Garden Thorn, Part 7

by Nuit du Loup

"Clear the field!"

Briar's call rang out into the afternoon air when she saw that every wooden stake was in the right place. In response, the group of Gardens that had been measuring out a large rectangle of land within the temple complex ran as a group to the outside of their delineated boundary. All of them carried various tools. Once they were all clear, Briar smiled and turned to look over and down at Coral, who was standing next to her. Coral looked wonderful with a sheen of sweat on her face.

In a long line down the narrow end of the rectangle marked out by stakes, was Coral's entire class, consisting of eighteen girls. Behind them all stood Sister Nia and Sister Maris, the woman in charge of Coral's class. She was a stern-looking, older woman that clearly loved teaching because during the two weeks Briar had known her, since these lessons had begun, she spent a lot of her personal time helping and guiding whenever someone had trouble and never yelled.

"Sisters!" Coral called loudly, in the lead role for this exercise. "Remember, two foot intervals!"

With that, Coral knelt and all the others down the line followed suit. Briar watched carefully as they gathered magic and formed it for their purpose. Bluish vertical blades of power formed before each girl and stabbed down into the earth.

"Ready! Plow!"

Eighteen magically generated plow blades scythed across the marked field in perfectly straight lines. The earth was broken and turned, just as they had intended.  When the blades reach the far side they lifted up and began to return even as each student stood and shifted down.  This was repeated until the entire field was plowed, which only took another five minutes. This left the students breathing a little hard, but they looked happy instead of strained. A job accomplished was something to be proud of.

Earlier in the week they'd all sat down with a group of farmers willing to teach them the basics of their craft. There was no way for them to become experts in a few weeks time, but they all knew any knowledge might be the difference between starving and surviving. Other groups were learning the basics of pottery, woodcarving and other things they would need initially. The Sisters were also gathering every instructional book they could find on thousands of topics. This is why Coral's class was learning how to plow a field with magic, because this way they cut out a lot of time.

Briar could hear the sounds coming from the enormous livestock population that had been gathered within the compound's walls.  There were pens of cattle, chickens, pigs and other such animals.  Paddocks of horses had been built along with other beasts of burden. There were even groups of dogs being trained for future herding careers.  Briar kept clear of the lot of them. It turned out animal husbandry was not one of her talents.

"Bring in the seed drill!" Briar called to a crew of women and girls. Most stepped away as the two young ladies sitting on a wagon contraption pulled by two massive horses with shaggy feathering on their lower legs, called out to their team to get it moving.  That group of Gardens had shown an adeptness with the animals and had also come to love caring for them.  This had been encouraged and now there was a solid team of women that was learning everything they could in five weeks about equine care.

The horses appeared to be eager to finally be allowed to show their stuff too. They wuffled loudly and tossed their heads as they brought their burden in line on the field. Massive hooves struck with purposeful power. The reins snapped softly and with a loud harrumph, they set into the proper speed for the speed drill to work.

Normally, Briar knew, they would not be planting immediately after plowing like this, but it was more important for everyone to actually perform these tasks before they left. Knowing how in your head was one thing and actually doing it was another.  It was part of the million and one things on the collective need-to-do list.

"You look tired, Briar," Coral commented softly, wiping some sweat off of her brow with a sun-tanned arm. She and some of the other girls had sunburned rather spectacularly at first, which produced a scathing lesson from Sister Claris about such things and about the creams they should have put on.  Briar made sure that cream was applied from then on, not missing one spot on Coral's body. Coral had yet to object to the service. "You don't have to be here for this."

"And you do?" Briar asked, eyebrow raised in amusement. She was tired; exhausted really, because over the last two weeks she'd been running all over the place having lessons and taking care of her girls. She'd organized schedules for meals, baths, rest periods and sleep for everyone involved from the Gardens and even to the students once the Queen saw she had things in hand. She'd also been going from group to group in order to have at least a cursory knowledge of everything she could. Today was farming, which had taught her many things; like how bad she would be at dealing with animals.

"This is my class," Coral smirked. "I'm supposed to be here today.  Where are the usual others?"

"Oriana is off with the servants learning about housekeeping," Briar responded. Once Oriana got her very intelligent head around the idea that Briar and Coral were going to have a Royal household, Oriana decided that she wanted to help keep it running. So she was getting lessons from Sister Cecilia and her small army of servant women. "Lisette and Kaya are both at their cooking and food management lessons. The others are all over the place."

"What about Nessa?" Tessa asked eagerly, peaking around her friend. Her nose was getting a little red again from the sun.

"She is at the glassworks again," Briar laughed. "She's shown a real talent there and I think the Master Glassmaker is determined to show Tessa his entire store of knowledge whether she wants it or not. He's even shared his secret recipes with her since he knows that she won't be around to share them with anyone."

"So she's going to come home all nice and sweaty then?" Tessa asked with a gleam in her eye.

"Oh Lady yes," Briar chuckled. "Lisette has corrupted you, hasn't she Tessa?"

"Like you don't do your share of corrupting," Tessa snorted. "Coral never had a fascination with girls' buttholes until you showed up. Now she's always playing with mine whenever we're in the bath!"

"It's so cute though," Coral chuckled delightedly. "You don't seem to mind as much once Nessa gets involved."

Tessa snorted again as her cheeks colored. In concession of Coral's victory, she changed topics. "Where are you headed next Briar?

That question made Briar smile widely at her future wife and sent a flood of warmth to her sex. "I'm going to a short lesson on the basics of childcare, including what kinds of facilities we'll need for them and that kind of thing. Then I get to hear all about babies from a bunch of experienced mothers."

Coral's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed as her classmates chuckled around them.  At first the thought of being a mother had only been an abstract thing that Briar was looking forward to.  But then, the more she thought about Coral getting her pregnant and raising a child, the more Briar liked the idea.  Now motherhood was one of her biggest dreams and the others knew it. Coral liked to tease her about it when the topic came up.

"Why are you learning about childcare already?" Coral asked, licking her lips in way that told Briar she was becoming a little aroused.

"I need to know what kinds of things to have available for kids, what kinds of play areas are safe and things like that," Briar answered. "The building crews want to come to a finalized design on the houses tomorrow, so I want to have the right kind of input for them.  When people start having babies in our new home, they're going to want as few problems as possible."

"What time do you have to be there?" Coral asked "And remember my mothers want us for dinner again tonight."

"I remember," Briar smiled. It was hard to forget that she had dinner with the Queen to go over the marriage ceremony, among other things. "I actually need to get going now if I want to be on time. It's supposed to be a quick overview, so I should have plenty of time for a quick bath afterwards before I come to dinner."

"Okay," Coral leaned in close and they shared a quick, but meaningful kiss. "See you at dinner."

Tessa wanted a hug too, so Briar gave her one and she also gave the friendly girl a peck on the cheek. She had come to like Tessa a great deal as a friend and the feeling was mutual. Coral and Tessa had pushed their beds together in their dorm room so that it was now a shared one, like the beds in the Garden. Now whenever they started having sex, there was a tendency for hands to roam a little towards the other couple when they were in the mood for it. It wasn't uncommon for Briar to wake up with any one of the three girls between her legs when she visited now. Even when they weren't in that mood, they often watched each other make love. Sometimes they even did it in turns, which was pretty exciting.

When Briar detached herself from the farming group, Sister Nia tagged along beside her. As good as her word, Nia was always around to teach and guide Briar in anything that included magic and a few intricacies of the Sisterhood. Time had started to formalize their relationship too. It was becoming a friendship built upon mutual respect for each other.  Now Briar felt relaxed and comfortable with having the young woman with her most of the time and found conversing with her to be interesting.

Another thing Briar was getting used to was the temple complex itself. After two weeks of finding her way through and around it she was rapidly familiarizing herself with the layout.  Her destination now the living quarters used by instructors at the school. It looked just like the other dorms, except a lot newer. She found the right room without a single hint from Nia, though the woman smirked anyway.

Briar opened the door at the verbal response to her knock. Inside was a personal apartment with a group of women sitting in a circle of chairs. One, a Garden woman, was openly breastfeeding a baby and completely topless.

"Welcome Briar," Said a cheerful middle-aged Sister. "You want to know all about taking care of kids and babies?"

"I do," Briar answered as she and Nia took empty seats. She nodded respectfully when she was handed a cup of some kind of juice. "Please teach me."

 

******

 

"Briar, please come in, and your friends too," Min said, stepping back as Briar, Oriana, Lisette and Kaya were let into the Queen's inner sanctum. This was Briar's seventh visit to the highly protected area of the palace, but the first for the others. They were going into the final week of the planned five before their departure and things were really coming to a head.

The Temple grounds outside were filled with all sorts of crated equipment and wagons.  Briar no longer knew what it all was for, but she was certain that all of it would all proved necessary eventually. Some of it she hoped they didn't, like the emergency supply of tents. It they needed tents that meant they had a housing problem and that would be bad.

The city had also noticed the changes and strange goings on. They especially noticed that all of the smaller city temples had been evacuated three days ago and gated barricades had been constructed inside the Temple walls so that the only place the public had access to was the bureaucratic building. All the deliveries and wagon convoys where now heavily escorted by red Sisters as well, much to the displeasure of a few attempted raiders on the roads.  This meant there was a definite air of anticipation throughout the city.

The public had also heard about the retaliatory strike the Sisterhood had performed. True to her word, the Queen's attack force struck hard and decisively, wiping Jorrick's fort away in less than an hour. All of the man's followers had been executed when the Sisters involved saw what kinds of filthy things had been going on inside. Then the remaining ruins had been burned to the ground until all that was left were the toppled stone walls.

"Whoa, this place is awesome!" Lisette said in awe, quickly climbing the stairs to the glass platform. No one was at the desk or table, so there was no one really to be offended by her boisterous examination of the room. From this angle though, it was clear to Briar and everyone at the bottom of the stairs that she was bare under her yellow dress.

"It is rather nice," Min agreed diplomatically, not bothering to hide her amused smile or her glances at Lisette's slit. Coral's mother was dressed today in a loose skirt and a sleeveless top, looking quite pretty. Like Coral, she had a small nose that she crinkled up when she laughed and her eyes were as intelligent looking as always. "I'm glad you could all make it. I've been getting to know Briar, but I've wanted to meet the rest of you."

Briar smirked at that. Min's idea of getting to know her had included feeling her up whenever she felt like it and some interesting conversations. The rest of the royal family was just as bad. Coral's other mother, Kanna, while just as intelligent as her co-wife, had little concept of personal space, which Briar knew was a common trait among older Gardens. It had surprised her the first time she woke in Coral's bed to a sleepy Kanna crawling in with them, completely naked; only to curl up against Briar's back like a content cat where she promptly fell asleep. Coral hadn't been surprised at all and informed her that Kanna frequently roamed beds if others were around that she felt comfortable with. The Queen also had her own quirks, but she at least kept her hands to herself, mostly.

"We're happy to be here too," Kaya said politely.

They walked as a group down the corridor to the private quarters with Coral walking beside her mother. Briar knew that Coral had a deep love for her family and she always felt a little warmed inside seeing it in small moments like this.  In the sitting room they found Kanna and the Queen waiting for them, but there were others there as well. Most notable at first were the armed guards around the perimeter, but then Briar's eyes slid to the woman sitting next to the Queen on the couch, opposite Kanna. She was a tall, blonde Sister dressed exquisitely in white and with features similar to the Queen, and at another glance, Kanna too.

Across from them on another pair couches that must have been brought in for this meeting, were all three of the Mai-sha from Briar's home village as well as a much older woman that Briar knew to be the Shai-ta, head of all the Mai. All of the room's occupants came to their feet at the arrival of Briar and the others.

"My, my, sister," said the new, unfamiliar blonde woman.  Her eyes were locked onto Briar with startling intensity. Much like Coral, they were a vibrant blue. Briar had to stop her approach because the woman suddenly stepped forward and began walking around her in close inspection. All the while she was grinning. Then she stopped and turned that grin on Coral. "Nice catch Coral!"

"Sylvia!" Coral leapt forward with great enthusiasm and crushed the woman into a tight hug. Then she turned a matching grin up at Sylvia. "Sylvia, this is Briar."

"So I can see," Sylvia chucked, holding the girl affectionately. "Briar, I am pleased to meet you at last. I am Coral's elder sister, Sylvia. I apologize for not meeting you until the last minute, but Mother had me doing all sorts of tiring things."

Briar smiled back and gave a small bow. Now she understood Coral's reaction. It was obvious the sisters thought well of each other and there was a light of almost hero worship in Coral's eyes. Sylvia had to be several years Coral's senior, so that was a little understandable. "I'm pleased to meet you as well. Coral has told me a bit about you, so it is nice to meet the real thing."

"Ignore her whining Briar," Kanna said with an amused smiled. "She complains, and yet she always seems to find plenty of time for fun even while traveling all over the country. Even the Sisterhood was half-scandalized when she took no fewer than six Gardens along with her this time."

"I can't travel celibate like Greta does," Sylvia countered easily. "Plus, the girls would have missed me if I was gone for so long." She looked again at Coral and then at Briar. "So you two really are marrying?"

"Of course we are!" Coral exclaimed. "Briar is going to me my Head Wife."

"You people are so strange," interrupted the Shai-ta. She was frowning at the conversing group. "I do not understand how a group of shameless hedonists can prosper the way you do."

"With respect, Shai-ta," Briar said, nodding towards the older woman. "I believe they prosper because they have far fewer seams between groups than most people do. Their sense of community is far greater than among the villages too. The sex is just a part of that. It keeps everyone close. For example, if two of my girls are having it out over something, they come to me and then the three of us will have sex, without talking, to expunge the anger and distrust. When we are done, the two usually feel a lot better about talking their problem out."

"You stop internal fighting with sex?" said the motherly looking Mai-Sha next to Delen. Briar didn't know her name, but she had a reputation as a mediator.

"It's hard to have ill feelings toward someone that you are sharing pleasure with," Briar answered with a shrug. "It's not a solution that would work with every society of course, but here, it does. It is also a good way to relieve sadness and other dark emotions. When people here notice one of their friends are having a problem, it's almost instinctive among the Gardens to take her aside and love on her until she feels better."

"It also tends to moderate extreme negative emotions among us Sisters as well," the Queen said, joining in.

"I see," the same Mai-sha said, nodding. "That makes a little more sense to me."

"I still say you are all strange," the Shai-ta insisted, but she smiled a little. "But I am old now and firmly set in my ways. Our ways suit us, and perhaps your ways also suit you just as well. So I suppose it is not my place to belittle them. What I care about, is the well-being of one of mine."

The woman stood and Briar could see why she had been raised to her position. Her body radiated power and strength, while in her eyes was the burning fire of wisdom.  The fire settled onto her and she could feel its heat. They were they kind of eyes that missed nothing.

"Briar, child of the Mai," she began, "Delen has told me you wish to join these people. They stole you in the night and caged you, yet still you want to walk their path. Explain to me your thoughts."

"Shai-tai, as I told Delen, it is true that I resent my kidnapping. Yet as you say, I can not turn from this path.  This is because it is a path that I am helping to define. The hearts of many have tied themselves to me, and through them I have found my purpose." Briar raised her arm and pointed at Coral. "That girl will soon be joined with me formally before this entire people.  I will be her wife, and someday I will bear children from her. This is the life I want, and will defend will all my power."

"Well said," the Shai-ta nodded, resuming her seat. "If this is truly what you have chosen, then we will all bless it."

"All?" Briar asked.

"Yes," said the third Mai-sha with a wide smile. "I think we surprised ourselves, because the entire village has already been dismantled and our people are camped outside this city even as we speak."

"The Queen's offer of another, safer, land for us came at just the right time," said Delen. "The first rice harvest has been completed and with the wagons she provided for us, we have everything loaded and ready to go"

"All that remain is this wedding of yours," the Shai-ta grunted. "We can not leave until it is done, and you have departed for this other world."

"A wedding is too exciting to miss," agreed the motherly Mai-sha.

"Which is why we are all here tonight," the Queen said, smiling at Briar. "It's time for things finally happen. Are you two ready?"

"As ready as five weeks will have us," Coral supplied. "Briar's been running around all over the place to make sure."

"Everybody has their personal supplies packed up and we're pretty much ready to go," Briar said, smiling at her soon-to-be wife. "All of the Gardens that are leaving know what the plan is and are actually pretty excited about it. The students have been working hard too, with surprisingly few injuries."

"That's good to hear," the Queens said approvingly. "But the question was, are you ready?"

Briar shared a look with Coral, and then answered with a confident smile. "Say the word, Your Grace, and we'll start hitching up the horses now."

"Now that was the answer I wanted!"

 

*******

For the first time in years, Briar was feeling horribly nervous. Today was finally the day. After the rushed five weeks of planning and preparing, it was finally time for the first wave of evacuees to leave. In just a short amount of time, the Sisters would open the gateway and they'd be in their new home. What really had her nervous though, was what was happening at this very moment.

"Will you quit worrying already!" Lisette laughed, popping her softly on the ass with an open hand. It didn't really hurt at all, but the surprise of it jolted Briar out of her mental logjam.

She was standing completely nude in the middle of a small, white tent that was tall enough to stand in and had just enough room for herself and the three other girls with her. The tent material was fairly thin, so the bright summer sun was shinning through. Under her feet, blades of grass were tickling her bare feet.

"Are you good now?" Kaya asked, pulling two bottles out of a woven basket on the ground.

"Yeah, thank you Lisette," Briar smiled. "It only just hit me I think, that I am going to be married in front of thousands of people in just a few minutes."

"Coral's probably not feeling any different," Tessa supplied from where she was kneeling between Briar's legs. As part of the ceremony, the closest friend of each participant would help prepare their new spouse. Oriana was in the same place Tessa was, but under Coral.

"Ooh, this stuff really tingles!" Listte laughed, pouring golden colored oil onto her left hand. Then she closed the bottle and after coating both hands, she reached out for Briar's right arm. Kaya was doing the same on the other side. When their hands touched her, she felt it to.

The oil contained a chemical similar to that found in the saliva of the Sisters. It was an weak aphrodisiac. That alone would have been enough to excite her, but Lisette and Kaye were both being very generous with their hands as they oiled up her freshly cleaned body. Not one spot was left untouched. Lisette spent a few minutes oiling inside her ass crack and even stuck her finger inside for fun. This left ever inch of skin tingly in a way that was drenching her pussy.  When they were done, they stepped back, for now it was Tessa's turn.

Briar had to brace herself of Tessa's slim shoulders when the girl's long tongue plunged into her pussy. Tessa's pleasuring, on top of the oil, was making her leak profusely, and producing wet, sexual noises with every invading tongue stroke. But Tessa was careful never to let her orgasm.  Every time she drew near that threshold, Tessa pulled back. This went on for a bit until finally, Tessa withdrew and stood, leaving Briar dripping and as visibly aroused as she'd ever been.

"Wow, it kinda hurts to look at you like that," Tessa said softly, using her long tongue to lick Briar's juices off of her own face. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine in a little bit, but thank you for that Tessa," Briar answered. Thanks to the effects of the oil, she was staying in the heightened state of arousal Tessa had left her in and it wasn't decreasing at all. "You need to go tell them I'm ready."

"Right," Tessa nodded. She gave Briar one last smile and then ducked out of the tent. At her appearance, Briar heard a sharp increase in the background murmur of the massive crowd outside. Then there was another surge, but the crown quickly quieted down and the Queen's voice rang out loudly, magically amplified.

"Sisters, Gardens, and honored guests," she began, voice filled with pride and joy. "Today is the day that will change our people forever. We will be embarking on a future, all of our own, separate from those who despise us. Today is a day of beginnings; a day of hope and rebirth, blessed by our guiding Lady. From here on, there will be many firsts, and may trials. There will be hardship and struggle, but we will face them together."

"All of you know how hard we have been working these last five weeks, as the world watched on.  The first of our Sisters will be departing in just a few short moments, but their success has been in all our hands. Not just the hands of Sisters, but the hands of our treasured Gardens as well. Only by joining together and relying on each other will we survive, which is why we are here today."

There was a slight pause for added effect.

"Coral. Briar. Please step out into the light."

Before her nerves could do anything to hold her back, Briar took a deep breath and stepped out of the tent.  The bright sun momentarily blinded her, but as soon as her eyes adjusted she saw once again just how many people had gathered for this event.

Around a raised central platform, which the tents had flanked on two sides, were thousands of Sisters, servant women, Gardens, and the Mai.  Only the men of Briar's people had been forbidden admittance. The platform had been assembled in the last week in the widest, open area available, and it was still packed. Briar turned to her left and ascended the wooden steps to that platform and arose into view of all of them. On the opposite side, Coral was doing the same.

Briar's eyes locked onto Coral and they shared smiles. Coral was in the same state she was. Her tiny nipples were like pebbles and her small slit was drooling. Briar wanted nothing more in that moment than to run over, tackle Coral, and make love to her, regardless of the audience. She instead considered her restraint from doing so, to be admirable.

"My daughter Coral-," the Queen continued from the center of the platform where she stood in front of a small table. Oriana and Tessa were standing beside it. "-will be joined today in marriage to Briar, a Garden come to us from another people entirely."

As scripted, Briar and Coral walked to the center of the platform in full view of everyone. The stopped a couple paces apart, with the Queen between them.

"For too long, we have treated the Garden's like precious plants to be cared for and nurtured," the Queen continued. "That can no longer be.  As we walk forward today, they must walk beside us as equals; for it is they who will save us all. Many of you have women and girls you call 'partners' whom you love and are in turn loved by them. This is why today; I will marry my daughter and this young woman, whom many of you have heard things about these last few weeks."

"As you can see, they are naked to the world, to show us that we are all just women in the end," with that, the Queen discarded the white robe she was wearing and stepped forward, naked and proud. "So today I will join these women together, as a woman."

Oriana, standing behind the queen, dropped her own dress to the wood and picked up a small porcelain bowl from the low table. She carried it forward and calmly handed it to the Queen, who accepted it with a small kiss to Oriana's cheek. Then she turned her smiling gaze on the two participants.

"Coral, will you share your waters, your blood, and your name to Briar, to take her as your wife? Will you walk your life beside hers and take her into your house?"

"I will Uma," Coral responded, eyes shimmering slightly with unshed tears. "Everything that is mine is hers to share. I am hers."

Arianne, for the moment a woman and mother, and not a queen, nodded. She knelt before her daughter, and placed the bowl between her legs. Gently Coral's lower lips were spread and a stream of her fluids poured into the bowl, generated by her powerful arousal and the effects of the oil on her body. After a moment of this Arianne removed the bowl and took her daughter's hand and held one finger over it. There was a spark of magic and a single crimson drop splash into the half-filled container. Then the Queen stood.

"Briar, do you share your waters, and your blood, and do you accept Coral's name? Will you walk your life beside my daughter as Head Wife of her house?"

"I will, Your Grace," Briar answered solemnly, keeping her eyes on Coral's. "I am hers."

Then it was Briar's turn with the bowl. The blood part didn't even hurt, thought it did feel odd. When the Queen stood yet again, the small bowl was filled almost to the rim.  Tessa, who was now nude as well, stepped forward to hold the bowl out and level.

Silently, the Queen stirred the bowl of fluids with her first two fingers and pulled them out. Then she used those fingers to smear a line down Coral's smooth belly. She repeated the action on Briar, which as sensitive as she was at the moment, almost made her cum.

"With these shared waters and blood, I ask the Lady's blessing on their marriage," the Queen intoned happily. "May you both become one."

At that signal, Briar stepped forward as Coral did and their mouths came together.  Their tongues twined and caressed together, even as their arms enfolded the other.  Since they were both only a breath away, their orgasms flashed through their bodies almost simultaneously and in such a way that it was obvious to the entire watching body of women.

When they broke the kiss, they were kneeling in small puddles of fluids and nearly breathless.  Coral was flushed and beautiful, staring at Briar with love in her eyes.  Just as the thought of pushing Coral back onto the wood and making love to her for hours appeared in her mind, arms reach down and pulled them back up to their feet. Briar recognized Oriana's touch on her sexually sensitive skin, and it made her shiver.  It was then Briar remembered the crowd, which was cheering and clapping.  Briar reached out her hand, took Coral's, and then turned them toward the Queen who spoke with great warmth.

"As Queen, as a woman, and as a mother, I pronounce you married!"

The cheering of the crowd redoubled and in a section filled with Gardens, Briar saw many of her new friends shouting right along with the rest. She was still shivering slightly from her quick release and from a desire for more, so it was hard to stand still while the Queen let it go on for a few moments.

Then the Queen raised her hand for silence, which came quickly.

"I must thank you all again, for your hard work. I hope you will all take something from this joyful union. Now go, have fun and congratulate your departing friends for tomorrow morning they will be leaving us. Go!"

Immediately a furor of voices erupted from thousands of mouths as the gathered women begin dispersing.  Many paused close to the platform to offer their congratulations and approval for the marriage.  It took nearly an hour for them all to head back to wherever they were having parties or dinners before the big event. Then Coral's friends and Briar's were the only ones left, and they were all worked up into quite a mood.

"Looks like you two are in for an interesting last night in town," the Queen chuckled, still unabashedly unclothed. She looked out over the other girls. "Don't get too carried away tonight, girls. Make sure at least these two are able to walk in the morning."  With that, the Queen picked up her discarded robe, and calmly walked away towards the palace, guards silently tagging along.

The next bit of time was a blur for Briar because she and Coral were 'escorted' to Moon Hill by their collective mob of friends while still in a sexual fog. Then they somehow ended up on a pallet together where they began making love without saying word. Other people, visited them throughout the afternoon and evening, but their main focus was on each other. Briar did notice when her closest friends were with them though, and at one point Tessa gave her an apology orgasm for the one she'd been denied in the tent. So by the time the sun set, Coral was asleep in her arms and she felt wonderfully complete.

******

The next morning Briar stood hand-in-hand with Coral. Behind and around them the first expeditionary colony of the Sisterhood was arrayed.  Everyone one of them was carrying a large backpack. Around them was coordinated chaos.

The platform from the day before had been removed overnight from the open grounds and in its place was a large V of tall wooden poles, each intricately carved with complex magical sigils. Briar stood just in front of the widely spaced poles at the base of the formation with only the Queen and her wives in front of the colony group.  Every other sister was involved with maneuvering wagons of supplies and livestock into position to go through the gate.

"Are you sure you're ready?" the Queen asked quietly. Beside her, Kanna and Min were crying softly. Their good-byes with Coral had brought tears to almost everyone.

"We're ready." Briar acknowledged and squeezed Coral's hand. "Do you want to knock on the door?"

Coral smiled and Briar felt her new wife gathering power. Around them, other Sisters felt the signal and did the same. The effect rippled outward until every Sister in range of the gate was thrumming with magic. This gate, as Briar had been told, was a pre-made spell. All it required was magical power to fuel it; which was what was happening now.

As Nia had carefully taught her, Briar added her own magic into the river that was forming and had to gasp at the experience.  It felt like the vary air was vibrating from the amassed power, but with a great purpose. Then the threshold was reached and a deafening, thunderous boom cracked into the dawn as bolts of magic ripped down the sequence of poles and into the pair at the apex. Between that pair of poles, the air shimmered, rippled, and then finally tore open as the fabric of realty was punctured.

The noise of the working Sisterhood quieted.

Through the now opened gateway they all saw their new home for the first time. Sure the survey teams had already gone through as well as the first construction crews, but this was the true moment for all of them. This is why no one broke the silence for a long time, and simply stared at a sun dappled forest scene. The only way, in Briar's opinion, that the scene could have been any more inviting, would be a gently flowing stream and cozy house in the distance. But as a home, this would certainly do.

"Let's go Coral, or we'll never get anyone moving," Briar said quietly. She got them moving forward, and their grass-crunching footsteps were loud in the silence. They approached the Royal family on the way and they gave each of them one last kiss. Then they stood on the very threshold with only a barely visible barrier between them and an alien world. Behind them were Oriana, Lisette, Kaya, Tessa, and all the rest.

Briar gazed into Coral's blue eyes, and together, as one, they stepped into the future.