Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 The Priestess, Part 3 of 6
   by Nysidra
   Occult Fantasy (MF, prosexual, group, magic, drugs)
   <->
   -_ Illusions _Soraya, Zarina, Ciara, and Jessica walked along the market
stalls.  Soraya and Ciara carried the shopping bags while Zarina and
Jessica did the shopping.
   Zarina and Jessica were talking about some other family members.
   Jessica asked, "How's it going with Kenneth?"
   "A few of us got together and had a talk with him.  A few more sessions
with George and then we can consider the request.  He gets that temper from
his father."
   "Don't I know it.  I tried to warn Sandra about him, but she went
blindly ahead.  So now she's got to deal with this along with him." Jessica
was a thin woman with long thin golden brown hair.  She wasn't a Sidra, but
she'd been a member of the family since she was a little girl, helping the
other Sidra and serving as a Devotee.  She often helped out around the
temple and with a lot of the new parents in the family.
   "Soraya," Zarina said suddenly.
   "Madam?"
   "Where have you been disappearing to?  Everything all right with you?"
   "Yes madam.  I've been helping Sidra Deven out at his shop."
   "I heard.  He has high praise for the way you've been coming along in
your studies.  However, Deven's store closes at eight and you've been
creeping it well past midnight." She lifted a brow but the smile on her
face indicated she was being playful.
   "I've been enjoying the night life."
   "If you want to head out tonight," Ciara offered.  "We like to go to the
to new bar.  It's within walking distance of the neighborhood, so we don't
have to worry about driving."
   "I'm going to be visiting some friends in Marjan tomorrow night.  Madam
Zarina, you don't have anything you need me to do on Saturday?"
   "Staying out all weekend?"
   "Just until Saturday evening."
   There was a moment when Jessica and Zarina gave her a questioning look,
but they moved on to the next stall and continued shopping.
   "I know you've only just joined the family.  We encourage you to make
friends among those who share your same faith.  It will help you come to
understand the community.  It'll be less overwhelming once you've truly
immersed yourself in the culture."
   "Yes, madam.  I run into a lot of the family while working in Deven's
shop and I always make sure to say hello to everyone I meet at dinner."
   "It's a good start.  Saturday evening I'm going to send you over to
Orbona's house for dinner.  She usually has a different group over because
of her role as the healer."
   "I heard she can call the spirit to appear," Ciara said.
   "I've heard the same, but I can't say I've seen it myself," said
Jessica.
   "Have you ever seen one of them?"
   "No," said Zarina, "and most of the people who do are in such dire
straits that you might question it."
   "Or in such a bad place," Zarina added.  "Michael would see the spirit.
Remember that?"
   Jessica hummed as she looked over the shimmery pink fabric hanging from
a bolt.  "He must have, given what happened."
   "What happened?" Soraya asked.
   When neither Zarina nor Jessica answered, Ciara whispered.  "He
performed a great act during a ceremony.  Just all of the sudden he was
able to call the energies.  It was magnificent."
   "What happened to him?"
   She whispered.  "He died that night."
   ***
   Soraya reclined in Omari's passenger seat and gazed at the stars during
the lull in their conversation.  "I think I figured out my selbram."
   "What did your vath say?"
   "Nothing, I haven't told anyone.  I mean, if I'm right then that's
preparation for the Sidra, and I'm not ready for that.  Well, not the kind
the selbram say I should be.  My family seems to think this part takes a
long time, so I'm not sure."
   "If what you say is true, then it doesn't matter if you're ready or not.
The spirits pick and choose according to their will.  They don't need
permission or wait for people to solve arcane clues."
   "Maybe so, but I don't want to rush things, not based on my silly
thoughts."
   "If you want to talk to me about it first, I'll listen."
   She grinned.  "I'll think about it.  I'm not supposed to share it with
anyone, even my vath, until I've built a relationship.  I think I've
figured it out, but I don't have the bond that I would if I didn't doubt
it."
   "That's the right way to think about it.  Like I said, if anything
changes, I'm here for you."
   Soraya's phone rang and she pulled it out and answered.  "Hello?"
   "Hello, is this Soraya?" It was a young man's voice, smooth, a little
soft.
   "Yes.  Who is this?"
   "My name is Jaye.  Zarina gave me your number."
   "Oh, what's up?  Did you need something?"
   "I know you're supposed to be out this evening, but I was hoping I could
accompany you to Orbona's."
   "Like," Soraya cut her eyes over to Omari.  "A date?"
   "No, I wouldn't take you out on a date to an elder's house." He
chuckled. Soraya could hear the calculation in it.  He was definitely
hitting on her.  "I do want to get to know you.  We can make a decision
about an official first date then."
   "I'm going to be there anyway, so it would be nice to get to meet you,
but I'm not looking to go on any dates.  Thank you for the offer though."
Soraya chuckled as she put her phone away.
   "Guess that means you're still keeping me to yourself."
   "Yeah, and now I'm being set up.  Fantastic.  I don't even know who that
guy was.  Never even heard of him."
   "Large families can get very insular.  It's how they keep themselves
growing.  Date outside the family, they want to bring him in.  Single? 
Find someone already in the family to keep you there."
   "It probably would have worked too." Soraya sighed heavily.  "I don't
like being alone."
   "I know the feeling."
   Soraya cocked her head to the side.  "You do?"
   "Back before I decided to move into my apartment with two other people,
I had the 'harem' as you liked to call it.  I don't like being in a room by
myself.  I thrive off social interaction, but that comes with a downside.
All the dishonesty and jealousy and competition.  I want to get close, but
I know not to get too close or I'll end up disappointed."
   Soraya realized what he was doing.  As honest with her as she was with
him.  She put her hand on his thigh and chuckled softly to herself.
   "What did I miss?"
   "Communications accreditation.  You thrive off social interaction,
specialized on the art of communicating, but can't stand dishonesty.  Talk
about a glutton for punishment."
   Omari laughed with her.  "I stick to my strengths."
   ***
   Omari parked beside a large house with soft blue lights running along
the balcony railing.  Torches lined the walkway up toward the entrance. 
Bass music boomed through the house.  Walls hummed with each deep
vibration.
   Omari approached the entrance with his arm around Soraya's waist.  She
never tired of the way he claimed her when they were out in public.  He
always had his hand on her, near her, touching her.
   They walked into the house and Omari sought the host and said hello,
introduced Soraya.
   "Before we get too far into the evening, I want to introduce you to a
friend of mine, Leo." Omari walked her over to the heavy set man with a
full red bead.  The beard seemed to have a life of its own.  "Leo, this is
Soraya."
   "You were not kidding." Leo said with a grin.  Even with that red beard
and his red hair covering most of him, face were so expressive.  He reached
out and grasped her hand.  He had a strong, firm handshake.
   "About what?"
   "Ah," He laughed.  "You are the dangerous kind of beautiful.  Wow, that
dress." He cleared his throat and took a step back.  "Anyway, Omari says
you haven't gone full boar at a party before."
   "No, not really."
   "I'm here to give you a crash course." He offered his arm and Soraya
accepted.  He walked her over to the kitchen where the food and drink were
set up.
   Drinks ranged from the high to the low, making a person hyper or mellow.
The snacks focused more on psychological effects.  Some of them made colors
brighter or appearing as liquid, others made sound a physical experience,
the right combination could highlight other parts of a personality -
turning the shy into a conversationalist and the flamboyant into a
contemplative listener.
   "Okay, the key is to know where you want to go and how to get there. 
Don't mix your highs and lows.  Eat before you drink.  Pastry before
candies.  Sweet before savory.  If you get in a bind, then switch to
starches and summer wine.  The combination will level you off."
   "I'm not sure if I feel better or more nervous now.  No one has ever
explained all this to me."
   Leo chuckled.  "You can't go too wrong, but it helps to know if you
actually want to control your experience.  Angeline can cook her ass off,
one of the rare ones that can tap right into that Clunik energy.  You have
to work hard to mess yourself up with her servings.  But, if you know where
you want to go, this can get you there.  So, what are you thinking about?"
   Soraya ran the his advice through her mind.  "High physical energy,
emotionally expansive, sensitive."
   "I like it." Leo reached over and poured her a steaming cup of tea and
picked out a small plate of snacks.  "Start with these and go back to
whatever tastes best.  Remember the guidelines?"
   "Eat," she took the plate.  "Before I drink.  Pastry before candy, sweet
before savory.  Switch to starch and wine if I get in a bind."
   Leo laughed again.  "Yes, you are definitely a family girl.  Put it to
song."
   After a bit of socializing and working their way through the crowd,
Omari and Soraya hit the large space made for dancing.  The crowd was
filled with post-graduates in their twenties, and a few still in college
attending with their older friends.
   Soraya grinned against Omari's shoulder.  This was the first time they'd
danced together since that day she had to abandon him.
   Had to abandon him.  Her mother called and what she wanted didn't
matter. Her family kept saying that Amira abandoned them.  What called
Amira away?  What was more important than-
   She shook her head.  Okay, that must mean something she took was
working.
   They moved in sync with each other, their bodies touching and grinding
in the ancient play of horizontal passion.  The food and drink must have
been having an effect.  Now her body felt spun up, but her heart did not
beat any faster.  Happiness and elation just came out of no where.
   Happy to be with him, elated to smell and taste.  Soraya turned and
licked the side of his neck.
   "I had no idea dancing with you would be so much fun," Omari said before
kissing the side of her neck.
   "I know." Soraya turned her head and they made out in the corner of the
room against the wall.
   He pressed her to the wall, and lifted her.  "How are you feeling?"
   Soraya couldn't find the words, so she made the sound.  She made a trill
sound, fluttering, happy and horny.
   "That's how you feel to me."
   Soraya whimpered as he pressed between her legs.  She was literally
oozing with arousal.
   "Got you right where I want you," his voice turned deep and sultry.  He
took her hand and they went over to the lounge area.  It had plush couches,
floor pillows, and reclining chairs.  It was situated on the second floor
over-looking the first.
   The windows were open and a fantastic breeze licked away some of the
sweat covering her.  Nothing was going to help the slick swamp forming in
the gusset of her panties.
   "Damn, 'Mari, you know how to entertain." A young woman said.  She had
severe-straight hair cut in a line, thin, elegant.  "Who is the lucky woman
getting all of your attention?"
   "This is Soraya." Omari went through the room pointed out the others. 
"Lisa, Terrance, Inoka, Anzel, Sengamalam, Chad, and Beth."
   Soraya turned and waved to each of them.
   Omari walked her over and pulled her down into his lap.  "If you don't
sit here," he whispered, "someone else will take this spot."
   Soraya grinned.  She could sympathize.
   Chad crawled over to their chair and leaned over the arm.  "I didn't get
the chance to thank you for the working."
   "You didn't have to.  I was happy to help."
   Soraya listened, but kept her eyes on the crowd.  This wasn't the first
time she'd heard someone talk about Omari doing workings.  Also strange was
how reverently some of those people talked about him.
   "Is there anything I can get you?"
   "Soraya needs another tea, and ...  what were you eating?"
   "The red cupcakes?"
   "Good choice." Omari's erection jumped just under her thigh.
   What did the red cupcakes do that would have him so excited?
   Chad returned with more tea and a cupcake.  He also had a milky drink
with chocolate squares for Omari.
   As she observed Omari speaking with the other people, she came to
understand how influential and respected he was among his friends, both in
a place as large as Marjan and the quaint city of Kohia.
   "One day he's going to get caught." Lisa's lip curled into a snarl.
   Soraya tried to followed her gaze, but couldn't see who was doing
anything wrong.  "Who?"
   Lisa pointed a long cantaloupe colored nail toward the kitchen doorway.
   Soraya left Omari's lap and went down to the floor pillow with Lisa.  A
man dressed in black pants and a smoke gray shirt tipped the last of a
purple liquid up to his mouth.  She looked everywhere on him, his shoes to
his head, but she couldn't see a thread of color.  "Is he in shadow?  That
can't be right."
   "Exactly.  It isn't right."
   "Because he's not wearing any color."
   "Because he hasn't been for at least the past four months.  He's not
even from here.  He sneaks into these parties so his family doesn't catch
him.  Fucking weasel."
   Sengamalam eased closer and whispered.  "He's in politics, so I'm sure
he has plenty of practice being deceitful."
   Lisa turned toward him.  "Where?"
   "Up north.  I know that much.  He's not from here."
   "Wow," Soraya breathed.  She looked back to Omari and saw that he was
very much listening to the conversation.  From the short time she'd spent
with him so far, if she didn't know anything else about him, she was keenly
aware of his disdain for people who led double lives and kept secrets that
hurt and deceived other people.  "Do you think he's in shadow?"
   Inoka shook her head.  "You talking about the man with that sculptured
brown hair?  Looks like he should be kissing toddlers?"
   Lisa nodded.
   "His name is Javier."
   "Whoever he is, if he's here, drinking, dancing.  He is not in shadow."
   Soraya hopped to her feet.  "I'll get close enough to see if he's got a
bracelet on." The presence of a bracelet would put all of their speculation
to rest.  Any Devotee of Nysidra of any family celebrated color and
variation.  The greatest thing Soraya had learned was that white, black,
and gray were not colors.  They didn't carry energies.  They were neutral
and powerless.  Only the time between a devotee and initiation into the
higher spiritual calling of a Sidra was when white to black was the only
palette allowed.
   "Excellent.  Go on."
   Soraya bounced on her heels and clasped her hands with a grin.  She took
a few steps toward the stairs and had to pause.  Each step made her feel
like she was walking on a bed of clouds.  Buoyancy.  This was what it felt
to float.  She took a few calming breaths and took the steps down.  She
almost had to pause on each one to make sure the ground was still under her
feet.
   The older man, clean, well put together, and definitely in black and
charcoal, had made his way into the kitchen.  She joined in the crowd and
sidled next to him.
   She never got to focus on his wrist.  A wave of euphoric lust washed
over her.  The feeling scared her because it was so out of her control and
foreign.  Everything that had been light and floaty turned erotic and
fiery. Soraya pressed her body to the counter to keep from moving closer to
him.  What in the world was her problem?
   He turned to look at her and Soraya smiled back.  She felt that smile on
her face, sultry, wanton.  She wanted, wanted him to spread her and
penetrate her.
   Light headedness flowed through her.
   He stepped over and his hand went on her hips.  That hand felt blazing
hot.  "Are you all right?"
   Hard beads against her hip, just under his sleeve.  He was in shadow.
   "Help me to the stairs?"
   "Sure hon." He never moved his hand, the fingers rested over the swell
of her ass and pretended to support her as she took the first few steps up.
It was all Soraya could do to concentrate on her goal, getting back to
Omari.  Each careful step took her toward him.  She put her hand on Omari's
shoulder and curled into his lap, around his body.  Now that the weird
feeling faded she began to shiver.  She buried her face in his neck.
   Why would she become uncontrollably horny around a man she'd never met
and cool in Omari's arms?  What was wrong with her?
   "What happened?"
   "I felt something when I stood near him.  Like an emotion washed over me
as if it were an overwhelming smell.  I felt so good."
   "If it was that strong, you should follow it."
   "What I felt, I shouldn't follow that."
   "Oh?  Murderous?"
   She grinned.  "Licentious."
   "Do tell."
   Soraya leaned back slightly and looked in Omari's eyes.  "I thought
about, first, when I went downstairs, I felt like I was walking on clouds,
weightless.  Then I got next to him and got this heavy, intense sexual
blanket over me.  I even got dizzy.  I saw..."
   "What did you see gorgeous?" Omari slipped his hand between her thighs,
just above her knees.
   "Skin.  Satin, the feel of it.  Sheen of sweat.  I felt you and him
inside me, at the same time, but it wasn't my ...  it wasn't from me.  I
think, I imagine that maybe I felt what he wanted.  Me and another man. 
Hunger and greed."
   Omari's other hand played in her hair.  His repetitive petting motion
calmed her.  "Do you know the purpose behind the shadow?"
   "Not really.  I guess it gives the spirits time to communicate.  Is it
supposed to mark a transition from devotee to Sidra?"
   "More than that.  Once the spirits have chosen a person, they will want
to show themselves.  It can be dangerous because those energies are running
wild in a person, new, chaotic, and most of all - potent.  A Sidra has
access to the energies of the Oani.  Working with the spirits, that Sidra
can effect great change, affect the balance of energies however they wish.
This requires experience, knowledge, and familiarity.  Isolation,
meditation, and study help acclimate a new Sidra too those energies before
attempting to use them."
   "What happens when you aren't isolated?"
   "You learn by trial and error." He leaned down and kissed her.  "It's
the best way.  A few bumps and bruises make a better Sidra."
   "What do I do now?"
   "Want to find out how much he hasn't been abstaining from?"
   "I'm curious.  What do you have in mind?"
   "Let's see if your vision was correct."
   Soraya didn't say anything.  She wasn't sure if Omari was making a joke
at her expense.  "Are you saying what I think you are?"
   "What do you want?"
   "With you, I feel like I'd be a hypocrite if I said I wanted to try it."
   "No.  Only if you speak contrary to your feelings.  Would you feel
better if I was with you?"
   Soraya's eyes opened wide.  "I'm only considering it because I'm
expecting you to be with me."
   "I'm following your lead." He helped her to her feet and they went back
down the stairs.
   Soraya didn't know where Javier went, but it didn't take her long to
bump into him.
   He was outside on the balcony.  A few people had taken to the pool. 
They were giggling and splashing around, oblivious to the onlookers.
   "Hey." Soraya felt the energy rising again, but it didn't catch her by
surprise.
   "Hey there.  Feeling better?"
   "Working on it." She propped herself onto the balcony rail, leaning back
on the post.  One leg remained on the railing and the other trailed down.
   "Be careful.  I wouldn't want you to fall." He stepped between her open
leg and wrapped his hand around her waist.  He inhaled and leaned forward.
"You smell delicious."
   "I've heard I taste delicious too."
   He grinned at her.  "I've heard the same about myself."
   "Maybe we should try each other.  But," Soraya looked over his shoulder.
   Javier followed her direction.
   "I need a lot of attention.  Do you play well with others?"
   Javier looked back at her as if through new eyes.  "Are you kidding?"
   "No."
   "Taking turns or double team?"
   "You two can decide."
   Javier waved Omari over.  "Do you know what she just said to me?"
   "I have a very good idea.  She said the same to me." Omari winked at
her. "I know a place where we can give her what she wants."
   "You lead." Javier picked her up and set her on his hip.
   ***
   Omari led them to a room on the second floor.  He opened it and led them
in and locked it behind them.
   The room was clean, organized to look like a guest room, a small bed,
side table and dresser and a basket with toiletries on the dresser.
   Soraya withdrew to the bathroom and removed her bracelet, wrapped it in
its covering and tucked it into her purse.  She peeled out of her clothes
until she was naked.  She stared at her body in the mirror.  Her breasts
were full, dark nipples thick and hard, she had a bit of a stomach, but
soft and cozy.
   Soraya opened the door and Omari stood on the other side, leaning
against the frame.
   "How are you feeling?"
   "Weird.  Empty."
   "Let's get you filled up." He held up a sash.  "Turn around."
   "You're blind folding me."
   "I won't leave your side."
   Soraya stood with her back to him.  Javier was already naked.  He wasn't
the best looking man, or the most endowed.  He had no scruples about his
bracelet.  It was still on his wrist, not even covered at this point.
   Disrespectful.
   "Thank you," Soraya whispered as the sash went over her eyes.
   Omari kissed her shoulder and his arms wrapped around her body.  "I'm
right here with you.  Give yourself over to me."
   Javier didn't take his time in shadow seriously.  Drunk, high, and
vulgar - he wasn't even that much of a man, much less a future Sidra. 
Sexually selfish, Soraya didn't find the reality of sleeping with him all
that interesting.
   From the moment she hit the bed, Javier only wanted his only pleasures
satisfied.
   Soraya would have called the whole thing off it Omari hadn't been there.
She let herself fall into his scent, his warmth, his touch.  She blocked
out the discomfort caused by the other man inside her.
   Thankfully, Javier was not only selfish, but quick.  After reaching his
climax he gathered his clothes and stumbled out of the room, leaving Soraya
(who feigned sleep) with Omari - without so much as a goodbye.
   "Ugh," Soraya groaned as the door closed behind him.  "Not what I
thought."
   "Yeah.  It's much better when there's a better third."
   "Not your first time."
   "No," Omari held the word out as he ran the sink in the bathroom.  He
came back with a warm cloth and wiped her body.
   She still had on the blindfold, but for the moment, she didn't want to
let the light in.  "I'm going to need a shower."
   "We'll get one, first I'm going to wipe his touch off you." He kissed
each place after wiping her down.  Literally replacing each part of her
with his kisses.
   "You'd want to do that again?"
   "What kind of man would I be to leave you with such a horrible
experience?"
   "I..." Soraya chuckled as he wiped and kissed her cheeks.  "Thank you."
   He held her thighs and opened her.  "You never got off.  I plan to fix
that, and then I'm going to get you high again, and fuck you again."
   "Whatever you want," Soraya moaned.  Behind the blindfold she could
almost feel the whole of his energy flowing into her, enveloping her.
   ***
   Soraya zipped up the side of her coral skirt and pulled on a peach
colored tee.  Orbona's dinner was tonight, so she'd need to leave a bit
earlier if she was going to walk.
   Hazel walked in and paused in brushing her hair.  "You're going like
that?"
   Soraya looked down at herself then back at Hazel.  "What's wrong with
me? I'm just going to dinner.  No one told me it was going to be formal."
   "No one told you?" Hazel grinned.  "You need to dress up.  When I was in
high school, Zarina sent me over there because it would help me 'meet new
people' in the family.  She loves to use that line.  That's how I met my
date for the prom.  Just last year, after Helen went through her break up
with this guy for Greenville, Orbona had a dinner for her too.  She ended
up marrying Peter."
   "So, this is like a massive blind dating thing?"
   "Everyone uses it when they need to meet family.  You should dress
really nice.  I mean, you are super pretty, but you need to impress your
future partner."
   "Yeah," Soraya turned back to her closet.  The hell?  "Thanks."
   Hazel hummed as she went out into the hallway.
   Put on her shoes and hurried down the stairs.  She was out the door and
on the sidewalk before anyone could ask her a question.
   Instead of heading to Orbona's house, Soraya took a stroll through the
neighborhood.  A couple blocks ahead she heard the chatter of one of her
family members.  She didn't remember his name, but she knew the voice,
soft, sing-song, almost feminine.
   She couldn't just walk around without someone noticing her.  She looked
around and recognized Nigel's address.  Keeping her steps along the path
quiet, she hurried up to his door and knocked.
   Please be home.
   Nigel looked half sleep, his jaw covered with days of black stubble.  He
opened the door wider and stepped back to let her in.
   "Thank you."
   "To what do I owe the pleasure.  Drink?"
   "Sure.  Zarina told me to have dinner at Orbona's tonight.  I was
getting ready when Hazel let on that I was walking into a blind date."
   "It's common knowledge around here.  Zarina probably forgot you didn't
grow up knowing things like that.  You haven't had dinner?"
   Soraya shook her head.  "I can sneak something later.  Can I ...  hang
out here until dinner time is over?"
   Nigel came back into the room with an extra drink and an apple.  "I was
watching a movie.  You're welcome to get comfortable and join me."
   "Thank you." Soraya set her drink and apple aside and slipped out of her
shoes.
   "Damn," he shook his head.  "You would have driven those poor boys to
distraction.  They wouldn't know what to do with a chili pepper like you."
   "And you would?"
   "Damn right I would."
   "What would you do with me?"
   Nigel emptied his drink.  Ice clinked in the empty glass.
   Soraya got up and poured him another drink.  She brought it over and sat
back down on the couch beside him.  She felt the pull again, subtle and
manageable.  She knew what was coming.
   Nigel drank deep from the fresh glass.  This blend would have a relaxing
effect, lowering his inhibitions.  Soraya stretched out on couch, her head
resting on his thigh.
   Minutes later, she turned and rubbed her cheek along his erection.
   Nigel unfastened his pants and pulled his dick out.  "Open up."
   Soraya did and he fed her his hard on.
   He pulled out after a few strokes and repositioned her, her head handing
off the side of the couch.  He straddled her face, held both sides of her
head, and went back to fucking her mouth.  "Relax your throat, open up. 
That's a girl."
   When she gagged he pulled back, only a couple seconds, then he started
up again.  His hand went between her legs stroking her clitoris.  "I know
you need this.  Suck me.  Swallow.  Fuck yes.  Hungry baby girl, I'll feed
you.  Swallow." He grunted as he came and collapsed on the couch beside
her.
   Soraya crawled away and ended the audio recording on her phone.  She
used his bathroom to clean up.  When she came back out he was on the phone.
   "I don't care how much she offered.  The deal was access to the company.
Karen's no use if she's off the board.  Give her the bracelet if you want
to, but I'm not going to be her second.  Listen, I'll talk to you later. 
I'm in the middle of something.  Listen, if you want to take the money,
I'll pick up your councilman.  Talk with you about it tomorrow." Nigel
ended the call.
   She waited a minute then walked into the living room.
   Nigel shook his head before she got to the couch.  He held her drink out
to her.  "All of it."
   Looking at him, Soraya drained the glass of it contents.
   Nigel put his hand on her shoulder and directed her to his bedroom.  He
walked her right up to the edge of the bed.  "Lay down over it, that
jiggling ass of yours in the air."
   Soraya did as instructed and felt the cool air on her 'jiggling ass' as
he pulled her underwear down to her ankles.
   He kicked her feet apart and the next thing she felt was his tongue
lapping at her folds.  "Sweet as I expected.  Damn, girl you are wet."
   Soraya cried out into the comforter.  She heard the smack and seconds
later the sting followed.
   "I know what you need, Soraya." His hand caressed the sting on her ass.
"Where am I fucking you, baby girl?  Pussy or ass?  Where do you need me?"
   "My ass."
   "Say it again."
   "Please, daddy, fuck my ass."
   Nigel laughed and roughed massaged her buttocks.  "As you wish.  Don't
you worry.  I know exactly what to do with you."
   ***
   Soraya was back on the sidewalk just as dinner would have ended at
Zarina's house, her ass a little sore, but not too badly.  She sent the
audio to Omari's phone along with the text.  "Private.  Call me."
   She walked and waited.  Her phone rang about five minutes later.
   "And then?"
   "Then I hear about him trading initiates because she wants to pay, but
doesn't have this board position.  I didn't really understand it.  I was
going to go home, but he took me into his bedroom.  I didn't even get
undressed or move."
   "Details."
   "He bent me over the bed and took off my underwear.  I had on a skirt,
my socks, and my blouse.  He asked me where I wanted him to fuck me.  I
told him my ass.  He got lubricant and put his fingers in first, two, then
three.  He entered me covered, slow at first.  It didn't hurt too much, a
little uncomfortable.  Then he fucked me, slapped my ass until it was
stinging red." Soraya stopped walked and stood under a tree, holding the
phone to her ear.  "He told me that if I let him do it again, he could get
me anything I wanted."
   "I'm sure it's not the first time he's said that."
   "He kept saying I know what you need.  It was weird."
   "Did you cum?"
   "No.  It didn't feel like that."
   "He obviously didn't know what you need."
   Soraya chuckled softly.  "You do."
   "Yes, I do.  Where are you?"
   "Under the shade of a tree, about a block away from the house."
   "Reach down and touch your clit, go under the waistband of your skirt."
   Soraya moved out of the view of the street.  Her fingers trembled at her
belly and eased down her mound to her clitoris.
   "Your breathing changed.  I know you're touching it.  Circle it, exactly
like I would do if I were standing behind you.  He did me a service, you
know?"
   "How is that?"
   "If he had to prepare you, that means you are almost ready to take me
there, deep inside your ass, but not to demean you.  Oh no, to honor me."
   Soraya whimpered.  His voice surrounded and enveloped her, but she kept
one eye on the sidewalks, the streets.
   "I know you're wet.  I bet all of your fingers are covered."
   "They are."
   "I know.  Take what you need, gorgeous.  I'm going to fuck you soon,
take my time, make sure you're satisfied.  Do you know why?"
   Soraya could only pant, she was so close.
   "Because it feels so fucking good to hear you come undone, to feel you
shake and shudder.  I've got my cock in hand and I'm close, but I need to
hear you, gorgeous."
   "Fuck, I wish you were inside me."
   "I am.  I am deep inside you.  Right now.  Can you feel me?"
   "Yes," she breathed.
   "Now, Soraya."
   Soraya sucked in her bottom lip and bit down as she reached her climax.
She rose onto the tips of her toes as the orgasm swept through her body. 
On the other end her heard his heavy breath, the low grunt.
   "You please me like no other woman ever has.  Even over the phone."
   Soraya laughed softly as she pulled her wet fingers out of her panties.
A quick look around didn't reveal anyone, but she couldn't be sure.  The
world around her had disappeared for that moment.
   "Sleep well."
   "I will."
   ***
   Soraya lay in bed under a single sheet.  On her mattress she had her
selbram off her bracelet.  She played around with the order, trying to
figure out triplet pairs that would make sense to her.  No matter how she
scrambled them initially, she ended up back at the same bridge like
arrangement.
   She smiled, but the smile wasn't exactly about the arrangement.  She'd
fallen asleep thinking about Omari, his voice, how much she wished she
could be lying next to him.  She woke up with the same thoughts and the
same wish.  Even when she tried to focus on the spirits represented by her
selbram, her thoughts kept pulling toward Omari and their nights together.
   Soraya closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind of the vision of him.
She needed to contemplate the Pasebs and figure out what her bracelet
meant. That was what she needed to keep in mind.
   It didn't work.  Each time she tried to think on the spirits, the
selbram, and which Pasebs influenced her life, Omari came to mind and how
influential and helpful he had been to her.
   Helpful was putting it kind of strong.  Omari had been an intoxicating
presence, getting her into all kinds of trouble, helping her see people in
a new way.  However, that new way was more humanizing, corrupt, dirty.
   Either way, Soraya's inability to focus just proved that she didn't have
the order down.
   "Breakfast," a male voice called from downstairs.
   Soraya slid the beads back onto her bracelet, the first three, in the
order she felt represented the strongest spirit, and the other six, which
Soraya felt were just other facets of the spirits main personality. 
Eventually, she'd need to ask one of her vath about the order and
representation.  Maybe one of the Sidra would have heard of this
combination before.  After she consulted one of them, she could get Omari's
input.  Even though he wasn't family, he seemed to have a great deal of
insight about the Pasebs.  Other people turned to him for help much like
another vath, and he even did workings like a Sidra.
   Soraya dressed for breakfast and headed down stairs.
   "Where did you get off to last night?" Zarina asked.
   "I went for a walk."
   "You were supposed to be walking to Orbona's.  Remember?"
   "Yes, I'll head over there one day.  I wasn't feeling that social last
night." Soraya put some eggs and oats on her plate.  "I appreciate the
gesture, but I don't like being ambushed."
   "Ambushed," Zarina laughed.  "Girl, no one trying to ambush you.  Just
trying to do you a favor."
   "I can't wait for mine," said Eric.
   "You're going to." Zarina snapped.
   "Where's Candice?" Soraya didn't know who the woman was, but her dress
was a bright yellow, but not as bold as the lemon-banana colored wrap she
wore on her head.
   "She already ate and headed off to work.  You going to talk to her?"
   "I'll talk to her, but I don't see what the big deal is.  She's being
productive, she hasn't caused any trouble."
   "Candice doesn't want to take the bracelet."
   "I can talk to her about that."
   "No.  No, you will do no such thing.  You don't force someone to take
the circle.  They are called or they come calling.  No other way."
   "I don't have the room to take her in right now." She frowned.
   "Some people are born and die a Niralen.  There's nothing wrong with
that.  The problem is that this is a house for family, and she needs to
find somewhere to get to.  I have others who could make better use of the
room." Zarina grabbed a plate and fixed a heap of food.  She set it down in
front of Callum.  "I tried talking to Jafar, but he thinks this is a
boarding house and not a place of learning.  Just talk to him.  If he
doesn't come around, you're going to have to make room for her."
   Blair entered the house to smiles and high pitched greetings.
   Zarina set the next plate down in front of Cailin and went over to hug
Blair.  "Good to see you could make it over here.  How have you been?"
   "Hanging in there." She chuckled.  "Only a few months to go."
   "Who is she?" Soraya whispered to Hazel.
   "My sibling.  She's engaged to a Sidra.  He went into shadow shortly
after their engagement.  He's really popular around here.  Once he takes
the element he'll be back on he city council."
   "You know Javier, he's just such a great man.  I know he's going to
serve the Pasebs as they should."
   Soraya's skin felt cold as the name reached her ears.  No.  It couldn't
be the same person, but how many people named Javier were currently in
shadow and a politician?  What were the chances?  What if it was the same
person?  What was she going to do?
   She let the issue drop and continued to eat breakfast.  Marjan was well
over an hour away the chances that...
   Javier walked in the door, looking pious and keeping out of touching
distance from everyone else.
   Soraya sat on her trembling hands.  The food in her stomach turned
heavy.
   Hazel gave Soraya a questioning look.
   Soraya shook her head, but Hazel didn't give up.  Breakfast had been
long over, everyone chatted over morning drinks and said their goodbyes.
   Soraya went upstairs with Hazel hot on her heels.
   She went into the room with Hazel and closed the door.
   "I recognize him."
   "From where?"
   "The party I was at this past weekend."
   "That couldn't have been him.  He's in shadow.  He can't be at a party."
   "I know!" Soraya wrapped her arms around her stomach.  "Shouldn't I tell
someone?"
   Hazel shook her head.  "You can't be sure."
   "He was drinking and fucking and wearing the bracelet while he did so."
   "How would you know something like that?"
   Soraya glared at Hazel for several long seconds until Hazel's mouth
opened and twisted into a face of shock.  "No way!"
   "I can't go back down there."
   "Did he recognize you?"
   "I don't even think he looked at me.  I should--"
   Hazel shook her head.  "Don't.  No, don't do it.  Just wait.  I won't
say a word, I swear."
   Soraya frowned.  "Are you sure?"
   Hazel nodded.  "Of course.  We're siblings now."
   "Okay.  What should I do though?  I mean, what if..."
   "Well, he isn't going to say anything.  Right?"
   "I guess not."
   Hazel beamed.  "Thank you for telling me!"
   ***
   Soraya went to Deven's shop for the part of the afternoon.  She helped
get the books done then went over to the temple house.
   "Hello, Soraya." One of the Sidra hugged her and walked her over to the
sewing table.
   Many of the items and decorations used in rituals had to be washed,
ironing, and stitched between uses.  Soraya and several other Devotees
volunteered their time helping to do these tasks.  It was one of Soraya's
favorite ways to spend the day.
   She didn't need some kind of false set up to meet people.  There were
plenty of great family members around to chat with and make friends with.
She certainly wasn't looking for any other companionship.
   One of the women wore a gorgeous blue ring with a heart shape made from
the other smaller stones.  She was showing it off and admiring it.  Soraya
even stopped to take a look at it.
   A few hours after noon, Soraya went back to Zarina's house to put in her
share of the chores.  She mopped up the hall way, vacuumed the rugs, wiped
down the railings and casings.  Music poured through and the smell of
cleaning solutions made everything seem brighter and purified.
   "Hazel, go help Cailin with those sheets."
   Hazel ran down the stairs toward the basement.
   Usually Hazel and Soraya did their chores together.  It was odd that
Soraya had been home all day and hadn't even known Hazel was in the house.
   She went looking for Zarina to ask if Hazel was okay.  She heard her
voice down the hall on the first floor and naturally followed it.
   "Whether it's true or not, you're not going to make this shit look any
better by causing a scene." Zarina said.
   "I want to see her.  Let me fucking look at her for myself.  How dare
she?"
   "What good is going to come of that?  Hmm?"
   "I want to know how long it's been going on.  Who else she told."
   Soraya's brows pinched together.  That sounded like Blair.  She knocked
lightly on the door.
   The door opened and Blair stomped her way over.
   Soraya walked toward her and the stinging slap to her face came just as
she opened her mouth.  It didn't stop there.  Blair smacked her again
before Zarina pulled them apart.
   "You fucking whore!  How dare you?!  Spit in the face of everything this
family had done for you."
   "Stop it!  Stop it right now." Zarina physically placed herself between
Blair and Soraya.
   "I don't want her spreading rumors about my husband."
   "It's not a rumor and you damn well know it.  You think she's been
driving him to Marjan?  Wasn't it you who wondered if there was something
wrong with your gas tank?"
   "How long has it been going on?" Blair's face and eyes were red.  "Tell
me damn you."
   "Hush," said Zarina.
   "You let this fucking stray in your house and look what happens.  I knew
something was wrong, I had one of my towers fall."
   "Your tower fell because," Zarina lowered her voice to a whisper, but
Soraya still heard the words, "you went along with that farce of a
marriage."
   "How do you know she's related?"
   "That doesn't matter.  She is family.  She is my vand.  Whether she's
blood-kin or not doesn't matter." Zarina turned toward Soraya.  "You stay
standing right there." Zarina took Blair by the arm and led her out the
door.  "Don't come back in my house with your tears."
   Zarina came back into the room and closed the door behind her.  She held
Soraya by the chin and looked at each of her cheeks.  "It's going to swell,
but shouldn't bruise too badly.  Soraya, you need to learn to keep your
mouth shut instead of spreading gossip and rumors."
   "I wasn't gossiping!"
   "Javier doesn't know you.  He's been in shadow, and whoever you think
you saw--"
   "I saw him.  I met him.  I--"
   "You, young woman, should have consulted your vath: me or Deven.  I want
you to listen to me.  Don't say a word about Javier.  You do not know him.
You have never met him.  He has been in shadow.  Say it."
   "I don't know what you're talking about."
   Zarina narrowed her eyes and for a second Soraya thought there was going
to be another bruise on her face.  "Finish cleaning.  We're done here."
   Tears streamed down her cheeks as she finished her chores.  Gossip? 
Rumors?  Only hours ago, just that morning, Hazel had warned Soraya to keep
quiet when she wanted to say something.  Why?  Just to make herself look
better?  How many people could she have told in such a short time?
   ***
   The sun was low in the sky as Soraya walked toward Tallula's house. 
Pale orange with midnight trim, a red door, in addition to the address. 
The one floor house wasn't hard to find.  Birds were in the fruit trees in
the front yard singing, calling out to the other birds in the neighborhood.
   Tallula was an Elder Icelle Sidran.  People consulted her for her
particular gift of divination and working with relationships.  All the
Sidran had some ability in this manner, but the Tallula's connection to the
energies of Icelle made her particularly good at helping see into the
situations of others.
   Soraya needed that kind of help right now.  She was thankful Tallula
requested to see her.  Perhaps she could talk to the others and help them
see the real problem.
   "Come on in.  Take a seat." Talulla, a large woman with graying strands
of hair pointed to the small table set up for tea.
   Soraya took the opposite chair and played with the beads of her bracelet
from under the wrap.
   Tallula entered the room with a steaming pot of water and poured it into
the glass tea pot.  The water turned blue and lose tea leaves swirled in
the hot water.  The fragrant smell of the tea filled the room.
   "Tell me what happened."
   What happened.  So many ways to start with that.  "With Javier?"
   "Yes.  Start there."
   "I was at a house party in Marjan.  I was intimate with a man named
Javier.  A few days later Javier shows up at Zarina's house.  I told Hazel,
and Hazel alone, that I thought I'd slept with him.  I don't know what
happened after that, but I shouldn't--"
   Tallulah held up her hand.  She picked up the tea pot and poured each of
them a cup.  "Drink.  Sip it at first, avoid the leaves."
   Soraya picked up the tea and sipped from the side.  The large tea leaves
floating around in it were easy to avoid.  "At the very least, he shouldn't
take on the element.  He hasn't been," Her words slowed to a crawl as
Tallulah scowled at her from over her cup.
   Fine.  She drank without trying to explain herself any further. 
Tallulah was the oracle, she'd figured out the truth for herself.  Soraya
let the worries fade away.  Maybe after this they could get to the bigger
issue of her selbram and why they seem to be coming together as one long
strand rather than a series of three distinct entities.
   She set her empty cup back down on the saucer.
   Tallulah picked the glass up looked down at the leaves, then back up to
Soraya.  "You don't take concerns about the family or yourself to children.
The moment you had a suspicion, you should have taken it to your vath or
second vath.  That is the root of gossip, telling someone who has no
business to know.  Do you often discuss your sexual exploits with Hazel?"
   "No.  I mean, of course not, but she asked."
   Tallulah hummed.  "You shouldn't be in a room with her.  I'll take that
up with Zarina.  Now, as to the matter at hand.  Let's say you were not
mistaken.  This man you say you slept with, was he wearing neutral?"
   "Yes, and kept his bracelet on."
   "You allowed a man into you who would disrespect the spirits in such a
manner?" Tallula looked at Soraya with thinly veiled disgust.
   Soraya swallowed.  She wasn't thinking about that at the time.
   "What about your spirits?  Did you grant them the same dishonor?"
   "No elder."
   "You only just met the man you allowed into you at this party.  Were you
drinking?"
   "Yes, elder, but--"
   "Eating those snacks?"
   "Yes."
   "Yes.  Poison your body and mind with a man whose name you learned only
that moment in a city far from here, and a glance at an upstanding man only
a few hours later and you are so sure as to your perception that you would
sully his name to his family, to a child?  Is that what I'm hearing from
you devotee?"
   Tears stung Soraya's eyes.  When Tallulah put it that way she couldn't
help but feel contrite.  Was she sure that it was him?  She was full of
food and drink and energies in her body felt chaotic, maybe her perceptions
were off or her memory tainted.
   "You will have to make this right with the family, and you need to learn
your place as a devotee.  Serve the Pasebs of your vath, focus on your
studies.  Zarina and Deven will get my instruction.  Whatever your vath
tells you to do, you need to do it.  Zarina and Deven are the people you go
to in confidence, the people you share your questions and your doubts.  No
one else.  There is nothing someone with the circle can do to help you."
   Tallula looked down into the leaves once again.  "Your role as devotee
is to learn the ways of the family, serve the Pasebs of your vath.  Is
there anything else?"
   The bracelet on her wrist felt five pounds heavier.  She'd already
disappointed her family as a devotee.  Was she going to claim that she knew
the Pasebs she was meant to bind with as a Sidran?  "No elder."
   "Go."
   Soraya walked the path back to Zarina's house with her head hung low. 
She couldn't fault Zarina or Tallula.  They were both right.  She shouldn't
have said anything to Hazel, but she was right in saying something ...  she
had to speak to her vaths.
   So much for trying to be the good family member.  She was supposed to
rise above her mother's faults, not get into trouble, not end up getting
kicked out.  How was she going to manage to fix her mistakes when she
couldn't stop making her own?
   By learning from them.  That's all.  She wasn't going to make this
mistake again.
   Soraya cleared the melancholy from her brain before she got back to
Zarina's house.  She'd do the tasks given to her.  She'd make up for the
wrongs she committed and those of her mother.  This was just a hardship and
she'd get through it.  She was going to be a perfect family member.  She'd
show them.
   The bedroom was empty, but Soraya didn't bother looking around for
Hazel. Her cellphone had a missed phone call from Omari.
   "What's up?" Soraya texted.
   "Want to see you."
   Her heart beat sped up.  Just reading those words made her feel light
headed.  The last bit of her melancholy melted away.  "When?"
   "Now.  My place."
   "See you soon." Soraya hopped into the shower and put on a fresh set of
clothes.  She packed an overnight bag to take with her.  Given her taxing
day, she wasn't too eager to come back to the house anytime soon.
   She headed down the stairs along with most others as dinner was about to
be set.
   Zarina looked up from the stove.
   "I won't be back until tomorrow," Soraya said.
   ***
   Omari was half sleep when he responded to her text.  The morning's
ritual had taken a bite out of him.  Exhausted, he got into bed, but could
only think of Soraya.  He called to find out whether her family was taking
a closer look at their practices or if she'd shared her knowledge with
anyone.  He must have fallen asleep some time shortly after that.  When he
saw her name on the text message, all he wanted was to have her next to
him.
   For that reason he was still half out of it when she crawled into bed.
She was naked, the smell and heat of her pulled on something deep inside
him.  Perhaps now that she had played her part he could have her to
himself. He didn't even open his eyes as he pulled her onto him.
   He didn't expect the taste of tears.  He jolted awake and turned on his
bedside lamp.
   Soraya shook her head.  "Can we put off talking for the moment? 
Please?"
   "If it's about your family and not you and me."
   "Yeah." She blinked and Omari felt his heart break as more tears fell.
   "Done." He turned the lamp off.  He pulled her under him and positioned
himself between her thighs.  If she was in this much of a state that must
mean his work wasn't done with her.  He wasn't sure if it was a positive or
not.  He wanted to enjoy her, use her, but he also wanted her happiness. 
Omari groaned as he sank into her warmth.  "Is this what you want?"
   "Need you."
   "Yeah?  You need me?"
   "Love the way I feel with you."
   "How's that, Gorgeous?"
   "Drunk.  All over buzz.  Peace." She answered with plaintive moans
between his thrusts.
   The way spiritual unity felt.  He glanced over to her bracelet, where it
lay tucked inside her purse.  If he was right then she was going to have a
much harder time coming into her power.  For several long minutes there was
only their joining, drunk, high, peaceful.  "Open yourself to me, Soraya.
Relax." Omari purred as he slowed his strokes.  He pulled out until he just
nearly exited, then slid into her to the hilt.
   "Don't stop, please, please."
   "I'm going to ring you dry.  Squeeze every drop from you in supplication
to my lusts."
   "I'll give you whatever you want."
   "Fuck yes." Omari growled and sped his strokes, taking her over the
edge. Her moans filled the room and she clamped down on him.  He slowed
down as she came down, he used every trick to keep himself from ejaculating
just yet.
   He could still feel the tension, the sadness, and he didn't want to stop
until he worked it out of her.
   Omari pulled out and turned her onto her stomach.  He took her hands in
his and held her hip in his hand.  "How long do I have you?"
   "As long as you want me."
   He slammed inside her, taking her hard and fast.  She moaned into the
pillow, those moans got louder.  She muffled the screams and her body began
to tighten and shudder.
   He was going to go over the edge with her this time.  There was no
stopping him.
   "Omari, I'm going to come."
   "Then do it.  Relax and give it to me."
   He felt the gush of fluid as she came.  He added a gush of his own,
trembling as he unraveled with her.
   They untangled their bodies and eased away from the mess to a drier spot
on the bed.
   "I'll get a towel," Soraya attempted to get up, but he held her in
place. Omari grabbed his shirt and placed it under the covers and went back
to holding her.  His lips found hers and he kissed her, this time without
the tears, though it was trying with both of them being out of breath.
   She put her leg over his hip, and with him, he was hard again.  Lying
side by side, he rubbed his erection against her folds.
   Soraya pushed him onto his back and straddled him.  Holding his
shoulders, she ground herself down and rose up, swiveling her hips with
each motion.  Omari stared at her body, all of her - her face, the sway of
her breasts, the roll of her hips, and took stock of his fortune.  It was
one thing to love sex, to love women, to love fucking - but he always
missed on having that one woman he could enjoy, lose time with, to possess
wholly.
   He reached up to pinch and fondle her nipples, playing with them.  She
panted and twitched as he increased the pressure.
   Signaling another orgasm, her hips trembled, her moans reached a higher
pitch and she rode him with greater need.  Her nails dug into his shoulders
as she reached her climax.
   She collapsed on top of him with a whimper.  "That did it." Then she
pushed herself up, and climbed off him.  She crawled down between his legs
and licked his shaft from root to head.  "We taste delicious."
   "Do we now?"
   "Mm hmm."
   "I don't believe you.  Bring that ass up here."
   She swung around until she was straddling his chest.  Her mouth
enveloped him and his tongue lapped at her.
   "Mmm," he moaned.  He could spend all night in bed with her.  He had
before and he knew how much fun she could be.  "Right there." His head
rolled back.  "Yes." Omari whimpered as she sucked the second orgasm out of
him.  "Oh, fuck.  Shit." Omari head literally swam.  He felt dizzy on the
heels of that one.
   She spun around and cuddled next to him.  Her head on his shoulder. 
Sweat and panting, their hearts racing.
   "What did you have for dinner?"
   "Nothing." She huffed.  "Now that I think about it.  I haven't had
anything since breakfast."
   "We can crawl our way to the kitchen then."
   Omari pulled on a pair of shorts and she donned one of his shirts.  He
sat on the stool while she searched his cabinets.
   "Where's your stock?"
   "Second shelf down.  I only have goat stock at the moment."
   "That's fine."
   "Want to talk now?"
   She sighed heavily.  "Yeah, give me a second."
   Omari watched her move from the stove to the fridge to his pantry.  His
cotton shirt swayed with her breasts and it fell to just under the tuck of
her ass.
   She told him about her day, starting with breakfast.  He listened as
others blamed her for another's failings.  Then he had to suffer listening
to her blame herself.
   "You need to see through the veil and stop being smothered by it."
   Soraya turned toward Omari.  She had been thinking a lot about the veil,
especially since Panyu was one of the major energies indicated by her
selbram.  Panyu was often referred to as the veil or the energy of illusion
and hiding.
   Omari grinned as he worked on cutting the vegetables in front of him. 
"Araceli.  Haven't you figured out by now how corrupt that house is?"
   "Corrupt is kinda strong.  That was just one guy."
   "One guy.  Which guy is that?  The one fucking you while in shadow or
selling the bracelet to influential Niralens?  That so called Sidra is
still headed for his ceremony.  Isn't he?"
   Soraya nodded.  "I guess so."
   "And your own vath admitted that she knew about him."
   "Yes." She turned back to the stove.  The oil would be ready in a few
minutes.
   "Are any impoverished people a member of your family?  The answer is no,
because the fees they charge for their inclusion amounts to an exclusive
club.  Rules like that have nothing to do with spiritual kinship or
calling. Not where it counts.  The burden of truly serving the community
falls on other houses while all the glory keeps going to Araceli.  The
disease will only spread unless you provide the cure."
   "Omari."
   "Hmm?"
   She took the bowl of vegetables and tossed it over into the oil.  "I'm
not a Sidran.  I'm barely a decent devotee.  I can't do what you're talking
about."
   "You are a member of that family, so you can."
   "How?"
   "By speaking up, yes, to the right people.  I know why you listened to
her, but you should have gone with your own feelings."
   "So, the veil, um.  Could you tell me about Panyu?"
   "I'm very familiar with it."
   "And the others?  Ukoolga, Shilza?"
   Omari nodded.  Just like that she named all two of the three major
energies of his avatar.  All that was left was...
   "And since we're in the Ustufu Oani, might as well talk about Steramir."
   That was the third and most volatile, the fire in the fog.
   The front door opened and Damon entered the apartment.  His brow arched
as the sight of Soraya in only a shirt.
   "Hey there.  That smells awesome."
   "There's enough to share if you're hungry."
   Damon sat down beside Omari at the counter with a wolf's grin. 
"Starving."
   The men talked just under the sizzle of the vegetables.  She spooned in
the cooked rice adding the spices and sauces.  She heard hear the kinship
in their voices.  She knew Damon and Omari were good friends going back to
just after college.
   Soraya turned toward the door.  Egan, Omari's other room mate entered.
Soraya cheered her decision to make enough for the entire house rather than
just the two of them.
   "Fuck, there's food?" Egan peered over her shoulders looking at the
sizzling pots.
   "Are you hungry too?"
   "Yes, madam."
   Soraya grinned.  "Take a seat.  There's plenty."
   Egan went over to the cabinet and pulled down four glasses.  "Are you
wearing anything under there?"
   "Not a stitch." Soraya said as she lined the plates up.
   "Nice.  You should come by more often."
   "Because I'm cooking dinner?"
   "Looking and smelling like a freshly fucked plum?  Hell yeah." Egan
served up the drinks with a grin.
   Soraya looked at Omari.  "Are all your friends so blunt?"
   "If they're my friends?" He nodded.  "Absolutely."
   "Tell her to hang with us more.  She'll listen to you," said Egan.
   "Soraya has responsibilities with her family.  I'm sure she'll fit us in
when she can."
   ***
   Part of Soraya's responsibilities as part of the family was the care and
upkeep of their festival space and its items.  She typically worked inside
the temple doing tasks with the others, but Nigel was out front waiting at
the entrance.
   "Good afternoon, Soraya."
   She waved.  "Are you going to be at the temple today?"
   "I'm here to take you to the warehouse.  Have you been there before?"
   "Yes, I've taken a few things there for storage."
   "That's where I'm taking you today."
   The warehouse was exactly that: dark, windowless, cold and dry.  They
took the metal mesh elevator to the second floor.
   "When you need to get your hours in, report here." He walked her over to
the long table at the back of the floor and pointed to the list.  "This is
your to-do list.  Start wherever you want, check it off as you go."
   "Yes, sir."
   "Ah, now." He walked over and pulled her into a hug.  "Don't look so
defeated.  Your hours still include your classes.  We don't trust just
anyone to work back here.  Some of these are very sacred items imbued with
energies of the Sidra." He lowered his voice to a whisper.  "Okay, baby
girl?"
   "Yes, daddy." She whispered back.
   "I bet it was a shock seeing him walk into Zarina's house like that."
   Soraya nodded.  She stepped out of his embrace and looked down at the
list.  Untangle the running lights, check the bulbs, refill the lamps,
organize a box of ornaments.
   "Hazel is a gossip like her mother.  That's why she bunked you with her,
I'd bet on it."
   "How, why did, who told you I told Hazel?"
   He smiled and walked over to help her lower the box of lights she was
trying to reach.  He framed her face with his hands.  "You know how to keep
confidence.  I know that.  Hazel tells everything, always has."
   Soraya nodded again.
   "I'll come back later to bring you lunch." He paused as if thinking
about something, then walked away.
   Soraya went about her work for the next several hours.  Every noise and
creak echoed in the warehouse.  Occasionally a door would creak open, slam
shut, but she didn't see or hear anyone for several hours.
   Finally, a great place to practice on her guitar.  She could use a spot
like this.
   ***
   Soraya got back to Zarina's house that evening and Zarina was waiting.
   "I've got your new room set up.  Follow me."
   Soraya walked into the room that had been used by the Niralen girl.  She
had moved out, probably with her father or the other woman.  It was odd
though.  This room was bigger and much nicer than Hazel's.  It even had a
bigger bed.  Soraya looked back at Zarina with a questioning glance.
   "I've been trying to get you in here sooner.  I talked to Hazel.  She
just wanted to have a big chess move in her sibling rivalry with Blair. 
You got caught in it.  You should have shared your concerns with me."
   "I know that.  I messed up."
   "Then we're done.  You've got your own space and learned an important
lesson."
   Soraya smiled.  "Thank you.  It's a wonderful room.  I love it."
   The room was wonderful, but it meant losing the best friend she thought
she had in the house.  Hazel had been a great room mate, and very
informative about the other people in the house.  Soraya shook her head. 
That should have been Soraya's clue that she was a chatterbox.  Now Hazel
refused to look or even talk to her.  Soraya had seen Hazel treat other
people the same way, and now she knew why.  The bridge must have been
burned before.
   Soraya focused on her tasks and faithfully provided service to the
Pasebs of her vath.  Regardless of what happened or what Hazel did, she
should have gone to Deven or Zarina first.
   ***
   The best part of her week, between the cold empty work in the warehouse
and the unfair labor at her other job, were the Oani classes.
   They were given by various Sidra, attended by new devotees who had taken
the selbram.  Soraya attended each one hoping to sit in a class on the Oani
Ustufu, but the energies under that Oani were only mentioned in passing -
piecemeal in reference to the other elements.  Soraya supposed it would be
one of the last ones along with the Oani Ymnyzy.
   Sidra Dimitri gave the current lecture on the Oani Extreje.  She stayed
behind with him after the class.  She wanted to more about Vonia energy,
but he only mentioned it in passing.  Vonia wasn't even influenced by
Ustufu, but she could understand why he skirted the subject.
   "Is there something you want to ask, Soraya?"
   "Yes, sir.  I wanted to know more about Vonia."
   He grinned.  "A little old to be asking about that.  A woman like you
should know all about Vonia.  Walk me to my car?"
   "Sure." She accepted the stack of books and followed him out the temple
house.
   "What's your question?"
   "Is there ...  is it better to give in to the energy or fight it?"
   "That would depend on the context of the situation, the outcome.  When
you give in, does that make you feel better or worse?  Your emotional state
is the answer."
   "It's not.  Different.  I'd call it euphoria, like when you're nervous,
but not nervous, hyper.  It never makes me feel better or worse just ... 
buzzing."
   Dimitri turned and looked at her.  He took the books out of her hand and
placed them in the trunk of his car.  "Fight it."
   "But you just said it depends."
   "Vonia is like a child's first sexuality class.  Most kids just want to
giggle and point.  Likewise, it's hard to separate sex from Vonia.  Vonia
is present in the sexual act, but Vonia does not exclusively refer to it."
   Soraya nodded.
   "The Oani Extreje would run so high that there would be no emotional
reaction - in a true experience of Vonia.  There is only vitality and
physicality.  That is the essence of its power.  You took your selbram a
month ago?"
   "Almost."
   "Talk to your vath.  Don't give over to these energies."
   "Thanks." That didn't give her the answers she needed.  Worse, now she
had conflicting advice.  Give in or run away?  Who did she believe?
   ***
   The week continued with much of the same.  Soraya put more of her free
time into cleaning up and organizing the warehouse, working down her list.
   As for work, Pamela would be lost without someone holding her hand, and
Soraya was growing increasingly frustrated with being that someone.
   She turned all her work over to Pamela, the presentations, the notes,
her research.
   "These are great.  Hey, when you have some time, let's do a dry run
through the presentation."
   "Okay, I could give you some pointers."
   She giggled.  "No.  I want to watch you give it."
   That was not going to happen.  Soraya could barely see past the anger,
but she kept it inside.  "No." Soraya turned around and went back to her
desk.
   She was going to get in trouble for that, but it would be worse if
Soraya said and did what she really wanted.  She couldn't take one more
moment of ineptitude from her.  The woman had everything already fed to
her, Soraya worked her ass off to get that information just perfect.  Now
she wanted to just watch her do her fucking job?
   Soraya was only going to pitch the presentation once, and that was going
to be to the client or not at all.
   Her cellphone buzzed just as she was about to change her mind about
telling Pamela exactly what she could do with that request.
   "Got time for a break?"
   "Yes." She typed.
   "Wearing a skirt / dress?"
   "Yes." Soraya grinned as she hit the send button.
   "Come over.  Nothing under."
   Soraya slipped out of her underwear and headed over to the building next
door.  As close as she had been with Hazel, as much as they talked.  Soraya
once again cheered her decision to keep Omari to herself.  Hazel would have
blabbed to the entire family otherwise.
   Omari's office appeared particularly quiet, but then she passed a
conference room that seemed to have everyone in it behind a closed door.
   Soraya turned the corner into his office.  "You weren't invited to the
party?"
   "Doesn't involve me." Omari backed her to the wall and leaned in to kiss
her.  She heard the zipper of his pants and held onto his shoulders as he
hoisted her onto him.  He moaned as he pumped up into her, filling and
stretching her.  Soraya held on for the ride, given his insistence and the
pitch of his moans, it wasn't going to be long.  A minute later he froze,
squeezing her body tight.
   He carried her to his desk, perched her on the side, and dropped down to
his knees, his face between her thighs.
   Soraya bit on the side of her hand to keep her moans from reaching the
conference room.  She held her breath as she orgasm rattled her body.
   Well, he had promised she'd know when he was in a a hurry.  This was
definitely one of those moments.  He knew exactly how and where to
manipulate her for the greatest result.  Her orgasm nearly caused a pulled
muscle in her thigh.
   "Thank you," Omari kissed the inside of her thigh.  "Thank you." He
kissed the inside of her other thigh.
   "Oh, anytime."
   "You are a woman of your word." He stood and fixed his pants.  "You free
after work?"
   Soraya lowered her skirt.  "No.  I have a class and a few things to
finish up for my family."
   "Call me if you get some time."
   "I will." She kissed him and grinned and she smelled herself on him. 
"You should probably wash up before they finish."
   "Maybe."
   ***
   Given that Soraya's assignments were mostly out of the way of others,
behind the scenes, painting, cleaning, organizing, filing, she began to
learn a lot more regarding that family than what she'd been taught in her
classes.  Maybe Nigel had been right in that regard, it wasn't as much of a
punishment as it seemed.
   She started bringing her guitar along with her, practicing as a way to
take a break.  It had been weeks since she last touched it, but once she
got the tuning right music flowed from her finger tips.
   Another thing she learned was that Omari may have had a point about some
of Araceli's hypocrisy.  Her family was made of people, and they were
simply human beings.  Of course there were going to be a few secrets, some
things she didn't fully understand.  Soraya wasn't going to fault her whole
family when she was hardly a pillar of the community herself.
   The elevator hummed and Nigel found her sitting on the desk, strumming
on her guitar.
   "You play beautifully." He walked over to the list and picked it up to
check her progress.
   "Thank you."
   "Go to Deven's when you leave here."
   "His shop?"
   "No.  He's at home this evening."
   She nodded.  She didn't want to be rude, but she wanted to get through
this song.  When she did he was still there with her.
   "Do you want a ride?"
   Soraya looked around at her bag and her case.  The walk wasn't too far,
but it would be cumbersome with her case.  "Sure."
   Deven was on his front porch waiting.  Soraya shouldered her items and
walked up to him.  This was her check up meeting.  Hopefully he'd tell her
she didn't have to do another week of grunt work.
   "How have you been, Soraya?"
   Soraya shrugged slightly.  "I'm getting a lot done for the family. 
Guess that's good."
   "Good for the family, yes.  I know about the miracles you've been
working on that second floor.  We've been impressed by the way you've truly
put your all into helping us.  I think you've come to learn your lesson
after all, but I didn't ask about that.  How are you doing?  How are things
at work?"
   Soraya shook her head and grinned.  "Yeah, that stuff you gave me didn't
work, but I'm not really concerned about my job.  Nothing bad is going to
come of Pamela falling on her face.  I'm don't care how she does."
   "All right, and otherwise?"
   Soraya felt herself smiling.  Otherwise, there was Omari, and everything
was perfect.  She had been too busy making things up with her family to
spend much time with him, but the brief moments in text or phone
conversations made up for that.  She couldn't wait to see him again.  Along
with Omari came these strange surges in energy, almost like taking in too
much food or drink.  "Fine."
   "Care to elaborate?"
   Given the way her family enjoyed gossiping?  Absolutely not.  This was
her vath though, and she needed to trust him.  "Good, physically.  I feel
run down and under appreciated at work, but I feel good otherwise."
   Deven nodded.  He'd heard about the evening with Javier.  Deven hadn't
been surprised to hear of the tryst.  If his first reading had been
correct, that's exactly the way the Paseb would work.  Exposing others
faults through their deeds.  The family would have to be careful with her.
Given the way Nigel talked about her he was almost afraid to ask if he'd
given in to her charms.  Nigel respected the power of the Oani when it came
to an elder Sidra, but he doubted their power in devotees, especially
Niralens.
   Perhaps Deven could fix the problem before it got worse?  He could steer
her in a different direction.  Her vague description of feeling good
disturbed him.
   "I'd like to see your bracelet.  Have you been working with the beads?"
   Soraya pulled her hand into her lap.  Finally, someone had asked the
question.  She'd gone over explaining the order several times.  Without
showing Omari, they'd talk about the different energies and how the
combination would present itself, but what they talked about was dark and
elicit.
   "Do you think it's possible to have only one spirit?" She didn't want to
share that with Deven, even if he was her second vath, exactly the person
she should.  Which is why she got in trouble the first time.  She needed to
learn to trust her vath.  He was a Sidran and it was his job to steer her
in the right direction.  He didn't answer her question, but she unwrapped
her bracelet.  Maybe if she showed him, maybe he could see how it was
possible.  It felt like taking her clothes off for Nigel, exposing herself
and waiting.  She unfastened the clasp and lay the covering out.
   One bead at a time, she lay out the first three.  Then with the other
six, she created a line from the first and last beads of first.  Instead of
creating the triplet like her classes said she should, Soraya did as she
felt was right, creating an upside down U from her beads.
   It felt wrong, showing Deven the layout and the beads.  Her hand felt on
the verge of trembling, but she finished.
   She kept her head bowed.  "They are one fluctuating personality."
   "No." Deven countered strongly, almost as if chastising an animal.  "Put
them back on the bracelet.  You should have come to me with this when you
got this notion.  That's not how the energies work.  You can't rush the
path to becoming a Sidra, or purport to put yourself on that path absence
guidance and study.  Since you've come up with that idea, I think it best
you focus more on the devotion to the Oani.  Your understanding of the
energies and their arrangement isn't as strong as it needs to be.  Do you
understand?"
   "Yes." Soraya put the beads back on her bracelet.  Maybe that's why she
felt wrong.  She knew better than to lay them out like that.  It made her
feel like a child who couldn't follow simple instruction.  All of her Sidra
kept echoing the same damn thing.  She needed to stop.  "Thank you for your
advice."
   "I'm not done yet.  You're doing well, and I think you could benefit
from some different classes and exercises.  What made you pick all those?
Where I think your trouble lies is in the fact that you picked beads too
similar to each other."
   "They aren't that similar," Soraya said.  "Not to me."
   "Give it time." Deven looked preoccupied as he lay the cards out in
front of him.  He almost seem frustrated or despondent.  Was she that hard
to work with?
   "I'll study the Oani and do whatever I need in order to understand them
better."
   "Good.  I think you'd benefit from a different mixture.  This one won't
have anything to do with your work situation." Deven stood and went over to
his shelves.  "Take one tablet with water each morning.  If you feel
peculiar at all, go ahead and make sure to eat at the same time.  Spend at
least an hour a day contemplating the Oani and its energies - as a whole,
not just the beads on your bracelet.  You don't want to get lost in that.
The whole of Nysidra should be understood to you."
   "Yes, sir.  Thank you."
   "And, not as a punishment, but as a request.  Keep working on the
warehouse.  Pick someone you trust to be there with you.  We've been trying
to get that place to make some sense for years." Deven looked down at the
cards in front of him.  The initial tincture did more than its job.  She
had grown close to her Paseb in a way he and many other Sidra would envy.
If his reading was correct then she was able to access the energies
already. He had to put a stop to this.  "I'll drop the tablets by Zarina's.
How are you and Nigel getting along?" If Nigel felt even a drop of this,
he'd take to it like a thirsty man to a lake.  He would have been powerless
in her presence.
   "Very well."
   "Is he treating you all right?"
   Soraya nodded.  "I handle him just fine."
   Handle him.  The words conjured visions of her showing him just what she
could handle.  "Go on.  I'll drop the mixture by once I've finished it."
   She got up and the end of her skirt swished as she walked away.  Her
round ass, so damn good looking.  Deven reached down for his erection but
it didn't go away, only got thicker, harder, more insistent that he give
in.
   ***
   Something was wrong with Deven.  Soraya had her hand on the front door,
but she couldn't open it.  She went back into his reading room, and from
her position at the door, she could see him fisting himself under the
table. His face pinched in pain.
   "Deven," Soraya walked over to him.
   "Yes?"
   "Am I still unable to help you in the shop?"
   His mouth hung open as if he were half asleep.  He whimpered and his arm
moved under the table.  "Need to keep it down.  Don't.  Fight."
   Soraya backed away.  Whatever he was feeling, she didn't share it, and
she had the inkling that getting out of his house would help.
   ***
   Deven woke with a start and nearly fell out of his chair.  He's
underpants were sticky with a release he didn't remember finding.  The
cards were still on the table, but a quick check of his house proved it was
empty.
   When did she leave?  What did he say or do?
   Deven washed his hands and went to his phone.
   "Nigel."
   "Deven here."
   "Hey, how'd the reading go?"
   "You didn't warn me."
   The mirth was evidence in Nigel's voice.  "Are you kidding?  You're the
one who warned me!  What happened?"
   "I fought it." Deven sighed.  "Which means you gave in."
   "Where's the harm?  It's just sex.  She's hot, open, young.  Last time I
checked I was available, and I'm not her vath."
   "You are supposed to be her father." Deven made a sound of disgust. 
"Don't."
   Nigel chuckled.
   "When you did ...  she learned something about you, didn't she?"
   "She may have overheard a conversation or two.  What difference does it
make?  You put her in that warehouse and who has she told?  Has anything
turned up missing?  On the markets?  She might be manifesting, but we can
use her to our advantage, better that she's not a Sidra, really."
   "That's not what's going to happen."
   "Oh, now you're Tallula?  Listen.  Don't mess up a great opportunity. 
Bring her to our side."
   Deven shook his head as he went to his work room.  He needed to suppress
the ability before Nigel turned it toward his use.  The spirit she spelled
out in those selbram would not take his offer kindly.
   The Oani protect him if her Paseb discovered what Deven planned.
   ***
   Eating didn't help with whatever those pills were doing to her.  Soraya
felt disconnected, adrift, almost like she was in a waking dream.  After
spending her evenings and almost all of her free time with family duties,
Soraya felt run down and went to bed early.  She would wake the next day,
take the pill, and float through another work day.
   In truth, she'd almost forgotten that she had a boyfriend, or any friend
at all.  For that reason she never texted called, she didn't even think
about him as much.  What was his name?
   Mar...?
   Soraya woke to the buzzing of her phone.  It was only six in the
evening, but she'd been asleep early after hearing that she didn't have
anything to do.  "Yeah?"
   "How are you feeling?"
   The voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.  "Not that
great.  Tired."
   "Come out with me."
   "I ...  I can't.  I'm tired.  I've been taking this stuff, and I don't
think I could stay awake."
   "What have you been taking?"
   "My second vath gave it to me.  Other energies ...  or something."
   "I'll come pick you up."
   Soraya sat up.  The last thing she wanted was for Zarina to meet him. 
She wasn't sure who he was or why, but she couldn't shake the feeling. 
"I'll walk south from the house.  I don't want anyone here seeing you."
   "Hiding me?"
   Who is me?  "Yes.  Okay?"
   "Okay.  I'm glad to hear that you still want me at all."
   "I do.  I'm just," The words trailed off as she yawned.
   "Soraya, listen.  Would you rather be oversleeping or having orgasms?"
   "Orgasms," Soraya grinned.  "I love orgasms."
   "Don't let them punish you for the failings of another."
   "That's not what this is about, not anymore.  Do I need to dress up?"
   "No.  Don't even worry about your overnight bag.  See you in a few
minutes?"
   "Yeah." Soraya yawned again as she slipped into a jacket and her shoes.
   Omari pulled up and put a warm thermos in her lap.  "Drink that."
   Thinking it was tea or coffee, Soraya unscrewed the cap and brought it
to her lips.  She smacked her lips.  "What is this?"
   "It'll help.  Finish it.  All of it."
   After getting halfway through Soraya began to feel hot.  Her skin
flushed warm.  She rolled the window down and let the cool air on her face.
She didn't complain, as muggy as she felt, she also felt better, more
alert. It was like the best coffee in the world, able to do what no other
coffee had managed.  "Stop the car." Saliva filled her mouth and swallowing
it only stemmed the tide.
   Omari pulled the car over, walked around and pulled her out toward the
grass.  She went to her knees and her body trembled.  Vomit rushed up,
liquid and gushing.  It hurt, as if something were being ripped free from
her very bones.
   Right behind her, Omari, holding her.  Fuck, how many days had it been?
Did she really forget his name?  She retched and tears followed.
   He handed her another thermos.  "Drink this one."
   She sucked down the sweet liquid, loving the way it coated her throat.
He walked her back to the car and took off.
   Omari brought her to his apartment.  They went upstairs to the party in
full swing.
   "You said I didn't have to dress up." Soraya brought her hand to her
mouth.
   "You don't have to dress up and you can use my bathroom.  How are you
feeling?"
   "So much better.  Sane.  Awake.  Thank you." She wrapped her hands
around him and hugged him close as they walked to his bathroom.  "How did
you know what to give me?"
   "I could read the signs.  What were you taking?"
   Soraya shrugged as she brushed her teeth.  She rinsed her mouth and
messed with her braids.  "Tablets.  I never saw him prepare them, but,"
Soraya turned her back to the sink and gathered her thoughts.  "He was
really weird the last time I saw him.  Like he was resisting.  I just left
him alone.  I think I was causing him to act weird and..."
   "And?"
   "And I think he views me as a threat?" Soraya shook her head.
   "Don't dismiss it.  Stop doing that.  Keep it in mind, the back of your
mind.  Right now.  You're going to relax and party."
   She grinned and checked her clothes.  "I want to get," She brought her
hand to a level just above her head.
   "I got you." Omari pulled her close and hugged her tight.
   Outside his bedroom, the party was in full swing.  They went to the
center of the living room and she got swept away in his arms.  Dancing,
allowing herself to be led by him.  Between songs she accepted the food and
drinks given to her.  She didn't pay any attention to the rules she learned
from Leo, if Omari offered, then she accepted.
   Time passed and the soggy weight of the past few days lifted, leaving
her raw and naked.
   Omari moved and she kept in step with him, always within touching
distance or more, literally standing under his arm, her head leaning on his
shoulder.
   What was that stuff?  What if she'd finished the bottle?  Deven had been
weird when she left him and he dropped the tablets off the next morning. 
Did he mess up the mixture?
   She was sitting in his lap.  Another chair put far more distance between
them than she was comfortable with.  If Omari noticed her clinginess, then
she couldn't tell.  He always had his hand around her, moved in step with
her.  At no point in the evening did ever step away from her or extricate
his body from his.  He picked the chair he was going to sit in, and pulled
her into his lap.
   The man sitting beside him detailed his trouble with another family,
sounded like Trout or Scout or something.  He'd paid dearly for a ceremony
and felt he got taken advantage of.
   Omari repositioned Soraya in his lap.  She felt like a sleeping baby,
but she didn't care.  She settled into her new position.  "Tell me what
happened, details."
   "They had me take off my clothes and go through this shower.  We went
through and some person was making the invocation of the Oani.  After that
I was laid down in a circle and they poured liquid over me, calling for my
request to be granted.  They wanted me to repeat after them, and I was told
when to do certain things at each stage."
   Omari nodded.  "Yeah, they took you for a ride."
   "How was I supposed to know the difference?  I've never seen a ritual
like that before."
   "Good question.  That's how many families get away with it.  They
reserve the true knowledge for the fully indoctrinated.  Let's start with
the beginning.  The invocation was too general - the openings to public
events are like that, but when you are calling for a spirit energy then you
call it by name.  You wouldn't know that unless you've been to a ritual. 
The energies of the Oani are the first layer.  When you call upon a Paseb
then you know either the name or the specific energies that Paseb rules."
   He goes on to explain the other parts and how he would have done it if
he had the people.  "The problem with the ceremony you want - the issue -
is that it requires at least three Sidra to pull off successfully.  The
timing on that one is tight.  I couldn't have done something like that for
you.  It truly requires a lot of people and finely timed actions.  That's
why they charged so much, and you especially, because you weren't a member
of their family.  You won't find one in this city that won't take a Niralen
for a ride.  Anything more than two ceremonies from a family and you might
as well have taken the bracelet."
   "Fuck," he lowered his head, shaking it from side to side.
   "There's a simpler solution of you want to look into it."
   "I'm still having the problem, so yeah."
   "You can ride up into the Peyton mountain park and seek out the smaller
families.  Tell them your situation and what happened and then see what
kind of solution they offer.  Get out of Kohia.  You need a family strongly
connected to Oktodo.  I know the mountain families have it.  If you can't
pay, then offer your services, devotion, offerings.  Money works in a city,
but in the hills," Omari shook his head.  "Money doesn't get you through a
winter."
   ***
   Omari buried his face in her neck.  Did they know what they were doing
to her?  Did her vath really think he was going to sever her connection
from his spirit with a deadening powder?  Fools.  Just thinking about the
damage done in the space of a few days filled him with latent rage, but he
couldn't give into that now.
   Omari wanted to burn the Araceli temple house to the ground, but he
couldn't take matters into his own hands.  If his avatar wanted to work
through her, then he had to see it through.  Omari swallowed his feelings.
She wasn't his to keep, only to borrow.  Once she reached her goal, then
she would disappear from his life.  Omari nearly feared that was already
the case.  Each day that passed when he didn't hear from her hurt him a
little on the inside.  As nothing had changed with Araceli, he began to
worry about her until he couldn't keep from calling her.  Thank goodness
for that.
   He'd contacted her with great timing, much longer and she probably would
have been lost to him.  The purging solution seemed to get the bulk of it,
each minute in his presence he felt her rebound.
   "I need to talk to you." She nibbled his neck just beneath his ear.
   She'd said the word talk.  He heard her say the word, but her teeth and
tongue were saying something wholly different.  "Talk?"
   "For the moment." She said with a blush.
   He walked her into his bedroom and locked the door.  "What are we
talking about?"
   She sat down on the foot of his bed and began to uncover her bracelet.
She lay out the cloth then set out the beads on the bed.  "I already showed
my second vath.  I didn't want to, but I did."
   "Why did you not want to?"
   "It didn't feel right, but that was because of my silly notions.  I got
in trouble because I couldn't trust my vath.  Anyway, I just want to show
you.  Okay?  Just look."
   Omari directed her over to his table.  He watched her lay the beads out.
He could see the connections.  Her questions over the past weeks helped him
pick out what she thought about the beads and which ones represented which
energies.
   "I think it's just one spirit, but Deven says that's wrong, but I can't
see the way to break it up.  I thought maybe you could help me.  He told me
to stop thinking about it, but now I can't."
   Who the fuck was he to say who her spirit was?  That was a personal
decision.  "The Pasebs decide who they want to work with.  That's all. 
They speak to the devotee.  If there is only one, then it would present
itself deeper than the others.  It's full spectrum has been revealed to you
rather than a surface."
   "But the Pasebs also move a devotee to instruct others."
   They must have been working extra hard to indoctrinate her since the
last time they spoke.  Losing her indeed.  "It looks like a single spirit
to me as well.  The way you made the branches, those are influencing
factors of a single, more powerful spirit.  I've seen this before."
   "Really?  In a family, or did you read about it?"
   "Elsewhere." In another avatar, a devotee that formed a life-bond with a
single Paseb.  His mother had shown him how it was possible - because she
had known another avatar once in her life.  Would Omari have taken the same
path as Soraya if he'd been in a family?  Or born to a woman who feared
what he had become?  "Go with what you feel."
   She looked at if she would cry.  "Go with what you feel; don't follow
your urges.  Fight against your impulses; go with your emotions.  Fuck."
Soraya palmed her cheeks.  "You know what I've been feeling lately?  Shit.
Swamp mud and decay.  I don't know what's wrong with me, but when I'm with
you, I forget.  I need to forget.  I need more of that.  Shut down the
Icelle and Atraya and--"
   "Let's go party." Omari waited as she reassembled her bracelet.  He took
her hand and led her back out into the fray.  He signaled his room mate
over and Damon came over to dance behind Soraya.  For a while she spun
between them, in between the food and drink, Omari fed her a mix that would
give her exactly what she sought.
   Soraya giggled in Omari's ear.  "Your room mate's cock is pressing into
my ass."
   "I think that means he likes you."
   Soraya laughed.  "Yeah, I know that."
   "Do you like him back?"
   She paused a moment before turned around, putting her back to him and
giving Damon a hard look.  Omari had told Damon about Soraya's not so
stellar experience at a threesome.  Omari had shared women with Damon
before and they worked in perfect harmony toward making a woman delirious
with lust and pleasure.  It was one of Omari's finer gifts to give.
   "You seek oblivion?" Damon asked.
   "I want it." She moaned.
   Omari inclined his head and Damon walked her toward his bedroom.  Omari
signaled his other room mate, Egan over to him.
   "You good?" Egan asked.
   "We're going to be a while.  If you want in, after the party, I'm sure
she'll be up for it."
   "Fuck yeah.  Want me to bring any others?"
   "If you and Damon want.  I only want her for the night."
   "Nice.  I'll hold it down out here.  Don't be too quiet."
   Omari laughed.  "You'll hear everything all right."
   ***
   The oblivion of intoxication, lust, and need.  The arrangement of
divination beads told her this was possible, but Soraya needed to feel it,
to be caught in the web and swept away by it.  There were no words to
describe being lost in her own mind while her body had orgasm after orgasm.
Colors and sounds only added to her pleasure, every touch, every kiss,
every thrust kept her on that plateau.
   She couldn't vocalize, only grunt and moan.  It seemed she'd been having
a orgasm for the past hour.  It would only fade and peak, but never end. 
One man in her rear, the other in her pussy, then one beside her head. 
Hard, animalistic, hungry.
   "This is Egan.  Open your mouth and say hello," Omari's voice in her
ear.
   Her mouth opened, her tongue stretched out.  She whimpered as euphoria
set her body to shuddering.
   "She is sloppy wet.  I love it." Another voice.
   "Damn she has a hell of a mouth."
   The comments continued, either Egan or Damon.  Only Omari's voice caught
and held her attention.  Whenever he told her to move, roll over, how to
position herself, she obeyed as if it were her own thought.
   "Want more?"
   "Yes, please," she groaned.
   "We're going to keep fucking you till you pass out.  We can do that,
can't we?"
   His question was answered by male grunts in the affirmative.
   Icelle and Atraya.  Feeling and Thought.  There were neither.  Stripped
away of logic, devoid of emotional whims.  There was only her body at the
hands of three men who adored her, manipulated her, worked her into one
orgasm after another.  She worked, giving of herself to make them spill
into her, depositing their seed in her ass or her pussy or her mouth, her
tits or her back.
   She was flesh joined to flesh.  Sensation and life, blood and bone.
   Soraya learned that they were as good as their word.  She didn't know
when it ended.  Omari was right there with her the whole time, his voice,
his touch, the only time he left her side was during their combined down
time.
   ***
   Every muscle in her body protested as she climbed the steps to her
office.  She woke up this morning so she must have slept, but it couldn't
have been for long.  Omari pulled her up from the pile and bodies and drug
her to the shower.  He plied her with caffeine and breakfast then drove her
to work.
   "Don't take any more."
   "I won't.  What am I supposed to tell him?"
   "That they made you sick."
   "You made me better." Her jaw muscles were sore, but she still managed
to give Omari a long, deep kiss before getting out of his car.  As
physically exhausted as the weekend had left her, it was nothing like the
drain those tablets had been.
   Pamela's sobs sounded like something from a cheap drama.  Soraya didn't
pay it any attention until she caught Hugo's glare.
   "My office."
   Soraya grabbed her cup of tea and followed him.  "I'm not late."
   "I told you to help Pamela with the project.  She said you ruined
everything."
   "If by ruin everything you mean not doing the entire project for her,
including telling her what to say, then yes.  I did that.  She's
incompetent and lazy.  Unlike Reuben or you, I don't have a cock, so she
couldn't persuade me to do her job by sucking me off under my desk."
   Words kept coming as if Soraya were on a runaway vehicle with the gas
pedal stuck to the floor, the door unable to lock, and nothing but road
straight ahead.  "Given that she's still working here, I have to assume
she's got a great pair a lips and welcoming pussy, but that isn't me.  You
want something done right, you give the work to me.  You want it fucked up?
Then you find someone else to prop up the office blow up doll."
   "Holy shit," Marcus whispered.
   A glance back and Soraya saw the whole team and a few people wearing
Global Circuitry badges behind her.
   Fantastic.
   "I think you need to go home for the day," said Hugo.  "We'll talk about
disciplinary action--"
   "No.  We won't.  I'll be in my office.  Give me a project or fire me,
but don't make me do her work when I can't get any of the perks." Soraya,
still on the runaway track, went to her office.  Her heart hammered in her
chest, and her mind whirled, but she logged into her computer and started
tending to her messages.
   Soraya had been suspecting Pamela of being a little friendly with her
coworkers, but she didn't know they were sleeping together.  She still
didn't, but something in her just knew, knew it like she knew her name.
   There was a knock on her door and Soraya spun around.  Damn.  But there
was nothing that made up for acting like an ass in front of potential
customers.
   Soraya stood to make her apologies, but the taller one posed his
question first.
   "You prepared the presentation?"
   "Yes, but--"
   He held his hand up.  "The information was solid.  Terry and I noticed
that, but it was like you said.  For a while there, I thought you had
stolen another company's proposal.  Seems he just wanted her face on it."
   "Not the best one."
   He grinned.  "Do you have time?"
   "I do.  Want to do it now?"
   "That would be great."
   Soraya pulled up the presentation, printed two copies and gulped her tea
down.  Her heart was running a marathon and her body wasn't up to doing
more than standing, but she gave the pitch right there in her office,
Marcus and Reuben occasionally peaked around the corner and Marcus cupped
his hand to his ear.
   She couldn't see Hugo, but he was listening.
   Soraya made sure to speak up so that she could be heard by all.  It
would be great if she could keep her job after this.
   Since she never thought she'd give the presentation, she didn't practice
it, but she'd read enough about the company and their software that she
could answer their questions and concerns.  After her first ten minutes of
going through her company, she sat and answered their questions.
   "Is there any way to control who would be responsible for these duties?
I mean, the company is great, you provide everything we're looking for, but
some talent is better than others here."
   "I don't have any control over that unfortunately.  I am a recent hire."
   "And that's how you perform?" He stood and handed his business card
over. "If you need other work, look us up.  Tenacity is a skill that
shouldn't be squandered."
   She was still sitting and staring at that card when Hugo walked into the
room.
   "Global Circuitry is willing to sign a maintenance contract with us if
you manage the work."
   She looked up at him, waiting for the rest.
   "You'll manage the work, but it will not come with a pay increase.  Your
continued employment here will hinge entirely on the client's satisfaction
with your work."
   "You want me to maintain all four products by myself?"
   "No, madam I do not.  You will maintain them if you want to work here."
   She gave a terse nod and turned back to her computer.  She managed to
keep from grinning until he was out of her office.
   Fantastic.
   <->
   Epilogue: Panyu, or illusion, is the energy that obscures the truth,
twists it, prevents a person from seeing clearly.  When you lack for a
goal, a host of people will step in to choose one for you.  This is where
Soraya's downward spiral begins.
Written: November 2013
   Contact: nysidra at hot mail dot com
  
Priestess_03