Dungeon of the Imperials

Having finished the parade, Princess Alexia and Queen Katarina were taken into the foul darkness of the depths of the dungeons of the Imperial Castle. They walked calmly and full of resolve, regardless of the sweat they shed after the rigorious ordeal of the 2 hours parade and 4 hours of travel to the Empire in the uncomfortable spread-eagled position.

The dungeon was an unending sea of blackness. The only light came from flickering torches that cast sinister shadows on the cold, damp walls as they walked. The guards lead the way as Princess Alexia and Queen Katerina followed, their hands chained to their backs as they followed the guards into descending down the dungeons of the Imperial Castle.

Eventually, the guards stopped at what seemed to be the lowest floor, turning around to grin at the two royals. "Enjoy being amongst your "subjects"." That was all the guards had to say before they opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, Queen Katerina and Princess Alexia's eyes couldn't help but narrow. Inside were the female soldiers of Azuralia that had been either confirmed to be captured or had gone missing. Like their royals, they were naked. The guards were restrained in a crouching position, their hands chained above their heads and their legs spread with chains.

"Queen Katerina... Princess Alexia... You two... Have been captured too?" One of the soldiers said weakly, causing the others to eye their royals with a look of dismay. The guards merely laughed as they walked towards the empty space enough to fit the two of them in the same crouching position.

"Get here, you bitches, and position your body the same way as your "subjects" has." Queen Katerina and Princess Alexia eyed each other as they regained their composure, hardening themselves. They knew they had to endure this, and if anything, it would be better to be amongst their subjects who are currently sharing the same fate than with strangers.

Expresionlessly, the two royalty moved towards the space indicated by the guards and proceeded to position their bodies in the same way as their captured soldiers were **** into, crouching and placing their hands above their heads while spreading their legs. The guards grinned as they proceeded to fit their limbs into the chains available, effectively confining them into the crouching position, before closing the door, leaving Queen Katerina and Princess Alexia imprisoned alongside their subjects.

"So that's what happened... Duren was taken hostage, and the two of you had **** but to surrender." Queen Katerina nodded solemnly. She had finished explaining the reason behind their current imprisonment. The female soldiers looks of despair had calmed down, replaced with anger and dismay at the Empire's cunning tactics.

Queen Katerina and Princess Alexia, as well as their female soldiers, exchanged glances of understanding. They were all in the same situation, humiliated and confined, but they refused to let their spirits be broken. "So what are we going to do now, Your Majesty?"

Queen Katerina addressed the group, her voice steady and strong, "We may be imprisoned here, but that doesn't mean our spirit is broken. We will endure this and wait for the opportunity to strike back at the Empire. We are all Azuralians, and we will not be defeated so easily. I vow that I and Princess Alexia will do our duties as your leaders and ensure our future, one way or another."

Her words were all met with nods of agreement and murmurs of solidarity. Despite their current situation, all those women refused to give up hope. They all knew that one day, Azuralia would come for them, and they would be avenged. "Understood, Your Majesty. We will endure and wait for the Council's rescue."

Princess Alexia couldn't help but feel a fire in her belly as she listened to her mother's words. She was the heir to the Azuralian throne, and she would not let the Empire break her spirit. She looked around at the other naked, captured women in the dungeon cell. Leaving aside her mother, the captured soldiers had endured captivity for so long, but they were all still fierce and strong, just like she was. "Yes, have faith and be strong. No matter what, we are Azuralians, and we will survive and find victory one way or another."

An hour later, and Alexia had to admit she was finding it really hard to sleep in this crouching position. Her muscles were constantly tense, and she could feel herself sweating a bit. It worsened the only minimum aches of the spread-angle position during the parade, making it hard for her to clear her mind of thoughts and sleep.

"Are you alright, Alexia?" Alexia turned towards her mother, who was also clearly having the same problem. "This position is indeed difficult, but we can get used to it. We just have to endure it for now until our bodies adjust." Katerina gave her a small understanding smile as Alexia nodded solemnly, gritting her teeth.

"You two having problems with that crouching position, huh?" Alexia turned her gaze towards one of the guards who addressed their situation. "None of us could blame you. We struggled to sleep for the first few days, until we adjusted to it." The other women all hummed solemnly as they gave the royals sympathetic smiles.

"In the end, we did manage by a combination of two factors. We can share it to you if you like, my ladies." Alexia and Katerina smiled as they nodded appreciatively. "Well, first of all, you should focus on the physical training and exercises you all have been through. The position is somewhat similar to our kingdom's army squats. We just have to adjust it a little bit. You can start by squatting as much as you could that way to get used to it."

"And the second, and the most important one, is that we can rely on our memories. Memories of serving the people of Azuralia, memories of our deeds in the field of battle, and good memories of your time with comrades-in-arms and loved ones. When you think about all that, the pain seems to lessen until it's gone and you've grown adjusted to it." The Azuralian soldiers smiled firmly at their royals.

"Truly magnificently done, all of you." Queen Katerina said with a proud smile as she focused on that, first recalling her time fighting before becoming Queen and the physical exercises she still did afterwards, moving her bodies to squat as much as she could despite her chains. To her surprise, the effect was small, but noticeable enough. "It's working."

Princess Alexia smiled as she too recalled all the years of training, of fighting, of exercising, which had made her body the way it was. Even amongst the guards here, she was the most athletic of them all. Combine that with her staunch physicality and mentality, and she soon discovered the advice of her soldiers were, in fact, working.

Next, the royals recalled the memories of their love for each other, their time as royalty and leaders of Azuralia, and so on, and within a matter of half an hour, those two found their sleep.

"So quickly..." One of the 10 female guards captured, Diana, marveled in awe at how quick their royals found their sleep just after minutes of hearing their ways of adapting to the crouching position they were **** into.

"Strength befitting their crowns. It is to be expected." Another female guard, Donna, stated with a proud smile. "Now, shall we all sleep? We have no idea how the guards will **** us along with the royals. I guess those sudden break of 2 weeks was because they wanted to **** us and the royals all together."

The female soldiers shivered at the reminder of the tortures that would await them now. They had experienced only 2 days of ****, but knew enough of the Empire's ways to not want to experience it again. Still, as they eyed their royals, they all nodded firmly to themselves.

The Empire could **** them, humiliate them, but they would never be able to break their spirits, the pride and honor of Azuralia.