Lovers and Beloveds

by MeiLin Miranda

  "The Keep is not my home," he answered. "I'm happy to see you, Mama. This is all...I'm sure this is the right thing to do, but I confess... Everything's upside down, except for here."

  "Temmin," called Senik from the foot of the dais, "it's time to get ready." Temmin kissed his mother's little hands, made his obeisances to the Most Highs, and turned to go, his step unsteady. Malla stayed him, her warm, thin-skinned hand on his. "It's all right to be afraid, Temmin Supplicant. But don't withhold yourself, any part of yourself, from Them. They will take all of you, and if you resist Them, so much the worse for you."

  "Respectfully, Most High, I didn't go through all this to resist."

  She smiled pensively. "Ah, but there is so, so very much more still to come."

  Senik led Temmin down a long corridor that ran parallel to the gardens. Temmin carried a basket full of little muslin bags, Senik two small but heavy caskets. "Barik Lover will lead, we will assist," said Senik. "Have you met Barik?"

  He had; he’d met all the senior clergy. The biggest thing about Barik Lover that he’d seen were his eyes: soft, sympathetic brown pools often lit with some unheard, inner joke. Otherwise, Barik’s balding, close-cropped head came only to Temmin’s shoulder. He was middle-aged, and beyond good looks in Temmin’s estimation--a long nose, square-set mouth, and rather well-furred forearms. They entered the anteroom of the Gods’ Chamber, a long oblong with two doors. One was red and led to Nerr’s side of the Chamber; the other was white and led to Neya’s.

  Barik sat before a long, low table. “Senik Postulant,” he muttered, “why do you go all the way to Inchar to fetch me something?” He took the basket from Temmin and laid out the bags on the table. “They’re already on the frames, and I don’t like them hanging up there any longer than necessary.”

  Barik began taking practised pinches from the muslin bags, depositing them in the center of two large pieces of thin paper: dried herbs and flowers, spices, barks, and a bitter powder that made Temmin sneeze. Some substances were common to both; some, Barik added only to one of the papers. “There’s an exact sequence of sensations--hunger, scents, tastes, caresses, even blows--that bring the Gods down into their Embodiments,” he said, “and these mixtures provide the incense. We’ll burn these in a brazier. Stay away from it.” He folded the papers into packets and directed Temmin to reseal and stow the muslin bags back in their basket.

  Barik handed one of the packets to Senik, who still held one of the caskets. “Take these to Glaes.” Senik disappeared through the white door; when he returned, the three men opened the red door, and entered Nerr’s side together.

  Temmin thought of the last time he'd seen Issak naked: thick-muscled, almost cruel, bending Temmin's will to his own. And now here he was in near-reverse, bound naked to a frame, sweaty, already half-erect and bending himself to Nerr's will, whatever it might be. There was a sadness to the set of his mouth, and Temmin wished he could see Issak's eyes, but the Embodiment wore a blindfold. "Why is he tied up like that?" said Temmin.

  "It's part of the sequence, and it's for everyone's safety including Issak's. When the Gods come down, They're on the exuberant side at first," said Barik, depositing the remaining paper packet on a brazier at Issak's feet. Smoke curled up from the brazier, smelling of rich woods and amber, and that bitter powder; it made Temmin a little dizzy in the head. Issak took it in, long steady breaths ending in sighs, and hardened further, Temmin's own arousal responding.

  Another scent wafted into the room: white hothouse flowers, tuberose, gardenia, and the little trumpet-shaped ones Ellika loved--freesia--but underneath floated that same bitterness. "Neya's scent," murmured Senik. "They've begun the greater preparation with Allis."

  Allis tied and blindfolded, helpless and open to his touch: a deeper breath, and the image became clearer, almost physical. He had yet to even see her naked, but he could imagine the rise and fall of her breasts, sweat trickling between them, her soft mouth open and panting; it shot between his legs in a burst. He reached out to touch her.

  Barik's suddenly booming voice in his ear brought him back to the room. "Don't stand near that brazier, I said! It's for the Holy One, not you. I need you here, not hallucinating in a heap. Back away." Temmin dutifully stepped back, and though his head cleared somewhat, his arousal stayed with him, tight against the red linen trousers.

  Issak's sighs turned to groans, his thick cock fully erect and straining. Temmin's eyes slipped down his body and came to rest on a mark he hadn't noticed before, on Issak's left hip: a birthmark? Who had a glowing silver birthmark? He stepped further away from the brazier, and took in a few lungfuls of clean air.

  Senik offered the box to Barik with a hitherto unknown solemnity; Barik opened it with a quiet click of its clasp, and pulled out three heavy clusters of rubies, earrings Temmin supposed, though far heavier than an ear could support. The clusters altogether must have weighed half a pound. Barik stripped the earrings and handed their gems back to Senik.

  Senik smothered the smoking brazier with sand. Whatever the effect of the incense, Issak was firmly in its grasp; he strained against the binding straps, the tendons and veins in his arms standing out in sharp relief. Barik ran a gentle hand up the Embodiment's broad chest and stopped at the first nipple he came to, stroking it gently. Issak flinched and whimpered, and then Barik took what Temmin had thought was an earring and fastened it to the nipple.

  The Embodiment let out a long, roaring groan. "Gently, gently, now, Holy One," murmured Barik as he fastened the second clamp. He stepped behind the frame and pulled Issak's head back by his thick, black hair, kissing him; the Embodiment returned it, hungrily. "Come take my place, Temmin Supplicant," said Barik. Temmin hesitated. "Supplicant, here. Now. Hold his head. Give him what he asks for."

  Temmin took Barik's position behind the frame, and wrapped Issak's hair timidly around his hand. "Temmin, please," crooned Issak, lips searching. His voice held the same frantic, bare desperation Temmin heard in countless voices in the petitioning rooms--the young man begging for the release of a spanking, the muffled pleading of the woman tied to the couch--though he sensed Issak feared release as much as needed it. "Please..."

  Temmin fisted the hand in Issak's hair, Issak, so composed and in control and now begging and needy. Temmin yanked him back and kissed him, a fierce, sloppy, imperfect kiss that brought Temmin more into the present, but took Issak further away.

  "Keep hold of him," said Barik, kneeling on the floor. He took the last clamp, and fastened it to the skin of Issak's sac. The Embodiment jerked and howled, twisting this way and that to bite at Temmin, but he held on tight to Issak's hair.

  "Soon," said Barik. "Soon. Senik, open the doors to Neya's chamber, and to the gardens." Cool nighttime air flowed in from the gardens, and with it, the excited murmur of worshippers. The large doors between the Gods' chambers opened, framing Allis: naked, bound and blindfolded like her brother, struggling against the restraints. From each nipple dangled the same clamps; two more hung from her labia. An older woman he recognized as Glaes Beloved, a woman as senior as Barik, knelt before Neya's Embodiment, gently tapping the clamps as they swung back and forth.

  Anda stood behind Allis; she cupped the Embodiment's breasts, and let them fall. Allis let out an agonized growl, and Anda gave her the kiss she sought.

  Temmin let go of Issak and stepped forward; Barik stayed him with a hand on his leg. "She's all right. They're both all right. It's hard the first time, watching them go through this. But every Spectacle we call the Gods, you will remember this, and wish you were in this room once more. Now go back to your station, Temmin Supplicant. Senik Postulant, it's time."

  Temmin returned to his place behind Issak; he impulsively caressed the Embodiment's hair, only to draw back when Issak snarled and snapped at him. "Be careful," said Senik, handing him two of the heavy ruby pendants. "Issak's not there any more, but Nerr hasn't arrived yet. Watch Anda, and do as she does."

  Allis was gone as well. A very young postulan
t Beloved Temmin knew as Evra gave Anda two diamond pendants, twins to the rubies; Anda slipped to the front, carefully avoiding gnashing teeth, and hung one from each nipple clamp. Allis screamed and threw her head back. "Go on, Temmin Supplicant," said Barik, and Temmin did as he was told; he fastened a ruby onto each nipple clamp. Issak stiffened and let out a strangled sound, quickly drowned out by keening from across the room. Two diamonds now dangled from the clamps on Allis's labia. She gasped and cried, settling into an almost-silent trembling; Issak trembled as well, as Barik added a ruby to the clamp between his legs.

  One by one they fastened more gems to the clamps, until each one held four. Sweat poured down the twin's shuddering bodies. Their heads hung low, black hair rippling. Senik moved to one side, and put Temmin's hand on one clamp, his own on the other. "Do it quickly, Temmin. Follow my lead."

  "On my mark," called Barik. "One--two--now!"

  Senik and Barik whipped off the clamps; Temmin scrabbled at the grip, but was not far behind. "Press in," said Senik, and Temmin imitated him, pushing his thumb down hard and flat on the nipple. Panic rose in his throat as Issak screamed. He looked down and met Barik's eyes; the Lover nodded reassuringly as he molded Issak's balls. Allis sobbed, limp in her restraints, as Anda and Evra pressed down on her nipples, Glaes Beloved's head buried between her legs.

  Abruptly, the sobbing stopped. Everyone pulled away from the Embodiments, Senik snagging Temmin by the collar and tugging him back. Smiles spread slowly across the twins' faces, and their heads rose. "They're here," said Barik. "Watch yourselves." He and Glaes removed the blindfolds. The eyes beneath glowed, a faint rose halo around the luminous green that grew to surround their entire bodies. Temmin wondered if it were a leftover from the incense he'd breathed in.

  "Hello, Sister," said not-Issak.

  "Hello, Brother," said not-Allis.

  "Will You just let Me have you this time, or must I chase You down and prove Your desire yet again?"

  An expression altogether unlike Allis--wanton, challenging--spread across Her borrowed face. "Perhaps this will be the year I outrun You."

  "Liar," said the God, baring His borrowed teeth. "You let me catch You, year after year."

  "Are you saying You're not as fleet of foot as I am?"

  "I'm saying," said Nerr, pulling against His restraints, "that You want me, Neya. I can smell You. I can always smell You."

  Neya licked Her lips. "You have to catch Me first. Let Me go, mortals, let Me go now!" Anda and Glaes worked at the straps, and once released, Neya-in-Allis gave a joyous whoop and bounded from the room into the garden, so quickly it seemed clear to Temmin She had no intention of letting anyone catch her.

  "Now! Now!" howled the God. Temmin shook as he released the last strap around not-Issak's wrist. As soon as His hand was free, the God picked Temmin up by the chin, just enough to force him on tip-toe. "You, child," Nerr said in a voice that entered Temmin's bones. The God grinned, wild and frightening. "Clumsy boy. We've been waiting a long time for you." The last restraint slipped free. Nerr kissed Temmin quickly, biting his lower lip, and took off running after His Sister.

  "Don't lose Him!" shouted Senik.

  Temmin, Senik, Anda and Evra pelted after him, Barik and Glaes following behind at a more dignified pace. The gardens were packed with people on both sides of many wide paths lined with lanterns; Neya might have gone down any of them, but Nerr seemed to know Her path.

  Through the flowers, the sculpture garden, almost into the Temple and out onto the street Neya-in-Allis led them, until they were far out onto the grassy lawns, where there were no people or lanterns; Temmin followed Senik's back, the only thing his still-unaccustomed eyes could clearly see. Two screams came piercing from the darkness ahead, one triumphant, one enraged. "He's caught Her," said Senik. "Lights!"

  A small fleet of clerics hurried from behind in a long stream, marking the Gods' trail with lanterns for the crowd to follow. They flowed forward, reaching the Gods at the same time as Temmin's group to form a circle of light and bodies around the struggling forms on the ground. "We provide protection during the Spectacle," said Senik, tugging him into a loose ring of Lovers and Beloveds surrounding the Gods.

  "Who would hurt a God?" said Temmin.

  "Oh, no," called Anda from a few paces away. "We're protecting the people. Fools sometimes try to join in. Instant death."

  By now, the crowds had found them; they surged against the circle, held back from the ring of protectors by an outer ring of lantern-bearers who, now that Temmin had a moment to look around him, were of the Temple's Own. Inside the circle, Allis struggled to get away from Issak--no, it wasn't them, Temmin reminded himself--until Nerr pinned Neya so firmly she could not get away. She snarled and thrashed, strong even in Allis's small, soft body.

  Warfare gave way to laughter. "I surrender!" cried Neya, weak with giggles. "I surrender!"

  "You are once again Mine?" said Nerr, grinning down on Her.

  "I am My own, Brother, this year and all years, forever and ever. But I share. Now kiss Me, before I change My mind!" Nerr leaned down and kissed Her, almost chastely. "Ah, Brother," She whispered in her borrowed voice, "how I miss You when We have no form! We were never meant to be two. Be One with Me tonight!"

  "Be one with Me tonight, Sister!" Nerr and Neya's kiss turned from tender to voracious, almost a devouring. They were so very beautiful, a sight indeed, but the whole situation--the possession, the incest, the watching crowd--made Temmin more and more nervous. Neya climbed atop Her Brother, and Temmin turned away, cheeks hot against the night air. Allis's voice cried out in ecstasy, and the crowd matched it with an appreciative growl.

  It would be different if he didn't know the twins. The avid faces coming and going in the lantern light didn't know them; Allis and Issak were almost abstractions, as real to most of the worshippers as a pair of statues.

  The figures inside the circle shifted positions again and again--for Temmin had given up turning his head away and watched with a mixture of revulsion, desire and curiosity. The streams of people came and went, disappearing two by two and sometimes more into the dark; distant cries filled the air.

  In time, a great deal of time, Nerr rolled off His Sister, and They lay side by side in the grass stroking one another's faces and crooning in a language only They understood, a musical, blissful, terrible crooning, the sounds of a voluptuous, erotic nightmare. The crowds began to thin; the blessing was over. Those who had received it had gone off to do their yearly duty, bestowing the blessing themselves among the leaves and grasses of the fields and forests. Those who had finished their duty were drifting back toward the dais near the Temple to witness Temmin's dedication and get one more glimpse of the Gods.

  Nerr-in-Issak sat up. "This body is wonderful, very strong and responsive. It suits Me," He said in Tremontine. He stretched Issak's strong arms and legs, and patted the still-erect cock. "I'm almost tempted to keep it."

  "Twice a year in a body is fun. Being trapped in a body, a crumbling, decaying thing however beautiful at first, is not. It's a bore. Better to borrow than to buy," said Neya-in-Allis. She stood up, pulling Her Brother to His feet after Her. Dirt and grass fell from Their bodies in a pittering rain around their feet, leaving Them clean and unsullied.

  "Anda!" cried Nerr. He swept the round Supplicant into the air, swinging her high off her feet before putting her down and kissing her soundly. "Have you forgotten Me yet?"

  For the first time since Temmin had known her, Anda blushed. "My Lord, You will forget me. I will never forget You."

  "I never forget a maidenhead, sweetheart," He said, tweaking Anda's nipple.

  "And this time, it's My turn," said Neya. She slid a finger inside Temmin's red linen shirt. "Adorable." She clapped Her hands together. "We have much to do, and while We have all the time in the world, you do not, little mortals." She strode off down the path arm in arm with Nerr, the lantern-bearers keeping a buffer around the informal procession as they walked back through the
gradually thickening crowds near the Temple. Petals floated through the air, thrown in offering from the sidelines.

  Temmin fell back to where Senik walked, one arm around a rugged blonde Lover and the other around Evra Postulant. "And how does the evening find you, Temmin Supplicant?" said Senik. "Wait, I know--it finds you terrified."

  "I am not terrified," huffed Temmin.

  "Don't worry. I don't think She'll hurt you. Nerr fucked someone to death once, but that was well over 500 years ago, and it was an accident."

  "You're not helping!" Temmin stalked back to the front of the procession, hoping to find more sympathy from Anda.

  "That was rather cruel," said the rugged blonde Lover.

  Senik shrugged. "The world does not revolve around his navel. He'll be all right. Besides," he growled, biting at the other man's earlobe, "you like it when I'm cruel."

  "True," sighed the rugged blonde Lover.

  A few paces ahead, Temmin had fallen in step with Anda. "I don't know if I can do this," he muttered.

  "You'll be all right," she said. "I survived it. You will, too."

  "Be truthful with me. Do They scare you?"

  "They're Gods, of course they scare me--did Senik tell you about the time 500 years ago? If he weren't so pretty, I'd kill that man," scowled Anda. "You'll be with Neya anyway. I don't think She's fucked anyone to death, ever. I hope if it ever happens it's Senik, but he'd probably die happy."

  "Maybe She hasn't done it before, but there's always a first time," he muttered.

  "You're a very quick study, Tem, but you're not going to inspire that level of passion your first time out," said Anda.

  The two mounted the dais and joined the Most Highs; Ansella was nowhere to be seen. Before he could ask after her, High Beloved Malla said, "And how is your first Spectacle, Temmin Supplicant?"

  "Where's my mother?"

  Malla laughed. "I find it odd to discuss a man's mother on a night like this, my dear. The Queen felt that she'd done her duty, and went home. Not a surprise, considering her advisor. Now, watch."