Double Trouble by Steve Elliott

implied it. Under the law, that’s as good as saying it.
    - Poppycock !
    - Poppycock? What the hell does that mean?
    - Beats me, but it sounds rude.
    - Typical ! When you know you’re going to lose, you revert to vulgarity.
    - I do not ! If I resorted to vulgarity, I’d be saying something like…..
    - Don’t you dare !
    - Chicken!
    - That’s not very rude at all.
    - Idiot !
    - Nor is that.
    - Shut up.
    - That is.
    - Quiet! Let me continue the story.
     
    We met at Maureen’s place the next morning to decide what to do next. Nobody had an epiphany during the night, so Stephanie decided to leave the note for now and to do the daily ritual of paying our dues to Queen Maureen.
    “What are your wishes for today?” Stephanie asked.
    “Gee, I don’t know,” Maureen dithered. “I haven’t thought about it.”
    “This is wasted on you, Maureen,” Stephanie complained. “Now, if I’d won, I’d be making you lot do all sorts of interesting things.”
    “Which is why it’s best that Maureen won,” Janice slyly suggested.
    “ Humph !” Stephanie snorted. “I would have been a true queen, ruling over you slaves with a rod of iron.”
    “ More proof that Maureen was the best choice,” I added.
    “ Ingrates !” Stephanie commented, forcibly.
    “Lucky ingrates, I’d say,” Janice remarked. “But shhh! The Queen is ready to speak.”
    “Hear me, for I have decided,” Maureen began. “Lady Stephanie is to go forth and scour the land for an enormous box of chocolates to celebrate our victories so far. Can you do this thing, my lady?”
    Stephanie curtsied prettily and replied, “ Verily , my Queen, I’ll try my very best. Dark or milk chocolate?”
    “Milk, I think,” Maureen answered, regally.
    Janice turned to Stephanie and remarked, “You see, this is why we prefer to have Queen Maureen instead of Queen Stef ruling us. God knows what you’d have us doing.”
    “Just wait until next time,” Stephanie vowed. “It’ll be the royal dungeons for you, Jan.”
    “And for the Duchess Janice……I think she would be well suited to fight her way through the ravenous crowds of buyers to obtain, at no little risk, a flagon of the finest wine , perchance.”
    “A command I’ll be happy to obey,” Janice said, sweeping her arms wide in a flowery bow.
    “And the Princess Kim has to….has to….. Damn ! I always have this trouble.”
    “She has to bed you?” suggested Stephanie.
    “ Stef !” Maureen exclaimed, shocked, her face flaming.
    “Come on, ladies,” Stephanie observed. “It’s an open secret how you two feel about each other, especially you , Maureen. I’m just trying to hurry things along a little. This whole thing is better than a soap opera. I don’t mind your liaison. In fact, I think it’s cute . You both need a relationship, I’m thinking, although Jan will probably disagree, won’t you, dear?”
    We all turned to Janice who stared back at us. “Why would I disagree?” she wanted to know. “In fact, I wouldn’t mind joining in.”
    Of all the answers Janice could have given, that one was the most startling. Maureen was open-mouthed and I shook my head, not believing my ears. Stephanie slapped her forehead in disbelief and said, “ What did you just say, Jan? Did you just say that you wanted to join Maureen and Kim in bed? Surely I was hearing things?”
    “What’s the big deal?” Janice asked. “ Three in a bed is better than just two, surely? Much more scope for variety there, don’t you think? Hell, Stef, you can come too . Four would be the best of all. We could have a good old fashioned orgy . Come on, guys, I know you want to.”
    “Jan, are you feeling okay?” Stephanie demanded. “This isn’t like you at all. What’s going on?”
    “ Nothing’s going on,” Janice replied, briskly. “I’m always like this. You know me, always ready for a bit of action . The wilder, the better.”
    “No, sweetie,” Stephanie told her, “this is exactly the opposite of