Soon the fires were finally put out with buckets of earth and water as the Spartan soldiers and sailors gathered together in the forum readying themselves for war, polishing their armor and sharpening their spears and swords.Whereupon King Vyakles carried the body of Queen Thera to the temple of Hera where he lay her cold corpse upon the stone altar, here he ordered the physicians Jessa, and Caderios, along with the high priest, to prepare her for ritual burial. Then he turned away leaving the side of his dead wife to prepare his body and mind for battle to avenge her unexpected death.
At this same time Iona, Scotia, Johanna, Ia, La Scoffa, Katara, Amarra, and Kayla had three of the marauders from Themiscyra they had successfully captured, strung up by the heels, hanging naked upside down together, side by side, from the boughs of a massive oak tree on the outskirts of the city. Their hands tied behind their backs, their faces and bodies cut, bloody and bruised from much deserved abuse.
"You should NOT have come here this night!" Scotia screamed, spitting in their swollen eyes.
As Lucia Vega and Lacuna approached the violent scene they both looked as if someone had just walked over their graves. The women, loyal to Thera, felt an uneasy feeling creep into their hearts and they stilled themselves to listen as Lacuna spoke. "Lend your ears a moment.., my sacred sisters of Sparta, for I bring you all grievous news." Lacuna said in a low clear voice her expression as cold as a tomb. "It pains my heart to tell you.., our brave and noble Queen, our beloved friend and leader in battle..," here she paused a hard lump forming in her throat as she felt a stabbing pain in her chest, for with the overwhelming emotion of great loss, Lacuna found she could not bring herself to finish her own sentence.
"Queen Thera is dead! Murdered by Odessa's own treacherous hands." Lucia Vega informed them "She gave up her life, in a noble sacrifice, to save the life of her beloved husband, our King." Thera's good ladies were shocked and many tears began to fall, mixed with their confusion as outrage filled their souls. Even the assassins felt a sudden sadness in their black hearts. "Odessa has taken away Princess Sparta and the spirit of Vyakles is utterly crushed!" Lucia Vega paused as Lacuna turned away weeping trying not to show the depth of her devastation. "But what is worse than all of this, my friends..," Lucia Vega shook her head then said "Queen Thera was newly with a royal child, growing inside."
All gathered their together stood for a moment shocked and stunned by this revelation "Damn the Fates! Damn Odessa and her followers!" came up a loud cry of anger and dismay from the women.
"No." were the words of one of the assassins with the knowledge of this heart wrenching news. For well they knew, in their society, to murder a child the punishment was death, for this was a crime against all humanity, but to kill an unborn, defenseless baby was a crime against all the gods and goddesses, a vile and vicious unforgivable act, as evil and abominable as any human being could get. "We did not know this!" came up a truthful cry from one of the doomed warriors "Had we been aware of this, never would we have volunteered for this diabolical mission!"
"LIAR!" Scotia shouted as she kicked the marauder in the mouth, knocking her front teeth out as the warm blood ran, dripping down to the ground.
"You have helped Odessa and have betrayed the precious unborn life of a royal child!" Kayla spewed forth her rage "So you will tell us all the information we require! Tell us all of it now! Tell us everything you know about Odessa's mission and we shall make your deaths quick and painless!" she seethed lying. .
"Where are the rest of her troops?" Scotia yelled.
So the captured women told them all they knew, readily and wholeheartedly, as the blood pulsed to their aching heads; which pounded with every beat of their cruel hearts "Odessa has taken Princess Sparta back to Themiscyra to set her upon as the throne as our new Queen, where Odessa will serve as her advisor until she is eighteen and finished with her military training. Katarina waits outside the city now, at the base of Mt. Parnon with 100 infantry, cavalry, archers and charioteers, to serve as the rear guard while Odessa and her other 100 women make their escape."
"Where is Odessa meant to regroup with her troops?" Lacuna demanded to know.
"In Megara.., tomorrow." came the truthful answer.
"What else!" Lucia Vega asked glaring down at them.
"Odessa has ordered Katarina to take refuge in the Sacred Grove of Argos, should their division be split by the Spartan Army, and they are forced to make a retreat."
"Why there, of all places?"
"Odessa knows the Greeks will not enter that holy place, nor will they burn it down, for fear of offending their gods."
Here the women shook their heads, some of them laughing diabolically, as Lucia Vega spoke saying "Odessa is correct, these superstitious Greeks will not desecrate that ancient and holy ground.., but we .., we are not of Greek blood and WE FEAR NO GODS! We will go and force Katarina and her group to retreat, then we will burn those woods down!" here a cheer rose up from the broken hearted ladies, whose minds were brimming with the anticipation of exacting and perfecting their revenge, armed with this information the seeds of hate and vengeance grew strong.
Lacuna, smiling like a fiend, with a rich clear voice she said to the doomed warriors swinging in the breeze "We thank you for your cooperation." then she gave the following orders "My sacred sisters, who have loved Queen Thera and served her well in battle, and in her short life, we must avenge her death! It is our obligation and duty to serve her still. We will ready ourselves for war against Odessa and destroy all those who are loyal to her throne! With SWORDS and FIRE we shall annihilate all of those who oppose us!" Lacuna paused then she said "Take these villainous traitors, slice them open, finish them off, drag their warm bodies out in to the center of the woods, let us make them food for the wolves!"
"Do not let us die this way!" came the cries of the terrified women "This is not an honorable death for a warrior!" their prisoners implored.
"HONOR!?" Lucia Vega screamed in rage taking the sharpened cyphos from Kayla's hand "YOU HAVE NO HONOR!" with that she slit open the bellies of all three women, who cried out in sheer agony as their blood and intestines disgorged forth upon the ground. These deaths would be extremely painful as they were violent, then each woman was cut down, one by one, and dragged out into the deep dark forest, it would take them a little while longer to die. They were, in fact, still half alive when they heard the ravenous wolves howling as they approached slowly circling with sharp teeth and hungry eyes.
At this same time Iona, Scotia, Johanna, Ia, La Scoffa, Katara, Amarra, and Kayla had three of the marauders from Themiscyra they had successfully captured, strung up by the heels, hanging naked upside down together, side by side, from the boughs of a massive oak tree on the outskirts of the city. Their hands tied behind their backs, their faces and bodies cut, bloody and bruised from much deserved abuse.
"You should NOT have come here this night!" Scotia screamed, spitting in their swollen eyes.
As Lucia Vega and Lacuna approached the violent scene they both looked as if someone had just walked over their graves. The women, loyal to Thera, felt an uneasy feeling creep into their hearts and they stilled themselves to listen as Lacuna spoke. "Lend your ears a moment.., my sacred sisters of Sparta, for I bring you all grievous news." Lacuna said in a low clear voice her expression as cold as a tomb. "It pains my heart to tell you.., our brave and noble Queen, our beloved friend and leader in battle..," here she paused a hard lump forming in her throat as she felt a stabbing pain in her chest, for with the overwhelming emotion of great loss, Lacuna found she could not bring herself to finish her own sentence.
"Queen Thera is dead! Murdered by Odessa's own treacherous hands." Lucia Vega informed them "She gave up her life, in a noble sacrifice, to save the life of her beloved husband, our King." Thera's good ladies were shocked and many tears began to fall, mixed with their confusion as outrage filled their souls. Even the assassins felt a sudden sadness in their black hearts. "Odessa has taken away Princess Sparta and the spirit of Vyakles is utterly crushed!" Lucia Vega paused as Lacuna turned away weeping trying not to show the depth of her devastation. "But what is worse than all of this, my friends..," Lucia Vega shook her head then said "Queen Thera was newly with a royal child, growing inside."
All gathered their together stood for a moment shocked and stunned by this revelation "Damn the Fates! Damn Odessa and her followers!" came up a loud cry of anger and dismay from the women.
"No." were the words of one of the assassins with the knowledge of this heart wrenching news. For well they knew, in their society, to murder a child the punishment was death, for this was a crime against all humanity, but to kill an unborn, defenseless baby was a crime against all the gods and goddesses, a vile and vicious unforgivable act, as evil and abominable as any human being could get. "We did not know this!" came up a truthful cry from one of the doomed warriors "Had we been aware of this, never would we have volunteered for this diabolical mission!"
"LIAR!" Scotia shouted as she kicked the marauder in the mouth, knocking her front teeth out as the warm blood ran, dripping down to the ground.
"You have helped Odessa and have betrayed the precious unborn life of a royal child!" Kayla spewed forth her rage "So you will tell us all the information we require! Tell us all of it now! Tell us everything you know about Odessa's mission and we shall make your deaths quick and painless!" she seethed lying. .
"Where are the rest of her troops?" Scotia yelled.
So the captured women told them all they knew, readily and wholeheartedly, as the blood pulsed to their aching heads; which pounded with every beat of their cruel hearts "Odessa has taken Princess Sparta back to Themiscyra to set her upon as the throne as our new Queen, where Odessa will serve as her advisor until she is eighteen and finished with her military training. Katarina waits outside the city now, at the base of Mt. Parnon with 100 infantry, cavalry, archers and charioteers, to serve as the rear guard while Odessa and her other 100 women make their escape."
"Where is Odessa meant to regroup with her troops?" Lacuna demanded to know.
"In Megara.., tomorrow." came the truthful answer.
"What else!" Lucia Vega asked glaring down at them.
"Odessa has ordered Katarina to take refuge in the Sacred Grove of Argos, should their division be split by the Spartan Army, and they are forced to make a retreat."
"Why there, of all places?"
"Odessa knows the Greeks will not enter that holy place, nor will they burn it down, for fear of offending their gods."
Here the women shook their heads, some of them laughing diabolically, as Lucia Vega spoke saying "Odessa is correct, these superstitious Greeks will not desecrate that ancient and holy ground.., but we .., we are not of Greek blood and WE FEAR NO GODS! We will go and force Katarina and her group to retreat, then we will burn those woods down!" here a cheer rose up from the broken hearted ladies, whose minds were brimming with the anticipation of exacting and perfecting their revenge, armed with this information the seeds of hate and vengeance grew strong.
Lacuna, smiling like a fiend, with a rich clear voice she said to the doomed warriors swinging in the breeze "We thank you for your cooperation." then she gave the following orders "My sacred sisters, who have loved Queen Thera and served her well in battle, and in her short life, we must avenge her death! It is our obligation and duty to serve her still. We will ready ourselves for war against Odessa and destroy all those who are loyal to her throne! With SWORDS and FIRE we shall annihilate all of those who oppose us!" Lacuna paused then she said "Take these villainous traitors, slice them open, finish them off, drag their warm bodies out in to the center of the woods, let us make them food for the wolves!"
"Do not let us die this way!" came the cries of the terrified women "This is not an honorable death for a warrior!" their prisoners implored.
"HONOR!?" Lucia Vega screamed in rage taking the sharpened cyphos from Kayla's hand "YOU HAVE NO HONOR!" with that she slit open the bellies of all three women, who cried out in sheer agony as their blood and intestines disgorged forth upon the ground. These deaths would be extremely painful as they were violent, then each woman was cut down, one by one, and dragged out into the deep dark forest, it would take them a little while longer to die. They were, in fact, still half alive when they heard the ravenous wolves howling as they approached slowly circling with sharp teeth and hungry eyes.
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