Empire's Son: An Epic Science Fiction Novel Series

The food spread out in front of me disappeared, and where the plate that held my half-eaten cheeseburger had been sat a thick stack of papers that looked like something fresh from a lawyer's office.

"What's this?" I asked as I started to leaf through them with curiosity.

"It's a contract that lays out the details of bonding, specifically double bonding, and how it may affect you."

"Double bonding?" I shook my head in confusion and looked up at her. "I don't understand."

The woman frowned. "As I said, you are only a few heartbeats away from death. It is impossible for your friend to move you to one of your healing machines before your life expires. Fortunately, you found your way into my lair, and you have one of the pledged ones with you. So this gives me a way to help you."

"Pledged?"

Razivi pointed a finger to my right. I turned my head to see a gruesome scene materialize before me. I was lying against a rock wall unconscious. My face was pale as a ghost. My eyes automatically travelled down to find what I'd known would be there. The knife Zorren had plunged into me and all the blood. There was so much of it pooling at my side. No wonder I was at death's door.

There, in front of me, Markus knelt. He was attempting to staunch the bleeding with his coat, but I knew it wasn't going to work. And from the devastated expression on his face, he knew it too. The scene shimmered and disappeared, and the kitchen returned to normal.

I shuddered and turned back to the woman. "How can you help me when not even a Remaker can?"

The woman smiled, and her honey eyes changed, so there seemed to be a golden fire burning in them. "My vital energy is powerful, and because you will be double bonded, your friend's vital energy will help as well. There is still a possibility this might not work. You might still die. But it is the only path to life available to you now."

Razivi tapped the contract in front of me, and it was the first time I noticed the sharp black claws protruding from the top of her fingers. "This explains everything in detail about what I am about to do. Place your hand on it, open your mind to understand, and the knowing of these words will settle upon you."

I raised an eyebrow at her, but I settled my hand on the large stack of papers as she asked and opened myself up. Nothing happened at first, and I was feeling a little foolish, but just when I thought to lift my hand, a deep knowing that wasn't there before filled me.

In the space of a heartbeat, I knew every word of the extensive contract laid before me. I opened my eyes and blinked at Razivi as understanding dawned. Surprise flooded through me, and even a thrill of excitement shivered up my spine at the prospect of what she wanted to do.

"This is… unexpected." I whispered. "I didn't even know something like this was possible."

Razivi blinked, and the calm honey color came back to her eyes. "It is not something that is usually done, because of the risks to the non-pledged one. In fact, it has been quite some time since I have done a double bond. And yes, to answer your unasked question, a double bond is the only sure way to heal you. You have gone too far for even a single bond to be of much help. I also do not like attempting a bond without a pledged one involved. It takes a certain amount of training to handle the benefits of bonding. He will have to show you how."

I read all about the benefits of having a bond, and that part was the most exciting. The idea that this would give me a physical boost in flexibility, speed, and strength seemed almost too good to be true.

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"Double bonding is irreversible," Razivi continued. "If you do this, it must be for life."

Yeah, I read that too––or understood that from the contract. It made it quite clear what would happen if I tried to sever the bond Razivi was about to give Markus and I. "I understand."

I thought for a moment about what that meant, though. Was I really willing to bind myself to another person for the rest of whatever life I had left? Did I really have a choice, though? But he did have a choice.

"I know what this means for me if I don't do this, and I am prepared to accept the risk for myself if I am bonded, but I don't think I can ask another person to do this. It's too much."

Razivi gave me a reassuring smile, as if she knew I would say this. "Your friend has already pledged his commitment to you and is aware this is for life. He has accepted this fully and all the risks that come with it."

I shook my head, not believing her. "How could he? We barely know each other."

The woman gave me a patient look. "That is not how he sees it, or how you do either. There is already a bond between you, too. I can sense its presence. It was made when you both were younglings. Time and your lack of memory have not bent or broken it. That bond is still there as strong as ever, and a piece of you already knows that, or you would not have been able to trust him as much as you already have. And it is the bond you two have that will give this double bonding a much higher chance of success as well."

For the briefest of moments, in my mind's eye, I saw the bond she referred to. It was like a taut piano wire connecting Markus and me. Though slender, it was undeniably strong and genuine, highlighting the clear connection between us. I could also see that even though I had not done a thing to maintain that bond for twenty years, Markus had kept it alive and true.

Strong emotion swept through me as I beheld his dedication to our friendship––no brotherhood, I realized then that we were never really friends, because even though not a drop of blood was shared between us, I knew us to be brothers. I also realized that accepting this next step was just a continuation of something that began a long time ago.

Razivi smiled widened. "I see you understand now."

All I could do was nod my head. The emotion was still too strong to speak.

"Good. There is one more thing to discuss before we proceed. As I am sure you know, you already have a blood bond with another. Though I sense the connection has recently become weakened. It is not wise to hold more than one blood bond at a time, especially when one is a double bond. They can have negative effects on each other. You may not notice any adverse changes now, but if you and the other one you were first bonded to were to reunite, it could damage the new bond, or even the old one."

I was already aware of this. It was outlined in the contract's special addendum, but I understood she needed to give me a verbal warning. The potential side effects were overwhelming, including complete loss of one or both bonds, severely reduced physical mobility, ineffective healing, partial or total blindness, and sudden death for Markus, my dad, or me.

Thankfully, the risk of those things happening was rather small and usually required all three people to be in close proximity for long periods of time. But it made me wonder what sort if relationship I'd be able to have with my dad if––or according to Razivi, when––I ever went back to Earth. But that was a problem for another day.

"I am aware," I said as firmly as I could, but there was still a slight tremor in my voice. I took a deep breath and exhaled. When I woke up this morning, this was not how I thought this day was going to go.

Thanks to Zorren, everything had gone all pear-shaped, and yet again, I found myself fighting for my life. Well, if there was one good thing about getting this double bond, it was going to make it a lot harder for people to kill me. So maybe in the grand scheme of things, this was working out in my favor––well, if the bond took and if it was enough to heal my injury. This still could go badly for me.

"When will I know if this works?" I asked.

"The bonding has already started," Razivi said with an expression of ecstasy on her face, and as she spoke, the woman began to fade. "I must go. If you wake up, you will know it has worked." Her transparency increased until she looked like a holographic image. "It has been a pleasure speaking with you, Dear One. I look forward to our next meeting." Her last few words were an echo as she disappeared completely.

I blinked at the empty space before me. I looked down at the contract. That had disappeared too. And as my eyes roamed the room, wondering what would happen next, my parent's kitchen faded to black, and I knew no more.