Page 15 of Degradation (The Brethren Lords #3)

Devin

T he girl looks petrified. It’s obvious she’s trying to hide it as she walks so slowly into the Cathedral. Her pretty eyes are downcast, she thinks she’s got that whole ‘demure obedient’ thing down to a tee, except she’s shaking so obviously her veil is almost sliding off her head.

She’s dressed in a traditional marriage tunic. It’s sheer enough that you can see the darkness of where her nipples are and it’s cold enough for the outline of them to be poking through.

I guess the chill could explain her trembling, but I’d put money on it being more than that.

I know what fear is. I know what it looks like, especially when someone is trying to cover it up, trying to look brave, confident.

She comes to a stop and our Chapter Lord decides to break more rules by kissing her before it’s permitted. I keep my face neutral, after all, I don’t have the luxury of a mask to hide behind. Behind me, I can hear the quiet murmurings.

Of course they have to inspect her first. Check that the bride is as pure as they say she is.

Gunther shoves her down onto the crucifix and is clearly keen to get this little bit of the service done.

I wonder if it’s because another man is touching his bride, I wonder if it’s jealousy driving him.

The priest kneels between her legs, taking his time to examine her.

In my earpiece, I hear one of the guards make a comment and I make sure not to snigger as a few others reply.

The service itself is boring. Gunther isn’t even meant to be leading it, but he decides to deliver his own sermon anyway and he starts issuing reading after reading.

Talking of the sanctity of marriage, of the necessity of it.

How the Brethren are all one family under god with the Chapter Lord as our father and his new bride as our mother.

I glance at her, run my eyes down her body as she lays there still trembling.

I doubt she’s more than twenty. She looks young, na?ve, her new husband is almost three times her age.

It’s clear why she’s been picked, and it has nothing to do with her husband wanting a maternal figure beside him.

No, he wants someone he can fuck, someone he can enjoy.

I can’t blame him on that front. I wouldn’t want to be married to some shrivelled up old hag if I could pick a nice nubile thing instead.

When he starts fucking her, she actually screams. More comments come in through my earpiece, comments about the size of his cock, and the fact that she must be as tight as a nun’s cunt the way she’s crying.

Again, I keep my face neutral but around me enough people are reacting to put me on edge.

It’s not unusual for some brides to be unhappy at their consummation. Enough of them are forced down the aisle for it to be accepted, but usually such matches are done in less public forums. The weddings are conducted in private, family only, not in front of the entire Brethren’s elite.

It makes me wonder what kind of statement our Chapter Lord is trying to make. Add the fact that his bride isn’t even permitted under our laws and perhaps my brother is right. Perhaps Gunther is becoming a serious liability.

“Sweet virgin pussy.” Gunther groans out and we can all hear the pleasure in his voice, in his groans. Enough people laugh to defuse the tension, but we can all make out the pitiful sounds his new bride is making.

He wraps his hands around her throat as the Senate speak. “As Jesus died and was reborn. You too shall be reborn. You are no longer a Brethren Daughter. You will be purged of your sins, purged of your taint. You will be reborn pure. Reborn obedient. And reborn ready to serve as our Chapter Lady.”

It’s the final part of the ritual and in truth, I’m pleased it’s all almost over.

I want a drink, I want a beer and I want something to fuck.

I’m not turned on, not by our dear Chapter Lord’s display, quite the opposite.

I want to replace those pathetic, snivelling sounds that even now are ringing in my ears.

Maybe I could head off, disappear to Oblivion for a few hours. It’d mean I’d have to pull an all-nighter with the journey back but it’d be worth it, worth the fun. Magnus is here somewhere anyway, he’ll be heading back…

“Oh shit.”

I look up, realising that I’ve been lost in my thoughts. Ahead, I have the perfect view of the crucifix, of the girl, and of our Chapter Lord with his hands wrapped around her throat.

He’s squeezing too hard.

He looks like he actually wants to strangle her. Her face is going purple, her limbs are thrashing as much as the people holding her will allow.

This isn’t meant to go down like this. Most Chapter Lords don’t do any more than simply place their hands around their bride’s throat.

Someone in the audience screams. Someone else shouts. The guards around me move to subdue them, but I’m not here for them, I’m here to protect Gunther. To protect his bride.

I step forward, just as the orders bark in my ear to hold my position.

“If she dies, she dies.” My commander says nonchalantly.

I’m not sure how our dear friends watching this will react to it if the bitch does die but I stay where I am, watching as Gunther continues to fuck and strangle her at the same time.

Finally, he comes, finally he growls out, jerking before he collapses on top of her. As soon as he does, the Senate drop their hold, someone pulls Gunther off and another is there, checking the girl’s pulse.

The man shakes his head slightly and straddles her body, doing compressions as the whole room sits in shocked silence.

He works away, pushing into her chest, breathing into her mouth. She just lays there, and then another man comes running in, holding a defibrillator.

“Move,” he orders before setting it up, placing the pads on her chest and shocking her.

She jerks, her entire body seems to jump up off the granite and it feels like the entire Cathedral holds its breath. If she dies, I don’t know what they would do but my gut tells me that it won’t be good.

I scan the room, and my eyes meet the blackened ones behind a mask. I’d put my money on it being Magnus. I’d state my life on it. And I’d also bet everything that he has that smug ‘I told you so’ look across his damned face.

She slams back down onto the granite after being shocked again and this time she rolls slowly onto her side, gasping, choking as she comes back to life.

Orders start filling up my ears. We need to move her, to get her out. I step forward, pushing through the crowd of people that are now on their feet. As I get to her, I can see our Commander has already got her in his arms, that he’s the one carrying her.

Gunther is stood, right in the middle of the carnage and he doesn’t even look concerned, he doesn’t even look guilty, if anything he looks proud of what he’s done. He waves his hand dismissively as if she’s a distraction and he wants her gone.

On the granite I can see that bloodied white sheet and Gunther snatches it up, waiving it about like a flag.

As we carry her out his voice echoes behind us, he’s giving a new lecture now, one about how God chose him as Chapter Lord and therefore, all his actions are divine.