. 05

Ch.1 : A Priestess In Shanla

Part 5 : Carel's Activities

"Hey, Danella," a young voice called out. She turned to see who it was.

"Hello, Carel," she greeted her as she recognised her in the dark. Carel was a friend of hers. Her bed lay close to Danella's in the dorm and they were close. Carel was very young, still only nineteen, and when she had become a full priestess she had chosen Danella to act as mentor in some of her initiations, as well as a friend in a new place. Danella had been good to her. She could have done her duties but ignored the young woman after, but she had always given her ear to Carel whenever she had problems. Carel had been here for nearly two years now and didn't need Danella's support and guidance as much, but she still gave it.

Carel had other friends, particularly of her own age. She was an attractive young woman, developing very well physically, and many were attracted to her. She had become particularly fond of other females and was popular with them. She did not always sleep in her own bed, a practice not encouraged because in a communal dorm there needed to be silence at night so that the priestesses could sleep. In practice however, as long as the recumbents made no noise they could sleep together if they wished. Usually it was the feeling of love and security which might lead them to share beds, and those priestesses, satisfied by ceremonies and duties, had no need to take further orgasms, but sometimes they might if they were quiet.

Carel had once slipped into bed with Danella in the middle of the night without any warning. That had been when she was still new and she had needed the comfort to quell her fears. Danella had succeeded. It had been strange to lie with a young woman who felt almost like a daughter, although there were not that many years between them. At first she had been mildly annoyed but had not shown it. Then she had enjoyed the protective feeling. It had been good to feel the warmth of fleshly companionship without the need for orgasms and performance.

After a long time in which neither actually slept Carel had begun to put into practice the arts she was learning as a priestess, caressing Danella's entrance and sticking her tongue deeply into her mouth. Danella had known it was going to happen, and welcomed it when it came on this occasion. It had been something new, something different, even though she had no particularly strong sexual desire for women. Carel had changed position on the bed so that she lay on top with her face buried deep into Danella's loins, licking slowly then quickly until Danella's body shook uncontrollably as she fought to maintain silence. Danella stuck her tongue into Carel's young vagina and licked her clitoris, drawing out her fluids. Carel began to buck on top of her, breathing heavily and bringing her own hand into action on herself as she demanded her own satisfaction. She made more noise than she should and anyone awake would have heard, but most around them were still asleep. They had continued their repeated orgasms and eventually subsided into quiet motionless companionship. Carel's small pretty limbs, her smooth skin and beautiful face, her golden brown hair were the type to draw real passion from male and female alike and she seemed to like females even more than males.

After that their relationship had become close and for a time Carel had become a regular visitor. Soon Danella became aware that Carel was visiting other priestesses at night also. She would look over to her bed in the darkness and see it normally empty. Sometimes she would become aware in the middle of the night of her angelic naked body moving from one bed to another. It seemed likely that Carel had slept with more priestesses in the space of less than two years than any other priestess. What had probably begun as a reaction to loneliness and being a newcomer had for Carel turned into an addiction.

Danella had been happy not to be called upon quite so often because she had been short of sleep and with repetition she found the act less important to her. She was still a man's priestess despite her recent growing fatigue with the requirements of a priestess's life. The warmth and companionship of an attractive young woman like Carel was a lovely bonus occasionally, but she was happy not to have to perform regularly. She had said 'no' to Carel sometimes when she really needed sleep or had been in ceremonies. Mostly these days they spoke as friends not lovers.

Danella turned around and saw that Carel was with two of her young friends of a similar age, both frequent lovers, she guessed. They were in lively mood. "Shilda's worker got too excited so when he'd finished he gave her a lovely long suck. You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"Marvellous," beamed Shilda. "I'm ready for another one now." They laughed. Danella wondered why they found it so amusing. It was just ordinary life to her. There was nothing particularly funny about sex. It was something she enjoyed but she felt there was perhaps too much of it in her life, and there must be more to her life.

But it was nothing to laugh about. It was too normal. She supposed it was still new to these young priestesses, exciting to realise the attraction they held for men and also women. It gave them a kind of power which they had not held when they were children, and a new sense of importance. Danella had once felt like that herself, attractive and important. She had loved the ceremonies and worshipped the Goddess vigorously, revelling in her own body and in other bodies. Now she just felt normal. She was merely like any other priestess, certainly not important, just female flesh to serve the pent up sexual demands and desires of workers from many occupations. To many sexual partners or groups she was just a body without a brain or a personality. She felt increasingly that they meant nothing to her and she meant nothing to them. She did not find it amusing. It was merely normal duty. Even when she had been as young as Carel and her friends, and she had loved the ceremonies, she had never found the act to be funny. Perhaps she had laughed with the other priestesses about the habits of men or the way they looked, but the way so many priestesses found the act amusing and could spend much time talking about it was not something she understood well. When she wasn't doing it she preferred to think about other things these days.

"What was yours like?" asked Carel, "I saw you being skewered. He looked good."

"He was alright I suppose. Was everyone watching me?" she asked in mock sensitivity which betrayed a certain resentment that every priestess she spoke to appeared to have been watching her. Then she remembered that being an attendant she had been in the circle when the farmer selected her and they had combined on the top of the steps, having no leather bench to worship on. To spectators such as Agnella she had been noticeable, and even to participants such as Carel.

"You know I'm always watching you," winked Carel in reference to their own bond of love. "You are very beautiful."

Carel had become a very confident, outgoing priestess in the last year or so. Danella had begun to resent the happiness which the younger woman displayed, as she wondered why her own happiness continued to recede with every ceremony, as she questioned the way she was leading her life. Nevertheless it was better that the young woman was happy with her destiny than to be saddened or exhausted by it. It was best that a priestess became fully immersed in her lifestyle, and enjoyed living it because as it seemed to Danella there was no alternative for her. It was not that she hated the ceremonies and the sexual repetition. She did enjoy them and she did in her own way love and worship the Goddess, but there was insufficient freedom to do anything else with her life. Her life was planned for her and there seemed little choice left to her. If only she could attend half the number of ceremonies and spend the rest of her time doing other things she would have been happy. But she did not have that choice.

"We could go to a private room and do a group bonding," Carel suggested. "Shilda and Fina are coming with me. What do you say?"

Danella felt like saying, 'Why do you want more? Haven't you had enough already for one evening?' But she didn't. She felt like saying, 'Why do you want to bond with women so often? What is wrong with men? Are you not attracted to them?' She knew in fact that Carel was attracted to men, as she frequently displayed at ceremonies, but she did seem to value female partnership more highly. She probably received enough male penetration during ceremonies, and found female company more relaxing and sensuous.

Females understood each other better than men and they could give each other the sensitivity which brought out some of the best orgasms which were highly prized in the worship of the Goddess. Priestesses lived and worked largely with each other. They met men largely at ceremonies and in duty visits but they did not have to get to know and get on with men in any other than sexual meetings so they understood women better. Relationships with best female friends could therefore be deeper and in some ways more fulfilling than with men. However only some priestesses bothered to develop such deep relationships with each other, preferring men and limiting their sexual contact with the other priestesses to the ceremonies which demanded it. Danella had experienced deep female love with Carel and on occasion with others, but it was not so important to her.

The three young priestesses, and any other they chose to invite, would take a free room in the complex behind the dorm, which contained a large bed and maybe other sexual furniture. They would get on the bed together and wrap themselves up in each other for a couple of hours of slow licking, sucking and soft massage, before returning to the dorm for sleep before dark time. Danella would have been bored and her parts might become sore, and she would feel hungry or thirsty and sleepy. She could do without that. "No, I'm tired and I need to rest. I've had enough bonding for one night." The younger priestesses said goodbye and moved off past the dorm towards the free rooms.

Unhindered further, Danella was able to return in peace to the dorm. Tonight she was too tired to bother writing, so along with many other priestesses she retired to bed early. For a while she considered her life and wondered what it might be like in other places and other lives. Finding no consolation she slipped suddenly into sleep as the fatigue from the chores of the day caught up with her. At night she slept deeply and dreamed absorbing, sometimes disturbing, dreams.