Garden Thorn, Part 2

by Nuit du Loup

Inside was a huge room divided into four pyramidal tiers with decorative wrought iron railings.  The wide, bottom three levels contained a large number of irregularly spaced tables and booths filled almost to capacity with women.  The top tier was an elevated stage where a girl only slightly older than Briar was performing.  The room was only dimly lit for mood by small balls of fire that floated in midair at intervals and cast ruddy orange-yellow light that produced a lot of shadows. Just inside the door a very young woman greeted them with a murmur of welcome. She was dressed in a lovely, halter-style red gown that showed off her long legs to the hip and had her fine, sandy-colored hair pinned up with a pair of sticks.

"Preceptor, word of your return has already reached us and we hoped you'd be stopping by," the hostess said in a pleased greeting. Then she did a quick bow like the other women had. "I have kept your preferred table free, just in case."

"Thank you, Lisette," the Preceptor replied warmly. "Pardon me for mentioning this, but I have one more person with me tonight than is the usual."

"Easily taken care of," the hostess said in cheerful dismissal and gave a quick, smiling appraisal of Briar. Whatever it was she saw, the girl licked her lips and Briar could swear the girl looked hungry, but then it passed and she turned back to the Preceptor. "Please, follow me back to the table. It is terribly rude of me to keep you all standing here."

Seated at the tables were Sisters. They were not however dining alone. While some of the Sisters shared a table with another of their number, or two, almost all of them were paired with a girl or woman who did not look like they were Daughters of the Lady.  All of these were beautiful or very pretty, and dressed to show off a lot of skin and the contours of their bodies.  They were nestled close to the Sisters in a way that was intimate and sensual, and everyone seemed to be enjoying the closeness.  Weaving through all this were serving girls dressed just as nicely as Lisette, carrying trays of food or drinks.

As they passed by one table near the stairs to the second level their hostess was leading them to, Briar's eyes widened when she saw a Sister seated there with an older girl. What was surprising was that the girl was leaning in very close, placing smiling kisses over the flushed and exposed cleavage of the woman's breasts above the line of her clothing.  No one around them was giving them any kind of attention either, as if this was perfectly normal.

Continuing on, Briar saw that that had been normal.  She just hadn't noticed it yet.  Another table they passed had a woman sitting in the lap of a Sister and further on, she spotted a Sister with her hand up the skirt of the women she was sitting next to while they had what looked like to be a pleasant conversation.  None of this occasioned the least comment from anyone. In fact, everyone seemed to be having a very good time.

Their passage through what Briar decided was some kind of special eatery and social establishment for the Sisters, was largely unnoticed at first. They were just another group being seated. Then they paused as they arrived at a very dim corner table that lay empty.  While the Preceptor made her way around to the far side of the table where she'd have the best view of the stage, a teenage girl sitting with a very well endowed Sister at the next table gave her a quick glance. It had probably just been to see who was standing near her, but then the eyes came back. The girl continued her low conversation with her dinner companion, but her eyes kept coming back to Briar.

The gaze made her feel a little odd, so she was glad when the Preceptor patted the seat next to her and gestured for Briar to be seated there.  Briar quickly took the indicated place which placed her directly behind the back of the curious girl and relaxed a little into the comfortable cushions of the darkly painted, wooden chair. Corina sat on her other side and the others found places as well.

Now that she was seated, Briar let her curious eyes sweep back up to the performer.  She was an older teenage girl and very tall with long, crimson hair.  She wore a tight-fitting, blood-red strapped dress that had a knee length skirt made from a multitude of cloth strips.  She had a strange wooden instrument of some kind tucked under her chin and was stroking it with something in a very lively fashion.  A wide grin creased her slightly sweaty face and she rolled and tossed her hips in time to the energetic music, causing the strips to flip about wildly.  The pure enjoyment on many of the other patrons' faces said the girl was a favorite.

"Are you only going to have a quick meal tonight?" Lisette asked, standing very close to the Preceptor. So close that when she intentionally leaned forward a little, the woman had a very good view down the sides of her dress.

"Yes, I am afraid there are things to take care of," the Preceptor sighed with a small smile while availing herself of the offered display which made the girl visibly flush with pleasure. "Please, let Cecilia know that I need her."

"Sure thing," the girl agreed immediately, nodding at the obvious command. Then she gave Briar an even more considering look than she had just moments earlier.  "Does this mean the girl with you...?"

"Is going to join the Garden?" the Preceptor finished for her in an amused tone. "Yes, Briar is going to join you girls, Lisette."

This news clearly excited the girl a great deal, because she looked like she wanted to bounce up and down on her feet and was only just containing herself. She turned to address Briar directly with a wide smile. "It's always wonderful to meet a new girl," Lisette said. "As the Preceptor said, I'm Lisette.  You're very lovely and I hope to get to know you soon."

"Uh, sure," Briar replied, having no idea what this "Garden" was. "I'm Briar."

The girl gave Briar another pleased grin and then turned back to the Preceptor. "Would you like anything specific tonight or will you have the nightly special as is your usual? Tonight it's a very nice roast with plenty of vegetables and potatoes and some nice, crusty bread."

The Preceptor thought about it for a moment before answering. "Will the special be alright with you all?" she asked the table.

"It's more than fine with me," Isanda replied jovially. "I'll have it with some wine, please."

The others murmured their agreement with the meal arrangement and added their beverage of choice. From the names, Briar quickly deduced that they were all alcoholic. Once they had all told the girl what they wanted, she turned expectantly to Briar.

"I have no idea what kind of food it is," she said with a shrug. "So I don't mind trying what everyone else is having, with water."

"Water?" Lisette frowned in disappointment, and then brightened. "If you don't know what we have, can I put down something nice to drink for you? It's really good."

"As long as it doesn't have any alcohol," Briar answered cordially. In her village, anyone that could use magic was forbidden any drink or substance that clouded the mind.  It was a stricture she was fully in agreement with. "I'm more than willing to try new things."

"Excellent!" the girl said cheerily. "Since you all ordered the special, it'll come out pretty quick.  I'll be right back with your drinks."

Lisette left them then with the energy of a person that enjoyed what they were doing.  Briar's eyes tracked her through the mood gloom for a bit, but stopped once she would have had to turn her head. Instead, she looked over the room again and tried to make sense of it.  She was without any doubt, in the strangest situation she'd ever been in.

Another waitress was delivering a tray of steaming food to a table with three Sisters and one of the girls.  After the food was laid out, she lingered to chat with the Sister closest to the aisle. As they were doing so, Briar could see that the woman was stroking her hand along the girl's thigh.   The girl was clearly enjoying the attention and even moved a little closer for a bit before moving away from the table again.

Lisette soon returned with a wooden tray. On it were the drinks.  Empty glasses were passed out first and then the wines were poured with Lisette leaning in close enough to touch each person as she did so.  Briar was unsurprised when the girl did the same with her, leaning in to rub her small, round breasts over Briar's left arm as she set down a wide, tall glass with a dark liquid in it. It also had floating pieces of fruit; some of which Briar had never seen before.

"It's called the fruit blend, because that's what it is," Lisette, explained with a pleasant laugh, touching Briar lightly on the shoulder. "Please try it."

Briar, feeling a little hot from Lisette's touching, picked up the glass and sipped it experimentally.  The beverage was deliciously sweet, but it also had a bit of a tangy tartness. It was very cold and just that small amount was a refreshing reprieve after sitting in the hot sun on the wagon all afternoon.  With a second sip she allowed a small wedge of a yellow, fibrous fruit into her mouth and she was treated with a sweet and sour combination that went very well together.

"It's really good!" Briar finally said, smiling broadly up at the anticipatory girl. "It's perfect. Thank you, Lisette."

"No problem!" the girl grinned joyously, her pale skin flushing again at the compliment. She was still extremely close to Briar which let her notice something the dim light had hidden so far. Lisette's nipples were hard and pushing up against the material of her gown. "I have to get back to work now, but I'll be back with your food shortly."

"What's going on?" Briar asked once the girl was out of earshot.  She felt confused, tingly and physically excited. Her heart was beating faster than it had just moment before.  It was as if she missed the closeness of Lisette's body to her own. "What is this Garden thing I'm going to be part of?"

"This whole place," the Preceptor said with a gesture towards the larger structure behind the one they were inside, "is the Garden.  You will live there from now on in a sanctuary for girls like yourself.  You have been given one of the Lady's blessings and mightily so. The girls here have all been similarly blessed. This restaurant is called the White Lilly and is staffed by a few of the residents"

For a moment, Briar was afraid her ability to use magic had been found out. Then she thought about it a little more and realized that the Preceptor was speaking as if she and her guards were different from Briar, that their "blessings" were different. She didn't know what they really meant, so she feigned ignorance and asked.

"It will be made clearer after dinner," the Preceptor answered with a small, knowing smile.

Seeing that no more information would be forthcoming, Briar looked back up at the performer.  She'd changed songs now and was playing a festive tune that a few scattered people were clapping their hands to.  Without even really knowing why, her eyes followed the rolling motions of the girl's hips and nicely rounded bottom.

"Nicely rounded bottom?" she asked herself silently, feeling confused again.  She had no idea where that observation was coming from, but she couldn't deny that the girl, Anouska, had a butt that was interesting to watch. 

It was just as Anouska was stepping down from the pinnacle platform for a small break to loud applause, when Lisette returned with another girl who looked a bit younger, both carrying trays of food. The new girl's blue eyes locked onto Briar like a viper and openly assessed her. It wasn't a hostile look, but almost predatory nonetheless.  It lasted only a few heartbeats before she joined Lisette in setting out food.

The girls were very quick and economical about their jobs, and they maneuvered around the table with the trays like true professionals. As they were doing so, Briar's quick eyes caught Isanda reaching under the new girl's skirt. The girl grinned as she laid a plate in front of the Preceptor and rolled her hips a little in time to Isanda's arm motions.  She saw Briar watching and her smile only grew wider.

Briar's observation was cut short by Lisette leaning in over her again to set down food.  She had moved in so that her hanging breasts were inches from Briar's wide eyes.  Lisette gave a soft giggle and then very deliberately, rubbed them firmly over Briar's left arm again, making sure her long, hard nipples were felt.  For her part, Briar felt her body flushing hotly again at what was happening to her and around her.

"Will that be all," Lisette asked cheerily to all. "No? Then enjoy your meal. Preceptor, the message has been sent and Cecelia is on the way."

Again the girl flounced away, taking the other one with her.  For a long moment Briar's brain felt fogged, but then the smell of the food before her wafted up to her nose.  She picked up her fork off the black table linen, and brought a piece of juicy meat to her mouth.  It was so good that she almost moaned aloud.

The meat was tender, moist, and covered in seasoned juices.  The vegetables and potatoes were covered by more of the same and they were soft when she bit into them.  She had never tasted anything like what she was eating before.  It was so good, that it was gone before she even realized it.  Confused, she looked about her and saw the others had also finished their plates.

"Coming back up for air?" Corina asked in a teasing voice.

"What kind of food was that?" Briar asked, and then cleansed her mouth with the last of the delicious fruit beverage. "What kind of meat was it?"

"It was a beef roast, from a cow," Isanda chuckled.  When it was explained, Briar learned yet another new thing. Beef came from cows, an animal closely related to the oxen she was used to, but raised solely for the meat and milk they produced.  They also gave her the names for the fruit that had swam in her drink, so that she could ask for it again in the future. 

Feeling full and relaxed, Briar was wondering what was planned to happen next when she saw Lisette approaching their table again.  This time she had a much older Sister walking in tow. She had a very lush, curvy figure and wore one of the belly cinching garments, except hers was white.  Her face was roundly pretty and soft with a motherly look and a welcoming smile.

The Preceptor rose from her seat to greet them and the two women gave each other small pecks on the cheek as if they were very old friends. Her task completed, Lisette gave Briar a friendly little smile and a wave before going on about her duties.  The Preceptor escorted the woman back to the table and they both looked expectantly at Briar.

"My, Greta, she's absolutely lovely," the woman said with great cheer. Briar knew this had to be Cecilia. "No one else in the Garden has the coloring she does, and her figure is very tantalizing."

"Yes, Briar is an interesting girl," the Preceptor, said in a tone that carried multiple meanings. "But please remember Cecilia, outside of our homes, you mustn't use my real name. It's not proper."

"Oh, sorry," the woman laughed. "It's just hard to break a habit that is forty years old.  So her name is Briar?"

"Yes, my name is Briar," she said, touching a little anger to her tone. "I would appreciate it if you would talk to me, and not around me."

"Oh, sorry dear," Cecelia said again. Her apology seemed genuine however. "But the Preceptor and I need to hash out a few official niceties."

Cecilia shrugged one side of her cloak aside and pulled a small tube off of a clip attached to her belt.  She pulled off the cap and from within she pulled out a small stack of papers that retained a little curl from their confinement. The Preceptor retook her seat and the papers were placed before her.  She raised a finger and Briar felt a different tingle as the Preceptor used magic and that pointed finger to make notations and to write lines onto the pages.  This went on through a total of fifteen sheets, and then she pushed the last, a blank one, in front of Briar.

"Place your palm on it please," Cecilia instructed. Briar did so and jerked it back when a small, electric shock of pain poked at her.  Almost before she had fully withdrawn the arm, a perfect image of her face appeared on the paper.  It was more perfect than anything she'd ever seen done with paints or dies. It showed her with a small smile and her silky black hair hanging loose.

"Very nice," Cecelia said, picking up all the sheets.  She read through them and then looked at the Preceptor in question. "You sure about her designation?"

"Yes, I think Briar would be much more suited to that at first, than for public availability," the Preceptor answered, which baffled Briar. She had no idea what they were talking about. 

"She'll probably be busier this way though?" Cecilia said.

"Yes, but I don't think Briar would do well with the boredom and some of the rougher sort that comes with being publicly available," the Preceptor argued back. "Briar is combat trained and I think she'd respond very...unfortunately, in an instance like that."

"Combat trained!" Cecilia gave Briar a shocked look. "I see.  Well, Briar, I am Sister Cecilia and I have the title of Head Gardener. It means I am in charge of this Garden and responsible for those in it, which now includes you.  From your appearance, you must not be from the Realm, am I right?"

"Yes, the Preceptor called my home the native refuge," Briar answered politely.

"A native girl? How curious," Cecilia smiled. "That means you have no idea what is going on, but most do not even if they are from this city.  Our girls always love having someone new join them, and they will find you interesting. But for now, I will bring you to someone that will show you how this place works.  It's almost always better if one of the Flowers, as the girls are jokingly called sometimes, introduces you. Now come on."

Briar gave the Preceptor a questioning glance and received a smiling nod that she should follow this new woman. So she stood and realized that her legs were a little sore.  Cecilia was patient and let her rub a little of the tension out of her muscles before she followed.  On the way towards the back wall of the restaurant, she spotted Lisette getting felt up at another table where she was serving and received a jaunty smile.  Then they were on the bottom level and heading towards a door to the left of the window where the serving girls picked up prepared food. 

She could see back through the window now where busy women on the other side were doing mysterious food related things.  They were working industriously at tasks that were completely foreign to Briar. All she knew was they were cooking food and doing so on a grand scale.  It smelled good though.

The door they came to was made of frosted glass again and there was a sign plaque next to it with a set of four different flowers engraved onto it.  There was no latch on the door and it pushed open smoothly on its own at a touch from Cecilia.  She knew it had been done with magic, and she thought she also knew how.  Inside was a long corridor lit by sconces that didn't look like they had any sort of flame inside them.

They passed the door into the kitchens on the right side and then another room a few paces later that had no door.  It appeared to be some sort of changing room, because all Briar saw were hooks around the square room with garments hanging from them and a naked girl slipping into a dress like the serving girls had worn.

The hall terminated at another door like the first and they entered into bigger room that was just as dimly lit as the restaurant had been.  One glass door on the far right side obviously led outside, but it was too dark out there now for it to help any.  The room was one wide space with a central hearth and its smoke hood along with a few thickly cushioned chairs and long couches.  Open dark doorways on the right and left wall showed what looked like ramps that curved upwards and back into the large building. 

Briar continued to follow Cecilia towards the back of the room where there was another small window counter with sets of double frosted-glass doors to either side.  A woman that appeared to be expecting them was at the counter.

"Lady Cecilia," the woman said in greeting.  Before her on her desk was a strange book.  It was open and it had rings of metal with paper pages hung on them. Briars eyes widened when she saw the two pages visible were magic portraits like the one that had been made of her.  Cecilia handed the girl that paper and Briar watched as it was added to the book.

"Is Oriana here yet," Cecilia asked the woman in a quiet hush.

"Yes, she is in the back chatting," the woman replied brightly. "I'll send her out."

The girl disappeared from the small window office through a back doorway.  A moment later one of the doors of the right set opened and a very young girl stepped out. She had thickly soft, chestnut hair tied into twin ponytails that hung down to her petite waist.  Briar was a head taller, but the girl had a very cute face with slightly large ears, a button nose, round cheeks with a few sparse freckles and expressive brown eyes.  She was wearing a red garment that only just went down below her well rounded backside and was made of a material that may as well have left her naked. It looked almost liquid and conformed to very tiny details, like perky little nipples and a tiny belly button. The only reason Briar couldn't see her womanhood was because the bottom had a lace fringe.

When Briar realized she'd been staring at the girl's body, she glanced up and saw friendly humor in the girl's eyes.  She made a "come with me" gesture towards them and they followed her back inside those doors into a small spacing chamber with another set of double doors a few paces away.  The door to the office was closed on the left wall. Once the door shut behind them, it cut off all sound from the other chamber.

"Briar, this young lady is Oriana," Cecilia said gesturing at the smiling girl who nodded. "Oriana, this is Briar.  She's initially assigned to the school, like you, so I want you to show her how things are and be a friend."

"With pleasure," Oriana replied cheerily, looking very pleased at the assignment.  She approached and Briar looped their arms together. Not only did the garment Oriana was wearing show everything, but it made it feel as if the girl's bare flesh was pressed against her arms. "Come on! You're going to love it here! Thanks Cecelia! Bye now!"

"No thanks are needed," Cecilia chuckled, even as Briar was being pulled toward the other set of doors. "I'll probably be seeing you soon Briar, but have fun."

Bemused and feeling tossed about, Briar let herself be led.  The second set of doors opened with a soft hiss of unequal air pressure and Briar smelled the scent of growing things at once.  The door closed behind them with a suction sound and hot, slightly moist air enveloped their bodies. 

Briar knew they were in the massive building because the small antechamber they stood within had plenty of tall windows and she could see the restaurant.  It also had a floor with wide tiles and was lit by another of the odd magic lights mounted to the ceiling. All the walls around them bore open, arched doorways.

"Don't be nervous," Oriana said in her musical voice, looking up at her face with an open, friendly expression. "I'll take very good care of you." She then leaned in close, right near the open 'v' above her breasts, and sniffed with a playful grin. "First we need to get you all cleaned up and relaxed."

Briar was once again led by the girl on her arm through the left doorway and down a window lined corridor.  It was lit mostly by moonlight, so it had a bit of a surreal feeling to it. This was made even more so when Briar realized she could hear the faintest sounds of running water that seemed to come from multiple directions at once.  The side opposite the widows was lined with softly padded benches and wall paintings. 

"Where are we going?" Briar asked curiously.

"To my favorite bath," Oriana answered happily. "We probably have a hundred of them in this place, but the Swan Bath is the one I prefer when I'm not using one of the pools."

They came to a "T" intersection and turned right, deeper into the building, instead of continuing down its length.  They passed by the open, door-less doorways of what looked like a living area.  The suites of rooms they passed by contained personal belongings and in one case she saw two women chatting at a small table, drinking from cups. Then a woman came out of a doorway ahead of them with her bare feet slapping quietly on the floor. She also was completely naked.

"Oriana!" the young woman, who looked about in her early twenties, smiled wide at them as they got closer. She had large, out-thrusting breasts with big rosy areola and nipples that drew in the eye.  One looked wet, as did the area around her mouth and her obviously engorged slit.  Her pale skin had a reddish flush to it and she was a little sweaty. "Is that a new girl with you?"

"Yes she is, Mira," Oriana replied, stopping their progress to give the naked woman a quick, familiar hug. 

"I'm Briar," she said, deciding she may as well be polite, even if it was hard not to stare at the pleasant, open nakedness in front of her.

"Well met, Briar," the woman replied with a pleased smile.  She came close and gave Briar a quick kiss on the cheek. At that closeness Briar could smell the feminine musk on her that she found strangely exciting.  "I'm headed to bed at the moment, but I'll look forward to meeting you more intimately later. Bye!"

She continued on past them, walking as if it didn't matter that she wore no clothes.  With how hot it was inside the building, Briar thought it had to be more comfortable at least.  When they passed by the dark room Mira had come out of, Briar saw another naked woman sleeping on a sofa.

"These are the servant quarters we're cutting through," Oriana explained as they walked. "More than half of them work at night, that's why all these rooms are empty. It just a shortcut to where I want to go."

The corridor terminated at another one that was gently curved instead of being straight. They turned right and passed occasional doorways for a long time down this one until they came to a set of stairs on the right side. Briar was led up them by her companion.  The only thing the stairs seemed to lead to was an arched doorway through which she could hear a large amount of water flowing. She'd expected another hallway.

"Come on, it's through here," Oriana said, pulling her back into motion.

Through the doorway was a jinked set of walls and a space that made Briar stop in place.  Around a deep, circular, artificial pool of steaming water and a small stone patio was a grassy glade.  It was almost completely enclosed by thick bamboo trees and low, leafy shrubs. To her left was a narrow, almost hidden path that went behind some thick bushes, in the right corner was another path, but this one had a screen of leafy vines blocking all view that way.

The pool itself was steaming with heat and constantly filled from an arching fountain shaped like a swan. It overflowed down a small channel that disappeared into the trees.  On one side of the patio was a wooden bench on which a wicker basket sat next to a stack of folded blue towels. Above them was a glass ceiling. Oriana let go of her and she quickly found that she missed the girl's touch.

"This is called the Swan bath because of the fountain," Oriana explained, heading towards the bench.  "I was exaggerating before about how many baths there are, but we do have a lot and this one isn't frequented very much because it's so small. It's used most often by girls who bring their Sisters here."

Oriana bent over to look through the small square basket and Briar's breath caught. The girl was wearing no undergarment at all and the dress she did wear rode completely up off of her ass. Briar was treated to the sight of two rounded globes of smooth flesh that made her fingers suddenly itch to touch them.  She felt hot and itchy between her legs too, and that sensation redoubled when Oriana moved one leg, parting those globes. She caught sight of Oriana's tiny anus, as well as her tightly closed slit. It was perhaps the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen and that baffled her, just as much as it made her want to touch herself and Oriana.  The pull to touch the other girl was so strong.

"You like my butt?"

"Huh?" Briar jolted, realizing she'd been staring as if mesmerized by the young girl's bottom.  The girl was leaning on her arms against the bench, unabashedly presenting her ass to Briar's gaze and looking back at her in pleased amusement.

"I asked if you like my butt," Oriana giggled, clearly enjoying herself. "But it's pretty obvious that you do, huh."

"But...I..." Briar had no idea what to say and she swallowed hard when Oriana's little back hole gave her a wink. Then Oriana stood up and turned around to face her, a grin splitting her cute features.

"There's no reason to get all embarrassed or upset, Briar," Oriana chided, walking over with the basket and setting it next to the pool's edge.  Then she approached Briar with a friendly smile and a slight flush. "I'm glad that you like my butt.  Does looking at it make you excited?"

"Yeah, it does," Briar admitted. Oriana's smile widened further and then she came very close and wrapped her slim arms around Briar so that their faces were inches apart.  Briar's heart beat a lot faster and a sense of excited anticipation tingled in her belly. She had no idea what it was her body was expecting, but it seemed to crave it badly.  She also smelled a strong female smell again.

"You're supposed to be excited by me," Oriana said softly, with heat in her eyes and voice. "Its part of what we are Briar, and why we are in this place.  We have a gift that differs and aids the Sisters, but both sides of the Lady's blessing comes with the desires you are feeling. Do you like having me against you?"

"I do," Briar said, taking a deep breath.  Despite the clothing in the way, Briar's body was tingling.  Then she felt a sudden burst of understanding as to why the Gifted women of her village lived with each other and not with the men who fathered their one or two children.  It was because they desired each other like this. That realization, that she was not being changed by these people, let her relax a little bit. It was a little clearer now as to what she had seen in the restaurant. It was just more of this, but out in the open.

"You seem a lot less tense all of a sudden," Oriana said curiously, watching her face.

"I realized the truth of what you are saying," Briar answered calmly, enjoying her bodily sensations instead of fighting them. It eased a lot of the turmoil in her mind. "It made some things make more sense."

"Wow, usually it take girls hours, or even days of crying and moaning to understand and accept what they are," Oriana said, sounding impressed.  She pulled back a little and her small hands started undoing the ties on Briars vest. "That means you and I can enjoy this bath without any tears."

Though Briar now understood that her attraction to girls and women was a natural thing, she did not yet understand what it was the Sisters had going for them and how exactly they thought Briar was different from what they were.  Even though she hadn't had more than the basics, she could use magic too. For now she figured her only real option, unless she wanted to try escaping, was to go along with things.

So she stood relaxed and with a calm mind as Oriana's small, deft fingers undid all the wood buttons of her grimy vest.  She found it both amusing and exciting to see the open lust in the young girl's face when the garment was drawn over her shoulders and then left to fall, exposing her moderately-sized breasts and her slightly upturned nipples. Oriana licked her lips, staring at them for a moment, before kneeling and dropping her trousers and taking off her boots; which left her only with her loin wrap which was pretty rank after wearing it for days without any cleaning. She didn't want poor Oriana to have to touch the thing, so she undid it herself and tossed it aside.

"So nice," Oriana said a little breathlessly, standing back up but still staring avidly.  Her pseudo-clothing slid to the ground with two simple flicks with her fingers at the straps. "You have really nice muscles, and I just love the darker skin and black hair."

Briar was giving Oriana her own assessment.  The girl was clearly much younger than Briar by a few years, but she wore her nudity with pride.  Her body was slim and petite, with tiny cone-like breasts and narrow hips, but Briar liked what she saw.  Her slit was a hairless pair of moist lips between her legs and her pink nipples looked almost painfully hard.  Looking at the girl, Briar felt something hot and went slide down her leg and a glance showed that her own pussy was soaked and dripping.

"Briar, you're making my job very easy right now," Oriana said, her breathing a little heavy. "The last new girl I introduced to the Garden took days before she'd let me do more than touch her arms and even longer to admit she wanted me. I don't think I've ever heard of a girl from outside taking to this as fast as you are."

"I'm just a realist," Briar said, wondering why other girls had thought this experience to be frightening or bad.  There was no point in fighting your body and it was obvious now that her own people had no problems with a girl wanting another girl. She was just curious now as to why the Sisters had every such person ensconced in a place like this. "Now, I really could use that bath. I probably smell pretty bad."

"Yeah, you kinda do," Oriana agreed with a teasing giggle. Briar liked that laugh. It was full of care-free happiness and it lit up Oriana's face.

"Thanks," Briar responded wryly with a smile of her own. Taking the initiative, she crossed to the water and sat on the edge, lowering her legs in.  It was hot, but not enough to scald and it felt great on her abused leg muscles.  Dropping in the rest of the way, she found that it was just deep enough to go over her breasts if she sat on the tile bottom.  Oriana followed her in and sat very close.  Sensing Briar's desire to just soak in the heat for a bit, the girl sat back and they relaxed with eyes closed.

After a short time, Briar heard Oriana moving.  She came back immediately. "Turn your back towards me," the girl said softly near her ear.  Briar turned in the water and let Oriana tip her head back to soak all of her heir.  Then soothing fingers began to work something that smelled a little like lavender into her hair and scalp.  This was repeated twice more before Oriana deemed her hair clean, but Briar didn't complain, it felt really good.

Once her hair was done, Briar stood and turned to face the younger girl. "Okay," she said, raising her arms a little. "Time for the rest of me."

From her openly joyous expression, it was plain that this was something Oriana wanted to do badly.  The girl quickly exchanged her bottle of shampoo for a bar of scented herbal soap and worked up lather in her hands.  Once she was ready, Briar held the soap for her and she began to wash down her spread arms.  The contact made them both groan as their sexually sensitive nerves sent rushes of pleasure. 

Her back was cleaned next, but Briar knew it was just so that Oriana could spend a lot more time on her chest.  It didn't take her long to figure out that Oriana had some kind of thing for her breasts, because she kept coming back to caress them and tug on her nipples, both of which felt excruciatingly good.  This was why it almost caught her by surprise when a soap slippery hand went between her legs and began rubbing her vigorously. 

"By the Lady!" Oriana swore with her voice an aroused huff. "You feel so good to touch Briar.  It's almost as addicting as a Sister."

"Well...I'm enjoying it too," Briar laughed roughly.  She turned to face Oriana directly and grabbed the girl with both hands at the shoulders and humped her hips into the hand between her legs. "Until now, it's only been my fingers doing what you're doing, but this is so much better."

When her orgasm came, it nearly made her collapse.  Her entire body seemed to turn to jelly for a second and she fell forward into Oriana.  While her body was quivering from the powerful release, she felt a jolt of heat and magic. It was as if the store of magic in her body had suddenly tripled in size. Then her awareness of her magic vanished because hot lips were kissing her own and she was being pressed back against the wall of the pool.

She returned Oriana's kiss clumsily because it was her first time ever doing so, but she put passion behind it.  She'd never experienced pleasure like that from her own infrequent explorations of her pussy back home.  Stranger or no, she wanted to thank the girl. Then her keyed up nerves finally started to settle down and she gently broke the kiss. Oriana looked at her through heavy lidded eyes.

"Oh Lady, Briar," Oriana whispered dreamily. "I had an orgasm just watching you cum so hard.  I think it was actually a better one than some I've gotten from actual sex! Please say you'll let me be your friend from now on, okay?"

Feeling both physically drained from her long day and oddly full of magical energy inside, Briar laughed and lifted herself to sit on the pool's side. Oriana slipped between her legs and she instinctively wrapped them around the skinny girl to pull her in close.  Once they were together Oriana started placing kisses all over her stomach.

"What does being friends mean here?" Briar finally asked when she felt calm again.  There was a nice sexual glow filling her body, and she felt warm and relaxed. Oriana's kisses her a little ticklish, but nice.

"It means we spend our free time together when we can and play around like we just did a lot more than you will with others."

"How are you so sure I'll be having sex with other girls?" Briar asked with a frown.

"It's what we are and do," Oriana answered, hugging her close and giving her left nipple a playful lick with her tongue. Oriana's skin felt hot against hers. "The whole reason we live here in luxury is because we exist to have sex, often, with the Sisters. We have sex with each other because it's an integral part of our bodies to want it frequently.  I'll tell you the details tomorrow after you've had some sleep. So will you be my friend?"

"I suppose that sounds good," Briar answered with a sigh, even as her mind raced and processed what she'd just been told, while also enjoying the background sensation of Oriana playing with her breasts again. She'd figured out that the Sisters got sex out of the girls living here in the Garden, but now she knew there was a purpose other than for the pleasure behind it. That was interesting.  "I've enjoyed your company so far Oriana, so I see no reason not to be your friend."

"Awesome!" Oriana burst upwards from the water and kissed her fiercely. It was quite a kiss and when Oriana pulled back, Briar was feeling pleasantly lightheaded.  "Now how does bed sound? You've got to be tired after traveling so much, right?"

"I am," Briar sighed again. "Am I assigned to a room or something?"

"No, only families with kids have own rooms if they want one," Oriana giggled. "We just sleep on the beds scattered around the place.  We have spots that we prefer of course, but they're not 'ours.'  We're pretty close to one now that I'm fairly sure is free."

So they climbed all the way out of the water and took turns drying the other off. While it was just a pleasurable act Oriana took for granted, it was one more novel experience from her new home. It was as if some hidden part of her was suddenly blooming to life and making itself known. She wondered if that was why the Mai of her village didn't teach any of the more complicated uses of magic until girls were older and more experienced.  It would have been distracting to learn combat techniques while lusting after the other girls.

As Oriana was thoroughly drying Briars chest, they heard a rustling and turned to see a woman entering the bathing-pool area through the vine veiled path.  She was dressed like the women from the city and not like those living in the Garden.  Briar raised the towel hanging in her hand to cover herself out of reflex, but stopped at a touch from Oriana.

"Let her look," Oriana whispered with an impish smile. "The maids and other servants of the Temple work hard, so it's nice to give them something in appreciation.  You can have sex with them too, but only if they ask because otherwise they might be on duty and you'd both be in trouble."

The woman gave them a polite smile and an undisguised once over, then saw their clothing lying about. "Will you want these again?" she asked.

"No, go ahead and take them," Oriana replied. "We'll get clean clothes in the morning."

"So you'll be staying in the bower then?" the woman began picking up the clothing and draping them over her arms.  Briar colored a little when she used Oriana's dress to pick up her loin wrap. It would probably have to be burned.

"Yes, we were about to retire there now."

The woman nodded as if that had been the expected answer and quietly left via the doorway that led to the stairs.  After just a minute or so, her soft footsteps were gone too.

"So, where are we sleeping?" Briar asked. She was marveling a little at how warm and comfortable she still felt even without clothes. 

"In there," she pointed at the other path off the pool area that went behind a thick wall of bushes and was darkly shaded by more of the bamboo. Oriana took her arm again and led her in the indicated direction.  Inside was a room. A room with living walls made of plants and a ceiling of leaves from trees. In the middle was a pallet with a soft mattress on it and folded sets of blankets.  In the back stone wall of the building, there was an alcove with a curtain and a seat that was clearly for a purpose Briar realized she needed to take care of.

She changed their course towards that alcove and Oriana gave her an understanding smile.  When they got there she was momentarily confused by the fact that unlike a privy back home that was over a hole in the ground, this seat was actually a bowl half full of water.  Her confusion was rectified when Oriana placed herself on the seat and unabashedly emptied her bladder.  When she was done she pulled down and released a small lever in the alcove's wall. The waste was sucked down a hole in the basin and sprays of water jetted out to cleanse Oriana. When she was done, Briar took her place and did the same, though she flinched when the cold water cleaned her.

When they crossed to the bed, Briar was surprised at how soft it was.  Oriana picked up the folded blankets and instructed Briar to climb onto it, so she did. It was wide enough for at least six people, so when Oriana joined her, it felt very spacious indeed. With a practiced snap of her wrists, Oriana unfurled two blankets that were even bigger than the bed to provide two layers. The couple of extra blankets were then rolled up to provide them with pillows.

"Can I make one request?" Oriana asked, as she pulled the blankets over them.  They were both lying on their sides facing each other.

"Sure," Briar replied easily, feeling her exhaustion coming over her quickly.

"Can you hold me while we sleep?"

"Hold you?"

"Well," Oriana colored a little and ducked her chin under the edge of the blanket. "Almost no one here ever sleeps alone.  Usually we sleep together in groups even if we don't know the others around us. So it's actually really hard for most of us, and me specifically, to fall asleep without touching someone.  But I really like being held regardless.  Everyone has little things they like, and that's one of mine."

"I suppose it's alright then," Briar shrugged. She'd never slept in the same bed as another person in her life, except maybe when she was an infant.  But she was willing to help Oriana out. It actually sounded like it would be nice.

Almost as soon as her answer was out of her mouth, Oriana slid towards her and turned over so that her back was to Briar's front.  Briar threw an arm over her and hugged their bodies together and entwined their legs.  Oriana felt soft and warm against her which was extremely pleasant.  She could understand how the girl had grown to need it. So she closed her eyes and her body did the rest.

******

Briar awoke the next morning to warm sunlight and a very pleasant feeling.  Something, a hand, was between her legs and stroking her slit.  She could feel how hot and wet she was down there, so she enjoyed it when a finger slipped inside her and started thrusting in and out. So much so that she let out a low moan and gyrated her hips.

"You're awake now?" said a young girl's voice. Briar blinked her eyes open to Oriana laying against her right side and pleasuring her again.  "I woke up remembering last night and just couldn't help touching you. I don't know why, but being with you is more exciting than usual."

"It's alright," Briar smiled and sighed. Oriana's fingers were a magic all of their own and they were working fast.  "This is a nice way to wake up."

"That's what I hoped!" Oriana giggled playfully.  She leaned in, captured a nipple in her lips, and started suckling and playing with it using her tongue.  Briar let herself just enjoy the sensations. She could feel the finger inside her and tightened her vaginal muscles in pulses to its thrusts.  A very short time later Oriana was teasing her clit and her orgasm slammed through her. Like her first one with Oriana, it was slightly physically debilitating for a few moments, but left her feeling warm and glowing.

She felt the finger leave her and she watched in fascination as Oriana brought it, coated copiously in her fluids, to her mouth.  Oriana cleaned it completely and seemed to savor the taste of Briar from them.  When she was done, she gave Briar a happy grin.

"You taste really good," the girl said, idly pinching one of her own small nipples.  "I think I was blessed again by the Lady that Cecelia picked me to teach you about this place."

Briar watched Oriana's idle self-pleasure and felt a strong desire to reciprocate what had been done to her.  She was also feeling even more excited than she had the night before at seeing Oriana's slim, naked body.  So she reached out and gently cupped a tiny breast with her hand, pressing on the small, very hard nipple with her thumb and rubbing it in circles.  Oriana let out a pleased gasp and turned a little to give Briar easier access.

Touching Oriana filled Briar with a powerful, sexual thrill.  It felt really good to have her hands on another girl and it was exciting to know that she was the one causing Oriana to make small whimpers of pleasure.  Wanting more, she pushed Oriana completely onto her back and knelt over her at the thighs.  This let her play with both breasts simultaneously which caused a redoubling of Oriana's pleasure noises.

When she remembered how much better she had enjoyed Oriana's sucking on her breasts, Briar leaned down and took the left one into her mouth and sucked hard.  She liked the sensation of the fleshy nub between her lips, but Oriana gave a deep groan that said she was enjoying it even more; maybe even too much so."

"Lady's breath!" Oriana rasped arching her small body. "Please...please touch me!"

Briar was confused at first because she was touching her. But then guessed what Oriana meant was that she wanted Briar to touch her slit.  So with her free hand she slid over Oriana's firm belly, and then down her soft vulva to her lower lips.  They were covered liberally in a hot, slippery wetness and it made it easier to slide a pair of fingers onto Oriana's engorged clitoris to stroke it.

"Oh my Lady!" Oriana squeaked out and thrust her hips.  As her orgasm shuddered through her body, Briar felt a hot burst of magic rushing into her, just as she had the night before.  It produced another small orgasm of her own.  She then took her hands away from Oriana to let the girl calm down and after a moment, placed her pussy soaked fingers into her mouth, Oriana tasted quite good. Not really sweet, but close.

"I thought you were trying to kill me," Oriana gasped a few moments later after she'd lain sweaty, panting and recuperating on the bed. "No matter how hard I or anyone else tries, I can't cum from my breasts.  It just gets me to that torturous edge and keeps me there.  Then you touched my pussy and I exploded like crazy."

"That wasn't normal for you?" Briar asked, frowning down at her new companion's young face. "I'm new to all this, so I just imitated you."

"That would have been more normal with a few of the more talented Sisters," Oriana laughed, grinning at her now. "There's something about their magic that reacts with us when we have sex with them and it adds a bit of an extra kick when we get off.  You're going to be a very popular girl. Now let me get up so we can rinse our sweat off and get some breakfast."

Briar did so and she was extremely pleased when Oriana slid up and gave her a nice long kiss before they adjourned back to the bath area.  She was momentarily disoriented when they entered, because it was right back to the way they had found it last night with all the soap back in the basket on the bench next to a stack of towels. She discarded the worry and joined Oriana in taking a quick dip to wash of their sex sweat.

Unlike the previous night, the sun was out and it warmed their skin when they got out of the water. It also made the bath itself look a lot more cheerful and charming.  She heard birdsong in the far distance and wondered at just how elaborate a construction this place was. 

Still naked, and with a still leaking slit in Briar's case, they went back down the stairs to the curving hallway and backtracked along it.  Oriana assured her that no one would think her wetness as being of any concern, but Briar still found displaying her sexuality to be more embarrassing than just being naked.  But she shoved the concern aside because there was nothing she could really do about it; she was stuck in this place.

Instead she padded along in her usual silent manner down the corridor at Oriana's side.  Now that it was daylight out, there were others traversing the halls, but they only gave smiles and nods for the most part.  A few gave Briar assessing looks, but Oriana said that was because Briar was probably the first girl with black hair any of them had seen, so she stood out. After a bit of a walk, they turned left into a spacious room with a small sign marking its entrance. Here Briar could see grass and sunlight through the arched opening on the other side.  The entire middle was filled with rack after rack of hanging clothes.

"What is this place?" Briar asked, watching a naked girl even younger than she or Oriana taking a diaphanous dress from a hanger.  She pulled it on, gave Briar a friendly smile, and left through the door to the 'outside'.  

"It's one of the clothing rooms," Oriana giggled. "Whenever clothing is dropped, discarded or whatever, it's brought back here, or to one of the other similar rooms after being washed."

The racks were arranged by approximate size and then by style or material.  Oriana quickly found a garment that was twin to the one she'd worn the night before.  Even though she didn't really understand this weird set-up, Briar found a silky black dress that went down to her thighs.  It made Oriana pout prettily, but Briar was not so inured to things that she wanted to flaunt herself.

"Why don't you have your own clothes and rooms?" Briar asked as she pulled the dress on.  Like all the garments available, it did little to hide the flesh beneath, and there was still a little wet trail going down her left leg.

"Dun'no," Oriana replied, looking as if the she'd never questioned how things worked in her life. She was very young, so it was possible she hadn't. "We don't really own anything.  Everything is shared except for the servant quarters. They're the only ones here with property."

"That's a...different way to do things," Briar said, not really liking the explanation at all. "Where do we go to get food?"

"There are lots of nice places!" Oriana explained cheerily, moving in close to cling onto Briar's arm again.  The girl seemed to want constant physical contact.  It was really odd, and far outside what Briar was used to, but she allowed it. "I'll take us up to the sky lounge.  Some Sisters go there to eat, but it'll be a good place for you to get a better look at the Garden."

They went back yet again to the curved hallway and walked a long ways down it.  They passed more residents and a few seemed to be on friendly terms with Oriana because they paused to give her small pecks with their greetings. One even gave Oriana's tiny breasts a good feeling up, right in front of Briar.  Oriana acted as if all this was normal and they continued on each time.  Then they came to an opening in the wall into a wide, curving ramp and Oriana directed them up it. As they did, Briar noticed that this entrance had a small sign too.

They reached the top surprisingly soon at a small landing.  It had an open doorway through which the sun streamed.  Oriana led her through it and she instantly felt dizzying vertigo and jolted to a stop.  This was because she was standing on a floor that looked to be made of perfectly clear glass, which had to be impossible. It was a wide, circular platform attached to the curving wall of a vast, open space.  There were other openings in the wall near them as well as a wide serving window like in the restaurant.

Scattered all over the strange balcony were tables and chairs that were also apparently made of glass, though the chairs had cushions tied to them.  Occupying most of the places were women of the Garden in their revealing clothes, but there were also a good number of Sisters sitting around.  Like before, they usually had a Garden girl with them and it didn't look like the company was forced because she could hear real laughter.

Her vertigo came from the fact that the transparent platform was at least two floors higher up than the ramp had indicated they should be, and because of the shear volume of the space they were inside.  From this vantage they looked out upon lush rolling hills of grass, plentiful copses of trees and bushes, a long sinuous 'river' made from connected pools and even more she couldn't see because it was out of sight distance.  The far wall looked like it had to be at least three miles away, which was impossible because that was farther than the building, was wide.

Below them, on the verdant grass, was another area of tables around a small pond that shone a clear blue in the sunlight coming in through the impossibly vast glass roof.  There were a great many more tables and things down below than on the platform, but there were an equally larger number of women down there. The view from here let Briar see that while many were also eating food served from another kitchen, a good number around them were also having sex with each other. It was as if sex was a normal part of the societal structure and no one minded if the women on a lounger next to them were fingering each other while they ate.  They were just watching and conversed with others.

"Are you okay?" Oriana had moved in front of her to hold her steady. The concerned words slammed Briar back to herself and she shook her head.  This place was far more alien than she had thought the night before.  What surprised her was that her leaking pussy had started up again with renewed copiousness. She also felt an odd tugging from her magic.

"Yeah, I just wasn't expecting to step out onto something like this," Briar said, doing one of her calming exercises in her head. "That ramp wasn't nearly long enough, so how did we get this high up?"

"That's a silly question," Oriana giggled, turned and waved at the vast space surrounding them. "It's all magic. Oh! You're leaking a lot more now!"

Briar tried not to flinch when Oriana's finger slid up her thigh, but for some reason her body was all keyed up again.  Like the night before, and when she woke up, she wanted Oriana badly.  It wasn't nearly as overwhelming as those two times, but it was as if her body knew there was a girl nearby that she found attractive and liked; because as weird and young as she was, Briar did like Oriana.  Oblivious to these thoughts, Oriana just popped her juice soaked finger into her mouth with an appreciative noise.

"Is she alright?"

They both turned and saw a young Sister was approaching them with a look of genuine concern on her face. She was shockingly blonde, wearing a yellow cloak and really filled out her white sleeveless top. A few steps behind her was another Garden woman, looking equally concerned.  She was probably this Sister's companion.

"Yeah, I'm just fine," Briar repeated. "I was just overwhelmed for a moment.

"Briar's new here," Oriana explained further.  "She just got in last night and this is all new."

"Oh, I didn't hear there was a new girl," the woman said with a smile. Then, without asking, she stepped forward and placed her hand over Briar's forehead.  Briar felt magic wash over her in strong waves, but it was warm and unthreatening, so she relaxed the hands she had started to bring up to defend herself. After a minute the woman stepped back again with an even wider smile. "Well, you feel perfectly healthy to me! But it is no wonder you were brought in. You have the greatest blessing that I've ever felt or heard of. Do you know where you are assigned?"

"Assigned?" Briar racked her brain and something she heard last night came loose. "Something was said about the school at first."

"Now that's excellent news!" the woman grinned. Then she turned to the girl with her. "Thera, she seams to be fine. Shall we head back to the room?"

"Sounds good to me, Sister Claris," the girl replied. She gave Briar and Oriana a friendly smile. "Well met, Briar, and welcome." Then they both walked off through one of the doorways together."

"Looks like you just got one person who is definitely going to request you," Oriana giggled with mirth. "Sister Claris is one of the Healers, and they always need topping up."

"Huh?" Briar was confused again, but Oriana was already leading her to the serving window. 

There she found that in this place they prepared the same meal for everybody, so the five women behind the counter worked in a line and assembled everything on a tray.  Breakfast was rice porridge with cinnamon, two slices of a meat Oriana called ham, and a cup of juice.  Once they had their trays, Briar picked an empty table that was a little out of the way and walked them to it.  Once seated, she felt more at ease with the strange eating place.

Her initial assessment had been slightly off.  There were actually a few Sisters sitting together in groups or alone, sipping from small delicate looking cups and watching the goings on below or the Garden girls on the platform.  The ones sitting in groups were conversing intently with smiles as if discussing something very interesting. Two were watching Briar and Oriana.

"So what exactly is this place and what is going on?" Briar asked when Oriana was settled with her food.

"Well, you know about the Lady's blessing, right?" Briar nodded. "Like the two sides of a coin, so does the blessing also have two aspects.  The Sisters were given the ability to affect the world. What is generally called magic."

"When the Sisters' ancestors first came to this land they were outcasts from their homeland across the ocean.  When they got here they found it already occupied by a native people who were not inclined to share with pale-skinned invaders.  So they fought a war.  The magic of the few Sisters that existed back then enabled them to win. They then started building this city and established their new identity as a nation. 

"When they first came here there was only one Sister born for every two thousand normal citizens and worship of the Lady was only practiced by a scant few.  After a decade or so, that birthrate started to increase.  No one knew why for a very long time.  But then something else happened."

"No Sister, even back to the beginning, ever liked being with a man. Not only did they find it unpleasant, it also severely weakened their magic.  They did so anyways because that was the only way they knew of to have daughters and increase their number. But then one day a Sister took another woman as her lover.  This was far from uncommon, but this lover was special.  When they had sex, the Sister's magical strength and stamina was increased several fold.  That Sister shared her experience with the rest of the Sisterhood and soon after they learned how to probe a woman to find others like that first."

"From there things changed rapidly.  Almost overnight the Sisters stopped sleeping with men and yet their numbers continued to multiply.  Then girls like us, which I think they called 'Gardens' for their ability to grow magic within their bodies for the Sisters to use were also found more often and with greater boosts of magic to impart."

"Back then there were far more Sisters than Gardens, so they were protected and sequestered in the homes of the more senior of them.  When a Garden girl is well fed and healthy, she imparts a greater amount of magic to the Sister who has sex with her. That's why they keep us in this place.  The protection and provision of girls like us has become an integral part of the Lady's Tenets.  They believe that their keeping us like this is a balanced payment for the magic they take from us."

"Did you notice the change in the city when you got closer to the Palace?" Oriana asked, pausing in her explanation.

"I did," Briar nodded. "It went from a crowded but bustling city to one with grand homes and those streetlights."

"That division marks where the Sisters live.  Like us, they hate to live alone, but one of the stricter rules of the religion is that they are forbidden to have sex with each other. I'm not sure why that is, but it's the rule. So when they started building households or homes where Sisters who were friends lived together, they also took some of us with them for both the sex they now craved and for the companionship.  Each of those houses you saw has a place in them that is a tiny version of this place for them."

"Also, as their strength in magic increased they learned how to do more things with it.  They hide it very carefully from the general population for some reason, but they can create wonders now.  This space we're in has three times more room inside than it should because they used magic to warp space. That's also how that ramp went from the first floor to this platform so quickly.  Rumor is the designer and enchanter of this building was some kind of insane genius."

"But when you go outside and see some of the homes and the school, you'll see that it is nothing like the rest of the city.  They have lights that don't use fire at all and platforms that float to take you between floors in the buildings.  But the biggest change is in us and in them. Look down there."

Briar followed Oriana's finger, pointing down at the transparent floor, and saw a small group coming around a copse of broad-leafed trees.  There was a Sister wearing a blue cloak, a Garden woman that looked a little older than most, and...two young girls no older than five. "You have children here?" she asked in astonishment. Then she thought about Oriana's tale. "How do they have children if they no longer have sex with men?"

"Because they have their children with us now," Oriana said, smiling happily down where the small family was sitting at a table while the...mother, went and got them food from the counter. "Something about the magic in us and in them has changed our bodies over the generations.  Along with the addictive cravings for sex with us, the Sisters have also become male in the reproductive sense.  They have all the same parts you and I do, but with a few small additions that didn't exist in humans before.  You can't easily see them because they didn't grow a penis or anything drastic like that, but when you have sex with a Sister for the first time on your own, try sucking on their tongue when you kiss."

"Okay," Briar said, her brain whirling with all this new information. It was shocking, but it explained a great deal despite a lot holes in places. "But what about love?"

"Love always exists Briar," Oriana said with a glowing smile. She pointed again at the family. "A Sister will only choose a woman she loves to have her children. That woman then belongs to that Sister so that only she and us can have sex with her. Most of the time, when a Sister wants to have kids she builds or joins a household in the city.  Within that household they raise and nurture their families with the woman they love, or women because a few have more than one, and their closest friends.  The few that elect to remain here raise their kids within the community. Everybody here loves children."

"Also, the reason this huge public Garden exists is so that Sisters can find Garden girls to love and take into their own homes. We aren't whores. We are an important part of their lives, and we play an important role within this society."

"But, isn't it a bad idea to expose kids so early to sex?" Briar wondered.

"The rule and the law is that no one can touch a child in a sexual way unless she specifically asks and only then with the supervision and permission of her mothers until her magic awakens as a Sister or at the age of eleven if she's like us.  During their schooling to become a Sister they are permitted to experiment and learn with each other up until the first time they sleep with one of us and fully kindle their magic. After that they must request one of us for sex; which is what I, and now you, will be doing from now on because we're both assigned to the school."

"How does that even work?"

"Well, do you remember that paper you touched that has your picture on it?"

"Yes."

"They've made many copies of it by now and one will be in a special book in the Request Office of each dorm building.  When a student has free time and doesn't need to study, she can go to that office and pick one of us from that book.  Most Sisters have a few favorites they pick all the time and eventually take for themselves, but the students are new to their addiction and often request a new girl every time for the thrill of something different.  When a request is made, Cecilia and her assistants find the woman needed and send her over. They have books with everyone's pictures that tell them where we are whenever they want."

"Sounds more than a little invasive," Briar complained.  The more she heard the more complicated this place sounded.  She also wasn't sure she liked the idea of being yanked about to have sex with a bunch of strange girls or women.  Something had changed within her with Oriana last night, and she could still feel a subtle tug to take Oriana aside somewhere, but she also knew she didn't entirely fit into the description of this story.  She could use magic too.

That made Briar think a little deeper. It was conceivable that her people had interbred a little with the invaders before they went into hiding and mingled magic bloodlines. Maybe, because they still have children with men, their evolutionary development of magic has gone down a different path than the Sisters.  Instead of being one or the other side of the coin, using Oriana's metaphor, she was both.

"What about the girls here," Briar asked. "Does it get lonely, or boring?"

"Well..." Oriana paused. "The way things work here is like this; girls become part of a group of friends called a circle.  These circles do almost everything together when their not out on a request. It's our version of a family because only women and girls that love and trust each other deeply form into these groups.  As for boring, everyone has hobbies or things they like doing.  It's why all the kitchens and the servers at the White Lilly are all staffed by volunteers.  I'm like a lot of the girls and help where I can."

Briar's spoon clinked against her bowl, and she looked down to see that she had eaten her whole breakfast without even noticing.  So she set her utensil aside and regarded Oriana more closely. "Was that why you asked me to be your friend? You want me join the same circle as you?"

"Actually," Oriana blushed deeply with embarrassment. It made her look a lot more like her age. "I was hoping to start a new one with you.  I haven't really lived here for very long, just over two months, and it's kind of hard to join a circle that already exists when you aren't born here.  They're really close-knit groups. It's usually okay just to visit with them for a bit, but you always feel like an outsider."

Briar frowned a little in real concern. "So what have you been doing until now? Floating between groups?"

"Pretty much," Oriana admitted shyly, not meeting her gaze. "I'm just not a very forceful person.  It's hard for me to do like some new girls who hang around a circle they like and try to get them to accept her.  So this time, when I met and really liked you, I had the idea that we could form a new circle."

"What do you mean by 'this time,' Oriana?"

"I've been asked to introduce three girls before you, and after they got past the freak-out stage, they all ran off and convinced circles to let them join, leaving me behind.  But you didn't even freak out at all! Normally new girls from outside get scared and confused when they start reacting sexually to the girl introducing them."

"Do you normally start out with such a nice bath?" Briar asked with an amused, teasing smile. "I think my heart just about stopped when you bent over that bench."

"Really?!" Oriana's glowing smile reappeared. Her face looked much better that way. "No one's ever told me that before."

"Yes, really," Briar laughed, enjoying Oriana's pleasant nature. "I'm still not sure I'm going to like living here like this, but I do enjoy staring at your butt. I doubt I'll be able to fight my way out of the city anyway and I'll bet that book of Cecilia's you mentioned also serves as a way to detect runaways."

"Fight?" it was Oriana's turn to sound confused. "You know how? And why would you?"

"Yes, I know how to fight very well," Briar grinned, showing teeth. "Before I was captured by the Preceptor, I killed four of Jorick's men that were attacking me and my village."

"Wow!" Oriana's eyes were wide. Apparently Jorick had a reputation even in the Garden.  "But why would you fight to leave?"

"Oriana," Briar said, her smile turning a little sad. "This place is the closest thing to a jail without having actual bars to me.  It's a very nice prison and I'm guessing most of the people living here don't even mind, but it's still a prison.  I'm used to living in my village where I had a lot more freedom and a specific purpose I was working toward. Now all my training and hard work will be for nothing."

"What were you going to be?" Oriana asked, sounding as if Briar's words had made her a little uncomfortable.

"In my village we have a group of women called the Mai.  They serve as defenders and occasionally as healers.  I've been training almost every day since I was five to become one."

"I'm sorry," Oriana sounded completely deflated and Briar found her saddened face painful to look upon after seeing so many radiant smiles on it. She wouldn't have said anything so forcefully pessimistic if she'd realized how sensitive Oriana was to such negativity.

"It's not your fault Oriana," Briar said gently.  She reached across the table and tilted the girl's face up to meet hers. "As long as I am here, I would be happy to be your friend and form one of these circle things with you if that is what's necessary.  You're a nice person and you've been a pleasure to be with, even if I'm still feeling weird about it all."

"You're sure its okay?" Oriana said, perking up immediately with renewed hope. "Even if it'll just be me at first?"

"What do you mean 'at first'?"

"The whole point of being part of a circle is to have a bunch of close friends who like you and want to be with you," Oriana said as if it was obvious. "It probably won't take long for others to want to join though.  People notice you."

"That's just because I look different, isn't it?"

"That's part of it," Oriana said, nodding. "There's also something about you that feels...different.  I don't know how to explain it really, but the way you stand confidently and calmly is part of it.  You look strong and trustworthy too. I don't doubt that a lot of people will know your name soon."

"You sure that's how you see me?" Briar asked doubtfully. She didn't feel very important, at least not to anyone else but Oriana.

"Yep, and I know I'll be happy to be part of your circle!"

"Heh, well, what do we do now that breakfast is done," she asked and gestured out toward the vast chamber. "Are you going to give me a tour of all this?"

   "All of it!" Oriana's eyebrows shot up. "I only know the parts around the front here.  Hardly anyone ever goes much deeper.  Everyone and everything is close to here, so people stay close by.  They made it this big for when there are a lot more than a couple thousand of us."

"It seems like a waste," Briar said, looking out over the railing and into the distance.  As she did so the kernel of an idea started to grow in her mind.  If she was suddenly going to be the leader of an as yet unformed group of girls, she wanted to make it something different and special.  "So what will we do?"

"I'll show you the places I do know," Oriana giggled in reply.

So they brought their empty food trays to the spot at the serving window that already had a stack from other patrons.  Then Oriana brought her to the waist-high glass railing near the platform's edge.  She still found the impossible tensile strength of the glass to be a little disturbing, but now that her instincts weren't screaming that she was going to fall, the view was more than very nice. 

It turned out that sight distance from the platform was also just about the limit for how far women generally ventured.  Some did explore or take walks farther, but it wasn't a large number.  What was interesting was how it was laid out.

Not being a natural outdoor space, the grounds had been deliberately formed to their currant arrangement.  It was supposed to mimic the real thing enough to feel a little wild. It made the opulent prison less confining because it lent a false sense of freedom of movement.  But there were other considerations too.

All the water for example, was potable and scattered around at random were the heated baths hidden in sheltered areas. Due to the nature of the activities that went on, hygiene was a particular obsession among the residents and Sisters alike.  Also, all the little dense copses of trees and bushes were actually outdoor rooms like the one she and Oriana has slept in the night before.  Most were actually much larger than that first little glade with multiple pallets so that a whole circle could sleep in the same place together.

Also, while there was no official ownership of anything, circles almost always established an area that was 'theirs' and slept in the same tree-room every night.  Had there not been so much room to spread out and a plentiful supply of those hidden places, Briar knew there would be some friction between each group. But as it was, it was like having distant neighbors, except you saw them everyday at meals and occasionally had sex with them. Women with children in the circles were prized and cared for more than anyone else.

They spent at least a few hours just standing there or sitting in the chairs while Briar tried to absorb as much detail of the chamber as she could.  This task was made a little difficult by all the hills and foliage spread over the landscape.  But she did see evidence of the circles.  When women went anywhere in her view, they were in chatting clumps. Others were sitting around or performing some task. One group appeared to doing some kind of weaving.

"Oriana," she said softly a little later.  She had unconsciously drawn the girl into her right arm to hold her close, so she didn't need to speak very loudly. She wanted to check out a suspicion she now had that would help her idea. "Let's go back down to that curving corridor for a minute."

"Alright," Oriana replied with a small shrug and a gentle, trusting smile turned up to look at her face. In that single expression, Briar realized that from now on, any major decision she made would also affect this young girl. Oriana was placing a larger amount of hope and trust in her than anyone else ever had.  It gave her both a sense of pride that anyone would choose to do so, and a touch of fear that she might let Oriana down. It was against her nature to allow the latter to happen.

"Come on then," Briar said, lowering her arm down to Oriana's waist and loosening her hold a little. In response, Oriana made a giggling noise and wiggled her hip just enough for that hand to rest on her round little behind.  Briar sighed with an amused smile, and gave that butt a small squeeze as she turned them back toward the ramp they'd come up.  She had no idea where the other four went

Entering the ramp, she closed her eyes, touched the wall with her free hand, and felt out with her Gift. The response was immediate. The entire space around them vibrated with magic and its signature was vastly different from anything she'd felt before. Had she been more experienced, she would have sensed this when they came up it, but she was not yet so good as to not be distracted by sight.

Oriana stayed silent, but Briar knew she was probably wondering what she was doing.  When they reached the bottom where it exited onto the wide, curving hall, the sense of magic increased in strength.  Her suspicion was strengthened by this discovery.  If this hallway was also a space-warping area, than she had a good idea why that was.

"Oriana, she said, opening her eyes.  Her youthful companion was looking at her face with open curiosity. "How far down this passage have you gone?

"This hallway?" Oriana wrinkled her tiny nose in thought. "I'm not sure. It's the main access hallway around the perimeter of the main chamber, but I've only gone a few hundred feet or so in either direction from that clothing room, which sits about in the middle because of its nearness to the entrance to the building and the stairs to Cecelia's office.  Why?"

"Let me ask something else first. Are there regularly spaced doorways all along it?"

"Yeah, some of them lead directly into the main chamber, while others go to places like the baths, the clothing rooms or the lounge.  Others lead away from it into the servant areas and things like that."

"Okay," Briar nodded, feeling more confident in her idea.  She glanced more closely at the small plaque marked with a curving symbol next to the ramp opening.  Every entrance they'd used so far had one of those.  That was good too. "We're going to head down this corridor for a while. I want to head a lot deeper into the main chamber."

"What are we going to do back there?"

"We'll see if I find what I'm looking for," Briar replied teasingly, getting them moving. They continued going deeper, further to the 'right' of the middle clothing room.  Briar would ask Oriana if she knew what lay beyond the doorways they passed and it served as a rough map at first.  While there was no real pattern to it, each door way on their left led to one of five things: a bath, a direct entrance onto a grassy field, a tree-room, a smaller clothing room or other utility space, or one of the strange privies.  All of these Oriana said where in use by the circles, and their occasional passing of others seconded this. 

After roughly two hundred and fifty paces, Oriana no longer knew what lay beyond the doors. As far as the girl knew, this was close to the limit of how far the residents normally went.  Briar used the plaque of the nearest doorway, a sign with a vertical line bracketed by two curving ones, as a demarcation point.  From there, she led them down another two hundred paces.  Here, there was an odd feeling of disuse in the air.

At the next left-side doorway, this one marked with two vertical lines with three cross hatches angled upward on the right side, Briar turned them off the main access passageway.  This led them down a short, dimly lit corridor where she began to hear the sounds of flowing water.  Bolstered by this, she was more confident as they ascended a short set of stairs and then passed through another doorway lit by bright sunlight.

They stepped out into knee-high grass that tickled their bare feet and legs. The exit was situated in a low area with twin small hills that went up against the wall to either side of them.  Directly ahead was a much larger hill crowned with thick vegetation that was impossible to see through.  That made for a Y shaped lowland with them at the base.  Briar led them out to the splitting point.

From this new vantage they discovered a set of stairs, overgrown by the long grass on the hill, and the source of the water sounds.  A short distance around the hill from the stairs was a small but gushing stream gurgling over a rock and pebble strewn bed down the hillside.  It entered the low area and then continued away from them.  Briar wasn't concerned about where it went, but where it came from.

"Were you looking for one of the living area?" Oriana asked, understanding entering in her voice. "Why did you want to go so far out? I know of empty ones closer to the front of the building."

"Ah, but I don't want one like that," Briar said, holding Oriana against her again in a way that was quickly becoming a default.  Oriana felt good to have close and the girl seemed to enjoy it.  "Out here, if this place is right, it will be nice and peaceful. I like peaceful, especially if I'm going to be getting used to being around a bunch of strange girls."

Carefully, they ascended the stairs to a small hole in the greenery. It wasn't so much a doorway, but a place where the plants hadn't grown over yet.  Inside they found a long green tunnel lined by very tall bushes or small, thick trees.  It went all the way across the hill to where she could see another hole on the other side.  The ground between was dappled by what little sunlight made it through the canopy. The sound of water was much louder to their right.

"I'm not so sure I like this," Oriana said plaintively. "It's so dark and gloomy."

"Let's look more closely before you pass judgment," Briar replied, walking forward again.  Ten paces in the living hall, they found a gap on the right side.  Going through it they found a beautiful bathing area. 

It was elevated up a little because there were actually three large pools here. Two side-by-side pools at a higher elevation drained into the third and lower one through copper spouts.  Only one of the higher ones steamed with heat, but both were filled by stone spouts shaped like roses. Around them, on a leaf littered patio of fitted gray stone, were six empty benches and the draining channel.  Brilliant sunlight bathed it all through the wide hole in the branches around and above them.

"Whoa!" Oriana whispered with intensity. She carefully disengaged herself from Briar and walked to the junction of the hot upper pool and the lower one.  Crouching, and exposing her smooth backside, she felt the waters of each.  Briar came up behind her and saw that each pool had a tiled motif of one of the three moons. 

"Are they each a different temperature," Briar guessed, when Oriana moved and tested the other upper pool.

"Yeah!" Oriana grinned, flicking water from her hand and coming back to Briar. "The top two are hot and cold. The bottom is where they mix for an in-between. It's really pretty too. Can we try it out?"

"Later, definitely," Briar agreed, smiling at Oriana's open cheerfulness.  "Let's check out the other side first, and then we can come back here."

So they went back to the living hallway and found the opening on the opposite wall a short distance further down. This time they entered into a large, open space.  It was shaped like half a circle of thick foliage with a few scattered tree saplings scattered in the middle where there was a thin carpet of grass.  There were also six randomly placed pallets with bare bed futons.  There was no sign of any blankets or sheets, but Briar was sure she could get some.  Finally, against one end was a pair of wooden tables flanked by benches.

"Are they normally this big?" she asked, walking separately from Oriana as they perused the space and it contents.

"I've seen them with up to eight beds," Oriana replied, using her hands to test the softness of a bed. It evidently passed inspection because she grinned. "Most only have four or five.  The bath right next door is a nice touch.  Sometimes the shape of the land means they couldn't put them together, so you have to walk."

"I don't see one of those privy things though," Briar said with a small frown."

"Yes there is!" Oriana giggled.  She walked towards the opposite end of the half-circle from the tables and pushed aside the sprawling branches of two bushes. Sure enough, nearly swallowed by the vegetation, was a small stone structure with two alcoves.  The curtains were missing. "They're called toilets though."

"Okay," Briar nodded filing away the term. "Why do they build them right next to the sleeping area? Everyone can see when someone uses it."

"Why is that a problem?" Oriana said, looking cutely baffled. "It's something everyone does and it's not really gross as long as you clean yourself good."

"I suppose," Briar replied, not really agreeing, but there wasn't much she could do to change the arrangement."

Going back again to the middle hall, Briar led them back out the entrance they'd entered from.  There was something she wanted to try out.  While the hill was very high up, the slope on the side closest to the door was a long and gentle one, which made the stairs a little tiring to climb.  One the positive side, It too was covered in long grasses.  Briar deviated from the stairs and led them out into the grass. Then, much to Oriana's confusion at first, she let go of the girl and sat down.

Briar grinned at the softness around and under, and then looked up into Oriana's curious eyes. "Come lay down in the grass with me," she said, reaching up and pulling on the girl's hand.  Oriana still looked a little confused, but she was more than willing to lay down anywhere with Briar, so she knelt and lay out to Briar's left.

Taking in a deep breath and closing her eyes, Briar just enjoyed the feeling of the soft grass pillowing her and the warm sunlight bathing her thinly clothed body.  This was something she had enjoyed doing on the mountainside back home when she felt like relaxing.  It was where she had practiced her mental calming exercises. This felt equally nice, even if she was still feeling that new pull inside herself, along with the constant wetness between her legs. Even though they weren't touching, the magic within her knew exactly where Oriana was.

"How does this feel, Oriana," she asked after they had lain there for a time in complete silence.  The lack of wind bothered her a little, but it wasn't too bad.

"It's very relaxing," Oriana replied in a drowsy tone that suggested she may have actually started napping.  "I've never thought to try this before."

"So, do you think this would be a nice place for our circle?"

The grass rustled beside her, so Briar opened her eyes in time to see Oriana moving to lie directly against her left side. Using her arm, Briar pulled so that Oriana was almost entirely on top of her.  Soft brown curls hung down in a curtain against her left cheek.  Briar felt her nipples harden and her pussy moisten more prodigiously at the positioning, so it seemed natural to reach out gently and pull Oriana's sweet face to hers for a long, lingering kiss.

"It's a little lonely out here," Oriana said softly, when she pulled back up.  Her round, speckled cheeks were flushed with her arousal and Briar could feel one hard nipple poking against her. The response didn't sound like a complete complaint, but she did remember what Oriana had said about how much she liked being around people to the point that she couldn't sleep alone.

Sighing, Briar pulled Oriana down again, this time to her breast.  Oriana made a soft sound, and then nudged the top of Briar's dress down to suck and kiss on one.  Greatly enjoying the sensations, Briar stroked her fingers through the girl's soft hair.

 "Oriana, I know you like being around people.  You pretty much told me you hate being alone.  You won't be though, even way out here. Remember, you told me yourself that it won't be just the two of us for very long at all.  I want a place that is just for our girls, even if that sense is just an illusion." She reached down with her right hand, went under the scant hem of the girl's blouse, and ran her fingers down the smooth, enticing crack of her ass. Oriana shivered and sucked harder on her left nipple.   "When I was looking at the bath up there, I had a picture in my head that I never would have had two days ago.  It was me sitting on the side of one of the pools with my legs wrapped around you like we did last night under the stars.  But instead of it being a random place, it was a home."

"What's the difference?" Oriana groaned out, wiggling her butt against Briar's invading digits and re-attaching her mouth to Briar's other nipple while engaging her hands to massage both of them.

"A home...is a place...where your heart...says you belong," Briar said between deep, pleasure filled breaths.  "If...I'm...going to live here...I want to...enjoy it."

After that, Briar had to give up on talking until they finished with this diversion.  Her body was thrumming with excitement to the point that she was unconsciously writhing in the grass.  Her right hand was thoroughly groping Oriana's butt with her middle finger grazing her little anus intermittently to loud groans from its owner each time.  Then to her surprise, an orgasm shuddered through her body like a slowly building roll of thunder. It just kept on going, deafening her to the world except for a wet, spurting sensation from her pussy.  When she came back down, she was breathing hard and her middle finger was stuck up to the first joint in Oriana's tight, back hole.

Shocked, but still reeling from the orgasm, Briar started to remove her finger, but as soon as she moved it at all, Oriana's body shivered with the force of her moan and her eyes went a little glassy.  Watching the girl's face closely, she pulled her finger out and realized it has slipped in so easily because Oriana's fluids coated her backside and pussy. In reaction Oriana shuddered and clutched at Briar tightly.  Since she seemed to like the stimulation, Briar swirled her finger around that tight hole and then very slowly sank it back in.

"Ooooooh!" Oriana's hotly flushed body started to slowly rub against Briar's sweaty one.

Briar smiled affectionately and marveled at what she was doing to this young girl. She had never thought to touch her own asshole during her own explorations of self-pleasure, but Oriana seemed to love it.  When Oriana's breathing grew ragged, Briar squirmed her other hand down to the girl's front. Four strokes over a gushing slit later, Oriana shuddered again and then went rigged for a solid minute. Then she went completely slack and collapsed onto Briar, gasping and using her left breast as a pillow.

At the same time Oriana shuddered into her climax, Briar saw the magic pour out of Oriana's skin like thin, pink luminescence. The sight lasted for only an eye-blink before it all slammed into her body and she came yet again with even more of her wetness splattering onto the grass. It wasn't as strong as the one Oriana had given her directly, so she was able to keep some of her wits and hold her gasping friend and lover tightly in her arms.

"Are you okay," she asked after a few minutes of tired breathing from both of them.

"Yeah, I just feel really good right now," Oriana replied in a happy, dreamy tone.  "I've never cum that hard in my life.  I couldn't even think for a bit. Now my head feels all warm and fuzzy."

Snorting in amusement, Briar tilted the girls face toward her own and kissed her again.  Oriana stiffened and moaned at first, but then she open her lips and their kissing grew steadily softer. When they separated again, Oriana looked more back to normal; very sweaty and with soaked thighs, but normal.

"Hey is anybody in here!"

The cry came from a distance away, so Oriana grudgingly slid down Briar's equally sweat soaked dress so they could both sit up and look.  All the way down the hill, at the doorway into the access passageway, were two girls standing just out into the grass.  Their gazes seemed to meet at the same time.  A surprised exclamation arose from the far pair and they started moving towards them.

"Do you know them?" Briar asked, turning a little red at having almost been caught in mid action with Oriana.  She was also a little ashamed at how disheveled she probably looked, despite the pleasure she'd had getting this way. This whole sex thing still felt a little strange, but she couldn't deny that she really liked Oriana and wanted to do this again with her.

"Hmm, maybe," Oriana said, sitting up with her legs tucked under her butt.  Sweat made her garment slightly transparent, so her perky, rock hard nipples were on proud display and the hem was stuck just below her belly button. Her lower lips were pink and engorged still from her powerful arousal of just a moment before.  That made Briar realize she could still feel her own dripping. It was not the normal way she would have wanted to meet new people, but it didn't look like they had a choice.

The two approaching girls reached the bottom of the hill and after a brief search, found the stairs and started climbing.  A minute later something inside Briar's brain connected and she recognized the girl in the lead. She wasn't wearing a halter dress this time, but Briar recognized her long, sandy hair held in a swirl with a pair of black sticks.

"I know one of them now," Briar said, nodding. "The girl in front is named Lisette. I met her last night in the restaurant."

"Lisette?" Oriana looked on thoughtfully. "I still can't remember if I've met her or not, but they're both nice to look at."

 Briar couldn't disagree. Lisette had exchanged her halter dress for a blue blouse and a thin, brown, patterned skirt.  It would have been a remarkably chaste garment if the top wasn't made of the liquid-like cloth and the slight transparency of the skirt.

The other girl, slightly younger than Lisette and closer to Briar in age, was an eyeful. She wore a deep-purple sleeveless top that snugged in close to support a generous pair of pleasantly round breasts capped by barely concealed nipples that seemed to be trying to escape or something.  Her skirt, while short and frilly, actually concealed things in a more normal way, but still showed off a pair of long legs and sandal clad feet. Dark brown hair hung in loose natural curls down over her shoulders and back.

"Briar!" Lisette's shout sounded excited and cheerful.  Like the night before, her slightly narrow face wore an impish smile of delight. Her companion was much more composed, but her blue eyes held more than a little curious interest and her soft, plump lips had a faint lift at the corners. When the two reached their level, they crossed over the grass slowly so as not to go slipping back down the hill.

"Hello, Lisette," Briar said politely. Now that she didn't have to sit up to look at their guests, Oriana slumped back to rest herself against Briar's side, so Briar took the girl in one arm to hold her.

"It looks like we just missed the fun!" Lisette laughed, stopping a couple steps away with hands on hips. Briar quickly realized the positioning had been intentional because from this angle she got occasional glimpses up Lisette's skirt at a slit topped by slight fuzz. When the other girl joined her, Lisette nodded her head. "This is my very good friend Kaya and we've been looking for you since we woke up an hour ago."

"Afternoon," Kaya said softly and smiled in a friendly fashion.

"Kaya doesn't really talk very much, but she's a lot of fun," Lisette chuckled. She then gave Oriana an appraising look. "Sorry, I'm being rude. We haven't met I think."

"No, we haven't," Oriana answered with a shake of her head. "I'm Oriana."

"She's my friend," Briar added, not really knowing why that seemed important.

"So we can see," Lisette said, laughing again. She slid around behind Kaya, hugged her and looked at them over the other girl's shoulder while resting her chin on it.  Kaya didn't seem to mind in the least. "I've heard the name Oriana mentioned before.  You're a drifter, right?"

"Not any more she's not," Briar said firmly, tightening her hold on the girl in a flash of possessiveness that surprised her. 

"See Kaya, I told you she was interesting!" Lisette giggled happily and she addressed Briar again. "We were searching for you, but we didn't expect to find you all the way out here."

"How did you find me?" Briar asked, curious.

"We just asked one of the servants," Lisette answered. "Even though they never say how they do it, they can find anyone in here.  I think the Sisters give them something to do it with, but they always walk away and then return with an answer so you can't see them at it."

"The one we asked was surprised too," Kaya supplied, obviously enjoying being held. 

"Yeah, because no one really comes this deep yet," Lisette said, nodding.

"Okay, so why did you want to find me?" Briar wondered.

"Well, when we met last night you seemed interesting, and fun maybe," Lisette answered with a shrug. "New girls come into the restaurant on their way in here occasionally, but most of them squirm or look uncomfortable when I serve them."

"Well, you do come on to people rather strongly," Briar replied.

 "I do," Lisette nodded in full agreement, unashamed. "You didn't seem all that bothered by me though, so I thought you were interesting.  I told Kaya about you before we had our pre-bedtime fun.  Then we decided to be friendly and see if you'd like to join the same circle as us.  There are twenty of us in our group already and they're all a lot fun to be around."

Briar felt Oriana fidget in her arms and a quick glance showed her a blank, unhappy face.  It didn't take too much effort at all to figure out the girl was worried about being dumped again.  Unseen by the other two, Briar lowered her hand and gave her butt a quick squeeze. Oriana twitched again, but frowned at her curiously.

"Actually, I can't do that," Briar answered quickly and clearly. Lisette blinked at the decisiveness of her answer. "I'm not joining any circle.  I'm creating a new one with Oriana."

"A new circle!" there was more animation and interest blooming in Kaya's face, even though she was still speaking softly. It made her already attractive features a little more stunning. "Are you sure that's what you're going to do?"

"Yeah!" Oriana cheered back with her face jubilant. She affectionately hugged herself as tight as possible into Briar. "We came here to pick our new home."

"You're going to move in here?" Lisette asked, sounding intrigued.  She loosened up on Kaya and turned to look at the vegetation capped hill. "What's it like? Is it nice?"

"I think so," Briar said, giving their potential home a proprietary look. "It needs a little work to make it easier and nicer to live in, but it's quite cozy."

"I like the Moon Bath," Oriana added, naming the place.

"Why would you want to live in a place that needs so much cleaning up?" Lisette wondered, seeming genuinely interested. "Couldn't you just ask the servants to work on it anyway?"

"Nope," Briar replied, grinning at the ideas floating around in her head. "Doing the work myself is what will make it truly a home for me and not just a place where I sleep at night.  Whenever I look at it, I want to be able to feel pride that it's mine and Oriana's"

"I don't really get the difference."

"It's like I was telling Oriana earlier before you guys came, a home is a place where you belong. Usually that means you've worked in that place somehow for it to have meaning in your heart.  This will be the place I look forward to coming back to each and every time because the location and the people here are important.  By doing the work of cleaning it up, it will make it that much more real to me."

"Won't it be really difficult and tiring to trim all those trees, bushes and grass?" Oriana asked, looking up at her.

"Of course it will," Briar smiled back. "That's the point.  Not only will it look the way we want it to, we'll know that it was our hands that made it that way.  Besides, it's unfair to ask servants who won't spend a single night here to do it all.  Also, we don't have to do it all at once.  If we divide the tasks into smaller chunks we can do it when we have the time and energy."

"A new home and a new circle," Kaya murmured very thoughtfully. She was observing the hilltop with fascination. Then she glanced down at her long fingers.

"Well, I already told you that I like helping," Oriana remarked after a moment of silence. "I never really think about how much work that is sometimes, but this doesn't seem too much harder.  There's just more of it.

"Right," Briar replied, nodding. "Once we get a few essential things done, like clearing the stairs so we don't trip and kill ourselves, we can take our time doing the rest."

"I don't know..." Lisette mumbled, frowning.

"Working in the White Lily can't always be easy," Briar pointed out. "That's a kind of labor too."

"Yeah, but its fun most of the time," Lisette argued with a return of her impish smile. "I don't think anyone will be trying to get their fingers into me while I trim bushes."

"Are you sure about that?" They all looked to Kaya at the question from the quiet spoken girl who smiled amusedly. "If that's what it takes, I wouldn't mind helping to add that kind of fun."

"As long as you're careful about adding sex and sharp objects together," Briar said, smiling. Then she shifted her leg to get more comfortable and frowned. The skin on legs, crotch and lower belly felt stiff and a little sticky from her and Oriana's drying fluids. It wasn't a very nice feeling and she wanted to wash badly. "Would you mind if we move this conversation?"

"Where to?" Lisette asked.

"Oriana and I really need to wash up," she replied back, giving Oriana a rueful smile. "Considering how things are here, inviting you to join us seems be the polite thing.

"Bathing together is one of the most common social occasions we have here," Lisette laughed. "I certainly don't mind. Kaya?"

"You can never have too many baths," Kaya replied easily, "especially with company."

Briar sighed and tried not to laugh. Oriana felt it though. "What was that for?"

"Nothing really," Briar told her with a shake of her head. "Just as I feel like I'm starting to understand and accept this place, something new always pops out.  You are all really weird and really nice people. Now I suppose I'm becoming weird too because I'm kind of enjoying myself now that I have a plan in mind, and you Oriana.  I haven't even thought of escaping once since our talk before. Now let me go so we can get in that water."

As they were both rising to their feet, Lisette's expression suddenly widened in a surprised realization. "Actually," her face drooped apologetically. "We can't. I said I would work at the Lily this afternoon and Kaya is working in the kitchen.  I really wanted to talk to you guys some more, especially after how long it took to find you, but a promise is a promise."

"I understand, and I don't feel at all slighted," Briar replied with a friendly smile. "You know where to find us now, so feel free to come by whenever you want."

"I'm sorry anyways, I completely forgot about this," Kaya said pleasantly. "But I think you'll see us soon. Come on Lisette, we'll be late if we don't leave soon."

"I know," Lisette sighed in deep disappointment. She stepped up to Briar and she accepted the girl's quick hug, and ignored the hand that felt up her backside. Then she gave Oriana one too. "See you later Briar, Oriana.  Kaya's right, we'll get together soon."

With that, both Lisette and Kaya made their way back to the stairs and began their descent.  Briar stood with an arm around Oriana's waist and watched them go. As they did so, the ideas she had swirling in her head began to feel more like they could actually take form. What she told Oriana had been true.  Rather than thinking on fleeing somehow and returning home, she couldn't help seeing this as a challenge to face and rise to.  She wanted to make the best of this situation and not just for one reason.

The first and primary reason wasn't actually for her own gain.  It was for Oriana. Oriana and any other girl that wanted to join them.  She saw opportunity in this prison and she wanted to try using them if she could. Her own interests were also a consideration because she could feel and see the changes being wrought to her self.  She had never before thought about seeing magic, but she had just moments before. Also, she knew that the desires awoken inside her were unlikely to become somnolent ever again even if she wanted them to, which she rather didn't. She really liked having sex with Oriana; she just needed to control her lusts to a reasonable degree.

"Well," she said, once their guests disappeared into the access passage.  "Looks like its going to be just you and me in the bath again."

"I don't mind," Oriana giggled.

Once back into the pool room, Briar peeled her dress up and off her body, exposing her darkly tan, sweat sleek skin to the sunlight above.  Now that she was focused on it, she realized that it was almost uncomfortably warm when the sun was out.  She liked it much more at night. Oriana though, seemed very pleased to see her naked in the sun, so she supposed she could live with it.

"What are you doing with the dress?" Oriana asked, also getting naked while Briar walked over to the runoff channel.

"Washing the sweat out of this before it dries," Briar replied, dunking the garment into the cool, rushing stream and thoroughly scrubbing it between her hands to help work as much sweat out as she could. "I want to be able to put it back on and not feel gross."

"Why don't you just get a new one?" Oriana asked curiously, kneeling next to her and doing the same anyways.

"Because I don't like the idea of everything being done for me," Briar told her, letting herself enjoy the sight of Oriana's naked form.  She could still feel the wetness between her legs. Her body was ready for another go, but she knew that indulging herself constantly would lead down a bad road. There was nothing wrong with looking though. "I also kind of like this one, so I want to keep it."

Once she deemed that they had probably washed out as much of their sweat as they were going to, she dragged one of the wooden benches near the side out of the shade and into the sun.  Then she spread out both garments across the backrest after first squeezing out as much water as she could.  It might take a little while, but the sun would dry them soon enough.  She explained this to Oriana as well.

Since she felt so hot and sticky, Briar tested the lower pool and found that while not cold, it was much cooler than the air.  It was perfect.  So she stepped down into the shallow water and sat with a pleased sigh of relief.  Cool liquid enveloped her body and she instantly felt cleaner and more comfortable.  She was confused momentarily when she realized she could still feel a kind of heat, but quickly realized that it was the enormous amount of magic she was holding within herself. She now had so much stored that her physical body could notice it.

"What are these plans or ideas that you keep mentioning?" Oriana asked, climbing down next to Briar.  After standing there for a second in obvious thought, she straddled Briar's out stretched legs with a wide smile. Before Briar had a chance to say anything, Oriana sat astride her legs and moved in to lay herself against Briar.  After a moment of bemusement, Briar just laid her head back against the wall and enjoyed the dual pleasures of cool water and Oriana's touch.

"Oriana, if I am going to live here and remain sane with my self-respect intact, I need to be productive in one way or another.  I don't mind relaxing like this occasionally, but I can't just sit around idle.  I need to do something. So I am going to."

"Hmmm," Oriana laid her face down just above Briar's chest and closed her eyes. "What else is there to do?"

"Plenty!" Briar answered, stroking a hand through Oriana's soft hair.  "I just hope those two won't mind, though Kaya seemed interested."

"Why...Oh! You think they'll want to be with us?" Oriana asked, looking up to her face again.

"I think there is a very good chance they will," Briar said, smiling. "Kaya really perked up when I explained what we are doing.  Lisette will likely be swayed by her since she seems interested in me for some reason."

"It's because you're different, like I said before," Oriana smiled back. "I can feel it. That girl was just the first, after me, to react to it."

"Speaking of reacting, we're you really okay with where I had my finger earlier?"

"Inside my butt you mean?" Oriana giggled happily and straightened for a moment to give Briar a quick peck. "Even among us there are those who don't like messing around with that place, but I'm not one of 'em. It felt amazing when you did that. It was even better than last night. So I don't mind if you like playing with me there. I'll just remember to make sure I'm extra clean for you."

Shaking her head in resignation, Briar let go on that topic.  It had been obvious while they were at it, that Oriana had greatly enjoyed what Briar was doing, but it was nice to know that Oriana didn't mind it even now, and even welcomed more of it.  So it was very likely she would be revisiting that place sometime soon.

Against her chest, Oriana settled down a little more with a small sigh of restful satisfaction. "Briar, I know you just said you want to keep busy, but can I take a small nap on you like this? It feels so nice."

"I suppose an hour or so won't kill me," Briar answered in mock surrender. "I think you'd be more comfortable if you turned around and sat between my legs and laid back. But why are you so tired already? We just had breakfast not too long ago."

"Because having sex with you is almost like being with a Sister," Oriana laughed dreamily, changing positions as Briar had suggested. Once she was seated, Briar wrapped her arms around her young lover and held her in close. Oriana sighed again and closed her eyes. "Having sex with them is amazing, but it always makes you feel drained for a little bit.  Just let me—"

Briar's smile was warm when she realized Oriana had trailed off onto slumber.  She knew why being with her was like being with a Sister. Her dual nature meant that in terms of her relation to the Garden girls, she was one.  What she didn't know, was what would happen when she eventually had sex with a Sister herself.  She didn't know when her first time with one would happen, but it was likely to be interesting.  Hopefully it would also be pleasant since her foreseeable future would place her in such situations frequently.

"At least I lucked out with you," Briar said quietly, kissing the back of Oriana's right ear. 

She decided that she would give Oriana at least two hours to rest.  That should be enough to feel rested again.  She wanted to make the time as productive as she could. Closing her eyes, she began a soft spoken mantra.  Slowly and naturally, she began to slip her mind into one of the familiar meditative trances she had been trained in.  This particular exercise was very good for deep contemplation and intuitive leaps.   There was magic to think about and time to do it with. She would come out of it later, either when she was disturbed by something, or when the two hours had passed.

It was a very productive two hours.