Hestia trembled in a mix of fear and anticipation. She had been dedicated to the service of the god since birth, carefully protected, nurtured, instructed in the mysteries and now, a woman grown, she was to fulfill her purpose.
The harvest was in, unusually bountiful. The grapes pressed, the frivolity of the stomping through. The new wine had been decanted into the casks and skins, put down to ferment. Now the god must be appeased, Bacchus, god of wine must be placated, thanked for the bountiful harvest and implored to perform his magic and turn the grape juice into wine.
"Come girl," the priestess beckoned, now a withered crone but once young like Hestia, once bride of the god as well.
Hestia followed the priestess out of the hut and the mingled throng of the village cheered her appearance singing and dancing as they formed a processional behind her, following them up the long, winding path to the god's temple atop the low Etruscan hill. The priestess stopped before a low cave in the hillside and the townspeople gathered into the clearing, forming a half circle around them. Hestia stood before the priestess.
"Hear me o god, we your people thank you for the bounty of this harvest. In thanksgiving and in supplication for your blessings we offer you this bride, woman grown, yet virgin. Take her as your own and give us your bounty, turn the juices of the grape into wine."
Beckoning to her acolytes, the priestess signaled that the ceremony should begin. The two matrons, functioning as acolytes for the priestess, stepped up behind Hestia and removed her robe. The young woman stood naked and proud before the throng as the acolytes wove strands of grape leaves into her rich, dark curls singing a paean to the god as they worked. As they finished, the priestess beckoned Hestia again, and she lay back upon a raised knoll. The priestess made a gesture and Appolonia, the midwife, stepped forward and walked to the supine girl.
Hestia opened her legs, knowing her part in the ceremony. Appolonia knelt between the girl's legs and gently parted the folds of her sex with her hands. Examining her closely for a moment, she stood and announced, "She has not known man. She is virgo intacta."
"Then let the celebration begin," the priestess intoned.
The shepherd's pipes began to play as the crowd cheered. Wineskins were broken out and the villagers began to dance to the music of the pipes as they swigged the sweet red wine that made the village famous throughout the empire. The dancing went on and on and still Hestia lay on her knoll, trembling in fear, anticipation, she knew not what. She watched the revelers. That was allowed, encouraged. Soon the dancing became more frenzied, provocative, lewd as the wine was consumed. Fabius the baker, grabbed Portia, a woman half his age and not his wife, and kissed her. Far from being offended, Portia, normally a reserved country matron, reached under his tunic and grabbed his manhood.
As if this were the signal, the revelers abandoned their dance and turned to one another; or rather their dance became a different one, an older, more visceral dance. Clothing was shed and with it inhibitions, all trappings of civilization as a more primal instinct took over. Hestia watched a young maiden laugh as two young men nuzzled her neck. Her laughter stopped as one moved lower to nuzzle at her breast and her eyes glazed over. She looked back to see Fabius now entering Portia from behind, fucking her with hard powerful strokes as she grunted like an animal on all fours in response. Portia's husband Marius stood before her and Portia took his prong in her mouth, stifling her grunts on his manhood. All around her the townspeople copulated in twos, threes, more. Hestia felt herself moisten, burn. She longed to touch herself, to give herself the only relief she had ever known in her young life.
She saw Medina on her back, legs splayed wide as her sister Fabia knelt between them and bent to kiss the other girls nether lips. Hestia wondered how that would feel, and, as if by magic, she felt a feathery touch between her legs. She looked, surprised and saw the withered face of the High Priestess framed between her thighs.
"Relax," the older woman told her, "You'll have an easier time of it if you do."