Chapter 11: Capture

Princess Olivia stood at 158cm tall in her soft diamond studded slippers.

Her short mop of tight white, curls surrounded her face like a fluffy cloud. Her large light purple eyes could pin you against the wall when you upset her. Her skin had a light, peachy hue, and her mother said she blushed prettily. She had also somehow ended up with pointy tips on her ears.

Her nose was a little unfortunate. Olivia had busted it when she was six, and it now tipped down at the end. It flattened out her nostrils, ever so slightly, thus ruining the thin straight line, it once had. Even worse, she was still as slim as a boy and had what many here considered small breasts, being only slightly larger than a ‘B’ cup. She wasn’t fashionable at all.

Olivia wasn’t blushing. Her cheeks were blotched with deep anger as she read her mother’s decree. She was to attend the Birthday Ball tonight. She would declare her suitors. She would also join with one of them. Olivia fumed. She knew her mother was getting desperate.

Her mother had been ill for some time and wanted to ensure the throne was in safe hands. Their laws stated that her mother couldn’t abdicate unless her daughter, Olivia, had been joined in union and had a daughter or was at least pregnant. If she lost the baby or had a son then hopefully she got pregnant again quickly. She then had ten years to produce an heir.

To make it worse, if she didn’t join in the next year before her twenty-fifth birthday and get up the duff, she would be declared unsuitable, and her cousin would become the Queen in waiting until her niece came of age.

Her mother, Queen Lillian, didn’t wish to hand the reins over to that side of the family. Olivia couldn’t blame her, as they were a bitchy, deceitful lot. The country would be in deep trouble if they ruled. If her mother died before she reached twenty-five, she still had to comply with the law.

Her cousin Brandi was ruled by her domineering husband, Lord Walter. She was two years younger than Olivia was and had already had three children. The last was a girl, so she had an heir in waiting if she got her hands on the crown.

Olivia had only been put in this predicament three months before when her three years older sister had the audacity to die in childbirth, and the girl child died with her. Karen had in fact been joined for six years, but she had difficulties with falling pregnant and she had only managed to produce one son in that time.

Lillian had been holding off waiting for the granddaughter. Now, as her only remaining daughter, Olivia had to step up and take over. Olivia hadn’t been trained to rule. She was the spare, and she had pretty much been ignored most of her life.

Now, after the traditional mourning period of three months, she was being put on parade. She had spent the months in between being groomed for the job she didn’t want. This had not been a pleasant time for the tutors.

Olivia had enjoyed being left alone. She had become fascinated by ancient history at a very young age, and she was perfectly happy to be left to delve into the past. She had even developed an archaeological bent, as she loved to learn how her ancestors lived before the coming of the Wrath of the Gods.

‘Well, third time lucky, ‘ she thought. She had, in fact, had two troths in the last seven years. Olivia’s first suitor had dumped her for her sister when Karen’s intended had died. Karen had been promised to a prince in the neighbouring province to their south.

He had been returning home from visiting her when his coach had slid off the road while travelling through the mountain pass in a storm. Karen wasn’t cut up about it, as she had barely gotten to know him. Olivia’s now brother-in-law, Raymond, had been upgraded to the pretty older sister at the bequest of his father.

Olivia had been pissed at how fast he jumped from her bed to her sisters. He now expected her, to take up where they had left off since they were both free. He had two chances in Hades, and neither was good. Olivia knew he hadn’t been a very faithful husband either.

Within three months of joining with her sister, he had been knocking on her door. Personally, she considered it a stroke of luck on her part, as to be honest she couldn’t see what she saw in him in the first place. When he had suggested that she continue to service him, because she was a better fuck than her sister was, she had made her opinion quite clear.

She had often wondered what explanation he gave as to how his arse was burned with a hot poker. She had decided to make herself scarce after the incident. She had talked her professor and their team into going on an expedition for six months.

The next one was also a mistake. Not long after getting back from the wilds, Lillian talked her into this engagement too. Again, it had political consequences. She had actually gotten as far as the Blessing of the Union.

She had a lot of misgivings about Walter, as it turned out he liked sex rough. Then she had started to hear stories about him before the big day. He was very sweet to start with, but the more often she bucked his attempts to control her, the meaner he got.

He also had the delightful habit of putting her down verbally. He didn’t like her ears, her nose or her tits. She couldn’t do a lot about any of these dislikes. He particularly hated her talking back to him or pointing out he was mistaken about some point of contention.

In her opinion, he was more often wrong than right. She had even asked the Master Sorcerer how she could get out of the union. He didn’t give her a lot of helpful suggestions other than to, run away as far and as fast as she could.

Her cousin Brandi inadvertently came to her rescue. On the eve of the blessing, she couldn’t find the earrings she was supposed to be wearing the next day. She had the maids in a tizzy looking for them. She had burst into her cousin’s room to ask her if she had seen them and found her betrothed on his knees, up to his balls inside of Brandi.

He might have wiggled out of the situation he found himself in, but her mother had walked in behind her. Her cousin was also wearing the earrings that he had supposedly given to her as a betrothal gift. So she told her cousin she might as well have him because she refused to join with him.

It had caused a shit fight, but Olivia refused to budge. She had found a way to be free of him and she grabbed it with both hands. She would become a priest or go live with her father before she joined Walter she had told her mother.

When Brandi turned out to be pregnant, Walter had little choice and had to join with her instead. It was considered a requirement in their society that if a woman of note was impregnated, the sire had to marry her if he wasn’t already married. Olivia didn’t attend their wedding and went bush again.

Queen Lillian worried about the fact that Olivia hadn’t managed to fall pregnant when Walter was screwing her for several months. She knew Oliva had been in season at least once during that time. Olivia didn’t have the wider hips of her sister or large breasts to feed a child, so they all worried if she could even bear a child.

Lillian’s only other choice was to hang on until her oldest son’s sixteen-year-old daughter came of age. However, she feared her illness wouldn’t give her that long and if Brandi had the throne, her niece would have difficulties contesting it. The stress of worrying over the succession wasn’t doing her health a lot of good either.

Olivia’s people tended to be shorter than the average human was. The women were more rounded with large breasts, and the men were broad chested and muscular. Zarka believed they were a mix of indigenous, Genteli and Burgis races. Women were considered sexy if they had nice big tits and ample hips.

Their current dress styles were designed to emphasise these assets.

Still cranky with the unfairness of the whole situation, Olivia dressed in the silver dress.

It cut over one shoulder, and at least the built-in breast cups made her boobs look bigger. The dress was tight on her bum, and the silver and white lace flounces started half way down her thighs to swish on the floor around her knees when she walked.

She refused to powder her face and decided that if someone wanted her, then they got what they saw, blemishes and all. She had used the moisturiser, but that was all. Her flawless skin didn’t really need the makeup.

Lillian had told her to go see the custodian and to pick some jewellery from the vault. She made her way to his office, and he let her in. She had her own jewellery, but since she was now the heir, she could choose from any of the jewels in the vault.

Old Menno let her into a chamber that she had never been inside before. She walked around the display cases and came across a setting she had never seen her mother or sister wear. The tiara wasn’t particularly ornate, and it was silver. They had preferred to wear gold.

She didn’t know what the central gem was, but it had a greenish yellow colour, and the stone had been set in silver scroll work. She fancied that it looked like an eye. On one side of the tiara were a dark blue diamond and a purple sapphire. On the other were a blue toned emerald and a purple amethyst.

The same stones formed a ‘plus’ pattern with one of the strange gems in the middle of the ring. The matching necklace had a larger set of the same gems in the centre with smaller sets either side. The same set of the gems were on the earrings.

She liked them and asked old Menno if she could have them. He pointed out several other settings that are more elaborate, but she shook her head at each one, so he gave in and tried the lid on the glass case. To his immense surprise, it opened. His hands shook as he got them out for Olivia. He reverently placed the tiara on her head for her.

They looked at each other strangely and wondered at the strange sensations they both got from touching the items. Menno helped Olivia put the other pieces on and then he stood back and looked at her. “Well, well, well. It has been a long time since they have selected an owner, my little tempest,” he told her.

“An owner?” Olivia questioned while looking at her reflection in the glass. She had a strange feeling that the jewellery was happy.

“Oh yes. I’ve not been able to remove the jewels from the case in my lifetime even to clean them. One of my distant ancestors was the last custodian who had been able to remove them. You must remember that they will serve you for your lifetime, as long as you serve the people to the best of your ability. If you don’t, they will desert you, and you will go mad like your ancestor Queen Tiffany,” he told her solemnly.

Olivia knew her family history reasonably well. Queen Tiffany had ruled for three hundred years and had ten husbands and a child to each, in that time. She had liked to have at least two husbands on the go. It was said that she wore them out.

She grinned at Menno, “Well, I only have to have one husband and one child. Personally, I don’t even want that many.”

He nodded in understanding. “Look for the man who glows. He is the one for you,” he said and tapped the side of his large nose.

She leant forward and kissed the old man on the nose. “I’d join with you, but I’ve heard of your reputation with the ladies,” she said grinning at him.

Old Menno chuckled, “Some lucky man is in for a treat, getting you my pretty little tempest.”

She giggled at his pet name for her. She was known to chuck a tantrum if thwarted. They had been friends as long as she could remember and he had taught her a lot in that time. She often sought him out when troubled and even considered him more of a father than her true one.

Menno showed her out, and she made her way to the receiving area. Her mother frowned at her as she approached, “Where is your jewellery, girl?”

“I’m wearing it,” Olivia answered. She looked down, but the necklace wasn’t there. The ring had changed into a plain band. She placed her hand on her head and couldn’t feel the Tiara. “Where in the hell is it?” she said peeved.

Lillian gasped and stepped back several times. “Oh, my glory! However, did you claim them?” she said in a whisper as she covered her mouth, her fingers shaking.

Olivia sighed in relief when she now felt the tiara back on her head. She looked down, and the necklace and ring were back where they were supposed to be. She looked up into her mother’s pale face. “What?” she asked.

Her mother sunk to the ground in a deep curtsy. “Supreme Enchantress, I am your humble servant,” Lillian said.

Olivia looked at her mother perplexed. While she had covered the family’s personal history, she was more interested in ancient history. She had to think hard about what she had read about a Supreme Enchantress. She thought about the ancestor that Menno had mentioned and remembered that it was the woman’s other title.

It was said she could charm any man and even women to do her bidding, and it was how she kept the other Kingdoms in line. “Mother, I doubt I’m an enchantress. To date, I’ve not exactly had a lot of luck keeping one man, let alone charming whole Kingdoms.”

Queen Lillian stood and looked at her youngest child. She had always been a strange girl. She didn’t act like a princess of their time. She had been an embarrassment with her chasing after the past, stomping around old ruins dressed as a boy and asking questions that no one could answer.

Her daughter didn’t care for her clothes or her appearance, and she doubted Olivia cared what others thought of her. She had been horrified, when after one expedition that the girl had been on, she came back with all her hair chopped off. Olivia had said that it was a bloody nuisance and she preferred it short. Queen Lillian had despaired as to what she was going to do with her.

The death of her oldest daughter had really buggered things up. Now she had to rely on this one to keep her Kingdom from the wolves. She wasn’t as malleable as her sister had been. Olivia was correct in that both times she had tried to force her to join in union with a man things had not gone as planned.

“My daughter, while you wear the magical items of the Supreme Enchantress, we still have the same problems that we had before,” she reminded Olivia delicately. Olivia scowled, and Lillian had to smile. “However, we may have a chance of saving our Kingdom, with you wearing it.”

“You know my thoughts on your sister’s untimely death. At least the items should keep you safe. As long as we can get you joined and pregnant by this time next year, there will be little that the malcontents can do. The jewellery should also keep your child safe.”

Olivia sighed and gently hugged her mother. They had never been very close, but she still loved her. She didn’t like to see her worried and unwell. She felt a tingling sensation between them as she hugged her and let her go when her mother gasped.

“What’s wrong, mother?” she said concerned. She became even more concerned when she saw tears well in her mother’s eyes.

“Thank you, my daughter. The pain in my head, it is gone,” she said in wonderment.

Olivia touched her fingers to her mother’s temples and looked deep into her eyes. “There is a darkness that shouldn’t be there, mother. I’ve encouraged it to go away.” She looked at her and frowned, “There is something else.”

She closed her eyes and concentrated hard on what felt wrong about her mother. “Something is in your blood. I don’t believe it should be there, mother. I think someone has been poisoning you. I’ve told it to leave your system. The moment anymore enters your mouth it shall be expelled.”

She then gently wiped her mother’s tears and grinned at her, “Hey! Now I’ve fixed you up, you don’t have to abdicate. I don’t really want to be the Queen yet mother. I like having you around, and you really are a good Queen. You’re not that old, and you could even have another daughter, now that you’re well again.”

Lillian hugged her contrary daughter, “It still doesn’t get you out of getting joined, even if I do stay around, as you put it. I’d feel more secure knowing you can inherit, especially if you’re a chosen one.”

Olivia sighed, hooked her arm around her mother’s and walked her towards the room where they stood to meet their guests. “Well, I at least have a little time to find someone. However, no promises on picking someone tonight mother.”

“Professor Inkle has contacted me, and I’m going to look at a site that has been found. I promise I’ll only be away for four weeks. I’ll be back for the start of the season, and I’ll make a decision by the end of it unless I find someone sooner. Is that acceptable?”

“Forty days and not a day longer,” Lillian said firmly. She looked at her daughter’s pout, and they both laughed. She sighed with contentment. She was beginning to wonder if she had severely underestimated the calibre of this girl.

With all the plots and intrigues that had been going on over the last couple of years, she hadn’t been paying her much attention. Maybe Olivia would look at things with a new perspective. She was suddenly very pleased that her daughter had claimed the magical items of her ancestor.

‘Oh goodness! If she could do even half the things it was reputed that Tiffany could, she was going to be a force to be reckoned with, ‘ she thought. Olivia had a very sharp brain, and she liked to investigate things from all angles. She also didn’t back down from a fight, if she believed she was right.

She remembered Sorcerer Yarrow saying she was very shrewd in her judgements and she’d meet you half-way. She just realised that is what her daughter had done with her. She had accepted it had to happen, but she wouldn’t be forced into a decision. She had excellent qualities for a Queen.

They had reached the door when Menno stopped them. “My ladies wait,” he called as he rushed up to them puffing. “Your jewellery princess,” he said. Olivia frowned at him and realised that hers had disappeared again. “Yes,” he said. “Sorry, I forgot about them doing that, until after you left. I suggest you add these for this evening.”

He gently placed another tiara on her head and clipped on a second necklace. He placed several rings on her hands and clipped some earring on close to where the others were hidden. “I believe that this is for the best, princess. The others should stay hidden for now, yes?” he suggested with a knowing look.

Both women looked at the old man and then at each other. Menno laughed when they both gave him the same wicked grin. “Thank you Menno, you are very wise. I agree that for now, it is for the best our little secret stay a secret,” Lillian said.

Olivia also felt that it would be more advantageous if others didn’t know of her new found abilities just yet. She didn’t know what she was capable of and decided the next four weeks away from prying eyes would give her an opportunity to learn.

“If you don’t mind princess, I’ll take the opportunity to drop off some other treasures to your room that you should like to have close now you’re the heiress. I’ve included the book of the jewellery’s history for you,” Menno said and winked at her.

“Thank you Menno, it is something I should learn about,” Olivia answered in agreement, understanding what he was telling her.

“What do you need to learn now?” her oldest brother Randell asked as came up to them with his wife Vivian, his daughter, Ciaran, and their middle brother, Cynon.

“To make sure I don’t offend a visiting dignitary by wearing the wrong jewellery,” Olivia answered.

Vivian said, “Goodness gracious! I don’t realise you could wear the wrong jewellery.”

“Oh yes! Some of the monarchs get very offended if you wear a gift of jewellery from another monarch in their presence and don’t wear their offerings no matter how ugly it is,” Menno told them.