The King of the Shattered Isles prepares for a meeting with the American President as he also prepares for Hostilities. Veronica continues to learn more about Magic as she tries to set up her new life, as powers outside of her control turn her to something far more dangerous.

He shouldn’t had teased his sister

By Jasmine Monica

Chapter 10

He was chosen by God and ruled by divine right, King Turaun stood by his ancient throne and marveled at his accomplishments during his long reign. He drew the royal sword, Revenge, an enchanted sword of power, and held it high. It’s strange undamageable metal glinting in the sun. It's jewels on its pommel and hilt shimmered with the power within them. No one was ever able to examine it, or find what metal Serren used to forge the sword. Legends in the Book of Serren said he got the metal from the abyss. Then he walked to the side and examined his ancient sword, Justice. It was just a regular sword, but it had struck down the last Hekatin King during the first age. It was already an ancient sword by the time it was given to King Serren and taken away a week later. That was his father’s sword and precious to him. He was their first god King and he had written the book of Serren. King Turaun ruled by the consent of their God King, Serren, and Maxis. It was now time for a council of war.

He stood outside of the council chambers wearing his scarlet red royal robes and the insignia of the Shattered Isles and his family crest, the war hawk. He stormed into the chambers to meet his leading military generals to discuss the latest events overtaking the Shattered Isles. He sat down at the head and looked at the chairmen of his joint chiefs for his combined military forces. He asked, “Is the Serren ready for deployment and action yet?”

“Yes, your majesty. The Serren has finished its shakedown and is fully armed. It is ready when you call on it. It is fully crewed and ready for action,” answered Lord Ampar Ansey.

“Good,” replied Turaun. “That will be our flagship when I board it to depart for our visit to the United States. I will be meeting their new president for an official state visit. We will discuss the troubles we have been having, and I hope they are willing to be reasonable.”

The Chairman looked at their king with a face full of doubt. His eyes narrowed, and he asked, ”Will you be able to be reasonable in the presence of a female head of state. Can you treat her with respect?”

“I don't know,” Turaun admitted, “but it doesn't really matter. I seriously doubt she will be respectful to our nation. She knows how our nation runs and I seriously doubt she will be reasonable to our requests at all. After all, all we want is our criminals back to face justice. I doubt she will be willing to help us find them and extradite them. Including my daughter.”

“But your daughter, Tabitha, was charged with treason against the crown and plotting against her younger brother,” the Chairman pointed out. “Those are serious charges.”

“Except she was charged with witchcraft, teaching it to other girls, and worship of the Goddess Progenita. Their president is bound to ask what the charges were and I doubt they will understand the seriousness of the charges or the history of it all. How it nearly destroyed our nation, and what it did to our first divine King Serren and his struggle against it to reclaim his birthright. And, of course, my daughter is bound to explain that, and how she was always treated as the first-born daughter. How we rarely ever tolerate an older sister anymore, As they are usually killed at birth to ensure the boy is always older and the girl has no claim. I had mercy on her, but she will explain how she was always held under suspicion and controlled. Their president will surely take issue to that. And will refuse our request.”

“So what will we do then,” their chairmen inquired.

“At that point, there is nothing else to do. Them harboring a traitor, who plotted against the crown. There is only one option left. That is an act of war just like when Afghanistan harbored terrorists against the United States and their reaction. We will blockade their ports and open fire. Harboring a traitor that plotted against her own brother, against me, and against the nation. Keeping my daughter, Tabitha Denae, leaves us only one option left. We will go to war against the United States. Is our new weapon ready to test?”

“Yes,” replied Ampar. “But where shall we test it? A weapon of such power, at one hundred percent charge as you requested. Where can we fire it?”

Turaun shrugged. “On Guenefer, where else? We don’t want to deploy our battleships without first testing their main weapons first. Prepare the test as soon as possible.”

“Yes,” replied the chairmen, “your Majesty.”

“Good. Tell me when it's all ready and I will board our new flagship to observe the results. Remember, I want a full-power test of our new weapon. I intend to use it on the United States if they refuse to be reasonable. If they refuse, that will be an act of war.”

Then Turaun walked down the enormous archway wall that they called the hall of the Kings and walked outside. He turned toward the massive palace. It had changed a lot since the time of Serren nearly a thousand years ago. It had been reconstructed and enlarged during the nineteenth century. It had been modified for plumbing and electricity. And it had been massively enlarged. Even so,, the rooms Serren and Pattenia stayed in during their lifetimes were still there. Some of the original palace remained. But there were new rooms and hallways. The palace at Versailles encompassed over three square miles and this palace was easily twice as large.

Then Turaun turned to look out at the courtyard and his eyes looked at the enormous gold towering statue of their first great King Serren. The enormous statue stood over two hundred feet in the air, raising his sword high. Turaun walked over to stand before it and knelt submissively to bow his head in respect.

This was the greatest and strongest of all kings. He wrote the book of Serren for them all to follow for all time. That book outlined his status in this new religion and its rules for society. Serren suffered horrors that would crush most men. Few men could ever live through the sheer torture and suffering the witches had inflicted on him. He was turned into a woman against his will and forced to live as a woman. He submitted for a time because of the sudden change and his lack of strength.

The witches took control and began implementing the rule of women as his evil sister stole his crown. Serren was stronger than anyone ever thought, and he rose above them and conquered them. He reclaimed his manhood,his crown, and his life. He suffered the life of a woman and in the end, reclaimed his life.

This would have destroyed the hopes of most men, Turaun didn't know if he could have survived such horror. He would probably have chosen to end it all. Serren persevered and conquered them. He was stronger than any other king in history and that was why this statue was here as a remembrance of his manhood and his strength. And to serve as a warning to never trust women.

Women have a treacherous nature that must always be controlled. Women were underestimated in his lifetime and Serren had suffered because of men's lack of awareness of what the women were doing. They must never make that mistake again. Men's lack of control, their lack of foresight, and taking things for granted nearly destroyed the entire country. They must always be aware of women's treacherous nature. Women have no honor, no loyalty to their family or their country. They must never be free. The control must always be strictly maintained over them. Especially women in their own family. He thanked King Serren, their god-king for that lesson.

He wondered if Serren was really as strong and powerful as the legends claimed. Questioning such things was blasphemy. But the legends said that he had conquered a real divine god. They still worship him in the religion of Maxis. Many of those rules are still there.

Legend claims he had conquered and destroyed Maxis. He put the God on trial in an inquisition. He trapped the God and tried him. He found out that Maxis and Progenita were one and the same.

The God and the Goddess.

Maxis had been playing games with his followers and he had chosen to destroy Maxis and impose the Goddess rule, the rule of women. He turned his back on the followers of Maxis. He destroyed his Maxis statues, and the temples, and gave power to the women to conquer the followers of Maxis.

Serren rose above the God and put the God on trial. Serren was so powerful that he removed the God's power and divinity and made her a regular human woman. Then Serren killed her. Turaun wondered if any of that was true. It was in the religion and the stories so it had to be true. Serren took the God's place, and he was named the God-King.

But recently much had gone wrong with Turaun's reign. First, he found out that his daughter Tabitha was plotting against the crown, and her own brother Prince Bismark. He was only fourteen. But Tabitha was planning to turn him into a girl and take the crown after dealing with Turaun. He also found that she had many allies and was teaching a group of girls magic. This was all so clearly treason it could not be ignored.

Tabitha was arrested and tried. Then she escaped and made it to the United States with the witches she had trained. And now, he had discovered that his eldest son Bismark had actually requested it all. He had approached Tabitha and asked her if there was a way to become a girl. Bismark did not want to be King and did not want to be a man. He wanted Tabitha to make him into a girl.

Turaun was disgusted. He refused to believe it. This had to be Tabitha's witchcraft that perverted and bewitched his son. But now he wondered what to do. He briefly considered naming Tabitha his heir since she was clearly stronger than her brother. Perhaps she could become a man and rule. But no, she did not have a man's spirit. She was a woman and had a woman's spirit. Naming her the heir was unthinkable. So that left him with his youngest son, Otto, who was only nine years old now. He was their only hope, or he would have to find another heir to adopt.

He blamed Tabitha for this perversion. Turaun tried to convince Bismark to fight this spell and be masculine. But it didn't work, he would not fight his nature and instead became more feminine. It was so disgusting. He could not be the heir now. So it was left to his youngest son Otto and remained a lesson for him and every other familiy to not ever let the eldest be a daughter. There was a reason why Serren wrote that rule. He suffered under Pattenia’s rule and was betrayed, the same way Bismark was betrayed by Tabitha. He would never believe that Bismark had approached Tabitha to be turned into a girl. That was impossible. Tabitha had to have done something to cause this. His son Bismark could never willingly want to be turned into a girl. Turaun refused to believe that was even a possibility.

In the middle of Turaun's disappointment and thinking of what all went wrong, a young ensign approached respectfully and said, “My Lord, the test is ready. The Serren is ready for you to board. The battleships King Gerrick and Runtick are ready to be tested. They are in position to fire on Guenefer."

A number of their capital ships were named after martyrs from the restoration war Pattenia launched against the true believers to restore the goddess and the rule of women.

A large helicopter had landed with the seal of the King of the Shattered Isles. Turaun boarded and it took off into the sky. The helicopter turned toward the open sea and took them many miles away where he saw the Shattered Isles fleet ready for their test.

The battleships were in position to fire their full power blasts. And in the center of it was the newly commissioned enormous super carrier, the King Serren. The helicopter landed on the deck of the Serren and he stepped off once it landed. His guards escorted him to the flight tower of the Serren, where he was able to observe the battleships sitting a few hundred feet away. Their enormous rail guns were fully charged and ready for Turaun to give the order to open fire.

Turaun looked at the fleet admiral and issued one command. “Begin the test. Runtick fires its weapons first. Then let's see what the Gerrick can do with its larger guns."

Turaun focused his energy and reached out to the future to see how everything would turn out. His foresight activated and he saw no forthcoming danger on the testing of the new weaponsing.

Unlike the first generations of male kings under Maxis when the rule of Man was being established thousands of years ago, that ended with Serren being humiliated and deposed. This generation of kings was highly trained in dark Magic. They did not dismiss prophecies or underestimate the witches in any way. They were highly trained from the time they could walk in all aspects of Magic. They were taught the history and to take prophecies and the witches very seriously. They did not dismiss the prophecies or the threat as children’s fairytales. That’s what King Gerrick had done and his son paid for it with everything he had. Including his very future.

Gerrick was thought through history as a fool who had sacrificed his son's future. He was the final king of the rule of man until Serren's reforms. No future King or Prince would ever be so unprepared and blindsided as Serren was. He wasn't taught the prophecies facing him and his family so he had come to dismiss the Goddess and anything related to her as fairy tales and not to be taken seriously. Turaun and his line would never do that. That’s why they were doing this now. He sensed the threat that the witches in the United States posed to the stability of his country. He was resolved to deal with it.

He called out to his generals, “Start with the firing tests. Open fire General.”

He saw the enormous new battleships that exceeded a hundred thousand tons charging up their main batteries to open fire. Their huge double barrels were raising in banks of two. The larger strategic weapons behind the smaller ones in front. He wanted the strategic weapons to fire first. The battleships charged the weapons to full power and then opened fire.

The results of the main batteries firing at a hundred percent charge were unexpected. However, the eye splitting brilliant flash of light from the firings was fully expected. The power they were charged at coupled with the incredible speed the projectiles fired at produced a blinding eye smiting flash of light, much like a comet entering the atmosphere.

The projectiles fired at speeds many times the speed of sound. Turaun was told that the projectiles were launched at nearly seven hundred miles per second. The speed of a comet.

The impact was almost instantaneous. He hardly could see the projectile reaching its highest attitude and then plunging down at its target. The blinding light and fire trailing were all they could see before the final impact on Guenefer. The result was devastating. They watched an enormous white-hot fireball rising nearly a hundred thousand feet above the devastated Island and the blast racing outward. The blast must have been hotter than the sun. Guenefer was almost over the horizon, but they felt the flash of heat from the fireball and it rose threateningly above them as if they were next to the blast. He wondered if anything was safe from this. Perhaps he should have ordered a fifty percent test instead of full power.

The fireball died off and left a blackened, charred surface. Whatever remained of the devastation from the invasion nearly a thousand years ago and burning the cities and people was wiped away in an instant. What was left was a blackened surface and an enormous impact crater miles across.

Then the ships prepared for the battle test. The Shattered Isles had built up a mock American fleet with two massive fleet carriers of the Nimitz class surrounded by a dozen modern destroyers and cruisers. The power of this fleet should be able to easily handle two Shattered Isles battleships. One would think. Turaun laughed.

First, the carriers and cruisers launched dozens of anti-ship missiles that were easily intercepted and taken out before they got anywhere near the battleships. Then he needed to see how the ships handled carrier airstrikes. So they launched dozens of mock remote-controlled F18s to strafe and fire on the battleships. The air groups were knocked out of the air with little trouble and whatever hit the battleships did little to no damage at all.

Then the battleships opened fire with their tactical weapons. The smaller forward batteries targeted the carrier battlegroup. All of the ships and destroyers were targeted at once and he saw the batteries open fire in rapid succession with their supercharged projectiles. The fleet didn't survive. He saw the projectiles impact the enormous carriers and drill a huge hole right through the center of it. The carriers point defense weapons had no hope of ever intercepting the super speed projectiles that plunged down as fast as a comet. Every ship was totally destroyed.

The test was a resounding success. It was an awesome display of power. It was now time to prepare to visit the United States president and see if she will cooperate with the Shattered Isles. And perhaps see if he can talk his son Bismark out of wanting to become a woman.

Veronica had finished her cheerleading session that morning with Kimberly. She was really worn out that day. They had practiced for over three hours working on increasingly complicated routines to prepare for her tryouts that weekend.

After taking her shower, she went to the kitchen where she baked her new boyfriend a yummy lasagna with some meatballs. Her family ate it together as she sat by her boyfriend, eating and cuddling with him at the same time. Then they spent the few final hours of the day snuggled on the sofa watching some action movie that Riley really liked.

Riley had not become feminine at all, even though the body he was now forced to live in was all female. He was still all-male inside and it came out whenever he was free from Tabi's control. Without Tabi forcing him to live as a girl, Ryan was allowed to come out and show how masculine he really was. All they needed to do now was find out how to turn him back into the boy that he was meant to be.

It was after nine when both of the teens were in each other’s arms that there was a knock on the door. Her mother, Seraphine, went to the front door grumbling at whoever dared knock at their door at such an hour in the night when they were preparing to go to bed.

She opened the door and suddenly took a defensive posture as soon as she saw who was there. She said in a voice full of hostility. “Tabi, Millicent , what do you two think you are doing at my door, especially at this unholy hour?”

Tabi's mother Millicent answered for them, “We are here to help and my daughter Tabi is here to apologize and help in any way she can. Tabi is also here to explain some things.” Then she narrowed her eyes at her daughter Tabi and said, ”Aren't you, my daughter?”

Her daughter looked intimidated and answered softly, “Yes, Mother. I am sorry for what I did, but…”

Seraphine interrupted, “Thank you for your apology, but your help is not needed here, or welcome, and you two can leave.”

Millicent retorted, “Actually, Seraphine. Tabi will be a lot of help. She transformed Ryan, and she can help you all transform him back into a boy. She will be a lot of help, and she has a lot to explain to you. If you can, listen to her. What she has to tell you is vital. There is so much you really don’t know about my daughter.”

Seraphine did not budge. She demanded, “Okay, like what does she have to say, what about her is so important?”

Millicent replied, “First, Tabi is not my actual daughter. I adopted her once she came to this country. Her family and her witches were well adapted to the dark arts of Magic and I did my best to help her stop using it. I adopted her as a young teen, not much older than thirteen. Second, her real name is Tabitha Denae. The first-born child, and daughter to Turaun Denae of the Shattered Isles. Condemned to death for treason against the crown. She was sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered as a traitor. And I think you know who I really am. So may we enter and have a very long and serious conversation. And my daughter has a great many things to apologize for, and to explain.”

Seraphine's mouth hung open for nearly a minute, trying to process all that she had been told. She felt the truth of what Millicent had just explained. There was no sign of deception. She moved aside and said, “Fine, let's go to the living room and have a long discussion.”

They walked into the living room to see Ryan and Veronica in each other's arms tightly embracing each other. Tabi said, “I can see you two are getting to know each other very well. That is sweet.”

Both teens glared at Tabi, wondering what she was doing here.

Tabi looked at Ryan and then glanced shamefully at her mother and said softly, “Ryan. I am sorry for what I did. I was angry at how things turned out. I needed to know if the spell would really work or not. But it was wrong to do what I did and to treat you the way I did.”

Veronica spoke up, “It's women like you that got us in the situation we are in now. There's really no excuse for what you did or forgiveness. I think Ryan and I have heard enough.”

Seraphine snapped, “Veronica, Ryan, stay here. This is important, and Tabi has offered to help. She really is sorry and knows she was wrong. That is a start. Now, Tabitha, you can now tell us what you came to tell us.”

“Millicent is not my real mother,” Tabi said to them. “My real mother is Nemeria Denae. My father is Turaun Denae and my real name is Tabitha Denae, their firstborn child.”

Tabi let that hang for a few long seconds as the two other teens just stared speechlessly. Then Tabi continued, “Me being the firstborn is really not that common anymore. Since the first king of the new age, King Serren Denae and after his sister's betrayal and seizure of the crown, they stopped allowing first-born daughters to live. We are usually killed shortly after birth to prevent anything like what happened to Serren ever again. No girl would have any rightful claim to the crown. The boy was always the eldest. To make his point, King Serren publicly executed his own infant daughter, Blaze. His son Gerrick was the legal heir. And I am the firstborn daughter in more than a thousand years. My father had mercy on me and he has regretted it ever since. He says I was a mistake.” Tabi wiped some tears from her face as she choked back a sob.

“Killing first-born girls has become very common in the Shattered Isles among the nobility and the royalty like my family. Infanticide has been the way for more than a thousand years. Life for girls of the royal family was always very harsh and restrictive. I needed express and written permission to be able to go anywhere at all. Even if I wanted to go out with my friends. And I was closely watched and controlled no matter where I went. I was always watched by my father's people or by the authorities of the state, which is the inquisition and police. At any sign of hint of disloyalty or a plot, I would be taken in by the inquisition and ruthlessly questioned. They have been taught that girls are by nature, treacherous and we are not capable of having loyalty to our family, or even love them. That’s how it was for regular second or third born girls. I was a first-born girl so it was much worse on me. It was assumed I would betray my brother, and they just waited for the slightest hint of a plot. Then I was arrested, tried, and convicted of treason. I was to be tortured, then hung, drawn, and quartered.”

Veronica had to ask, “What did you plan on doing to your younger brother?”

It was like she assumed Tabi was guilty of whatever she was accused of. “As a female, witchcraft is my birthright. I was studying witchcraft and teaching other girls in the Kingdom. I became very powerful and we planned on turning my brother Bismark into a girl. But it isn't as you think. My father thinks everything is my doing. Every misfortune his family suffered is because of me. I would never hurt my brother Bismark. Never.” Tabi shouted loudly.

“In fact, he found out about me studying witchcraft and came to me. He wants to be turned into a girl. He begged us to help him. Out of all of us, he is suffering the worse. He has no ambitions to rule. He wanted me to rule and wear the crown. Well, our plot was exposed and we were all arrested and tried. Bismark tried to defend us at great cost. He humiliated our family by revealing his desire to be changed. I was blamed for bewitching him. So, we were convicted. We barely made it out of the Shattered Isles alive. My father is still punishing my brother for his decision. We need to help him. I think you can help us get into the Shattered Isles and help my brother Bismark. But first, Ryan has to become a man, and you two can go under his protection and guardianship. And that means you two will have to marry.

Veronica looked stressed. Marrying Ryan didn’t seem that bad to her. But going to the Shattered Isles to help a persecuted prince seemed like a lot. What could they do for him anyway?

“Can we transform Ryan back?” Veronica asked, hopeful.

“I believe that I can,” Millicent answered for them. “I think I know the spell that my daughter used and reversing it is easy. And I think I know how she got everyone to believe Ryan was born as a girl. Reversing that will be easy too. I will show you all how.”

“How can you know all of this,” Veronica asked Millicent doubtfully. “And how did your daughter do this?”

“Tabi is part of my curse,” replied Millicent. Tabi looked hurt, but Millicent just glared at her. “Having such a girl that gives so little thought to who she hurts or what she does. I have been cursed in various ways for so long. As to how I know. I think in your heart, Veronica, you know who I really am." Millicent gave Veronica a knowing look.

Veronica didn't want to admit it. It seemed too silly at first. But she knew. “Progenita. But how is that possible? I thought Serren killed you more than a thousand years ago.”

“He did. I was hung, drawn, and quartered by him. But I just keep coming back. But part of the curse he put on me is that I am always born to suffer. Each of my lives has been full of suffering. Like my first rebirth. I found myself at Lindisfarne. I was there in the ninth century when the Norsemen raiders landed there and killed them all. I was there, and so was Pattenia. We were both taken and made to be wives. Whether we liked it or not. I had many daughters with my husband. One of them would go on to marry a prince and rule a place called Normandy. My other daughter would lead her people to lay siege to Paris.

"In my life after that, I was a native somewhere in the Caribbean when Columbus landed there. I got to see my people enslaved and wiped out within a generation. It was a total genocide. Then, I would be on the Trail of Tears. Around a century later, I would be a native in the Congo when the Belgian king took over and enslaved us all to get rubber from the rubber trees.

"You see, lives of suffering. My life before this one, I was Jewish somewhere in Berlin in the twenties. I got to see the rise of the NSDAP under Adolph Hitler. I survived the riots. I survived Kristallnacht. I survived being rounded up and taken to Dachau. But I did not survive Auschwitz. And now I have a daughter that's so arrogant that she threatens to expose us all with her arrogance and inflicted unimaginable pain on an innocent boy.”

After going into such tragic and heavy subjects, Millicent just watched the family trying to take it all in. She smiled and said, “Ryan, you will like this part. In one of my lives, I was even made a boy. A few of my former followers of the Hekatin were practicing nearby and had decided to transform me. I finally got to experience what it was like, and it was hell. It was such a tragic and horrible transformation, and I got to experience what it was like for a boy. So I learned. I hadn’t entirely understand why Serren was so angry and why he was so unable to accept the transformation that was good for everyone in the country until then. I was angered at why he couldn’t understand that it was needed. I am sorry. He was so hurt and angry in the end that he knew he was doing something horrible, but he just didn’t care anymore. He wanted to inflict pain that would resonate for centuries.”

“Millicent,” Veronica then asked, “How did Serren do this to you, and how did he even put you on trial in the first place and do what he did?”

“Serren was so hurt and angered by what was taken away from him that he had totally embraced the Dark and forbidden arts of witchcraft. The part that even Tabi is afraid to embrace because we know it has a serious cost and usually requires one to give a part or all of themselves to use. I understand that they have used the Dark Arts a lot and are well accustomed to it. But even Tabi is afraid to use it too much and there are areas that they are afraid to go, or it will consume their soul. Serren embraced the Dark Arts and was totally consumed by the Darkness that came with its use. The power was great, but it can cost a person everything. It gave him the power to even overpower gods, he domesticated one of the most powerful dragons on the planet.

"Even I couldn’t stand against that power. He killed my dragon, Kursar, and took a more powerful dragon from the abyss and made it his own. He knew what it could cost him, but by then, he didn’t care. But this is part of the problem. The curse lasts forever. He would be consumed by the darkness and be its servant for ever. He will be pulled into the Abyss and enslaved for all time. And so would all of his heirs. That’s why Bismark fears it and doesn’t want it. He does not want to be consumed by the darkness and taken into the Abyss for all time. Veronica, you can break this curse. You and Ryan can save them, and maybe you could even save Serren from the fate.”

“How did he put you on trial and condemn you, I am really interested in how he accomplished that?” Veronica asked.

“He totally embraced the Darkness. Then he actually set the trial up and even invited the King and a majority of the Hekatin’s leaders to observe. He found ways to bind Gods like me and set it up. Then he summoned me to the place he had prepared. I was shocked and didn't even know he had such powers. I was compelled to arrive there against my will. I found myself in a circle and then I was bound with powerful chains that were locked around me. I could not escape them and then a cage was dropped over me. Their bars seemed cursed and enchanted. They began draining my power and I found myself helpless. Serren stood there triumphantly smirking. The Hekatin like Actonia, Pattenia, Aanya and Falconette were horrified but they realized there was nothing they could do. Serren and his priests were totally in control of the inquisition. Then they began asking me very awkward questions that condemned me. You see Veronica,. by then, I had told Serren my biggest secret in hopes that he would understand and help me make peace in the world. It enraged him beyond all reason. I had told him that I was both Maxis and Progenita. I was both male and female and I wanted him to help me unite both sides.

"Even a God can know confusion. But he was enraged at me and thought it was unfair that I had make him suffer for my confusion. It was not fair and he put me on trial for betraying his people. His first set of questions condemned and destroyed me in most people's eyes. He asked what he did wrong as a child and if I was following Maxis exactly as the religion dictates or if I was wrong. I had to confirm that he made no mistakes. Then he made it clear that I was Maxis. He then asked if any of his followers were violating the religion and I had to say no. And then that I had betrayed them for no reason and turned my favor to the Hekatin and Progenita to effect the downfall of the rule of Men and the followers of Maxis. That was a betrayal. Then we talked about the first age and how the women had done nothing wrong according to how I had taught them when I turned my back on them to create Maxis and the rule of Men. It was very clear that I was the source of the world's confusion and I had betrayed my followers who were doing nothing more than what I had taught them. I was found guilty and Serren removed my power and made me human. Then he publicly executed me in front of my horrified followers. It was an example of his power and a symbol of a new age. It would be his age.”

Millicent continued,”Pattenia's trial was even worse than mine. She broke down when Serren cruelly accused her of not even loving her father for how she ruled. Her reign stood for everything he was against. He accused her of plotting against him, betraying her father, and being part of the conspiracy to kill her father. He made it seem like she hated her father and couldn’t wait for him to die so she could rule and betray everything he stood for. Pattenia broke down. But she had been repeatedly tortured and raped by that point. Serren was brilliant.”

Ryan asked her, “So what exactly are we supposed to do now?”

“Your task will be very difficult for you, but you must do it. Veronica will be under your guardianship and rule. You must accept it there. And she will have help. You must make it to Denaerk and contact the Prince Bismark. And you must transform him into a girl. He wants it, that’s his dream just like yours, Veronica. It will save him.”

Veronica shrugged and laughed, “Sounds so easy. We just go and transform a highly guarded prince, and then what, die?”

“Veronica, you are one of the most powerful witches in this generation. That was fated. And you will have a lot of help. If you do it right, they will not be able to punish you for it. But this will be the hard part. Protecting yourselves and taking control of the Kingdom. That will be Bismark's job. He is still to be their Queen. He just doesn’t want to rule from the darkness and brutality. He really doesn’t want it at all. But he will have to. He is the only one.”

“I thought I was,” complained Tabi. “What about me?”

Millicent looked at her sadly. “I am sorry, Tabitha. But you aren't the one here. Your conduct here has shown you really don't have the morality and strength to rule justly. Bismark does. He is trans there and is enduring it all and still hoping for the best when all hope seems lost. He hopes you will rescue him. And if you show you can learn, then you can stand beside him and help him. But He…She is still to wear the crown and lead them into a new age. If you can give up your petty vindictiveness and spite, and stand by Bismark, then you can be part of it. The question is, can you?”

Veronica shook her head sadly and said, “Oh my god. I just wanted to be a normal girl and be a cheerleader and do the things with my new friends that all girls do. Now I must go to one of the most dangerous parts of the world and rescue a princess. That's just great!”

“You can be a normal girl after this. After this is done, you can go back to your life, and Bismark and her sister Tabitha will be handling things in the Shattered Isles.”

Veronica laughed bitterly, “Sure,” She said sarcastically. “After that, I am so sure we can go back to a normal life.”

“Well,” Millicent laughed, “You may be heroes to the Shattered Isles and held in high regard by their royal family, and the savior of the Hekatin. But how you live your lives will still be up to you.."