For a moment, my entire body tingled from the single point of contact between us.
I could feel the warmth of his body behind me as he reached out with his other arm and embraced me from behind.
I could feel the warmth of his breath above my right ear. I could feel his arms around my waist, pulling me close.
"This is what it feels like to have you hug me from behind every time we surf together," he whispered into my ear.
I froze, not knowing what to say. I could feel the warmth of his body, encircling me from behind. I could smell the scent of his soap, commingling with the scent of his sweat.
It was a heady combination that reminded me of all the times I had surfed the airwaves behind him. I was hanging on for dear life, yet feeling the thrill of the flight in the depths of my stomach.
The thrill in my stomach right now had nothing to do with airwave surfing. It was stemming directly from this man who had gathered me into his embrace.
Corwin was taking another breath; he was whispering something else to me.
"I don't want you to be with anyone but me."
For a moment, I could barely believe the words he was saying.
I was stunned, wishing I could see his face, but it was impossible. He was behind me. His face was buried within the space behind my ears and my neck, inhaling the scent of my hair.
To say I was surprised was a serious understatement. I was not expecting this, especially since Corwin had never expressed any interest in me, other than the one moment in time when we were pressed together under the Scourge Wind.
In deed, he had even given me plenty of reason to think otherwise. I didn't know how to react to his assertion that was just…so unexpected.
I wanted to run away from the depths of his intensity, but he was already reaching out for my hand.
"I want to give you something," he murmured into my ear as the fingers of his right hand curled around my right wrist.
"It will make it easier for me to find you if something were to happen to you and I wasn't around. Will you accept?"
I nodded, not quite understanding what he was up to.
With a quick snap of the fingers of his left hand, a platinum band materialized, twirling above his fingertips as he wrought his magik onto the object with an Intertwine Command.
"Huenhochilai"
The band glowed with magikal properties, its energy snaking around the curve of the band, etching itself into an intricate pattern on the surface.
Once the imprint had finished, the band dimmed back to normal but the residual energies remained giving it an imbued sense of life.
Corwin placed the band around my left wrist and with a deft click, he locked the latch.
I reached out to touch it marveling at the fact that the latch and the seam had completely disappeared.
I was wondering how I was going to be able to take it off in the future when I heard another click of a latch.
He raised his arm and showed me an identical band that he wore on his right wrist.
"What are these?" I asked.
"They're called soul-bands. I need to complete one more step, and from this moment forward, I will always be able to find you," he said.
"Lingyibanhueilai"
With another uttered Reunite Command, he moved his soul-band nearer to the one enclosing my wrist and the metals clicked together with a magnetic attraction.
Within seconds, the metal of both had fused into a figure 8.
I gasped, awed at the energy flow, spinning in a double vortex between his soul-band and mine.
"What is it doing?" I asked, unable to contain my amazement.
"The soul-bands are picking up each of our magikal signatures and fusing them into a single signature which now resides in both soul-bands. From now on, anywhere you roam in this great wide world, I can find you."
"How?" I asked.
"Like this," he breathed, releasing me from his embrace.
With our wrists still coupled by the entwined soul-bands, he made a motioned into the air, a silent Completion Command.
"Mashangzhurhu"
The soul-bands uncoupled.
At that instant, I felt bereft, as if a small part of myself had taken flight and was no longer with me.
Taking its place, however, was a warm, distinct male aura filling up the tiny void that a piece of myself had left behind.
I was whole again.
I gasped, looking up at him. "I can feel your presence!"
"And I, yours," he confirmed.
"How—how do I take it off?" I asked, looking down at the etched soul-band.
"You can't—you shouldn't." He said, a quiet warmth enveloping his words.
"Why?"
"Because if you do, that part of me within you will be removed."
"Removed…you mean cease to exist?" I asked, looking into his eyes, searching for his honest answer.
"No." He said. "It will be removed from within you because it resides within the band. You have a tiny piece of my soul in you."
He touched his band with reverence. "For this very same reason, I vow to never take your soul-band off. It would leave a hole within my soul that I would never be able to fill again, not until we re-establish this link."
My mind grappled with what he was telling me and trying to make sense of it all. Within the short time I had known him, I understood one thing about Corwin.
He took his responsibilities very seriously.
This was probably his way of trying to keep me safe, and with the disappearance of Tory, not to mention the way Simon had vanished without a trace for a full day, I could understand his determination not to lose track of me.
I laughed, a tiny nervous breathless sound filling the space between me and Corwin.
"It seems to be something rather permanent. Wasn't there something that would have been less—eternal?"
"Yes," Corwin smiled at me, "but you already have it. That little gold ring Mother gave to us was to be given to our future wife."
He tapped the little gold ring on my finger. "This is not just a regular gold ring. It has been imbued with my family's ancient magik signature."
I was almost scared to ask. "What—what does the magik do?"
Corwin breathed a gentle laugh. "It's nothing scary Nana. All it does is magikally add your name to our family registry."
His eyes were inscrutable. "As long as it's on your finger, you will forever be a bride of the Osiris family."
"But I have two of them on…"
He laughed. "You're in our family registry under two separate entries. It's a first."
I bit my lip and looked down at my right hand.
"Your parents are not going to be happy about this." I grimaced. "If I take the rings off, will my name be removed from the registry?"
Corwin nodded. "But please don't take it off."
"But—"
"You're keeping it safe for us, remember?"
I sighed. "Not only did I take the ring that was meant for your future wife, I also took a soul band just so you could find me if I ever got lost."
I looked up into his deep blue eyes. "That's too much sacrifice on your part."
"Nana…" he gently touched my cheek. "it's no sacrifice at all."
My heart sang with joy. I was only hoping to be normal in his eyes, but he had elevated me to special status.
I wanted to cry but I swallowed it down as best I could. I still wasn't quite sure what that 'special' status was, but it didn't matter.
I knew for sure he truly cared about me. The soul bands had given me this precious knowledge simply by allowing him to share his emotions with me.
Something of what I felt must have shown on my face because before I could say anything else, he had reached out and gathered me into his arms.
We stood there, silent in each other's embrace. My heart thudded in my ears as sweet wine coursed through my veins.
My arms, of their own volition, reached out and returned his hug. Being this close to him, I could barely breathe. I wished…
"I wish we had a few more minutes," Corwin whispered into my hair. "I don't want to end this precious moment, but I can hear Simon's loud mouth, even from here. He and my brother are back."
He moved away from me with reluctance.
"Corwin! Nana!" Simon called out and jumped off Connor's board, running toward us with excitement.
"We're not that far from the main road that will take us out to the coastline! And there's no Scourge Wind along that route!"
I stepped forward to meet them, my hands up to shade the sunlight streaming out from behind them.
As Simon got closer, I could see his eyes were attracted to the shine of my new soul band.
"Whoa! That is so cool!" He ran up to me and grabbed my arm, staring with fascination at the soul-band that Corwin had just given me.
"Where did you get this?" Simon gawked.
Connor jumped, roused out of his reveries by the metallic glints of the band as it caught the sun's light and reflected the fire, blinding them as they came closer.
"Huh, when did that happen? We just left you fifteen minutes ago!" He exclaimed in disbelief, and then glanced at Corwin.
His eyes narrowed. "How the hell did she all of a sudden get Soul-bonded? Weren't you suppose to be watching her and making sure nothing bad happened to her?"
I stared at the display of unusual outrage coming from the twin who so normally always exuded such a carefree, happy-go-lucky attitude.
Then I suddenly wondered about the ramifications of what he had called a Soul-bonding. Was it something THAT serious?
Was it something that would cause him to be this upset? Was there going to be future repercussions that I wouldn't know about until it hit me in the face?
"Nothing bad happened to her," Corwin snapped in pensive response.
"Nothing? You call that nothing?" He scowled, pointing to the soul-band on my wrist.
"How—who..." his sputtering fell silent as he noticed Corwin's matching soul-band.
"Dammit, Corey. What the hell!" He hollered, throwing up his hands in frustration.
He sighed, then reached out and touched Corwin's soul-band, studying the design.
"That's Nana's signature alright. Son of a—" he paused, then squeezed the area between his eyes with tired fingertips as if a sudden headache had developed.
"You just—you are..." Connor paused again, as if wanting to say something more.
Suddenly, he launched himself at Corwin, his right fist lashed out in a powerful punch.
Corwin did not even put up a fight. He took it straight in the face, his arms slack by his side.
I gasped, jumping in between them.
"Stop it! Both of you!"
I wasn't sure what I could possibly do to stop a fight between two men who were not only expert fighters but also much taller and heftier than I was, but I had to try.
"It's ok, Nana." Corwin pushed me to one side in a firm but gentle manner. "Simon, stay with her and keep her here."
Simon nodded.
"I can't say I didn't deserve that one," he turned back to Connor, "but I won't allow a second punch."
"I trusted you!" Connor cried out as he reached for Corwin's shirt front, yanking him forward until they were face-to-face, barely inches apart, and staring at each other.
"I trusted you and you stole her from me!"
He pulled back to throw another punch, but this time, Corwin caught the throw and pulled his brother down to the ground.
Connor broke the fall and rolled back onto his feet, ready to set up another punch.
Corwin launched himself at Connor, and the two wizards began wrestling in earnest.