To Lunambra Pt. 03: To Freedom

"YOUR SON," he shouted. "I went to him this morning to scold him for misconduct during wartime, and I heard noises from his balcony. I tried going out to investigate, and he held me back twice. I finally made my way onto the balcony, and that's when I saw it. There was a peasant woman, athletic build, red hair, completely nude from the waist down, and she was...she-"

"Get it out, Gaston," Jenara said, her brow furrowing.

"She was making water right outside of Baeden's window. At first I thought she had climbed up there and intended it as an act of vandalism, and I planned to punish her for trespassing on Royal grounds, not to mention the lewdness of it. And that's when Baeden attacked me, without any warning. Armor is a disadvantage in hand-to-hand combat, slows you down, and I'm ashamed to admit that he managed to knock me unconscious. When I woke up, he and the whore were gone, and footprints led towards the castle gate."

Jenara just sat there with her mouth hanging slightly open. "Baeden is gone?" she asked softly.

"Yes, my Queen," Gaston confirmed. "I have no idea what the meaning of it is, but he appears to be fleeing the city."

Jenara threw the blanket off and stood, exposing herself fully to Gaston. With an iron will, he kept his gaze at head-level as she strode across the room and opened her wardrobe. She pulled out a light blue dress with corset and an underskirt. "Help me," she said to Gaston.

"That would not be proper, and I have no idea how to put a woman's dress on her. I will fetch a serving girl," the General said.

"There is no time to be 'proper', and it's no different than lacing up armor. Now help me," Jenara ordered. Gaston sighed and stepped towards her. He grasped one of the underskirts and held it open as she stepped into it. He quickly tied up the back, thinking it was indeed much like tying greaves. He reached for the corset next, but Jenara waved his hand away. "That would take too long and there's no need for it," she said, pressing her legs together under the skirt.

"Milady, despite the circumstances, you are still the Queen of Lunambra. Running about the city in improper attire would only serve to humiliate you and upset the citizens."

"Yes, yes," Jenara reluctantly. She raised her arms above her head, and Gaston pulled the torturous garment around her middle. She stood there, glaring forward with impatience as he laced the back of the corset. Finally, he gave the strings a hard tug. Jenara squeezed her eyes shut as the corset pulled tight against her abdomen, pushing her inflated bladder.

She heard Gaston give a frustrated sigh. "It won't close all the way," he mumbled.

"I must have gained a bit of weight," Jenara lied. "As I said before, the corset really isn't-" She was cut off as Gaston gave the ropes another huge pull, and the garment wrapped itself around her. She closed her eyes tightly in an effort to contain her pee until the sudden pressure settled down. The blue dress came next, and while his knots were basic and utilitarian, they worked well enough. Fully dressed now, she hid her bed hair in a wide hat, knowing that Gaston would have no hope of managing it even if he had all the time in the world.

"Are you ready, my Queen?" Gaston asked. "Have you need of your chamberpot?"

Jenara glared at him. "Watch your words, General. We have wasted too much time already, so get moving." Gaston bowed low and turned, quickly striding out of the chamber. Jenara followed, completely ignoring the way her privates throbbed with every step. It was a long walk down the castle stairs and through the courtyard. Gaston had stopped for a few minutes to explain the situation to his personal guard, and Jenara used the opportunity to squeeze herself under her dress a couple of times behind the cover of the door. I picked a bad day to play this game, she thought. Had she had a moment of privacy after learning of Baeden's disappearance, she would have relieved herself immediately. But she could obviously do no such thing in Gaston's presence, nor let him know what it was she needed. She would handle it while Gaston organized a search party later in the day.

Gaston exited the room them, with six armed and armored guards in tow. "Let us move on to the city," he said. Soon they were approaching the castle gates. Gaston stopped upon seeing they were closed and barred, and ten castle guards stood in front of them. "What is the meaning of this?" Gaston barked, striding towards them.

One of the ten stepped forwards. "Gaston, Sir," he said with a bow. "I do not know why, but Prince Baeden himself has issued a military order to us. We are not to let you through this gate."

"BAEDEN HAS FLED THE CITY!" Gaston roared in the guard's face.

The smaller man stepped back, flinching, but did not move aside. "A military order from the Prince cannot be overruled by anyone. Not you, not even the Queen. It is the highest responsibility a Soldier can carry. If he issued such an order, I can only believe that you have betrayed Lunambra in some way." The guard's right hand began to cross his waist, aiming for the hilt of his broadsword.

Queen Jenara closed her eyes and looked away, but the continuous screams and crashes painted a vivid and violent picture in her mind. Over a minute later it fell silent, and she opened her eyes to a scene of carnage. Each of the ten guards were splayed out in the grass, battered and bloody, but alive and writhing. Gaston stood in the center of them, brushing off his tabard with his his left gauntlet. In his right he was holding his own sword over his shoulder, but he had it held by the blade itself, gripped tightly in his steel grasp.

Gaston looked up to Jenara, catching her eyeing his unusual stance. "Mordhau," Gaston said to her. "Originally a German technique. Good for both bashing through armor, and taking down opponents without killing them outright. Best have gauntlets on though, or you're not going to have a good time with it."

"That isn't why I'm looking at you like this," Jenara said. "I'm just wondering how it is that you just defeated ten trained and armed guards with the back end of a sword, when my son brought you to ground with his bare hands."

Gaston pursed his lips. "Firstly, he caught me completely off-guard. He got the first strike in, and it put me at a disadvantage. Second, he had no armor on. He was faster than me. These guards were wearing armor, so it was a fair fight." Jenara ignored the fact that Gaston considered ten versus one as 'fair'. Gaston looked away from the Queen. "Finally, the last sight I had before he jumped me was that of a young woman with her privates out as she pissed on the floor, so damn me if I wasn't the smallest bit distracted."

"I will ask that you do not use such profanities in the presence of Royalty," Jenara barked in an attempt to keep up appearances. In reality, just hearing the word "Piss" made her belly throb. She could feel her skin pushed to its limits within the tight corset, unable to expand. She was getting concerned, now. If her body was free, she knew that she could hold it in for many hours if she needed to. But constricted like this, like a crate of salted fish, she felt as vulnerable as she did when she was a child in training. One big secret of hers was that she rarely wore a corset under her dress, only when she left the castle grounds. Though not exactly young, her body was of the type that tended to simply stay in place. Seeing her from the outside, nobody could guess that she had nothing beneath her dress but an underskirt. Even now, the corset did nothing to compress any part of her body except for her bladder.

Gaston turned towards the gatehouse and vaulted through one of the windows, and after a long and very loud session of cranking, the gate was raised enough to pass through. Gaston's guards went through first, crouched down to avoid dinging their helmets. The man himself went through next, and Jenara approached the gate. Gaston held his hand underneath the iron bars, and she took it as she tried to walk under the gate. The moment she bent down, the corset pressed into her. She froze for just a moment as the smallest, quickest drop of pee forced its way out of her straining body. Her legs were spread in her crouch, and as she passed through the gate she could see the little wet spot against the light grey stone. It was the first time she had truly involuntarily released anything since before her eighteenth birthday. She would allow small leaks into her skirts during long meetings, but never completely against her will. This is getting critical, she thought. I have to escape.

Jenara walked gingerly after Gaston for a ways. Civilians were looking at her and whispering to each other, though this was nothing unusual when she walked the city streets. She focused entirely on holding herself until she nearly crashed into Gaston. Looking around, she saw that they were nearly at the southern gates, at the city stables. "Two of the best horses are gone," Gaston said. Jenara glanced to her left and spotted a large wood and stone house that she knew belonged to a woman named Sabina, who she had a small history with and who looked so similar to the Queen that they could easily have been twins. Gaston stepped up to the small stable house and pounded on the door. Nothing. He leaned sideways to peer into a window, and Jenara took the chance.

The Queen ducked sideways, spinning into the cover of a small stone fence. The sudden movement forced another tiny spurt out of her, and she hissed to herself and twisted her legs together, now protected from sight. She had no time though, and she forced herself to move, circling around the back of Sabina's large home. Jenara hobbled to the door and knocked, trying to keep it just loud enough to be heard inside, but not by Gaston. She was losing hope twenty seconds later, but to her immense relief, the door creaked open to reveal her own mirror image in the form of Sabina. Their clothes could be no more different, with Sabina wearing tight leather pants and a loose, red silk shirt that was so soft her nipples could be seen poking out under it.

"Queen Jenara," Sabina said in a surprised tone. "What are-" Sabina stumbled as Jenara pushed her way inside and started struggling with the knots on the back of her dress.

"Help me, Sabina, please," Jenara nearly cried. Startled, Sabina stepped forwards and grasped the sloppy knots of Gaston's, pulling them apart and loosening the stitch. Jenara slid her arms out and lowered the top half of the dress to her waist. "Get a blade, cut the corset off, I have no time to untie it."

Sabina held her questions, it was obvious that the Queen was about to soak the entrance hall floor. Bent at the knees, with one hand between her legs and the other on her belly, she appeared to be at her very limit. Sabina rushed into the kitchen and grabbed a cooking knife, sprinting back into the entrance hall and sliding the thin blade under the corset's many stitches. A few seconds later the garment hit the floor, and the Queen sounded a moan on par with the kind of orgasm that Sabina could only dream about. "That is so much better," the Queen breathed. "Here, please help me get the dress back up, I have no time to waste here."

Sabina stepped up and started helping Jenara back into the dress, then paused. "My Queen, the corset may be off, but you must still be desperate for relief. I have an emptied chamberpot, I'll go fetch it for you."

"No," Jenara said quickly. "There are people searching for me, and I'll take too long if I release it now. Listen to me, my son Baeden and my servant Marina have fled the city together. I knew this day would come, I've known about those two since our night in the fortress, though obviously I've kept it secret. The city's General is searching for them, but he has no idea where they've gone. I do." Jenara paused to inhale and cross her legs again. "He probably doesn't even realize it himself, but when he was a very young child, I taught Baeden how to escape the city if it fell to an attacking army. He probably thinks it his own plan, forgetting that it was I who told it to him. He has fled south to Great Oak Village, and either threatened or paid the stable girl to ride north to Jarkan as a decoy."

"Why are you telling me this?" Sabina asked, staring at the Queen's squirming body. "I have no place in the Royal matters of this city."

"Oh, you will soon enough," Jenara panted. "You owe my family your life, and it is time you pay that debt. You used to be a traveler and an adventurer. I assume you are proficient in tracking?"

"I am," Sabina said, her eyebrows furrowed in curiosity.

"Good," Jenara whispered. "I have a job for you."

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Chapter Four - Oceans

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"Baeden," Marina choked out as she leaned against his back. "It's been over an hour. You have to stop, just for a minute..."

"He could be after us already," Baeden said as he spurred the horse onward. "It is not safe yet."

"Please don't make me piss on the horse," Marina whimpered through thick tears. Between the pain of her bladder and the stress of their escape, her emotions were scattered and intense. "Please, I don't want to do that. Please, Baeden."

Baeden looked back at the woman. Her eyes were squeezed shut, sweat and tears dampening her entire face. She winced with every step the horse took, and she was whispering something to herself under her breath. The Price let out an extended sigh. They needed to keep moving, but if she did relieve herself on the horse, the animal could get angry, and it would definitely make them easier to track. He knew how much she drank, he could not expect her to keep it inside of her any longer. He tugged at the reins, slowing the horse to a trot, and he pulled the beast to the side of the path. He jumped off and turned to Marina, holding out one of his large hands. She slid limply off of the horse with a gasp, and she was already wetting herself as he half-dragged her off the road and into the brush.

He plopped down onto the dirt and held Marina close, nuzzling his face in her hair and wrapping his arms around her. The hissing sound reached his ears as they settled down, and he looked between her legs. A puddle was spreading out from under her dress, and he gripped the thin fabric and pulled it up to reveal her red hair pubic hair, with the thick stream flowing out of her. She shivered periodically, and he knew it had to be from the relief rather than any sort of cold. Gaston's blood still coated the knuckles of his right hand, and he leaned forwards to wash it off in Marina's water. "Piss harder, will you? It's not coming off."

Marina let out a stifled giggle. "That's horrible," she whispered, though her voice betrayed humor. She placed a hand on her still-bulging bladder and pushed in, and her flow increased. After a bit of scrubbing, Baeden's hands were clean and coated with Marina's scent.

"I can't believe you're still going," Baeden said to her. "We really do have to move on..."

"Mmm, I'm almost done," Marina breathed. "Have a pee as well while I'm at it." She leaned back in the grass and stared at Baeden.

He smiled at her and quickly undid his drawstring. "I'm not desperate, but while I have the chance..." She watched as his manhood came free of his pants. She was slightly surprised to see that it wasn't hard like it always was when Baeden watched her do this, but she figured it made sense under the circumstances. When he was in survival mode, not much else got through to him. He exhaled as he released what he had, letting it flow down the hill to join with Marina's massive puddle. He was finished twenty seconds later, just as Marina's last drop came out of her as well.

"You're going to have to help me up, my legs are weak and I can't feel my belly," Marina said. The Prince stood up and reached out, pulling the wobbly girl to her feet. They made their way back to the horse and mounted up, and Marina felt so different now that she'd had her relief. They were on their way to freedom, to their own life. "Where are we going?" she asked the Prince.

"There's a town called Great Oak, two hundred and twenty miles south of Lunambra. That is where we are headed. Gaston will follow us as far as feet will carry him. Nowhere in England will be safe for us. He will lead Lunambra to war against every Kingdom, every city, every run-down village, and he will tear every one of them apart until he finds us."

"So what safety is there in Great Oak?" Marina asked. Every word Baeden said about Gaston made her more terrified of the man. Baeden spoke of him as though he were a force of nature, a violent storm that was capable of wiping cities off the face of the Earth. His reasons were unknown to her, but it was obvious that the General was the one man in the world that Baeden was afraid of.

"Hmm," Baeden grunted. "Great Oak itself offers no safety. The safety rests in what spans behind Great Oak. Have you ever seen the ocean, Marina?"

"What are you talking about?" Marina stammered. "The ocean is just a bedtime story. At the ends of England, you reach the edge of the Abyss. I've read about it."

Baeden had to squint and bite his lip to keep from turning and laughing in her face. He shook his head and leaned back against her. "The ocean is very real, Marina. The world is round, it is massive, and England is far from the only place on it. The rivers we've swam in all flow to and from the vastness of the ocean, every drop of rain comes from and returns to the ocean, some way or another. Everything you drink, everything you piss out, all begins and ends with this Earth's oceans. We're going to the docks at Great Oak, we're going to find a ship, find a crew, and we are going to cross the water south. We are going to the European mainland."

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Chapter Five - Tracks

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Jenara gently closed the door to Sabina's home and patted her dress down, pulling the fabric down so it conformed to her body. Now that the corset had been off for a minute, her bladder had stretched back out and the throbbing, unstoppable pressure had faded to a dull ache. She folded her hands in front of her to cover the bulge, hoping to the Heavens that Gaston wouldn't notice that she suddenly looked five months pregnant. She stepped back onto the street and saw the General standing there, ordering his guards around the area. He spotted her and shouted for them to return, and he jogged up to her.

"My Queen, where did you go? You cannot disappear like that!" he shouted, reaching out to grab her shoulders.

She stepped away from him and sighed. "I was just checking the area for the stable girl," Jenara said. "She knows my voice, and you probably scare her."

"Do not step out of my sight again," Gaston snapped. "You may have the authority in politics, but I have it when it comes to protecting you. Anyway, the stable girl is gone. Two sets of tracks lead away from the stables, one to the north and one to the south. He is trying to mislead us, he probably paid her to ride as a decoy."

"It would not surprise me," Jenara agreed. She knew that he was smart enough to figure that much out, at least. "So what do you want to do?"

"I'm going to go south," Gaston stated. "The borders of Jarkan are too close for me to ride far to the north. I will bring two guards with me, and send two north. A General crossing the border will cause problems, the nearby cities know my face. Two guards in civilian clothing can cross unnoticed."

"And what will you have them do if they find him? You alone may be able to stand against Baeden, but he could kill your guards in his sleep. Send me, Gaston. Let me travel north with your guards. Jarkan knows that it was I who agreed to return their land, they will accommodate me. The two of us are the only people in the Kingdom who have a chance of bringing him home, you with force and me with words."