Their Oracle was such a beautiful sacrifice for them.  Laid bare, body and soul, on that cold stone table, Kell's large hand forcing her chin up and back to arch, presenting her as their sacrificial lamb.  And what a lamb she was.  Soft and curved, her young woman's body was ripe for the taking.  From her vantage point atop the hard surface, she reveled in the people and their blood-letting, watching them attack each other with graceful abandon.<br/><br/>Soon enough she was shifted, moved and molded by her prince into what he wanted her to be and how he wanted her to be.  His hand was so strong as it pulled her head back, exposing her neck for the sharpness of their love.  The alabaster skin of her throat yet another sacrifice for them.  See how she offered herself for them?  See how she showed the explicitness of what she would do for them?  Her throat laid bare, her pulse throbbing in time with the thrusts of the limb that continued to bloody her.<br/><br/>Like a puppet, the pretty little Oracle said exactly what her master wanted her to say.  Her frenzy so complete that she would say anything he required of her.  "Your God is inside me!  My words are his words!"  There was passion in her voice.  How could anyone ever suspect that the son was feeding her her lines, that he was the one controlling the mouthpiece?  Raker played his part well, staying low and driving her deeper into her throes of religious and sexual passion.  It<i>was</i>the highest pleasure for a woman.  There was no doubt about that.  Kell had pulled her completely into the light while Jarek had wanted to keep her in the dark.  She was sure of that now.  The father wanted to oppress her true power and keep it locked away for himself.  Kell wanted to share her with the people, such a kind and generous man he was.<br/><br/>The second-rate man drew her attention but it was not the green eyes of his love, Charlotte, that looked upon him.  These green eyes burned with righteousness, with religious zeal; they were the eyes of the Oracle.  She<i>saw</i>the man, desperate for the body but nowhere near prepared for the soul of the girl.  Her head was held immobile by the hair but her eyes drifted downwards to the less than satisfactory offering John brought to her.  A cruel smirk twisted her pretty lips.<br/><br/>Kell's words dripped into her ear, his breath warm in the pink curve of the shell.  They should take the blood.  It was being freely offered, wasn't it?  Free will was so important.  Sacrifices meant nothing if they were not given of the person's own volition.<br/><br/>"He will bleed for us."  That simple statement was for her prince, for the one who was deforming her stomach with the strength of his love for her.  "Bring me the knife!" That command was for the congregation before her.  Ellen, always desperate for the favor of the son, immediately crawled forward on hands and knees, just the way he liked her.  Her hand closed around the blade of the weapon that had been used on the first sacrifice of the event.  She did not care that it bit harshly into her palm, adding yet more blood to the father's blood staining the metal.  Shaking with the strength of her frenzy, she crawled forward and offered the sharp object to the bloodied blonde.<br/><br/>Charlotte's hand closed around the handle and she held the blade aloft.  Loud cheers erupted from the crowd; they were caught in the blood frenzy now.  It was beautiful in its simplicity.  The red life-giving substance gave them new life now.  It brought them into the light and straight in the beginning of their salvation.<br/><br/>"Will you bleed for me?"  It was Charlotte's sweet voice that asked the question of John.  The Oracle knew the man would do anything for the girl.  He loved her, after all.  No answer was required.  She knew that he would comply with whatever demands she made of him especially if it meant there was even the slimmest chance of being with her the way he desired.<br/><br/>The slightest nod of his head or agreement in his eyes was all she needed.  The amount of control she demonstrated was admirable but then again, the blonde had always been good with a blade since she was a young girl.  Mother was proof of that.  The hand in her hair kept her throat exposed to her people, the ones who loved her more so now, as her eyes moved to follow the track of the knife.  The point was sharp enough to cut paper so the skin of the man meant nothing.<br/><br/>She dragged it along the presented length, from base to tip.  A thin red line appeared as the velvety skin split and opened.  The blood welled up yet did not drip.  Not satisfied, she cut him again, parallel to the first.  And then again, crossing the first two lines.  Again and again until he<i>was</i>bloody.  The outward sign of his devotion to her.<br/><br/>It was not enough though.  Raker and the poison one and the Oracle demanded more.  John gave of himself freely and they would take until he could give no more.  "Come closer.  Let me love you."  And when John did, the metallic love she was offering reached for his side.  The fingers of her free hand reached and stretched, tracing the lines of his ribs.  Such beautiful curved lines.  With the same restraint as before, the steel slid along those curved lines, opening the skin over them.  These wounds bled more freely, the skin of his side quickly stained and wet with red.<br/><br/>Her grip on the knife released, the blade dropping to land near Kell's feet.  Those delicate fingers traced through John's paint and lifted to his lips.  "Will you taste the strength of your love for me?"<br/><br/>And all the while, her princely disciple pumped away, forming her in his image and making a grand display of the pretty doll that had been brought specifically for this purpose.  Her fingers within John's mouth as he suckled them clean held her captive until she could take no more.  She was shuddering once more, coating her prince with a wetness that was not red.<br/><br/>"Will you fill me with your love, my prince? Your oracle begs you to claim me as your own."  Again, words just for him, begging words, pleading words.  "Please..."