Isabella Awaening

When Isabella finally opened her eyes, she was aware of lying between Thomas and Gabrielle, their lips to her temples and their hands gently stroking her body.

"Welcome back to earth, my love," whispered Thomas. "We were wondering if you'd ever return."

Isabella smiled, closed her eyes again and inhaled deeply. She realized that she held Thomas's half-hard penis in one hand and she gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Was I gone for long?" she asked, her contented smile still reflecting the feelings of wholeness she was experiencing in her core.

It was Gabrielle, her fingers tracing the dark circles of Isabella's nipples, who whispered, "An eternity in a single moment, the universe lay open to her soul, She basked in the eternal instant, and returned to us more whole." Isabella did not recognize the quote, but she recognized the sentiment and turned to Gabrielle, finding her mouth and kissing her with real affection.

Gabrielle sat up beside her and said, "I will leave you now to say your goodbyes. I need to call on Natalia but will see you again in the main entrance when the party leaves for Beja." She leant across Isabella and kissed Thomas. "Oh! I almost forgot," she smiled. Opening her thighs and leaning back, she expelled the Horn of Joy from her vagina, allowing it to come to rest, glistening, on the bed sheet. She lifted it to her mouth and cleaned its length with her tongue before handing it to Isabella. "Keep it safe, my love."

Gabrielle climbed off the bed, found her gown and left Thomas and Isabella to themselves.

"How long before you must leave?" asked Isabella after a few moments had passed.

"Very soon, I'm afraid." He said, "The horses are being prepared and the Bey is anxious to make a start before the sun sets." He kissed her and she felt his cock swell and fill her hand. "You have made a good friend in Gabrielle," he remarked.

"She is wonderful," sighed Isabella. "A truly remarkable woman."

"All the women here are remarkable," he replied, "but I had hoped you and Gabrielle would find each other." He continued stroking her hair and looked into her eyes.

Isabella felt adored, but it was not a feeling that sat easily with her and she was still feeling a little confused by the dynamics and morality of this new world..

"Is it truly acceptable to you that I have made love with Gabrielle while our own relationship is so new?" she asked.

"It is not only acceptable, as you put it, my love, it is also a source of great comfort to me. You will learn very quickly here that passion, lust, intimacy and friendship are but different expressions of the same emotion. You should feel neither obligation to consummate lust nor the need to restrain your desires. That openness and freedom is part of who we are."

"But what of jealousy or possessiveness? Do they not rise to confound the free expression of desire?"

"I understand your question my sweet, and those feelings can be very real at times. We deal with them the same way we deal with all potentially divisive or negative issues - we talk with our hearts. If you ever feel the slightest hesitation, hurt or confusion, you must express it. That honesty is what keeps us together."

"Thomas," she said softly, brushing his mouth with her lips, "I have many feelings right now. Some are familiar and welcome, and yet others are new to me. I feel beholden to you and that scares me. At the same time, I know that you return at least some of the deep love that has arisen in me. It is all so new to me. My life has been full of passion, but I had not expected to ever feel the way I do now about another person. Surely, I have doubts and I am pulled between the poles of pure lust and a pure love for you. Gabrielle too, awakens new passions in me, as did Beatrice in Palermo, and I sometimes feel a whirlpool inside of me, churning and spinning my emotions and my bodily desire. When I come as I did just now, everything is clear. But as I return to my body, these demons awake and make me doubt what I know in my heart to be true. You took me to heaven today and I am humbled by your power and wisdom..." Isabella fell silent, fearing she was not expressing herself clearly and concerned about Thomas's reaction.

She need not have worried. Thomas held her to him and replied, "My love, I too fear what is happening, but I welcome that fear as something good and powerful and noble. I feel blessed to have been chosen as your guide on the journey you have started. I return your feelings of joyful lust tenfold. But these circumstances, your current feelings of gratitude and obligation to me, and my own unbridled awe of you, are both a catalyst for our coming together and a potential obstacle to the next stage, if it comes; the flowering of true love. We must be patient, despite the urgency we both feel right now. We have been blessed to find each other in this place and with time on our side. Let us give thanks to God and to Keira for the opportunity to know each other and let us allow time and fate to take their course. I want you more than I can express right now, but we must both look within ourselves and within each other for the answers. I know they will come."

They lay entwined and silent for several minutes. Finally Isabella said, "You must be going soon. Will it be dangerous?"

Thomas replied, "Yes, Isabella, I cannot pretend that this mission will not involve some risk. But the Bey will see to our safety and I expect to return to you within three days. I should bathe now and meet the Bey."

Isabella rose on her outstretched arms and said, feigning mild reproach, "Just like a man! Fuck me and leave me. You're all the same!"

Thomas laughed and they hugged again before helping each other from the bed and walking hand in hand to the bathroom.

Thomas watched Isabella pee and wipe the residue of his semen from her pussy and thighs.

"Thomas," she asked, "where would I find vinegar here?"

He scanned the bottles and jars on the bathroom shelf and reached for an ornate yellow bottle with a long curved neck. "I think this is what you are looking for," he said, uncorking the bottle and handing it Isabella, still seated on the privy.

She put the open bottle carefully to her nose and said, "It certainly contains some vinegar, but it must be diluted with something else." She sniffed it again. "Something herbal?"

"One of Gabrielle's innovations, I'm sure. I have seen the women use it to wash their vaginas after sex."

"Then douche me," said Isabella handing him the bottle, rising from the privy and stepping into the tub. She lay on her back, legs apart and over the rim of the bath, and raised her bottom.

Thomas took the bottle and careful parted her inner lips, still rosy and full from their lovemaking. He gently placed the smooth opening of the bottle against her hole and upended it, watching its contents flow into her through the pale yellow glass. When the bottle was empty, he placed it back on the shelf and sat on the edge of the bath, stroking her thighs and sighing softly.

Isabella allowed the liquid to find the entry to her womb and she wiggled to ensure it reached every fold and crevice of her passage. She then squatted in the tub and used the muscles of her abdomen and perineum to expel a pale stream of liquid. Thomas watched and reached for the stopcock, turning it so that water gushed over Isabella's legs and swirled around her feet, washing the vinegar mixture and his dead sperm down the drain. He then plugged the drain and Isabella sat, with the bath filling around her. He took another bottle from the shelf and poured a cupful of fragrant oils into the water and then joined her.

The water was warm and the oils released their scent of sandalwood and peach. Isabella cupped her hands and filled them, pouring water over Thomas's shoulders and chest. She rubbed the oil into his skin and her did the same for her, gently holding and weighing her breasts in his hands as he did. She then turned around and leant back into him and he cradled her and kissed her neck.

"You know, Thomas, I feel so alive here. Its like a holiday...or more like a dream. In some ways I feel more at home here than I ever did in Naples, or on Henri's farm."

He stroked her shoulders and replied, "In some ways, you are at home, Isabella. You are amongst friends who share your nature. We are your family now."

Isabella experienced a moment of pain, not so much grief at what she had given up, but regret at how her family would feel. "We must let mama know I am safe." She said.

"We shall certainly let her know. It was her doing after all. But we must be careful to keep our location and trail a secret, my love. And your father must not know. The implications of him seeking you out could be disastrous for us all."

Isabella swung her legs around and put them around his waist. She was concerned by this development, "But Papa will grieve if thinks I have been .... I do not want him to suffer, Thomas. I deplore what he had done to me - the marriages and all, but he is my father and I love him."

"I understand, my sweet. And your mother will soften the blow, I am sure. He will not be kept in the dark forever, just long enough for our trail to go cold. A year perhaps, or maybe two. I have asked Jax to prepare a letter to him that will provide both a believable tale for your father and a message of comfort to your mother." He smiled. "Jax is an expert at such things, and she revels at the prospect of preparing something that Marisa will read."

"But why would letting Father know that I am safe, or at least alive, be such a danger?"

Thomas sighed and kissed her on the neck, "This is not a time of safety for our Order, my love. We under political attack and surveillance, and this place, Ghar El Melh, is one of the few safe and secret havens we have left in the Mediterranean. Jax and the other political women see this as the last gasp of the old order. The church's power over monarchs and civil society is waning and they fear us more than ever. Cardinal Fleury in France is determined to wipe us out before he dies or looses power. We must be vigilant."

Isabella nodded her reluctant agreement and found Thomas's hardening cock under the water. She stroked it lovingly and rubbed her oily thumb against the underside of its swollen glans. Neither of them made any further move towards passionate consummation. It was as if they both knew that they had quickly reached a level of comfortable familiarly with each other's body where such simple arousals and intimate touches were as natural a part of their lives as a shared cup of wine or a friendly kiss.

They washed each other and then stood together, drying their bodies with one large towel. By the time Isabella had combed out her hair, Thomas had returned to the larger room and was dressed in his white pants and loose fitting shirt.

"The Bey will be waiting," he said.

Isabella found a pair of loose fitting harem pants and a blouse and dressed quickly. They left the room and made their way down to the entrance hall. The Bey was not yet there, but Gabrielle and Jax and his entourage, the two soldiers who had followed the Bey and Thomas earlier, were present, talking together near the entrance doors. They greeted Thomas and Isabella as they came down the stairs and Gabrielle called to someone at the back of the room. A servant came hurriedly forward, holding some sort of clothing and a pair of boots over his outstretched arms. He bowed, presenting the parcel to Thomas, who thanked him and took what Isabella could now see was a long cotton robe in the Arab style. Thomas slipped it over his head, allowing the hood and the scarf attached to the collar to fall behind him. He then sat and bound his feet in long strips of cotton and pulled on the leather boots. The servant returned, this time bearing a belted sword, a sheathed cutlass, which Thomas attached around his waist.

Isabella watched him dress with great interest. He now looked just like the soldiers and she was not surprised when the Bey entered from a side alcove in identical garb.

"So," he said, "we depart! Goodbye, my dears and may Allah, God and Keira watch over you!" There were kisses all round; the two soldiers, Isabella noted, not missing out. She hugged and kissed Thomas and accepted a kiss from the Bey and the four men moved towards the heavy entrance doors that swung open as they approached.

A hot wind blew into the house and the women had to shield their eyes from the bright sun and the hot sand being whipped against their faces. The men pulled on their hoods and tied the scarves around their faces, leaving only their eyes visible. Horses were snorting and rearing below the front steps, their handlers calling out and trying to calm them. Each horse had a large saddle hung with heavy canvas bags. The four robed men mounted and took their reigns from the handlers. The Bey's horse reared and he waved a final farewell to the three women and spurred his mount to an instant gallop out of the gated entry to the compound. The other riders followed his lead and, within seconds, all that remained was a cloud of dust.

The women retreated immediately to the relative cool and calm of the house, the doors being swung shut by servants.

"Well," said Jax, "another typically dramatic exit scene by the Bey! He does like to impress a new woman with a bit of theatre," she winked at Isabella. "You look a little pale, my dear. Tell me, have you eaten since breakfast?"

Isabella thought for moment and replied, "As matter of fact, no, Jax. Apart from the most wonderful cinnamon flavored hor'dourve I had a little while ago, I haven't had anything." She glanced over to Gabrielle who smiled and gave her a wink.

Jax was a little shocked by her quick entry into the Sanctuary's spirit, but recovered instantly, "Well, come with me, my dear, and I'll make sure you get something more substantial." She put an arm around Isabella's shoulder and they left, followed closely by Gabrielle, and made their way to the kitchens at the far end of the main building.

Isabella knew they were nearing the kitchens because the sound of women yelling and pots being thrown brought back memories of her Neapolitan childhood. There was something about putting more than one woman in a kitchen, she thought, that turned even the sweetest into a banshee. As the three beautiful women entered the large room, the inhabitants paused briefly, acknowledged them with nods, and immediately resumed their high pitched discussion, which apparently required the four of them to talk loudly at once and to punctuate their sentences with flying kitchen implements. Jax and Gabrielle looked to Isabella, ready to explain or apologies, but Isabella's face told them not to bother. They stood together in the open doorway until the storm passed.

Eventually the inevitable truce was reached amid hugs and tears and the oldest and largest of the women turned to the intruders and welcomed them. "Signoras," she said, hands on hips and obviously in no mood for interruptions "how may we be of assistance?"

"Maria, this is our new friend, Isabella, who is traveling with the Magus. She will be staying with us for some time and I wanted her to meet you and the other women who make our lives so enjoyable with their wonderful creations." It was Jax who spoke, displaying, Isabella thought, a fine grasp of the art of subtle diplomacy. Maria melted, of course, and approached Isabella with open arms, hugging her to her substantial Italian bosom and pouring forth a stream of grandmotherly assurances of faithful service to her new friend.

"Another skinny child!" she admonished. "You must eat more my dear. Don't listen to this evil witch doctor, nodding towards Gabrielle. She will have you starved if she could. That Magus likes them meaty. You need some handles" she grabbed Isabella's hips and winked. Isabella said how pleased she was to meet Maria and was introduced to the three other women in the kitchen, a tall Arab girl, a northern European with fine blond hair and a pale girlish face, and a black woman, almost as large as Maria. Isabella said she would learn all their names and wanted to hear the stories of how they came to Ghar El Melh and to the service of the Bey. The pale girl blushed but the others all smiled and welcomed Isabella to their home.

Gabrielle spoke up. "Now, Maria, Isabella is hungry and it is still several hours until our banquet. Can you give her something light to tide her over? Perhaps a bowl of soup and some of your sesame cakes?" Gabrielle had deliberately emphasized the "something light" and Maria scowled at her and muttered. She complied however, thrusting a saucepan at the Arab girl and saying, "Marana, warm some lentil soup for the new mistress, and Clara!" addressing the blonde girl, "get the fresh sesame cakes from the other room". Compliant but not happy, she scowled again at Gabrielle who gave her a sweet smile and a whispered, "thank you, Maria my dear" in reply.

"Can we also have something cooling to drink, Maria?" added Jax. "We'll take it outside, on the portico."

Maria waved them out with both hands and called to Anoka, the Negro woman to prepare two jugs of lemonade.

Jax, Gabrielle and Isabella filed out the rear door onto the broad veranda. A table and four chairs stood nearby. Isabella felt the heat as she left the house and turned to Gabrielle. "How does the house remain so cool in this heat?"

Gabrielle sat and looked to Jax to reply. "The Bey's mother, Jacinta, amongst her many talents and qualities, was an innovative architect," she began, seating herself. "She was familiar with this area's cave systems and had tunnels, or passages dug to connect the basements of the house to a massive system of limestone caves and fissures beneath this hill. She installed vents in the floors, roofs and ceilings to allow hot air to escape and the natural difference in pressure to draw in cool air from the caves. It is remarkably simple, but very effective. During winter, the vents can be closed to retain heat and the massive stone walls of the buildings moderate any fluctuations."

Isabella nodded. "And the plumbing? Did Jacinta design that too?"

"She certainly did," replied Jax. "A true wonder of the modern world. Windmills below the Sanctuary pump water to reservoirs or tanks in the roof and gravity propels the water to the bathrooms. The sun warms the water in shallow open tanks. So civilized," she commented. "And to think those smelly Europeans look down on the Arab world!"

"I am very impressed, Jax", said Isabella. "I've never seen its like elsewhere." While Jax had been speaking, Isabella had watched her closely. She was truly beautiful, her short blonde hair and high cheekbones set off an aristocratic face that Isabella found somewhat familiar but could not place. Her jaw line was almost masculine, wide and well defined, but still classically proportioned for a young woman. She carried very little fat and was also smaller breasted and narrower in the hip than the other women.

Gabrielle leant into the conversation. "The health effects of simple measures, such as ventilation and reticulated water, not to mention the effective disposal of waste from the privies, are greatly underestimated by our cousins in Europe. The Bey is very committed to extending these benefits to the towns in his domain. I will show you some of our projects when we go into Ghar el Melh in a few days. I am writing papers on these things for the university in Vienna."

"Yes, that right," said Jax. "Gabrielle scribbles about shit while the Mediterranean burns and the French conspire to choke our supply routes and destroy our order. Very useful, dear".

Gabrielle poked her tongue at Jax and turned again to Isabella to say something else but she was interrupted by the two younger women from the kitchens delivering Isabella's meal and jugs of iced lemonade that they poured into long glasses. At that moment too, the statuesque Kahlia roamed into view across the Plaza. Jax called to her and beckoned her to join them.