Kennerton, Barle, some time close to Farr's Day in the Year of Our Kings 931

The sound of a lap harp came low over the stubble of the hay field. The cut timothy lay in straight windrows to cure in the sun, which had hidden itself behind the rolling brown hills to the west of Kennerton a few hours earlier.

If you had followed the sound of that harp, you would have come upon a young postulant Lover and his girl, lying half-dressed against a haystack. His name was Gan, and hers was Malla. Malla's amber eyes were half-closed, and her honey-colored hair hung in long, tumbled-down braids. Her bodice and chemise were open, the cool evening breeze drying the sweat between her breasts, and her skirt was still pushed up around her waist. One leg was bent at the knee, and her arms pillowed her head.

Gan reclined beside her, playing loosely on his harp. He had discarded his smock at the end of the mowing, and had removed his shirt the better to feel Malla's skin against his own. His forearms were brown, his wiry body was pale, and he sighed with delight as the night breeze ruffled his unruly dark hair. Eventually his noodling settled on a song, and this is what he sang:

Malla let out a long, contented sigh. "Gan, that was awful," she said with a lazy grin. "D'you know why your eyes are brown?"

"Because I'm full of horseshit?" he chuckled.

"It's true, you know."

"And every word I sang was true, too, awful or no." Gan set aside the harp and kissed her, slipping his hand inside her chemise. "My favorite breasts, my favorite legs, my favorite cunny. Oh, Malla, I will miss you."

"Enough to leave the service of Nerr and not go to your post in Belleth Town?" she whispered.

He studied her face. "Are you asking me to?"

"Would you?"

He sensed it was a test, but there was only one answer he could give: "No. I can't, Malla, not even for you. We wouldn't even have met if I hadn't served my postulancy here. And now that I'm through, it's time for my posting."

A strange satisfaction spread over her face. "So," she said softly, "you'd let another man between my legs? It wouldn't bother you to know I was with another? Shouldn't I wait for you?"

Gan weighed the breast in his hand. "These are too beautiful for me to ask you to keep them just for me, when I'm going so far away. I do love you, please know that I love you, and I can never love just you. I have a calling to love many. When you find the man who can love only you, and you will, think of me only with kindness."

Malla stroked his cheek, and then covered his hand with her own. "D'you really think that's what I want?"

"Isn't it?" he said in surprise.

She tilted her head to one side. "You know that I've become a devotee."

"Yes, of course."

"I've been spending a goodly amount of time with the Senior Beloved. She's taken an interest in me. She's shown me many things." A little smile twitched on her lips.

"Such as?" said Gan suspiciously.

"It's funny how different the Petitioning Rooms look from the galleries," she yawned.

Gan sat up. "You've been in the galleries? Why did she take you there?"

"Because," she said, sitting up herself, "she's asked me to become a postulant Beloved. She says I have the knack."

Gan stared at her, stunned. "Malla--you can't follow me."

"I'm not. The chances of us both being posted to the same Temple are slim. We'll probably never see each other again once you've left for Belleth Town either way. What I wanted to be sure of is whether you will be happy for me. I wanted to know before I told you. You might have lied to me and told me to wait for you. I wouldn't have told you, then, and I wouldn't be upset at our parting."

"But what if I'd said I would leave the Temple for you?"

"I wouldn't have told you then, either. I would have encouraged you to leave anyway, with many self-sacrificing tears." Malla climbed into his lap, straddling his hips, and Gan obligingly put his arms around her waist.

"Which, if I were going to leave the Temple, I would have ignored," said Gan.

She kissed him, and kissed him again. "I knew you weren't going to leave the Temple--ah! Oh!" she sighed as he slipped his fingers just inside her and undid his trousers with the other hand.

"And how could you have been so sure?" he said, nibbling at her ear.

"Because--ahh--" She rose up slightly and slipped his cock inside her-- "I have the knack!" They moved together, a slow and comfortable rhythm they could keep up for a long time. "And because you are absolutely amazing in the Petitioning Rooms! Sweet Neya I've sucked cock, but you--you have to show--me how--before you go!"

Gan stopped rocking. "You've watched me?!"

"Mm, don't stop," she pouted. "Does it bother you?"

"No. Not at all." Still inside her, Gan picked Malla up and put her on her back in the hay. "It makes me love you even more." He resumed their rhythm. "Your kisses make me swoon, your kisses end too soon, end too--mmf..."