Last chapter, the sex priestess Tricia hid Billie the assassin from the local guards by seducing one of them into her bed. She then received a message from her goddess telling her to take Billie and the waif back to her home.
"Who the fuck do you think you are?" came booming down the hallway. Billie and Tricia looked to the doorway to see an older woman practically exploding into the room. Tricia seemed surprised but unperturbed, but the big woman's entrance startled Billie into drawing her fighting dagger.
"Well hello High Priestess Contedescra," Tricia said in the most calm and pleasant of voices, clearly calling the woman by name and title for Billie's benefit. "What is it I can do for you, or perhaps to you?" she followed with a clear invitation.
"Don't you dare pull some seduction routine on me. I was pulling those tricks while you were still in your daddy's cock." The big woman was pissed, and she was not calming down. She wasn't big in the sense of being hugely fat or really tall. It was just that she had that sense of having lived well and it showed in her heavy belly as well as the rest of her body being well rounded. "You actually reached out and contacted our goddess."
"Yes, your holiness," Tricia admitted, "I did ask the goddess to grant me guidance, and she graced me with her wisdom."
If anything, when the high priestess lowered her voice, it became even more menacing, as she was barely holding her temper with her underling. "You know there's more than one goddess, so when you go reaching out to her in her orgy filled heaven, you know the other gods and goddesses notice. Hell, one of the ladies of her heavenly court came to me to let me know what you were doing. How many other angels were sent out with similar messages? And on the same night that some jackass merchant "lost" his niece. How much heat are you trying to bring down on our temple?"
Tricia did seem to be taken down a notch at that thought. Apparently she hadn't really thought through the ramifications of her actions. She bowed her head in front of her high priestess and remained silent for a moment. When she spoke, most of her bravado was gone. "Contedescra, I apologize. I did not consider the impact on you and my sisters in faith here. I was willing to risk myself, but had not intended to risk them or you."
The high priestess was still angry, but she did seem to be calming as Tricia's rather defiant attitude had changed. "What about your friend here? Had our goddess decided to take you right then and there, her life probably would have been sucked right out of her through your snatch. Bet you didn't warn her about that did you?"
Billie immediately stared at Tricia. Was such a thing even possible? "No, sacred mother, I did not warn her. I was wrong to do it." That did not make Billie feel any better.
"Well, it's a damn good thing I can spread bullshit even better than I can spread my legs!" The high priestess was calming down, but her style certainly wasn't changing. For a second, Billie saw in her an old barmaid swearing with the worst of the dock workers. "You three stay here - No magic, no nothin'!" And with that Contedescra the High Priestess left the room, leaving Billie and Tricia stunned and silent.
Lacking anything else she could do, Billie found a soft corner of the room (they were all pretty comfortable) and took a nap. She could be like that - practical, even in terrifying situations. Tricia on the other hand was a wreck. She really hadn't thought through the consequences of her actions. Asking the goddess for help seemed smart, but in fact, she really had put her entire temple full of prostitute priestesses at risk.
Though it took until dawn, the High Priestess returned with a plan. Billie with her years of training heard the big woman coming down the hall and was fully awake before she opened the door.
"You need to listen. You do not get to argue." The matter of fact way she opened the conversation was not a good sign. "I am going to take you to a ship. That ship is being searched right now. The four of us will be allowed to board her, because we are going to entertain the captain on his birthday. The constables will then see all four of us leave the ship, and it will depart. Obviously, you three will still be on the ship and out of my hair."
"Thank you, Contedescra," Tricia said with a bowed head.
But Billie wasn't so convinced. "Why?" The two priestesses looked over at her with astonishment. Was she refusing help? "Why stick your neck out for me?"
Despite her earlier show of her anger, Contedescra walked over to the much smaller woman and treated her with a straight response. "This little whore you've partnered with here actually did contact our goddess. Further, it didn't anger our lustful deity, but instead intrigued her. One of her angels told me to help, because our goddess has a job for your three to do, starting in Cattaina. I hate this, but I'm not going to tell a goddess, no."
She was too matter of fact and held Billie's eyes too solidly for this to have been a lie. Billie was sure of it. It scared the crap out of her, but she was convinced the high priestess was telling the truth as she knew it.
Minor details were worked out, and Contedescra left the three to get ready. But that meant that Bille and Tricia needed to wake the waif, who was still out cold from when Billie had thrown her out the window. Luckily, Tricia had smelling salts, but the waif took her sweet time coming to consciousness.
As she awoke, it was with a start. Staring up at two women she had never met, she had no idea where she was. Tricia took the lead and tried to calm her, while Billie restrained her. Despite Billie being in expert athletic shape, the fear in the waif nearly shook her off.
Time was of the essence. Without waiting to explain, Tricia clouded the waif's mind and three women began to prepare themselves for the day. In order for them to get onto the ship as prostitute priestesses, they were going to need different clothes and a lot of make-up.
Tricia borrowed clothing from her fellow priestesses. While they hadn't wanted to part with their outfits, Tricia knew she was unlikely to ever return, so she was willing to bargain away her clothes and even furniture. As the tide was rolling in mid-morning, the three "priestesses" were ready to go with the High Priestess.
The plan went surprisingly well. Contedescra led the three to the docks, and then right up one of the gang planks. The constables at the bottom of the ramp had been told this was going to happen and they were snickering at the three girls being led aboard. Once on deck, the first mate said, "No more than three-quarter hours ma'am."
Contedescra responded, "I'm sure he can't last that long."
All four women walked to the captain's quarters and entered his cabin. Even with the morning sun outside, it was dark in the cabin. The captain stood as they entered, showing politeness, if nothing else.
He addressed Contedescra as though the others weren't even there. "So which one is going to handle me and my crew?" he asked with impudence.
Contedescra gestured to Tricia. Tricia seemed startled, but tried not to let on. The captain nodded, as though he was dismissing the high priestess. She was not so easily ignored. "I have your oath that you will deliver these three to Cattaina, and no harm will come to them."
He looked up at her from his desk. "Well no harm will come to the two flat chested ones. And no real harm will come to the whore."
Contedescra's eyes flashed with rage. Calling a lust priestess a whore was like calling a knight a piss boy. Billie felt the flow of magic in the room, and the captain shot up from his desk. Clearly something had startled him, but Billie was unaware of what it could possibly have been.