Eye on Orion

by Laura D. Bastian

  All other thoughts left me as he leaned in closer.

  When our lips met, I felt electrified. It wasn't like a shock you get when you drag your feet across the carpet and touch someone else. It was ten times as powerful as that all over my body, yet it lasted only a fraction of a second. As he continued to kiss me, my arms came around his shoulders.

  I felt a glow start from the top of my head, traveling slowly down to my toes. Warmth moved across me where we touched. He gently moved his lips over mine. They were only slightly parted and so were mine, but the kiss felt stronger than that. I didn't have any experience with kissing, but it was much more than I had ever expected from watching movies.

  He moved his face slowly away from mine, a look of intense surprise in his eyes.

  “What?” I whispered.

  “I am so sorry,” he choked.

  “Sorry? For what? That was amazing.” The expression on his face worried me.

  “No. Not that. It was unbelievable. It’s just that… we… I…” He stopped and closed his eyes tight. He took a deep breath and tried to speak again, but stopped.

  “What?” I was alarmed now.

  “Holly,” he nearly cried when he looked at me. “We just Bonded.”

  “Huh?”

  “It's something that happens on my planet,” he explained. “It isn't really common, but it does still occur. I never thought it would be possible here.” He rubbed his hand through his hair and gripped the back of his neck like he was freaked out.

  “When two people who are meant for each other Bond, they are Bonded for life.” He hesitated, swallowing hard before saying, “It's like I now belong to you, and you belong to me and no one else.”

  “Bonded?” I asked, still confused.

  “Yes,” he said, with sadness in his eyes. “I have just ruined your chance of finding happiness with anyone else on your planet if it works the same way it does on mine. I should never have kissed you.” He closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands.

  The sight of him completely miserable and concerned for my happiness tugged at my heart. I lifted his chin with my hand so I could see his face again. I felt a surge of tenderness come over me, and without thinking, admitted what I'd known deep down for a while.

  “I think the chances of me finding happiness with anyone else here was next to nothing once I got to know you.”

  He pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly. I returned the hug, feeling fear and excitement at the same time.

  “This complicates things,” he whispered. My heart clenched as I remembered how he thought I was a complication before. What would this do to them now?

  The porch light at my house started flickering on and off. I stepped away from him. “I'm sure my Dad has been watching us out here.” I shook my head. “I should go.”

  Jai took me by the hand and walked to the door with me.

  “Come over in the morning before work, and we'll let you know what we have decided. I doubt we'll make any decisions before morning,” he said, sounding distracted.

  “I will,” I promised.

  He didn't kiss me again, just squeezed my hand then let it go and walked away. I was relieved he didn't because my dad was probably watching out the window, but I also felt disappointed. Would each kiss feel like that, or just the first one? I reached up and touched my lips, longing to keep the feel of the kiss there, knowing all the while I wouldn't be able to hold it with my fingertips.

  When I walked in the front door, I was surprised to see my dad sitting on the chair facing the door. I half-expected him to be standing by the window.

  “So, how was the movie?” he asked.

  “Okay,” I answered with the same casual tone.

  “How was the date?” he asked with a knowing smile.

  “Better than the movie,” I admitted, fighting the smile that threatened to come.

  “Uh-huh. I'll bet it was.” Dad looked at me with one raised eyebrow.

  I smiled and blushed. “Goodnight, Dad.”

  “Night.” I barely heard his response as I ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time in my rush to escape any further discussion.

  In my room I closed my door, then leaned against it and lowered myself to the floor with my knees drawn up. I wasn't usually one to fall to pieces. Tonight was an exception. I'd been mistaken for a princess and kidnapped in her place. I'd nearly killed my kidnapper trying to get free, and then I'd felt sorry for him for being captured by the good guys. I had just been kissed by the most gorgeous guy I'd ever met, and had promptly been told that he was meant to be mine forever and I was his. And who knew how long that forever would be. I might have to say goodbye to him tomorrow.

  If he did have to leave tomorrow, there wasn't anything I could do about it. I couldn't even wish to be selfish and have them stay. That could be dangerous for the girl I felt was becoming my friend. I grabbed my old stuffed bear I'd had since I was four, then lay on the floor and cried for how unfair life could be.

  Once the tears ceased to flow, I felt much better. I returned my bear gently to his place of honor in the center of my pillows then climbed into my bed. Now I could think things through more clearly.

  My thoughts, of course, went to the kiss. I replayed it over and over in my mind. Something definitely had happened when we'd kissed. Jai said we'd Bonded, but what did he mean by that? If it was like love at first sight, I wasn't too worried about it. That's what happened to my parents. They'd fallen in love right away. They'd been high school sweethearts, dating all through school and getting married the summer after their senior year. But what if it was more like what happened to animals where they imprint on each other and they mate for life? When the one mate is gone then they never mate again.

  If Jai left, did that mean I would never be able to love another? Would he never be able to find someone to make him happy back home on Rommader? I hadn't ever thought of other guys the way I thought of Jai. I hadn't felt ready to begin a serious relationship with anyone. But now it was kind of forced on me.

  I sent a prayer heavenward. “If you are a merciful God, please help us find a way to work things out. If you created his world and mine, there has to be some way for us to be together.”

  It took me awhile to fall asleep, but eventually I did. As I slept, dreams flowed. I saw Jai and Amira together. They smiled at me and waved, then they disappeared. Sorrow overwhelmed me, yet I also felt peace. I woke up in tears but clung to the feeling of comfort. Somehow things would be okay. I would be able to survive the sorrow, even though it would be hard.

  The night continued much the same way. I'd fall asleep, then dream and wake up crying again. It played out in different ways, but each time they left and I cried. Sometimes they left on their own, sometimes pursued by Shander, sometimes they went separately, but they always left. I remained alone each time.

  When dawn finally broke, I was spent. I felt emotionally drained from being left over and over again. Each time he left in my dreams, there was an emptiness inside me. When I awoke, I felt complete. Would there be a permanent hole inside me when he left for good? Even though he was nowhere near me, I felt his presence.

  I knew he was well.

  I knew he was still here.

  I knew he was mine.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Awareness

  As soon as my parents left for work, I ran over to Jai's house. Before I reached the first step, Amira opened the door and enveloped me in a hug.

  “Jai told us about the two of you Bonding. What a wonderful thing.” She hugged me tightly again.

  I murmured through her hair, “But Jai is worried. This could complicate things. You have to leave here before Shander can find you.”

  She let go of me and looked me in the eyes. I thought I saw worry there before she fluttered her lashes and said, “Nonsense.” She grabbed my hands, holding my palms together, sandwiched between hers. “It will not cause problems for us. We’ve had to discuss our options, but I'm happy Jai has fo
und you. He is so focused on my safety he never had time to find someone special for himself.”

  Her evident joy made me smile. “Thanks, I think.”

  “Come. We will tell you all about what was decided,” she said, releasing one hand and pulling me by the other up the steps and into the house.

  Before stepping inside, I knew exactly where to expect to see Jai. The sureness of his location surprised me. I would be able to find him in a dark room or if I had a blindfold on. It felt strange, yet right, at the same time.

  Jai took my hand out of Amira's like it was the most natural thing in the world. When our hands touched, I felt a surge of joy from him, and my eyes opened wide at the response my body gave. He felt happy to touch me, and my soul felt his joy and responded to it by sending out my own signal of joy. When he received my joy, his soul sent out another signal and mine responded again.

  I half-expected the cycle to continue over and over, but it eventually faded. Or had I become used to it? He smiled a crooked smile, and I gave him a smile in return.

  We were stuck in our own little world for a few moments. We studied each other, not speaking. I looked at him and felt something through our connected hands. I didn't know what to make of the sensations bombarding me. Most of them were pretty foreign, but something surprised me more than the others. What could he possibly admire?

  I was so busy thinking of his emotions I wasn't sure what my own were. I looked deeper into his eyes and got lost in them.

  When I came to my senses, everyone was watching us with happy smiles. I blushed at how completely absorbed I'd been with my feelings and Jai’s. I wanted to take my hand away and fold my arms across my stomach to settle the butterflies, but Jai wouldn't let go when I attempted to pull it back. No matter, I enjoyed the feelings radiating from him, even if I didn't understand all of them.

  “Let us have a seat and we'll get started,” Marshal said.

  Jai led me to the sofa and we sat down. Everyone else joined us, including Ryad. He seemed to feel as comfortable as everyone else here. He watched Amira, and Jai watched him, but the expression on each face was indecipherable to me.

  “How are things with him?” I asked Jai mentally as I glanced at Ryad.

  “He’s still under constant supervision, but we believe he will cooperate with us. Marshal believes he was drugged, or that Shander used his talent of persuasion on him. I’m not sure yet. He could just be biding his time until he can get free of us.”

  “Is he able to hear us?”

  “No. We won’t give him any Densinne until we are sure of him.”

  I nodded and looked away from Ryad. I didn’t want to know if he was angry at me.

  Amira glanced between me and Jai. “Last night we discussed a lot of different possibilities. At first we talked about going right back to face Shander head on. That would be foolish since we didn't know for sure how many allies we might have. And of course we couldn't ask Jai to leave right now.” She smiled at me.

  Jai squeezed my hand and I looked at him. I couldn't quite read what was hidden deep in his blue eyes. The feelings from him were more happy than sad, but there were other emotions too. He was nervous and frustrated and worried and excited and hopeful… and unsure.

  It seemed strange to feel another person's emotions. I got distracted from the conversation as I thought about his feelings. When Jai turned to Amira I looked at her too.

  Amira continued, “We also thought of going somewhere else here on Earth and starting over again, but that is out now Jai and Holly have Bonded.

  “You would stay here because of me?” I asked. “You would put yourselves at risk because of this?” I looked at Jai and tried to pull my hand out of his. He didn’t let go at first, but when I began to feel overwhelmed, he released my hand.

  “We can’t leave without more information. Staying here seems to be the best option right now,” Jai said. It felt like he wasn’t telling me everything, but I didn’t press for more.

  Amira nodded. “As far as Ryad knows, there are no more of the raw materials to make the Travel medallions there in the lab. But, we know there are still two medallions held in reserve for when Father would send for us. Who knows how long it will be before Shander forces someone to tell him about them. Shander misinformed Ryad about the reason we are here and the reasons he wants us. He has deceived many people at home and is worming his way into power.” She shook her head like she was disappointed in her people.

  “But what if Shander sends someone else like Ryad to find you?” I looked around the room at everyone then rested my eyes on Ryad.

  “With my failure to return, I doubt Shander will trust anyone else to do this,” Ryad answered.

  “Do you think he'd actually come himself?” I asked.

  “I wouldn't put it past him,” Jai said. “Ryad said about half of the people are not completely comfortable with him ruling in the place of the king, unless he came to it legally. The people aren't likely to vote him into office. I’m pretty sure he wants Amira there to force her to marry him so he can become the legal king through her.”

  “Not to mention he is still angry at me for refusing him,” Amira said.

  “So what are you going to do now that I've complicated things?” I frowned. Jai took my hand in his again.

  “You have not complicated things. It just added dimension to our experience here,” Jai assured me. Through our Bond, I knew he truly didn't hold it against me.

  Even so, I was still worried. “Why didn't you have a vision of Ryad coming after you?”

  Amira looked at Jai, and her cheeks grew redder. I couldn't remember ever seeing her blush before. Apparently he'd asked her the same question.

  Amira sighed. “I woke up from my Vision before I saw everything. A soldier had raised an ax high and was bringing it down on someone’s hand when I awoke. I missed the entire thing with Ryad's assignment to come here because I woke up too frightened.”

  “Do you think you’ll know if Shander makes the trip?”

  “I hope so,” Amira answered, “but can't say for sure. We may not know he is here until he shows up on our doorstep. Ramal is the only one here who knows where we are. Even the ones who came before to test it out don't know our location. They know the planet we are on, but we picked an unimportant place to live so Shander wouldn't have any clue where to come. If he comes to Earth, he will have to go to Ramal first.”

  “Unless there is someone else like Ryad that can find people,” I clarified.

  Ryad shrugged. “It is highly unlikely. My family did all kinds of research on this talent when they discovered mine. They never found any indication anyone else could do it.” He smiled at me. “They used to tease me that I was part dog because I could find people. Though it has nothing to do with a sense of smell,” he added.

  Delilah spoke. “We have contacted Ramal and told him what has happened and to be aware things may be a little difficult here for a while. He will never willingly betray us. We are almost to the point where we will just have to wait and see what happens. Without knowing how things are at home, it would be foolish for us to return now. We could be walking into a trap, and we sure can't make Jai leave Holly. It will be torture to separate them eventually as it is.”

  I looked at Jai and felt a quick wave of sadness from him. As I felt his sadness, I experienced sadness myself that, in return, intensified his. There was no way to question him without everyone else hearing.

  Jai seemed to sense I wanted to talk to him. He stood. “I believe we have given Holly enough to think about for now. I will talk to her alone please.”

  “Of course,” Amira answered for everyone.

  They all got up and left the room. Jai led me out the front door, and we sat on the porch swing, still holding hands. We sat and rocked for a few minutes, not saying or thinking anything to each other. Curtis came out of his house and got in his car. He glanced our way but put his head down as if not wanting to be seen. I felt the smugness oozing off Jai as he not
iced Curtis’s behavior. I felt bad for Curtis, but couldn’t help feeling relieved he finally left me alone.

  Jai glanced at me and then looked out at the street as we sat quietly for a while. I marveled at the different sensations coming from him. What did he feel from me? I still wasn't even sure what my own emotions were. I was too interested in his feelings.

  “How does this Bonding thing work?” I asked. “My awareness of you is almost too much. I don't know what to do with all these extra emotions.” I placed my free hand on top of our joined hands and lightly rubbed my thumb across the curve of his wrist.

  I looked up at him. “I feel your happiness and your sadness and other emotions. I know where to find you without even seeing you. How can it be like this? It's more information than I would ever ask from you.”

  Jai blinked and I hurried to assure him. “Don't get me wrong. It is nice to know how you feel about me and that you like to see me, but it almost seems like too much.” I stopped talking, wishing I could explain what I thought and felt, then realized he could probably feel my confusion and was trying to sort through it all too.

  Jai didn't say anything for a moment as he looked at me. I knew he wasn't bothered by my questions, but thought he might not be sure how to answer them.

  “Do you feel the same things coming from me?”

  “I think so,” he answered. “It is new to me too, of course. I have only heard of a few of these matches before. There aren't many people who know how it works; but the love stories are almost like legends.”

  “How many times has it happened?” I asked.

  “Oh, I don't know for sure.” He shook his head. “The only one I know of personally is when Amira's and my great-great-grandparents Bonded. They were about our age when it happened. They waited to get married until their early twenties, but they were practically inseparable from the moment the Bonding occurred. I read about it in his journal a few years ago. I didn't pay a lot of attention to it then. I wasn't in a relationship and never figured it would be something I'd need to know much about.” He squeezed my hand, and another flutter of emotion from him swam through me. How could he be so happy? Even with all the stress it would cause him.