Lost at Sea Bk. 02 Ch. 09

"What? You too?" Janie shook her head. "Why?"

"Ye're not the only one who gets a thrill outtae being watched, lass," Captain Vex grinned.

Janie rolled her eyes. "Fine. Here's what I want then. You two pretend you can't see us or hear us."

"Oh, very interesting," Bella smiled slyly.

"If it gets out of hand I'm blowing out the candles," Janie warned.

"I'm going tae need another drink!" Captain Vex said, getting up from her chair and collecting her cup, and Bella's.

"You know you don't have to do this at all, right? You can still tell him to shove off," Bella liked pushing Janie's boundaries, but she wanted to make sure she wasn't going too far.

"I know. Thank you. I think having an audience will help keep me in character," Janie said, her bright red lips curling upward behind her veil.

Janie hung a cloth over the mirror and took a few moments to set up the room to her liking. Walking out into the Lounge at Mary's felt like she was stepping into another world. She'd been watching through the mirror for long enough that the bar in Barcola felt like where she'd been, not here in Prince's Cove.

Caine caught her eye. He nodded to the end of the bar where John sat speaking with Ruby the bartender. She gave him a nod of thanks and took a deep breath. Posture was the most important part of Sister Evangelina. She straightened, walking high and proud. As long as she felt like she was as tall as she could be it was easy to hold onto Evangelina's aloof arrogance. She glided up behind John and cleared her throat.

John turned and nearly spilled his drink. "Sister, I-"

"Come with me," she ordered. She did not wait to see if he obeyed. She turned away and walked back to Bella's alcove on gliding steps.

When John crossed the threshold she closed the curtain with a snap. "Take off your shirt," she ordered. He did, then dropped it on the floor.

"What are we, heathens? There is a coat hook on the wall. Use it," Evangelina glared. John picked up his shirt and hung it, feeling a bit anxious but still excited.

Sister Evangelina pointed to a chair near the wall. It was sturdy and wooden with an upholstered cushion and a narrow back support across the top. Behind it was a strange oval window. "Sit."

John sat.

"The other way. Straddle it. Face the wall," Sister Evangelina demanded as though she were speaking to a fool. John stood up and turned around. His brows furrowed as he got a good look at the enchanted mirror for the first time. To him it looked like a strange window. He could see a woman with rich, dark curls lounging against the wooden wall sipping her drink.

"Sit on your hands," Evangelina ordered. John did as he was told, adjusting a bit for comfort. Sister Evangelina paced in front of him. His eyes flicked from the window to her stern, veiled face as she blocked his view. She raised one heeled foot and planted it on the chair seat a finger-width from his groin. His eyes went wider. "You may not move. You may not touch me, or yourself. You will keep your eyes forward at all times. If you do not wish to follow these rules you may leave whenever you wish. Do you understand?"

John nodded. Sister Evangelina paced around behind him again letting him focus on the strange window and the pretty dark haired woman on the other side.

"What's this? Isn't that the fortune teller? I thought she was gone?" John said.

"She clearly is not," Sister Evangelina said haughtily. "She is right next door. This window was installed by her to keep a watchful eye on her apprentice. It is ensorcelled with witchcraft so that it cannot be seen from the other side. She does not know we are here."

Bella toyed with the hem of her blouse and idly adjusted her breasts to they were more comfortable and more prominent. She stared off into the distance, watching something John couldn't see. His eyes went a bit wider. He swallowed. "Should we be watching this?"

"No," Sister Evangelina said simply. "Do you wish to stop watching?"

John made no move to leave. "What is she doing?"

"Waiting for her lover," Evangelina explained. Her hands came to rest on the back of the chair, her fingers just barely brushing John's shoulders. The slight contact felt warmer than it should have. For some reason he was hyper aware of her touch.

A curvaceous blond stepped into view, putting a cup down in front of the fortune teller and leaning over. Their lips met. John's pulse quickened. "Thanks for keepin' my chair warm, gorgeous," the blond drawled. She sounded like a seafarer from the northern islands. The brunette smiled and stood up, stepping to the side to let the blond sit down. As soon as she was settled she abruptly reached out, grabbed the fortune teller around the waist, and pulled. With a startled squeak the brunette plunked down into the blond woman's lap. They kissed again.

"An honorable man would leave now," Sister Evangelina said firmly. "This is not for your eyes."

"I... I know," John said. He sounded a bit short of breath.

"Why are you still here?" Sister Evangelina asked.

"They're just so..." his voice trailed off.

"If they knew you were watching they would not be happy," Sister Evangelina warned. One of the women on the other side of the window snorted and laughed, whispering something into her lover's ear. They both laughed again.

"Why did you show me then?" John asked. The blond began undoing the buttons on the brunette's vest with one hand as the brunette kissed the blond's neck.

"To remind you that you are weak. That you deserve to be punished," Sister Evangelina replied coldly. "The door is three paces away. You may leave."

"I don't want to," John said hesitantly.

A slap rang out and a fraction of an instant later his back stung. His head snapped around to reveal Sister Evangelina holding a riding crop. She brought it to his face and pushed, turning his head around again. "Eyes front," she said firmly.

"Why did you hit me?" John asked. The fortune teller's vest hung open and the blond was gently squeezing her lover's huge breasts through her peasant blouse.

"Because you deserve to be punished. You know what you are doing is wrong, yet you choose to do it anyway." Sister Evangelina explained. She sounded terse, but sympathetic. "There must be a price for such immorality."

The blond's fingers pinched gently. The brunette gasped and bit her lip.

"If you choose to stay, you are choosing to accept the consequences," Sister Evangelina said. John took a deep breath and nodded.

The blond hooked a finger in the fortune teller's blouse and pulled down slowly. Inch by inch olive-toned cleavage came into view.

"You should look away, John," Sister Evangelina whispered. She was close, her breath tickled his ear. John did not look away. The fortune teller's massive breasts popped free of the blouse all at once and the riding crop cracked down on John's back. He winced, but groaned a little in frustration, trying to adjust himself on the chair without letting his hands free from where he sat on them.

The blond's hungry mouth latched onto one of the fortune teller's rosey nipples making her mewl and whimper. She took a shuddering breath. So did John.

The blond lifted one of the brunette's legs and put it on the table next to them. Then she lifted the other and propped it up on something John couldn't see. The fortune teller's legs were spread wide. Her multi-colored dress draped loosely across her thighs. John squirmed more in his chair. The blond ran her hand up the inside of the the fortune teller's leg. It disappeared under the colorful skirt. A moment later the fortune teller's back arched. She moaned again. Her hips began rolling as the blond's hand worked beneath the skirts. She ran her hands into her lover's hair, pulling the blond ponytail free and taking a double handful of golden locks.

The blond switched nipples again and did something with her hand that made the fortune teller shudder. "Oh good gods, yes," the fortune teller growled throaty and low. "Keep doing that."

The sting of the crop rang out on John's back again. He winced, but kept watching. He'd accepted his punishment and was no longer fighting, nor even speaking as he stared through the strange window. In that moment, Janie came to a decision. She hit him again, harder. He winced but continued to watch the fortune teller build towards orgasm.

"They are beautiful, aren't they?" Sister Evangelina asked, whispering into John's ear. His loins quivered at her voice. He was already painfully hard, and just squirming in his seat was enough to build him up. Everything seemed amplified.

"Yes," he and the brunette said at the same time. She arched her back hard and shuddered again, an orgasm rolling through her. The blond worked her hand harder and faster, grinning with pride as she watched her lover squirm.

John's hand came out from beneath him and rubbed the front of his crotch. He tried to hold back, but couldn't. With a shuddering breath his own orgasm came. Sister Evengelina struck him twice more. Rather than ruining the sensation, somehow it made it sharper. John sheepishly tucked his hand beneath his thigh again.

"You failed the test, John. You failed in every possible way," Sister Evangelina walked over to the mirror and pulled a cover across it. John could see the stern countenance of her beautiful face even through the veil.

"It just got to be too much, they were too..." he trailed off.

"You are a weak-willed man with no ethical foundation, and not even being corrected and punished is enough to right your path," Sister Evangelina admonished.

John looked confused. "I know. That's why I came to you. I like how you teach."

He began to stand up. The riding crop pushed down on his shoulder keeping him in the chair. "I did not tell you that you could move." He relaxed back into the chair. "Is the lesson what the instructor teaches, or what the student learns?" Sister Evangelina asked sharply.

"I don't know. Probably what is learned?" John replied.

"Then there is no lesson at all, for you have learned nothing," Evangelina snapped. "Did you enjoy this session more or less than the last one?"

"More," John admitted. Semen was soaking through the front of his pants and he was starting to feel uncomfortable. This wasn't what he thought he was paying for.

"Why?" Evangelina asked.

"Because they were sexy," John shrugged. "I liked watching."

"You saw less. My Acolyte Tonya showed you a great deal more," Evangelina pointed out.

"Yeah, but..." John trailed off.

"You liked that they did not know you were there?" Evangelina asked.

John nodded.

"And that is where you failed this test. Tonya was willing. You had her express permission to watch her," Evangelina said bitterly. "That was the lesson you refused to learn. You were told expressly that you could leave at any time, reminded that you were intruding on a private moment, and punished for your transgression. Then, on top of it all, you broke one of my own rules. You stopped sitting on your hands."

"It was all just too good. Too much. I..." John was starting to look upset and angry.

"Leave. Think on tonight and choose differently in the future," Evangelina said. She sounded sad to him.

He stood up. "This isn't what I wanted. I'm not paying for this," he was angry now.

"I have not asked for your money, nor do I want it," Sister Evangelina said firmly.

John looked like he was about to take a step towards her. She raised one eyebrow in challenging defiance. "I liked you," he said bitterly.

"Make yourself worthy of me and perhaps one day I will like you as well," Sister Evangelina replied, unmoved and unmoving. "Now go."

John left through the curtain in a huff.

Janie waited, counting to ten slowly before finally letting out a long breath of air and relaxing. Her whole carriage changed. Her hands were shaking slightly. That had not gone the way she wanted it to. She turned and pulled the cover back off the mirror. Bella and Belita had made themselves presentable again and were looking at her with concern.

"Caught most o' that,' Belita said. "It dinnae sound good."

"No. Things definitely got out of hand. I... I don't know what I was thinking,' Janie said. "I knew I wanted to try to get him to make an ethical choice, but I had no plan for what I would do if he refused. It just didn't occur to me that a person would do that."

Bella laughed, the stopped herself. "Sorry. I shouldn't laugh. It's just... Janie, you're wonderful, but for all your insights into the truth and people's motivations, you're a bit naive about human nature."

"Ye want tae see the best in everyone," the Captain nodded, agreeing with Bella but also understanding Janie's plight a bit better. She nudged her cabin girl. "Unlike this one, who's suspicious o' th' worst right away, an' waits to see who proves her wrong."

"Is it that obvious?" Bella said.

"I dinnae have Janie's insight, but I've met plenty o' sailors tha' have that same outlook. There's a few of 'em on my ship right now," Captain Vex shrugged. "It don't make ye bad, just hard tae get close with."

Bella nodded, but changed the subject back to Janie. "Are you alright?"

"Yes." Janie said, then changed her mind. "No? I'm not sure yet. Sorry to put you both in that situation. It wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I think I bit off more than I could chew."

"Happens tae everyone from time tae time. Best ye can do is chew slow, but keep chewin'." Belita smiled.

"I don't know, I think I've had my fill of that particular meal for a while. Sister Evangelina is retiring as of now," Janie said. "I'll still use her as a disguise, but I won't be taking any more clients."

"I know I encouraged you, but I was surprised you wanted to in the first place," Bella said with a sympathetic smile.

Janie shook her head, still feeling a bit overwhelmed. "I wanted to see if I could. There's been so many changes lately that I no longer knew where my limits and boundaries were. I suppose now I do."

"Sister Evangelina seems to specialize in setting and testing boundaries," Bella teased.

"That's true," Janie smiled. "So what now?"

"Well, my cabin girl owes me an orgasm," Captain Vex said conversationally. "Want to watch?"

Janie's eyes lit up. She felt like she needed a distraction. This sounded perfect. She nodded with slightly shy enthusiasm.

Captain Vex adjusted in her seat and spread her strong legs, propping one heeled boot on the table. Bella's delicate fingers undid the laces of Captain Vex's breeches and slid beneath her beltline. The Captain smiled like a cat with feathers in it's mouth and gave Janie a slow wink.

_____________________

Will needed to take care of his bleeding hand, but he didn't want to lose his companions, so he walked towards the merchant Lace had gone to. She was next in line when he arrived.

"I need to find a doctor." he said without preamble as she handed her cup to the merchant.

She glanced at him in surprise, and then spied his bloody hand. "Can't leave you alone for five minutes."

Will shrugged, holding his hand away from himself so he didn't drip blood on his clothes. "Nope. Jack's getting her face painted at the Traveler's shrine. Can you tell her? I'm going to go ask where I can find someone who can tell me if this needs stitches."

"Doctor Sam's place is right over d'er," the wine merchant said. His grasp of the mainland tongue was heavily accented, but pointing was a universal form of communication. Will followed the man's gesture to see a large house right in the middle of the street they were on. "May be out, he, but dat's where I'd be looking," the wine seller said helpfully.

"Thanks," Will said. Lace put an extra coin in the man's hand as she paid him for her drink. Will started making his way through the crowd again. Lace caught up. "So what happened?"

"A kid tried to pick-pocket me. Cut my purse-strings. I slapped his hand and hit his knife. Didn't lose my purse though," Will was trying to make light of the situation, but he was annoyed that his night of revelry had turned into bleeding on the street.

"Bad luck," Lace said, concerned.

"Always," Will said bitterly.

"I'll go let Jack know. We'll probably be there a while. If your doctor isn't here, come find us," Lace said. Will nodded and she disappeared into the crowd.

The doctor's house was the biggest one on the street. It was fairly new construction, built in a mostly Imperial style. It had two front doors at the top of a short flight of stone steps, separated by a wrought iron fence. A painted sign labeled the left door "Patients." He walked up the stairs and knocked. No one answered. He went back down and around the iron fence to the other door and knocked on that one. No one answered. His curse was still humming in his head making him feel a bit like he was dreaming. Resigned to his bad luck he sighed and turned away just as the door opened.

"Yes," a lilting, feminine voice asked. He turned around and saw a gorgeous woman in white with a skull painted on her face.

"Is the doctor in?" Will asked, still holding his hand off the porch. Blood was freely dripping. "I can pay."

The woman's eyes went wide as she saw the blood. "Can help you, I."

"You're the doctor?" Will asked. He was surprised. The woman before him was painted like a flower-decorated skeleton wearing white dress clothes. She only had one button keeping her impressive chest from being exposed. He wasn't sure what he'd expected the doctor to look like, but this definitely wasn't it.

"My grandfather is the doctor of the house, but a doctor, am I. Go to the other door." The door in front of him shut. He shook his head and went back down the stairs and up the ones in front of the other door again. This entire night was becoming a bit silly. The patient door opened and the woman in white handed him a cloth. "Try not to drip on anything." He wrapped his hand and followed her inside. They went through a small parlor that had been converted into a receiving room, and into an examination room.

"Sit there and look away please," she said pointing to a chair next to the sink. "Need to change my coat."

Will sat as instructed and turned his head. He was struck with a moment of ethical conflict as he realized that the examination room was full of reflectors and mirrors. There was even a polished steel table. He looked three different directions, and each time he could plainly see the attractive doctor's back as she shucked off her dress coat. He was about to look at the floor, but did a double take. Rising out of the hem of her breeches were a pair of white serpentine tattoos that snaked up her back, over her shoulders and down her arms. He stared at the gorgeous woman's slightly distorted image in the reflector, then caught himself as she pulled another coat off a hook on the wall, turning as she did and revealing a full and nicely rounded breast. He looked at the floor quickly and tried to ignore the sudden tightening of his pants.

After another few moments of rustling fabric the Doctor pulled a stool over and sat in front of the sink. She'd replaced her white dress jacket with a longer doctor's smock. It was still white, but dingier and older, and obviously made for someone much larger than she was. It was closed with three buttons down the front and made her look a bit like a child trying on her father's clothes. She rolled her sleeves up and then took the cloth away from his wound.

"I am Doctor Kalfou," the attractive woman said."What happened?"

"A kid tried to rob me. I kept my purse, but got myself a nice cut for my trouble," Will answered.

"The street children are notorious thieves here. Most do not notice until they purses are gone," the Doctor said, keeping up conversation as she lit a candle in front of a reflector and took a look at the wound.