Page 7 of Degradation (The Brethren Lords #3)
Devin
T he music rings out, pissing my ears off with its merry little tune.
Me and the other guards are stood, watching from the perimeter of the room. This wasn’t what I imagined, not how I envisioned my day-to-day life to be when I became a Chapter Guard. I grit my teeth, biting down the annoyance that is already settling in.
I imagined drama, excitement, not stood watching a bunch of semi-naked girls twist and turn for our Lord’s amusement.
Sure, the sight isn’t half bad. Some of the girls have nice tits that bounce as they move, but if I wanted to see naked women I could just as easily go to Oblivion, and at least here, I could have some fun with a slave or two.
“Look at them,” murmurs Lyndon, his voice a low growl. He’s one of the guards who did their training with me. “Like little flowers, waiting to be plucked.”
The others chuckle, their eyes roving over the girls like hungry wolves. I don’t react, but I can’t help the wry amusement that twists my gut. Men are such predictable creatures, aren’t we? All us see something delicate and our first instinct is to break it.
The red-headed girl is particularly captivating, her hair is like a flame that licks at the air as she spins. She moves with a wildness the others seem to lack, and that in my opinion, sets her apart from the others.
“Founders, all of them,” adds Mace, another guard.
He’s older than me, part of the lot that have been watching Gunther for years.
The stories he tells makes me question how much the wider Brethren are aware of his antics, or if they just turn a blind eye to our dear Chapter Lord’s misdemeanours in favour of a simpler life.
“This whole thing’s a sham. Chapter Lord can’t marry a founder, yet here we are. ”
I blink, surprised at his words. Founders? We’re not even meant to know who the Founders are. That’s forbidden knowledge, not for the likes of us.
I look at the still dancing girls with new eyes, with more suspicion, and then I glance over to where their families are stood on a nice little platform so they can have a good view of all of this.
They are all complicit in this charade, their families are clearly willing to break the rules for a chance at more power.
But what does that mean for us? What does any of this mean for our Chapter if our leader is willing to ignore this sacred rule, what others will he disregard when it suits his fancy?
A noise in the corner gets my attention, I look to see two of the girls squabbling now that they’re back from the toilets.
Shaking my head I cross over to where they are and pull them apart.
One has a chunk full of hair from the other girl.
As she snarls at me, I can’t help but smirk.
These bitches are all livewires, aren’t they?
I send them on their way, shooing them back onto the dancefloor.
The second girl batters her eyelids giving me her thanks like I’m some sort of hero.
“God, they’re pathetic.” Lyndon remarks as I resist the urge to tell her what for.
She saunters off, swaying her hips as if inviting me to come and fuck her right here and now, as if her arse is the finest thing in all of Christendom. But I’ve seen better meat in Oblivion, and at least there, I can devour it the way I want to, without any concerns about consequences.
Suddenly, there’s a gasp. One of the other girls, a blonde with eyes that are impossibly blue, stumbles and falls. She hastily picks herself up, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment and over at the gallery there’s an eruption of whispers.
My gaze lingers on her for a moment, before I look away. The Chapter Lord is there, scooping her up, acting like he gives a shit, and I resist the overwhelming urge to roll my eyes.
I want this charade over with. I want this thing done.
I’m bored shitless and, in my mind, Gunther should have just picked out a wife based on whose tits he liked best. The rest is white noise. The rest is bullshit.