Chapter 48

After everyone was comfortable, Ken stood and looked at them. Then he focused on Annette.

"Annette, do you wish to worship the Goddess?"

Annette looked startled; this wasn't what she was expecting. Gary had promised her that some answers about how she was feeling would be forthcoming.

"Yes," she said, confusion tingeing her voice. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Because we worship a specific Goddess. Her name is Lea."

Ken could feel both Genie and Annette begin processing all the weirdness that had occurred during the ritual. Since they'd never been to one before, they'd had no idea of what to expect. But, now that they thought about it, having someone just appear in front of them was more than just a little odd.

Ken spent the next hour connecting the dots for them. He could feel Gary struggling to accept what he was saying, his knowledge of what was happening to Annette and the things he'd seen these people do, conflicting with his version of reality.

"So it's your choice," he finished up. "You can continue to worship with us. But you don't have to."

"What is your place in all this?" asked Genie.

Ken sighed. He had explained what he knew of how their abilities worked and what the rules were -- the few that seemed well defined. But he hadn't gone into the hierarchy at all, and even his wives didn't know what all of his talents were. He'd decided lately that developing a moral code dealing with his ability to actually read thoughts was important -- even if he was the only one with that particular skill.

"I'm Lea's High Priest and Avatar. Jane and Arianwen are High Priestess. Sally and Eric are Priest and Priestess. You two would be priestess also, should you choose to continue with us."

"What happens if we decided we don't want to be a Priestess?" asked Annette.

Ken shrugged, "No big deal. Things will go on as they were before. Unless you're talking about not worshiping at all, in which case the abilities you're developing would fade in short order. If you decide you want to worship, but don't want to be a Priestess, you'll still have certain abilities -- at least that's what Lea told me. And these are not life long choices, for the most part. I mean, I doubt you can see-saw back and forth between being a Priestess and a Follower. But if you are a Priestess and want to leave, you'll always be free to go. I suspect that you would not be as free to return."

There was silence and Jane spoke up. "You don't have to decide now. This is all very strange, I know. I mean, it hasn't even been two months since Lea came to us." She shook her head, "It seems like it's been a long time, but it really hasn't. And we don't have all the answers either. Lea is somewhat mischievous. She likes for us to discover things on our own."

Annette stood and looked at them. "I need a little time," she said.

Arianwen, who had managed to stay near the woman -- mostly curled in her lap, stood as well and gave her a hug and a kiss.

"You take the time you need. We'll be here and accept what you want no matter what your decision," she said.

"Thank you," said Annette. She turned and left. Genie said she wanted to take a walk and left as well, followed by Jane, Ari and Sally.

"Where does that leave me?" asked Gary.

"The same place I was when Sally was brought in," said Eric. "At fist, I wanted in because of Sally, but Lea told me I wasn't making the decision for the right reasons."

"But you're in now," returned Gary.

"Yeah," returned Eric. "But it took a whole hell of a lot of soul searching."

"What about your kid?"

"Lea said children are just as free to choose Her path as any other," said Ken. "Having a child grow up here is going to be a challenge. We'll be butting heads with social conventions from the word go and there's bound to be a number of issues that will crop up from time to time."

One of the number of things, he was sure, was going to be how to handle sexual interactions in a household like this with a child around. He remembered the vision he'd had of a ten-year-old Christine standing before him, obviously aroused despite her young age and obviously challenging him about something. Hell, he was none too sure about Tina either, but felt sure that fifteen was not the problem that ten was when it came to sexual exploration.

They were silent for a moment, then Gary said, "Annette's gonna lay this on me, isn't she?"

"What do you mean?" asked Eric.

"She's going to want Gary to decide what she should do," said Ken. "Actually though, I'm willing to bet that won't happen."

Gary snorted, "Another one of your bets?"

Ken chuckled. "Not in so many words. Gary you are so central to her life that there's little doubt you'll factor heavily in her decision. If you don't like this, or can't deal with it, well, that's going to effect her decision. But if you're really against it, she walk in a heartbeat."

"I want what's best for her," said Gary firmly.

"Who's to say what's best?" asked Ken.

Gary looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean, who's to say what's best? Didn't you just spend the last hour telling her how great this whole thing is?"

"Great for us doesn't automatically mean it's great for everyone," Ken replied. "I mean, you're having trouble with some asshole because his daughter chose a different lifestyle than he wanted for her. He's abusing his power. We don't want to do that. Granting a fantasy here and there, showing people things in a different light is one thing. Fucking over someone because you don't like the way they live is a whole other ball of wax. Our lifestyle isn't for everyone and I'd be the last one to force it on anyone."

"So you meant when you said? If she decides not to be a Priestess you'll still have us a friends."

Ken looked at him like he was an alien. "Of course. We really like you guys. Hell, even if you didn't want to spend time in the dungeon with us, you're still really cool to hang out with."

"Ari'd be disappointed if she didn't get to have sex with Annette though," said Eric in a light hearted tone.

Gary grinned, "Yeah, she really likes Annette."

Ken woke up when Genie entered the room the next morning. He was unsurprised by her presence, but he was surprised by her actions. She was naked, as usual, but the thing that surprised him the most was that she only entered the room and stopped moving. When he opened his eyes, he saw her kneeling on the floor with a calm look on her face. She felt... at peace. And horny -- very horny.

Arianwen had gotten up early and was in the lab again, and Jane was still asleep. Ken smiled at Genie and she quietly joined him in bed. It didn't take Jane long to wake up and they spent a very satisfying hour making love.

"I take it this means, " said Ken to Genie, who was laying on her back between Jane and him while they recovered, "that you'd like to join us?"

"Yes, Master Ken," said Genie.

A half hour later Ken, Ari and Jane were in the dojo practicing. He even ended up sparring with them a little, admiring the play of muscles under their shining skin. Both gave a good accounting of themselves and Ken was pleased. He was still uncomfortable teaching them, but he knew that he was qualified to do so considering the level they were currently at. For himself, all he had to do was compare his movements with Sensei's and knew that he had a long way to go.

Ari and Annette were downstairs when he got there after showering. As usual, Ari was close to Annette, but not quite in her lap. Ken suspected Ari was holding back because Tina was there. He kissed the women thoroughly; Tina looked at him with a shy smile so he kissed her as well -- just a soft touch of his lips on hers. She blushed as her nipples rose -- something that was easy to see since she was topless.

"Good Morning, Master Ken," said Annette.

Ken saw Tina's look of confusion and Annette immediately realized what she'd said. Ken just smiled at Annette and shook his head to let her know there was no problem. Tina was going to have to get used to the way things were done here. If she didn't ping his radar so strongly, or if she was freaking out, that'd be one thing. But she was sitting there almost as naked as the other women and was quickly overcoming any inhibitions she'd had. Having read the girl, he knew that she had damn few inhibitions -- just no experience.

"You're looking well today," said Ken. "Where's Gary?"

Ari giggled and smirked. "Still in bed. I think he's a little tired from last night."

Annette actually blushed from that comment. Tina said nothing but watched everything. Jane came downstairs a minute later and kissed everyone, including Tina. Despite the fact that she didn't use any tongue, her kiss to Tina was so submissive that both Ari and Annette almost groaned. Tina's nipples got even harder and her skin darkened. Her scent was evident to everyone.

"Jane," Ken admonished.

"Yes Master?" returned his slave in an oh-so-innocent tone.

Ken shook his head and left the room while Tina followed him with wide eyes.

Annette found him in the Garden a short while later. She knelt to him and said, "Will you accept me as a Priestess Master Ken?"

Ken squatted in front of her, smiling. "Yes, if you'll remember a few things. I'm not your Master when we're speaking of the Circle -- which is how we refer to the Priests and Priestess. Don't kneel to me as my Priestess. Lea doesn't require it and neither do I."

"Yes Master Ken."

He sighed and shook his head, then pulled her to her feet and kissed her.

"I take it you and Gary worked everything out?"

Annette nodded. "It was a little difficult at first. I think he's still not sure that all this is really happening. But he wants me to be happy, and I really want this. He's given me his full support to take this path where ever it leads me."

Then she smiled, a shy sort of smile that was full of happiness. "He asked me a lot of questions about Paganism and our sect in particular."

"Oh?"

Annette nodded, her eyes glowing. "It's not like I had a lot of answers to give him. But he's very curious."

Ken knew that she had a feeling that Gary would, at some point, be joining them. Ken had that feeling as well, but considered it a possibility, rather than the certainty that Annette thought it was. Of course, she knew him much better, so perhaps she was right in her certainty.

"During our next ritual, you'll be formally dedicated. Where we go from there will be up to you."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Once you're dedicated, you'll have access to certain things -- like the money that's set aside for the Circle. You'll be able to move in here, if you'd like, not that you have to wait to dedicate for that." He paused for a second. "One of the things that Lea wants is craftsmen -- the best we can get. The jewelry that you make certainly qualifies. Perhaps we can find other outlets for your stuff other than Gary's shop. Or not. The choice is yours."

"Oh," said Annette. Clearly these were things she hadn't thought of. That was no surprise since it was only recently that Ken, realizing that he had to have some sort of organization in the household, had started thinking of himself.

"Yeah," he continued. "One of the things I need to do is sit down with Ellen, Kim and Larry and set up more of a financial structure. Currently we have a lot of money -- through some oddity that we still haven't tracked down, the Mansion is financially self sustaining. But as the Circle grows, we need to find ways to preserve the capital that we have, and grow it so that we don't have to work. Lea told me at the beginning of all this that she didn't want her chosen to be distracted by working at jobs they didn't like. She arranged for me to win a rather substantial lottery. I don't know what other things she'll do to help sustain us or whether that was considered the kick off and now we need to continue on our own." He sighed, "There's just so much I don't know."

Annette smiled and gave him a hug. "We'll figure everything out," she said.

"Oh," said Ken, "I thought I'd mention that if you decide you want to live here, it goes without saying that Gary would be welcome as well."

"Thank you, Master Ken," said the woman. "I think he's awake now, so I should go see him."

Ken decided to take a walk on the grounds of the mansion. He realized that he really hadn't visited very much of the land they owned. He was thinking about how they'd maintain the money that they currently had in a way that would make it grow. Perhaps he could invest in some business or something. Ellen and Kim had already invested some of the money, but those investments had been made on the assumption that it would be just three of them. Now there were seven of the Circle and he knew there would be others.

It was hot by the time he wandered back to the house and he was looking forward to a dip in the pool. He dove in and swam around for a few minutes, enjoying the cool water. There was another splash a few seconds after he went under -- Tina had joined him.

When he surfaced, she let out a little squeak.

"Ohmygod! I didn't realize anyone was out here," she said.

"Actually, I'm surprised that no one is out here," Ken replied.

He knew that Genie, Annette, Gary and Eric were in the playroom. They were having a very good time of it. While showing Tina the house, they had avoided showing her the dungeon, so she had no idea that it existed. He got out of the pool and casually pulled on his shorts. He knew Tina was watching him the whole time and that her state of mind was anything but calm. She wanted to talk.

She also wanted to have sex, preferably with something other than her own hand, but had no idea how to go about bringing up the subject. Especially since he and Ari were her main interests. Not that she would have turned down anyone else -- exactly. Ken could tell that she'd made a decision about her virginity, but he had no idea what it was. Again, he could have found out, but didn't want to invade her privacy.

Tina was still in the pool, her arms resting on the ledge as Ken arranged himself in one of the lounges close to the water.

"Can I ask you a few things?" asked Tina.

"Of course," replied Ken not opening his eyes.

There were so many things she wanted to start with, her surface thoughts were all whirling around, a confused mass. Finally, she decided on a question.

"Why did both Jane and Annette called you Master?"

Ken opened his eyes to look at the girl. "Relationships here are... complex." he started.

"I'd guessed. From the way you all kiss each other I couldn't tell who's with who," replied Tina. "And from the way you talked before we got here, I was thinking that it'd be a non stop orgy around here."

Ken chuckled. "You're here on an off weekend."

Tina's eyes widened. "Wait, you mean that you really do have... orgies?"