Maiden chapter thirteen

[maculategiraffe]

This is a short chapter-- it was going to be one long one with the last one but it ran too long.







Julia was tense and silent in the back seat of the car, reading and rereading Sean's letter and crying off and on. Bonnie and Rita stayed silent, too, out of deference to her agitation, and it was a relief when the car pulled up outside Rita's house. To Rita's slight surprise, almost the first thing she saw was Sean himself, on his hands and knees in a flowerbed, doing what appeared to be Drew's job. Drew himself was nowhere in sight. Neither was Kyle.

Sean got to his feet at the sight of the car, the knees of his jeans grubby. Rita turned to Julia, who already had the door to the car open, Sean's letter forgotten on the seat behind her as she ran towards Sean. Sean's face lit up with pure joy.

"Mama!" he cried, and was in her arms, the top of her head somewhere in the vicinity of his earlobe.

Rita, walking slowly towards them, leaving the keys in the car-- Jonas could take it to the garage later-- heard Julia say, "Oh, my baby-- You're so thin--"

"The center was horrible," Sean answered, "but we get plenty to eat here, it's okay, I'm going to be good--"

"Sean's been very good," Rita said, and they both turned their heads to look at her, Julia gratified, Sean grateful. "You raised a fine son, Julia. Come inside. Sean, would you like to show your mother your room?"







"Just kiss me," said Kyle. "You can kiss me. She won't be mad about that. She wasn't mad that we did it before, was she? You can't get STDs from kissing."

"Listen," said Drew, his knees drawn up in front of him, his back against the wall of the house. "If you think I'm taking any chances, you are nuts. I almost pissed myself back there-- you should have heard her voice. 'I will hurt you very, very badly.'"

"Only if you try to rape me, though, right?"

"If I try to make you do anything you don't want to," Drew corrected.

"Well, I want you to kiss me."

"Not until she tells you it's okay."

Kyle rolled his eyes. "She already told you it was okay!"

"No," said Drew, "she told me that she was going to tell you it was okay, and she hasn't yet, and you can't make me kiss you if I don't want to because I'm bigger than you."

Kyle couldn't help laughing. "Dammit."

"Kyle," said Drew, "please don't ever, ever get mad at me, okay? I mean, I knew she liked you, but damn. Or maybe she just thinks I look like a rapist. Do I look like a rapist?"

"Completely," grinned Kyle, and then sobered. "Hey, Drew? She told me something this morning-- before she talked to you-- she said that when Sean was at the center, he did get raped. Like-- often. I think she said-- every night."

"Shit," said Drew, his eyes widening. "Really? No wonder he's-- well. The way he is."

"Yeah," said Kyle. "And if he's a maiden, he's never been-- protected, before. I mean, probably for all he knows different, we could all hold him down and take turns and she wouldn't stop it. They're supposed to stop stuff like that at the centers, too. How is he supposed to know she actually will?"

Drew frowned. "You think-- is that why she was so intense about the rape stuff, with me? Maybe she just found out about men raping each other and she's all upset."

"Heh," said Kyle. "Maybe. I really feel like shit, though, because-- that first afternoon, when she told me to get him ready, I-- well, I got him naked, which was what I was supposed to do, but then I decided she wanted me to get him hard, too. Which, in retrospect... I don't know. I feel bad. Especially since I was just pissed off and jealous about him replacing me. She said something later, she asked if it was, she said something like 'cruelty to establish your place in the pecking order.' Which is pretty much true. I think that might make me a horrible person."

"You're not a horrible person," said Drew, putting a hand on Kyle's shoulder. "You're being nice to him now."

"I guess." Kyle shifted a little closer to Drew. "I just-- I feel like I should be doing more. To make him feel less freaked out. But I don't know what I can do, without freaking him out more."

"Well," said Drew thoughtfully, "from what I saw this morning, the best thing you can do for him is let the magistra know you're on his side. She'll take care of the rest."

"You think?"

"Well, I think anyone you don't like is pretty much history," said Drew, "so I assume it works the other way around, too."

Kyle put his head down on Drew's shoulder, and then grabbed Drew's hand and put it on his own shoulder as he moved in closer, aiming for Drew's mouth.

"Oh no," he said, in mock panic. "Don't grab me, Drew, you're so big and strong, oh no, don't make me kiss you--"

"Holy Gaia," said Drew, wrenching his hand free and putting both hands up to shield his face, "do not joke about that. I like my flesh not charred off my bones, thanks."

"Spoilsport," said Kyle, and moved back to where he'd been, laying his head down on Drew's shoulder again. "Hey, shouldn't you be working or something?"





Sean knelt by the chair in his bedroom, his cheek resting on his mother's knee, while she stroked his head.

"Your hair--" she said, sounding sad. "Is she going to let it grow?"

"I don't know," said Sean. "Probably. The other guys around here, they've got hair."

Julia laughed a little. "And she's good to you?"

"Yes," said Sean. "Very good. There's lots to eat, and she gave me this room, and--" He realized he couldn't confide the main evidence of Rita's generosity without also confessing his own appalling disobedience when it came to the ritual, so he finished, "She's really good to-- all the men here."

"But you're in a position of such honor," said Julia with satisfaction. "A potential father! And she seems very fond of you already. I always knew those high school girls just didn't understand what a wonderful boy you were. If only they could see you now! All ready to father a daughter for the magistra herself! Well, as soon as she takes your maidenhead, anyway."

"Mother?" Sean asked tentatively, after a few moments of resting his head against her lovely, familiar warmth. "When you lose your maidenhead-- does-- does it hurt?"

"No, darling," said his mother, squeezing his shoulder. "It doesn't hurt at all. Unless something goes wrong, and nothing will go wrong with the magistra."

Sean frowned. "Sorry, mother, but-- how do you know?"

"Because she's a magistra," said his mother, "and if a small-town weather adept like me could take your father's maidenhead without hurting him, you can bet a magistra won't have any trouble with my sweet Sean."

Sean squirmed uncomfortably, and Julia added, "Don't be so nervous, sweetheart. She's got wonderful control-- it's really amazing how strong her power is. Normally I can't even tell, much, about other women, but at work this morning, she-- well, she just--" She gestured helplessly. "But that's what I mean-- her control is perfect. You don't have to worry, honey. Just be good-- you were always such a good boy, so sweet and loving, I've missed you so much-- my son--"

"I missed you too," said Sean, and wrapped his arms around her calves to hug them. "How is my father?"

"He's-- not very well," said his mother. "No, not sick, just-- ever since you were sent to the center-- I think he blamed me, for not being able to keep you out of it. He's very-- I don't know. Withdrawn. He's still under my protection, but we don't really-- talk much, these days." She took Sean's head in her hands. "He'll be-- I think he'll be very happy, to know that you're safe."

"I am," said Sean, feeling sick with guilt-- hadn't it been his own failure to get a protectrix in high school that had stricken both his parents with grief and stopped them talking to each other? "I'm fine now, mother."

"We've been so worried," his mother said softly. "Oh, Sean-- at that center, did they--"

A quick knock on the door interrupted her, and she stopped, and called, "Yes-- yes, come in--"

Sean lifted his head and saw Rita come in; he let go of his mother's legs as she quickly, respectfully rose.

"Please, sit," said Rita, gesturing at the chair, and Julia sat back down as Rita sat down on the edge of the bed. Sean didn't move until a quick, gentle nudge from his mother's toe and a jerk of her head sent him crawling to his protectrix' feet instead. Rita put a hand on the back of his neck and rested it there.

"Thank you so much, magistra," said Julia, her voice choked with emotion. "You don't know what this means to me, to know my son is in your hands."

"I may have some idea," said Rita, smiling. "And I can certainly see that it's done Sean a world of good to see you again. I hate to cut it short, but Julia, there are a few work-related things I'd like to discuss with you in my office, before I take you back to your circle. It won't take long-- and since your directrix said this should count as your lunch hour, I'm having some food brought up."

Sean couldn't help putting a timid hand on her knee, and she looked down at him.

"I'm afraid you can't come, dear," she said gently. "Your mother and I need to take a look at her work, so we may be throwing a bit of power around, and I don't want to have to worry about protecting you. But--" She looked back up at Julia. "I think it would be beneficial for everyone if Sean were permitted to see you regularly, from now on-- and to correspond with you, of course, between visits. How would you feel about that?"

"I-- that would be-- wonderful," Sean's mother said.

"Sean?"

Sean bowed his back and bent his head over Rita's sandals, and lightly, cautiously, kissed her instep.

"Well, I think we can consider it settled, then," said Rita. "Come with me, Julia. I'll write down your address, and we'll figure out a good time to meet-- and then you can say goodbye to Sean before I take you back to work."