The Witches' PoV

The three women continued their chant, "Harken, trees of Yarrow / In the peaceful glen and vale. / Bring us what we conjure: / A sun-soaked handsome male."

The three witches wake up in the morning looking like this.

A man stumbled into the sacred grove looking uncomfortable as he walked up to the three powerful witches and the sacred altar stone.

Exactly what they described in their summoning spell stumbled into the sacred grove with them, a bit disoriented mentally. That was the condition in which the Yarrow trees often delivered a person requested of them. They were not the most subtle of magical trees.

... a bit disoriented mentally.

The well-built and well-fed man with the shoulder-length untangled soft curling manageable hair looked like no commoner, but he wore a kilt of wool of a green pattern which identified him as some member of the royal family, though obviously not in the most direct line of succession to the throne, or he would have had bodyguards to keep him from arriving here alone. That kilt plus his apparent early-twenties age identified him as most likely Prince Dewayne, third in line behind two older brothers, one of whom was likely to have little princes of his own soon. Third from the throne was where the royal family allowed its defenses to falter, as it was very unlikely he would ever be entitled with ownership and responsibility of any significant amount of land, men, or other resources of the kingdom.

Esmeralda bade him, "Enter Prince Dewayne. We have been expecting you," sounding as if it were the truth, "You see, it was we who summoned you here from the castle."

"I am Prince ..." he started to introduce himself and stopped (a bit embarrassed of his slow reflexes) when he understood the woman's words he had just heard, so he switched to, "I am in need of directions to the stone spire monument near the castle."

Melicious told him and the others, "You are a man of morals. You are known to care for the poorest of the peasants under your rule more than your brothers. And in a bird's eye, you have been seen returning tax money personally to those who care for orphans." She liked what her fowl friends had told her about this prince. And his looks did not hurt, either. Melicious could picture herself bedding this man some time in the future after the current crisis was averted.

"Lies! I would never disobey royal decree," he exclaimed, knowing as well as all three witches that the king could lock him away for a lifetime if that secret were disclosed. He lied well, but for a slight reddening of his face from inner guilt.

... a slight reddening of his face from inner guilt.

"Fear not, young man," Esmeralda told him (although it seemed to make him more antagonistic under the surface), "Like every man, you desire to spill your seed at any opportunity, and this opportunity is significantly more important historically than any other you have encountered."

He tried to cover his emotions and failed. They could see his lack of understanding and increase in aggression in his still stance, with sweat starting to glisten on his reddening skin.

She continued, "With your consent or without it, to defeat the armed forces of the Earl of Banewasp, we shall milk you of your semen and the masculine solar energy which (you are unaware) stores up inside a man's body until released by Nature or witchcraft."

He blinked in disbelief.

The crone asked him, "Do you doubt our ability, or your own?"

"It's just logistically preposterous," he said in his official royal court voice, "even a team of women could not **** a man against his will. First you would have to strip me naked. Then you would have to sexually arouse me until my..." he appeared to consider telling the worldly women how a penis works but then thought better of it. "You know. And then you would have to tie me up or to hold me down so that I could not evade you before I climaxed. It's just nonsense, woman."

Of course, Esmeralda took that as a challenge.

Then he looked among them and asked, "Is there anyone else I can speak to?"

Rhiamon glanced to each of her coven sisters confidently, then told him, "Let's start over. I will give you the directions you need, but you must be willing to follow them."

A good bit of relief showed on his face such that anyone would have recognized it. "On my soul," he agreed, but then backpedaled, "Will these be the sort of directions to do something anatomically impossible for your amusement?"

Rhiamon began, ignoring the humor, "Upon your soul, the way to the monument you seek begins with one step directly behind you. Several more steps will take you to a large Yarrow tree. Can you picture a Yarrow tree?"

"I am familiar with them."

"Picture one whose trunk splits into four branches at about the height of your chin."

"Aye."

"See yourself taking a sharp left turn from that tree and walking gently downhill along a calm and peaceful trail to a great yawning oak. Can you picture it?"

"Uh..."

"Can you picture a hundred year oak tree with a hollow that yawns its mouth wide open, though the tree is healthy and strong and calm and peaceful?"

He closed his eyes silently.

"Turn right at the yawning oak. Then, walk exactly 100 paces along an animal trail. Can you picture yourself counting backward from 100 as you walk along the quiet and peaceful trail that snakes left and right calmly and peacefully?"

He yawned with his mouth open wide and mumbled, "Yes," with his eyes closed as if he were asleep.

"Let me hear you count the steps as you walk softly along the calm and peaceful meandering trail. You are in no hurry."

He began to mumble his count, "One hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight, ..."

... walk softly along the calm and peaceful meandering trail.

While he chanted his countdown, Rhiamon (soon joined by the other two witches) softly chanted to him, "You desire sexual arousal. When you hear our voices, you will feel aroused. When you obey our will, you will feel sexual gratification."

When he reached "one" and stopped, Rhiamon asked him, "Do you still hear my voice?"

"Yes."

"Does it please you to hear my voice?"

"Very much."

"Does it please you to obey me?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Very much."

"Then let's play a game. When you awaken, you will not remember anything we said earlier, but you will feel that sexual arousal and gratification when you hear and obey us."

"I would like that very much."

"Awaken now."