A Master's Ring: Book 03

"I'm David's masturbation toy for the next six months," Doris Alex told him. "Clothing might block access."

"So..." Michael said thoughtfully. "How good do I have to be if I want my very own 'it sucks, it fucks, it even helps you with your homework' DA masturbation toy under my Christmas tree?"

Doris Alex gave Michael an annoyed look that was not very effective in killing his laughter.

"That was very creative, David," Michael complimented me. "With the candidates leaving soon, you need something to tide you over until the new crop of pledges comes knocking at your bedroom door."

"Melisa is the one that set her punishment," I told him.

"Oh," he said sitting back. "Hmmm."

Doris Alex showed Michael the new crest ring that she had on a chain around her neck.

"You could have just said that," Michael complained.

"It would have made a difference?" I asked.

"Of course," Michael replied. "Melisa is First."

I looked at him curiously.

"Melisa needs to exert her Rank whenever you crest a new Sibling, David," Doris Alex explained. "A new crest must accept her dominant position without question."

I knew better than to ask about Rank, but I figured I should know about their little dance where it most intersected with my life.

"So she has to stomp on you and you have to take it?" I asked.

"She wasn't stomping on me," Doris Alex defended.

"Is that why Iane caved when Melisa put her mouth where it would do a lot of good?" I asked.

"Huh?" Michael intoned looking between us.

"Iane got a full taste of Melisa's orgasms," Doris Alex told him.

"I am never studying outside this house again!" Michael promised fervently.

"Iane caved rather quickly to Melisa's demand," I said curiously.

"She better have!" Michael exclaimed. "If she didn't play nice, most Siblings would happily hold her down so Doris Alex could rip out every hair on that pretty blonde mane."

"What a lovely vision!" Doris Alex giggled. "You can give me a bath tonight just for that, Michael."

"Hey!" Michael protested. "Uh... forget I said that."

"I already did, dear."

Jason warned me not to continue, but I chose not listen.

"I don't understand," I told them.

"Rank is like paper money, every Sibling has to agree it means something," Doris Alex explained.

"Start at the beginning," Michael advised.

"Keep it simple, please," I directed.

"There are three layers of Rank," Doris Alex said. "The outer, fun, and the one specific to each Brother."

"Fun is just fun," Michael said. "It lets Doris Alex order me around like a trained seal."

"You don't want to give me a bath?" Doris Alex pouted cutely.

Michael barked and clapped his hands.

"The outer is about all of us," Doris Alex said. "We take it very seriously, and now I have enough to do what I want with the sorority."

"And then there is Rank in your life, where Melisa is goddess-queen BITCH of all she surveys from her kneeling position on your bed," Michael said magnanimously.

"I still don't see why Iane would bow so quickly to Melisa," I told them.

"If she doesn't respect Melisa's Rank in your life, no one has to respect her outer Rank," Doris Alex said in a voice of steel. "Iane's Rank is as important to her as mine is to me."

I sat quietly for a minute before speaking again.

"How far can you go with fun?" I asked.

"Siblings are very aware of limits, David," Michael assured me. "We know what Melisa will not do. To attempt to cross that line is..."

"It is not done," Doris Alex pronounced with finality.

"You started preparing for the sorority long before you had the crest," I pointed out to her.

"Intentions are important," Doris Alex told me. "It is understood that I was to be your crest so other Siblings behave as if I already am."

"After all, it's not a good idea to shit in someone's lunch box if they're about to get promoted over you," Michael added.

"Iane wasn't very accommodating to you," I said to Doris Alex. "At least, not until I instructed her to please you."

"OH MY GOD!" Michael yelled in surprised. "Tell me, you did not shove those two into the same bed and ordered them to fuck!"

"I didn't have to do anything," Doris Alex said wickedly. "I have to give that bitch credit; she knows how to push someone's buttons."

"Iane's going to kill you," Michael said to me. "You know that right?"

"I doubt it," I told him.

"That girl had to have been insanely pissed off last night to be servicing DA," Michael said. "Why wouldn't she kill you?"

"I enjoyed watching," I answered. "I am also in possession of the only Doris Alex 'she fucks, she sucks' doll, and I was thinking Iane would enjoy being on the receiving end next time."

"I'll buy the popcorn and soda if you let me watch," Michael offered hopefully.

"Iane did seem frustrated so I'll keep that in mind," I told him.

"Frustrated?" Michael asked.

"David didn't touch her," Doris Alex crowed.

"Maybe Brothers are fucking nuts," Michael said thoughtfully.

Doris Alex gave him an angry look.

"You've thought it too!"

"I never say it in front of a Brother," Doris Alex replied politely.

"So three layers of Rank, and intentions makes things a done deal," I interrupted before they flew of the handle. "Am I going to have to deal with the repercussions of you stomping Iane when she crests?"

"No," Michael said shaking his head. "There's only one Sibling in a Brother's life who ever commands automatic respect."

The headache started.

"The only hard rule then is no one can supersede Melisa in my life," I said patiently.

Doris Alex nodded and Michael shook his head.

"Come on, Michael," Doris Alex sighed impatiently. "Melisa has a cleaner transition than even the ones considered immaculate."

Michael pursed his lips in reply.

"Are you fucking insane?" Doris Alex gasped. "A parent Brother was her first; there is no Brother between leaving her dad's home and becoming David's First; and she's a crested First now. That's never been done; an immaculate is recruited by a Brother of one gender, a tour composed of Brothers of the same gender, becoming the First for a Brother of the opposite gender, and then being made their crested First."

"There are levels to the immaculates," Michael said logically.

"Melisa's transition is pure, Michael," Doris Alex insisted. "She has never touched a Brother of either sex except her dad. She's never touched another male!"

"I'm just saying there could be a better transition than Melisa's; at least theoretically," Michael replied defensively. "There could also be Siblings who have a higher relative Rank with their Brother than Melisa has with David, so it's not out of the question someone could displace Melisa."

"How can you have a better transition than Melisa?" Doris Alex asked angrily.

"If Melisa's mother had been her first Brother; Melisa would have come to David completely untouched by another man," Michael replied.

Doris Alex mouth snapped shut.

"It's the whole blood on the sheets thing," Michael deadpanned.

"You are an asshole!" Doris Alex told him.

"But I have proven that there is a better possible transition than Melisa's," Michael said with a bow.

"It wouldn't mean that the Sibling would have Melisa's Rank," Doris Alex replied. "Melisa was recruited FOR David. She's been loyal to him for years. You can't have more Rank in a Brother's life than she has achieved."

"I bet I can disprove that too," Michael baited her.

"What do you want?" Doris Alex asked carefully.

"You give me a bath tonight," Michael replied quickly.

"Done!"

"Okay," Michael said sitting back. "Let's say somewhere out is a female Sibling crested to a female Brother. The Sibling is married to another Sibling. The female Sibling has a male child from her husband. The boy grows up and right before 'that' age, the mother's crest Brother and husband die. After the proper amount of mourning, the son is recruited as a Brother and his mother chooses to be his First. After his training period, she becomes his crested First. Considering the biological mother/son relationship, would that Sibling be a bigger goddess-queen BITCH in her son's life than Melisa is in David's?"

Jason hummed his opinion; my headache got worse.

"It doesn't mean that someone could come into David's life and get higher Rank than Melisa," Doris Alex avoiding the question.

"David is Ekaterina," Michael said garnering a nod from Doris Alex. "A Bloodline which gives its Siblings as much Rank above you as your Bloodline gives you above me. No Ekaterina ever walked into a Brother's life without being Ranked highest."

This time Doris Alex's nod was reluctant.

"Therefore if David had a female relation..." Michael started only to get hit by a well-aimed cushion.

Luanne, Emily, and Sandra entered the room and asked what we were talking about. They were close enough to their indoctrination for Michael told them most of the truth.

Their fascination convinced me that I needed a nap. I lay back on the couch and closed my eyes causing silence in the room.

I recognized Sandra as the first to kiss me; the candidates had an instinctive grasp of the games Siblings played to achieve fun Rank.

=====Chapter 55=====

I wondered if the silence between semesters would always be so noticeable.

"It's quiet," Stephanie said from her chair in the living room.

She was coming down from the high of passing a martial arts exam that morning. Melisa, Doris Alex, Susan, and Nancy sat on the floor playing Monopoly.

"The candidates," I said to Stephanie.

"It's weird," she replied. "When the girls left last semester, it wasn't this quiet."

"Siblings leave; they're supposed to," I said, finally finding the words. "Candidates leave behind an expectation of return."

"They're not going to be the same when they come back from their indoctrination and tours," she said sadly.

"You won't be the same either," I told her.

I lay back on the couch and opened one of the books for a class I was scheduled to take the next semester. I made a snap decision after exams not to take summer classes, but spent most of my free time ensuring my senior year would be a breeze.

Michael slamming the front door woke me up. Unbelievably, I had been allowed to nap without interference; I must have fallen asleep just as the Monopoly game entered the vicious negotiation stage.

"I can't fucking believe they did this to me!" Michael complained throwing himself into a chair.

"What happened?" Doris Alex asked him concerned.

"They voted me President of the fraternity chapter!" he snapped.

"Aren't you already the Treasurer?" Melisa asked sneaking a pair of fifties out of the Monopoly bank while everyone was looking at Michael.

"Yes," Michael answered sarcastically. "Do you believe the bastard I slaved to have elected President announced he didn't feel up to it and had to step down? The brothers had an emergency vote behind my back and elected me."

"Ouch!" Susan said sympathetically, while not quite managing to suppress a giggle.

Michael was a mix of conflicting personality traits: he avoided responsibility, but had a deep-seeded need to live up to people's expectations. I watched him manipulate his fraternity to avoid being appointed its public head knowing they would find a way to shove him into the role. Everyone knew Michael would throw himself wholeheartedly into the abyss as long someone expected it of him. It allowed others to easily take advantage of him, especially because he was so capable.

"Can't you just refuse the honor?" Nancy asked facetiously.

The girls laughed at the look Michael gave her.

"My senior year is supposed to be the best," Michael said sadly. "After this, it's medical school and explaining to patients that they're dying, but there's nothing I can do about it. This fucking sucks!"

"It can't be that bad," I told him.

"They're already expecting me to convince you to build us a new frat house, like you did for the girls," he told me.

"Okay," I said.

He groaned and threw his head back.

"Isn't that enough to end your presidential reign?" Melisa asked smiling. "You can retire to oversee the building of the new frat house."

"Melisa," I said softly.

She opened her eyes as wide as she could, trying to appear innocent. Michael was as likely to put down a set of expectations, as Melisa was to stop driving my car.

Michael got up and started walking out of the room but froze at the doors.

"Are you really going to build a new frat house for us?" he asked me seriously.

"He said okay," Melisa answered.

Michael met her eyes and nodded before going upstairs.

"Man, that has to suck," Melisa said to no one in particular.

"You would know," Doris Alex replied giggling.

"Why?" Susan asked.

"The sorority wanted to elect Melisa president," Doris Alex got out before breaking out laughing.

"What happened?" Nancy asked smiling.

"I told them I would very conveniently forget to have central heating installed in the new sorority house," Melisa said smartly.

I waited for their laughter to fade before I spoke.

"Can you talk to him?" I asked Stephanie.

"He's very upset," she said looking at the stairs.

"You can't be someone you're not," I said. "Michael keeps trying though."

"I'll talk to him," she said with a nod.

I watched her walk up the stairs before I got off the couch. The Siblings looked at me with curiosity when I came out of my bedroom a couple of minutes later, but did not ask any questions.

"They're having sex," Nancy said an hour later. "That's a huge step for her!"

She had gone upstairs to ask if they wanted to be a part of our takeout order.

"That's awesome!" Doris Alex said happily.

"Finally..." Susan sighed while tears fell freely from her eyes.

Melisa stared at me; there was nothing for her to decipher in my eyes. The other Siblings noticed my silence and sat down heavily.

It was dark outside when Michael came downstairs.

"Are you okay?" Susan asked nervously.

Michael shook his head confused and sat down.

"What's wrong?" Nancy asked him.

"That was so weird..." Michael said but could not continue.

Stephanie walked into the living room. She glanced at each of us through a thin curtain of tears before taking a chair.

"What's wrong, Stephanie?" Susan asked in a panic-stricken voice.

The room quieted when I put the small jewelry box down on the coffee table.

"Holy shit!" Melisa said recognizing it.

"Am I right, Michael?" I asked.

"I can't..." Michael replied.

"Am I right, Michael?" I repeated.

"Yes," he answered amazed.

I slid the box to Stephanie's side. Her hands trembled when she picked it up. She was the only other person who did not gasp after she opened it; the black-faced ring with no crest Melisa had given me a year before lay inside.

"That's impossible," Stephanie said.

"It's not as rare as a Bloodline Brother," Doris Alex said.

She stood up, took Melisa's hand, and walked behind the couch to position me between Stephanie and them.

"What?" Nancy and Susan asked together.

"That first Alexander Brother was first in a lot of things: the first Bloodline Brother, the first female Brother and the first Sibling to be given a black ring," Doris Alex told us. "Her crest Brother was assassinated to possess her. The Brother who had him killed did not survive a night with her."

"They would have sanctioned her," Michael protested.

"The council did," Doris Alex replied with a nod. "Two Ekaterina Siblings died protecting her from the initial attempt to kill her. The meaning of their loyalty could not be denied."

"Oh, my God!" Susan gasped.

"A Sibling hasn't been given a black ring in over a century," Doris Alex finished.

"Is that all it takes?" Stephanie asked me. "Rape a Sibling, and you get a Brother?"

"Has Roderigo suffered a day of his life?" I asked her.

She shook her head slowly.

"You changed," I told her. "The same thing that happened to you would have different results with other Siblings."

"Like?" she asked.

"What would have happened if those monsters raped Doris Alex or Iane?" I asked in return.

She looked at Doris Alex for a second before answering.

"Doris would wash it off with her next shower," she said softly. "If it's not a Brother, it doesn't matter to her. Iane..."

"Would laugh through it, and wear their dried testicles as earrings after David killed them," Melisa said from behind me.

"Iane was right, David. I don't have her strength," Stephanie said. "How can I wear this ring when a Sibling is stronger?"

"Is it about strength?" I asked.

Stephanie met my eyes.

"I don't know, Stephanie," I told her. "Maybe it is; maybe it's about control. What I do know is you need something so different now that you can't be what you were."

"You knew," she stated. "When you read my words, you knew."

I smiled and shook my head.

"I knew you would never rely on a Brother for anything again," I said.

"I'm still scared, David," she whispered.

She sat back when I jumped the coffee table and placed the end of Jason's gift against her forehead.

"How scared are you?" I asked, cocking the gun.

Her jaw locked as she stared into my eyes angrily.

"No!" the Siblings screamed when I pulled the trigger.

They sucked in a hard breath when the hammer struck empty.

"There are things worse than death, aren't there?" I asked Stephanie.

She nodded.

"I don't know what makes a Brother, Stephanie," I told her. "You're not a Sibling, and you're not dead. What's left?"

I pulled the other gun out and replaced the one against her head with it.

"The choices are the same, Stephanie," I said. "Keep walking forward or I'll kill you."

Their eyes followed me as I returned to my seat.

"The Brothers won't accept me," Stephanie warned taking the ring out of the box.

"They will be surprised how much damage two Brothers can do," I replied.

My hands were bigger than hers so the ring did not fit.

"Susan can have it adjusted, Brother," Melisa told Stephanie.

"Me?" Susan asked shocked.

"You don't wish to be our new Brother's First?" Doris Alex asked.

Nancy sat up straight.

"Don't even think about it!" Susan said to her in a deadly voice.

"She can have two Firsts," Nancy offered hopefully.

"No!" Susan hissed.

"Do I have any say in this?" Stephanie asked gently.

Susan and Nancy avoided her eyes.

"This is fucking nuts!" Michael groaned from his chair.

I stood up and met Stephanie's eyes.

"You can't stay here anymore," I told her.

"David," Susan protested.

"Susan!" Stephanie purred.

"You can spend the night," I said to her. "Tomorrow, the Siblings will help you move to Susan's house, at least until things shake out."

"Is that all, David?" Stephanie asked when I opened my bedroom doors for Doris Alex and Melisa.

She did not understand what she was asking; I turned and smiled at her.

"I told you, Stephanie, the ring changes nothing," I replied. "I still might come for you someday."

Doris Alex and Melisa lay down on either side of me.

"Did you know, David?" Doris Alex asked quietly.

Melisa sat up and stared at me.

"He knew," Melisa said stroking my forehead. "Like he knew about David when they met as little boys."

Jason chose not to reply; I closed my eyes and slept as deeply as I could with a Brother under my roof.

-----

"They're here," Doris Alex said walking over to stand behind my chair.

Melisa and I were sitting in the backyard talking about the new sorority chapter house. I nodded to Doris Alex and gestured for Melisa to finish.

The construction of the house was almost completed, which raised new conflicts at the sorority. Michael chose to only shove his choices for architecture and layout down the sorority's collective throat. He made suggestions about the interior design, especially the Brother room, but he let the sisters have the final say on color and furnishings.