Ismene

"I know you want to know what's going on," he finally told her, his eyes roaming over her. "But it will have to wait until tonight. I have duties I need to see to and they come first. Not that you aren't important, but the reason we are here, it's of the utmost importance. You understand, right? Anyway, I need to get the final assignments down. Why don't you sit down on the bed while I get this done? Technically, you're supposed to sit at my feet, but when we are alone in our rooms, you can sit on the bed. We'll talk about rules later," he told her, going to the desk and pulling a folder out of the tray on it.

"C-can I I I h-have c-clothes?"

"No, Izz. No clothes down here. Women should always be pure and accepting and ready for their husbands. Like Eve was for Adam if you believe in all that."

"C-cold."

"You can wrap up in a blanket in here," he answered distractedly, waving her off.

"C-can you you you t-take the the the ch-chain off?"

"Not yet, not until you have sworn your oaths and received your covenants, both of them. Your ink. It's symbolic. Give yourself to our cause and you will get many more rights. Until you do, you are only a vessel for children. Speaking of, Gavin is going to remove that thing in your arm. The birth control thing? Each wife is expected to at least have two children, but no more than four. We have to regulate population in here. Enough to propagate, not so much to overwhelm. You know?" he talked as he worked. "I hope our kids look like you and have my brains. Not that you aren't smart! Just, you know. Not genius or prodigy."

"You you you are?"

"Yeah," he shrugged, still working. "I was out of college when I saw you the first time and I re enrolled just to take one of the classes you were in. You really are smart by the way, I wasn't just blowing smoke. A little fucking oblivious. Shit! Oh... I thought that part would be easier. Cutting foul language out of our vocabulary. It's kind of automatic sometimes, you know? But yeah, oblivious. Then I realized it was on purpose. You tuned everyone out to follow your goals and get back home. You did not fu...mess around. Admirable, yet frustrating. The more I watched you, got to know you, the more I liked you. And the masturbation thing? Completely hot. Knowing it got you off listening to your roommates. Didn't always care for the porn you watched sometimes, but it was still hot that you watched porn, even if there was anime mixed in."

"You you you w-watched me?"

"Of course. Through your webcam, your phone cam, the cameras I had in your room and kitchen and living room. I had to know you were the one. It's the rest of our lives, Izz. The stuttering thing doesn't even bother me, though I hope our kids don't have any issues. You mastered it really well, a lot of people don't. I know you are just super stressed right now, but once you relax and understand what's going on and why we're here, you'll get back into the swing of things. Hey... I'm not going to give you a job assignment right away, ok? Not until you can talk without issue. You don't need that added stress. You'll still have to attend the mandatory training with the other vessels to learn about us and what we do. What we stand for. I know you'll pick it up fast and get your covenant quickly. Take your true place by my side as the head mother."

Ismene shook her head, still in stunned denial. This was insane. She understood the concept and even the reason behind the stupid names for everything, but... it didn't seem real. Brothers of the Dragon hiding away with their hoard to await the end times? It sounded so... fake.

Yet here they were in this huge and elaborate bunker.

Dante finally stood, flipping the folder shut and turning to her with a smile. "All done with time to spare!" he told her, moving closer and leaning over her as he pressed on her shoulder until she was laying on the bed.

Ismene shook her head slightly, but he only smiled. "We're married now, Izzy," he whispered.

"N-not really! I I I d-d-didn't say y-yes!"

He shrugged. "Not our way here. I said yes. You ARE my wife and... we are all there are for each other here, Izz. It's just me and you now. It's ok, Izzy, I will take care of you. Be easy the first time. We can wait till later when we have more time to do it right, but... I want to kiss you Izz. I want you to kiss me back. Remember you promised to convince me you wanted to be here. Remember that promise? Your word is a big deal here, Ismene. A huge deal. An oathbreaker is branded for life and never trusted again. Same with a cheater or an adulterer or thief. We don't stand with any of that here. It's not the way of the Brothers of the Dragon. I have kept you safe, haven't I? Taken care of you and been gentle with you? A few kisses aren't much to..."

A knock sounded on the door and Dante let out a breath.

He began moving, but Ismene quickly reached up and caught him by his hair, pulling him close and pressing her lips to his awkwardly. She needed him to trust her and she knew he was the only one who knew the code to get out.

He paused and kissed her back passionately, then pulled back with a pleased smile as he moved to answer the door. "Not a problem already, I hope?" he asked Henry.

"One of the vessels tried to harm themself."

Dante sighed. "I will be out in a moment. Whose vessel?"

"Jeremy's."

Dante nodded. "She looked skittish. How bad is she?"

"He stopped her before she severed her artery, she isn't bad."

"Have them both brought to the chamber of judgment."

Henry nodded, then left at a jog. Dante turned back to Ismene, his look sad. "A lesson, Izzy," he called. "If I leave your side without your chain, you gather it in your hand in loops like I carry it and bring it to me to stand next to me until I take it from you. Especially in public. In here I don't mind, but in public you have to begin acting accordingly. You especially, the other vessels will look to you for leadership. You have to learn quickly, do you understand?"

Ismene nodded uncertainly, then began pulling the chain up in coils as he stood and watched her. She went to him and offered the coils to him and he smiled as he took them, then bent and kissed her head.

"I love that you are keeping your word, my love. I knew you would be exceptional. Come now," he told her gently, leaving and pulling her along with him.

Ismene hated that all of the men looked her over freely and even the women too, but she was comforted by the fact that all of the women were looked at the same way. And that Dante never looked at any of them. He led her through the front room to another hall and into a large, cavernous room. There was a single pedestal with a flat rock like a dais in front of it, then six seats in two rows behind the dais. The seats held six men, five of them with women sitting at their feet, Henry with two women sitting with him and a third at his feet. There was a woman on the dais, her head down and a man holding her chain as Dante went ahead to the pedestal and stood behind it. He handed Ismene her chain and she took it, then immediately knelt like the other women on the floor were. Dante gave her a smile and a nod, then looked up.

"Beth Harrison, is it true you attempted to harm and destroy the property of Jeremy Harrison?"

The girl on the dias trembled, obviously crying.

"Answer him," Jeremy demanded, jostling her chain.

The girl looked up, her face red with anger. "I am NOT his property! I am a human being! This is all barbaric and wrong! How can all of you just SIT there?" she demanded, looking right at Ismene in front of her. "We outnumber them! We can..."

Jeremy stepped close to the girl and took a fistful of her hair, jerking her head back as Henry came forward with an O-ring gag. He forced it into her mouth and secured it, stepping away and going back to his seat without any expression on his face. Like he had just muzzled an annoying barking dog.

Ismene boiled inside.

"For the crime of attempting to destroy Brother Jeremy's property, I sentence you to two two days of fasting, one day of food and two days of fasting for three weeks. During your time of fasting, you will reflect on your actions in the square. Should you try and bring harm to brother Jeremy's property again, you will be branded and your means of harm removed. Your hands. For the crime of speaking treason, I sentence you to the gag for the same three weeks so that you may still service your owner and eat when it is your day to eat. If you speak treasonous words again, your tongue will be removed. For the crime of trying to incite a rebellion, I sentence you to three weeks of two lashes a day given by the hand of your owner. One in the morning, one in the evening, both with the cane. If the skin is broken, you may receive medical care, but if it is not, you will bear the welts. If you incite rebellion again, you will receive twenty lashes with the cane at the hand of my second to be given all at once, even if it causes a departure of your soul. Brother Jeremy, does this suit you?"

"Yes, First," Jeremy nodded, his face still red.

"Is it your wish to add an additional punishment?"

"No, First."

"Then let justice be meted. Set up the square in the main room now and I will wait until she is secured and her evening lash given before I give out assignments. Dismissed and may we never have to come here again for this vessel."

"May we never return," the six men intoned.

Dante held his hand out and Ismene stood and handed him the chain, her eyes wide. He walked out, leaving before anyone else even stood and Ismene couldn't help but give the girl a sad look as she walked by.

Ismene began planning.

Whatever she did, she would have to make sure it was harsh and swift. Not give these men a chance to do something like this to her.

Maybe the police or FBI or someone would save them? People had to be looking for them and the cult was on the news. They had to be watching them!

She came out of her reverie when Dante led her back into their room and spun her, pushing her down to the bed as he half tackled her and kissed her again.

As if he hadn't just sentenced a girl to be tortured!

Ismene turned away slightly, but still held his shoulders. "D-did you you you have to b-be so harsh on on on her?"

"The first must always be an example, my love," he told her softly. "To show the others that we will not tolerate any rule breaking. You feel bad for her? You may go to her twice a day and offer her water, dress her welts, but no more. If she shows proper contrition by the second week, I will commute her sentence. Life down here must remain within the rigid strictures of our organization, Izzy. We have to maintain order and not allow things to go back to what they are outside right now. The faster you understand that, the faster you can take your place at my side. Now, my love..." he smiled, running a thumb over her lower lip. "Kiss me."

She let him turn her back to him as he kissed her, but she couldn't force herself to kiss him back. She felt like a traitor herself, especially when her body was trying to react to his bare chest against hers and his leg pressing between her legs. His full lips knew how to kiss as well and she wondered for a moment about that. Had he had girlfriends? Had he dated? Been with other girls? Didn't other girls get the creeper vibe from him or was it just her?

Her thought trailed off as she began kissing him back, her hands sliding up his shoulders to his neck and into his hair. She needed to make him trust her... that was all it was.

Another knock on the door made him sigh regretfully as he pulled back, then he smirked down at her as he rolled off of her enough to reach down and run a finger through her very wet pussy. Her cheeks colored in shame as he rubbed his wet fingers in front of her, then sucked on his fingers as he looked her in the eye.

"I will taste you this evening," he promised her, his eyes lit up. Getting up, he went to the armoir and pulled out a small hand towel to clean her up before picking up her chain and pulling her up. "Not that I didn't love the idea of knowing you were dripping for me, but I am about to sit down once I am done and I don't need a wet spot on my pants when I get up." His eyes were full of amusement as he pulled her out to the main room, her cheeks still crimson.

Ismene looked around and she immediately saw Beth. She really was in a square. It was a square of 4x4's, and she was stretched across it to stand upright. Behind her was what looked like a canvas and the square was on some sort of rotating mechanism so the square could be moved to different positions. There were tears in her eyes, but she was standing tall and defiant in her bonds and Ismene admired her. She wouldn't have been so brave if it were her.

"Be seated, brothers!" Dante yelled.

The men all sat down in chairs and couches and Dante sat in a chair that faced the entire room. Ismene started to sit on the floor next to him, but he caught her and pulled her to sit on his lap, setting the folder on her lap and opening it.

Without preamble, he began reading off assignments and Ismene watched him as he called them out. He began with the women and some of them jumped right up and went to the kitchen as he read off that they would be preparing meals. All of them already had tattoos. The 'vessels' had jobs like laundry and house cleaning.

Her eyes went to his full lips and then the slight curl in his jaw length hair. He looked like a loner and a creeper in a way, but he wore leadership well. It surprised her, his charisma with his brothers and how close he was with them. He wasn't a loner or socially inept at all. He was one of the leaders of a cult and that meant he was still a creep, but she had misjudged him in other ways. She blinked as he laughed at something someone said and studied his smile and how it lit up his face that looked so sad when he had no expression. He was handsome, in a way, once you got past that sad, kicked puppy dog look and creeper vibe. She thought about earlier and how quickly he had found her trigger and gotten her off. As much as she hadn't wanted it at first, all she could think about now was how exciting and thrilling it had been for someone to do to her what she had only done herself. How nice his lips had been as he kissed her, and his promise to use those lips on her.

His eyes cut to her and went hooded as his lips parted and he smiled slightly. "I don't know what you are thinking about, my love, but perhaps just now you should think of something else," he whispered so softly that no one else could hear him. She blushed and turned, hiding her face in his arm. "You are putting off heat like a furnace and soaking me. It's hot and I love it, but it's also very distracting."

Ismene hunched in on herself and tried to hide all of herself against him and his chest. He chuckled before moving on with his list, moving it to lay it out on her hip.

Even pressed against him, her thoughts still strayed. She had assumed him skinny, but he wasn't really. Not the normal kind of skinny anyway. He was slender, but he had definition and muscles. A six pack under that tattoo. She traced the ink with her finger as she listened to him talk and found herself admiring how the black ink contrasted with his pale skin.

He jostled her slightly as he closed the folder and sat up. "Now I give you this time to ask questions and state concerns until dinner is announced," he called. "Yes, brother Josh?"

"Will there be organized rec time or is it first come first serve at the tables?"

"I will put a board up. Yes, Brother Kevin?"

"Are we starting new campaigns or carrying over our other ones?"

"That is up to you to decide, but for my group, we are starting a new campaign for our new life. Are there any questions that aren't about gaming? Yes, brother Gavin?"

"How soon do I start making the appointments for birth control devices to be removed?"

"As soon as tomorrow. You have the list, call them to you as you are ready. Use the intercom system."

"Any order?"

"Just as they are on your list is fine. No reason to rush it, make sure you are safe and thorough. Yes, Brother Alex?"

"If Joseph and I want to switch jobs, can we?"

"If you both agree, see me after dinner and I will switch it if I look it up and you both meet the qualifications. Yes, Brother Van?"

"Are our wives and vessels excused from duty if they are pregnant?"

"If Gavin tells you they are not fit for duty, they are excused for pregnancy or illness. Do you have a worry?"

"Elaina has miscarried twice. I don't want it to happen again."

"See Gavin and see what he recommends. Yes, Brother Eli?"

The questions went on and Ismene watched him field all of them with ease and surety. It was a little bit amazing and kind of sexy how in control he was and how focused. Like a knocked arrow. A question caught her ear.

"If the vessels balk or are reticent during classes, should I reprimand them myself, turn them over to their owners or see you?"

"It depends on the severity. If they are just crying or... sulking or not focusing, you may admonish them. If it continues, tell their owners. If they talk back, tell their owners. If they incite the others or speak treasonous words, call me immediately. Remember also that they are not allowed to comingle or make friends until they have received the covenant. They may not speak to each other at all. If they do, tell their owners. The same with you vessels. If another tries to speak with you, do not respond and tell your owner immediately when you see them after class. Do not lay hands on another's vessel or wife unless you are given specific command to do so. Any more questions?"

Ismene went back to looking at him, wondering about this insane system of theirs and where it had come from. Sliding her hand up his chest, she toyed with his curls and soft hair as he spoke, wondering if he intended to grow it longer.

When dinner was called, he didn't stand up right away, turning down to look at her as he grinned, his eyes shining again. His smile did his face wonders. "My love," he spoke softly. "At dinner you will sit next to me on the floor like the other vessels, do you understand?"

Ismene nodded, watching his lips as they moved.

"You will be served on the floor as well. Once you receive the covenant, you will be given a seat next to me at the table. My love... you look as though you might want to skip our celebration dinner and go straight back to our rooms?"

Ismene blushed and looked away from him. She had been trying to convince herself to find all the things she liked about him so she could fake her way through all of this, but at some point she had forgotten she was faking it. There was just something sexy about him.

He laughed as he stood and set her on her feet to walk. She didn't hesitate to go to her knees next to his chair and lay her head on his thigh, her mind trying to go back to a plan. She was handed a plate with utensils and she was glad she wasn't expected to actually eat off of the floor like she'd half feared. Dante kept reaching down and petting her hair back and stroking her cheek as he talked with the other men and laughed and made plans. She shifted several times, her knees hurting on the hard stone floor and hugged herself as she shivered. How long was he going to stay?

She no sooner had the thought than he scooted back from the table and leaned over to pick her up and pull her into his lap. He continued talking as he held her and rubbed her arm, warming her up. At his queue, a few others did the same with their vessels, but most of them didn't. Ismene took special note of those who did, marking them as men with more compassion than the others.

She hadn't been paying close attention to the conversation until one of the young men asked Dante a question that frightened her.