The Amazon and Her Granddaughter

The bed rocked and Katarinka slammed, her breasts bouncing and jiggling, a line of sweat trailing between them as she went as hard as she could. She could feel another wave of orgasms coming and she girded herself for another intense effort, going faster and harder, rapping the toy at her clit until it was almost bruised with the pressure the pleasure was tearing through her like a whirlwind. She tried to keep quiet, but even an Amazon warrior has limits, "Fucccck," she gasped, "Fuuuckkk."

The maid, Sara, was still shrieking in pleasure from her last climax, "Aaarrrrgghhh, aaaarggghhh."

Sweat pouring down her and panting Katarinka began to slow her thrusts to a steady rhythm. She had the strength to continue, but she had other things to do this night and she was sure that the maid would be more than satisfied with the fucking she'd had. The girl realising that they were reaching the end had slumped forward and was groaning in contentment as Katarinka gave a final few thrusts to cool down, before pulling out and staggering up.

"I feel so bad," murmured Sara, "but really good, a little sore, but that was some banging."

"It was enjoyable," agreed Katarinka. She walked over to her purse and perused it. It had certainly been one of the best fucks she'd had that week and she pulled out one of the larger coins, flicking it to Sara before getting on the bed and lying down.

"Thank you, my lady," the naked serving girl marvelled at the gold coin, before gathering her clothes and heading out. Katarinka remained on the bed until she was sure the young woman wouldn't be returning to collect an errant piece of clothing or retrieve the plates from the supper she had supposedly been delivering before being waylaid by the horny Amazon. Satisfied she wasn't Katarinka was up and sliding into her gear, a leather leotard and skirt which just about covered her woman's weapon. She thought about taking the wooden strap-on off, at ten inches it could be an encumbrance, but some said that an Amazon's strength came from it, a mindless superstition Katarinka knew, their strength came from constant training and practice, but she kept it on. A dagger was slipped into her boot, more as another mascot than because she expected to use it. Finally her calve-length boots, tough but supple.

Ready, she looked out the window of the tower. In the early hours of the morning, not long past midnight, the only people around were a couple of guards and both of them looked like they were happily playing cards next to a lit brazier by the gate. She slowly climbed out of the window and onto the ledge, it was narrower than she'd have preferred and her progress along it was slow. But she had plenty of time, at least if she assumed the guards didn't bother to look up at the tower (and if they did would they see anything in the darkness? She hoped not). Gradually she inched along the edge until, round the corner and over the roof of the hall. It was a nine-foot drop, but easy for an Amazon and she landed like a cat on it.

She jogged across it to the opposite tower; there was a light on in the very top room, Hugh's. That was good, it suggested he was in there and not paying a visit to his wife's (not that Katarinka had thought that likely); there would be a guard outside her door, but that was not the entrance she was planning to take. As she got nearer she upped her speed, running across the roof to give herself a flying leap up against it, her fingers getting a purchase on the ledge, then the rest of her hands and after that, it was easy to pull herself up. She crept along the ledge to the window, hoping Aina had passed the message to her Mama.

She had, the window was unlocked and Katarinka was soon in.

"Who...?" the voice came from the bed, so weak that if Katarinka had not known she wouldn't have recognised it as the same young woman who'd married her daughter Clara near twenty years ago.

"Me, Katarinka," she said and padded over to the bed.

"You...[pant, pant]...came,...Aina...said...you...would..." Yulianna said before lapsing into silence.

There was a small candle by the bed, next to a flint and tinder and Katarinka lit it. It wasn't just the shadows which made the woman in the bed look like she was already dead; whatever she thought of Hugh he was right about the likelihood of Yulianna lasting no more than days, if that. Katarinka sat beside her and took the woman's hand, it was cold and thin, brittle like a stick. "I am here," she said, "You sent a letter, saying I should visit urgently." The message had been vague, if read it could be seen as just a badly worded polite request or a call for immediate help, Katarinka had decided it was the latter and hurried down "Was it the Wedding? An invite?" She wondered whether she had misinterpreted and that was all it was, a chance to see her Granddaughter married, but no that wasn't it or Yulianna would have mentioned it. She repeated the words, "The Wedding? Aina's marriage."

"Yes... no..." the woman on the bed was struggling to talk. So much so that Katarinka had to lean over her. "Witches... death... mark... on... me."

Katarinka breathed in, shocked, though she shouldn't be. She picked up the candle and gently turned over the older woman, light as a feather. Her sharp eyes quickly picked out the bruise, so small it wouldn't be noticed but now she was looking easily the sign of a Witch of the Chaybois, the evil life-sucking worshippers of demonic entity. She turned the woman slowly back, there was nothing she could do now, Yulianna was so weak even if she killed the witch this very night the woman would still die. "Who did it?"

"Hugh..." the woman breathed, witches were always women; though men could be coven members they lacked the magical powers of the females, but she realised she didn't mean Hugh was the witch, but that he had known and probably hired the witch; the Chaybois covens were often more petty- mercenaries and criminal thugs than fervent worshippers. The younger woman (who looked much older) sank back into her pillows, panting as if giving his name had been exhausting. Katarinka held her hand softly and waited for her to speak again and say more. It took a few minutes for Yulianna to regain her strength enough to talk again, "Stop...the...wedding..."

"I will," said Katarinka.

The other woman gripped at her hand, putting all her remaining force into it -- which wasn't much, "She... is...next... death...mark...on...her...inheritance."

For a moment Katarinka almost panicked, was the witch there at the moment, pulling the life out of the teen as she lay in her bed? Then she forced herself to calm down and think, no, she had time. The death mark worked slowly, that was the point, so that those who didn't know thought it was a natural disease or illness, and Aina had been fully fit that evening. Anyway, she needed to live long enough for the wedding... though perhaps not long after. "Who is the witch?" she asked.

But the effort had exhausted Yulianna and she had closed her eyes, though it was hard to tell whether she was asleep or just utterly incapable of moving. Katarinka waited with her until the candle went out, then she leaned over and kissed her daughter-in-law's forehead, she would not see her in this world, but perhaps she would see her and Clara in the next.

*

She slept fitfully that night, as if it was her with the death mark, her dreams dark and foreboding, of Aina naked on a sacrificial slab, tied up between posts as a demonic beast slouched towards her or being surrounded by howling and cackling witches as they tore the scanty clothes off her nubile body. But Katarinka was not one to despair at nightmares, so when she woke up she washed her face in the bowl of water a maid had brought, brushed her hair and dressed for breakfast.

There was no sign of Yulianna, which was no surprise and Hugh was talking to one of the older maids in front of the table as she arrived. He gave a curt nod but otherwise ignored her, and she returned the gesture, whilst inwardly wanting to gut and disembowel him. But she doubted that would save Aina, she couldn't fight the entire household and even if she claimed he had paid witches to murder his wife and was soon going to the same for his step-daughter she knew no one would believe the word of a wandering Amazon warrior over a wealthy merchant and landowner. Aina herself was sitting at the table, noticeably brightening as she saw her Grandmom. Katarinka gave her a smile of greeting and threaded her way past the maids carrying food and drink to the tables to go sit with her on the top one.

"Good morning," Katarinka forced herself to be cheerful and not to let on that she had hardly slept in the night.

"Good morning," smiled Aina back, but with her Mama's rapidly declining health and the wedding to her hated betrothed likely to be soon after her equally jolly greeting was equally a lie.

They made small talk over the black pudding and eggs which had been placed in front of them, neither revealing their true thoughts. A middle-aged maid came up, the one who had first shepherded Aina away from her, Katarinka had since learnt her name was Nesti, one of the senior maids (though new, she had good recommendations). She leaned forward over Aina, her fingers lightly touching the younger woman's naked shoulder blade as she took away the plate, "Will you be having more, my lady?"

"Sausages," the teen replied.

"And for me," said Katarinka, though she had not yet been asked.

The maid nodded and walked away. Katarinka pushed her chair back slightly, not enough that anyone could notice, but just enough so that she could see the back of her granddaughter's shoulder. There was a small blemish, hardly noticeable, little more than a tiny red rash, but it hadn't been there before and Katarinka knew enough about death marks to know that was one, even if it was in its early stages and not yet dangerous. She forced a smile and to carry on talking, every now and then glancing to make sure Nesti had not left.

After breakfast, she made an excuse to Aina about needing to see to her horse. Aina gave a little protest that the grooms would see to it and when Katarinka insisted that she had to check the horse herself, Aina replied that she should come and let Katarinka take her for a ride. Luckily, she wasn't dressed for it, wearing her normal attire of soft silks and satins, so Katarinka found it easy to dissuade her.

She took her horse from the stable and walked him around the yard, keeping her eye on the doors to the house. Soon she saw Nesti coming out from one of the side entrances, wearing a cloak for travel. She ignored Katarinka as she headed to the stables and a few moments later came out with her own horse. That confirmed the suspicions as far as Katarinka was concerned, no maid would have been able to afford a horse and if they could no lord, especially one as mean-spirited as Hugh, would have allowed her to stable it with his own. The woman got up on the horse, with more expertise than a maid would manage and headed towards the gate and out. It didn't take Katarinka long to saddle and bridle her own mount, enough time that Nesti was out of sight, but not so much that the hoofprints weren't still visible in the mud of the road.

She followed them for about a mile, eventually catching up near enough that she could see the woman in the distance, though she made no further attempt to close in case Nesti realised she was being followed. The maid came to some forests, continuing along the road for a hundred yards before turning into them. Katarinka followed. It was easy to see where Nesti had gone, she'd made no attempt to hide the prints of her horse or the branches and bushes she had broken through to allow herself to make her way into the dark woods. Her arrogance would be her undoing.

Dismounting from her own horse and tying him to a tree, Katarinka pulled her sword and shield from the saddle. She followed the tracks, through the undergrowth. At first, the only sound was her breathing and the brush of her foot on leaves and twigs, not a bird tweeting or a mouse rustling, not even a small boar out hunting for truffles; it was a silent place, a place where dark magic was practised. Then she heard the sound of chanting, a cruel, hateful rhythmic cant, full of a call to evil demons who should not be summoned to the world of mortals. She flexed her grip and tightened her hand on her sword. Even if they had not been going after Aina if she had found the coven she would have killed them, those who used the death magics could not be allowed to live.

She went slower now and more silently, not wanting to give the coven any warning. There were four of them in the clearing, Nesti in the centre bowing down repeatedly to an unnaturally red flame, another woman, even older standing watching her, a wooden staff in her hand and two men, in mail, with jagged swords in their hands dripping with blood, the still steaming carcass of the horse Nesti had rode in front of them.

The older woman was the most dangerous, despite her looks. The staff was almost certainly magical. Then it would be Nesti, she had no weapon to hand, but given just moments she could call incantations out of the air and burn Katarinka to her bones. The men were hardly a threat, only the women of Chaybois had magical powers, the men were just warriors and Katarinka would literally bet her life that she could beat two of them in a fight.

She paused long enough to check, in her mind, that the strategy was a sound one before rushing out. She made no sound to give herself extra seconds. The older woman was dead before she realised and as she fell Katarinka was screaming her war cry.

Nesti was standing up, pointing towards the Amazon and chanting; Katarinka would swear that her lips continued to mumble the dark words even as her head toppled to the floor, her body remaining upright a second longer before it fell onto the small fire, smothering it.

The two men were on her, swinging their swords. However, they had not co-ordinated their assault and she was able to duck back as the weapons clashed together with a loud clang. She was stabbing towards the first man. He was quicker than she anticipated, twisting away from her thrust and driving back at her. She dodged his blow, using her shield to block his fellow's and drove forward again, cutting low this time, so she connected with his leg. He screamed and fell back, cut through to the bone.

She was wrenching her weapon out and parrying the second man. The two of them exchanged cuts, high, low, chest for a few moments before Katarinka feinted and as he went to the right, she cut down from above, striking deep into his shoulder, shattering the mail. He went down screaming and she stabbed forward again, taking him in the throat.

The first man was crawling, trying to get away. She finished him.

The forest, which had been silent, suddenly began to be filled with the sounds of birds and beasts, it even seemed to lighten as if some cloud had gone. Katarinka looked at the four corpses, there was no reason to do anything with them, they'd come from filth and it seemed fitting to leave them there so that the rats could feast on them overnight. The only thing she did was break the staff, chances were it would have rotted here with the bodies, but why take the risk of it falling into some peasant's hands with delusions of grandeur?

She returned to her horse. One threat was dealt with, but she was sure that this wouldn't stop Hugh and her granddaughter's betrothed, Belgrothian, from seeking the end of Aina once the wedding took place.

Clattering back through the gate of Hugh's mansion she saw there was more than the usual activities going on, maids were almost running from kitchens to the main building, guards were shining their armour even brighter and the potboys were putting effort into sweeping the yard. She suspected the news even before she saw Aina running towards her, looking lovely in her silky materials, that flew in the air as she ran, never revealing anything, but hinting at lots. As she got closer she could see the teen had been crying and she opened her arms to take her.

For a moment all Aina could do was cry before she eventually managed to say, "Mama's dead. Hugh says my wedding is next week."

*

It was the day before Aina's wedding. Sir Belgrothian after several days away had returned the evening before and had not yet said one word to his betrothed -- given that Katarinka knew he and Hugh had been planning to murder her granddaughter for her inheritance it was no love match, but the man could have at least put on a show that he had the slightest interest in the teen.

The period of mourning had been brief and half-hearted, Hugh had obviously cared little for his wife, to the servants she was just their mistress and Katarinka had been thinking too much about the wedding and how to get Aina away from Hugh and Belgrothian's clutches. Only Aina had really mourned and even she had been preparing for the day for months as her Mama slowly weakened, though unbeknownst to her the cause was magic, not some wasting disease.

Following the funeral, Aina had told Hugh she would be staying for her Granddaughter's wedding. He had been his normal formally polite self, combined with his normal coldness which told her she was as welcome as an outbreak of Pig Fever. The witch Nesti had not returned, being decapitated was something even the evil followers of Chaybois couldn't use their cruel magics to recover from, and Katarinka suspected that Hugh knew it was Katarinka who had killed her and that she, in turn, was aware of his plot. Every night she had gone to sleep with a dagger under her pillow, waiting for a midnight assassin. But none came, she couldn't prove anything, even if she had brought the witch's body back all it would show was a middle-aged woman with a wooden staff, and Hugh knew that too, which was why he hadn't made a move -- though sometimes as she turned she caught him looking at her with loathing before he quickly changed his expression to bland neutrality.

He knew she was all that stood in his way, all that was keeping Aina alive and once she was married she would have no excuse to remain...

And she knew it as well.

Which was why there would be no wedding if Katarinka was alive.

And Hugh knew that.

Which was why he would kill Katarinka.

He wouldn't do it himself of course nor would it be Sir Belgrothian, who had all the killing ease of a stranded whale, but the killers would come in the night to finish her as there was no time to arrange an 'accident' before the day and Katarinka made sure she didn't ride out of sight of the castle alone, no hunter would accidentally mistaking her for a stag.

She did have one advantage (two, as the killers were unlikely to be Amazons able to match her in swordplay) and that was Hugh's arrogance. His evil mind had easily worked out that Katarinka would somehow prevent the marriage and that she needed to die, but his sexism and disdain towards the Amazons meant he thought she was much more stupid than she was and believed that she wouldn't know this. The assassins, when they came, would not find her unprepared.

She had been surprised that they had waited for the last night to move, but perhaps with his Witch dead, Hugh had needed time to plan for others to do his dirty work.

Her plan was ready, however - the assassins would come tonight, they would die and she'd rescue Aina from the men's vile clutches.

The evening was drawing to a close. Over to the side, the band were playing the final piece, a slow and subtle tune, perfect for close dancing. On the floor Aina was clasped to her Grandmom, as she had been all night, being held tightly or lightly depending on the music, but always so close that Katarinka could smell the teen's sweet perfume and feel the touch of her soft skin, against her body or in her hand. It was telling that Sir Belgrothian had made no attempt to cut in and have a dance with his betrothed, he seemed much more interested in the wines and sweetmeats put in front of him than the sexy eighteen-year-old he was due to marry the next day.