HEIRS OF WAR, CROWN OF FLAMES
Book Two in the Heirs of War Series
by Mara Valderran
Copyright 2014 Mara Valderran
E-Book Edition
All Rights Reserved.
[email protected]
Edits by Kriscinda Everitt
Cover Design by Gretchen Byers
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locations is entirely coincidental.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication
Prophecy
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Epilogue
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Heirs of War, Chaos to Reign
Other Works by Mara Valderran
DEDICATION
To Lorin: Without your continuous love and support, I never would have been able to do this. It is because of you that I have even been able to scratch the surface of my dreams, and that is something I will always cherish. Thank you for always believing in me and being there for me.
THE PROPHECY
“…And the fifth shall be marked by the powers.
When the blood of the five is shed,
A new power will be bestowed upon them,
A power none have witnessed before.
The mark of the five shall complete the circle
And their blood will be the sacrifice
In which a new era is born
Uniting all worlds as one…”
CHAPTER ONE
The screams came again, echoing through her mind as they were torn from a throat that didn't belong to her. She could feel them, though. Her voice was hoarse, and her chest ached from bawling endlessly for days and days. And the despair of losing count of those days.
The same dreams had been visiting Ariana almost from the first night she and Alec had escaped Kellen's dungeons. Always, the tortured cries. Always witnessing horrors beyond her worst nightmares. And always through someone else's eyes.
She wasn't sure how she understood this new perspective with such certainty, but she did. She knew the hands clawing at the ground to get away from her tormentors did not belong to her. Some nights the same whimpers would escape her lips, but the voice was never her own.
Most nights, Alec would wake her before her dreams reached their conclusion. This time was different; she could feel it. The dream dragged on and on, as if she was locked in the mind of this pitiful person.
The sound of a chain grinding against a metal hook only echoed the way her bones felt as her arms stretched above her head, the chains forcing her up and up until her toes dangled across a floor slick with her own blood. She cried out in agony when her shoulder slipped from its socket.
“Please,” she heaved, her breaths ragged with the effort it took to speak through her cracked lips. “Please, I can't. I don't know why. I've tried, I swear.”
“I know why.” A shadow moved from the corner of the room, stepping into view. Kellen's long blonde hair reflected the light from the torches, giving the mistaken impression of a halo. She approached her victim with knowing green eyes. She looked into the girl's face and cupped a hand against her cheek. “Are you watching, child? Do you see how you have forced my hand? Return to me, Ariana, and this will all end.”
Ariana's eyes flew open as she inhaled sharply. She looked around the cave she and Alec had taken refuge in—the third since their escape weeks ago—but he was nowhere to be seen. She pulled her knees to her chest, waiting for him to come back and willing her heart to slow its beating.
“It was just a nightmare. Just a nightmare,” she told herself, but she couldn't shake thoughts of the poor soul trapped in Kellen's dungeons.
Maybe because, not too long ago, Ariana was that poor soul. And she could still hear the crack of the whip and the wet sounds of flesh being ripped from her feet on its impact. She'd never felt so powerless as she had when Kellen tortured her. At seventeen, Ariana had suddenly become aware of her own mortality and how fragile it truly was. Kellen had torn her apart, inside and out.
But Kellen had also awoken something inside Ariana. She reminded herself of this and adjusted herself into a cross-legged position, then held out her hand. In the blink of an eye, a flame appeared just above the skin of her palm. She tilted her hand as she examined it, felt the heat licking at her flesh, but in a comforting way. She knew this fire would never harm her. It was hers to command.
“I thought we agreed that you weren't going to do that,” Alec said from the mouth of the cave. He had a sack slung over his shoulder and wore a dark blue shirt made of what looked like burlap over the lean muscles Ariana had been trying not to admire over the past few shirtless weeks on the run. He brushed his wavy brown hair out of his face, his gray eyes narrowed at the flame in Ariana's palm.
“No, you told me not to do it. I didn't agree to anything.”
“What if you had lost control while I was gone? You could be dead. Do you not understand that?”
She curled her hand into a fist, snuffing out the flame. “I'm not an idiot, Alec. I started small. I've got to learn how to do this since I'm destined to rule the worlds, or whatever.”
Alec shifted his weight from foot to foot, a sign he was losing patience, before responding. “You have no idea what you are doing, Ariana. People here learn how to manipulate the elements practically from birth. You will have tutors in Anscombe to help you understand and use your power. It's too dangerous for you to try on your own.”
“What do you expect me to do, Alec?” she demanded heatedly, fear from her all-too-realistic nightmares shifting to anger. “Do you expect me to cower in this cave while you run around having all the fun? What if someone had found me? I need to know how to defend myself.”
He conceded her point with a nod. “First of all, I was getting supplies, which I would hardly call fun on the best of days. Second, if you feel it is necessary to defend yourself, then I should teach you how to fight.”
“I know how to fight,” she retorted.
He dropped the sack on the ground at the mouth of the cave and walked over to where she stood, crossing his arms behind his back. “Very well. Hit me.”
The smugness fell from her face. “What?”
“Hit me,” he repeated. “As hard as you can.”
“
Don't be ridiculous. I don't want to hurt you.”
“I've been with Kellen since I was eleven, Ariana. I assure you that I have been through far worse than what you could inflict on me. Come now, I'm sure you've wanted to hit me plenty of times since we've met.”
She fumed at the accusation. “I have not!”
“You know, your eyes only get that large when you're lying. You claim that you know how to fight. I don't believe you.” He leaned forward when she matched his stance, his smooth voice full of teasing as he dropped it to a whisper. “Prove me wrong and hit me like you've been longing to do since I dragged you into this disgusting cave.”
“Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you. My Dad's best friend really did teach me how to fight.” It was only a little bit of a lie since she had never really paid much attention. Varrick had grumbled something about bullies and how he wanted her to know how to defend herself, but she had never dealt with bullies in her entire life so she had dismissed his concerns. She squared her shoulders, trying to remember what he taught her. She balled up her fist and threw it into Alec's stomach.
Alec didn't flinch but lifted a brow as though he was unsure whether or not she had actually made contact with him. “Would you like to know what you're doing wrong?” When she responded with only a glare, he took that as the closest thing he would get to a “yes.” He took her fist into his hand, adjusting it accordingly. “First, your thumb should be here,” he said, tapping the area in between her first two knuckles. “Not tucked away inside your fist. Don't lock your wrist. Let it bend just slightly so you don't cause yourself more harm than the person you're trying to hurt. Let it straighten when your fist connects so that your knuckles here are hitting your opponent.” He stepped behind her, pulling her arm back into the proper position, then closed his hand around her fist and guided her through the motion of the punch. “How did that feel?”
“Good,” she admitted and tried it again on her own. “But if this turns into some 80s movie training montage, I'm leaving.”
He blinked at the back of her dark head. “I don't understand what you mean.”
She glanced at the ceiling, remembering once more how different this world was. “It's a Dhara thing, I guess. So, what's next?”
He walked back over to the sack and pulled out a dark purple burlap dress and a black cincher. “Now you get changed and we hit the road.”
She turned her nose up at the offered clothes but took them anyway. “Haven't you people heard of jeans and t-shirts?”
“No,” he answered honestly, not catching that it was more of a complaint than a question. “Is that another 'Dhara thing,' as you call it?”
Ariana exhaled loudly. “Yeah, it is. I've got to say that from what I've seen of your world, it sucks by comparison.”
He shrugged. “I suggest you get used to it. We have to blend in if we are going to get to the tairseach without raising any suspicions and that will be difficult enough since we are both so young and I am accompanying you.”
“What do you mean?” she asked and motioned for him to turn around.
He turned his back to give her the privacy to change, speaking to her over his shoulder. “Well, we are too young to be on our own individually, for starters. We could try posing as a newly married couple, but given our ages that might be a bit of a stretch. We can only hope that people don't ask too many questions.”
“Can't we pose as brother and sister then?”
“I'm afraid that would raise even more questions. In our worlds, children stay with their parents until they are wed or until they are taken in as an apprentice. It is unheard of for someone our age to be traveling alone.”
“Okay,” she said, dragging out the word to show her displeasure at that idea. She had been looking forward to being able to pull the 'I'm eighteen and officially an adult' card on her parents with her birthday right around the corner. She paused, realizing she wasn't sure if her birthday had passed or not yet. “What about orphans?”
“They are placed in the care of relatives or local families. No one is ever on their own here.”
“I thought you said that kids were sent away to apprentice or whatever at a young age. How does that fit in with what you just said?”
“While studying in their apprenticeship, they are under the care and supervision of their masters. Most return to their homes, back under the roofs of their parents or family members, by the age of twenty in order to be married. Others aren't so lucky and stay under the command of their masters.”
“Like you?” she asked softly and touched his shoulder.
He turned around, taking the cincher she held in her hands. “That raises yet another problem. My being with you will cause suspicion if I am recognized for what I am.”
“And what are you?” Ariana asked as she looked up at him from under her lashes.
He swallowed hard, avoiding her gaze. “Not someone you should be seen with. Turn around.”
She did as he asked, lifting her dark hair out of the way when he wrapped the cincher around her waist and began to tighten it. “So, what are we going to do? We can't pose as siblings and if people recognize you for whatever it is that you are, we're in trouble. Sounds pretty hopeless.”
“My kind doesn’t originate from Cahira, which I believe is where we are. We live mostly in Estridia, so I am hoping that the people here won't be able to recognize my race since they are not accustomed to seeing my kind here,” he explained while he tied the strings of the cincher together. “There, all done.”
She turned around to him, their faces inches apart. “You keep saying your 'kind' like it's a bad thing. I think you're too hard on yourself. You don't seem so different to me.”
He stepped out of the intimate space between them. “There's much you don't know. We should get going. If my estimates are correct, we have an extremely long journey ahead of us to get to the tairseach.”
“How long exactly?”
His shoulders drooped and his gray eyes lifted heavily to hers. “Months. From what I have been able to gather about Cahira over the years, it has a very distinct and broad geography, much like Estridia. There are mainly mountains to the north and deserts to the south. The east is made up of flat planes—mostly farmlands—and the west is primarily dense forests where all manner of creatures live. Unfortunately, that is also where the tairseach is.”
“And we're northeast, aren't we?” she concluded, thinking back to their surroundings and the hilly terrain they had trekked to get here.
“We'll follow the river north for now. I found another cave half a day's journey from here when I was scouting. We can take shelter for the night.”
“Great, another cave,” she muttered, once more missing the comfort of her own bed. “After you,” she said sardonically and gestured to the mouth of the cave. She impatiently shifted her weight to her other hip when he motioned for her to wait.
“I have something that might cheer you up,” he said and dug around in the pack. He sported a bright and proud grin when he pulled a stick out and offered it to her.
Ariana looked quizzically at the offered stick. It had a soft edge, almost like a fan of fibers, but other than that it just looked like a twig to her. “How thoughtful of you…you got me a stick.”
“It's for your teeth,” he explained, wounded by her lack of enthusiasm. “You were complaining before about not having a way to clean your teeth.”
She brightened significantly at this. After their first night on the run, she had started to feel the dirt and grime of the cave. She had used the river water to rinse out her mouth and try to clean herself off the best she could, but she would hardly be satisfied until she had a proper shower. Even still, she was very touched that he had thought of it when gathering supplies. “Thank you, Alec. That's very sweet of you.”
He beamed at the appreciation in her voice. “It's my pleasure.”
“I don't suppose you found any toothpaste, did you?”
***
Sylvan
na paced the floors of Isauria’s room in the leigheas, the clicking of her soles against the wooden floors grating on Bianca’s nerves. The eldest Duillaine didn’t speak a word to acknowledge anything the paion told her, but Bianca refused to repeat herself. It was bad enough that Sylvanna was there at all, demanding reports from her. Being a spy was not in her job description. She was a healer. And she was also positively fuming after Sylvanna quite literally yanked her from Isauria's mind, breaking their connection in such an abrupt and violent way.
“Tell me again what he said.”
Bianca clenched her jaw, her ire running high. “He described the land to Ariana, laying out their route to the tairseach in the west. Which, as I understand, is not where the tairseach on Cahira is located.”
“And how would you know that, paion?”
Bianca’s green eyes darkened significantly. “You are well aware of my motivations in learning anything I can about the Cahirans. Their world is not so big as this one, and I dreamt quite often of sneaking in undetected and crossing the deserts from the tairseach to the beaches where their central city is located. I don't believe I need to tell you what would happen next. Or that this world they are in is not, in fact, Cahira.”
“No, I am aware. As you said, the tairseach is located in the middle of their deserts. There are also no mountains on Cahira at all,” Sylvanna explained. She resumed pacing the floor next to the bed, the worry lines on her forehead became increasingly prominent.
“Surely this is good news. You weren't able to rescue Ariana before because you risked elevating the war if you invaded Cahira with even the smallest of forces.”
“How can this be good, paion? We have no idea where she is or if we can even trust this boy she is with.”
“Alec helped her escape, Banair Sylvanna. He has risked a great deal to get her to freedom. I believe he will do everything he can to deliver her safely to Anscombe.”
Sylvanna seemed to be thinking this over. “Find out what you can about the boy. I want to know who exactly it is that we're dealing with. Then I will decide if we can trust him or not.”
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