Existence 02 - Predestined

table joined in on his laughter.
    Leif’s hand reached for mine under the table in an attempt to squeeze it and I jerked it away quickly. I didn’t want him to touch me.
    “You don like de rum do ya gurl,” Ghede stated for the rest of the table to hear.
    Rum. So that was what it was. No, I didn’t like the rum.
    “No,” I replied, unable to hold his piercing stare even with those dark glasses of his on. You could still feel it.
    “Ah, we might need to fix dat.”
    Highly unlikely.
    “Could she just have some soda, father?” Leif asked and for once I was thankful for his presence. My mouth was incredibly dry.
    “Yes get de gurl some soda,” he ordered one of the women standing back around the table waiting to do his bidding.
    “Thank you,” I managed to choke out. Wyatt, I reminded myself. I was doing this for Wyatt.
    “Ah and she’s got de manners. You chose good son. I lak dis one.”
    Leif beamed beside me and I felt the urge to gag.
    “Dis one,” Ghede announced loudly to the rest of the table, “she fell in love wit Dankmar. Das right,” he enjoyed the surprised responses that came from the others. I peered down the table for the first time since sitting down and had to force myself not to openly gape at them. At least my dress didn’t stand out. Every female at the table was dressed in a similarly ancient style of dress. However, their chests were much bigger so they really did have cleavage up to their nose. I sucked in a quick breath when I watched one of the men pull the front of a lady’s dress until her entire breast bounced free. Swinging my eyes off them I studied the other side of the table. Men were all dressed in tuxedos and several even wore black masks. The hairstyles on the women were alarmingly high. Curls stacked up at least a foot with sparkling jewels, feathers, and other items stuck into the mix. They all drank liberally and laughed even shrilly. A loud squeal brought my eyes back to the other side of the table and I watched as the man who’d pulled the woman’s top down now had her butt up on the edge of the table and was shoving her dress up, which was a feat all its own with all the fabric, and she was spreading her legs wide and squealing delightedly. When the man went to unbutton his bottoms I closed my eyes and snapped my head back around to look toward the wall behind Leif’s head. Dear God, they were about to ... to do it at the table. What had I agreed to?
    “Father please, Pagan isn’t used to this sort of behavior. For tonight can you stop them?” Leif asked from beside me and I wanted to bury my face in his shoulder and start humming a song to drawn out the loud grunts coming from the man only a few feet down from me.
    “Whut? De sex is part of de fun. You won me to go wit out de sex? Whut is a party wit out de enjoyment of de flesh, hmmm. Non dat is de answer.”
    The woman began to moan loudly and call out words I’d never heard before. Leif’s arm came around my shoulder and I used his side and his arm as muffles for my ears while my eyes remained tightly shut.
    “I’m sorry, Pagan,” he whispered into my hair.
    If he was really sorry he wouldn’t have bribed me to come to this place. It wasn’t a meal it was a ... a... freaking orgy. More moans had joined in and I cringed in horror as women called out vulgar suggestions and men screamed nasty descriptions. This was nothing like I’d imagined.
    “Father please, may we be excused?” Leif asked.
    “Hmph, I guess. I don want to stop my party. You take de gurl and I’ll send de food to you.”
    Relieved, I jumped up being careful not to glance back down the table and let Leif lead me out of the room and back into the safety of the large hallway.
    “Ohmygod,” I whispered horrified. My mind would forever be traumatized.
    “I’m sorry. I’d hoped since you were there father would contain that but--”
    “But he’s a sick pervert,” I finished for him.
    Leif started to open his mouth, but I cut him off.
    “Don’t. I don’t care about what I’m supposed and not supposed to say about him here. That was the most revolting experience of my life. And you just let me walk right into it. No preparation or warning.”
    “Because if I’d told you that was a possibility you wouldn't have gone and Father would have punished you.”
    “And that wasn’t punishment?”
    “No, he finds that entertaining. He’s the voodoo spirit over many things. Eroticism is one of them.”
    “Ugh, oh,