Talla's Fallen Temple

"The whole thing was really infantile."

It was late at night, even for women who were normally night owls. The Goddess was clearly at the end of her energy, not evening bothering to stand to welcome one of her most highly ranked underlings to her chambers.

As it was, the chambers were lit by the fewest number of torches that could possibly be used without making navigation hazardous.

"Imminence," the Queen of Endowment nodded in a fashion that was not quite indicative of agreement.

It wouldn't do to disagree with her Goddess. Of course not. But she did have to stand up for her subordinates as well.

"Form had already imposed a moratorium on Zhair'lo doing upgrades," the Queen explained. "Since the Test required a similar period of time without upgrades, it only made sense to do both at once. It was within Abundance's authority to order that test, given that her Discipline had found Zhair'lo."

In the faint light, she could see the Goddess smirking.

"And Zo'kar?" her Imminence asked. "Why take both Seal Breakers out of commission?"

"To make the Test easier, of course," the Queen cocked her head to reply. "Agemates are the best for the procedure. They run and otherwise perform at similar speeds. The whole thing goes more smoothly that way -- or so the physicians tell us."

"It had nothing to do, then, with wanting to get revenge on Form for punishing your little quadruple girl?"

It took some effort for the Goddess to pretend that Talla was a minor issue; a matter too trifling to come to the attention of one of her rank.

"While it is true," the Queen said, "that Form's declaration of a moratorium on Zhair'lo would have exhausted our time of privileged access to him -"

"And declaring a Test would simply suspend his last few days for later use," the Goddess interrupted.

"Yes," the Queen replied. "While that is true, as I said, I would hardly attribute such base motives to a Sorceress-"

The Goddess waved a weary hand at her underling.

"Enough, enough," she sighed. "Sit down, please."

Every moment the Queen spent standing was a moment she might see over the edge of the Goddess's fine obsidian desk and notice her slightly distended belly. Even distracted as she was by this pointless infighting, the woman would eventually have to clue in and the Goddess didn't need anyone outside her inner circle of genealogists figuring out what she was up to.

The Queen shifted her layered red skirts and politely sat in one of the chairs opposite her Goddess.

"There was some other reason you summoned me, Imminence?"

"The test results, obviously," the Goddess said.

She slid two pieces of parchment across the desk. Endowment examined them.

"Zhair'lo is off the chart, as you can imagine," she pointed out. "I tried him myself -- there was enough left over after your fellow Queen in Sweetness had a taste. I've never experienced anything like it."

The Queen of Endowment raised her eyebrows.

"You tasted his seed?"

"With the advice of the Sorceress of Within, who insisted that we get the widest relative observation possible," the Goddess explained. "No one who tried a sample could remember anything comparable."

"And only eighteen. Amazing."

"Yes. They're both taking today off, mind you. They may be Heroes, but their youth left them unprepared for the physical demands of the Test."

The Queen of Endowment nodded.

"They'll be ready for tomorrow, though?" she asked, sliding the sheets back across the desk. "We have them scheduled for upgrades. Just four Seals left to break."

"Within assures me they will be ready."

"Excellent. Is there anything else, Imminence?"

"No."

The Queen of Endowment rose and gave a polite bow to her superior.

"I wish to make it clear, however," the Goddess said, just as the Queen was turning away, "that I don't want any further -- situations like this."

"I understand, Imminence."

"Good," she said with a nod. "You are dismissed."

When she had left the room, a woman in green stepped out from a curtain behind the Goddess.

"You get all that, Pussy?" the Goddess asked.

"Yes, Imminence," the Sorceress replied. "Not as bad as you'd feared."

"True enough," she agreed, taking the opportunity to stand up.

Her belly was noticeable, even covered in black clothing and the relative darkness of her innermost chamber.

"It was extremely unlikely that there could be a real incident over something like this," Pussy pointed out. "Talla clearly violated the Monogamy Protocol as well as a number of other rules. Abundance couldn't possibly deny it."

"Oh, of course," the Goddess agreed, hands on her hips. "But what about that idiot from the Adjudicate's office actually going so far as to place a temporary ban on Zhair'lo? She might as well have ripped the toggles right off Abundance's blouse."

Not that anyone actually put toggles on blouses anymore.

"Well, Abundance certainly replied in kind," Pussy said. "I get the feeling Endowment wasn't entirely in agreement."

The Goddess mumbled hesitantly. "Are you sure? I couldn't detect it."

"Possibly the effects of your pregnancy," Pussy pointed out. "Endowment was clearly uncomfortable with her Disciple's action."

"As long as they don't start killing each other," the Goddess said. "This will blow over in a few years when there are new Queens and Sorceresses."

"Killing each other?" Pussy asked. "I would have thought it would be fairly one-sided if it came to that. Surely Form would win that battle."

The Goddess let out a dark laugh.

"Have you ever done battle with Engineers?" she asked. "The warriors of Form can stab you. The women of Endowment can arrange for your building to suddenly collapse on you in the middle of the night."

Pussy's eyes widened.

"Really? That wasn't in any history book I recall."

"Yes," the Goddess replied, rubbing her belly absentmindedly. "I doubt this will get that far here, but there are records of such things getting out of control."

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"Illya!" a whisper came to her in the night.

"Arda?" she asked the darkness.

She twitched as someone sat on her bed.

"Did you get your scroll?" Arda asked, her voice a little too loud with excitement.

"Yes," she confirmed, sharing her friend's excitement. "You too?"

"Two days," Arda said. "Two days and we can get out of here."

"Cocks for everyone," Illya said. "I'm sure it'll work."

"We were trying to sleep," someone complained from across the room.

"Sorry, Gerta," Arda said.

"They weren't sleeping," Illya accused with a giggle. She reached for her night table, found a match, and used it to light a candle.

Gerta and Malin were lying in the same bed. Sure, they were under a blanket, but it was pretty obvious what was going on.

"We both got scrolls," Illya told them. "They're doing upgrades again. It must be the Seal Breakers. They're back!"

Sitting up with her blanket down at her waist, Illya looked down at her bare chest.

"That means I'll be getting a real pair of boobs soon," she told Gerta. "And so will you."

"So we're going to be alone in here?" Malin asked. She sat up now, too, quite casually allowing the blanket to fall off her upper body, revealing her own nudity.

"For two days," Arda replied. "Two days and I'm sure they'll let Zhair'lo and Zo'kar take a hack at you guys."

Malin inhaled and looked down at her body.

"Third time," she said. "Third time to get my Point upgrade."

"It will work," Gerta said as she stood up.

The girls had swapped beds so often that they had no shyness with each other's bodies. The fact that Gerta now paced the room completely naked was nothing to any of them.

"They'll upgrade you two, then the two of us," she declared firmly. They were all used to these pep talks, pacing and all. Gerta's normally inscrutable face would tighten up, her eyes going deeper than even their normal extreme depth as she attempted to rally her colleagues and maintain their optimism.

They had learned to ride out these lectures.

"Then we get out of here and get a real room, and real short skirts and everything," Gerta said. "We've thought we were getting out before, but this time is the real thing. It's really going to work, I'm sure of it. You've got to have confidence that -"

Gerta had been so focused on delivering her speech that she had failed to notice Malin crawling to the edge of the bed they'd been sharing. A high pitched snap filled the room as Gerta took a palm off her nearest cheek.

"What was that for?" Gerta asked Malin sternly as she rubbed her rear.

Wide eyed innocence on display and still on all fours, Malin asked, "Aren't you going to miss me?"

Gerta occasioned to take herself too seriously, to the point where her young roommates feared for her heart. It was Malin, light and playful, the polar opposite, who could shake her up and bring her back down.

Pomposity cut back and now being replaced with fury, she turned on Malin with her fists on her hips.

"That's no reason to spank me."

"Isn't it?" Malin asked as she sat up and backed away. She opened her mouth and licked her lower lip. "What are you going to do about it?"

Gerta stared at Malin a moment before speaking.

"Get her!"

Illya and Arda -- who was the only one still clothed -- leapt across from Illya's bed and pounced on Malin.

"Hey!" Malin protested halfheartedly.

Illya and Arda soon had Malin flipped over on her stomach. They were aided by the utterly ineffective way in which Malin tried to fight them off. There was a snap as Gerta took her vengeance at Malin's exposed rear.

"Oh!" Malin moaned.

A moment later and a completely different moan escaped her lips. Her body went limp and Illya suddenly noticed the scent. Gerta and Malin really had been in the middle of something, hadn't they? No wonder Malin was so playful.

Illya looked down Malin's body, watching in rapt fascination as Gerta slowly penetrated her sister with first one finger, then two, then three. In all the time they'd been locked up here with each other, they had always been discreet. A little eye contact before the torches were put out told you who was horny and would come to your bed. If you heard something late at night, you just pretended it wasn't happening.

And, last of all but utterly consistent throughout every encounter, you always did it in the dark. Why? Because it was wrong, of course. They were supposed to be saving all of their energy for the boys.

'But you won't give us boys, will you?' Illya asked the Temple.

Now she watched as one of her sisters lifted her hips so her vagina could be penetrated more easily with the fingers of another sister.

Malin regained enough control of herself to pat the space in front of her face with her hand.

"Here, Illya," she said blearily. "Here."

She wasn't sure why Malin had picked her, except that she was naked and Arda was still dressed. Illya spread her legs on either side of the bed but there wasn't enough room for her to lie down and give Malin an angle. Realizing the problem, Malin curled her knees up under her stomach and slid her body down the narrow bed. Gerta had to kneel on the floor to continue pumping her fingers into Malin.

Illya, moving into position, spread her lips in invitation. Malin had done this for her before. It was Illya's understanding that this was what Malin preferred to do for any girl who -- as they said -- needed some help. Consequently, she was quite good at it, and she always appreciated it when the receiver of her skills opened herself in this way.

Having light introduced a whole new dimension to this exercise. This sort of thing had always been done in pairs, in pretended secrecy and in darkness. Illya was amazed at how arousing it was to see Malin sprawled out in front of her, her hips gyrating against Gerta's fingers.

"Imagine if that were a man behind you," she whispered to Malin, "shoving his cock all the way up into you."

Malin's groan was muffled by the mound in which her face was buried. Illya felt her clitoris harden in response to the gentle, rapid tickling that Malin was battering it with. Her brain started to feel cloudy as she relaxed into the soft, candle-lit mood of the room and she turned to look at Arda.

Arda, still clutching her scroll in her hand, watched the three of them with a look of shock on her face. It wasn't like this was anything new to her. She'd been here long enough to have shared a bed with each of them in turn.

"Come on," Illya whispered to her. "We can fit you in somewhere."

Arda shook her head and sat down on the bed.

"It's okay," she said, surveyed the tableau. "I'll just watch."

She sat back on the nearest bed, which would normally be Gerta's if Gerta hadn't been in Malin's bed with Malin. It had the benefit of being the bed closest to the door, which meant that Arda could slouch against the wall. Slowly and carefully, she pressed one of her hands into her skirt, parting her thighs just enough to let her fingers reach where they needed to reach.

"Oh, Arda," Illya said with a sigh. "We're all naked ..."

Arda shrugged, not meeting Illya's eyes. Instead, her gaze was fastened on Malin's rear and Gerta's thrusting fingers. Illya turned and watched, too. Gerta was really being quite forceful with Malin. It was very pleasant, feeling that push from Gerta being turned into the pressure that Illya felt from Malin's face in her crotch.

Each thrust of those fingers came right up Malin's spine and into Illya's genitals. Illya turned to look at Arda again. She realized than that Arda was participating in her own way, pushing the fabric of her skirt between her lips in time with Gerta's thrusts. Perhaps she, too, was imagining an erect penis thumping away at Malin.

Whatever was going through Arda's mind, it was she who had the first orgasm. Her hand jammed down between her legs; her thighs clamped around it. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out. Instead, she froze in that position and began shaking uncontrollably. It was fortunate that she was leaning against a wall, as she lost control of herself and fell over sideways on the bed, her body curling up in a fetal position with her hand still trapped between her thighs.

Watching that happen was enough to send Illya over the edge. She'd never seen anyone have an orgasm. Sure, she'd felt it, but always in the dark. Watching that pleasure overwhelm Arda -- all while Malin was doing such a good job down below -- had her feeling a tingling between her legs. It was only a moment or two after Arda collapsed that Illya's orgasm lit up her spine like a very gentle bolt of lightning.

Malin, distracted by Gerta's work, didn't know that it was time to stop licking Illya. She just kept going and going, stimulating Illya's clitoris well beyond her breaking point. The worst of it was that Illya didn't have the motor control to say or do anything about it. Her body was entirely limp, on fire, and unable to do anything other than accept the battering it was receiving.

The only thing that saved Illya from immediate unconsciousness was Malin's orgasm. She really did like being penetrated like this. It might cause her problems later, when her Point upgrade would be inaccessible to a boy who was standing behind her. As it was, Gerta saw what was coming and forced all three of her fingers as far inside Malin as they would go.

Malin ducked her head down in ecstasy and drove her hips back into Gerta, who held fast. Malin let out a scream, drowned by the mattress in which her face was buried, as the muscles inside her vagina repeatedly clamped and released the fingers that had invaded them.

Her head came up a few moments later as Gerta slowly withdrew her glistening fingers.

"Madra Zen," Malin whispered as she rolled over, panting. "That was the best ever. Thank you both."

Illya wasn't sure what she had to do with making Malin come, but she was glad to have taken part.

"What about Arda?" Malin asked, turning her head.

Arda was still lying on her side with her hand tucked into her skirt.

"I'm fine," she moaned, her eyes unopened.

"And what about you?" Malin asked, looking down her body at Gerta. "I know what you want. Come here."

With an uncharacteristically shy look at Illya, Gerta climbed up on the bed and straddled Malin's chest.

"Open up for me," Malin said, narrowing her eyes.

With a shiver, Gerta used both of her hands to spread her lips. What with Malin's skilled tongue ready to offer, Illya expected Gerta to move herself to Malin's face. Instead, Malin turned her body to lift one side of her chest up. With her hands, she squeezed one of her barely evident breasts to present her little pink nipple.

Gerta had to squat -- and it looked very awkward -- to take Malin's nipple between her lips. She managed, however, and Malin stroked her nipples in circles around Gerta's little nub. Illya watched in amazement. Had they done this before? Illya had never known that Gerta liked this sort of thing. It wasn't as if any of them had real breasts or particularly sensitive or interesting nipples. Gerta must have been running on pure imagination.

"Oh, gods," Gerta mumbled.

"Yes, the gods will give me beautiful nipples very soon," Malin promised with glee.

Gerta moaned.

"Will you rub me with them?" she pleaded to Malin.

"Oh, yes," Malin breathed. "You can suck on them until they're hard as rocks and rub them on your clit to your heart's content."

Gerta moaned again and her arousal began to threaten her balance. She took one hand away from lips so she could lean forward on it while using the other to keep her lips splayed. It put her face very close to Illya's. Her eyes opened, a shocked look of near orgasm tightening her features.

Illya did the only thing that she could think of doing, which was to turn her head slightly and press her lips to Gerta's. Gerta's eyes closed as her lips gave way to let their tongues meet, soft as cotton and wet as the slit that presently rubbed at Malin's nipple.

It wasn't like this was the first time Illya had kissed anyone, but Gerta was the exception in this group. She preferred Malin, for reasons that had just become obvious, and never kissed Illya or probably anyone else. So it was a very strange feeling, to see Gerta the leader; the optimist; the lecturer; melting and turning soft like this.

Illya felt Gerta's teeth closing on her lower lip as she crooned out a delicate and dangerously poised orgasm. She slid over on to her side, clinging limply to Malin at an odd angle. Malin, her head turned to accept Gerta's embrace, tolerated this odd hug, as well as the wet genitals beings rubbed against her side, until Gerta's orgasm abated.

"Well," Illya remarked, examining the disarranged scene before her. "That was certainly something."

No one had anything else to say, so she surrendered Malin's bed to Gerta and Malin and walked across the room to blow out the single flickering candle that had completely changed their way of relating to each other.

Naked and in complete darkness, she wasn't sure what to do except that she had laundry to handle in the morning and needed to get to sleep.

As she laid down, she heard Arda walking softly across the room to slip in next to her. She put her arm around her shivering friend and curled up with her for the night.

-----------===================-------------

Zhair'lo had some vague memories playing around inside his head.

He'd been moved at least twice, maybe three times. He'd been sat up and fed something at least once. Some kind of soup. Probably.

Blue sky was visible through an open window. No sign of the sun, though. That meant it was evening? No, wait. This wasn't the little stone room he'd had at Harzen's farm. Right. That room had faced east. He was at Lyric's camp now. Wooden walls. Been there for a while.