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The procession left the Western Valley and turned northwest, travelling several days along a winding road through hills and mountains. On the final day of the journey the Followers did not stop when the sun came up, but instead continued moving towards their destination of Sebérnekt Ris. In the distance Danka could see the East Danube River and a huge waterfall on the northern the horizon. Above the waterfall there were yet more hills, most of which lay beyond the Duchy's northern border.
Sebérnekt Ris was situated in a stunning location, on top of a hill with the main road passing by to the east and steep slopes running to the East Danube River to the west. Danubia's northernmost city guarded the only route that connected the Duchy to north-central Europe. The waterfall blocked the river as a possible transportation route, so the only way into the Western Valley was by travelling along the road. There was a fort with a cannon battery facing to the north and the main city had two walls encircling it. The city was surrounded by gardens that concealed traps and defensive positions. Assuming that a foreign army could ever force its way past the cannon crews guarding the border defenses, they would still have to conquer Sebérnekt Ris before moving south.
Danka knew through her history studies that during the reign of King Vladik the Defender there had been two major invasions passing through Sebérnekt Ris by armies from the Holy Roman Empire trying to conquer the Danubian capitol. On both occasions the invaders had captured the town and killed most of the inhabitants, but there they remained trapped, unable to make it past the rugged terrain and King Vladik's guerrilla archers. It was interesting to see the place in real life and try to imagine how it must have been when the King's Royal Army was battling the invaders.
Babáckt Yaga's old friend Fítoreckt ran the town's university and print shop. Both institutions were set up inside a large compound that included a bathhouse and bakery. The instructors all wore Cult of the Ancients uniforms, but many of the students were dressed in ordinary civilian clothing. Students stepped outside to unload the pack mules, while the travelers entered the compound to bathe, change their clothes, eat, have sex, and sleep.
The trip was an annual event that mixed religious fanfare, getting all of the Followers together in one place and delivering translations and medical research for printing. Following a huge feast there were singing competitions with sweet-cakes given out as prizes. Danka and her two companions from the previous year won prizes by singing the seduction hymn they had used to capture the Austrian fortune-hunters. The singing was followed by the annual naked dance. All of the Followers, the elders and leaders included, stripped and spent the next hour dancing rhythmically around several bonfires. The dance was followed by the Great Fire Benediction, where everyone had to make love to at least one person he or she had never met. Danka was thrilled and took full advantage of being able to experiment with different partners and without worrying about any consequences or obligations. She wore herself out having sex with six men, ranging from an initiate from Sebérnekt Ris to an Elder working in Nagorónkti-Serífkti.
The next morning Danka was one of the first Followers to wake up. She was surrounded by hundreds of naked, sleeping bodies. The entire compound reeked from the stench of stale sex. Danka knew that undoubtedly she must have been among the most offensive, with the sweat of six men covering her body and their semen dripping out of her vagina. She didn't know what to make of her situation, now that she was alone with her thoughts. Her body ached and her vulva was raw, but she certainly had no regrets. No Christian could ever do what she had just done. Her thoughts wandered to the uptight Seminary student in Starívktaki Móskt, the one who had taught her how to read. She'd love to see that judgmental woman's expression if she only knew what her former student had just done. With that the young woman rushed to the bathhouse to bathe ahead of the waking crowd.
She passed Babáckt Yaga, who was lying with her arms around a young man who couldn't have been any older than Danka. The leader's century-old body was not a pretty sight. Danka smiled and suppressed a laugh. Not bad, Alchemist...110 years old and you're still going...not bad at all...
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Some of the Followers began departing the day after the Great Fire Benediction, mostly medical staff who would be working in the villages surrounding Sebérnekt Ris. Meanwhile, Babáckt Yaga and Fítoreckt organized the annual trading expedition that would cross the border. There were items the Followers could not obtain in Danubia, such as amber, copper, jade, chalk, dyes, and several alchemy ingredients. For those items they would exchange medicines, Danubian mushrooms, potions, magnifying glasses, fine linen, and vanity items such as crafted jewelry. A total of 40 Followers would travel north, leading teams of pack-mules and driving several wagons. They changed out of their Followers' uniforms for the trip. The men put on Trader's Guild outfits and the women wore average Danubian dresses. The trip was extremely important, so both Babáckt Yaga and Fítoreckt would lead the others.
Danka was thrilled as she sat in a wagon riding next to Káloyankt. Never could she have imagined that she'd actually have to opportunity to leave the Duchy and see a foreign land. Her excitement built as they traveled north of Sebérnekt Ris and passed over a ridge between two hills with steep rocky cliffs.
There was a small fort on the road itself, but the more important defenses guarding the route were higher up. Danka knew that the Kingdoms of Austria and Poland, both of which were much larger and more powerful than the Duchy, lay on the other side of the border. However, there had been no foreign invasion attempt since the early 1500's because of the region's topography. The cliff-sides were a perfect defensive location, in which the Danubian Royal Army had constructed underground forts filled with captured enemy cannons. The Duchy had been fortifying and improving their positions for two centuries. As long as there were enough soldiers to staff the forts and operate the gun batteries, the northern border now was impenetrable.
After passing the fort and cliffs, the Followers could again see the East Danube River, but now they were above the waterfall. They descended a short slope leading to a small tributary of the main waterway. The smaller river formed the Duchy's northern border. The region to the north was covered by low hills, most of which were treeless and were being used as sheep pastures. A stone bridge, guarded on both sides by garrisons of border guards, spanned the river. On the opposite side, about half an hour's ride north of the border, was the town that was the trading expedition's destination.
The group stopped on the Danubian side of the bridge. They split up: Babáckt Yaga would stay behind with the group managing the animals, while Fítoreckt would lead the group making the crossing. Danka would go with the group crossing over because of her experience with bartering and because she had studied German and Slavic. The young woman had her doubts concerning her abilities, but was determined to do her best. She knew having to trade with foreigners was another of Babáckt Yaga's challenges that she'd have to pass.
Káloyankt explained that the foreigners were scared of witches and would be very likely to burn the alchemist alive if she fell into their hands. Therefore their Mistress had to stay on the Danubian side of the border. He explained how the trading would be arranged: the Danubians crossing over would take a single wagonload of wares. After those items were sold or traded the wagon would return and a second wagon would transport another load. The precaution was necessary to prevent the entire caravan from being attacked and robbed.
"They need what we're bringing. They'd prefer to slit our throats and take our things for free, but they can't do that if we have only a small portion of our trading goods with us at a time."
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Danka didn't know what to expect on the opposite side of the bridge. Unconsciously she had expected everything to be exotic and beautiful, for the Duchy's northern neighbor to be a land of beauty and mystery. The foreign land was none of that. The trading group found themselves surrounded by stench and squalor as they passed filthy hovels and hoards of malnourished sick children. She observed the peasants working in the fields and noted that the women were much more heavily dressed than Danubian peasants would be. All of the women were wearing aprons, long sleeves, and headscarves. As a peasant's daughter, Danka couldn't imagine working outside in such an outfit on a hot day.
The Danubians entered the town. The inhabitants were different from the visitors in every way imaginable. Everyone, except people who were obviously poor, seemed way over-dressed. The women wandered about in large frilly dresses and covered their heads with shawls. The men wore heavy coats with multiple rows of buttons. The hair of both sexes was totally different from the hairstyles of the Duchy. Instead of shaving their heads or cropping their hair short, the male foreigners wore their hair in long pony tails. A few official-looking men had an abundance of white curly hair, which Danka later learned were actually wigs. The women had their hair done-up, but it was not braided. A big difference was the use of hats. Many of the foreigners wore them as symbols of status, which contrasted with the Danubians. In the Duchy hats were a practical item worn by workers and peasants. Guild members wore them as well, but average citizens, especially women, tended not to use head garments.
There were plenty of soldiers milling about. They wore colorful uniforms with tall black hats and carried huge muskets, contrasting with the soldiers of the Duchy, who wore tunics and had light comfortable uniforms designed mostly for running and mobility.
Danka winced at the stench of the foreigners. Unlike the Danubians, they didn't bathe and they didn't wash their outer clothing. Many of them were missing teeth and the odor coming from their mouths was something to behold.
The traders passed the town's cathedral. The priests were all men, dressed in black and carrying crucifixes, in a similar manner as the True Believers in the Duchy. The foreigners moved their hands in front of their chests upon passing the entrance of the church. Danka later learned the gesture was to form an imaginary cross and it was related to the execution of the Son of Man, who the foreigners called Jesus Christ. There were several statues of a woman inside the cathedral which Danka knew through her reading represented Jesus' mother Mary. It was interesting and a little frightening to see all those statues and the veneration of the Virgin Mary in real life.
The local leaders were hostile to the Danubians, especially the priests, who viewed them as heretics. The average residents were simply curious about the strange-looking traders. The Danubian men were dressed in trader's tunics, wore their hair extremely short, and had shaved their faces. Even stranger were the women, who were wearing nothing more than traditional white dresses and shoulder shawls, with nothing covering their heads or arms. They casually spoke to their men with confidence and behaved in an arrogant manner unbecoming of a proper Christian woman.
The Followers entered the town market to set up in several stalls they had previously rented. Danka and three older female Followers would barter, but had instructions to only interact with foreign women. They were not to have any conversations with men, because the Danubians had a separate stall set up for male customers. Meanwhile Fítoreckt and an assistant would barter with the local tradesmen to sell their linen and other bulk items.
Danka's language studies helped her while she was talking to the foreign women. She couldn't speak well, but she spoke just enough to communicate. She was the youngest member of her trading group, but of the four she was the most talented for haggling and bartering. She cajoled the customers and forced them to admit the Danubians were offering goods that could not be bought from anyone else.
"Our lives are short, and the Lord has numbered our days. Do you really wish to wait until next year to buy what we are selling? Is not the silver you spend today worth the year you will have ahead of you to use your purchase?"
Danka noted what strategies worked to convince the foreign women to part with their silver and what was less effective. As the day progressed she became better at what she was doing, to the point that her companions let her do all the talking and contented themselves with assisting. The foreigners tended to underestimate the young Danubian, but quickly learned the girl was extremely shrewd.
The Followers had three wagons they were using to move their trading goods across the border. They emptied a load of Danubian goods in the marketplace and waited until the wagon was filled with foreign items. A mounted messenger returned to the Danubian side of the border to tell his companions to send the next wagon to the bridge. The new wagon waited until the first one had safely crossed back into the Duchy before proceeding north.
A group of foreign priests entered the marketplace to watch the Danubians with disapproving expressions. When the church bell struck four, they approached Fítoreckt.
"You've stolen enough from our people, you thieving heretic. Now take your whoring women and remove your satanic presence from our town. You have defiled and insulted us long enough."
Fítoreckt ordered the women to pack up immediately. They loaded their few unsold items into the waiting wagon. The Followers were ready with an armed escort to get everyone safely across the border. The women sat in the wagon while the men guarded them with crossbows. Now that the day's trading had ended and the Danubians had nothing more to offer the foreigners, their situation had become considerably more dangerous. The local priests were disgusted by the presence of Danubian heretics in their city and wanted nothing more than to kill all of them. The locals could have attacked and slaughtered the Followers with the smallest provocation. The only thing holding them back was knowing that if the traders were killed, they wouldn't be back the following year with their goods.
Danka noted the hostile expressions of the townsfolk and the bewildered stares of hoards of dirty, starving children as she rode out of the foreign town. What a thoroughly miserable place, she thought to herself. So this is what the rest of the world is like?
Danka was enormously relieved when the expedition crossed the bridge and returned to the blessed territory of the Duchy. So...now she could say she had seen a foreign land. Yes, it was true that her foreign experience was nothing more than spending a day in the marketplace of a town right on the other side of the border, but that was enough for her. She had learned many things during her trip, the most important of which was what it meant to be a Danubian. She could take pride in who she was and where she was from. The Duchy had plenty of faults and problems, but life there was certainly better than it was on the outside.
Danka was thrilled when she and her companions passed through the protection of the cliffs guarded by those blessed cannons and fortifications. As the expedition climbed the hill returning to Sebérnekt Ris, she was grateful to the gun crews and border guards. Yes, if what she saw and experienced in the foreign town was the life the foreigners had to offer, it was best to keep them out.
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Two days after the trading expedition returned to the Followers' compound, Danka and Káloyankt had to say goodbye to their three companions who, along with six other newly-initiated Followers from other places, were heading to the capitol to become Seminary students in the Great Temple. A sympathetic Priest provided them with identity papers giving them new names and biographies that did not mention anything about their membership in the Cult of the Ancients. In Danúbikt Móskt their lives would totally change. Not only would they have to suppress many of their beliefs and customs as Followers, but they'd also have to find marriage partners. Babáckt Yaga and Fítoreckt had warned them not to attempt to marry among themselves. They'd have to find different partners and maintain a professional distance from each other.
Danka, Káloyankt, and Ermin were part of a group remaining behind in Sebérnekt Ris when Babáckt Yaga and her entourage returned to the forest settlement. They became a medical team that performed surgeries, mostly on laborers and farmers suffering from broken bones or bad cuts from work-related accidents. They vaccinated children, treated infections, and performed autopsies.
In the middle of June, Ermin and his assistants were tasked by the local magistrate to determine the cause of death of a guild member who died under suspicious circumstances. Ermin determined that, sure enough, he had been poisoned. The Follower was called as a witness at the trial of the man's nephew, who was suspected of wanting to take over the victim's business. With the assistance of Danka and Káloyankt, Ermin had conducted his own investigation and found out where the nephew had purchased the ingredients to make the poison. The verdict was guilty and the sentence was separation of the soul from the body.
For the first time in her life Danka witnessed a public execution. At noon on the day following the trial the man was tied to a post. Five city guards with longbows lined up and in quick succession shot five arrows into the prisoner's chest.
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The Summer Solstice was approaching. Now that Danka and Káloyankt were officially Followers of the Ancients, they would travel with the others into the mountains for the annual celebration, to be held at the Altar of Blood-nourishment. Fítoreckt led his group to the sacrificial site along a narrow road approaching from the west; a section of the secret path Danka had not previously seen. She realized that she now knew the entire route running along the northern mountains from Sevérckt nad Gorádki to Sebérnekt Ris. If she ever needed to secretly move from one of those cities to the other, she didn't have to travel the main road passing through the western valley.
The Followers spent the first day of the Solstice celebration completely naked. The day was filled with singing, dancing, and a feast. After sunset the elders lit the red lanterns and the celebrants spent the shortest night of the year having sex. As usual, the rule was that everyone had to make love to at least one person they had not previously met.
Danka made love to seven men that night. She decided to add a rule for anyone who wanted to copulate with her. Her lovers would have to lie on their backs and she would straddle them. Some refused, but she was pretty enough that plenty of others acquiesced. She totally loved being on top, feeling the pulsating penis pumping semen into her eager body. She experienced seven wonderful orgasms with her seven lovers. She was very sore towards the end, but she pushed herself and was rewarded with pleasure. When she finished, her vagina hurt, but the pain had resulted from something what was forbidden among the Christians and thus made her feel stronger.
This is the way Lilith fornicates, she thought to herself. This is the way she does it, and this is the way I will do it.
