Lost in Eros 2: The Forest 11

Nina pushed Tascha back, though not too forcefully, and said, "We have to get to work."

"But I owe you something for the other night."

"No, you told me about the goats, and besides, I like making people come. We'll have time to play later, though," she grinned.

Tascha accepted this, and, dripping wet for the moment, followed Nina out into Brigit's bedroom. Nina produced a pair of crude brooms and said that their job for the day was to sweep. She acted as if she actually expected to have to show Tascha how to sweep. However, when Tascha demonstrated that she was already familiar with the principle behind the operation of a broom, Nina was happy to let Tascha sweep Brigit's room, while she went to sweep out the next one down the hall.

As she swept, Tascha thought about what Nina had said about the bull. This was the first she'd heard of anything in Eros being actually, really deadly. Sure, she had nearly drowned when she'd fallen into the river, and that asshole before that had been waving a knife around, and, the sisters sure seemed like they were capable of killing someone, though she doubted they would have any reason to, but in general things in Eros seemed only interested in having sex. She had a vivid memory, though, of the glimpse she had caught of Don hitting the man who had been trying to rape Amy. It certainly looked to Tascha as if Don had killed that man. She thought that perhaps the most dangerous thing in Eros was her best friend and lover.

Tascha concluded from all this that the bull was mostly likely a myth spread to keep the serving girls and men from trying to flee the discipline of the warrior women. At most it was probably an exaggeration – the truth was probably nothing more than a stray bull.Probably a very horny bull, Tascha thought with a smile and a shake of her head.I better watch out for that.

Tascha swept the pile of dirt out into the hall as Nina had instructed. She looked around and saw no sisters standing guard. They apparently trusted that the serving girls wouldn't misbehave. Nina was finishing her room, so Tascha moved on down the line to the next chamber, which was down a small flight of stairs. This one had a wider window, and the trees outside were growing right up against the wall at this point.

Tascha poked her head back out into corridor to make sure no one was coming, and then quickly crossed to the window. There was a sturdy-looking branch only a short distance away from her. Tascha briefly considered saying goodbye to Nina, and actually felt bad that she might cause the girl to be punished, but decided she had to take the chance. She jumped for the branch and caught it with both hands. The branch creaked and swung under weight, but it and her grip held. Tascha moved like a monkey along the limb until she could wrap her legs around a thicker branch. A moment of clambering, and she was squatting on a broad enough limb. She caught her breath and listened for any alarm. When she was sure she wasn't spotted, Tascha began to work her way along the big tree's system of branches, moving steadily away from the castle.

Soon, though, she was as far away from the window she'd leapt from as she could get without either changing trees or climbing down to the ground. Tascha thought she would do a better job of escaping the Sisterhood if she stayed off the ground as long as possible. She maneuvered up a bit until she saw a thick enough branch of the next tree within short jumping distance. She tensed and jumped, catching the branch easily. The leaves around her rustled in noisy complaint, but she was safe. Moving carefully among the branches, Tascha transferred herself to another tree. When she had moved to her fourth tree she realized she would have to climb down; the nearby trees simply weren't near enough.

Carefully, she lowered herself down, branch to branch. Unfortunately, the branches stopped a good five meters from the forest floor. Looking around to make sure no one was about, Tascha lay down on the branch, its rough surface scraping her naked skin. She slowly suspended herself from the branch. Tascha let herself hang full length from the branch before she let go. She hit the leaf-covered ground and dropped into a low crouch. She paused there, ears pricked, trying to hear any sound that might indicate her escape had been noticed.

Then, when there was no indication that she'd been missed by the Sisterhood, Tascha began to move quickly, and as quietly as she could, away from the castle, into the forest. After about half an hour, she came to a clearing, through which ran a little stream. Tascha smiled to herself, glad that no one seemed to be chasing her, proud that she'd managed to escape and happy to enjoy the sunshine on this fine day. She knelt down by the stream and began to wash off the dirt and leaves she'd accumulated during her arboreal journey. She winced a little as she cleaned the scrapes on her arms, legs and belly. She was almost done, when she heard the sound of a large cow snuffling... a large cow or... Tascha looked up with sudden alarm.

There, only a short distance away, across the clearing and watching her intently, was the Bull.