Next morning Miss Tessa woke us up early again, knocking at the door.

``I wonder why we don't have any underwear.'' Tilly asked as we were on the way to the table with the clothes. She blushed.

``Now that you say it! The first days I was too pent-up to worry. Later I had just somehow accepted it! Weird!'' Milly retorted blushing as well.

``Either they don't use underwear here, or maybe it's because we are, you known, slaves.'' I offered.

``It's actually really awkward! Now that you reminded me.`` Milly complained, still blushing.

``Sorry reminding you!'' Tilly apologized.

They had a point. I was blushing as well. We stopped looking at each other in an awkward silence. After a few moments I decided it was time for a bit distraction.

``We could try to find out if it's a slave thing.'' I offered drawing their attention to me. ``Just sneak a peek from Miss Tessa and we'll know!'' I continued with a smirk.

``Lilly!'' they chided me and Milly slapped me on back of my head, while Tilly poked me in the ribs.

``You're awfully funny!'' Milly declared with a glare.

I giggled while they rolled their eyes. Another thing started to bother me the last days came to my mind.

``There is something bothering me in regard to my body for some time now.'' I explained.

``Shoot!'' Milly replied starting to look concerned.

``Well. How do I start?'' I started to ramble.

``Those'' I pointed at my breasts-to-be. ``They started to get more tender, especially when cloth rubs over them.''

``Oh!'' Milly responded. ``May I have a look at them?'' she asked blushing.

Was it something serious? And we were treading dangerous terrain here. I blushed.

``O-O-Okaaay.'' I agreed finally, pulling up my nightgown.

I heard Milly stepping closer. I hid my face below the pulled up nightgown while blushing furiously.

``May I touch them?'' she finally asked.

``If you have to. But be careful!'' I replied after a few moments.

She giggled. ``Of course I'm careful, dummy.'' she said.

After a few moments I could feel her fingers at my nipples. She snatched them both between her fingers tenderly. I gasped but decided to stand still.

It felt weird. Good weird though. Then she started to roll them between her fingers tenderly.

A soft moan escaped my mouth while my nipples started to feel really good.

She giggled and let go of my my nipples, while I blushed furiously behind my cover.

``Your breasts start growing. There is nothing wrong with them.'' she finally explained.

At least nothing serious. I doubted it was really necessary to touch and twist them but was to embarrassed to bring up the topic again. I was furiously blushing while I dressed up for the day.

``Considering we're pretty much alike, we can expect them to start growing soon as well, Tilly.'' Milly added letting Tilly blush as well.

After breakfast we had some time for ourselves. We went to our room. Tilly started to draw at the table. Milly was busy sewing something. I laid on the bed on my stomach, head propped on my forearms. I had raised my shanks and let them sway a bit while digesting the news of this morning.

``Actually I feel my. Nipples. as well.'' Tilly stammered after a while.

``Even if it will be sometimes annoying while they grow. I feel insulted to be the last.'' Milly frowned.

``It's. Unsettling.'' I stated. ``How long does it take?'' I asked.

``Between three and five years usually.'' Milly answered.

At least I had some time to get used them. I spent the rest of the morning mulling about our general situation but I didn't come up with something interesting. We had to fly on sight for the time being. So much was clear.

As lunchtime came closer Miss Tessa came to inform us we would be leaving soon.
``Wait in the hall!'' she ordered. ``Yes, Miss Tessa!'' we answered.
After a quick check of attire we went down to wait for Miss Tessa.
A short time later she arrived and we left for Happy Harvest. She gave each of us a pouch with a few copper coins.

``Let's have lunch together.'' she announced. ``Yes, Miss Tessa'' we piped up.
We had lunch at a booth at the market place. After that we set out on our own to explore the festivities.

There were various booths with games. They were nothing really exciting. Things like throwing knives and axes, were not that widespread back there. But several others like throwing rings over nooks or throwing balls in holes and things like that were quite common, too.

There were was a ring where men tried to pummel each other to the ground. Well it was a mix of pummeling and wrestling. We watched a while. Their technique was poor, but they seemed to have fun. Some spectators seemed to wager on the fights. I saw coins changing hands now and then. Milly and Tilly were thrilled by the stalls with trinkets, excitedly showing each other their findings.

I noticed some kids trying to sneak on them. They decided to disappear after they caught my glare. Most of them. One more oblivious or obstinate one, I don't know, earned himself a decent poke in the ribs while he tried to pickpocket Milly. After a while they kept a distance.

Later in the afternoon we got ourselves some pasta dish with chopped veggies. It was delicious. We continued to prowl the streets, stopping at countless booths on the way. They constantly pestered me on my opinion of their latest find. Even if I hadn't strong opinion about it, I decided to play along, marveling at each trinket dangling in front of my nose.

Eventually, the suns were already down they settled for bracelets made of intertwined leather straps with an amethysts set in a small copper plate. They both bought a matching set and after while coaxed me into buying one as well. I had the money, and there was nothing else I considered buying in the near future.

After that we decided to go back to the mansion again. They were a bit unsure where to go, but I had kept track of the direction all the way.

I pointed in the direction of the mansion, well there was a house in front of me, but hey. ``This way!''

``You sure?'' Milly asked looking at the house.

``We have to keep to the streets, Milly, but yes. I'm sure.'' I teased.

The festival was still in full swing. After a while we entered alleyway near the marketplace. To the right was a noticeable stone building adorned with various fresco. There were few stairs up to a porch with a canopy. A large open doorway was leading inside and an old woman in ornate yellow and black robes sat on a rocker beside the door.

``What is this?'' I asked looking at the fresco along the building.

``A strange house?'' Tilly offered.

Slowly the old woman rose from her rocker.

``This is obviously a temple!'' she proclaimed.

We looked at each other.

``You can actually go in and look around. We're open all night.''

``I'm curious how it looks on the inside.'' I whispered. ``I want to at least sneak a peek.'' I demanded.

``Hmm. Do we have enough time?'' Milly whispered back

``It was only a few minutes from the market place!'' Tilly whispered back.

``I can actually give you a brief tour if you want. It's rather quiet at at the moment.'' the old woman offered.

The yellow and black color scheme felt somehow familiar.

``Then let's have look inside.'' Milly decided. ``We don't have much time though.'' she added.

``Come in!'' the old woman said and pointed into the doorway.

The room beyond was illuminated in a soft yellow light. We followed the old woman into the temple. There was an eerie feeling as we entered the hall. At the far side there was a low stone altar with statue of a woman behind it. Milly and Tilly were observing some mural paintings to the left. This woman looked a bit like..

``Welcome to the temple of Solana'' the old woman proclaimed.

We looked at each other slightly puzzled.

``Don't worry, girls. Solana only picks on people annoying her.'' she chuckled.

``Common belief that she pulls pranks on everybody, is annoying her though, so you better keep your calm'' she continued giving us a wink.

We nodded slightly flustered.

``These mural painting shows the creation of the beast men. Solana created all those creatures herself from human and beast. They are quite rare on this continent, and usually enslaved due to political reasons but they are much more common elsewhere.'' she explained.

There were dozens of kinds of them. They were painted in pairs, a male and a female version next each other. There were cat people, dog people, deer people and many more. Tilly was quite obsessed with the painting.

``She is the Goddess of mischief and change! She punishes the wicked by letting them dig their graves themselves! Many of her omens change the receiver somehow.'' she preached.

We walked down the hall, stopping in front of the statue.

``Kneel, and sent the lady of change a prayer if you may.'' she offered while pointing to the ground in front of the altar.

We looked at each other. I felt a bit uneasy, but in fact we got a few more information. I decided to push my luck for more. I knelt in front of the altar and visualize Solana a well as I could remember. After a few moments Milly and Tilly knelt beside me as well. Then I saw the statues eyes flare up in familiar orange glow.

We sat in a familiar yellow and black room on a soft couch. Across the table sat Solana sporting an amused smile. She radiated an aura of ultimate power.

``Welcome!'' she greeted us.

``It looks like you did well. I'm happy you left this boring country. Of course I am not going to tell you anything about your changes. It would be no fun!`` she proclaimed.

We were simply too awed to do anything. Her presence was overwhelming.

``Know that you're not my targets. You're my tools. My targets are unaware for now and we should keep it that way as long as possible. Don't expect to hear from me for some time.'' she announced.

Suddenly we were back in the temple again. The old woman looked at us with wide eyes, clearly awed.

As we looked at each other I nodded to exit. We quickly left the temple and ran to around the next corner of the alleyway.

``Wait!'' we heard the woman shouting. ``Come back!'' she tried again. I put my index finger on my lips and started to move quietly in the direction of the mansion.

A few minutes later we knocked at the door. Miss Tessa opened after a few moments. We followed her to the kitchen for some time, chatting about the festival. We left out the temple though. She praised the bracelets a lot, but insisted they don't belong to our work outfit. I only had to wear them in my free time then. Milly and Tilly were a bit disappointed though.

``Go to bed now! Tomorrow we will continue our journey. We'll leave early.''
We went to our room and got ready for the night. A while we snuggled under the covers.

``That was intense!'' Milly declared.

``But we don't know really more.'' Tilly complained.

``And no hope to get more information from her side anytime soon.'' I concluded.

``I don't like to be a tool, but she seemed interested in our fate enough to bother for that vision. The priest seemed excited enough to think it's not common.'' I added.

``It was worth a try.'' Milly declared. ``Good night?'' she asked.

``Good night!'' we answered.

Eventually I woke up, but it was still dark. A cold breeze, like from an open window swept over my face. Milly and Tilly were sleeping. Sneaking a peek at the window, I saw a dark silhouette in the window frame. I closed my eyes a far as possible to keep track of the shadow. It silently moved over to the door. Seeing the stalker against the background he couldn't be much larger than me.

He went to the door after a brief look in our direction. He started to do something at our door.

Cautiously I pulled my legs to my chest, pushing the covers back over my feet. Then I pulled up my hands as far as I could up to my shoulders. Suddenly I yanked my knees down while pushing up my shoulders a bit. As my knees pointed to the ceiling I stopped them dead to use their momentum and the push of my arms to get into a squat. As soon as my balance allowed I jumped out of the bed, landing between the door and the window. The intruder whirled around and as noticed me he started to run in the direction of the window.

I turned to face her lowering my balance point a bit. I extended my left hand forward to get contact as soon as possible. The other hand a bit in front of my chest to save and be ready for follow-ups. There was not much space between the bed and the wall, thus I expected her to try to shove me away. She should have noticed I was smaller than her, so it should be easy, right?

She swatted away my left arm to pin it against my torso, but I just folded my arm, keeping some tension against hers, shifting my weight on the left foot, twisting my torso a bit to the right. As soon as his arm wasn't in the way of my left hand anymore, my arm started to straighten again, sliding up her arm. As soon as I realized that the way was free I juiced the hit up with all I had. On the way up I closed my fist and opted for a backfist to her jaw. My torso was twisting back to face her for further momentum. I felt the fist connecting and heard a pained groan.

``Intruder!'' I yelled. ``Wake up! Help!''

While I felt him moving back I stepped up and followed up with my right hand with a palm strike right beside my left hand, connecting to a chin pushing him a further back. With a quick step, I went a bit to right and to her side, opting to connect to, oops, her chest with my left fist, causing a high pitched cry of pain. That should be good for now! I jumped up while circling her a bit more, and slung my left arm around her neck. I the same motion I put my hip behind hers and kicked hard forward into the hollow of her left knee. She lost her body tension, allowing me to easily pull her to the ground in front of me, letting her crash onto the floor with her right side with a loud thud. She groaned. Finally pushed her left arm down with my left hand using my weight as well squatting down. I settled my right knee on her head and the left on her waist. The left hand was in a comfortable distance to pummel her face with some hammerfists, while her free right arm was pinned under her.

``Someone turn one the light!'' I cried.

A few moments later the lights went on. She started to struggle with but wasn't able to shrug me off. A firm smack on her forehead convinced her to give in.

``Tilly sit down on her legs! Milly get Miss Tessa!'' I commanded.

The intruder groaned in frustration as she felt someone sitting on her legs. She looked up at me with wide eyes in fear, while I gave her my best glare.

She was clearly a few years older than me, having visible mounds on her chest. She was scrawny. Her auburn messy hair was quite short, cut just under her shoulder. Her clothes were filthy and torn at various places. Her emerald eyes still looking at me in fear.

A few moments later Miss Tessa entered the room. She was wearing a nightgown and was clearly yanked out of her sleep a few moments ago.

``Milly, go and tell Erlaucht that we have everything under control.'' she ordered.

``Yes, Miss Tessa!'' Milly left the room quickly.

``Then we should call the guards! Good work Lilly!'' she praised me while frowning at the girl at her feet.

``No! No! Not the guards! Please let me go!'' she blubbered while starting to weep.

Miss Tessa looked at me and then nodded at the window. I got up and walked to the window. I closed the window and then faced the room again leaning against the window frame.

``Tilly. Close the door!'' she ordered.

``Yes, Miss Tessa! she replied and closed the door.

Miss Tessa crossed her arms under her chest and stared at the intruder.

``Each crime has to be punished, and burglary is a felony.'' she stated.

``They would kill me or cripple me! Please! I don't want do die!'' she whined, tear running down her cheeks.

``I won't let you go without punishment. Every offense deserves to be punished. You shouldn't have broken in this house in the first place!'' Miss Tessa lectured the girl.

Milly came back into our room, and sat down on the bed.

``After my parents died, they put me in the orphanage. I have to work all day, but we get next to nothing to eat. We starve without getting something extra! I don't want to die!'' she sobbed.

She rolled on her back in the meantime, propping her shoulders on her elbows. Her legs were bent slightly.

``While I can't have to leave this unpunished, we maybe could make a deal.'' Miss Tessa offered.

``Yes. I'll do anything! Just don't kill me!'' she exclaimed.

Miss Tessa was up to something. So much was clear.

``You will leave your ways of crime and do earn your money by working hard.'' she continued

``But..'' the girl tried to object..

``No Buts!'' Miss Tessa interjected. ``I'll expect you to live an honorable life!'' she continued while the girl hung her head.

``Since I know orphans like you tend to live in a tight spot, I'll offer you to be a maid in training. I have already three to train, so one more wouldn't be that much of a difference. You are going to get food and lodging, nothing more.'' she let the cat out the sack.

The girl looked up, a trace of hope in her eyes.

``I expect you to be obedient, honest and diligent.''

``I will be!'' the girl promised.

``All transgressions will be punished harshly!'' Miss Tessa declared with a frown.

The girl gulped.

``Since you should actually deserve something to remind you of your misdeeds this evening I am going hand out a few reminders for the next days!'' she continued causing the girl to pale. ``I am going to clean you before, though.'' she added wrinkling her nose.

``Now. What's your name?'' Miss Tessa requested.

``My name is Caroline.'' she answered.

``Caroline, do you accept my offer?'' she asked.

``Yes, Yes I do!'' she replied starting to weep again.

``Since we barely know you, and there's no other room prepared, you will stay here tonight. Tied up!'' Miss Tessa decreed. ``You have to address me as Miss Tessa from now on.''

``Yes, Miss Tessa'' Caroline answered.

``Now get up!'' Miss Tessa commanded. ``Caroline! Follow me! The rest back into the bed!''

``Yes, Miss Tessa!'' we replied.

Miss Tessa left the room with Caroline in tow.

``Whoa!'' Tilly exclaimed.

``That was tense!'' Milly added.

``She'll have a tough night!'' I commented.

``How could you even fight her in the dark? She was already pinned down the ground when the light went on.'' Tilly wondered.

``Learn to feel your enemy!'' I mused. ``As long as I touched her it was clear where she was. And at the end of each arm there is an neck and thus a head.'' I added.

Milly rolled her eyes.

``You sound like some cheesy kung fu master!'' she groaned.

``Well. I only cite my sifu.'' I chuckled.

We snuggled under the covers again and after calming down, I finally dozed off.