How Hazel Became Oak

"Alright," I nodded in agreement.

She continued, "I'd suggest that we allow Ash and Willow to prepare her. They know what needs to be done and we can leave it to them."

"Agreed," I said. "I was surprised not to find them here tonight." I smiled, "But I'm glad now that they weren't"

"No, that might have made for a different evening altogether." Beth laughed. She lifted a foot to her lips and kissed my toes. "I need you to prepare me," she looked into my eyes, "tonight was special Hazel but we need to be practical about the ceremony. We will follow the normal liturgy with the Awakening and Arousal. What is critically important is that Eve and I orgasm simultaneously. I will be kneeling between Eve's legs, much as you were kneeling between mine just now. You will be immediately behind me." She reached out and put her hand over mine. "I already know you have wonderful hands, look at that." She gestured to the front of her robe where the obvious protrusion of her nipples betrayed her thoughts. "My breasts are asking for more just at the thought of them."

"I think we need to practice that's all." I was trying to keep my cool, in the presence of an ongoing foot massage and the thought of those pert nipples aching for my tongue. "But not tonight please, let's go to bed."

And so we did. We showered and performed the evening ritual together, and slept naked in her big cool bed, with its crisp cotton sheets, our bodies touching because we could not bear to be parted, until the pale sun of the autumn morning heralded the start of a new day.

*****

As arranged, I met Eve again, and over the course of an evening together, won her trust to the point at which she felt able to share some of her most intimate secrets. I was sure that we could incorporate them into the ceremony. I put to her the specific question that the High Priestess had insisted that I ask.

"Do you ever have fantasies about being restrained or tied up?" I asked, without really knowing the purpose of my question.

"No, it's not something I have thought much about," she replied after thinking it over. "It's not something I'd be averse to," she said, "just not at the top of my list of turn- ons. I think I already told you about those." She said, looking a little embarrassed.

"She fantasises about having her toes sucked, that's very interesting," said Beth when I related our discussion. She looked thoughtful and a little sad. "That's one of the things Sarah loved. It can't be just a coincidence can it?"

"These things are beyond me I'm afraid," I replied. "I don't have your vision, but it's easy to incorporate that into the arousal, so let's do it. Who did we say would be at her feet during the ceremony?"

"Rowan and Aspen," she said.

I smiled, "I'll talk to them, knowing those two they will be more than willing."

"So you think the rumours are accurate do you," the High Priestess smiled too.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I played the innocent, but it was true. Rowan and Aspen were twins, with a robust and obvious sex drive and there were stories, probably untrue mind, that they enjoyed an adventurous and uninhibited private life. It was also rumoured that if there were two few partners they were not averse to sharing one. Any questions I might have as to their motives put to one side, I knew that if there were toes to be sucked, Rowan and Aspen would give of their inventive best.

"Anything else special we should know?" The High Priestess asked.

"No. I don't think so," I replied. She seems an oral person, the more the sisters can use their mouths the better she will like it. Focus on her breasts, nipples, ear lobes, belly, the other obvious places but not her anus, she's not keen on that."

Beth nodded thoughtfully, "what about the restraint, she has no fantasies in that direction does she? We are going to have to tie her hands and feet to the altar"

"Not that she mentioned, but its surely not usual for the Chosen One to be bound during the Great Rite, at least not unless it's one of their own fantasies." I was surprised at this turn of the conversation.

"No", said the High Priestess, "its highly unusual, but this is a special case. I believe Sarah's soul is partly animating Eve's body. We can't know to what extent, but if we are successful in freeing Sarah there is no telling how Eve will react. At the moment of separation her body may try and move with the departing soul. The sisters may be unable to prevent Eve leaving the sacred circle and that is potentially catastrophic. I will create charmed bonds that will hold Eve in place, regardless of what happens." She paused and then said more quietly, "and if it is not Sarah whose soul I perceive, but some force for ill that blinds me with my own lost love, then it will be loath to leave her body and I must force it against its will. In that case, the bonds will even more be needed, for the safety of us all. Eve did not express any aversion to restraint, did she?"

"None at all", I said. The High Priestess looked relieved.

"That is for the good," she said. In fact if she had not been willing to be bound we would have needed to find another Chosen One. It would have been too dangerous to proceed."

*****

The morning after our beautiful evening of lovemaking Beth and I agreed that we would maintain our focus on the preparations for the Great Rite and put our personal feelings for each other to one side, at least until the ceremony was over. For me the evening had been a revelation, I simply adored Beth, I was certain that I had found my soul-mate. I knew Beth loved me, but there was no closure for her.

Until that evening Sarah had been so real to her that she had deprived herself of sexual pleasure for more than four years. I knew from wonderful personal experience that Beth was a sensuous and passionate woman who knew how to give and receive pleasure and I hoped and believed that our lovemaking would start the process of healing her soul. But I also knew that Beth would be trapped in her grief for Sarah, for as long as she believed Sarah's soul to be trapped in Eve's body.

While I believe in the possibility of such things, I had no direct experience of them. All I could do was put my trust in my High Priestess and help her to make the Great Rite a success. My lot was not after all so terrible. My job was to bring the woman I adored, who happened to have the body of an angel, to orgasm more-or-less on demand and for that I would need to learn her needs almost literally inside and out.

I was a very keen pupil. On many evenings the High Priestess would kneel naked in front of her sofa -- which was the same height as the altar would be. She would lean forward onto the cushions of the sofa, mimicking the posture she would adopt when pleasuring the Chosen One while I, also naked, knelt behind her, performing the Awakening with sensual oils, massaging them into her body, caressing her breasts, teasing her nipples into hypersensitive peaks. I found she loved me to massage the souls of her feet and I would start there, my fingers, slick with oil, siding easily between her toes.

As the Awakening moved into Arousal proper I would perform long slow movements, from the soles of her feet, over her calves and inner thighs to finish between her legs. She would moan and open her legs and I became adept at a movement with the fingers of one hand in which I could on alternating strokes massage her clit and penetrate her from behind. while using the other to caress her breasts, nipples and belly. I learned to tell when she would orgasm by the tenor of her breathing and the tension in her muscles. More importantly I learned how to keep her on the brink of Orgasm by a subtle changes of pressure and avoidance of her most sensitive sources of pleasure. From there I could bring on her Climax in seconds, by the simple act of penetrating her deeply with one hand while massaging her clit with the fingers of the other. The longer I held her at bay the more intense her Orgasm would be. I hoped fervently that the Chosen One would be slow to Orgasm, for the power of the High Priestess's sacred climax, combined with that of Eve, would surely be enough to free Sarah, and on that I believed my future happiness might depend.

After our sessions the High Priestess would be exhausted. Her orgasms were so powerful they drained her. I would kiss her, help her shower off the oils and put her to bed. She would fall into a deep sleep as soon as her head touched her pillow. I would cover her and say over her the ritual of protection that she was too exhausted to utter for herself. Then I would return alone to my own small house, eat a simple meal and go to bed thinking of the woman at whose side I yearned to sleep. Some nights, when I could not sleep I would pleasure myself, picturing her slim form as she had been on that evening as her fingers worked their magic on my body and I would fall asleep, longing for the time when Hazel need no longer practice the sacred rite on her High Priestess and Beth and I might become true lovers again.

*****

Eventually the 31st October arrived and we gathered for the ceremony. Eve was left in the capable hands of Ash and Willow, they bathed her and adorned her body with the sacred signs. I saw her only briefly during the day as I had much to prepare on own account but she looked calm and her simple beauty was undiminished. My main task during the day had been to supervise the preparation of the ceremonial chamber, laying it out as the Lore prescribed. The centrally placed altar was the focal point of the room and we had had it made specially by a local carpenter. It took the form of a horizontal St Andrew's Cross, overlaid by a narrow rectangular platform. on which the Chosen One would lie, her limbs supported by the extended arms of the cross. The whole altar was raised to a height of roughly a metre from the ground, a comfortable height for the kneeling sisters during the ceremony. Rings of shining brass were securely fastened at the end of each arm of the cross, to which the wrists and ankles of the Chosen One would be tied.

At the appointed time The High Priestess led our small procession into the room. She was followed by the Chosen One, dressed in a pure white ankle length robe, escorted by Willow and then by Rowan and Aspen, Ash and I, walking in pairs. Dressed in our long ceremonial robes of deepest crimson, each of us fresh from our pre-ritual bathing, we moved silently on bare feet into the warmth of the chamber.

The Chamber was large and circular. Around its edges sat the sisters, almost the whole coven was present to witness this, perhaps the most Important ceremony we had ever conducted. They too dressed in their ceremonial robes. The chamber was illuminated by the light of many candles and their soft flickering glow, reflecting off the ancient patina of the walls, made the chamber warm and inviting. Above, the domed ceiling painted a deep midnight blue was hardly visible, but the thousands of small gold stars painted on it reflected the candle light. The effect was astonishing, it had never failed to take my breath away and tonight it looked particularly lovely.

In the centre of the chamber stood the altar, covered by a cloth in the same deep blue as the dome above it, its four brass rings, freshly polished, shining in the lambent light.

Willow led the Chosen One to the altar and bade her be seated. She sat demurely at the crux of the altar with her back to the fire sign, her hands crossed in her lap and her small bare feet protruding from beneath the snow-white robe. If she was nervous at what was to come the Chosen One did not betray it. She seemed calm and resolute. She sat quite still and looked steadily ahead as we sisters arranged ourselves around her, each in our appointed position. We waited silently while the High Priestess cast the circle -- creating the sacred space in which we would perform the rite.

Having completed the preparation of the room, the High Priestess returned to join us, standing facing the Chosen One. I quietly slipped into my place behind her. She stood silently for a few moments, looking at each of us in turn before turning her steady gaze on the Chosen One. Apparently satisfied with what she saw, she broke the silence.

"Sisters let us begin."

So saying, she brought her hands up to her throat, finding the small golden clasp holding her robe in place. Loosening it, she eased the robe from her shoulders and lowered it to her waist before allowing it to fall to the floor behind her. Her naked body shone in the firelight, the flickering shadows playing over the soft curves of her limbs. I had not seen the High Priestess during the week of our preparatory fast and I was shocked. She looked almost transparent, like a wraith. The lithe body I remembered so well was painfully thin. And yet she moved with the grace of a ballet dancer and there was an indomitable spirit evident in her posture as she took a small step forward, leaving the discarded robe behind. Putting this small distance between her naked self and her discarded clothing symbolising the transition from the physical to the spiritual and, for this rite especially, the platonic to the sexual.

I looked at the Chosen One. She gazed wide-eyed at the High Priestess, her lips slightly parted, her breathing quickened. I wondered what was going through her mind. Was she mentally preparing for the crucial role she was to play in the ritual? I hoped so, but perhaps her mind was on a more earthly plane as her senses absorbed the vision of naked loveliness before her. At least it seemed so to me as she shifted her position, parting her knees slightly and curling her toes into the lush rug beneath her feet. And surely the clear outline of her nipples, newly visible through the sheer white fabric of her robe could not be the result of cold, for the room was comfortably warm. I could not blame her if her thoughts were turned to the anticipation of the pleasures to come, mine too were not confined to the spiritual plane.

The Chosen One could not take her eyes off the High Priestess. Though to my loving eyes she seemed diminished, even so she was a wonderful sight. The simple elegance of her posture, proud breasts with their delicate upturned nipples, flat stomach and neatly-trimmed triangle of dark pubic hair below was a picture of physical perfection. Her hair was tied back in a long pony-tail so the elegant curve of her neck was the more obvious and her deep, dark eyes seemed enormous set against the pale oval of her face. Her skin was virtually flawless, smooth and glowing with health, marred only by the small scar just below her belly button -- the result, I knew, of surgery to remove her appendix when she was in her teens. Far from detracting from her beauty, this slight imperfection served to emphasise it, giving her a humanity that might otherwise have been lost in the physical perfection of her body.

We sisters watched the High Priestess, waiting for her sign. When, after a few moments of stillness, the almost imperceptible nod came, we followed her example and with practiced ease slipped out of our robes and stepped away from them, tightening the circle around the altar increasing the intimacy of the group. The Chosen One looked around at us with the ghost of a smile on her lips. She knew the overall form the rite, of course, but we had not explained the details to her, preferring the erogenous effect of the element of surprise to play its part in her arousal. She surely was speculating now on precise role of the six women ranged around her.

I looked around at my fellow sisters, each of us chosen specifically to celebrate this rite. We were by no means a typical cross-section of the members of our coven, we were all young, and conventionally physically attractive with our slim, well-shaped figures. Of course our appearance had been an important factor in our selection. The High Priestess looked around the circle approvingly, clearly happy with what she saw.

The High Priestess spoke the words of welcome, and the coven made their responses, then she approached the Chosen One.

"Eve, you have been Chosen for this sacred rite. Do you come willingly to this place, knowing that even at this final time of asking you may freely take a different path?

I held my breath. The chamber was completely still.

"I do," came the quietly but firmly spoken words. I breathed again, and there was palpable relief in the chamber. The High Priestess showed no sign of the enormous relief she must have felt, but approached the Altar and placing her hands the Chosen One's shoulders leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

"Please stand, "she said and the Chosen One raised herself from the altar and stood before the High Priestess. The High Priestess kissed her on the forehead once more, then, with slender fingers began to undo the long row of buttons that held the pristine white robe together. I watched, remembering the delights that those nimble fingers had coaxed from my willing body, there in front of the fire only a few weeks ago. I felt my nipples harden and a familiar moistening between my legs, just at the memory. "Not your turn Hazel," I told myself crossly and tried to drag my thoughts back to the room.

With the final button undone, the High Priestess eased the robe over the shoulders of the Chosen One and let it fall to the floor. An audible gasp of admiration from the coven came, as the Chosen One was revealed in her simple beauty. For a second or two she appeared to me as a classical nude might have posed for a renaissance artist, upright, pale-skinned and firm breasted but there the similarity ended. The smouldering sensuality evident in the uplift of her chin, her proud breasts with their hard, protruding nipples, the tangible aura of her desire was rarely captured in the stylised artworks of ancient Greece or Rome.

Willow and Ash had excelled themselves in adorning her body. A beautiful henna tattoo curled around her breasts, traced an elegant filigree pattern across her belly, outlining her navel and coming to a point exactly at her labia. It was a work of art and must have taken hours of patient work. It emphasised her curves to perfection.

"You may sit down," The High Priestess spoke quietly to the Chosen One and she obeyed, seating herself at the crux of the cross. The High Priestess beckoned the celebrants forward and they took up their places, standing around the Chosen One, one sister at each arm of the cross.

The High Priestess took up her own position, lowering herself gracefully to her knees in front of Chosen One who remained seated.

"We begin the awakening with the five-fold kiss," she said and spoke the words we knew so well.

Placing her hands on the Chosen One's feet, she began.

"Blessed be thy feet, that have brought thee in these ways." Then, leaning forward, she kissed the feet of the Chosen one, just behind her toes, first the right and then the left.

Raising herself she reached out, placing her hands on the Chosen One's knees, saying, "Blessed be thy knees, that shall kneel at the sacred altar," and, as before, she lowered her head and gently kissed both knees. The High Priestess paused for a moment, looking round the circle. This was the moment of departure for us all, did she seek re- assurance. I nodded almost imperceptibly as her eyes held mine, not granting permission but acknowledging the burden of responsibility that was hers and encouraging her to continue. Her face was slightly flushed, perhaps it was the exertion of bending to kiss The Chosen One's feet and knees or perhaps, like me, it was the rising excitement that brought a hint of colour to her cheeks.

I could not read the High Priestess clearly but she returned to her task with her customary grace, placing her hands once more on The Chosen One's knees but now gently parting her legs and positioning herself between them she heralded the third kiss with the words, "Blessed be thy womb, without which we would not be," before bowing her head to place her lips on the tender skin of the Chosen One's belly, just above her vulva. This time she lingered a little over the kiss, inhaling deeply as if savouring the scent of the woman. The touch of her lips brought the first small gasp of pleasure from the Chosen One.