Sisterhood - Initiation Ch. 39

They passed through the archway after Louise and Josephine into a low tunnel. For a moment it was dark, then they rounded a corner, a door was pushed open, and they stepped out into a wider chamber filled with flickering yellow torchlight.

The first thing that struck Leah was the difference in atmosphere. The air, though still warm, was fresher, less humid, and carried a hint of a breeze. Leah looked up as they entered. She saw the low vault of the ceiling, and at its center a row of metal-grilled skylights, much wider than those she had seen in the far-off ceiling of the baths. The surface looked to be much closer here than Leah had thought. She could see large patches of sky, painted in the gentle gradient of dark blue that announced an encroaching dawn. As she swept her gaze across the ceiling, she saw the flitting shapes of bats darting from one skylight to the next.

The next thing she noticed was the noise, the blended murmur of a great many hushed conversations. The sound came suddenly to her awareness because it dropped sharply just after they entered, sinking to the sibilant hissing of whispers.

Leah felt a dusty earth beneath her bare feet. Lena had mentioned a theater. They were entering the pit of a semicircular amphitheater. The archway by which they had entered lay at one end of the semicircle. Though not quite a grand circus, it was still impressive. The diameter of the semicircle was perhaps equal to the width of a small sports field. To the right, around the theater's arced edge, were at least five or six tiers of spartan seating, consisting of big blocks of unevenly worn stone. In places these were crumbling into ruin. And tightly huddled together on the seats were scores of girls. Many of them now wore light cloaks, or robes that looked rather like dressing gowns. But some were naked, and others wore the sort of casual wear that Leah had seen in the bar area, or remnants of the formal gowns she had seen in the Great Hall. The nearest, lowest tier of the theater consisted of a semicircle of wooden benches arranged around the edge of the pit in which Leah and the others stood. On the benches sat a smaller number of non-Sisterhood girls, chattering quietly.

Since Lena had mentioned the theater, Leah hadn't earnestly taken the time to imagine to herself what it would be like. But one thing that she had not expected was that there would be so many girls watching. She had assumed, vaguely, that it might be just her and the other offerings, along with the Seven Sisters and maybe some of the more senior Sisterhood girls. But all around sat what looked like easily as many girls as she had seen at the outset of the ball back in the Great Hall.

Louise reached a point not far from the doorway by which they had entered. She stopped, holding Josephine beside her. She, and then Josephine, turned her back to the tiered seating and faced the front of the theater. Ellen led Leah round in front of Louise and Josephine to take up the same position next in line. Before them, along the straight edge of the semicircle, was a stage, constructed from wooden planks laid over the stone ruins. On the stage were arranged seven chairs, similar in style but not identical, with high backs, ornate wooden frames, and plush upholstered seats.

The remaining girls filed past to take up positions standing further along, to Leah's right. As they did so, Leah took the opportunity to look them over. Caroline passed by first, with Mari. Caroline had remained naked. Her heavy bust, and the softness of her stomach and hips, gave a firm tremor with each step as she strode gaily forward. She wore only bracelets at her wrists, the same ones that she had been wearing when she and Leah had arrived at the ball the previous evening.

Kathi and her dark-skinned attendant passed next. Kathi was wearing a very slim thong consisting of a tiny dark pink triangle held by black strings tied in bows at her hips. She flashed a brief nervous smile at Leah as she walked by. She looked quite elaborately made-up, with dark eye shadow and a striking red lipstick.

Then came Sophia, led by the tall, full-figured girl with bright red hair. Sophia's own hair shimmered with a metallic gloss in the torchlight, as did the little silver band of her nose ring. Her body was adorned with a lacework of fine silver chains, similar in style to Leah's own, but more elaborate, draped over her shoulders and hanging in concentric semicircles across her petite bust, then wrapped about her waist and over her fleshy hips.

Then Sara, led by the much shorter, much stouter Aria. Both of them scrunched their faces excitedly at Leah as they filed past. In comparison to the others, Sara was almost fully clothed. She wore a long, high-necked, tight dress in a scaly silver fabric. The dress was completely open at the sides, baring her legs, her hips and the flanks of her torso. The front and the back were held together by a slender strip of elastic at the waist.

Then finally Emmie, with the tall frizzy-haired bar girl at her side. Emmie, too, wore a semblance of clothing. Her huge breasts bounced and swayed as she walked, held up by a band of embroidered black lace wrapped tightly around her chest. From the chest band a slender diamond of the same fabric hung down over her stomach and disappeared between her thighs, held in place by a slimmer band around her hips.

"This is it," Ellen whispered, "They will enter. Then I leave you. Be bold, enjoy yourself."

"Thank you," Leah whispered back, "For everything."

"My pleasure," Ellen smiled, "Now you go for it. I've got my money riding on you."

"Really?" Leah laughed quietly, "How do you mean?"

"Well, not money, other stuff. But yes, really. I bet on you for first pick," Ellen patted Leah on the behind, "And I've got a feeling I'm onto a winner this year."

Leah was unsure whether to take Ellen seriously, but the thought dawned on her that if the Seven Sisters were to choose among the offered girls, then of course there would have to be one who would be chosen first. Or at least the Seven would presumably have preferences, and these would have to be reconciled somehow. Lena had suggested as much. The idea felt in equal measure exciting and uncomfortable. Leah tried to avoid thinking about it, in part, she realized, because she didn't want to acknowledge to herself how desperately she longed to be picked first.

She looked down the row of girls, weighing up who she would be most upset to lose to. Caroline. Definitely Caroline. The thought of her cousin being picked ahead of her was uncomfortable, and compounding the discomfort was an undercurrent of shame at herself for being so childish about it. What did it matter? She couldn't say. But it mattered, somehow.

Leah looked instead to her left. Josephine. The idea of coming second to Josephine was by contrast a comfort. Josephine was so pretty. Looking at her, Leah already felt sure that Josephine was destined to be picked first. What Sisterhood girl could resist those big bright eyes, that sweet, rich voice, her infectious energy?

Behind them, the hushed whispering from the spectator tiers had slowly mounted once more to a babbling, giggling chatter. Then it hushed again, more swiftly and more definitely than it had done on their entrance. There was an almost silence, only the traces of a few last hurried whispers, and from somewhere far off a stifled cough. Leah looked to the stage in front of her. At its rightmost edge was a low archway like the one by which she and the other girls had entered. She watched a tall figure stride through. Lauren, elegant, thin, and imposingly tall atop a pair of slim high-heeled shoes, made her way along the nearmost edge of the stage towards the end of the row of chairs. She was dressed in a long hooded robe of a velvety dark green. The robe was loose, and open at the front, baring flashes of Lauren's naked body and her long smooth legs as she walked. Lauren reached the penultimate chair, swept her robe behind her to lay the tail of it out on the seat, then sat down, one leg crossed on top of the other. Other girls were following behind her, their footsteps clunking against the wooden floor of the stage.

Leah saw next Marianne. She wore a dark green robe like Lauren's, open at the front and baring her body. But Marianne's robe seemed to glimmer with a brighter sheen, as if newer or freshly washed. Marianne held her head high, her eyes half closed and her lips pursed in the enigmatic pout that Leah had found so beguiling when they had first met. Her hood was pulled back and her long red hair trailed out behind her as she walked. She looked magnificent, her movements effortless, and her presence seemed somehow to take command of the room, though she pointedly refrained from looking out across the crowd. Marianne took her seat, likewise cross-legged, and her big pale thighs spread out across the seat of the chair as they took her weight.

Next came Lisa. She too wore the green robe, the hood pulled back to show her glossy black hair, swept neatly back by a broad pink hairband. As Lisa sat down beside Marianne, Leah saw a flash of movement beneath the chair. She saw a trio of cats slink out, weaving themselves between the legs of the two chairs on which Marianne and Lisa were sitting. One was shiny black, another a blotchy brown-gray tortoiseshell, and the third a black, white, and ginger calico. Marianne looked up and seemed finally to acknowledge the crowd. As she did so she reached down and swept the backs of her fingers across the calico's head.

Behind Lisa followed her two sisters. First Anna, high-heeled. Her big dick bobbed, half stiff, in front of her, and her lovely legs strode bare with her robe swept behind her back. Her lush brown hair hung freely about her head and she wore a bright, haughty smile. In what struck Leah as a singularly bizarre extravagance, there sat coiled about Anna's shoulders a long and slender green snake, with the bony arrow-shaped head of a constrictor. As Anna sat down, the snake began to creep along her arm and she pulled it snugly back about her neck, then clapped her hands to the armrests of the chair. Leah glanced to her side and thought she saw Caroline shudder.

Walking behind, Miriam wore what looked at a first glance like the same bright, energetic smile as Anna. Yet it appeared somehow meeker, more docile, on her cute, homely face. She stood shorter, and walked at an unassuming slow trot, as if trying to hide herself away in the wake of her more glamorous sister. Of all those who had entered so far, Miriam was the only one wearing a dress beneath her robe, visible where the robe fell open at the front. The dress was thin, of a flimsy pale yellow fabric, and short, but it covered her from her shoulders to just below her hips. Miriam's eyes darted to her side as she crossed the stage, taking in furtive glances at the row of girls standing in the pit. For a moment, Miriam's mouth twitched with an abortive smile as her gaze met Leah's.

As Miriam too took her seat, there followed finally Julie. She was tall. Not quite as tall as Lauren, but nearly. She was perched almost on the tips of her toes in the same very steep high-heeled shoes Leah had seen her in before. As she walked, her legs flashed out from under her robe, taut, tanned, and strong. Leah found her gaze fixed on Julie's perfectly poised movements as she pulled up in front of the chair and sat down, throwing her robe out around her to drape it over the arms of the chair. Julie's dark brown hair shimmered with flickering streaks of golden light thrown by the flaming torches on the walls. Leah felt a thick knot of nervousness sink into her stomach. She recalled how she and Ellen had together experienced the compelling power of Julie's special charisma when they had last seen her, when she had made her entrance to the North Wing. To her chagrin, Leah felt a hot moisture slowly seeping from her pussy. She discreetly brought her legs closer together and clenched her thighs shut.

Leah tore her eyes away from Julie and found herself looking expectantly towards the archway by which the Seven Sisters had entered. She wondered why, then looked back along the stage, counting from right to left. Julie, then the three sisters Miriam, Anna, and Lisa. Then Marianne. Then Lauren. Six. The last chair beside Lauren's remained vacant. Over the back of the chair was draped a long fold of the same dark green material in which the six seated girls were robed.

Marianne stood. Leah felt as if her heart rose in her chest. Her pulse was racing and the breath was flying quickly in and out of her nostrils. Marianne raised her arms, letting her robe fall open and revealing her long, thick dick hanging between her thighs. There was silence, then Marianne's shrill, musical voice echoed out across the space of the theater, "Beloved servants, thank you." She nodded at the row of girls standing before her in the pit.

Ellen squeezed Leah's hand, then let go, and together with the other girls who had been attending them in the dressing room, she stepped forward. The others began to file out back through the doorway, but Ellen remained. Then she skipped to the edge of the stage and hopped up onto it, hoisting herself by her arms. She stood, then scampered over to join Lisa. She sat down next to Lisa's chair, gently kicking aside one of the cats, and tucked her legs sideways beneath her body in a half-kneeling, half-sitting pose. Lisa smiled down at her and ran her fingers through Ellen's hair.

Standing alone with the other six girls in the pit, Leah looked up expectantly at Marianne.