CH2. The initiation.
The door to the main hall was open. I entered.
Women were seated in the main hall of the temple. They sat on comfortable pillows on the floor of the main hall, and their heads turned in my direction when I entered. A quick glance told me there were more then forty, so probably all inhabitants of the temple had turned up to see my initiation.
I turned my attention to the stage. By the way it was lit with candles I knew that the initiation would take place there. I walked up to the stage and ascended it, ignoring the women looking at me. I stood in the middle of the stage, facing the statue of Aphrodite, and waited.
I heard music, and knew that several of the women had musical instruments. I heard at least two drums and a harp, but decided not to look back to the women, but straight ahead to the statue. The drums reminded me for a moment of the war drums that were played during my initiation into Ares' service, but then set that thought aside. The tune they played had some importance, but it was nothing like the ferocious beating of the war drums. Their tune gradually increased, however, the musicians playing faster and louder. The music rose to a crescendo, and as their pace became nerve-wrecking. I decided that I should not be afraid. I held my head up high as the drums set a feverish beat. At last, with a final bang on the drums, the music stopped and the door behind the statue opened.
High priestess Leda entered and walked up to the stage. She was several years older then me, perhaps more then ten, and yet her beauty was breath-taking and somewhat otherworldly. She was tall, her skin slightly darkened, her figure slender yet round like a mature woman. Her hair was dark brown and long, stopping just above her hips. She wore a white, thin dress, which did nothing to cover her nakedness. The dress only put more emphasis on her huge breasts, her erect nipples clearly visible trough them. She wore a necklace of blue stones, and I immediately recognized it: it was identical to the one the statue of Aphrodite wore.
She walked up to me until she was but a few feet away. She was slightly taller then me, and I was not that short myself. Then she spoke.
"Aphrodite, immortal Goddess of Love, bringer of Lust, She whose beauty is unmatched, the bringer of children, Goddess of Fertility and Joy, calls. Who answers?"
"I, Michael of Thebe present myself before her." I knelt before the high priestess.
"Will you serve your Goddess with all the skill and passion you posses, will you follow her call as your command, obey her words as your laws. Will you do everything in your power to please her, in every aspect of your life, so that She may call you her loyal servant?"
"I will."
"Then rise, Michael of Thebe."
The words had not been so different from the ones spoken in my pledge to Ares. I rose to stand on my feet. I looked into the eyes of the high priestess. Her gaze was piercing, as if she tried to look into me, but I dared not lower my eyes.
"Close your eyes and clear your mind, Michael of Thebe, and let me see what you offer."
I closed my eyes and tried to think of nothing. It was not easy: even with my eyes closed, I was strangely fascinated with the woman before me. She was the embodiment of sex, somehow more female then any other woman I had ever seen. Her age did not diminish her beauty, as if the faint lines on her face only underlined her features. And somehow, her beauty was scary.
I knew she studied me in a way no one ever studied me before, and then she spoke again.
"I sense lust." Several women in the crowd behind me softly laughed as she put much emphasis on the word.
"I sense desire. A strong desire." More giggling sounded from behind me.
"There is not only a desire of the flesh, however. No, you have a strong desire to prove yourself."
I guessed that this public display was meant as a test, the reaction of the crowd showing how I was valued. I decided I could take it. A man of Ares never runs away from a challenge. Still, it was uncomfortable to be judged like this, amidst a group of strangers.