Sisterhood - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I moved back to the diamond and bent over again, spreading my legs a bit and holding my ankles in my hands. My twice-fucked orifices were tender and oozing semen, my sex engorged and sensitive, and that was what the eldest studied with gentle, tactile exploration as she stood behind me.

She glided her fingers across my sex, now plenty wet unlike before, swirling them slowly around the ring of muscle at my backside. I sighed and relaxed; honestly if she chose to penetrate me now, it would hurt, but I wasn't about to refuse the eldest Red Sister in the chamber anything. Her status was all she needed.

I had a good understanding of power games, despite my youth, and I knew where I stood: exactly as I was, bent over and gripping my ankles in a secret chamber within the palace, surrounded by assassins in the dark. I realized if she whipped my buttocks and ordered me to do so, I'd say without hesitation, "Yes, Mistress, may I please have another?"

Pride is real enough for any Drow, but it will only take one so far before it gets one killed.

"How do you feel about your visitors, Sirana?" she asked, still playing idly between my legs. She had yet to penetrate me.

I decided to be honest. "It was fun. None of the three gave up the Game easily. The two Drow were poor losers, though."

The eldest chuckled. "You figured out pretty quickly they wouldn't do anything permanent to you. Did that spoil the intensity for you?"

"Not at all, Red Sister. I thank you for the gifts."

I think she nodded, standing behind me as she was, but regardless, she paused before speaking again. "So you've proven you can and will couple with a Draegloth. And you even figured out how to control him to an extent. Did it disgust you?"

"No, Red Sister. I shall remember the coupling fondly."

She grunted softly. "You can also turn a male dominant situation to your advantage, even if temporarily." Then she laughed, and I was surprised to discover that I liked the musical sound. "If they had been allowed to kill you, I believe the wizard probably would have strangled you himself!"

A smile definitely twitched at the corners of my mouth. "With all due respect, Red Sister, he would've had to prevent my hands from reaching him first."

Her voice took on a softer, more probing quality. "Yet they both forced you to take their seed...here." She finally pressed that teasing finger into my sore and throbbing orifice and I winced. "You could submit to their acts and still call it ‘fun'?"

I swallowed as I felt a tremor; I wanted to tighten up. I took a breath and responded forthrightly. "The warrior had a simple understanding of the challenge and no understanding of my signals. I could tell him whatever I wanted, and he had no idea what to do except hump away like a mutt at my whim. It even felt good later on because that's what I wanted. Yes, it was unplanned, but that didn't mean it couldn't be made fun."

"Indeed." She removed her finger and I tried not to sigh audibly. "What about the wizard's manipulation of you? What of his final penetration? I know he was deliberately causing you pain. You were completely silent."

I gave that some thought. At first, I'd been about to say that he gave me the perfect justification to kill him later. But I knew a wizard took a long time to develop to any power; they were expensive investments. While a competent general in the army might still bring down a dominant female's wrath and she could kill him at her whim...a wizard's execution was not taken quite as lightly. I would never be allowed to just go kill him later, like I could the soldier—about whom no one would question my right.

I realized after a moment that I knew why I had allowed the magician to have his revenge on me for taking the control from him twice in one encounter.

"I knew he couldn't kill me, Red Sister, and if he had simply backed off after losing the Game, it would have ended with him nurturing the grudge against me. I let him indulge in his instant gratification, because now he will fear me coming after him someday, make him paranoid, perhaps. It will make the finding of a faceless wizard easier.

"I know I cannot kill him, either, Red Sister. That is the Valsharess's word whether a wizard lives or dies. But I will find him and return the favor. We can continue the Game beyond today...on my terms." I grinned broadly at the floor. "That will be fun."

The eldest Sister listened without interrupting then let the silence stretch a bit, having taken her hand away and circling around me until she stood in front. I could see her fine, black leather boots that wouldn't make a sound unless she willed it, her black leather leggings and the tip of her sword sheath. I could not see, however, the blood red sash I knew to be at her waist.

Finally she spoke, but not to me. "Qivni. Clean her."

My collector gasped softly and balked, sounding shocked and a little disbelieving. "Elder D'Shea?"

"I said clean her. She is coming with us."

Qivni stiffly walked over to where I still held my position and kneeled behind me. I felt a very soft tongue start lapping hesitantly at the folds of my sex and I truly felt bewildered as to my reaction.

Strictly as a sensation, it was soothing and pleasurable after the rough sex. My emotions, on the other hand...I was struggling to keep images of my blood sisters, Juarinia and Kaltra of House Thalluen, out of my head lest I scream from pure hatred.

The invisible marks were still there.

Elder D'Shea must have sensed the slight change in my posture. "Qivni, stop. Gaelan, take her place."

My collector stood up very quickly and gratefully left her post at my backside, and the youngest glided forward and knelt down. The youngest, Gaelan, started tenderly licking my anus, collecting the oozing semen onto her tongue and swallowing it. She also hummed as if in pleasure, though I wasn't sure because memories of my eldest sister still crowded my thoughts. I wanted to spin around and push her away from me, jump on her and start striking her with my closed fist over and over again. I stiffened and trembled instead; I wasn't ready to die for attacking a Red Sister....

"Sirana." It was Elder D'Shea; she sounded like she had just discovered a soft spot in an otherwise firm fruit. "Tell me who you are thinking of right now."

I hesitated.

"Now!"

"My eldest sister, Juarinia," I said through clenched teeth.

Gaelan licked and sucked between my legs. The slurping sounds were definitely distracting and my internal armor that I hadn't realized I'd built so painstakingly was crumbling fast.

"Indeed. Why?"

It was the enormity of the question that made me hesitate this time. How to even explain it? I risked a glance upward, realized how my head was pounding from the blood pooling, and looked back down. "Because I hate her."

"She's dead, is she not?"

I nodded, scowling.

"Well. Perhaps her body is. Your hatred gives her life to you, though, it is very clear to me. What did she do to you to earn that degree of immortality?"

"What didn't she do?" I responded then both gasped and flinched when Gaelan stiffened her tongue and pushed it into my nether hole, licking me on the inside, too. Oh Lolth, it felt good and yet I....I....wanted to—

No!

I attempted to get my stream of thought back; Elder D'Shea acted like we were sitting down in a parlor talking over taze, I had to follow suit. "She wanted to be a Priestess. She was practicing since before I was born."

"Interesting. Let me guess, you became her altar?"

"As soon as I was more grown and placed under her care, yes. Kaltra was already broken by then and played her assistant."

"And your Matron did not stop it?"

I swallowed. "Juarinia was never caught and I couldn't speak of it. She gave me some kind of magical draft, a compulsion against accusing her."

"Which apparently has expired upon her death, as you are speaking of it now." Elder D'Shea approached me again; I couldn't see her eyes, only her boots again. "Where did she get her inspiration?"

"The public sacrifices. Younger Priestesses she befriended or slept with to pump them for details. Any book she could find."

"Did anything unusual occur during any of her ‘rituals'?"

I shook my head, felt Gaelan close her lips over my pleasure nub and gently start sucking and flicking her tongue. The unexpected spasm of pleasure that resulted wasn't entirely unlike from the wizard's technique. "Ah...! Um...not that I-I noticed, Red Sister."

Elder D'Shea stopped talking all together; she simply watched me and watched Gaelon working me. Qivni stood somewhat behind her, the stance of her legs seeming antsy to me. As the chamber grew quiet except for the sounds of the youngest Red Sister eating me, I found myself drawn inside my head, alone with my resurfacing memories of Juarinia.

I'd been penetrated with an object the first time without being able to defend myself; I didn't understand what she was trying to do. I'd bled, and my sister nearly panicked, afraid of being found out by the Matron. I'd healed though, and I'd swallowed that draft.

She taught me to pleasure her with my mouth and tongue, convinced that her climax was her strongest energy flow; all the rituals had to end with it unless I could escape. When she brought in Kaltra, I could never get away. As the altar, I was always naked. And then Juarinia had the new idea that if the Priestess and the Altar peaked at the same time, the power released would be incredible. It took a long time and many tries before that happened, with Kaltra's head between my legs and Juarinia squatting over me. The details of the ‘rituals' always varied, became more or less harsh or trying, depending entirely on her mood and her ‘inspiration,' but the ending was always the same.

And nothing ever happened. No attention from Lolth whatsoever. My sister was such a foolish wannabe who could never be sated.

Gaelan hummed against my sex again and I groaned at the vibrations. I had taken so many male lovers since, but never a female one that anyone knew of, certainly not at Court. It was considered unusual. At the same time, my skill and boundless experimentation with the males was well known. For me, the images of the new experiences helped push out the memories of the old ones.

"Is Gaelan doing a good job, Sirana?" the elder Red Sister asked.

I nodded, quivering a little. It was a slow rise because I was fighting it and I didn't think I could—or wanted to— ever climax from a female tongue again. But I wasn't lying to Elder D'Shea, either; Gaelan's lavishing attention on my sex was causing my heart to pound harder, causing my breath to shake.

As D'Shea gave me another moment to ponder, I finally heard that underlying thread of steel that had been in her tone. I realized the question had also been a warning: refusing to climax under such good and generous care as I was receiving after being forcefully sodomized would be an insult to Gaelan...which was an insult to the Red Sisters. I needed to let go; that's what was expected.

It was really quite simple now. Orgasm, or die.

Regardless of my distaste for the memories of my sisters.

Curse it.

I started swiveling my hips a little, helping Gaelan find the right spots and pressure points. I allowed myself to moan more, encouraging her and focusing on the softness of her lips and tongue on my sore and well-used flesh, on the intense sensations as she closed her mouth over my nub to gently suck me again. The pressure in my head was building as I stood bending over, and something like a coiled spring was forming in my lower abdomen. At last.

"Harder," I gasped. "Please press harder...."

Gaelan flattened her tongue on my most sensitive point and pressed as hard as she could, moving it just a little bit back and forth. I cried in relief as the spring uncoiled inside me and my body flushed with heat and pleasure. My vision seemed blurred with red for a moment and my head suddenly hurt quite a lot. My knees buckled and I fell forward, landing on all fours though still within the diamond. Gaelan followed me down and quickly thrust two fingers inside my sex, causing me to shriek as an aftershock swept through me. I felt my pelvic muscles clutch eagerly at her fingers before riding the wave down, barely braced on my forearms.

After the rush had subsided, I stayed where I was, gasping, as Gaelan got up and moved around in front of me. She kneeled and took my chin to raise my head, leaning down and letting her lips hover just above mine. I could smell my own scent, see my own lubricant glistening around her mouth. I didn't hesitate; I kissed her, tasted myself, licked around her mouth to clean her as she'd cleaned me. A slight smile touched Gaelan's young face as she stood up and joined Qivni a few paces away.

Elder D'Shea made a sound of satisfaction. "Stand up, Sirana, and come with us. You've shown promise on these trials. Now we'll see if your demons can be exorcised. Red Sisters have no demons except each other."

The words of her last sentence echoed over and over in my head as we walked toward the candles. I finally understood what I was doing here. They were considering me for acceptance into the Valsharess's elite guard. The skilled assassins, the best anyone knew of and that everyone feared, the ones I'd heard about since I started weapons training. The Red Sisters!

Oh, Lolth... I was thrilled, oh Goddess, the power I could attain was more than I could ever hope for being a mere third daughter of my House! I was elated! ...but then quickly sobered.

I'd never heard even one rumor that a Red Sister's initiation started with mating a Draegloth, or that Drow males were turned loose to rape and dominate her as they liked. Not one word.

That really only meant one thing: the ones that failed the trials never lived to tell about them.

It was all or nothing, then. To live, I had to become a Red Sister, and to become a Red Sister, Juarinia and Kaltra had no room in my head anymore. Red Sisters have no demons except each other.

Elder D'Shea walked up to the same section of candles where Kerse had flung his glanced; she stood before them for a few seconds, then drew in one breath and blew out at least thirty-five of them. Smoke and soot rose in dancing twists and curls, and slowly my eyes were able to make out the additional room beyond them.

I could see no less than thirty figures, all female, all wearing the same assassin's uniform. The ages ranged the entire gamut of able-bodied Drow and all of them wore a different expression; of stone, of eagerness, of deceit, of hatred, envy, jeer, distain, calculation, and contempt. I found the absolute oldest one, easily older than D'Shea by a few centuries, and studied her lined and wrinkled expression. She merely looked contemplative.

"This is your offering, then, Varessa?" the eldest asked Sister D'Shea. "If she survives, she will be your new apprentice?"

My apparent benefactress looked at me, a smile touching her lips. "She bends, Red Sister Prime, she doesn't break. She will prove it."

The Red Sister Prime nodded. "We will need an altar," she murmured, turning around and the other Red Sisters parted to let her through as she headed for the granite door that finally made itself seen.

Fear touched me for the first time; real fear. I was still naked, sweaty, disheveled, and sore. I'd seen sacrifices placed on the altar in exactly that state, and my sister had forced me to experience it over and over again.

I didn't want to do this, I simply didn't want to and for an instant the animal, mindless terror almost overrode my better judgment. I started to balk, to pull against my sponsor when she took my arm.

"No demons but us, Sirana," Varessa D'Shea hissed into my ear. "You will live or die by that truth, so accept it now. Or is my confidence in you misplaced?"

I started walking, being guided by the Sister Prime and D'Shea and followed by every one of the Red Sisters present—Qivni and Gaelan directly behind me— through the granite door and along clear, private passageways. They were intermittently lit with elegant candles so our vision didn't revert to true dark vision but gave me no indication where we were in the palace, if we were even still within the palace.

We passed many doors on either side though no one seemed to come or go out of them. After perhaps ten minutes, the Red Sister Prime seemed to choose a door at random and waved her hand. It opened, and she entered. We all followed her.

My vision remained in the color spectrum thanks to smokeless torches that lined the walls, though such colors as there were in this new chamber were somber at best. A high ceiling proved to be black, as black as the walls and the rougher textured stone beneath my bare feet. No polished, reflective surface on this floor.

There were nine grey steps leading up to a platform with a backdrop of Lolth's Crest in colors of deep purple, red, white, and black. On the platform there was a marbled white-and-blue stone pedestal only large enough for one body to lie on it. Well, not a pedestal, if I was honest with myself. I knew it was an altar, one that has been used for real by Lolth's Maidens of the Web. The top of it was still stained with dark blood that could not be easily scrubbed out by the slaves.

I forced one foot in front of the other as we walked across the basin floor to the steps and there we stopped. By some invisible signal, four Red Sisters unknown to me stepped out from the crowd and the rest moved off to kneel on the floor in a circular web design on the floor facing the altar. They had all taken on the same expression: reverence, as they looked up at Lolth's Crest.

Varessa D'Shea, Qivni, and Gaelan kneeled at the front edge of the web, closest to the altar. I thought I saw her eyes flicker and small nod from D'Shea, though she didn't make direct eye contact with me. Meanwhile, the four Red Sisters surrounding me all started removing their weapons, effects, armor, and clothing until they were as starkly naked as I was, setting their uniforms neatly off to the side.

The Red Sister Prime stood nearby, watching everything; I wanted to quail under her gaze but dared not show more weakness than I already had.

All or nothing. I would become a Red Sister, or I would die in this chamber.

We waited. I wasn't sure for what until I heard the whisper of a hem trailing along the ground somewhere near the altar.

From out behind Lolth's backdrop came a Priestess, but not the wannabe that Juarinia had been. This one wore her deep violet robes that lovingly held to her curves, her black spider headpiece framing her beautiful face and holding her long, flowing hair back from her eyes. A ceremonial dagger in its sheath rested at one hip, a black leather pouch at the other. She was adorned with silver jewelry; delicate webbing covered the backs of her hands and shining rings encircled her elegant fingers. A necklace of Lolth's spider nestled between her breasts and multiple studs and glittering dangles pierced her pointed ears.

This Drow held herself with more grace and confidence than any Priestess I'd ever seen at the more common public sacrifices, and it was her presence to draw every eye in the room that I finally recognized: she was the Guide present at the one Priestess initiation of which I'd been a part.

A new Priestess had to complete her own ritual, but there was always a Guide of considerable power present in case the new one's control of the demon she summoned faltered and he became a dire threat. The Guide had been the only one not participating in the orgy. What was her name...? I didn't know it, but I knew her title, which was almost as good.

"Lelinahdara," I whispered, and the four naked Red Sisters all looked at me. She was proclaimed the Kiss of House Leluin; the most favored, though not the eldest, simply by merit. For being as powerful a Priestess as she was.

The Red Sister Prime snapped her fingers and they started moving up the steps. I was not guided; I was expected to accompany them under my own volition. As if I dared refuse.

I climbed the nine steps with them and paused, unsure whether to go ahead and lift myself onto the altar or not.

Unsure? I couldn't afford any uncertainty right now. I moved forward toward the stone marbled table at a speed that made me appear unafraid but also allowed me to catch any disapproval from the Priestess if I was doing something wrong.

She held up her hand and I stopped instantly and with a touch of relief.

Lelinahdara approached me instead and was looking into my eyes. Her mouth curved slightly and her voice practically embodied the reverence on the faces of the watchers: rich and seductive, a speaker's voice. "Your eyes are blue. It always denotes an unusual Drow."

Her eyes were a green brighter than emerald; even more unusual but I made no reply on that.

"What is your name and title, daughter of Lolth?"

"Sirana Thalluensareci," I answered.

The Priestess nodded and stepped away from me. She reached into her pouch and sprinkled a light dusting of something atop the blood-stained altar; she'd begun chanting in a tremulous alto as she stepped around to face the congregation of Red Sisters.

She nodded again to the four Drow standing on the platform with us, and they immediately came forward to seize me; one grabbed each limb and lifted me up as roughly as if I was resisting them. I emitted a cursed shriek and felt my body being drawn out, my arms and legs held taunt as they raised me up and set my bare, scratched back on the cold, stained marble.

They didn't let go but held me helpless, spread-eagled as the Priestess came into my view again. Lelinahdara stood beside me and placed her hand on my abdomen. Her flesh was warm and dry; I could tell mine was chilled and sticky. Her hand glided up to rest above my pounding heart. She was still chanting softly and I could feel a tingle coming into me from her hand.

What was she doing? Juarinia had done this but I'd never felt any quiver of energy before. Not like this.

The tingle started to trail up from my chest, through my lungs and neck and into my head. It felt like fingers were cradling my brain inside my skull, probing and squeezing for who knew what. My eyes were tightly shut as my head started to throb against even the meager light of the spare torches on the walls.

*Interesting,* her voice drifted through me, *your sister must have had a contact inside our temple, who divulged more than she should have about our rituals. Did you ever know who it was?*

I shook my head, my eyes still closed. *No, Priestess.*

*No matter. We'll find her if she still lives. Right now, I want to know your most feared ritual that she did to you. Show me.*

My body struggled haard as she searched around inside me, though the Red Sisters still held it firm. *Stop! No—!*

*I know she couldn't get away with the real sacrifices without your Matron finding out,* the Priestess coaxed. *It can't be that bad, Sirana, you still have all your limbs and digits, you still have your eyes and all your organs. I know this, I've just healed the damage you took from your trials. I know your body now. I'll perform the ritual for you and you'll see what real power is. Juarinia was nothing to fear.*

*But she was someone to see die,* I seethed.

*I'm not arguing that. If you hadn't done it, we would have when she applied yet again for our training. We were about to accept her before she died. I see now she would have given herself and her companion away eventually. She's dead now, however, and you'll now be the center vessel for a true ritual for the glory of Lolth. Survive it with your mind intact, and the Red Sisters will be your new family. But you have to give me what I want first.*

All or nothing. Keep resisting and they'd just plunge a dagger into my chest here and now, and forget me with barely a muttered, "Pity."

I drew a deep, shaking breath, relaxed and stopped fighting her. Lelinahdara found the memory in an instant.

*Vicious. The infertility affliction. She left you unable to bear children, Sirana.*

*You think I don't know that, Priestess?*

*How could you ever be Matron of House Thalluen then?*

*Because Juarinia simply would not be, by my will.*

*You've crippled your House. Kaltra is infirm. You are barren.*

I knew my body was struggling again, trembling with rage and fear, though I felt oddly separated from it as the Lelinahdara's voice filled me. Someone's mouth and tongue played at the junction of my thighs, teasing and soothing, yet someone else was biting my nipples, causing sharp pain.

*She couldn't get away with it...she just couldn't! I would find a way to get an heir once I was Matron.*

*And you could be so sure...*

I flinched as I felt something hot drip onto my thighs, my belly, my chest, scalding my skin. I knew what it was without opening my eyes; candle wax. The drips came too frequently and quickly became too much; I screamed at the next set of successive, stinging burns. The loud wail seemed to be what they wanted for now for no more wax fell.

Mouths were sucking on my toes, my fingers, and what had to be a thick candle was pushed between my legs, spreading me open and filling my birth canal.

A fist gripped my hair and pulled so that I had to squirm and shift my body up further upon the altar so that my head was no longer supported by the granite but leaned back, my draping hair almost touching the floor. I could smell aroused female petals right in front of me and the Red Sister still gripping my hair forced my mouth on her, demanding I service her with nary a word.

I hadn't done this since Juarinia died, yet it would seem one never forgets. My tongue flicked out and up and I started sucking on her, eating her almost automatically.

I felt someone withdraw the fat candle from me, and the Priestess was chanting again. I immediately remembered this part and writhed desperately, my cry of fear muffled between silken thighs. The Sister pressed me to her so hard as to almost suffocate me. Two others still held my ankles and my legs apart, and the fourth draped her weight across my chest to hold me down.

*NO! No, no, no, no...please no!*

Though I couldn't see her, I knew the Priestess would be standing between my legs with her ceremonial dagger unsheathed, the naked blade shining. I was to take that dagger as I would a phallus, feel it thrust up inside me.

Juarinia had almost killed me with this ritual, and for hours I suffered, bled, until she—out of sheer fright at being found out when the Matron came back—had brought me a healing potion from somewhere. I took a chance and drank it, and the flesh had finally healed on the outside. Inside, I knew there was scarring not completely repaired. And I could still say nothing to Mother about it...

The cold metal touched my thighs, its point scraped upward, drawing small pinpoints of blood, I was sure. The tip was nestled between my lips and paused there.

*Sirana? Did you ever know what this ritual was for?*

I was almost mindless in my fear. I couldn't answer, even with a thought.

*Sirana! Answer me!*

Every breath I heaved was steamy, fragrant, a Drow's intimate scent filling my head and her heat warming my face. Yet I was so cold. Damn sisters. Lolth curse all sisters...!

*Are you ready to break, then?* the Priestess taunted me. *I'll shove this blade inside you and you'll bleed out on the altar. What a pathetic end, exactly as Juarinia planned for you.*

I screamed in rage, thrashing as I could, unable to break the Red Sisters' hold. *F-fuck you, Priestess! Fuck you all!!*

She chuckled inside my head. *You shall, Sirana.*

She began pushing the dagger in and I expected fully to feel the edge slicing me open again. Instead, I felt the hard, thin shape of the naked blade but not the razor sharpness, as if it was somehow covered in a protective sheath.

I also felt a tingle, then a rush of energy that flooded into my guts and caused me to gasp with the keenest points of pleasure and pain I'd ever felt. I was still taut as a bowstring and still made wild sounds between another Drow's thighs, but now I could barely comprehend what I was even trying to say.

More?...Don't stop...?

She kept about half its length moving in and out, and instead of the ripping and shredding I remembered, it was electric and mind-wracking, like being squeezed in the grip of an endless orgasm.

*This is Lolth's Threshold, young one. This was the ritual she was trying to mimic. The longer I concentrate on your sensation, the greater the reward. Lucky for you, I am one of the best. If my relic touches the entrance to your womb, Sirana, it heals what was destroyed. It makes you fertile again. But I haven't reached your core yet. Can you take more of me without going mad?*

I writhed, I could barely think. I don't even know if I was breathing. I was hardly aware that I was anymore. *I...I...oh!....oh, Lolth!*

The Priestess's voice crooned to me. *Yes, Sirana, isn't she just? Go ahead and feel it. Do you want to become whole again? Do you want Sisters again? All or nothing, Sirana, just as you've always taken your existence, every goal you've ever had.*

I shuddered, straining against the exhalted flood of sensation, but I did understand what the Priestess was saying even through my ecstasy and my agony. I twisted my head violently to the side and somehow released myself from the grip of thighs. My body undulated and I scooted down the altar, thrusting myself fully onto the ceremonial dagger, feeling the magic-charged point press into the entrance to my womb. I screamed.

I'd done it; I'd taken the entire length of the dagger willingly. My eldest sister had asked the same thing of me; it was a requirement, she said. I would have rather died. I almost did when she lost her patience.

This energy, though, centered in my core was intense, hot, and divine. I squirted when my pleasure peaked for the last time, spraying clear fluid over the dagger's handle and the Priestess's hand. Then I collapsed and fell into a paralyzing afterglow, my legs dangling off the altar. I couldn't move, couldn't open my eyes, but I could still hear. Barely. I believed even the Priestess thought me unconscious.

"Well, Priestess?" It was the Red Sister Prime. "Will she come out of this with a useful mind?"

"Absolutely," Lelinahdara replied with confidence. "I could sense her to the very end; she was as lucid as any in the past who've survived this ritual."

A wet, sticky hand adorned with metal lay itself over my abdomen and the Priestess continued.

"She's also not barren anymore. She will be highly fertile for the next few days. Unless you wish her to catch a child, keep males out of her reach. She will be craving them."

"She won't be seeing any males where she's going, Lelinahdara, not for weeks."

"Sirana is admitted, then?" The third voice was Varessa D'Shea.

"She is ours to train, Sister. We'll inform her Matron after she's been taken outside of the City."

One corner of my mouth twitched. It was just as they said.

No demons but them.

The End

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