The Priestess and Her Boy

25 - Taneric's Dream

When Nikah and Hanja were at last alone in her childhood room, they stood and faced each other nervously.

"Are you shy Nikah? I am." said Hanja.

"A little," admitted Nikah. "I almost expected childhood toys here Mistress. Perhaps dolls."

Hanja laughed, "No Nikah, I was not a typical little girl. I liked to play with the boys. I even looked like a boy and was mistaken for one on occasions."

"That is hard to believe looking at you now Mistress," said Nikah. He nodded towards the bed, "It is small."

"It is indeed. But I think it will suffice. What do we do now Nikah? Remove our clothes?"

"I think we remove each other's."

Nikah reached out and pulled Hanja to him, kissing her hard and sliding his hands inside her day robe, caressing her soft skin. She moaned softly and reached for the bottom of his tunic, trying to pull it upwards and over his head. They lost balance and fell together onto the bed, laughing.

"You like this Mistress?"

"Yes, very much. Your hands feel good on my body. They are so much larger than your mouth and tongue. Move them over my breasts again Nikah! Oh, yes, that does feel good. Remove your tunic Nikah!"

"You first Mistress!"

"Nikah!....Oh, I am sorry. For a moment I forgot. We lie together as equals. Here..."

She stood and pulled her robe over her head, throwing it to one side.

"You are so beautiful, Mistress. No matter how many times I see you."

She knelt next to him on the bed, trying to complete the removal of his tunic, while he playfully resisted, finally succumbing before she angered. He rolled her onto her back beneath him, pushing a knee between hers to open her thighs.

"Is this how you will take me?"

"Why not?"

"You are heavy upon me. And I cannot move very much. I am a little scared, Nikah. But you will stop if I ask."

"Perhaps."

"Nikah!" she shouted.

"Well, perhaps you would prefer a different position, Mistress. On all fours with me enjoying you from behind?"

"Like a dog? No, thank you Nikah!"

"You will want to try that one day Mistress. That, and everything else you can imagine doing with a boy who is not restrained. But, yes Mistress, I will of course stop if you ask."

"Then stop talking and get on with it!" she said, laughing.

And so Nikah made love to Hanja, as she gripped him tightly and pulled him to her. And then, when her passion approached its peak, and she had begun to softly vocalise her pleasure, he could not resist one last tease, "What was that Mistress? You want me to stop?". But she gripped his hair as tightly as she could and growled "Don't you dare!" into his ear, while he gave a little yelp of pain. But soon after, they reached their moment together, he with his hands holding her face, she with her nails marking his back. And then he collapsed onto her and she whispered urgently into his ear, "Please stay inside me if you can. I feel so close to you like this."

*****

One night, not long after he had learned of the new suf herb from the tavern girl Ovala, Taneric lay sleeping beside Princess Kasmine. It had been one of those nights. A night when he felt the presence of the Goddess. A night when he wished he were back at the Temple, just for a while, serving, obeying, pleasuring, bringing himself closer to the divine. Would he ever be free of it; this need? Kasmine understood, at least, and provided him with a refuge in her bedchamber - insisting on his obedience, enforcing it cruelly sometimes, and selfishly taking pleasure from him as her reward. And as he slept beside her that night, he dreamed a vivid dream. He was flying high above the land, far away from Vosgir, crossing seas and mountains, finally floating closer to the Earth and landing softly on a grassy bank by a beautiful stream with a waterfall feeding it. It was summer and there were animals by the stream; dear, foxes, rabbits, even a bear - but they paid him no attention as if he were invisible to them. And by the water was Hanja, sitting on a rock in her day robes, watching him and smiling.

"Hanja!" he said

"I am not Hanja. Although I live within her. You choose to see me this way, Taneric."

"Goddess? I am dreaming."

"Yes, Taneric, indeed you are. But what of it? Is a Goddess only real in the waking world? Come, sit with me by the water here." And she patted the stone close beside her. He moved to her side obediently.

"Taneric, I have been with you since that day in the Tajorg Valley. You know it is true, do you not? It is why you seek me in the person of the Princess who lies beside you sleeping at this very moment."

"She is not of the Goddess." he replied.

"Taneric, who are you to say so? Does she not love the hills? Does she not love the forests and the rivers? Does she not love the skies? And the animals? Does she not love you, Taneric, simply because she sees that you are good? You do not need to be within a Temple to bring yourself to me Taneric."

She kissed him, and he no longer felt himself to be within a dream.

"Taneric, why did you deny me in front of the eastern Princess? Why do you fight me still? Why do you not embrace me?"

"I am afraid to, Goddess."

"I know. But you must forget the horror of the past Taneric. Do not blame your Goddess for the sins of women and men. A mortal Queen tried to take my Priestesses from me but now they return. Ashala is High Priestess now, Taneric - are you surprised? And she will bring my daughters ever closer to me. And my sons too, whom I value just as greatly. No Taneric, it is true. How can you doubt the word of your Goddess?"

He was about to ask Her why, then, she would see Her sons enslaved, but now he was floating upwards again and She was waving to him and smiling and he could hear another voice calling to him, "Tak! Tak!", and he realised, as he woke, that it was Kasmine.

"Tak, I cannot sleep. Be a good boy and put your head between my legs!"

****

In the morning Taneric was called to the King's throne room. As he entered, a winter trapper was leaving, and bowed to him as they passed each other. Within the room sat Alfard, with Ostin and the High Priest beside him. Taneric wished them all a good morning.

"Taneric," said Alfard, "That trapper had just arrived from the City. The first to do so for many days. He tells me the High Priestess has passed. Ashala now wears the red robes."

"I already knew, father."

"But how? Speak up Taneric!"

"It came to me in a dream."

"Praise Wodh!" said the High Priest, "He works in mysterious ways!"

"Taneric, why do you laugh?" asked Alfard.

"I am sorry father. And I apologise to you also, High Priest, I mean no disrespect. Ashala is a good woman, father, as you well know. As we deal with her, we must remember there is no easy question of good against evil, only of what we believe to be good and just, against what the Temple believes to be the way of light. There is fear at the heart of their faith - I barely understand, but I believe it to be a fear of the past. The distant past."

"Prince Taneric," said the High Priest, "You speak with too much charity. Their Goddess is false! You have spent so long among them, it is only natural that you have some love for the gentler members of their cult. No blame lies with you in that regard. But now, if they plot against us with a new herb, as your tavern girl suggests, we must dissolve their order. Let us dismantle the Temple and build a Church of Wodh from its stones. None can prevent us."

"Your thoughts are well received as usual High Priest," said Alfard. "But for the moment we will take care of the herb and that is all. Taneric, you shall go immediately, even as the snow begins to melt. Do not let Ashala stop you. The herb is trickery, and we consider it forfeit under the terms of the Treaty. Tell her I myself will come in the spring. We will sit together and drink juka and wine, and together we will decide on a way forward for our lands, for I would not have us continue in a spirit of suspicion and mistrust. Take one hundred men. The City Guard will not resist you. Go now!"