Blood Ad Infinitum by Raven Belasco

Author:Raven Belasco [Raven Belasco]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lauren Berman
Published: 2023-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Two

I returned home to a healthy Frehnai, who seemed to have taken no harm from her ordeal. She remembered how I’d saved her with the sacrament of Asera-Masdheh, and now her devotion to me was complete and total. I as well felt a far deeper connection to her, with my vhoon now flowing in her veins. The love between us was profound but also satisfying in the simpler level of domestic comfort we gave each other. While it was obvious that I could not provide her with children, more and more I came to think of her as my wife. In the absence of V’ukh, she became the one I spoke to about temple matters at the end of a long night, and she began to impress upon me her intuitive knowledge of handling community matters and interpersonal conflicts. I turned to her for advice more and more frequently.

After some months, I resolved to pay V’ukh a visit to ascertain his progress. I did not believe he would be truly ready to come home again, since he had made too great a transgression, and I wanted at least a year as an acolyte to impress that upon him, but I thought it would be beneficial to praise the efforts he had made thus far, and maybe speak to the local priest about a schedule of reward, what today we would call “fast-tracking.” I had no doubts that my son would be thriving in his new community and that, even if he were chafing a little under his lower rank, at least he was dedicated to learning in humility.

I loaded my camel for the long journey; the family had a number which were shared among them, but there was a particularly ornery old beast only I could handle and who was kept alive solely because I was fond of her as a travel companion. Dregvaa was her name, which meant “Containing Wickedness.” Ah, I have not thought of her in many years. With Dregvaa as fiendish and entertaining company, I made my unhurried way to the community where V’ukh now served as acolyte.

Or so I thought. When I got there and asked for him, I was directed to the local head priest, and he looked very grave indeed as he said he had much to impart. He was sorry, but I had been very mistaken about the acolyte I had left there upon my last visit, who had not any vocation after all. When he was with them, he was late to or disregarded all his duties, and he was disrespectful to anyone who tried to discuss the matter with him. Worse than that, soon it was reported that he lay during the day with women and men. That, in-and-of-itself, was not the problem, for none of our priests were celibate, and being a priest assured that finding willing partners was never a difficulty. No, the problem was that he demanded that his lovers do the izchha ritual with him in the bedroom.

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