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Chapter 40
Nariana
When we got back to class the next week, Saval was standing at her desk, watching the clock, waiting for us to arrive. She had another stack of papers in her hands, which meant this was something important. The four of us were early enough that we got to sit and wonder what was going on. Just when I was ready to start speculating like everyone else in the room, Saval decided it was time.
"Your next appointment will be at the end of the week," she announced. "All specialties will have this assignment over the next few weeks. Lucky for you, Entertainment and Sensuality are first. There is nothing complicated about this session, except who it is with. For the first time, you will be assigned a session with a patron from town - not priests. These are people who've come in off the street to request a free session, so do not expect tithes."
"What?" someone asked. "So just anyone can ask for a fuck?"
"They can," Saval agreed. "Every priest on the Path of the Body is required to do a few of these. It is our duty to tempt the masses. Guess what, you're all temptations. Over the weekend, you will get the chance to see what life is really like as a priest or priestess on your Path. Your session coordinators have asked for updated lists of what you may or may not like. Anything on your previous forms still stands, but we know that each experience is a chance to find new limits."
Then she began walking up the aisle to pass out the papers. Naturally, the entire room broke into a soft murmur as we all turned to the person beside us. I looked over at Ela and lifted a brow. As if reading my mind, he spoke up.
"Saval?" he asked. "As Entertainment specialists, how will that be considered?"
"It won't," she said. "This is one of those sessions that normally would have been a part of your core class. The lesson here is how to deal with the average person - and the temple's system of assignments. All of these sessions will be very basic sexual contact. No pain sessions, Ela."
He chuckled. "That takes half the fun out of it."
"And we all know that you're more than your toys," she assured him. "But to answer your real question, no, you won't be working with Nariana."
He grunted at that, making it clear he wasn't impressed. It was what I'd expected, though. Amerlee had done enough of these over the last decade or so, and I knew that Shalsa even had assignments like this. Often, they were during the day or early evening, timed to be convenient for those working in the industries around town. That also meant we weren't going to get young, handsome men to seduce.
"Who's the average patron for a session like this?" I asked.
Saval paused to count out the pages for the row before her, nodding to show she'd heard. When she handed those over, she looked up at me. "Typically male, often in their forties. Most are lower class. Some are merchants, but not the excessively wealthy kind. There will be some women, often widows." She held up a hand before the class could say too much about that. "Keep in mind that outside the temple, people usually die young. Most of the women seeking sessions are between thirty and forty. Expect your patron to have a lower level of hygiene from what you're used to."
"Can we make them bathe?" a girl asked from the front of the class.
Saval chuckled, still making her way up the rows to hand out the forms. "They'll be trying to impress, I promise. The problem is that things like soap aren't cheap and easy for everyone to get. Fine clothes are a luxury reserved for the middle and upper classes. Life is hard in Calseth. Our gods do not deny their favors to those who have to struggle, and neither will any of you."
"So we have to do this?" a guy asked.
"You must have a session," Saval assured him. "The same rules apply as always. If you feel you cannot complete the session because you are either at risk, uncomfortable, or simply that disgusted, then you do not have to. With that said, if your level of disgust is turning away anyone but the priests from other temples and the upper class? You will find that life in the temple for a priest without patrons is not a comfortable thing. Tithes add up. It might be coppers, it might be silvers, but they do add up. The most important thing, however, is how many people know your name and tell it to their friends."
"So no different than whores?" a guy asked.
"There's a huge difference," Saval assured him. "You have guardians. You have a god. You have an entire temple and a system of law to protect you. Prostitutes don't. They can be abused, drugged, left for dead, and no one cares. They can get pregnant - or cause pregnancies. They can catch diseases. As a priest, our god takes care of us. In exchange, he asks you to serve when he cannot."
"It's bullshit," someone grumbled. "I don't want to fuck some factory worker!"
"Then step down to the Path of Action," Saval said, her tone as calm as ever. "You are not required to do this. However, if you are on this Path, then it's part of your duties. You do not get to have all of the benefits with none of the responsibilities. That is the point of this lesson. Learn it, and learn it well."
But I had another question. "When will we find out what our patron requested?"
She paused again to count out the last of her pages, then smiled at me proudly. "I see Amerlee taught you well." Then Saval made her way back to the front. "Nari's question is when you'll get your assignments. That will be in two days. It will give you time to choose your clothing. It will give you a chance to request a change if there's something you didn't think of, but might be opposed to. Now, with that said, all of these assignments are for companionship. Common contact, often sexual, but also conversation. Each of you will be expected to make your patron feel like someone cares about them. I don't care if you convince yourself you're speaking for Zeal, youwillbe kind and considerate. Any priest who makes their patron feel worse after the session than before will receive a failing grade."
"In the session rooms?" someone else asked.
"Yes," Saval assured them. "These assignments are all for people who do not have the funds to request a private session. That means you will have a room under the dome, like always. We will have additional guardians in the halls, just in case there's a problem." Then she picked up her book. "This week, I expect each of you to read chapter nineteen. That covers the most common conversation starters, and ideas on how to set a patron at ease. Food play is often a good way to break the ice. Hand feeding someone is an intimate gesture, but not one that is too invasive. Can anyone think of others?"
We spent the rest of the class talking about how to shift things from the initial meeting to a romantic moment while locked in a small and isolated room. Halfway through, I tuned her out and began making notes on my form, trying to think of anything that might be a no for me. Sadly, I didn't have much.
"Why does this sound ominous?" I asked Ela, the words soft enough that Saval wouldn't notice.
"Because it's a complete stranger," he said. "I'm actually looking forward to this."
"Of course you are," Wraythe mumbled.
