The Princess' Heat

_©2023 Bruno Hirschkoff

*_

_The following is a work of fiction intended for adult audiences. If you are not an adult, this isn't for you. All characters, situations, settings, locations, names and concepts are the intellectual property of their respective creators (@IrvingWrites [Twitter] and @BrunoHirschkoff [Twitter]). Do not repost, distribute, alter or copy any element of this work without the express written permission of the author. _

_All characters, settings, religions, histories and geopolitical structures are fictional and resemblance to real-world characters, settings, religions, histories and geopolitical structures is purely coincidental. _

*

Chapter 9

Basa-Talriq, Forlasea

*

Brother Astal stirred groggily. The monk's right arm, in which he had no feeling whatsoever, slipped outward from where it had been pillowing his head on the bar. The jarring clatter of several tankards toppling over and hitting the ground jolted him awake. He flailed ineffectually, and with painful certainty overbalanced, toppling from his bar stool to join the tankards on the grubby floor of the tavern.

The dim, reddish glow of Aror, the smaller of Asantrea's binary suns, illuminated the tavern, in the minutes before its brighter sibling emerged from its slumber to wake the world. Astal blinked rapidly a number of times and brought his hand up to pinch the bridge of his muzzle with a groan. How much ale had he drunk? He felt like he'd been kicked repeatedly in the head by his mule.

Nebulous memories drifted around within his skull. He'd been regaling a drunken crowd with wildly embellished stories of his travels. A barrel of ale had stood on the bar before him, and tankard after tankard of it made its way into his belly. He recalled the ale had been intended for another purpose. He'd been there to get it for...

Lu-Temba!

Astal braced himself against the ale-soaked bar and surged to his feet unsteadily. The tavern spun around him. He staggered outside, and around to the stables. There were prone Lupa bodies everywhere, sleeping where they had fallen. A few were stirring, most in an even worse state than Astal himself. There would be a lot of very sore heads in Basa-Talriq when they all awoke. Astal's mule remained where he'd tied it, its head bowed in rest and its cargo undisturbed. As gently as he could, Astal rummaged through his saddlebags, seeking a particular corked flask. A treasure he'd acquired from a shady character in the renowned pirate stronghold of Vigo, the flask's contents promised a speedy recovery from ale-induced fogginess of the mind.

It may equally have been a simple herbal tisane, but it made Astal feel marginally more alive. He stoppered the flask and returned it to his saddlebag, and then with an affectionate ear-ruffle for the mule, turned towards the stable, where - he hoped - he would find Lu-Temba.

*

Caleia emptied a bucket of icy water over her head, and then another, scrubbing at her fur with a washcloth. She'd removed her eyepatch, and stood naked beside Suetia as the two Lupa sisters cleaned the previous night's debauchery out of their pelts. They spoke quietly between themselves, casting occasional glances over at the prone, sleeping form of Lu-Temba.

"...makes me wonder if he will last longer the more we play with him," Caleia was murmuring.

"Aye, perhaps. He did not seem to struggle to maintain his vigour though."

"First time he has ever seen a naked woman, let alone so many in one place."

"From what I have heard about the Horned Ones, I am surprised he even lasted long enough to sow his seed inside you," Suetia chuckled.

"Only just," Caleia grinned. "They're such a prudish lot, he very nearly lost it the moment he was in..."

"Mmh. Stop it, you're making me want him again."

"You slut. You had him five times!"

"As did you, _sister," _Suetia retorted. "Your apothecary's potion worked better than I'd anticipated. Seemed a shame to waste such a thing."

Suetia doused herself with clean water, and then shook the worst of it out of her fur. Caleia did likewise, and then, having carefully dried the jagged scar that ran the length of her face, adjusted her eyepatch back into place.

"Ah, look who it is," Suetia crooned, a predatory grin on her muzzle as Brother Astal hobbled into the stable.

"A fine job you seem to have done, ladies," the monk mumbled, his voice thick and hoarse.

Lu-Temba's clothing was scattered haphazardly around the stable where it had fallen, and the gazelle himself was asleep in a corner of one of the stalls, his pelt still matted with the evening's various indiscretions. Astal pretended not to be staring at the gazelle's nudity.

"As have you, monk," Caleia retorted. "I seem to recall you were on a mission to bring back food and ale for us - and here I had to go and find my own!"

Astal winced, but met the one-eyed wolfess' withering gaze calmly. "I may have got a little sidetracked, I will admit! But judging from the uh... evidence of a good evening shared by all, I am glad that I did not interrupt!"

"So am I," Suetia chimed in, padding over and peering down at Lu-Temba while she towelled her fur.

"Were you intending to dress, at any point?" Astal inquired. He was doing his best to avert his gaze, but Caleia and Suetia's shamelessness was difficult to avoid.

"Oh yes," Caleia replied airily. "Just as soon as Kesh and Aror rise a little higher and dry our fur. There is little that is more unpleasant than dressing over a wet pelt, as I'm sure you are aware."

"Aye, of course. I... must wake Lu-Temba, we should be on our way shortly."

Caleia stepped in front of the monk as he made to move towards the gazelle, and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Worry not, monk. He is well cared for. We shall be accompanying you further, in any case - I believe I heard that Coralesh is your destination?"

Astal's ears flattened, and he suppressed a frustrated growl with some difficulty. Coralesh was two weeks' travel away yet, even at the best of times. Caleia laughed.

"Go, wait outside and sit on your hands, if you must. Or do whatever it is monks do when you think no one is watching."

Astal grumbled, but obeyed her. This journey was going to be more difficult than he had imagined. He only hoped he could get Lu-Temba to his destination intact, without 'losing' him along the way to the carnal wiles of the Lupa women.

*

Caleia emptied a bucket of water over Lu-Temba to wake him.

The gazelle exploded into wakefulness, bleating in shock and surging upright, to the coarse laughter of Caleia and Suetia.

"Well good morning, Horned One!" Suetia chuckled, draping herself around his wet shoulders.

The gazelle calmed himself, and his eyes widened at the sight of the two Lupa women, just as naked as they'd been the last time he saw them. With the dust and grime of the road finally cleansed from their fur, they were even more stunning.

"And good morning to you too," Caleia grinned, slipping a hand down to squeeze his swelling rod, cupping it to her hip. "Come, you need to bathe. Properly, this time. I promise we are sated. For now, at least."

Caleia shot a glance to her sister, who shrugged, and began gathering up the gazelle's clothing.

*

Astal and Lu-Temba's journey from Apos to the southern border of the province of Coralesh took longer than the sea voyage from Venium down the entire length of the Sea of Bones. They were, of course, moving far slower. But the frequency of stops along the route, the sheer volume of wolves crowding the highway and, it had to be said, Caleia and Suetia's presence slowed their journey significantly. Lu-Temba's first sexual encounter with the two Lupa women in the stables at Basa-Talriq was far from the last of its kind, and, as Astal had suggested, the gazelle was enjoying himself immensely. His inhibitions were being rapidly eroded by the sheer hedonism which crossed their path. However, being an academic first and foremost, he had maintained a degree of worry about the status of his mission. How was he supposed to conduct good archaeological research if he was being teased by horny Lupa women all day, and humped all night by them whenever they stopped to rest?

Astal's response had taken Lu-Temba by surprise.

"Stay in a _convent? _Is that even... allowed?"

"So long as you do not shout too loudly about it upon your return, _tahlab, _I see no harm in it. The Lady Eibed of Apos convent is only a mile or so from the most promising of the dig sites you mentioned to me the other night, and that is where the idea arose. The Sisters will not welcome me into their home, since I am both Lupa and male - the Holy Orders strictly prohibit any contact whatsoever between Brothers and Sisters of the faith during Alignment festivities - but there is no reason they should not offer shelter to an outsider."

"The Holy Orders also prohibit monks from consuming ale in taverns, do they not?" Caleia interjected, from where she and Suetia walked a few paces ahead of the men.

"I never said I was a _good _monk," Astal chuckled.

"That much is clear. For a man brought up on celibacy, one might imagine you'd be a little more stealthy about the frequency of your transgressions, wouldn't you say?" The wolfess turned to walk backwards a few paces, and made a masturbatory gesture at Astal.

The monk's ears flattened, and he blustered.

Lu-Temba grinned. "They're right, you know. You could pretend to be doing something that requires you to leave the group, instead of trying to be silent about it nearby."

Astal's shoulders slumped, and he rolled his eyes in defeat. "Aye, aye, I know. Hmph. With those two in my sights all day and you getting your hips pulverised by them all night, it's difficult to uphold the tenets of my faith!"

Lu-Temba's eyes flicked towards the Lupa sisters momentarily, and then back to Astal. "I wouldn't tell anyone if you wanted to..."

"Hah! He's not our type, Horned One," Caleia snorted. "It's probably not _us _he's fantasising about when he lays beside you trying to impregnate his robes, anyway."

"In any case," _Astal interjected, forcefully, "within a few hours we'll reach a fork in the road, according to my map. Left will take Lu-Temba and I to the Lady Eibed of Apos convent, and the right fork will take _you two on to the city of Coralesh."

"This is true. Ahh, what a sad day that we shall have our last taste of this delicious Horned One on the side of the highway in broad daylight!"

"Don't pretend to be modest _now, _Suetia," Astal squinted.

Lu-Temba swallowed thickly. He was going to be a dried-out husk by the time he reached his destination! Astal cast a sidelong glance at the gazelle, and Lu-Temba caught the vaguest hint of a smile at the corners of the monk's lips.

The road had begun to climb into the foothills the previous day, and the mountains that had been a hazy blue ridge in the far distance had grown ever larger, ever higher, until they dominated the view. The land had also become densely wooded as they climbed away from the arid plain that defined most of southern Forlasea, and Lu-Temba noticed Caleia and Suetia becoming more alert, acting almost as guards and scouts more than simple companions. He asked Astal more about them, but the monk was unable to clarify precisely who the two Lupa women were, beyond informing him that they were most likely mercenaries. That meant they'd had formal military training, and had probably been discharged in disgrace from whatever army they'd served in. Lu-Temba, wisely, chose not to ask any further. Mercenaries, Astal told the gazelle, were not regarded favourably in Lupa society.

Suetia, who had run ahead of the small party to scout, came back with a grin on her muzzle a few hours later.

"Fork in the road about a mile ahead," she reported.

Caleia turned to Lu-Temba, and the two sisters advanced once more on the gazelle. Lu-Temba was very, very aware of what was coming, and grinned apologetically to Brother Astal as he was led away into the trees.

"Arahan, son of Ysion!" Astal cursed under his breath, rolling his eyes. The monk guided his mule off the side of the highway into a secluded clearing, and rummaged through his saddlebags for something to eat to pass the time.

"At least you don't go running off like that," he said to the mule, scratching its ears.

The mule bit him.

Chapter 10

Lady Eibed of Apos Convent, Coralesh, Forlasea

*

Almost as soon as Caleia and Suetia had said their farewells and taken the road to the city of Coralesh, with Lu-Temba's emissions running down their thighs, the gazelle had begun to regain his focus. He walked alongside Brother Astal in silence at first, seeming to be lost in thought - finding his bearings, perhaps, the monk thought. Lupa women had a tendency to make one lose one's sense of anything _but _Lupa women.

"We are near to our destination," Astal said, at length.

"Yes, so it seems. I wanted to uh... thank you, Brother Astal, for... well, for everything. For guiding me here and uh... your patience."

Astal chuckled, and clapped the gazelle on the shoulder. "Think nothing of it, _tahlab. _I'd be a fool if I pretended not to have derived some enjoyment from my... observations."

Lu-Temba snorted. "It was unfair of them to do all of that in front of you, though."

"Maybe. But this is Forlasea - society works quite differently here to Venium or Goza, as you have undoubtedly discovered."

"That may just be the greatest understatement I have ever heard!"

"Mm. Humility is a bitter draught for many men elsewhere in the world, but here, it is written in the very laws that define our culture. That is why Forlasea is so wary of foreigners - men from elsewhere who come here full of bluster and bravado quickly find themselves at the point of Lupa swords, for the offence they cause. You, _tahlab, _have a very calm and humble aura, and that is why you have been so well-received so far."

Lu-Temba processed that slowly - it parsed near-perfectly with his own experience of the Lupa nation and explained why Forlasea was seen as such an exotic and distant place to many of his contemporaries. The landscape changed yet again in the hours after Astal and Lu-Temba parted ways with Caleia and Suetia. Out of the dense woodland of the foothills, the monk and the gazelle emerged onto rolling alpine hills. Ahead of them, the mountains loomed, great ice-capped sentinels, and in the distance, nestled in their shadow, was the Lady Eibed of Apos convent.

*

The convent was an ancient compound of buildings, constructed of lime-rendered stone, surrounded by a perimeter wall and nestled into a nook at the base of a low mountain. Cold, fresh air cascading down from the mountains made it considerably colder up in the foothills than it had been down on the plains, and Lu-Temba donned his overcoat. It was, however, still bright and sunny, and the hillside that led up to the walls around the convent was carpeted in wildflowers, which Brother Astal's mule had a particular taste for.

As the small party drew within a few hundred yards of the walled compound along a road that by then was little more than a goat track, a brass bell sounded from somewhere within, echoing magnificently from the landscape around it. Lu-Temba's ears pricked forward, and Brother Astal straightened, squinting into the distance.

"I gather that bell means someone has noticed us?" the gazelle ventured.

Astal grunted agreement, and after another hundred feet or so came to a stop, at a location which was clearly intended to be a meeting spot, judging by the careful placement of several large stones in a rough circle, and a carved sign set into the ground with the name of the convent upon it.

"It is customary, _tahlab, _to allow the residents of a religious institution to come forth to greet you. Forlasean law. The bell simply means they've seen us, it is not a guarantee of welcome."

"What happens if we aren't greeted?"

Astal shrugged and lowered his portly frame to the ground at the side of the trail. Although the air at this altitude was cool, the sun was warm, his mule was happily gorging itself on the wildflowers, and the world seemed at peace in such a tranquil setting as this.

"I have a feeling that you will be embraced, young _tahlab. _If not... well, there are other convents, or there is a monastery only a mile further into the mountains, which is my destination one way or another. Alternatively, I could escort you to Coralesh, but I fear that if I left you alone you would be eaten alive by wolf ladies," Astal chuckled.

"I can think of worse fates..."

"Undoubtedly! Pah, I have seen more than my fair share of my countrywomen on this journey."

Lu-Temba cocked his head and peered sideways at the monk. Homosexuality in Goza was regarded as somewhat taboo, although it had never been criminalised or persecuted anywhere on Asantrea, to the gazelle's knowledge. Astal met his gaze, and the wolf flattened back his ears in what looked like an apology.

"Forgive my intrusiveness, Astal, but are you suggesting that Lupa women hold no attractiveness to you?"

The wolf sighed, and gazed off into the distance, back down over the expansive plain they'd traversed over the preceding days. "You'd be right to think as much." He suddenly flashed a toothy grin at Lu-Temba. "There's more than one reason Lupa men become monks, you know."

Lu-Temba chuckled, and settled into the sun-warmed grass a few feet from Astal. "Does that mean the Sisters of this convent may be willing to allow you entry?"

"No, Arahan's balls no!" Astal laughed. "The prohibition of contact between Brothers and Sisters of the faith during fertility alignments is absolute. Regardless of my attractions, they... have ways, shall we say, of getting something that they want. It's all about restraint and abstinence. But happily, the Holy Orders say nothing about monks pleasing monks, nor sisters pleasing sisters!"

Lu-Temba's ears perked forward again, and he was about to ask more, when in the distance, the great wooden gate set into the convent's outer wall opened, and a slender figure dressed in a white habit emerged.

"Ahh, here they come," Astal said.

The monk rolled to his knees and grunted as he rose, brushing grass and dirt from his knees and backside. Lu-Temba followed suit and caught Astal casting a greedy eye at his posterior.

"You have a flower stuck to your tail, tahlab."

"I... uh... thank you."

Astal stepped in close and plucked the flower free, softly patting Lu-Temba's backside as he did.

The figure approached slowly and gracefully. She was young and energetic, Lu-Temba could see that even from a distance. Her pale blue shawl and wimple were both edged with gold, which glistened in the sun. Astal told Lu-Temba that marked her out as being the convent's Sister Superior, the most senior woman among the compound's residents.

*

Auliabe looked up sharply when she heard the bell. The convent was not expecting guests, and she suppressed a momentary surge of irritation - was it not apparent to these travellers that the Festival of the Great Alignment was upon the nation? The Holy Orders were strict and unequivocal, and Auliabe disliked turning people away from the shelter the convent offered.

Still, duty bound her to at least see who was approaching. She was breathing heavily by the time she reached the top of the bell tower, upon which Sister Gelvandia was charged with keeping watch. The tower was in the core of the compound, and afforded its occupants an unrestricted view down the mountainside into the wooded foothills below. Sister Cadille, the Urssa girl, was in the tower with Gelvandia, and Auliabe smiled. It seemed like only weeks ago she herself had been a young acolyte, stealing away up this very tower to where she did not have to orgasm quietly to avoid the indignity of being caught shirking her duties.

"Sister Superior!" the two young Sisters said, almost in unison.

"Hello, girls," Auliabe replied, her voice dripping with the knowing smirk on her muzzle.

"Travellers approach! A monk and... someone else!"

"A monk? What would he be doing up here?" Auliabe mused. "Perhaps he is blind, and has not noticed the Great Alignment..."

She moved out onto the bell tower's narrow balcony and cupped her hands around her eyes to peer out over the convent's walls to where two travellers and a pack mule were approaching the convent's meeting point.

"Who is that, Sister Superior?" asked Cadille, "Someone wearing a costume?"

Auliabe squinted. The figure travelling with the monk was slender, and oddly dressed. And there was something strange about his appearance... Auliabe couldn't place it, until the figure turned his head to the side. _A Horned One! _A foreigner! She felt her heart rate rise. If the foreigner was male - as he appeared to be - he would certainly complicate an already delicate situation. Her thoughts turned to Princess Malatheia, who had been spending more and more time confined to her chambers over the preceding days. She was suffering greatly with her hormonal instincts, more so than the rest of them had been. She, like all the Sisters, had been schooled in 'controlling' the urges of the flesh for the sake of preserving the Holy Orders. But the Princess had never been required to take the oaths sworn by women of the cloth - and at that very moment she was at the peak of her heat cycle. Auliabe feared for the traveller's safety, but more than that, she feared for Malla. If she caught wind of a male in their midst who was not counted by the Holy Orders as being forbidden...

Auliabe's mouth watered.

Silently, she offered a prayer to Arahan. And one of thanks to Mido and Kasdall, the gods of fertility, love and chaos in the old pantheon.

"No, Sister Cadille, that is no costume," Auliabe replied, at length.

"What is it then? Why does he have... horns?" Gelvandia asked.

Auliabe offered a smile to the young Sisters, and laid an arm around Cadille's shoulders. It was painfully apparent in that moment just how sheltered the lives of these young acolytes had so far been. Neither had ever seen an outsider, a Horned One.

"You shall see, my dear. You shall see."

Auliabe left the tower, and made her way back down the steep, winding stairs to the ground level of the compound.

It was a reasonable distance from there to the perimeter wall, along the colonnade that surrounded the bath house, and past one of several chapels, but her first destination was the bedchamber of Princess Malatheia. A few Sisters watched her pass with curiosity, their attention drawn by her purposeful stride in response to the bell - although in that moment Auliabe seemed to be walking in precisely the wrong direction.

The waft of air created by her own passage rushed back past Auliabe when she came to a sudden stop outside Malatheia's chamber. The heavy oak door was closed, and she could hear no sound from within. Tentatively, she knocked.

The snarling, expletive-laden response caused Auliabe's toes to curl inside her sandals, and she called out gently in reply.

"Malla, my dear? It's only me. May I enter?"

There was a series of thumps and the scuffing of clawed feet on floorboards, and the door opened, the barest of cracks. It was dark within, and Malla peered with narrowed eyes into the relative brightness of the corridor.

"I... I am sorry, Auliabe, I am not myself today... this month," the Princess muttered, irritably.

"I know, dearest. I simply wished to ask whether you might be joining us for the evening meal tonight, or if I should have food sent to you again?"

"Best I do not come down, not until this blasted heat passes."

Auliabe tilted her head sympathetically. Malla reeked of pheromones. Her chamber, likewise. It was a dense, spicy aroma that stuck in Auliabe's nostrils, and caused even her to feel a flush of warmth between her thighs. The effect such a scent could have on Lupa males was well understood - that was why, after all, the Holy Orders expressly forbade contact between Brothers and Sisters at times such as this. Arahan only knew what it would do to a Horned One.

"I think that would be best. I take it you heard the bell?"

"I did. Who comes?"

A flicker of a smile passed Auliabe's lips. _You, by the scent, _she thought. Out loud; "I am unsure, yet. I am going to greet them now. It is possible that at least one guest may be staying with us tonight."

"And you wish me to keep my distance, lest I jump whoever it is and dispel any illusion that we are a noble and chaste sisterhood?" Malla suggested.

"I would never say as much aloud, but..." Auliabe shrugged, and offered a sympathetic smile.

Malatheia growled, and Auliabe heard her claws rake down the inside of the door. "Ahh, what I wouldn't give to impale myself upon the turgid flesh of an eager male..."

"I know, my dear. I know. That was quite poetic!" Auliabe smiled. "I must go, Malla. I thought you should know the events that are unfolding."

"My thanks," Malla mumbled. "Ahh, I am truly sorry for my state. I have never felt a heat anything like this before."

"Aye, none of us have, but you certainly have the worst of it. I am sorry there is little I can do to slake your lust. Perhaps this traveller is a boon from Arahan, who can know?"

With a cryptic little smile, Auliabe turned to make her way towards the perimeter wall of the convent. She could feel wetness soaking her thighs, and the heavy throb from deep within her core that spoke of the depth of her desire. Malla's pheromones were strong indeed, to have such an effect even on Auliabe without any conscious thought.

Please, _she thought, turning her gaze skyward, _Let him be willing!

*

#

Chapter 11

*

The two travellers stood from their comfortable positions in the deep, lush grass of the wildflower-coated hillside almost the moment Auliabe opened the great wooden gate set into the convent's wall. The breeze caught and lifted her wimple as she walked, and the wolfess breathed in the fresh mountain air deeply. The monk was a portly, middle-aged fellow, and stood with his hands loosely clasped over his belly. A few paces away, its lead rope looped loosely around the monk's arm, a pack mule munched happily on the flowers. A cursory glance was all Auliabe needed to confirm that the monk and mule would not be allowed entrance to Lady Eibed of Apos. It was the monk's companion who captured her attention.

The Horned One was slender and slightly built, dressed in clothes that may have been near enough to white some weeks prior. It was obvious he'd travelled far. From within his nest of dense, dark curls, the long, ebony horns that gave the many ungulate peoples of the world their collective moniker emerged, framing a face that was delicate and almost effeminate. He was _pretty, _Auliabe caught herself thinking, as she drew closer. Or he would be, if he closed his mouth.

"Travellers!" Auliabe said, opening her arms in greeting towards them. "Welcome. I am Auliabe, Sister Superior of the Lady Eibed of Apos convent. What is it you seek?"

Her voice was like honey. It flowed over Lu-Temba's sensibilities like a rising tide, and the gazelle stammered. He'd thought of precisely what he was going to say, and it simply would not come out.

"Esteemed Sister," Astal said, noticing Lu-Temba's loss of his faculties. "I am Brother Astal, of Apos - and this is Lu-Temba, _tahlab _of the Venium Academy, with whose company I have been blessed these past weeks on the journey north from the coast."

Auliabe's eyes never left Lu-Temba, although one eyebrow raised just a fraction at Astal's blustering pomp.

"I see," she murmured. "A _tahlab? _You are on assignment then, Lu-Temba?"

"I-I... Y-yes, Esteemed Sister. I am."

"And what is your speciality?"

"Archaeology, Sister, I am... searching for dig sites...ahh... artefacts of historical importance, here in the foothills, which might teach us long-forgotten things about the past."

As he spoke, Auliabe couldn't help but notice that Lu-Temba's gaze was faltering. She could feel the cool mountain breeze plucking at the hem of her habit, which was split to the hip on both sides. _Dig sites. Huh. I'll show him a site he can dig... _

"Most wonderful," Auliabe said, aloud. "Am I right to presume that our humble home is to be your base of operations, and that you seek lodgement for your stay in our little piece of the world?"

As she spoke, Auliabe shifted to place her weight over her right leg, and made a show of looking Lu-Temba over like a banquet.

"My young _tahlab _would be honoured, Esteemed Sister," said Astal, placing his hands on Lu-Temba's shoulders as if to bring the gazelle back to reality.

Lu-Temba realised he'd been staring at Auliabe's hips, and snapped his gaze back to her face. She was a very attractive woman. But she was also a woman of the cloth, and the gazelle forced his hormones into submission - had he not just spent the last two weeks being relentlessly ridden by Caleia and Suetia, he supposed he might've had a more proper and appropriate reaction to Auliabe. She, however, seemed unfazed, and even seemed to be returning the gazelle's not-so-subtle looks.

"Good! Brother Astal, I'm sure I don't need to remind you of the Great Alignment - our home is off limits to you."

"Of course not, Esteemed Sister - my own destination is the nearest monastery - I would have taken Lu-Temba there, but your convent is closer to his destination," Astal explained.

"I see. Well! I am glad there are no misunderstandings between us. Lu-Temba? You may enter - do you require assistance with your luggage?"

"No, Sister - thank you though. I travel light!" Lu-Temba said.

The gazelle turned to Brother Astal, and to his surprise, the monk stepped in and enveloped him in a hug that nearly swept him off his hooves. Lu-Temba bleated, and returned the gesture awkwardly.

"This is where we part ways, then, _tahlab. _The very best of luck to you. And should you require a chaperone for your journey back to Apos, I shall be at the monastery for the remainder of the Festival of the Great Alignment - the Sisters here know how to reach it," Astal said, with a smirk.

"Th-thank you, Astal, for everything," Lu-Temba said. "You have taught me a lot, on this brief journey!"

"'Tis my pleasure, _tahlab. _Now go, before you either make me emotional or give me an erection, Arahan forgive me!" Astal chuckled, and released Lu-Temba from the hug.

Auliabe's ears swivelled within her wimple to catch Astal's words, and she smirked to herself. It seemed that this Horned One had been on quite a revealing journey, already. She could almost feel his gaze on her backside as she led the gazelle back to the gates of the compound. It was a minor miracle she'd managed to stop her tail from wagging.

*

Lu-Temba's heart was hammering in his chest, and not only from the altitude. As Auliabe led him through the convent's gates into an ancient courtyard within, some twenty Lupa Sisters were gathered, all of them staring at him. They varied in age, but Lu-Temba was shocked to discover that all of them were young - far younger than he had expected. Indeed nowhere could Lu-Temba see examples of the severe, dusty old nuns he'd been expecting. Auliabe, barely middle-aged herself, seemed the eldest among them.

"Sisters! Please welcome our guest - his name is Lu-Temba, and he has come all the way from Venium to stay with us!" Auliabe called, in Forlasean.

Lu-Temba gulped, and waved meekly to the assembled Sisters. A susurration of voices lifted around him as many of the Sisters asked questions of Auliabe, or whispered amongst themselves. And the looks they gave him, the coy little smiles, the burning lust scarcely concealed behind their hands and habits was difficult for the gazelle to comprehend. Were these women not sworn to chastity? To servitude of their Holy Orders?

"You must forgive their curiosity, tahlab," Auliabe intoned in heavily accented Gozan, directly into Lu-Temba's ear. He melted just a little, the warm honey of her voice flowing directly into his brain. "Most have never even seen a Horned One before - one from outside of our cloistered realm. I do hope that their attention is not unwelcome."

Lu-Temba shivered. He swung his leather satchel around to hang in front of him - he was hopelessly aroused by Auliabe, and the myriad of Lupa hands which suddenly seemed to be all over him - touching his horns, feeling the texture of his pelt, even his travel-stained clothing. He could offer no coherent reply to Sister Superior, even when she stepped back and turned to face him. There was a sudden squeal from one of the Sisters as, to Lu-Temba's horror, a hand fell behind his satchel and found the swelling it concealed.

Lu-Temba bleated in horror and pulled away, amidst a flurry of giggles from those Sisters who'd seen what had happened.

"Sister Gelvandia!" Auliabe said, in what was absolutely not a genuinely displeased tone of voice. "Behave yourself! Lu-Temba, if you will? Come with me, we shall find you some fresh clothing in the bathhouse and," she cast her eye sternly over the grinning Sisters, "an opportunity to wash yourself, _privately. _Sisters, you have duties to perform!"

With a modicum of clear air around himself, Lu-Temba had a chance to finally take in the sight of the compound of buildings that made up the convent. It was ancient, by the standards of most other parts of the world he'd seen - In the centre of the courtyard stood a giant fig tree. The hand-hewn flagstones underfoot flowed almost seamlessly into the walls of the buildings which defined the courtyard. To his right, a grand colonnade surrounded the bathhouse. To his left was what seemed to be a chapel, with coloured glass windows filled with Arahanic symbology. Ahead of him was the Great Hall, and beyond it, a bell tower atop the cloister itself, within which, beyond Lu-Temba's sight, sat another courtyard, this one filled with gardens.

Gathering his sensibilities and - Lu-Temba sent thanks to Arahan - his modesty, the gazelle followed Auliabe across the courtyard to the bathhouse.

"You have travelled far, _tahlab. _Tell me again, what was the purpose of your journey? Oh, please, undress - I shall take your clothing to be washed and return with clean garments for you. There is a screen over there behind which you can... yes."

Lu-Temba trotted over to the folding screen, and, with Auliabe hovering on its other side, began to strip out of his travel-stained clothes.

"Well, all _tahlabs _of the Venium Academy must undertake preliminary field work - it's a little like a dissertation or _corpus academicus, _which if successful leads to the _tahlab _leading a sponsored expedition to the proposed site," Lu-Temba began, unbuttoning his waistcoat, and then his shirt. "I have spent these past couple of years cloistered within the Academy, analysing the artefacts recovered by other _tahlabs, _and by sponsored archaeologists all across the Mare Internum. I am excited to finally get my hands dirty!"

"Mm, I see," Auliabe replied. Lu-Temba could see the white wolfess' ears perk within her wimple over the screen as he slid his trousers down his legs. "And what made you come to Forlasea? I see you speak our tongue remarkably well!"

"Thank you, I... learned a lot from Brother Astal and... some other people I met along the way. To tell you the truth, Esteemed Sister..."

"Please, call me Auliabe. You owe me no deference."

"Very well... Auliabe. Forlasea is, to many outsiders - Horned Ones, you call us - a mystery. It is steeped in history and to an archaeologist that is very exciting. Many choose to remain within Goza or travel up the east coast of Valasea for their first expedition, but I wanted to go somewhere different. We already know so much of the history of the rest of the world, but Forlasea is right on our doorstep, although it might as well be on Seilyr, for how much we know about its deep history and customs."

Auliabe listened attentively, and it was some time before Lu-Temba noticed that she was peering over the top of the screen, her eyes half-lidded - and that he was standing there naked. Hurriedly he covered himself with his hands, and the wolfess chuckled.

"Your enthusiasm and thirst for adventure is admirable, Lu-Temba. Worry not, I saw nothing. I shall leave you to bathe and return with fresh clothing for you."

With that, Auliabe was gone, and Lu-Temba's clothes with her. He stood there behind the screen naked for several moments. He felt filthy in more ways than one. He berated himself for being aroused by a Lupa nun, upon whose hospitality he depended. A sticky droplet that told of his indiscrete thoughts strung down from his hanging manhood, and he captured it on his thigh before stepping out from behind the screen.

The bathhouse was filled with raised, mosaic-tiled baths - six of them in total, and each large enough to hold maybe half a dozen people. The water within steamed, heated somehow from beneath, and Lu-Temba climbed carefully up and over the edge of the nearest bath, cautious of how slippery the tiles were beneath his bare hooves.

A pleasured groan rose from his chest as he sank into the water to sit on the tiled bench that encircled it. The water lapped at his chin, and he allowed his arms and legs to float upward, losing himself in a sense of weightlessness. The water was mildly salty, he noticed, when he dunked his head beneath it to wash the dust from his hair and ears. It was incredibly pleasant. He felt all the tension and tightness in his muscles ease, soothed by the warm buoyancy of the salty bath water. It was the first hot bath he'd had since arriving in Forlasea--being doused with buckets of water drawn from dubious wells or horse troughs was as close as he'd come to a proper wash. And it was divine. He dipped below the surface and scrubbed at his hair, and then progressively down his body.

It abruptly occurred to Lu-Temba that in the absence of a proper wash, and after such an extended amount of time buried to the hilt in Caleia, Suetia, or both of them, he probably reeked of Lupa pheromones. He paid extra attention to scrubbing those parts of himself that would hold such scents.

*

Auliabe took Lu-Temba's clothes to the laundry, which was a small room off the side of the bathhouse, and left them with the pile of other linens in need of washing. That task would fall to one of the junior Sisters. She momentarily pondered supplying Lu-Temba with a habit the same as the Sisters wore, or one of the monks' robes that had found its way into the convent, but thought the better of it. For their more labour-intensive duties within the convent, the Sisters wore belted tunics the same as those typically worn by the common people of Forlasea. Auliabe picked out one such garment and a pair of woollen trews, along with a large towel and a bottle of scented oil for her guest, and returned at a leisurely stroll to the bathhouse.

"Sister Auliabe? Is he in there?" came an effeminate whisper.

"Yes, Sister Cadille, he is. I thought you were atop the bell tower."

"I am sorry, Sister, I could not resist coming down to... to meet... him."

Auliabe smiled warmly to the young Urssa woman and held out her arm. Cadille looped hers through Auliabe's elbow, and together the two Sisters walked along the colonnade.

"Your curiosity is warranted, Sister Cadille. But we must treat our guest with dignity and grace, as we do all travellers - even if your body desires so much more. It is for the traveller to decide if such things are to proceed."

"But is he not exempted from the Holy Orders?"

"Aye, he is. And believe me when I say, Cadille, you are not the only one whose flesh aches for carnal touches. The Alignment has us all on-edge. And it is for that reason that we must all act with some restraint, lest we frighten our guest into flight. He is an intelligent and capable person, just as you are - he is far more than a pottery sculpture for you to scratch your deepest itches on as it pleases you. Although by the scent that clung to him when he arrived, that is how our countrywomen have treated him thus far!"

Cadille processed Sister Superior's words slowly, and as they reached the door of the bathhouse, she held back.

"I should not come in, then. If he is in there, unclothed, I might... not be able to... stop myself from staring," the Urssa girl conceded, "and I am unsure if I could contain my desires."

Auliabe nodded her approval, and cupped Cadille's cheek. "You are wise, Sister. Do not fear. If it turns out our guest is... receptive... I shall ensure that you and he are properly acquainted, under the right circumstances. In the meantime, if you please, his clothing is in the laundry, and needs to be soaked in lye to lift the stains. Would you, please?"

Cadille nodded, and with a shy smile, trotted back the way they had come.

Auliabe entered the bathhouse silently and closed the door behind her. She could hear the subtle watery sounds of Lu-Temba bathing, and kept her gaze on the far wall as she approached.

"Lu-Temba?"

A loud splash, and Auliabe chuckled.

"Do not panic, I'm simply bringing you the clothing I promised - along with a towel to dry your pelt, and some rose oil to scent and condition your fur."

"Th-thankyou, Auliabe," Lu-Temba replied. He waded across to the near side of the bath and propped his elbows up on its edge. "I am not exposed; you needn't avert your eyes."

Auliabe focused on the gazelle, then, and Lu-Temba felt a shiver down his spine at the intensity of that gaze. It was like she was looking right through the solid stone of the bath and seeing him in his entirety.

"I trust your bath is relaxing?" Auliabe said, moving to place his fresh clothing on the edge of the bath.

"More so than I can explain," he said, offering a smile.

"Try me," Auliabe grinned.

Lu-Temba felt blood rush to his ears, and snorted. "Oh no, not like that! I wouldn't, I mean... this is where you all bathe too, I couldn't...!"

Auliabe simply raised an eyebrow. "Whatever are you talking about? I simply meant that I too have experienced the sublime pleasure of these baths after a long journey - as the convent's Sister Superior I occasionally must travel to Zeiram, the capital - I am not a cloistered nun, Lu-Temba."

He shrank in embarrassment. Had his hormones caused him to entirely misjudge this woman, and the Sisters in her care? He hadn't thought so - Sister Gelvandia's hand on his manhood had been very deliberate, and Auliabe herself had only just barely maintained her propriety around him. _No, take it down a step, Lu - they're nuns, for Arahan's sake! _Lu-Temba berated himself.

"...evening meal in the Great Hall an hour after dusk, will you be joining us?" Auliabe was saying.

"I... yes, yes of course! An hour after dusk. Perfect. I... Auliabe? My mission is to locate a potential archaeological site in the hills to the east; how shall I go about coming and going from the convent? Do you have specific rules and guidelines I should follow?"

Auliabe sat on the edge of the bath, and momentarily peered into the water. "I am glad you are so focused, Lu-Temba. But no - you are not bound by any of the strictures that we are. You are free to come and go from our company at your leisure, safety permitting. I am happy to send word to Coralesh on your behalf, asking for labourers to assist if you so desire."

"No, that will not be necessary - I have all the tools I need, and I will not be doing much digging myself, in any case! I am just here to scout potential sites. Any more dedicated expedition shall first be brought before the local authorities for their approval--my organisation is not the type to march in, pilfer a country's riches and disappear."

"Good! Come and meet me in the Great Hall when you are done here - I shall show you to your quarters."

With that, Auliabe stood, and left Lu-Temba alone once more. He watched her go, and took a deep breath. Glancing down into the water at the twitching pink rod of his manhood, he scowled. _"You - _behave yourself, at least until I'm alone in my room."

Chapter 12

*

After Auliabe left him alone in the bathhouse, Lu-Temba found that he was unable to relax into the warm water again. He figured he had probably already spent a longer time in the water than was proper, and so he rose from the bath and stepped over its raised lip. A moment of exhibitionistic bravery saw Lu-Temba stand naked and on full display while he waited for the water to sheet out of his fur. If one or more of the curious Sisters happened to be watching, who was he to deny them? The scented oil was delightful, and he applied it liberally to his hair and pelt, once he'd dried off.

The clothing with which Sister Auliabe had supplied him was typical of what he'd seen the Lupa people wearing during his northward journey across their country - a simple homespun tunic with a wide leather belt sewn into loops around its waist. But the pair of woollen trews with a drawcord was something different entirely. The wool looked rough and scratchy, and there were no undergarments. Lu-Temba tried them on. They were viciously uncomfortable. Would Auliabe be offended if he chose to not wear them? He supposed not, given the Sisters' apparent lack of modesty. So the gazelle donned the tunic alone and, with the woollen trews and towel over his shoulder, left the bathhouse. Happily, the tunic was long enough to maintain a semblance of modesty, albeit only by a few inches.

The Great Hall was the heart of the convent compound, Lu-Temba found - which was unusual in his experience, and even more so for its apparent grandiosity. The roof was relatively low, but steeply pitched and vaulted from within to withstand the weight of winter snow up here in the shadow of the mountains. In the absence of many people, the Hall felt cavernous, even as richly decorated as it was.

Auliabe turned when she heard the thud of the door closing, and moved to greet Lu-Temba with a friendly arm around his shoulders.

"Ahh, here you are! I trust the remainder of your bath was relaxing?"

Lu-Temba stammered his acknowledgement. He could clearly see the peaks of her nipples through the cotton of her habit, and momentarily cursed his decision not to put on the woollen trews.

"You chose not to wear these? Are they not to your liking?" Auliabe asked, plucking the garment from his shoulder and unfolding them, as if to examine them.

"I... no, I mean... yes, but... they're uh... a little scratchy, if you know what I mean."

"Oh!" Auliabe laughed. "Oh, I see! Understood. Do not worry, I only provided them to appeal to your own sensibilities, I realise we Lupa are a good deal less 'proper' than you Horned Ones tend to be about such things. I am happy to find a softer and more comfortable pair if you wish...?"

She left her question hanging on a subtle upward inflection, and Lu-Temba felt that he was being tested. He gathered his senses and tore his eyes from Auliabe's bust up to her face. "No, I believe I am more comfortable without them!"

Auliabe's face split into a wide grin, and Lu-Temba felt a waft of air across the backs of his thighs, which he suddenly realised was being generated by Auliabe's tail wagging behind her. It was incredibly endearing.

"I am glad to hear that, Lu-Temba. Come, let me show you to your quarters! I have taken the liberty of asking Sister Cadille to wash your clothing, and Sister Gelvandia has already prepared your room and brought your belongings up. Please, follow me!"

Lu-Temba was all too happy to walk behind Auliabe once again, although he was careful not to let his mind wander too far into what he still considered to be forbidden territory - what Auliabe would look like without her habit, for instance. She seemed a good bit gentler and less forceful than some of the other Lupa women he had crossed paths with on his journey thus far. He found, oddly, that her calm demeanour helped him to not think of her in such ribald ways as he had Frieda, or Caleia and Suetia.

Lu-Temba's room was small but well-appointed, one of a half-dozen just like it. It was within the cloister but separated from the accommodations of the resident Sisters and had its own discrete access via the Great Hall. Lu-Temba supposed it would have served as a place of shelter for all manner of travellers over the life of the ancient building. He took his time to look around. The hand-hewn wooden bed was simple and rustic but looked comfortable enough. There was a small writing desk, an oil lamp and several candles, a well-worn rug on the floor, and neatly propped up in the corner was his rucksack and satchel.

"This is very comfortable, Sister Auliabe - thank you again for your hospitality, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your kindness!" Lu-Temba said, turning to face Auliabe. It was perhaps the most confident thing he'd said to any Lupa woman so far.

Auliabe simply stepped forward and embraced him, and Lu-Temba bleated in surprise as he was enveloped in warm, slightly spicy-scented wolf breasts. _Arahan help me! _He prayed.

"You are _so _welcome, Lu-Temba! I'm simply giddy with delight that we are able to help you on your quest - you may stay as long as you wish, please do not think you will ever outstay your welcome here at Lady Eibed of Apos!" Auliabe gushed, squeezing the gazelle in her arms.

She subtly cast her eye downward when she released him, and Lu-Temba did not disappoint. While he hadn't become fully erect, Auliabe could clearly see his tunic was distended below the belt.

"I... should um... get settled, Sister Auliabe - and then I shall head out to begin scouting my dig site," Lu-Temba stammered.

"Yes, yes of course! I shall leave you to your work. I am truly looking forward to hearing about what you discover!"

*

Lu-Temba sat down heavily on his bed once Auliabe left. Her breasts were so soft, and so supple. Their fur was like the softest velvet, and her scent was intoxicating, in a completely different way to the earthy musk of Caleia and Suetia's had been. Auliabe was double his age, but she was so sensual and effortlessly charismatic. The gazelle was definitely feeling the pressure. His balls ached, and his manhood felt full and heavy, poised to surge upright at the slightest provocation. Which it did, the moment he thought about it.

Whether out of some lingering sense of propriety or a spark of hope that he might learn more about Auliabe's breasts later on, Lu-Temba refrained from masturbation. Instead, he rummaged through his rucksack, lightening it to only what he considered to be essential items for his first solo foray into the wilderness of Forlasea. He would be travelling only a mile or so from the convent, but he took his compass anyway, as well as a small pouch of silver Dinariae and some small archaeological tools. His Heladian sandals made their way back onto his hooves, and with the added confidence of their rubber soles, Lu-Temba padded out of his room. He paused, and then ducked back in--to retrieve his book of illustrated erotic poetry. Perhaps he'd find a moment's solitude out in the wilderness. He closed the door, and walked back out through the Great Hall to the courtyard, and to the wider world beyond.

*

Kesh and Aror hung low in the sky, so close that they almost appeared as a single star, casting long afternoon shadows across the landscape. Asantrea's moons were yet to rise. Tomorrow was the official day of the Great Alignment, where all six heavenly bodies - Kesh and Aror, Asantrea itself, and its three moons Seilyr, Saliel and Hadriel - would be aligned in perfect progression across the heavens. As such, the moons were very much the stars' opposite, and would not rise above the horizon until after dusk. The Lupa were not the only people to traditionally celebrate such astronomical events with fertility festivals. Even his own Toros ancestors had done so in the distant depths of their history.

It had, Lu-Temba learned, been the Arahanic Crusades which had brought an end to such pagan rituals elsewhere in the world. Ironic, given that Forlasea was the crucible of the faith. Arahan had, the clergy claimed a thousand years after his death, preached that He was to be the only conduit between mortals and the Gods. He was the Heir of Ysion, and sat upon the deity's shoulder far above, on Seilyr, gazing down upon the world below in all its depravity and vice. To show their dedication to the Gods, the clergy screeched, the people must abandon the old ways. No more rituals, no more fertility festivals or nature-worship - all of those forms of worship offered through the medium of Aethyrborn spirits or Elementals were purified through worship of Arahan, instead.

Lu-Temba had been brought up in a world where such dogma was utterly normalised. While the stridency of the Arahanic clergy had reduced somewhat in recent years, the nomenclature remained largely unchanged. There was a lot of talk of sin, vice and impurity; worldly desires and pagan evils to which Arahan was the antidote.

Yet here, in Forlasea, the heartland of the Arahanic faith, those exact sins and vices and worldly desires, and indeed the pagan festivals and spirituality, seemed entirely untouched by the religion. It was a source of great confusion for Lu-Temba, but he could not deny that he was greatly enjoying those sins and vices.

The cool mountain air beneath his tunic was a new sensation for the gazelle, and it was strangely liberating to be flapping in the breeze as he walked. It certainly made stopping for a piss easier, not having to fish himself out of numerous layers of elaborately buttoned clothing just to water a tree.

_Water. _

The gazelle cursed. He'd forgotten to bring a waterskin or canteen. He briefly contemplated going back to the convent, but the extra time it would take would render the day's expedition pointless. Happily, the foothills beneath the mountains were marbled with streams of cold, fast-flowing meltwater from the glaciers high above, and Lu-Temba found the water to be sweet and more than likely cleaner than any water he had ever drunk before. It was while he was squatting beside just such a stream, drinking from his cupped hands, that he stumbled across his first artefact. It was simply _there, _in the water, and told him immediately that he was right on top of his destination.

It was little more than a shard of pottery, but to an archaeologist it may as well have been a gold nugget the size of his head. Reverently, Lu-Temba lifted the shard from the water.

It was the lip of a pot, or an amphora - something with a flared mouth. Small, but richly detailed, and made from the sort of glazed, kiln-fired pottery that holds its decoration well. The red clay within was glazed white on the outside, with a square geometric pattern that was evidently just the border of a much more elaborately artistic piece. Lu-Temba turned it over and over in his hand and made an educated guess that the pottery fragment dated probably as far back as Arahan himself - almost two millennia. And it was just... there, floating in a mountain stream, evidently eroded out of the soil by the meltwater.

The gazelle was, in an instant, in his element. He set up a sifting tray and unrolled his digging tools onto the soft grass alongside the stream. He was sitting in the very centre of an ancient settlement, one which had been razed and abandoned even _before the First Crusade, _when Arahanism was truly in its infancy - in those days, much of the world had still been under the yoke of the waning Heladian Empire - the very empire whose soldiers had martyred the prophet, and unknowingly bestowed upon the religion the symbology of their footwear.

Lu-Temba's heart raced with excitement. First century? Second century?

He struggled to precisely date the settlement's abandonment; but, he supposed, he couldn't actually _see _it, beyond the shattered fragments he unearthed with his bare hands, or at most, with a small trowel.

It wasn't until Kesh and Aror sank below the horizon that Lu-Temba came back to reality, and realised how far from the convent he was. And, more immediately, how cold it would get at night up in the mountains.

*

The gazelle did not arrive back at Lady Eibed of Apos until almost a full hour after dusk. It was only a mile or so, but in the mountains, at night, the gazelle found he had to walk carefully. The world looked very different after dark.

Sister Auliabe was waiting for him inside the gates when he finally approached.

"There you are!" she cried. "You had me worried, I thought you had gotten lost! I was about to send out a Sister to search for you!"

"My apologies, Sister Auliabe! I... found what I was looking for, that's for certain!"

"Arahan's robes, you most certainly did, look at you!" Auliabe laughed, motioning to the mud and dirt that caked Lu-Temba's arms, legs and face. "You'd best call back past the bathhouse, I'll not have you dragging dirt through my Great Hall!"

"Y-yes Sister!"

"Hurry now, the feast is soon to begin!"

Feast?

Abruptly, and without any conscious thought, Captain Frieda of the _Hurait Albahr _flashed into his consciousness again. "...to prevent you from being eaten..."

His worry must have crossed his face, because Auliabe let down her guard, and instead clucked him like a fussy mother from the gates of the convent to the bathhouse once more, chatting eagerly to him about the feast that was to be laid out - not only in his honour, but to observe the Great Alignment.

"...every day for the week around the Alignment, we feast in the Great Hall! While the rest of the Lupa people celebrate with their bodies, we of the cloth are forbidden from doing so with those of our own people."

Lu-Temba's ears perked.

"So you see, Lu-Temba, your presence here with us is a sign from Arahan! Or perhaps even a sign from Ysion himself, who can know? A sign, no doubt, that our faith has been rewarded. Now hurry, clean yourself, and come and eat with us! And later on, there is... something I must ask of you."