Chapter 9: Final lessons

Laura, Tammy and Bethany turned and walked off into the dark. Amber, Terry, Mariah and Tanya still stood around the bed with their candles, giving what little illumination there was.

"What do the other four candles stand for?" I asked.

"This candle represents The Mother and Father." Said Mariah. "Trust in their divine light to guide you down the paths you travel in life."

"This candle represents love." Said Tanya. "Love is the very heart of creation, just as creation is one of the ultimate acts of love. This is why such elaborate measures have been taken to preserve your innocence until now."

Terry continued, "This candle represents rebirth and change. It is a reminder that nothing ever truly dies, but merely changes; is reborn into something new, just as you were reborn tonight as a woman."

"And this candle," said Amber, "is in loving memory of the young girl we once knew."

Bethany returned a moment later with a couple of towels. Handing them off to Mariah and Terry, she curtsied to Amber and left again. I must have hallucinated that part, that's it! Since; by the feel of it; more than half my brain had dribbled out onto the bed, I must be seeing things. Bethany curtsied?!

Terry and Mariah set their candles on the table and began to gently pat my body down, and I realized that I was positively drenched with sweat (not to mention something else). About that time Tammy returned with a small glass full of what looked like ice chips. She handed it to Tanya, turned to Amber and said; "I'll get the tea started. The bath should be ready in just a couple of minutes." Then she curtsied and left. Could I have hallucinated the same thing twice? Laura was the prim and proper type, not Tammy and Bethany.

Tanya reached down and put an ice chip in my mouth. It was like manna from heaven. I hadn't even realized that my mouth and throat were parched. I sighed in contentment as the ice melted in my mouth, watering the desert. As they continued to pat me dry, slowly I began to feel something vaguely resembling life flowing back into my body.

"Was I seeing things a minute ago?" I asked, looking up at amber. "Did Bethany and Tammy actually curtsy to you?"

"Yes."

"I don't understand. I've known them since we were in the third grade. I didn't know they even knew how."

Amber looked down at me and said sarcastically; "Yeah, it's amazing what a little rank will get you." Terry, Mariah and Tanya all chuckled at this.

"Rank?" I asked, puzzled.

"Yes, rank." She continued, looking serious. "Well, station would probably be a better word for it. This is as formal an event as your wedding and on such formal occasions it is proper to show deference to people of a higher social station than yourself."

"But I thought the whole social class and the caste system died out ages ago?" I said, even more puzzled.

She laughed and said; "Not quite the kind of social station I was talking about dear. What I mean to say is that the four of us are all mothers. Mothers have a higher social standing than newlyweds. We have more experience in matters of love and lovemaking, and we have had children; which specifically is the reason we are here."

"Normally a girl is allowed to choose three older friends to take her through this so that she will have the reassurance of that familiarity. Her mom will then choose four mothers to lead the experience, and to impress upon the girl the seriousness of what she has just gone through."

"You see; while the act you have just experienced is an extremely pleasurable and profound means of expressing your love, it must never be undertaken lightly or carelessly, but with the greatest reverence and diligence. With the exception of this ceremony, it must never be done outside the bonds of marriage. The reason that mothers are the greater number here is to impress upon you graphically that the primary purpose of this act is to create life, which is something which must never be done by the unready. Bearing children is your duty to society, your family and your husband, it must not however, be done before both of you are ready for the responsibility and the burden. This, as was stated earlier, is why such elaborate measures have been taken to preserve your innocence until this moment. Having children too young can utterly ruin your lives. Worse yet, it can ruin the child's life, and that would be a tragedy, a sin and a crime. Not to mention the fact that childbirth is painful and potentially dangerous for the mother; so not only can it ruin a girl's life if she's too young, but end it as well."

Something about what she said concerned me, so I asked. "But how do we prevent pregnancy until we're ready; and for that matter, how will we know when we are ready?"

Tanya sat down next to me gave me another chip of ice and said; "We will show you how to prevent pregnancy; as for being ready, that won't happen until after you finish school at the very earliest. Your marital councilors and the church will help you determine when the two of you are ready. In most respects they will merely be guides in this decision, however; their judgment will carry the weight of law as far as determining the earliest time that you might be considered ready. Before that time, every effort will be taken to ensure that the unwanted doesn't happen. After that, it will be between you and your husband."

"But what if I decide that I don't want children?" I asked, still trying to absorb everything I was being told.

Mariah fielded this one. "As has already been said dear, it is your duty. For most women this may be an option; however, you are an only child as were both your mother and father. You have no siblings or cousins to carry on your bloodline. Now, Micah comes from a large family so his line is secure, but you have a moral obligation to continue yours. This doesn't mean that you need to jump right into bed and make a baby the second that you're declared ready, but you have a duty to do so at some point while you are biologically capable. The longer you wait, the harder on your body pregnancy and childbirth will be. Besides, I know your mother would be happier to have a grandchild sooner than later."

Terry and Mariah finished patting me dry, set aside their towels and helped me sit up. Amber looked at me, grinned and said; "You look positively frightful dear. Ladies, I believe this young woman needs a bath."

The four of them helped me stand, and then with Amber and Terry holding my hands, they led me slowly out of the room. They led me out through the sitting room and I noticed that the couch had been put back. I followed with some difficulty back down the stone hallway to the bath. Walking was uncomfortable at best and I found that I was walking kind of bowlegged.

The bath chamber was steamy with a light scent of roses carried on the mist. As we came into the chamber I saw Bethany laying out towels and Laura already undressed and in the tub, spreading out rose petals on the surface of the water. I glanced nervously at the bench on the far side and prayed fervently that I wouldn't be asked to get on it again.

"You look like a train wreck," Giggled Laura as she looked up at me from the water. "I'll bet you feel like one too. Don't worry; the legs'll start working right in a day or three." I giggled kind of sheepishly, remembering the girl I'd seen leaving as I arrived, understanding dawning on me.

"Am I going to look like that when I walk out of here?" I thought to myself. "Is some girl going to think back on me like this tomorrow night? What if she's someone I know?" In spite of what I'd just been through I found myself blushing to the tips of my toes at the thought of it.

Amber stopped in front of me, turned and asked me to kneel. Doing so, I thought how curious it was that the air could be so warm and the floor so cold. I felt a pair of hands on the sides of my head and the veil was lifted from me.

"There you go dear." Said Terry from behind me. "I'll just put this away for a bit so it doesn't get ruined in this damp air. Give me your right hand dear." When I held my hand up for her she gently slid my virginity ring off my finger and passed it to someone behind me. I heard steps retreating back up the hallway. "O.k., Climb on into the tub now."

Bethany had undressed and helped me get up and to the tub. The water was blessedly hot still, and as I walked down the stairs into it I longed to be clean and warm again. But when the water reached the juncture of my thighs, I felt a sudden, powerful rush of pleasure followed by a wave of nausea. Bethany gave me an empathetic smile and asked; "Feeling a little sick?" I nodded. "It happened to me too." She continued. "It's just the hot water hitting areas that are pretty sensitive at the moment. Just keep coming, the feeling will pass in a few moments."

She was right, after a few moments in the water the nausea passed and I felt much better. Bethany led me to the center of the bath where her and Laura began soaking me with sponges. I turned to see that Amber, Terry, Mariah and Tanya had all finished undressing and were coming down into the tub themselves.

As they came towards us Tanya stepped forward and said; "Alison, through her clerics the Mother bathed you and purified you with her own hand before sending you to be reborn as a woman. Now it is the task of the midwives who tended your rebirthing to bathe you once again as a newborn woman and prepare you, in part, for the life ahead of you. In the name of the Mother, I welcome you to the world Alison." Then she took my head in her hands and kissed me lightly on the forehead and stepped around me. Mariah then stepped up to me and said; "In the name of the Mother, I welcome you as a friend Alison." She too kissed me on the forehead and moved on. Next came Terry. "In the name of the Mother," She said, "I welcome you as a sister Alison."

Finally came Amber who stopped and smiled at me for a moment. "Alison Jane Murrow, In the name of the Mother I welcome you to a new life." As she kissed me on the forehead, the others began to soap me up and wash me.

There was a slight noise and I looked up to see Tammy coming down the hall with a tray. From my vantage point I could see two small teapots and several cups. She put the tray down next to the edge, undressed and joined us in the tub.

They took their time and bathed me thoroughly, and thankfully, the subject of the bench never came up. As they bathed me my thoughts drifted and I realized that this experience had changed how I viewed certain things. I suddenly saw my relationship with Micah in a different light; my parents relationship too (gawd, what a horrible image). I realized that this could, and would color my perception on a whole host of things. It struck me that this sudden revelation fundamentally changed me as a being; so much so, that I literally was not the same person I was when I woke up this morning. I was someone... new.

When they'd finished with me they separated a bit and bathed themselves briefly, then they led me to the edge of the tub by the tray. Tammy picked up one of the teapots, poured four cups and handed them out to Amber, Terry, Mariah and Tanya. She poured four more cups from the other pot and handed them out to the rest of us. When she handed me a cup I noticed that it had an odd scent to it, so I held it to my nose for closer inspection... GASP! It was horrible, it smelled like someone had boiled a root fresh out of the ground, dirt and all.

"It's called Blue Caliphi dear;" Said Amber as she saw the puzzled and moderately disgusted look on my face. "It's rather an acquired taste; but I'm afraid to say that it's a taste you're going to have to start acquiring as of right now. You'll be drinking a cup of it every morning, and I mean EVERY morning for at least the next two and a half years. Go ahead, drink up."

The tea was as black as coffee and was every bit as ghastly as the smell promised, it tasted... earthy... like boiled potting soil. It was everything I could do to bring myself to take a second sip.

They all laughed at my attempts to choke the stuff down; Laura leaned over and said to me, "Trust me, there is absolutely nothing that can be done about the flavor. I've tried everything, sugar, honey, creamer; everything. Nothing works! In fact, most things actually tend to make it worse! On the upside, it tends to have an energizing effect, like coffee and you will start to get used to the stuff after a while; that, and the fact that you won't have to suffer through it alone. Micah will have to drink it too, and for just as long."

"Why," I asked. "What does it do?"

Terry fielded this one. "Blue Caliphi, when it is taken on a regular basis, will shut down your reproductive system. It works in both women and men. In women, it causes you to stop ovulating. You will still have your monthly cycle, but no egg will be released. While you will still get your cycle, the timing of it will fluctuate for a while. If at some point after your wedding night you notice that your period is late, and you've been taking your tea religiously, then don't be alarmed. If, however, you've missed your tea even once and that happens, go see a doctor."

"And speaking of your wedding night dear," Tanya picked up. "The effects of the tea aren't immediate. It generally takes nearly a month for it to really work its way into your system. Since your wedding is only two weeks away we have to accelerate the schedule a bit. For the next two weeks, until your wedding, you will need to drink two cups a day. Your mother will make sure you remember to take it between now and then. When you go to school next term the school will give it to you in the cafeteria every morning. Until then, you can get it here at the temple for free; the church's gardens and farms actually grow most of the worlds supply. It is supplied free of charge to all couples within their first three years of marriage. After you and Micah are deemed fit; if you still choose to take it, you can purchase it in any pharmacy."

"So, is this how the priests are able to perform their duty?" I asked with a sudden bit of insight.

"And the priestesses too." Amber replied. "It only requires that one of you be drinking it to have one-hundred percent effectiveness. Requiring both members of a young couple to do so however is fairer. This puts the responsibility squarely on both of your shoulders and cuts accidents down to almost zero. Let's face it, people make mistakes, forget things; but with both of you on the tea, the chances of both of you missing it on the same day are far more remote."