“No! Absolutely not!”

I sighed, and physically picked up the most recalcitrant of the Vermilion Queen’s former pets.

“Don’t kill pregnant women. Can’t leave anyone in the Vermilion Palace behind, no matter how unpleasant. Their unborn children are still innocent. Why do you insist on making me reconsider that condition?”

That last line came out in a sharp enough tone that the children flinched. As about half of them were mine, they recognized the “Mom’s done being nice” voice, and the rest all knew it from when their own mother used it.

They honestly looked more afraid. Kaoru got… creative… when angered. Be grateful it doesn’t happen often.

“You would have me discard my clothing, in front of everyone no less, and wear… this?!”

Grr. Again with the human hangups about clothing. I get the need for extra protection from the environment, but you treat every damned moment you have to be even moderately exposed in public as some big deal. I just don’t understand that. But I had a solution.

“Chen, I need to handle these… ladies… dirty clothes before dinner. They are simply filthy after a week of hard wear, much of it in dust and dirt. Complain about that madam, and I’ll toss you back myself. You’ll find it uncomfortably warm and hard to breathe. Chen, the laundry tub please.”

With that, I started undressing. Scandalous and horrible, naked flesh on display. Whatever. Privacy to change was a luxury we were a bit short on, and I was sweaty and filthy from training, even for how little exertion I’d actually performed.

The refugees just looked at me in shock.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

“Disrobe, please. Your clothes are filthy, and you either get to have them washed while we all bathe or you get them torn off you before I scrub you down like my toddlers. And no matter how much you whine, we can’t give you what we don’t have. Now strip.”

The more timid women followed orders, a little terrified. I followed through on my threat by taking the haughtiest bitch in the group and tearing the fancy silk dress off her in an instant. Wasn’t even hard, the thing was so dirty it was starting to decay. Then I dragged the self-same woman into the bathhouse and gestured for the others to follow me as I showed them how to scrub themselves down and rinse off before tossing the head bitch into the tub with a splash. She came up sputtering and floundering.

“Oh relax, it’s shallow water. Stand up and you won’t drown. Better yet, sit on the bench and shut up.”

The others fell into line, even the ones who’d been recalcitrant before. I hated having to use such a technique on most of them, but we hadn’t had the time to separate out the women who needed gentle handling from the ones who needed a slap in the face. They would all be better for being clean, and I wanted them scrubbed up before dinner.

Fortunately, most of them settled in as they got a chance to soak, and I explained how things would be.

“First off, yes. You’re going to suffer a severe dip in quality of life. Deal with it, because you’re getting our best and what your used to came from the suffering of others. Second, we won’t be expecting you to mate with every male presented to you. And if any tries and you don’t want them to, let me know so I can geld them. I’m not kidding. I’ve done so to those who’ve made women suffer. However-”

I paused, making sure I had the eye of everyone in the room.

“This also means that men won’t be serving you hand and foot while they hope for your mistress to give them permission to rape you. You’ll have to learn to work. It won’t kill you, and you might even come to enjoy it. But ask any one of the children I’ve had looking after you lot. I can and have made those who haven’t been doing what they can to make life easier around here miserable. I’m a lot nicer than the Vermilion Queen, but my patience has limits.”

“Now. Come outside, and I’ll show you how to do laundry. Don’t bother getting dressed yet, we’re about to get soaked again.”

I walked out, not bothering to watch who followed me to the laundry troughs. And yes, I was completely nude as I did so.