Abroad Ch. 14

By the end of the week Anne had satisfied all of the men at least once, and the commander allowed her Sunday off.

Tired from her exertions, she slept well past dawn. It was broad daylight when she woke to see Dora standing over her and knelt at the woman's feet.

"Stand up." Releasing the bracelets, she told her girl to raise her arms.

She took a large earthenware bowl from a table and dipped a hand in it. Her fingers were covered with oil. She proceeded to apply it to every part of Anne's body.

It had a fragrant scent of rose or passionflower; Anne breathed it in as the woman rubbed it on her shoulders, then her breasts. She applied it carefully to the nipples, then lifted them to reach the fold beneath as Anne sighed with pleasure.

Then the belly and the thighs. Skipped over the fleecy triangle between, saving that for later.

She stepped behind Anne and applied a coat to her back and legs before massaging it into her buttocks. Anne grew wet and started to moan without noticing she was.

"Open your legs." Familiar with this command Anne complied at once, almost losing her balance in haste.

The old woman dipped her hand once more into the oil and raised it between Anne's thighs; Anne closed her eyes and started to tremble as the hand touched her womb.

She could not remember what happened next, only that she was on her knees shaking as Dora dried her hand. She remained there while Dora fed her, and bent to her water bowl afterwards.

Dora bound her hands, leashed her, and drove her outside up a forest path into the jungle.

Recovering her awareness, she looked about her. It had rained overnight and the air was clean and fresh. The path beneath her feet was soft with damp fallen leaves. Here and there she saw the eyes of small creatures watching them pass up the trail, and a distant view of the sea beyond. She rejoiced in the green-tinged sunlight that filtered through the trees overhead, happy to be naked on her leash.

After a period of easy ascent, they came to a side trail edged with round pink stones and turned onto it. It led to a grassy circle ringed with huts. In the center was a rectangular mass of pink marble; an altar.

At their approach a dozen young women, nude like Anne, emerged from each of the huts except for one structure that was larger than the rest.

A dozen pairs of soft hands lifted Anne and laid her gently on the altar. Four of the girls held her hands and feet down at each corner.

Anne was dismayed that she was to be sacrificed with so little notice or ceremony; but she had expected this ever since she arrived in the country. She took a deep slow breath to calm herself; she was ready.

A cloth in the doorway of the large hut was drawn back and a woman like the others, a little taller maybe, approached. She wore a diadem of gold around her forehead but nothing else.

She did not carry a knife; Anne was to be strangled then. She raised her neck for the woman's convenience.

The priestess smiled. No, her life would not be taken; this was a sisterhood of the goddess of love.

At a nod from her, eight pairs of hands caressed Anne's arms and legs, moving slowly toward the center of her body. She saw what Dora had oiled her for.

They continued to progress inward past her elbows and knees, gently stretching her skin and relaxing it in waves. Anne began to moan. Her head swung and a pair of hands held it firmly in place.

This continued for she did not know how long: her breasts and belly received their full share of attention until she was moaning and weeping continuously.

When the priestess decided her subject was ready, she leaned forward and extended a soft wet tongue into Anne's most intimate space. Anne felt her hips thrusting in the motions of love before a wave of amorous heat consumed her.

The priestess withdrew and let her movements subside. It was a minute or two before Anne could open her eyes and look up at the sky; and a dozen girls looking back at her.

They lifted her up and set her on the grass. Too weak to stand, she knelt at the feet of the woman who had brought her such ecstasy.

Sofia gave her name and explained. This sorority of the goddess consisted of a dozen vestals (virgins who abstained from coupling with men) and one chosen each month for the role of priestess.

They entertained guests like Anne in service to their divine patron; all women were welcome to receive this devotion.

They were about to take their midday meal. Anne and Dora were invited to share it with the company.

Dora shook Anne's leash (she noticed it remained on her neck) and the group proceeded to an area where bowls of food were set up.

Dora fastened Anne's bracelets in back, told her to kneel and stood behind her; the older woman would dine later.

The mealtime arrangement of this convent was unusual; six pairs of girls knelt opposite one another, each with a spoon and a bowl of porridge. They took turns feeding their partner.

Anne was placed opposite Sofia, but with her hands tied she would be unable to feed the priestess. She noticed there was only one bowl between them.

Sofia explained; she would not take any food today. She pointed to a path paved with black stones that led away in the direction opposite to their entrance.

Each month at the time when the old moon had vanished and the new one not yet appeared, a new priestess was appointed. Sofia's month was up today; she would crown the new one at the end of the meal.

Then she would leave the sisterhood and go down that path to another altar a short distance away. It was made of black onyx, dedicated to the god of the underworld and served by an all-male priesthood.

She would be laid on it and lose her virginity to the entire company. Then at sundown, when neither the light of the sun or the moon illuminated the earth, she would be sent to mate with the god below.

It was the highest honor a woman of the tribe could aspire to, and she was to receive it today.

Another girl from the tribe would join the community to bring the number back up to thirteen.

She began to feed Anne, who struggled to overcome her surprise. The porridge was good, a milky mix flavored with honey and she was hungry. Forgetting Sofia's case she ate the entire contents of the bowl as the woman spooned it into her mouth.

When that was done and the vessels cleared away, they all stood. Sofia hugged each of the girls in turn.

She removed the golden diadem from her head and placed it on Pia, the girl chosen to be the next month's priestess.

She took a black ribbon, wrapped it around her neck and tied it in place. Everyone knew what that meant, including Anne who had seen girls marked this way for execution.

She turned around and put her hands behind her; her successor bound them with a golden cord.

Then she walked up to the dark path and without pausing proceeded away to be ritually deflowered, violated and sacrificed according to the ancient custom.

The other girls watched her until the path turned a corner and she disappeared from view, then clustered around the new priestess. They congratulated her on her good fortune, kissing and hugging her, stroking her breasts and buttocks. There would be a party tonight and she looked forward to a month from now when it would be her turn.

Anne heard a sound and looked toward the light-colored path. A girl of about nineteen wearing only a loincloth approached, alone and hesitant.

Pia went to her with her arms outstretched and welcomed her to the community.

Her name was Ynez. Pia asked her if she was ready to join the virgin sisterhood and she nodded yes.

Pia pointed to the loincloth; Ynez removed it and let it fall to the ground.

She was very pretty, Anne thought; small breasts and buttocks but firm and round as they should be for a girl her age. Nicely formed thighs with a small triangle of dark brown fleece between them and a flat belly. She found herself growing amorous and expected the rest of the sorority was too.

Ynez knelt at Pia's feet and recited the pledge that made her a member.

Pia pointed to the altar. Ynez rose and stood before it as eleven pairs of hands lifted her and set her on it. The sisters began to caress her as they did Anne.

After some minutes of this, when Ynez had begun to moan without stopping, Pia stepped forward and entered her. The moans increased, interspersed with sobs.

Pia worked her over for the longest time - even more than Sofia did Anne - until Ynez lost all strength and lay still.

Pia drew back and the girls released her while she recovered. She sat up blinking and the priestess said "Welcome; you are one of us now."

Ynez stood and kissed her bare feet; then she did the same for each of her new sisters.

Dora shook Anne's leash. It was time to go. They must be back to the camp before nightfall.

As they proceeded on the downhill path in the gathering darkness, they heard a woman's screams and Anne thought of Sofia.

The two stood and listened.

Another scream; then a series of them growing steadily weaker. After a minute they ceased.

"It's over", Dora said. "She did fairly well. Pia's turn next month; she'll be quieter."

They proceeded down the trail, then rested for a while near a junction with another path. As they approached it they saw a man in camouflage facing them holding a knife.

Anne jumped with fear, but the man sheathed his weapon and greeted Dora. He did not speak to Anne.

A captain in the rebel army known for his skills with the knife, he was also a member of the black order and hoped to become a priest when his term of duty was over.

He drew it out and held it up to Anne. Polished to a mirror finish, it reflected the evening sky overhead. She thought she saw flecks of red.

He held it up to her lips and she kissed it; one, two, three times before he took it away. Something made her want him to use it on her. Here, now; even a scratch with the sharp point on her belly or her breasts; she would treasure the memory.

Perhaps said Dora, they would like Anne for their rite. Her hopes soared for a moment but were crushed when he replied that was not possible; only virgins were selected to join the god below.

He went on; the rule of the order was strict. The chief priest was first to possess the chosen one; if he found she had been used before, she was strangled at once and thrown into the jungle for the jaguars.

There was an incident a year ago. A woman failed and the garrote was placed on her neck. In tears, she begged them to reconsider. No man had ever known her; but once she was out on horseback and injured it when the horse stepped in a hole.

An older priest was called over and examined her closely. He confirmed her story; the garrote was removed, she was laid back on the altar weeping with joy and the ceremony resumed.

That was not the case today. The chief priest declared Sofia intact before he used her, and the other priests followed. At the end, the captain was called upon to consummate the ceremony.

Did she give you any trouble, asked Dora.

Not really he said. She hesitated once, climbing onto the altar and lying on her back to be deflowered, but that was common and she was eased into position and held fast.

He held the knife to her lips and she kissed it before he raised it over her belly and proceeded. They might have heard her cry out; Dora said they did.

The three of them went together down the trail, Anne in front on her leash and the other two behind talking in low tones she could not overhear.

She still burned to be marked by him with the knife that had just sent Sofia to the dark god.

Perhaps Dora divined this; she said something to the captain, who poked one of Anne's buttocks with it.

Anne felt the tip pierce her flesh. Violated by him, she felt a kinship with Sofia, her sister, his grateful victim.

Ten officers used her that night on the floor of the hut. The captain was last; by the time he was done with her, she was madly in love with him though she did not know his name.

She wondered if despite her soiled condition she might still be acceptable for some lesser rite among the brotherhood.

Or even practice in performing a sacrifice, not on the sacred altar maybe but another one.