The candelabrum burned candles that I noticed had an unusual scent that after only a few minutes of inhalation, made me feel woozy. Blake stood with his back to the imprisoned man and announced.
“Welcome, my brothers. Today, at last, we tie our new brother into our circle.”
“Bless-ed is the Seed,” The acolytes murmured.
“He is a man of great wisdom, gentle kindness, and strength of will. The gifts he shares with us all will fortify us in our mission to move forward, and not only complete our great work, but also go out into the world and bring like-minded men to our cause.”
“Here, here,” The men mumbled as if they were in the House of Commons.
“But first we must address a problem! One among us is a betrayer. One among us promised an heirloom that would move our cause forward. One among us now says he no longer possesses the sacred heirloom.”
“Shame, shame, shame”, the acolyte’s bayed sounding like sheep. From what Blake said of the prisoner, this was not Sebastian. Blake turned and walked up to the poor wretch tied to the pommel horse, his arms secured by the leather belts from several pairs of trousers, it seemed! I wondered how long the poor fellow had been in this room. The gymnasium was used by the Young Men’s Christian Association boys during the afternoon and vacant in the evening when meetings and performances were going on in the halls upstairs. I recalled that Leopold had drunkenly spoken of a brother who had ‘made promises he could not keep’. What had this wretch done? How far would Fratres Seminis go to punish one who betrayed their cause? What would they do to me when they discovered that I too had betrayed them and their precious ‘chosen one’ was gone?
“Shall I untie him so he may witness the binding? Blake asked his brothers.
“I say no. He does not deserve to witness. His failings delay our work. I don’t know about you, brothers, but I am deeply disappointed.” A man whom I did not recognize gruffly announced. His voice was cultured with a hint of Yorkshire to it.
“Agreed”, another said and then the rest of the men responded, braying in agreement.
“We shall begin the binding and deal with our problem later. Where is the Vessel?” Blake asked.
“I’m sure he’ll be along soon! Monkman has his instructions.” Brother Ashe spoke up before I was forced to comment. Blake grimaced,
“This will not do! I’ll need to have a few concise words with our wayward darling afterward. Tardiness is unacceptable!” Blake stated his hands on his hips. He stood pensively for a moment of thought and then decisively announced, “This time, we shall start without him!”
Blake beckoned us to stand on the rug. I was relieved for it felt luxurious on the soles of my icy feet.
“Kneel, brothers”, He collected the coil of thin red rope from the table and threaded his right arm through the loop. We all knelt on cushions in a circle. Blake stepped into the circles in front of me. He took a turn, cupping each man’s face and caressing them before the acolyte kissed Blake’s palm. It reminded me of a houndsman and his pack of dogs. Blake did not touch my face. He knelt in front of me and then without a word he slipped his hand through the opening in my robe and cupped my tackle. I gasped with alarm; I had never been manhandled in such a way by a stranger. I am sure all of these men were used to back-alley fondling, but I did not indulge in that sort of behaviour. With the sensation of being stroked my treacherous manhood began to pulse and fill. I was sure the other men could see how I fought and trembled against my arousal. I could not look Blake in his heterochromatic eyes and I wondered what the hell he was planning to do with my cock and balls in his hand.
“Brother, do you come to us after full consideration with love and respect?”
“I…I do,” Gods, Blake’s touch gave me confusing chills of horror and excitement at once. My bollocks felt heavy and my staff was at a full stand.
“Do you vow to keep all secrets of Fratres Seminis, love, and protect your brothers until death and resurrection?”
This was sounding alarmingly like an occult marriage ceremony! Where the devil was Sebastian? I was waiting for something to happen to stop this ritual in its tracks. Sebastian said he would be here. What if he let me down? What would I do to escape this mess I’d been pulled into? I bit my lip to prevent a roar of anger and trembled with fear and unwanted desire. I said a prayer; pleading for forgiveness for the sins I was committing and decided that my best way forward was to continue to play along.
“I do,” I replied, lying once again. My voice sounded shaky as that bony hand continued to massage my shaft. Oh, I knew it then, I was going to hell!
Then to my growing alarm, the two acolytes either side of me each took an end of the coil of rope on Blake’s arm. It had been coiled in such a way that when each end was tugged it would unravel in opposite directions. The result of this was that when the rope was pulled to its full length, there was a noose of red rope remaining on Blake’s wrist of the hand that rubbed at
