The Truth Rings</p>
(Author's note: this is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person(s) living or dead is purely coincidental. All characters depicted in sexual situations in this story are at least 18 years of age. This work is copyrighted and may not be distributed in any way by any person(s) without the express written consent of the author.)
"Come on, Max, let's go!" Angie called, standing at the foot of the stairs and looking up. Her son was just as bad as any girl at being late, something that had exasperated her late husband, Max Senior. As she stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her son to come down she looked over at the wall to her right and saw the group of family pictures hanging there, the one of Max Senior in his uniform being in the center. He had been a Master Sergeant in the US Army assigned to the Special Forces, and had been killed in action in Afghanistan a little more than two years ago when Max Junior was seventeen. The first year had been rough on both of them, and she wasn't sure if it had been harder on Max or herself. The second year was better, but only because she and her son had each other to lean on and talk to. Max was their only child, so over the past two years they had gotten very close as a way to manage their grief. Now her son was her best friend, and even though she missed her husband terribly she was glad she had her son to help her cope.
Max felt the same way, and he had stayed home after graduating from high school so he could stay with his mom for as long as she either needed or wanted him to. He had gotten a job downtown right after graduation, and a year later he was making pretty good money for a 19-year-old boy fresh out of high school. His mom was just glad he didn't enlist in the Army; losing her husband was bad enough, and if she lost her son to combat as well, it would kill her.
"I'm coming, Mom!" Max called back. She turned away from the stairs to pick up her purse from the small table in the hallway, and a few moments later her son came bounding down the stairs.
"Sorry about that, Mom," he said, grinning sheepishly at her.
"It's a good thing I love you," she said, reaching up to tousle his hair. At six feet even he was considerably taller than she was, standing a whopping five feet five inches in her bare feet. He looked so much like his father that sometimes it hurt, and she loved him nearly as much as she loved her late husband.
"So let's go, already!" Max said, opening the door and holding it open for her. She walked out of the door and Max followed, closing the door behind them. They got in her car and drove away from the house, headed downtown to an occult bookstore she had learned of the week before.
One of the things Angie and Max had in common was that they had both developed an interest in the occult over the past two years. They weren't into witchcraft or anything like that, and neither one of them had adopted the 'goth' lifestyle that came with most people who were interested in the occult. They just found the whole topic fascinating and had adopted it as both a coping mechanism and a hobby. So when Angie learned that there was a new occult bookstore that had just opened up downtown called 'The Portal,' she put it on her short list of things to go see.
She found the bookstore easily, knowing downtown like the back of her hand, and parked the car in front of the store. They got out and walked inside, an old-fashioned bell above the door tinkling as they came in.
"Wow, look at this!" Max said, his mouth hanging open as he looked around. "Is this great, or what!"
"Yes, it most certainly is," Angie replied, looking around. The inside of the bookstore was exactly as you would have pictured the inside of an occult bookshop to look - wall to wall, floor to ceiling books, all of which looked old, the air filled with a combination of musty books and spicy incense. Aside from books there were trinkets, small statues, and jewelry of all kinds displayed around the room as well.
"Good morning, nice people, may I be of service?" a voice said from behind them. They both turned around and saw an old man, about Angie's height, balding, with gray hair and a pair of wire rimmed glasses low on his nose standing next to a rack of books close to the door. He was wearing a tan cardigan over a white button-down shirt, brown trousers, and a pair of brown oxford shoes.
He looked exactly like you would have expected the owner of an occult bookstore to look. Angie thought this was all so strange and so very coincidental, but before she had time to think about it the old man spoke again.
"My name is Frank Corrigan, and this is my shop. Welcome to 'The Portal!' How may I be of service to you today, m'lady? Kind sir?" he said, looking at them in turn, a smile on his face.
"Good morning, Mr. Corrigan, my name is Angie and this is my son, Max," she said, returning his smile. "We heard about your shop and wanted to come see bursa escort it for ourselves, and I must say that at first glance I'm very impressed! This is quite a collection of books and curious you have here," she said, looking around.
"Thank you, Angie, I've gone to great pains to secure only the most genuine and finest occult materials from around the world," he said, his eyes sparkling. "Please feel free to look around, take your time, see everything that you want to see, and if I can be of service please don't hesitate to ask!" he said, extending his hand first to her and then to Max; they both shook his hand as Angie replied.
"Thank you, Mr. Corrigan, we will!" she said.
"Please, call me 'Frank,' I insist," he replied.
"Okay, 'Frank' it is, then!" Angie said, smiling. Frank returned her smile briefly and then walked past them toward the counter at the back of the shop, leaving them to look around.
"Wow, Mom, can you believe this?" Max said in a hushed voice, leaning down so she could hear him. "I mean, look at this place! This is something right out of a 'Harry Potter' movie, you know? And that Mr. Corrigan - Frank - wow!"
"Yes, I had the same thoughts," she replied, looking around the shop. "So let's look around and see what's here, okay? Maybe we'll come up with something for Hallowe'en, you know?" The holiday was less than two weeks away, and they celebrated Hallowe'en with pretty much the same enthusiasm they celebrated Christmas. They always exchanged gifts, and so far this year neither one of them had bought the gift for the other; hence the trip to 'The Portal.'
They separated and wandered around the shop individually, both of them amazed and pleased at what they saw. After fifteen minutes or so they both ended up at the showcase at the back of the shop, looking at the array of jewelry inside. There were rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings of all kinds, all of them having something to do with the occult.
"Mom, look at this!" Max said, pointing at a pair of rings, both of them displayed in the same box.
"Oh, my, those are beautiful!" Angie said, walking over and looking down at the rings in the display case.
The rings were sterling silver with an oval stone in the center of one and a square stone in the center of the other, and were obviously made for a man and a woman. One of them was in the style of a dinner ring, the opal in the center being in the shape of an oval, and Angie guessed correctly that this was the woman's ring. The other was a square, signet-style ring with the black onyx stone also being square, and this was obviously the man's ring. Both of the stones had a pentagram inscribed in gold leaf in the middle, and they were very striking to see.
"Those are 'truth rings,' custom made by a jeweler in England around the turn of the 17th century," Frank said, walking up to them on the other side of the counter.
"Truth rings?" Max asked, looking up at him.
"Yes, my young friend, truth rings," he replied, smiling. "As the story goes, they were commissioned by a lord who was unsure of his lady's fidelity, so he had a jeweler make them for him. He then took them to the local wizard who reportedly gave them their mystical powers. Shortly after that the lord presented the rings to his lady as a gift, and they both began wearing them at once. Unbeknownst to the errant lady, if both she and her husband were wearing the rings in the same place at the same time, each of the wearers were unable to lie. They could only tell the truth, no matter what the topic, and it only took the lord a day or so to discover that his suspicions about his lady's infidelity were well founded."
"Uh oh," Max said, enraptured by the story.
"Indeed," Frank said. "The lord had both his unfaithful lady and her lovers - plural - executed by beheading in the town square in full view of the local populace, leaving their bodies on display for a week as an example of what happened to those who strayed from their marital vows."
"Oh, yuck!" Angie said, making a face.
"Punishments like that were quite common in England in that age, I'm afraid," Frank said. "Thankfully, mankind has matured since then, and things like that no longer take place - in civilized countries, that is. I cannot speak for some of the more, shall we say, backward countries in certain parts of the world," he explained.
"They're absolutely beautiful," Angie said, looking down at them again.
"Would you like to try them on?" Frank asked, pulling a small ring of keys out of his pocket.
"Can we, Mom?" Max asked, his face lighting up.
"Sure, why not?" Angie replied, returning his smile.
"Very good!" Frank said. He worked the lock on his side of the case and then opened the lid, reaching in and taking out the box with the rings inside. He closed the case and put the box down in front of them, slipping the keys back into his pocket.
"They are so beautiful," Angie said again.
"So try it on!" bursa escort bayan Max said, his excitement evident.
"Okay, okay!" Angie replied, looking up at him and smiling.
"I must insist, m'lady, that you try the rings on one at a time so that the two of you are not both wearing them at the same time," Frank said, a serious look on his face. "I would not want for a secret kept to inadvertently become a secret revealed and ruin the obviously close relationship you have with your son."
"Why, thank you, Frank, that's very considerate of you," Angie said, smiling at him.
"You are most welcome," he said, bowing slightly. "May I?" Frank said, taking the woman's ring out of the box and holding it in his hand.
"Yes, please," she relied, holding her hand out. Frank slipped it on the ring finger of her right hand, and to her surprise it was a perfect fit.
"Oh, my, that's beautiful!" she said, holding her hand up so she could look at it. "And it fits, too!"
"That looks really good on you, Mom," Max said.
"It does indeed," Frank said.
"Okay, so take it off so I can try the other one on!" Max said. Angie smiled at him and slipped the ring from her finger, giving it back to Frank who returned it to the box. He picked up the man's ring and handed it to Max, who put it on the ring finger of his right hand.
"Holy crap, it fits!" he said, grinning and holding his hand up in front of him so he could see it. "How about that, Mom? Both of the rings fit us perfectly! That's a sign if I've ever seen one!" he said.
"It would appear so," Angie said, "and I must say that it looks really good on you, too." She turned her head to look at Frank as she spoke again. "How much are they, Frank?" she asked.
"If I were to sell the jewelry I have here based on the stories that accompany them, I would soon be out of business as no one could afford what I have to offer," he explained. "So I sell them based on the current price of the materials of which the jewelry is made; in this case that would be based on the current price of silver on the open market and of the gemstones as well."
"How much?" Angie asked again.
"Five hundred dollars, m'lady," he replied.
"I'll take them," Angie said, much to Max's delight.
"Mom, are you serious?" he asked, excited but concerned. "I mean, five hundred dollars! That's a lot of money!"
"Good jewelry is expensive, Max, so you get what you pay for," she said. "Isn't that right, Frank?" she asked, looking at Frank.
"Indeed it is," he replied, "and I can guarantee you that the craftmanship of these rings is first rate."
"Then like I said, I'll take them. Max, take the ring off and give it back to Frank so he can box it up for us," she said
"Aw, Mom, can't I wear it out?" he asked.
"There's no risk as long as you are not wearing your ring at the same time, remember," Frank said to Angie, his voice soft.
"Okay, that's fine," Angie said, looking back at her son, "you can wear it out, then. Just be careful with it, okay, Max? That's a piece of fine jewelry and not a toy, so you have to take care of it."
"Sure thing! Thanks, Mom!" Max said, kissing her on the cheek. Frank closed the box with her ring in it and walked over to the cash register at the end of the counter, ringing up her purchase. She paid for the rings with her credit card and Frank put the box in a small bag, then handed it and her credit card back to her.
"Thank you so much for visiting my humble shop, and I hope you enjoy your rings," he said, smiling at her. "Just don't forget what they are; if you do, the results could be somewhat less than desirable and quite catastrophic," he cautioned.
"Thank you, Frank, I'm sure we'll see you again," Angie replied, returning his smile. Frank gave her a slight bow, and then she turned to walk out of the shop with Max following her.
Max spent almost the entire ride home admiring his new ring, and Angie spent almost the entire ride home smiling at him. Making her son happy was the most important thing in the world to her, and she was glad to have been able to do that by purchasing the rings. As jewelry goes they were about as expensive as anything else on the market; as for the story that came with them, well, she wasn't too sure about that.
But it made her son happy which made her happy, and that was all that really mattered.
Later that evening as they were eating dinner, Max still wearing his ring, the topic of their visit to the shop and the rings came up.
"So do you believe that story about the rings, Mom?" Max asked.
"Of course I do, honey," she replied. "But there's really no way to verify it, is there?" she asked.
"Sure there is!" Max replied, grinning. "All you have to do is put your ring on and let me ask you that question again, and that will prove it!"
"Oh, I don't think so," Angie said, smiling at him and hoping he didn't press the issue.
"C'mon, Mom, just do it!" he urged, escort bursa still grinning at her. "What can it hurt, anyway?" he said. Angie looked up at him and looked at him in the eyes for a moment, then relented.
"Oh, okay, I suppose so," she said, smiling at her son.
"Great, Mom!" Max said. "Just tell me where it is and I'll go get it for you," he said, getting up from the table.
"It's in the jewelry box on the top of my dresser," she said, and Max was off like a shot. He returned less than two minutes later with the ring, and she held her finger out for him to slip it on. He sat down once he did, his mom admiring the ring on her finger.
"Okay, you ready?" he asked, the anticipation plain in his voice.
"Sure," Angie replied, "shoot."
"Okay, here we go - do you believe the story about the rings making you tell the truth?" he asked, holding his breath.
"Of course not," Angie answered immediately, "I think it's nothing but a hocus-pocus story designed to sucker us into buying the rings, and nothing more. There's just no way that...that..." she stopped, her eyes wide as she realized what she had just said.
She had told the truth.
"Holy crap, Mom, it works!" Max said, "it really works!"
"Oh my God, it...it can't be...it just can't be!" she said, her eyes wide with surprise as she looked down at the ring on her finger.
"Ask me a question you think I'd lie to you about," he said, leaning across the table, "I want to see if my ring works, too!"
"Oh, I couldn't," she said, still stunned at what had just happened. "Remember what Frank said about things turning bad because of these rings," she cautioned. She didn't believe it before but she certainly believed it now.
"C'mon, Mom, yes you can! Just ask me something simple, something that you want to know but think I'd lie to you about," he said, "it can't be that bad, can it?"
"Okay, if you insist," she said, thinking for a moment. The question she wanted to ask came to her within seconds, and she leaned forward and looked Max in the eyes as she asked it.
"Have you been looking through my lingerie drawer, and if so, why?" she asked, her heart pounding in her chest.
"Sure I have!" he immediately replied. "I wanted to see what kind of panties you wore and how big your tits really were..." he said, his voice trailing off at the end, his eyes going wide. He stared at his mom for a moment, both of them with a shocked look on their faces.
"Oh, shit! It really does work!" he said. "Are you mad at me now?" he asked, afraid that she was.
"I should be, I guess, but I'm not," she said, trying hard to take it all in. There was silence for a few moments, and then she spoke again.
"How long have you had this fascination with my lingerie and my breasts?" she asked, not realizing what she was doing.
"For about the past year," he said without flinching. "I thought you had a killer set of boobs and wondered just how big they were, and that was the only way I could find out without asking you," he said. "Oh, shit, this thing gonna get me in trouble!" he said, looking down at the ring on his hand.
"Frank wasn't kidding, that's for sure," Angie said, looking at her own ring. Another question crossed her mind, a daring one at that, and she wasn't sure if she should ask it or not. But after a moment's contemplation she decided why the hell not, and asked it.
"Max, do you think I'm sexy?" she asked, her voice soft and a little hesitant.
"I think you're sexy as hell, Mom," he replied without hesitation. "I think you're the sexiest woman I've ever seen, and I'd do you in a heartbeat even though you are my own mom."
Both of their eyes went wide and Angie's breath caught in her throat at hearing this from her own son. Since they were both still wearing their rings and she was now convinced that they worked just as Frank had said they did, she believed him. She was also both surprised and dismayed to feel a slight twinge in her pussy and her nipples harden just a little at what he had said. She hadn't been with a man since her husband had left for Afghanistan more than two years ago, and hearing that another man desired her hit home with her, even it that man was her own son.
"Oh, my God, I'm sorry, Mom, I didn't mean...well, yes I did, but I shouldn't have said...oh, FUCK!" Max stammered, completely embarrassed at having just told his own mom that he wanted to fuck her. He leaned forward and put his elbows on the table, burying his head in his hands - but he didn't take off the ring. Neither of them did.
Angie's mind was racing now, trying to take in what was happening while at the same time trying to decide whether or not she was going to exploit it. Then she asked another question without really thinking about it, purely because it was the next question that came to her mind - and because she knew Max would have to be truthful about it since they were still wearing their rings.
"Do you want to have sex with me, Max?" she asked, her voice low.
"Yes," he said, his voice muffled by his hands covering his face.
"You do?" Angie gasped, her heart racing.
"Yes," he repeated. "Don't you feel the same way about me?" he asked out of reflex.