the temple of bubastis

chapter 3

sep 2nd 2024

When the men and women in white smocks carried in the first course, Fianna was certainly impressed. Most of the bowls and platters held the large fruits she had seen on her way into the Temple - ripe red grapes, fragrant pomegranate seeds, blueberries - all of which were at least twice the normal size. But then they continued to filter in, carrying pitchers of wine, wooden boards laden with slices of cheese, and steaming cook-pots. She couldn't help raising her eyebrows as she realized the scale of the feast to come.

The shipwrecked priestess turned to Anankha. "Are there more revelers on the way? I could almost fill my stomach with but a few bites."

Anankha laughed. "I hope you are wrong, Fianna, for there is much more food to come. Try some of these berries."

She took one from the bowl, holding it to the light. It certainly looked like a common blueberry apart from its size, but its skin seemed... more, a deeper blue somehow. As Fianna cautiously took a bite, the fruit made a satisfying snap between her teeth, and flooded her mouth with sweet juices. Happily, though it was less tart than the normal-sized ones she knew from home, it was nowhere near the cucumber-like watery taste she had feared from its size.

Fianna nodded, smiling at the delicious fruit, and popped the other half into her mouth. "Are all of this island's crops so delectable?"

"Most of them," Anankha chuckled. "The softer berries go to be baked into pies, but very few go to waste. The blessings of Our Lady keep them from spoiling." She raised a cup of wine in the direction of Bubastis, who beckoned the two women closer.

Anankha practically dragged the flustered priestess with her, kneeling on the bedcushion with her arms resting on the goddess' soft, furry thigh. For her part, Fianna sat beside the cushion, timidly eating another berry.

"You eat so slowly, dearie," purred the Queen. "At this rate, you'll never finish your first course."

Fianna gave a bashful smile. "Forgive me, great Bubastis. Your generosity knows no bounds, but my palate is unused to such... abundance."

"Hmm. I take it your own homeland is less bountiful?"

"Unfortunately, yes." She accepted another cup of wine from Anankha; the fruits she had eaten did much to sate her earlier thirst. "My grandmother lived through the Seven Winters. And while I have thankfully been spared that level of hardship, there are still lean times now and again."

It was Anankha's turn to question the guest. "What are winters like in your homeland? Is there ice on the ground?"

"Sometimes. There is more ice and snow in the far northern provinces." Fianna was feeling a pleasant warmth from the wine, and realized she had been absent-mindedly eating more of the blueberries; the bowl was nearly empty.

Anankha gently touched a finger to Fianna's face, rubbing at the priestess' lips. "You have some juices around your mouth, Fianna."

Fianna blushed, her cheeks growing even warmer. This sort of touch was... unexpected, but not unwelcome. The priestess noticed, not for the first time, how pretty Anankha was.

Reluctantly, the woman in white pulled away. She plucked a ripe red grape from a different bowl, handed it to Fianna, and gestured towards Bubastis. The voluptuous cat-woman was looking at the two of them, one fang poking out from her lips as she smiled. As Fianna held the grape out towards the Queen, the furry lady snapped her jaws shut around it, the tip of her tail flicking back and forth happily.

One of the other worshipers carried a cheese board over to the cushion; as he handed it to the Queen, she nibbled his hand playfully. "Try some of this, dear Fianna. Ardath keeps a herd of goats on the island, and from their milk is made the most savory cheese I have ever tasted."

She picked up a slice, feeling it weakly stick to her fingertips - soft and moist, but not dripping wet. Taking a small bite, Fianna felt her teeth cut through the softness like a hot knife through butter. There were a few bubbles of air within, and she felt tiny, soft salt crystals that quickly melted in her mouth. Her tongue thrilled to the taste, and her hand reached instinctively for another cup of wine.

"Glad to see you have found your appetite, Fianna." Anankha was smiling at her from behind her own cup.

The priestess blushed still deeper. "It is easy when the fare is so appetizing. I owe the cooks my compliments."

Grinning, Bubastis clapped her soft hands together. More of the people in white smocks drifted into the room, most of them bearing earthenware platters, their contents concealed by brightly painted domes. "Do you eat the meat of animals? Cooked, I mean."

"Yes, great Queen. As long as it isn't seal meat; it is taboo for priests to eat those, as some of our parishioners are Changelings."

"That is more than sensible. Our only game are goats and birds, apart from the catch of our ghotiermen." One worshiper brought Bubastis a plate of filleted salmon, which she accepted eagerly. "I hope you enjoy the second course as much as the first."

Fianna once again worried that her slowness in eating might be misinterpreted as rudeness. Leaning over to Anankha, she whispered, "What was in those cook-pots from the first course?"

"Dumpling soup, I believe."

"Is there any left?"

"I will go and look!" The white-clad woman got to her feet, then staggered. "Oh!" she giggled. "I miiight have had a cup too many."

Bubastis reached a hand out to Anankha, steadying her. "You need not trouble yourself, darling." She gestured for one of the worshipers to carry their pot closer, and handed a large wooden spoon to her visitor.

Only a few dumplings remained in the pot, but Fianna did not mind so much when the soup was as hearty as this. Some sort of turkey or chicken broth, seasoned with oceanic salt and wild onions, she could have eaten a whole gallon of this on its own.

Suddenly a startling thought occurred to her. She could eat a whole gallon... couldn't she?

Fianna paused mid-slurp to look up at Anankha, her guide on this island of hedonism. It might have been the wine talking, but the priestess was willing to listen. She couldn't deny that Anankha was quite pretty, in a rugged sort of way. Her sparkling eyes, her lithe muscles...

Another thought. You should have some more soup. It was quite delicious, after all. Seeing Anankha enjoy herself, totally without shame or embarrassment... Though it might have been silly, she wanted to impress her.

You should have a lot more soup.

Setting the spoon on the bedcushion (after licking it clean, of course), Fianna picked up the cook-pot with both hands. Thankfully, it was only about half-full. As Anankha looked on, the priestess began to gulp down the savory broth, her throat bulging with every swallow.

Finally the pot was empty, and Fianna set it down. When she looked down at her body, she first gasped, then started giggling. Her slip-dress, normally loose around her delicate frame, was clinging to her unusually full stomach, hugging the bulge in her belly as if she were with child.

In any other place, she would have died of embarrassment at such a brazen display of gluttony. Here, though... The two women nearest her - Anankha and Queen Bubastis - stared, not with derision, but with clear and unambiguous lust.

If the wine had not gone to her head before, it certainly had now. With an exaggerated groan of discomfort, Fianna cradled her stomach in both arms. "Ohh... Anankha, darling, could you help me with my dress?"

Tipsy, the woman in the white smock clambered onto the bedcushion. Her hands fumbled with the hem of Fianna's slip, but soon she was gently lifting the priestess' garment past the curve of her belly.

As more of Fianna's bodyu was revealed, it surprised her just how tight she had gotten. Her belly looked like a bloated waterskin, but she felt little of the fullness - probably from how much wine she had already imbibed. She was naked under her slip-dress, but the touch of Anankha's hands on her bare skin was too intoxicating for her to care about whether she was exposed.

Anankha gently caressed her visitor's engorged stomach. Truth be told, Fianna wasn't particularly full compared to some of the islanders she knew - especially a few of the young mothers her own age, whose natural appetite was doubled by the cravings brought on by pregnancy. Rather, it was the priestess' shyness that had attracted her in the first place. Seeing how Fianna's inhibitions had melted away, and knowing now that she reciprocated her feelings, made her tingle inside.

Fianna's drum-tight belly quivered as a burp escaped her lips. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment, but Anankha only bit her lip and continued her rubbing. If anything, the noise of the priestess' stomach, desperately trying to make room, added to her lust.

Some kind of inner intuition told her that this was the right moment. Anankha leaned in even closer, careful not to put too much pressure on the priestess' tummy, and planted a passionate kiss on Fianna's lips. Eagerly, Fianna yielded, one hand running through Anankha's long hair, and lustily bit the island girl's lip before pulling away.

Anankha took a deep breath, and asked a question. "Fianna, how... restrictive are your vows? As a priestess, I mean."

She chuckled, tapping her fingertip against Anankha's nose. "I've no obligation to be chaste, if that is your concern. My order is not exactly the Brotherhood." Leaning forward toward her admirer, she whispered. "Is there any place we can be alone? Someplace comfortable?"

Nodding, Anankha got her legs under her and snatched up a pitcher of wine. She pulled the priestess along toward the outer walls of the chamber, which were lined with heavy curtains. As she drew one of them aside, Fianna was surprised to see a cozy chamber with more of the curtains surrounding a thick mattress. The two tipsy women stepped inside, and as Anankha drew the drape closed again, the sounds outside - the other revelers' laughter, the scrape of knives against plates, even the occasional belch or hiccup - were muted.

Away from the eyes outside, they resumed kissing, with Anankha sloppily nibbling at her new paramour's neck. The woman in white began to plant kisses lower and lower - between Fianna's breasts, then below them, and finally kissing and gently biting the priestess' navel, eliciting a surprised giggle.

"Fianna?" The taller woman, kneeling before her, licked her lips nervously. "May I give you oral pleasure?"

She grinned and nodded, carefully sitting at the foot of the bed. "Can you give me those pillows?" Her lover complied, and Fianna stacked the cushions to support her lower back.

As Anankha knelt before her again, shivering with anticipation, the nude priestess cupped one hand behind her head. "Undress, dear... I want to pleasure you, too. I-if I can, I mean." She blushed anew, hoping her inexperience with women would not spoil the moment.

Anankha nodded her assent, pulling her tunic over her head. With more of the island girl's body on display, Fianna could see how beautifully the taller woman was formed. The lean muscles of her arms were perfectly matched by her abdomen, which was almost statuesque save for the slight softness of her lower belly. Her breasts, though not unusually large, were firm and almost perfectly round, pleasingly proportioned with the rest of her figure.

Resting on her knees, Anankha placed a series of soft kisses on Fianna's inner thighs, each one closer to her loins than the last. The priestess' breathing quickened as Anankha's lips kissed hers, then she let out a gasp as the taller woman began to lick at her - tenderly, almost timidly. When her tongue finally slipped inside, Fianna moaned, her eyes rolling back.

Anankha was smiling as she tasted her paramour's essence for the first time. Experienced as she was, the worshiper of Bubastis knew that no two people tasted exactly alike on the inside. Her new lover tasted saltier than most - possibly owing to the several days she had spent clinging to a length of timber in the open ocean. But as she stretched her tongue deeper still, she found Fianna growing sweeter as her arousal built. Maybe it was the wine...

Lying back on the pillows, stuffed to the gills, Fianna's mind swam with a mix of pleasure and discomfort. This was undoubtedly the fullest she had ever been, and she wondered if the aching tightness was how pregnant women felt every day. She was forced to take shallow breaths, and her fullness was the only thing keeping her from reaching down to force Anankha's tongue even deeper inside her.

After about ten minutes of this, Fianna felt herself getting closer. Ordinarily she would have squeezed her thighs together while rubbing her clitoris; but Anankha's hot, shiny tongue was deep within her, doing most of the work. Instead, she squeezed her thighs around Anankha's head, making her moan with delight as she ate her lover from the inside.

At last the priestess could wait no longer, and her moans built until she was practically screaming in pleasure, her whole body seeming to throb as the waves of her orgasm washed over her. Completely spent, and acutely aware of the pressure in her stomach, Fianna let herself fall backward upon the mattress, groaning. "Oh, ye gods... That was..."

Anankha crawled onto the bed, giving her lover a peck on the cheek. "You are such a pretty little thing..."

"You really think so?" She poked her middle, stretched tight as a drum. "Even like this?"

"Especially like this." Anankha bent double to place another, even gentler kiss on Fianna's tummy.

The priestess looked into the island girl's eyes, her smile widening. "Well, if you can make me feel that good afterward, you can stuff me like a sausage any time."

"Careful... I might hold you to that." ■


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