Queen's Gambit - Part 2

Written by HikerAngel

Commissioned by Loamlife

Lord Jedd stood before King Invoi of the neighboring Kingdom of House Alençon, then fell to a kneel. “Your highness, I pledge my eternal fealty to your reign. My plans to systematically dismantle the hierarchies of power within my old kingdom have proven successful. My vast riches and valuations are at your disposal. I look forward to a fruitful partnership between the two of us.”

King Invoi simply nodded a response, as he often did, being a man of few words. Jedd smiled. As far as he knew, his plan was going flawlessly. Sure, the assassins he had sent to deal with Queen Sonja had not returned, but that was a perfectly acceptable outcome. They were likely captured or killed as they attempted to escape, as he knew the aging, feeble queen was all by her lonesome in the grand library and stood no chance. Easy pickings—simply leaving no stone unturned on his part. Now, he didn’t even have to pay the assassins!

With the approval of the new King, another step of Jedd’s lifelong plan had fallen neatly into place. It was only a matter of time before Sir Leary’s troops conquered all that remained of the Kingdom of House Castillion—his dying Kingdom—leaving the spoils to Invoi, which would then be generously distributed back to Jedd. If House Alençon fell, he would simply repeat the process again. He’d assassinate a thousand monarchs if it meant staying comfortably wealthy.

He turned face and made his way to the luxury townhouse that had been set up for him, per King Invoi’s arrangement, but he caught a glimpse of something that unnerved him somewhat. Walking—no, hobbling—down the royal red carpet of the throne room was a lone knight, separated from his calvary.

Jedd’s head followed the strange sight of a man as he continued to struggle with every step, the knight’s body littered with the damage of battle. He looks as if he would keel over if the adrenaline stopped pumping for even a second.

“Our whole squad… sent straight to hell…” he murmured aloud between dry heaves of mucus and blood. The wounded soldier began to pick up the pace as he limped as fast as he could like wounded prey with fight or flight blaring in their mind.

“Speak, knight! Wh-who did this to you!? Who massacred your platoon so ruthlessly!?” The king demanded, suddenly finding himself quite talkative in the situation.

“It… It was… Sir Leary.”

King Invoi grew enraged. He was already engaging in a conversation that was continuing far longer than he would have desired, now he was confused and found his time to be wasted.

“Heresy! Sir Leary is one of my most trusted men. How do I know you weren’t bribed by an enemy to cause confusion and delay amongst my court?”

“Y-your highness! I-I speak only the truth!” The wheezing man spoke, barely able to maintain consciousness as shouting consumed much of his energy, his pace slowing. “Our adversaries… they—they changed him. They… they changed Sir Leary…” those were the last words he uttered as the sound of iron whizzing through air pierced the room. The knight collapsed forward, revealing a fresh arrow wound emerging from the back of his head.

“That’s Madame Elena to you, inferior,” spoke a haughty, unfamiliar voice; yet one that commanded the startled attention of everyone as it echoed throughout the massive throne room. 

The woman walked further into the room, her form becoming less silhouetted as she exited the streaming light of the grand double doors that stood opposite of the throne. This woman—Elena—looked as if she had robbed Sir Leary of his armor and weaponry, while also coincidentally being his far taller, prettier and somehow younger sister. Her waist-length blonde hair flowed masterfully in the wind, her helmet modified to be lighter and smaller to allow for her beauty to shine through more.

“Leary… is-is that really you!?” the King asked in disbelief at the amazonian woman standing before him.

“Tsk, typical stupid men,” she spoke, lackadaisically strolling down the carpeted floor. Within a single hand she lazily spun a massive halberd, twirling it as if it were no heavier than a bouquet of flowers. “I declare my new name and they immediately forget it. Maybe when all of you become pretty girls like me, you’ll remember it better.” She then took a deep breath, growing serious as she did so. “This is for the good of our future Queendom, after all.”

The King had nothing to say in response and not because of his usual repertoire of silence—everything was simply too much for Invoi’s feeble mind to comprehend as his own top knight declared war upon his Kingdom.

“Kill her! Whoever that imposter is, kill her!” King Invoi demanded, leaping up from his throne and aggressively pointing at Elena. Guards came at her from all directions, frightened as they nervously poked at her with spears from all angles. An expert twirl of her axeblade, and all but one of the spears were obliterated, simply so she could save the last man for herself. She grabbed the opposite end of the last functional spear and pulled the guard toward her, his shivering face jiggling her breasts as he was pulled into their loving embrace.

At six and a half feet, Elena’s bedroom eyes looked down upon the frightened puppy of the man, giggling as she watched his conflicted mind jump between fear and arousal with no inbetween.

“Ha ha! This feeling I can invoke in lesser men is absolutely splendid!” Elena confessed with all the bravado of her previous self. “Ohh, and this one is so delightfully cute… I know our goal is to convert as many as we can to the cause, but could I keep this one as a little pet?” She asked in jest to what seemed like no one in particular as she squeezed his cheek, her eyes drifting up to the stained glass window above King Invoi’s throne.

She may have given away her allies’ positions, but it mattered not. The warfare of this century was simply not up to snuff to deal with the future of Amazonian conquest.

From the grand glass window erupted an ambush of Amazons, with Sonja leading the charge. The Amazonian Queen immediately locked Invoi’s head within her bulging bicep, pointing a knife to his forehead that would surely puncture his skin were he to move an inch. “How about you surrender to my reign instead, you old fool?”

“A-as you wish! Pl-please, don’t hurt me or my lords!” He sputtered pathetically, the usual reserved composure of his immediately buckling under the weight of Sonja’s sheer commanding presence.

“Oh no, fret not, dear,” Sonja said, her tone adopting a far more comforting edge as her headlock shifted to a loving embrace. The king’s expression followed a similar trajectory of vibes, morphing from frightened to mellow and tired in mere seconds. It was nigh impossible to resist the overpowering love that an Amazon could offer. “Pain will only come to those who foolishly reject my ever-expanding regime. Pleasures beyond what your puny gods can offer await, should you choose to surrender to your eternal Queen, Sonja.”

Sonja’s younger amazonian appearance had differed so greatly to Jedd that he hadn’t even put two and two together in the moment until she spoke her own name. “Y-you… you’re still alive!?” Jedd sputtered in disbelief, the words delivered hoarsely as his entire world was flipped around in an instant. His confident demeanor broke at the sight of the undead Queen, leaving him a stuttering mess just like everyone else in the room.

Elena smiled devilishly as her gaze fell upon Jedd. “Heh heh, Queen Sonja told me about you, traitor. Don’t worry, your time in the spotlight will arrive soon enough.”

Jedd, the coward that he was, made a run for it, but he did not get far. Something caught his leg and he tripped, sending him careening to the floor, his ankle still caught within its iron grip. His head whisked around, only to witness the horrifying sight of the downed knight from earlier grasping onto his leg, the cadaver still face-down on the tile as if it was an omen calling to him from beyond the grave. 

The knight’s body began to convulse and shudder as if an otherworldly force was puppeting it from beyond, taking up unfamiliar reins for the first time. His other hand—slow and loose with its movements—ripped the arrow out of the back of his head. Jedd watched in horror as the wound healed itself instantly, the splayed skin and skull fragments repairing themselves as if time, localized solely around the wound itself, was reversing.

But this zombified knight’s changes did not merely end with repairs of the status quo variety. His form began to engorge with power, rippling waves of magic coursing through every inch of his malnourished, male body and enriching it with supple, feminine flesh. Lengthy, manicured nails dug into Jedd’s ankle, streaks of red dribbling atop the pink polish that now adorned each digit.

Jedd screamed in agony, his leg exploding with pain beyond what his cushy Lord’s lifestyle had prepared him for. He found himself hoisted from the floor, dangling by his injured leg as the recently-deceased man became a woman flourishing with life, musculature, height, beauty and—most importantly—power.

The reborn Amazon paused to stretch, moaning softly through thicker lips as she arched her back and cracked her neck. Her free hand brushed longer, emerald locks from her face, tucking them behind her ears. Even when contained, her curls glistened brighter than the jewel of their color’s namesake. Restraining Jedd almost seemed like an afterthought to her, his protests of pain and agony going ignored as she reacquainted herself with her newer, fuller body.

“My gods, the heavenly voice that had come to me in my dying dreams had not lied!” She spoke, peppering words through a prolonged yawn. “I have awoken as the fairest of maidens, my hair is a most beautiful shade of green! Oh, why had I even hesitated between dying as a man or being reborn as a wondrous new experience?”

“The future is often a frightening proposition, but you persevered like the brave knight I always knew you were,” Queen Sonja cooed motherly, caressing her newest follower’s chin, raising their eyes up to meet hers. With Invoi pacified, she could focus her attention on more pressing matters, such as her most recent conversion to amazonhood.

“That voice… you were the heavens that spoke to me in my final dreams,” the reborn knight said, her voice giddy as if meeting a celebrity. “I feel amazing, all of the aches and pains that had become invisible over the years are gone! How could I ever begin to repay you?”

Sonja smiled, her lips parting to pristine teeth that the knight found herself getting lost in. “I can think of two things you could do that would serve as ample payment for your new queen.”

The knight said nothing in response, awaiting her Queen’s demands like a good and loyal subject.

“One, you will need to pick a suitable name of rebirth for yourself. It should ideally be one that encompasses who you wish to be in this new life.”

“Sabrina,” she said without hesitation. “My cat’s name when I was growing up was Sabrina. It’s stuck with me ever since.”

“Excellent. Two, and this is a demand of far lesser significance, you will hand over the man who has been dangling from your grasp during our conversation. I have… certain plans for him going forward.”

“Oh! Um, of course! Here you go!” Sabrina responded, awkwardly handing the half-conscious Lord Jedd over to her Queen as if he were of no more importance than a sack of currency.

Jedd begged and pleaded for Sabrina to not give him up, offering all of his accrued wealth and status for his freedom. But Sabrina knew better, such earthly pleasures were temporary and fleeting—goddess-granted womanhood was eternal.

“Oh Jedd, Jedd, Jedd,” Sonja spoke with motherly condescension. “I’m afraid that no matter how shiny that silver tongue of yours is, it won’t spare you from my divine retribution.” She shook him like a ring of keys; deep, depraved satisfaction welling up from a pit within her as one of the biggest thorns in her side was now firmly at her mercy.

“A-a fair trial! A fair trial!” He squealed as if what he uttered were magic words that could protect him. “As the Queen, you owe lords a fair trial to determine their guilt.”

“Ah, and that would be true, were I still a Queen in the regal sense. I am a Goddess, and a Goddess does not need to honor such mortal treaties. A Queen needs lords to enforce the land, knights to enforce the law, and peasants to generate resources—but a Goddess has no such obligations. A Queen must do right by her people, but a Goddess only needs to do right by herself.”

With nothing left, Jedd attempted to appeal to the crowd. “This—this all sounds crazy, right? Why does Sonja get to be the uncontested arbiter of all? Surely, someone blessed by her would wish to hold some sort of equal power?”

And yet, no one stood to support Jedd, his dissenting opinion consumed by unfazed silence and looks of confusion between many of the towering women surrounding him. Sonja began to giggle, only for her head to fall back into an uproarious cackle, one which echoed throughout the hall of the throne room for what felt like eons to Jedd.

“Oh, I suppose I shouldn’t expect a foolish mortal to understand. Humans bicker and squabble over the pettiest grievances, ones that break out into wars and create factions which then birth kingdoms. Amazons have no such grievances. They understand that there is one above all because I have earned their respect, and that is because I wish to guide them to harmonious prosperity.” The crowd of women nodded like a friendly hive mind, but this was not a hive mind of repression.

In that moment, the deepest recesses of Jedd’s mind understood that Sonja’s gift was not a mass brainwashing that erased individuality for blind loyalty—it was instead a mass awakening. The limitations of the flesh that brought about conflict were removed, replaced with powerful, sinuous, feminine musculature that pulled energy from the universe itself, one which did not compel competition over Mother Nature’s limited resources. And yet, rather unfortunately, while Jedd understood it, his mind could not accept it. The world he knew had conditioned him to reject femininity, so he did without question.

“Let me make this clear then, I’d rather die than become part of your little empire of womanhood.”

Sonja seemed unfazed, immediately calling his bluff with a shrug of her shoulders. “Alright then, that can be arranged.”

Jedd swallowed hard, jaw shivering like a wet dog. For the first time he could recall, he was without a retort. Ever since he was a boy, he would find ways to slip a conversation or encounter into his favor. Lying, cheating and stealing became second nature to him. But now he truly had nothing.

“Take him to the dungeon with the other infidels,” Sonja remarked, tossing Jedd onto the cold floor. He was quickly scooped up by a fellow Amazon, dragged away kicking and screaming as helplessly clawed at whatever he could find, though it was not particularly effective.

“We’ll let him think over his decision one last time before we leave him for the buzzards,” Sonja declared, dismissing her time with Jedd by a simple turn and a hand wave.

“My Goddess! My Goddess!” Tahlia shouted, suddenly bursting into the throne room. She had clearly ran a whole marathon just to deliver said breaking news, given where Sonja had posted her last, yet she did not appear winded in the slightest.

“Speak, my most loyal knight. What developments have occurred in my absence?” Sonja asked.

“It’s… His Holiness, Cleofas. His knights are leading a counterattack from within our kingdom walls!”

Sonja raised a sculpted brow. “Is it a particularly effective counterattack?”

“Well, no… not at all. The three Amazons who wished to return to their lives as workers were able to hold off the fifty-so-man army rather effortlessly, but kingdom morale among the unawakened is dropping!”

“Ah, such is the folly of man, willing to side with what they know over what is in their best interests,” Sonja said with disappointment in her tone, caressing her own chin briefly. “Fetch my chariot, we ride out now!”

~

“Calm! Calm yourself, people! I said, calm!” His Holiness Cleofas demanded to the room of frightened peasants. “Do not fear that which you do not understand! This upheaval of all that is good and known is merely a test from God, one which we as good people of the holy faith will pass, and then be rewarded with access to the heavenly gates when our time has come.”

“My-my wife is taller than me and stronger a-and smarter!” One of the louder members of the clergy said, expressing his hopelessness and frustration. “I-I’ve been a holy man, I pray every night before supper and before bed, why is God punishing me?”

“And-and my husband is now one of those… those things!” A shrill woman from the crowd vented. “She— h-he taunts me with his… beauty. Filling my head with unladylike thoughts!”

“Stay course and trust in God’s judgment!” Cleofas retorted, repeating the line again and again with greater intensity as if it was a personal mantra. “The devil’s forces are strong, but God will always prevail.”

“H-how can we prevail? What hope is there?” another miscellaneous voice from the crowd asked.

“The hope is the simple fact that Sonja is weak! Notice how she needs to corrupt the masses, to turn them against one another!” Cleofas punctuated his rally cry with electric body language. If anyone could effectively preach to the frightened, huddled masses, it would be him. “If we can work together, to encounter Sonja alone, then God willing we will reclaim this once mighty kingdom!”

“Is that so?” Came a reserved yet powerful voice that immediately stole every piece of attention away from Cleofas. A sea of heads turned to face the door of the church like a wedding objection had just been declared, they expected an army, but there was only an army of one—Sonja herself. Instead of the armored dress she had worn to battle, she was adorned in what could be described as the most expensive nightgown ever crafted. Milky pearls studded every facet of her shapely body, with impossibly defined curves etched into every inch as if the fabric was magnetically attracted to her chiseled form. “Well, you’ve all got me right here, conveniently all alone and unarmed, nothing to defend myself from these noble churchgoers beyond the clothes on my back.”

She waltzed down the center of the mass as she went on her spiel, stopping only once she was in the dead middle of the building. She had no vantage points, no cover she could hide behind. From every tactical perspective, Sonja was in the worst possible position if she wished to win the inevitable upcoming skirmish against the energized crowd of enraged peasants.

Despite being a good few meters away from Sonja, Cleofas backed up in fear. It would be to the benefit of his status that all of his followers’ attention were too busy ogling every inch of Sonja’s deliciously perfect body with rage and lust in their eyes to notice his cowardice in the face of the enemy.

“She arrives. Do not be fooled by her delusions of grandeur, good people!” Cleofas declared, “Once the King and Prince were dealt with, she immediately turned this into a backwards bastardization where women rule. Seize her! Slay her if necessary!”

“What do you know about my husband? About my son?” Sonja asked, anger breaking through her normally calculated demeanor. “They were both honorable men and should they be still alive right now, they would've been equally-honorable women.”

“Y-you lie!” one of the churchgoers uttered, drawing a dagger from his belt and swiping at Sonja several times. If her royal guard could not lay a single strike upon her, this peasant stood no chance. That didn’t stop her from weaving and bobbing around her opponent’s blade with dancer-like grace, her gyrating hips only serving to throw off his aim further and nearly strike a nearby woman. Sonja caught his blade hand before it could do any actual harm, pulling her assailant away from the woman and into a loving hug.

“Now, now. Don’t hurt each other in the process of trying to kill me!” Sonja spoke with condescension only a mother could pull off.

The swarm of people forming around her dispersed slightly at the sight of her effortless handling of the first combatant, but the attacks from all angles didn’t stop. Despite being literally outnumbered and figuratively outgunned, all weapons were effortlessly evaded by her large yet swaying body.

But then, as she found herself becoming cornered by the mob once again, she allowed herself to indulge in a bit of cheeky playfulness. When it was time for her to dodge one of the many knife-strikes swung her way, Sonja instead purposefully cut her dodge short, allowing the tip of the blade to tear at her dress ever so slightly. With further graceful movements, she allowed specific slices to undo bits of her attire, until eventually the tatters fell off and it was revealed to the church that she had been ‘going commando’ as it were.

The attacks stopped. A great lull fell over the once-riled crowd as the perfection that was Sonja’s body unveiled itself like a curtain call of Shakespeare’s finest. Men and women alike were captivated by every inch of her perfection. As they attempted to pull their eyes away from her plush breasts, their collective gaze fell upon her cobbled abs.

“D-do not be distracted by this witch’s tricks!” Cleofas preached shakily, once more attempting to reclaim the crowd, though he was perhaps projecting a bit, given the tent conveniently pitched in his pants.

“U-um… Queen Sonja, um…” spoke a timid voice in the crowd. If this were anyone else, Sonja would’ve corrected this girl’s mistitling, but she didn’t want to scare the waifish woman any further than she already was.

“Yes? Come here, dear. Tell me your troubles.”

The churchgoers around the girl parted like cattle as she walked up to Sonja like a scared kid to a mall Santa’s lap. She was tiny, likely malnourished, and couldn’t have been older than 20.

“I… I want to be big. I want to be big just like you. It may be wrong to want it, but… I feel so useless.”

“Aww… What is your name, dear?” Sonja asked, brushing a brunette lock from the sad girl’s face.

“Diana…” she admitted, her eyes drifting away from her Queen’s. “I know you probably want me to change it, but I really do like my name…”

Sonja simply smiled, slowly shaking her head side to side. “Oh heavens no. I couldn’t imagine changing such a wonderfully perfect name. I only give gifts, dear, not take away existing ones. And that name is a gift. Now, allow me to give you a gift you’ll never forget.” 

One loving embrace later and Diana found her form evolving. Her breasts bulged under tightening clothes, while her stomach tightened, flattening into the shape she’d always wanted but could never quite manage no matter how many fields she had tilled. The loose stitching of her outfit frayed and began to tear as her hips swelled, legs adding inches upon inches and leaving her legs hypnotically bare, teasing the powerful loins that awaited just underneath her skimpy, tight clothing.

“W-wow. I’m… Beautiful,” Diana confessed, blushing profusely as she noticed that all of the lustful attention in the room had been driven to her.

“Not just beautiful, my dear. Powerful. God may have crafted you in his image, but now you are reborn into a superior one—mine. We are not in conflict, I am merely taking what he created and improving it. That’s no crime at all.”

Cleofas attempted to counter this rhetoric with whatever he could, shouting his usual lines. Yet, everyone had become so transfixed by Diana that his words failed to reach the masses. His ever-increasing shouts were met with backs of heads and grand indifference.

Now it was Sonja’s turn.

“Whoever shuts up His Holiness Cleofas first will become the second person to receive my blessings.”

Instantly, Cleofas found himself tackled by a pile of people, all of them desperately shoving socks and other cloth into his mouth in an attempt to be the first. With the Church fallen and Cleofas deposed, the unruly peasants quickly fell in line. They sought order—a God who would keep them safe—and Sonja was more than happy to fill that role.

“The old, false Gods are dead. From their ashes, I rise.”

~

When Cleofas returned to consciousness, he found himself in what could once be described as a dungeon. Bars still prevented his exit from the room he had been forced into, but amenities far beyond what was expected of a medieval prison were present. His cell was far larger, easily quadruple the size of any dungeon room he had ever seen before. He had a full kitchen with various storage methods for foodstuffs of every kind on one side and a bed that rivaled Sonja’s own in size and grandeur on the other. Even the walls were painted a calm shade of blue instead of the usual drab tinctures that mold and decay afforded.

“So, you’re also one of the dissenters, hmm?” came Jedd’s voice from the only corner of the large cell Cleofas hadn’t checked. “How does it feel to be the last two sane men in a woman’s world?”

Cleofas wasn’t exactly thrilled to see his new cell mate. “Hmm, well if it’s just me and you left then maybe God is trying to tell me I’m on the wrong side here.”

Jedd rolled his eyes. “Oh, fuck you, false prophet. I did what I had to do to survive. And you know what else? At least I actually enjoyed myself while doing so. I got to have a loving wife, and live a life of opulence that didn’t require myself to submit to a fictitious man in the sky.”

“The loving wife you ditched in a kingdom you failed?” came a third voice, one from outside the bars which contained the two men. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the last two stubborn men in the entire Queendom of House Sonja can’t help but bicker with each other.”

Jedd eyes widened as they fell upon perfection, one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Her stomach was sleeker and firmer than he remembered, softly etched lines of definition giving the impression of extreme fitness while taking nothing away from the smooth femininity of her sexy shape. Her voluptuous upper body bowed inward to a waist so slender yet so packed with muscle that it looked positively miniscule before gracefully tapering outward into lushly rounded hips and silky, almost polished-looking thighs. Her legs were slender but well-muscled, flowing to the floor in long, lean, sinuous curves. The dress she wore was small, a familiar one Jedd had bought for her as a gift many years ago. It was generously sized then, but it looked fit to burst now.

“M-Maris… is—is that you?” Jedd spoke, caught in a dreamlike trance as the woman of his once-desires had evolved into the woman of his dreams.

“Maris was my given name, from my abusive father. You will now refer to me as Thera.”

A sense of opportunity broke Jedd’s trance, one he quickly seized. Jedd white-knuckled the bars that separated him from his former wife, his breathing growing desperate and ragged. “Please, Thera, get me out of here. I-I don’t even mind a wife that’s stronger than me! In fact, I-I love it! We could set all of these kingdom politics behind us and live a quiet life out in the countryside. I-I’m sure Sonja would respect your wishes!”

Thera then giggled knowingly, devious eyes falling peering down onto her former husband once they opened again. “Oh dear, if only you had offered that before abandoning me… unfortunately for you, I’ve already found a far superior replacement to fulfill those very dreams in ways you never could.

Stepping out of the shadows and into the lone lantern light was a woman who looked familiar, but Jedd couldn’t exactly place his finger on who it was. She was tall yet rather waifish for an Amazon, with lengthy blonde hair cascading down her back, stopping just at her ass, peppered with roses and daffodils that made her look even cuter.

“W-who are you?” Jedd asked. It would’ve been conveyed with more anger and resentment, but she too captivated him with beauty beyond what his simple monkey brain could fathom.

“Oh her? My beloved, Simone? She was a King at one point. Now she’s a Demi-Goddess, isn’t that right, my love?”

Simone shrunk her posture as if adorably embarrassed of her own status, a prominent blush blooming on her freckled face as her diamond eyes darted back and forth between Jedd and Thera. At that moment, the former lord realized exactly who his former wife had just fallen in love with—his former boss, and the former King of House Alençon.

“T-that’s right. Demi-Goddess to Sonja and legacy representative to the Queendom of House Alençon,” Simone added, neglecting to say anymore. While she was even more imposing of a figure than she was as a King, that desire to remain taciturn manifested into a somewhat meek and cutesy demeanor, one that appeared to be the truest reflection of herself.

Invoi was not just an old self, it was a front. Simone could now remain powerful and in control without having to fake a brash, contemplative nature. She wanted to be cutesy and passive, allowing her lovely wife to do most of the talking for her.

She cuddled up to her wife, digging her chin into Thera’s neck for a lovingly aggressive cuddle. Thera responded in kind by pausing briefly to rest her head upon Simone’s own, basking in the eternal love she shared with the woman she had married an hour ago. They shared a tender moment, rocking their bodies side to side as a natural extension of the embrace.

“We met shortly after her ascension and hit it off. The dramatic irony of us being two women existing in two different phases of a man’s life wasn’t lost on us. If anything, it only strengthened our bond. She was looking for someone more assertive, and I think I was looking for someone who wouldn’t boss me around as much as you did.”

Thera placed a loving kiss on Simone’s forehead, who blushed adorably as if being smooched for the first time all over again.

“Mmm, this is why I’m grateful God never allowed me to have love,” Cleofas admitted after witnessing the entire Thera situation play out before him. “Betrayal is so common once such blind faith is placed in another.”

“And yet, you place blind faith in God all the same,” spoke Sonja as she walked into the hallway beside Thera and Simone. She was once again adorned in her battle dress, having just returned from a skirmish herself. “I offer you both a once-in-a-lifetime chance and instead you prove to be the blindest of them all.”

“God will banish you to hell! You will suffer for all eternity for what you have done to this world!” Cleofas shouted, though far whinier than he usually sounded. “You will be smited just like the Amazons of old.”

“The latter is true. Thousands of years ago, humans rejected the Amazons and they faded into obscurity, but I will not allow my infinite queendom to fall to such a simple mistake. I am no longer asking for those who are skeptical to join me, I am demanding it. Accept your new life or be destroyed. Those are my only terms.”

Jedd spat back with the only retort he could muster. “You think this will work? I’ve seen Kingdoms fall. Your Queendom will fall too. It is simply an inevitable cycle of human history!”

“Ah, you’d like to think so, wouldn’t you? Childish. All you humans know is blood and iron. When you conquer, you end lives, create grudges, which create conflicts, which create wars. When I conquer, I create lives. I give opportunities to those who never had them. War will not be created if there is no incentive to do it. The other surrounding rival Kingdoms of House Toma, House Eli and House Uni have already fallen as of two hours ago. Amazons beget more Amazons. Soon, the entire world will know peace, once everyone in it has become a beautiful, unstoppable, yet peaceful, woman. Two puny men who resist are nothing to me.”

Jedd and Cleofas’ eyes both widened, realizing that this truly was the end of the line. Jedd was committed to his fate, his worldview consumed by stubbornness and spite. At first he believed that, at the very least, he’d have a brother in arms ready to go down with him. Cleofas wasn’t so staunch in his beliefs.

“V-very well, my Goddess. I see now the error of my ways and understand who I am meant to be. The God I followed was a false prophet. I dedicate myself entirely to your cause…” He paused for a moment, a debate raging in his head as if he should include the final piece of his statement. “A-and I’d like a pretty body, just like yours. It might be strange, but… I want to look in the mirror and see something I like, even if it’s foreign to me.”

“Not strange at all, my dear. Come, allow me to bestow you with a real gift from God.” 

Cleofas’ knees buckled completely as the heat of Sonja’s larger lips suddenly enveloped his timid own. His bountiful gut was sucked into a taut tummy, redistributing the fat throughout his body until Cleofas became simply “Cleo.” The reformed priestess squirmed under the pressure of Sonja’s unparalleled body, her muscles drinking her benefactor’s gifted strength as they became fuller and more powerful.

Cleo opened her vibrant eyes once the kiss ended, savoring every inch of her voluptuous, powerful body. It was a miracle. A true miracle from a truly benevolent Goddess. She parted the iron bars that once inhibited her like curtains, the metal bending effortlessly to her touch, stepping out into a new world. “Wow… I feel… I feel as though a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Thank you, my Goddess.”

“No, thank you, Cleo. Thank you for finally seeing the light.”

While the Amazons were occupied complimenting each other’s decisions, Jedd in his infinite cowardice saw an opportunity and seized it. With a hole in the bars large enough for him to comfortably squeeze through, he ran past Sonja, Cleo, his wife and his wife’s lover, manically running down the hall until bumping straight into two other Amazons once he turned a corner.

“A-and who are these lovely ladies?” Jedd said, making his final meal the lump in his throat.

“Oh, them? Just the two assassins you sent to kill me.” Sonja said, effortlessly catching up to where Jedd was stopped in mere seconds. “I thought it would be fitting if instead I sent them to kill you. Looks like you ran into them a bit early.”

The two former assassins grabbed Jedd, gripping his arms tight until they threatened to break. They giggled amongst themselves like schoolgirls who caught an unauthorized boy sneaking into their sorority.

“Thought, we’ll have to hold that execution off, I believe. After all, I made a promise to your former wife.” Sonja then touched the tip of Jedd’s nose, dragging it up the bridge and all the way to the temple. From there, she rescinded her finger, drawing out a long strand of what appeared to be the physical manifestation of an idea. Jedd’s face fell pale, but the strand did not stop, continuing like a long spaghetti noodle as more and more of Jedd’s body was consumed to power the thread of magic.

She twirled her finger, the strand spooling into a sphere of energy. Once the orb of an idea was fully formed, all that remained of Jedd was a sprinkle of ash and evaporating mist.

“Thera, if you will?” Sonja asked.

Jedd’s former wife graciously accepted the call from her Goddess, walking over and hoisting her dress up beyond her cobbled stomach. Sonja then pressed her finger with the glowing ball where Thera’s uterus approximately was.

“Whu… What did you just do?” one of the former assassins asked, confused as to why her assigned kill had been turned into a magic orb.

“I turned him into the idea of who he could be, allowed to gestate into who he should be, unburdened by his clouded judgments,” Sonja explained, before turning her attention to a giddy Thera and Simone. “And for you two, a baby girl is on the way. One you will be waiting for dearly, I’m sure.”

As Jedd was reborn into a beautiful Amazon who actually lived up to her true potential, the world moved on. Improved. He as a piece of history was quickly forgotten, left to legend. But Sonja’s legend never died. She lived on, as did her race of Amazons, a tool for men’s ambitions turned into the end of mankind itself, birthing an era of womankind for eternity and beyond.