wonderful warrior Goddess, just like her brother is. Under her, no sex is inferior. Some of her followers needed to be corrected and I helped them with that. If you are willing, I will teach you about her. If not, then...” Serinina let that threat hang.

The group of women conversed among themselves and then the eldest woman turned to Serinina and she said, “We will turn to your Goddess.” The women around her nodded in agreement.

“Good,” said Serinina. “Let's hope you aren’t turning just to save your skin. Let me lead you to the temple where Cassandra will help teach you about Athena.”

Serinina felt Athena smiling on her. Helping Athena get new devoted followers and spreading her religion went a long way to repairing their relationship.

Just then, an older boy and a girl approached the throne that Serinina had returned to. The boy was well-armed. He now looked like he was in his twenties. She spoke in a tone that sent shivers through everyone in the chamber. “Edwyn, so you have come to challenge me?”

“Yes, I must. I saw you just execute children. And…” Edwyn replied before she was cut off.

“And you are following orders. Yes, I know,” Serinina retorted. “But you know you stand no chance against the power of Lilith. You know you have come to die, why do you follow such stupid orders from an idiot?”

“You are clearly an enemy of the Goddess,” Edwyn said as he held Victoria’s hand.

“She made me her enemy years ago. I suffered all because of her. Many were suffering under the reign of the Goddess and her agents. You know this, as you are her son.” Serinina looked into Edwyn’s eyes and saw that he also knew he stood little chance against Serinina’s power. She saw nothing but defeat and frustration in his eyes. He was ignored.

“You clearly intend to destroy us and I am following the orders of my King Patinea,” Edwyn explained. “I must kill you. That's what she commanded after the defeat of her navy at Trafalgar Straits. I tried to tell her that I stood no chance of defeating you, but she said I had to. So, I must. Her orders stand against my objections.”

Then he drew his sword of power, and she saw its furious power flowing through the blade. She knew that she must not let the blade touch her.

Serinina stood, and her huge spear materialized in her hand. “If you must follow that idiot's command, then let's go fight in the courtyard. I suspect you will try your flying thing with your wings.”

“Just spare my sister,” Edwyn pleaded. “She won't fight you.”

“I will spare her if she takes no hostile action. She can carry your remains back to Denaerk if she does not attack me.”

“She won't, she knows she can't attack you,” Edwyn assured. “So, are you ready for this?”

“Yes,” said Serinina. “Are you ready for this?”

“Yeah,” Replied Edwyn. “I am ready.” He said in a voice full of dread.

“You don’t have to do this,” Serinina told Edwyn. “You know she is wrong. You know Patinea is little more than a tyrant in power. Her orders are cruel. Her rule led to me being raped by Prett. Then she let the guy go over some agreement with his family for their support. Something about her honor. Then she caused me to get pregnant using some sort of Hekatin magic, and Prett attacks me again. I used my own magic to terminate the pregnancy. It was a violation and forced on me. And I killed Prett, and then I find out that my pregnancy was caused by my sister, and she was going to take the children at the end, had I delivered them. But I terminated it. And this is the woman you chose to follow Edwyn? You don’t have to obey her, and you don’t have to die for her!”

“She is my King and I swore to her. The Goddess chose her,” Edwyn explained.

“Then you deserve what you get,” replied Serinina materializing the bronze spear in her hand and walking out to the courtyard.

“What about you How many have you killed,” Edwyn warned. “You know what the consequences are.”

Serinina laughed, “This same god that destroyed an entire city full of children and flooded more of them,” Serinina looked into Edwyn’s eyes. “I found out there are exceptions to everything. As for you, I will rip off your wings, Edwyn.”

*****

Patinea sat on her stolen throne, feeling anger increase at the results of each report she was being given. Patinea had been told that now Serinina was headed to Denaerk with a delegation for a diplomatic discussion a truce under the flag of peace.

The first report covered the ship losses at Trafalgar. Each ship that was lost, its complement and captain. Eighty-three ships in total. From the larger caravels to the smaller carracks onto a few massive galleons. Some of the ships had hundreds of crew and soldiers down to only a hundred. In total, they lost nearly thirty thousand people. The problem, she was told, was that the Isles never considered employing or building a full time dedicated navy. Their ships were never devoted solely to combat. So her seamen never received any combat drills, and her ships weren't designed for combat. Serinina’s Spartan navy was dedicated to combat. Those ship’s crews were relentlessly drilled for combat. They had fought many naval battles against each other, against Troy and against the Romans. Then they crushed the Frankish fleet. Her little navy never stood a chance. Trying to engage the Spartan fleet at Trafalgar was a mistake. Now, not only did they not have anything to defend their coastlines, but trade between the Isles was restricted. That's what those ships usually did. They shipped cargo and food to the other Isles. Now, trade was suffering.

And now, with this occupation, things were getting much worse. Ansey‘s and Onsey’s Isles were under Spartan occupation. And they were unable to blockade it as they did before. That was where they should have engaged the Spartan Navy and they may have been more successful at engaging them on their own coastline and disrupting the troops being offloaded for the occupation. Now they had nothing.

Serinina had landed and rounded up the rest of the noble families that didn't escape. Patinea was told that the families had been all beheaded. Each of them was led to the chopping block and executed one by one from the most powerful barons to the common people who simply had family relations with them.

Patinea was more enraged. Her friend Baldic Wensae began sobbing on hearing what happened to his family and to his distant cousins. He knew them and cared for their children. They were all gone now. He wrongly thought they were safe since they didn’t come from his main family. He was very wrong. Every single one of them was hunted, found, and delivered to the executioner.

The only good thing was that he heard that the children were spared. They were being shipped to Sparta as slaves. He wasn’t sure if that was a better fate at all. Then he heard the worst. Some of the boys were transformed into girls against their will. He was sure Serinina thought that fate up. Those girls would be raised to deliver strong spartan boys that would be taken from them at a young age to be raised as warriors. Baldic broke down and began crying.

The only good thing that Patinea was told was that the state of her main army was mostly unaffected. The bulk of Onsey and Wensae’s forces escaped and were available for her to use. In total, with the Malnae and Fawnae’s armies, and the levies she could call up, they had over twenty thousand to thirty thousand troops she could summon. She was happy until she was told that the Spartans had landed over a hundred thousand troops and there were another two hundred thousand on their way. She knew there was no way her army could fight that. This was not going to be like her war against the Anseys. She was not going to roll over the Spartans like she did with the Anseys.

She suspected that her sister had no intention of honoring any agreement she ever made with her. Her sister Serinina was enraged and she was coming for her Kingdom, her people and her blood. Patinea felt fear for the first time in her life. Her sister had displayed her barbarity and cruelty during her occupation. They hunted the families, the children and then wiped out the remaining Hekatin that thought they could hide from her inquisitors. They were all proven very wrong and were executed to the last. There was no mercy. She had to privately admit that if she had been treated as Serinina was treated as a woman that she may be just as enraged and unwilling to compromise one bit.

Her musings were interrupted when one of the men loudly announced, “Milord. Serinina has arrived with her people to discuss a truce between our two Kingdoms.” Patinea waved her hand to signal that they should be allowed to enter.

The two enormous doors parted and she saw her sister Serinina walk in wearing an enormous heavy blackened crown and holding a creepy looking royal scepter. She was dressed in flowing black robes and walked in with her group of delegates and advisers which followed behind her along with her own personal guard. They approached Patinea’s throne.

Then Patinea’s eyes caught a body in the back and she became very frightened. Victoria was in the back of the group. She and a few other women were carrying a body on a slab of wood. It was Edwyn’s body, broken and bloody. His wings were laying on his chest. They had obviously been ripped off of his body. The body was battered, cut up and covered in his blood. The blood was not regular human blood. His body was filled with the ethereal golden elixir of angelic beings. But Edwyn had been brutally killed.

Patinea looked into her sister's eyes and saw that the rage was still there, along with a look of envy. She really didn’t know what Serinina could feel envious about. Patinea ruled these small isles and half of it was just taken away from her. Serinina ruled from Troy to the Atlantic coastline of the Franks. There was no question that she ruled them with her merciless iron fist in ways that Patinea could never have gotten away with here. The loyalty of the lords here was always contingent upon many different things. Even as the Vessel of the Goddess, that only made some things more troublesome under an island that was ruled by followers of the God Maxis. But many of the people were still loyal to the Goddess.

Serinina spoke first, “You sent the son of the Goddess to murder me!” Her voice roared and the room shook with Serinina’s voice. Everyone but Patinea cowered. “And you knew he stood no chance against me. He told you that you were sending him to his death but you refused to listen. Now Edwyn is dead because of your arrogance.”

Victoria walked up to the throne and laid the body of Edwyn at Patinea’s feet and she said viciously, “You caused this. You deserve what is coming.”

All she saw in her sister's eyes was a white-hot burning rage and a desire for total destruction. Patinea said to her sister, “Not even someone with the power of Edwyn can defeat you. You must be very powerful. Have you come here to discuss peace between our two Kingdoms, dear sister?”

“Yes,” replied Serinina in a voice so cold it could freeze the air. “I am willing to stop my armies advance and settle with our two kingdoms. If you are so willing to compromise with me.” She said as if she didn’t believe it for one moment.

Patinea knew her forces stood no chance and the total defeat at Trafalgar showed her. “My Kingdom has lost so much because of your vendetta against me, Serinina. If you desire, we can discuss a truce and you can have your Kingdom and I will settle for the mainland here. But I do so very reluctantly. I can’t imagine how a brutal person like you is treating the people under your rule. You hate the Goddess and the religion so I can only imagine how brutal you are to the women. It is clear you are still a misogynist.”

Serinina smiled under his black hood and called, “Emily, Julie, Agrippa. Please come here.”

Three of the soldiers walked up wearing full spartan military armor and holding their long bronze spears and round shields. Serinina ordered, “Please remove your halmets.” And the women removed their spartan helmets revealing that they were indeed women.

Serinina said, “I opened the military to women. Agrippa here was a Helot before I ended that. I said that the Helots could join the Spartan army and go through the Agoge, and she was one of the first. Emily here is a general. She leads her own troops and is one of my most trusted military advisers. Julie is an Amazon and will help me spread the religion of Athena to the people of the Golden Isles. I am not the boy you once knew that kept saying women can’t fight. As I see it dear sister, much of your army still lacks women. Only you wear the magical armor that allows you to fight. If we were to go by your example, I may still think women can’t fight. Luckily for me the Amazons opened my eyes. The Anseys and Onseys will learn a new way. As for my demands.”

Serinina smirked, knowing that Patinea would refuse. “I demand the families. The Onseys, Wensaes. You can keep your traitorous Malnays, Denaes, Fawnaes. But I demand you surrender the Onsey and Wensaes. They deserve to pay. I also demand you surrender the conspirators that destroyed my life. Except for you the King. I want Falconette, Lady Fawnae, Actonia, your friend Danala, all of them. Even my mother. And I demand your guard captain, Elverous. I also demand an annual tribute.”

Patinea shook her head. She knew that if she agreed to these terms that her nation would soon become little more than her sister's vassal. “I can't surrender so many people to die at your hands, people that I consider my friends.”

Actonia tried to speak, but she was silenced. “I won't agree to those terms. Please try to see reason.”

Serinina’s featured narrowed and everyone sensed the hatred. She spoke, “Then as of this moment, you can consider our two nations at war.”

Serinina turned and walked out in triumph.

But she turned when Patinea asked, “You come in here and make impossible demands and then declare war? What makes you think I will let you leave?”

Just as they watched, a black boiling mass materialized in the center of the royal chamber twisting in fury. All of Patinea’s guards weapons were ripped from their hands and their armor pulled off their bodies. Then they collapsed into the floor.

The black boiling mist materialized into a human form. The body looked deathly and frail. People chocked as the chamber was filled with the smell of rotting flesh. The figure floated up to the throne that Patinea sat on and he said in deathly howell. “You have no power to prevent our liege from leaving your city. She came under a flag of peace and it was you who refused her offer. She only demanded a few rats who betrayed her and you refused. You have proven over and over again that you are unworthy. Your sister has passed every test and proven to be a great leader who has earned the love and devotion of her people from greece to Rome. You will find out why she is such a great leader when she shatters your army into pieces.”

“Who are you,” Patinea demanded.

“I am Hades.”

The guards began to stand up on their feet, totally disarmed and afraid. Hades floated up to Elverus and asked Serinina, “Is it okay,”

“Yes,” Serinina replied. “Make an exmaple of that rat who threw me in my room. Elverus, I told you that you would die for what you did to me that day. I said you would hang but this is so much better. Hades, make him an example for me.”

Hades smiled a deathly smile and lifted the protesting man off his feet. He said, “Elverous, You shall die for what you did to your King. Just as she said.” Then the life began leaving Elverous’s body. His entire form began to age and shrivle. He looked decades older and he kept ageing until the flesh on his face and arms shriveled into bones. Then he died and began rotting on the floor until there was nothing left. It was a horrifying display of Hades power. “The traitor is dead for what he did. The rest will follow when we occupy Denaerk. All of you lords will die for your mistake. And Patinea, dont think you can use your huge Sun Hawks and Griffins to attack our army the way you did on Anseys Isles. I will destroy them all if you try that trick again. Azazel will be with me guarding the army from any arial attack by your creatures. If you try that, we will hunt down every last one of them and wipe out their entire race.”

At that moment, Serininas entire group vanished from sight and materialized in the center of her entire assembled army. She shouted triumphantly, “We go to war!”