The first months of Sister Innocencia`s tenure as Mother Superior of the Convent of
the Angels, a time marked by relief, joy and a sometimes volatile jubilation in the
Convent community paralleled by an explicitly hopeful, even cloying mood in the village,
were a season of spiritual and unexpectedly physical growth for the good sisters of the
order. Sister Innocencia`s popularity extended beyond her immediate province all the way
to Salvador. There, her praises were sung by all, with Dom Eugenio Batista de Lima
Azevedo dos Santos, auxiliary bishop, charismatic and, in a usually well concealed second
life, viral rake, the willing choir master.
Sister Innocencia enjoyed the hearty respect of the ecclesiastical hierarchy due to
her masterly administration of the once dissidence-ridden Convent, her magnanimous
treatment of vanquished enemies and the well-circulated tale of her suffering, details of
which were alternately exaggerated or elided depending on the audience.
The aged archbishop, for example, famously abhorred the sight, or even the mention,
of bloodletting, a peculiarity which prevented him from officiating at certain ceremonies
or entering certain precincts until the more gruesome examples of the decorative arts had
been removed or concealed. It was said that, when the archbishop first met Pope Leo in
Rome, he burst into tears, overwhelmed not by the papal presence, but rather by the sight
of an especially gory depiction of the crucifixion by Caravaggio.
Others of the hierarchy, the chief bursar and the prefect of parishes, for example,
were quite the opposite. They demanded more and more specifics with each retelling of the
Passion of Mother Superior, often expressing skepticism as they probed for hints of a
contradiction or as a way to draw out the details, particularly those relating most
explicitly to nudity and physical torture.
Dom Eugenio was a master at tailoring his story to the emotional needs of his
audience to the point where, from the archbishop`s viewpoint, Sister Innocencia was a
suffering, but chaste and cleanly scrubbed saint while, in the bursar’s eyes, she fairly
quivered in her torture-induced nudity. The outcome was predictable and, for the bishop
and his protege, highly favorable--the largesse of the archdiocese poured into the laps of
the good sisters, with some of it trickling down to the villagers, making Sister
Innocencia, to all eyes, even more saintly.
Sister Innocencia herself quickly grasped that her powers were at their apex. She
endeavored to make the most of them, once, in a conversation with the auxiliary bishop,
paraphrasing another Pope Leo, by saying, "Now that we have the Convent, let us enjoy
it!"
Sister Innocencia`s way of enjoying her domain was somewhat eccentric, however. Her
first act was to appropriate the spacious lodge as her private quarters. To these lofty,
sand-colored rooms, cooled by evening breezes and bathed by morning sun, Sister Innocencia
brought her collection of rich tapestries and elegant clothing, furniture and tableware.
From the village, she procured candles, wine and crystal. A gardener and a cabinetmaker
collaborated on a system of iron hooks, cables and rings from which to hang dozens of
leafy samambaia plants. Finally, she had the cabinetmaker craft a four-poster bed with a
white linen canopy.
Sister Innocencia shared her chambers with almost no one, to the point where they
became the objects of gossip and exaggeration among nuns and villagers alike. There were
rumors of marble fountains splashing wine, tapestries for bedclothes and an eternal flame
honoring Mother Superior`s deceased parents. Despite their absurd nature, Sister
Innocencia encouraged such tales. They set her apart spiritually, as the actual tower
lodge did physically, from both Convent and village.
Sister Innocencia managed the Convent`s affairs with studied indirection. Her most
traditionally loyal disciples became the Convent`s actual administrators. Sisters Teresa
and Carolina, who had shared bodily torture with the new Mother Superior during the famed
revolt, were the bustling caretakers of everything from the contents of the storeroom to
the twice-yearly harvesting of cacao, the broad brown pods that generated income for the
order and labor for the poorest of the villagers. They also served a second, occult role
as observers of the Convent populous, reporting gossip, criticism and infractions to
Mother Superior.
Stoical Sister Ana Regina, brutally crucified before her peers on one famous
occasion during the old regime, became the chief catechist of the Convent, instructing its
novices in the order`s beliefs and practices, a function which kept her in the Chapel for
long hours, eventually making it her accepted domain. In her role, she was assisted by
Sister Fabianna, whose injuries under torture had left her hobbled and contorted much in
the manner of a hunchback. Even her speech, a thick almost unintelligible growl, pointed
up her martyrdom. Novices were in awe of her, especially those who came to the Convent
after the famed mutiny, tales of which were elaborated and spiced to the point where all
its participants, but especially Sisters Innocencia and Fabianna, became heroines and
saints. To Sister Ana Regina the novices came for advice; from Sister Fabianna they
sought, and usually obtained, anointment by a living martyr.
But the most favored of all was flinty Sister Carmen, the comely negress whose
timely actions had saved the Convent from tyranny and heroic Sister Innocenia from death.
Sister Carmen, as Proctor, was the day-to-day boss of 40 nuns and novices and a dozen
workmen. She was the Convent bursar, contract negotiator, engineer and disciplinarian.
It was a role well suited. Inevitably, she became unpopular, but hers was a spirit
craving not the devotion of others but rather their respect. And, most of all, it gave
her scope for tireless action allied with the opportunity to fulfill her duty to the one
who, more than any other in her life, had placed the young nun on the path to the true
love of both God and Man--Sister Innocencia.
The new Mother Superior quickly established, and rigorously enforced, the style of
her regime. All nuns, novices, workmen and villagers reported to either Sisters Ana
Regina or Carmen. These two reported to Sister Innocencia.
It was a rare moment when Mother Superior appeared in the Convent corridors,
courtyard or gardens. When she did, a hush would fall on any little group of gossiping
nuns. Workmen at rest against their tools in the noonday sun would suddenly stand
straight and, averting their eyes, bless themselves and begin pawing at the purple earth
again.
It was even more rare for a nun or novice to be summoned to Mother Superior`s
chambers. In the lodge, they would find her ensconced in a red bishop`s chair behind a
huge table. Conversation would be chilly--a few orders and admonishments with little or
no chance for explanation or dialog. Novices especially would come away with a sense of
dread, awe and the impression of a humorless, middle-aged or even ageless icon. There
were even a few who, in the most private of conversations, described her as ugly. In this
austere way, Sister Innocencia imposed her will and hid her beauty.
* *
*
But it was in the privacy of her chambers that Sister Innocencia most enjoyed her
hard won authority.
As one of her first acts, the new Mother Superior appointed a committee of villagers
to help manage the works and distribute the funds which the archdiocese had decided to
shower on the once distressed but now happily salvaged Convent of the Angels. She
interviewed dozens of villagers before choosing, with great care, the 12 who would
constitute her works committee. In her manner of choosing, she had at least one occult
purpose. Three of the members, one a gifted sculptor, another a muscular blacksmith and
the third a master cabinetmaker, were all unmarried, young, and visibly viral. These
became the subcommittee on engineering. One of their projects was to periodically
engineer the satisfaction of Mother Superior.
The subcommittee met on a weekly basis and always at night. It quickly fell into a
routine carefully devised and enforced by its mistress. Sister Innocencia was never
present when the three members arrived at her chambers. Instead, they were met by a
novice. The novice`s task was to draw their bath and then help them off with their
cloths, which were then folded and deposited in a tiny anteroom, no larger than a broom
closet. The bath water was usually warm with a soft patina of steam; musk and herbs
hovered over its surface. The three men were asked to be quick, slipping in and out of
the perfumed waters one after the other, then reassembling in Sister Innocencia`s bedroom.
There, they would find the friendly novice again, this time setting out a wine decanter
and lighting candles in an atmosphere of hushed reverence and anticipation. The departure
of the novice, not to be seen again until the end of the ritual, was the signal for Sister
Innocencia`s entrance.
Mother Superior could emerge from any of three doors. She would normally choose the
one most likely to cause her lovers surprise, an expression they would, in any case, labor
to display in the knowledge that it was especially, though somewhat mysteriously, pleasing
to her. Once in the room, Sister Innocencia would smile, stop to offer an almost
imperceptible bow and then sweep across the floor to the imposing four-poster bed
constructed by the very cabinetmaker now about to enjoy its sleek beauty and utility to
the fullest.
Sister Innocencia`s procession toward the bed was a particularly enticing, and
important, part of the ritual. She always wore the same gown-length linen garment, which
fluttered like wings as she strode to the bed; this, encircled by candles, she had
fashioned into a kind of altar. The garment was pure white and exuded a faint scent of
musk and linseed oil. Although it covered her shoulders and upper arms, it was
tantalizingly open in the front. As she turned to sit on the bed, Sister Innocencia would
tug the top of the gown off her shoulders exposing her back down to the base of her
shoulder blades, then she would turn to face her awed audience, sit on the bed and allow
the linen garment to fall to her waist, thus exposing her chest to their anxious gaze.
This was, for Sister Innocencia, one of the high points of the ritual. An enigmatic smile
playing on her lips, she would glance at each of the three men in turn, eager to gauge
whether the mere sight of even her partial nakedness was enough to cause arousal.
Now, she would begin to give orders, ones which, once the ritual had been memorized
by the three men, became almost automatic. A nod from Sister Innocencia would mean
distribution of crystal tulip glasses brimming with wine. A word or gesture would bring a
dozen sputtering candles from the corners of the room to the night tables on either side
of her bed. This was a moment the men looked forward to. It was the prelude to touching
their mistress`s skin for the first time. The candles would seem to crowd the bed like
curious worshippers. They had a way of washing out blemishes, highlighting the gentle
curves of Sister Innocencia`s breasts, her hips and the slight roll of her lower belly.
They cast small but sharply defined shadows across the hollow of her navel. And,
curiously but aptly, they left a faintly pungent odor of male fecundity in the air.
Now, at last, Sister Innocencia would motion for the men to come forward. This too
was a moment closely choreographed. One man would place his lips on each nipple, in turn,
sucking and lathing it to a bright red spike, then, after sprinkling her chest with
droplets of wine, he would mold each aureole with his tongue. A second would enjoy the
fullness of Sister Innocencia`s embrace, and, holding her firmly in his arms, administer a
lengthy, deep-throated kiss while the third would tug the linen garment off her hips and
toss it to the floor.
Next, Sister Innocencia would encourage the men to scramble onto the bed. With
herself at its center, she would invite each one, in turn, to kiss her full on the lips,
allowing each the time for a leisurely, full-tongued exploration as the others stimulated
her breasts or, at first tantalizingly and then with increasing earnestness, her
womanhood. Soon, Sister Innocencia`s body would be rocking gently from side to side, with
the sculptor lathing her nether lips with his tongue, the cabinetmaker pinching her
breasts then smoothing the skin of her belly, chest and arms and the blacksmith massaging
her scalp as he kissed her with a series of succulent smacks.
Finally, Sister Innocencia would allow each man his pleasure. She insisted on a
full-throated kiss from one of the men as the other penetrated her and the third pulled
and tugged at her breasts, leaving her nipples distended and even raw and her chest
heaving. In this way, the Mother Superior of the Convent of the Angels, full of worries
and labors by day, would lose herself, smothered in pulsating pleasures, by night. By the
second or third penetration, Sister Innocencia would close her eyes and, her tongue,
breasts and innermost cunt roiling from the relentless stimulation, surrender her every
nerve to the familiar shocking flood like wave after wave washing against the beach until
it glistens with a bright, bubbly sheen.
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