This work is copyright 2001 by Xaltatun of Acheron (A Pseudonym). It may be posted on the Internet to any free forum, provided it is not modified in any way, and provided that this notice is included in its entirety. It may not be sold, or included in any compilation that is sold, or posted on any forum that requires a fee for access, without my written permission. My permission will require payment, terms to be negotiated. For purposes of this notice, sites guarded by Adult Check or similar packages are considered pay sites. Posting on any site must include this copyright notice.
Adult Content Warning - this story contains adult themes, including ponygirl bondage and consensual slavery. If you are under the lawful age for such materials (18 in most jurisdictions) or if you would find such material offensive, please go elsewhere.
OK - now on to the story -------
Prologue.
As our story opens, the Duke of Balizon, with his henchman, the Duke of Pozron, has perfidiously rebelled against King Abronix. The Duke of Balizon’s children, David and Deborah, and the Duke of Pozron’s children, Sarah and Paul, were left in the King’s castle, where they had been staying as hostages for their respective parent’s good behavior. Needless to say, the King and Queen were not amused. Sitting on their throne, carved in the exact likeness of the last members of the prior dynasty, the Queen passes judgment on the hapless hostages. Sarah is rewarded for notable bitchiness by becoming a bitch. It remains to be seen whether that dog will hunt. Paul is condemned to death by torture at the hands of Deborah, who needs a subject for her final exam in (guess what) Torture. Deborah is to report to the stables to become a ponygirl immediately after she dispatches Paul. David, overcome with an excess of zeal, is lightly flambéed in his attempt to reason with the Queen using his sword.
After we learn more than we ever wanted to know about the Goddess of Ponygirls, Deborah reports to the stables, where her brother is assigned to get her to agree to become a ponygirl. The Goddess likes a little enthusiasm in the members of Her herd. Some torture is indicated.
Chapter 7. Tenderizing Black Star
“What’s the next step?”
“We’ll leave her there for a few days to simmer a bit. My notes suggest three. We’ll spend the time going over the training notes and practicing with the flogger.”
“Train with the flogger?”
She grinned. “You think there isn’t anything to using one? I’m sure you’ve seen circus performers.”
“Yes, I have.” That made me think a bit. “So you’re saying that there is a bit of technique to pick up.”
“Exactly. Both technique and usage. Take a good look at it.” I looked. It was just a leather-covered handle with nine long strands coming out the end of the handle. The strands were about three feet long, and were spread out over a two-inch line.
“Why are they attached like that? I’d think putting them together would be easier.”
“It would be easier. The difference between a flogger and a whip is that the energy of your arm is spread out over the strands rather than concentrated in one place. It hurts, but not as much as a whip. The reason for the spread is that you can focus it a bit. The strands either hit closer together or farther apart.”
I looked at it with more respect. “So I need to practice so I can hit her where I want, open or closed, and as hard as I want.”
“Exactly. There’s a practice area to start out with. Once you’re ok with the targets, you can practice on me.” She licked her lips. I stared at her.
“What?”
She laughed. “That flogger doesn’t hurt that much, at least for single strokes. We practice on each other. You don’t want to practice on the ponies – it would simply confuse them. Besides which, a few of us like it as foreplay.” She let me digest that.
“What’s actually harder is knowing when to use it. Our training notes are very definite on that.”
I lifted the bar from the door and opened it. Black Star shook her head and squinted her eyes as the light hit. Then she winced in pain as a red droplet splattered against her skin. Dina put the platter down on a stand, and I secured the cord from her hair so it wouldn’t trigger any more of the red drops.
“We’re going to play a little game, Black Star. I’m going to take the gag out of your mouth, and then I’m going to feed you. You tell me to feed you each bite. If you tell me, I’ll feed you. If you ask, you’ll get lashed.” I unbuckled the gag and took it out.
She looked at me with frightened eyes. Somehow, that didn’t look like Deborah. It had only been two hours. Deborah wouldn’t be frightened at this point.
“Please, feed me.” Dina gestured with the lash from behind her. I swung. SWISH! THUD! OWWW! “That hurt!” She sounded surprised.
I made to swing again, but Dina shook her head, so I just stood there looking at Black Star.
“I’m hungry. Feed me, please?” Dina shook her head.
“That’s better, Black Star, but not good enough. Horses aren’t polite. Just tell me.”
“I’m hungry. Feed me.” She sounded exasperated. Dina motioned toward her mouth.
“Very good!” I dipped some bread into the gravy and held it up. She opened her mouth, and I put it in. She bit it off, chewed a bit and swallowed.
“Another bite?” She asked. SWISH! THUD! OWWW! “You hurt me,” she whined.
I just looked at her.
“Give me another bite?” she asked again.
“Say it like you mean it,” I told her.
“Give me another bite.” This time she sounded exasperated. I held up a carrot. Her eyes widened a bit and she opened her mouth. I popped the end in, and she bit it off.
“I want more carrot.” She sounded more definite this time. Dina nodded. I gave her another bite.
“Some water, please.” SWISH! THUD! OWWW! “Why’d you hurt me?” Dina motioned with the flogger. I hit her again. She opened her mouth, and then thought better.
“Give me a drink.” She sounded a bit tentative. I held the dipper up and poured a little into her open mouth. She worked her way through the platter, eventually earning more mouthfuls than swats.
When we were done, I held up the ball in front of her mouth. She clamped her jaw stubbornly closed. SWISH! THUD! Dina laid into the flogger with a will. OOWWWWW! I shoved the ball into her open mouth, muffling the rest of the yell. Then I released her braid, and we left the room, baring the door behind us.
“That wasn’t Deborah,” I said, half questioning.
“I agree,” Dina said. “I don’t think your sister would have been that slow to pick up on the instructions.”
“It was a horse spirit?”
“No. A horse spirit would have done it right from the start. It’s a different human spirit.”
“How did that happen?”
“I’ve got no idea. We just go on with the program.”
Chapter 8. Another Interlude
It was fairly late when we were done; the rest of the day went swiftly. I got into the flow readily, those gems certainly helped. Once the stable master gave me a task, it seemed that I already knew how to do it.
When I got to my room, I found Dina kneeling on the floor, naked. To say I was flustered would be understating it. Well, almost understating it; part of me rose to the occasion.
“What?”
“I’m yours for tonight,” she purred. “I see you approve.” She drew her fingers down my shaft as I shuddered in ecstasy. I picked her up and held her. Our mouths met for a long, intense moment. Then I put her down gently and removed my clothing.
When I turned back to her, she bounced into my arms, wrapped her legs around my waist, and tried to impale herself on my shaft while I was still standing. I’m not sure how I managed to stay upright, but I did. Then I remedied the situation by sitting on my heels, while still holding her.
Her vagina walls stroked my cock as her tongue explored my mouth, and mine hers. We found things to do with our hands. Meanwhile, the tension built, and built. We came simultaneously. Her back arched, her head came back and she came with a scream of pleasure. I barely heard it as my orgasm crashed over me.
Once we came down, we unwound our arms. She slithered out of my lap, and we collapsed on the bed. She snuggled into my arm and purred.
“What,” I asked, “was that about? Not that I minded. You’re delicious.”
“Not that you minded. Humph!” she giggled. “Remember I told you what happens if you get interested in the ponies?”
“So this is your way of making certain I don’t?” She nibbled my ear.
“You got it, stud. Actually, it could have been any of our unattached women, but I’ve got first refusal. Rank does have its privileges.”
“First refusal. Humph!” She arched her back slightly as I ran my fingers down her spine.
“You certainly lived up to your reputation among the palace staff!”
“My reputation?”
“Like this.” She stroked her fingers down my shaft. “Oh, my. What do we have here? Another?”
I traced the outline of a breast and tweaked a nipple. She moaned. Our lips found each other.
Chapter 9. Next day.
The next feeding, she tried to beg us to release her. That earned her a solid flogging. Once the smell of the food got to her, she remembered what she was supposed to do. She got through the feeding with only two more swats of the flogger.
“I’m hurting. Let me out of here!” She started right in. Dina nodded.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Paul of Pozron,” she said. That earned her a swat with the flogger.
“You’re Black Star.” I said. “Now, who are you?”
“I’m Paul, you idiot,” she said. Another swat from the flogger. This time both Dina and I hit her on opposite sides.
When she quit screaming, I asked her again.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Black Star.”
“Very good. Are you hungry?”
“I’m hungry. Feed me!” This time she sounded like she meant it. She got through the rest of the feeding without incident.
“Paul?” Dina asked.
“That’s the guy Deborah tortured to death. I guess he was good for something, after all.”
“Let me down from here before I die!” She was getting real desperate.
“Who are you?”
“Paul, damn it!” We both hit her. She screamed again.
“Who are you?”
“Black Star.” She sounded discouraged.
“That’s better. What are you?”
“I’m the Duke of Pozron’s son!” SWISH! THUD! SCREEEAMMM!
“You’re a two legged horse.” I paused.
“What are you?” She stared at me like I’d lost my mind. Then she sagged in her bonds.
“I’m a two legged horse.”
“Say it like you mean it.” I held up the flogger.
“I’m a horse!”
“Much better. What kind of horse?”
“I’m a two legged horse.”
“Very good, Black Star. Are you a stallion or a mare?” I held up the flogger so she could see it.
She licked her lips. “I’m a mare,” she said, very low.
“And what am I?” She looked at me strangely. I held up the flogger.
“You’re my herd stallion?”
“Are you asking me, or telling me?”
“You’re my herd stallion.” She said it like she was still guessing, but didn’t have anything to lose.
“Very good. Are you hungry?”
“I’m hungry! Feed me.” The feeding went without any further incident. She accepted the ball when I held it up in front of her face.
The next time, she whinnied at me when I took the ball out. Dina rubbed her nose, so I reached out with my head, and we rubbed noses.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Black Star.” She sounded very definite, like I ought to know who she was.
“What are you?”
“I’m a two legged mare.” Again, she was very definite about it.
“Are you hungry?”
“Yes. Feed me!” I fed her. This time, Dina held up a rope halter at the end. My eyes widened. It had only been two days. I took the halter and fastened it around her head. Then I released her arms, and cuffed them behind her. Then I released the restraints that held her to the pole. Finally, I unhooked the cuffs, and rehooked them on the other side of the pole.
She followed docilely when I pulled on the halter rope. Dina led us to a washstand. I hobbled her feet, and chained them to a ring in the floor. Then I took off the halter, and scrubbed her down, and dried her off. I put the halter back on, took off the hobbles, and took her to her new stall. She collapsed gratefully on the straw, and fell asleep instantly. I took off the halter.
“Here’s a training device,” Dina said. She held up what looked like an emerald on a light chain. “Put it around her neck.”
I reached down and circled her neck with it. There didn’t seem to be a clasp. When I looked up, Dina handed me a small lock. Snick! The necklace was secured.
I closed the stall door behind us.
“What is that thing? It didn’t feel at all like mine. It felt like it was alive?”
“It’s gentle with us. It takes a very strong hand with the ponies. It makes it so they are absolutely literal; they can’t understand anything outside of right now. They also can’t use their hands for anything but a simple grip.
I thought a moment. “I guess it would have to. There are a lot of differences between a person and a two legged pony.”
“Exactly,” she said. “It’s tuned to you now. Look at it every day. The stone gets a little red fleck every time it has to stop her from saying something, and a little blue fleck when it has to stop her from handling something. A yellow fleck means she listened to something she wasn’t supposed to understand. You just hold it for a minute, and the flecks go away. When there haven’t been any for a few days, the lock will open.”
Chapter 10. Training
(Art by: The Marquis de Panasewicz)
“Davy!” I knew that voice. I spun around. I was right, it was Princess Malrode.
“Yes, Princess?”
“Show me Black Star.”
Black Star was on all fours in her stall, munching on her breakfast ration when we walked up. The food and water dishes are arranged so that they have to stand on their hands to eat. It’s actually the only time they go four footed. Since most of them can’t hold anything, let along manipulate a spoon or chopsticks, it’s the only way to handle it.
This was the first morning after we had let her off the pole. I’d really prefer that the Princess had left us a couple of days to let her acclimate, but you can’t reason with the nobility. As ex-nobility, I understood perfectly.
I knocked on the inside of her stall door. She finished chewing what she had, and turned her head. As soon as she saw me, she sprang up.
“Davy! Princess!”
“Hi, Black Star.”
“I’m going to take you out riding,” said the Princess.
Black Star whinnied at her. “I like that.”
My remaining eyebrow tried to rise again. First day? Well, the harness makers had finished her tack while she was tied to the pole. I took the bridle down from the wall and held it out. She shoved her head forward and let me fasten it around her. I tightened the buckles until it fit snuggly. Finally, I held up a bit. She opened her mouth and let me insert it and snap it to the rings on the bridle.
I hooked a pair of reins to the pieces coming down from the bit, hung them over a ring on the post, and opened the door. Then I put the waistband on. The saddle harness was next. That was constructed in one piece. I start out by placing the saddle itself against her back, positioned just above her hips, and then throw the harness straps over her shoulders. Then I buckle the waistband, making sure there’s no slack. Finally, the front of the harness comes down and gets buckled to the saddle’s waistband and tightened.
As the next part, I put her wrists in the cuffs attached to the saddle, where she can grip the handles sticking out the back. That finished off the tack.
I looked at the Princess. She made a grasping motion, so I tossed her the reins. She led Black Star out of the stable to the yard.
“Down.” Black Star looked confused. She’d never done this before, and Paul had never seen it done, either.
“Sit on your heels,” I said. She knelt and sat gracefully.
Clearly, the Princess was going to mount next. “Lean forward. Lean to your right.” I positioned Black Star with my hands. The Princess put her foot in the left stirrup and swung into the saddle. Black Star swung with her, ending bending forward but otherwise upright. Then she rose to her knees, still bending forward, and finally rose to her feet, staggering a little until she got the balance.
The Princess worked her for an hour or so in the yard. By the time she was done, she was responding to both the reins and knee signals.
We got her off without mishap at the end of the session.
The Princess stood looking at her. “That’s amazing for the first day. I thought Deborah would be good, but that’s not Deborah’s spirit, is it?”
I gasped. “No, Princess, it isn’t.”
“It isn’t a horse spirit, either. They don’t get that good that fast. Do you know?”
“Paul of Pozron, Princess.”
She smiled. “Well, I guess the twit finally found something he could do. Pity he had to be tortured to death to figure it out.”
Chapter 11. The End of the War
The rock arced lazily in the air on its way to crash into the wall of the fortress. The fortress wall became a little more battered. A few more rocks, and they’d knock a hole in it. Then would come time for the final assault, and the war would be over.
“Davy. Saddle Black Star for me,” Princess Malrode ordered. “I want to take her out for a ride while the King breaks in to your father’s castle.”
“Yes, my Princess.” I didn’t have much choice about it. Her father the King let her do just about anything, and going out riding her ponygirl in a war zone was normal for her. Actually, just being in a war zone with her ponygirl was normal.
Black Star was in the corral in back of the lines with the rest of the horses. Actually, it would be more accurate to say she was on the corral. She was sitting on the fence, leaning on one hand and swinging her legs. One of the grooms had put her bridle on, and tied it to a corral post, mostly so she didn’t walk off.
She whinnied at me as I walked up. “Davy! I’m bored. Do something with me.”
I put my face next to hers, and she nuzzled me. Then I untied her halter rope and led her to the tent where we kept all the horse’s tack.
The first thing I put on was her waist-belt. This is a piece of leather that buckles in front. It’s shaped to fit over the curve of her hips and under the curve of her ribs. Once on, it’s not going to shift.
The next thing is the saddle harness. This is a fairly typical harness that’s padded where it goes over the shoulders. The shoulder straps come down to a ring in the cleft between her breasts. Another strap comes from one side of the ring, all the way around her torso, to the other side of the ring. It buckles in back. The final strap comes vertically down to a ring just below her breasts. From there, three straps come down and buckle to her waistband. In back, the shoulder straps come partway down. They’ve got loops for the horizontal strap to pass through.
I put it on her and set the buckles loosely for the moment. The saddle was next. This fit on her back over her hips. Straps in the front attached to buckles on her waistband. The straps over her shoulders buckled to the top. The saddle itself came out like a ledge, except that it sloped down a bit. I tightened all the straps until there wasn’t any give.
The saddle had wrist cuffs dangling from each side. I buckled Black Star’s wrists into them. She let her hands grip the handles at the back.
I told her: “Stay.” Then I took off the halter and put her bridle over her head. Unlike the halter, this was black leather decorated with silver bosses. Again, it was a standard bridle; the arrangement of straps was almost identical to the rope halter. The biggest difference was an extra set that ran from the rings on either side of her mouth to a ring just between her eyebrows, nicely outlining her nose. Today, I left the blinders off. The Princess didn’t use them for rides in open country; she trusted Black Star to stay out of trouble.
I held up the bit in front of her. She opened her mouth to let me install it. I snapped on a pair of short reins, and checked all of the buckles for tension.
“Down so I can mount,” I told her. She obediently sank to the ground to sit on her heels. I put my left foot in the stirrup and swung myself into the saddle. She swayed from one side to the other, compensating perfectly for my shifting weight. I put my other foot in the right stirrup, and then pulled lightly on the reins. She swayed forward seeking her balance, and then rose smoothly to her feet.
“Back, girl, slowly now, back.” I pulled her reins when she had backed out of the tent. Then a little knee pressure and tug of the left rein, and she turned and began walking. I guided her to where I’d left the Princess.
She’d taken the opportunity to change into her leather riding costume. The whip at her right was normal, but the coils of rope and cuffs on the left weren’t. So, she was going hunting. That was interesting.
“Down, girl.” She sat so I could dismount. I swung out of the saddle, and she mounted. Black Star rose gracefully. I watched Black Star’s powerful legs rythmatically trot off down the path away from the besieged castle, and wondered how long she would take.
Princess Malrode studied the landmarks. Yes, that rock, and that cluster of trees was exactly where the spy said it should be. Now, if they had figured it out, several of the rats should be popping out of the hole. It would be interesting to see if the Duke of Balizon would be among them. The war staff was divided on the question. Some thought he might try to escape to keep stirring up trouble elsewhere, and some thought he’d stay with the castle and go down fighting. She hoped he was going to try to escape.
She considered the terrain, and rode over to a shade tree on a slight rise. “Down, girl.” Black Star sat and let her dismount. She looked at the ponygirl and considered her words. “Lie down and stay there until I tell you to rise.” Black Star looked slightly confused. Oh, well.
“Lie down. Stay.” The ponygirl stretched out on the ground and started to doze. Well, Malrode thought, that was probably all she was going to get. Her two legged ponies were more intelligent than the four-legged kind, but there were still limits. Malrode reached over and scratched her behind the ears. Black Star whuffled lightly in her sleep.
Malrode propped herself against the tree where she could see the hole, and practiced stillness. Her thoughts wandered lightly. Sometimes her mother could be so tiresome. The Queen hadn’t made up her mind whether she wanted to torture the Duke and Duchess to death in front of their children, or torture the children to death first in front of the Duke and Duchess. In either case, she had interesting plans for all four of them.
Malrode shrugged slightly. Whatever the Queen wanted to do with the Duke and Duchess was fine with her, but she liked Black Star. She was easily the best ponygirl in the stable, and they had a good rapport. There were times she thought Black Star could read her mind. That was patently ridiculous; sorcery was beyond what mind she had left.
Was that some movement? It was! One person walked out of the cleft in the rock, and then a second. Then more came out. There were several men at arms she didn’t recognize. The two women were the Duchess of Pozron and the Duchess of Balizon. Now, was that the Duke? It was! They gathered for a moment, talking.
It looked like all of them. Well, time to act. She came to her feet in one flowing movement, hands outstretched at unlikely angles, fingers twisting in eye-straining patterns. Words came from her throat that didn’t sound like they could be produced by anything remotely human. The figures below froze momentarily, and then sank to the ground, out cold.
She trotted down to the depression and was busy for several minutes tying their hands behind them, relieving them of clothes and weapons, and then tying their necks together in a coffle. She sorted through the loot and took all the money and gems, as well as a pair of nicely balanced knives. The rest she left – it wasn’t as if she needed to loot to live, after all!
Black Star was still sleeping curled up where she had left her. She shook her awake and swung into the saddle. Seven captives! Not bad for a morning’s work. Her left hand flashed out in a curious gesture accompanied by another sound that might have been a word in some language only a scholar could love. The prisoners began stirring. She unlimbered her whip and watched from her seat on Black Star’s back.
She’d made a bet with herself. The men at arms looked startled, and then went blank as they looked around. The Duke did the same until he spied Black Star. Then he bucked and tried to rip his arms out of the restraints. The Duchess of Pozron looked like she was going to get hysterical. The Duchess of Balizon looked intent until she saw her daughter, and then looked like she was going to explode. That changed to a closed, cautious expression. And all of it in dumb show; she’d been careful to make sure they couldn’t make a sound.
Black Star, for her part, didn’t move a muscle. If she recognized her parents, she gave no sign. That was a good girl, the Princess thought. She’d have to think up something appropriate for Davy, assuming her mother would let them be. There wasn’t any point to rewarding someone who was going to die shortly.
Well, enough amusement. She cracked her whip over their heads to attract their attention, and then pointed. “Move it!” She cracked her whip again to emphasize the point. They staggered to their feet and began moving. She amused herself by guiding her little crocodile of captives with snaps of her whip.
She studied them a moment. They needed to keep in step better; they were getting in each other’s way. A slow, wicked smile joined a gleam in her eye. This was going to be even more amusing. She uttered another word that was only tenuously related to sound, and made a gesture. The captives began singing the Kingdom’s victory song. It had a strong enough beat to keep them moving properly. Under her, Black Star made a snort that was suspiciously like a chuckle.
Chapter 12. Victory Party
Now this, thought the Princess, was going to be some victory ceremony. The bells in Black Star’s breast rings tinkled slightly as they waited for the doors of the throne room to open. The Duke and both Duchesses were standing before her, naked as the day they were born, except for the rope that tied their hands behind their backs and the hobbles on their feet. The resigned look was to be expected. She’d been very explicit about the part they were to play, and had convinced them she was quite capable of turning any ad-libs on their parts into low comedy, with them playing the part of the jester. None of them was in the least interested in finding out what was less dignified than totally undignified.
Davy stood next to her, holding the ex-Lady Sarah’s leash. She was now known as Wuffl, and was, needless to say, on all fours. One of these days, the Princess mused, she was going to have to do something about the need to have the back legs at an angle so the back could be level. Well, that would have to wait until she had time to research it.
The doors to the throne room opened with a creak of hinges. She made a mental note to check up who was responsible for not oiling them; her current footstool needed replacing.
“Move it!” The three noble captives walked into the throne room, Black Star carrying her immediately behind, and Davy at her heels. The rest of the notables and hangers-on followed.
The seneschal banged his staff, and the King and Queen entered. Today, they wore their robes and crowns. They seated themselves on the statue of the last king of the former dynasty and relaxed.
The seneschal banged his staff again.
Suddenly, there was a twang of breaking chains, and Black Star’s hands shot out, fingers at improbably angles, noises that couldn’t be created by any natural agency coming from her throat. Everyone froze in such complete astonishment that no one saw the Crown Prince and Princess of the former dynasty reach out and wrap an arm each around the King’s and Queen’s throats, while they plunged daggers into their hearts. The screams and death rattles broke the silence. No one heard the thump as Davy clipped the Princess behind the ear with the pommel of her dagger.
The King of the newly current dynasty got up from his hands and knees, drew his broadsword and roared: “What is going on here?”
Epilog.
The old dynasty regained control of the kingdom with startling rapidity. King Abronix and Queen Pugimax were not loved. No one, except possibly Princess Malrode, was unhappy about their demise, and she wasn’t being consulted. King Rupert and Crown Prince Daniel worked long and hard getting the kingdom’s governance straightened out, while Queen Hilda and Princess Dana tried to straighten out the palace staff.
“The next item,” said King Rupert, “is Princess Malrode. She seems to have been one of her father’s strategists, and fairly good for her age. I’d also like to retain a sorceress of her proven capabilities. However, I cannot allow her to live as a focus for discontent and attempts at rebellion. I also don’t want her if she’s going to cause trouble around court. Duke?”
“She captured us fair and square,” the Duke said. “We tried to escape, she caught us. What she did was maybe a little more than the conventions of warfare allow, but I’ve heard of worse, and nothing said about it. I don’t have a score to settle.”
“Dana, what do the servants say?”
“Not a whole lot. They weren’t particularly fond of her habit of turning them into furniture for punishment, but they all said the Queen was much worse, and the Princess only handed out punishments when they were deserved. The Queen tended to do it when she was bored or frustrated.”
“Doesn’t sound like much of a problem there. What about you, David?”
“Same thing. The stable staff didn’t particularly like her, but she was no different from any of the other nobles, and lots better than the Queen.”
“Somehow, I don’t get the picture of a saint in that family. Deborah?”
“The Queen is the one that sentenced me to be a ponygirl. Malrode never mistreated Black Star.” She paused a moment. “If it please your majesty, I thought this would come up, so I had a long talk with her. What she wants surprised me totally – she wants to become a ponygirl! Specifically, my ponygirl. She thinks she has something to repay, and frankly, all the other options are either fatal or boring.”
The King snorted. “Well, that brings us to the next item on the agenda. What do we do about these half animals running around the place? The priests are in an uproar; the Order of the Servants of the Game says we need to continue it. They also say you’re the expert.”
“In a sense, I am. I did quite a bit of investigating on the sorcerous levels. Queen Malfix created something new, and the High Gods want to see what happens. They won’t be exactly displeased if you decide to shut it down by slaughtering them all, but they won’t be inclined to give you some luck when you might need it, either. We have no idea how long, but several centuries seem appropriate.”
“Humph. If it’s longer than a year, it’s permanent as far as I’m concerned. Will you take charge of it for me?”
Deborah looked stunned. “Uh, yes, your majesty.”
“Good. Now, I’m not inclined to let Malrode become a ponygirl. It would not only let her off too easily, my more enthusiastic and less intelligent enemies would continually be trying to use her in their plots. If you can come up with a way of keeping her out of play politically, she’s your assistant. Her great grandmother created the mess, it’s only fair she help resolve it.”
“I’ve got some ideas about that, your majesty,” Deborah said, a bit hesitantly.
“Work them out and set up an appointment. We’ll discuss them.”
“Now, the next item is …”