by Дж. Р. Уорд
* takes one last look in the mirror above his bureau* *meets Z’s eyes*
* smiles*
Who’da thought it, eh?
ZSADIST
Until I met Bella, not I.
Come on, brother mine, let’s get your ass good and mated.
*opens door* Oh, and ps, if your stomach feels like a lead balloon, that’s totally fine, too.
PHURY
*stepsout in hallway*
*picks up Boo*
Actually, I’m tight. I feel good.
Let’s do this.
*heads down the hall and pauses at the head of the grand staircase*
*sees the Brotherhood assembled down below with the shellans in gowns of red and blue and silver and peach and midnight*
Shit, I lied about the stomach.
THE PARTY
January 20, 2008
FRITZ (in the foyer)
*Arranges doggen with serving trays*
*tops up vodka luge*
*adds garnish to spinach crepes*
*turns on chocolate fountain*
*prepares to meet guests*
WRATH
NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICE.
Foyer is tight.
*reaches for Beth*
Come on, leelan, give us a kiss.
FRITZ
*to Cellies*
Hello Mistresses, please help yourself to refreshments—eat, drink, and be merry!
BETH RANDALL
*steps into his arms*
You remember ours?
WRATH
Always.
*kisses her*
FRITZ
*ensures doggen are handing out refreshments*
*worries that everything will be perfect*
THE CEREMONY
January 20, 2008
WRATH
*looks up and sees Phury at the head of the mansion’s grand stairwell*
Finally. *winks*
*calls out* Shall we begin?
*looks to library* *extends hand*
Cormia?
CORMIA
*comes out of library in a high-waisted golden gown with an overlay of pearls*
*her hair is loose down her back in waves of blond*
*feet are bare*
*looks up the grand stairwell and sees Phury standing at the top. the flames of a hundred black candles lighting his proud face and his brilliant citrine eyes*
*puts hand to mouth*
*blinks quickly as Zsadist begins to sing Puccini’s “Che Celida Manina” from La Bohème*
* mouths to Phury* I LOVE YOU.
FRITZ
*holds out to Cellies platter of linen handkerchiefs embroidered with Phury s and Cormia’s initials and the date*
PHURY
*sees Cormia come around to stand by Wrath*
*hears his twin’s tenor filling the Brotherhood’s mansion*
*thinks that for this moment, life is like a crystal before the candle flame, reflecting an endless spectrum of beautiful light into the eyes and hearts of them all*
* watches her mouth, I LOVE YOU*
* mouths back. I LOVE YOU MORE*
*dematerializes down to the foyer because he can’t wait one moment longer to be by her side*
THE SCRIBE VIRGIN
*comes forward in black robes*
* addresses Cormia*
This male asks that you accept him as your hellren, my daughter. Would you have him as your own if he is worthy?
CORMIA
*looks into Phury’s eyes*
*bows to the Scribe Virgin*
Yes, yes, I will have him for my own.
FRITZ
*hands out more platters of handkerchiefs to doggen, and bottles of smelling salts in case of fainters*
*dabs own eyes*
*is so happy*
THE SCRIBE VIRGIN
*nods to Cormia*
*addresses Phury*
Warrior, this female will consider you. Will you prove yourself for her? Will you sacrifice yourself for her? Will you defend her against those who would seek to harm her?
PHURY
*nods gravely at Scribe Virgin*
*wishes he could kiss his shellan Cormia already* I will.
THE SCRIBE VIRGIN
*addresses Phury and Cormia*
Give me your hands, children.
*accepts both hands as they are offered*
*smiles under her robing*
A very good mating. I pronounce the presentation to me acceptable.
*cheers rise up out of the Brothers and their shellans*
*Nalla claps her hands in her mother’s arms*
FRITZ
*takes the sterling-silver bowl of salt and pitcher of water forward to the King*
*bows and proffers bowl and pitcher*
WRATH
Thank you, Fritz.
And now if the Brothers will join me?
PHURY
*kisses Cormia*
*lingers for a moment, just looking in her eyes*
*steps back and removes his white robe so that he stands in his silk pants*
*goes forward to his brothers and his king*
*kneels before Wrath, moving his hair to the side so his back is exposed*
FRITZ
*picks up black-lacquered box*
*takes forward to the King and proffers with a bow*
*teardrop hits highly polished shoes*
WRATH
*accepts box*
*pours water from pitcher into salt bowl*
*stands over Phury*
My brother, what is the name of your shellan?
PHURY
She is called Cormia.
WRATH
*unsheathes black dagger*
*bends over Phury’s bare back*
*carves in the Old Language*
C
ZSADIST
*unsheathes dagger*
*steps forward*
What is the name of your shellan, twin of mine?
PHURY
She is called Cormia.
*braces self again*
*bears pain with strength and fortitude, feeling his love throughout his whole body*
ZSADIST
*bends over Phury s back*
*carves in the Old Language*
O
*looks over at Bella and Nalla, feeling love for his females*
*watches as Bella waves Nalla s hand at him*
*winks*
VISHOUS
*steps forward, unsheathing dagger*
What is the name of your shellan, brother?
*looks over at Jane and rolls his shoulders, feeling die remnants of what she did to him during the day*
*returns her secret smile*
PHURY
She is called Cormia.
*feels blood trickle down his side*
*glances at Cormia and is glad that Beth and Mary and Marissa are there beside her holding her hands, as she looks a little woozy*
*ducks head and prepares for fresh cut*
FRITZ
*dabs eyes with handkerchief*
*chest swells with pride*
*is humbled by awe*
VISHOUS
*bends down with blade he made*
*thinks he is so glad that things worked exit for Phury*
*carves in the Old Language the letter*
R
BUTCH O’NEAL
*steps forward, unsheathing dagger*
*remembers Marissa’s name getting carved in his back*
*looks at her and smiles* What is the name of your shellan?
PHURY
She is called Cormia.
BUTCH O’NEAL
*bends over Phury s back*
*next to V’s perfect R carves in the Old Language*
M
RHAGE
*steps forward*
*blows kiss to Mary*
*addresses Phury*
What is the name of your shellan, brother?
PHURY
*swallows hard*
*bears down into mosaic floor*
Her name is Cormia.
RHAGE
*bends down over Phury’s back*
*carves in the Old Language the letter*
I
WRATH
*looks to the right, as everyone in the foyer does*
JOHN MATTHEW
*starts to walk forward*
*holds on to the forearm that is linked through his, providing steadying strength*
TOHRMENT
*shuffles forward, leaning on John Matthew’s arm*
*hair is long and shaggy, with white streak at the front*
*approaches Phury while biting the inside of his lip until it bleeds*
*asks in a hoarse, quiet voice*
What is the name of your shellan, brother?
PHURY
*keeps head down, as tears have come to his eyes while he pictures what he is gaining and what Tohr has lost*
*clears throat*
*shoots glance at Cormia*
*clears throat*
*roughly…* Cormia. She is called…Cormia.
TOHRMENT
*unsheathes dagger with shaking hand*
JOHN MATTHEW
*shifts weight*
*steadies Tohr’s body as he leans down*
TOHRMENT
* takes deep breath*
*calls on strength*
*executes in one stroke a single perfectly composed letter in the Old Language*
A
LASSITER
*watches John Matthew lead Tohr back over to a chair*
*looks up to the ceiling*
*sees image of Wellsie and their unborn son in the clouds within the warrior painting—both are overseeing the ceremony and Tohr*
*makes eye contact with Wellsie*
*inclines head to Wellsie, who takes one last look at Tohr and disappears back unto the Fade*
WRATH
*waits until Tohr is seated*
*takes a moment to compose self*
*needs to look at Beth for a second*
*picks up bowl of salty brine*
*pours it over Phury s back*
PHURY
HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
WRATH
*takes white cloth out of black-lacquered box*
*carefully blots his brother’s back*
*folds the white cloth back up and returns it to box*
*addresses Phury*
Rise my brother.
PHURY
*stands up with pride, eyes glowing*
WRATH
*addressing Phury while presenting him with the lacquered box*
Take this to your shellan as a symbol of your strength, so she- will know that you are worthy of her and that your body, your heart, and your soul are now hers to command.
*smiles at Phury*
PHURY
*turns to Cormia*
*worries for a moment at how white her face is, but then she smiles*
*steps forward with a straight spine, all pain forgotten*
*drops to his knees before her, bows his head, holds up the box*
Will you take me for your own, my love?
CORMIA
*heart is so full can barely breathe*
*reaches forward and places her hands on the box, making sure that her forefingers brush his*
Yes, yes, I will…oh, yes, a thousand yeses…
*cradles box to heart*
PHURY
*throws arms around Cormia, not even feeling the burn in his shoulders*
*embraces her as Brotherhood begins to chant*
*whispers* I can’t wait to be alone with you…
*kisses her neck, nipping her with his fangs*
*bonding scent roars*
THE SCRIBE VIRGIN
*comes forward *
*releases from thin air twelve perfect white doves, which soar above the assembled family as the Brotherhood and their shellans embrace one another and clap and chant*
FRITZ
* arranges ten doggen dressed in full livery into a queue*
*ensures that each has a silver tray of Dom Pérignon ’98 in crystal long-stemmed glasses*
*arranges second row of ten doggen with silver trays of assorted fruit juices and sparkling waters in crystal tumblers*
* leads doggen into foyer*
*supervises as doggen offer drinks to all the gathered Cellic guests*
WRATH
*takes glass and pulls Beth close to his side*
*whispers in her ear* I can’t wait to be alone with you…
*more loudly*
May the assembled please raise their glasses?
WRATH
*addresses Phury and Cormia, the Brotherhood, and assembled Cell*
A toast to the mated couple.
*in the Old Language*
May their burdens be light,
and their joys overflowing,
may destiny smile upon their joined paths,
and carry these two souls forth into countless peaceful nights and passionate days.
*raises voice, bellowing*
TO THE MATED: TO THE MATED! TO THE MATED!
FRITZ
TO THE MATED!
PHURY
*draws Cormia close*
*bows to Brothers and shellans, Fritz and doggen, and the wonderful Cellies*
And now…if you’ll excuse us?
*laughs gently as Cormia blushes*
*the two wave and bow, then turn to the grand staircase and go up arm in arm. Cormia’s long golden gown trailing behind, Phury s back bearing the letters CORMIA in the Old Language*
*they retire to his bedroom*
*Opera swells as the party continues on and their lives together truly begin*
******************FINIS*********************
AFTER THE CEREMONY
FRITZ
The sires and their good ladies have retired for the evening, but they asked me to inform you that you are welcome to stay as long as you wish. However, the bedrooms are out-of-bounds.:)
Have a superb evening, and thank you all for your attendance, and please keep the handkerchiefs, I insist.
Fritz~~~
Slices of Life
Slices of Life are little vignettes of the Brothers that I’ve posted on my message board. If you’re a member there, you’ll recognize them! If you aren’t, here they are reproduced. Again, the Board may be found at www.jrwardbdb.com/forum/index.php.
Movie Night
posted May 17, 2006
This first one was posted after Lover Awakened was written, just as I was starting to work on Lover Revealed:
So the question was asked on the loop what free time is like for the Brothers. And what the girls did at the mansion. And I figured I’d share this little Slice of Life with folks…
The Brotherhood did movie night the other night and it was hysterical! Well, movie day, as it were. The bunch of them ended up piling into the Pit—which, I’d like to point out, only has two leather couches and not a lot of floor space. Picture this: Wrath and Beth in one corner of a couch. Rhage and Mary on the opposite side. Z on the floor with Bella in his lap. Butch and Phury on the other couch. V behind the Four Toys on his chair. The place was like a frat house, and they watched the first two Die Hards back-to-back. Between Phury’s red smoke and V’s hand-rolls the place smelled delicious. Butch was drinking a lot of Scotch (well…duh). V was into the Grey Goose. Mary and Bella were drinking chardonnay. Rhage was into the Perrier—busy rehydrating from a hard night on the streets with the lessers.
Halfway through the first movie, someone fell asleep. And can you believe it? It was Wrath! He’s usually so incredibly focused but he’s been working too hard. The thing was, he had his Brothers and his shellan—his family—all around him, and they were safe. He literally passed out, head flopping back on the top of the sofa, his long, long hair all over his chest (he’s grown it out
superlong because Beth loves it that way). Beth slid his sunglasses off and tucked a blanket around him—which was a nice thing to do, except…unfortunately the movements woke him a little, and he ended up repositioning himself all over her—he fell back asleep, mashing her up against Rhage. She just laughed. She was so relieved he was relaxing a little. She has to see him get up during the day and pace and pace and pace around their bedroom. It just about kills her, because he’s almost stopped sleeping at all and he’s losing weight. Straight up? This king stuff is killing him.
Anyway…Fritz kept bringing over hors d’oeuvres—you remember the spinach crepes Rhage loves? The group of them went through trays of those and other things. Fritz was so happy, running back and forth in the tunnel between the main house and the Pit.
Rhage, naturally, insisted on yelling out lines. You know what his favorite one is, of course: “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.” But ’bout halfway through the second movie, he started nuzzling the back of Mary’s neck. And then his hands started traveling. She tried to get him to cut it out—but not too hard. When his eyes flashed white, the two of them disappeared for a little while. Um…Er…
ANYWAY, Phury was really quiet. He’s gotten terribly quiet. Sadly quiet. He keeps to himself mostly, and was really there more because he felt he had to be than because he wanted to be.
Z watched both movies for the first time. He was ABSORBED by them. Imagine the surprises in store—when Mr. Takagi gets shot by Alan Rickman? When the body shows up in the elevator with HO HO HO on the shirt? When Mc-Clane is in the ventilator shaft? Then later when McClane’s wife Tasers that idiot reporter? Z LOVED the movies…He jumped in the right places and cursed at the screen and snarled and yelled. He was all involved and had a death grip on Bella through the whole thing. The only time he looked away from the TV was to make sure she had something to drink. Or to eat. Or to ask if she was comfortable. “Too cold? You need another fleece, maybe?”
I will say—even though I shouldn’t—that Bella had a huge bite mark on her neck. He’d fed from her about an hour before they started to watch the movies. He’d gotten home from a night of fighting and he felt this…urge…to feed. He ended up sidling up to her in the bathroom. She was just out of the shower and was talking to him about this writing class she’s taking online. Anyway…he was staring at her in the mirror, and she was chatting away and toweling off her hair and…she stopped and asked him what was wrong. When she got the picture, she turned and smiled at him. Um…dropped the towel she had wrapped around herself. At first he was apologetic about it. Like embarrassed, almost, because he hadn’t come to her before. But then she was in his arms and he lowered his mouth to her throat and…………………well, they really got into the swing of things. *clears throat* Boy, did they ever…*blushes* Er…ANYWAY…
