by J. A. Comley
Contents
Legends of Trianon
Maps
1 Highest Valana
2 Freedom
3 Power
4 A Day of Peace
5 Secrets and Slience
6 Knowledge
7 Happy Birthday
8 The High Lord
9 Trimoon
10 Decisions
11 Grobblers and Spies
12 Abyss Valley
Glossary
Please Review
Other Books by J. A. Comley
Coming November 2020
About the Author
Legends of Trianon
Starla - Book 2
The High Lord
J. A. Comley
Copyright © 2020 by J. A. Comley
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
All characters in this publication are products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Any references to historical events, customs, or real places are used fictitiously.
This book is dedicated to Robert for patiently reading a multitude of drafts. This one went through more iterations than I thought humanly possible.
Acknowledgements
Writing is a long and sometimes frustrating journey. A massive thank you to the following people who made it that little bit easier.
My friends and family, for all your support and encouragement along the way.
My beta readers, Olivia and Katherine, for helping iron out all the tiny details.
My brother Miguel for giving Father Joaquin Pedrosa his name.
My husband, and editor, for not only getting my book ready to publish, but also keeping the kids busy so I could write it in the first place.
My cover artist, Eugene Chugunov (Wickard on 99 Designs), for bringing my characters and world to life so perfectly.
My readers, for joining me on this adventure.
THANK YOU
1
Highest Valana
Aurelia
Valana stood on the balcony of her home, watching the moon beam down on the Great Expanse, setting the arid land aglow. Audible to her ears as they twitched and tilted atop her head was the song of the Lightless Tree, its mirrors swinging and tinkling.
Before her, spreading for miles across the shifting sands, was a camp unlike anything Aurelia had ever seen. An army, her army, beneath turquoise banners, bearing a white cyrion bird, flying overhead; a united force, taken equally from Aurelia's eight factions, ready to fight.
Her silver eyes began to glow as she shifted into her powers, letting her heightened senses range even further. They were all there claiming a spot of arid land surrounding her army, the tribes of the Torik, Jensolir, Frelok, Dralog, Cyrali, Hitori, and Kazori. Beside them were the fighters from Hipotarali, and, in a setup more ostentatious than the rest, the Conclave, with their Eldest, Heirs, and Nightstalkers all ready. Aurelia's people sat together, unified as she'd once dreamed. She felt a small smile lift one corner of her mouth.
But the enemy is way beyond our skills, even united.
She felt her smile fade and stepped out of her powers, her hands clenched into fists. Were they really meant to just sit here, watching the other planets fall, waiting their turn like umera to be slaughtered?
“Are you alright?”
Valana turned around to Okano, his forest green hair swaying as he walking to her, his ears tilted towards her, no doubt hearing the agitation in her body.
“It has been nearly two thousand years since the Breaking, since we won our peace and the Silver Alliance was signed. I had hoped many generations would pass in the peace we had built. But he was right. Just as he was with the Breaking, Mukori was right, and Kyron has returned.”
Okano frowned, also glancing out at their warrior people. A planet of fighters barred from battle by Demilain magic.
She sighed and leant against his mammoth frame. “How can we beat him, Okano? How can we reach Galatia that our people can join together?”
“I do not know, but I do not think we will have any hope if Ezira chooses to ignore every petition. She is the only one who can break through the Destroyer's lockdown.”
Valana's silver eyes flashed as he mentioned the Demilain Creator. Kyron, the Demilain Destroyer, was here seeking vengeance because of her, and she didn't even consent to let the mere mortals of her world know if she intended to help them or not.
“Is there nothing in the Tree that can help us?”
“Not that any of us can see, although some artefacts still make no sense to any of us. If we had Larkel's input, we may have made better progress. He is as intelligent as his father was.”
She snarled in frustration. Jari's death had been a blow to the United Assembly. His son, while much more powerful, had never been sworn in on Blood Binder, and therefore was not an official member of the United Assembly. As a result, she knew the fear that plagued many on the Assembly. His strength and sharp mind would make him a formidable foe if he chose to side against them.
Okano shook his head and sighed. “I can see what you're thinking. Just let it go, Valana. You'll never be able to convince anyone while Larkel remains unbound.” She glanced up at Okano and wondered if he, too, felt that fear, thinking of Lerimo and all the horrors he had wrought.
But we have met Larkel. He is not Lerimo. He is the best of Jari and Calirra. Surely the intervening two decades since we last saw him have not altered that.
She met his eyes then nodded, he was right. The Lightless Tree held too many dangerous things to let someone not sworn to uphold peace on Blood Binder know about any of them.
“I just don't know what to do, Okano. Sitting here like this is making me feel like a caged cargon.”
Their eyes swept automatically to the real cargon, asleep on a chair within the room behind them. It had taken a while for them to come to think of Guardian Rya’s chosen companion, Litzie, as a friend rather than a threat.
“Has Larkel sent any new messages?” Okano asked, turning his eyes back from the bundle of sienna fur and deep-red, scaled wings.
Valana glanced past him at the Sacred Stone, which burned brightly at the centre of the room that had become the heart of their resistance .
“Not since letting us know that the stranger who entered the City with the other Guardians had been cleared of all charges.”
“They just let her go?”
Valana’s lips twitched. “Don’t worry, she’s under watch. They realise, just as we do, that there must be more to her than there seems.”
Okano nodded and glanced back outside, his eyes tight. She knew that when he had taken on the post of General, his place at her side, he had never dreamed, or feared, that they would end up here. Trapped on their world while their allies were taunted and obliterated by a Demilain of Death. He pulled Valana into a tight hug, planting a kiss between her ears.
How were mortals supposed to fight against immortals?
“Am I interrupting?”
They both turned to the tall, obsidian-skinned female that had entered the room, her curly white hair tied in a high ponytail bouncing with every step. She was trailed by her companion, Melor. The small, bright-blue loodek called to Litzie, waking the cargon, as his sickle shaped front claws clicked against the tiles floor. In her arms, she carried the last of the Guardians’ companions, an amphibious raddle named Kal, whose one
leg and single, webbed foot made travel on land a slow process.
“Not at all, Guardian Fey.” Valana offered the Sacrileon a small, tired smile. The creature had once saved her life, the last time their worlds faced a disaster born of Demilain magic.
Fey smiled too, sharp teeth gleaming. “I have some news that may interest you both.”
Valana's ears perked up, Okano's following suit even as he shifted so that one of his big hands was clasped to her waist, unwilling to let her go.
Valana quirked an amused eyebrow at him and heard his breathy chuckle before they both turned their attention solely to Fey.
“It seems some of the other Guardians have returned to the Dome of Stars.”
“Ezira let them in?” Okano asked in disbelief, hope simmering beneath it. The Dome of Stars, the home of the Demilain, hidden by a perpetual blanket of newly forming and slowly dying stars, was linked to their desires. If Ezira did not wish anyone to be able to enter, then they could not.
“Some?” Valana's brows drew together.
She had received the communication that Galatia had exiled the Guardians. Her rant against their foolishness had lasted well into the day, but King Eldos had not overturned the conviction, despite not having been consulted before it was made. They had broken the law. The Baron had done no more than follow protocol.
“Gaby is not with them.” Fey joined Valana as she smiled conspiratorially. “As for your question, I believe they had something with them that Ezira was not expecting.”
“I see,” Valana said, stilling the urge to chuckle. “Why would your fellows risk Ezira's ire now?”
“That is what I intend to find out. I am leaving for the Dome as soon as we are done here.” She put Kal down, setting the orange stars along her skin glinting like inlaid metal.
“No, we need you here, Fey,” Okano said, his silver eyes turning hard.
“No, General. You and Highest Valana only need my Stone. Keep your army, your people, sharp.” Her violet eyes stayed on Okano for a moment before moving onto Valana. “Keep in touch with your allies through the Stone and be ready. I must go to the others, help them if I can.”
Okano shook his head, and Valana folded her arms, fighting the urge to lay her ears flat. “Fey, please, think about it. Ezira may not bar your entry, but what if she bars your exit? What will Trianon do if she doesn't let any of you leave?”
Valana took a deep breath and nodded her agreement with Okano. “He is are right. Yet I do not like not having a way to know what our Guardians are doing. It is bad enough that three are already trapped there, but at least with you and Gaby out of it, we can still know how they are fairing.”
“My son has an idea that might settle that.”
Everyone looked up, and Valana bit back a curse. With her gifts, she should have been able to sense their guest long before she had spoken.
“Forgive me, I didn’t mean to startle you.” The woman smoothed out her white robe, giving them a small smile.
Okano barked a laugh, and Valana smiled wryly at Calirra. “It isn’t your fault, Makhi Calirra. You said Larkel has an idea?”
“How could he, if I have only now decided on this course?” Fey said, suspicion and confusion in her voice.
Calirra seemed to stifle a sigh, even as she met the Sacrileon’s eyes, her own made of sapphire ice.
“Because he is smarter than me, or even his father. He guessed that the Guardians would likely come here after their exile, or perhaps that they’d try to get to Ezira again. If they did the latter, he offered a plan in the communication he sent me.”
Okano frowned, but Valana nodded. Calirra had come to Aurelia on behalf of High Lord Jari twenty-one years ago, ending up stuck there when Kyron attacked and sealed the planets off from one another. Her son, Larkel, had found a way around the problem, at least for the transfer of information. Since then, Valana had made a point of allowing her to use the Stone alone, to send messages to her friends and family. In return, Calirra had received news of the deaths of her husband and three of her five children, but it had not broken her. If anything, it had made her even more determined to find a way to defeat Kyron.
“What is Lar… High Lord Larkel’s plan?”
Calirra looked back to Valana, offering a small smile of thanks for Valana’s trust in her son.
“If Fey adds a drop of her blood to the Stone for her element, then she will be able to send word through it as we do. We can also send word to her if one of us adds our blood in tandem with hers.
“And he is sure this will work?” Okano asked. Valana could see his worry at tampering with the only thing that allowed them to even have some idea what the state of the war was.
“He has never done this before, so I don’t think he is sure.”
Okano chuckled and Valana raised a questioning an eyebrow at him. “Jari said something very similar to me, once.”
They all caught Calirra’s wince, a flash of deep, boundless sadness, then her face was calm again. The empty, statuesque beauty reminded Valana of the first time she had met the woman. It broke her heart to see her friend in so much pain.
Valana elbowed Okano in the ribs as she stepped forwards.
“Well, I have no reason to mistrust the High Lord’s idea. I am willing to try it if Fey agrees.”
“I cannot see how it would harm the Stone, but then I do not fully understand the magic Larkel employed to make them in the first place.” Fey smothered a humourless chuckle. “Gaby will likely skin me, but I am a Guardian. I must do all I can to help Trianon. I agree with Highest Valana.
Calirra nodded. “Good. Then I suggest that we first send a message telling Larkel what it is we are doing, just in case.” She gave Okano a patient smile, knowing her friend too well. “Then we can proceed. I have learned the spell. I believe I am ready.”
Okano nodded and sent the necessary message, having become more familiar with the Stone’s workings than anyone else as a result of his need to respond constantly to High Commander Medara’s intel reports.
“Done.”
Valana and Fey stepped up to the Stone as he moved away. The light inside coming from its heart, made from Fey’s element of earth, spluttered and rose as the Sacrileon drew nearer.
Valana’s blood began to tingle as Calirra called on her magic to craft the spell before sending it forth, commanding them to place a drop of blood on the tip of the Sacred Stone. Magic flared and made the tingling in her blood race up into a tempest. Then it all winked out but for the tiny background hum of the Stone itself.
Fey smiled again, stepping quickly away so that her proximity would stop agitating the Stone. “I believe that worked. I can almost feel it, in my mind.”
“Thank you.”
Calirra nodded and also stepped away, “Fey, I will be waiting outside when you are ready to depart.” Bidding the others a good evening, she left, her long auburn hair swaying behind her.
Fey nodded, and Valana bit back her curiosity. If Calirra felt she needed to go with Fey and the Guardian believed Ezira would not bar her entry, then she was in no position to oppose.
“Be careful, and stay ready,” Fey said, moving backwards towards the door, her red skirt and top glittering. The Guardians’ companions all filed past her, having decided to go to the Dome with Fey and Calirra.
“You, too.” Okano and Valana said in unison. They watched the Sacrileon leave, and Valana drew a steadying breath, hoping that whatever was going on in the Dome of Stars would be enough to help them in this war.
Valana turned back to the balcony, Okano with her, his strong hand never leaving her waist. Together, they let their pure Nightstalker lineage range their powers outwards, listening to all the tiny sounds of life on their world.
Whatever was coming, it would not find them defeated. Aurelia was a nation of warriors. If they were given the chance, all of her people would join Galatia in their fight.
2
Freedom
Galatia
Starla jo
lted upright in bed. “Father Joe!”
Her heart was hammering against her ribs. She passed the back of her hand across her eyes slowly, lying back into the soft pillow. She clenched her hands as the nightmare that woke her threatened to return. Father Joe, Pierre, Raoul, Elise, Antonio, even the Amiot twins, all screaming in terror or pain. Starla unclenched her hands and opened her eyes, determined to drive the images away. The images faded and were not replaced by the cold, stone walls she had half been expecting.
Justice here is certainly not what it would have been back in Arreau. There, I would have been dead, for sure, and no one as important as the High Lord would even have taken note of my existence.
The room at the Shanebury Inn was dimly lit by the early morning light, the pale yellow walls warm and welcoming. Steadying her breathing, Starla got out of the bed and moved behind the partition to wash the sleep from her eyes. The splash of cold water helped dispel the terrible images of Father Joe's tortured face, blood running down from where his left eye should have been.
“It was just a nightmare,” Starla told her reflection, but the remembered agony was still there, making her heart ache. “A nightmare brought on by guilt.”
Because I have chosen to stay. To get the answers about my birth family no one else could.
Her hand strayed to the star amulet that hung just below her breasts from a thin gold chain.
I have also stayed for this. My mother’s words are what brought this to me. The least I can do is give it to the Queen to try and help these people to win the war.
Pushing the dream, and the guilt it bore, from her mind, Starla brushed her teeth with a strange, bristled contraption she found above the basin, that the maid had pointed out to her and then began methodically to brush her hair, lulling herself into a state of calm as she tried to prepare the best way of asking the High Lord to help her contact the Queen and how long she should wait before asking him. Part of the accusations against her had been that she had intended to assassinate the Queen, and while she had proven under the power of a truth spell that that was not true, she felt it prudent to give such an impertinent request a little time. As she tied her hair back, she let her mind briefly touch the subject of what would happen if the powerful Makhi was deserving of the fear and hate that seemed to shadow him, if he wasn't as his presence had suggested when he had entered her mind.