Sharon finished her first year full of confidence. She’d gone in not knowing if she’d be
accepted, being such a prototype, for COIL at least and come out the other end
tops in most of her classes. She also
knew they had bigger plans for her from her talks various training staff, that
art she was somewhat unsure of and told them she needed time to think about
it.
‘What are you going to do with your break time Sharon?’ Gina
Perini, a first year trainee as well and Sharon’s closest friend asked.
‘I’m taking a trip to India,’ she smiled. ‘And you?’ she
asked Gina.
‘Back to Milan, I want to take a few more fashion courses at
the Istituto Marangoni,’ she smiled.
‘Unfair, when you come back you’ll occupy all of the top ten
best dressed agents,’ Sharon laughed.
Gina was the best dresser of all the trainees. She had that sense, the style and the
confidence. She knew what looked good on
her and how to make that work in a room of beautiful women. Sharon had asked and received a lot of advice
from her, especially with regard to lingerie, which was Gina’s genius.
‘More yoga then,’ Gina inquired as she finished packing and
closed her suitcase.
‘I had hoped to work some in, yes,’ Sharon said offering a
slight upturn of her mouth in a wry manner.
‘They only way you’re getting more flexible is if they start
removing some of your bones Miss Sharpe.’
‘There’s always room for improvement,’ was all Sharon could
come back with.
‘Believe when I say this, ‘Gina said, coming close and
placing her hands in Sharon’s. ‘There’s nothing to improve on your body,’ and
gave Sharon a kiss on the cheek and hug.
‘Whatever you decide to do, have a good time and I look
forward to seeing the new and improved Sharon Sharpe, if such a thing is
possible, in four months,’ Gina said then left Sharon to finish her packing.
***
Sharon handed the Tuk-Tuk driver the address and he looked
at her strangely.
‘Are you sure Miss, this is a less than prosperous part of
Mumbai,’ he said the wariness in his voice more than apparent.
‘Very sure, I’ll pay more if that is the issue,’ she
answered.
‘No, price is fine,’ he sad and left it at that.
Sharon climbed into the Auto-Rickshaw, turning her head
elegantly so her giant white Sun Hat did not bump against the metal supports
for the awning. They was soon speeding
through traffic and dodging people, as the streets became narrower and the
building less ostentatious the driver slowed as they crept along until finally
he stopped.
‘I can walk you down Bandra Alley to the number if you
wish,’ he said looking around.
‘No thank you, I’ll be fine,’ she smiled handing over her
fare.
‘This is much more than I have change for Miss. Do you have
anything smaller?’
‘You keep it all, you’re the only driver who would take me
here,’ she smiled, grabbed her bag and was off down the alley, her white
semi-transparent crocheted pants revealing momentary flashes of lightly bronzed
skin as the moved in and out of the light against her skin. Her matching colour sandals where stylish yet
practical the heel low for ease of walking.
It was the backless halter top that dared and challenged. Every shift of her gate, shimmy of her hips
or motion of her head set the exposed muscles in mesmerizing action making
every looker wonder how the rest of her looked underneath her garments.
Passing by discarding wooden packing boxes and pallets that
had be repurposed for other uses, several piles of rotting garbage overflowing
in a bin much too small to garden them, a few stray dogs that looked up from
whatever meal they were enjoying and the unseen but overhead chatter of Rhesus
Macaques till she found the place she desired and knocked on the door.
‘Miss Sharpe, please come in,’ said Nadira Chowdary.
‘Sharon hesitated for a second. ‘How do you know my name?’
‘Let’s see, I’m either a mystic or maybe a guru or maybe I
have a computer, email and Skype for talking to my friends around the
world. Lesson one Miss Sharpe, never
look at something and draw a conclusion right away, look deeper and most
importantly think deeper. Just because I
choose to live in this location dos not mean I’m without means. You could have seen that if you’d just looked
behind me and seen the decorations on hanging on the wall. Poor people do not have the money for such
frivolities. From that it would have
been reasonable to surmise a few things, such as outside contacts. Now having admonished you, please come into
my home and be welcome.’
Sharon walked in and down a hallway populated with hangings
of various Hindu Deities’ and intricate metal sculptures of women in various
Yoga positions and into a modern kitchen.
‘Chai,’ Nadira asked and started the kettle as Sharon nodded
as she sat down at the small kitchen table cover in an Oilcloth of brightly
coloured flowers.
‘I can see Geeta was right about you. She said you were unique and the best student
she ever had. High praise coming from
the best student I ever had,’ Nadira smiled then returned to making the tea.
‘How long do you have before you have to go back,’ she asked.
‘Four months. So I
assume you know then,’ Sharon inquired.
‘Oh yes, no secret, well a secret from a few people. But within these walls, never secrets,’
Nadira said bringing the pot to the table while the mild steam. ‘Do you
understand that,’ she added.
‘Yes.’
‘Excellent, now I think since I know so much about you I
think it’s only fair you know about me.
First of all I was never a COIL agent.
I worked for various governments within the British Commonwealth before
a long solo career where I got to pick my assignments rather them having them
picked for me. I’m semi-retired so there
may be times during your stay where I’m not around I’ll let you know of course.
I know enough about COIL that your training in Martial Arts is well along the
road, standard for first years, mostly focused on fitness along with other
basic skills. What Geeta gave you I
intend to improve and expand if you prove good enough and determined
enough. I think the best way is to show
you,’ Nadira said taking Sharon’s had and leading her out of the kitchen back
down the hall, turning right, then continuing down the main hallway that lead
from the front door back, pointing out Sharon’s bedroom along the way, complete
with her own bathroom, the living room, Nadira’s study and then she opened a
door at the end of the hallway revealing a metal spiral staircase.
‘My upper sanctum, please after you,’ she offered.
Two revolutions up the staircase and Sharon entered a room
filled with things she never could have imagined, a room that was about to
change her life for a second time in a year.
She walked into the centre of the room.
It occupied all of the footprint of the first floor, she estimated 40x40
feet. There was a main workout floor in
the exact middle of the room that took up 30x30 covered in a beautiful cream
coloured bamboo floor. The outer 10x10
around was reserved for other things.
The entire length of one was covered floor to ceiling was book shelves
filled with books, scrolls and some very old manuscripts that Sharon walked by
and looked at, all yoga based and divided by styles and regions. The wall directly opposite the staircase
entrance was fitness equipment: a treadmill, Elliptical, Home gym and small
free weights. To the trainees right were
a series of statues, stylized imagines of men, women, animals and insects. They took up that wall and the wall behind
her, they were the most intriguing and drew Sharon over to them.
‘Go ahead my dear, touch them, feel the curve and flow of
them, everyone is different in touch, contour and of course purpose,’ Nadira
offered and Sharon obliged.
‘What are they all for,’ Sharon asked as at first one hand
then both found their way onto each one.
‘Some are for stretching purposes, some teach technique
others teach form and flow, the books offer illustrated guides and
explanations,’ Nadira explained.
‘This not yoga,’ Sharon said, now with both hands exploring
a marble statue of a Praying Mantis the same height as her.
‘Not the yoga you’ve been taught. Although I will say in second year that will
change, but even this will be exotic compared to those classes. Come with me over to the books and I will
start you on your journey,’ she said.
‘These will give you something of a history and a reference
point,’ she explained handing Sharon three leather bound very old books. I’m going to go shopping for something
special for dinner, feel free,’ Nadira said a moved silently own the
stairs. Sharon looked at the titles on
the spines of the books.
‘The Female and the use of her Body in Yoga. The Female: The Yogic
Garden of Deadly Delights. Assessment, Application and Execution. The Yogic Female
in Action,’ she said outload.
She also noticed the books where numbered as well, she had 1, 3, and 6. Sharon quickly glanced at the shelves where
Nadira has taken the books from but the missing numbers where not there not
anyplace else on the shelves.
‘Well at least I have the first one,’ and settled on the
floor in a Lotus position and open book number one.
***
‘Oh! don’t seek up one me like that,’ Sharon said catching
her breath from the start Nadira gave her.
‘I guess awareness is taught in second year. I called you four times for dinner, I came
concerned something had happened.’
‘Something has happened.
These books, there insane and a revelation. Is this stuff even possible,’ she asked.
‘Second year is going to fun for you,’ Nadira smiled. ‘But
come dinner is ready we can talk about it downstairs.’
Sharon closed the book carefully picked up the others and
made her way downstairs putting in her room for reading later.
***
‘Where did you acquire all of those books,’ Sharon asked by
why of starting to conversation after dinner as they reclined on pillows in the
leaving room.
‘From my teacher, it was her legacy to me, some I found and
others, while let’s say I’ve acquired those over my career. As you can see I do not all of that series
and there are certain texts that have been lost or so it seems. I prefer to think they still exist, we just
haven’t found them yet.’
‘Can you tell me about some of those ones,’ Sharon asked
really excited.
‘I can show you something better while you are here, but
that is for another day. Did you really
get that far into the first book, looks like you’re almost finished,’ Nadira
said sipping her tea.
I’m a fast reader and I have a very good memory, part of the
reason I got through school so quickly.
Reading however is one thing, actual practice is another,’ Sharon
answered.
‘Ha, we come back to you and COIL and you’re struggle,’
Nadira smiled and shifted over to be closure.
‘What do you know of it,’ Sharon asked trying not to sound
annoyed that her life was being played out to everyone like some kind of
tabloid star.
‘Don’t be upset my dear, it’s not hard to figure out, you’re
not the first, you won’t be the last, but you are something COIL would love to
have. A plus that in the vernacular, goes both ways. You’d be a terrific and deadly asset, but you
have to want it or put another way, your heart has to be in it.’
‘I must be wearing a sign or something that says it,’ was
all Sharon could muster.
‘In a way yes you have been.
I see the way you’ve looked at me.
You’re curious about my age, you’ve seen my arms, neck, and you know I
stay in shape. You’ve check out my
style, how I walk and you wonder what I look like underneath my Sari, does the
entire package measure up to what can be seen.
It’s no shame, in fact it shows you’re becoming more of an agent each
day, always assessing and evaluating.
Well, as I said, no secrets. I’m 58 and yes it does match which I will
show you later when we begin training.
And speaking of that back to the question at hand, what do you want to
do?’
‘I don’t know I’ve never thought about it much, but I can
also say when I have it’s never been dismissed out of hand,’ Sharon
answered. ‘More always a thing to be
kept to myself.’
‘Why so, I mean I understand the social ramifications,
especially in this part of the world, but when you boil it down, it’s just
affection for another person. That is
the normal way of the world, but inside our world it takes on much wider
meanings. I’ll tell you what, I want you
to read the rest of the books, think out it, turn it over, give it good
consideration then we can talk again when you are ready, but tomorrow morning
we start training, there is lots I can teach you in the meantime,’ Nadira
answered.
***
‘You bend impressively Sharon, but there is room for more
suppleness and that’s what these statues are for in part. They have other uses as well but for the
present this will do,’ Nadira explained as they finished their warm up Sharon
mirroring her teacher’s actions.
‘They were explained in the book, but it said nothing about
alternative uses,’ she answered in an excited voice.
‘No, those are located in more advanced texts. Since you have read the tomes and seen the
diagrams let’s start with The Spider, show me the positions.’
Sharon approached the statue, a spider about 6 and half feet
in total length supported by a base at the end of its abdomen suspending it
about 3 feet of the floor. The trainee raised one leg up over her head in a
fluid sinuous effortless motion her leg bending and enclosing around one of the
legs. Sharon pulled her body up off the
ground suspending herself for a short time as her other leg raised and curled
tight about another of the spiders legs.
She pulled up her torso bending her toned physique so her stomach was
parallel to the floor.
‘Tah,’ Indira said as her fist slammed into the Sharon’s
Lats felling her into an upside down suspended position.
‘What the hell!’ she said rubbing her side.
‘Language, now pull yourself up again,’ Nadira admonished
and Sharon did as requested.
Nadira hit her again and then again and several more times
in the Lats and Abs but this time Sharon held firm, she winced but did not
break the position.
‘You see this time you expected it, so your mind and your
body worked in harmony to absorb the blow. The goal is to always be like that,’
Indira explained. ‘Now show me the second position.’
Sharon reached back and clasp her hands about her ankles and
pulled herself taught. Indira stepped back to observe her form and looked at
her. Every muscle curved and coiled, her body taut displaying its eye appealing
curves. Sharon’s generous breasts where stiff, firm and perfectly formed, her
pink nipples hard and protruding like darts. The trainee’s stomach smooth, hard
and with just the right combination of visible muscle and sexy angles. Her arms
sexy and inviting in their inflexible strength took most the of strain allowing
her legs to rest.
Nadira walked to the back of the room and picked up a small
bucket returned to Sharon with a smile.
‘You should remember to pull out hair back. It keeps it out
of your eyes making the workout easier, but more importantly, much more
importantly, its makes you look sleeker, sinewy and sexier, let me show you,’
she said touching a hidden button on a leg of the spider turning the panels on
the supporting column of the statue about and into mirror’s so Sharon could see
herself. ‘Stunning,’ Nadira added. ‘But with just a simple change we can turn
this flaxen hair into something even more alluring.’
The teacher ran her fingers through Sharon’s hair, who found
soft and tender touch not unwelcomed.
‘Tah!’ as a blow hit Sharon’s mound then more was several
crashed her stomach and sides before a final two found her thighs. Sharon held
solid but breathed heavily as Nadira returned to the bucket and pulled out a
comb and tenderly began running it through Sharon’s tresses.
‘A combination of Sandalwood and Jasmine Oil, my own
personal blend. Its oils cling to the hair, straightening it and making it glow
a bit, like a burnished metal, the scent is also most alluring, don’t you agree
Sharon?’ Nadira hummed as she worked.
‘You have very thick and wonderful hair my student, it
almost seems a pity to do this but when you see the transformation I know
you’ll be pleased.’ Nadira soothed as the comb caressed until it was smooth and
glowing at which point Nadira deftly tied it into a bun.
She placed the comb back into the bucket and retuned to
Sharon instructing her to return to the ground.
‘Look in the mirror my dear,’ Nadira said as she guided her
student about showing her different angles. ‘Before was an alluring and
dangerous woman transformed into an irresistible and deadly woman.’
Sharon looked in the mirror, it was only hair and oil, but
the change was incredible even after all she’d been through before. Then she
noticed Nadira had pressed herself against her back.
‘Are you trying to seduce me?’ Sharon asked.
‘My dear, if I wanted to it would already have happened. What
I’m doing is showing you that as appealing as you are there is always more and
in some cases less you can do. Just as one size doesn’t fit all, one look doesn’t
either. The look and the situation do go hand in hand and you must remember and
use that at all times. The two of us together is just getting you used to the
close contact, you don’t seem tense which leads me to another lesson, feeling
and adjusting to your opponent. The closer you are the more you can adapt to
them, adjust what you do and force them into mistakes, but that is getting
ahead of things. Now back up and this time I promise not to interrupt as you
work through the routine. One final piece of advice. In yoga the mind and the
body show work in harmony but went learning something it is sometimes best to
let one have control over the other until that skill is learned, then harmony
can be restored,’ Nadira explained.
‘So, let the mind be the boss,’ Sharon stated.
‘Not always, it depends on the person and the situation, you
may find yourself switching about and that is fine, do what works best for
Sharon,’ the teacher added releasing her hug.
The student climbed back on and executed the first two moves
as before, holding each position perfectly before advancing. For the third
position one hand released her ankle and secured around a leg, the fourth one
allowing her other hand to find the third leg. Sharon pressed her body across
the spider and parallel to the floor before her legs splayed and her toes
closed around the spider’s legs on the opposite side. The strain on her face
was evident, every fibre and sinew of her sexy form screamed for release. Sharon
wanted to but refused remembering the words of Nadira she found her nirvana,
her body and mind balanced as she reviewed the next position. Slowly and
gracefully her legs pulled up and over the spider’s abdomen and pressed down
against it body welding her to it. Next, she pushed her torso up and back freeing
her hands as they search for her ankles slowly and painfully securing about
them. The pain was everywhere, back, neck, legs, thighs, but Sharon held the
position trying to calm her convulsing form as she searched for balance slowly
finding it.
Her body was now covered her perspiration, dots of water
dripped from her glistening body as she released her arms brought them down and
around the legs again pulling herself up into a handstand crossing her arms
over and lowering her shoulders until them were equal with the spider’s body
again. A slow roll of her torso lay her back across the statues body before she
bent underneath and reversed the previous position.
‘You’re stunning my dear, simply stunning, mesmerizing to
watch,’ Nadira marvelled as she placed a nail on the side of Sharon’s left calf
and began to walk her fingers up. ‘Perhaps more distracting than the punch,
this is the soft side of the art, not everything has to be painful,’ she
explained as Sharon tensed, her body alive to the touch, her nipples swelling
to erectness.
‘You cannot resist forever, no one can, desire is desire and
sexual stimulation is at the core of every person, we all seek it even when it
can lead to bad thing. The trick is to enjoy it while not letting it control
you or the outcome you want,’ Nadira soothed as the flats of her hands caressed
Sharon’s straining splayed inner thighs.
The trainee’s breath was becoming shorter and shorter while
her body undulated and shimmied her mind desperately trying to refocus itself
on anything other than capitulating to pleasure. By sheer force of will be
barely pushed it away and was rewarded with several ‘Tah’s’ from her teacher to
her side and a double chop to the pussy.
The thud of pain helped her focus, she recovered and
defiantly stretched her form further around the abdomen, her naked alive form
bending as a snake encircling its prey.
Sharon languidly pulled herself up into a handstand, her
slow progression allowing her to test every muscle and fibre as she went, her
body responded perfectly and was still in the inverted position until she moved
it into a split leg position across the body of the spider, her form lowering
just leisurely as it had risen. She pressed herself up off the spider holding
her form suspended straight out along the arachnid before sliding off and
landing on the floor silently.
Nadira kept her face schooled, but inside she was stunned at
how this girl of 20 handled the obstacles put in front of her.
‘Have you read far enough to tackle any of the others?’ Nadira
asked as Sharon drank some water.
‘The Centipede and the Praying Mantis. I didn’t manage to
get to the Cicada, Beetle, Scorpion or Cricket,’ she answered putting down the
water and moving to the statue of the Centipede.
‘As you know, this is all about speed. Power is one thing
and it’s useful, but speed is essential, marrying the two makes for a lethal
combination. But speed without flow is disjointed, speed with flow creates
harmony, suppleness and a hypnotizing form,’ Nadira explained.
The insect with its myriad of legs and length made for an
exhausting journey from tail to head. It was a complex series of moves with no
stops, constant fast motion. Sharon worked through the set once then reversed
her pattern to return to the tail, this time Nadira struck with legs and fists.
The trainee soaked up several blows but deflected others with her hands, arms,
feet and legs all while moving as she worked down the sculpture and off at the
end where she blocked a final strike.
Nadira could not believe it again, she improvised like a
veteran, the Mantis was next.
‘The Praying Mantis is about flexibility and power strikes
from positions of seemingly impossible weakness. The positions become
increasingly more painful as you progress through the ten poses,’ Nadira warned.
Sharon drenched in sweat began snaking herself up into the
mandibles then snaked her legs up and around the head of the Mantis her ankles
crossing and locking as she released her arms slipped her body between the arms
at the body and pulled herself up in a ‘U’ position. Sharon moved into the
second position, her body was not being tested yet, she held and moved into the
third, her body now a steaming and boiling from exertion. Sheened in a constant
layer of moisture she worked her form into the fourth position then the fifth
before straining for 5 minutes to get into the sixth and another 10 to escape
it.
Sharon glissaded her figure, wiggling and contorting in slow
sexy manner, her lithe ample form searching for the key to open the seventh
position even as she was seared in pain. She corkscrewed her form into place,
her torso twisted more than 180 degrees and stretched fully out. Every plane,
curve, contour, valley and rise of Sharon was on display, her constant
twitching only adding to the arousing picture.
Nadira circled about the woman before striking her between
the shoulder blades.
‘Tah!’
The student convulsed then fell into the position deeper,
her body screaming as she was turned more.
‘Oooh,’ she moaned.
‘Free yourself Sharon,’ Nadira whispered into her ear. “Or I
will strike again.’
Sheer willpower forced her out of the bind as she moaned and
grunted and into the eighth, her legs straight up her sides and her arms down
her back she lay suspended in the Mantis’s Front Claws gasping for air until
she managed to slow her breathing and still her racing pulse.
The ninth position inverted her body in the claws as she
hung upside down, her hands grabbing the long neck of the Mantis and pulling
her backwards until she clasped them around the back of the statues head, her
back burning in fire.
‘Such a lovely paradise, why muscle control you probably
have and don’t even know it, but all in time,’ Nadira softly said she traced a
nail around Sharon’s well trimmed bush.
‘Ahhh,’ the suspended woman exclaimed more delight than
torment as the nail traced closer in ever diminishing circles.
Sharon was near climax, she wanted to let go but she wanted
success more, she could imagine the scene later and make herself happy, she
told herself as she pressed on and into the tenth and final position. An hour
of desperate pulling and tweezing inserted her into place where she was soon
writhing in agony but unable to escape.
The student’s torrid body struggled to escape the
sarcophagus of the final position, her lungs fighting for air to feed her body,
the scent of the sandalwood and jasmine no longer there to comfort her with
their pleasant aroma. She somehow
managed to do it all in a controlled and elegant graceful fashion as one leg
slowly lowered over her body and found the security of the floor, then and arm,
then the second allowing her to unscrew her body and the last leg which she
brought down, her foot pointed as it slide down touched the knee of her other
leg, then the floor as she began to split them apart lowering her torso to the
ground and bending it forward to press against the mat and complete the
sequence.
Nadira tenderly rolled Sharon over then lowered herself to
the floor in a Upavistha Konasana pose length wise along Sharon’s body. Sharon
looked up at her, the student’s eyes opening and closing from exhaustion was
all the movement she could muster. Nadira cupped the back of the stricken
women’s head under in her hand and tilted it up to drink from a cool bottle of
water. Sharon drank slowly as the two looked at each other eyes locked, each
felt the connection only a mentor and student could have. This was the bond
Nadira had been searching for her whole career, someone to pass her skills
onto, everything she had learned and everything she had knowledge of but could
not find or master would be implanted into this extraordinary young lady.
‘Easy my dear, your body temperature is dangerously high,
you’re sizzling to the touch, relax all is well, you did magnificently,’ she
said kissing her on the forehead.
Sharon got to her feet after a while, stumbled uneasily
about before finding the wall and leaning against it then coming back for more
after a short rest.
***
Sharon read and mastered the other statues, Scorpion,
Beetle, Cicada and Grasshopper. She thought her body was strong when she came
but it had gotten stronger but in a strange way. She noticed her body had
leaned and lengthened out. She had become a little bit taller thanks to the
intense stretching of her spine but there was more as she looked in the 360-degree
mirror. She did not retain the steel hard look she had from before, her
strength was greater than before, but her appearance belied that. She was still
a hard body, but the surface was calm, smooth, slinky and supple, the real
danger that never showed, until it was too late, lurked menacingly below that. Her
legs look better, if that was possible, as did her arms, back shoulder and ass.
She’d also made a decision about her sexuality.
Her endurance levels were incredible, she was able to work
through the insect statues one after the other just like her mentor who she
watched carefully to learn from. Nadira would come through the drill lathered
just as Sharon was, her body outstanding for her or any age. She was lean, but
not thin, strong and sexy at every turn without trying to be, something Sharon
absorbed fully. Some days she chose to wear her long black hair loose, it
shining in the light, other days braided meticulously into a ponytail adorned
with various golden hair clasps and still other days it was tied up in an
intricate bun arrangement.
‘You are so far ahead of where I thought you would my dear,’
Nadira said one night as they sat in her living room while Sharon combed her
teacher’s hair, it flipped over her shoulder, so they could face each other.
Sharon noticed she was always referred to ‘my dear’ and
never by name. She didn’t mind it in fact she kind of revelled in it because
Nadira always said it with such care and affection.
‘I feel a little guilty about this, but I’ve asked COIL
through my contacts for more time with you.’
Sharon stopped combing and looked at her shock on her face
but also joy.
‘I can see I made the right decision. ‘I can teach you all
the talents COIL can and ones they can’t, secrets even they don’t know. You’re
the best I’ve ever seen. I made a promise to my teacher that I would pass all
she taught me and all that I acquired in my career to a worthy pupil and you
must make me that same promise,’ Nadira explained.
Sharon’s hands quavered a bit as she put down the comb took
Nadira’s hands in hers then bowed down touching her lips to each of Nadira’s
feet a few soft tears falling on each one. Nadira place her hands-on Sharon’s
head offering her blessing in return.
***
Being naked most of the time was fine, in fact it was
liberating and saved time, but at some time Sharon had to go out. The clothes
she’d brought did not fit her as nicely as before, she still looked smashing in
them, but Nadira insisted on new things and new experiences that she said where
all part of the training.
Sharon noticed immediately the people deferred to Nadira and
by extension her as they walk about the neighbourhood. It was not fear, but
respect and Sharon found much to her discomfort that she got the treatment as
well.
Nadira paid it no attention, she waved off special service
from store keepers, gave to several ladies sitting against buildings, stopping
to talk to them, hold hands and kiss them goodbye.
‘My dear, they respect you because you respect me, teacher
and pupil, they can see it and you show it by being just a half step behind me
whether you realise it or not,’ she answered.
As they walked they moved into a more prosperous neighbourhood.
Bright shops with flashing signs covered the larger main streets drawing
Sharon’s eye to the colours of the clothes in the windows.
‘Not there my dear, down this alley,’ Nadira said as the
bright sun disappeared into shadowy luminescence down the narrow alley.
‘If you know where to go you get want you want, need and in
this case something more,’ her teacher smiled opening the door to a Sari shop
of bright colours and vivid smells.
The bell announced their arrival and seconds later a smile
and a kiss on the cheek and a hug greeted Nadira.
‘My sister Indira and yes don’t bother we’ve heard all the
rhymes and jokes,’ Nadira smiled as her sister greeted Sharon in the same
manner.
‘New era, new generation, she sparkles already, but I want
her to be on an unassailable level, like you did for me, but better,’ Nadira
explained.
‘Lucky for the both of you I still have some tricks up may
sleeve and some designs that have not been used for a long time. I’m thinking
classic south Indian,’ Indira responded.
‘Maybe with a bit of Sri Lankan,’ Nadira added.
‘Yes, perfect. Come with me my dear and we’ll get you
measured up.’
Sharon did as Indira requested following her into the
anteroom as Nadira closed the curtain behind them.
***
‘So much of this is chance,’ Sharon said over tea in a nice
shaded courtyard of a restaurant. ‘You know I almost did go to the cafeteria
that day at school and if I hadn’t Catherine would not have overheard Sam
talking about me none of this would ever have happened, really, even now I find
it surreal.’
‘There’s nothing surreal about you. Was it chance or fate,
who can say, those are bigger questions that you could parse out for an
eternity and still have no answer and where would that leave you, right where
you started. The point is you are here now, yes some of the rest of this will
be chance, how much, depends on how good you are, not lucky, good, and good is
preparation and not just in the things I teach you or that you acquire along
the way, its cultivation. Create your world, do not let COIL create it for you,
do not rely on them. Build your contacts, friends, locations and places,
essentially have your own agency within the larger one and tell no one about it
except those you absolutely trust,’ Nadira explained.
Sharon took it all in, just as she did the texts and books
in the workout room as well as Mumbai. Always a quick study, she had picked up
the language faster than even she had expected, mapped the city and found those
places only locals could find, but it was the pursuit of knowledge that really
drove her, specifically ancient female skills.
‘I’m surprised I have to explain this to you my dear. I
thought you would have figured this out by now. The female body is the
deadliest weapon ever created, both by itself and made even more so with
certain add accoutrements,’ Nadira said in surprise to Sharon’s astonishment
about an ancient Hindu text she had just read. ‘I see we can add reading
Sanskrit to your resume of talents, excellent,’ Nadira added handing back the
book.
‘Sure, I understand you can kill with your body, martial
arts, strangling, and neck break. I took martial arts in my first year, but
this, this is something else,’ an astonished Sharon exclaimed.
‘You would have taken the very rudimentary aspects of this
in second year. I can imagine all the other trainees would have had the same
reaction, I know I did when my mentor introduced it to me, but it is the truth,
just not a well-known truth. How much have you read?’
‘The second and third books you gave me, then I really got
into it as they just hinted at how to use it in combat. All the books on South
Indian Styles including the biographies of the women practitioners through the
centuries. Then I did the other regions, then Sri Lankan, Pakistani and
Bangladeshi, all fascinating. I put aside books from the Far East for later,
but they seemed from brief glance just as exotic and concentrated on finding
out about Veda Pandey. Who is she, there is no bio on her, but she is mentioned
as being highly influential in certain area, but no specifics and then she just
disappears,’ Sharon asked.
‘How did you enjoy our outing yesterday?’ Nadira asked.
Enjoyable as always,’ Sharon answered, but she knew she
should be looking for something more in that question.
‘What about the woman in the book shop, the accessory store,
the woman next you at the hair salon?’ Nadira asked.
Sharon reviewed the day and as she collated the data her
face changed to concern.
‘All were around your age, all beautiful like you, very
well-spoken, refined and confident. And all much too similar a cohort for the
sample size we saw yesterday,’ Sharon said. ‘We were being followed!’
‘More like you were being observed my dear, they know who I
am their much for interested in you,’ Nadira smiled.
The surprised look on Sharon’s face told Nadira see could
proceed.
‘These are the scions of Veda Pandey. They belong to an
organisation called The Silkworms. A Maharaja with a small kingdom who had
grander ambitions but lacked the army and the money to expand. His favourite
courtesan was a woman by the name of Veda Pandey. She came to offer herself to
the court after her husband died having nowhere else to go and no means to live
independently. She was about 40 at the time, we would more equate her to being
about 50-55 given the improvements in life span from that time to now. At any
scale you apply she was beautiful and a very good dancer, so she found
employment and eventually the Maharaja’s bed where her talents proved most
pleasing. But it was in other areas that she served him most effectively. Veda,
as said was an excellent dancer and beautiful, she would often dance for
foreign emissaries and other important people. The more she was in demand the
more she had to know so she began acquiring texts on dance to learn new
routines. Somewhere along the way and the exact facts are lost to time Veda
acquired a book that taught her something else entirely. Some say she
deciphered a secret code she stumbled across, other a second book that was
written in lime juice so invisible to the naked eyes but once exposed to light
at a certain angle revealed itself, it doesn’t really matter, only the outcome
does. As the story goes she overheard a plot to kill the Maharaja, told him and
then offered to kill the plotter and with him dead he could take over the
others territory and expand his kingdom. She assured him she could do it and if
not, any blame could be pinned on her and not him. She told him she had a new
dance, seductive and she would dance it directly to her target, seducing him to
her and then when alone with her she would finish him. Her sexy confidence led
him to let her try. The dance as promised did the trick and she was escorted to
his chamber for the night, where she told him she had one more dance for him
and before he could disagree she undid the pin holding the two ends of her Sari
together and let gravity slowly pull it from her body as she looked at him
hungrily. As the Sari slipped slowly from her body she entranced him further as
she had prepared her form with Jasmine Powder, the slipping fabric wafting the
scent into the air. Veda strategically covered sensitive parts of her body with
her scarf as the Sari left her leaving her exposed but covered and stimulating
him further. Then the dance began, she turning away from his lunging grasp with
a smile and laugh as her dance began. A mix of slow and seductive mixed with
frantic drove his lust up and his clothes off. Veda slowed her motion for the
finally and came closer, her body hot and wet and smelling beautiful. He was so
under her spell he did not even see the trap he’d fallen into.’
‘Her scarf,’ Sharon said.
‘Precisely, excellent deduction. She pressed her naked
well-conditioned form against his as she turned about him offering the
tantalising nip of her lips and playful tip of her tongue until her scarf had
entangled about him like threads of wet spider’s silk. A finally toying tongue
in his ear before she twisted her body capturing him in a lethal body
strangulation, her toned form easily out matching his.
It took only a few
minutes before she relaxed having completed the job.
The Maharaja expanded his kingdom which included a
previously undiscovered diamond deposit making him very rich indeed, a wealth
he shared with Veda. Now able to afford an army he used Veda as a kind of
ambassador and she used the position to help him expand his kingdom but more so
to expand hers. The travel and the wealth allowed her to search for and acquire
certain exotic long forgotten manuscripts as well has to seek out people who
could give her other means to fulfil her assignments. Gradually she was no
longer needed, brute force had replaced her silent skills but by then she was
well on her way to setting up her own group of female assassins for hire. They
only needed three qualities, be over 40, widowed and beautiful and in India
there was no shortage. She chose the name Silkworm because it brought to mind
the words, exotic, refined and deadly. A Silkworm is a highly poisonous insect
as are these ladies. Those three women we saw today are all Silkworms, from a
local Hive, as they call their structural organisation. All independent and
self-sustaining but all belonging to a larger collective that exist throughout
South East Asia. They’ve morphed over the years from just assassins for hire
into a vast criminal organisation, but still they follow the ways set down by
Veda,’ Nadira finished.
‘Why are they interested in me and more importantly why
haven’t they come after you?’ Sharon asked.
‘They’ve tried and failed over the years, expending
resources, I suppose now they figure to let me be and punish me by denying me
passing on my legacy to you. But I won’t let that happen, so pay them no heed
while you’re with me.’
‘And when I’m not any longer?’
‘When you meet them, kill them as they will do the same to
you, but I warn you, they are highly skilled and seductively lethal. There
training is passed down from the Hive Queen to each Worm in personal training,
they add things when needed, but it is all very ancient material lost in time,
just like their book.
‘They have a Training Manuel?’ Sharon asked.
‘Had, The Book of Worm, by Veda herself, a massive volume,
said to contain secrets for those willing to look for and decode them, but the
book was lost centuries ago. It would be priceless if found in more ways than
one, but so far it has eluded capture,’ Nadira smiled. ‘Anyway, pay them no
mind until you have to, think of them a side show until its time and by then I
promise you’ll be more than a match for any of them.’
‘The world is far more imaginative that even the best
imagination can conceive, anyway back to your original question, the female
form as a weapon. The simple answer is we’re designed for it. We’re extremely
flexible, like a snake allowing us to curl about our prey and hold. We’re also
extremely soft to hold allowing use to employ the soft weapon skill of kneading
our bodies against another, the motion of a female dancing against its prey can
be used to relax the victim rendering them useless to further talent, a good
practitioner can even massage an opponent to death. Then there are all the
eternal trappings, powders, oils, nails, hair scents, earring, rings and
lipstick the list goes on and on. Al the books are up there, you just need to
keep reading, but we will begin this portion of your training next week,’
Nadira explained.
Sharon beamed at this but Nadira put a damper on it.
‘Sadly, not against me, I have fellow sisters and brothers I
use. Things can an often do get a bit sexual intense and the teacher /student
relationship does not run to that kind of intimacy if we are to maintain your
education. Tomorrow we begin intense marital arts training in some of the more
exotic shall we say styles,’ Nadira smiled.
***
Sharon had read several books when she finally decided to
call it night and rolled over in bed.
‘Stinging Sari, Indian Female Serpent,
Sri Lankan Striking Centipede and other fighting style rolled through her head
until she finally managed to fall asleep. Tomorrow started another chapter in
the journey.
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