Instructing the Novice Read online

  “Thank you!” Lizabeth was glad to wrap herself up and finally cover her nakedness. She wondered uneasily if Lone had seen how swollen her breasts were. It had seemed that he was keeping his eyes strictly above her chin but it was hard to tell what he had and hadn’t seen.

  “Now that you’re cleansed and refreshed, do come into the clothing room. I have your robes all picked out.” Mistress Anarrah bustled the two of them into the small stone room at the end of the pool and Lizabeth was surprised to see that it was bigger than it had looked from the outside.

  There were rows and rows of long white gowns and long black vests with different colored embroidery on them on one side of the room. On the other were rows of loose linen trousers, mostly in shades of black and dark green. There were shorter, broader vests too, which seemed to be made of some kind of leather.

  “Here you are my dear.” Mistress Anarrah handed Lone a pair of black trousers and a black vest. “Those are fairly self-explanatory,” she said, as she took Lizabeth by the arm. “But I must help your Mistress into her robes for the first time. Come, dear,” she added and hustled Lizabeth to the far end of the long room where a white gown and a long black vest were laid out on a small wooden table. “Now try these on—I’m fairly certain I got your size right,” she said anxiously.

  “Um…” Lizabeth looked at the clothing. “Aren’t there any, uh, underclothes to go with these?” she asked.

  “Underclothes?” Mistress Anarrah shook her head. “Do you mean clothes you wear under your other clothes? Whyever would you do that? It would get in the way of the necessary greetings.”

  “Okay, but…I’m just afraid I’m going to need support under this,” Lizabeth said, frowning at the white gown, which appeared to be made of some slinky, clinging material. “I’m forty-five so I’m not as firm as I used to be.” Although right now her breasts were so full and swollen it was barely an issue. Still, she didn’t like going without a bra and panties.

  “Oh, I think you’ve firmed up considerably, my dear.” Mistress Anarrah’s pale blue eyes glowed with amusement. “You certainly spent enough time in the cleansing pool.”

  Lizabeth shook her head. “I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

  “I mean, look at yourself, my dear. At the skin under your arms and your inner thighs—the flesh under your neck. All those pesky little places we females start to sag as time goes on.”

  Still frowning, Lizabeth did as she said and looked under her right arm…then her left. What she saw astonished her. After she’d hit forty, the skin of her upper arms had begun to sag and it seemed that no amount of exercise could firm it up again. Now it was as smooth and firm as it had been back when she was in her twenties.

  Eagerly, she felt under her chin—the skin there was firmer too! And when she reached between her thighs, she couldn’t feel an ounce of cellulite. She was still plus-sized but it was as though someone had gone over her entire body with some kind of age-defying serum and just kind of smoothed and tightened everything.

  “Wow,” she whispered, looking at Mistress Anarrah. “How…what…?”

  “The cleansing waters have firming properties,” the other woman answered, her eyes twinkling. “Though they cannot roll back the years, they can, at least, lessen their impact.”

  Lizabeth stared at her in surprise. No wonder none of the Mistresses she’d met here had looked their age!

  “But…that’s amazing,” she exclaimed. “When does it wear off?”

  “The amount of time you were in the waters?” Mistress Anarrah pursed her lips and frowned, as though calculating. “I’d say it will last a good, long time—maybe even the rest of your life, my dear. Depending on the way your species ages and how long you live, that is.”

  “Wow,” Lizabeth murmured again. Though she wasn’t vain, she suddenly wanted a mirror badly—wanted to know if the effects of the cleansing pool looked as dramatic as they felt.

  “They also make you feel refreshed all over. I try to take a dip at least once a week myself, although I long ago reached the maximum efficacy of the waters. Now then,” Mistress Anarrah continued in a brisker tone. “I’m glad you like the effects of the pool but you really must get dressed now. We still have to do the oath, you know.”

  “All right.”

  Lizabeth felt so stunned she didn’t even ask what the oath was. She picked up the white dress without further protest and put it on. It wasn’t until she got it over her head and pulled it down that she realized there was a problem.

  “Oh!” she exclaimed, looking down at herself as she got the dress into position. “I’m sorry, but this one has holes in it. Do you have moths here? Small insects that eat holes in fabric?” she added, explaining. “We have them on my home planet of Earth.”

  Mistress Anarrah let loose with another tinkling peal of laughter.

  “Oh my dear—no insects did that to the gown. It’s meant to be that way.”

  “What?” Lizabeth looked blankly down at herself. “But…my, uh, nipples are sticking out,” she protested in a low voice. Indeed, both sore, aching tips were fully exposed. The holes in the white gown—which clung to her like a second skin—were large enough to show both nipples and the wide pink bands of her areolas. It looked positively obscene, especially considering how red her nipples were from her daily fights with the breast pump.

  “Precisely,” Mistress Anarrah said, smiling. “Now let me see—do you have the bottom situated correctly? The slit must be right in the center.”

  Lizabeth looked down and realized that the slinky white gown did indeed have a slit right up the center of it’s lower half—a slit which ran almost to her belly button. The moment she moved her legs, her bare pussy—which was thankfully neatly trimmed—was exposed.

  “Hey!” she protested. “I can’t wear this!”

  “Of course you can—it’s the uniform all of the Mistresses wear here at the Tower,” Mistress Anarrah said briskly. “But don’t worry about being exposed to all and sundry, my dear—that is what the modesty vest is for. Here—put it on.”

  She helped Lizabeth put on the cape-like vest and fastened it with a broach similar to her own. Although it wasn’t actually a broach, Lizabeth saw, but a small, powerful magnet which kept the long black vest closed.

  “I still feel kind of exposed under here,” she said, frowning. Her breasts were pushing at the black and white fabric that covered them and her tight, achy nipples were clearly visible, pressing against the vest. At least the material of the vest seemed to be soft and smooth so it wasn’t too painful but what if she started leaking nectar again? What then?

  “You’ll be fine, my dear,” Mistress Anarrah promised. “Now let’s just do a little something with your hair…” She produced a kind of wand with a glowing pink end at its tip. As she waved it over Lizabeth’s hair—being careful not to actually touch her with it—Lizabeth felt her long, damp strands drying into their usual waves. Before she knew it, she was clean and dry all over, though still feeling a little strange about wearing the cut-out gown under the long black vest.

  “There now—you look lovely,” Mistress Anarrah said approvingly. “Come—let’s not keep the Mistress Superior waiting any longer. “You may come now, Novice,” she added, looking over Lizabeth’s shoulder to speak to Lone. “Your Mistress is ready to hear your oath of love and loyalty to her.”

  Oh—the oath! Suddenly Lizabeth remembered the strangely beautiful pledge that Lone had recited to her the day before when he had first proposed coming here to the Tower of the Higher Mind. That must be what they were talking about.

  Well, at least he already has it memorized, she thought as Lone came to join them. That should make things easier.

  “I’m ready, Mistress,” Lone said in his deep, quiet voice as he joined them. He looked spectacular in the clothing Mistress Anarrah had given him, Lizabeth thought. He was shirtless and the short, black leather vest emphasized his muscular chest and biceps.

  The loose, silky black trous