The Sighs of the Priestess Ch. 06

The Priestess nodded with a grin, "Not so far off the truth of it, I think, but to finish it, I would say that the girl Yanna is a fearsome one as well, and each would do anything to protect the other. That will make a better legend."

"Well, it is too flowery for me and him, I think," Yanna said, "I would be happy only to sleep with him and have no bars in the way. This is like a dream that I could never dare to have. If I wake still free in the morning and can hold him to me, it will be enough."

Nisi-ini-su wished them a good night and left them at the tent that they were given for the night. Inside it, they found the rider who had found them first.

"Illya," she smiled, "You did well with the bow that I left in the cart for you. Let us call it my gift to you." She pointed to some things in one corner of the tent. "There you will find a better dagger and a scabbard for it, and several full quivers of arrows for you. There are clean clothes for you both over there."

"Why are you doing these things?" he asked, "I cannot give enough thanks, but I wonder. My life has never brought me so much fortune as this one night has."

She shrugged, "Because sometimes things happen which should never happen in this garden. I heard what was said, Yanna. I wondered if you were made to be for each other at the outset, and I would say no. But now, I think that even if all of us together at Jebel Bishri could find a way to undo what was done to you, you would still feel as though you belonged to each other now. I can say that there is a greater chance that you will stay together than drift apart now. None of us want for you to remain as you are, Yanna, but if it cannot be changed, I can tell you now – even though it will make him turn red again – that Illya loves you truly and would have you always and think that he is the luckiest man alive for it."

She laughed a little in a soft way, "You hate the way that you are. He hates it only because you do. Try a little test for me, children. You do not have to wait this long, but when you come to Jebel Bishri and you find a warm day for it, go to the orchards there with a meal to share. Watch the clouds roll in the sky for a time and then give him a chance to show you how he feels about how you look to him like this. You said that you liked his body. I hope that you still like it after you get there, for he will spend time with a weaponsmith there and after, you both will learn our ways and we will see what fortune may bring to you both then."

She smiled, "He will get a little - stronger. It will be a good thing, I think, for when you see how he feels, you may find things about yourself that were never there before. If I am right, they will start from what has been inside you for a long time for him, but something will be added from the other nature that you carry. You may want to show him how you feel about him then. I can see a little into what will likely be, children, whether this is lifted from you or not, and when the cat-girl wants her boy ..."

The warm and understanding grin on her kind face could make even a pair of confused and mismatched young friends smile along a little, despite their tiredness and the little question that both of them held deep inside. Neither one knew exactly how this would turn out – or even if anything should. It had been a hell of a day.

"I leave you this lamp," she said, setting a small oil lamp down on a flat-topped stake near the corner, made for just such a purpose. She said her blessings to them, bowing to them on her way out.

They looked at each other across the two feet of space between them. "I would think," Illya said very quietly, "that what the girl likely wants the most is not to be reminded of what it is that causes her to feel badly in the first place."

Yanna smiled a little, "I know what she means to say. She does not say it directly, but I think that she tells me to try my freedom with you as I am before complaining about the loss of what I had as I was, and she brings loving into it as well. Only... I have never loved with a man. I was raped the night that I was caught."

She smirked a little bitterly, "If there is one good thing about what I am now, I guess that I can say that I will never be forced again."

She looked down and shook off the memories of that horrible night. The way that she felt now, she was beginning to think less about dying and more about living. Yanna supposed that was a good thing, and tried not to think about doing even the simplest things as she was. How could she walk in any place where there were people? What could she do to earn a living? Would she be chased and hounded? She supposed that the best that she could hope for would be to be shunned. At least she'd be left alone. She was tired of being laughed at and having people point at her or throw stones at her. Illya had done so much for her, but she wondered if there was anything possible for them. He would be shunned too if they were together. How much of that could Illya take before he'd had enough?

She looked at Illya again. He wondered about it when he saw her tilt her head a little but said nothing. If she looked at him in what she guessed was the old way, before this had happened, she remembered liking him very much, though she didn't know him. Now, trying not to think of what had happened this evening, she still found him appealing in so many ways. Yanna tried carefully to sift out her gratitude for everything that he'd done for her over the time and just look at him objectively. She wanted to know something and set herself a hypothetical question. If she'd just met him – right here and now – without the background and the veneer of one's place in society, would she be interested?

The answer made her smirk.

"What are you smiling about?" Illya asked.

Yanna put her pawed hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes. She was a lot smaller than Illya, but standing on her legs alone brought her to his height exactly. "I smile at stupid questions. But I have at least one that I must have some answer to. Am I ... am I pretty to you, Illya?"

"I guess that it must sound foolish, but, ... I think that a person knows at least a little about how they look to others. As I am, I do not. I think that I am ugly, but I have heard some say here that I am not. Now I know nothing anymore, so to you, Illya,... am I?"

Illya smiled softly and was about to speak, but their two companions from their adventure earlier lifted the tent flap and bustled in. "For pity's sake, Yanna," one of them said, "that is no question to ask him now unless you wish for a place to hang a hat. The night grows cool and we go to the river now to bathe. Until you get to Jebel Bishri, we are your guards now, and as such, we can tell you that you both need to bathe. You are to come with us."

As they walked along the rows of tents, the women introduced themselves. "It is a bit late after what we have shared earlier, but I am Smyrna," the one who had driven the cart said, "and the girl with the still-wondrous ass that was not pierced by an arrow in the dark is Daggat."

"You are our guards?" Illya was astounded.

"Call us your companions and guides," Daggat grinned, "Some of us here are from the fortress, but most here are of the tribes. There is much restlessness here this night. You are not used to this and we are to keep you out of trouble. But I can say that the tale of the mighty young archer and the cat-girl has grown its own legs and runs from fire-pit to tent in this place. All have heard that there is a wild girl in the camp who tore a man apart in a heartbeat and they know a little of the boy who faced the archers on the wall alone to keep his girl safe. You were not a pair before this night, but you are to the people hereabouts now. We love a good story," she beamed and nodded brightly.

Smyrna pulled Yanna close and whispered, "From what I heard you say, I think that you need to know something, so I will tell it plainly. You do not need to hear more of how we all are sad over what was done to you, but I want you to know that many here who have seen only glimpses of you think that you are lovely as you are. Daggat and I are among them, Yanna. So do not worry about what your boy here thinks. To anyone with eyes, you need fear nothing about how you look to him. And that is surely what he is, Yanna – your boy. That you have his heart is shown plainly all over him."

Yanna's eyes widened under her hood and Smyrna chuckled, "Oh yes, it is so. Once we get him clean, Illya will look even better – almost respectable," she grinned, "but I want you to know something, since to live as you have may have added much confusion to how you see things. I have many men friends, but I do not want a man in my bed. For that, I have my girl Daggat, and we have been together a long while now. But I think that if there was one who could test my conviction in a different situation – if I saw him shoot this night but Yanna and Daggat were never part of the tale or my life, it might be your man Illya. I say this to tell you that what matters is how you see him, but if you need to be told, others see him as fine. Did you mark it when he stood in the cart to shoot? Did you see him there?"

Yanna nodded with a shy smile and the fighter grinned, "He was good to see like that, no? Daggat told me that she melted at the sight herself, so I think that you both are prizes to each other."

At the river, the four bathed quickly and little was said. The water was barely warm and the night was too cool for much more, and they wanted no one to see them. There was just the barest sliver of a moon in the clouds and Illya felt his heart in his chest as he watched Yanna duck her head under the water to wash her hair. When she stood up and threw her mane back with her head, he felt something else stir.

Yanna asked Illya to wash her back and he was confused. "Do I go only one way here?"

She nodded, "I think so. I do not like my fur rubbed the other way. Is it a problem for you," she asked in a whisper, "my fur?"

"No, Yanna," he smiled, "it should not be here, but it is and I like it on you."

She glanced around quickly. She could see the others, but she knew that her eyes were well-suited to seeing in the dark, so they likely couldn't see her and Illya well at all. "If you like it so much, Illya, then please, go lower and wash my haunches for me too. I think that I want you to now."

As he washed lower, she leaned down and stood on all fours in the water so that he could reach better. Illya knew that he wasn't going to get much time here, but he did his best, washing her quickly so that he might have the time to offer her a few gentle caresses as well.

Yanna had to work at keeping herself from letting out the purr that she felt in her throat, but she gasped when she felt something else press against her for only a moment or two. Yanna knew what she wanted, but this was just not the place. She pulled herself away with difficulty and turned to him, placing her arms on his shoulders and pulling herself to him to give him a hug as she whispered. "Not here, Illya, but thank you for that. It told me much just then."

"What?" he smiled.

"That I am good enough for you to want," she smiled, "and that you and I can likely do it like that. Most of all, it told me in an instant that we have our own story between us. I guess that it is another wonder to me about you. I want you, Illya, not only like that, but I think that the ghost of the priestess was right about us. Suddenly, right then, I felt that I want to live and not die in my shame."

She sniffled a little, "I want to love you, Illya, whether this can be undone or not. I missed my chance to be your girl while I was one. You want to love me no matter how I look. That is good enough for me." She kissed his nose, "I don't know what I am, but whatever it is, I am your girl now."

She hugged him tightly and they kissed softly for a few minutes until Daggat hissed at them that they should hurry to get out.

They lost Yanna in the darkness for a few moments on the shore, but as Illya searched, he felt the warmth of her tongue on his cold and chilled maleness and froze as her paws came up to hold his hips for a moment. She opened her mouth and carefully took in all that he had. She decided that it was enough when she felt him begin to grow and drew back then to kiss him there once.

"Better?" she whispered.

"Thank you for that, Yanna."

He heard her quiet chuckle, "I do not know if it is right, what I did there, but I think that it must be since I want to do that a lot more now. You should go and put something on. I will not get lost, I was only hiding. But you should go while I try to dry off."

He stepped away and then felt just a little of the spray when she shook herself. Yanna stood up and came to him. After a quick kiss, she pulled her cloak over her shoulders and put up the hood.

Smyrna grabbed Illya's wrist and whispered quickly into his ear, "In your tent. Under the third quiver from the left, you will find the leather guards that you need to shoot without hurting yourself. These are from the Ba'al to you."

Illya nodded, but she pulled him closer. "I was not finished what I was told to say. Under the leather guards, you will find gifts from Nisi-ini-su and the Ba'al together. Vials of scented oil and some finery for one who needs now to feel beautiful. The oils are from the priestess for her, and the other things are to you from them both so that you might help her to feel better. They know that you have little, but that if you had a way, you would likely buy things such as these for her yourself. There is one bracelet aside from the rest. She is to put it on you if she accepts. It is soon for this, but for a pair such as you, perhaps it is the right thing."

Illya nodded and thanked her, but his words failed him right at that point. Smyrna grinned and nodded.

"I want to ask something," Yanna whispered to Daggat as the women led them back to the tent, "I do not know much about loving a man. I think that I need to know now – or soon."

Daggat leaned close as they walked, "On the one hand, it is as simple as can be, yet on the other, it is a lot to learn if you know little and seek to know in a hurry. If you speak about this night, then do not worry about it much, my friend. Anything that feels good is permitted. Hurting him is not. Simple, no? Killing him is right out," she giggled.

"Try what you think might be good and do not worry if it isn't what he likes. Try something else then. Let him show you what he wants and you show him too. It is not supposed to be a contest or a battle – unless you are lying with Smyrna. Everything is a battle then."

Daggat let out a small yelp, but when Yanna looked, Smyrna was still walking, though with a tiny smile on her face, and Daggat now walked rubbing her haunch.

They found themselves alone in their tent. It was only moments before they had the bedding laid out. Yanna carefully moved the little oil lamp to a spot on the ground. By the weight of it, she knew that it would go out very soon. She stood up and took off her cloak.

Illya looked at her for a long moment. In her structure, Yanna looked very much like a cheetah who now stood up – tall and lean. There were curves on her, but they seemed impossibly long, and yet they belonged and he felt his heart quicken. The difference was mostly her color. She had markings like a cheetah, but her fur and her skin were a dark, charcoal gray, just short of black. The stripes and markings were there, even on her face, but they were subdued.

Looking up, he saw her breasts. They were just like the rest of her, not large, but still fitting the entire package perfectly. After a second, he couldn't imagine them looking as appealing as they did to him if they were any other size in either direction.

He looked lower down, far down her tight belly and saw her mound there, very pronounced and it seemed to be waiting. His gaze narrowed down and he could see the swollen lips there, and just the barest hint of her little pearl glistening. She drew a breath and he stared as that pearl thickened and lengthened just a little.

She smiled at him a little hopefully, "Well?"

"If you still wish to ask me if I think that you are pretty," he smiled, "I could answer yes, but the question falls short and so does the answer. For the reason that you asked, I think that you are very pretty. But here and like this now, it is not the right word, and to say that you are beautiful also feels a little small to me."

He grinned, "I can say that I have never seen a woman who looked better to me. I have seen women that I might have wished to know, but they never had a thought for one such as I am. Those ones now? I wouldn't have a thought for any of them, except for one."

He turned and stepped to the corner of the tent. In a few seconds, he was back and Yanna's eyes widened as her mouth fell open. "Hold up your lovely hair, Yanna." She reached back and he held up the simple and elegant wire and bead necklace and fastened it. When he stepped away, her tears had begun, but he pretended not to notice. He took her hand and fastened the matching bracelet there before dropping to his knees to tie the anklet on the opposite ankle.

"From the living priestess and the Ba'al," he said, "They are given to me so that I might have something to give to you to show how I feel and maybe tell you that whatever comes for us, you have me, Yanna."

He held up the larger bracelet, and Yanna seized it and before he could think about it, she had it on his wrist, still open.

"I think I know what is meant here," she said, holding his arm tightly, "First, tell me of the one woman that you saw and would have had a thought for. Perhaps I knew her. It would be interesting to know how close that one came to knowing such a fine man."

He smiled, "She was thin and not tall," he said, "and her long hair was not like most Martu people. Her hair was black like the young priestess' hair. I always looked for her when I begged for coins, because she often came close by and she dropped coppers then. If she was with others, she wouldn't come close. But the others would see me and laugh. She never laughed, she turned away then."

"Her father had a stable and his servant came to me one day and asked if I might want the work of cleaning it out, and of course, I needed the work, and so I did. The woman watched me from a dark room in the house for the whole time that I worked there, both days that it took."

Illya smiled, looking down, as though he tried to remember. The truth of it was that it was something that he could never forget.

"She did not know it, but there was a window to the garden behind her, and if I was careful, I could see her there for the window lit her a little as she sat in the shade there. She knew nothing of it, I am sure, but I knew that she liked me. I had to be very careful, but I did see her several times as she lifted her dress and pleasured herself while she watched me work."

Yanna gasped, but Illya pretended that he didn't hear it.

"It made the work a little more difficult for me, to be sure, and it was even worse when I heard her soft little cry once. I didn't know what to think, but when I crawled to my home late that night, I thought a long time about that one, and I think that I learned something."

He looked up at Yanna's large cat's eyes regarding him, "I think I learned that as hard and thick as the walls around a poor man might be, the same walls hold the luckier people too. I think that girl really wanted to know me, but could not because of where we were in that place. She could come no closer to me than I could come to her. It made me sad. Not for myself, I was used to that, but for her."