Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 121146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Celia and Fierce followed the Light Twin over and each of them settled on a round, puffy cushion that felt like it was filled with the same squishy yet supportive material that was in their mattress back at the dormitory. Celia looked into the wooden pot, but it was empty.
“Wonder what we’re supposed to eat? I’m fucking starving,” Fierce growled. “It’s been a long time since the protein bars we ate for First Meal back on Tranq Prime.”
“La’ver’na said the Mother Tree would provide us with something once everyone was seated,” Hold reminded his brother. “Right now, I’m wondering about this.” He raised his bark cup and sniffed it before taking a small sip. “Hmm…it’s sweet. Almost nutty.”
Fierce tried a sip as well and frowned.
“What is this stuff, anyway?” he growled. “Tastes like some kind of human food I tried, but I can’t remember what it was.”
Celia tried it as well, taking a sip and letting the thin liquid slide over her tongue.
“Oh—it tastes like pancakes with maple syrup!” she exclaimed and took a bigger sip this time. “Mmm, I love it!”
“You might want to be careful, my lady,” Hold remarked, frowning. “We’re not sure what effect this drink might have on us.”
“Oh, you’re right.” Celia put down the cup apprehensively. “Do you think it might be some kind of drug to loosen our inhibitions or something? I mean, just look.”
She nodded at the other communal areas where each “goddess” sat, surrounded by her worshippers. Many of them were engaged in some kind of foreplay and in one case, the goddess was actually sitting on a worshipper’s lap, clearly getting fucked as two other worshippers fondled and sucked her breasts.
“You really think they need a drug to make people want to fuck around here when we’re all sitting inside a living aphrodisiac?” Fierce demanded. “Whatever this stuff is, it tastes pretty good and I’m thirsty.” And he drained his cup.
Celia took another sip of hers but as she did, she noticed from the corner of her eye that something was happening with the pot they were sitting around.
“Oh, look!” She pointed and they all leaned over to see. The small wooden cauldron was beginning to fill with what looked like a thick, chunky brown stew. How in the world was that happening? Did the wooden cauldron have a false bottom or something? She couldn’t tell, but somehow the pot continued to fill until it was brimming over with the savory smelling stew.
“What’s that?” Fierce sniffed the steam rising from the pot. “Smells pretty good,” he remarked.
“But how do we eat it?” Hold asked. “I don’t see any bowls or utensils.”
However just at that moment, a pair of goat men came around to them. One had a stack of broad, flat wooden bowls and the other was carrying a bucket filled with wooden spoons. They handed Celia and the guys each a bowl and a spoon and one of them said,
“Enjoy the Goddess’s bounty which the Mother Tree provides.”
“Er, thank you.” Celia accepted the bowl and spoon and then looked at the guys. “Well…should we try it?”
“I’m going to,” Fierce said.
“I will too. Can I get you some, my lady?” Hold asked courteously.
“Oh, thank you.” Celia handed him her bowl and spoon and he dipped out a good portion of the chunky brown stew and handed it back to her. It had chunks of what looked like root vegetables floating in it though they were different colors than she was used to. They were dark blue, bright purple, and vivid green as well as some smaller red things that she might have thought were pieces of corn if she was back on Earth.
Celia took a sip of the thick brown gravy and found it was savory and delicious. She tried a piece of the blue potato—if that was what it was—and found it had a smooth texture and seemed to melt in her mouth. Some of the other vegetables were crunchy and chewy but they all went well with the brown gravy-broth.
“Mmm, fucking delicious!” Fierce declared, finishing his bowl. “Is there enough for seconds?”
Hold looked in the pot and frowned.
“Actually, it doesn’t look like we’ve eaten anything at all,” he remarked.
Celia looked and saw that it was true—the pot was still almost brimming over with stew.
“That’s weird,” she remarked. “How is it staying full when we all had some? And how did the stew get into the pot in the first place?”
“The Mother pots are filled by the Mother Tree herself.”
The voice came from someone at the communal space beside theirs. Celia looked up and saw that it was Sess’ely, the unicorn girl they’d seen servicing all three of her goat man worshippers in the dormitory earlier.
“Oh, really?” she asked, giving the girl a friendly smile. “How does it, er, she do that?”