<span style="font-size: 18px">The shipwrecked Englishmen were in dire straits, equal to being caught between Scylla and Charybdis.  Braxton's courage had failed him because of the impending shame and mockery he had expected when the Amazon Queen, Rhene, demanded that he disrobe.  Only Wendell's pleading on Braxton's behalf cut through Braxton's despair.  Braxton's courage returned when he saw one of the Queen's attendants move towards his true friend in a threatening manner.  Braxton placed himself between the prostrate Wendell and the advancing Amazon.  This action seemed to give some pause to the Amazon royal court.<br/>
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Given how the native men behaved in this throne room and how the other Englishmen had been cowed by the actions of the giant Amazons, and especially the Queen's soldier, Braxton briefly enjoyed a slight smile at likely being the first man in a thousand or two thousand year to even momentarily defy a Queen of Siguran.  Still, unarmed and risking the possibility of his fellow castaways being executed, there was little that Braxton could do in the face of these giant and barbaric Amazons.  If they killed him, he would die defiantly, as might be expected of an Englishman in this incredible situation.  <br/>
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He tried to quickly search his memory for some clever way out?  A contest, perhaps?  Given the size and apparent strength of the Amazons that idea held no hope for him.  A battle of wits, maybe?  But he had nothing that the Amazons wanted that they could not take from him.  But too soon, Braxton was out of time.<br/>
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Queen Rhene was stepping forward and calling his bluff, telling him that he was foolish and had no power on her island.  It was true.  All he could do was stubbornly stand there maintain his paltry defense of his friend, Wendell, as she reached forward to grasp his shirt by the neckline at its front and rip it downward....<br/>
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Then, something else unexpected happened.  Queen Rhene's action exposed both Braxton's muscled torso and the amulet that he had used to search for this island.  This island that he now laughingly had believed to have been sunken under the waves.  Queen Rhene recoiled at the sight of the amulet.  It seemed to have some significance to her.  Perhaps it could help the castaways?<br/>
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But that hope was short lived when Queen Rhene accused Braxton of being a thief.  He actually had recieved 'stolen property' but Braxton was not a thief and his pride bristled at the accusation.<br/>
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"~Not a thief!" Braxton loudly proclaimed.  He had nothing to lose and if he could tell his tale then maybe the Amazons would relent in their barbarous treatment of the Englishmen, but the odds were not in favor of it.  "~Scholar!" he declared and then proceeded:<br/>
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"~This amulet had been crafted in three pieces that were scattered though-out the continent of Europe for hundreds or perhaps thousands of years and uncounted generations.  One section of the amulet was cunningly sealed in a locked jar.  My family owned this jar for hundreds of years, calling it 'The Daedaleus Jar'.  I successfully unlocked the jar and discovered the first piece of the amulet.  Over the next six and a half years, I sought out the other two pieces and eventually put them all together.  Six months after that, myself and my companions set sail to find your island.  There is no known record of it's existence except those records that I have made in my attempts to find it.  So many years have passed that we had imagined your island to have sunk beneath the waves, like Atlantis, if Atlantis had truly existed."<br/>
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Sir Braxton felt that he had the ears of the Amazons.  Perhaps a bold declaration might aid the plight of the Englishmen?  He had nothing to lose, so he swore an oath, hoping that the Amazons believed in the same Greek gods that Braxton had read about, "~By the name, 'Aletheia', the goddess of truth, may the Furies rend my body if I have just spoken falsely!"<br/>
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Braxton had thought himself finished, then words that he had not intended to speak came from his mouth, "~The world is not infinite.  Knowledge of it increases and ignorance of it decreases.  The future decrees that Siguran will not stay as it has been."  <br/>
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For some reason, Braxton felt weak, light-headed and confused.  He felt that he was about to fall, but Wendell quickly rose up to catch him and keep Braxton on his feet.</span>