By Cynthia Jeanette

Sybillas goals begin to move forward as we start seeing what she is really after and we get to learn about some of her past and what led to her being the way she is.
And, I am a very inexperienced writer and I would welcome anyone who wants to help me make this tale more readable.

Chapter 2

Sybilla still felt the seething anger within her as she remembered her past. She sat alone in the darkness of the night remembering everything that had happened to her. She still remembered being the best swordsman in the entire kingdom. Her speed and skill as a boy was unrivaled in the entire kingdom. As a boy, he trained every day for battle and that was his destiny when it was stolen away from him by his wicked sister.

She knew why her sister felt she had to do this to her. She understood the reason. Much of it was because of her arrogance as a boy and the way he treated her. Another reason was her damned marriage that their father was forcing them into. Her father made a contract with the valentinian family for her daughter to marry the son of the Valentinian family. That man was a brute, and he was very ugly and scared from a previous war he fought in. But he was powerful and a brilliant commander and very wealthy. But Theodora was horrified of being forced into marriage with such a man and resisted. When their father died and Serren was set to gain the crown, Theodora put pressure on him to break off the contract. She begged him just like she begged their father. He wanted to but found the pressure from the lords threatening war was too much. He decided to keep the contract in force and told her. That was the deciding moment for Theodora, Sybilla knew and she decided to go through with the plot of seizing the crown and making Serren into her little sister. One of the first things she did on seizing the crown was to break off her marriage contract. Then decree that all marriage contacts were invalid. No one could be forced into a marriage against their will.

She still remembered the horror of being turned into a small weak teenage girl. He was so helpless and was horrified and humiliated to suddenly become the princess of the Kingdom as his older sister claimed the crown and was proclaimed King. He was proclaimed the younger sister and didn’t get the crown. She knew nothing but suffering from that day. She was forced into dresses and constricting corsets that girls wore. She was unable to stop the women from dressing her. She was forced into it.

Then Sybilla remembered the glorious celebrations and bells tolling through the streets. She didn’t understand it at the time but Theodora had just repealed many of the social and legal restrictions placed on women and declared the worship of the Goddess to be legal again. Worshippers of the Goddess were no longer to be hunted or illegal. It was forbidden to prevent the worship of their goddess. Many women were cheering all night and it just enraged Sybilla. These were the women who destroyed the boy. Instead of being the crown prince, she had to go to school with the girls.

She was to learn the refined skills girls usually started learning at around five years of age. She learned to walk and move like a refined lady. She no longer had her strength or skills. She suddenly became afraid of men, whom he would previously have no problem defeating. Her sister became the best swordswoman and developed a swagger like a male in her step and gained the confidence of a man. She was often seen wearing a military uniform that the noble men wore. Theodora threw it all in her face. Sybilla remembered the horror of her first period and how Theodora joked about it and mocked her. Then she was sexually assaulted by one of the sons of his family's enemies. She felt so helpless and luckily the guards stopped it before it became a rape. That boy would later get to her and rape her within the year. This assault occurred at a tournament that she planned on winning as a boy. But instead, she was the princess just watching and cheering on the boys and men. She felt so humiliated and enraged by it all. And to top it all off, she was there wearing a pretty corset and a heavy elaborate gown and a pink princess tiara as her sister watched wearing pants.

She was treated as a helpless young woman and she felt much like that as her sister took the crown and began leading the kingdom. Sybilla was further enraged as war overtook the Kingdom. The Valentinian family rebelled against the King. They armed for war and Theodora was forced to mobilize the army. This was the family whose son Theodora was arranged and being forced into a marriage with. As king, she called it all off and that family declared war. She didn’t care how many people had to die for her marriage. Theodora was always very selfish and threw away many lives. And Sybilla was enraged that she had to stay as her sister mocked her weak female attributes as she marched off to war with the army after Sybilla spent a lifetime training for battle as a boy. She swore she was going to kill Theodora and said it right to her face that first day after Theodora transformed Serren into Sybilla. Theodora had to die for this humiliation.

Sybilla began studying witchcraft soon after her sister marched off to war. It was a struggle to be accepted by the witches. They still regarded Sybilla as a boy and witch’s study was only for girls. But Sybilla forced them to accept her as a girl and into the classes with the girls. Either she was a boy or a girl. If she was a boy then the crown must be hers. But she was a girl now, forced into dresses. The crown couldn't pass to her as the little sister. She was treated as a girl so she was going to learn witchcraft. And she learned she had skills that even her sister lacked. She learned that Theodora was a very poor witch. She transformed Serren with a lot of help. There were enough girls who wanted a female to ascend the throne and withdraw the restrictions.

Sybilla learned very fast and gained power like she never imagined as a boy. She could transform herself into a boy now, but she felt so much more powerful as a girl in this society. She was going to make her sister pay. After the conclusion of that war, Sybilla found out she was pregnant. She found out later after her delivery that it was caused by a spell by the witches under her sister’s orders. She had few choices at that point. So Sybilla married her love Seryna and had her babies.

Theodora thought it would destroy Sybilla. It nearly did but as the date of her delivery came closer, Sybilla knew a joy she had never known before and was looking forward to her precious babies. Becoming a mother was going to be great. So when her delivery date came and she delivered her babies, Theodora watched expecting it to be a crushing experience. Instead, she saw joy and love on Sybilla’s face as she embraced her babies. That enraged Theodora and she plotted to steal the children away. Sybilla’s power protected her new family and Theodora failed.

Theodora won that war but Sybillla withheld so much from her sister and just waited for this moment. She won the war against the Valentinians and forced them back into the Kingdom. The restoration of the Goddess to the Kingdom was successful. But Theodora’s lack of knowledge of the world and the Kingdom’s various treaties was going to bite her back. Theodora was never taught about the Fay or her people’s agreement with the Fay Kingdom. They were to transport goods and materials to the Fay for a price each year. It was a secret agreement and Theodora didn't know and didn't transport the goods this year. So the Fay tried to come and talk. Theodora was alarmed and had the Fay that came to the capital arrested.

Some were killed and now the Fay were on the warpath. Sybilla wasn’t going to raise a finger to help her sister after everything she had to suffer. Theodora was not prepared for such a widespread war shortly after her restoration war. Now her kingdom was facing destruction and it pleased Sybilla. She could help the Kingdom if she would find a way to free the Titans and control them. The Titans could defeat the Fay. And then she would direct the Titans against the Kingdom and claim the crown for herself. What could Theodora’s army do against Chronos and his Titans?

But Sybilla had to find a way to control the Titans. Otherwise, the Titans would destroy everything in their path and claim the world for themselves. It was only by the power of the greatest gods combined that they had been able to defeat the Titans and imprison them in the first place. There were ways Sybilla could get what she wanted. And she felt she was very close to it as she kept reading about the Fay and the Titans.

Then there was a rude knock on her door. Her babies were asleep with Seryna watching over them, so Sybilla went to open the door. She saw the last person she expected to dare show up at her door. There standing on the other side of the door was the ruthless Oolae Fawna. The high witch of the order of Hekate and one of the main professors of the girl’s school. She and her friend Arcadia hatched the entire coup to turn her into a girl and give the crown to her elder sister. And this person dared show up at her door? The reaction was immediate. The Professor saw Sybilla’s features turn bright red and sparks danced in her hair. Sybilla was clearly preparing for a battle.

The Professor tried to reason with her. “Please listen to me Sybilla. We are desperate and need help. You have to listen to us, and give up your anger for the good of the Kingdom. I as the High Witch and the regent for the King request your assistance. We are willing to place you in charge of the army. You will be their general and leader. Isn’t that what you always wanted?”

Sybilla’s features became more sinister. She nearly snarled. “No. I want the crown itself. I was the heir and it was supposed to belong to me before you all seized it from me. That’s what I want and you know it. Since I can’t have it, you all can deal with this crisis yourselves. I don’t care if the Fay burn you all. You deserve what you get.”

“Sybilla you are so selfish. All you want is the crown and you don’t care about anyone else who’s suffering. We all wanted to be free of the church and it’s cruel priests. We needed to end the inquisition and liberate the women. You just can’t see that because of your selfishness. We had to do what we did. Why can’t you see that?”

“I don’t care,” Sybilla responded with a cruel look in her eye. “If I was the King, this would have never happened. I don’t know what you expect me to do with an inexperienced army against 100s of thousands of Fay on the warpath. With an experienced army trained by our father and years of experience, I could have pulled off a victory. But your king foolishly lost that army. The King you wanted, and placed on the throne. So good luck against the Fay. You may leave now unless you want to duel and I would love that.”

An even more cruel look appeared in her eyes. “Because unlike the previous representatives of the King, whom I allowed to walk away, you are the high witch responsible for all of my suffering and the rape I survived. I won’t allow you to walk away Fawna. You are responsible for me being this way.”

Sybilla walked out with fire in her hair. She floated up above the ground with a sinister look in her eyes. “I am forming a plan to help. I may end up helping but when I do, I will be doing it at great risk to myself. I will demand the crown when I succeed and then I will place all of the previous restrictions on women in the kingdom and restore the witch hunter and the inquisition. Your freedom will be very short-lived. Considering what you all did with your freedom, and how cruel you were, you don’t deserve the freedom. I will take it away.”

“You are such a selfish and cruel girl,” the professor spat out raising her own defenses.

“You made me,” Sybilla said to her. “You were one of the witches there chanting the curse to turn me into a girl in front of the entire kingdom. It is your doing. I was a very kind and loving boy before you did this. I have suffered more pain and humiliation than you can ever imagine. You all deserve to pay.”

Sybilla made double fists and sent a torrent of fire at the professor. She did her best to block the attack but it was difficult. She flew back from the force of the blast and collapsed. Her energy spent and Sybilla was preparing to strike again. Her fists were tightening with a cruel sneer in her face seeing the professor’s helplessness. There was nothing she could do now.

“And now professor, you will die.”

She knew that she stood little chance in a battle against the princess. The princess’ body had been reformed with a very ancient and powerful magic and as a result of the transformation fused itself into her body. As a result of such a transformation, the princess would become blessed to be a very powerful witch. She was to be one of the most powerful witches ever. The professor hoped that the princess would understand and join them once she understood the injustice and horrors they all faced. That never happened. The princess became terribly embittered and hateful. She had suffered horribly after the transformation. For one, her sister Theodora treated her extremely cruelly. She unleashed years of pent up frustration on her. Then she was used by enemies of the family and assaulted and raped. What was supposed to be a learning experience for the princess turned into a living nightmare.

Sybilla was very right to be this angry but none of it was the professor’s doing. Yet she was being solely blamed for being a major part of the plot. She saw the princess drawing on her power into her fists and sent an even more powerful blast of fire toward her. She used up her strength blocking the first blast. She had nothing left to repel another attack. She barely blocked the force of the first attack. This was nothing like the first attack by a few boys who only briefly studied magic and attacked her and Arcadia a few nights after their seizure of power. That was easy to deflect. Those boys were almost a joke and they paid for their attack. The princess was way more powerful. The professor knew she was about to die.

The blast of fire engulfed the professor and she screamed out in pain as the fire burnt her alive. It consumed her flesh and incinerated her entire body in a flash of pain. There was nothing left of her body but a charred hole in the grass. “And now, Charon will take you to the realm of Hades. You will pay the price for what you did to me.”

Sybilla then returned to her home and her babies started to wake up. She picked up a crying Blaze and held the girl close to her heart. The girl was clearly hungry and she was starting to grew teeth. Sybilla sat the girl in a chair in the kitchen and began feeding the girl soft baby food. Her babies were so sweet. This was one of the most rewarding experiences. But she still couldn’t forgive the pain she endured because of the transformation. She had to repay the favor and that was coming later in the day.

Hours later Sybilla was found in her area mixing ingredients in a massive black pot in the center of the room. A mixture of rare mushrooms, herbs and some gems and stones prepared the potion and then there was one final part of the entire process. She held up a knife and put her hand over the pot. She gripped the blade tightly and quickly pulled the blade down slicing her palm open. The blood dripped down into the pot and the potion was ready. She cast the spell and then awaited the guests that were to arrive any second. There was a knock and she told them to come in.

Lord Philip walked in. He was the lord and head of the entire Plantagenet family. The family her spouse belonged to and that consented to the marriage between their daughter and the princess. This was the man she wanted to see. He greeted her and walked in asking why he was summoned.

The man was already largely under her influence. “I need your family ring Lord Philip.” Sybilla told him.

Lord Philip Plantagenet knelt and said, “As you wish, my princess.”
“I want you to publicly announce to your people that I am the lord of the Plantagenet family. I am in charge as of this moment. You and your wife will abdicate. The title now belongs to me. I will become the lord of the Plantagenet family.”

The lord replied, “As you wish, my Lord and my Queen.”

“I am not the queen, yet.” Sybilla replied. “Not yet. Now we make arrangements to receive the Valantian family’s lord, as well as the Constantine’s family head.