Fatal Oath

Alisha's face glowed hotly as she angrily turned her head away from him. Once again, he'd torn something from her without her consent. Overwhelmed with shame, her tears came... silently, she hoped. She did not want to give him the pleasure of hearing her anguish.

"Your body is mine, Princess, and whether you choose to admit it or not, she derives great pleasure from belonging to me. Why do you resist her call so strongly? This is a man's world, and women exist to support us in our efforts, as well as to bear our children. I fear that your father allowed you too much freedom; he permitted you to believe in a fantasy, to believe that we have real choice in our lives. God knows that even men have very little choice. My men do as I wish, and even I am constrained by our culture and our God."

"Never," whispered Alisha with flagging conviction. "Never will I consent to remain with you. You can call me your wife, or you can call me your whore; it really makes no difference to me as I will find a way to end myself. I would be better dead than to allow you to break my mind and lead a meaningless life doing your will."

"You'd have me kill your family... kill your people in a fit of pique because you won't be getting your way? Princess, if that is how you are, then you are even more spoiled than I had imagined!"

"No," she said with growing strength, "I won't take responsibility for your actions. You are the monster here. You could easily leave them be, but you are choosing to hold them over my head to avoid taking responsibility for your own evil. So, do whatever you please. You've claimed the right to do so; just don't blame me for what you choose to do, because in reality, you've given me no real choices at all."

Surprised by her words, even shocked by them, King Zander was speechless for a moment. He was positively astounded by this woman. Was she really turning down the life of an empress in favour of a meaningless death? He saw only conviction in her eyes. Here she was, barely old enough to be considered a woman, and yet... she was strong enough to defy him, even unto taking her own life, for now he had no doubt that she would follow through with her threat.

It wasn't as though he could openly keep his Queen in chains, even if he had the desire to do so. She was stunning in her display of will, and he was even more certain than ever that she would be his Queen. Never again would he find her like; he had to find a way to get through to her!

Then he had a thought. "Okay Princess," he said reasonably, "I've never negotiated with a woman before, but you are simply marvelous. If you are to become a true Queen, maybe you need to learn our way of life. What would it take for you to convince you that life with me is better than death?"

"You won't ever convince me of that!"

"I've promised your father a year to convince me that he can rule his Dukedom effectively in the Vvarian way. Give me the same opportunity. Become my Queen and perform the duties of the job for a year and I will agree to leave Vichy unmolested even if you choose to kill yourself at the end of that year. Rather than becoming my vassals or slaves, your people will become full citizens of the empire. They won't have to pay a yearly tribute, nor will they be required to send young men and women to serve the empire. I've never granted any other state this sort of a deal before."

"You will leave me in peace?"

"Most days Princess... I will always have the duties of a King to fill my days, but your nights will belong to me. You will be my wife in name and in deed. You will sleep with me in my quarters and I will prove to you that your life can be an extremely pleasurable experience. You can pursue your own goals or hobbies during the day, and you won't have to answer to anyone but me. Nothing that I can give you will be denied you; a Queen's desires should never be denied!"

"Except for her freedom," Alisha muttered.

"Even a Queen has to answer to her husband, Alisha."

"So every woman is expected to be her husband's whore?" Alisha replied bitterly.

"And every man is happier when he can please his wife; was it any different in your homeland," Zander asked her honestly. "Your own brother married recently, and yet, he spends most of his time with courtesans does he not? And the suitors that you had there, did any of them ask for your opinions on anything besides fashion or dancing?"

"How do..." Alisha stammered. "How do you know these things?"

"Good, you didn't try to deny that everything that I said was the truth. You are as honest as well as you are strong!"

"But..."

"I've had my spies in your father's house for years, my love. This land needed to be united and the only way to do that was to conquer it, one petty kingdom at a time. But enough about that, you didn't answer my question, was it any different for the women in your land?"

Alisha looked away from Zander with a hint of tears in her eyes, but she said nothing at all.

Zander hugged the distraught girl tighter and then soothingly replied, "You know what I'm saying is true. Your father would have allowed you great latitude in selecting your husband, but you were never going to ascend to any throne and no other woman in your land was granted even that much choice in selecting her husband. By treating you like any other daughter of your land and arranging a marriage for you, he was able to avoid disaster. Your mother folded instantly, her marriage was just as arranged as your own. She doesn't love me, but she saw the necessity in combining our houses."

"My mother too, no one stood up for me?"

"They want to live Alisha, and they've seen my army. Suddenly, I seemed like a credible suitor."

"So why kidnap me? It sounds as if they would have willingly sold me into prostitution without all of this."

"I saw you and I had to have you, Alisha. Your life, and indeed, your virginity were safer with me than they were back in your former kingdom. With my army surrounding your castle, any number of things could have happened to you. You were safer under my care."

"Your care?" Alisha squalled. You've made me your whore! You've done all manner of things to me, to my body. The only thing that you have not taken from me is my virginity! You've gotten into my head and you've made my body wanton. You spanked me and then you made me scream in ecstasy afterward. No matter how hard I fought you or how much I said that I didn't want you, you did whatever you liked. I don't want to live like that! I want to be free to make my own choices."

"So choose to spend a year with me, and see if this life is everything that I've promised. It will be much better than you think that it will be," he said soothingly as he began to slowly massage the tense muscles in the back of her neck.

"...and you'll swear one of your oaths attesting to everything that you have promised?"

"I will, and while you may not agree with our way of life, you have to admit that even our former enemies agree that we religiously keep our oaths. So yes, if you will agree to become my wife and to remain alive for a period of one year, I will do every single thing that I have promised. I swear by the power of Vvaria!"

Zander's fingers left the back of Alisha's neck and he began to run them down her naked back as he instead started to nuzzle her throat. Alisha didn't bother to hide her shiver of anticipation as she couldn't have managed that if she had tried. She began to moan as he began to nibble along her hairline, teasing her neck with his teeth.

Without really intending to, Alisha opened her legs to him as she gasped out, "one year, and then we will see."

"Yes my Queen," Zander replied as he began to fondle her secret nub once more, checking to see if she was ready for him. Finding her thighs were soaked and her channel more than ready for him, Zander shifted his body and positioned himself at her opening.

"Take me," Alisha moaned once again, and this time, Zander did not spring away from her. He had no reasons left to deny himself from plundering her nubile body. He carefully eased himself into her and with a final twitch of his hips; he tore through her maidenhead and began to slowly move within her.

Apart from a brief burst of pain, Alisha found herself molding herself around him in something like reverence. She had wrapped her legs around him and she found herself moaning for him to take her.

Zander had been considerate of her inexperience and had done everything to make her deflowering as painless as possible, but hearing her moaning for more, something finally snapped within him as he greatly accelerated his pace. With great thrusts, he systematically drove her body from the footboard of his great bed all the way to the opposite end of it.

Not knowing why she was doing so, and certainly not behaving in any rational manner, Alisha bucked back upon his thrusts as she once again began to approach an orgasm, something Martha had said was unlikely during her first time with a man.

As he leaned over and began to bite her neck, Alisha screamed as she came undone, her entire vagina pulsating and squeezing her man's greedy cock. This in turn, prompted Zander's own orgasm, the quickest one that he had experienced in years. He pumped jet after jet of his seed into her pulsating womb, both of them cumming violently together before they fell into an exhausted heap. Their deal had been sealed in the world's oldest manner, and soon, both of them had slipped into a restful sleep.

~~~

(Present day)

~~~

The crowd was restive; they'd never seen anything quite like the spectacle that was taking place before them today. They could see that their king was atop the execution platform, and while there was nothing unusual in him being there as their king had never been willing to assign the unpleasant duties of executing the realm's criminals to anyone else, this time the situation was different; today he was there to fulfill an oath to their God.

A dire look was upon his face as he knelt in supplication before the assembled crowd, his half-sword held loosely in his hands. He hadn't said a word to anyone since he had arrived there an hour before; his eyes had remained steadfast upon the Queen's podium where the royal throne had been placed. Regal even while empty, he knew that the golden throne would positively glow once his Queen finally arrived.

The Queen was quite late, and Zander was certain that this was her last gesture of contempt for him... contempt for his kingdom, contempt for his God, and even contempt for his very way of life. He knew that there wasn't anything in the realm that Alisha was not contemptuous of; indeed, she blamed all of Vvaria for losing the life that she felt had been stolen from her. Her life was now the richest in the world, but for Alisha, this life as Zander's Queen was as welcome as the miserable heat that swallowed his kingdom.

There in the blistering sun, rivulets of sweat ran freely down the King's face as he knelt on the rough wood planking, salty rivers resembling tears running down his neck to the scar-covered shoulders and torso below. His heavily muscled and tattooed body was a masterpiece of his profession; he was a warrior, a conqueror, and the emperor of an entire continent that now swore fealty only to him.

He wasn't especially bothered by the perspiration that flowed from him as he was the God-blessed son of this realm and he was more than used to its fiercely inhospitable climate. Zander could have done without the biting flies that buzzed lazily around him; they reminded him of the courtiers and priests of the land. Like the court, they were only a minor nuisance, but he knew that killing any of them only seemed to cause a dozen more to spring forth.

He understood that the real danger facing him was the weapon that he held within his own hands, the battle tested half-sword that would surely take someone's life before this day was done. All he could do now was to recite the sacred words while he waited to see what fate God would decide to bestow upon him.

He chanted the words three times.

I journey through the desert of the mind with no hope. I follow...

I journey through the desert of the mind with no hope. I follow...

I journey through the desert of the mind with no hope. I follow...

Reciting the words didn't help him much however, but the sacred words were all that he had left; he'd tried everything else.

And then... she was there; as usual, her face was tight and unsmiling, and even now, all he could think of was that he still wanted her. Her luscious body was wrapped in the luxurious purple robes of state that she resented so deeply. Her fiery hair was flowing over her shoulders like a living waterfall; she was the life-giving pool that he longed to dive within. As far as Zander was concerned, Alisha was perfection itself. He'd known that he'd have to take her as soon as he'd first laid eyes upon her. How could he have known that she'd be so strong, so willful... so God-damned stubborn?

As usual, her words crushed him as a glacier that destroyed everything before it. 'Proceed', was all that she bothered to say after she had made herself comfortable in his throne.

The crowd was clearly unsettled. How could she be so cold to their God-given ruler? Surely she'd come here to recant her position! But she said nothing more, and the head priest was forced to begin the ceremony that no one really wished to see happen.

"Citizens and slaves of the land," the cleric announced with a well-trained voice, "we are gathered here before God and the royal family, to fulfill an oath to Vvaria and to pay a debt of honor. King Zander swore an oath to Queen Alisha, and today, we will present this truth to the rest of the world. Even our royal family is subject to God's justice."

"Praise him," the assembled people replied quietly, though it was not immediately obvious whether they meant God... or Zander.

The cleric continued ominously, "When Queen Alisha agreed to marry King Zander, our King swore before God that the Queen's service to him would end upon the completion of the period of one year-- providing that she could then end her own life."

The old priest then paused for a moment to let the crowd understand the stakes that were at play here today. He knew that very few of those assembled had known of the ramifications of the deal between the royal pair, and he was more than willing to grant them time to understand what was going on before them.

After a moment, he began again, "The King has further agreed that this would discharge any and all debts that her previous kingdom might owe to the empire, and that he would not look upon the kingdom of Vichy with disfavor because of her choice."

There was some shuffling of feet and not a few gasps at the priest's words. All eyes had turned to where Alisha sat impassively, if uncomfortably, upon Zander's throne in the mid-day's heat. If the people had opinions about the Vvarian oath that Zander had sworn, they did not speak of them, for their traditions allowed them no room to speak on another's oath. This ceremony was only between these two and their God, and it was to be witnessed in silence by anyone but the principals.

The old man was wise though, and he paused for the crowd to get over their shock at what he'd just said, but eventually, he had to continue, "Queen Alisha chose to take the darker path of divorce and death by her own hand, and she began to sharpen her ceremonial dagger some weeks ago."

"When King Zander understood that she was serious about her decision, he sought to dissuade the Queen from her chosen path, and for these past weeks he has endeavored to get our Queen to change her mind and accept him as her rightful husband, but Queen Alisha has been steadfast in her decision, and she has chosen death before continuing as the King's consort."

Once again, Feet began to shuffle as the crowd began to wonder why their King now stood upon the scaffold while Alisha was seated upon his throne. Who was this outlander who did not feel blessed to be the bride of their King? There was not a woman in the crowd who would not have given everything she owned to be in Alisha's shoes. None of them would have deigned to deny their sovereign anything that he wanted, much less actually possess a real desire to do so.

...and then the old man spoke again, "So the King offered the Queen a new oath. If she would agree to remain alive and to bear his heir, he would take her place on the scaffold here today... and upon it, end his own life. In turn, she would take his unquestioned place upon our throne until such time as Zander's heir reaches his or her majority. If that heir should die before he or she reaches the day of transfer, then Queen Alisha's next issue shall take the crown and will be regarded as Zander's own child."

"The Royal couple has also agreed that the King may renounce this oath up until the moment of his death, but that his renunciation will only return to the Queen her original choice to kill herself or continue as his wife. Both of our sovereigns have sworn this before Vvaria."

"Before we continue, do either of your majesties have anything you wish to add to what has been said here today... anything you'd like to say to one another... or to your people?"

The high priest hoped that one of the principals would blink and steer from their insane game of chicken, but neither said a word. Finally after some moments of silence, the Queen snapped just one word, "continue!"

Upon seeing the hard look upon his Queen's face, the old man blanched and immediately looked away from her, his eyes temporarily landing upon the riser where the Queen's brother was gazing uninterestedly down on the proceedings. Blanching a second time, the priest stammered out that it was time for the King to make his final statement before meeting God.

~~~

(Three days prior)

~~~

The herald spoke breathlessly, "My Queen, a delegation from your homeland approaches."

Alisha's eyes tore through her herald as a sharp knife would cut through papyrus, "A delegation from... where?" she spat back at the terrified herald.

"From the protectorate of Vichy, my Queen," he stammered out.

"Remember that if you want to keep your tongue, boy," she hissed at the nervous puddle before her. "I no longer have any connection to that hateful place!"

"Yes my Queen... I shan't forget," the relieved boy said tremulously as he knew that her threat upon his tongue had not been an idle one. This Queen was like no woman that anyone had encountered before.

Alisha gave her herald a last hard look before she turned to the Captain of her guards, and to him, decreed, "Bring their spokesman directly to my throne once his delegation has dismounted. Offer them no hospitality; do not even offer them dirty water to slake their thirst or to remove the dust from their skin. Keep the rest of the group encircled and eject them from our land if they give you any trouble. Don't worry about spilling their blood; no one would miss a single one of them."

"Yes, my Queen," was all the man said before he stiffly marched out of the room.

~~~

Some time later, the chief spokesman from Vichy appeared. He was warned against trying to rise without permission as he was thrown at Alisha's feet. He hadn't been cautioned against speaking however, and he foolishly gasped out, "What is the meaning of this, sister? Is this any way to greet your eldest brother?"

"I no longer have brothers," the Queen replied somewhat dryly.

"What? It is I, Aaron. Your oldest brother; have you forgotten me? We grew up in..." but no more words could come from his mouth, as Alisha's guardsmen began violently kicking the man with their hob-nailed boots.