Sisterhood - Temptation Ch. 24

"So," said Ivy. She snapped her feet together and stood up straight, as if steeling herself.

Josephine clutched Ivy's arm, "This is the final door then? The way in?"

"Yeah," Ivy smiled excitedly. She turned to Katharina, "Katja, do you want to go in first?"

"Oh," Katharina was taken by surprise, unsure what to make of Ivy's suggestion. She was accustomed to following Ivy's initiative, and though the question of who entered first seemed inconsequential, Katharina found it flattered her to think that Ivy might be looking to her to show the way forward. She stepped forward, leading Emmie with her, "I guess. If you like."

Just as Katharina reached for the curtains, a slender hand slipped out from between them, then swept one curtain aside.

"Come on, come in," the figure that stepped out into the triangular breach in the curtains and addressed them was Polina, the studious senior girl who Katharina had met in the library earlier that evening before the ball.

As far as Katharina could recall, Polina was dressed in the same way as she had been then. Her appearance was conservative, with her neatly parted fine hair and her wide-rimmed glasses. Her long dress was a drab dun brown and embroidered with flowers. The dress looked unsuitably long and thick for the close humidity of the North Wing.

"Oh, thanks," Katharina stooped forward under the curtain and past Polina. She led Emmie behind her and they both stepped into a noticeably thicker, moist atmosphere on the other side. Ahead, the tunnel continued a little further, ending at a wooden door.

"Welcome girls," Polina whirled around as Ivy and Josephine too passed through, "You made it. Well done."

"Thanks," Ivy mumbled.

The curtain fell back into place and Polina stepped aside to place herself in front of a wooden lectern that stood at one side of the tunnel. She clasped her hands together at her waist and addressed Katharina and the others in a prim, quiet tone, "And who have you brought with you?"

"Oh right," Katharina smiled at Emmie and indicated her, "This is-"

She was cut off by a rattle and then a fine creaking sound from the opposite side of the tunnel. Along each of the tunnel walls there were several smaller, modern-looking doors, like those of a bathroom cubicle. Katharina knew of these as changing rooms sometimes used when bathing in the hot springs, though she had never used them herself. One of the doors now swung open and two other girls stepped out.

Katharina recognized both of them. Louise's tall, sturdy-limbed figure was unmistakable, as was her wispy bright blonde hair. Her big bust was clasped up tight inside a white sports bra, and she was wearing a matching pair of tight gym shorts. Louise strode out through the door of the changing room ahead of a much shorter girl, who was tittering with excited laughter. Aria was wearing the same tight white dress that Katharina had seen her in before, at the ball, which stood out particularly bright against her dark skin.

"Katja!" Aria exclaimed. She skipped forward, laughing, to bounce up on the tips of her toes and plant kisses on each of Katharina's cheeks, "I'm so happy to see you again."

"Likewise," Katharina smiled broadly. She found that she was indeed very glad to see Aria again. Their encounter in the crypt of the Great Hall felt very distant now, but Katharina recalled it as a particularly intimate one, and the memory was vivid. Aria looked very lovely, and Katharina could picture clearly the soft bare skin that lay underneath the dress.

"Hi," Aria turned to smile at Emmie, Josephine, and Ivy in turn, waving to each of them.

"Hello," Emmie replied.

Katharina hurried to resume her introduction. She indicated Emmie again, turning to Aria and Louise in turn, "This is Emmie. And this is Josephine. Guests."

Polina walked round behind the lectern and laid one hand on the thick leather-bound ledger that lay open on top of it. She retrieved a pen from the edge of the lectern and clicked it open, "Great. Emmie and Josephine. Welcome."

"There's a guest list?" Josephine peered over at the lectern.

Polina leaned slowly forward onto the lectern and rested her arms across the ledger. She looked at Josephine over the tops of her glasses, "Yes, or more like a guest book. A record."

Emmie held her head high and aimed her peculiar, haughty pout at Polina, "Stock-taking, is that it?"

"Stock-taking!" Aria's body shook and her teeth flashed white in a loud peal of laughter, "Hah, exactly."

Standing behind Aria, Louise looked down with a weary smile, "There's a list of who comes here. And who brings who."

"Oh right," Josephine's face brightened with recognition, "I've heard about this. And you get points or something for bringing sexy girls?"

"Something like that," Ivy laughed, "And Katja and me have hit the jackpot tonight."

"No kidding," Josephine pointed at Emmie's chest, "If there are boob points then Emmie has already put us right to the top of the scoreboard."

Emmie's shoulders shook with a quiet giggle. She grinned at Josephine, "And you're bringing in the pussy points, I suppose."

"Indeed," Louise turned to look at Polina, "So?"

Josephine fidgeted at the hem of her dress. She looked at Katharina, then at Ivy, "So we get naked now, right?"

Polina murmured something just beneath her breath as she finished writing in the ledger. Then she looked up and peered over her glasses, "Louise?"

Louise folded her arms across her chest and nodded at Josephine, "Well, I don't think this one needs to get naked."

"Oh?" Josephine frowned. She looked again at Ivy.

"Ah, okay," Katharina winced. In all the excitement of arriving at the North Wing, she had forgotten entirely about the nature of the entry requirements, and that Emmie and Josephine might even be called upon to demonstrate that they were not Sisterhood girls. She had learned about the historical justification for this tradition, its origins in earlier ceremonial events at which larger numbers of Sisterhood and dmurrhisi would have been expected all to pair up, but now here it seemed very petty, and she felt a twinge of shame that she was part of it.

"You are definitely good to go," Louise continued, speaking to Josephine, "I think just about the entire Great Hall saw the evidence of that."

Josephine's expression sank into a frown again, "Eh? What?"

"Because you're a... not one of us," Katharina explained.

"You're a pussy-girl," Ivy muttered.

"Oh, right," Josephine exclaimed. Then she turned and frowned at Louise, "Damn right I am." There was a tiny pause and then her face fell, "Oh, I mean, not that it would be a bad thing to be like-"

"It's okay," Katharina cut her off, laughing, "It's just that we, um, get more points for pussy girls."

Polina looked up from the lectern again and stood up straight. She sighed, "Sisterhood girls attending the ball, like Katharina and Ivy here, are expected to bring dmurrhisi, new girls, with them," she frowned pointedly at Ivy and at Katharina in turn, "They didn't tell you that?"

"Oh, um," Josephine began.

"Yes, of course they did," Emmie cut in quickly, "Katharina told us. So, shall I get undressed? Or go and change?"

Katharina felt a faint flush of warmth at her cheeks. Emmie seemed to be deliberately stepping in to save her face. She chided herself for not having been more thorough. She could not recall at any point having explained the rules to Emmie, or told her what exactly would happen as they entered the North Wing. It had seemed to her implicit in the way that Emmie had spoken of it and had accepted to accompany her that she knew everything already. Katharina had assumed that Emmie would have learned it from Lena.

Louise looked across at Polina, and the two seemed to exchange a very minimal shrug. "No," Louise said, "It's okay, you go ahead."

"Aw, no fair," Josephine giggled, "I want to see Emmie unleash her honkers."

"Well, it does get quite hot in there," Aria grinned. She turned to Emmie and indicated one of the small doors in the wall of the corridor, "You might want to change into something lighter, more like Josephine's dress. Or something for swimming."

"Alright," Emmie smiled at Katharina then turned and let go of her hand, "I will. Josephine, would you like to come and help me and the honkers choose something appropriate?"

Josephine sprang forward, "Oh yeah!"

Emmie and Josephine headed for the door that Aria had indicated. Josephine lunged forward to open it for Emmie and usher her inside. There was the click of a switch and the narrow cabin beyond lit up and was then shut away as Josephine darted in and closed the door behind her.

"Okay," said Ivy, looking around.

"Oh Katja?" Aria hummed with a faint burbling laughter as she looked at Katharina, "Are you going to get changed then?"

"Um, I guess I could do with, you know, changing my shorts at least," Katharina replied. She smiled warily, trying to decipher the mischievous grin on Aria's face. Perhaps the girl was intimating that she wanted to join Katharina in the changing room. Or perhaps it was simply the same energetic humor that she had seemed always to project.

"Good," Aria grabbed Katharina's hand and led her towards the row of doors on the opposite side of the tunnel, "Here."

Somewhat to Katharina's surprise, Aria then let go and ushered her forward. Katharina hesitated, then made for one of the doors, while Aria remained standing. Katharina set her hand on the door handle, only to be nudged gently but firmly aside by Louise.

"Here, here," Louise said quickly. She indicated the next door instead, "This one."

"Okay," Katharina said slowly, bemused. She turned the handle of the door that Louise had offered her, and swung it open. She looked back and squinted at Aria and at Louise. She saw each of them smiling in encouragement and nodding at the door. With a last squint of suspicion at the two girls, Katharina shrugged and stepped inside.

She closed the door behind her, then fumbled for a moment at the wall until she found a light switch and flicked it on. She turned back and contemplated the lock on the inside of the door. It seemed unnecessary, and yet when she made up her mind and slid it quietly into the locked position, she felt her shoulders sink and her body relax at the thought of being safely locked in.

The changing room was narrow but deep. The room itself was wider than it first appeared, but the space was hemmed in on both sides by long clothes racks bearing dresses, tops, underwear, and other items. Each rack was a jumble of colors and textures, with patches of gloss or glittering sequins shining in the bright light cast by a bare striplight on the ceiling.

Katharina took one or two items in her hands and felt them idly, without really looking at them. She wasn't going to change. She worried that it would appear she was flaunting herself or wished to draw attention. And with such an array of options the idea of choosing something was daunting. She wasn't good at picking out clothing. She had usually relied on Ivy for that.

But she was keen to get out of her underwear at least. The warmth flowing in from the hot springs had started to penetrate her, and she felt the clamminess on the skin between her legs, and the tightness where she was still slightly hard. The proximity to Emmie's body, and the anticipation of soon being closer to her, had kept the heat of excitement simmering inside.

Katharina thrust her hands into her pants and her underwear and shoved them firmly down over her hips, kicking off her shoes as she did so. The three tight layers of clothing slid down over her legs and dropped to her ankles, and she came free. Her dick was only half-hard, and swung out slowly as she parted her thighs. It bobbed up stiffly in front of her, then subsided, hanging heavy and twitching with her pulse.

She drew in a deep breath and then let the air slowly leave her lungs in a controlled sigh. The relief of being free from confinement was exquisitely satisfying, and this time all the more so because she knew she would now probably be free for most of the rest of the evening. She stepped out of the crumpled pile of her clothes, and set her hand on the shaft of her dick, near the base. It was something she almost always did after undressing alone. For comfort, rather than for pleasure. She held herself tight and pulled down, then up, pumping idly, and felt herself swell and harden a little as she squeezed. Then she reached a little further backwards between her legs and took her balls in her hand, prizing the skin away from her thigh. She held them, still, and breathed again, feeling the taut skin of her sack shift and constrict, adjusting to the cool of her palm. The sensation of release was at the same time deeply relaxing and invigorating, akin to stretching stiff limbs after having sat for a long time.

As Katharina bent to retrieve her clothing, she thought she heard something. She straightened up and held still. There was the low chatter of the other girls still conversing on the other side of the door, out in the tunnel hallway. But that sounded a little different from what she fancied she had heard. It had felt closer, yet more muffled, with less echo. And quite high-pitched.

She moved slowly to set her clothes on a bench that stood by the door, and cocked her head, listening. The second time she heard it very clearly. Though indistinct and heavily muted, as if blocked by a thick intervening barrier, it was the sound of a very shrill voice. Maybe the voice was trying to say something, or it was simply squeaking, it was unclear.

Katharina listened again and heard it more clearly. She also thought she could identify its source. Near the back of the narrow room where the row of clothes racks ended, there was a bank of tall, thin wardrobes. She approached, listened to the same squeak twice more, and found the doors of the wardrobe from which it was emanating.

Baffled, and with her heart beat suddenly quickening in anticipation, she pulled on the handles of the doors and opened. She saw immediately the source of the squeaking sound, but it hit her with such a surprise that took her a second or two to take it in. She gasped, and set her hand on her chest to calm herself, feeling the sudden cold rush of a momentary shock. Then as she drew her breath and examined what she saw, she laughed.

Mari was kneeling on the floor of the empty wardrobe, naked. Her hair was loose and tousled, some of it strewn across her eyes. Around her face and tied at the back of her head was a tight band of black cloth, which dug into her open mouth, which seemed in turn to be stopped up by a bundle of the same cloth, gagging her and muting her squeaking voice. Mari's hands were bound behind her back by a length of slim rope tied around her wrists. Two more such bonds held her legs tightly together at the ankles, and just below the knees.

Katharina smiled, then laughed again. She watched Mari look up at her and blink her eyes, then shake her head, trying ineffectually to toss the hair from in front of her eyes.

Katharina bent over and reached for Mari's face to swipe her hair aside and tuck it behind her ears, "Hello there."

Mari's eyes swiveled upward to look at Katharina and she squeaked again from behind her gag. The sound might have been a greeting, or a plea, Katharina was unsure.

Katharina thought back to the moment just before when Aria and Louise had steered her into this particular changing room, and saw now the meaning of their mischievous glances. "Let me guess," she said to Mari, "You got punished for your lateness?"

Mari inclined her head to one side and then the other, as if to indicate a half-affirmation. Then she shrugged her shoulders.

"I suppose I really ought to untie you," Katharina mused, thinking as she spoke. She wondered what to do with Mari, and then wondered what the other girls might be expecting her to do. "Or maybe you haven't yet completed your full punishment. Have you been in here for long already?"

Mari's eyes widened and she nodded her head vigorously.

"Hm," Katharina pursed her lips and looked down at Mari's expression.

The gag was too tight for Mari to smile, and only her eyes conveyed any sense of her state of mind. They were wide open, maybe imploring, or excited.

Katharina chuckled, "I suppose it isn't really up to me. So I'd better not free you right away. That seems kind of boring."

Mari sucked a long breath of air in through her nostrils and there was the sound of a groan in her throat as she exhaled.

"Let's get you out of the cupboard at least," Katharina smiled and crouched in front of the wardrobe.

She reached out her arms as Mari rose and straightened up on her knees. She took Mari around the waist and hauled her up and over her shoulder, then staggered to her feet. It felt as if she had a bodily remembrance of Mari's weight still in her muscles. Mari was just as heavy as Katharina had anticipated. She recalled it, from their dance. Still burdensome, and definitely not a weight she could carry around for very long, but something that felt oddly not quite heavy enough to be a normal human body. Katharina righted herself smoothly, and swung around, with Mari's legs in the air in front of her, before lowering herself again to lean forward and set Mari on the floor in the middle of the room.

A blush of redness in Mari's face sank slowly away once she had settled herself, kneeling and bound in front of Katharina.

Katharina was still pondering what to do, and she spent a moment looking down at Mari as her thoughts settled. Clearly Aria and Louise would be expecting her to visit some sort of lighthearted punishment on Mari. The thought had initially made her a little uncomfortable. It had seemed earlier that Mari herself liked the idea of being mistreated, at least in play, so Katharina was not particularly worried that she might do something unkind. Rather what held her back was the fear that she might make herself look ridiculous or ineffectual, by being unable to find a punishment that would fulfill Mari's, or the other girls', expectations.

But now Katharina felt a slowly creeping throb of arousal coming upon her. It was a slightly different kind of excitement from the more straightforward sexual desire she had felt for Mari before, when they had danced, and later flirted in the gardens. Mari's predicament made her appear even slighter and more delicate than before. And Katharina found she was excited at the prospect of now being able to make good her earlier hesitancy in giving Mari what she wanted.

"So, you thought you'd just abandon us earlier, huh? Naughty naughty," the words sounded comically trite as Katharina heard herself speak them, and she bit down on a sudden giggle.

Mari's eyelids fluttered and she inclined her head in what looked like an imitation of a gesture of apology.

"Very, very, bad," Katharina smiled as she stooped to put her fingers under Mari's chin and tilt her head upwards.

Mari leaned her head to one side and nuzzled her cheek against Katharina's hand, closing her eyes and murmuring from behind her gag.

"And you were late for door duty, too, you little, um... bitch," Katharina continued. She felt again a quiver of laughter in her chest, that threatened to break into her voice. She stood up, stroking her hand along the side of Mari's head as she rose.

Mari rose with her, kneeling upright, and then leaned forward and sought out Katharina's dick, which was now sticking out in front of her and gradually stiffening. Mari pressed her cheek to the shaft, then slowly shook her head, rubbing her face and her cheek against it. Katharina felt the heat from Mari's flushed face, and the silky tickle of her fine hair. Then, groaning, Mari ran her half-open, gagged mouth along it from the tip downwards, her lips grazing at Katharina's skin and teasing her with shivers of ticklish excitement.