Talla's Temple Ch. 22

She turned to face them.

"Monogamy is the oppression of women. Monogamy is a tool of subjugation. Devotion to a single male is the enemy of our society."

There was a note in her voice that chilled them all.

"I invite you again to look carefully at the bull," the stern Acolyte continued. "It owns them, as men used to own us. If we slide back to monogamy, men will own us again. That is why we don't tolerate it. That is why you will go through a hundred men or more before going back to the same ones again. Let no man ever think that he owns you or controls you. Let no man ever get greedy or jealous against his peers."

Did Shanata's piercing eyes flick towards Talla? Did she know what Talla had done? Why else were they being given this lesson -- this reminder that should otherwise be unnecessary?

Shanata turned to face the field of beasts once more, saying nothing at all for a while, leaving them to consider ramifications they should have considered long ago.

"The difference between us and these cows," she said, very quietly, "is that we are wise enough to avoid the fate to which they have been consigned -- that of merely breeding and providing milk. It would be foolish indeed to disregard the centuries of wisdom that have brought us to where we are today."

Talla looked at the girls around her. Most of them seemed unconcerned and slightly confused as they tried to understand the purpose of this lecture.

"You are dismissed," Shanata said, finishing in the same quiet voice, "and reminded to consider what you have seen today."

This was greeted with a general shrug, several curtsies and a number of polite mumbles of, "Mistress."

As they turned to leave, Shanata added, casual as could be, "Talla, I have an assignment for you."

"Mistress," she replied with a nod, trying not to shake.

This was, in fact, about her, then, wasn't it? Then why this lesson? Why drag every one out here across the river?

"Come with me."

Without a look back, she followed Shanata towards the nearby farmhouse. The older woman gave her not a clue, in words, facial expression or body language, as to the subject of her "assignment". Talla's brain stalled. What could she do? The only thing that came to her mind was to examine the building to which they were headed. It certainly wasn't nearly as grand as the one where Zhair'lo lived. The stone work was simpler, for one thing, and the building was smaller. A little path led through some long grass to the front door.

"In," Shanata said as she pushed the door open.

Talla meekly obeyed. It was cool, dark and quiet in the small common room. There were no stairs as there was no second floor. The furnishings, from the tables and chairs to the big doors leading to what were probably bedrooms, were all dark oak. The place seemed to be empty, lit only by reflections from the small beams of sunlight slipping in around the blinds that had been pulled over the windows.

"Sit," Shanata directed her to a seat against the far wall where some men had been playing a board game of some kind.

Shanata carefully slid the game to the side and sat on the low table so that her knees nearly touched Talla's. She took a thoughtful breath and opened her mouth to speak. Only a stutter came out and she grimaced before looking Talla in the eye.

Talla hadn't seen Shanata act like this before. It was very much the way Atreya had acted once upon a time, when she'd sat down to apologize to Talla. Shanata stalled by removing her satchel from her over her shoulder and setting it down on the floor beside her.

"You have vexed me for some time, child," she said quite mysteriously while looking at the ground.

Finally, her superior made up her mind and reached around the back of her neck to undo the tie on her top. Talla twitched and frantically looked around the room as Shanata's top came away from her chest to reveal her immense breasts. She had been jealous the first time she'd seen Shanata, when her own chest had been so flat. Even now, with four Abundance upgrades and one in Strength to back them up, she felt juvenile sitting across from such a strong, well developed pair with such nice, sharp nipples springing to attention in the cool air.

"What if someone comes in?" she asked in a panic. Visions of M'lis and Adria danced through her mind. She didn't want any part of that again.

"We're in private, for now. If men come in, then I will have to Serve them, I suppose," she told Talla with a faint taste of amusement in her voice.

"Them? Plural?"

How would Shanata handle more than one man at a time? They'd have to at least take turns, wouldn't they?

"It's not likely any wandering in will be your age," Shanata said with a smirk. "But you can watch."

She nodded expectantly at Talla's chest.

Right. If an Acolyte was topless, an Initiate ought to be naked. Shanata, however, hadn't actually removed her top. The underwire was still in place, tied around her back. All that the older woman had done was let the rest of her top, most importantly the little orange triangles that had covered her breasts, hang down from the underwire.

Talla didn't see any choice. With a last glance around for the men that were most assuredly out working the fields, she untied her top and let her own breasts free. At least with the Strength upgrade she didn't feel them sagging and pulling at her chest painfully. They might be small by comparison to the pair only a few handspans away, but they were a respectable couple of handfuls and she was happy with her body.

The next fork in the road was whether or not she had to get naked or not. Shanata had made her little head nod gesture at Talla's chest and was not making any further gesture at her tiny white skirt. At least this way, they could both whip their tops back on if someone came in.

"Let me be clear," Shanata said. "The sisterhood I offer you today is not like that which Atreya offered you."

Sisterhood? That meant she could keep her bottoms on?

"What she gave you, in public, was an honorary thing," Shanata explained. "What I offer you today, here in private, is sisterhood proper. Should you need my aid, or require counsel, I will be there for you."

Talla gulped and nodded. It wasn't the sort of thing she supposed she could refuse.

Shanata leaned over, her dangling breasts coming to rest where four knees met. She gently touched her lips to one of Talla's nipples and then the other. She sat back and waited.

Not fully understanding what was going on, Talla completely the ritual. Shanata might be one of the most harsh disciplinarians Talla had ever met, but that didn't affect in the least the softness of her seven times upgraded breasts with their wide, smooth areola. Each kiss was a gentle pleasure upon her lips.

Talla was still nervous. They could really put their tops back on now, couldn't they? All things considered? But if Shanata kept her top off, Talla could hardly replace hers. How ridiculous that would be, to be so cowardly next to one so brave.

"This is a moment of honesty," Shanata said. "So we bare ourselves to one another."

No obvious response came to Talla's lips. In all likelihood, nothing was necessary.

"A week ago, you and another Primed an upgrade for which I was the Source," Shanata told her. "That upgrade was, quite accidentally, a double upgrade in Abundance. At the time, I could not believe that I had made such a mistake."

Shanata's eyes darted to the side for a moment, evading Talla's gaze. This was some kind of shame to Shanata?

"A few nights ago, you and the same girl Primed for a Strength upgrade," Shanata explained, her voice heavy with discomfort. "When the upgrade was attempted, the Conduit was found to be blocked. I tested him myself and found him to contain yet another double Abundance upgrade."

"That is why you were -- set upon -- in the manner that you were."

"In my haste ... in my anger ... and in my need to blame my error on someone else, I caused that rather deplorable search," Shanata admitted, lightly hanging her head.

Things were clicking in to place in Talla's mind. That's what the whole thievery accusation had been about? Nine Gods ...

"For that I apologize, and as I know how abhorrent and crude that search was, I know that I can not easily make up for it. But I wish to atone as much as I can."

Shanata reached in to the satchel and pulled out a black scroll.

"Have you ever seen one of these?"

Talla shook her head, saying, "No, Mistress."

"Call me 'Shanata' - or 'sister', if you must -- when we are like this."

"No, sister," Talla replied earnestly. "I've never seen such a scroll."

"Good," Shanata told her tersely. "You should endeavour to avoid them in the future. Scrolls that look like this are called Disciplinary Scrolls and I certainly shouldn't be telling you the details of this one. But, as we are sisters now, and being honest with each other, and I owe you a debt, I will give you this warning."

"Yesterday, a woman of considerable Abundance -- who could not be identified -- was followed by an enforcer from Form."

Talla steadied herself, trying as hard as she could not to flinch. Her legs had turned to lead. Any moment now, Shanata would be asking where she had been -

"It is presumed that this unidentified Disciple of Endowment was meeting with some man. As she was not identified, and there was only the one incident, the punishment would be relatively minor. If such a thing occurred a second time -- and with the same man -- the crime would be classed as Monogamy."

That last word was spoken like a death sentence. It had the thump of a hammer and the crack of a whip when it issued from Shanata's mouth.

"As I said, we have no idea who it was," Shanata explained, looking Talla in the eye quite firmly. "We are likely never to find out, all things considered. But all the same, I was sent here to remind you -- all of you, of course -- of the dangers of monogamy."

Talla nodded solemnly.

Shanata's voice became very, very soft, so that she was almost a different person.

"Can I trust, sister, that my warning is clear?"

"Yes, Mistr -- yes, sister."

Shanata inhaled deeply and looked over Talla's head, forcefully clearing away the tension that had enfolded them.

"Good," she said. "Very good."

She glanced around the room.

"No one came in after all," she smiled. "Let's cover these up and get back home."