The Binding Ceremony

“I, Sybarita, Conqueror of Nations and Mastress of Worlds, hereby bind this man to me as my eternal consort,” she proclaimed in three voices at once – one shrill, one deep, and her own melodic tone – that echoed with power throughout the cavernous ballroom. The blue pendant at the end of a heavy golden chain that dangled from her upheld hands began glowing with a cold light.

Deseo stared at her, dumbfounded, as the weight and implications of her words settled onto him. As strange as the day had been up until now, this was not what he had expected in the slightest! He clutched the arms of the throne in which he was seated and vowed to give his full attention to what followed.

The echoes slowly died down, and she spun away from him. Although her mouth was closed, the three voices began chanting again in a strange language, seeming to come from a radiant spot in the hollow of her throat.

As she whirled, under the vocalizing of the three disembodied voices, a tuneless humming slowly grew. From the vast darkness around them, twelve women emerged to stand in a circle around them. Though they all wore rich gowns of deep blue, the other twelve women contrasted sharply with the voluptuous, raven-haired sorceress; they were old, bald, and painfully thin.

Each held a bowl of steaming liquid in her knobby, arthritic hands.

The whirling sorceress spun her way to one of the women who knelt low and held the dish high above her bowed head. Sybarita dipped the pendant into her proffered vessel. When she pulled it out, it was glowing red. The women all cried out in ecstasy and Sybarita began her mad spinning again.

She swirled over to another woman in the circle and again washed the stone in the liquid. She lifted it; it glowed a sickly green. The women screamed with joy and began to hum once more as the sorceress continued to spin, pausing only to bathe the necklace she caressed in her hands. Over and over, she dipped the jewel; each time it was a different color. The women rejoiced each time they saw the resulting hue.

When it was finally blue once more, after being laved for the twelfth time, their ceremony took on a new fervor.

They shrieked with joy and began to sing full-throated now, though Deseo couldn’t understand a word of their tongue. The crones tossed their basins away from them, ignoring the noises of splashing liquid and breaking crockery, gladly joining in the dance. All thirteen women began to writhe and cavort, with the Sorceress at their center spinning faster and faster.

Suddenly, pieces of Sybarita’s clothing began to fly off – a button here, a skirt panel there, fine threads everywhere – until she stood before him completely naked as a cry of triumph rang out from the now stilled coven.

She padded over to him in her bare feet through the confetti of her shredded gown and stood before him in her soft glory. Her black hair streamed behind her back, leaving her front completely exposed. As inured as Deseo was to women’s bodies, knowing he would have permission to touch Sybarita as her consort made him eager for their marriage chamber. His already too-tight pants the servants had forced him to wear became even tighter at the thoughts going through his mind.

With a swift motion, the sorceress placed the pendant around Deseo’s neck.

Immediately, the long chain began to contract. It tightened until he was struggling to breathe and he fell to the ground with black spots swirling in his vision.

When he was just about to lose consciousness, the chain abruptly loosened again and he took in great gulps of the stale air from the chamber, which to him tasted as sweet as candy after what had just happened.

Deseo finally hauled himself to his knees and realized the women were all staring at him silently, clearly waiting for something to happen. Terrified that the band would begin choking him again, he reached up to remove it.

As he did, his thoughts splintered into a thousand pieces.

Confused, he looked at his raised hands, wondering what they were doing there. He looked past them and realized the women were all staring at him silently, clearly waiting for something to happen. Terrified that the band would begin choking him again, he reached up to remove it.

As he did, his thoughts splintered into a thousand pieces.

Confused, he looked at his raised hands, wondering what they were doing there. He looked past them and realized the women were all staring at him silently, clearly waiting for something to happen. Terrified that the band would begin choking him again, he reached up to remove it.

Oddly, he got the feeling this had happened before. He looked past his outstretched hands and realized the women were all staring at him silently, strange smiles on all of their faces.

The last coherent thought he had was, “What did they do to me?”