The bond

3. Light magic

"HOW CAN THIS BE? I WON'T ACCEPT THIS!" A man's voice says.

"You can't change a bond my son," another man's voice retorts.

"THE HELL I CAN'T!" he bites back.

"A bond is absolute, it can't be ignored and it can't be broken. Most people go through life never finding their bond, think yourself lucky," he argues.

"LUCKY! You saw her color! She is Verillian, how can I be bound to that? Not to mention light magic has never been bonded outside of light magic before. It's not supposed to work this way, I refuse to believe this!" the man spits.

"The bond works in mysterious ways, my son, but it's never wrong," a voice says harshly.

Bond? Verillian? What are they talking about? Why can I understand them now? None of this makes any sense! My eyes flit open and I see them at the end of the bed, arguing with one another.

I'm in a rather large, wooden, four poster bed. I go to sit up, but realize I'm not wearing any clothes, and quickly sink back down under the covers, in a heavy mix of assorted furs, and thick woolen blankets. He turns, realizing I'm awake. The king smiles at me fondly and inclines his head slightly in my direction.

"You must have a lot of questions my dear. I'll leave you with my son to discuss in private, we can chat later at dinner," the king says softly, still smiling. He turns and leaves the room.

We are alone now. Absentmindedly, he runs a hand through his shaggy, black hair. He looks tired, perplexed, and most of all, defeated. He undoes the buckle of the waist strap that holds his sword and sheath at his left hip, and places it on the chair next to the door. He sits on the end of the bed, his forearms resting on his legs as he drops his gaze to the floor. Silence falls, but is soon broken.

"I don't like this any more than you do. I'm gathering, but what can we do?" he says in a quiet, defeated tone, still looking at the floor.

"I....I have no idea what you're talking about," I say in a quiet, cracked tone. "Where am I?"

"This is the Nigalia kingdom of creature magic," he replies.

"Who are you?" I ask.

He raises an eyebrow to me. "Prince Aiden, son of King Darnell and Queen Reina. And You are from Verillia Kingdom," he says.

"Umm, what? No, I'm from San Diego, "I say, bewildered.

He looks at me, confused. "I have never heard of this San Diego. Do they have light magic, too?" he asks.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what light magic is, or even creature magic, either. Nothing you have said makes any sense to me, and another thing, how come I can understand you all of a sudden?" I say, a little too quickly, and a little breathless.

"I believe that would be because of the bond," Aiden replies.

"The what?" I ask.

"The bond," he repeats. He looks at me for a moment, as if saying, 'do I really have to explain this?'

I keep a stern look on my face as I continue to look back at him. He shakes his head, and runs his hands through his hair. I assume he does this a lot when he's frustrated. Defeated, he lets out a sigh.

"The bond is a rare occurrence. It's where two bodies of magic connect with one another," he says quickly.

Aiden looks at me with an expression of hope that his explanation has satisfied my question. From the look on my face, he knows I'm more lost than ever.