The Holy Order

The screaming came closer along with the sound of somebody running in heavy boots. It wasn’t a scream of fear or pain, more of a war cry, Emily thought. {if Richard Holy = 1} From her position tied to the branch she watched the {else}She looked over her shoulder to see a {endif}fight between Richard’s group and five new men.{if Richard Holy= 1} {else} Richard’s crew were all dressed in black jeans and t-shirts with what looked like home-made armour made from pieces of card painted black. {endif}The new arrivals wore cloth outfits with leather panels on the shoulders and arms – their costumes were good, but not of the same quality as Emily’s. All of the men had swords in a variety of styles, all with thick, blunt blades which looked quite soft and dull. {if Bad Richard = 1}While she was pleased for an end to the spanking, Emily was dismayed to be tied to this tree with her bare bottom on show, pointed right at this battle between Richard's group and these people who might be here to save her. Her bottom was tingling, and she felt sure her buttocks were red. She really wanted to rub them to soothe the pain.{else} {endif}

This sword fight was oddly civilised. It was clear Richard’s group were outmatched but they tried hard. Emily saw one of the new men hit on the leg with a sword, he then knelt down on that knee and continued fighting. Richard himself was poked in the chest by another of the rubbery looking swords. ‘That’s two hits, leather armour, you’re down,’ his opponent said as Richard, looking disappointed, laid on the ground.

The fighting was over in a moment, the man who had been staring at Emily earlier was the only one of Richard’s group standing but he had both hands behind his back. ‘Do you surrender?’ asked one of the newcomers. ‘Of course I do, you’ve cut both my arms off,’ said the staring man.

‘Who is your prisoner, what are you doing?’

‘{if Richard Holy = 1}She claims to be an important character, but I think she's bullshitting.{else}I don’t know, we just caught her snooping around. {endif} We were going to take her to the stockade.’

‘Not today,’ the apparent leader of the new group said, ‘On your knees.’

Staring Man obeyed, then his captor stepped behind him, drawing his rubber sword across the throat of the kneeling man, who gurgled and slumped forward to the floor.

This was the most bizarre thing Emily had ever seen.

{if Bad Richard = 1}The leader walked over to Emily, she wished he didn't have to walk right past her exposed, rosy red bottom. {else}The leader walked over to Emily. {endif} ‘Holy Order?’ he asked.

{if Denaasi = 1}‘Yes.’ Emily figured these guys were on her side. ‘I’m Queen Denaasi of the Holy Order. Could you untie my hands {elseif Alexa = 1}‘Yes.’ Emily figured these guys were on her side. ‘I’m Alexa of the Holy Order. Could you untie my hands {else}‘Yes.’ Emily figured she needed to keep up her disguise now. ‘I’m just a normal girl, a member of the Holy Order. Could you untie my hands {endif}{if Bad Richard = 1}please? I'd like to cover myself .’{else}please?’{endif}

{if Denaasi = 1}The five guys simultaneously raised their eyebrows at each other and grinned in surprise. Even Richard opened his eyes wide and looked over before returning to his ‘dead’ position. ‘Really?’ the leader of the group dropped to one knee beside her. ‘Queen Denaasi, we are your humble servants, lowly foot soldiers of the Holy Order. We are honoured to meet you, and I apologise for killing these scoundrels before you could dispatch them yourself. If only we had –’{elseif Alexa = 1}The five guys simultaneously raised their eyebrows at each other and grinned in surprise. Even Richard opened his eyes wide and looked over before returning to his ‘dead’ position. ‘Really?’ the leader of the group dropped to one knee beside her. ‘Lady Alexa, we are your humble servants, lowly foot soldiers of the Holy Order. We are honoured to meet you, and I apologise for killing these scoundrels before you could dispatch them yourself. If only we had –’{else}The leader of the group looked sympathetically at her. ‘I'm sorry these scoundrels captured you and treated you like this. It's really not cool that they tied you up in this way like an animal. If only we had –‘{endif}

Emily cut him off. ‘Yes, yes, that’s great, but can you untie my hands? Now?’

‘Of course, my apologies.’ {if Richard Holy = 1} He reached up to free her from the branch.{else}He rushed around the tree to free her.{endif}

{if Bad Richard = 1}Emily stood and quickly covered herself, resisting the urge to rub her buttocks in front of these new people. She rubbed her wrists instead and busied herself correcting her costume. {else} Emily, grateful to be free, rubbed her wrists and busied herself correcting her costume. {endif}

{if Denaasi = 1}‘My Queen,{elseif Alexa = 1}‘My Lady,{else}‘My dear,{endif} please allow me to introduce my party. I’m Tom, this is Bill, Simon, Jeremy and Stuart. If it pleases you we would be grateful if you were to allow us the honour of escorting you to your destination.’

‘Actually I’ve got to go back to the staff tent to meet Ted.’

‘Of course, {if Denaasi = 1}your highness.{elseif Alexa = 1}my Lady.{else}my dear.{endif} We will protect you on your journey to the staff tent. Erm, where is it?’

Emily told Tom roughly where she needed to go and the group set off back the way she had come through the woods. ‘What about them?’ she asked, gesturing to the three bodies on the ground.

‘Oh, they’ll get up in a minute,’ said Richard.