Chapter 20: A Vulcan Romantic.
Solas stood before the groom and watched him take the first strike of the gong, calling his betrothed to the ceremony. The groom stood, suitably Vulcan and emotionless, as if he were waiting for public transport, not the woman with whom he should spend the rest of his life. The groom was the son of a Vulcan minister of the High Command, his status gave him the choice of priest to officiate at his wedding. To choose Solas was logical. Solas was renown for his ability to forge bonds and would be the preference for any bride and groom who anticipated a long life together. Solas could only observe that his skill would be wasted at this wedding. He wasn't a magician, he couldn't conjure something out of nothing.
A life in the priesthood had been guaranteed for Solas from a young age, as soon as his skill became apparent. In most psi measures, Solak was middling for a Vulcan. But in one he was so skilled that he had remained unrivalled since he entered the priesthood one hundred and seventy years before. The first sign had been when he was just five years old and his family had travelled to their tribal lands to acquire a sehlat cub. The dame was a productive one and there were four healthy cubs to choose from, and the runt. The runt was not just small, its fur was patchy, it's snout short (suggesting foreshortened fangs in later life) and it had small paws relative to its size but it was the one five year old Solas selected without question. Solas did not see the undesirable exterior of the animal, he saw its Katra, more specifically the potential for its Katra to bond.
Solas could perceive bonds. When he looked at a person it was like he could see a glowing web emanating from them. Every telepathic connection that person had, like a roadmap of their affection was as clear to Solas as the colour of their hair or eyes. The sehlat had outgrown its awkward phase, the smallest in a large litter, and a strongly telepathic creature with a great capacity for affection, it had suffered under a weak connection with its mother. Solas had seen that it would be a loyal, affectionate pet beyond all measure - and it had been.
Looking at the groom, Solas could see the network of bonds that surrounded the man. Finding the farther and mother was easy, parental bonds are were of a unique structure even the old slightly atrophied ones of adulthood. There were weak connections, probably to colleagues and former teachers. There were some very weak, incomplete, dying matebonds, shadows really, of something that could have existed if they had been allowed. These didn't extend to any women at the wedding, and most likely were remnants from Pon Farr that had been attended by priestesses from Seleya. What he could not find was a bond, of any kind, to the woman who was his betrothed. He had eventually located her, standing in the living room of the house, identifying her by her slightly more elaborate robes. The blandness of groom was of no interest to him, but her, he had never seen anything like it, her Katra was made of fire.
Fascinating.
He regarded her frankly, trying to fathom this strange species of soul he had never encountered before. Her Katra seemed pulse and seethe like the surface of a sun. In contrast to the groom, he could discern a multitude of connections coming from her, she seemed to almost glow there were so many. Some were strange in their nature, a form he had never seen before, not mates, not parents or siblings, but stronger than colleagues. She appeared to have three parental bonds, although as far as he was aware, only her mother survived.
A man walked towards her and her soul flared to life. The man was unusual. Solas could not see his face but his hair was light, almost yellow and cut in a style never seen on Vulcan and his ear lacked the tapered pinnae of a Vulcan. But it was upon seeing his Katra that Solas was able to understand the strange appearance of the bride's. Their katras were exactly the same. Not the same as in, composed of similar attributes. Not the same as in, similar in appearance. The same, exact copies of each other.
As the alien moved closer to her, the strange halos of their Katras seemed to shimmer, expand, extend out to and engulf one another. The alien stopped in front of her, close enough to touch and their incandescent souls merged and settled around them both, like an atmosphere of light. Solas was intrigued, it explained the multitude of connections, the strange appearance of them.
It was spoken of, of course. Mostly in pre-reformation literature, almost like a fairy tale. He had not even been sure he had believed in it himself, thinking the language was likely poetic and not literal. But now the evidence was right in front of him. They were K'hat'n'dlawa. They were soulmates. They had bonded so intensely they shared one Katra and it would contrive to always bring them together.
Solas looked once more at the groom, standing passively in front him as he struck the gong a second time. This was a complication. Once the bond would have been considered a marriage, but not anymore. The marriage was a legal ceremony formed in logic, the bond was incidental. It's presence or lack thereof not considered sufficient means to form or end a betrothal. But Solas was convinced there would be no wedding for this man today. The question now for Solas, was whether he would preside over a wedding or a funeral. It was almost certain that the bride would declare Kal-if-fee, the Katra she shared would not allow for anything else. But could the alien defeat a Vulcan? This was an unknown. It did not matter of course, the couple would either live or die together. If one half of a shared soul perished, the other could not survive. It was as simple as that.
He looked at the glowing katra and noticed something strange about it. A darkness at it's edges. It was almost as if the soul were, blurred, eroding slightly, polluted. He had seen something like it before and knew what it signified in a Vulcan, the Alien mate was an unknown so he couldn't be sure. He looked closely at the Vulcan woman again and noticed a slight tremor in her hands. His original hypothesis did seem likely. For most Vulcans it would be a death sentence, but he knew the circles the bride's mother moved in, doubtless she would be acquainted with an appropriate person to address the cause of that condition.
He watched the couple as they spoke. Their conversation was too soft, even for sensitive Vulcan ears. He marvelled at the universe that would choose to match two such different people, different species. It seemed more than random chance that they had found each other. He had heard many aliens believed in deities, divine architects that directed the course of the universe. Vulcans had examined the evidence of the universe and determined that the existence of such beings was illogical. But now he began to wonder. The improbability of the joined souls before him spoke of a master hand directing them together.
He thought of, T'Pri, his own cherished Adun'a, he had won the right to mate with her in a Kal-if-fee one hundred and forty years before. His parents had, of course, arranged a mate for him when he was a child and it had pained him to disappoint them by severing that bond. But how could he have accepted less, when he could see how a bond could be. T'Pri would be fascinated to hear of this. Like him, she was a romantic. It was not a popular personality trait in these logical times, but it was hard not to believe in love when one could see what he had seen here today.
The groom stepped forward to strike the gong for the final time. The mother of the bride approached the couple and urged her daughter towards her fate. The alien moved to step out of the way. But as the bride passed him she grabbed his left hand and stared intently into his face, her eyes wide. He looked back, just as intently, understanding whatever private communication she had made to him. The alien lifted his right hand, placed it over her cheek and murmured something. The bride did not ease her grip on his hand. The bride's mother spoke again, urging her onward. The alien gave a small nod, acknowledgement of a predetermined course. Their bond would not allow them to be parted.
The bride did not shift her gaze from her k'diwa's eyes, the colour drained from her face, her eye lids fluttered, her eyes rolled back in her head.
Her mate caught her before she hit the ground.