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<title>Aimee', Chapter 6</title><P>
<h1>Aimee', Chapter 6</h1><P>
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	Bethsany examined herself in the mirror.  "I still look pretty 
good.  Don't you think, Lilli?"<P>
	"Yes, Miss," the tall brunette encapsulated in leather responded 
warmly.<P>
	"Be honest, Lilli."<P>
	"At your age, Miss, you will not bring in customers except for 
those with certain... desires, but no matter.  I wish to have your 
body and health when I reach your wisdom, too."<P>
	Bethsany turned around and stroked Lilli's face gently.  "You 
say the right things, Lilli."  She kissed the taller girl gently.  A 
knock at the door interrupted her fingers' probing between Lilli's 
legs.  "What is it?"<P>
	One of the younger girls appeared at the door.  "My apologies, 
Miss, but Aimee' is here."<P>
	Bethsany sighed, trying not to smile simultaneously.  Loving 
Lilli was a privilege neither one permitted often, temptation being 
what it was, but she also could never pass up an opportunity for 
kindness with Aimee'.  "Lilli, will you forgive me?"<P>
	The brunette nodded.  "I understand.  I need some commission 
today anyway."<P>
	Bethsany laughed.  "Forever the opportunist.  That's why I like 
my crew.  Could you let Aimee' in on your way out?"<P>
	"I will," Lilli promised, leaving slowly.  As she walked out, 
she held the door open, revealing the small, shivering form of the 
girl who came to visit every week.  "Aimee'!  The Gods, you must be 
chilled to the bone from your walk.  Come in, come in, please, sit 
down by the fire.  Page, get us something warm for her to drink.  
Nothing with liquor, dear, just chocolate or something."  The young 
girl who had first peeked in to announce Aimee's presence looked in, 
nodded, then disappeared.  Bethsany positioned Aimee' on a short, 
padded stool by the fire.  The girl reappeared with a tray holding 
two steaming mugs.  "Here," Bethsany said, handing one to Aimee'.  
"Drink.  You need it.  You look positively white!"<P>
	"I am sorry to distress you so, Bethsany," Aimee' said softly.  
"Master Teltirray is more confident of me; he says in this weather 
thieves do not get out so much."<P>
	"Nor should healthy young girls like yourself!" Bethsany 
countered.  "Besides, in winter brigands need their sustenance like 
everyone else and with pickings slim you make a lovely target.  Be 
careful!"<P>
	"If any such brigand were to lay a hand on me..."<P>
	"You would what?"  Bethsany grinned.  "Lay them low with a bolt 
of wizardly power?  Are you to that point, my lovely Mage's student 
in black?"<P>
	Aimee' blushed.  Bethsany cupped Aimee's chin and pulled it up 
to look into her eyes.  "There is nothing to be ashamed of, Aimee'.  
Confidence is the first measure of any success, be it in Magic or 
Business or Sex.  But you must know your limits, too."  Aimee' nodded 
and sipped at her drink, shrugging off her cloak and easing to the 
floor before the fire.<P>
	Bethsany joined her; however under her robe there was no further 
clothing.  "Let me tell you another story, Aimee'... of what happened 
to me after my rescue.  Is that acceptable?"<P>
	Aimee' grinned and nodded.  "Please!"<P>
	Bethsany leaned back and began.<P>
<P>
	"There, there," said my rescuer as she handed me a bowl of warm 
soup.  "You will be all right."<P>
	"Who... who are you?"<P>
	"My name is Cyl'Dia.  I am a woman of Darachmod."  That last 
word made me look up and take notice of her, Aimee', because I had 
heard of Darachmod.  It was a city, rumored to be in the very 
mountains through which my family had been riding when the bandits 
had attacked.  She smiled tightly.  "I see you have heard of us.  The 
legends are mostly true.  Drink up.  I will return in a little 
while."<P>
	She was gone again, and only Huna and I were left together.  I 
held  onto Huna and she let me, being the only thing in my recent 
life that had had any stability and kindness to it.  I watched the 
women in the camp moving about easily, seriously; there seemed to be 
little humor about them.  Slaughtering a camp, even one filled with 
spirits as ugly as Styur's, could have held no glee to them.<P>
	They were all beautiful, tall, strong.  All of them wore heavy 
armor that hid what sorts of bodies they had underneath, but as they 
stripped it off they revealed tightly fitted, warm clothing that 
showed the shapes underneath to be very obviously female.  I wasn't 
to learn just how female until later.<P>
	Cyl'Dia returned shortly with another woman behind her.  "We are 
returning, so your eyes must be covered until you are trustworthy.  
Do you understand?"<P>
	I nodded, still frightened.  She reached out and stroked the 
dog's head for a moment.  "Huna, huh?  She's a good dog.  What's your 
name?"<P>
	"Bethsany."  I blurted it out as one word.<P>
	"Beth'Sany, huh?"  Her voice had a curious stop indicating that 
she had divided my name into two parts like hers.  "That's a pretty 
name.  Beth, this is my commander, Dyn'Valas.  Dyn, this is 
Beth'Sany, who we rescued from the centaurs."<P>
	Dyn'Valas knelt down and examined me closely.  Then she smiled.   
"We do not kill slaves, Beth, even male ones, although we see to it 
that they make their way in a direction other than following us.  Do 
you wish to come to Darachmod with us, or is there a family you want 
to go home to?"<P>
	I shivered.  "I... I have no family.  They killed them all."  I 
managed to point down to the ruined and burning centaur village where 
I had spent the past months.  <P>
	"All of them?"  Dyn'Valas looked shocked.  She recovered 
momentarily and said, "I understand you killed their leader rather... 
gruesomely."<P>
	I managed to shiver another nod.  "He... he used me."  I began 
crying, sniffling in the cold, wet of falling snow.  "I wanted to get 
back."<P>
	She patted my head gently.  "That's understandable.  You want to 
come to Darachmod with us, then?"<P>
	I nodded.  "Please."<P>
	"Cyl, make it so."<P>
<P>
	I was placed on the back of a horse and blindfolded.  "Wrap your 
arms around me," Cyl'Dia said softly.  "Reach into the jacket.  Go 
ahead.  I won't bite and it will keep your hands warm."<P>
	I did as she said, my fingers reaching in.  Between my hands and 
her body were but one or two thin layers of cloth, and underneath it 
I could feel her torso.  Even there her muscles were hard, rippling, 
strong.  She was clearly a powerful woman in her own right and I 
envied her.  I wanted to be like her.<P>
	We rode on through the day.  I felt strangely at peace, Aimee'.  
The blindfold kept me from questioning my surroundings in any great 
detail and the best feelings I got at all came from Cyl'Dia, who gave 
me warmth and comfort and spoke to me along the way.  She asked me 
for details of my life before the Centaurs and I gave that 
information freely.  I enjoyed my talks with her; they meant much to 
me.  After so many months of nothing but drudgery in the day and 
cruelty at night, a voice of kindness was something to hold onto.<P>
	We mostly spoke of my life.  Not as if hers didn't have as much 
for discussing, but as if she held back on discussing it at all until 
we reached her city.<P>
	A hollow sound surrounded her voice and the sounds of horses.  
The dry, winter smell was replaced with a slight staleness and I 
recognized that we entered a tunnel.  No-one spoke a word until the 
air returned to the bright coldness of winter.  "Cyl'Dia, you are 
excused from your duties to take Beth'Sany to the chirgeon.  See to 
it that she is looked after and then, I will find you this evening at 
your home."<P>
	"Thank you, my lady," Cyl'Dia replied.  "Beth, you may remove 
your blindfold now."<P>
	I did, getting my first glimpse of the city of Darachmod.  It 
was a large, walled square with houses scattered according to a 
pattern.  On each wall was a large, rectangular building built up 
against the wall, and the houses and other buildings seemed clustered 
around those.  The center of the town was very open.  Each building 
was carefully regimental in construction, pleasing to the eye, 
ordered.  Cyl'Dia led the horse into a stable where girls about my 
age took the horse and gave it blanketing, food, and water.  "Come," 
Cyl'Dia said to me softly.  "I will show you the chirgeon, and then 
to home."<P>
	The chirgeon was a kind, elderly woman who looked me over 
carefully, taking special care to examine my eyes, tongue, and sex.  
"She has suffered no permanent harm," she finally assured Cyl'Dia.  
"She needs proper food and a bath, however.  This thinness is not 
natural for her."<P>
	"Senva?" Cyl'Dia asked, or at least I thought asked, the doctor.  
It was not a word I knew.<P>
	"No, no, not quite.  A healthy middle, I think.  Bengesk."<P>
	Cyl'Dia smiled and nodded, but her smile was tainted slightly 
with sadness.  "I understand.  Thank you, Chire."<P>
	"My pleasure.  It was sweet to meet you, Beth'Sany."<P>
	Cyl'Dia lifted me into her arms again and Huna followed us out 
into the streets.  We made our way into a small home off a side 
street.  Once <P>
inside, another girl about my age came running up.  "Cyl!"<P>
	"Myr!" she shouted, straining to hold me with one arm while with 
the other gathering the girl into her clasp.  "Oh, it's so good to 
see you!"<P>
	"Are you... are you home, finally?" Myr asked.  "Who's this?"<P>
	"Myr'Dia'Nan, meet Beth'Sany.  We found her with the centaurs as 
their unwilling slave."<P>
	"Unwilling?"  Myr seemed to recoil.  "You mean, they didn't give 
you a choice?"<P>
	"Slaves don't get choices," I sighed.<P>
	"Some do," Myr assured me.  "I do."  The revelation that Myr was 
a slave frightened me.  That she was Cyl'Dia's slave stunned me.  The 
fear in me grew immense and suddenly I was fighting Cyl'Dia, slapping 
at her.  But she still wore the protective padding that went with her 
armor and I was doing little more than getting her attention.  She 
dropped me, however, in my squirming, and I retreated across 
cluttered room to kneel against the wall by the fire.  I expected 
Cyl'Dia to confront me, but instead Myr did.  "Wait, you don't 
understand.  I want to be here."<P>
	I looked up at her, disbelieving.  "You... you want to be 
here?"<P>
	Myr nodded, smiling in unmistakable pleasure.  "Cyl is my 
beloved, Beth.  But I have not the will or control to be a good and 
equal lover, Beth.  Someday, maybe, I will, but until that day I... I 
accept her yoke of power.  Maybe I never will."<P>
	"That's not right," Beth said.  <P>
	"Oh?" Myr asked.  "I am not a child anymore."  She blushed, 
looking ashamed.  "But I do not want to be unprotected.  Cyl'Dia 
gives me protection.  I agree to that."<P>
	"And punishment?" <P>
	"If I have been bad, yes.  I could leave Cyl at any time, but 
I'm not sure what I would do if that happens."<P>
	Cyl'Dia stood behind Myr, stroking the younger girl's hair with 
her hand.  "You're getting there, Myr.  You are confident in your 
slavery, at any rate."  She looked up at me.  "Some women, such as 
Myr, want someone to push them into adulthood.  Others simply find 
their pleasure in another's power and stay there all their lives.  
And some, like myself, find our pleasure in being that source of 
pleasure."<P>
	"And having your wants met," Myr said.<P>
	"That, too," Cyl'Dia smiled.  "I expect none of this, Beth'Sany, 
from you.  You are my guest until the Spring.  You can be whatever 
you want... except lazy, I suppose.  Whether for my reasons or your 
own, you will have to aid in the carrying of food and water, 
cleaning, and chopping of wood.  I hope that's acceptable?"<P>
	I nodded, still a little frightened by the revelation that 
Darachmod, the city of women, still kept women as slaves.  "I 
understand what is necessary," I said.<P>
	"Good," Cyl'Dia replied.  "Now, let me show you your bed.  
You'll be sleeping in Myr's room, an arrangement she does agree to, 
right?"<P>
	"Oh, yes!" Myr replied, grinning.  "Easily!"<P>
	"Good.  Then you get her bedding ready.  I have to go meet with 
Captain Dyn'Valas."  She stood up again and left, taking a long-coat 
off  the rack as she did so.<P>
	"Now, come with me," Myr said.  "And I'll show you to your 
room."<P>
	The house Cyl'Dia lived in was a large space broken up into 
rooms by taut expanses of white cloth stretched over frames of wood.  
They let light through easily, and I could see shadows and the 
flickering of lantern light from those rooms that had them on the 
backdrops of the cloth.  Some of the frames slid to allow passage.  
Through one, Myr led me down a short hallway and into another room 
with such a frame.  Inside, the room was large enough for three or 
four people to sleep in comfortably.  She had a chest for her 
possessions.  I had to step up to get in, though, because the floor 
of the bedroom was a wooden platform raised almost a foot and half 
off the floor.  "I'm sure Cyl will get you one of your own.  Now, 
wait here while I get you some bedding.  It's sure to get colder 
yet."<P>
	Myr left me alone for a moment, for the first time since my 
rescue at the hands of these women.  I stopped to take stock of my 
situation, feeling disoriented.  I was alive; I had people who seemed 
safe enough.  I had a sense of comfort for once that was unlike any 
other.  Myr returned with a bundle of cloth that hid her face from my 
view until she dropped it on the floor.  "Fhew!" she sighed.  "Heavy.  
And now we have to get the metal, too."<P>
	"Metal?" I asked.<P>
	"I'll show you," she assured me.  "Come.  I'll need help with 
this."<P>
	I followed her into another room with more large chests.  
"There."  She opened one chest and handed me some metallic slats, 
about three feet long and five inches wide, a little less than an 
inch thick.  We made several trips of these back and forth to the 
bedroom.  "What are these?"<P>
	"Sleeping slats," she replied.  She pointed to a spot of floor 
where wooden slats the same size as the metal ones we had carried 
were laid into the floor.  With a knife she pried them loose and 
tossed them aside, fitting the metallic ones in one at a time.  "Heat 
flows through metal much easier than it does through wood, see?"  She 
said.  "At night, before bed, we place coals on the floor underneath 
in these."  She held up a metallic pan with a lid.  "These put out 
heat that flows up into the metal, and then into our bodies, so we 
stay warm."<P>
	I did not understand.  "Does the heat know where the metal 
is?"<P>
	"I don't know," Myr said.  "It's magic to me."  I nodded.  
"Come, let's put the wooden slats away and get two more coal pans for 
you.  One  for your legs and one for your shoulders.  That's about 
where they should go.  There are traps in the floor for you to put 
them down.  See?"  She pointed.  I did.  We gathered the slats and 
put them away.  By the time we were completing our duties, Cyl'Dia 
returned.<P>
	"I see you two are almost done.  Good.  Myr, take one of the 
chests for Beth."  She sat down on the steps of the bedroom.  "I have 
good news, Beth.  It is the opinion of our Captain that you may stay 
here as long as you desire, but it is also her opinion that that will 
not be forever.  As long as you provide your fair share of work, 
however, you are welcome here in whatever position you wish to 
fulfill."<P>
	I nodded, unsure of what to say or do next.  Cyl answered that 
for me by holding her arms out.  "Come and hug me."<P>
	Which I did, gratefully, throwing myself against her and feeling 
those protective arms wrap around me.  I was still frightened, 
Aimee', still scared of a future without my family, a future I did 
not know.  One that hardly seemed to lead to where I am today!<P>
	That night, as I settled down to sleep, I was to get my 
initiation in another woman's arms.  I had anticipated Cyl'Dia being 
the one.  Yes, I think anticipated was the correct term.  I wanted to 
make love with her, truly.  I know that I was misunderstanding my 
need for protection, my joy at being saved, with the painful 
sensuality Styur had awakened within me, and I wanted to share myself 
with Cyl the only way I had known how for month.<P>
	But no, it was Myr who started that.  That first night as I lay 
in my bed I was haunted by memories of the dead Styur, fearing his 
return from the grave, the touch of his ghost, come searching for the 
girl who stole his sex.<P>
	I must have made noise because I remember fighting a hand on my 
shoulder only to wake up and find Myr kneeling by my bedside in only 
her nightclothes.  "Beth!  Beth, you must wake up!"<P>
	"What?"<P>
	"Beth, you're having a nightmare!  Wake up!"<P>
	I finally came to my sense, sitting up and taking stock.  I was 
still in the same place; most of the lights were banked low and I 
could barely see.  Only one lantern was lit fully, and that in the 
front room with the tables and kitchen; suffused through several 
layers of cloth it  barely lit Myr's features.<P>
	I managed to speak.  "I... I was remembering the Centaurs.  It 
was... horrible."<P>
	"I can't imagine.  Forcing you to be something you are not."  
Myr shook her head.  "Do you want someone to be with you for a 
while?"<P>
	I thought about it, then nodded.  "If you want to stay with me, 
I'd like that."<P>
	"Good," Myr smiled.  She walked back to her bedding and grabbed 
her pillow and a blanket, pulling them over to my side of the room.  
The pillow fell down by my head, and then the blanket covered me.  I 
didn't even know what to say as she crawled into bed beside me; this 
was not what I had anticipated.  Almost immediately I warmed to her 
presence, literally and figuratively.  The softness of her body 
pressed against mine, even through our two layers of bedclothes, put 
me at ease.  Here, at least, was something I was familiar with, the 
feel of a woman's body.  I snuggled up close to her out of 
instinct.<P>
	Her hands wrapped around me, touching me.  I held onto her 
close, and much to her disappointment, I'm sure, I fell asleep 
against her.<P>
<P>
	When I awoke, she was still lying against me.  Her eyes were 
closed, and her mouth was open.  I could see her tiny pink tongue 
filling her mouth, her upper teeth clearly exposed and just the lower 
ridges visible under her full lips.  Her breath was ripe, as is 
everyone's in the morning, male or female.  Trust me on that one, 
dear.<P>
	Extracting myself from her grip carefully, I rose and dressed in 
heavier robes, then made my way to the front of Cyl'Dia's home to 
stoke the fire back to life.  As I was moving wood into the stove for 
warmth, Cyl'Dia herself came out into the living room.  Instead of 
wearing clothes, however, she came out naked, her nipples pointed and 
crinkling in the cold December air.  "You've started a fire," she 
sighed, smiling.  "Bless you, lovely Beth.  I saw that you and Myr 
had gotten closer than I anticipated last night.  Was that a 
practical or a friendly thing?"<P>
	"Practical.  She warmed me and kept the nightmares away."<P>
	"I see."  Cyl opened the door and with a staff knocked some snow 
from the roof into a bowl, then placed the bowl on the fire.  "In 
that low set of drawers to your left, Beth, you will find a 
drawstring bag with some strong-smelling herbs in it.  Bring it 
here."<P>
	I did as she requested, not sure yet of my position in the 
household.  She poured some of the herbs into a smaller bag and 
tossed the bag into the warming water.  The bittersweet scent of the 
herbs filled the front room and.  "There.  If the smell of 
<em>taba</em> doesn't wake Myr up, she must surely be dead."  She was 
correct; only minutes later Myr came running into the front room and 
fell to her knees by Cyl's side, placing her head in Cyl's lap.  
"See?"<P>
	"What?" Myr asked, looking up.<P>
	"I was telling Beth that the smell of <em>taba</em> was a Myr-
summoning spell."<P>
	Myr smiled.  "It does smell good."<P>
	"Yes.  Myr, fetch us cups."<P>
	Myr did as she was told, pouring drinking mugs full of the 
strange liquid.  I drank it; it was strong in flavor, bitter and hard 
to swallow without honey to aid the taste, but I did drink it.  It 
made me feel much more awake, banishing the sense of sleepiness that 
went with waking up.<P>
	"Beth, Myr, please get dressed.  We must introduce Beth to the 
council, make arrangements for her staying, and the like.  And, I 
think I would like a bath today.  Myr, you may join me, and Beth, if 
you feel you would like to you may as well."<P>
	"What... what does that mean?"<P>
	"I'll explain," Myr said.  "Come, dress."<P>
<P>
	The council consisted of six crones, really, who examined me and 
determined by some criteria I was not privy to that I could stay 
amongst them.  It was all very formal, a passing about of swords and 
a handling of spears and a singing of flutes and all that.  Nothing I 
was really interested in.<P>
	She led me to one of the buildings along the wall of the city.  
Women passing us, all wrapped as tightly in robes and cloaks and 
warming jackets as we were, nodded as we walked by, smiling 
contentedly.  We walked into heavy granite halls and through a 
swinging door.  Inside, the heat hit us quickly.  "In here," Cyl 
said, pulling me into a closed room off the side.  "Undress."<P>
	I hung up my cloak, and Myr began undoing the belt about my 
waist.  I helped back, and Cyl watched with amusement as we competed 
gigglingly to see who could take whose clothes off first.<P>
	"Okay, girls," she said.  "Come with me.  Myr, behave.  I know 
how much you enjoy the baths but this is Beth's day."<P>
	"Yes, Miss," Myr said, pouting and grinning simultaneously.<P>
	The "baths" were six round, wooden tubs, each over five feet 
tall, steam rising from them.  Women lazed in them slowly, sometimes 
splashing, some very affectionate to one another.  "We discovered 
these when we took over this city; at the time a tribe of barbarians 
were using these hovels as caves.  No, we did not build this place, 
although we have turned it into a paradise."  Cyl grinned as she 
walked around one of them.  "Come," she said, holding out a hand.  I 
followed her and walked up the steps she indicated and climbed into 
the water of the tub.  Five other women floated in the water with 
Cyl, Myr, and me.  After spending the day feeling as if I was 
freezing, the intense heat of the hot spring water soaked through me 
straight to the bone.  "Beth, come meet the others," Cyl said, 
interrupting my momentary appreciation of their "paradise."  <P>
	I looked up as she introduced them.  She gave a name for each 
one, but none of the names "stuck" to me; I didn't catch the names 
very well at all.  It didn't matter.  They nodded, and I nodded 
back.<P>
	At first, all I did was soak, allowing the heat to pour into me.  
But after a while, motionlessness became boring.  I'm a person who 
feels the need to move, Aimee'.  So I did, opening my eyes and 
looking at the seven women who shared my tub with me.  All of them 
were beautiful and all of them were strong.  I felt safe here; I felt 
as if nobody would touch me the way Styur had touched me, at least 
not without my permission.  That made me want to be touched, 
though.<P>
	I didn't have to wait.  A hand touched my thigh briefly, then 
slid away.  From the light motion on water I recognized it as Myr's.  
I smiled at her and she blushed.  She eased through the water until 
she sat next to me, then whispered in my ear "Do you want me to?"<P>
	Suddenly I was afraid to say yes.  Although I did want her to, I 
didn't know how to tell her.  I'd never been taught how.  Cyl saved 
us both by leaning over and whispering in my other ear, "You have 
permission to say 'Yes.'"<P>
	I looked in her face; she smiled at me patiently.  I turned to 
Myr and said, whispering, "Yes."  Her eyes alighted as she closed the 
distance between our faces, her lips pursed slightly to reach out to 
mine.  They touched...<P>
	I tell you, Aimee', I shall never forget that kiss.  Nor the 
feel of her hand as it glided over my body.  I nearly fainted with 
pleasure.   As her palm cupped my breast, I felt other hands reach 
out and surround me.  Slowly these women lifted me until I no longer 
rested against the wood of the tub, but instead lay in their arms, 
across their out-stretched legs.  I didn't have to move, Aimee'; like 
a rag, their hands touched me, stroked me, warmed me and relaxed 
me.<P>
	I felt their soft, feminine hands, so unlike the cruelty of the 
Centaur Styur who had mistreated me for so months.  Myr's sweet lips 
grasped my own lower and pulled playfully, the smile in her eyes and 
mouth unmistakable.  I could see... she liked me, Aimee', and she was 
happy to have a new friend like me.  We kissed again, my senses 
roiling from the loving touch still swirling about me.<P>
	I didn't know what to say.  "Don't say anything," Myr whispered 
in my ear, as if hearing my thought.  Her lips kissed me yet again; 
this time I closed my eyes and wished on her kiss, wishing for a 
future like this, one with pleasures unending.<P>
	Her mouth opened just a little and I felt shocked as her tongue 
touched my lips.  I didn't know what to do.  It pressed gently 
between them, as if seeking entrance.  I finally let her in, parting 
my lips just a little.  If I had been shocked before, it was nothing 
like this, Aimee'!  The... the intimacy of it, the unbelievable 
pleasure of it, is still indescribable.<P>
	I became shocked into action at the feel of warm, slim hands 
sliding between my thighs.  Myr's hand was still cupping my breast as 
her mouth and mine caressed one another in small, playful circles.  I 
reached out with both my tongue and my hands, reaching out to caress 
her tongue, pressed my hands against the bodies of women I did not 
know.  Their hands touched back; I felt reassuring fingertips glide 
along the backs of my arms and up over my shoulders.  When Myr 
stopped her kiss the smiled down at me, I looked around quickly at 
the women who surrounded us.  They were all different; some were old 
and some were young, some looked so soft and others so hard, Aimee'.  
They were all women, and they were all here to love me.<P>
	I'm sorry; I guess I get carried away.  It's hard not to, even 
for me, even after all this experience running a brothel.  They were 
all beautiful, Aimee', and I think that's why I run such a wonderful 
brothel-- I know how to get beauty out of a woman who wants to be 
beautiful, no matter how she comes to me.  I know how to see it and 
how to enhance it.  And I know whom to show it to.<P>
	As they touched me, the hands became bolder.  But always Myr, 
Cyl'Dia's slave, was allowed to lead the way.  Her hand over my teat 
slid down my belly and over my furred mound, sliding over and cupping 
my entire cunt the way it had my breast.  This, strangely, didn't 
surprise me so much.  I was ready for it, for since this had begun I 
had been longing for it.  Craving to be touched there, touched by 
someone who had  given me permission to give permission for it, and 
would respect me if I  took that permission away.  I craved... love.  
Does that make sense, Aimee', to be given the authority to give 
permission and to take it away?  It was truly a first for me.  I 
looked around at the faces of the  women again, some smiling, some 
intent, and finally I whispered, again, "Yes.  Yes, Myr.  Yes."<P>
	Her eyes glowed as one finger slid down between the lips of my 
cunt.  I could feel those thick walls touching her finger, grasping 
her.  I imagined they were trying to pull her inside, and I could 
feel that she wanted to go, for her finger bent at the knuckle and 
suddenly it slid into me.<P>
	I found myself holding my breath and closing my eyes, seeing 
nothing and doing nothing but feeling, Aimee', feeling that finger 
slowly slide into me.  Not like Styur, not one monstrous blunt cruel 
weapon, but a gentle finger, one that knew the insides of a woman 
because it belonged not only to a woman, but to one I was desperately 
losing my heart to.  The finger touched me inside, touching me in 
places where no gentle touch had ever been.  It turned slowly, 
feeling me thoroughly, learning me inside and out.  As she touched 
me, I heard a soft motion of water and felt warm breath above my 
mouth.  I opened my eyes.  Myr hovered above me, and then she lowered 
her mouth and kissed me again.<P>
	I was lost to her completely.  Our kiss was probably the most 
passionate yet, a total abandonment of myself and my dignity.  To 
Neret with my dignity, Aimee', one should not be reserved in moments 
like that.  The women slowly lifted me to the water's surface, and as 
Myr slid down my chin with her kisses I leaned back and closed my 
eyes again.  Someone placed their hands under my head, holding it 
above water that I might breathe.<P>
	Myr's warm kisses touched my neck and finally, for one brief 
moment, enclosed the nipple of my breast.  Then she vanished beneath 
the water.  She reappeared between my legs, parting them slowly with 
her hands to open me, expose me.<P>
	And then, as if the pleasures before had not been enough, she 
kissed my mound.  At first, I felt the breath of her nose against my 
skin, and the press of her lips to my pubic hair, and finally the 
touch of her tongue against my lips.  I moaned aloud once more as her 
mouth pressed to my folds, opening me, exposing me for her tasting.  
I thought I would die, and die happy, at that moment.  I felt heat 
flood my groin and fluid flood my channel, neither water nor menses.  
I merely wished for more.<P>
	She gave me what I wished for as her tongue pressed and opened, 
licked and demanded.  The women held my legs open.  Not against my 
will, but because of it; I had given my permission to Myr, almost to 
do what she would, and they were here to assist in that 
permission.<P>
	It was simply... indescribable.  I am an old woman now, Aimee', 
and still I cannot forget that night.  Her tongue pressed in 
deepwards and downwards.  I wished for more.  She found those places 
in my body that few men can, where the pleasure is simply far too 
much for even an old body like mine to withstand.<P>
	She gave me everything I wished for.  When I climaxed, Aimee', I 
screamed so loud every woman in the room knew what transpired in our 
tub if they did not already.  The women held me, restrained me, kept 
me from kicking Myr or myself, from hurting any one of them.<P>
	Myr ceased her kisses, picking her head up to appraise me.  I 
reached out for her, my hands trembling without knowing what to do 
next.  She was just out of reach, and my hand slid down her water-
slicked skin, for just a moment touching her breast.  She tapped the 
arm of the woman to my right, and they slowly lowered me back into 
the water, releasing me.<P>
	I grabbed her and held her tight, and then, finally, I cried.  
Not like I had the first night when Dyn and Cyl had spoken to me, but 
total,  utter abandonment to tears.  It was the most important moment 
of my life, Aimee', because it taught me the most important lesson I 
had ever learned; that to leave an old life behind, one must cry it 
out.  One must put it into tears and squeeze it from the body.<P>
	Myr held me, and finally all the women closed around us, arms 
linked, bodies holding.  Among the seven were girls as old as I to 
crones many decades my senior.  All held me, all touched me.  And 
finally, finally, Aimee', I was finished.<P>
	Myr petted my hair gently.  "Are you well, Beth'Sany?"<P>
	I nodded.  "Yes, Myr.  I am.  In your arms, I am."<P>
	"Mistress Cyl?" Myr asked, her tone confused.<P>
	Cyl'Dia reached down and petted both our heads.  "Beth'Sany, you 
are accepted, and you may stay a friend in my household forever if 
you so need."<P>
	Blinking through the tears, I didn't know what to say, other 
than "Thank you."  I reached out for her, and she allowed me to pull 
her into my embrace.  Warrior, slave, and refugee.  I imagine we made 
a strange household, even then.  But for me, for Cyl, and for Myr, it 
was to be a working, loving house for many years.<P>
<P>
	Silence reigned in the small parlor room for a moment.  Aimee' 
seemed to realize it was her turn to speak.  "What happened to you 
and Myr?"<P>
	Beth's smile was tinged with an intense sorrow.  "That is 
another tale for another day, Aimee'.  Not even the next lesson, but 
the one beyond that, I will tell you of sadness that not even love 
can save."  She stood up slowly.  "I see I have managed to pull one 
of Master Darynn's tricks.  I have kept you much past your usual 
appointed time simply because rather than a lesson, I chose to tell 
you tales.  Come, on with the cloak; although the snows have stopped 
it is still very cold out."<P>
	Aimee' followed Bethsany's directions, collecting up her lesson 
books and pulling on her cloak.  She looked up at Bethsany.  "Thank 
you."<P>
	"Nonsense, child.  It's my job.  That it is all true simply 
makes the telling seem richer.  And it's good that this old sack of 
bones relive her happinesses once in a while.  Good night, Aimee'.  
Give my regards to Master Darynn when you see him later this 
week."<P>
	"I shall.  Good night, Madame Bethsany."<P>
 <P>
<hr>
<strong>Aimee'</strong>
<br>
is copyright 1991-1994 Elf Mathieu Sternberg.  May be distributed 
freely by electronic media; hardcopies are limited to single 
printings for personal use.
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