Salvation
Bonded, for better or for worse
Fleeing her homeworld Inus, Meera sat in the shuttle, staring at the viewscreen. Somewhere, back along the star path, her people were dying.
Beside her, Zhoxan’s veined forehead gleamed in the dim lights of the cabin. They’d been in the midst of a celebration when the Soularan ships came. Both still wore dress robes. His muscled chest and heavy arms held menace.
‘Why do your people attack us?’ she demanded aloud, in defiance of their bond.
Zhoxan’s large ears twitched, his sensitive hearing offended. His reply was a whisper in her mind.
They are our salvation. Your people conquered us centuries ago, Princess. We have been your slaves ever since. Today, we break our chains.
‘You are not my slave. You’re my bodyguard. My companion.’
You do not understand, Meera. It was the first time since childhood he had addressed her as anything but Princess. What we have shared since the day of your birth is a mating bond for my people.
‘Mating?’ Meera stepped back from him, shocked.
Members of the Inusian royal family were mind-melded at birth to their Soularan bodyguards. It ensured loyalty beyond any other. Soularans would lay down their life for their bond — the ultimate protector. To Inusians, it was an honoured role. A better fate for a Soularan than awaited most their kind.
Your people never knew because they did not wish to learn. Soularans mate for life. They choose their partner in adolescence. When one of a pair dies the other perishes soon after.
She sensed him gather his thoughts.
You are shortlived. Few of your race ever outlive their Soularan partner. You do not notice.
She flinched at his bitterness.
When a Soularan companion dies soon after a royal, who cares? We cannot bond again. We’re expendable.
Meera closed her eyes. Had anyone on Inus known this awful truth?
Your kind does not have the capacity to feel as we do. Your partner must suffer your hurts and pains. You feel ours as only a vague unease; a cloud that passes.
