Life in the Matriarchy

Princess Elina: So.. King Danod, Will you accept my challenge for single combat under these conditions?

The patriarchal nation of Kanus was getting massacred in the war against Uskania. Uskania was one of the new breeds of matriarchal nations that have only started popping up on the continent a few generations earlier. They might be a newer nation, but their all female army has proven to be vastly superior to those of the patriarchal nations. The recent wars that have begun to transpire have all been proof of this very fact.

Already down 40,000 soldiers, King Danod of Kanus was challenged to single combat by The Princess Elina of Uskania. She had been on the frontline fighting for the entirety of the war, while the King hid in camp behind all his men. Elina had sent the same message to him at the beginning of the war as well. She promised that if the King was able to defeat her, Uskania would go back and never try to conquer Kanus again. The first time around, the King refused, thinking it was a trick. He had the larger army, of course he would win easily, or so he thought..

Well… after she and her women decimated half his army in less than 2 days, Elina wondered if the King might change his mind now, if only to save his men. From the front lines, she called her women to stop fighting, and loudly commanded the enemy to send word back to the King, saying she would like to negotiate a peaceful end to the war. The Kanusian men in the front lines, who knew they were about to be slaughtered just like their brother in arms had been, were relieved at the princess’s request to put a stop to this war. Their General sent word back to his King.

Danod hesitantly met the princess on the battlefield…

Elina: Surrender now King Danod, and save your men’s lives. I promise to take you in as one of my concubines.

Elina smiled after she declared her offer and the women behind her laughed at the prospect. In Uskania, men were not allowed to hold any positions of power. Even the King was just there to look elegant and provide moral support to the Queen. Princess Elina still needed to marry though, and soon too, as her Mother, the Queen, was getting quite old. But she wasn’t interested in King Danod. However Princess’ and Queens were allowed to have concubines, who all live a life of luxury in the Royal castle, and are mostly of royal birth. Of course, they are considered the lowest of royals by Uskanians, as they are nothing more than spoils of war. Still, it wasn’t a terrible deal she was offering, considering the alternative.

Danod felt extremely insulted by Elina and the laughing women.

Danod: How dare you? I am a King! not some whore!

Elina (chuckling): Alright then, KING Danod, maybe you’ll accept my offer for single combat this time. I estimate about 40,000 men have died for you already, you could save the rest of them right here and now.

A fearful Danod’s eyes widened, as his open mouth was left speechless. He was scared, but didn’t want to show it in front of all his men.

Princess Elina noticed the cowardice of the King, and after he wasn’t able to speak for some moments, she decided to sweeten the deal even more.

Elina: Tell you what, you can use the weapon of your choosing, and I will fight you unarmed.

Elina was serious, but had an almost bored look on her face. She again waited for the King to speak.

All of Danod’s men were looking to their King, hoping that he accepts Elina’s challenge. The entire Kanus army was well aware that the women would massacre them easily if the battle were to resume, just as they had been doing for the past 2 days.

“She’ll fight me unarmed, is she crazy?” Danod thought. But then he looked into Elina’s eyes, and saw that she was fully confident, and absolutely serious. “Fine, I’ll kill her and end this war once and for all” he thought, trying to hide his fear.

Elina: So.. King Danod, Will you accept my challenge for single combat under these conditions?

Danod: You arrogant bitch!  how do I know your mother will honor our agreement?

Elina was irked by Danod calling her a bitch, but she stayed calm. She had insulted him after all, when she had asked him to be her concubine. So she was willing to let his foul mouth pass this one time.

Elina: A woman’s word means everything in Uskania King Danod, I am the general of this army and it is mine to command. My mother dare not go against the word of her kin, else she loses the respect of both the people of Uskania and the women of this army.

Danod could sense that the princess was being sincere.

Danod: Fine cunt! I’ll send your arrogant head back to your mother as a reminder to stay out of Kanus.

The latest comment from Danod annoyed Elina again. She wasn’t willing to forgive him a second time.

An unarmed Elina walked forward, gesturing to her warriors to stand back.

Danod went to grab a longsword from one of his men. “Good luck your highness and thank you” his afraid General said to him.

Danod walked forward between the two armies cautiously, gripping his sword steadily in front of him. Elina and Danod were now a few feet away from each other. It was a sight to behold, this princess was going to fight against the King of Kanus unarmed. “What the hell?” was what the men were thinking.

The women of Uskania knew better, a man stood no chance against a woman, unarmed or not; and the princess was one of their best warriors on top of that. The women were mostly just smiling, confidently ready for the war to end.

Elina: Well come on then, let’s get this over with.

Elina gestured to the King with one hand, goading him to attack. Danod was shocked at how calm she was. They were about to fight to the death and she was treating it like some joke. “This fucking bitch”, a fearful Danod thought, as he began to move his shaky legs.

Danod(yelling): AHHHHH!

Danod dashed forward with a war cry raising his sword above him, and swung down at the princess with all his might. He swung with such force as if he was going to end the war right then and there.

Elina easily dodged his telegraphed attack, and swiftly moved to his right, with her smile never leaving her face.. The King’s sword slammed the grass below them, cutting into the dirt.

Before the King could remove his sword from the ground, Elina brought her right foot up and pushed on his shoulders, making him lose balance and fall to the ground.

The King still held on to his sword as he fell. The spectating women laughed at him as he stumbled and tried to get up.

Elina: C’mon King Danod, why don’t you give it another try. Maybe another warcry… I heard it helps in single combat.

The woman laughed some more at Elina’s joke, while the Kanusian men started to get worried.

A frustrated Danod got up and held his sword tightly once again. He almost had tears in his eyes due to being humiliated.

Danod: You BITCH!

Elina: *sighs* yea you said that already, and you're about to pay for it…

Danod rushed at Elina again, this time swinging left to right. Elina ducked under, easily reading the King’s movements, and then instantly grabbed his left wrist stopping him from being able to swing again. Before the King could break free, the princess delivered a devastating knee to his abdomen. Even with his armor plate, her knee fractured some of his ribs.

She let go of the King’s wrist and let the wheezing man fall to his hands and knees.

Elina smiled looking down as she saw Danod in excruciating pain. His eyes wide open in disbelief. The princess slowly walked right in front of his hands, interested to see what the King would do next.

The King saw Elina’s legs, and gathered all his strength. While still on his knees, he took another swing at her with his right hand, targeting her midsection.

This time Elina caught his wrist mid swing, and tightly gripped it, forcing a small cry of pain from the King.

Danod: AH!!

Elina then immediately bent his wrist backwards, releasing a loud *CRACK* that both of them could hear.

Danod: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Danod screamed louder this time, and his sword fell from his hand, with the pointy end landing deep into the ground beside him. Elina let go of this King’s wrist as he screamed and shortly after began short cries of despair. He held his broken wrist as tears welled in his eyes. His sword was up-right, still stuck to the ground. While the King was processing his pain, Elina reached for it and pulled it out.

Elina admired the sword that she was about to end the weeping King’s life with.

Elina: Well King Danod, I suppose you did as well as can be expected of a man.

Elina grabbed the Kings hair with her right hand, pulling him up to look at her; and with the other hand she brought the sword to his neck.

Elina (smiling): Any last words?

Danod (Crying): NO! Please! *SOB* Have mercy! *SOB* *SOB*

Elina: *sighs*, I would have, normally… you would have made a fun concubine. But unfortunately, you have a foul mouth, and I did just promise you that you were going to pay for that.

With that Elina ended the pathetic King in front of his general and his men.

Elina turned around to look at the rest of the Kanusian army, and held up the sword, pointing it directly at them.

Elina (serious): This is where you bow to your new rulers.

The General and his men understood, and bowed, with the rest of the 40,000 men behind them following suit. One by one, row after row of men kneeled, bringing an end to the Patriarchal nation of Kanus. There was now only the nation of Uskania, ruled by women.

It took 1-2 generations to completely transform the former patriarchal empire, but in the end, the Uskanian social structure completely dominated the people.

Since men could not compare in fighting skill to women, there was no need for men to train or build muscle. Instead the women of Uskania sought men who were delicate, fragile, innocent and kind. As Uskanian women were all trained to be ruthless warriors, they preferred men who were the opposite.

Men would do anything to impress women and hoped to be taken in as husband to a great warrior. The preferred men in Uskania were small framed, so that they would be able to sit on a woman’s lap and be held and cared for. Within a few generations, with selective breeding, the men of Uskania were all delicate, small-framed, soft-spoken and completely submissive to all women.

Men were not allowed in city councils or politics in general. They were expected to remain silent in the presence of women, unless addressed directly.

The men of Uskania would handle the household, while women were out, either protecting or conquering. When women of the house drank wine with visiting guests, the husbands were expected to be ready to serve, and do so quietly.

Of course if there were other men that came along with women to a household, the husbands were allowed to go into a different room and intermingle with each other. The men mostly talked about clothing and how they could impress and serve their women even more.

If the men were not house husbands, they were mostly relegated to working as bartenders, elementary school teachers, nurses, or secretaries for powerful businesswomen. Men were not allowed to hold any position superior to a woman. Therefore, principals, head doctors, tavern owners and such positions were only allowed to be held by women. Men were not allowed in colleges or universities either.

At age 18 women first had to attend adult combat training and serve 2 years in the army, before they were allowed to continue their education if that is what they desired. Most women decided to remain warriors as that is what held the greatest esteem in Uskania.

Men at age 18 were expected to marry, or serve under women at one of the allowed occupations.

Growing up, boys and girls both saw the idea of power being represented by women. Whereas men had the essence of delicateness, kindness and beauty. So naturally girls gravitated towards being powerful warriors and boys wanted to be adored by them.

Unfortunately, even though the social structure had been flipped, this matriarchy repeated the sins of the old patriarchal nations. It seems the abuse of power wasn’t exclusive to men. Many women now were abusing their power and abusing their men, just as men had done to women in the empires of old.

All men wanted was to be adored by women, but some women abused their softness and delicateness. These women used men for pleasure and threw them aside when they were done with them. It would take a powerful leader to set an example of how women should treat men. General Kinawa was one such woman. She was as righteous as she was strong.

[Depiction of General Kinawa]

Kinawa would go on setting an example and eventually create a righteous police force of women. These women would protect men and children from the abuse of evil women, and bring them to justice.

[Depiction of women from the Uskanian police force]

After the reforms of Kinawa, men and women lived happily in Uskania, serving each other in their own ways.

Men of Uskania had no desire for power or leadership, as society was now filled with gentlewomen, and chivalry was everywhere. The men were adored by women, and the men served their wives with great pleasure.