My Kingdom Come book 1: The Saints We See

666 standard years after the signing of the Alliance

“Good day, brother, may you find satisfaction in your place today.” Mik bowed to the Norz who had stood next to him in the ritual service and then moved to the back wall of the temple where he knelt in front of the stone wheel. This was his last training trip under Chentzo. He was scheduled to be put up for auction in less than a month. He was both terrified and relieved. He was glad that he would finally have a master to serve. He would finally have one direction, one purpose, one person to serve and obey, maybe even to love. But what kind of master would buy him? Who would Mikhail become after he was bonded to them?

He held his hands out to the gods. “Gods, I am grateful for your provision, your watchful eyes and your eternal love. Thank you for the success you’ve granted me here in my training. Please bless my master, Chentzo, grant him prosperity and give him favor in all his dealings and gods…” Mik swallowed. “Please grant me a good and honorable master when I am sold next month.” The faces of his sponsors flashed through his mind. None of them were particularly good or honorable. He frowned slightly. It was not his place to judge the worthiness of his potential masters. “Let me please them and serve them well. Please watch over the other boys on my floor. Give them good lives. Please watch over my friend Dachvinder, let daem be happy.

“God’s, I don’t know how my master will change me or what rules they will make for me. I might not be allowed to set foot in a temple again, but my heart, my life will always belong to you first. I offer myself to you, in service to my brothers, sisters and siblings, in service to life, to kindness and goodness. Please, accept my offering and let my service be acceptable to you. Please, let me bring honor to Galor’s name.”

Mik paused, waiting for that gentle calmness that always touched his emotional center after he prayed. It came, but something unexpected came along with it. A calm voice spoke into his mind. You are on your way to hell. Do not be afraid and do not despair. You will find your brother there. He desperately needs all the strength and knowledge you can gather on your journey. You and your brother will emerge with an alliance that has the power to save many lives.

Mik froze. The words burned in his mind with a clarity and certainty that he’d never felt before. All of Mik’s worries left him. He sucked in a breath and looked around. There were people/sentients scattered around the temple, but no one was nearby. He swallowed. “Thank you.” He wasn’t sure he should be thanking the gods for a promise that he was going to hell, but the message hadn’t felt despairing or frightening.

Mik got up and donated to the temple fund one of the jeweled hair baubles he had been gifted from a sponsor, and met Isca back near the entrance of the temple. They went to the docks and boarded the ship that would carry them home again.

That night Mik lay awake in his bed for a long time wondering what hell awaited him and who his brother could possibly be.

* * *

Mik checked his eyeliner in the mirror, then leaned back in his chair. His eye caught on the tassel dangling from the end of the chain that hung from his throat. He gently ran a finger along the delicate chains that made up the tassel. They had tiny, dark blue, polished stones interspersed along their length. The tassel had been a gift from Dachvinder’s queen. The stones were from the hive garden. They held inside them the calming, sense of belonging that the hive gave off. It was a comfort to Mik, carrying that energy with him through his lonely days.

The green chime sounded and Mik looked up at the reflection of the door in his vanity mirror, puzzled. His sponsor wasn’t due for another hour and a half.

The door opened and Isca lumbered in.

Mik half turned in his chair. “Isca? Wha-”

Isca grabbed Mik’s arm, dragged him out of his chair and then out of the room.

“Sir? What’s happened?” Mik asked breathlessly, stumbling along in Isca’s wake, trying to catch his stride.

Isca didn’t answer. He dragged Mik downstairs to Chentzo’s office, pushed open the door then strode inside. He threw Mik down on the floor in front of Chentzo’s desk.

Mik quickly arranged himself into a proper greeting pose. “G-good afternoon, ma-”

“The results of your pre-sale examination came in, boy.” Chentzo’s voice was calm and cold but Mik had never felt so much anger coming from him.

Mik did his best to hide any sign of his anxiety. “Yes, master?”

“Who did you bond to?”

Mik was flabbergasted. “B-bond, master?”

“Yes. Which one of your sponsors went behind my back and performed the bonding ceremony with you?”

Mik forced his breathing to calm. “I’ve never gone through a bonding ceremony master.”

“Your bonding receptors are either all closed or damaged.” Chentzo’s voice rose slightly. He was beginning to lose his patience. “Who bonded with you?!”

“I don’t know, master.” Mik answered truthfully.

Isca slapped Mik hard enough to send him to the floor. Mik cried out in surprise and pain. Before he could right himself Isca grabbed Mik by the hair and dragged him back up to his knees.

“There’s no reason to be afraid, boy.” Chentzo’s voice was dangerously quiet. He was one wrong answer away from snapping. “Just tell me who it is. I’ll contact them for payment and that will be the end of it. If they can’t pay, I’ll put a contract on their life, the bond will break and we’ll go ahead with your sale as planned.”

Mik’s hands squeezed into fists. He was not bonded to anyone. How could the tests have come back with any other result? Something nagged at the back of his mind. There was someone he had cared deeply about. He’d burned all memories of them out of his mind to protect them, but they hadn’t bonded with him, had they? Mik shook off the thought. He had no emotional, mental or physical connection to anyone, he was not bonded.

“Who was it?” Chentzo asked.

Mik was shaking. “I am not bonded to anyone, master. There must have been a mistake.”

“Take him to the car, Isca. We’re going to the lab to redo the tests now.”

Isca grabbed Mik’s arm and dragged him down the hall, through the building to the garage where he threw Mik into Chentzo’s favorite hover car. Mik arranged himself into the proper waiting pose. Isca waited by the open car door for Chentzo to arrive.

The wait was much longer than Mik had thought it would be. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Isca. Isca was staring into the middle distance with no expression on his face. Mik still couldn’t sense Chentzo coming. “Sir, how often does this happen?”

Isca slowly turned his head to look at Mik. “Never.”

Mik’s head jerked up in surprise. His eyes landed on Isca’s shoulder. “This hasn’t ever happened before?”

Isca shook his head. “If the lab says you’re bonded to someone, you’re bonded. They don’t make mistakes. The only reason Chentzo is asking you is because the lab can’t tell who you’re bonded to. That’s…never happened before. When a Durweh bonds, their DNA changes to include most or all of their master’s DNA. Yours didn’t change.” He shrugged.

“Doesn’t that prove there’s been a mistake? I’m not bonded, sir.”

Isca shrugged again and looked away.

“You know it’s true, sir. I’m always under camera surveillance here and you’ve been with me every time I’ve been away from Chentzo’s. No one has done anything to me that Chentzo hasn’t authorized.”

Once of Isca’s hands curled into a fist and his jaw tightened. He looked at Mik with narrowed eyes. “Are you threatening me?”

Mik blinked in surprise. “No, sir.”

“Good. Shut your mouth, boy.”

“Yes, sir.” Mik swallowed. He bowed his head and waited in silence.

It took over an hour for Chentzo to arrive. He was furious. “We’re going to Jahon’s.”

“Yes, sir.” Isca replied. He shut the door after Chentzo stepped into the car and sat heavily on the seat. The hover car shifted as Isca climbed into the front passenger’s seat. His door shut. The car took off.

Mik focused on taking deep, calm breaths.

“Have you thought of anything that you want to tell me before we get to Jahon’s, boy?”

“I’ve told you everything, master. I have nothing to hide.”

Chentzo reached down, he grabbed Mik’s jaw in hard fingers and forced him to look up. Mik focused his gaze on Chentzo’s left shoulder. “Look at me, boy.”

Mik moved his gaze to Chentzo’s left ear.

Chentzo’s finger’s tightened on Mik’s jaw. Bruises were forming and healing over and over under Chentzo’s grip. “I said, look at me, boy.”

Mik slowly moved his eyes to meet Chentzo’s, cringing inwardly. His master had had him beaten many times before he had learned to never look him in the eye.

“You are hiding things from me. You always have. I’ve put up with your oddities, your sponsors enjoyed them. That was a mistake. All this ends today. Either you tell me everything, or I’ll have Jonat flay your mind until you have no secrets left. Do you understand?”

“I understand, master.”

Chentzo’s fingers tightened even further. “Do you have anything you want to tell me?”

Mik swallowed. “No, master.”

Chentzo let go of Mik. His cold anger shifted towards violence. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

Mik bowed his head. You’re on your way to hell. The memory echoed in Mik’s memory. God’s help me, he pleaded. Protect my… the one memory he still had rose up in his mind. He hastily pushed it down. Protect them.

The rest of the ride was silent. Chentzo rested his arm along the back of the seat, his fingers tapping the leather impatiently. His emotions moved further towards violence.

When they arrived, Isca opened the door so Chentzo could step out, then he reached in and grabbed Mik by the chain that dangled from his throat. Isca dragged him, choking, out of the car and up the front steps of Jonat’s house.

Apparently they were expected. One of Jonat’s servants was standing at the open door to greet them. Mik found his feet and stumbled after Isca, through the foyer, up the stairs and down the hall to Jonat’s study. Isca kept the wire tight around Mik’s neck the whole way. Pressure built up in Mik’s head till he felt like his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. His aching chest heaved, desperate for air. Adrenaline rushed through Mik’s body, and he had to fight to remain passive at Isca’s side. Mik’s one concession to his body’s panic was allowing his fingers to claw mindlessly at his throat. Even though he could go on like that for some time, since his body would continue to heal itself as it suffocated, it was extremely painful.

They were ushered into Jonat’s study and Isca threw Mik to the floor. Mik quickly arranged himself properly, trying not to gasp for air too loudly. His body convulsed slightly as it healed, rapidly experiencing the pain of choking and suffocation in reverse.

“What’s happened, Chetnzo?” Jonat asked in a concerned voice.

“This slut, has bonded with someone. He claims not to know anything about it. I want you to see if he is lying, or if his memory has been modified.” Chentzo spat.

Jonat took a slow breath. “This could damage-”

“I don’t care, Jonat. I know you have a soft spot for him, but you need to remember that he has no sentient rights. None. He is nothing more than an object that belongs to me. If you don’t do what I ask, I will find someone else to look into the boy’s mind for me. You and I both know that anyone else will shred his mind from the inside out. I do not care. I will do anything to find out who stole from me.”

There was silence for a moment. “The lab could’t find-”

“No. There is no trace of the thief in his DNA. You’re my next avenue for finding information, but you’re not my last.”

Jonat let out a quiet breath. “I understand, Chentzo. I’ll do whatever I have to do to get your answers.”

“Good.” Chentzo sat on the leather couch. “While you’re at it, be sure he doesn’t have any other little secrets he’s hiding from me.”

Jonat laid a hand on Mik’s head. “Try to relax, boy.” He said softly.

Mik obeyed.