The first rays of dawn stretched out over the lands of the Kingdom of Light, touching first the Mountains of Delight, warm fingertips of sunlight teasing the very tops of these mounds. As the sun rose over the horizon, it's touch grew firmer, fondling the hillsides with its pleasant warmth.

The King stifled a yawn as he trudged out onto the balcony, looking over the troops that lay assembled in the courtyard below. He raised an eyebrow as he gazed upon the ranks of the men, appearing fairly impressed with the lot of them. Certainly they appeared in fairer condition than did most of those that had shown up to rescue his daughter. On that note, he wondered idly if that Slempap fellow ever did manage to make it to the Tower of Doom in one piece.

"Good morning, your Majesty," he heard Joy's greeting from behind him.

King Beneficus turned. "Well, morning, anyway," he grumbled. This was the third day in a row now he had been forced to awaken at such an ungodly hour. "So how fares your army?"

"Ah, no, your Majesty, your army," Joy said. "I am merely the caretaker for it. And recruiter. And trainer. And commander."

"Yes, well, anyway, they look a decent lot," the King said. He peered over to one side. "Even managed to get the catapult, I see."

As he spoke, the soldier manning the weapon made a face and scratched at himself in annoyance.

Joy reached into the folds of her robe and pulled out a folded letter, which he handed to the King with a solemn expression on her face. "This arrived from the Dark Lord just a short while ago," she said in a somber voice. "And I have other news: I am afraid that our Champion's first attempt to rescue your daughter did not succeed."

The King began to unseal the letter. "Oh, too bad, Smucklack was a such a keen lad. Sad to see him go."

"Smidlar, your Majesty," Joy said. "And he escaped with his life, from what I have heard, and has valuable information for us concerning the Dark Lord."

"Oh?" the King said absently as he unfolded the letter and brought it to his eyes. He paused, and then furrowed his brow intensely. "There is not much to this one, I'm afraid."

"Dare I ask what it is, your Majesty?" Joy said with a look of horror on her face.

"Here, read it for yourself."

Joy recoiled, wrinkling her nose.

The King sighed. "Well, it's not like you'd faint from this one. It's bloody short on detail is what it is."

"Does he not describe what his latest evil intentions are towards Princess Sarah, your Majesty?"

"Only that he plans to perform ... ah, what was it ..." He brought the letter up to his eyes again. " 'My most diabolical and heinous torture I can inflict upon a girl such as her.' "

"I regret that Smidlar was unable to prevent this, your Majesty," Joy said with growing resolve in her voice. "But I assure you, I will take your righteous revenge to the very walls of the Tower of Doom itself! I shall see the Dark Lord fall for his most heinous acts against your daughter's body in the name of King Beneficus, supreme monarch of ..."

"Ah, if it's all the same to you, perhaps, um, go a little easy on all that 'in the King's name' rot," the King said.

Joy blinked and stared. "I beg your pardon, your Majesty?"

The King cleared his throat awkwardly and managed a small smile. "I mean, Joy, after all, this was indeed your idea, and I believe you should take full blame ... er, credit! ... yes, credit for this accomplishment."

"Are you serious, your Majesty?"

"Absolutely, Joy. I do indeed want you to get all the credit for this endeavor."

"Why ... your Majesty ... " Joy said softly, a hand at her breast. "I'm ... I'm beside myself ..."

The King smiled. "Oh, you know, I just like be fair and ..."

"But, your Majesty, you know full well that it is your inspiration alone that sparks my imagination."

"Er ... uh ..."

Tears filled Joy's eyes. "I am overwhelmed, your Majesty. Truly, I am standing before the greatest monarch that ever lived ..."

King Beneficus glanced around, as if expecting to see another King standing nearby.

" ... to wish no honor or recognition for himself, to care only for others ... oh, your Majesty, you have fired my resolve! You have lit the flames under my determination! You have ignited a blaze of strength in my heart! You ..."

"I get the picture, Joy," the King said.

Joy whirled around and called out to the army below, who came immediately to attention, broken only by the catapulter's occasional scratching. "The moment has come at last, o Army of Light!" Joy cried. "This morn, we shall set out for the blighted lands of the evil Dark Lord. And as we do, we shall remember this: we are not fighting for the Kingdom. We are not fighting for the King."

The King uttered a short sigh of relief.

"We are not fighting for his daughter. We fight for those very tenets that set us above the foul fiends that would seek to besmirch these lands with their cruel and wicked ways! We fight for truth! Justice! And the, uh, Kingdom of Lightian way!"

Joy briefly turned to the King. "How was that?" she whispered.

"Simply super," the King said.

Joy smiled and turned back to the crowd. "And now, we will commence," she said. She reached into her robe, and with the sound of sliding metal, withdrew a brilliant, shining silver sword, nearly as long as she was tall. She held it high above her head, it's impossibly sharp blade carving the very air itself as she held it aloft, catching the sunlight with a dazzlingly bright gleam.

The King blinked. "Bloody hell," he murmured as he gazed upon the intimidating weapon.

"To victory over the Dark Lord!" she shouted.

The army raised their weapons in kind. "To victory!" they shouted in response.

Joy leapt from the balcony, spreading her wings and soaring out over the army, taking up the lead before them. One final cheer arose before the lot of them started towards the gate.

The King gave a small sigh as he watched them. His lips curled slowly into a smile as they receded into the distance. "And now, I can go back to bed," he said.

As he turned away from the railing, he glanced at the letter again and gave a small laugh. "Most diabolical and heinous torture," he snorted. "Hah! I can think of only one thing that could possibly ... er ..."

He stopped and frowned. He looked down at the letter again. "Oh, well, he wouldn't do that, certainly ... I mean, after all ... where would the likes of him even find such a thing?"

Soon after her morning meal, the Princess was again led away from her room without a word being spoken to her as to what lie in store for her. Yet she could not help but let small smiles come to her face as she remembered the other "tortures" that had been performed on her helpless body, and she could only speculate with mounting excitement at what they might do to her that day. Surely they would now seek to punish her even more horribly than before now that she nearly escaped their cruel grasp.

She certainly hoped so.

They took her back to the same room they had when Madam Agonusa had worked on her, shackling her to the same wall in the very same way they had before, her arms and legs again uncomfortably stretched, making it nearly impossible for her to move. They then left her like that for a few moments, letting her contemplate her fate, which she did, with great relish.

Soon, the door opened, and Inferno stepped into the cell. He cast a most decidedly evil smile at the Princess. Princess Sarah returned it with a small smile of her own, hardly giving any pretense of terror or fear any longer. Following behind him was Madam Agonusa, a sullen expression on her face, carrying a hinged wooden box with a tiny metal latch.

"Ah, Princess," Inferno said in a silky voice. "Here we are again."

"Yes, here we are," Princess Sarah said.

"Do you realize that you had us in something of a tizzy here at the Tower of Doom? Hmm?"

"Oh? Did I?" Sarah said innocently. "How so?"

"Well, you do know we have been trying quite hard to torture you," Inferno said. "To inflict pain and humiliation upon you. To torment you into madness and mortification."

"Oh, um, yes, I've noticed that."

"Oh, jolly good!" Inferno said with a sarcastic smile. "And here I thought we were not being appreciated."

The Princess started to look a bit warily at them, her gaze shifting from Inferno to Agonusa and then to the curious box she held.

"But, Princess, we have a bit of an impasse here," Inferno said.

"Um ... how so?"

"Try as we might, you simply do not seem to ... well, Princess, let's put it this way: most people simply abhor being treated in the way we have treated you."

"Oh? Oh!" the Princess said, quickly trying to wipe the smile from face. "Oh, yes, yes! I have suffered so since I have been cruelly captured! Oh, please, please, have mercy on me! Have .... er ... mercy ...?

Inferno was shaking his head.

The Princess swallowed, looking increasing nervous. "Um ... well, maybe ... maybe I ... I enjoyed a few things here and there ..."

Inferno raised an eyebrow.

"Just a few!" the Princess cried. "Really! The rest of it was cruel, pitiless torture that nearly drove me quite mad. Truly! Try it again upon my helpless, naked body, and you'll see."

Inferno chortled and cast a wicked grin at her as he stepped closer. "I suppose I should," he said in a low, conspiratorial voice. "I should indeed torture you again."

"Oh, yes, quite right," the Princess said.

"I should ... inflict the most grievous pain upon your most intimate regions ..."

"Yes, that's right," Princess Sarah said in a softer voice.

"Pain so cruel that you will scream and scream until your throat tears ..."

"Yes ..."

"And then ... when you are in so much pain you run dry of tears ... then you should be violated in many perverted and sick ways ..."

"Oh, yes ..." Princess Sarah said in a husky voice.

"Until you feel your sex throb in horrible, terrible, forbidden ways ..."

"Mmm ... yes ..." Her nether regions began to glisten with moisture, her eyes closed, moaning softly. When Inferno did not say anything more, her eyes snapped open. "I mean ... oh, great gods, woe is me! If but the great Smidlar had managed to rescue me from this horrible imprisonment! I ... uh ..."

She trailed off when in the incubus turned away from her and towards Agonusa and the box that she carried. "But we will not do that, Princess," Inferno said.

"Uh ... no?"

"No."

The Princess paused. She felt a knot of anxiety in her stomach. "B-but then, what ...?"

And now the incubus gave her such a smile of purest evil that it send icy fingers up her spine. "Why, I intend to give you a little present," he said.

Princess Sarah swallowed again, her breath growing short with true fear as she watched Inferno carefully unlatch the box and open it. He reached inside and grasped an object inside. Sarah heard the soft sound of metal against metal and started to tremble, as if somehow part of her mind already knew of the most heinous and diabolical object that lay within the deceptively harmless wooden box.

And then Inferno lifted the object from the box, turning to face the Princess, lifting it in his hands and holding it out before him, the shiny metal surface catching the light. Yet barely had he turned around when a look of dawning horror appeared in the depths of the Princess' eyes as she beheld the narrow, curving, infernal triangle of metal, the cruelly thick and solid waistband, and the thin but unbreakable cold chains that connected them together.

Princess Sarah's mouth dropped open, her whole body shaking.

"Oh, now, Princess, whatever is the matter?" Inferno said. He started walking towards her.

Princess Sarah cast a look of sheer terror at him and tried to shrink into the wall. She started shaking her head violently. "No ..." she breathed. "No ..."

"Why, this is not even a torture device," Inferno said with a malevolent chuckle.

"No!" Sarah cried desperately. "No, please!"

"This is nothing more than ..."

"No!" she shouted as he reached her.

" ... a chastity belt," the incubus concluded with a most satisfied sneer as he began to fit the device to the helpless Princess.

"NOOOOOOOO!!" Princess Sarah shrieked.

She wrenched at her restraints in desperation, the shackles cutting into her skin with the strength and sheer desperation of her attempt at escape. She jerked her hips to one side and the other. She cried for mercy. She begged, pleaded, and cried.

It was all in vain. With a final, horrible snap, the belt was firmly secured over the Princess' most intimate portal and its environs.

Inferno smiled and stroked at the shiny metal carapace that covered Princess Sarah's sex. "See how this does such a wonderful job of protecting you, Princess? Not a single thing may touch your intimate regions now. Not a single thing. Not even your own fingers. And certainly ... not a manhood of any kind."

Princess Sarah lifted her head and uttered a piercing scream of purest terror that reverberated through the very walls of the Tower of Doom, a scream of true torment, a scream of utter horror and revulsion that made Inferno laugh long and hard.

"INFERNO!!!"

The incubus panted as he tore up the stairs as fast as he could, flapping his wings to give him some extra speed. The bellowed summons had come a scant candlemark after he had locked away the (FINALLY) truly tormented and teary-eyed Princess in her room, leaving her alone to contemplate her sex-free fate, shaking the rafters so badly that he had feared some sort of attack on the Tower itself by that infernal Smidlar character.

Inferno entered the chamber at a dead run, nearly falling over himself trying to stop. Still panting, he said hoarsely. "What is it, my L ..."

The Dark Lord rounded on him, his face grinning like a madman. "Summon my army, Inferno!" he cried. "And send them out at once towards the Kingdom of Light!"

Inferno blinked, then started to smile. "Has King Beneficus lowered the Barrier, then, my Lord?"

The Dark Lord laughed. "Oh, no, my dear Inferno, he has not!"

Inferno's smile faded. "Then what ...?"

"What our illustrious King has done instead is to send his pitiful excuse for an army to attack the Tower of Doom!" Mallevelus said, cracking up into laughter by the end of his statement. He then gasped and made a face of pretend panic, raising his voice an octave as he said mockingly, "Oh! Oh! Heaven's to Betsy! The King has sent his army to attack me! Oh, whatever will I do!" He broke up into derisive laughter again.

But Inferno cast a suspicious look at his master. "But, my Lord, this makes no sense."

"What makes no sense, Inferno?" the Dark Lord said through his laughter.

"That he would send such a small army out. Has he gained more forces then?"

"Oh, no. He still has no more than a scant few dozen men-at-arms and one catapult." He smirked. "A small one. Oh, but then again, I suppose size isn't everything." He snorted loudly and broke down yet again into gales of laughter.

"I do not understand this, my Lord," Inferno insisted. "Why send out an army at all when he can simply remain behind the Barrier?"

The Dark Lord waved a dismissive hand. "It matters not, Inferno! His army will meet ours in the field of battle, as they were destined to from the very beginning! Blood will again flow in the fields, Good and Evil will battle for supremacy just like the good old days!"

"I seem to recall that Good tended to win more often than not in the 'good old days', my Lord," Inferno said sourly. "They must know what forces we can command. They must have some secret weapon we do not know about!"

"They have nothing, Inferno, nothing! They will be insects for us to crush at our leisure!"

"And there was nothing unusual about their army at all, my Lord?"

"Nothing! Not a thing! Weak through and through!"

A pause.

"Well ... " the Dark Lord mused. "There is one tiny little thing."

Inferno sighed. "Here it comes," he muttered.

"Rumor has it ... an unconfirmed report ... mere hearsay, you see ..."

Inferno clenched his teeth. "Yes?"

"That they may have in their army one, ah, angel."

Inferno's jaw dropped. "A WHAT?!"

"Ah ... is that bad?"

"YES, THAT'S BAD!" Inferno bellowed. "Bloody hell! Where did a two-bit King like him get a sodding angel?!"

"What difference does it make?" Mallevelus demanded. "She is but one creature! We will outnumber their entire army ten to one!"

"They may just about make it even, my Lord."

The Dark Lord sneered and waved his hand in another dismissive gesture. "Inferno, you are such a bring-down. We are on the brink of crushing our most mortal enemy, and bringing them to their knees! The humiliating defeat of their army on the field of battle will destroy their morale, plunging them into despair, and make the Barrier come down on its own! King Beneficus is digging his own grave for us, and we but need to toss him in. Our plan cannot fail now, Inferno! We are about to win! Nothing can stop us now!"

And to this end, Mallevelus uttered his loudest and most heartfelt diabolical laughter to date, the thunder echoing through the chamber deafening.

The Army of Light marched its way boldly across the lands separating its home from the blighted lands of the Dark Lord, its morale high, buoyed by the fierce determination of its angelic leader. Joy flew out ahead of them, brandishing her mighty sword before her, uttering inspirational words and firing-up the men until each was ready to take on the Dark Lord by himself.

Thus as they entered the desert, and the cloud of dust rose up ahead of them, coming quickly closer, excitement grew among the ranks. Men steeled themselves in anticipation of the battle, swords sliding from sheathes, arrows knocked into bows, everyone braced and on a hair trigger, as Joy swept over them and began to heft her sword aloft. At the last moment, however, as her eyes peered into the distance through the shimmering heat hovering above the blazing sands, the cloud resolved itself into but a single horse and a single golden-haired man.

"Stand down! Stand down!" Joy shouted. "It is Smidlar the Brave!"

Gasps and murmurs through the men quickly gave way to cheers as the King's Champion rode up to them, pulling his horse to a halt near Joy.

"Smidlar, thank the gods you are alive!" Joy cried happily.

"Yes, I am very much so!" Smidlar said as he dismounted, pausing to wave and flash a smile at the cheering soldiers. "But I would gladly have forfeited it, my dear Joy, had I been able to accomplish my mission."

"Oh, heavens, Smidlar, is the Princess all right?" Joy gasped.

"For the moment, she is, but I fear for her very soul if we do not make haste," Smidlar said ominously. "I would have made the attempt to rescue her again with the dawn had I not had valuable information for you and your men!"

"We are prepared to meet the Dark Lord's army in battle," Joy said firmly, gripping the hilt of her sword more tightly. "We intend to make the Dark Lord pay for his heinous crimes."

"And I daresay you will have your chance very soon, for the Dark Lord's army is scant candlemarks behind me."

This declaration was greeted with eager shouts of anticipation from several men.

"Bring them on!" one cried.

"I shall slay five of their wicked demons at one blow!" shouted another, swinging his sword through the air.

"And I shall pluck out the very eyes of their winged beasts of death!" yelled an archer, bringing up his bow.

More and more men chorused their agreement, eventually joining into a single, resounding cheer in excitement of the pending battle, their spirits raised by the presence of the powerful angel in their ranks, such that they would never realize that they could not possibly win against such tremendous odds.

"What information do you have for us, Smidlar?" Joy asked.

"Just this: You are choosing the ideal time to strike. The Dark Lord no longer has his Farseeing Mirror, so he cannot see you until you are at the Tower. Once you defeat his army, however, you will have to contend with the source of his strength, the Scepter of Infernal Power."

Joy gasped, causing several soldiers to follow suit. "Great gods, not ... the Scepter!"

"Yes, indeed! But even though this is his strength, it is also his weakness, for without it, he does not have enough power to withstand your army."

"We must find a way to take the Scepter from him, then."

"Ah, but I have already hatched just such a plan, my dear Joy, and I must make haste back to the Tower to set it in motion. If I succeed, by the time your army marches on the Tower, the Dark Lord will be powerless to stop you!"

"But, Smidlar, how do you intend ..."

"LOOK!" one of the soldiers shouted, pointing off across the desert sands.

And then an awed hush fell upon the Army of Light. Rising up from the horizon was a wall of darkness, a black miasma stretched across their vision, chilling the air around them with the radiant evil from its hideous depths even from this great a distance. As it loomed larger and larger, a great thundering noise slowly arose, followed by the roar of wing and fire. The ground trembled and the air grew unnaturally still.

The Army of Darkness had arrived.

"I must go!" Smidlar called out, mounting his horse. "I regret I cannot stay and share this victory with you all!"

"Go, Smidlar!" Joy cried. "Go and secure us a greater victory still!"

Smidlar turned his horse around and galloped away at high speed.

Joy spread her wings and rose into the air, grim determination on her face. She slid the sword out once again with a ringing sound of metal on metal. She held it high over her head.

"TO VICTORY!" she cried.

"TO VICTORY!" her men answered.

Moments later in the desert, the two great Armies clashed, and the final battle between Good and Evil commenced.

Princess Sarah lay huddled on her bed, her body trembling, her face stained with tears, her sheet damp with her sorrow. The collar had again been secured to her neck, and the sturdy chain to the bed, but it hardly mattered. With the touch of the smooth, impenetrable metal cruelly locked to her nether regions, her most intimate portal banished behind it, she had become a miserable, hollow shell. She touched her shaking fingers to it, sobs wracking a body that had run out of tears not long before. She pulled at the unyielding chains and the pitiless band about her waist, but none of it would move, none of it would spare her a single bit of mercy.

And if this had not been enough, every few candlemarks, a guard would enter her cell, tell her how much he would so enjoy raping her, how he would so like to slide his eager manhood into her hot, tight, wet depths, how he would like to make her scream in powerful climax, arousing her until she could no longer stand to listen any further, and then leave her to wail in anger and distress at her now excited sex forever beyond her reach (while this was expressed more along the lines of "gee, I'd love ta rape ya, but ya got sum metal thingie in da way", the Princess' sex-starved mind filled in the rest).

So when she heard the door open behind her once again, her sex still tingling madly with unsatisfied desire, her body flushed with unsatisfied lust, she began crying again. "P-please leave me alone," she begged. "I c-cannot take these cruel words any longer!"

"Hello, Princess," came the low and immensely satisfied voice of Inferno.

Princess Sarah blinked, then turned over on the bed and quickly sat up, wiping remaining dampness from her reddened eyes.

"You might wish to know," Inferno said with a sly smile. "That your father has sent his army to the Tower."

Sarah blinked at this revelation. "My ... father ... army ..." she mumbled. "I ... I don't understand ..."

Inferno laughed. "Neither do I, Princess. For they are sure to meet their defeat before they even get here."

Strictly speaking, the incubus was not sure of this at all, but he was not about to let on to the Princess. He had to hope that the army he had scrounged up for the Dark Lord was enough. Damn lucky the basilisk's rash cleared up, he thought.

"Why are you telling me this?" the Princess demanded.

"So you do not care that your father's army will fall to the Dark Lord's minions, hmm?" Inferno said with a wicked grin, stepping up to her. His eyes flickered down to the gleam of metal between her thighs. He reached down and gave it a stroke with his fingers. Princess Sarah whimpered pitifully and turned away from him. "Or do you care only for what has been taken away from you?"

The Princess squeezed her eyes shut, renewed tears trickling from them.

Inferno leaned forward, his heat making her perspire. He whispered seductively into her ear. "Hard to stop thinking about it, is it not?"

"P-please ... " the Princess cried hoarsely.

"Never have you wanted a touch to your sensitive, pleasurable flesh in all your life, have you, Princess?"

"Stop ... gods, please, stop ..."

"Remember what it was like, Princess?" Inferno whispered hotly into her ear. "Remember what your intensely throbbing climaxes felt like?"

"STOP IT!" the Princess shrieked.

Inferno chortled. "We've already done that to you," he commented.

Princess Sarah threw her head back and wailed.

Inferno stepped back from her, smiling evilly. "Oh now, Princess, can it be all that bad?"

"How long are you going to keep me like this?!" Princess Sarah bellowed.

"As long as we want to, Princess!" Inferno snarled. "That's how long! Perhaps we will keep you here for a year. Ten years! Perhaps this will become your new home for the rest of your days! Think about that, Princess, a lifetime without the joys of the flesh!"

"NOOOOOOOO!!" the Princess screamed, falling down onto the bed, thrashing and beating the pillow with her fists. "This is not fair! IT'S NOT FAIR!!"

"Not fair? Why, it is very fair, Princess!" Inferno declared. "You want something, you want something badly, and we take it from you. We take it from you and keep it from you until we get what we want!"

The Princess paused. She turned her head back to Inferno. "What you want?"

Inferno's lips curled into a wicked grin. "Yes, Princess, what we want."

Sarah rose to a seated position and wiped at her eyes again. "Then tell me what it is that you want," she said. "I will give it to you."

Inferno chuckled. "Are you quite sure of that? Do you value your fleshy pursuits that much?"

"Yes!" the Princess cried. "I'll do whatever you want! Just remove this infernal thing from my body! I'll do anything!"

"Oh, really? Anything? Even ... betray your father? Betray your Kingdom? Betray ... " Inferno's eyes flashed. "The very man that tried to rescue you?"

"Yes!" Princess Sarah cried. "Especially him!"

Inferno laughed. "Why do I not believe you, Princess?"

"But just tell me what you want!" Sarah cried desperately. "I'll prove it! I'll tell you anything you want to know about all of them!"

"All the Dark Lord wants, Princess," Inferno said with a sneer. "Is the location of his now mortal enemy, Smidlar the Brave. Can you tell me that, Princess?"

Sarah looked stricken. "I ... I cannot ..."

"Just as I thought."

"Because I don't know, you bloody git!" Princess Sarah screamed. "What difference does it make, anyway, if you're already going to defeat the King's army?!"

"Because, Princess, the Dark Lord takes a personal interest in those that defy him directly, as Smidlar has done! He will not rest until he is destroyed, utterly and permanently. And when that day happens, my dear, you can make sure that we will be sure that you see it for yourself, that you get to see him die at your very feet, breathing his last before your very eyes!"

Princess Sarah snorted. "Good! Can't be too soon for me!"

The incubus stopped laughing. "I beg your pardon?"

"I could use some entertainment now that you've taken away the only fun I've been having around here."

Inferno blinked. He knew that the Princess had purposely thwarted her own rescue, but he had not expected this must sheer vitriol from her. "I am telling you that we intend to murder the King's Champion!" he cried. "The same one that could still take you away from here!"

"I heard you," Sarah said, folding her arms defiantly.

"The same one that could remove that device from your body!"

"Yeah, whatever."

Inferno stared at her. "Bugger all this!" he declared. "I'm bloody well through trying to figure you out! I'm going to ask you a straight question and I want a straight answer from you, you got it?"

Sarah just shrugged.

Inferno gritted his teeth. "Why do you want to see Smidlar as dead as we do?"

"So I don't have to marry that great pillock, that's why!" Princess Sarah replied.

Inferno's eyes opened wide. "You don't want to marry him?" he asked in amazement.

"Nope."

"But ... every Princess always marries the man sent to rescue her!"

"Not this one."

Inferno puzzled over this, then smiled. "Ah! You have another that has captured your heart that you ... wish ... to ... no?"

Princess Sarah had started to shake her head halfway through his statement.

"Then who ..."

"No one!" Princess Sarah spat. "I am no one's woman! I never have been, and I never intend to be! You think I want to be tied down to one man for the rest of my life? Damn boring is what that is."

"Good gods, woman," Inferno said in astonishment. "You truly are a harlot!"

The Princess gave him a sultry smile. "Call me what you want," she said loftily. "I do not care. I only care about what I want, and what I want is all the sex I can get. Or haven't you figured that out yet?"

"Well, I had ... but ... but I never expected ..."

"That I would be so forward about it? You should realize by now, Inferno, I don't care about convention or tradition. I want a guy's cock, I go for it. Hellfire, if I fancy another woman's twat, I'll go for that, too! Anything I want, any pleasure I wish, I go for it, I don't care what the consequences are. Even the torture, Inferno. Oh, yes, you tormented me with Agonusa's Wand of Agony, and I felt fear when I was first dropped amongst the cave trolls, but it mattered not to me once I got what I wanted, once I got the pleasure I sought! What is a little torture or a little fear if I can feel more of those intense, throbbing climaxes you so cruelly have taken from me!"

"Satan's horns," Inferno uttered in dawning realization. "No wonder your father never lowered the Barrier. He doesn't want you back!"

Princess Sarah laughed. "He probably considers me getting trapped outside that Barrier the best thing that ever happened to him. And his Kingdom."

"Then ... then why send a Champion for you?" Inferno asked, perplexed. "Why send the army?"

The Princess snorted. "My guess is that they were daft ideas from that goody-two-shoe guardian angel of his ..."

"What?!" Inferno shouted. "Did ... did you say guardian angel?! Not a full-fledged angel? Not a divine avatar of the gods??"

Sarah snorted derisively. "A full-fledged angel? Divine avatar? Hah! Where would a two-bit King like my father get one of those?"

Inferno was beside himself. A mere guardian angel! They had nowhere near the power of their true angelic counterparts in the hereafter. If anything, it was a demotion, a grunt job for angels that could not cut it in the afterlife realm. But if one did not know this, it was as good as being pitted against a real angel, for they would be intimidated as if she were the real thing.

Great gods, there may still be time! he thought triumphantly. If our army knew it was a mere guardian angel, they could take her out and ... I must tell the Dark Lord!

"Thank you, Princess, you have been very helpful!" Inferno cried, rushing to the door.

Princess Sarah blinked. "I have? Wait!" She leapt up from the bed and rushed after him. "Wait! If I helped you, you said you'd remove ...!"

"I, uh, don't have the key with me," Inferno said. "Later!"

"No, no, wait!" Princess Sarah cried desperately. "Come back! Even without the key, you can defeat it easily! It wouldn't stand a chance! It ... oh ..."

The door clanged shut.

The Princess clenched her fists in frustration. "Oh, shit!"

Yet even as Inferno made great haste to the chamber of the Dark Lord, the Army of Light swept around and through the ranks of their evil foes, the servants of the darkness falling to them like wheat before the scythe. Intimidated as the Dark Lord's minions were by the appearance of the angel, glowing in whiteness so pure that it was blinding to them, they avoided her, choosing instead to attack the soldiers, believing them to be easy prey. Yet even as the Army of Light initially dropped back, the angel Joy swept behind them, using her great sword with skilled aplomb, and soon the blade was dripping with the foul red-black ichor of the slain dark forces. Encouraged by this sight, the soldiers fought like madmen, dispatching their foes with abandon.

By the time Inferno had informed the Dark Lord of the situation and the orders had gone through to the commander of the Army of Darkness, it was too late. Even after they had learned the truth, the facade of the guardian angel falling away, her glow no longer blinding, her appearance no longer intimidating, their attempt to focus their attack on her was too little too late. The moment they turned on her, the Army of Light struck without mercy, cutting them down as the attempted to surround her, until nothing remained of the great Army of Darkness but broken weapons and mangled bodies.

The soldiers all lifted their weapons into the air and chanted as one, "VICTORY!"

Joy flew into the air above them. "We have won this round, my warriors!" she cried. "But it is not over yet! We have but slain the Dark Lord's foul minions. Our task will not be complete until the evil Dark Lord Mallevelus, the Foul One himself, is utterly destroyed!"

Joy thrust her sword into the air.

"Death to the Dark Lord!" Joy shouted.

"DEATH TO THE DARK LORD!" the Army cried as one.

And without pause or respite, still fired-up from their victory, the Army of Light marched on.

The Princess heard the door to her cell being unlatched again. She leapt up out of the bed. "Inferno?" she cried hopefully.

But when the door opened, one of her hulking guards stepped inside instead.

Princess Sarah rolled her eyes. "Oh, let's not go through this again!" she spat. "Fine, you'd like to rape me, you'd like to make me scream, but I'm wearing this thing so you can't. Good. End of torture. Now ... leave!"

"Uhh ..." the guard said in a stupid-sounding voice. A moment later, the door was closed behind him. He quickly glanced behind him, then turned towards the Princess and gave her a smarmy smile. "Have no fear, Princess," he said in all-too familiar voice. He reached up and pulled off his helmet, revealing his golden hair. "It is I, Smidlar the Brave!"

"Oh, bugger, not you again," the Princess moaned, turning away. "I suppose you want me to put the bloody sheet on again now?"

"No, my Lady, we do not have time," he said. "And as your more private regions have been covered ..."

"Don't remind me," Sarah grumbled.

" ... the most sensitive part of your modesty is protected. And, Your Highness, I must compliment you, that was very well played!"

"Huh?"

"Smuggling into the Tower of Doom a chastity belt to protect you from their wicked perversions. Positively brilliant, Your Highness!"

The Princess smirked humorlessly. "Yeah, sure, brilliant," she said tonelessly.

"And I daresay this saves me some trouble later."

Princess Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Once I have the key to your belt, Your Highness, I may simply use that instead of procuring one myself."

"Ah ... use this for what?"

Smidlar looked surprised at the question. "Why, to place upon you when I am not doing my husbandly duty to you, as is proper," he replied.

Sarah placed her hands on her hips indignantly. "Listen, golden-boy, I'm not about to let you ..."

Smidlar suddenly jerked his head to the side. "Hush, my Lady!"

The Princess rolled her eyes. "Now what?"

"I received a message from the Army of Light scant candlemarks ago," he said in a hushed voice. "They have utterly routed the forces of the Dark Lord. Any moment now, the Dark Lord will hear of this and ..."

The next moment, a distance cry of anguished thunder sounded, shaking the walls.

"AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Smidlar grinned. "There! Now, Princess, there will not be much time." He lifted the helmet to his head. "Soon the Army of Light will besiege the Tower. Unless I am wrong -- and, well, what's the chance of that happening -- the Dark Lord will summon the guards to bring you to his chamber as a hostage. Posing as your guard, I will accompany you, and then launch my ingenious plan to wrest the Scepter of Infernal Power from the Dark Lord, and then shorty thereafter signal the Army to attack!"

Before the Princess could reply, he turned and headed towards the door. Princess Sarah's gaze happened to fall on the back of his head, where a very visible dent appeared in the metal of the helmet, near the neck. She raised an eyebrow at this, and then narrowed her eyes, a very small smile coming to her lips as Smidlar had the other guard let him out of the room.

"My Army! My loyal minions! My Forces of Darkness! Defeated!" the Dark Lord raved. "How, Inferno? HOW?!"

"Treachery of the most foul nature, my Lord!" Inferno cried. "A guardian angel masking as a real angel! Pretending to be a divine messenger instead of the third-rate spirit-made-mortal that she is!"

"Yes, I know that!" Mallevelus snapped. He fell heavily into the Throne of Foulest Evil. "That was hardly even sporting, was it? I mean, that was a bloody cheat!"

"It is something you would have done, my Lord."

"Yes, but I'm the Dark Lord! I'm SUPPOSED to cheat!" he thundered.

"My Lord, all is not yet lost," Inferno said. "I might remind you that you still have the Scepter of Infernal Power."

The Dark Lord perked up. He lifted the Scepter and crossed it in front of himself, cradling it lovingly in both hands, stroking it gently. "Yes, Inferno," he said in a husky voice. "I do indeed have the Scepter."

"And with that, my Lord, you can hold off their entire Army."

"And if I hold them off long enough," Mallevelus began, a gleam growing in his eyes. "If I frustrate their attack upon me for but a short span of days, the mind-flayers will be back from their convention. Hah! Yes, Inferno, that's it!" He shot out of his seat. "And with those reinforcements, I shall destroy that rabble once and for all!"

"JUST one more thing, my Lord!" Inferno exclaimed, catching the Dark Lord scant moments before he was about to laugh diabolically. "I need to tell you something about the Princess."

"Ah, yes, the Princess!" the Dark Lord said with a chortle. "Princess Sarah the great betrayer of her people! She may not have gotten us that information quickly enough to save the battle, but if nothing else shows us whose side she is truly on ..."

"Yes, well, true, but not ..."

"And you doubted my idea that she could become my consort," the Dark Lord said imperiously. "Perhaps now, Inferno, you see which of us has the greater wisdom in these matters."

Inferno took a deep breath and let it go, struggling to remain calm. "About that, my Lord, I don't think you should ..."

"Oh, to have corrupted a Princess! To have swayed her to the darkness! To have germinated the seed of evil within her heart! It may be my greatest accomplishment."

Inferno sighed. "My Lord, I don't think it was ..."

"Really, Inferno, all this negativity must stop," Mallevelus said. "You really are a bring-down sometimes."

Inferno fumed. Fine, he thought violently, let the idiot find out for himself.

"I think, perhaps, we shall put her loyalty to a test," the Dark Lord mused.

"A test, my Lord?" Inferno said, struggling not to roll his eyes.

"Yes, a test. Have her brought to me when the Army of Light is within sight of the Tower. We shall see how she fares when she sees me unleash my power upon the last hope for her rescue!"

"And if she fails the test, my Lord?"

"Then she will make an excellent hostage. For the Army will not attempt to destroy me if they know she will be harmed," Mallevelus said with an evil smile.

"Unless ... they plan to rescue her before that."

The smile faded. "What?!"

"Smidlar the Brave, my Lord," Inferno reminded him. "He still at large."

But the Dark Lord laughed. "Do not worry about the likes of him," he said. "He will not get into the Tower a second time. I have put extra guards on duty."

The same bloody guards that let him in last time! Inferno thought. "Of course, my Lord," he said placidly.

The angel Joy peered out over the crest of the hill and pointed. "There it is!" she cried.

The Army of Light came to a stop and lapsed into another awed silence as they gazed upon the erect monolith that thrust up from the earth in the distance, its swollen head appearing to part the very folds of the heavens.

"The Tower of Doom," muttered on soldier, fear creeping into his voice.

"The Edifice of Evil," muttered another.

"Wait, I thought that was the Dark Lord himself," another pointed out.

"The Column of Carnage," whispered one.

"The Wang of Wrath," rang out another.

All the other soldiers turned and stared at him. "The what?" cried someone.

"Er ... " he said, looking embarrassed. "I, uh, heard it somewhere."

"From who?"

"A ... a lady."

"A lady??"

"Yeah, a lady! Of ... ah ... lesser ... virtue," he added in a mumble.

"Men, do not waver now!" Joy declared, holding her sword high. "The Tower has an evil enchantment upon it that causes those that gaze upon it to know fear. Yet you have but to look to me for encouragement, and you will defeat the Dark Lord's pathetic attempts to keep us at bay! Nothing stands between us and his defeat! Nothing stands between us and ..." She stabbed her sword into the air again. "VICTORY!"

"VICTORY!" the men shouted in unison.

The Army of Light marched onward.

Inferno looked out over the balcony in the Dark Lord's chamber, where a cloud of dust arose in the far distance at the horizon. For the first time since he fell into the employ of the Dark Lord, an army marched upon the Tower of Doom, and there were no legions of evil to meet it. The path lay open to them, and all the guards in the world would not keep them out.

Everything, now, relied on the Dark Lord and his skill at wielding the Scepter of Infernal Power.

Gods help us, Inferno thought starkly as he stepped back inside. "My Lord," he said solemnly. "The Army of Light approaches."

The Dark Lord Mallevelus rose from his Throne, holding his body proudly erect. His cloak curled around him like a shroud, its inky blackness seeming to absorb more light from the room as he walked purposely towards the balcony, casting his cold, black eyes out across his lands. "And so they do," he said in a low voice. He gripped his Scepter tightly and held it high above his head. "And so they shall meet their doom!!" he thundered to the heavens.

Blinding green energy erupted from the end of his scepter, a crack of deafening thunder echoing across the field of ruins. Mallevelus took a step back from the railing and with two hands swung the scepter like a war hammer. It hit the floor of the chamber with a retort like that of a cannon. A shock wave of sorcerous energies burst out from the base of the Tower in an expanding circle, the stone ruins smashed to dust where the wave of infernal power moved over it. The shock wave finally came to a stop some distance from the Tower, forming a huge wall surrounding the grounds.

The Army of Light met the wall, and the wall writhed and undulated, forming shapes of hideous creatures from the very depths of the underworld, which slashed and ripped at the approaching Army, forcing them to do battle once again before they could pass.

The Dark Lord gave a malevolent smile and retreated into his chamber.

"That will not hold them off for long," Inferno pointed out.

"No, Inferno, it will not, but it will delay them long enough for me to begin the second part of my plan," Mallevelus said. "Now ... bring the Princess to me!"

The Princess remained quiet as the two guards came for her, removing her collar before each seized an arm and led her out of her room. She glanced between the two of them, both staring mindlessly ahead. She could not tell which one was Smidlar, as the helmets simply concealed too much of the face.

As she was directed up the winding stairs, she leaned back, and took a surreptitious peek behind their heads. The back of the helmet of the guard on the left was smooth. She flicked her eyes over to the right, and there she saw the dent.

The guard on her right looked at her for a moment. At that precise moment, a mote of dust drifted down from the rafters and into one of his eyes, causing it to blink. He turned away a moment later.

The Princess smiled to herself. Yes, this should work out perfectly.

The Army of Light did battle with the monstrous demons of the Dark Lord's foul conjuration. These phantoms recognized not the angelic status of the Army's leader, but instead savagely attacked anything that was within range of their razor-sharp claws and slicing fangs. Yet the angel Joy served to inspire the men, giving them no pause to consider what they were up against, and as such, they slowly gained the upper hand, the magical energies of the protective wall fading.

Princess Sarah could feel the infernal device between her legs press mockingly against her sex as she walked up the stairs, a pressure that would bring no pleasure or pain, just constant nothingness. Behind it, her tender flesh swelled and moistened, a silent plea by her body for satisfaction of its now growing lust and desire. The Princess gritted her teeth, her resolve firmed by these cruel self-torments. She again took another look to her right, and this time there was utter contempt in her eyes.

They reached the top of the stairs, and as soon as the guards had taken her across the threshold, the both of them shoved her forward, making her stumble and nearly fall. She turned briefly and glared at them before standing up.

"Ah, Princess Sarah, how good of you to join us," the Dark Lord said in an oily voice as he fingered his Scepter, stepping closer to her and forcing her to tilt her head back to look upon him. "So good of you to witness the utter defeat of your father's so-called Army of Light!"

Inferno watched the Princess with narrowed eyes. He caught the very small smile that threatened to curl one corner of her mouth even as she gazed upon the Dark Lord's visage.

"Inferno has told me some interesting things about you, Princess," the Dark Lord said in a low, rumbling voice. He gave her a sly smile and lowered his scepter. The Princess gasped and held her breath as he brought the end of it near her sex. "Especially after you received ... this."

He tapped the end of the scepter against the crotch piece of the chastity belt. Princess Sarah leapt backwards a step when it briefly crackled with energy that made her sex tingle. She swallowed and looked back up at him, her lips now turning from a smile to a pout.

The Dark Lord chortled. "I am told, my dear Princess, that there is a question as to your, ah ... loyalty to your own father and his Kingdom."

"Is this so?" Sarah said in a defiant voice. "Is this what your incubus has told you?"

Inferno folded his arms.

"He has told me a great many things about you, and I must say, I find them rather fascinating."

"Do you?"

"Indeed, Princess," the Dark Lord said. He loomed over her, his expression growing dark and deadly, causing the Princess' heart to skip a beat and her eyes to turn away. "And now, I give you a chance to prove his words right or wrong," he hissed.

"And what do you expect of me?" the Princess asked, a nervous quaver in her voice.

The Dark Lord raised his scepter and placed the end squarely between the Princess' breasts. She gasped and dared to look up, breathing hard, her body trembling. "If the Army of Light attempts to breach this Tower, my Princess," he said in a husky voice. "I intend to use your life as my protection. If they do not relent, I have but to will it ..."

He gave a small jab of his scepter. Princess Sarah felt her heart seize up for a terrible moment.

" ... and I can set your very heart on fire and burn it out of your chest," the Dark Lord concluded. Slowly, he pulled the scepter from her. "But I need not do that, Princess."

Princess Sarah swallowed. "And, pray, tell me ..."

An evil smile crossed the Dark Lord's visage. "Yes?"

"What will convince you that you need not do this?"

"Something very, very simple, Princess." the Dark Lord said. "You need only tell me ... where my most moral enemy, Smidlar the Brave, is at this very moment!"

Princess Sarah relaxed. "Good gods, is that all you want?" she gushed with relief. She turned and pointed to the guard on her right. "That's him right there."

"What?!" Inferno shouted.

"Huh?" the guard said stupidly. "Wut?"

"Impossible!" the Dark Lord roared. "You LIE, girl!"

Princess Sarah rolled her eyes. She stomped over to the now thoroughly confused guard, who cast pleading eyes on her as she approached. She flashed him an evil smile at him before reaching over and grabbing him by the shoulder, forcing him to turn around. She pointed at his helmet. "See? Here's where he knocked out the guard before taking his helmet."

"Wut you talkin' about?" the guard cried.

The Dark Lord's eyes became fire. "SMIDLAR!!" he thundered, leveling his scepter and thrusting it at him. Princess Sarah quickly leapt aside. "You may have thought your clever little ruse would work, but you never took into account that I had already corrupted the Princess against you and your King!"

"Huh? Wut he mean? I ..."

"Do not play the fool with me, Smidlar!" the Dark Lord raged. "And now, your pathetic attempts to thwart my evil plans come to a FINAL END!!"

CRACK!!

Green lightning burst forth from the scepter. A helmet clanked to the floor amongst a flutter of black ashes.

Mallevelus raised his arms and proclaimed to the ceiling, "And so die the foes of the most foul, the most evil, the most powerful Dark Lord to ever ... OW!!"

A small stone connected with his hand and sent the Scepter of Infernal Power falling through the air.

Before anyone could react, the other guard had already dived forward the moment the stone had left his hand, tucking into a roll, coming out of it just as the Scepter passed the halfway point towards the floor. His hand came up, and the Scepter slapped into it. He darted to the side, rolled again, and came to his feet off to the right, standing near the Throne, where he now brandished the scepter and pointed it at both the Dark Lord and Inferno.

"What is the meaning of this?!" the Dark Lord roared, the walls of the chamber shaking.

The guard flashed them a smarmy smile, reached up with his hand and pulled his helmet from his head.

"YOU!!" the Dark Lord cried. "But how ...?!"

"Yes, it is I, Smidlar the Brave!" declared the golden-haired hero as he held the Scepter on his adversaries.

"What the fuck?!" Princess Sarah cried.

"You betrayed us!" Inferno snarled at the Princess.

"What?! But I ... he had the helmet ... he ... I was sure that was ..." Princes Sarah sputtered.

Smidlar laughed. "No need to play the part any longer, Princess, I have everything in hand," he said. "And it was a very well-played part indeed, Your Highness. You are quite the clever girl! I should have realized you would have deduced that I would switch helmets with the other guard in case any suspicion was aroused, and you further determined that I needed a distraction at just that critical moment to execute my brilliant plan to turn the tables on the Dark Lord!"

Princess Sarah slapped her forehead in exasperation.

"How DARE you hold my own Scepter on me!" Mallevelus shouted. "I will crush you like the insect you are!"

"I think not," Smidlar said with a grin. "Not while I hold the very source of your evil power."

"So what are you going to do, Smidlar?" the Dark Lord asked with a sneer. "Kill me?"

"As much as it might please me to personally rid the world of your great foul stench of evil, that is not for a humble King's Champion to decide. No, I shall hand you over to the King's Army and his Right Hand of Virtue, and they shall act in the name of the King and determine your fate!" Smidlar gestured towards the Princess.

"What now?" the Princess snapped.

"Come to my side, your Highness, so that you might enjoy my protection while I escort these two evildoers out of the Tower," Smidlar said. "I cannot in good conscience allow a fair damsel to remain by herself."

The Princess clenched her teeth and started towards him. Just as she came near the throne, her hand brushed something hot. "Ouch!" she cried softly as she whipped her hand away, looking down to see what had nearly burned her. Her eyes fell on the small lamp.

The Dark Lord gave a growl of frustration. He rounded on the incubus. "Inferno! Do something!" he cried in desperation.

"What is it you wish me to do, my Lord?" Inferno said placidly.

"Anything! Just ..."

Smidlar laughed again. "And so do evil plans come to naught in the face of good!" he declared. "Come, Princess! To my side so that we may leave this odious place."

The Princess stared at the lamp for a moment, then lifted her eyes to him, a smile stealing across her face. "Oh, of course, my brave rescuer," she said sweetly.

Inferno raised an eyebrow.

She turned, letting one arm swing out. She started to take a step, but her foot struck the side of the throne. "Oh dear!" she cried dramatically as she fell forward and into Smidlar.

Her arm swung forward as she fell, knocking the lamp over and plunging the chamber into darkness.

The next moment, there was a loud clatter of something hitting the floor.

"The Scepter! The Scepter!"

"What, ho, Princess! Do not move, I shall ..."

"I have it, my Lord! I ... ouch!"

"You do not, foul knave! Now ..."

"I have it! Come to me now ..."

"Ouch! That is my foot, you git!"

"I wondered why the Scepter was so hot ..."

"A-ha! Now I ... oof! Forgive me, Princess! I ..."

"Inferno! Get us some sodding LIGHT!!"

Moments later, flickering red light burst out of the darkness as the incubus conjured a bright flame on his fingertips.

"Who has it?!" the Dark Lord thundered. "Smidlar! You will unhand the Scepter and return it to me under pain of ..."

"I do not have it, Foul One!" Smidlar snapped. "I ... oh!"

The Princess Sarah rose from the floor, coming slowly to her feet. In her hand was the Scepter of Infernal Power.

Smidlar smiled. "Oh, jolly good, Princess!" he cried.

"Yes, I have it," Princess Sarah said. A smile slowly came to her lips. Her fingers gripped the Scepter more tightly. She felt the energies within surge up her arm. "Indeed, I have it," she said in a slightly husky voice.

The Dark Lord gave the Princess a sly smile. "Ah, Princess, if you had but chosen to side with me, I would have shared my great power with you, the very power that you hold in your hand now."

"Oh, would you, now?" the Princess asked with a small smirk.

"Do not let him tempt you with his serpent's tongue!" Smidlar spat. "He is a fiend, a foul cancer of evil on the body of the land."

"Yes, my dear, for I know now what you really are," Mallevelus said with a growing lust in his voice.

Inferno picked up the doused lantern from the floor and re-ignited it with his finger fire as he watched the tableau carefully.

"Oh, do you? And what would I be, hmm?"

The Dark Lord chortled. "You, my dear Princess, are not the demure young woman you are made out to be. You are more someone after my own heart."

"Am I, now? Do tell."

"Oh, yes, my Princess. You are not a fragile, pure, virginal flower of womanhood. You are a beast ... a ravenous beast of lust and desire ..."

"Watch your tongue, you lecherous demon!" Smidlar shouted. "Remember who you are speaking to!"

"The Dark Lord speaks the truth," Inferno said with a shark-like smile.

"And, my Princess," the Dark Lord continued in a louder voice, stepping towards the Princess. "If you hand me my scepter ... restore to me my power ... I shall grant you delights that you cannot imagine in your wildest, most lustful longings ..."

The Princess started to smile. "And ... just what delights are you offering me?" she asked in a softer voice.

The Dark Lord gave her a wicked grin. "You will experience pleasure so intense, so exquisite, so all-consuming that even your deepest, darkest, most wicked and perverted desires will be satisfied one thousand times over!"

"Your Highness!" Smidlar cried. "Please, hand me the scepter so that I might silence these obscenities from his foul mouth!"

The Princess ignored him. "Go on," she said.

"You will cry out in ecstasy every day of your life," the Dark Lord continued. "Your most intimate regions will be serviced as many times as you desire, for as long as you desire, for as much as you can stand!"

Princess Sarah took a deep breath. Moisture trickled out from the edges of her chastity belt. "And all I need to do is give you this?" she asked in a husky voice. She held it in her hand more loosely. "Give you the scepter, and I get all that?"

"Oh, yes, Princess, that ... and more."

"Ooo, more?" Princess Sarah gushed. "What else?"

"You have the privilege, my dear, of becoming my consort."

The Princess frowned. Her fingers gripped the Scepter more tightly again. "Your what?"

Inferno glanced nervously from the Princess to his master. "Er ... my Lord ..."

"My consort, Princess!" the Dark Lord proclaimed triumphantly. "A woman to call my own, a woman loyal to me to a fault, a woman to do my bidding!"

Princess Sarah's eyes narrowed. "And, um, just what would you 'bid' me to do?"

"Ah, my Lord, I might suggest you ..." Inferno said urgently.

"Why, that should be obvious," Mallevelus said with an evil gleam in his eye. "Imagine, Princess, what someone like you could do to a potential enemy! A temptress to reduce my enemies to mere shells with your insatiable lust!"

Princess Sarah lifted the Scepter. "So you're saying you'd tell me exactly who I would bed? And when? And where?"

"My lady!" Smidlar said, shocked.

"My Lord!" Inferno hissed.

"What?!" the Dark Lord yelled, rounding on him.

"Ixnay on the onsortkay," Inferno muttered through clenched teeth.

"Whatever are you talking about, Inferno? The Princess is one of us now!"

"You didn't answer my question, Dark Lord," the Princess said in a dark voice, leveling the Scepter and holding it before her.

The Dark Lord smiled. "Of course I would decide such things, Princess! After all, I will be the mastermind behind this still. You need but reap the benefits ... so long as you do what I tell you."

"My Lord!" Inferno cried desperately. "I need to tell you, Princess Sarah ..."

"IS NOBODY'S WOMAN!!" the Princess shrieked.

CRACK!!

A bolt of green lightning arced through the air, and a cape of darkness fluttered to the floor atop a small pile of ashes. Inferno gasped and staggered back, his eyes saucers. "My Lord! My Lord!" he cried, falling to his knees.

Smidlar blinked, surprised for the first time since he started this quest. He looked over to Princess Sarah with a mixture of amazement and fear. "Good gods, my lady," he said in a strained voice. "That was ... that was ... most astonishing! But ... but for the best! Yes, for the best! Well done, your Highness. A great evil has been vanquished from this land! We are victorious!"

Princess Sarah turned towards him.

Smidlar smiled at her and extended a hand. "Now, my lady, we need to greet our Army and convey this, ah, joyous moment to them. If you would give me the Scepter ..."

Princess Sarah raised the Scepter and extended it towards him.

"Ah, yes, that's it, Princess ... oh, but, ah, that is the wrong end ..."

One corner of her mouth twisted upward. "No, it isn't."

CRACK!!

A bolt of green lightning sliced the air, and a loincloth fell to the floor among a small pile of ashes.

"You know," the Princess said with a smile. "This is kind of fun."

Inferno stared at her, mouth open in astonishment.

"I suppose I don't need that key from you anymore, do I?" the Princess asked. She snapped her fingers. The chastity belt fell apart and clanged on the floor. She pointed the Scepter at it and melted it into slag. She strolled over to Inferno and pointed the Scepter at him.

Inferno stared up at it and swallowed.

"Get up," Princess Sarah ordered.

The incubus scrambled to his feet.

"Do you now wish to lay a claim on my body?" she asked in an icy voice.

"N-no, Princess!" Inferno said. "I-I tried to warn him, you heard! Really! I ..."

"That is true," the Princess conceded. "But ... perhaps I should kill you anyway for placing that infernal device on my person."

She took a step towards him. He stumbled back, eyes betraying abject panic.

"Or perhaps ..." She glanced down at his phallus and licked her lips. " ... perhaps I should do something similar to you."

Inferno gasped. "N-n-no, my lady! I ..."

"Oh, so it's 'my lady' now is it?" She backed him up against the wall of the chamber and pointed the Scepter at his chest. She laughed. "Funny, you weren't calling me that before. Perhaps ..."

She trailed off as she heard a sound from outside the Tower, both her and Inferno turning their heads towards it. It was the sound of shouts of triumph, cries of victory, all fraught with an intense eagerness to do more, to claim the final prize, to vanquish the last bastion of evil from this wicked place.

And Inferno knew that last bastion was himself.

He turned his gaze back to the Princess. "Your father's army has arrived, I see," he said with a small sneer. "Am I to be your trophy to them?"

Princess Sarah narrowed her eyes and leveled the Scepter at his head. His breath grew short as his fear grew high. "For putting that disgusting device on me, I should," she said hissed through her teeth.

The incubus managed to smile. "Oh, yes, I am sure they will enjoy that," he said silkily. "And so will your father. Once you are returned to him, of course."

"What?"

"Do you think you can kill me, or turn me over to them, and then simply walk away from it and do as you please again?"

"I am a Princess!" Princess Sarah said imperiously. "I shall order them! And if they do not obey, I'll ..."

Inferno laughed. "You'll what? Use the Scepter on them? On the angel?"

"Guardian angel!" Princess Sarah shouted. "Nothing more!"

Before Inferno could reply, we was interrupted from the ground below.

"I am the Angel Joy of the Army of Light from the Kingdom of Light under the auspices of King Beneficus!" boomed Joy's voice from outside the Tower. "We have vanquished your army. We have beaten your phantoms. We have liberated the lands you have mercilessly conquered and subjugated."

"Oh, but she does go on, does she not?" Inferno said with a sly grin. "And not acting at all like 'just' a guardian angel."

"You are finished, Dark Lord Mallevelus, the Foul One! Surrender yourself and your Tower, and we will be merciful! Refuse, and we shall destroy you! I give you three candlemarks to decide your fate!"

Princess Sarah sighed. "Do you really think she'd force me to go back to the Kingdom?"

"Oh, definitely, my lady. Surely you must see that for yourself." He paused. "Unless ..."

"Unless what?" the Princess demanded. "Tell me!"

Inferno looked thoughtful for a few moments . "Her sword."

"Her what??"

"Her sword," Inferno said. "Like the Scepter was to the Dark Lord, the sword is to the angel. But she must give it willingly. Have her give you her sword, and she will become virtually powerless."

Princess Sarah's mind raced. Her eyes flickered from Inferno to the balcony, imagining the army assembled below, and the insipid face of that stupid Joy. She hated that woman from the first day she arrived in the Kingdom years ago, just as Sarah was discovering the joys of puberty. The angel had hounded her constantly, making it next to impossible to conduct her trysts anywhere on the palace grounds, forcing her to move out into the Kingdom and thus upset the Ladies of Lesser Virtue to boot. The Princess would have liked nothing but to rid herself of that woman.

"Tell me, did you destroy the clothing you took from me?" the Princess asked.

Inferno gave her an odd look. "Your clothing?" he asked in confusion. "Why do you ...?"

Princess Sarah jabbed him in the chest with the Scepter. "Just answer the question!"

"No! We still have them!"

Princess Sarah stepped back from him and lowered the Scepter. Inferno breathed a sigh of relief.

"Go bring me my clothes," she demanded. "And some guards. And be quick about it! A candlemark has already passed!"

"Um, yes, my lady, at once," Inferno said, edging past her. He raced for the chamber door and down the steps, wondering exactly what the Princess had in mind.

Joy gave another anxious glance up towards the top of the Tower of Doom. Ever since the second candlemark passed, an uneasy hush had fallen upon the Army of Light. Until now, their enemy had come out to meet them, fought them face-to-face. Now, it was as if their enemy was hiding. Or perhaps worse: plotting.

"I say we should rush them!" cried one of the swordsmen.

"Yes! Yes! Storm the Tower!" shouted another.

A chorus of agreement sounded through the ranks. Joy raised her sword, silencing them quickly. "No," she said firmly. "An Angel's word is her honor. Three candlemarks I have given them, and three candlemarks they shall have!"

"But what if the Dark Lord is planning something?" one asked.

"What if he is conjuring some manner of nasty beast to savage us?" put in another.

"Or summoning foul demons to rape us?" said a third.

All the soldiers turned their eyes towards him. "Rape us?" asked another incredulously.

"Er ... well ... it could happen!"

"Is that another one told you by that (ahem) lady?"

"Silence, all of you!" Joy cried, sensing doubt from them for the first time since setting about on this quest. "We shall not be harmed, so long as I am holding this sword."

"But what are we to do if they do not capitulate?" she was asked.

"Then we will take up arms against the Dark Lord!" Joy replied. "And we ..."

Suddenly, one of the soldiers thrust an arm up and pointed towards the chamber at the top of the Tower. "LOOK!"

"Stand your ground!" Joy declared, brandishing her sword. "And do not fear the visage of the Dark Lord! He ..."

"It's the Princess!" cried another in astonishment.

Joy blinked. "What??"

"Yes, it is! It's the Princess!"

"The Princess!"

"It's her!"

A loud, raucous cheer arose from the Army of Light, many of them waving to her, and not a few winking in her direction, having known the Princess in more ways than a man would tend to know a Princess.

Joy was as stunned as she was relieved to see the her Majesty's daughter, apparently alive and well, standing upon the balcony high above their heads. Her clothing was loose and rumpled, her hair looked disheveled, and she was a bit bedraggled, but there was no mistaking that confident look in her pretty but determined eyes. The Princess smiled slowly, raising a hand and waving to the men below, which caused them to roar even louder in response.

"Ah, you are a popular one, are you not, my lady?" Inferno chortled from the shadows of the chamber.

"Hush, Inferno," the Princess told him. "Away with you until I need you."

"Oh, but I wish to hear this," he said with a sly smile. "To see if your speeches are any better than the Dark Lord's were."

Princess Sarah smirked. "Oh, very well."

The incubus had not been told any details of Princess Sarah's plan, but from the arrangement so far -- such as the fact that the Princess had slipped into her dress sans petticoats -- he had some ideas, and they were delightfully perverted.

Princess Sarah milked the adoration for another candlemark, letting the soldiers shout themselves almost hoarse before she finally raised both arms in a plea for silence.

"Quiet!" Joy cried sharply. "Quiet, all! Her Highness wishes to speak!"

Slowly, the cheers faded and the men calmed themselves, until only their anxious, impatient stirrings could be heard in the still air.

Princess Sarah gave them an appropriately solemn smile. "It is a great honor to see my father's army here at the Tower of Doom. I am happy to inform you that the Dark Lord Mallevelus, the instigator of these foul deeds of this last few days, has fallen, and has been destroyed."

Joy's mouth dropped open in surprise.

"VICTORY!" shouted one of the men. All the rest chorused the same.

Princess Sarah let them cheer for a few moments before calling for silence again. "At the same time, it is my sad duty to report, that your Champion, Smidlar the Brave, in a most noble sacrifice, has given his life so that the Dark Lord would meet his fate."

"Oh, my ..." Joy cried softly, placing a hand over her breast.

A murmur of sadness rolled through the ranks.

"A moment of silence, please," the Princess said, "to remember this brave and selfless soul."

Joy placed the tip of her sword to the ground. She leaned her hands upon the hilt as she reverently descended on one knee, bowing her head, and murmuring a soft prayer. Likewise, all the men removed their helmets and did the same.

"Oh, you're good," Inferno said with a toothy smile. "What tripe, and they're eating it up."

"You don't get past as many palace guards as I do each night without having a smooth tongue," Princess Sarah said out of the corner of her mouth.

"More like a serpent's tongue, my lady," he said with a deep chortle. "And I sincerely doubt you used only that to get your way."

The Princess allowed herself a small smile.

The Princess idly wondered just how long those fools would have remained with the heads bowed. She toyed with putting this to a test, but decided against it. She had far better plans, plans that were already making her intimate regions tingle madly with unrequited lust, the insides of her thighs near her sex growing damp.

"Arise," she called out, smiling as she started to enjoy her role. "And now, I would like to ask of you, what have you in mind for the Tower?"

"Storm the Tower!" shouted one of the soldiers, several others joining in the chant, raising their weapons high.

"No, no, no!" Joy cried. "There's no need for that now, not with the Dark Lord dead!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, right," the soldier said, looking vaguely disappointed.

"We could burn it," suggested another. "Uh, I mean, after the Princess is out of it, of course."

"It's made of stone, you git," snapped a third.

"And it still contains powerful enchantments that hold it, er, erect," Joy said, her cheeks coloring slightly.

"Since none of you appear to have any ideas," Princess Sarah said, letting some appropriately royal haughty overtones creep into her voice, "perhaps Joy should come up here so that we may discuss it."

"Um ... ah, yes, yes, of course," Joy said, some uncertainty in her voice. "I, ah, shall be up in a moment."

"I look forward to your arrival," Sarah said with a sly grin as she retreated into the chamber.

"Oh, I'll bet you do," Inferno said with a grin. "Any way I might get you to tell me what your plans are?"

"Not a chance," the Princess said with a wry grin as she picked up the Scepter, cradling it in her hands lovingly. "But you have a part to play."

Inferno lifted and eyebrow. "Do I, now?"

"Indeed you do."

"And how will I know when I am to play this role if you do not tell me your plan?"

"Oh, you will know," Princess Sarah said with an evil smile. "Now, out of the chamber with you, or she'll sense you for sure. And leave the guards outside until I call for them."

"At once, my Lady." He quickly made his exit from the chamber, gesturing to the two guards to retreat into the shadows.

The Princess smiled as she watched the incubus leave. She turned and crossed the chamber to the Throne, where she placed the Scepter carefully along one side, leaning against the Throne on the side opposite the balcony, well-hidden from a casual glance.

She straightened up and turned away from the Throne just as a sweep of wing announced the arrival of the Angel Joy.

Princess Sarah smiled with some amusement as Joy strode into the chamber, holding her great sword before her, her eyes flickering from side to side. "I can assure you, Joy, you're quite safe in here," the Princess said, applying her will in order not to laugh.

"I am sorry, your Highness," Joy said, slowly relaxing her posture. "But this place still ... reeks of evil."

"Oh, hardly, with the Dark Lord dead," the Princess said, strolling up to the angel. "Unless you consider me evil?"

Joy looked aghast. "You, my Lady? Of course not! Why would I ..."

The angel trailed off as her eyes were drawn to something odd on the Princess' person.

Princess Sarah walked slowly with slightly exaggerated movements, letting her hips swing a bit with each step, her torso twisting along with it. Under her rumpled dress, the soft swells of her bosom bounced lightly.

The Princess stopped and grinned. "Something the matter, Joy?"

"Er ... there appears to be something wrong with your dress, my Lady," Joys said, tilting her head to one side as she continued to gaze upon the Princess' chest.

"Oh?" Princess Sarah turned to the side, purposely letting her breasts swing freely as she looked down at herself. "I see no problem."

But then the angel's eyes widened as she realized what was wrong. "My lady!" she said in shock. "Y-your underthings!"

Sarah chuckled. "And what about my underthings, Joy?"

"You ... are you not wearing any, your Highness?"

The Princess gave the angel a look of mock-surprise and looked down at herself again. "Why, Joy, I believe you are right! I have no underthings on."

"Oh, my Lady, did ... did the Dark Lord ... take them from you?"

"And why is that important to you?" Sarah asked. Her voice dropped into a more sultry tone. "Do you have some sort of, ah, special interest in my underthings?"

Joy gasped, her eyes saucers. "Certainly not!" she said, scandalized.

"Hmm. Too bad."

"Your highness, would you like me to send for some from the Kingdom before you start back?"

Princess Sarah laughed. "Send all the way back to the Kingdom for that? Whatever for?"

"Well! I would think that was obvious!"

"Not to me. Explain it."

"It is simply not proper to go about without underthings."

"Oh?" Princess Sarah said, raising an eyebrow. "And do you wear underthings, Joy?"

"Of course I do!" Joy replied, shocked that it was even a question with her.

"But you're an angel. What do you need of such things?"

"I have human form, my Lady," Joy explained in a more solemn voice. "I will so long as I continue to be confined to the earthly world as a guardian angel."

Princess Sarah smiled and stepped closer. Joy glanced briefly at the girl's wiggling bosom before lifting her gaze up to the Princess' eyes again, face tinged with embarrassment. "So, um ... this human form ... does it respond in the same way a human would?"

Joy swallowed, clutching her sword more closely to herself. "I ... I-I don't know what you mean, your Highness."

"Yes, you do," Princess Sarah said in a softer voice. "You have everything a normal woman would." Her gaze swept the angel's body slowly from head to toe. Joy shifted nervously as the Princess let her gaze linger on the rather small rounded mounds that lay squashed against the angel's chest by her underthings. The Princess smirked. "Well ... what parts you can see, anyway."

Joy took a deep breath. "Your highness, I thought I came up here to discuss the Tower!" she said firmly.

"You were the one that started in about my underthings, Joy," Sarah said with a chuckle. "Were you this interested in them when I was back at the palace?"

"Please, Princess!" Joy cried, her cheeks coloring.

"Oh, all right, the Tower," Princess Sarah said with a sigh, turning away from the angel. "Hmm. I suppose we could just claim it for the King, no?"

Joy blinked. "Claim the Tower?" she asked in surprise. "For the King?"

"Do you always repeat everything other people say? Yes, Joy, claim it for the King. What better way to prevent it from falling into evil hands again."

"I do not know about this, my Lady," Joy said warily, glancing about the chamber nervously. "There is so much evil still in this place."

"Oh, come now, Joy, stop being so dramatic."

"I am sorry, your Highness," Joy said, shaking her head emphatically and planting the tip of her sword against the floor to punctuate her point. "This is something I cannot do."

"Then let me do it," Princess Sarah said with a sly grin. "I shall make the claim."

"But you cannot do it, my Lady."

"And why is that?"

"You are not the King's representative here."

"But I am a Princess!"

Joy sighed. "I know, my Lady, but ... I do not know how to put this delicately, your Highness ... you have not acting in the best interests of your father for some time."

The Princess opened her mouth as if to immediately protest that remark, but then closed it again and remained silent for a few moments. When she again spoke, it was in a lower, more contrite tone of voice. "Yes, Joy, you are quite right."

Joy gave the Princess a nonplussed look. "I ... I am?"

"Oh, yes, indeed, Joy," Princess Sarah said with a wan smile. "How he must be glad that I am gone from his sight ..."

"Oh, no, Princess!" Joy said quickly. Yet she knew it was a lie as soon as she had said it, and her wings twitched nervously at having so boldly told such a bald untruth. Her cheeks reddened again. "I mean ... well ... he does express concern for your ... um ... antics."

"Then, surely, you might let me make it up to him? To offer a token of good faith to my father?" the Princess asked earnestly, clasping her hands before herself for good measure. "You can make that happen, Joy, can't you?"

"Er ... how?" the angel asked tentatively.

And then the Princess broke into a wide smile. "Why ... by letting me claim the Tower for him."

"But you cannot." Joy fingered the hilt of the sword anxiously. "Only she who ... uh ... "

"Yes?"

"She who wields this sword can act on behalf of the King here," Joy finished her thought uneasily.

"The sword?" the Princess said. She dropped her gaze to the weapon and made a gasping noise as if she had never seen such a thing before. "Oh, my, yes, the sword! Oh, Joy, would you be so good as to just let me borrow that for a few moments?" She fluttered her eyebrows and gave the angel a hopeful look.

"I, uh, I don't know about this, your Highness ..."

"Oh, please, Joy? Please? You would make this wayward Princess so happy! You would be giving me a chance to get into my father's good graces again. Would that not be wonderful?"

Joy managed a weak smile and loosened her grip on the sort. "I suppose ... if you mean it ..."

"Indeed, I do, Joy."

Joy lifted the sword. She looked at it longingly, having served her so well this day. She hesitated one last moment, then carefully turned the sword around and presented the hilt to the Princess.

Princess Sarah smiled and seized the sword, snatching it quickly away from the angel before she could have a second thought. "Thank you, Joy," the Princess said with a wry grin. "You cannot imagine how much having this sword in my hand means to me."

"Er ... good ... well, them, uh, if you would just make the claim, my Lady, and ..."

"Not just yet."

Joy watched with growing unease as the Princess strolled towards the balcony, idly swishing the sword back and forth in the air, then finally dropping it to her side and swinging it around casually at her hip. "I have a request of you," the Princess said, stopping just short of stepping out into the failing light of late afternoon.

"Er, yes, your Highness?" the angel asked, confusion creeping into her voice.

The Princess turned around. "If I lay claim to this Tower, I would like to ask that I be allowed to stay."

"What?" Joy cried. "You mean stay here? In the Tower?"

"There you go, repeating everything I say again. Yes, Joy, in the Tower! You take your army and head back to my father, tell him I'm all right, and leave me be."

"To what end, my Lady?"

"To my own end!" Princess Sarah exclaimed. "I want to be the one in charge. I want to be able to do what I want, and with whom I want."

Joy looked shocked (which, in retrospect, is not something terribly difficult to do with her) at this idea. "My Lady! You can't possibly mean ... y-you want to continue to ... to ..."

Princess Sarah grinned. "Go ahead, Joy, say it. Unless you think your tongue will fall out because it dared to talk about sex."

Joy gasped and moaned, fanning herself with her hand.

The Princess jogged over to the angel and grabbed her wrist, causing her to cast a look of astonishment and fear at the Princess.

"Stop being so dramatic," the Princess said.

"Your Highness, I simply don't understand," Joy said, yanking her wrist from the Princess' grip. "You claimed only a moment ago you wished a reunion with your father. How can you do that if ..."

The Princess gave the angel a wry smile, winked, and swung the sword briefly before the angel's disbelieving eyes.

"My Lady! You do not mean to tell me you said that simply to ... t-to relieve me of my sword?!"

"Of course I did, you little twit." The Princess tossed the sword unceremoniously to the side, where it made a loud clattering noise against the stone floor. Joy's eyes shot over to it with a stricken look on her face. "And since you gave it willingly to me, you can't get it back unless I give it willingly to you. So now you're powerless."

"B-but ... but why ...?"

"Oh, I'll tell you why, Joy," Princess Sarah said, advancing. Joy nervously stumbled backwards, her body trembling, her wings quivering. "Because I don't want you forcing me to return to the Kingdom."

"But why don't you want to ..."

"Why, why, why! That's all you every ask, Joy. I thought I made it clear. I don't want to be bothered with rules and what's considered 'proper'. I want to be able to do what I want ..." The Princess paused and curled her lips into a sultry smile. " ... and with whom I want ... without having to worry about being harassed by the Ladies of Lesser Virtue or by you."

The Princess had backed up the angel until the back of one of her feet struck the dais of the Throne of Foulest Evil. Joy nearly fell, stopped herself only by placing a hand behind her and grabbing one side of the Throne. When she realized what she was touching, she gave a desperate yelp and jumped to one side, standing in front of the Throne now, shaking her hand as if having touched something disgusting.

Princess Sarah smiled as she looked past the angel and towards the door to the corridor where the guards stood just out of view.

"M-my Lady, p-please understand," Joy stammered, her heart hammering in her chest, her breath a fearful pant. "I interrupted your ... y-your trysts for your own good."

"My own good?!"

"Yes, your Highness! I stopped you from plunging even further into a pit of self-loathing and low self-esteem!"

The Princess stared at the angel in total bewilderment. "What the bloody hell are you talking about?"

"Surely that was why you were doing it!" the angel cried desperately, wringing her hands together, her eyes glancing furtively at the loose mounds beneath the Princess' dress that rose and fell with her breath. "You did not enjoy throwing yourself at men like that! ... I mean ... did you?"

Princess Sarah stared at Joy for a long moment, then snorted and burst out laughing.

"Uh ... my Lady, have I said something funny?" Joy asked in genuine confusion.

The Princess looked Joy in the eye. "And just how many trysts of mine have you broken up, Joy, before I started going outside the Palace grounds? Over a hundred?"

The angel nodded, biting her lip.

"And in all that time, you never once figured out that I might enjoy doing it if I did it that many times?"

"Oh, well, you certainly seemed like you were when I watched you," Joy said with a nervous smile. The next moment, she realized exactly what had come out of her mouth, gave a small gasp, and blushed crimson.

"What did you just say?" the Princess demanded, eyes agape.

"I-I-I mean ... wh-when I h-happened to see you before I ..."

"Joy, every time you interrupted, you burst in like you had just arrived! Are you telling me that all this time you've been watching me have sex?"

Joy swallowed, panting, her eyes glazed. She stumbled back another half-step from the Princess, and as she recovered, her eyes spotted the Scepter lying against the other side of the Throne. She drew in her breath in a shocked, frightened wheeze. "Oh gods, Princess! The Dark Lord's Scepter! It ..."

"Never mind the sodding Scepter!" Princess Sarah bellowed. "Answer my question!"

"P-please, my Lady, I-I was only tr-trying to understand what you saw in it, I j-just ..."

"And you saw me enjoying it?"

"Well, like I said, i-it seemed like it but ..."

"And you interrupted me every time anyway?"

"I ..." the angel began, and then immediately fell silent.

The Princess stared at her for a few moments. Then her lips curled into a most terribly wicked smile.

The angel gulped. "Y-your Highness, I-I've reconsidered your idea!" she said quickly, her eyes darting between the Princess and the Scepter lying by the Throne. "I shall g-give your regrets to the King and you may stay and ..."

"Guards," the Princess said simply. "Seize her."

The two guards that had been standing outside the door burst into the room. Joy gave a loud whimper and tried to duck to one side of the Princess and run from the balcony, unfolding her wings. The Princess struck out with her foot, fouling up the angel's feet. She fell forward with a yelp, but before she could hit the floor, the two brawny guards were upon her, grabbing her arms and hauling her to her feet. Joy struggled for a moment, but it was very clear that she was helpless.

Princess Sarah smiled serenely and picked up the Scepter, then strolled over to the captive angel.

"Please, Princess, d-do not hurt me," Joy begged, her lower lip trembling.

"Hurt you? Why, I have no intention of hurting you. Not one jot. In fact ..."

She placed the tip of the Scepter squarely atop the angel's chest. Joy struggled again vainly, and then uttered a high-pitched cry as there was a sudden great tearing sound from under the angel's robe. The two round orbs of her breasts sprang forward, the torn remains of one of her underthings tumbling down as so many rags at her feet.

"Ooo, look, angels have boobies after all," Sarah said as she looked at the now much fuller bosom swelling under Joy's robe.

"P-please, my Lady," Joy begged. "Wh-what are you going to do with me?"

"Why, I'm going to help you answer your question," said the Princess, flashing a shark-like smile. "I'm going to show you what I see in it."

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