This is a story of an alternate reality where there is a branch of Christianity that has rejected the dogma normally associated with sex.
Chapter 5: To Protect & Empower
The very same morning that Marcia first woke up in the room she shared with Laura, Christopher Carlson found himself sitting across an imposing desk from Anthony Quillis; in Anthony's downtown real estate office.
Chris had been wondering if this day would ever come. He entered the kingdom's boot camp over fifteen weeks ago, and was seriously believing that he was never going to be selected by a squad leader. Most of the men he saw entering boot camp were selected within three to four weeks. There was one other guy who was selected after twelve, but no one was in it as long as he was.
This had perplexed him, because he thought he was much more talented than others that were selected faster than he was. He knew he scored better than most in all of his exams, and performed better in almost all of the sporting events he participated in. Towards the end he was tutoring many of the other guys with their studies, and was always one of the first selected when teams were chosen. Yet he kept seeing others being selected instead of him.
Chris was young — just turned twenty one — tall, blond and very athletic looking. He thought he was in pretty good shape before he entered boot camp, but after near daily physical competitions, he was now lean and hard. He was dressed as he was the past fifteen weeks in just jeans and a t-shirt. His posture in his chair was relaxed, but not slouching.
Anthony, sitting across from Chris, was a similar sort of man, but more harder and darker in appearance. With slightly graying, close cut hair, he had the look and feel of a Marine drill sergeant. He was dressed in a crisp, charcoal colored business suit, and sat at his desk as if he were a king on a throne.
He had been studying Chris for a few moments, before finally saying, "I'll bet this has been quite a morning for you. Tell me how you feel."
Chris exhaled, and just then had realized that he had been holding his breath. As he did so, he ran his hand through his hair as he tried to collect his thoughts. "I know this is something that I have been looking forward to for sometime, but now that it has happened, I don't know what to think. When I went into that boot camp I thought I would be learning how to prepare for my life in this kingdom, but I don't recall anything about it being covered. I have learned a great deal about history, math, language and art, yet I feel more in the dark now about what I thought I was going to learn than I was going in.
"I guess I'm just dazed, because I don't know what I have done now that I hadn't done the first week I was in that finally got me selected. I know I have learned more than anyone else in boot camp, so why it has taken me so much longer, I just don't understand."
Anthony replied, "Why your were selected, when you were selected, had nothing to do with anything you have done or learned. What you and all others outside of the kingdom call boot camp, we within the kingdom call the crucible. Do you know what a crucible is?"
"Strangely enough," replied Chris. "…or not so strangely… that question was on a recent exam. It is a vessel made of material that does not melt easily, and is used for high temperature chemical reactions."
Anthony nodded his head, "That's the dictionary definition. The literary answer would be something used to determine what something is made of. So the reason for what you have gone through isn't about what you have learned, but what we have learned about you. The length of time you spent in the crucible says more about us than it does about you."
"But why fifteen weeks?" Chris asked.
Anthony pondered what Chris asked, and then replied. "Before I continue I need to establish some ground work. As this day progresses I am going to appear to be evasive in some of my replies, but only because you have to learn other things before I can talk about what I am avoiding. Rest assured that by the end of the day there will be no major secrets left about this kingdom.
"You are almost a full member of this kingdom. All that you have left to do is to swear an oath, but I have to make sure you fully understand what that oath is before I ask you to take it. My intent for today is to be open and honest about everything, and the only thing I am going to expect from you is that you be open and honest too. To accomplish what I must today I need you to speak your mind, or I will never be able to believe you when you take the oath. Just saying words is meaningless to me. I need to feel that you believe those words when you say them.
"There are many things I will say to you today that will lead you to believe that I'll disapprove of what you are thinking. So what? There is nothing you can say that will get you kicked out of this kingdom, so say what you believe. You will not be punished. You can only get kicked out of this kingdom by your actions, not your beliefs. I have complete faith in the crucible, so I know you are the type of person we need in this kingdom, regardless of how much you may disagree with what I am saying.
"As you will come to understand of us in this kingdom, we do not see ourselves as perfect, which means we know we don't have all of the answers. The only way to find them is through diversity of thought, which means that if you believe you have a different perspective on something, then it is your responsibility to say what it is.
"The only word of caution I would give is that while we do seek diversity in thought, we do not seek diversity in our goals. Our goals are established through a strict chain of command. We want you to think outside of the box in accomplishing your duties, but you don't get to decide what those duties are."
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/2rw3jj/next_generation_christian_kingdom_ch05_to_protect