Avatar
Chapter 48
After everyone was comfortable, Ken stood and looked at them. Then he
focused on Annette.
"Annette, do you wish to worship the Goddess?"
Annette looked startled; this wasn't what she was expecting. Gary had
promised her that some answers about how she was feeling would be forthcoming.
"Yes," she said, confusion tingeing her voice. "But what does that have
to do with anything?"
"Because we worship a specific Goddess. Her name is Lea."
Ken could feel both Genie and Annette begin processing all the weirdness
that had occurred during the ritual. Since they'd never been to one before,
they'd had no idea of what to expect. But, now that they thought about it,
having someone just appear in front of them was more than just a little odd.
Ken spent the next hour connecting the dots for them. He could feel
Gary struggling to accept what he was saying, his knowledge of what was
happening to Annette and the things he'd seen these people do, conflicting with
his version of reality.
"So it's your choice," he finished up. "You can continue to worship
with us. But you don't have to."
"What is your place in all this?" asked Genie.
Ken sighed. He had explained what he knew of how their abilities worked
and what the rules were -- the few that seemed well defined. But he hadn't gone
into the hierarchy at all, and even his wives didn't know what all of his
talents were. He'd decided lately that developing a moral code dealing with his
ability to actually read thoughts was important -- even if he was the only one
with that particular skill.
"I'm Lea's High Priest and Avatar. Jane and Arianwen are High
Priestess. Sally and Eric are Priest and Priestess. You two would be priestess
also, should you choose to continue with us."
"What happens if we decided we don't want to be a Priestess?" asked
Annette.
Ken shrugged, "No big deal. Things will go on as they were before.
Unless you're talking about not worshiping at all, in which case the abilities
you're developing would fade in short order. If you decide you want to worship,
but don't want to be a Priestess, you'll still have certain abilities -- at
least that's what Lea told me. And these are not life long choices, for the
most part. I mean, I doubt you can see-saw back and forth between being a
Priestess and a Follower. But if you are a Priestess and want to leave, you'll
always be free to go. I suspect that you would not be as free to return."
There was silence and Jane spoke up. "You don't have to decide now.
This is all very strange, I know. I mean, it hasn't even been two months since
Lea came to us." She shook her head, "It seems like it's been a long time, but
it really hasn't. And we don't have all the answers either. Lea is somewhat
mischievous. She likes for us to discover things on our own."
Annette stood and looked at them. "I need a little time," she said.
Arianwen, who had managed to stay near the woman -- mostly curled in her
lap, stood as well and gave her a hug and a kiss.
"You take the time you need. We'll be here and accept what you want no
matter what your decision," she said.
"Thank you," said Annette. She turned and left. Genie said she wanted
to take a walk and left as well, followed by Jane, Ari and Sally.
"Where does that leave me?" asked Gary.
"The same place I was when Sally was brought in," said Eric. "At fist,
I wanted in because of Sally, but Lea told me I wasn't making the decision for
the right reasons."
"But you're in now," returned Gary.
"Yeah," returned Eric. "But it took a whole hell of a lot of soul
searching."
"What about your kid?"
"Lea said children are just as free to choose Her path as any other,"
said Ken. "Having a child grow up here is going to be a challenge. We'll be
butting heads with social conventions from the word go and there's bound to be a
number of issues that will crop up from time to time."
One of the number of things, he was sure, was going to be how to handle
sexual interactions in a household like this with a child around. He remembered
the vision he'd had of a ten-year-old Christine standing before him, obviously
aroused despite her young age and obviously challenging him about something.
Hell, he was none too sure about Tina either, but felt sure that fifteen was not
the problem that ten was when it came to sexual exploration.
They were silent for a moment, then Gary said, "Annette's gonna lay this
on me, isn't she?"
"What do you mean?" asked Eric.
"She's going to want Gary to decide what she should do," said Ken.
"Actually though, I'm willing to bet that won't happen."
Gary snorted, "Another one of your bets?"
Ken chuckled. "Not in so many words. Gary you are so central to her
life that there's little doubt you'll factor heavily in her decision. If you
don't like this, or can't deal with it, well, that's going to effect her
decision. But if you're really against it, she walk in a heartbeat."
"I want what's best for her," said Gary firmly.
"Who's to say what's best?" asked Ken.
Gary looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean, who's to say what's
best? Didn't you just spend the last hour telling her how great this whole
thing is?"
"Great for us doesn't automatically mean it's great for everyone," Ken
replied. "I mean, you're having trouble with some asshole because his daughter
chose a different lifestyle than he wanted for her. He's abusing his power. We
don't want to do that. Granting a fantasy here and there, showing people things
in a different light is one thing. Fucking over someone because you don't like
the way they live is a whole other ball of wax. Our lifestyle isn't for
everyone and I'd be the last one to force it on anyone."
"So you meant when you said? If she decides not to be a Priestess
you'll still have us a friends."
Ken looked at him like he was an alien. "Of course. We really like you
guys. Hell, even if you didn't want to spend time in the dungeon with us,
you're still really cool to hang out with."
"Ari'd be disappointed if she didn't get to have sex with Annette
though," said Eric in a light hearted tone.
Gary grinned, "Yeah, she really likes Annette."
Ken woke up when Genie entered the room the next morning. He was
unsurprised by her presence, but he was surprised by her actions. She was
naked, as usual, but the thing that surprised him the most was that she only
entered the room and stopped moving. When he opened his eyes, he saw her
kneeling on the floor with a calm look on her face. She felt... at peace. And
horny -- very horny.
Arianwen had gotten up early and was in the lab again, and Jane was
still asleep. Ken smiled at Genie and she quietly joined him in bed. It didn't
take Jane long to wake up and they spent a very satisfying hour making love.
"I take it this means, " said Ken to Genie, who was laying on her back
between Jane and him while they recovered, "that you'd like to join us?"
"Yes, Master Ken," said Genie.
A half hour later Ken, Ari and Jane were in the dojo practicing. He
even ended up sparring with them a little, admiring the play of muscles under
their shining skin. Both gave a good accounting of themselves and Ken was
pleased. He was still uncomfortable teaching them, but he knew that he was
qualified to do so considering the level they were currently at. For himself,
all he had to do was compare his movements with Sensei's and knew that he had a
long way to go.
Ari and Annette were downstairs when he got there after showering. As
usual, Ari was close to Annette, but not quite in her lap. Ken suspected Ari
was holding back because Tina was there. He kissed the women thoroughly; Tina
looked at him with a shy smile so he kissed her as well -- just a soft touch of
his lips on hers. She blushed as her nipples rose -- something that was easy to
see since she was topless.
"Good Morning, Master Ken," said Annette.
Ken saw Tina's look of confusion and Annette immediately realized what
she'd said. Ken just smiled at Annette and shook his head to let her know there
was no problem. Tina was going to have to get used to the way things were done
here. If she didn't ping his radar so strongly, or if she was freaking out,
that'd be one thing. But she was sitting there almost as naked as the other
women and was quickly overcoming any inhibitions she'd had. Having read the
girl, he knew that she had damn few inhibitions -- just no experience.
"You're looking well today," said Ken. "Where's Gary?"
Ari giggled and smirked. "Still in bed. I think he's a little tired
from last night."
Annette actually blushed from that comment. Tina said nothing but
watched everything. Jane came downstairs a minute later and kissed everyone,
including Tina. Despite the fact that she didn't use any tongue, her kiss to
Tina was so submissive that both Ari and Annette almost groaned. Tina's nipples
got even harder and her skin darkened. Her scent was evident to everyone.
"Jane," Ken admonished.
"Yes Master?" returned his slave in an oh-so-innocent tone.
Ken shook his head and left the room while Tina followed him with wide
eyes.
Annette found him in the Garden a short while later. She knelt to him
and said, "Will you accept me as a Priestess Master Ken?"
Ken squatted in front of her, smiling. "Yes, if you'll remember a few
things. I'm not your Master when we're speaking of the Circle -- which is how
we refer to the Priests and Priestess. Don't kneel to me as my Priestess. Lea
doesn't require it and neither do I."
"Yes Master Ken."
He sighed and shook his head, then pulled her to her feet and kissed
her.
"I take it you and Gary worked everything out?"
Annette nodded. "It was a little difficult at first. I think he's
still not sure that all this is really happening. But he wants me to be happy,
and I really want this. He's given me his full support to take this path where
ever it leads me."
Then she smiled, a shy sort of smile that was full of happiness. "He
asked me a lot of questions about Paganism and our sect in particular."
"Oh?"
Annette nodded, her eyes glowing. "It's not like I had a lot of answers
to give him. But he's very curious."
Ken knew that she had a feeling that Gary would, at some point, be
joining them. Ken had that feeling as well, but considered it a possibility,
rather than the certainty that Annette thought it was. Of course, she knew him
much better, so perhaps she was right in her certainty.
"During our next ritual, you'll be formally dedicated. Where we go
from there will be up to you."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Once you're dedicated, you'll have access to certain things -- like the
money that's set aside for the Circle. You'll be able to move in here, if you'd
like, not that you have to wait to dedicate for that." He paused for a second.
"One of the things that Lea wants is craftsmen -- the best we can get. The
jewelry that you make certainly qualifies. Perhaps we can find other outlets
for your stuff other than Gary's shop. Or not. The choice is yours."
"Oh," said Annette. Clearly these were things she hadn't thought of.
That was no surprise since it was only recently that Ken, realizing that he had
to have some sort of organization in the household, had started thinking of
himself.
"Yeah," he continued. "One of the things I need to do is sit down with
Ellen, Kim and Larry and set up more of a financial structure. Currently we
have a lot of money -- through some oddity that we still haven't tracked down,
the Mansion is financially self sustaining. But as the Circle grows, we need to
find ways to preserve the capital that we have, and grow it so that we don't
have to work. Lea told me at the beginning of all this that she didn't want her
chosen to be distracted by working at jobs they didn't like. She arranged for
me to win a rather substantial lottery. I don't know what other things she'll
do to help sustain us or whether that was considered the kick off and now we
need to continue on our own." He sighed, "There's just so much I don't know."
Annette smiled and gave him a hug. "We'll figure everything out," she
said.
"Oh," said Ken, "I thought I'd mention that if you decide you want to
live here, it goes without saying that Gary would be welcome as well."
"Thank you, Master Ken," said the woman. "I think he's awake now, so I
should go see him."
Ken decided to take a walk on the grounds of the mansion. He realized
that he really hadn't visited very much of the land they owned. He was
thinking about how they'd maintain the money that they currently had in a way
that would make it grow. Perhaps he could invest in some business or something.
Ellen and Kim had already invested some of the money, but those investments had
been made on the assumption that it would be just three of them. Now there were
seven of the Circle and he knew there would be others.
It was hot by the time he wandered back to the house and he was looking
forward to a dip in the pool. He dove in and swam around for a few minutes,
enjoying the cool water. There was another splash a few seconds after he went
under -- Tina had joined him.
When he surfaced, she let out a little squeak.
"Ohmygod! I didn't realize anyone was out here," she said.
"Actually, I'm surprised that no one is out here," Ken replied.
He knew that Genie, Annette, Gary and Eric were in the playroom. They
were having a very good time of it. While showing Tina the house, they had
avoided showing her the dungeon, so she had no idea that it existed. He got out
of the pool and casually pulled on his shorts. He knew Tina was watching him
the whole time and that her state of mind was anything but calm. She wanted to
talk.
She also wanted to have sex, preferably with something other than her
own hand, but had no idea how to go about bringing up the subject. Especially
since he and Ari were her main interests. Not that she would have turned down
anyone else -- exactly. Ken could tell that she'd made a decision about her
virginity, but he had no idea what it was. Again, he could have found out, but
didn't want to invade her privacy.
Tina was still in the pool, her arms resting on the ledge as Ken
arranged himself in one of the lounges close to the water.
"Can I ask you a few things?" asked Tina.
"Of course," replied Ken not opening his eyes.
There were so many things she wanted to start with, her surface thoughts
were all whirling around, a confused mass. Finally, she decided on a question.
"Why did both Jane and Annette called you Master?"
Ken opened his eyes to look at the girl. "Relationships here are...
complex." he started.
"I'd guessed. From the way you all kiss each other I couldn't tell
who's with who," replied Tina. "And from the way you talked before we got here,
I was thinking that it'd be a non stop orgy around here."
Ken chuckled. "You're here on an off weekend."
Tina's eyes widened. "Wait, you mean that you really do have ...
orgies?"
"Perhaps we should go back to your first question," replied Ken. Tina
said nothing, so he continued. "First, let me ask you something though. What
do you know about BDSM?"
"BDSM? Nothing, I guess. I don't even know what that means."
Ken launched into an explanation of what the letters meant, followed by
a short description of a Master/slave relationship. He stressed that the M/s
relationship had many meanings and was handled in many different ways. He
explained that both Jane and Annette were slaves -- primarily sex slaves --
which meant that they'd given over their bodies for their Master to use for
their mutual sexual pleasure.
He explained that there were many levels of commitment, and that no one
was forced to do anything. He wasn't prepared to go into the complexities of
the M/s relationship where a slave *is* forced to push her limits and go beyond
them, thus creating new limits. But he did explain limits.
"So wait," said Tina, "You mean that Jane basically gave her body to you
and you can do whatever you want with it? As long as you don't do certain
things?"
"That's a pretty big oversimplification, but yes. Also, Jane is
somewhat special when it comes to this kind of relationship."
"Special how?" asked Tina.
Ken explained that Jane was a masochist and that she was literally
hardwired to experience pain and some levels of humiliation as extreme pleasure.
By now Tina's body, despite being submerged in water all this time, was getting
overheated. She needed to get to her bedroom and let her fingers do a little
walking. But she wanted to continue the conversation too. She decided that a
quick trip to the bathroom was in order.
"I need to um... use the bathroom," she said as she began pulling
herself out of the water.
Then she remembered that her bikini bottoms were over by her towel. Ken
was unable to keep from following her thoughts about her current situation.
She'd been up in her room and very horny, but rather than relieve herself, she'd
decided to go on a tiny adventure. Some nude swimming. And if she got caught,
well, that was life. Once down here, she'd stripped off the bottoms and dove in
the pool so quickly that she hadn't noticed he was already in it.
But now she was very hot and bothered and someone had caught her
-- so to speak. Her horniness overrode her modesty and she pulled herself out
anyway, displaying her naked body to someone for the first time.
Ken unabashedly admired her form as she stood there for a second, then
turned and quickly headed for the bathroom. Like her sister, she had very large
nipples, but her breasts were much larger than Ari's admittedly flat chest.
Tina was at least a B cup, but like her sister, her frame was very lithe and
slender. Her legs were sleekly muscled, her tummy perfectly flat and her hips
just starting to widen. She evidently shaved her lower lips, because she had a
thin, triangular patch of dark red pubic hair on her mons, but everything else
was clean.
Ken admired the rear view as Tina headed for the bathroom. Her
shoulders were a little wide, and her form narrowed quite a bit at her waist
before widening slightly at her hips. Her ass was tight and she had a slight
gap at the top of her thighs that allowed her swollen sex to be very visible.
She had no idea that she was as much on display from the back as she was from
the front.
He was able to feel the flow of emotions from the girl as she brought
herself off in the bathroom in the pool house. Her fantasy was a confused
mixture of Ken holding her down and taking her virginity and her riding
Arianwen's face with her sister's nipple rings held in her sharply pulling
fingers.
She came hard and reappeared moments later. It occurred to her lust
drenched mind a little too late that with her lips shaved as they were, the fact
that she was swollen and very wet was obvious to anyone that cared to look. Ken
cared to look.
Blushing, she dove into the pool and swam back to Ken.
"Where were we?" she asked, trying to calm herself.
Ken thought she was doing remarkably well. Here she was, just fifteen
and completely naked in front of an older male. Of course, she had no idea that
he though she was too young to be having sex -- with him, anyway. Someone
closer to her age should take her virginity. He could have sworn that he heard
a giggle in the back of his mind at that moment...
"We were talking about Jane," he said.
"Right." She looked at him as a thought occurred to her. "Wait, you
never answered my question the other day."
"Which one was that?" asked Ken innocently.
"The one about my sister. Are you, um sleeping with her?"
"Yes."
Tina blinked thinking that he was going to avoid the question again.
His simple affirmation left her without a follow up question.
"So she's not a virgin," said Tina.
"No."
More thinking. "You said that people were, how did you put it, 'casual
about sex' around here. Has she slept with anyone else?"
"You'll have to ask her that question," replied Ken.
Tina smiled and pushed back from the pool edge to tread water a little.
"If you'd like, I can give you access to some of the files I have on the
computer. They contain stories that illustrate various types of BDSM
relationships. While the stories themselves might not be realistic, the
interaction between the characters shows a healthy attitude toward this
lifestyle." He didn't say anything about the pictures that he'd give her access
to as well. He was sure she'd find them, given the opportunity.
"That'd be cool. All of the computers that I have access to block all
kinds of web sites. One of my friends was telling me about a cool medical site
that gave answers to, um... well certain questions dealing with girl stuff. It
was blocked from the library and school. Of course, we didn't have a computer
at home -- Mom thought they were evil."
"They are evil if you want to keep people from getting certain types of
information," replied Ken. "But using the net is sort of like walking in a very
large city. You can meet some great people and you can meet some very dangerous
people. Likewise some information is quite good and some is completely wrong --
with every variation in-between."
They seemed to be at an impasse. She wanted to know more about her
sister, but she also wanted the promised computer files and to spend some
quality time in her bedroom. But Ken had made it quite clear that he wasn't
going to discuss her sister's sexual activities. Ken waited until she came to a
decision.
"How about you go through some of the info that I'm going to give you,
then if you want to, we'll talk again," said Ken.
"OK," she said watching him stand up. She was torn between the
embarrassment of getting out of the pool and letting him see her naked again and
the arousal that the embarrassment caused.
Ken spared her from making the decision by getting up and going into the
house. On his way in, he said, "Oh, by the way -- none of the computers here
are blocked."
In the study he transferred the files over to the directory that Bill
had set up for the girl. Grinning to himself, he made sure to add some pictures
that were sure to get Tina's attention.
A while later, they were all sitting down to dinner. Well, some of
them, anyway. Gary had decided that his slave should kneel and be fed. This
made Tina very uncomfortable, but only because she couldn't decide if it would
be better to be feeding Annette or being fed by Gary. She watched their
interaction very carefully and noted that her sister was also paying a bit of
attention to them. Especially Annette. Arianwen was very attracted to her, but
Tina couldn't tell why. Then, at once point, Annette lifted her arm to put her
hand on her... Master, and Ari's eyes landed on the thin patch of dark hair
under Annette's arm. Tina's eyes narrowed for a second, then she smiled a
little.
Ken watched this interplay between his young wife and her sister. Of
course, Ari was aware of her sister's interest, but she was doing an excellent
job of ignoring it. He suspected that Tina wasn't going to let Ari get away
with that for ever.
He was right, although Tina started her seduction of her sister in a way
that he hadn't anticipated. Annette, Gary, Ken, Jane and Ari were sitting
around outside, enjoying the evening, when Tina came out with a blue jar.
"Sis, could you put some of this on me? I think that I got a little too
much sun," said Tina in an innocent voice.
No one in the Circle was fooled by her tone, and Ari wouldn't have been
either, if she weren't trying so hard not to block Tina out.
"Sure," replied Ari only glancing at her, "lay down."
Tina lay down, her naked body bonelessly draped over the lounge. Ari's
breath caught at the sight -- her sister was truly beautiful.
Carefully, Arianwen scooped a bit of Noxima out of the jar, the powerful
scent filling the area, and began smoothing it onto her sister's shoulders and
upper back. If Tina had only known the full effect she was having on her
sister, she most likely would have just rolled over and grabbed Ari, pulling her
into a deep kiss, but she really had no idea.
Each time Ari stroked Tina's skin, she soaked in the soft feel of the
girl; the warmth, the smoothness but most of all, a raw blast of sexual energy
that Ari couldn't really fend off. If she'd wanted to, she might have been able
to deflect it, but deep down she wanted Tina -- badly. Tina was blazing with
sexual need and the physical contact between them gave all that energy a pathway
directly into Arianwen's body, causing it to respond as it had been modified to
do.
Arianwen bit her lip as her nipples hardened and her pussy flowered open
and began to ooze her nectar. Tina couldn't actually smell the pheromones that
Ari was producing, but she could smell the scent of her pussy and the
combination sure as hell had an effect on her. She wiggled and purred her
pleasure and Ari applied the cream over her back. Finally, hands trembling, Ari
stood up.
"There you go," she said, her voice somewhat faint.
Tina, now very aroused, rolled over onto her back and tried to get
control of herself. She hadn't expected to be effect like this! Ken smiled at
the interplay, thinking that playing sexual games with a Priestess had it's
price.
"That feels a lot better now, thanks," said Tina standing up. She was
too dazed to realize what a sight she presented. Her firm breasts were now a
bit swollen and capped by diamond hard nipples. Her face was flushed and her
own sex had gotten wet enough that the inner lips were shining and exposed. The
girl headed back inside.
Gary and Annette had watched the whole episode with interest, as had Ken
and Jane -- although the conversation had never stopped. Ari sat down heavily
on the lounge her sister had just vacated and tried to get control of herself.
Gary nodded to Annette, who got up and knelt at the teen's feet.
When she put one hand on Ari's thigh, the other girl flinched, then
focused on Annette and smiled. Annette was a safe outlet for the storm of
desire that ravaged her brain. Annette smiled and took both of Ari's nipple
rings in her fingers and pulled. The movement was sudden and painful and Ari
had a shocked look on her face as a powerful orgasm shook her body.
Annette let go, then slid her fingers between Arianwen's legs, scooping
up some of the thick moisture. She put it to her lips and sucked, letting the
spicy taste flow over her tongue. In a move that shocked the hell out of Ken,
she grabbed the teen's hair and pulled her head back far enough to make her back
arch. Then she leaned close and said in a clear voice, "You shouldn't torture
yourself Ari. That's your Master's job."
Ari was panting and trembling slightly from Annette's actions. The
older woman let her go and walked back to her Master. It was clear that she too
was very aroused.
"Ari love," said Ken, "I think you've gotten Annette a bit hot and
bothered. Why don't you help her out?"
The teen left the lounge and approached Annette who was now leaning with
her back against her master's front. They shifted around a bit until Gary's
cock was deep in Annette's asshole and her legs were spread wide outside of his.
Her arms were behind his head and his hands were roughly squeezing her breasts.
"Start at the top," growled Gary.
Ari kissed Annette deeply, then started licking and nibbling her ears
and neck. She worked her way down, thoroughly licking under Annette's arms,
then down her sides. She avoided the wet pussy, and returned north to lick and
bite the breasts and nipples that Gary's hands offered her.
Eventually, she ended up at Annette's pussy and used her fingers to open
it wide. One finger of each hand slid through one of Annette's pussy rings,
pulling it wide, as she toyed with the woman using her lips, tongue and teeth.
Annette finally let go and came hard, grinding her ass down on the pole that was
invading it. Gary ended up cuming hard as Annette's muscles milked his cock.
When Ari thought Annette was finished, she went to move away, but
Annette grabbed her head and held it to her cunt. Within seconds she was
emptying her bladder in the slim girl's mouth. Ari just groaned and sucked and,
eventually, when Annette was finished, oozed to the ground.
"Clean them up," ordered Ken, "then come over here so your husband and
wife can use you."
Arianwen started at Ken's tone of voice. It was a tone he often used
with Jane, but rarely with her. Ken felt more lust coil in her body. She liked
being treated like this.
Gary's cock plopped out of Annette's ass and Arianwen's mouth was ready,
licking and sucking it clean. She quickly moved to Annette's still distended
hole and slid her tongue deep. Jane sucked Ken's cock while he enjoyed watching
his other wife pleasure Annette. Finally he called Ari over and put her and
Jane in a sixty-nine with Jane crouching over the teen.
Ken slid is prick into Jane's tight, hot hole, and sighed in pleasure.
He loved feeling her tunnel expand to accommodate him, and he loved the feelings
she emanated as her body coped with the pain of being entered. Ken continued to
slide in and out of his wife, eyes closed as he absorbed the scene.
Ari had grabbed her wife's clit ring with her teeth and pulled, while
flicking her tongue over the swollen organ. Jane sank her tongue into Ari's
cunt, licking and sucking on it. She slid her tongue further down, licking
Ari's pink asshole and pushing her tongue into it. Ari loved that and responded
by gripping Jane's clit directly in her teeth and biting. The pain caused Jane
to cum hard, her slick tunnel grabbing Ken's cock like a vice. He came only
seconds later.
Arianwen fastened her mouth to Jane's sex, sucking Ken's cum out of her.
She then shared it in a passionate kiss with Jane.
Sometime during their threesome, Gary and Annette had left to go back
upstairs. Ken and Jane sat on the lounge while Ari lay at their feet panting.
Eventually, they went upstairs to sleep.
End Chapter 48
