Isabella Awakening Ch. 09

"Has it always been so?" asked Aralia.

"Since I was first molested by my uncle Anton," replied Isabella, "although I really allowed that to happen. I was aware of his motivation, his feelings and his thoughts. I could see what was happening as if I had a separate ethereal body, floating above me in the room. It has happened that way often; at least when I find myself in a new situation and I feel I need for guidance and reassurance. She always comes to me."

Aralia nodded. "I have never heard of so clear a manifestation," she said. "Some of us believe that we feel Keira's presence when in the throws of great passion, but I have not heard of an outsider making so close a connection, and never one so constant and purposeful. If we were of the regular church, we would say this was a miracle," she smiled.

"What does it mean, Aralia? Am I possessed?" Isabella asked.

"Possessed?" Aralia replied. "I have never heard of such a thing. But I suppose, in way, you are. Does it concern you? Would you rather be free of this...ghost?"

"Oh no! She and I are like old friends. I have learned to trust her and to welcome her. She makes no demands on me beyond my own wishes. Sometimes it is a little strange," Isabella remembered her rebuff of her brother Gustav's advances after Donna Elvira's funeral. "But I have great faith in her."

"Then there is no problem," said Aralia "only great joy!"

The women finished their coffee and Aralia suggested they make their way to the children's quarters. She produced a plain dress with a headscarf, describing it as an A'abaya, a traditional costume for women worn by the women of The Sanctuary whenever they left the Bey's central compound. They donned the clothes, wrapped their heads and left The Sanctuary through the side door.

The eastern side of the Bey's palace grounds was where the stables and other outbuildings were. Aralia and Isabella made their way among the buildings with Aralia calling greetings to the men and women who worked among the horses, in the laundry or in the large open sheds where machines such as buggies and carriages were housed. Isabella noticed that the work was not necessarily divided along traditional lines -- she saw men washing clothes and women tending the horses. When they reached a doorway in the compound's outer wall, a guard opened it for them and moved aside. Aralia spoke to him and he nodded them through.

Outside, the ground was stony and quite dry. The hot summer sun and the wind had burnt the tufted grasses to brown and the scattered shrubs looked in need of a drink. The contrast with the inner plaza, with its fountains and lush greenery, was remarkable. A well-worn path through the empty, boulder strewn landscape lead to another walled compound 300 yards away and it was to this that the two women walked quickly, both eager to get out of the heat. Before they were half way there, Aralia raised an arm and waved towards the compound. A few seconds later, Isabella saw a door open in the wall and two uniformed guards step out to greet them. They were ushered into the compound.

Aralia took Isabella's hand and walked her to the main building, similar in design and style to the Bey's palace but only two storeys at the front. They climbed the broad steps and the door opened.

Once inside, Aralia removed her headscarf and loosened her robes and Isabella did likewise. Servants were moving through the main entry hall, itself a smaller version of the grand hall in the palace. Aralia greeted the servants and introduced Isabella. She then guided her along a corridor that opened into a large open space where children sat together in small groups or played at games. Isabella saw Gabrielle and Ashanti at the far end of the room with a small child. As soon as one child saw Aralia, there was yelling and a small, noisy stampede started in her direction. Children ranging from toddlers to around 12 were shouting her name and trying to kiss or hug Aralia, who was laughing and trying to greet each child by name. Isabella had to step back to avoid being caught up in the crush.

Ashanti appeared by her side and called out, "Enough, please! We have a visitor her and it is impolite to ignore her so."

There was silence and Ashanti smiled, "Friends, this is Isabella from Italy. She has come to stay with the Bey and she is a good friend of Magus Thomas."

"She is very beautiful, Ashanti" came a small voice from a girl of perhaps seven in the front of the group of children.

"Yes, she is, Marta. I hope you will all enjoy Isabella's company while she is with us."

"Thank you, Ashanti, and thank you, Marta. You are a very pretty girl too," said Isabella. "I would love meet you all."

Gabrielle joined the group and hugged Aralia and Isabella. "Hello, my love. I'm so glad you came today. I was just working with Ashanti. Some of the children have been a little ill lately and we have been checking their glands for inflammation. Everything seems to have settled down now, thankfully."

"So Ashanti is your assistant?" asked Isabella, as the children drifted back to their games or studies. Aralia took a small child onto her knee and they hugged and talked quietly.

"More of an apprentice, I would say," said Gabrielle, looking fondly at Ashanti. "She is very competent and could really do most of the regular work herself. We are hoping that Thomas will consider her a candidate for further training at the school."

"Is that how students are recruited?" asked Isabella, intrigued by the whole idea of women being trained and educated in an environment of open sensuality.

"Certainly many of the new recruits come from the families of past graduates," said Gabrielle. "Others are recommended by Patrons or are 'discovered' by Daughters in the course of their daily lives."

"How many students are there?"

"It varies," said Gabrielle, "Right now, the school is enjoying a great resurgence. We have three centers, in Vienna, in Delhi and at the original monastery at Quillan. I guess there would be around three hundred girls now. We would normally spend around six years as a student before either taking vows or returning to normal life."

"I am truly fascinated by the school and by the Order itself," said Isabella. "You must tell me more. And what of the boys?"

Gabrielle laughed. "Oh, the males are looked after too, but not at the upper school. Children are educated together in parish schools until they are twelve and then the boys will be sent to continue their studies elsewhere. The formal education of the Daughters does not start until a girl is at least seventeen." Gabrielle took Isabella's hand. "Let us go and meet some of the children, shall we?"

Ashanti joined them for a tour of the children's quarters and acted as Isabella's guide. This main room was for day classes and group activities, the children deciding each day what activities they would pursue. Adult guidance and involvement was subtle and provided only on request, the older children taking on supervisory or leadership roles for the small self-selected groups. Languages, art and history seemed to be the main subjects being pursued today but Ashanti explained how nature studies and mathematics were also studied and taught as practical studies, the children encouraged to use their native intelligence to discover things before pursuing book knowledge. Not that books were absent from the classes. Some of the children were reading or writing and a bookshelf on one wall held dozens of volumes.

Gabrielle encouraged Isabella to join on of the groups of children who were discussing historical subjects and Isabella found them to be both knowledgeable and genuinely interested in their subject; in this case the French royal family.

After a few minutes with the group, in which Isabella found she had actually learnt several new things, Ashanti drew her away to visit the rest of the compound. The older children, those over ten, had their own private sleeping and study rooms upstairs, while the younger ones shared rooms on the ground floor. The kitchens were alive with activity and Gabrielle explained that the children were expected to assist, not only in the preparation of their meals, but in the growing and purchase of the food and in the planning of the household. Isabella realized that any child educated here would have sufficient knowledge and skills to manage a household, and probably earn a living, by the time they were thirteen.

In the central plaza, similar to that of the palace but with more open areas, presumably for games, Aralia joined Isabella, Gabrielle and Ashanti for a cool drink.

Ashanti and her mother sat together exchanging family gossip while Gabrielle and Isabella kissed and talked of Gabrielle's plans for a book on traditional women's medicine.

"The old ways are in danger of being lost," she explained. "Particularly in Europe, where men have taken medicine as their exclusive domain. The issues that women face are considered secondary and not seriously studied by the modern scientific men. Yet the problems and the solutions are often already known and may be very simple."

"Do you mean matters relating to pregnancy?" asked Isabella.

"Indeed, but also difficulties of the menses, moods and diseases that women fall prey to." Replied Gabrielle. "Here, let me give an example I learned last year from a healer woman in Algiers." She rose and went to a nearby lemon tree, selecting a ripe fruit and bringing it back to the table. She drew a folding knife from the pocket of her robe and carefully cut across the lemon about a third of the way from its end. She scooped out the soft fruit, leaving a hollow lined with the white pith.

"That," she said, handing the hollowed out lemon skin to Isabella, "is one of the most effective means of staving off pregnancy and disease I have ever known."

Isabella was puzzled. "How is it used?" she asked.

"It is a cap for the womb," said Gabrielle. "Inserted deeply and firmly," she held the lemon cup with the hollow side upwards, "It provide both a physical barrier to the passage of sperm into the womb and its remaining juices also kill both sperm and disease. I have not known a woman who uses this method to become pregnant or contract the pox. So simple, and much more effective than just douching. Although used together they are a complete answer to keeping ones pussy in good health." She smiled and placed the lemon cap on the table in front of her.

Isabella noticed that Aralia and Ashanti had stopped talking and were watching Isabella's reaction.

"I am impressed, yet again, Gabrielle," she said. "Does the same size cap work for all women?"

"Almost all. A woman can try different cuts of the lemon until she finds one that fits well and is comfortable. Some may need smaller or larger fruit. We are growing grapefruit now so that Jax can use this method."

Aralia and Ashanti burst out laughing and Isabella too giggled and shook her head.

"But we should not use our capacious Sister as the butt of all jokes," apologized Gabrielle smiling. "Would you like to take this," she proffered the lemon cap to Isabella, "to try later?"

Isabella pocketed the lemon cap. "Replace it every day, or night." Said Gabrielle.

Aralia spoke, "Isabella, Kahlia was talking this morning of the Horn of Joy. Did she mention it to you?"

"No, she didn't say anything to me. But we are to meet in the library after lunch, perhaps I should take it to her."

"I'm sure she would appreciate that," said Aralia. "She's very interested in the inscription. It has been the subject of considerable debate over the years. Gabrielle, you have seen the horn. Were you able to decipher the inscription?"

Gabrielle blushed, "I'm afraid I did not look that closely, Sister. I was...more interested in...other aspects of the Horn."

Ashanti blushed this time and Aralia patted her knee and laughed. "I do understand! Praxis first! I would have done the same."

They finished their drinks and Aralia and Ashanti excused themselves to attend to the children while Gabrielle said she had to visit Natalie in the infirmary and offered to escort Isabella back to main compound. They left through the main entrance.

"How is Natalie today?" asked Isabella as they walked, heads wrapped in scarves back to the palace wall.

"Oh, much improved this morning. She is still withdrawing from the opium I gave her during the first few days, but is otherwise in good spirits. She wants to meet you and I am urging her to visit The Sanctuary tonight."

"Will she be up to visit?"

"Oh, it will do her good. And tonight will be a lot more relaxed than last." She smiled.

They reached the door in the wall and Gabrielle knocked twice. The guard opened it for them and they made their way to the side entrance of the palace. Once inside they kissed and parted, agreeing to meet that evening in The Sanctuary.