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For as long as he could remember, Kaveh’s mother had told him that he would one day meet his soulmate, the other part of himself, his destined person. It all seemed so special, so precious. Seeing the way his mother and father, fated soulmates , loved each other made him determined to find his person, the other half of his soul.
She would tell him stories of when she first met his father. They had been sent out on a research expedition together by the Akademiya, and hadn’t run into each other until they had set up camp deep in the desert. Her eyes would shine when she described the feeling of joy and love that rushed through her the second they laid eyes on each other. Sure enough, when they checked, they had matching hammers painted across their wrists.
As a child, he would check everyone's wrists that he passed on the street, and any new friends were examined, desperate to find the mark that would match his own. His mother told him that he just had to be patient, that he’d find his soulmate when the time was right. Kaveh was never one to question his beloved mother, but he was desperate to find the person who would look at him the way his papa looked at his mama.
All that changed after they lost his father. His mother shut down completely, hardly coming out of her room anymore, and Kaveh blamed himself.
If this is what happened when you lost your soulmate, then why should he want to find his in the first place? Kaveh gave up actively searching for his soulmate.
It was the first day of the new semester at the Akademiya, and dozens of new students were running around, trying to find their classes. Kaveh had just left his lecture on the history of Deshretan architecture when someone came rushing down the hall, colliding with him.
On the ground in front of him, books sprawled out around his body, was a boy with gray hair.
“You should be more careful!” Kaveh chastised the younger boy, reaching down to help him pick up the books that had fallen when they collided. He was so absorbed in mumbling to himself about how ‘people should really watch where they’re going’ that he almost missed the small gasp the other boy released.
Confused, Kaveh followed his gaze to his own wrist, exposed as he leaned down to grab a heavy textbook.
Without saying a word, the boy with gray hair reached up to lift his own sleeve. Kaveh gasped, dropping the books he had just picked up.
There it was, clear as day, a mark identical to his own. It was intricate, far more so than his own parents’ had been. A padisarah and a feather quill crossed daintily into an ‘X’ right over his pulse point.
“You—” Kaveh gasped.
The other boy blushed, his bangs hiding his eyes. “Hi.”
A smile broke out across Kaveh’s face. This was him, he had a soulmate!
“It’s nice to meet you.” He held out his hand, his own soulmate mark still in clear view. “I’m Kaveh.”
The boy smiled, reaching out with his own marked wrist. “My name is Alhaitham.”