Goldie rubbed my arm, her solid presence firm at my side. “Elizara,” she said, “why was Katerin exiled? That’s a harsh penalty.”
“Katerin used her skill of mind-merge in an offense which had to be punished.”
“An offense?” I asked. “How exactly?”
“I can speak of it, but only between you and your mate.” Elizara looked at all those assembled, and without another word they slowly dispersed, the girl skipping away after the others.
“May I stay?” Goldie asked.
“I apologize, but the answer Hope seeks truly must be kept between the mated ones.”
“This sounds worrisome.”
“A little, but it is private and that is understood, even by those in this compound.”
“Are you sure?” Goldie didn’t appear convinced.
“I’ll be fine.” I gave her a hug. “I’m sure I can deal with whatever Elizara tells me. Nothing could be worse than the three-day deal.”
She squeezed me in return, whispering in my ear, “The moment you call me telepathically, I’ll ’port back. In the meantime, I’ll go check in with Alexo and update him. That’s if he’s not watching you now. Are you sure you’re happy for me to go?”
“Yes. I’ll see you later.”
“Take care.” She shimmered and disappeared.
I scratched my head, my mind buzzing with all the possibilities of Katerin Sol’s banishment.
Silas breathed heavily. “I fear your news too, Elizara.”
“Even though the one with the skill merges only with their mated one, if we wish we can merge with another.” She edged closer, lowering her tone. “It is so uncommon we rarely speak of it, but Katerin did this, taking over another man’s mind, and in doing so, she directed his actions while holding that control. We considered what she did an offense of the greatest order, its punishment equally as harsh.”
“Are you saying I can control Silas’s mind?” Oh no, he wouldn’t stand for that, nor would I consider merging my mind with any man other than him. “That isn’t something I can even contemplate.”
“Merging our mind with any other than our soul-bound one is detestable. But the taking of our mate’s mind and holding it in our control happens without their consent.”
“How? Silas blocks. All the time. How on earth would I take over his mind?”
“Ah, there is a moment of weakness for our mate, and that comes during the time when we join emotionally and physically. Because of the bond though, we cannot harm our mate. We hand back the control soon after it is given.”
“You, ah, mean...” My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth.
“Yes, when we make love our emotions overrule us,” Elizara continued. “Our mate’s mind becomes ours to control.”
Silas coughed, quite haggardly. “You’re saying Hope will see what I don’t wish her to?”
“Yes, it’s impossible for you to block at this point, which means there is a level of trust you have to prepare yourself for. Hope would have access to all you know, but she would return the control because to keep it against your will makes your mind susceptible to damage. With the bond we cannot harm our mated one.”
“Hell,” Silas whispered, his hand going icy in mine.
“I would return it.” Not that I intended for us being together to go that far. Most of our people waited until marriage for such things and our relationship was so uncertain. Although, access to all he knew? Oh, like where Dralion’s captured warriors were contained? Most definitely, Peacio’s battle strategy against my country. Silas wouldn’t want me to know any of that, and I would. Could I go that far at taking information with the bond at play?
He focused on Elizara. “Is there anything else?”
“Katerin suffered from a terrible mental illness, just months after she and Nathwer discovered they were mated. Nathwer kept a close eye on her, but her recovery was slow due to her first pregnancy. And during a short trip away, he returned to find her hallucinating. She’d slept with another thinking him Nathwer. Since the man was not her mated one, she did not have the protective desires which would have compelled her to release the control of his mind. This man ended up without sense, and he died minutes after Nathwer forced Katerin to release his mind.” She paused, her breath shuddering out. “This is difficult to speak of, but the elders saw no other action than complete banishment. Katerin was exiled and Nathwer was charged with policing her. She was pregnant with his child, and it was his choice to go with her. No matter what she’d done, he still loved her deeply, and he didn’t believe the child should have to suffer for her actions.”
A soft sigh, one loaded with sadness. “I am sorry that it must be I who tells you this, but there are also good things which come from the skill of mind-merge.”
Silas groaned, his hands twitching. “At the moment I can’t see them.”
“You will in time. There is no bond stronger than that of the soul-bound one. Add mind-merge to that, and the pledge between the two deepens.”
His hand dropped away from mine. “Or becomes more aggravating.”
“This is frustrating for you?”
“Yes, but less so now I know Hope can merge through our link.”
“Then come. I will teach Hope what she needs to know now so I can ease some of your worry.” She turned, her robes fluttering around her ankles. “It’s getting late and the sun sets quickly in the desert. You must stay the night so we may talk more. I also wish to know my niece.”
We walked side by side as the sun sank over the horizon, yellow melding into dusky pink then inky-blue. Between the colorfully striped tents, we weaved our way to the outskirts of the compound.
“Silas, if you need some time out, I understand.”
“I must stay. You need to learn how to mind-merge through our telepathic connection, and I need to know you can do it.”
“Yes, you do,” Elizara raised the bright yellow canvas flap of the tent outside of which she’d stopped. “This is my home, and it will be yours too while you are here. There are three sections, or separate rooms if you will. You two can have this one. Mine is at the rear. There is another entrance around the far side.”
I ducked and stepped inside. The floor was made entirely of durable matting, a multitude of earth-toned colors streaming together. Elizara lit a lamp and hung it from a metal hook in the center of the tent. In the corner, a pile of pelts ranging from beige to dark brown were stacked beside a wooden crate three feet wide and two feet high. Plump pillows were scattered around the sides of the room, looking sumptuous to sit on.
“Take a pillow. We live rather nomadically, and our belongings can be rolled up and packed within an hour or two.”
I followed her lead, taking a bright red pillow and sitting opposite her. Silas snagged a blue one and joined our circle.
“Good. Face each other, but keep a short distance between you,” she said. “Let’s begin with you, Hope. Open your telepathic link to Silas and ensure you’re connected.”
Crossing my legs in front of me, I set my hands in my lap and looked deep into Silas’s eyes. “I’m sorry for the bad news about me being able to take control of your mind.” Well, bad for him, but not for me. Silas had the ear of Carlisio Loveria and Davio was his cousin. What I could learn... Oh, I desired that, but drat, there was still the bond. I couldn’t harm him.
“Somehow I’ll deal with it. I can’t have a Wincrest knowing the sensitive knowledge I hold and using it against Peacio.”
“I take it you’re linked?” Elizara asked me. “Once the link is created, look at the individual threads which make it up. Tell me what you see.”
“There’s a red thread intertwined with a violet one, and both tighten around a filament of gold.”
“Ah, good. The gold is the thread you’re after. It’s the part of the telepathic link which signifies you’re speaking with your mate. All other connections will have a silvery central thread. Focus on the golden one and weave your mind-merge through it, beginning
right at the point where the connection forms. Don’t allow your skill to veer off toward the other threads. No touching the red or violet.”
“Okay, the starting point.” I pushed my mind toward the tiny beaded opening. “Hold on. There’s a crusting over the threads.”
“Yes, but you can still isolate the central one. Just take care.”
“The crusting looks like glue.” But there, a pinprick of gold. I arrowed my mind toward it, pierced the merge through the fissure and isolated only the rich-toned golden mated thread.
Keeping it on the straight and narrow, I followed the prized filament, grinning as I burst through on Silas’s end and burrowed deeply into his mind.
Oh yeah, my sweet little spot.
I was there.
Rolling my head back, I moaned, “I did it.”
A tinkle of laughter came from Elizara. “Wonderful. It feels amazing, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Silas ran a hand over his brow. “I can feel Hope’s mind-merge, but when I try to speak to her telepathically, nothing happens.”
I straightened, my gaze jolting to his. “I didn’t feel you try.”
Elizara chuckled, and then gave my arm a squeeze. “He is anxious. Our mated males always are when there is uncertainly involved.” She looked to Silas. “You cannot use the threaded link for both the merge and the telepathic connection at the same time. It is one or the other.” To me, she said, “I need to see you can withdraw the merge as well. My only instructions are to take as much care in reversing as you did in traveling along it.”
Pulling back along the threaded link of gold, I gave it all my focus.
“Elizara,” Silas said. “Does she still need only five minutes to reconnect?”
“Yes. The same requirement applies as if she were in your company. Five minutes every third day, but once she’s recharged as such, she can pull out.”
I continued reversing along the telepathic link and removed myself with a soft plop into my own mind as I got to the end. I flashed her a smile. “Done.”
“Perfect.” She grinned in return. “I find there are times when I’m separated from my mate, like I am at present, and instead of suffering the painful headache which begins on the second day, I merge through the link and become restored. One with this skill could effectively survive indefinitely this way. I have something else to show you.” She clambered to her feet and pried open the lid on the wooden crate. Returning, she passed me a leather-bound album. “This is a treasured family heirloom. On our eighteenth, we sit for an artist. There is a sketch of Katerin on the first page. I like to keep her image close by. Do you want to–”
“Yes.” I grabbed it as Silas skimmed across on his butt and looked over my shoulder. I opened the front flap. A thin film of paper protected the first drawing, hiding it from my view.
“She and Nathwer sat for a portrait after their mated bond took.” Elizara spread her white robes over her crossed legs and pulled a green pillow into her lap. “Their birthdays were just days apart, and they married quickly.”
That was not unusual. Mated pairs generally wed within six months, a year at the most. Being soul-bound, their commitment would’ve been etched in stone.
Turning the thin film of paper over, I stared at the first image. The woman had pale blond hair, and brown eyes as Elizara did. Katerin’s face angled toward Nathwer’s, her adoration obvious in her wishful expression. Nathwer had dark brown hair and blue eyes, a slim build with wide shoulders. “Was Nathwer a Sol?”
“We are all Sols in this compound. Any who join us, becomes a Sol.”
I smiled, tilting my head toward Silas. “Silas Sol.”
His look said not on your life. “My father will not tolerate me changing my last name.”
I chuckled and leaned in to kiss him. “You can call me Hope Sol.”
Elizara let out a soft sigh. “Ahh, it is wonderful to see two young ones in love.”
“Oh no, you have it wrong. We are– Um...”
She turned the page. “Don’t worry. Look, this is a portrait taken of Samania and Sarahiah. They are my nephew’s twin daughters. Twins run in the Sol bloodline. Quite strongly.”
“They also run in mine,” Silas stated. “My sister is my twin.”
“How wonderful. Maybe you two will, well, you know.”
Elizara was headed toward issues Silas and I had never discussed. It was all too soon.
“All right, do you have any particular questions?” she asked.
I barely needed to consider it. “What do you believe has become of Katerin and Nathwer?”
“I don’t know. I only hope Nathwer and her still live, that she recovered from her illness. She was not a telepathic though, so needed to stay close to him.”
“Why do you think she wouldn’t have returned to collect her daughter from the orphanage?”
Her smile dropped away at my question. “She was very ill, mentally. More so a few months after her marriage than at any earlier time. Although she always loved children, and longed for her first to arrive. To hear she abandoned your mother three days after her birth goes against what I would have ever considered.” She tapped the sides of her legs. “Thirty-six years have already passed. What happened to Katerin and Nathwer may never be solved.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. Katerin’s story wrenched at my heart. Did I have grandparents out there, somewhere? And Katerin and Nathwer’s images were right here. One with forethought would be able to track them. It was a start, a good one. “I will do all I can to search for her.”
Elizara continued to frown, and I lifted the page showing her nieces. “Tell me more about them. They weren’t in the crowd.”
“They celebrated their eighteenth birthday last week, and now they are away for a few days. The girls have taken time to travel the desert, following our border with Peacio’s to the northern coast. It is a sacred journey undertaken by our young ones as they enter adulthood.”
“Why is it sacred?”
“The land north of here belongs to our people, and we must know where each oasis is. We cannot survive without water, and as wonderful as it is to have teleporters within our family, we do not take them for granted. All our people must have the life-survival skills they’ll need for their future. Their father has gone with them, as has my mate. They remain within the area where I can connect telepathically to them. It was a rough trip, and we have only just set up camp here. I’m glad I stayed, otherwise I wouldn’t have been here to meet you.”
“Me too. I wouldn’t have wished to wait.”
“One-half of your roots belong to the desert. You are home.” She leaned in and hugged me, enveloping me in the scents of sunshine and sand. “These are your people. No matter where you live, you will always have a home here, with me.” She slowly stood. “Now, I must go. I need to see to our evening meal with the other ladies. Come to the center of the camp when you are ready. They’ll be an open fire pit which we all eat around.”
“Okay.” With Silas leaning over my shoulder, I continued to gaze through the portraits so carefully drawn. When I was done, I clutched it to my chest. “My family. I have more than I ever thought possible.”
“You do, and it’s getting late. How about I set up the pelts as a mattress to sleep on, and then we’ll be able to rest as soon as we’ve eaten?”
“Great. I love that idea.” I scrambled to my feet and tucked the album away in the crate. Silas made a neat stack, four thick in the center of the room. I tossed two of the pillows we’d sat on to the head of the makeshift bed. “I feel hot and sticky. I’d love a change of clothes.”
He scratched his nose. “I’ll have to pillage some more from Silvie.”
“Please.” I pressed my hands to his chest and kissed him.
“If my sister finds out I’ve raided her wardrobe, she’s going to believe I’ve taken up cross-dressing.”
“Then don’t let her catch you.” I stepped back, and he gave me a devilish grin before he flashed aw
ay, one that may have matched mine.
Shoving the tent flap aside, I stared out. All was quiet, most of the tribe likely helping with the meal as Elizara did. This compound would have to run smoothly with so many living here.
“Here you go.” To one side of the tent, Silas positioned a small metal tub half-filled with warm water. He passed me a towel tied around a bundle of clothing. “I’ll return again soon. Unlike you, I’m happy to clean up at home.” He promptly disappeared.
I tugged off my gritty clothes and tossed them aside. In the tub, I stood with just enough room to cup the water and drizzle it over me. Not the best, but it would do. After I dressed in the white miniskirt and soft-pleated cream blouse with silver buttons he’d brought, I tipped my toes into Silvie’s flat leather sandals. It was lucky we were the same size.
Waiting for him, I perched on the pelts, running my hands over their furry surface. My thoughts turned to all I’d learnt, and the predominant one that I could now merge with Silas from a distance raced through my mind.
This changed things between us. Being with me because he’d accepted that as his only alternative was no longer the case.
I could survive without him. Indefinitely, as Elizara had said.
A swirl of air lifted the strands of my hair and fluttered over my skin. Looking as delectable as ever, Silas wavered into sight. His hair was damp, and he’d changed into tan pants and a short-sleeved, white-collared shirt.
“While you’ve been gone, I’ve thought about this mind-merge through our telepathic link.” I stood.
“Me too.”
“What do you think of this?” Nervousness made my stomach clench, and I clasped my hands. Because of our bond, I was driven to give him what he truly desired. He still had to come first.
“Hey, just tell me.” He took my hands, pulled them apart and held them firmly within his.
“You drew the short straw.” My heart thumped so loudly he must hear it. He’d definitely feel it.
“No, I don’t wish to speak of that. Not this soon.” He tugged me outside where it was dark, the night sky twinkling with a million diamond-like stars. Oil lamps swung high from metal rods pushed deep into the ground. The beaming light provided just enough coverage to guide our way.
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