Nyarra groaned as she rolled over in her bedroll. Tears trickled out of the corners
of her eyes as she rubbed her hand over her belly, her fingers tracing over the
almost invisible scar that bisected her torso, just below her belly button.
Senna had doted on her for weeks after the attack, carefully nursing her back to health,
not letting Nyarra strain herself and re-open the wound. She brought her food and drink,
helped her bathe and take care of her other needs. Exercise was done slowly and carefully,
gradually building Nyarra's strength and flexibility back up. When Nyarra deemed she had
healed enough, she dragged Senna into the wagon that had been given over to her and proceeded
to properly thank her for all she had done for her.
Senna's moans and gasps of pleasure echoed through the camp long into the night.

The biggest surprise for Nyarra had come just a couple days after the attack. The
caravan master had given the guards a bonus for repelling the attack and preventing
any of their goods from being taken. This was a normal part of their contract, but
the master had then come in to see Nyarra where she was recovering in her bunk and
presented her with the same bonus. Nyarra was shocked – she wasn't officially part
of the guard. The master had dismissed her protests, instead praising her for
rising to help defend the camp when she could have hidden out in one of the wagons.

“While you may not be an official part of my crew, or a member of the guard, you
stepped up to help defend me and mine, at the risk of your own life, and I'll not
forget that or let it go unrewarded” He pressed the small pouch of coin into
Nyarra's hand and closed her fingers around it.

“you fought well for your first battle, and if you wished to pursue it, you could
make a decent living as a caravan guard.” He winked at her and gave her a wry smile

“I'm sure Senna wouldn't object to keeping you around for awhile.” Nyarra blushed
and tried to hide her face with her pillow.


Nyarra blinked and wiped away her tears

“now why am I remembering that all of a sudden” Nyarra whispered to herself

“You are remembering Senna because she began your education in the value of service
to others.” Delphine spoke in her mind.
“she taught you the skills to defend not only yourself but those around you as
well, and when the time came, you chose to step up and serve in the defence of the
camp. You did not have to. It was not required of you. You served because you
wanted to. Just as Senna chose to devote herself to your care in the aftermath. You
were not one of the guards. She could have chosen to leave your care in the hands
of the caravan's healer, but instead she took it upon herself to serve you. Your
care required that someone submit to your needs, and Senna made that choice without
hesitation.”

Nyarra mulled this over in her mind as she slowly cleared the fog of sleep from her mind.

Submission and service were intertwined with one another. Providing a service to
another was a form of submission, whether it be the exchange of coin or some
nebulous feeling of satisfaction. And it was, more often than not, voluntary. If
someone were to offer you coin for something, you could choose to submit to their
desire by taking the coin, or you could refuse them.

Nyarra had never really thought of things this way, but the more she rolled the
idea around in her head, the more it made a certain kind of sense. She had provided
services to others on many an occasion – was submission really that much of an
additional step to take?

She continued to think things over as she crawled out of her tent into the pre-dawn
darkness to stir the fire back up and have some breakfast.

Grey traces of dawn tinged the eastern sky as she finished cleaning up and packing most
of her things away. Picking up her bag, she strolled back over to the temple door to await
the dawn light that would trigger the door to open in her presence.
Once again, it swung open as she stood naked before the door as the light struck the
jewelled eye. Picking up her pack, she made her way back into the marble antechamber. She
had more statues to examine, and she would need to have a look at the carvings on the wall
as well.

As she walked to the centre of the room and put her pack down, a spark of heat kindled in
her loins. Now that she knew what to expect, she could almost feel the sexual energy
radiating through the room. She chose not to try to deny the feelings
that were rising in her. With her newfound insight, she thought that she was
beginning to understand what this temple was for – it was a monument and 
celebration of submissive love. Emphasizing the joy of submitting to another's
sexual desires.

Walking back to the edge of the room, Nyarra had even more clarity on what the statues
were depicting, and remembering her own experiences, she could even
identify with the kneeling girl to some extent. Skipping the first statue, she went
straight to the second one, of the kneeling girl being paddled. Yes, there was
definitely pleasure there, as she remembered her own – dream? - in the market
square as the keeper had paddled her own ass. The next one, the kneeling girl
licking her mistress's pussy, reminded Nyarra of her time with Senna; while she
hadn't been bound as this girl was, Nyarra fondly remembered kneeling between
Senna's legs on more than one occasion. Moving over to the last statue she had
already examined, the kneeling girl being directed by her mistress on how to suck
a man's cock, Nyarra recalled Senna doing the same for her with that handsome bard.
While the bard hadn't been as well endowed as this statue was, he had been big
enough for her inexperienced self. Senna had been a good teacher, first providing
a demonstration, then having Nyarra try. She had fumbled things a bit at first, but
Senna and the bard had guided her through it, encouraging her efforts.

Nyarra had gotten her first taste of a man's cum that night as well. After the bard
had fucked them both, Senna had taken him into her mouth and sucked him until he came,
her cheeks bulging a little. A trickle of cum had dribbled down her chin when
she withdrew her mouth. She had then turned to Nyarra and kissed her, letting a trickle
of his cum flow into her mouth. It was thick, and slightly salty, but she
didn't mind the taste at all. When Senna broke away from the kiss, Nyarra watched her
throat work as she swallowed the mouthful that she had, then scooped up the dribble on her
chin with her finger and suck that back as well. Nyarra had found
the whole experience to be sexy as hell, and she wanted more. They had a bit more
wine, and Nyarra and Senna had played with each other while the bard had recovered.
Fortunately for Nyarra, he was young and had stamina, so it didn't take him long to be
ready again. Nyarra had let him fuck her pussy until he was close, then, just as
Senna had done, she took him in her mouth and sucked on his cock. It wasn't long
before his cock began to twitch and he filled her mouth. Nyarra shared a bit with
Senna, then eagerly swallowed his seed.

Nyarra sighed and ran her hand over the statue of the girl. Looking to her right,
past the now-closed temple door was the next statue. Nyarra slowly walked over to
it to continue her investigation.

Investigation? Not entirely. Nyarra realized as she passed in front of the door
while she was examining the statues, they were also instructing her, giving her an
insight to the pleasures that could be had through submission. Each statue
represented a lesson, one that Nyarra had then experienced in her memories and
dreams, with the notable exception of the collar.

The next statue she approached depicted the collared girl standing, bent over at
the waist. She wore a leather harness, similar to the one that Nyarra had seen the
Pony girl wearing, and her hands were gripping her ass and spreading her cheeks
apart. The gowned woman was pushing a moderately-sized dildo into the girl's ass.
Nyarra got down on her knees to look closely at the girl's face, expecting to find
signs of pleasure.

Yes, there it was, delicately and expertly carved to last for an eternity. The
girl's eyes were wide open, almost seeming to roll back into her head and her mouth
was open in what was clearly a cry of ecstasy. Nyarra had seen that same look on Senna's
face numerous times, both when she had licked her to orgasm and also when the bard had
fucked her. Nyarra's most vivid memory of that look was from the second night she and
Senna had spent with the bard. Senna had been on her hands and knees, her face buried
in Nyarra's pussy while the bard had fucked her from behind.
Senna had lifted her head with that same expression when she had started cumming
on the bard's cock. Nyarra remembered it vividly because her own orgasm had been so
close when Senna had suddenly stopped licking her. Nyarra had lifted her hips and
scrambled to grab Senna's head and push it back onto her pussy.

“my face must have looked the same when I finally got Senna's tongue back on my
pussy and she pushed me over the edge”

Nyarra remembered the ghostly fingers stroking her ass before she had fallen asleep
last night. It hadn't been unpleasant, just...different. She moved over to look at
the dildo that was being pushed into the girl's ass. Unlike a man's cock, it was
smooth, and about two fingers across.

Not too dissimilar to the dildo that Nyarra kept in her pack......

Nyarra glanced over at her pack, and felt herself blush.

“no.....no. I can't, not.....”

“oh, come Nyarra, you know you want to” Delphine whispered seductively in her mind
“you just have to look at the girl's face to know how good it will feel”
“Nothing that is here is going anywhere. You have all the time you wish to explore
your feelings and desires”

Nyarra felt her resolve crumble. Delphine was right. The statues and carvings
would still be here for her to examine at her leisure later. She walked slowly over
to her pack and unrolled her blanket on the floor, then dug out her dildo. Laying
down on the blanket, she took a deep breath and then began to caress herself.
Running her hands over her body, she slowly began to relax. Caressing her breasts
with one hand, she slid the other down between her legs and began to rub her
fingers over her pussy and clit. She felt the heat spreading through her body as
her pussy got wetter and her orgasm built. Taking her fingers out of her pussy, she
picked up the dildo and began to slide it back and forth over her parted labia,
getting it wet before sliding it deep into herself. Rocking her hips, she began to
fuck herself with the dildo, her orgasm building in intensity and pussy juice
flowing out of her and down over her ass. Taking her hand off her breasts, she moved it
down and started to swirl her finger around her ass, spreading the wetness
of her pussy juice around. Gently, she began to tease her ass hole with her finger,
feeling it start to relax, then slowly pushed it inside. She felt her pussy clench
around the dildo in response to this new sensation. She continued to finger her ass
while she worked the dildo in and out of her pussy. As her orgasm approached, she
made up her mind and slipped the dildo out of her pussy. Taking her finger out of
her ass hole, she gripped her cheek and pulled it aside, then placed the tip of the
dildo against her opening and pushed, slowly but firmly. She felt her opening
stretch around the thickness of the dildo as she worked it in. She gasped when the
dildo slipped fully into her ass and she pushed it deeper, then started slowly
stroking it in and out.

“gods, what an incredible feeling” she thought, as she slowly fucked her ass with
the dildo. Her orgasm had initially begun to cool when she took the dildo out of
her pussy, but now she could feel it building again, with a different kind of
intensity than she was used to.

Working the dildo back and forth with one hand, she began to rub her clit again
with the other. The mingled sensations caused the heat of her orgasm to rapidly
spike up, and she knew it wouldn't be long before she came. As her hips began to
shake, she pushed the dildo deep into her ass and pinched her clit at the same
time. 

Stars exploded in her head as the kernel of heat in her loins shattered and flooded
her body with a pleasure she had never felt before. Her ass clamped down on the dildo
as her pussy juice squirted out of her, spraying across the blanket and the marble floor
beyond. Her breath came in short, shuddering gasps as her body twitched on the now-soaked
blanket, the dildo eventually slipping out of her ass, sending another brief shockwave
through her body as it did so.

Minutes passed as Nyarra slowly came back to her senses.

“gods, that felt amazing!” she exclaimed
“it's too bad I've gone and made such a mess of my blanket” she pulled her knees up and
hugged them to her chest
“so worth it though” she grinned

Nyarra rolled over and slowly got to her feet, the inside of her legs wet with her
pussy juice. Leaving a trail of wet sticky footprints behind her, she started
padding over to the next statue, continuing to work her way around the room.

“I'm almost afraid to find out what this one is going to entice me to try” she
mused out loud

A wry smile crossed Nyarra's lips when the next statue showed the girl locked in a
pillory with a large plug shoved in her ass. Behind her stood the gowned woman with
a paddle in hand, obviously giving her a good spanking, while the man from the
fourth statue had his hands gripping the top of the pillory and his large cock buried
halfway in her open mouth. There was a line of drool coming out of her
mouth, and while only her eyes gave any indication of her state of being, their
expression seemed to exude a feeling a bliss.

“ah, dear girl, I think I know how you feel. Each of the sensations you are
undergoing feels good in and of itself, but to feel them all together at once?”
Nyarra felt such a rush as she imagined all of the sensations coursing through her
body at the same time that her knees trembled a little. A part of her wished dearly
that she was the girl in the statue.

“that could be arranged, if you really wish it” Delphine whispered seductively.
Nyarra felt a new trickle of moisture run down her thigh as Delphine's words
caressed her thoughts.

“If I'm not careful, I'm going to make a complete mess of your nice marble floor”

“you wouldn't be the first, so don't worry about it. Just allow yourself to feel
the moment and follow your desires. They will not lead you astray”

Nyarra shook her head wryly and moved on to the next statue – only two left to examine.

The next statue surprised Nyarra, as it did not depict anything sexual at all.
Instead, the collared girl was now standing in front of an ornate desk, dressed in
an official looking robe. Several people, both male and female, dressed in simple
clothes were kneeling before her, holding out scrolls to her. Nyarra puzzled over
this scene for several minutes, trying to make sense of it. It seemed so out of
place compared to the rest of what she had seen. Furrowing her brow, she moved over
to the last statue, this one flanking the left side of the corridor heading further
into the temple interior. The girl in the robe was holding her collar in one hand
while the gowned women placed a fine chain around her neck. Some kind of ceremony
perhaps? She no longer had her collar and thus was no longer a slave?

“she was never a slave, Nyarra. She chose the collar. It was not chosen for her”

Nyarra walked back over to her blanket and sat down, carefully avoiding the wet portion
of it. Taking out her water skin, she had a drink, then fished out a leaf
wrapped portion of roast bird. Nibbling on her snack, Nyarra puzzled over the
meaning of the last two statues – they were so far removed from the rest of the
works that it jarred her mind. She had come no closer to deciphering their
meaning when she had finished her snack, so she decided to go around the room and
finally look at the wall carvings. She decided to take the same progression as she
had with the statues, and moved over to the wall to the right of the hallway
entrance. Having already examined the statues, she was able to easily follow along
on the carvings – they started with a young nude woman kneeling before another
woman dressed in a flowing gown. The nude woman took a heavy silver collar and placed
it around her own neck. Working around the room, the scenes progressed
through a series of sexual scenarios involving bondage and punishment, as well as
the odd seemingly domestic scene of the girl carrying a tray of drinks or food,
doing chores like sweeping and washing.

A couple of scenes caught Nyarra's eye – the first showed the girl carrying a tray
of glasses, but it depicted a bottle tipping off the side. The following scene, the
girl was on her hands and knees while the gowned woman paddled her ass. A few
panels later, the girl was again carrying a tray of glasses, but this time the bottle was
shown standing in the middle of the tray and not falling off. In the
scene, the girl was kneeling between her mistress's legs, eagerly licking her
pussy.

Punishment, contrasted with reward. Nyarra started to hurry around the room now,
the meaning of the carvings starting to become clearer in her mind. The cycle of task and
punishment or task and reward became more readily apparent, even as it
seemed that the tasks became more difficult as she made her way along. When Nyarra
got to the second last wall, the frequency of punishment scenes became non-existent
with the remainder being entirely task/reward scenes. As she came to the end of the
second last wall, the girl was given an ornate robe as a reward. The last wall
depicted a single scene – the girl was standing in front of her ornate desk,
removing the heavy silver collar from around her neck. Dozens of ordinary people
stood watching as the gowned woman placed a silver chain around her neck instead.

An explanation started to coalesce in Nyarra's mind. The girl had been a servant of the
gowned woman, but she rose above that. She couldn't have been a slave.

What was it that Delphine had told her?

“A slave serves because she must. A submissive serves because she wants to” Nyarra whispered.

“the girl chose the collar. She chose to serve” Nyarra spoke to the room

“correct, my dear Nyarra” Delphine's voice echoed down the hallway

“and the gowned woman taught the girl how to serve” Nyarra said quietly.

“of course she did. What good is one who serves if they don't know how to do it
properly” Delphine's voice echoing out of the hallway sounded closer.

“but I still don't understand the last part. She's taken off the collar. She no
longer serves”

“on the contrary, my dear” Delphine spoke as she moved out of the shadows of the
hallway and into the light from the room “she simply moved on to a higher level
of service”

Nyarra stood in shock as Delphine stepped out of the hallway and into the
antechamber. She was barefoot, dressed only in a light green gown with high slits
in the side revealing her shapely legs beneath. The gown was sleeveless, with a
deep v-neck showing a generous amount of cleavage, and thin straps going up over
her shoulders. The material was so lightweight that Nyarra could easily see the
woman's nipples outlined in the fabric. As Delphine came up to Nyarra, she took
Nyarra's hands in hers.

“you've done very well figuring things out Nyarra, just as I knew you would. You've
earned yourself a reward” Delphine stepped in close to Nyarra and kissed her on
the lips. 

Nyarra melted into the kiss. Delphine tasted of jasmine and honeysuckle. It was
almost intoxicating to her. Nyarra's thoughts wandered, wondering how the rest of
her tasted. Delphine pulled back from the kiss and chuckled.

“you are more than welcome to, if that is what you wish”