“Is this alright? It looks off. I messed up these stitches!” Nannade was standing in front of the large mirror in Elissa’s bedroom.
“Your dress looks fine.” Elissa said. “Nobody will see those stitches and even if, they won’t notice they’re a bit uneven. Relax. You look magnificent. The audience will love you!”
“I still don’t know. Wearing this in front of all those people?”
Elissa grinned on the inside. “You chickened out of the dance for the harvest, now you’ll have to do the dance of spring. And it is a fertility rite, you knew, you saw me in my dress the last few years, none of this is new to you. You mustn’t disappoint the spirits, or else all those couples asking for children might end up sad and alone in the coming year.” Elissa mocked Nannade with a sarcastic frowny face.
“Oh sure, put me under even more pressure, that is sure to help!”
Nannade was still looking for things about the dress to be unhappy with. Her outfit consisted of a short, one-sided skirt that barely covered her lap, some undergarment and very light, sheer cloth cross-wrapped around her chest and neck to cover and perk up her breasts. Additional to that, embroidered edges, a silver necklace, a hair band and wrist- and ankle-bracelets, all adorned with runes and patterns to draw attention from the spirits. All in all, a fine piece of work she had made herself with materials from Sturreland alone. She had designed it not dissimilar of Elissa’s dress for the spring, which Elissa was already wearing.
Nannade was halfway to her fifteenth name day and her body had started to blossom into that of a woman. Slender, wiry, flexible. Her chest and belly were still covered by only the slightest fuzz, but in the middle, running from collar bone all the way to between her legs, was a crest of longer, soft hair coming together into a line of fluff. She kept pulling at the hair, unhappy with her changing body.
Elissa had to interject the girl’s moping “Stop looking like you dropped a pie in the cesspit. It’s beautiful. Even regular humans grow hair in certain places when they grow up.”
“This is just from that brew you make me drink! It messes with my development. It’s also why these are so small!” She cupped her breasts.
“No, it isn’t. I told you. I got you that book from Halonnes, you know what it said about crolachans' development; it’s normal for women of your kind to have that fluff-crest.” Elissa did suspect that the ‘medicine’ to accelerate the girl’s muscle-growth and reflexes might have delayed her feminine development, but the girl needed not to know that, she’d put it off soon anyway, as soon as she left Elissa’s care for good. She found the crest to be cute, but her opinion as a woman on that topic didn’t count as much to Nannade. Even if Garrett had been present this night, his opinion wouldn’t matter to her either, for obvious reasons. But he never liked fertility rites and so he would always find an excuse to disappear into some city for a dozen of days.
“Finish up and let’s go. We don’t want to let anyone wait. A lot of the people out there want to get on with it, if you know what I mean.”
The girl groaned and rolled her eyes. “DAAARN! I KNOW! IT’S A FERTILITY RITE!”
Elissa chuckled. “I will be waiting outside.” And left the hut. The sky was still bright and blue but the sunlight had turned to that slight golden shine that promised a warm night.
Together, the two went the long path towards the glade. Silence fell upon the crowd as the two crossed the bridge onto the clearing. Many were enchanted by Nannade’s beauty, even if it was unconventional. Some of the elders had complained about a non-human doing the rites, but the Lodge had allowed it. Heimeden’s mayor was already waiting in front of the slab, to crown Nannade and Elissa the priestesses of the Beg for Fertility. As the crowns touched their heads, the crowd cheered. Elissa could well see the stage fright in the girl’s face, but she kept her composure remarkably well. Normally, she wouldn’t even undress in front of anyone but Elissa or Faan, not even Garrett. Now she was to dance in front of a huge crowd, in a dress that was more adorning than covering her body. A lover only had to dedicate her body to a lover, but this night, Nannade would have to dedicate hers to the crowd and the spirits, a much more daunting task. This would truly show her to be a proud woman, rather than a scared girl.
Elissa created a puff of blue smoke on the entire slab. That was the signal for Nannade. Concealed by it, she jumped onto the slab and got into her position at the centre. The stone altar had been covered with a wide, wooden platform. A man at a large standing drum started a slow rhythm and the crowd joined in with their instruments. A SNAP of Elissa’s fingers and the smoke went up into a puff of flame. As the fire vanished, they could see Nannade in position.
She had chosen a handstand. The rhythm quickened, slowly, as Nannade bent her elbows and lowered her legs over her back until she was in a bridge. In a sudden jolt she flipped up into a wild dance, chased by the rhythm of the drum. It truly was her dance, the steps learned from Elissa, but put together and prepared herself, it even contained a few moves Elissa never even dreamed about, not even back in her most gracile of days.
In twirls, flips, and rolls Nannade dashed across her wooden dance floor. She linked pirouettes, handsprings, swaying hips, and shaking chest to an endless loop of movements around and around. Petals were thrown in the air by the crowd, smoking incense swirled in thin veils around the slender girl’s body. More and more spirits gathered to behold the girl’s performance and the wild crowd. Elissa told the drummer to beat a slower rhythm, signalling the girl to ease her dance to slow but happy skipping around the edge of the platform in circle Time had come for Elissa to fulfil her duty.
She got up onto the slab and stepped to the first row of people at the slab, the young couples promising each other faithfulness before the witnessing spirits today. Elissa knelt down to a couple and bound a braid of fresh grass and flowers around their joined hands before yelling their names high into the sky for all the spirits and the crowd to hear, the crowd answered with a cheer, the spirits answered in a much more subtle way. After the spirits had witnessed the promise of the couple, Elissa kissed each on the forehead and helped them up on the slab so they could join the skipping dance around the slab alongside Nannade. Elissa did this with all the couples and the remaining onlookers threw petals to their feet to wish them well in their future endeavours.
Elissa had no reason to fear a mishap so far. The girl was doing great. The crowd was captivated by her. Elissa spotted one particular boy trying really hard to get a good look. He could become a potential hazard for the entire area. Nannade might still be angry at him, but she was ready to forgive him. Elissa had made sure to talk about her obligations as a priestess this night, but also knew that obligations and morals were easily washed from the mind by carnal passion.
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The sun had set and the last few rays shone across the firmament. In the warm light of the roaring braziers, Nannade’s fur shined like a tapestry woven from precious metals and fresh straw. Elissa could see in her face the concentration, how she tried to block out all the noises from the outside, to feel the rhythm by the vibrations of her dance floor.
Elissa gave the signal and the helpers threw spices and herbs into the fire, flooding the air with an alluring scent and flying sparks. The people cheered one last time and the glade emptied. The elders gathered the children too young to personally understand the true meaning of “fertility”. Together, they headed down to the feast among the fields. The new year had officially begun. The couples dispersed off the slab and into the forest, to indulge the spirits of the evening some more.
Elissa got up on the slab and sat next to Nannade, who was lying belly down on the cold stone. Her ribcage was heaving ebbing further than it seemed humanly possible, sucking in the evening air and soothing smokes of the Glade.
“You did well. Absolutely marvellous.” Elissa stroked the girl’s back.
Nannade just looked at her with a smile, too out of breath to properly speak.
It took her quite a while to get back up. A few people were still in the Glade, Carsten, however, was nowhere to be seen. Elissa had expected him to linger to get a chance to talk to Nannade. They decided to slowly head down the slopes to join the others and talk. Along the way, they met Melanie. She herself was expecting twins, being graced another time after five children, hers was a happy and healthy family and to most people of Sturreland that was all the bliss they ever asked the spirits for. She and her husband Carolus had been overjoyed when Elissa had told them the news from the spirits about their future children. Melanie was taking it slow, carefully carrying her precious burden down the slope.
“Where’s Carolus? Wouldn’t he accompany you down the slope?” Elissa asked when she noticed his absence.
“He took the children down to the feast. And besides, I told him to, since I'd have you!”
“Oh, I don’t think ill of him. He’s working so hard for all of you, that is plain to see.”
“Oh yes, but tonight someone else had worked much harder than all of us.” Melanie turned around to smile at Nannade. “Oh looks like she went into the forest with someone, good for her.”
Elissa turned around in panic “Nannade?!” The girl was nowhere to be seen. “NANNADE!”
“What’s the matter? It’s a great night for her, let her have fun like the others, if she got a sweetheart, that is.” Melanie said with a wink. “You know, I was conceived on the first night of the year.”
Elissa turned around, half panicked, half angered. “You fool! Nannade can’t bear children from humans. If she soils fertility with purely hedonistic pleasures this night, she will draw much wrath the spirits!”
Melanie furrowed her brow. “I never knew that.”
“We must find her before she commits something really, really stupid.”
Elissa called out to Faan. He was probably making sure the path out of the forest was safe. She had no time to wait for him and spent the effort to send him a message. “Carsten has nabbed the girl. Find her, remind her, stop them if need be.” She immediately received “Understood!” back. She stayed with Melanie, who called out for her son. Considering her relation to the boy, should he really commit a sacrilege together with Nannade, Melanie and the unborn children could the targets of the spirits’ wrath. She considered drawing a protective circle around Melanie, but she didn’t have any suitable materials with her, so she sang to calm any angry spirits and hoped Faan would be successful in preventing the worst. She could feel a chilling wind setting around them.
It had only been a few moments, but she heard Faan’s voice again. “Someone is at the Glade! Back to the Glade!”
The two made their way back up the slope, Elissa supported Melanie, continuing her song as well as she could.
They hurried along and were almost up to the stone bridge again when Melanie’s legs gave in. She was groaning in pain and holding her belly. From down where they were, Elissa could see Faan coming back across the bridge.
“What is it?” she asked him.
“Come and see for yourself, but be careful.”
She left Melanie alone for a moment, making sure to just peek around the corner, so she would not be out of sight.
There, on the slab was Nannade, kissing Carsten on the forehead, then kissing Fiona on the forehead, then she helped the two on the slab. Carsten and Fiona’s hands were locked and a braid of grass and flowers was tied around them. They skipped around the slab, while Nannade was singing a happy, jumpy tune to the spirits.
Elissa turned to Melanie, who seemed to have recovered from the exhaustion. “Come quickly, you’ll want to see this!”
As Melanie saw her son dance on the slab with Fiona her expression warmed.
“Why didn’t he tell me?” She asked.
“Why didn’t they do that when the others were around?” Elissa asked.
Nannade had noticed the three onlookers and waved with an excited smile. Eventually, the other two noticed their audience as well, interrupted their dance and went to meet them.
“I wasn’t sure whether I should tell you.” Carsten said to his mother. “Since I wasn’t sure she was serious. And I couldn’t work up the courage to ask her until the dance was over. So, she weaved a braid for us while I asked Nannade to do the rite for us.” They lifted their hands, still locked and braid around them.
Nannade shot a playful smile to Elissa. “I hope I didn’t overstep my obligations.”
“Not at all, girl. Come now, I’m getting hungry.”
Elissa and Nannade went to the feast and left all the familial matters to the other three. Melanie and Faan followed soon after, but it took the last two quite a while to finally come down from the woods.
The tables were set, it was not a grand fest as the Harvest Thanks was, but there were still snacks and morsels to be had. A wide, flat bonfire was also put up and a few couples were still waiting to jump over it, hand in hand, for good luck in their marriages without ‘indulging the spirits’.
“When I came to Fiona to apologize after Carsten had taken me to that pond,” Nannade started at one point. “she asked me to do the rite with them, if Carsten should ever ask her. That’s why I didn’t do the dance for the harvest.”
“I told you it was better to not leave these things unresolved. I'm glad you did that. I will watch over these two when you’re gone, don’t worry.”
“I wonder if I will ever be able to tell them. At least a tiny bit.”
Elissa put her hand on the girl’s shoulder and looked her deep into the eyes. “No one forces you to live alone. It merely makes the job easier. That’s what your Teacher once told me. As soon as you’re your own master, you can decide what to do with it.”
Nannade smiled, but it was more sombre than hopeful. They didn’t talk about any heavy or difficult issues. They talked like two women, having wine and telling stories of boys and men.
Elissa was sure the girl would be alright, no matter where Garrett took her next. Soon, it would be time for her to get a familiar. Then, Garret would take her out of the forest, to one of the big cities the girl dreamed about so much. She herself already missed the girl.