Harold Plays The Hero

You two have saved us again. The public reward is little enough for your services. The resources of my state are yours to command."

I spoke for Lisa and myself.

"Your Majesty. We do not need a reward. You are our friend. We acted to protect our friends. You protected us yesterday. We protected you today. Between friends there is no need for rewards."

Lisa nodded beside me.

"There is one thing I know that you want," Serena insisted. "You want children."

Lisa and I looked at each other. How could Serena know that? And what could she do about it?

Serena saw our confusion and giggled. "No! I'm not going to give you a couple of native babies!"

I blushed. She seemed to think it amusing.

"We have some interesting customs and rituals to encourage conception. Do not worry. They are not disgusting or likely to upset you. You may like to try them as an education. You have nothing to lose except perhaps a couple of hours sleep tonight. If you will stay here tonight the ritual could be completed by morning. If it works you can thank me. If it doesn't you will recall an interesting experience that was enjoyable."

Before I could speak Lisa jumped in, replying for both of us.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. We accept."

"Very well. It will be arranged shortly. Now that both of you have addressed me as 'Your Majesty' that is enough. You may have to address me and my husband in such terms in public but never again in private. I am Serena. He is Visha. To us you are Harold and Lisa. Agreed?"

We nodded. "Thank you, Serena" I said.

"Now we should go and change into more comfortable clothing. I know yours is still back at the cantonment so you will have to go native tonight. My ladies will find clothing for you."

Serena clapped her hands. A young lady appeared and bowed to Serena, who spoke a few sentences in a dialect I'd never heard. The young lady bowed and left.

Serena led us from the room into a... I'm not sure how to describe it. It wasn't a bedchamber. It wasn't a public room. It wasn't a private room either. It was too large (about twenty metres square) and too ornately furnished. We looked around and marvelled at the erotic bas-reliefs on the walls, the erotic silken hangings, the tented ceiling, the numerous couches and cushions. Serena was amused by our interest and our perplexity.

"You may not believe me, but this room is the entrance hall to a temple. It is also known as the orgy-room. The late Rajah held many parties here to which his official women were NOT invited. Now I think my husband and I will use it for entertaining friends. At present you two are the only ones who fit that description so we have enough space, I think."

She took us on a tour of the room paying particular attention to the erotic art. I was getting more and more embarrassed until Lisa held my hand and squeezed it. Then Serena held my other hand. The two of them made sure that I inspected everything closely. Some of the positions seemed impossible, but most were interesting variations on a familiar theme. They certainly gave me ideas! Just before my excitement became too obvious the young lady returned followed by six others who were very scantily dressed. Each wore a very thin cotton sari which was translucent and showed that they had nothing but skin underneath. They were carrying clothing.

"Good!" said Serena "Now we can change."

She pulled me through a curtained archway. Lisa came too, still holding my hand. The six girls followed us. It was a bathroom with a large sunken pool tiled in a brilliant blue. Around it the tiles showed erotic bathing scenes. Before I could protest the young ladies started stripping me. Lisa and Serena were undressing each other and watching me with amusement.

Serena's response to my protests was "I held you naked in my arms yesterday. Lisa's seen all of you before. My bath attendants are enjoying themselves. They've never bathed an Englishman before and they're curious. You wouldn't disappoint them, would you?"

I had little chance of disappointing them. They had stripped me with remarkable speed and efficiency and had bundled me into the pool, following me in. Somehow their saris had been left behind.

Six pairs of hands washed me gently. Then one swam round to my head and poured some liquid on it before washing my hair carefully and thoroughly. While she was busy, one of the others was gently scraping my skin with a bronze implement. The other four had started washing Lisa and Serena who had entered the water while I was distracted.

When the girl was satisfied with my hair Lisa called me.

"Harold! Come over here please."

I half-swam, half-waded to where she was sitting on the side of the pool. Her hair was down and was being given the undivided attention of two girls. Her hair was so long that it was fanned out behind her. Even so, Serena's was longer. If she had been standing it might have reached down to her knees. Both women had beautiful tresses which were being expertly dried.

I climbed out of the pool and sat between Lisa and Serena. The two girls who had been with me started with my hair. Then we all stood up and our bodies were dried and lightly perfumed. That made me glad I was with Lisa. No man could go home to his wife smelling of perfume and expect to survive unscathed. I certainly couldn't go into the mess trailing perfume. The more usual male scents there were sweat, horses and cigars. I realised that most Englishwomen I knew had the same scent except for the cigars. Lisa, Jane and their friends were the exceptions.

The girls dressed Serena in a silver sari with a golden border. As she stood there with her hair streaming down her back she looked like a man's ideal fantasy of a savage Queen. Her hair was being worked back into its normal heavy braid.

Lisa had a bright blue sari with silver stars. It strained at the top inadequately concealing her breasts.

I was dressed in a white cotton loin cloth. It took the girls some time to get it on me as their hands tickled me. I felt more naked wearing it than without it. I felt delicate fingers moving over the scars on my chest as if they were questioning their origin. The large one on my back had special attention. One of the girls spoke deferentially to Serena who replied. The girl winced.

Serena spoke to me: "She wanted to know why such a brave man had a scar on his back when most were in the front where they should be. I told her that it was caused by a bullet going through from the front and blowing your flesh away. She didn't like the idea of that."

"Neither did I at the time!" I retorted. "It was a fragment of cannon ball, not a bullet."

"You must tell me the story of your scars sometime, Harold" Serena said.

Lisa looked at me. She wasn't letting Serena go that far unless she was present. I nodded both to Serena's spoken request and Lisa's unspoken one. I might tell them both, but not to Serena alone.

The young ladies had resumed their thin saris. Throughout the bathing I had been thinking about Serena's attendants. I'm not sure how to describe the young ladies who attended Serena. They didn't behave like servants, certainly not like those of the late Rajah and Ranee. Their servants had gone about in fear of their lives or at least a whipping. These young ladies were deferential to Serena and to us but not subservient. They seemed to have a pride in themselves and the services they performed. They had individuality and I was aware that each one was herself, not just another servant, handmaiden or whatever. Before I had not been conscious of which servants had been in the Rajah's presence. If a servant drew attention, it was followed by punishment. It was not customary then to thank one of the Rajah's servants. I felt that with Serena's it was different. I decided to make an experiment.

"Serena. I would like to thank your young ladies for such an enjoyable bath. They are beautiful, talented and highly skilled. I appreciate their care and courtesy. Please, could you convey my thanks to them since I regret I do not speak their dialect?"

As I spoke I realised I had the six young ladies' complete attention. Even before Serena replied I knew that they understood English very well!

One of them whispered in Serena's ear. "Harold, they understand English..."

"I thought they did"

"... but please forget that they do. It is very useful to me that my young ladies have talents that men do not suspect..." I nodded.

"...Their reply is that they knew that you were a brave, courteous and intelligent man. The bravery they know about from the last two days. The courtesy you have just shown. But intelligence, that they have doubts about. What intelligent man praises other women in his wife's presence?"

Lisa and I laughed heartily. I collected myself before I replied directly to the women.

"My wife is intelligent too. She knows that if I praise other women in her presence it is much safer than if I praise them when she is not there. She knows I appreciate beauty, intelligence and talent in other women. Why should I not? She also knows that I chose her and that I would not leave her for another woman. I would not. I am not so brave that I dare risk her anger."

That caused a storm of laughter. There was a whisper in Lisa's ear this time. She looked at me before nodding. The girls huddled together and then I was swamped by them and kissed by each!

The last one spoke for all. "Thank you for your kind words and your wisdom. We had not realised that such understanding between husband and wife could exist. We are pleased to have met you both." Then they all kissed Lisa.

Serena clapped her hands. "Please prepare the room as we agreed. From now on we will forget that you speak English. Thank you for entertaining my guests so well that you attracted their praise." The young ladies left, bowing to Serena as they went.

"They are some of my most valuable allies. They have been moving around the palace doing their duties unobtrusively but keeping their ears and eyes open. Not only do they understand English and most of the languages and dialects of the area but they can read and write them!"

Lisa and I were astonished. Women who could read and write even one language were rare in this part of India. Women were considered not worth the cost of education.

Serena continued "That's how I knew about the attack on the cantonments. The Rajah left a letter lying around. Normally that would be safe since so few people can read but he wasn't safe with my young ladies as Harold calls them."

"They are extremely talented." I said

"Yes they are in more ways than you might suspect from what you have seen of them of far..."

"He's seen enough of them!" interrupted Lisa

"He's seen them naked but we don't have them same attitude to naked skin that you English have. I meant that they have other abilities that you haven't seen yet."

Lisa began to look dangerous. Even Serena noticed. She laughed.

"Yes Lisa, they are skilled at seduction but I wouldn't ask them to do that to a friend. They are the priestesses of this temple. Their leader, Pushpa, whom you saw briefly, is the Chief Priestess. All seven will take part in the ceremony being prepared now for you two. They should be ready shortly."

As if she had heard the young lady who had first brought us in to the orgy room appeared. She bowed to Serena and then to us. We bowed back which seemed to surprise her.

"This is Pushpa. They are ready for us." Serena said.

We followed Pushpa back into the orgy room. Much of the furnishings had been moved to the walls leaving a large settee facing an open area. Pushpa motioned to us to sit on the settee. Lisa took my right hand, Serena my left, as we sat down. The other six young ladies stood either side of a curtained doorway I hadn't noticed before.

Pushpa began a speech which I couldn't understand. Serena whispered a translation to us.

"This speech is a formal invocation to the Goddess on your behalf. She is asking for the Goddess to grant children to you two, and is insisting that the grant be made now, not at the Goddess's convenience. That is a normal request because later in a Goddess's time scale may be several of our lifetimes. She is saying that you deserve a reward for your recent services to the Goddess's people, preserving them from needless bloodshed. Now she is chanting the ritual prayers necessary. When she has finished we will go into the temple for you to be introduced to the Goddess. If the Goddess accepts you, the next part of the ritual can proceed. There is some doubt about your acceptance because the Goddess has never met an English couple before and you are non-believers in her sense. The priestess is recounting your services to the state and to me in detail and asking in my name for Her favour. It is just as well you don't understand her. She is being very explicit about your deeds and your personal beauties! She has even explained about the scar on your back, Harold, and the colour of your skins!"

I nearly spoke but Serena's hand covered my mouth firmly. "It is not proper for either of you to speak until we have returned here after your introduction." I nodded and she withdrew her hand.

Pushpa finished and Serena stood up, pulling me to my feet. Lisa followed. Pushpa took Lisa's other hand and the four of us approached the doorway.

Pushpa spoke quickly to Serena and she translated "This time we must continue to hold hands. Pushpa will enter, and then Lisa, then Harold and I come last. We leave in the same order. Do not worry. The Goddess is a kind one and even if she refuses to accept you She will not harm you or us."

Pushpa entered and we followed still holding hands. The temple was one huge room with no roof. It was open to the moonlit sky. The figure of the Goddess was a massive stone statue of a naked woman on all fours with her breasts dangling down. There was a hint of drapery around the hips but nowhere else. Her head was turned towards us with a faint smile on it.

Pushpa led us towards the head. We bowed. Then Pushpa led us between the breasts which were just above my head. We walked down towards the Goddess's yoni and as we passed under it and between her legs I felt a gentle spray of cool liquid over my head and shoulders. We continued past her feet then up the other side, round to the Goddess's face. As we bowed again I thought that the smile was much wider and more sensual. It seemed as if the Goddess was smiling directly at me! It must have been a trick of the moonlight. Pushpa led us out and back into the orgy room.

Serena gasped "I've never known such a positive response! Look at him," she said pointing at my head and shoulders. "He's soaked!"

Indeed I was. My hair was as wet as it had been coming out the pool and my shoulders and back were dripping as if I'd been caught in a heavy downpour. I was much wetter than my impression of a gentle spray would justify. Serena's ladies gathered round me in awe. They wiped me dry, putting the damp towels in an exquisitely carved casket.

Pushpa realised that Lisa was damp as well. Her hair glistened and her sari clung to her shoulders. Lisa was dried and her sari exchanged for another, this time a rich patterned one. Her blue sari with stars went in another casket with the towels used to dry her. Serena's young ladies were chattering excitedly together. Serena clapped her hands for attention.

"Since it's so important you'd better explain in English." she told them.

Pushpa started "We've never seen such a response from the Goddess. No one has been anointed so profusely. No woman has ever been anointed before, not even me, her High Priestess!"

Another added "You two have been honoured more than any one has ever been. The ritual is certain to succeed. It is also an endorsement of our Queen. Her request on your behalf has been answered so promptly that she and her reign must be blessed."

I forbore to comment since they were obviously so pleased. I hadn't felt blessed, just cooled. I was beginning to wonder what the rest of the ritual would entail. Pushpa enlightened me.

"Now we will serve you with the ceremonial wine and dance for you before the final act."

The ladies brought forward jewel encrusted goblets. Mine was much larger than the others. They knelt before us and presented the goblets with raised hands.

"You must finish all of it." Pushpa said to me. "Your wife must drink all of hers. Our Queen can choose how much she drinks. You have no choice!"

I gulped. I had at least two litres to drink. The others had half a litre each. I made a start and found that the wine was as refreshing as spa water with a slight bite to it. I finished my two litres or so in a couple of minutes. That also seemed to amaze the audience who had been watching me intently. Why they should be amazed I couldn't understand. It had been easier than downing a few bottles of pale ale in the mess.

I turned to Lisa. She also had finished. Serena seemed to be having difficulty with her goblet. With an effort she drained the last. I returned my goblet to the lady still kneeling before me. She seemed in awe of me and nearly dropped it!

Even Pushpa seemed to be - not frightened of me - more considering me as if I was an extremely unusual person with talents she had never before realised.

I didn't feel as if I'd done something unusual. All I had done was drink two litres or so of flavoured water. What was special about that?

The other goblets were collected and then all seven left the room. Pushpa returned with a stringed instrument. She sat down with the instrument on her lap and began to play a soft melody. It was a melody, not the usual native sounds. It seemed plaintive, pleading and curiously moving. After a minute or two the music changed to a more insistent tone and the young ladies entered dancing sinuously. Their breasts were covered; their midriffs were bare; their feet were bare but they wore flowing red skirts embroidered with gold that shimmered as they moved.

As Pushpa's playing became more rhythmical their skirts swirled around them expanding like flowers and contracting again as they twisted and turned. Their hands, fingers and arms traced messages that I couldn't understand - or could I? They were mildly erotic, not conveying an invitation from the dancers, more a general suggestion that love was desirable. I was more conscious of Lisa's hand in mine than I had been. I was holding her hand. Serena's hand was resting on mine. I was not holding it. She was not holding mine. The message from her was becoming clear. She was supporting me in whatever I wanted to do. From Lisa the message was much clearer. She wanted our child.

Only afterwards did I wonder how I received their messages. Lisa, Serena, Pushpa and the dancers were all communicating clearly to me yet not a word was spoken. From all of them came love and respect that I felt was undeserved yet freely given.

The music and the dancing gradually became a more intense sensation. I felt the music as part of my being. Each dancer's movements seemed as if they were pressed against my body yet I knew I was sitting here and they - they were dancing over there, in front of me. Slowly, slowly my hold on reality slid away. The dancers WERE around me, even inside me, above me, below me. I was lost in swirling bodies and clinging arms.

To clear my head I turned slightly towards Lisa and found that she'd become a dancer too. She wrapped her arms around me and her hair whipped across my face as she danced with me. Serena was there as well. She and Lisa danced together with me between them. They grew larger and larger until their breasts were at my face level, fascinating me with their movement. Their breasts moved upwards and their navels danced before my eyes. The last I remember is the sensation of Lisa and Serena's red skirts slithering around my face... Even as I lost consciousness I knew that Lisa and Serena weren't wearing red...