Chapter 13

The Goddess Elaine stepped into the foyer where Cherrill and Victoria were waiting. She wore her customary white robe; two lengths of pure silk that were draped over each shoulder and fell down almost to her ankles. A white sash around her waist held her garment together in front and back, but left her legs and sides completely bare. Long blond hair cascaded down over her shoulders and, since she was the only blond goddess in New Eden, she was appropriately called the 'Golden Goddess'.

"The Princess Lisa will see you now," the goddess said, her voice warm and friendly, which surprised Victoria, having never previously met any goddesses of the realm.

"Thanks, Elaine," Cherrill replied, and stood up as the goddess turned to lead them into the audience chamber.

Victoria followed Cherrill, who followed Elaine. She grinned to herself as she realized that the white silk the goddess was wearing didn't really cover anything – especially when the goddess moved. It wasn't sewn together anywhere, and the sexy crease of her butt showed itself once or twice as they walked and seemed to reveal, rather than conceal, her divine sexuality.

Then she realized that the garment was intended to demonstrate the availability of the goddess to those who would worship her, and (in this society) worshipping a goddess was accomplished by having sex with her. Victoria imagined that the front of the garment revealed at least as much as the back, and wished she were walking ahead of the goddess so she could look back and catch a glimpse.

As the trio approached the center of the room, Victoria noticed a dark-haired girl talking to a redheaded woman dressed in a bright blue sarong. Cherrill was curious, as, so far, she was the only other redhead around, except for Tabatha Hedron, whom she hadn't seen for years. After a few seconds, the redheaded woman left and the brunette approached, smiling at them and kissing Elaine in welcome.

"Come. Sit," the tall brunette said to them. "Cherrill, it's good to see you again. How is your training coming along?" The tall brunette indicated a lounge and led them to it, giving Cherrill a brief kiss before sitting down.

"Well, Lisa, I had some trouble yesterday," Cherrill replied, sitting down and picking up a dark brown pear from a bowl of fruit on the table. "But, mostly, I'm having a wonderful time learning how to use my new abilities."

"What kind of trouble did you have?" Lisa, naturally interested, wanted to know. "Just close your eyes and think of it. Let me look into your mind."

Cherrill closed her eyes and relaxed. Victoria sat, almost mesmerized, trying to figure everything out. If this was the Princess, and the prime Phoenix, then that redheaded woman must have been... 'The Queen! Princess Lisa's mother!'

Looking around while Lisa and Cherrill were mind-linked, Victoria noticed that the goddess Elaine had left. Looking around the room, she saw that the walls were open to the north and south, allowing both crystal suns to shine in and brighten the room, one shining from the north and one from the south. And right now, both suns were radiating captured sunlight, this being high summer as well as the middle of the day.

"I see," Lisa said aloud, breaking the pleasant, silent ambience of the room. "You need additional practice controlling your body under stress. You and I will travel tomorrow to the Lake View Hunting Preserve to further your training."

Having decided what to do with Cherrill, Lisa turned to Victoria and said, "Elaine tells me that you want to be evaluated for Phoenix training."

"Uh," Victoria said brightly, "I ... Yes, I think so ... Cherrill says that I have potential, and I..." She was suddenly embarrassed to talk about these extremely private feelings, especially her deep yearning for violent, lethal penetration of her body.

Lisa smiled, and Victoria suddenly gasped as she felt her awareness expanding into Lisa's mind. She could feel the warm acceptance of her presence here and was aware that Lisa was absorbing and examining those exact private thoughts and feelings that she'd been unable to articulate only a moment earlier.

It didn't occur to her to try to shut Lisa out for almost a minute. The instant it did occur, Lisa politely withdrew and leaned back in her chair, still smiling, but separated from her, now.

"You are welcome to travel with us tomorrow," Lisa told her. "The goddess Annalisa is working with three new trainees at the Lake View preserve. She and her life-mate, Jake, can help you decide if you wish to join them."

"Thank you," Victoria said, not knowing how to address this being in front of her. "If I may, your ... highness?"

"Call me Lisa," the princess interrupted.

"Um, okay ... Thank you," Victoria replied. "Lisa. Um, I was just wondering..."

"If that redhead you saw was the queen?" Lisa grinned. "Yes, she is."

"Is she really your mother?" Victoria asked. "I mean – there are stories that your mother died ... that she killed herself ... that she flew into the crystal sun."

Lisa waited, a polite smile on her face, until the newcomer ran out of air. With a sigh, she began, "My mother's name was Béla. She was caught out in the open when the Northern Sun activated. Although her body was destroyed, the Praetor protected her soul – her 'life-force', if you will – and a new hybrid body was created at University for her to inhabit.

"The person who is Queen Alana," Lisa explained, "is the person who was my mother, although with the body she has now, that isn't biologically true. And since we're both hybrids, we're actually sisters, now. But I got used to calling her 'Mom', and I still do."

"Then you're not really a princess?" Victoria asked, becoming bolder now that the whispered stories she'd heard were being verified as true.

"Yes, of course I am!" Lisa replied, laughing now. "Sibilius created the hybrid species which you call goddesses, so we think of him as our father. That makes us all princesses. We were addressed in that fashion long before Sibilius became king in New Eden, and long before we were ever called goddesses."

Rising to her feet, Lisa said, "There is food prepared in the dining hall – you know where it is, Cherrill, and I apologize, but I must leave you on your own for a time. There is a worship service tonight if you wish to attend. Tomorrow morning, I'll meet you both in the dining hall. Bring whatever you wish to take with you at that time."

"Great!" Cherrill replied, standing up. "We'll see you tomorrow!"

"Yes," Victoria replied. "Tomorrow..."

As they walked toward the Dining Hall, Victoria was curious. "Is the service here the same as the service in Harveston?"

"I don't know," Cherrill admitted. "Who is the district goddess there?"

"Dawn," Victoria replied. "But she doesn't have regular worship services. She only conducts worship maybe once a month or so to celebrate some special event or something. Usually, we have fairs where everyone eats themselves sick then they fuck themselves silly. Our goddess doesn't always participate."

"Well, the services here are more organized, I think," Cherrill told her. "I haven't spent much time here, but there are usually two or three goddesses in attendance, and that almost always means a big crowd of horny guys, so if you want to be fucked silly tonight, the Goddess' Temple is the place to go!"

"That sounds like a real blast," Victoria replied, grinning. "I wish we could have brought Ric – he'd enjoy the opportunity to dive into that blond one. He'd find out fast enough if her carpet matches her drapes, if you know what I mean."

"No he wouldn't," Cherrill laughed. "The goddesses don't have any carpets! They're all bare down there! It's a genetic thing."

"In that case," Victoria replied, laughing as well, "we have got to go to worship tonight!"

By the time they were finished eating, the northern crystal sun had dimmed down, leaving the southern sun to light up the late afternoon. Cherrill and Victoria found a park only two streets away from the palace. There was a musical group playing – flutes, a violin and a guitar – and about twenty people, mostly male/female, some in various states of undress.

"This is a lot more open than where I come from," Victoria said, gazing around at the other couples with obvious interest. "Do you want to just sit on the grass, or what?"

"Well, I didn't bring ... Oh, look!" Cherrill exclaimed, suddenly grinning. "Talk about advances in hedonistic civilization!"

There was a table nearby, stacked with linens. It was obvious what the linen was for, as several sheets were already spread out on the ground with people sitting or lying on them.

"This solves any problem we might have with grass stains," Cherrill explained, and walked over to get one.

The soft, even grass beneath them cushioned the sheet well enough, and soon Victoria was lying back, just listening to the flutes and enjoying the soft caresses of the evening breeze. A girl was singing in harmony with the flutes while strumming a beat on the guitar. A couple nearby was making love, and the soft sighing just beneath the music was pleasantly erotic.

"Life is good here – don't you think?" Cherrill asked, bringing Victoria's attention back to her immediate self.

"I guess," Victoria replied dreamily.

"You know," Cherrill said, causing Victoria to be just slightly annoyed because she didn't want to talk right now. "We don't really have to wait until tonight..."