Sating the New Goddess

[Nightmaregoddess]

"Do you see Alya? Your servants have all but forgotten you with me watching over them!" Cerrinth laughed boisterously as she kicked her once powerful opponent across the room with a mere thrust of her boot. She stood in the grand marble council-chamber where Alya once took the prayers and pleas of her followers. Now the white silken cloths that once hung across the chamber were replaced by crimson and gold ones. Much more suiting to her tastes. She was wearing heavy gold boots and matching gauntlets. But the rest of her body was scantly clad. A heavy gold belt rested on her hips, and a knee length red silk loincloth covered in gold embroidery hung from her front and back. A matching armored bustier formed from gold and fine leather covered her abdomen and breasts, and only a golden circlet rested on her brow.

"Pick her up! Bring her to me!" She demanded. Of all the priestesses very few still harbored their love of Alya. Cerrinth had given them power, strenth, and riches. Physical pleasures and gifts as well as spiritual ones, where Alya only dealt in the latter. So it was pleasing to see women dragging the beaten body of their past deity across the floor like a sack of potatoes. Cerrinth smiled and planted her boot on the other goddess's chest.

"It's over for you. We could have been friends Alya. You could have served me. But now all you get is oblivion..." She growled the last words as lifted her foot and stomped it down. A shockwave of crimson and yellow energy blasted outward, as well as chunks of stone and dust. Her servants were thrown back, but immediately prostrated themselves on the floor. When the dust settled Alya was nowhere to be seen. But godly energy still crackled around Cerrinth, her eyes were a blaze of divine power, and her foot was planted in the middle of a crater.

 

[HotTexasCowboy]

Princess Reneah stood formally as the royal messenger entered her private chambers with news from her father. He bowed, and she nodded her head with what she hoped was regal politeness. Her blonde hair was not done up as she would have done for an appearance at Court, but the messenger was unscheduled, so she took him as she was. Her servant had helped her dress earlier in the flowing pink dress of youth; she could not wear white until after her eighteenth birthday two days hence.

The messenger opened a scroll and began reading the formal announcement. "To all subjects of Faringain, your King Ashthorn is pleased to announce the engagement of his daughter Reneah to Second Chieftain Corathnid of the Brogdonian Federation. On the day of her majority, she leaves to live with her husband in his manor in Brogdonia. This marriage seals a treaty between Faringain and Bordonia for the benefit of all our people. A day of kingdom-wide celebration is scheduled for two weeks hence, the date of the wedding. All hail the King!"

As he read, Reneah's face went from expectation, to shock, to breathless disbelief. Even before the messenger finished his last sentence, she suddenly tore past him, grabbing the scroll and racing out of her chambers. Tears already stung her cheeks. The messenger followed her hastily.

"Princess, the King is with his advisers and not to disturbed," he tried to stop her, vainly. Reneah reached the conference room and threw open the doors, racing up to her father. The King turned to face her, irritation showing on his face for the interruption, but otherwise calm as he faced his daughter's wrath.

"Brogdonia!" she hurled at him, half in anger, half in distress. "You send to me to live with barbarians!? To marry a brute, an ape?! They have no culture, no music, no arts, no philosophy, other than the sword. They fight for pleasure, and treat their wives as slaves. How could you do this to me, Father!?" she wailed.

Ashthorn's expression was stoic through his daughter's tirade. When she paused to recover her breath, he spoke plainly. "Yes, the Brogdonians are fighters, brutes, cruel and heartless. But fearsome warriors, and right now that is what I need." He gestured to a map of Faringain and the surrounding kingdoms. "With them as my allies, we checkmate the Eporitan Empire. They cannot attack us without exposing their flank to the Brogdonians. And should it come to the point, together with the Milots, we can invade Eporitan from three sides. This alliance is vital to the kingdom, Reneah. This marriage seals the alliance. This is what royal daughters are for. This is your duty."

Reneah burst into tears and collapsed onto her knees. "Father!" she cried plaintively.

"Prepare yourself to leave on your birthday," he declared icily. "In two days, you set out for your husband, for Brogdonia." He signaled a couple of guards to take her arms, lift her to her feet, and escort her back to her quarters. Then he turned back to his ministers, ignoring her wails to him, pleading for mercy.

Back in her room, she threw herself on her bed and cried, hitting the sheets with her fists in frustration. Her lady-in-waiting tried in vain to comfort her. "You knew you would be married once you reached your majority," she offered. "You knew your father would find a Prince for you..."

"A Prince, not a savage!" she retorted. "I have kept myself pure for my husband. I have studied poetry and music, to entertain him, philosophy to engage his mind. My body is a temple for his desires, but none of that will interest the kind of brutes the Brogs are!" There were more tears.

Finally she rose and sat dejectedly at her table. The servant began to try and repair the damage to her soft hair and pale skin, her eye make-up now streaked down her cheeks from crying. "This is your duty," the serving girl repeated half-heartedly. "You have no choice."

Reneah gazed into the mirror. After a minute her eyes narrowed in calculation, and her mouth set with a new found determination. "But I do," she said softly. At the lady-in-waiting's curious stare, she continued. "I have prepared myself to serve in loving adoration, not to be the slave of a brutal barbarian. My service can still be noble, and my purity maintained."

She rose from her table and went to the small statue by the window. She went to her knees before the icon of the lovely goddess, clothed in white, with her arms spread in welcoming comfort. "Oh Goddess Alya, I will serve you and your work with the needy. I will devote myself to your mission, and live in the protection of Your Temple. No one, not even royalty, can pierce the gates of your temple and those whom you watch over. In your guardianship, I shall be saved from my father's vile intentions and a future of agony."

The Lady-in-waiting looked shocked as she overheard. "Princess, you can't be serious. Your father would never allow this. Besides, no one has entered the Inner Temple of Ayla for weeks. There are whispers that she is left us."

Reneah shook her head violently. "No, no! She is there, I can feel it. She has to be. And she will welcome and protect me. Get me my white dress, Geesia. I must go now, before I am locked in to my father's plans and cannot escape. By the white of my simple gown, Ayla will see my intentions are pure."

Several minutes later, Reneah left her chambers, accompanied by her servant, covered in a red cloak that hid her white dress beneath. The guards had orders to no let her go riding, but a short walk posed little danger of her trying an escape, so they let her leave the palace grounds. Reneah walked directly to the Temple of Ayla, strode up the marble steps, through elegant ivory columns, and lifted the heavy door knocker, She threw off her cloak and fell to her knees with downcast eyes as she waited for someone to let her in.

 

[Nightmaregoddess]

The loud knock resounded through the quiet temple like thunder. Cerrinth furrowed her brow, she was not yet done savoring the destruction of her enemy. She cast a single glance, powerful and commanding to her new handmaidens. They rushed out of the room, walking backwards to show their humility. When they finally closed the door behind them they both exhaled sharply. Cassidi was the first to break the silence.

"Oh heavens! This is too much!" She said, moving her hand to her chest, feeling the pounding of her heart. Her fellow handmaiden cast her a sharp glare. Baniel was her name.

"Shut your lips Cass! The Goddess will hear you! Do you dare blaspheme so near her chamber?" She spoke in harsh whispers. Cass looked back to her with a hurt expression. Baniel rested her head against a pillar, her body still hurt from the blast that killed the deity she once loved above all else.

"I....didn't mean....I love our new goddess....more than I did Alya....it's just that..." Cass hugged herself, plumping up the cleavage of her large, soft breasts. Their silken red robes hugged their forms, accentuating their figures and drawing a sexual appeal from them that they were only now getting used to. "These things that are happening....I don't understand them....I mean I know what's going on....but it seems so surreal...doesn't it?" Baniel sighed and walked over, gently pulling Cass alongside her as she left the antechamber.

"Yes dear it does.....we are not meant to understand such events....that is for the gods alone." She swallowed a lump in her throat and continued as they made their way to the temple gates. "I could swear I would never have loved anything more than Alya. But this new goddess, Cerrinth. She is so strong and powerful and commanding. She inspires feelings I had long forgotten in ways no man or woman ever has.....she is the better of the two and she has proved that today." She stopped and confronted Cass face to face. "And I know you feel the same! That is why you must quell such thoughts and bask in her savage grace! It is heavenly vice.....or brutal death. These are our choices....and I'll be damned if I see you suffer the latter!" She embraced Cass, they were lovers, even before Cerrinth. Such were the ways of Alya's priestesses, they knew only the company of other women. She ran her fingers through Cass's soft blue hair, smiling.

"Oh Baniel! I am so sorry! You don't have to worry about me honestly! I'm just....I'm just overwhelmed is all." She composed herself and smiled back. Running her own fingers through her lovers pink hair. "Let's just see who is calling and be done with it okay?" Baniel nodded and together they passed through the massive entrance chamber, it was nearly forty paces wide and completely empty save for rows of huge blood marble pillars running it's one hundred pace length on either side. Each was several arm lengths around, and nearly ten men high. When they reached the door they each pulled at one side of the massive bronze opening until enough room for a person to pass comfortably existed. When they looked outside a young woman knelt in the position of fealty before them. She was beautiful, gorgeous in fact and very familiar looking. Cass and Baniel looked to each other. They were both thinking the same thing. This woman was the first to come asking admittance since Cerrinth had taken over, neither of them knew how the Goddess took visitors...or if at all.

"Greetings M'lady. Do you come seeking....sanctuary?" Cassidi asked nervously. She then threw a look to Baniel and motioned for her to return to Cerrinth. Baniel immediately did, breaking into a run once she made it halfway down the chamber. When she reached the Goddess's personal chamber she threw open the doors and fell to her stomach.

"I beg your forgiveness for the interruption great one! But we have a visitor!"

"Get up woman. Tell me what you think of the changes I've made...." Baniel slowly got up....startled by the casual tone the Goddess had taken. Even more startling was how drastically the room had changed. The marble had been transformed to some manner of red stone that flickered with iridescence. The throne had been replaced by one nearly five times bigger, enough so to fit seven men on it easily, and it was made of solid gold with that same red stone embedded in it for decoration. Soft red silk cushions covered the seat, and gold had been embedded into the floor forming a solid walkway. Far behind the throne was a massive bed big enough for twenty people and hidden by layers of silken curtains. She was completely speachless, it was so elaborate, and gaudy compared to the old look. But it was more attractive in a way.

"My lady Cerrinth. It is beyond mortal compare....I have never had the pleasure of beholding such splendor in my life." Cerrinth smiled. Yes it was impressive, and she was only getting started. This temple would be perfect for her new permanent home. It lay right in the middle of a warring kingdom, it was filled with beautiful servants who's numbers would only grow, and it was large enough that she would not get bored playing with it. Then she remembered what her servant had said....

"Visitor? What do you mean?" She asked casually, not particularly taken by the news yet.

"My lady. It is a young woman, exquisitely beautiful, I believe she is seeking sanctuary.....and I believe she does not yet know of our older....far less wonderful goddess's passing. She...came wearing white..." Baniel winced preparing for her goddess's wrath, or anger, or something. But nothing came. She opened her eyes and looked upon Cerrinth....she was smiling!

"Bring her to me...let's see how desperate for sanctuary this young lady is!" Baniel gulped and moved backwards, then ran her way back to the door....to the sound of the Goddess laughing.

 

[HotTexasCowboy]

Reneah's heart beat with excitement as she heard the heavy door creak open. She kept her head bowed in supplication as one of the handmaidens peeked out, and asked her if she was here for sanctuary.

"Yes, yes, sister, it is Sanctuary I seek," she gushed out happily. "I will dwell among Ayla's servants and do her good works in the world. I have saved my purity, and now sacrifice it willingly for her service and glory." In her heartfelt eagerness to escape the cruelties of her father's plans, it didn't occur to her that her reception was not quite matching her own enthusiasm. When she dared to look up at the handmaiden at the portal, her brow furled in slight puzzlement; the young woman was not wearing Ayla's traditional white robes of pure service, but something almost shockingly red, and, just a shockingly, that hugged her body in almost revealing ways. Perhaps the sisters dress differently when they are involved in some ceremonies, she temporized, still intent on fleeing her royal fate.

"Please, may I enter?" she asked again, sensing some hesitation on the greeter's part. But shortly, she heard the hastening footsteps of another run up to her companion, and a few hasty whispers. Then the door opened a bit wider.

"The Goddess bids you welcome, sister," said Cass, remembering the old ways of greeting a new acolyte, and hoping Cerrinth would not find some offense in using it as a deception. "Enter into Sanctuary in our house. I am Cassidi, and my friend Baniel. What shall we call you?"

"I am Reneah," the former princess answered easily, no longer afraid of being recognized, although it was unlikely either of these two, dedicated as she would now be to a life of service and prayer, would be much aware of the affairs of Court. Reneah got another, better look at their robes, and they still puzzled her, so different from her expectations. But she knew she would now endure a period of training to prepare her for her new life.

As she followed the two into the great temple, she continued to be amazed at the sights. White was supposed to be the color of Ayla, yet all around was the motif of brilliant trimmed by gold. It was as if the fabled temple of Ayla was undergoing some transformation. Reneah blinked her eyes in wonder. It was hard to believe temple of Ayla, a sect so dedicated to self-sacrifice and service, would be anointed in such splendor.

The two led her to a huge doorway at the end of the great hall. "Wait 'till you see..." Baniel whispered to her friend, breaking into a quick giggle which she stilled as Cass rolled her eyes toward the visitor approaching behind them and a warning glare.

Cass turned back to Reneah and said in hushed tones, "This is the holy of holies, where the chosen of the goddess commune with her in prayer and seek to divine her will. Only she can ultimately grant your request for Sanctuary. Prepare yourself for the glory of Her presence." Cassidi took up a padded hammer as long as her arm and used it to strike a solid gold gong next to the door three times. In answer, the door swung open majestically, and Cass motioned for Reneah to lead the way inside, while she and Baniel took positions behind and either side to her.

 

[Nightmaregoddess]

Cerrinth continued making minute adjustments until her servants rang the gong outside her door. She closed her eyes and sighed. She could smell the virgin standing just outside her sanctuary....it was such a vivid, desirable fragrance. It made her mortal body tense with excitement. She had long since deflowered any pure servants of Alya, so she hadn't taken an innocent for weeks now. As she walked to her throne she peered through the eyes of Baniel to see this new addition to her followers....and bit her lip.

"Exquisite...." She whispered to herself with a smile on her face. With a thought her battle garments disappeared and were replaced by a flowing robe of crimson silk tied about her waist. She wore nothing beneath, and it was so thin that her figure was plainly visible beneath. She seated herself on the throne of gold, leaning comfortably against the side with her legs folded to her side, her eyes still bound to Baniel's even as they entered the room. This creature was a thing of grace and nearly inhuman beauty. Her clothing did nothing to hide her form from Cerrinth's godly vision. Such soft, supple features. Such milky, untainted skin....the young woman possessed such a ravishing nature that Cerrinth was feeling, dramatic.

"Bring her to me." Cerrinth said in a commanding, yet warm tone. She relinquished her hold on Baniel's sight and drank in the young woman in person. Such a beauty had to be someone of note....no one this attractive went unnoticed among the men of this time....ah....of course.

"Welcome Princess....welcome to my sanctuary....and your new home if you desire it to be so." It was little effort for a god of her caliber to search the threads of fate to find a mortal, and this princess was woven into quite the masterpiece. She smiled and bit her lower lip as in a moment she conceived the entirety of this girls destiny. This was far greater a turn than she could ever have desired. The princess could not have known....but her marriage would have stabilized an alliance that would have saved countless lives and put a quick end to the coming war. With her escape however....the barbarians would take offense and declare an enemy of her father. Other countries would be forced to choose sides, and her fathers already powerful enemies would march right over his lands due to his weakened armies. Glorious....of course it would be even more bloody now that she was here, for she would use this, strengthen the king just enough to drag the war out for nearly a century before peace would be seen again. All she needed to do was take this woman, make her into her willing thrall. She held out her hand.

"Kneel Reneah....and tell me what you desire...."

 

[HotTexasCowboy]

Reneah took a nervous breath and allowed herself to be led into what she thought of as the sacred chamber of Ayla. She tried to keep her eyes downcast in humble respect, but the appearance of the quarters still assaulted her expectations and made her brow furrow in confusion. White was supposed to be Ayla's motif. The goddess was always depicted covered in modest white robes from head to feet. Only her gentle, patrician face, almost equally pale, supposedly smiled upon her believers with motherly protectiveness. Yet, here, as it was in the corridors outside, she was overwhelmed with a decor swimming in red trimmed with gold. The walls, the curtains, the columns, the massive throne with its cushions, and even... even the magnificent female form seated upon it.

Reneah went to her knees as directed, trying to fix her eyes on the ground below her goddess. Still, her peripheral vision caught not the thick white robes, but diaphonous crimson silk that seemed to emphasize as much as hide the perfect and powerful body beneath. Perhaps, she tried to rationalize, the goddess is more at ease in the privacy of her sanctuary. So much was at war with her understanding of the way of Ayla, but her desperation drove her to put her uneasiness aside, telling herself it was just her nervousness at coming face to face with Her holy magnificence.

"Goddess," she began with a slightly quivering voice, "I seek sanctuary in your protection. The world outside offers me only a cruel fate. Only within your arms can I feel safe. I will dedicate myself to your service. I will please you in any way you require. I only ask that you keep me as your servant."

Her voice had grown stronger as she spoke, certain that she was doing the right thing, and hopeful that the goddess would accept her plea and answer her prayers. In her mind, she was still dealing with Ayla. She had heard of Cerrinth only vaguely, as a goddess worshipped by barbarians who loved chaos, war, plunder, and cruelty.

 

[Nightmaregoddess]

"Come closer....princess...." This was the most delicate part of the plan. The girl still believed her to be Alya, so as absolutely thrilling as her pledge sounded....it was hollow and useless. No matter how powerful the god be, none could steal faith, nor could one trick it into being. "You wish sanctuary.....but you come at a time of great change for this temple....things are no longer as you understand them to be..." She was careful with her words, but she laced them with seductive power that would slowly penetrate the young woman's mind and body, eroding her doubts and relaxing her. It pleased her to hear the slight tremble of awe and fear in the princess's voice, she was even more pleased to hear her voice grow stronger and more resolute. Good, the girl had courage, something she valued. She straightened her pose and slid her legs over the edge of the throne, then crossed them slowly, allowing the thin silk that covered them to spill away, revealing her flawless, muscular thighs.

"Those in this temple no longer adhere to the old ways of Alya....they have embraced another path...closer child...closer." Cerrinth was going through great lengths to reserve herself, if this had been some ordinary girl with no greater destiny, then she would already be inside her. However, more than just pleasure was at stake, decades of war and carnage, spoils and tribute were to be had. She only had to wait a few minutes of mortal time to have all of it....

"This path is not an undesirable one....and you would still be far beyond your fathers reach....so I must ask you...do you still seek sanctuary?" Manipulating mortals was so entertaining, and easy. Her mere existence already put humans on edge, a little speech vague enough to keep her from asking the wrong questions combined with a reminder of her desperate position was more than enough to plant the seed.

 

[HotTexasCowboy]

Reneah had been through far too much wrenching shock this day. Her father's announcement had thrown her into a tizzy, a near panic that only surrendering to the Goddess Ayla offered a hope of escape. Now, the appearance of things within the Goddess of Purity's temple was wildly out of her expectations. And now the Goddess was telling her that things had... changed? The "old ways" abandoned and "another path" now the way of things. The princess could not grasp just what the Goddess was saying. Looking up with her brow furled in puzzlement, she saw the image of the woman before her--not just a woman, but a perfect image of a woman, her revealed thighs seeming to radiate both strength and femininity.

What could this new path offer her that was worse than what her father wanted for her? The Goddess said thepath was not an undesireable one. Surely the Goddess would not lie! And Sanctuary! She still offered that, and in the end, that was the only thing that truly mattered. Anything to escape her father's plans and marriage to the wretched barbarian he planned for her. Part of her determination to escape her fate was pride. Pride that she was above such petty political maneuverings as her father planned. Pride against being used as a pawn in the schemes of men seeking power like him. She was better than that!

But the world was as it was, and if she left here, she would be at the mercy of those men. She would not have it! Reneah took a shuddering breath and leaned forward, her eyes downcast again as she reached to the hem of the scarlet gown that sheathed the glamorous diety before her. She hooked the hem and raised it slowly to her lips, giving it a soft, reverant kiss.

"I will serve you, Goddess. Give me sanctuary, and I will be your servant, to whatever path you choose for me. This... I swear..."

 

[Nightmaregoddess]

Cerrinth smiled as a link in the webs of fate was formed between them. Such was the truest vice for gods, the belief and faith of mortals was like a drug to some, it was life to others. For her it was the former, something that only added to the considerable enjoyment she derived from life. However this bond was only partial, verbal declaration was the loosest of all vows of servitude. Physical displays of faith were preferable, but the spiritual were the most empowering, and impossible to break....Cerrinth wanted all three. She gracefully stood up from her throne and held her hand over the womans kneeling body.

"I accept your humility and in return grant you sanctuary....in the temple of Cerrinth, Goddess of Battle." As the woman processed this revelation Cerrinth snapped her fingers gracefully. "From now till the end of days you are under my protection, no man you do not desire will ever touch you and live." She nodded to both sisters Cassidi and Baniel. "Maidens...please bestow unto your sister the blessed robes of this temple, and prepare her for the adjoining. With that she turned away from them as her maidens urged the young princess to follow them.

"Please sister.....I know this is not what you were expecting.....but she is true to her word and there are far worse patrons to owe ones life to..." Cassidi whispered to Reneah, urging her to follow.

"Yes please....let us take care of you....you are safe with us....." They needed to get her to the cleansing chamber and purify her body, then dress her in the robes of the adjoining.

 

[HotTexasCowboy]

The words of acceptance filled Reneah with relief, but instantly amazement as the Goddess announced herself. Cerrinth? Goddess of ... Battle? Since this morning, the princess had resigned herself to a life of purity and service. Now it was to be... She couldn't imagine, but other things the Goddess said she embraced happily. Protection, and the assurance that no man would be able to take her without terrible vengeance. If Ayla was not here to keep her safe, this Goddess was, and to Reneah, that was the most important thing.

The assurances of the two sisters who took her in tow gave her even more peace of mind. "Thank you... sisters?" she gushed with a hint of question at the end as to whether she could address them so before whatever rites she must complete to be a full acolyte of the goddess. She followed them, prepared to obey their instructions.

(short, but I'm trying to be careful not to do anything for your characters)

 

[Nightmaregoddess]

(Yeah I apologize for that. I realize now how unnecessary that was, an old habit I suppose. Feel free to do what you wish with Baniel and Cassidi and anyone else save Cerrinth from here on out. Again apologies for the nuisance.)

Baniel and Cass gently led Reneah back out of the sanctuary. This was familiar to them, as it had not been a few weeks since their Adjoining with the goddess. The event was very clear in their minds, only more so since they had frequently repeated the act with her grace. Before Cerrinth, neither of them could ever have believed the incredible heights pleasure could reach. The goddess was every bit as impressive and awe inspiring during the act of passion as she was in battle, and they had seen her in both.

"Sister is fine...Reneah is it?" Baniel said with a warm smile, she gave the girl a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder. She had heard the goddess mention princess, and made the assumption herself, given that all the kings other daughters had been sent off to various countries. If the story was anything like she expected, she did not blame the princess for her action, and she imagined this was a far better life. "I expect you must be a little shocked right now...." She said as they opened the doors to the cleansing chamber. Inside the whole room was pure red crystal, the floors, walls, and ceiling. A glow seemed to emanate from the translucent stone, warmly lighting the room. Carved into the floor was a pool of water deep enough to reach the waist, and a steady waterfall poured into the pool from a wide hole in the back wall.

"I hate to add to that but there is much you should know....if you mean to go through with this." Cassidi spoke next. They stood in front of the princess, both able to see what the goddess was so intrigued with. This woman was nearly flawless, from her milky skin to her figure to the sculpt of her features. She was truly a paragon of beauty. "We will answer any questions you have, but before you ask know a few simple rules..."

"First.." Baniel started. "...do not ever mention the old goddess. I assume you know her name, do not under any circumstances speak of her unless her grace Cerrinth does so first. Our lady is a passionate goddess, and she rewards us deeply for our loyalty....but her temper is short....and her wrath terrible."

"Second.." Cass continued. "...First and foremost our lady is the Goddess of Battle, Shepard of War. Second she is the patron of passion, lust, and rage, all in equal portions. If you are to join us, truly devote yourself to her....then you must never question her....ever." Cass didn't mean to be so harsh sounding, but it was best for the woman to know exactly what her situation was. While she and Baniel found this new life exhilarating and fulfilling, not everyone was cut out to serve the Goddess of Battle.

"Now...before we get you ready and explain the Adjoining....is there anything you need? Food? Drink? Questions?" Baniel motioned for Reneah to join her on a bench against the wall.

 

[HotTexasCowboy]

It was still too much, too fast. Reneah thought she had prepared herself, cleansed herself of impure thoughts to enter the service of the virginal Ayla. Now she couldn't even mention her name. What had happened to her? She was... gone. Could she be... dead? The idea that a goddess of any type could die was an unfamiliar one to her. She had always assumed that gods were immortal and impervious to anything that could hurt them.

Now, instead of the goddess of purity and service, she was about to be dedicated to a goddess of passion and... battle? She looked at her two guides hoping for more assurance. "Could I have a glass of, juice or something?" she asked, to try and break the ice.

"You... you serve the goddess Cerrinth. You say she offers rewards for your loyalty. What rewards do you mean? Do you feel you are, I'm not sure, fulfilling a greater good in Her service?" Reneah was an educated woman by the standards of her time. "Is there room for art and music as her servants? I would... I would miss those."

She added one more question that seemed to be implied by their warnings. "Are you... afraid of Her?" she had to ask. Reneah was afraid of many things that had brought her here: her father's plans, a life isolated among the barbarians she was to be mated to, cruelty and abuse. Cerrinth seemed her only remaining avenue of protection from such things. But, was she about to commit herself to something even more frightening? She had to know, or try to.

 

[Nightmaregoddess]

Cass nodded and left to go fetch some juice for the young woman. Meanwhile Baniel did her best to answer all of Reneah's questions. They were difficult ones, most of them anyway. She thought hard on how to answer them in a way that best served both the princess and the goddess.

"Our rewards are power....and pleasure." She closed her eyes, remembering her own Adjoining, thinking that she could never experience such intense pleasure ever again, and being proved wrong over and over. "I assume you...are a virgin? But I am sure you had training at the castle....how to please your future husband." She moved closer to the princess and placed her hand on her shoulder. "So you have never experienced physical pleasure...beyond whatever you may have provided yourself." Weeks earlier she would have been abashed to speak so openly, but now it seemed a regular part of her life, and no embarrassment was to be found. "Our lady can give you such pleasure that the world will melt away around you. Words cannot do it justice, but please believe me that no sensation exists that can compare. Beyond that, all her handmaidens are empowered, strength, speed, agility, some minor magic. The more we please her and impress her, the more she blesses us. Myself and Cassidi may not look it, but thanks to Cerrinth we are equal to ten armed men." She took a deep breath and continued. "I do not wish to deter you, but to call what we do good is a lie. What we do is great, we help change the world, but rarely for the better. However that is merely perspective. I....I myself like to believe that I serve Cerrinth, rather than what she stands for....that is the best I can offer you."

"As we said, our lady is a patron of passion. And passion has many forms. Of course she favors battle, but all passion falls in her favor. We do indeed have music and art, as well as training rooms. One of the other sisters, Ladia is one of our lady's favorites, and it is because her voice is the most beautiful I've ever heard. She writes poems and songs, since Cerrinth entered our lives, all that changed was the content of her music." She knew that wasn't a perfect answer, as Cerrinth also favored Ladia due to her exquisite figure. But it wasn't a lie at all, the goddess enjoyed many vices, music was one of them. Reneah's last question was the most difficult.

"That is hard to answer." She sighed. "Myself..." She searched herself, and told the absolute truth. "I do not fear her. But there are many who should." She sat down on a bench and took another deep breath. "She has the power to crush armies and rip the souls from living beings like they were playthings....but I do not fear her. For I serve her, and I love her for the incredible life she has given me. If you truly serve her, love her and most importantly 'believe' in her, then her wrath would never turn on you. She can be quick to temper, but if you understand her nature, then you can forgive her rage in light of her passion." By the time she finished she heard Cassidi returning with the princess's drink.

 

[HotTexasCowboy]

Reneah took a grateful sip of the juice, thankful for the moment to consider what she had just heard. It bothered her, a bit, that she had come here to serve a goddess of goodness and purity, and Cerrinth was clearly not to be in that mold. At least she had had some assurance of music and art. Whatever the subject matter, the princess knew that she loved the talent of singers, painters, and sculptors she had encouraged while at her father's castle. Some of their subjects bordered on the naughty, and that had given her a private thrill as she heard or examined their works.

As for passion, she had never thought of her future husband except in terms of her duties to maintain his castle and deliver up heirs. She knew that entailed certain indignities in the boudoir, but she saw that little different than rape, and assumed she would endure it and try to get through it as quickly as possible. Of course, being paired with the barbarian her father had chosen meant even worse humiliation to their vile tastes, without the consoling comfort of at least minimal culture. Even the suggestion from Baniel of physical "pleasure" was a curious idea to grasp for Reneah. But it sounded far superior to her father's intentions.

But one word kept echoing and stirring through her mind. Power. Cerrinth was a goddess, certainly, of power, and apparently wielded that power like a sword. A female goddess of power was also initially a strange concept to Reneah, raised in a world where it was assumed that women simply had no power at all. Even a princess was a slave to her father's political manipulations, and meant nothing more to him than a pawn to cement for him some alliance. Cerrinth not only had the power, but shared it with her handmaidens, Baniel said. What would her father think, she wondered, if Reneah reappeared with the strength of ten warriors? If it was he cowed to her will, and the will of her Goddess? If Reneah was unschooled in the idea of passion, this idea above all others, sent a surge through her that she would only want to describe as passion.

For such power, she would serve. Willingly, even eagerly serve. She echoed the thought aloud. "I will serve Cerrinth," she said with determination, like an iron door shutting on an imprisoned idea. She looked to the other two handmaidens. "I will give her my complete loyalty, serve her, give myself to her plans." She glanced about them, uncertain what would follow now. "If there is to be a ceremony, tell my what I must do to prepare."

 

[Nightmaregoddess]

Baniel and Cassidi both smiled. Reneah was taking this quite well. She seemed far more level headed than even some of Alya's original followers were when Cerrinth appeared, and they were used to divine presences. They stepped forward and each took a hand of the princess.

"It is us that will prepare you." They began stripping Reneah's clothing from her body, slowly and gracefully. Their hands were skilled, their fingers brushed flesh as they moved. "We shall....loosen you for Cerrinth. We must cleanse your body and light the fires inside you, so as Cerrinth's passions do not consume you." As they finished they removed their own clothing and coaxed the princess towards the pool. The water was warmed from some unseen source and gentle steam wafted from it's surface.

"Now relax sister....let us prepare you as you discuss what is expected of you." Both Baniel and Cassidi took arousal from Reneah's nude body. She was royal indeed, thick and thin in all the right places. Her skin milky and smooth, flawless, and enticing. They cupped the water and let it fall over her, then their hands over her flesh gently, caressing her skin with great skill. They moved their bodies close so that their skin touched, from either side the women's thighs caressed Reneah's, their breasts pressed against her side.

"Cerrinth is unlike any woman you've known." Baniel began as her fingers slid down the Princess's belly. "She is stronger, her desires are nearly insatiable." Her hand slid between the Princess's legs. "She craves women because no man can hope to sate her." Her fingers began to slide between the soft lips of Reneah's nether region.

"She will take you both as a woman and as a man, however her form will not change." Cassidi danced her fingers over the Princess's pert nipples, squeezing and massaging her heavy breasts. "From betwixt her thighs she will give you a mans love, of such length and girth that it would stretch you to your limits." She kissed Reneah's shoulder. "Have faith. Believe in her and she will not let you break."

 

[HotTexasCowboy]

Reneah tried to relax as the two others surrounded her and slowly removed her gowns. She had grown up with handmaids who helped prepare her dresses for the day, especially for formal events where she had to appear at her father's table like wares on display. But the soft, intimate caresses that Baniel and Cassidi shared as her skin was revealed was different from the gossip chatter she heard from her maids while they went about dressing her in a business-like manner. Their touches sent soft chills down her body, while she stood as still as she could until the process was finished. She was even more amazed as the two doffed their own robes, took her hands, and led her as together they waded into the wide pool.

Reneah's castle baths had usually been luke warm affairs, with water hustled up in large buckets from the kitchen stoves. By the time enough had been warmed, hauled up to her room, and dumped into her bathtub, the water was already starting to cool. She had read an account of hot springs in Cholitcali, praised in a poem for their soothing and medicinal effects, but she had never experienced it. The reality was many times more wonderful than she had imagined. Reneah found herself sighing aloud as streams of hot water dribbled from the accolytes' cupped hands onto her shoulders and down her body. Their hands soon followed; their skin itself warmed by contact with the water, felt entrancing as they caressed her body with such delicate skill. If I were a cat, I'd be purring, the princess thought, her eyes closed and neck drooping weakly from the power of sensation.

Soon she felt the other two closing against her from either side. She felt wrapped in a delicious warm blanket of human, female flesh. Thighs slid against her thighs, breasts pressed into the sides of her own. Reneah's breath deepened, and part of her wondered if she would be overwhelmed by such sensations. That sense of succumbing to something too strong to be resisted only intensified as Baniel's fingers infiltrated down her belly, between her thighs, and against her most private region. Reneah gasped, and almost couldn't concentrate on the accolytes words.

From her earliest education, the nuns had described such touches as sinful, as temptations of the most evil demons who would flay your flesh throughout eternity. If this was her flesh being "flayed", Reneah could not have much fear of eternal punishment! It was indescribably wonderful. From her other side, she felt Cassidi's fingers playing with her breasts, inflaming her nipples with entrancing touches. Reneah's eyes were closed and her mouth partly open as her breath became a collection of sighs.

Adding to her chills were the two girls' words of... warning? A warning of insatiable desires, of the Goddess taking her as both woman and man. While Reneah's sheltered life had not exposed her to all the mysteries of sex, in this age even the castle was not that far removed from the stable. She knew of the mating of animals, and from the giggles and saucy talk of her maids that the joining of husband and wife involved similar physicality. Romantic poetry she read and studied also suggested such intimacy as part of romance, although subtly. Through her haze of pleasure, Reneah was seeing a vision of the Goddess Cerrinth loving her as a fellow woman, and also as her husband, strange as that sounded, and at the same time. Was this as complicated as the Christian god of her nun teachers, she tried to relate; who was both god, man, and spirit, both separately and at the same time? She had never really understood that concept, but now she sensed Cerrinth would teach her Her mysteries directly.

And if it promised anything like the feelings the two companions were drawing from her, Reneah was more than ready. "Ohh, Goddess!" she sighed. "I may break before I ever see Cirrinth from your touches! My... friends... have mercy on me!" She felt as if her body was mounting some hill, some mountain of rising sensation, building to an unknown conclusion... She managed to open her eyes and look over to Baniel, her arms going around the waists of both women, as if to support her weakness. "Will... can... we still be... together, after I am... submitted to the Goddess?" she breathed heavily, her question full of hope and longing.

 

[Nightmaregoddess]

"Of course sister. You will be one of us. And we will guide you, protect you, and show you the ways of passion." Baniel whispered softly. She began sliding her forefinger in and out of Reneah's slit, careful not to go to deep she hooked her finger up and circled it firmly against the swollen patch of flesh inside her that was her upper spot. Cerrinth would grow impatient, and as much as she wanted to continue with the princess, she dared not keep the goddess much longer. Not with so exquisite an Adjoining at hand.

"Slip away sister. Let the feeling sweep you away. Fall into ecstasy..." Casidi whispered, moving one hand to press against Baniels forefinger from the outside. Stimulating the princess's spot from both sides. It was strange how proficient they had become at such lewd practices in such a short time. But it was worth it. Casidi's other hand kneaded at the princess's buttocks while they drove her closer and closer to climax. She had to experience it once at least. Or the Adjoining would ruin her. It would overload her senses and leave her a living husk, devoid of a mind or soul. With their skilled fingers working so hard the girl had to be close now. Meanwhile back in the sanctum.......

Cerrinth lay across her great silken bed. She watched through her servants eyes as they undressed the princess. Truly it was magnificent. And pure as well. She stretched out her back as they took her into the pool and began preparing her. The sound of her voice, sighing with heaving breaths as she experienced pleasures never before felt. It was intoxicating.

 

[HotTexasCowboy]

Reneah's arms hung on to the two other girls' waists, her lips parted as she breathed deeply, almost gasping for breath to keep from fainting. Her gasps became vocal, each breath a moan, each moan becoming louder. Her head lolled from side to side, seeking the comforting shoulders of the two women nestled to her sides. The finger that had slipped inside made her groan and arch her neck, her mouth wide open expressing her need, for... something. She felt she was racing toward some never before achieved goal, not knowing what it was.

Casidi's finger joined her sister's but outside rather than in, the two massaging her, assaulting the same region but from different directions. Reneah felt surrounded by forces she could not fight, even if they were just two fingers, but fingers that had found her most vulnerable spots and left her weak and helpless and... so very wanting. Her legs trembled and she felt at any moment she would collapse. She was panting as if running at full effort, her breasts rising and falling rapidly. Her neck, her back, arched between the surrounding flesh of Baniel and Casidi. She stared up towards the ceiling, but blind to all but her feelings.

"Oh! Oh my... Please!" she started to babble. "Goddess! You're... Oh Goddess! What are you doing... Ohhh!" She felt an overwhelming pressure seize her muscles, her body, starting from those fingers but vibrating throughout. Her words became just an unending moan, rising to nearly a scream, and then, with her mouth wide open, no sound could emerge. For long moments she felt frozen, paralyzed by a bliss that utterly possessed her.

Her body wracked with a spasm, followed by another, and more. She found her voice again, marking each spasm with a moan, each one growing weaker than the previous. How long, how many times she felt her muscles clench and release, she could not know or count. Only that a blissful weakness was coming over her as they gradually eased. She fought to regain her breath, feeling a tinge of dizziness, her legs wanting to collapse, held up only by the support of her two new sisters.

"Ohhh... my darling sisters..." she finally sighed heavily, looking up to each side with her eyes glazed with appreciation for what they had given her. If this was a taste of the pleasure she would receive from Cerrinth, how could she not be devoted to the Goddess!

"Am I... Am I ready for the Goddess now?" she asked, her breasts still heaving as she slowly recovered.

 

[Nightmaregoddess]

Both Cassidi and Baniel smiled as the princess was overcome by her first climax. They held her steady as she went through it, her juices swept away by the hot water they stood in. And when finally she was done, and they could see her body come to ease, they pulled back their fingers, each pressing one to Reneah's lips.

"Yes sister. You are ready. Come...your new life awaits." They dressed her in the robes of Adjoining. Which consisted of a hooded cloak of deep crimson, the coak long enough to drag the floor. The cloak split down the front, leaving her whole nude body exposed save for a silken sash around her waist, hanging from the sash was a length of silk that covered her nethers. Cassidi and Baniel dressed her quickly, but gently, knowing both of the girls inexperience, and of the goddess's impatience.

"Remember what we said. Trust the goddess, and she will not hurt you. Have faith, and yours will be a life of pleasure and wonders." They reassured her as they approached Cerrinth's sanctuary. Once at the door the two each pushed open a door, and then bowed to the side.

"We cannot enter during the adjoining. May the goddess's caress guide your fate on a path of your liking..." They waited for her to enter, then shut it behind her. And then Cerrinth was alone with the princess. She still laid there on her massive bed, even larger now, big enough for fifty people to sleep comfortably on. She lay on her side, looking past the thin curtains with a smile on her face.

"Come to me child." She spoke, her voice echoing with power untold. She loved theatrics during the Adjoining. It did always seem to impress mortals more when gods made shows of power. "Baniel and Cassidi were gentle with you?" She smiled again, savoring the image of that moment in the bath. "There fingers kind on your skin?" She sat up, leaning on one arm while the other waved through the air, moving the curtains aside as though with some unseen hand. She was still wearing her crimson robe, which complimented her bountiful, crimson streaked, golden hair as well as it did her deeply tanned skin.