Butterflies. They were all she could think about standing in front of the ornate doors of the Hall. She was alone, practically naked, standing in front of what looked on the outside like an ancient church, topped by a domed, glass ceiling. The butterflies she was concerned with weren't those fluttering around her almost-naked body in this late afternoon sun; they were the ones in her stomach that wouldn't settle. Bryndis' nerves had set her on edge. He had left her in the foyer, explaining exactly the way to go through the grounds. That walk by itself had been a challenge, walking across the lawn and through a deep wood. Though only about twenty minutes along a well-marked, sanded path – Bryndis had assured her there was no chance of getting lost so long as she stayed on the path and the sand felt lovely and soft on her bare feet – she had never been alone, outside, wearing only panties. There was no way to tell who was watching, who else was there.
The path was immaculate, but even so, her distraction caused her to stumble more than once on the way. She fought the desire to cover her breasts. They hung heavy and though some of the bruising had started to fade into a darker purple-green colour, the weight of them being constantly unbound lead to memories of her submission to him; this was surely why he had left them this way, but Annis was still processing emotions from safewording and the constant reminder left her feeling raw. The combination of feeling so exposed and being so physically exposed out amongst the grounds of the Institute was difficult. Bryndis' final challenge to her was to 'walk normally, breathe deeply and try to treat this as a time of meditation.' It was easier to think of it that way, as she had been meditating regularly whilst they were away in the woods, but he had never had her meditate and walk, so she wasn't entirely successful. Plus, he had clearly been afraid. Why afraid? What was it she was about to see?
She reached a hand out to push the door open, but as soon as she stepped close to the doors, they opened seemingly of their own accord. The first thing that surprised her was the light and the second was the girl. The Hall was situated in a dark wood which came almost up to its sides; the inside of the Hall, however, was suffused with light, streaming down through the glass dome of the ceiling into one large circular room. The treetops were visible, but mostly what one saw was the brilliant blue of the sky. Bryndis had said this was in its way a place of meditation and she could see why if only for the light. A sense of otherworldliness came over her, a sense that here, anything was permissible, as if in a story. She felt very strongly a presence of something... beyond. That, paired with the cool interior gave her a small sliver of peace through the butterfly flutterings of her stomach.
The girl, or woman now that Annis was closer, was another story. Standing in the middle of the room, in the very centre of the pool of the light, was a very beautiful woman. Slender with long dark hair streaming over her shoulders and between her thighs, she was wearing nothing. Nothing, that is, except for a silver chain connecting the rings in her small, taught breasts and her clit. When Annis first saw her, the woman had her hands behind her back, face turned up into the light, eyes closed, with a small smile on her face. Something about her sent a pang of pain to her heart and a pang of desire between her thighs. This was a kind of beauty Annis thought she could never achieve. She would never be waif-like, her skin never that shade of desert sand, her face never that perfect oval, her eyes never tilt in such a sultry manner. Her own beauty, the beauty Bryndis saw, she reminded herself, would always be different. But at the same time she wanted to reach out and touch that skin. The woman's breasts in particular were so small and the nipples so long, Annis wondered what it would be like to suck on them or feel them tighten between her fingers. She was shocked at her curiosity, but it was there nonetheless. She sighed inwardly – something else for her journal. She wondered what Bryndis would think.
These thoughts came in the blink of a moment. As heat flushed between Annis' thighs and her face for her thoughts, both of jealousy and lust, the woman turned her head, opened her eyes, and smiled deeply at Annis. 'Welcome. I am Kata. I hope you like it here. This is your rightful place.' She walked the short distance as she spoke and held out her hand to Annis. 'Th-thank you.' Annis stuttered while taking her hand, butterflies growing worse. What did this woman mean, this was her rightful place? Surely, a woman who looked so utterly at home here had more of a claim to it than she. Kata waited as if for Annis to say something else.
'I'm sorry, Anna, I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do here. My Kyros said I was to come and he seemed very nervous about it.'
This was met with an almost sly smile from Kata, her Japanese eyes flaring in mischief. 'He should be. In this place, today, you hold considerable power over him and over your future. But come, I will help you to understand. It is part of my place here. First, come over here, through the curtain. We must do things in proper order.' Her voice lilted and smoothed the words through her soft accent. Before Annis could ponder more, Kata had moved ahead and through the door.
A curtain of white velvet hung loosely over a doorframe. As she passed through, the otherworldliness Annis had felt on entering the Hall was once again strongly pervasive. Once the velvet draped back over the opening, the two went from bright light to deep darkness. Annis felt Kata's small hands slip into her hands, threading her fingers through Annis'. Annis took a deep breath, but said nothing. She shivered, feeling the coolness of the dark space on her naked skin and feeling the wetness of desire dampening her panties. After a moment, Kata rubbed her thumbs up Annis' hands. 'Good girl. You have begun to learn patience and the value of listening. Before we go further I must ask you three questions. You will answer me truthfully; here in this room, there are no lies for there is also no judgment. None can see and there are none here to hear except you and I. I will not tell anyone. In the eyes of the law, I am a psychologist and you are my patient. In the eyes of your Kyros and in the eyes of the Institute, I am your confessor. Anything you say is sacred and protected. Do you understand and agree?'
Annis understood that Kata was telling here there were no cameras, no video. Not even Bryndis would know what happened here. That Kata was a psychologist was a surprise, but the longer Annis thought over it, it made sense that a place like this would have at least one available, if not more. People had to face some of their hardest and darkest parts, doing something like this and going through it alone – even with a Kyros as sympathetic as Bryndis – was exceptionally challenging. Quenching the final flutterings in her stomach, she took a breath and answered.
'Yes, I understand. I will answer and speak the truth.'
'Good.' Kata took a breath and held Annis' hands tighter. 'Are you a virgin?'
This took Annis by surprise. Didn't everyone know she was a virgin? She was sure everyone had known. Still, she supposed that she and Bryndis could have slept together in the caves. Perhaps it was a just question. 'Yes,' she answered. 'I am a virgin.' She paused a moment and then said, 'I am still in tact.' She said that a bit more forcefully than she might have otherwise, but she didn't like her honesty being questioned. However, there had certainly been times she wanted Bryndis to take her, not to wait.
'Thank you, Annis.' Kata was quiet, waiting again for the silence to engulf them. After a few minutes, she dropped Annis' hands and stepped away. She began to speak again. 'With this truth comes the light of knowledge.' Suddenly, a flame arose from between Kata's hands, a candle held beneath a small bunch of kindling in a large iron bowl set upon a plinth at chest level. Annis stood watching as the kindling caught and Kata built up the fire a bit with larger pieces of wood. Annis then understood that she was taking part in a sort of ritual, a ritual she didn't quite understand but was apparently quite central to receiving more information. In that respect, the question made more sense. There had only been six other virgins in the history of the Institute; perhaps others had claimed to be virgins. That would explain rather a lot, thought Annis, the secrecy, the meeting in front of the Board, Bryndis' nervers. Well, it didn't explain Bryndis' nerves. He knew she was a virgin; he had felt her a number of times.
At that point in her musings, Kata turned back to Annis, again taking up her hands.
Annis noticed a change between them now that she had no cover in darkness. Kata never looked away from her eyes and Annis, in her embarrassment of her desire and her self-consciousness had a hard time continuing to meet her gaze. Finally, Kata's hands tightened again and she asked, 'Do you believe you are ready to give your virginity to your Kyros?'
This time Annis was neither surprised nor did she need time to consider. 'Yes,' she said simply and waited.
Kata looked stolidly back at Annis, her face as placid as a mirror. Finally, she relented, lessening her hold and saying again 'Thank you, Annis,' before turning to a second bundle of kindling on a second plinth. 'With this truth comes the light of sacrifice.' In the flare of the candle, Annis noticed a third plinth set up across from the first. They were standing in another circular room, though much smaller than the main room of the hall. Like the covering over the doorframe, the walls were all hung with white velvet, flickering now in the growing light of the two small fires.
As Kata walked back, Annis could not help but notice how the light of the flames danced across Kata's skin, how it sparkled on the silver of the chain connecting Kata's nipples and clitoris. 'I wonder how her nipples stay so taught and so long with the chain pulling at them', Kata wondered to herself. At this thought, her breath caught in a gasp Kata couldn't help but hear. She leaned her head toward Annis. 'We will speak of this later,' she whispered in a low, hard voice. Annis noticed that Kata's face had resumed its placid demeanor and Annis flushed in shame. Kata merely waited, looking at Annis until she raised her eyes to the other woman's.
Once Annis could look Kata in the eye again, Kata reached again for Annis' hands, twining fingers together. Annis knew now what to expect with the tightening of those other hands on hers, but she was again shocked at the question. 'With the exception of life and property, yours or anyone else's, is there a price you would not pay to make your Kyros this sacrifice?'
