Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 The Priestess, Part 6 of 6
   by Nysidra
   Occult Fantasy (MF, prosexual, group, magic, drugs)
   <->
   Tallula carried over the plate full of cookies and set them down.  "You
better not tell Nancy I made you these.  She'll get my ass for sure."
   "There won't be a trace of evidence." Morathi picked up the first cookie
and dipped it into the flavored cream in front of him.  "Have some.  Got
some serious talking to do with you."
   Tallula rolled her eyes.  "I do not like the sound of that."
   "I don't like the reality of it, but it's what we've got to do."
   "Let me guess, our troubles are only getting worse?"
   "In a fashion." Morathi nodded and wiped a crumb from the corner of his
mouth.  "The source hasn't changed either."
   "She ain't even been around and that hasn't helped a lick.  Damn
researchers writing everything down like a pair of Asans."
   "And she's managed to dodge all attempts to purify her.  You know how I
feel about an Ustufu Sidra."
   "I don't buy it, Morathi.  I will not believe that a Paseb would do this
to her.  It's such a caustic influence in her life.  If it's not one thing
it's another."
   "No good would come of having that kind of Sidra.  It's bad for the
family and the community.  We came to that decision long ago."
   "What about the unbalance?"
   "There's no unbalance when you have a minor energy in the Sidra, but we
barely find that these days."
   "Don't I know it.  I thought we were doing fine with it."
   "We're not, and the scales are tipping faster.  Her vath need to get her
under control or she's going to keep unraveling and take us down with her.
We can't afford to have any loose threads with the award ceremony coming
up."
   "You called me here.  What do you want me to do?"
   "We need to think of another way to fix this damn thing." Morathi
chomped down on another cookie.
   Tallula snapped her fingers and grinned.  "I got it.  I got it.  Okay,
this might work."
   "Spit it out then."
   "Let me take her on as a reader.  She's got some insight, I just need to
help her frame it in a way that isn't destroying everything she touches. 
She can see things, and if I can have her spread herself thin enough, then
the sprit will loose its hold on her.  She can take on the entire selbram -
dedicate herself to all the spirits, and then the single voice in her ear
will fade when she has invited the host to speak to her."
   "Ustufu?  The absorption would drown her.  Reading requires a very
special kind of talent.  If she took that on too soon it would drive her
mad." Morathi paused in lifted his cream to his lips then lowered it. 
"That's what you're aiming for, isn't it?"
   Tallula nodded.  "You want a solution?  That's my solution.  She would
be no trouble at all to us at that point.  She wants to avoid the
purification?  Fine, fine.  Becoming more involved with the spirits is what
that woman actually wants.  Just let me give it to her."
   "And if this doesn't work?"
   Tallula pulled out a slip of paper and drew two columns.  "This is the
way the oracle training normally goes, but if I add in a step here and skip
this one," Tallula let the writing speak for itself.  "She doesn't take to
the process then we have laid the ground to conduct the ritual by force. 
She will need to be purified, stripped of the ability to hear any spirit at
all.  It's the same as we'd do to anyone who can't balance their energies.
And this girl, she needs it.  Even if we were taking on the Ustufu Sidra,
not with a single voice, no other steering energies, not the kind she got."
   "No," Morathi shook his head.  "She does need to be controlled, but I
don't want any kind of purification by force even talked about until these
researchers get out of our way.  Until the ceremony, she's your charge. 
Get control of her.  Draw it out until after the award ceremony if you
can."
   "I will."
   They looked up as Zarina entered the room.  She looked at the plate of
cookies.
   "If one will keep your trap shut, eat one." Tallula pushed the plate in
her direction.
   "Thank you elders," Zarina grinned like a little girl as she ate the
sweet dessert.  "I brought her with me."
   "Take you long to find her?"
   Zarina shook her head.  "She was sitting in her room, sobbing like a
love sick school girl.  I called Tim like you asked elder, they will have a
bed open in a couple weeks."
   "That will do.  Bring her in."
   Soraya looked like every bit the love sick school girl that Zarina
described her as being.  She looked like an injured dog, swollen red eyes,
puffy face, drawn complexion.  She looked to have spent much of the night
and all morning in tears.
   Soraya took a seat and waited as if being summoned for her execution.
   "Soraya, I have been discussing you at great length.  Your place within
the family is a hard one to pin down, but I think I have some good news for
you."
   Soraya stared at Tallula, she was sullen, quiet, but her eyes remained
glued to the woman as she spoke.
   "You have a talent that needs to find the proper avenue of expression. I
think you should study the cross energies, become an oracle.  Then the
things you see and hear can find their proper outlet."
   "An oracle must be a Sidra."
   "An oracle is a type of Sidra.  It's a different path."
   "A path of the Icelle."
   "Any Oani can heed the call." Tallula kept her tone even and sweet, but
she was surprised the girl knew that much.
   "You don't think I'm going crazy?"
   "You're crazy about something, but not in the way you think." Tallula
chuckled.  "You just seem bent on one avenue of advancement that is not
open to you."
   "What do you want me to do?"
   "You're going to need to start with meditation and learning.  It will
take several weeks of study, and it will be constant.  You'll stay with me
and I'll test you all hours of the day.  You'll shadow me while I do
reading and perform invocations.  I will also have you take seeing root, it
opens you to the Oani, the voices of the spirits.  In the mornings you'll
wash it away, and in the afternoon take it back.  You'll get accustomed to
the ebb and flow of energy and then I'll study you reading others, becoming
familiar with the changes.  I'll tap the symbols for opening on your back.
You aren't Icelle, so it will add that power to what you already have
naturally."
   "No time in shadow?"
   "Time in my shadow.  We're going to be joined at the hip me and you. 
You'll study under me and I'll make sure you get what you need.  We'll put
a talisman around your neck that will read off different energies and
you'll learn to get them in balance."
   "What about the oracle?"
   "Part of the process.  We'll start with some training oracle and work up
to doing readings.  You'll learn what works best with your particular
sight. You can start on the Niralens and we'll work our way toward
Devotees. Niralens are easier to deal with and love to hear about
themselves.  Even if you're wrong, they'll be forgiving.  But don't get too
excited about it," the words didn't have their usual comedic zeal, Soraya
looked the very opposite of excited.
   She had that same hawkish gaze and flat affect she'd entered the house
with.
   "This is going to take time and hard work.  The calling of an oracle is
not something you do on occasion.  I will demand true dedication from you.
Wherever you've been running off to, that needs to end."
   "That ended."
   Everyone at the high table nodded in approval.
   "This isn't about a choice, Soraya.  This is where you are destined to
explore.  Both Morathi and I have done a reading on the matter.  I want to
see you grow and do well in this family.  We all do.  Anyone who loves and
appreciates you wants nothing less than for you to find your happiness."
   "I understand." The girl still hadn't blinked.
   "I don't think you do, girl.  In all these readings, do you know what
we've seen?"
   Soraya turned to look at Morathi, but when Tallula spoke again, her eyes
darted back.
   "A single, powerful influence in your life.  It's a poison, leading your
down the road of ruin, causing you to do and participate in things you
never would have if it were not for this singular presence.  That's what
you need to get away from.  I don't know who or what it is, but you do,
don't you?"
   "I do."
   "That's what is going to end."
   "It ended."
   Tallula huffed.  "I'll take the insolence only to a point.  You are
meant to deal with the spirits, and all association with this poisonous
influence will never start again.  Forever, even after you dry your eyes
and sun peeks through those clouds.  This is your crossroad, Soraya.  Who
are you going to serve?  Yourself?  Your family?  Your base needs?"
   "When do you want me to start?"
   "Tomorrow."
   "Beginning of next week." Soraya stood.  "I have the rest of the week
off.  I'm going to visit my friend Meara and spend the rest of my vacation
with her.  We'll start when I return." Soraya pushed herself out of the
chair.
   "That's not all, young woman."
   "You'll only take my insolence to a point.  We've reached that point. 
I'll find you when I get back."
   ***
   Morathi, Tallula, and Zarina watched Soraya walked out the door with a
trio of astonished faces.
   "That ain't a cloud, that's a damned tropical storm." Tallula seethed.
   "Let her go," said Morathi.  "Next week is as good a time to prepare as
any.  Get your vands in line."
   Tallula nodded.
   "Speaking of vands," Zarina leaned forward, "What happened with Eric?"
   "Eric?" Tallula looked to Morathi.  "Is that the pushy one?"
   "Did he force himself on another girl?" Morathi shook his head.  "I know
you told me to have a sit with him, but I've had so much on my plate.  When
in rains..."
   Tallula hummed in agreement.
   "No, I don't think so." Zarina shook her head.  "I heard him in the sun
room with one of the girls.  She was in tears, so I went in there.  Eric
was on his knees, seriously, on his damn knees begging her for forgiveness.
True contrition.  He laid it all out from what I heard.  I came in here to
say thank you, but shit-- Apologies, elders.  Valin called to say Soraya
had brought him in from a party, over drank, and they would be in late.  It
was after we tried to get that purification prep in her food.  Shocks the
hell out of me you are all making her an oracle now."
   "Come on, let's walk.  He got his act together and that's all that
matters."
   "What's this about Eric?" Tallula said when they were out the door. 
"Eric?  Drinking too deep?  That's a lie the moment I heard it.  Eric looks
for deep drinkers - and who does that sound like?"
   "Soraya."
   "He takes an awful steam to a pretty face giving him the wall.  On his
knees?"
   "I wouldn't believe it unless I had seen it with my own eyes."
   "Another leopard changing their spots behind that fat ass." Tallula
said.
   "Who?" Zarina asked.  "Please, who?"
   "Colin," she whispered.
   Zarina shook her head.  "He's hiding from those note takers and all
their questions.  That's all."
   "I wish.  How I wish.  He stopped selling the girls - for good."
   "And he says it happened after he approached Soraya?"
   Tallula nodded.
   "It's good he stopped anyway."
   "That's what we know.  He stopped, but I don't think he's going back. 
That girl," Tallula huffed.  "This girl is making changes right under us,
stealing the power away like a leaking pipe.  She almost ruined Javier. 
Nigel has business with his council."
   "Javier was a rotten egg.  Any outsider would have sniffed that out."
   Tallula laughed and put her arm around Zarina.  She kissed her on the
cheek.  "You keep talking like that and you'll be in the back with the
other elders."
   "No, I like my house."
   "Oh, only because you haven't seen the rest." Tallula sighed heavily. 
She slowed as they approached her house.  "When that girl gets back, no
more soft touch.  Award ceremony or not, she nothing but damn trouble. 
Seen it from the start.  Get your vand in line and make sure she follows
the regimen I set out for her."
   "Yes, elder, I will.  Why oracle though?  Nothing Icelle about her."
   Tallula chuckled.  "Yeah, as if I'd want that meddling slut counseling
others.  We're going to seal her off for good."
   ***
   "You always dreaming about the other plane.  You see Choogi, tell him I
need some names."
   "Don't be crass, Harold."
   The elderly couple rocking on the front porch paused as Soraya walked up
the drive with her bag.
   Meara had given Soraya directions to her elder's house perfectly. 
Though she wasn't sure about interrupting their holiday, Meara had been
insistent that she join them.
   "Jake!" The silver haired elder called from the front porch.
   A thin, teen aged boy stepped onto the porch.
   "Take her bag.  This is Soraya, put her in green guest room."
   "Yes, sir."
   The fact that they recognized her made her feel better.  She walked in
behind Jake.  It was a charming room, all the needed amenities were set out
and waiting.
   "I heard you were here," Meara crashed into the room.  "How was the
drive?"
   "Fine."
   "You didn't run into that trouble on the 9?"
   "No, I think I just passed it before traffic started to snarl."
   "That's great, I'll take you around to meet everyone after you tell me
what's going on."
   Soraya just looked at Meara for a while, only blinking.  "Talking about
it isn't going to help."
   "Then it's not going to hurt either." Meara sat down with her on the
foot stool.
   Soraya held the tears inside, but only just.  "I'm not with my friend
anymore.  We had a fight and between that and my family.  I'm ...  My
family told me that I needed to get rid of a poisonous influence in my
life. They didn't call names or describe him, but I don't want to fight
anymore.  He was the best thing in my life for a long time.  It hurts; I
can't even say anything.  Now they are talking about making me an oracle.
It's a long complicated ritual, but something about it is off.  I hate
feeling this way."
   "Okay, what kind of ritual?  The prep for becoming an oracle is pretty
ornate, but you didn't tell me you'd taken the elements."
   "I haven't.  I have to take these herbs, get symbols tapped into my
skin, do readings.  I've gone my whole life without a tattoo and they are
saying it's required for my commitment.  How do I turn something like that
down?"
   The look Meara gave her was serious, dead eyes.
   "What?"
   "The only time you need a symbol tapped into your skin is during a
purification."
   "I refused that.  That's not what this is.  They've said they only tried
to purify me because of the ...  because of him."
   "No, babe, that's why they lied to you.  Tattoos are part of a forced
purification, used for children and the feeble minded."
   "Forced?" Soraya couldn't drum up the emotions disbelief and shock. 
She'd seen them do worse to other people.  "So what do I do now?"
   "Now, you stop worrying about getting back home and relax here.  If
being away from him is what you really need, then we'll see what kind of
difference you feel.  Wow, I'd heard that Araceli had some dirty tactics,
but you'd never expect they'd do something like that to their own."
   "I'm not sure I qualify under 'their own' to tell you the truth.  I feel
like I'm a whipping post for whatever my mother did."
   "You've been saying that, but how do you know she did anything at all?
What if she just didn't want you to come up in that kind of family?"
   "There's more right with Araceli than there is wrong.  I don't want to
disparage them, not now."
   "All right.  Come on, I'll make the rounds with you."
   ***
   Meara rocked Renata while Soraya had all of her religious items spread
out on the floor.
   "Okay, the first thing you need to do is look critically at everything.
Ask yourself why you've been doing it this way and who said it should be
thus."
   Soraya chuckled.
   "Seriously."
   "I know.  I'm just ...  I knew you had a family, I just never caught on
that you all were devotees.  Today was pretty overwhelming."
   Meara nodded.  "A good house is indistinguishable from a family.  The
bigger circles try to break up family ties for that reason.  Let's start at
the beginning.  Why were you taking that medication?"
   "Deven said it would help me with work."
   "And what happened?"
   "Help wasn't it.  I got overworked and underpaid.  I didn't care at the
time because I was with Omari."
   "Okay, you talked to your second vath and then he gave you something
else.  What happened?"
   "It made me sick.  I didn't feel like doing anything."
   "Doing what?"
   "Hanging out, calling anyone.  But I must have realized something was
wrong.  I went to Omari's house and he helped me get it out my system. 
Because I can't remember why I did it, but I felt afraid and it couldn't
wait."
   "First thing that comes to mind - what does connecting with your Paseb
mean to you?"
   "Being with Omari, but I've been prone to stupid thoughts like that for
a while.  Don't read anything into it.  It's not right to think that way."
   "Don't read anything out of it.  I asked for your first impressions, and
that's what I honestly wanted.  When you look at the selbram, what do they
say to you?"
   "That I have a single spirit, composed of different parts, not three
spirits that I need to know, a more complex personality."
   Meara hummed as if that explained everything.
   "Care to share?"
   "In a second, tell me about this ritual you did."
   Soraya went on to describe her act to call up one of the Pasebs under
her Oani Ustufu.  "I asked about why I was cursed, but it cursed me
instead. At first, he asked me where my guardian was."
   "If a Paseb asks after your guardian, then you have one."
   "He said that he was usually with me, but that's only ever been," Soraya
grinned and shook her head.  "We didn't do that much together and I know I
never performed any rituals with my family."
   "Omari?"
   "Yes."
   "I'd love to meet this man.  It's like he is your light.  You glow when
you speak about him, and I don't see how that can be a bad thing.  Okay,
you need to see my vath.  She can help you with the selbram and find the
name of your guardian.  She'll do a reading for you if you ask - and I'm
telling you to ask."
   "I shouldn't consult vath from outside houses.  Omari and I aren't
together, it doesn't matter how I light up."
   "Yes.  You should trust your family, but there's something wrong with
your family, something that has been bothering you.  There's something
that's come between you and Omari.  You need outside perspective."
   ***
   Elder Sidra Jocasta, was Meara's second vath and great aunt.  She was a
stately woman and smiled at Soraya as they walked in.
   "Have you been enjoying your stay?"
   "Yes, elder, thank you."
   "An elder outside your family is just madam."
   "Yes, madam."
   "I heard you and Meara go back to school days.  That's a wonderful
friendship bond.  When she was a little girl, Meara would talk about
bringing you in all the time.  What can I do for you?"
   Meara gestured for Soraya to walk forward.
   Jocasta stood and looked Soraya over.  "Called on a Paseb and got
smacked on the bottom.  Yes, I see it.  Have a seat darling.  Tell me what
you need."
   "I need to figure out what wrong with me, and well, who my guardian is
supposed to be.  The Paseb asked me about it.  I don't have the money, but
I'll pay you back for the reading."
   "Cute." Jocasta placed her oracle on the table.  "Meara used to ask us
if we could take you in as our family.  She said you wanted to be a member
of one so badly that you dreamed about it at night."
   "Yeah."
   "Be careful what you ask for."
   Soraya laughed softly.
   "This is free of charge darling.  You need this.  I can see that." She
began to place the oracle out on the table.  Unlike Deven or Tallula's
readings, she didn't talk during, she looked at the objects as if deep
involved in a conversation.
   "I see, and I must say I sympathize.  He can make you do anything he
wants.  His voice in your ear is the sweetest music.  When you work with
him nothing else matters.  There is no counter balance because he is the
rock beneath you.  Though he is the sole voice, the manipulative force
isn't coming from him, not exactly.  He tests you, tests your limits, your
loyalty.  Even when you fail, he sees it as information to use in the
future.  There's a great deal of care but also frustration.  What he wants
from you and what your family want are directly at odds with you in the
middle."
   Soraya felt her skin crawl.  She glanced to Meara, but posed the
question anyway.  "You're talking about?"
   "Your Paseb, your guardian, and your spiritual influence.  The three
parts of your selbram are embodied in a single masculine spirit."
   Soraya blew her air out slowly.
   "You've encountered the spirit?"
   "You could say that.  So, um, I'm failing.  I know that.  What do I do?"
   "He's too strong for you to do anything but exactly as he ordered.  It's
not submission he seeks, but loyalty, obedience.  If you've met him, then
he's given you a task, and given the Exigur energy, it has to do with your
family."
   Soraya nods.
   "You family has seen this, and yes, he is of the Oani Ustufu, disruptive
and violent, but you must do as the spirit tells you - against all others.
Ustufu spirits are some of the most unforgiving, and yet ...  you've been
shown the greatest mercy."
   "But what about all the bad things that have been happening?  He, it, is
a terrible influence in my life."
   "Being pre-disposed to a thing doesn't mean you should be at the will of
it."
   "What do you mean?  You just told me to do as asked."
   "And you told me you hadn't.  Let's say you know you love pastries. 
Does that mean you must eat them all the time?  No.  It means be careful
when you do so.  If you have a temper, it's not a license to go off on
people.  Know yourself, not lose yourself.  You have been losing yourself
to the spirit rather than finding yourself in its service." Jocasta waved
her hand over the cards.  "That's what I see here before me."
   Meara was about to say something but Soraya gave her a look that asked
her to stop.
   "Thank you.  I'll try to put things right with this information."
   "I'm not done yet.  You're in no condition to set things right.  The
hooks in your soul go deep when they should only tug on the surface."
Jocasta collected her oracle.  "Meara, call Brandon and tell him to set up
a reset in his office."
   Meara nodded and left the room.
   "A reset?"
   "Suspicious?  I bet.  We've no interest in harming you.  You work and
heal through Vonia.  His methods are a little different than what you've
been up to." Jocasta gave her a knowing smirk.  "He does this for a living,
not out of our house.  All I can tell you is that when he's finished,
you'll have Ustufu's strength without risking losing yourself in your
spirit again."
   "Um," Soraya flushed with arousal.  The first she'd felt in days. 
"Where do I go?"
   "Give him about an hour to set up, then Meara will take you."
   "And I don't owe you anything?"
   "Not a thing."
   ***
   Meara had been tight lipped about the man she was going to see the
entire drive.  They were only on the road a couple minutes, so she couldn't
press as much as she wanted.  "I'll see you later."
   Soraya walked into the warm house.  She took off her jacket and draped
it over her arm.
   A distinguished man in his mid-forties walked into the room.  He had a
bit of gray just on the edges of his chocolate brown wavy hair.  It was
lush, a bit long, but not past his ears.
   He had a lean build, slight gut, and as he walked into the room, Soraya
felt immediate attraction.  Not in the usual way her energy would rise.  He
was just an honestly handsome man with a presence that unnerved her.
   "I just put some water on.  Are you familiar with Manta herbs?"
   Soraya nodded.  It was one of the main ingredients in a relaxing drink.
   "My name is Brandon." He led her into the kitchen.  The kettle was just
beginning to boil.  "Do you know why you're here?"
   "Um, a reset?"
   "You don't know what that entails."
   "I know what indulging in Vonia energy is like, but I have never heard
of a reset." It made her think of Omari again and her eyes stung.
   "None of that." He took the boiling water off the stove and poured the
steaming water over the cup with a diffuser already inside.
   The smell of Manta rose from the cups.  It was a rich, fragrant smell.
   "I grow it myself.  I'm going to take you to a room with a table.  All
I'm asking is that you listen and place yourself in my care.  If anything
gets too intense, you just have to say green and I'll work with you."
   "Okay," she sipped the tea, and was thankful for it.  Her nerves were
going through the roof.
   "I run a club where people gather for different sensual experiences. 
Some people want to provide, others want to receive.  I've been doing this
for ten years professionally."
   "I've done a lot more with complete strangers." Soraya looked him over
again.  Dark blue denim jeans, a tailored wine red button down shirt.  He
had the sleeves rolled up to show his forearms.  "You're, ah, very good
looking." She finished off the last of the tea.
   "Thank you.  Coming from you, that's quite the compliment." He took her
by the hand and let her deeper into the house.  They passed through a door
into a room looked specially designed for any sexual act.
   "Do you want me to undress?  Or?"
   "No.  Stand in a relaxed posture.  Good." He took her hand in his,
massaged her fingers, up her hand to her wrists.  Soraya had on a dress, a
long one, given that she was around another family, but her breasts managed
to make anything more explicit than it should.
   Brandon massaged up to her shoulder then switched to her other arm.  He
went to the back of her and unzipped the dress.  His thumbs made circles on
either side of her spine, warm and confident, and best of all, effective.
Her eyes closed and head fell forward while he worked the back of her neck.
Her dress and bra slid down her arms.  He didn't go for her breasts as most
other men would.  There weren't any panties to take off.  Soraya didn't
have much use for them.
   He took her hand and walked her over to the high table.  She lay on her
back and kept her eyes closed as he took one of her feet in his hands and
worked his way up her leg.  He switched and by the time he finished Soraya
could feel the slickness of her vagina, untouched and ignored.
   "As long as you can manage to keep your hands wrapped around these
bars." He guided her hand to each of the hand holds.  And your feet here,"
he swung something up and placed her feet into stirrups.  "I will not strap
you down.  Move, and these straps, he let her feel the soft fabric, "are
going to hold you in place."
   "You need to use the straps."
   "Good." He moved from limb to limb, strapping her in.  "I'm going to
tease the energy from you.  I know you don't feel like it now, but it will
rise.  Don't fight that.  I assure you I'm practiced in keeping to my own
goals."
   Soraya let her eyes close again.  "If you say so."
   She didn't know what to expect, least of all for his hands to massage
around her labia.  She loosened up and waited with high expectations.  He
placed one warm hand over her lower belly and something pressed her open.
He removed it and then she took a slow breath as that one felt just right.
He worked it inside, going a little deeper with each stroke and once it got
all the way inside her, something pressed down on her clitoris.
   She gasped as the thing inside her began to move.  A slow, wriggling
sensation took away the last of her shyness.  She opened her legs wide and
tried to work her hips against him.  The sensation didn't increase.  She
wanted it to thrust inside her, wanted him.  She made a low whine in her
throat and the last block cleared, if he wouldn't give her more then she'd
make him.
   The movement increased and a low hum sent vibrations through her
clitoris.
   Just when her orgasm approached the humming stopped and he pulled out
the device out of her.
   Soraya growled and tried to sit up.  Damn her stupidity, if it weren't
for those straps she would have jumped on him, pulled his cock out.  "Fuck
me."
   "Sit back and close your eyes."
   Soraya relaxed and shut her eyes.  There was something about his voice
in that moment that left no room for argument.  Authority, power, dominion:
Zerroq.  Her heart sped up at the realization.  If Brandon were a Sidra
with the power of Zerroq, then she would be in a mountain of trouble.
   The vibrations started up again and the device moved a little more than
it did before.  Her hands opened and closed and once again, her body
climbed toward arousal.
   Once again, he stopped.
   "Please, please," Soraya's breath came in short gasps.  Her thighs
quivered and the energy rose even higher.  "Will you fuck me?  I need to
feel," His mouth closed over her left nipple while his fingers pulled and
tugged on the right one.
   The torture continued, Soraya would beg, he would say nothing.  Didn't
give in.
   After almost an hour the vibration turned up to its highest setting and
two long cylindrical objects worked both her vaginal and anal passages.
   Her orgasm approached and crested, taking her over the edge.  She
screamed as her body twisted, contracted, and squirmed.  The objects didn't
stop, the vibration continued, each a little slower.  Soraya turned her
head to look at Brandon.  He was sitting on a stool, a controller in his
hand, a composed face.  His eyes looked at her body, not in a hungry way
but an analyzing one.
   Just as she came down from the long awaited first orgasm, the second one
captured her body.  Thus began the second round of torture.  Her ejaculate
flowed during the third orgasm, leaving her weak and trembling.  The fourth
and fifth seemed to blend.
   Now her whimpers were those begging for mercy.  It would be impossible
for her to have another orgasm, no way, not this soon, and then...
   When she came again she sank into a state of comfort and bliss.  No more
whining or begging or squirming, she accepted the assault on her sexual
organs.
   It stopped, the straps left her body.  Soraya was in no mood to move. 
The massage began again, one limb at a time, starting with her front. 
Brandon flipped her over and worked on her back, from her neck to her ass.
He wrapped a soft blanket around her body and lifted her off the massage
table.  She rested on his shoulder as he carried her.
   Almost twenty minutes later she sat up a little and looked around.  The
lights had been turned low, they were in a different room.  She looked up
at him.
   "Feel better?"
   "Yes, sir."
   "That's a reset."
   "Zerroq?"
   "Two of my selbram." Brandon grinned.  "You were a great work out."
   "Are you saying you enjoyed that?"
   "I enjoy being successful.  With some energies, especially Extreje, I
can achieve balance.  With your Ustufu Oani, you need a more intense
regimen."
   Soraya wiggled until she sat up a little more.  She brought her arm out
of the blanket and put it around his neck.  She kissed him, lightly at
first, sucked his bottom lip into her mouth.  She didn't use any of her
energy, didn't need to, probably wouldn't have the energy left.
   "After a session, there's a tendency to be sensitive, emotionally
vulnerable.  I've put your energies in balance, but you're still a woman."
   "I did love the orgasms, but I," She loved sex, but she loved Omari. 
Maybe she was just being vulnerable.
   He cradled her head to his chest.  "This is for you.  Enjoy it."
   -_ Calling _-
   Part of him never wanted to see her again, another part ached with every
fiber of his being to be back inside her.  He looked at the other women
scattered through the apartment.  Either one of them, any time before he'd
met Soraya, he'd have bedded and moved on to the next available woman
waiting to find out what being with him was truly like.
   His appetite had changed, and permanently, it seemed.  At least until
the fall of the Araceli house.  Maybe then his avatar would free him from
this torturous lust and need.
   When she walked in the door, Omari felt her presence.  She felt like a
draft of sensual warmth.
   "Excuse me," he got to his feet and sought her out.  The presence of
other people went away.  Like a heat seeking missile, he didn't let anyone
or anything get in his way.
   "Soraya." She smiled and he knew he had to be inside her, no matter what
she had or hadn't been doing.  "Get undressed."
   "That's not why I'm here."
   Omari glared at her.  In a moment she'd start peeling those clothes off
and he could take here right here in the living room.
   That moment passed and she was still standing there, no look of
intimidation or fear.
   Omari snatched her by the arm and pinned her to the wall.  "What did you
say to me?"
   "I said that's not why I'm here."
   "What are you here for then?" All she cared about was fucking him, not
listening, not his advice.  Why else would she keep turning up and opening
for him if not that?
   "I want time alone, just me and you."
   He pulled her along by the arm.  If she didn't want to put on a show
that would be just fine by him.  He wanted inside her, any place, any
conditions.  Omari kicked the door closed behind him.  "Undress."
   "No."
   He could hear the low growl.
   "Who are you, Omari?  What's happened to me?  Please, I need to hear the
truth."
   Omari barked.  His laugh was mocking, short.  "Why?"
   "Because I want to know.  I need you to guide me to it."
   He laughed again before he could help it.  "Wrong.  So wrong.  You want
to hide from the truth, you want to bury it, change it, ignore it.  What
the fuck does the truth matter to you?"
   "It matters because that's how I've acted, but that's not how I want to
stay."
   Omari cocked his head to the side and let her words sink in, truly
listened.  Somewhere along the way she'd come across a sliver of wisdom. 
"I've missed you and I want to see your body.  I'll tell you the truth, but
I want to look at you." He pulled a chair around to the foot of the bed and
straddled it.  He pointed to the bed.  "Undress and lay out in front of
me."
   He waited while she peeled out of clothes and crawled onto his bed.  She
was just as beautiful as he remembered, every curve and swell and mark on
her body committed to his memory and fantasies.  He drank her in with his
eyes for a moment.
   "Truth is to know deception.  Truth is to see beyond the gloss to the
ugliness.  Some times you see through the ugliness to the beauty, but that
is less jarring.  Truth is that your family is out of balance for its
crimes against its own circle, oaths broken to the Oani, and you need to
find some way to uncover that decay and expose it to the light."
   "You're my guardian."
   "For the moment, through this task.  We share a Paseb, or at least very
kindred spirits."
   "I think it's different than that."
   Omari couldn't begin to hope for anything different.  "It's not.  You
have a task and you need to finish it."
   "You do this all the time.  Don't you?"
   "Since I was a boy.  Any other questions?"
   He waited, but she didn't ask anything else.  "Thank you." She sat up
and began to get dressed.
   Omari's eyes went wide.  Putting her clothes on, one article at a time.
That's not the way this was supposed to happen.  "What are you doing?"
   "I wanted to talk to you.  You answered my questions.  I'm heading back
home."
   He shook his head.  She was talking to him, but her words weren't making
sense.  Soraya?  Walking away from him?  "I get what you're trying to say.
You don't have to prove anything to me.  Stay."
   "No.  I'm going home." She walked over to him, hugged him and kissed him
on the cheek.
   They must have sealed her.
   "Like you said so many times.  I have taken a oath and have a task. 
Thank you for helping me." With a momentary squeeze she backed away, his
door opened and a few seconds later, the front door opened and closed.
   ***
   Heavy footfalls on the stairs above her.  Soraya stepped aside thinking
someone was about to rush past her toward the door.
   Omari was the last person she expected to see.  Did she forget
something?
   "They didn't seal you?"
   "No." Confusion was an interesting look on him.
   "My best friend in Peyton is from another family.  I spent the rest of
my vacation with them.  One of them did this reset."
   "On you?"
   Soraya nodded.  "It helped."
   "I can see that now, but so will your family.  If they do ...  I can
help you.  If you're truly going to expose them, then you need to cloak
your new found composure."
   It wasn't about her.  He hadn't run down the stairs to profess that he
loved her, that it had nothing to do with the Paseb they shared or the task
she'd been given.  There was pain, but it didn't overwhelm her.  She
nodded. "Okay."
   Omari stood beside her as someone came up the stairs.
   "I could use the help.  I know what I'm supposed to do, but I feel so
terrible about it.  I don't want to hurt my family, no matter what they've
done or tried to do to me."
   Omari groaned.  "If I say you must lose your hand, is it a bad thing?"
   "Of course it is."
   "Of course." He took her hand, held her fingers.  "If I say there is an
infection on your fingers, sending poison to your heart that will kill you.
However, all hope is not lost if you loose your hand, is it a bad thing?"
   "Well, no, not weighed against my life."
   "The hand must be cut, Soraya.  It doesn't matter what it is being
weighed against or how you feel about it.  That you do not know the
consequence should not change things.  The Oani is out of balance, that is
a weight more heavy than your life.  Instead of trying to protect them, you
are letting the infection fester and grow inside you.  The longer it
continues the less can be saved.  The only way out of this is through the
fire."
   "And the way through is deception?"
   "You have to get close enough to sever the hand," Omari said with a
knowing grin.  "If they know what happened to you, by another family
member? You'll go to bed and wake up forever branded."
   "Where are we going to do this?  You've got a full party going on up
there."
   "Then we take it elsewhere.  I'll grab my bag.  It's within walking
distance."
   Soraya waited on the steps and followed him through the parking lot to
the foot path into the natural area.
   "It's a short ritual designed to call up Shilza to cloak you in the very
veil you need to pierce.  We've already done this once before."
   Soraya nodded, when she needed to sneak back into the house.
   "Araceli will see you exactly as they want to see - open to their
influence, ready to be purified, and susceptible to their deception.  Those
who were false to you will not see past the glare.  Those who are ready to
see the truth will have the wisdom to keep quiet and let you do your work."
   "I'm not holding my breath for there to be any of those."
   "You might be surprised." Omari set his bag down and set up the space
they were about to work in.  "Your eyes will be opened, Soraya, will you
serve?"
   "Yes, I will do as the spirit has called and be the instrument of
balance in the Araceli circle."
   "Then let's begin."
   ***
   She got back to Zarina's house and heard her vath on the phone when she
got out the shower.  She removed the cloth covering her bracelet and kept
off the divider that separated the selbram into triplets.  The beads were
arranged exactly as she'd always felt they should be, the main power being
in the center with the offshoots on either side.
   It didn't matter if she was wrong, confused, wrongly influenced.  These
were her selbram and it didn't matter if anyone else could see or read
them. This was the way she wanted them to be arranged.
   Zarina, Tallula, and Deven tried not to look alarmed or rushed.  It was
obvious as Soraya entered the kitchen that they were waiting for her.  Even
more obvious as the way they pretended to accidentally enter the kitchen
together.
   "Good to see you back," said Deven.
   Zarina walked over and embraced her.  "How have you been?  Are you all
right?"
   "Yes." Soraya drank the water in her glass and smiled.
   Deven tried not to look alarmed or scared, but it was obvious to her
that something was off about his behavior.
   "I know I had some problems that I needed to work out.  Someone I was
close to had been filling my head with lies, but I've cleared that up." She
looked at Tallula.  "Are you ready?"
   Deven spoke up first.  "We can see a difference in you, but I would
still like to do a reading before she proceeds.  I know Tallula is taking
you on, but you might benefit from further insight and it will grant us a
wider perspective."
   Tallula didn't like what Deven had to say, but she didn't say anything.
Soraya noticed how she cut her eyes at him when she took her seat.
   "Thank you.  I know I've been difficult and I just wanted to apologize
for that and thank you for being so patient with me."
   Tallula's smile was slow and small.  Soraya noted her reluctance to lap
up her contrition with interest.
   "I think the bad influence was the spirit of my mother."
   "Oh?" Tallula arched her brow.  "How did you come to that knowledge?"
   "Through the spirit.  She should have aborted me when you all told her
to.  Isn't that right?" Soraya smiled again at Tallula.
   "Yes." Tallula nodded slowly.  Sweat began to break out on her brow.  "I
suppose.  Deven, you do the reading.  I agree it would provide extra
insight." She stood up and took a small step back.
   Deven and Zarina appeared to be preening over the girl, waiting for
Tallula to take her into her home.  Didn't they just hear what she said? 
Didn't they see the aura of power surrounding her?  The fact that Tallula
did reminded her why she had been made an elder, why she took the calling
of oracle.  Most of all, it reminded her of last time she was so certain of
what she saw, when her mother had come to her, distraught and upset over
the child in her belly and love for her vath.
   Talulla had played a part in the girl's predicament and now she saw the
error of her ways.  She could see what was coming and she wanted to get out
of the way.  Whatever happened next was not going to get any more
interference from her.
   "You just got back.  We have some time before I need to speak to you."
   Soraya smiled into her drink.  So Tallula could see through her, but she
didn't say a word, just like Omari said would happen.  That worked
perfectly.  It was a bit of fun, seeing into the soul of them and using
their deception against them.
   But what was she going to do with all this information?  Soraya still
didn't have that part worked out.
   Deven kept talking to her though.  He was practically beaming over his
oracle as he performed the reading.
   ***
   Deven paused and looked at the oracle in front of him.  It was ... 
almost exactly what he'd seen the first time he did the reading, maybe even
the same position, but they were reading differently this time.  It didn't
just read that she was to take the elements and become Sidra.  It said she
had was a Sidra, steeped in the energies of her single spirit.
   As if for the first time, Deven looked up from his oracle and at her
bracelet.  Until that moment, he didn't think anything of seeing it
uncovered, or of the beads that lay together.
   He saw the spirit that ruled her, bonded with her, and all nine selbram
indicated an old and powerful Paseb under the domain of Ustufu.
   "You will make a great Sidra when it comes time." Deven said, his words
soft.
   Soraya leaned onto the counter.  "When do you think that will be?"
   "Soon, I expect." He gathered his oracle, but he couldn't look the girl
in the eye.  Fear filled him as it hadn't in a long time.  He'd never been
in the presence of a spirit outside of a ritual and he felt exposed,
unsafe. The fear went deep, even for his life.  What was she going to do if
she knew he was seeing through her ruse?
   "Are you leaving now?"
   "Yes.  Take care, Soraya.  Welcome home."
   "I'm very glad to be back."
   Zarina watched Deven leave hot on Tallula's trail with an expression of
confusion.
   ***
   "Soraya," Mason greeted as he stood and shook her head.
   "Thanks for granting me a second interview."
   "Absolutely, I was glad to hear from you.  We've only got a few more
days before we file our report.  Did you have something you wanted to say
or would you prefer I ask more questions?"
   "I'll open up with what I want to talk about and then I think you'll
know what to ask."
   Mason started the equipment to recording.
   Soraya told him everything that had been going on, in much of the same
way she'd been going crazy before, she even said things she didn't know how
she knew, but the words felt like the truth and there was little way she
could stop the flow of information.
   To Mason's credit, he didn't seemed surprised by her revelations.  As
the interview continued he almost seemed happy and relieved.
   "I began this project because I wanted to know the truth behind what
really happened with Amira.  If you had seen her, the work she was doing -
she was on a one way path to becoming an elder Sidra.  She went from that
path to a shunned member in a manner of weeks with nothing being said.  You
and her are very much alike and I guess that scared them.  And for good
reason, huh?"
   Soraya grinned.  "Yes.  I would suppose so."
   "There's nothing wrong with Araceli, it is a great circle, a great
family, and they have access to some of the most powerful Paseb."
   "It's the imbalance."
   "Exactly, and I can see that it's going to be righted.  I'll make sure
they are exposed so that this wound can heal."
   "I'm hoping so."
   "You've done your family a profound service."
   ***
   Despite all the trouble and disharmony Soraya was accused of causing,
that was how most of the family saw her act - as a service to the family.
Now that it was made clear that she'd been acting under the influence of
the spirit toward righting and old wrong, everyone treated her kind and
fair.
   But she didn't have much time to soak in the attention and kindness,
Soraya entered her time in shadow, officially and immediately.  Soraya had
spent so much time in isolation she was beginning to think the Oani of
Ymnyzy had a bit of interest in her as well.
   She'd manifested the essence enough to prove to the other Sidra that the
ceremony would only be a formality at this point, one that was long
overdue.
   The visions and dreams were less disturbing and seemed to stop all
together.  Her compulsion to tempt others was blissfully gone.  It was
peaceful, but lonely.
   Her time in shadow marked the end of her task, the end of being used,
manipulated.  It was also the end of her affair with Omari.  Like her, he
had only been acting in the interest of his Paseb.  Would he want anything
to do with her?  Perhaps as a friend, but nothing like before.  Their
relationship burned with Bwent energies: feverish passion and need and
intensity.  It wouldn't be as bright and awesome.
   The thoughts sent tears down her eyes.  She would miss him, everything
about him.
   Soraya's door opened and one of the devotees entered with a plate of
food for her.
   "Something the matter?"
   Soraya wiped her eyes and shook her head.  "Nothing but thoughts."
   She smiled.  "I heard what you did.  Did it hurt?"
   "Emotionally?  A lot.  I'm glad I didn't give up though."
   "If you need anything, there will be someone next door.  Okay?"
   "Okay.  Thanks."
   Meara also stopped by.  They weren't allowed to hug or touch, but they
talked for a couple hours.
   Soraya stretched out on her bed while Meara sat in a chair by the door.
"Did you know what Brandon does?"
   Meara nodded.  "Not that I've ever been to his club, but we know.  You
want to talk about a hard talent to accept?  When I was a child, I remember
the adults all shooing us away when his name came up in conversation."
   "I bet."
   "How was it?  You know, with him?"
   "I was never actually with him, and it was like torture, wonderful
torture.  I felt so much better afterward though."
   "You still have this sadness about you.  Have you heard from him?"
   Soraya shook her head.  "I put my phone away so I wouldn't be tempted.
He was just doing what he had to do to spur me forward."
   "You actually believe that?"
   "He said as much last time I saw him."
   Meara shook her head.  "Talk to him after."
   Soraya shrugged.  "I'm just going to focus on my family."
   "How are they doing?"
   "Better, good, I guess, but I can tell they walk circles around me. 
Everyone is cleaning up their act though, making amends to the spirits.  I
really did destroy everything they were working toward, just like that
Sidra said."
   "What was that?"
   "They wanted to be listed as the one true family - getting credit from
the city as one of the most authentic.  Instead, the documentary got
released and now it would make the city look like a fool.  In the end,
Araceli is like any other family - no better or worse.  Probably saved the
city a lot of money and abuse."
   "Araceli is still a powerful family, make no mistake about that."
   "Why would you say that?"
   "You." Meara smiled.  "You were born into it and a member.  Ustufu is a
volatile energy, and if any family can foster it, then Araceli will be able
to."
   "I hope so.  I just want to make it these next few weeks.  Will you be
at the ceremony?"
   "Absolutely.  I've already got my room and everything."
   ***
   "Come in," Omari hit send on the email he was typing as the visitor
entered his office.
   "Omari, we spoke on the phone.  My name is Morathi." He took the seat
opposite his desk.
   Omari nodded.  "Strange place for us to meet."
   "I was in the area.  I understand you have a different method of
devotion than the houses here."
   "That's one way of putting it." Typically the houses liked to call his
family's methods primitive, dangerous, and reckless, but it was amusing to
hear the elder temper his words.
   Morathi had spent the morning in ceremony, calling his guardians, all of
them, beseeching his spirits for protection.  He could feel the energy of
the man even over the phone but sitting in his office made his power more
potent.  As an elder, Morathi thought he would have nothing to fear, but
seeing an avatar made that fear into a living thing.  A true avatar was a
fairy tale, something elders heard about but never lived to see.
   Morathi had come before this legend to reach a goal and he had to see it
through.  "Soraya takes the elements in a week.  It would honor her and the
house if you would be in attendance."
   "No."
   Morathi blinked, surprised by the sharp answer.
   "I don't know what you've got in your head, but I have no place at her
ceremony.  The spirit I serve worked through me, worked through her, and
only for the goal that has already been achieved - to open the eyes of your
house.  Your eyes have been opened, haven't they?"
   "Yes, we are well aware of the wrongs we've committed agains the Oani.
We were arrogant to assume we could pick and choose who would be Sidra and
who would not."
   Omari shrugged.  "Then Soraya and I have no further involvement.  I am
not her family, and if the spirit wants to be present during your
pageantry, it will be through one of your Sidra."
   It was more than that.  Omari couldn't bare to confuse their
relationship any further.  He wanted her by his side again, he wanted her
in his bed when he woke and under her before he slept, but he couldn't be
selfish and ask that of her.  She would have the responsibilities and life
of a Sidra now.  She was headed away from him and seeing her would twist
his guts.
   She wouldn't want anything more to do with him.  She got what she
wanted, the full acceptance of her family.  The work of his avatar was
complete.
   Omari saw the elder out, but his visit left him lost in sorrow.  Even
talking about Soraya brought the hurt back.  He wanted her.
   "I don't know what to do," Omari whispered.  "You, who sends me to help
others.  What am I supposed to say?  I'm lost and confused."
   As Omari typically did when confusion gripped him, he drove to see his
mother, the person who had taught him everything he needed to know.
   "You have to stop coming to me like this baby." Elizabeth hugged him
tight.  "So much sadness.  It's not good for you." She went to let him go,
but Omari kept his arms around her.
   They stood there for several minutes before Omari took a step back.  "I
need a reading."
   "Damn right you do.  Come on then."
   ***
   Isolation was indeed a close friend.
   Soraya had been a Sidra for several months, but outside her role of
serving her Paseb (which always filled her with sadness and made the entire
affair seem to ring hollow) and other rituals, Soraya was Sidra only as it
referred to the duties of serving the spirits.  No one wanted to be her
vand, not even outside Niralens went to her for advice or workings, as if
word had gotten out that she was the biggest snitch in the world, seeing
through to secrets and spreading them for the world to see.
   Even the rituals were few and far between.  There was a list of Sidran
that others wanted to work with, and Soraya must have been dead last on it,
even below Javier, who was actually doing pretty well for a person who paid
his way in, and fucked his way through his time of shadow, seemed to work
more at rituals, but then, a popular face was still a popular face.
   That wasn't her.
   Soraya spent most of her time at the temple house, cleaning up the
altars and making sure they were well taken care of.  On occasion, she
could still see the spirits moving around, visiting.  They seemed much
happier now that the house was returning to balance.
   Soraya arranged the offering on her own Paseb's area.  Once she'd made
Sidra, her secret one was able to be shared in the temple house, but even
it seemed to be set apart from the others.  Ostracized for the service it
had done for them.
   "I'm sorry," Soraya whispered.  "Sorry that I couldn't have done as you
wanted with a better result for you, a way that would have you venerated
rather than feared.  I wish I could find a better way to serve you, to
bring others to you."
   She smiled as she thought about Omari and the many people who always
wanted to be around him, respected him, made offerings in his house.  That
orgy she'd had with him certainly seemed to be high in regard.
   "But I know you have someone who is better at it than me.  This pleases
me, and I thank you for the opportunity you gave me to know him.  Send
him," she stopped, her throat worked and eyes stung.  She began again, her
voice soft with the request.  "Send him my love."
   ***
   The message must have been sent, because Omari found her in the park. 
She'd long since quit working.  Now that she was a Sidra, her service was
paid through the family.  She'd never have the swelling incomes enjoyed by
the other Sidra with their lineages and vands, but she could support
herself.  She had a family after all.  She had to be satisfied with that.
Had to be.
   She repeated that as she saw Omari walking toward her.  They shared a
Paseb, a spirit.  He might have something he needs from her, and she would
serve.
   "Hi." Soraya waved.
   "Hi yourself.  How have you been?"
   Sad.  Lonely.  Bitter.  Soraya shook her head.  "What do you want?"
   "Seriously?" Omari thought on the question.  "I've only ever wanted an
honest woman."
   Soraya chuckled then that chuckle took on a deeper laugh.
   "Stupid, I know."
   "No, that's not what so funny.  One word isn't going to cut it.  You
must want something more than that."
   He shook his head.  "Why would you say that?"
   "I've only ever been honest with you, and you don't want me."
   Omari leaned his head over and seemed to be thinking on her assertion.
   Soraya went back to her lunch and left him to it.  Only ever, since the
day she'd seen him, every decadent day in his company.
   "Always?"
   "Is there a lie I don't know about?"
   "You were under the influence of the Paseb.  I don't hold the things you
said to me strictly to you.  It's not that I don't want you.  We were
called to serve."
   Soraya nodded.  "I guess there's that to consider.  I mean, you being
what you are, you had to tell me things that were in his interest, not
yours.  We were both just doing as we're told.  I get it."
   She really did understand, but she had hoped there was something more,
than he wasn't just doing as he was told, that he truly did miss her and
enjoy her.
   Soraya startled when Omari sat down in front of her.  She'd thought he'd
walked away already.  He reached out and thumbed the tears from her cheeks.
"Soraya, how have you been?"
   "Sad.  Lonely.  Bitter." She sniffled and winced as the next brutal
truth ripped itself from her throat.  "Heartbroken."
   He pulled her into his arms and she went.  She missed the smell of him
and the feel of his arms wrapped around her.
   "Remember when I first met you?"
   Soraya laughed and the tears began to flow more freely.  "Yeah, me
crying all over you."
   "I wanted you, and my way of going for you was maybe a bit too carnal
for your tastes at the time, but I think the end result would have been the
same."
   "What's that?"
   "I would not want anyone else other than you.  My mind and heart and
body would be utterly tuned into your frequency for the rest of my life."
   Soraya didn't say anything, she didn't want to breathe.  She listened as
if letting another sniffle out would break the spell.
   "Any sexual adventures since we were last together?"
   She shook her head.  "Not since the reset."
   Omari rubbed his face in the crown of her head.  "How did he manage it?"
   "Impersonally.  I think I had three devices working me while I was
strapped to a table."
   "Did you enjoy it?"
   "It worked, but it was ...  the only word I can think of is torture, but
it wasn't.  Medicinal, that's what it was." She sighed heavily, "so much of
my life is like that now.  Necessary."
   He angled her head back and kissed her.  Not this part.  Everything had
been empty and hollow, but now she was being filled like a baby bird with
his energy.  She turned in his lap and her fingers crept into his hair.  He
pulled back, but only enough that they could breathe.
   She missed him.  Loved him.  Needed him.
   "Your elder came to see me, Morathi?"
   "Wow.  Why?"
   "He wanted me to come to your ceremony."
   "You wouldn't have liked it.  It wasn't anything special, not the way I
know it could have been." Soraya sighed and wiped her cheeks.  "Not that it
matters how it went or anything.  There's this kind of emptiness that I'll
have to get used to, I guess."
   "Emptiness?  As a Sidra?  They are constantly busy with their vath. 
Always needing their attention like a child."
   "Not from me.  No one wants me for their vath.  I'm never going to have
children of any kind."
   "When my family first learned what I could do, how.  They pulled away,
didn't understand how it worked, but in time, I learned how to temper it.
It can be hard," He shrugged.  "It's why I surround myself with people I
can trust, hang onto them."
   "I'll have to learn that trick."
   He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes.  "You will."
   Soraya wanted to look away, but she couldn't.  Oh, she loved him so
much. "How do you know that?"
   "Because I'll teach you."
   "You don't have to do that."
   "Soraya, I love you.  I have been heartbroken, empty.  I haven't felt
better in months than I do right now with you in my arms.  I can't bare to
have you out of my life, out of my bed.  How," He lowered his voice and
spoke right in her ear.  "How are you going to serve a spirit if he's never
around?"
   Omari put his finger on her lips.  "I'm not being cruel, Soraya.  I was
wrong.  I thought my avatar brought you to me for your family, only your
family.  That's why your bracelet was all messed up.  It's all the parts,
my avatar, me, you, us.  I want you.  I want to be with you.  I ...  I
fucking need all the carnal decadence you bring into my life.  I want to
give you children, as many as you can bare.  Please."
   "Please what?"
   "Spend your life with me, gorgeous.  You've taken oaths you need to
keep."
   <->
   Epilogue: Nysidra is the most 'real' part of this story.  I tried to
present her without a definition overload.  I mentioned the "Asan" which is
a nod to a creature on the other side of the veil.  Bheymil is the other
story that mentions the spirits they work with.
Written: November 2013
   Contact: nysidra at hot mail dot com
  
Priestess_06