The Priestess and Her Boy

Chapter 4 - The City

The following day, in the East Quarter of the City, Tak and Nikah explored the Apothecary shelves while Priestess Ashala talked to the proprietor.

"All these herbs, Tak. What do you think they are for?" said Nikah.

"I am sure Priestess Ashala knows. Look here Nikah; suf-herb! It tastes good in our bread, but surely it is not a medicine? Why is it here in an Apothecary?"

Nikah suddenly tugged at Tak's sleeve in excitement.

"Look Tak! Those girls! In the street!"

"They are not as fine as priestesses Nikah."

"No Tak, but it is said that you can lie with them freely, without restraints. Can you imagine that Tak?"

The boys stared out of the window at the girls.

"But Nikah, they say that if a lady of the City takes you as her husband, you must swear the Oath of Obedience to her before the Goddess. Can you imagine, Nikah, only serving one mistress? And for the rest of your life!"

"The ways of the City are strange." said Nikah.

Tak nodded.

Eventually, Ashala completed her business with the owner and called the boys over to help her.

"Just now Tak. I saw you talking to a man back there. A woodsman perhaps, or a hunter. What did he say to you?"

"I do not know Mistress. It was a foreign language."

Ashala, was perplexed.

"But Tak. I thought I heard you say something to him in reply. What was it?"

"I do not know Mistress. Some words that seemed right. I cannot explain."

She let the matter drop and bade the boys follow her into the street.

****

An hour later, laden with packages, Tak and Nikah followed their Mistress through the winding back streets of the City's Southern Quarter.

"It has been so long," said Ashala. "I cannot recall exactly where to go. Oh, do try to keep up boys!"

Eventually, in a narrow street behind the Castle, she found what she was looking for. A small tavern with an oak door flanked by lanterns. Inside, a mature lady greeted them.

"Priestess Ashala, it has been many years. Please, come to this table by the fireplace."

"Thank you Azelda. Boys, this is Azelda. She was once a novice alongside me at the Temple in the time of the Old Queen. More years ago than either of us would care to recall. But, alas, the Temple was not for you Azelda."

"Or perhaps, as a Daughter of the North, I was not for the Temple. Although that life certainly has its pleasures." she replied, looking at the two boys.

Ashala sat and gestured for Tak and Nikah to join her, one on each side. The room was empty save for a pair of traders finishing a meal of hak-swine. They stared for a few moments, unfamiliar with the sight of a Temple priestess and her boys taking seats in a tavern.

"Wine for me please Azelda!" said Ashala.

"And for your slaves?"

Ashala saw Tak and Nikah flinch.

"These days we prefer to say 'boys'."

Azelda shrugged, "And for your boys?"

Ashala beckoned for the tavern owner to come closer and whispered in her ear.

"You know the price?" Azelda asked.

Ashala nodded.

The traders finished their meals and left the tavern before Azelda returned with the wine. She was accompanied by two girls in short flimsy silk gowns who took positions standing close to the startled Temple Boys.

"Boys, do you like these girls?" Ashala asked.

Tak looked at the girl next to him. She was dark, perhaps of the eastern tribes, slim and strong, with wild eyes. The girl by Nikah was plumper, fair and soft.

"Yes Mistress!" the boys replied in unison.

"You may touch them."

Tak turned sideways in his chair, lowered his head and gently began kissing the exposed thigh of his girl.

Ashala laughed.

"Tak! She is not a Priestess. Use your hands! You too Nikah!"

For some moments, the boys sat motionless, staring at each other across the table. Ashala whispered into Azelda's ear, "See them struggle to break their conditioning!"

It was Tak who moved first, reaching his trembling hand between the dark girl's legs from behind. He began to caress the soft skin of her inner thighs. The girl tensed and sighed. Ashala noticed that she spread her feet a little further apart on the tavern floor. On the other side of the table, Nikah had reached into the fair girl's robe, cupping a breast with his hand. Azelda watched intently.

"My girls like your boys Priestess. Understandable. They are used to fat, hairy farmers. Girls, take them upstairs! Ashala and I shall talk about old times."

****

Two hours later, with the sun low in the sky, Priestess Ashala finally lost patience, "They are not going to come down of their own free will, are they?"

Azelda shook her head, "The door is at the top of the stairs."

Ashala climbed the tavern stairs and entered the room. The light was poor inside but, as her eyes adjusted, she saw Tak on the nearest bed, thrusting over the raised rump of the fair girl. Her face and shoulders were pressed into pillows, muffling her squeals. Tak's hands were in her hair, gripping tight, close to the skull, so that her head jerked with each thrust of his body. At first, Ashala was alarmed. 'I should have told them to be kind' she thought to herself. But then she saw that the girl was pushing herself back willingly toward Tak, consumed with pleasure not pain. 'She is close,' thought Ashala. 'Good boy Tak!'.

In the furthest corner of the room, Nikah was bedding the dark girl. She lay on her back, almost invisible beneath the large muscular boy, brown arms across his shoulders, legs clenched around his midriff as his buttocks, shiny with sweat, flexed rhythmically over her.

Neither the boys nor their playmates appeared to have noticed Ashala's entry, so she watched them for a while from her position by the door. For perhaps the first time, the size and power of the two Temple boys struck Ashala. They looked smaller when viewed in the Temple, running around after priestesses, performing Acts of Obedience, or restrained naked on couches - desirable, but always unthreatening and controllable. Now, however, Ashala felt uneasy as she watched them placing strong hands firmly on the girls. She had wanted to provide this experience from a sense of gratitude and kindness, and because she could sense the burning desire within them for, well, for exactly this. But perhaps it had been a mistake. Tomorrow night, after this rest day, each boy would once again find himself restrained on a hungry priestess's couch. There would be no room for any response other than complete submission and obedience.

Ashala slammed the door closed.

"Enough!," she cried. "Would you keep your Mistress waiting all night?"

She reached between Tak's thrusting thighs and grasped his sack, squeezing and using it as a bridle to pull him out of the girl. Tak screamed in agony while the girl cried out in frustration and rage, punching the pillow and turning her head to glare at Ashala.

In the far corner of the room, seeing what had happened to Tak, a panicked Nikah tried to disengage from his girl but she held on tightly, and was lifted clear from the bed by the rising boy.

"Tak, help him!" commanded Ashala.

But Tak was still doubled over in pain on the floor.

Eventually, after a struggle, the girl released Nikah and knelt, pouting. The boys dressed - Tak requiring considerable assistance - and they retreated to the main room of the tavern to collect Ashala's packages and make their farewells to Azelda.