There was no need for another lesson. There was no need for Mistress to break down any more walls. She simply waited for the command."Sleep!"Penny's e...yes immediately slammed shut, and she plunged into a deep and complete trance...Penny floated in this trance for some time. She was almost completely unaware of what transpired. There were voices and movement. She was walking at some point, even though her shaky legs could barely support her. There were more sounds – sounds of the city; sounds of. The next day word had spread. I bargained for a new hand cart and my weight in clean salt to fix the rutted way down to the docks. The long stone piers were rutted as well so I fixed them too. Then I decorated the ancient stone pollards with carvings of flowers that I had seen on the farm. I recieved four talents in bronze for repairing the piers. ( A talent weighs roughly 56 pounds.)When I went to mother's temple to show her what I had bargained for, there was much wailing and crying out. I. The clinic always told me that I tended to make girl babies.Then Nicola called me and told me that as a reward for my efforts the girls were getting together and would like me to be there. I was excited but puzzled but all was revealed when I arrived. Young Gemma greeted me effusively, she was very grateful and delighting in her young motherhood. She took me upstairs and I expected to see the baby but instead she offered me her lovely breast. I didn't need much encouraging. Her warm sweet milk. When I came out, shaved and clean and wrapped in my towel, I stepped into the bedroom expecting to see her there, waiting for me, but the room was empty. I felt a moment of dismay, a remnant of high school dates that didn’t pan out and misread signals from college girls who had let on too late that nothing was going to happen. I listened for sounds in the house, half expecting to hear her attacking the kitchen cabinets and pantry, but it was silent. Damn, I hope she was kidding about the.