One of the Somas stepped forward and held his hand out formally.
“I’m a medic. May I?”
I cautiously held my hand out to him, afraid of having a recurrence of the painful shock. He took my hand, and I felt a slighttingling and a comfortable warmth spread through my hand. When I looked again, the blisters were gone, leaving only a slight redness.
“We try to keep our matches of a similar age to maximize the length of the Bond,” Captain Kopanos continued. “Polemos doesn’t seem to understand the benefit a Soma with some experience could offer to a younger Mageia.”
Or maybe he knew how much influence an older Soma might have on a newly Bonded Mageia, I thought. I just nodded absently at the captain, moving away from him. I noticed the other Somas shift uncomfortably at his words. Something about the man justrepulsedme. The medic who had healed my hand looked…confused. He kept sniffing the air, as if he smelled something strange, but wasn’t sure what. Maybe it was whatever smell Kopanos brought with him? Spark or no, there was no way I could see myself agreeing to Bond with him. Hell, I didn’t even want to be in the sameroomwith him.
One of the Somas cleared his throat and it seemed to recall Kopanos to his duty. He stepped aside and introduced his four charges, starting with the young medic.
“This is Demos Karthenopolis, Marcus Corsica, Dax Karzai and Justin Khopesh,” he said, introducing them each in turn. We shook hands and the same look of hope and eagerness rose in their eyes that I’d seen at the Touchpoint. I once more felt the same tingling sensation that indicated we could be a match and I felt my throat tighten, panic threatening to take over.
“Gentlemen, this is Lucien Alexus the first, Prince of Alexandria.”
I sighed as he used my old title. He was getting on my nerves with the titles.
“Captain,seriously, it’s just Luke. It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” I said, forcing my public smile on my face as I greeted the men, who all seemed right around my age. Their faces were aglow with the same hope and anticipation that had made me so uncomfortable at the Touchpoint. I forced the smile to remain on my lips even as I felt my heart begin to race faster.
Kopanos led us to a conference room, pointing out the offices off to either side.
“Your Highness, my plan is to give you the opportunity to spend time with each of the younger Somas, one at a time,” he said, slightly emphasizing the word younger. “The rest of us will wait out here until you are done. Hopefully, by the end of our meetings, you will have made a decision on who you wish to Bond with.”
“That quickly?” I said in surprise, more than a little uncomfortable at the speed. “That seems kind of…rushed.”
Kopanos looked at me like a teacher with a particularly dense student.
“Well, there is awaron, after all. We are alittlepressed for time.”
I flushed in embarrassment. Of course. The whole point of all of this was to get us matched with Somas, to create Tesseris Mageia who could help battle the Alexandrians, so I nodded.
The Somas had already decided that I would meet with Demos first. We entered the office Kopanos indicated and stood awkwardly for a minute as the door shut behind us. There was a chair behind the desk, and two in front of it. I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to sit.
“Take a seat,” Demos said, gesturing to one of the two chairs. I sat, grateful that I hadn’t had to sit behind the desk. My father’s use of his desk had made me despise them.
Demos had short brown hair and soft brown eyes. He was well muscled, but I hadn’t yet seen a Soma who wasn’t.
“So, what are we supposed to talk about?” I asked nervously, shifting uncomfortably, though the chairs were padded well enough.
His face broke into a grin.
“I was hoping you’d know.”
We both laughed and that seemed to break the ice. We talked for almost an hour, but even after a relatively short time I knew that, while I liked Demos well enough and thought he could be a good friend, there was no real attraction to him. I wouldn’t mind working with him, but he definitely didn’t seem to generate the kind of connection Deliah had described she had with Dagan.Or what I’d felt with Rhuyin.I mentally kicked myself. I had to stop thinking about him.
When I walked out of my meeting with Justin, the last of the younger Somas, I was surprised to find the room empty of the other candidates. Only Kopanos remained.
“Thoughts, Your Highness?” he asked as we came out.
“They all seem very nice, but…” my voice trailed off, not sure how to continue.
“Don’t worry,” Justin said, patting my shoulder. “I feel the same, and I’m sure the others do, too. You seem like a great person, Luke, but we all want that special connection. I’m sure we’d work well together in the future, but I don’t think we’re a match, either.”
I smiled in appreciation that he was letting me off the hook so easily. A real smile, this time.
“It doesn’t bother you? I mean, with so few Mageia…”
“Well, you guys are changing that, right? I can only hope the change will continue. We have something we didn’t have before. We have hope.”
