by Anna LaVerne
Dawn of Fire
Mystic Harem Trilogy Book One
Author: Anna LaVerne
© 2018 Anna LaVerne
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact: [email protected]
Editor: Michelle Hoffman
Cover Art By: RAN
Chapter One
“I am leaving tonight whether you like it or not, Bee,” I whisper. My best friend is trying to stop me from climbing out my bedroom window, scaling down the wall, and running away. I shove my way past her to get my small bag of provisions and a change of clothing.
“Dina, please hear me out. You can’t leave, you’re a mystic and a princess!” Bee pleads with desperation visible in her brown eyes.
“I am the sixth daughter! SIXTH!” I speak in a loud forceful whisper, “You know what is in my future if a stay. I will have to take as many husbands as possible, and then I will have to reproduce more mystics. I hate that future, and you know it. I turned nineteen three moons ago, my mother is pressuring me to pick a husband now. Please, understand, I have told you over and over this is not the future for me.”
I brush past Bee again to grab my dingiest cloak from the closet. It’s brown and well-worn, but still well-made. I want to keep my entire outfit dull to blend in with the rest of Aster.
“You have to stop stalling me! I only have a short time to leave in”
“Dina, I am asking you one last time to stay. What will they do to me when you go missing?” She reaches up and grabs my arm, pulling me to her. I have an easy six inches on the short, petite girl who has grown up to be my best friend and handmaiden. We were put together as babes.
Bee was born in the lowest caste and brought to my mother as a gift. Her family could not afford another mouth to feed. Mother always said that Bee was a gift from our people. The first time Mother saw Bee she saw she was both sweet and spunky. It was then, she decided Bee was the perfect balance for the angsty daughter she had birthed a moon before, me.
“I have a novel idea, Bee, come with me. If you are so worried about me, then climb down this wall and let us go together.”
Bee pauses. I can tell she is whirling the idea around in her head.
“Did you grab the shears? Everyone will recognize you if we don’t cut your hair like the rest of the common folk.”
I open my bag to show her the glint of silver shears. Bee nods and asks, "Who am I going to be to you? I am not large enough to join the warriors like you."
“Why can’t we figure that out later?” I ask as I put my first leg on the edge of the window.
“Because we have to have a plan, Dina!” she hisses at me and shoves me out the window.
I have a hold of a rope fastened to the trellis hidden within the vines that work their way up the wall. I laugh as I fly backward. My sturdy travel boots connect with the wall as I inch my way down the rope.
Bee follows me, still dressed in her daily server skirt. That, alone, will raise a few red flags while we are out. My feet hit the ground. I reach up to take my small friend by her waist and help her down the last few feet. I am a giant compared to little Bee. Her size is how she received her name. She was always buzzing around everyone’s ankles. She knows all the gossip in Yardel, the palace we are running away from.
“Come on. I paid a stable boy to help us escape, but we have to hurry!” I grab her hand pulling her along while crouching low across the manicured lawn. There are few men in Aster who are not married or acting in a subordinate fashion.
Cal is one of Aster’s young men who want to leave. He wants to travel out of Aster to join with one of our more traditional kingdoms. Here, he will always be a stable hand or, if he is lucky, he might get selected to train as a warrior.
If I stayed I would have a harem. I could only pick the bravest and strongest of men, which is great, but it limits the availability pool. Outsiders are not jumping our borders to join a harem and share a woman.
Bee interrupts my thoughts. “Cal? You mean that dufus who falls off all the horses and trips over his own feet? You think he will help you get free of Yardel?”
We are approaching the trees. We have to go down one steep hill and cross a small creek before we hit the road he should be on.
“He isn’t so bad.” I pull a large limb back, so Bee can go first into the trees, “He is a good guy. So what if he is clumsy? He wants to leave Aster as badly as I do.”
“Wait for a second, you are not leaving Aster!” Bee stops in front of me causing me plow into her, sending us both tumbling down the hill and into the cold creek.
“Ugh, Bee! Why would you stop like that?” I raise my arms in exasperation and slap them back down into the water.
“Um, because you said you were leaving Aster!” She points her finger and hisses at me, “Anything that happens on this ridiculous adventure of yours is not my fault.” She stands up in her soaking-wet skirt, bends over, and pulls it down around her ankles to reveal a pair of leather working britches.
“Ah ha! You were planning on coming with me all along! Where did you steal those pants from?”
“I borrowed them from the blacksmith's son. They are the only ones that would fit me.” Bee replies like I am an idiot for not knowing that. “And I wouldn’t ever let you go alone. I had to, at least, try to convince you to stay.”
Bee takes off at a brisk pace out of the creek and up a hill. I notice she left the skirt on the ground. I scoop it up and stuff it in my bag. I don’t want a tracker to find it. We walk out onto an empty road.
“Crap, we are too late!”
“No, we aren't. Clumsy Cal probably fell over his giant feet a few too many times. Is that him up there?” Bee points down the road. I have exceptional night vision, yet he is still too far away. All I can see is a small blob lumbering towards us. I pull Bee into the bushes to hide in case it isn’t Cal. Cal must have picked the laziest draft horse in Aster. It feels like an eternity before he rolls past whispering into the trees, “Dina? Dina?”
“Shhhh! We are right here!” I snap as I make my way out from behind the bushes.
“Hi, Cal,” Bee says in a less than enthused voice.
“Bee? I didn't realize you would be coming. I only planned on hiding Dina. I don’t have room for two of you to fit under the cover.”
“That’s okay, I will ride up front with you. I am no longer in my server clothing, and no one will recognize who I am without Dina next to me.”
Bee climbs up into the front seat of the wagon as I climb in the back under the large cloth covering. It is a tight fit. I can feel my long legs almost hanging off the back, and that is with me folded up like a pretzel. Cal told me the night before that we would travel all night. Thankfully, I can sleep almost anywhere, and anywhere includes a too-small wagon.
We should reach the edge of Yardel lands before sunset, and once beyond there, we will stop in a small village, Easton, maybe? I can't remember the name. He said there is a clearing nearby where we can eat breakfast and rest, while Cal heads to town to rest his horse and let his family know of his plans to travel to Cavet.
Women rule in Aster. That doesn’t mean he can’t have a wife, get married, live in a nice village, and have a profession. It means that Cal won’t be able rise through the ranks very far.
Cal's original goal was to go to Yardel, work hard, get noticed for his size and strength, and get to train as a warrior. Unfortunately for Cal, his clumsi ness put an end to all that. Sure when he first arrived, everyone talked about the tall stable boy, but the talk faded when he kept having accidents. Regardless, I always liked Cal. He is a quiet guy that keeps to himself and tries his hardest. He also toler
ates me well, and for that I am grateful.
In typical Dina fashion, I fall asleep in the back of the rickety wagon as we escape Yardel, husband and harem free. Bee is most likely still wide awake, alert, and awkward sitting next to the tall clumsy blue-eyed dark-haired Cal.
Chapter Two
One thing everyone knows about me is that I sleep like a log. Once I am out, I am out until someone shakes me awake or pours water on my head. I've lived a pampered life where I could often get away with being lazy. The only thing I ever had to do was attend my afternoon classes on mystics, learning things like: why I’m a mystic, what that means for me, what my gifts are, and how to use them to benefit the kingdom.
Gifts are meant to be kept secret. We're forbidden to share them with the common folk. Bee knows of mine only because she is my handmaiden and best friend. She is more like a sister than any of my seven siblings, who are all dedicated mystics. I was always told I had potential. My instructors said I could be the next High Mystic of Aster. I would be the Supreme Mystic, without the power of finality like the Queen. I never believed them. I am the sixth daughter everyone forgets about.
You know what the High mystic also gets? The largest harem, because the High mystic has the highest concentrated gifts and, thus, is expected to reproduce throughout her life. Baby after baby after baby after baby. I believe in the power of women, and our country runs on that power. Only women can be mystics, and, so far throughout centuries, only mystics can produce more mystics. People with gifts run every aspect of Aster, except the warriors.
I have always looked up to warriors the most. They are strong, agile, beautiful women who fight alongside men as equals to defend our borders. Aster is always under attack by other kingdoms and nations. Every kingdom wants a mystic of their own to do things like scry, heal, and even foretell fortunes. That’s why my kind keeps to Aster. Aster has ambassador mystics who visit and work alongside our allies, but not one kingdom or nation has their very own.
Every month, a group of warriors make their way inland to Yardel looking for recruits and bringing news. Warriors all have scars and wild stories to tell. Bee and I would sneak out at night to visit the camps around the palace. They would sing, drum, and dance the night away. The first night I saw it, I wanted to be one of Aster’s warrior women.
I feel someone tug on my leg. I kick out, roll over and groan, "Leave me alone, Bee, I am sleeping.”
“Pull her out of the cart, Cal.”
“She is a princess, I can’t do that,” Cal argues.
“She is only a princess when she wants to act like one. Right now, she is acting like the spoiled giant she is and forgetting her duty to WAKE THE HELL UP!”
Cal grabs my feet and jerks me out of the wagon. He trips falling backward which ends with me crushing him on the ground. The bright light from the sun causes severe agony to my poor dilated eyes. I went from being under a cozy, dark, albeit stuffy cover, out into the morning sun.
I groan again and pull myself up from the ground then help Cal to his feet, “Okay, you win. You’re right, I needed to wake up, and I am not lazy! I sleep well, and you are jealous because you don't.”
“Oh, grow up, Dina.” Bee rolls her brown eyes and crosses her little arms.
Cal wastes no time with our arguing and points toward the trees. “Walk straight west away from the sun. The clearing is two hundred yards in that direction. I will be back within an hour or so.” Bee and I nod our thanks to Cal for helping us.
I paid him well, and I know he would gift some of that money to his family because that is the type of guy Cal is. I pause for a minute to wonder if I have a thing for Cal. All I do is compliment the adorable clumsy guy. Nah, all my feelings are sisterly.
I have never met a man that made my insides stir. I've not met a woman like that, either, to be honest. In Aster, many people are fluid in their preferences. I always keep an open mind, yet my upbringing has turned me off to love of any kind altogether. It is another reason I am so attracted to the warrior lifestyle. Freedom to live the single life amongst my peers.
“Come on, Dina, pull your head out of your bum, and let’s get moving.” I love how Bee treats me as an equal when no one is around.
Sure enough, we enter an open shaded area within the trees to relax. I walk around the edges gathering dry sticks and limbs to use for tinder. We need to cut my hair short to fit in with everyone else. Only mystics and royals have long hair worn as a symbol of their status. My hair has never been cut and never would be if I stayed in Yardel.
Once I gathered enough, I set them in the center of the clearing closed my eyes and blew the air from my lungs upon them igniting a small fire.
“Really? Why wouldn’t you have brought a fire starter?”
“Better question, Bee, why would I when I can start a small fire anywhere I want, whenever I want?”
“Because warriors can’t start fires whenever they want. Now come here and sit down, so I can cut your hair.”
“We will have to burn the hair in case the trackers find it. I think I can go at least two cycles before Mother will even know I am missing.”
“Are you sure about that?” Bee asks as I sit down on my cloak stretched out upon the ground.
“Sixth daughter,” I reply dryly.
“Sixth daughter with the most potential.” I roll my eyes as the first cut of my raven-black locks fall from my head. I catch it between my fingers, squeezing it tight. I can’t believe I will actually be free. It all seems like it is too easy.
“Mother gave up on me long ago, and so did all of her harem. She didn’t even know which one is my father. Only three of them ever gave me attention, and they all stopped cycles ago. I am invisible to most of Aster, and you know it.” I realize then that it hurts I don’t know who my father is. I may have cousins, aunts, and uncles I will never meet. I take a deep breath and return my focus to my falling hair.
“Vex, I put my money that Vex is your father,” Bee responds.
“Vex left when I was thirteen. He upset Mother, and she sent him to a border post to live out his days fighting.”
“Dina, that man loves to fight. Even in Yardel he continued to train every day. He never became soft like the others. Your mom didn’t send him away because she wanted to. She did it because he wasn’t happy there, and he loved you. Until he went away, he gave you all the extra attention. Don’t you remember? Plus, you are the only one with his raven hair.”
"Yes, I remember. Did you forget my mother also has raven hair?”
“Yet all her other children, even the boys are blond. Your mother will notice you're gone today. You may not realize it because she can’t show you, but you are her favorite. We will have to be quick. Do you plan on changing your name? Might I suggest something like ‘Destroyer’?” Bee lets out a laugh at her own little joke. I can’t help but chuckle.
I let her words roll off my shoulders. There is no way I would ever be a favorite. I was her last child ever, you would think I'd been treated like a baby, but I wasn’t. Instead, I was distant being years younger than my sisters and my two brothers. That's why my mother gave me Bee. She knew she could not be there for me like a mother should.
All of my long locks have fallen to the ground. My head feels so light. Bee is moving it around to get all the straggler hairs that refused to be cut with the rest.
“You're done!” Bee declares as she steps back to look at her handy work. She draws in a large breath and her eyes widen.
“What? Did you knick my head or something? Am I bleeding?”
“No, it is just…. It is just this may not work.” Bee is fumbling for words.
“What do you mean? I have short hair now like you and all the other normal women of Aster.” I am confused.
CLAP... CLAP.... CLAP...
Bee jumps backward, and I spring to my feet twirling around. A man stands at the edge of the clearing watching us. He appears taller than me, which is hard to do. I instinctively push Bee behind me while not taking my
eyes off him.
“I get it,” he says as he walked towards us, "It won’t work because you are more beautiful without your princess hair than you were with it.” He stops halfway across the clearing and stands there with his hands resting on his hips. In that second, I realize he is a warrior dressed in leathers with a sword at his side. I look him up and down trying to use my gifts to read if he will turn us in. I determine he isn’t a threat. I am not always great at reading people, but it seems straightforward here, and I tend to trust my gut.
“How long were you watching us?” I demand.
“Oh, you know since you waltzed in here and started that little fire. This is the most entertainment I have had in at least two moons.” His brown hair is a little on the long side, and his chestnut brown eyes sparkle with amusement.
“I assume you will not tell anyone about this?”
"I won't tell anyone because I am going with you." A smile tugs at his lips. "I think you will let me. I stopped in this clearing last night to rest. Guess where I am heading." He doesn't give me a chance to even try. "Cargil, the main training facility. I'm a trainer there.”
I hesitate at his words. He is telling the truth, I am sure of that, but I dislike his cocky way of doing it. "Okay, fine, travel with us and help me get to Cargil. I have nothing to pay you with. So... why are you risking yourself to do this?"
“Why not? Don’t worry, little Di, they will accept you.”
“I am not little, and my name isn’t Di.”
“It is Di now.” He bends over picking up my hair from the ground and throwing it into the fire, "You were smart to want to burn it. Good instincts. Who is the little bunny who keeps hiding behind you?”
“This is Bee, my, um... my, um, friend and handmaiden.”
“Oh, I see, 'friend'. That is a pity I was hoping I was more your type, princess.”
I see where this is headed, “I don’t have a type, nor do I want one. That is why I’m heading to Cargil to be a warrior. I don't want a harem or to be a mystic broodmare.”