and were accepted.
Something seemed to twist inside her, then she felt the exaltation of
Consecration taking hold and she was praying for the new salvation the
celebrants offered, not just from the effects of sin but from sin
itself. As at Mass, the celebrants took the new Communion first,
drinking from each other. The physical actions were little different
from some of the things that went on at a shelter party--but the
feeling wasn't sexual, it was like her dream of both of them feeding
from her: reverent joy.

Then the celebrants were finished, inviting those who hadn't yet
partaken and wished to place themselves under the Protector's care to
come forward. Almost as if Odeon were pulling her, Cortin approached
him and knelt. Except that it was Mike only in form; he had become
God, in the same way bread and wine became God at the Consecration
during Mass. "I surrender myself to Thee," she said. "I ask for Thy
protection and guidance, that I might serve Thee to the best of my
ability."

"They are thine, Daughter." Hands on her head guided her to the
whiteness welling from him. "Drink thy fill of the Seed of Life, that
thou mayst be Sealed to thy Protector."

Cortin obeyed. The droplets were sweet, not the slightly bitter taste
she remembered. Taste was minor, though, next to the exaltation that
washed through her. His thick sweet fluid was a generous feast,
filling her with His love and life. It was forever and no time at all
that she finished, reveling in His glorious bounty so freely given.

When He raised her to her feet, the exaltation faded as it did after
Communion--not completely, but to a far lesser intensity. She stepped
back; Princess Ursula took her place, while the Prince went to Chang.

It was beautiful, Cortin thought, in large part because it was real
rather than hidden by symbols. She didn't object to such concealment
in its proper place, such as the Mass--letting flesh and blood appear
to be bread and wine was easier on celebrant and communicants both!
Milk and seed, though, could be given not only without pain but with
obvious pleasure; Mike and Sis were both positively radiant. Some
people, she knew, would think this obscene, be uncomfortable or worse
at taking such nourishment directly from its source instead of from
chalice or plate. She knew, but she didn't understand. Breasts were
made to give milk, testes to give seed; given and taken in the
Protector's Holy Name, how coul