0 comments/ 35124 views/ 4 favorites Priestess Under Occupation Ch. 01 By: kurtrellians She took to the stairs and descended as rapidly as her Prancirian shoes would allow. The General was nowhere to be seen for which she was grateful. His guard was waiting for her at the door, however, the one who had looked at her impudently and with evident sexual interest when she had arrived. She had registered the man on her arrival as one who was too haughty and only pretended respect because his masters ordered it. She did not like him much even on such brief perusal. "Madam, the General has instructed me escort you 'home'." His polite words sounded insincere even now. "I trust you have eaten well". She did not relish the journey back with him. She wished for privacy now in her despair. Her eyes were red and watery she was sure, and she was not ready to be with people at this moment, particularly not with strangers. When she returned she might find comfort with Sreela perhaps. Danella did not wish to spend a minute more in this place of her degradation. She did not ask about the whereabouts of the General. She did not want to talk about the General. "Yes it was lovely food," she said. She did not know whether this guard had heard anything of the General's anger or her weeping. After all, the door had been closed until the General had left the room. However, she guessed that he had perhaps heard a little of her weeping at least, and he must have sensed the General's anger or disappointment in her as he descended the stairs. She was embarrassed by that. Rejection was not something a Priestess of Pirion could ever be familiar with. "Did you enjoy your evening with the General, Madam?" he asked, again with mocking respect. She sighed inwardly. This soldier was more talkative than the other guard. He did not need prompting to talk. The man was probably quite bored by his dull duty. He would be pleased to have this opportunity to talk to someone different, someone he could regard as an inferior, because she was effectively a prisoner, and citizen of a defeated and inferior Empire, and perhaps because she was a woman. Like the General perhaps he believed the task she and the Priestesses had been set to made them inferior people. "It was very pleasant, thank you." She tried to say as little as possible not wishing to encourage him at all. "Have you enjoyed your evening meal madam?" asked the guard in a way she found condescending and intrusive. "Yes it was very pleasant," she tried to say as little as possible. "It is not often the General entertains a lady, he is very hardworking", the man looked at her as if he expected the word 'hardworking' to mean more. She disliked this man. "You know what I mean," he added. "I heard what you said, he is a hardworking General," she replied, not wishing to be drawn further into the man's questions. "He is so hardworking that he does not normally have much time for the ladies," the man repeated, irritatingly. "I imagine so," she said noncommittally. "Did he enjoy your company?" the man asked, persistently. "I hope so," she replied. She was not sure whether this man might be asking if she had made love with the General or whether the General had enjoyed the evening in other ways. It was a thing she had noticed amongst the Prancirians. They rarely said what they meant when they talked about the acts of sex, preferring to refer to it in other ways or not to refer to it at all except by subtle hints. She had communed with Prancirian soldiers, mainly in the dormitory, where sex was the purpose for the soldiers to visit. Even then they usually referred to it in 'polite terms' until it began. "You got him quite excited I think," suggested the guard. "Oh do you think so", she replied. She could also be indirect if she chose. A citizen of Pirion would not have needed or chosen to be so roundabout. Sex or worship as they normally referred to it was an open matter to be discussed easily whenever they wished. It did not need to be hidden or skirted at. The guard's reference to 'excitement' was not, she thought, a reference to sex, but to the General's anger. She realised he must have heard them, as she expected. He would have heard the General's derogatory criticism of her. Perhaps he questioned and annoyed her now because he knew the General had rejected her and that she was no longer to be the General's friend. Maybe he felt it was his duty to annoy her as a punishment for incurring the General's disfavour. She reminded herself, however, that this guard had been insolent even before she had entered the General's offices. "You have displeased the General, Madam," he went on. "There are not many around here who displease the General Ravelleon. It is not wise". "What business is it of yours?" she added, not wanting to admit to anything or to encourage his questions. "Oh I am a loyal servant of the General, madam. I am interested in his wellbeing. I do not like to see him upset". She did not like the way this conversation was developing. Did this man see himself as some kind of personal bodyguard pledged to protect or to punish in the General's cause. "I do not see that it is any concern of yours. He invited me for a meal. We had a pleasant evening and a small argument, I admit, but it was nothing to concern you". She responded to him only because she had no choice if she wished to quieten him. The man was smiling now, probably because he had managed to force a response from her, and she did not like to think he had achieved a small victory. He was a coarse man with a strong face and a woolly moustache, not tall, but powerful looking, well built. He looked like a veteran soldier, probably in his late thirties but because he had seen battles and a soldiers life she thought he might have looked older than he was. She was slightly afraid of him. The man had presence and strength even if he seemed an ignorant man. He certainly did not behave like the officers she had met. He was an ordinary soldier. Since the conquest most of them had been respectful and kind enough particularly as they learned to like the Priestesses. Many were ill mannered but they still respected her. She had seen his type before. He seemed bitter and twisted, hating the world around him. She guessed that he did not really have much respect for his General, or for anyone else. "Was it good? Eh. Was it good," he repeated. "What?" Was what good? And then she realised 'it' must mean sexual communication. Was he assuming that she had actually had sex with the General. From a Prancirian it was an unusually direct question, but typical in its disguise. Normally if such a question, had been asked by a citizen of Pirion she would have answered it openly without hesitation. However she felt strangely secretive about revealing matters between herself and the General. The question of sex had become imbued with more importance, either because it had been denied by Ravelleon or because she was conscious that for the General it was not something to be casually remarked upon to anyone who cared to ask. This was one of his personal guards and she knew the General would not have wished what he considered his private life to be gossiped about amongst even his own guards, and even less so the soldiers and citizens in Dalos. The General had wanted to keep his meeting with her a secret, which was one reason why she had been invited out to meet him and when few soldiers were at his office. It occurred to Danella that maybe the General would have been more inclined to succumb to her attempted seduction if their meeting had been completely secret and could have been guaranteed to remain so. But in Dalos that was impossible. She wondered that he would choose such a man as the guard to serve him if he wished to be secretive. The man was already betraying his master's trust by asking her these questions. She imagined that a man like this would be quite willing to use the secrets he had learned for personal advantage if he could, probably by blackmailing the Generals in order to gain promotion or money. She could only imagine the worst about him. "You and the General got to know each other quite well I think," said the guard, "and then you had an argument about something". "We know each other better than before," she had to agree, "we had a meal together". "I think you had more than just a meal together," he persisted, winking and smiling at her in a way she continued to find insulting because it suggested he did not respect her. "Why are you asking all these questions. Surely the General would not wish you to know anything about what went on between us". She had decided it was time to stand up to him a little, but it only brought him closer to what he seemed to guess was the truth. "So," he applauded, "something did go on between you," he was gleeful. His smile became broader as if he had won some kind of victory. "No, nothing went on between us," she said, hoping to silence him. "I don't believe you. You priestesses are all up for it from what I hear. It's all you ever do in that little dormitory of yours." "I said nothing went on between us," she repeated. "You must have had the argument about something," he said. "What else would you argue about. I think he screwed you and then you had an argument". She had not heard the expression 'screwed' before but she guessed what it meant. "No we did not. I expected he would want to but he did not". She could tell the guard found this as difficult to accept as she had done and she could not blame him for that, although she might have thought that as a Prancirian he would understand the behaviour of the General far better than she. "You can't tell me that a Priestess of Pirion would refuse to sleep with a General who controls your trade. You're all prostitutes. That is all you are good for now, and you had better do what the General tells you," he said, revealing in so many words his own view of Priestesses, which did not improve Danella's opinion of him. "I did offer myself to him", she admitted. "You are correct to say that is what we do. But I see nothing wrong in that". "You are slags, the lowest amongst women," he said. She had never heard the word 'slag' but she could tell he was trying to annoy her as he had been all along. His eyes suggested that he thought otherwise, as he seemed to look through her, but actually looked at her the way her 'customers' looked at her when they knew they could have her. It was a hungry look which she appreciated, being used to it for all her adult life. "You know nothing but how to receive a man," he went on. She guessed he had a deeply held bitterness against Priestesses, although why she could not possibly understand, without knowing him. What harm could Priestesses ever have done to him. She guessed that it was resentment which he felt. Perhaps he wanted to visit the Priestesses but could not afford it, or maybe he had been with them but performed unsatisfactorily. There were some men who blamed women when their own performance was below their own expectations. But the women of Pirion were always helpful and creative in worship. Their culture encouraged them to find the best in sexual activity. She guessed that maybe his bitterness was directed against all women but had probably been generated by his experiences with the women of Prancir. He merely picked on herself and the women of Pirion as scapegoats to blame for past disappointment. "I offered myself to the General and he refused me. I did what he wanted and when I offered him what he believed he must refuse he became angry. That is all." She was explaining more than she felt obliged to but she now began to feel pity for the man at her side. She detected hi unhappiness and resentment, even if the man's hostility disgusted her. She did not like him but she detected some weakness in him. "The General is more honourable than I thought," confessed the man, although he betrayed resentment of his master in the way that he said it. "You Priestesses are everything I said you were." Again he sought to annoy her, perhaps to push her into some rage". He turned leftwards on the route avoiding the busiest street in the centre of the city where the soldiers had left their drinking bars but some still wandered on their way back to barracks or rooms. "Why are you taking me this way?" she asked. She knew the city well, most likely better than he did. This road led out of their way, although it would eventually serve them in the right direction. "It is a better route. Away from the crowds. It is quieter here," he said, still dominant, refusing to admit that he might be wrong in any way. She began to think he might have an ulterior motive for bringing her up here. There were dark corners and alleyways in this part of the city. She became aware suddenly of his potential for violence. He was a veteran Prancirian soldier who most probably had killed hundreds of men and women in the campaigns of conquest. The resentment of women which he seemed to feel gave her cause for concern. She had told him that the General had rejected her, maybe he thought then that the General would not care if he took his anger out on her. He might beat her or worse. Perhaps his intention was to rape her or just to ask her for the comforts of sex. She knew many soldiers well by now and what most of them wanted was merely the comfort and excitement of sex in their hard, occasionally violent, but more often, dull lives. This man was more angry more desperate, less restrained than most, but he was essentially the same. She continued to walk with him, hoping that she was right to trust him, but believing now that she was. He led her to any alley darker than most, and where they were not likely to be disturbed. They had been quiet for some minutes now and his hand lay on her arm as if to control her. They both knew what was going to happen before the time came. Normally she would have said something. She was used to dealing with men as she might a child, particularly among the Prancirian soldiers. "Pull you clothes up," he demanded, refusing even though her behaviour suggested acquiescence, to ask her more gently. She was a prisoner and still subservient in his eyes although he might want what she had. He was not frightened of her. She lifted her dress up to reveal her legs but her corset prevented further access. He manhandled her into his strong arms forcing her back against the wall at the same time and bringing his mouth down onto hers. She was trapped and enveloped with nowhere to run, but she did not want to run. This was familiar territory. The man was not going to harm her. He merely wanted sex. She had been deprived of the General's intimacy and she had felt unwanted for the first time in her life. It had been a shock, which would have taken time to come to terms with. This rude soldier now reminded her that she was a sexual woman in great demand. She needed sex now to shed the disappointment and rejection of the evening. She did not like him, but his flesh was attractive and he was strong, and she felt sorry for him. His mouth smelled of the drink soldiers drink, a smell and a taste with which she had grown familiar in the last few months. He mauled her, licking her face, the nose, the neck and burying it deep in her mouth which she opened wide to admit him. He held her tight as one hand touched her up around her genital region, protected by her corset. Feverishly he tried to find some opening, to pull it aside. Gasping for air she cried, "Don't rip it please." She needed to be able to wear it and there was no guarantee that Gerald would find another one for her so soon. He rubbed himself close into her, delighting in her squirming. She felt for his cock. It was excited but by no means fully erect. There was nowhere for it to penetrate, unless she were to use her mouth, while she wore that corset. "I need to take the corset off if you want to penetrate me," she said when he allowed her some air. "Or I could take you in my mouth". The man did not seem to know what she meant at first but then he stopped his mauling and agreed, "Suck it for me." Quickly he fumbled at his trousers and produced his penis, still partially aroused. She got down on her haunches, her back supported by the wall of the cutting, leaned forward and took his member into her mouth, softly placing her lips around it and sucking lightly while she ran her fingers up and down his shaft, stretching and pulling to make it harden. Despite his aggressive demeanour the guard appeared not to be so well at ease as it took her some while to tease his penis into full erectness. She expected no words from this 'macho' man, to admit his difficulty, and she got none. Presently he became strongly erect and began to enjoy his experience. To an arrogant Prancirian, even one of the lower orders, sex without penetration was deemed to be insufficient, and when she had tongued him until he felt confident of his performance he told her she would have to take off the corset. She stood facing the wall and bending forwards asked him to help her to unfasten the laces of the corset. She could have untied the corset on her own but preferred to tantalise the man by encouraging him to help her to undress. He stood over her holding his erect penis in his right hand as he watched her undo the corset as the laces untied. His left hand came forward to help only after she had done most of it. He pressed it onto the flesh of her back and drew it slowly down her as the laces loosened. "Take it off," he hissed, obviously excited by the prospect of her nakedness as it was revealed, while he stimulated his own penis. She pulled her corset down and came out of it, her medium sized breasts flopping out as it came off. The guard pulled her around roughly, and gasped involuntarily, as he gazed at her beauty. His penis was still erect and he massaged it himself, seemingly unable to stop. She reached out for him, touching his penis, willing to take it inside her despite his rudeness. His rudeness actually began to seem exciting, now that the physical bonding had begun. Many of the soldiers were rough and rude and she no longer felt him as a threat. She found it exciting that a man who could hate and despise her as this man seemed to hate and despise the whole world, should need her body so much. She was attracted by his power and by his obvious physical excitement for her, and enjoyed the feeling of control over him, which she knew she possessed. If she had wished she could make things difficult for the man, humiliate or put psychological pressure on him, which would lead him to lose his erection. The man would probably have attempted to rape her even if she had not proved willing to follow his suggestion, although perhaps not if she had resisted. She could have used her power as a woman to spoil his sexual fulfilment, to punish him. Really the man deserved it for his attitude and his rudeness. However, she knew he was like a bruised and battered animal. He had risked his life and fought in many battles, struggled to earn his living, and been rewarded only with the insults and domination of his superiors. He felt bitter and betrayed and doubtless was very lonely although he may not have admitted it to anyone else. She viewed him as a child, a child with the body of a full grown powerful man. And so she submitted to his invasion of her. He pushed her against the wall and she spread her legs widely and thrust her hips out to him as his thick penis entered her. Soon finding its strength, the guard rammed it into her repeatedly. He gasped as her body enveloped his and his penis transmitted its excitement to him. He surely wanted to cry out as his excitement took its hold but his upbringing kept him in a cold silence even while the heat burned him. As he pushed into her she began to feel her own pleasure rising and she began to hope that he would last long enough to make her come. She wanted him to take his clothes off so that she could see his body but this was no time to interrupt him and the feel of his penis and the sight of his hips would suffice for her. His eyes bored into hers and then into her breasts as they darted up and down her body, while he rammed faster into her, groaning. Finally he became a superhuman animal and she felt almost that after all she was being raped as he fucked hard into her, losing all his self control. She cried at the change of pace rather than at her own excitement, but gave herself up to his onslaught. It would do her no harm even though for these minutes her body was no longer her own. She wanted to orgasm too but she was not ready. Then he sputtered inside her and he spat flooding the walls of her passageway. His body continued its movement, unable to stop for seconds as it shuddered and lost power. Its strength was gone and he began to calm, breathing heavily. Now that his excitement was passed he was more grateful than before. His hardness melted, and as if he had believed that tenderness would have prevented him getting what he wanted from her, he now seemed to feel that he could afford to be a little more tender. He kissed her again on the face and allowed his hands to gently brush across her. Priestess Under Occupation Ch. 01 (continued in Priestess Under Occupation : Chapter 2) Priestess Under Occupation Ch. 02 (continued from Chapter 1) "I have not had my pleasure yet," she said reminding him that she was a woman who had sexual needs. "You are a woman," he said. "You are not meant to enjoy it." His statement shocked her. She had experienced the lack of consideration by most of her customers over the months, but in the arena of the dormitory, where an unsatiated Priestess could always find more pleasure from her next soldier if she needed it, she had not, normally sought to ask for more. But here she was confronted by the direct, and she had assumed, honest opinion of a Prancirian male. Sexual pleasure was something to be taken from a female but not given. It was a horrifying belief. She had never considered that anyone in the world could hold such a view. Although there were some of the stranger ceremonies among the Priestesses and people of Pirion, involving the denial of the female pleasure, and for that matter the male, no one believed it as a principle of sexual ceremonial or of life. She held onto his hand and tried to guide it back to her genital region but the hand refused to move for her. She wanted the warm feelings to continue now that she had gone so far. She needed to forget about the General's reaction. She wanted to wipe the memory off his rejection away. The guard had taken her mind off the earlier part of the evening. She had been embarked on a course of privacy to limit the damage the General had inflicted on her, but the guard's persistence and his sexual onslaught had finally taken her mind off General Ravelleon. Completion of her own arousal was the comfort she desired to truly recover. "Please hold me and finger me," she pleaded. Her own hand was already down there stroking herself gently, but she did not want to do it on her own. It was far more exciting and fulfilling to have the inspiration of a strong man holding and stroking her, making her reach her orgasm. To her discomfort he remained selfish now that his own pleasure had been gratified. He had stroked her briefly as his own way of saying thank you, but now he looked around nervously, up and down the alleyway, to see if anyone else was approaching. He had been content to risk being discovered earlier when in the full throes of his greed and passion. What would anyone have cared? She was only a Priestess of Pirion. Many women of the city had been raped at the conquest and knew all about that, but the most blind newcomers and some of the Prancirian wives and children were protected from that knowledge. The Prancirians were all nervous about public displays of affection and love making. Something deep within their upbringing caused all of them to hesitate to display sexual activities unless firmly behind closed doors. "Get dressed," he barked. "I must return you to your rooms before anyone realises." She realised for the first time that he was frightened his activities would be noticed. "Are you scared that the General will find out?" she asked. "Of course," he said, as if it was obvious. "He would be very angry if he knew." She could almost believe that, now that she had seen the General's illogical anger. Who could understand the General's beliefs or his moods? Not she, but he was certainly a man to be careful with. "You won't say anything will you? I won't say anything either," he said. Now he was on the defensive. She realised, he needed to guarantee her silence. He feared his General. Perhaps he regretted the potential trouble his sexual hunger had opened up. "Why should I need to hide what we have just done? I don't belong to the General. After tonight I shall probably never see him again." "You must not say anything." He was begging her, but he was too proud to beg. He seemed not to realise that it was not in the nature of a Priestess to wish him any harm, despite the rudeness of this man, who perhaps deserved it. It would not have occurred to her to tell of this to the General if it was against his wish, and, as she had said, it was unlikely that she would see any more of the General after tonight. Even so she began to see some harmless way of serving herself, despite intending no harm to him. "If you wish me never to tell the General you might do a small favour for me," she said. "What is it?" he looked worried, but threats were a language he knew and expected. "You might help me to finish myself. Go on, give me my orgasm. It won't cost you anything." He stared back at her for a second or two, and then, quickly looking around again to check whether there was anyone else here at this late hour, he made his decision. He came forward onto her again, kissing her as he placed his hands on her hips. Then he brought his right hand to her mound and placed two fingers into her as she showed him where to go. "Unfasten your uniform," she whispered. "Let me see some of your flesh". He hesitated, not wanting to risk the chance of discovery. Now his own pleasure had been achieved, perhaps he no longer had any desire to fulfil any sexual desire for himself and he was unwilling to do anything which might be more than the minimum required to satisfy her conditions of silence. His lovemaking had been selfish so why should he now go out of his way to make her happy. She brought her free hand to his uniform coat and unfastened the buttons on it, which he had fastened again in the brief interlude. His coat swung free and she began to unbutton his soft shirt. He made no move to stop her and dutifully began to stroke her more deeply, belatedly understanding the softness she required as her breath heaved at his touch. "That was good!" she said finally, still recovering from her orgasm. "Yes it was," he agreed, surprisingly. He was becoming polite. Sometimes when you treat people well and give them what they want they become nicer, she reflected. But they also want more from you. "When can I see you again? We must do this again!" He was not in so much of a rush now that she was again fully clothed. "When are you coming to Ravelleon next? I will be able to escort you back again, and we can do it again." He had changed. It was interesting to see how the experience could change a man. Instead of regarding her as an enemy prisoner and a lowly woman to be lusted at and abused, he now seemed to regard her as a partner in 'crime' and someone he wanted to be with again. The soldiers she serviced daily were not so precocious. They knew she was not theirs. They had to pay for her time, and to many of them the pay was dear. They knew that if they came regularly to the dormitory they could pick her again but they would not always be able to have her. She was as much the right of any other man who had paid his money, and being particularly beautiful she was in much demand. Paul was different because he had begun to treat her as his special friend. He paid more for her, to spend the whole evening with her, and had seen her a number of times. They had developed a wider relationship because they had time to take and do other things. He had loaned her books, and would loan her others in the future so that she could find out about the world. She felt indebted to him and valued the relationship. She had hoped this evening that she would develop a similar relationship with the General, who could have been even more useful to her. But this guard could offer her nothing else, except his penis, and when she forced him, his hand on her clitoris. He wanted her to give herself to him again but she was not sure that she could see him again. She would not be going back to the General now, and unless he became a 'customer' at the dormitory it would be very difficult, probably impossible, for her to get away. But she had found it exciting, very exciting, out here in the dark, in this little frequented alleyway between brick buildings, with a man who would have raped her, but whom she found she could control easily. He was a man afraid of his superiors, of discovery, and in some ways, like most of the Prancirians, afraid of women. It was different, a unique experience, and her evening, shattered by the General's disgust, had been turned around into a physical union, which she had perversely enjoyed. For the first time in this long and strange day she felt satisfied and relaxed, and again proved the power of sexual worship after a day of unwanted abstinence. "I don't think I can see you again like this," she said. "Why not?" said the guard. "I told you," she said. "You should listen to what I say. The General was angry with me. He won't want to see me again. I can't leave the dormitory unless I have a reason. Gerald doesn't like it. He is our officer in charge. You should come to the dormitory if you wish to see me, but I cannot promise to be always available." "The General will want you again," he persisted, "then we can do the same again." He was like a puppy she thought, quite slow to catch on, and unable to let go of the plans he had germinated in his own mind. Now the sex was finished she wondered why she was even bothering to talk to him about the future. She didn't need him or want him. His personality was repulsive and rude, he was an adult and yet he was like a badly behaved child who thought the world should revolve around him. The excitement she had felt while he used her had arisen from the situation. The chance to have sex in the outdoors, the excitement of being in a place where they might be noticed, the thrill of being dominated. She had been a Priestess for a number of years, and a citizen of Pirion for longer, so she liked to be watched when having sex. But her excitement had not arisen because they were being watched. They were not. It had arisen because she was aware that he was worried about being watched. He had been fearful of the General, the soldiers and of herself. He had been afraid to let her go because he had expected her to run off. If she had tried to run she knew that he would have tried to hold her and rape her. That was another thing which made it exiting for her. The rape at the time of the conquest had been frightening because she had been worried for her own life and those around her but then had felt no real fear of this man once his intention had become obvious. It excited her to think that her body could be penetrated by a stranger who was willing to use force to appease his own sexual hunger. The men of Pirion never aroused the same sense of danger. They were always well behaved. They had never needed to resort to desperate measures to take the pleasure of a woman. By comparison there was something exciting or unusual about these desperate repressed men of Prancir which had helped to encourage her over the last few months. In theory she should have been unhappy. Their people and city of residence had been conquered and made prisoners, quite a number of them killed and the campaign of war had flowed on deeper into Pirion, threatening perhaps the future of all of that huge Empire. She believed strongly, now that she was behind the lines and could see the enemy's rule, that it was not a liberation, as Ravelleon purported to believe, but an enslaving and also a sexual repression. The cult of the Goddess would surely be completely repressed if the Prancirian conquest defeated Pirion absolutely. However, for herself she was finding new experiences and meeting men with unusual and varied attitudes. She was able to follow her hunger for wider knowledge, exploring the literature of those barbarian nations. "You will have to visit the dormitory if you want me. Have you been in before? I have not seen you there," she said. "No not since you started charging," he said, "its too expensive." "The charges are not set by us. We knew nothing of them at first." "So who benefits?" he asked. "The General and the officers and men who are assigned to guard us, Gerald, we presume." "That fits," he said, his resentments towards his superiors and those more fortunate than himself barely repressed. "Surely you can get out occasionally." "Why should all the others have to pay and you get it free?" she asked, slightly annoyed by his insistence. "I thought you liked me. You wanted me to finish you and I did." He was like a child, she thought. Show him the slightest bit of attention and he thinks he owns you. It occurred to her suddenly that he implied he had been to the dormitory before the charges began. She did not remember but it could well be that he had been one of the uncaring soldiers who had raped them without concern for their bodies or their minds on that first day. How could she possibly remember all the harsh men who had clambered over her body and used her. He might have been one of them. She still felt anger from that long ordeal although her fear of those men had gone. She had not forgiven them either, although without knowing it she might well have laid down with a number of the same men since. The thought made her feel less generous again. "It is time for me to return. The other Priestesses will be asleep by now but I do not wish to disturb any of them too late into the night." The guard escorted her back quickly and directly through deserted streets. She sensed that he was worried that his lengthy absence might be noted, although the General would surely not wait up for him. Near the door to the dormitory he said, "Don't tell the General please." "No of course not," she said as he tramped away leaving her within sight of the guard on the door of the dormitory. As he went she realised that she had not asked his name. Ah well, she thought, it was just as well not to know. She would probably never see him again, and she didn't particularly want to, but it had been an interesting and exciting encounter. The disappointment with the General had been soon forgotten.