The Sighs of the Priestess Ch. 04

Timna turned her head and whispered, "Two of the women there are together in one of the beds. What should I do?"

Her friend chuckled, "Bring them their dresses, of course. We will not disturb them much, I think, and I do not want to stand here all evening waiting for them to finish. Go in and put the dresses down."

Timna stepped inside, and heard their quiet thanks to her. She stepped out again and waited for her mistress.

Nisi-ini-su came out of the tent grinning. "What is the matter, Timna? Of the twelve with us here, there are two couples between them. They are fighters, and this is what they like. Not every girl wants a man and not every man wants a woman. It happens more among fighters, I think, because of the duty in far places often away from cities and towns but I do not know this for I never thought of it much."

She put her arm around Timna's shoulders, "Come on, my friend who wears blinkers. We are finished now tonight at last and I want a bit of wine before I begin the huge task of making mighty Lugalbanda happy once more."

Timna looked at her, "This is not a joyous task?"

The priestess laughed, "Oh, it surely is, Timna. I only make jest. In truth, if there were none of this to be done, and I could manage it, I would keep him tied by one ankle to a tree in a sunny orchard and never let him go. It is much joy and even amusement loving with him. We have only been together a few days, but we seem to love each other more every hour. It seems a little silly sometimes," she said, "we catch one another looking at the other in wonder quite often. We both feel foolish then, but I am so happy that I have him. And that is only for me. That he comes to the faith and rises as a priest is beyond great luck and fortune."

She stopped suddenly and looked over, "Do you mean to say that you have never known that some women do this between them? I thought you went to the temple sometimes."

"I did," Timna answered, "I guess that I just never looked very hard there in the dark. I remember seeing women meeting there, but I never, ..." She shook her head, "I must really wear blinkers as you say."

"Well," her friend laughed, "if you ever become a little curious, only tell me or Anat. We will see what might be done."

Timna was astounded, "You have done this, what I saw back there?"

"Of course, Timna. I had to remain a virgin, did I not? So I could not play with men at all. But I went to Jebel Bishri as often as I could manage it, once or twice a year, most often to study and learn and always to visit my friend Anat. We were lovers often once we were grown. We found this joy between us one day on a warm hilltop as we rode. There is nothing wrong with it, though it is a little different now, I guess. Our Ba'al is the only man that I have ever lain with."

She chuckled, "I could have used your help the night that we began between us, Timna. You had more knowledge then of how it goes. I felt quite foolish."

Timna smiled shyly, "I have only lain with a man three times, Nisi-ini-su. I don't think that I would have much advice to offer you."

The priestess grinned, "Well that is much more than I had then. Even now, you have had three times as many men as I," she chuckled, "I would have been glad of your help. It went well anyway, he was kind and gentle with me."

She thought about it for a moment, and kissed Timna on the cheek. "I am happy that I made a friend in you and how we can talk of anything between us. I have so much on my brain now that I sometimes do not know what to think about next, but you help so much with everything and I feel close to you. So if you want to try, as I said, only tell me. I think you are lovely and I would like it with you very much. Come now. There is a warm fire and wine inside -- two things which I want now that are lacking here where we stand."

They went inside and shared a large goblet of wine between them, not saying much so as not to disturb any who might be sleeping. About halfway through the goblet, the priestess turned to Timna, "Here, you finish the wine. I go to my man now. Dream well." She hugged the girl and kissed her on the lips softly before walking away with a smile.

Timna sat wondering and touched her lips once before sipping the wine slowly.

Born to a busy family of weavers and clothesmakers where both parents, especially her father, had yearned and prayed for a son to help with the heavy work, she'd been raised never to question and to do as she'd been told. When her younger brother had finally appeared, the little bit of affection that she might have told herself was in their shouts to her had evaporated and she'd felt more like a less than valued employee than a relation no matter how hard she'd tried to please her parents.

In her lifetime, depending on who was insulting her at the time, she'd been called ugly, hideous, fat, homely, cow and once, even a sow. She almost knew the list by heart. She knew that she wasn't overly large, but the words had stung her hard and the images remained in her memory. She still believed it somewhere inside her.

The greatest adventures in her life had been the few times that she'd gathered up enough of her courage to go and spend an evening naked pleasuring herself hopefully in the beautiful gardens at the temple in Ninab. She'd never gone in the daytime out of fear and her shame and anyway, she was busy at work most days. Three times, she'd found a man there on those evenings who could overlook her lack of charms in the dark there and fuck her long enough for her to enjoy some of it before melting away into the darkness. One had even thanked her, saying that he'd enjoyed her so much. That had made her feel so good to hear it. If only she'd dared to ask his name...

Then the Sumerians had come and everything was gone in a flash of burning and brutality. She'd tried to run, but was caught by the roving bands of slavers.

She thought about it. Not once, not even one time in her whole life had anyone thought enough about plain Timna's feelings long enough to tell her that they thought that she was lovely. But the beautiful priestess had, and Timna was at least a little certain that she'd meant it.

She sipped her wine and touched her lips again before going to bed herself.

-------------------

It was still dark the next morning when the spies came back to say that the old king had died. In less than thirty minutes the cart that the warrior had bought the day before was loaded and they were plodding out through the old gate behind the fighters, heading for the city of Uruk. They rode with Lugalbanda and Nisi-ini-su leading, sometimes joined by Anat. After that came the fighters and then Timna and her cart. Behind her, rode the two men.

Timna had hated it when her father had taught her to drive the family wagon as a girl. Now, she was thankful as she watched the way ahead carefully until they got out of the hills and onto the road. In modern day measurement, it was about fifty miles to Uruk as the crow flew, but the road wound here and there around hills and swamps. It took them three days to get near the place.

As they traveled, Timna enjoyed frequent visitors on the bench of the cart. Every so often, one of the others would ride up and tie their horse to the back of the cart at a trot and then run up to sit with her for a time and talk. It made the day pass better for her and she felt more like a part of things rather than the driver of the cart which held their pots and pans.

The first night was a little strange. They pulled off and out of sight of the road near to some salty pools. Ba'al Lugalbanda had known of this place, and they'd brought water for the horses. The nice part about the pools was that the water wasn't freezing cold and one could soak a little to get the kinks of the road out after their light meal as the evening gloom darkened around them. Timna sat on the muddy bottom up to her neck and just smiled because she felt like it. It caused some of her companions to laugh. More than one of the fighters called out to her, asking if she'd found a man there under the water to sit on since she looked so pleased. She just answered no, not yet anyway.

"Well I must try to find out why Timna grins so much there," the priestess joked as she waded over. She sat with Timna and asked how things were going. As they talked between them of the route and how far it was, Timna was a little surprised to feel her friend's hand cupping her breast under the surface of the water. "Is it alright, Timna?" the priestess asked quietly, "I have wanted to touch you here since we talked."

Timna nodded and thanked her friend, "It is good to know that you care for me, but what of the Ba'al?"

The priestess smiled as her hands caressed her friend, "We have spoken of it a little," she said, "it is not a problem between us, and anyway, he likes you. He has thanked me often for choosing you. He thought at first that I was bent on freeing every Martu slave in Eridu, but it is not so and he knows this now. He has said that of all the three, that you are the biggest surprise to him, for what you do for us all. I must go now," she said, leaning in to kiss Timna on the cheek before she stood up to wash the mud from her bottom and wade off.

As soon as Timna was alone again, she found that she really wasn't. Anat had come to sit with her. She told how she was thankful for her work on the clothes.

"You have no idea what it can be like to lead a pack of miserable women who are stuck in their leather armor day after day. They are happy now, and even like this, wearing what they must, they do not mind, knowing that the things which Timna made for them are near if they get the chance to wear them. I thank you for this, Timna,"

She smiled and crouched to stand up.

When Timna stood up finally to rinse off and waded to the shore, she dried herself and went to sit by the fire for a time wrapped in her blanket. Aside from the three who were placed out a little way to watch over them all, the others turned in one after another and she was alone with her thoughts.

Timna smiled to herself as she watched Adad in the darkness. She had no idea how he did what he did. There was an almost steady flow of traffic to and from the place where he had bedded down as one after another of the women came to him. She wondered how he could stay awake in the saddle all day, for she knew that this wasn't the first night that this had happened. Timna knew that this went on the other nights back in Eridu as well, but he seemed to be managing it somehow.

She watched and listened as she sat, wrapped in her blanket with one hand between her thighs. She wanted only a little pleasure as she thought about things now. She really didn't know how she felt about being intimate with another woman, though she supposed that it was all just expression if you liked someone enough for it. In that light, she could even see how it could happen between men. What Timna couldn't understand was how she was now so appreciated and even -- well, maybe even wanted now.

She stopped thinking for a time and just enjoyed what she was doing. With some luck, she thought, everyone but the watchers would be asleep when she bedded down and she might find more pleasure for herself then, if she could hold her mouth shut. She'd had long years of experience sharing close quarters in her family's home and had even been able to find a little bit of careful relief for herself when she'd been chained to others as a slave. She didn't think it would be a problem.

What was a problem for her came to light as she searched for her other blanket in the darkness. The Ba'al had mentioned that it could grow cool here overnight from the dampness, and the only blanket that she had was around her, and it was fairly damp. She could already feel the night chill beginning as she searched the cart in the darkness by feel. It suddenly came to her that she'd been interrupted as she'd packed her things into the cart. She ran down her little list in her head, and came up short of only one thing -- her other blanket. She groaned and walked quietly, looking for a place to lie down.

She thought that she'd found a place and felt carefully in the grass, but that told her nothing. The grass was already wet with cold dew. Timna laid out her blanket and wrapped herself up as best she could. This night would be plain misery, she told herself. It took no time at all, and she was shivering. If it weren't for this, she might have heard the very soft sighs of the priestess.

As he loved the priestess, Lugalbanda listened to what was going on around him. He was too much of a professional soldier to help it. He heard the one shivering close to them and stopped, thinking. He had his answer in his mind even before the priestess could form her question.

"Timna?" he whispered, "Timna, is that you?"

"Yes," she answered, feeling even worse now because she'd obviously disturbed something.

"Why are you cold?"

"It is my own fault, Ba'al Lugalbanda, "she whispered, "I thought I packed two blankets as you told us to and now I find that I have only one, and it is damp from my sitting in the pools."

She heard a whispered conversation and then they both told her to come to where they were. She objected and apologized for disturbing them, but Lugalbanda interrupted her, "Timna, I do not offer you a choice here. You are as important as anyone among us, if not more, and I will not see you sick or worse when it is a simple thing to be warm. Come here with your blanket, or we go there. You will not go cold this night."

"Please, Timna," the priestess whispered, "come here and be warm with us. We would be happy for it and anything else is foolishness."

Timna groaned to herself, wondering how it was that if there was someone in any situation who felt like extra baggage, it always seemed to be her. It had been this way for as long as she could remember. Now for some reason, many of the group here liked her and a very beautiful woman who she considered a good friend now over the short time that she'd had been among them all had made a very polite and discreet overture to her -- and still she felt like an extra and unneeded cloak on a hot day, something one carries along just in case, but when the morning grows warm, it is not wanted all the same and must be carried around. She decided to think about that later. It just wasn't right to think like this when she was in the middle of so many who liked her. She knew that she was only carrying her own unwanted cloak. She just wished now that it was a real one so that it might be of some use for once. She got up and grabbed her blanket.

There was thin light there from the canopy of winking stars overhead, but it gave barely enough in the darkness to see someone standing up close by. She headed there and stumbled forward when her foot went into a shallow depression in the grass. Timna found herself in their arms, her face against the Ba'al's chest as their arms held her so that she wouldn't fall. "I need to know, Timna," the warrior chuckled, "where have you hidden the wine that you walk like this? We could all use a little now, I think. Stand with Nisi-ini-su for a moment while I arrange the blankets here."

He became an even darker shape and then seemed to disappear completely. Timna stood with her friend against her, hugging her tightly. "I feel cold now," the priestess said with her head next to Timna's, "but we will be fine in a little while. Let us shiver together then." She felt the priestess kiss her ear softly for a moment as her hand cupped Timna's bottom. The soft scent of her interrupted arousal came to Timna's nostrils and she found that in spite of her embarrassment at having interrupted them, she liked the gentle smell. In these circumstances, it felt very comforting to her. She sighed and hugged her friend tighter.

The priestess slowly lifted her head and kissed Timna. It might have been the cold and her desire to be warm, but she found herself just giving in to it. She was about to return it when she felt the Ba'al's hand on her thigh.

"Timna," he whispered, "where is your blanket?"

She felt the priestess' soft sigh from the sweet lips just touching her mouth and moved her hand back until it touched his. He felt the blanket and took it from her and they stayed like this for a moment longer.

"Lie down, both of you," he said, "and I will cover you and then try to get under without moving the covers much."

Nisi-ini-su laid down quickly and when Timna crouched to find her, she found the outstretched hands. "Quickly beauty," her friend giggled softly, "come to me here before we freeze."

Timna stretched out on the ground sheet and was instantly in the arms of the priestess as she rolled to cover some of Timna's body with her own. She felt one brief kiss and then heard her tell Lugalbanda to cover them. The blankets were over them in an instant and a few moments later, she felt him against her on the other side and between them, she was completely covered. She felt him move to adjust the blankets a little bit and then to her surprise, he kissed her ear very softly.

"If you hold me as your Ba'al, Timna," he whispered, "then you must obey me -- at least a little, I think, no?"

She felt herself getting a little nervous for a second. Then again, she thought, he might command her to service him, or her friend the priestess could do that as well. She'd never thought about it before and found it both a little disturbing and yet exciting as well, since it would remove her ability to worry and dither in the unlikely circumstance that they really wanted her.

"Yes," she began, "but --"

"So then," he whispered, "it follows that I could command you to a degree, yes?"

"Yes," she whispered, "but -- "

She heard Nisi-ini-su begin to giggle quietly just as he chuckled and sighed to himself.

"You find yourself here with another hen, warrior," the priestess laughed softly, "We are all around you. You are without hope."

"It seems so, this is how the rumors about me begin."

Timna felt his smile. "Listen then, Timna the lovely hen. If something like this happens, and I tell you to come and share our warmth, then you are to take it as my command to you."

"I did not want to disturb you," she whispered very softly.

"Think of it from our side, Timna. We could not go on, knowing that you are cold on a night this damp. That is why we stopped and why you are here with us now."

He felt Timna's nod and Nisi-ini-su kissed her cheek.

"I think that you should kiss our friend, fighter," the priestess whispered, "It is only right, since with her here, we are already growing warm and I like the thought of it. She is always so quiet and reserved. Now we have her here with us and I would show her what she means to us while we have the chance of it. In fact," she giggled, "I think that we should take turns," she said softly in a rather decided tone.

Timna's eyes flew open, "But --"

He chuckled, "I think that you should kiss her first, beauty. I have never seen this between women before and since Timna still makes the sounds here, I think of you with a mouthful of feathers."

She felt her friend's hand on her breast, the thumb and forefinger finding their way to her nipple. In another second, Timna gasped in spite of herself.

"Timna," she whispered, "If you wish it, we will both love you tonight. He would see what he wonders about, and you would know a little of how we both feel about the one who works so hard for us from dawn to dusk. I know that I would like to see him love you as well and I would have my pleasure regardless. Lugalbanda and I both know that you are shy with us. There is no one here to see us now. You may ask him if it is so yourself, but our Ba'al here favors you and has often told me that he likes how you look to him. If you wish, let him love you for a time tonight. I would not mind it at all."