Sisterhood - Birthday Girl

The grille of the peephole slid open with the grate of wood on wood. She waited until the black gauze of a veil appeared on the other side, then spoke her name, "Lena."

Quite possibly she did not need to announce herself. The woman on the other side could see her face, and some of the women of the Order would surely know her. During her own stay at the East Wing convent some years before, Lena had met several of them. Some she had learned to recognize by their stature, by certain idiosyncracies in their bearing, or in their little gestures of communication. A few even by their smell. Curiously, many still wore perfume. But there was no telling which of them was looking out at her now.

The fabric of the veil seemed to flutter with what might have been a nod. The grille closed, there was a pause, and then the door swung inward. The door itself was a wicket within the much larger iron-studded gates that filled the arched entrance. Those looked as though they might not have opened for centuries. Presumably back when the convent had stood alone, the main gates had from time to time opened to admit deliveries by cart or on horseback. But they had ceased serving any purpose other than decorative once the building had been integrated into the Summer House.

Lena stepped over the high threshold and into the courtyard beyond. The nun, in her heavy black robe, moved aside, holding the door, then pushed it carefully closed again. Lena checked the woman's demeanor briefly, in case she wished to communicate something. Once it was clear she did not, Lena spoke again, "I'm just here to fetch Lauren."

The nun nodded and turned to walk away along the broad tunnel that formed the entrance hall of the convent. She disappeared through another wooden door.

Lena had almost added 'for a party'. But it felt strangely jarring, frivolous, to mention such things here. Senior members of the Order would of course know what Sisterhood parties were about, though they were fortunately never exposed to them first hand. But better not to remind them of it unnecessarily. The one who had admitted Lena just now, she had seemed quite young. A hint of timidity in even her minimal gestures, a sort of deference. Lena hadn't recognized her mannerisms especially. Perhaps a new one.

Lena looked around. The tunnel was spartan, plaster on stone. There was a small recess in the wall, but it was empty. Lauren would probably be with her very shortly. She didn't have much time. She also had no idea what she actually wanted to do, or to look for. Some sign, perhaps. It was futile. What she had hoped, vainly, was that one of the senior nuns would be there, or somebody else would, and that they might somehow, by some idle gesture or some miraculous inattention, betray the answer to the question that Lena was not permitted to ask: Is she here?

To ask directly after a girl in refuge was unthinkable. One of the crassest possible breaches of etiquette, and of the agreements between the Sisterhood and the religious order to which it owed its survival. But maybe, just maybe, Lena might have gotten the chance to pose a more oblique question, something apparently innocuous but suggestive, and maybe then she could have scried an answer from the reaction. After years in Sisterhood politics, she had honed an ability to read reactions. Though it probably wouldn't have served her now. She relied mainly on faces, and on voices, neither of which would have been of any use here.

If a girl in refuge wished to receive visitors, then it would be announced, and only to those from whom visits were solicited. If she did not, then she would be hidden. It was only right. The Order had provided Lena herself with the same safety and solitude when she had wanted it.

The far door slammed open and Lauren clambered out, dressed in her long black cloak. She stooped to get her head under the doorway, then as she straightened up she smiled at Lena. There was a quizzical look on Lauren's face. She was wondering why Lena had come to fetch her, no doubt. She walked over to exchange kisses on the cheek. Both of them held their silence as they exited. Nothing forbade their talking, but Lena found it proper somehow to preserve the quiet of the convent as far as possible, and above all to avoid talking about Sisterhood affairs within its walls.

Lauren followed Lena back over the threshold of the front door and into the spacious east hallway of the Summer House. "Whew," she sighed. She flapped the wings of her cloak about her, revealing the shimmering blue dress she wore underneath, "It gets kind of stifling in there after a while."

Lena extended her arm, "I remember."

As they set off northwards across the stone floor, arm in arm, Lauren leaned down to whisper, "And it doesn't help that I have a secret fetish for nuns."

Lena laughed. It was the reluctant, grumbling laugh of someone who is preoccupied but momentarily disarmed by genuine amusement.

"So you came to fetch me, huh?" Lauren's tone switched abruptly from jovial to icy stern. It was a habit of hers that persisted in catching Lena off guard.

"I thought I might just swing by," Lena smiled. She looked out across the courtyard gardens to avoid Lauren's gaze for a moment, then turned back to look up at the taller girl. She saw Lauren's eyes narrow.

"You never just swing by."

Lena knew she was going to say it before she did. She hadn't meant to, but she heard herself, "You think they've seen her?"

The subtle arch of Lauren's eyebrows seemed to signal a sort of chiding disbelief at what she was hearing, "Her?"

"Vera's girl."

"No point," Lauren sighed, "They wouldn't tell me if they had. And I certainly wouldn't tell you if they had told me."

Lena smiled sheepishly, "You might have told me without telling me."

They reached the corner of the hallway, where it turned westwards towards the entrance to the North Wing. Lauren lowered her voice a little, "That's why you shouldn't ask."

Lena cast her gaze to the floor, "Sorry."

"No matter," Lauren followed as Lena rounded the turn of the hallway, "Anyway, what's the big deal? Girls leave sometimes. They've had enough, they don't want to be here, something else. And they don't always announce it, for whatever reason they might have."

"Vera is upset about it. Her star student."

"Ohh," the low whistle of acknowledgment that passed Lauren's pursed lips carried a hint of benevolent mockery.

Lena looked away from Lauren and led her to one of the small wooden doors that punctuated the wall to their right. She opened it and the two of them unlinked arms to walk one after the other through the much smaller, narrower passage beyond. Its darkness relative to the airy space of the grand hallways was all the more glaring set against the small rectangle of blazing sunlight at its far end.

Lauren had to stoop here. Lena could sense it behind her, and hear it in Lauren's footsteps. They made their way forward in silence until the sunny aperture ahead became an open doorway onto the bright green lawn of the rear gardens.

Lena squinted as she passed through onto the flagstones of the narrow rear patio. For a moment, her vision was a featureless blaze as the glare of high summer and a cloudless sky soaked into her eyes. She slowly relaxed her eyelids and breathed in the invigorating air of the outside. There was a fresh breeze against the bare skin of her arms and legs, which picked up to a sudden gust and slipped up under the hem of her tight dress. The unforgiving swelter of the solstice and the Summer Ball had given way to a milder warmth. Down in the valley, the weather would still be a thick, sweating haze, but up here fall was already slowly on its way.

Lauren stepped out behind. She put her hand up to shield her eyes, and nodded at the big white pole tent pitched on the lawn a few meters from the edge of the patio, "Fuck, I really love these."

"The tents?" Lena asked.

"No," Lauren laughed. She punched Lena playfully on the arm, "Ka'ini birthdays. Come on."

Lena took Lauren's hand and let herself be led in a brisk skip towards the entrance of the tent. She liked ka'ini birthdays too. Aside from the fun and games, and the fact of yet another opportunity for the Sisterhood to indulge its taste for excess, there was something subtly reassuring about seeing the Sisterhood lavish attention and luxury on one of its pets. Enough even to restore her faith, if only for a day.

The tall flaps of canvas that hung across the doorway of the tent caught in another gust of wind and whipped against Lena's legs as she entered behind Lauren. They ducked forward into a warm, stuffy bubble, insulated on all sides from the cool of the outdoors. A diffuse beige light shone through the translucent canopy and walls, and there was the smell of sweet drinks, champagne, and of the bare grass underfoot. All around was the chatter and chink of a party underway, girlish laughter, the chime of glasses striking in toast, and from somewhere the pop of a cork.

Lena took in the bustle of guests that already nearly filled the tent. There were Sisterhood girls and dmurrhisi, dozens of each, gathered around high tables or lining up to take one of an array of glasses set in a neat matrix on a trestle counter at the far side of the tent. Ka'ini birthdays were not always as busy as this one. By tradition, the birthday girl could select her guests, and sometimes there were more exclusive gatherings. But Lena knew this girl, and could imagine how she would have shied away from the thought of excluding anyone.

The guests wore a variety of dresses and casual clothes. That too, was slightly unusual. The same tradition of indulgence encouraged the birthday girl to dictate what her guests should wear. Lena smiled when she imagined how long this birthday girl would have agonized over the choice, worried about making anyone feel uncomfortable. So this tradition, too, had been shunned. With one small exception. Lena recalled the stipulation on the invitation. She shifted her legs and laughed beneath her breath.

"So where is she?" Lauren asked, peering over the crowd.

Lena scanned the space. At one end of the tent there was a cake. A ziggurat of alternating plain and chocolate layers. The moist-looking sponge was bare, with no icing, but the top layer was covered with a jumble of strawberries sitting in buttercream. At the other, there was a pair of the canopied four-poster beds from inside the house. And on the ground in front of the two beds, there she was.

Leah. Lena hadn't seen her for a while, maybe weeks. Perhaps Leah had been in the valley, along with her cousin, arranging their affairs and retrieving some of their belongings from their apartment before moving in to the Summer House. Or else she had simply been spending time with her new mistress.

Leah was lying in the center of a large pen formed by a haphazard crescent of wooden railings. The floor of the pen was strewn with white pillows. Leah was lying on her side, naked, her body sunk snugly into the softness of the pillows. A very slim, auburn-haired Sisterhood girl whom Lena recognized as Lia, one of Vera's students, was straddling Leah's thigh and thrusting with gusto at her pussy. Another Sisterhood girl with long dark hair, whose face was obscured, had her dick in Leah's mouth. And at Leah's back was her dmurrhisi friend Josephine, likewise naked, running her delicate hands along Leah's body and whispering at her ear.

Lena had wondered whether she might have recovered from her debilitating spell of desire for the girl. But as soon as she caught sight of her now, she knew she hadn't. Leah looked lovelier than ever. Her figure had perhaps rounded just a little over the first month and a half of her time with the Sisterhood. It happened to some girls, a side-effect of the luxurious, oftentimes sedentary lifestyle. Her heavy bust spilled out onto the cushions on which she lay, one breast slouched on top of the other. Her big soft hips shook with each of Lia's vigorous thrusts. Leah's body, her whole demeanor, the playful abandon with which she was groaning and slurping on the dark-haired girl's dick, everything about her exuded sex. Sex, pleasure, and innocence.

It had been a long time since Lena had seen a girl so completely find her calling in service to the Sisterhood. Maybe Ellen. That was a few years ago now. And Ellen was different, or at least had become so. She had been quick to sink herself into Sisterhood politics, was now as much a player as a pawn. Leah was simpler, guileless. And Lena suspected, or hoped, that she would stay that way.

"Drink?" Lauren turned back to face Lena, "Or..."

Lena kept her eyes on Leah, "Let's go wish her a happy birthday first."

They weaved their way among the other guests, Lauren first with her imposing figure plowing a path through the knots of chatting girls. Lena saw Leah look up and notice them as they approached. Leah turned her head and slowly disgorged the dick she had in her mouth. She kept her hand on it as she sat up, holding it to her lips and running them smoothly across its tip, holding Lena's gaze as she did so. Lena felt the force of a sudden hot throb in her chest just moments before she felt it between her legs.

"Happy birthday!" Lena called out when she saw Leah's spit-moist lips curl into a cheerful smile.

Leah glanced away for a moment at her dark-haired partner. The Sisterhood girl seemed to note some subtle signal or else just intuited that she was no longer required. She staggered to her feet and clambered over the fence of the pen to retrieve her clothes from a nearby chair. Behind Leah's reclining body, Josephine got to her knees and shuffled over to Lia, took Lia's face in her hands and kissed her, then pulled her aside to fling her down on the pile of pillows and straddle her at the hips.

Leah rose to her knees. She leaned towards where Lena and Lauren had reached the edge of the pen. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and smiled, "Thank you! And thanks for coming."

"Of course, come on," Lauren stooped awkwardly to kiss Leah on the cheek, "As if we would dare miss this. Happy birthday!"

Once Lauren rose, Lena took her place and exchanged kisses with Leah. The skin of the girl's face was warm and soft. Lena felt her dick twitch with one stiff throb as Leah lingered a moment at her neck, nuzzling her affectionately.

"Lovely to see you my dear," Lena laughed, "And to see you enjoying yourself."

"Oh," Leah clapped her hands in an endearing gesture of excitement, "Dress code inspection. Clothes off."

Lauren's mouth narrowed and she cast her eyes upwards, sighing. With a chuckle, she shrugged off her robe and threw it aside, then lifted the dress she wore underneath and likewise cast it off over her head. Lena followed suit, reaching behind her back to unzip her tight dress, then pulling it down over her shoulders and on past her hips until it fell around her ankles and she was standing in only her bra.

"Satisfactory?" Lena smiled.

Leah waddled a little closer and reached out with both her hands. She took Lena's dick, then Lauren's, and lifted them, with the tips of her fingers pressed lightly to the underside of the shaft. Lena felt heat rush into her dick in quick pulses as it stiffened. The expression of simple, innocent delight on Leah's face burrowed itself into Lena's imagination. She tried to fix it there, savor it. Leah, as a ka'ini, was in a way her creation, or at least her find. To see her like this, indulging herself, toying with Sisterhood girls, Lena felt an intense rush of pride and excitement.

"Very cute," Leah giggled. She withdrew her hands.

Lena looked down at herself, tried to avoid looking across also at Lauren, but couldn't quite stop herself from stealing a glance. Both of them had neat, bow-tied black ribbons around the base of their now half-hard dicks. Lena almost laughed. It felt both ridiculous and somehow a little touching, this curious whim. But she knew that she would have gladly done much, much sillier things if Leah had commanded it.

"Thanks," Lauren ruffled Leah's thick hair, "You have some odd kinks you know."

Leah looked briefly coy. She smiled shyly, "It's not really my kink I guess. I just didn't know what to ask, but they were bugging me to pick something kind of wacky."

"Who?" Lena asked.

"The other girls," Leah swept her arm out beside her, not seeming to indicate anyone in particular, "They had some fun ideas but I don't know, this one seemed at least not too bad. It isn't uncomfortable, is it? I asked them to get really soft ribbons."

"No, it isn't uncomfortable," Lena replied, laughing, "Anyway, it's your birthday. It's traditional for you to get your revenge on us."

Lena did find it a little awkward. Not because the ribbon scratched or rubbed at all, it was indeed very soft. Rather because keeping it tied in place meant tying it fairly tight, which then became just slightly too tight once she got close to fully hard. As she was now, she realized.

Leah smiled at her knowingly, "You girls have some weird traditions."

"But, um, we do get to take them off when we... you know?" asked Lauren.

"For blow-jobs or for just stroking I've been leaving them on," Leah replied cheerfully, "But once you put it in me then yes, you get to take it off," she glanced to her side, "That also helps me keep track of which ones I've had so far."

Lena followed the girl's gaze and laughed when she saw a bunch of a half dozen or so black ribbons tied to the wooden railing of the pen.

"Well," said Lena, "I hope I won't have to keep mine on for too long then."

Leah grinned at her, "You won't. It's time for you to give me my birthday present."

With a sigh Leah got to her feet, then swung one leg over the low fence of the pen and stepped out. She reached out and took a firm hold of Lena's dick, then pulled her close for a kiss, on the mouth this time. After a few lingering seconds quietly murmuring into Lena's mouth, Leah pulled back and her lips left Lena's with a faint smack.

Lena saw Lauren hesitate, about to turn away, but then Leah reached out and took hold of Lauren's dick as she had Lena's. "You too. Come," said Leah to Lauren. She walked carefully backwards around the edge of the pen, and pulled both of them towards one of the beds.

Leah let go of them when she reached the side of the bed. She felt behind her for the gauzy, half-transparent curtain that hung from the canopy, and tugged it aside before sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"So what sort of a gift would birthday girl like to get?" Lena asked.

Leah lifted her legs and then rolled over into the middle of the bed to lay herself out on her back, "You can surprise me."

Lena clambered up after her. Lauren followed, and turned to draw the curtain closed behind her, enclosing the three of them in a cozy darkened space.

Lauren shuffled on her knees to kneel beside Leah's head, then laid her dick out across Leah's face, "How about this?"

"Ohh, sorry," Leah pursed her lips against the underside of Lauren's shaft and pouted, in a caricature of sympathetic regret, "Somebody got me one of those already. Although, mmm..." her tongue slid out, "I suppose I could use another."

Lena scrabbled behind her back to unclasp her bra, then tossed it aside. She bent forward to put her face between Leah's spread thighs. The short strip of trim hair above Leah's pussy, which Lena had found so endearing when she had first seen it, had spread a little, widened into a triangular patch whose tip reached down either side of the ruffled folds of her opening. The short hairs had a slight bristling feel to them as Lena put her lips to Leah's skin. She had probably trimmed them for the party. That thought sent a sudden hot shudder of excitement through Lena's body. The thought of Leah readying herself, bathing, grooming, dressing. Probably some of the other ka'ini, Louise or Josephine, would have helped her, maybe done her hair or painted her nails.