The report from Seisa.

As you and Atheas stepped outside, you were a little supposed to see how much everything had changed while you were asleep. The United Armies siege camp had been completed, with all the allied nations walling off their portion of their camp, making it look like a large group of small cities had been built around the larger one. Behind those walls, you could see a large number of onigiris and siege towers towering into the sky. As for the city itself, the once pristine white walls of Athenapolis were now riddled with cracks and craters from last night's ****, and every once in a while, you would see the occasional rock or bolt crashing into the stone to ether test it for weaknesses or to use it for target practice. On the other side of the wall, you could see black clouds of smoke rising from the smoldering city, the drake wires had become raged from all the flaming rocks flying through them, and there were considerably fewer towers poking above the walls from when you first arrived.

Meanwhile, in your own camp, your sisters had been hard at work building up your defenses and had already finished building the training grounds, mess hall, infirmary, and siege workshops. The Valkyries, in particular, had been very productive in their efforts to convert the drake ship into a ram ship. Not only had they built a new supply tent to house all the supplies, but they also completely emptied the vessel, moved everything into the new supply tent, beached the drake ship, and was currently in the process of removing the landing pads. You would later learn that Anon and her Valkyries had taken personal offense to Atheas’ comment when she stated that it would take them weeks to convert their drake ship and were now working hard to disprove her, with some going as far as to ignore their now almost molten loins to spend some extra time working on the ship.

As you and Atheas stepped onto the balcony, you spotted Seisa leaning against the railing. It looked as though she was looking over the camp, but by the way her gray eyes flicked the moment you stepped out of your tent, it looked like she was, somehow, watching both you and the camp. Once she spotted you, Seisa lightly pushes herself off the railing with the seductive grace of a viper and made her way over to you while swaying her hips with what you know is the dangerous grace of those poisonous serpents. You heard that one of the Night Sister's favored tactics was to draw people's attention from their more identifying features by luring your gaze to other parts of their bodies, namely their lovely curves, a tactic that you were finding most effective, not to mention appealing. “Your highness,” she started with a light bow, “I have returned from my scouting mission from within the city, and I am ready to deliver my report.”

You snap your head away from her well defined hips and look up at the leather clad woman with wide eyes. “Wait, you were inside Athenapolis?” you started with a great deal of shock in your voice, “While it was under siege!? How?" Seisa didn’t answer, instead arching her brow and looking at you as if the answer should have been obvious. You shook your head, “Whatever, what did you find?”

“As we suspected,” she started, “The people manning the outer walls are indeed not mercenaries or militia. In fact, I suspect that most of the people we fought last night…if you could call that fighting…probably haven’t even seen a sword, let alone held one.”

“Are you saying that we are fighting nothing but civilians?” said Atheas, "Where are the mercenaries? Surely they didn't all defect."

“I have come across several reports stating that the bulk of Athenapolis’ actual military has been moved to the citadel," said Seisa in her soft and quiet voice, "Most likely to prevent them from escaping or switching sides. I've already made a few attempts to slip inside the center of the city, but the citadel is so secure that even I couldn't make it inside. I know that the city center is very well supplied with food, drink, and women. As for the central walls themselves, they are heavily armed with light ballista and archer towers. Anyone who risks venturing too deep into the central city will likely come under fire.”

You groaned and rubbed your brow, “So that's why the Lord Marshal is trusting us with securing the river. If we go too deep into the city center, we'll put our troops at risk. Were you at least able to find some of our sisters inside the walls?"

"I have," she said simply, "The majority of them ended up being sold to the arena master, Angelos Xercatus; some at the original auction, but others by the families of the original purchasers when the dangers of Aphrodite's protection was finally understood. It appears that there was a strange magical pandemic running rapidly through the city a few months after our Sisters were taken. Men who had purchased amazons from the slavers guild found themselves turning into submissive teenagers with no memories of who they were." You couldn't help but snicker at this. At least some manner of justice befell the men who defiled your older sisters. "It appears that we might also have quite a few male amazons to save as well," she continued.

"How many males would you say there are right now," asked Atheas.

"Unfortunately, more than you might expect," she replied, "Apparently, a brothel owner ether discovered or already knew that our curse could be transferred to men and used some of our sisters to create a booming business of young male slaves. The brothel owner is currently in prison, but his crop of docile submissives are spread throughout the city serving as toys for the pampered noblewomen of the city. The lucky ones will be tending to their amazon mistresses in the arena."

"Then we will save them along with our sisters," you announce. While you and your sisters were harsh towards your males, you weren't cruel to them. After all, they couldn't really do anything to you. They were far too weak to take on your strong sisters, they were far too timid to stand up to you or anyone else, and were incredibly defenseless. You can easily see why owning one of these docile souls might appeal to the wealthy families of Athenapolis. While they could be used to serve in all manner of ways, not even the most beautiful daughters and wives would be in danger of an **** on their virtue. Once fully under Aphrodite's curse the men were for all effect eunuchs incapable of ever again forcing themselves on any female. They could't even pass their curse onto anyone. "Were you able to learn anything else?" you asked her.

"Other than the outer city is currently occupied by **** merchants, laborers, simple craftsmen led by minor nobles, nothing else," she replied.

You let out a long sigh and rubbed your brow. You weren't too happy to hear that your prey was held up inside the most fortified part of the city, but at the same time, you weren't surprised. At least you knew where many of your Sisters were. "Where is the arena located," you asked Seisa.

"Just on the other side of the river," she replied, "They have a dock where they offload supplies, weapons, and slaves. However, the doors are heavily barded. I imaging that we would be launching a second smaller siege within the city just to get to our imprisoned Sisters."

"We are having a hard enough time with this siege," you groan, "Well, at least we now know that the only thing standing between us and our imprisoned Sisters are a few shell-shocked commoners."

“I wouldn’t underestimate the peasants, my Queen,” Seisa stated, “You would be surprised how dangerous an untrained man can be when he is cornered. Not all merchants are fat or incapable of wielding patricianly large swords, as you have seen with the Prince of Deni.”

“She’s right,” Atheas confirms the Night Sister’s statement, “I’ve seen old men fight like they were possessed when they felt like they had no other place to run.” She then turned to Seisa, “Have you reported these findings to the Lord Marshal?”

“He was the first one I notified, although I did not bother him with matters that do not concern him.” she stated, “I am to relay to you that our part in the plan hasn’t changed. Once we have breached the river gate, we are to hold it. He also asked if we needed assistance.”

Your face turned a bright red upon hearing the Lord Marshal's message. “Assistance?!” you growled, “Why in the name of Hades would we need assistance?”

Seisa arched her brow and said in a sarcastic tone, “Yes, I wonder when we are doing so well with the gate.”

You were about to snap at Seisa for her snide comment and was even tempted to punch the woman's masked face when you felt Atheas pressing down on your shoulder. “We do not need his help at the moment,” she replied, though with a strain in her voice, "I will speak to him about our progress. In the meantime, keep us appraised of any notable changes."

“Very well,” Seisa stated with a low bow, “If there is nothing else my queen desires, I will take my leave.” With that, she walked past you and out of sight.