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Tale of an Archer. If you would like your tag added or removed from this list, send me a PM or a post with that request.
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Authors Note:
After much discussion, we agreed not to use any actual military organization but used random terms from different periods of history. Please, be aware that certain terms might be used differently in your country.
This chapter and some coming chapters will be longer than some like. Please give yourselves a few extra minutes to read.
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Chapter 29 – Maddie Becomes a Tactician
By @GreyLord and @Nainur
Jordan held Maddie in a tight hug in their hut and whispered in her ear, “Praise all goodness that we are alone. For the three nights in the Final Courtship Hut, it sounds as if we can do as we please, except that the guardians will tie you up and leave you for me at sundown. Then I must have you bound securely at sunrise when the guardians arrive. I have an idea about that. But first, do you think I have it right so far?”
As an answer, Maddie pressed her petite frame against her man’s body and even put one leg in the air to rub it against Jordan’s. She still wore that partly skimpy outfit and was a bit cold without complaining, for she was still a child of nature even while she got seduced by fancy ideas of central heating, warm water on demand, shower, and the like. She smiled and looked up.
“You do, but sometimes you are too soft in a way! Mind, I like this, too, and I always craved respect, and you have been very decent from the start. This is good. You won me. But—while nobody knows what will happen during a Courtship night—they will see evidence the following morning. I will not have any sniggering rumors about vanilla bindings! Do you understand this, my Archah?”
She loosened her hold and turned to feed the small fire. And then she produced a small device, a pod, maybe to Jordan’s surprise. She had no real chance to understand this tekk-now-loggy, but she was a keen observer and had quickly lost her awe. She had already mastered most features in their home, and now she has brought this small pod.
“Activate!” she addressed the device. “Playlist Maddie One. Play!”
Jordan had no idea when she had found the time and must have had some conversation, maybe with Joseph, about how to do what she intended. Also, she must have checked the archives. And somehow, Maddie had found music from the Earth she found suitable for this occasion. She started to dance slowly and seductively, in her own way, not Creek, not like from the Earth, just like Maddie, exotic in the true sense of the meaning. “We have two poles and bars in this hut. I have brought bundles of rope and other items in these bags to give us joy. Undress me, my archah, will you?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etxHaOg ... silvergold
Chris Isaak – Wicked Game Lyrics
Jordan answered, “Never fear, Dear One. Above all, I intend to make you look like a Princess of the Creek. It was my thought that each morning when the Guardians come in at sunrise, you should be in a progressively more difficult predicament. You remember, early in our relationship, I put you in a reverse prayer hogtie. I felt like that was an unknown bondage position for you. I thought that we would work up to that for the final morning. But if you have a better idea, let me hear it. And we will be flexible and react to the ties that the Guardians use on you if we need to do so.”
Jordan helped Maddie undress and had her stand against one of the poles on a low stool. Standing behind her, he pulled her arms back and together and did a two-column tie binding her wrists. Jordan wrapped a rope around her and the post just above her tits. After several wraps, he cinched the wraps between her back and the pole. Next, he tied Maddie’s legs to the post above her knees. This tie was cinched between her legs and the pole. For variety, he secured a single-column tie around her left ankle and pulled her foot behind her toward her butt. Jordan tied the rope off around Maddie’s wrists. This held her foot up and locked her hands down. He tied her right ankle to the pole, looped rope fastening her leg to the pole, and continued upward to Maddie’s hips, belly, and chest, above and below her tits.
Jordan’s last step was to gag Maddie. “Now you are secured. Do you think you can free yourself from this? Sorry, you can’t answer, can you? You can answer yes or no by shaking your head.”
Jordan removed the stool and checked that Maddie did not slide down the pole. She did not. By now, Jordan was very erect, and her pussy was just the right height for him to insert himself in it. Maddie could not move her hips to any noticeable degree, so Jordan had to do the work, rising on his toes, again and again, to drive deeper into his lady. Jordan saw Maddie straining against her ropes as an orgasm washed over her. And that kicked Jordan off as well.
Later, after Jordan freed Maddie, washed her, and placed her in their bed, he said, “You can comment on our scene if you wish to do so.”
Maddie was very pleased. It was clear and evident that her man, her love, understood her demands, the traditions which needed to be observed and were necessary to secure the status of the Archah family they were founding. In the past, her plotting was vain, escape plans never executed, and her thinking fanciful daydreaming of romantic adventures with roving bandits, while her reality was swinging the hew in a field of crops. But now, without abandoning daydreaming altogether, her plotting was focused… and ambitious. And her next ambition was to lay a firm foundation for a family to perform a leading role in the future. The courtship must be unblemished, for that reason, not just out of vanity. In the end, she would get what she wanted. And he would be happy to comply and think it was his idea from the start. And in between, she was pleased to submit. Alright.
But here and now, she was also amazed by the position she was put into. She could not swear that it was unknown to any Creek, but she had never heard of such a pole-tie just as she had not known this arching reverse-prayer hogtie. And her pleasure was increased when Jordan proved his love even further. Her satisfaction was complete, and she had not one orgasm, but it seemed to her it had been a quick-fire of orgasms.
As she lay in bed, she felt the length of the day and was exhausted. She sighed in happiness.
“Oh, my wonderful archah, this has been wonderful! I do not rightly know what to say. I am very sure that you will do fine, my heart! I think this reverse prayer hogtie would be a good one, and what you just did, too. Maybe we can try something in which I am hanging from the ceiling?”
[image]
https://www.deviantart.com/roy3d/art/In ... -587247300[/image]
Indian Brave by Roy3D on DeviantArt.com
The sun was just breaking the horizon. Jordan was standing on a platform the Chief had ordered constructed for his use. There were two hundred and five Creeks in the field before me. Two hundred of them had the new crossbows. Five had the crossbows Jordan had brought on his last trip. The holders of those bows weren’t experts but were far ahead of the new two hundred. Amanda, Tommy, Sheilah, Angela, and Sammy joined the five who were spread out among the two hundred to help them get started. They would train for an hour and break for breakfast. Then training would continue until lunch. After lunch, the crossbow trainees would join the crews in the fields preparing for the harvest.
Maddie was with Jordan on the platform. If someone on the field had a problem that couldn’t be solved by one of the more experienced five, she would take care of it. She had already asked Amanda to look for candidates for a special mission. Amanda and herself were included in the team of twenty that would do no harvesting. They would train all day. To prove a point, less than half were males, but Tommie and Sammy were in the twenty, as were Angela, Sheilah, and Amanda. After breakfast, Jordan instructed the troops, as he called them, on the care and maintenance of their crossbows. Tomorrow after breakfast, they would start shooting at targets. Maddie, however, took her twenty and disappeared into the woods. Jordan was confident that she had a plan, would call on him if she needed help, and would inform him about her thinking soon. Maddie always did, but only when she was ready. She was establishing her position in the tribe.
Maddie had thought much about using the crossbow in battle in the last weeks.
She already had a fair idea about bandit tactics, especially in broken terrain. She fancied bandits would do well to avoid open grounds to prevent the use of those terrible tekk-now-loggy weapons after she had seen archive materials on Jordan’s monitors showing the destruction lasers could cause. Visual documentaries solved her lack of understanding of written texts. She had cut sleep-time massively to check on those documentaries and had been guided from link to link during many dark nights. Somehow she had no difficulty remembering all the details later. It was seldom that she had to watch the same thing again.
An inspired guess and guidance from Jeeves led to other documentaries on how to use a crossbow and which tactics had been employed on Earth centuries ago. This had led her to skirmish tactics with flintlock muskets, even nastier weapons, yet more slowly to load than crossbows. Those ‘riflemen’ had used pairs for the job: two people supporting each other by guarding each other during loading. She learned of units and sub-units. She knew bandits already employed group tactics, i.e., one group to scout and offer as bait, while other groups were kept hidden to strike from flanks. This seemed a pretty clever way to do the trick. But she also learned about the havoc a so-called ‘volley’ might cause. She believed Bandits did not do that. She had smiled wolfishly, pondering this: about 100 bolts sweeping a small area would be bad news for any stupid attacker thinking himself invincible! She only wished they could have those six-foot-longbows those fellows from some island or other used with good effect, for bows were quicker to shoot. But she pushed it aside. The crossbows would do, but a lonely warrior with a crossbow was vulnerable.
As bandits used the number ‘3’ very often and ‘9’ had a special significance as well, she had in mind to use triplets instead of pairs, for two could carry a third member off the field and still be able to cover the retreat. Yet, a wild bunch of triplets might cause some havoc but would never stop a severe attack and liable to be routed and dispersed by a powerful, determined force. The triplets needed further organization and leadership. But the system should be simple and flexible.
Three triplets would form a section. A section could cover a front of one or two dozen meters wide and pour bolts constantly at any enemies in front of them within range of their crossbows. Each triplet would see that at least one member was always ready to shoot. As each member cared for the partners, the triplets would cover each other… and so would the sections.
Three sections of nine bandits would form yet another group, which she called a division, for it was only a part of another body of troops: the war band. The twenty-seven members would be led by a sub-chief and two assistants, which made thirty. If the sub-chief saw it fit, he would gather his sections and call a hold in the shooting until everyone was ready. Then a volley of thirty bolts would be devastating, especially in an ambush. But skirmishing tactics would be stressed to the utmost—the bandits would love this!
The war band, therefore, could employ ninety crossbows in the actual battle. A war band chief would have a section for his own use, plus supernumeraries for running errands, signaling, and first aid. The war band chief would have about one hundred bandits to employ, depending on how many extras would be available. Because of the system of sub-units, the war band could be organized in different ways to make the best use of cover to attack or retreat, to disperse or re-form, or to concentrate them at a point for volley fire by divisions. If Chief Samuel, or whoever was in command, wished, the two war bands could form a battalion of one hundred and eighty crossbows. She fancied that this battalion would not be used, anyway—the flexibility of the war bands operating from two flanks was too inviting to be discarded lightly.
She was delighted to have it figured out by herself, and when she started to explain her general scheme, she was happy to see the amazement in the faces around her. Especially, Angela was delighted by the use of ‘9’ in the basic design of a section. The hand-picked group would build the first two sections as a model for all the others to show and tell. The forming of war bands and their divisions would start much later.
So they started to speak about triplets which could move hither and thither while staying in contact with each other. First, the triplets exercised for more than two hours, giving them the idea of how to move and take care of each other. Then two sections were formed. In the first evolution, one section would retreat in front of an attacking force, with the other laying in ambush for the attacking force. Next, the sections operated against each other: one was to dart forward, the other to give way while harassing the attacker during the retreat. Because this was work in addition to the basic training of handling, maintaining, spanning, loading, and shooting their crossbows, “Maddie’s Twenty” were excused from the harvest. Still, they might come to envy the others at harvest. Maddie was making them sweat!
By the end of the afternoon, they were all dirty and sweaty but grinning. Maddie begged all to keep their mouths shut until the next day. Then they would show the others what training awaited them once they reached a certain skill level in handling and shooting. She was quite a happy bandit, as were her twenty.
Jordan and Maddie were back in their hut after finishing the evening meal. Maddie was jacked up on an emotional high like Jordan had seldom seen in her before. When he questioned her about it, she would grin and tell him that he would find out tomorrow. Well, Jordan would give her other things to think about tonight.
Jordan had a lot on his mind. The Headmaster had ridden south to meet Joseph. He wanted to see why I thought the bot had become sentient. He would also collect the dress Joseph had fashioned for Maddie and the wedding rings.
But, to the business at hand, he had started by putting her into a strict strappado. Then he tied rope loops around her hips, creating a band with eight strands. This made a supporting web for Maddie’s weight. After tying ropes to each ankle, he pulled her left foot up and behind her until her foot was higher than her head. Knowing that was putting a challenging stretch on her groin, her right foot quickly followed. He relieved a lot of the pressure on her shoulders and legs by tying a rope from her hip band to the metal ring above her. This supported most of her weight on the hip bands giving her the suspension that she had wanted to try.
Jordan was starting to place one of those large rawhide sack gags in her mouth when she said, “Wait, I have made a mistake. I should have told you what we did today. It is important and might affect the way that you train your force. But it was fun to tease you about it.”
“Alright, I will get you down, and you can tell me.”
“No, I can tell you without you turning me loose. This is surprisingly comfortable. Why don’t you pull up a chair and sit in front of me so I can see your face as we talk? I can even think of being left tied like this as a punishment for not telling you sooner.”
He did as she asked. As she talked, her tits dangling down were a distraction because Jordan could not resist reaching out to manipulate a breast. Then the import of what she was saying hit Jordan, and he became totally focused on what she was telling him. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier, Maddie?”
“My pride got in the way. And I did not want to come up with something that wouldn’t work. I wanted a big surprise for you in front of all of the Creek with crossbows. But I was wrong not to disclose everything to you. Are you disappointed in me?”
“Maddie, I am so proud of you that I am about to burst. Yes, you should have told me immediately, but that pales compared to what you have accomplished. You have mated proven Earth tactics and organization to the Bandit culture. With every step I have taken, I have worried about whether the Creek would accept it. In one day, you have overcome that problem. How do you suggest we proceed from here?”
Maddie paused a minute, then answered, “Of course, we still have to train the two hundred to shoot the crossbows rapidly and accurately. My twenty should join your 180 in the mornings for that. Then I think it would be a big motivator for my team to provide a short training exhibition each morning. That would keep them focused on why they need rapid and accurate fire and on the kind of maneuvers they will need to accomplish during a battle.”
“You are right. Anything else?”
“Yes, Jordan, I have one more subject to discuss. I feel much better now that I’ve started talking to you. It may even be helpful that I am restrained and helpless.”
“Good, you should always talk to me when you have a need. Tell me the rest.”
“My heart, there’s something else you should know. Many girls have decided already, and the rest are considering not to conceive in this time of hostility. This means there won’t be many newborn Creek next year. I think so, too. It’s not the time. Angela will provide medicine which will make it almost impossible to conceive.”
Jordan said, “This is… is interesting, a harsh measure. But I am wondering why you are telling me. Isn’t that more of the Chief’, or Amanda’s, business. And if Angela knows, then doesn’t the Chief and Amanda already know?”
“They do know. But it also concerns us,” Maddie answered, maybe for the first time, avoiding Jordan’s eyes. “I have asked for it, too.”
Jordan thought and said, “Let me be sure I am following you correctly. You wish to avoid becoming pregnant because of the conflict with the Colony. You want in on the fight and are afraid that would change if you were carrying a child. Is that the only reason? You still want us to have a child when the time is right?”
“That is so!” Maddie looked directly at Jordan again as she responded. “We cannot know what will happen and when! Should I carry a child in the seventh or eighth months, I won’t only be unable to fight, but neither to work nor to help others! There will be so much work to do! So many young women have decided it’s just not the right time. And yes: I want to become a mother not to your child but to your children! You do want to be a father, don’t you?”
Her eyes were wide and full of emotion.
Jordan answered Maddie, “Like your tactical plans, I concur with your decision. But like your tactical plan, I would have wished for us to discuss this together first. Nonetheless, you have my blessings. Get the potion from Angela. This hostility will pass, and we will have our family.”
“Oh, my heart, I always wanted to!” Maddie actually wailed a bit! “Never I would have thought to actually use it before talking to you, without discussing it! This is why I am telling you now! In the end, it must be the woman’s decision, but we should agree on it! If I failed you: I beg for correction!” she added cheekily.
She also opened her mouth, ready to be gagged, indicating that she’d had her say
The next day went by in a blur. It was the second day of crossbow training and the first day of Jordan’s and Maddie’s Final Courtship. Maddie’s demonstration, given immediately after breakfast, was a resounding success. Maddie stood on the raised platform while her triplets performed. With Maddie not there, command fell to Amanda, and she discharged her duties without flaw. Afterward, the lift of the shoulders and the look of determination on the faces of the new trainees spoke to Maddie's success. The Chief watched the demonstration as well. He saw his mate in command and his children, Tommie and Sheilah, carrying out complex maneuvers.
During the practice shooting, it was also evident that the trainees were totally focused on speed and accuracy. Jordan had devised a new target for Maddie’s most advanced five. Two targets were placed in the back of a wagon. After attaching a long rope to the wagon, four Creeks could stand in a safe position across the field and pull the wagon to themselves, providing a moving target.
Jordan had everyone ink their names on their bolts to help in recovering the bolts and to be able to settle any dispute over who had shot what. When the two hundred left for their harvest work after lunch, he joined Maddie to observe her teaching of tactics. Before he knew it, the time came for his first contest.
Due to tradition, Maddie did not attend. It was the Chief’s call to name someone eligible or not. It was hers to accept—or not. She was busy with her training duties.
Chief Samuel said, “Shordan Archah, my friend, I expect you to meet us in the Council Hut in an hour. The contest will happen there—it is large enough!” Chief Samuel looked saturnine. “You will meet two opponents today, the third tomorrow. Each bout is to be decided by the best of three rounds. Your opponents have no wish to harm you and bear you no malice, but they do not want to get defeated, either. They are ordered by experience and prowess: the second will be harder to beat than the first, and the third is estimated to be the best of all. Prepare yourself. After the bouts, you will rest briefly before your evening meal and your Final Courtship duties. I hope that this schedule does not overload you improperly.”
The Headmaster returned earlier today after spending time with Joseph, Jeeves, and Goliath. Jordan was interested to hear his comments on that subject. He had brought Maddie’s dress and had given it to Angela. Jordan wasn’t allowed to see it before the ceremony. Dr. Kennedy delivered the rings to the Best Man and the Bride’s Maid. He also described the traditional role of a Bride's Maid to Sheilah.
Precisely at the time appointed by Chief Samuel, Jordan knocked on the door of the council hut, not knowing exactly what to expect. But he was as ready as possible to get on with the process.
The Headmaster signaled privately that there would be time to speak about the bots privately later when there was leisure. There was no urgency. Naturally, he was invited to attend the contests. “Better you keep your head clear for now and see that you do not tear a head from someone’s shoulders! – Oh, and see to it that it doesn’t happen to you either!”
In the hut, several elders were present as witnesses. Mattresses were spread in the middle, and candles spread a sweet scent. Of course, Chief Samuel presided. “Shordan Archah, are you still willing to claim the Right to Courtship? To prove your mettle? To express your seriousity? Are you worthy of mating a demanding Bandit woman?”
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He pointed at two men, past being youngsters. “Here are Gunnar and Harry, who have agreed to step forward and test you. They are not your foes, but they are fighting under the eyes of me, the Elders, and their fathers! They won’t give in lightly, but still: it is an affair of respect! Do you understand this? Then step forward and meet them to shake hands in friendship!”
Gunnar was undoubtedly younger than Jordan, relatively lightly built, but probably quite limber and quick. Probably less powerful than Harry, who was of a stockier build and shorter than Jordan. They had open faces and stood up to meet Jordan. They were naked but for their loincloths.
Jordan said clearly, “I claim the Right to Courtship of Maddie.” He removed his boots and stepped forward to warmly shake the hands of Gunnar and Harry. “How should I dress or undress for this? Under my pants, I have what I would wear for a workout, what we call trunks. They are not the same as a loincloth but serve a similar purpose. I will show you.” He removed his shirt and pants stripping himself somewhat like Gunnar and Harry. “Chief, is this satisfactory? Or do you have a loincloth for me to use?”
Chief Samuel then said, smiling benevolently, “It does you credit, my friend, how mindful you are of our customs, and it is appreciated!” Agreeing muttering around the observers proved the consent of the other Creek present. “This is satisfactory. I’ll send you a loincloth for tomorrow, and you can try it, but trunks are acceptable!” Again, agreeing murmur.
“So, you will face Gunnar first. After ten minutes, by the sand clock, the round will end. It will also end if one is vanquished. If you feel so, quickly clap on the ground or Gunnar’s body three times to show your submission. I may stop the round if I feel it necessary, but that could be a bit too late, and injuries might have happened by then. After a five-minute break, you will have a second round with Gunnar. At its end, if the bout is not settled, there will be a third round. Do you understand? Any questions?”
? You go girl!
But that is the consequence of getting tied up. Angela should know that by now.