The Eld Queen (The YaraStar Trilogy Book 2)

by Jeanelle Frontin

  “He’s called the Hack’amad,” Atlase whispered, holding Kiyar by her shoulders with panic rippling through his eyes. “He lowered the shield and sent out a signal. He plans to prove the incompetence of the Agarb line by bringing them here, to wage war! But he plans for the Spreukens and the Bravads to join with them. They have made a pact with the Hack’amad that if he lowers the shield for them to enter Mira’s atmosphere, they will help him overthrow the Agarbs. He said the Hack’amad blood is also a part of our blood, and with them he will usurp the throne from Maia… and crown me King of the Eld.”

  ***

  As the bond ended with the scintillating return of their le-feers into their bodies, Maia and Kiyar gently pulled their foreheads away from each other, still embracing, and began to cry. They had felt the shared agony of dark secrets as they journeyed through each other’s lives. They knew everything…and in many ways in this moment, they were one. But the extent of pain within that merged knowledge was not something either of them had been fully prepared to receive.

  Kiyar slid to the ground, her head aligned with Maia’s womb.

  “My Queen…” she said when she was able to find her voice through her little sobs. “I am so sorry… I am so sorry…”

  But Maia didn’t hear her words. All she heard, all she relived in her mind, were the details of the most gruesome plot conceivable, and it had been unfolding faster than ever. Unbeknownst to them all, everyone on Mira was in grave danger, including her unborn heir.

  I knew he was planning something but…a pact with them?! They are dark beings, made of pure evil!

  Once the shock of the temple bond began to ease, they tried to formulate a strategy to put a stop to Lucerne once and for all. Atlase had indicated that the Hack’amads would be there in a month, leaving them with very little time to prevent Mira’s mass destruction.

  As Maia paced back and forth, Tilly questioned Kiyar about the details of what Atlase had revealed.

  “And what of his loyalty, Kiyar? Is it to you, or is it to his father?”

  “We are not yet mated, so I don’t believe that he will choose me above Lucerne. But he will listen to me, as he did that day. He agreed with me that he should try to speak to his father and get him to soften his approach in taking back the throne. It was the most that I could recommend without being suspected of standing against their mission. Atlase seemed to appreciate having someone to confide in, and his burden was lightened by my presence. I think if I continue to be there for him…”

  “We can be one step ahead of Lucerne’s plan,” Tilly finished.

  “Assuming that Lucerne trusts Atlase with all the details, which I highly doubt,” Maia said with a heavy sigh.

  “That is true…Lucerne does seem intent on keeping the worst parts of the plan to himself. It was why Atlase was not expecting him to kill Jaren…” Kiyar said, her voice trailing off as she saw Maia’s pained expression.

  “I knew he had done it…” Maia said softly, “but to see, as if I were there, Jaren’s bravery to the very end, and to finally have confirmation of Lucerne’s malicious, evil nature…”

  Maia rested her hands on her belly and closed her eyes, breathing deeply for a few minutes. She tuned into her le-feer and opened her heartstar’s rhythm until they aligned, reaching to Sunstar for guidance. Then, she opened her eyes, face set with determination.

  “We aren’t going to prevent the Hack’amad attack…” Maia said slowly, hands still rested upon her womb. “We are going to enable it! And I will proclaim the cocooning as our salvation, laying all of the Eld to rest… leaving them in that state until the heir is born. I will reawaken our people once we have figured out how to put an end to this war, and to Lucerne’s plans, once and for all!”

  Kiyar and Tilly stared wide-eyed at their Queen, fear filling their faces.

  “But my Queen!” Tilly protested once she had found her voice. “You cannot take on the Hack’amads without the Bravads!”

  “And the Bravads are loyal to the Spreukens…” Kiyar added.

  “I won’t need them,” Maia responded with a glint in her eyes. “I will call on my faithful Tribes, the Photaks and the Skotads, to stand with me. I will ask for their allegiance in ensuring that they do not raise the alarm until it is too late–the Eld will have no choice but to submit to the cocooning as the last resort for our survival!”

  Tilly and Kiyar exchanged glances filled with uncertainty, but they both knew that Maia’s confidence could only mean that this was Sunstar’s will.

  Kiyar walked over to Maia and knelt before her, her eyes fixed upon Maia’s womb.

  “The same loyalty I have for you, my Queen, I extend fully to your daughter,” Kiyar whispered reverently. “For as long as I live, I will serve her. For as long as I breathe, I will do whatever I can to ensure she stays upon Sunstar’s path. And with everything that I am, I will protect her…even with my life.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “My Queen?” Mibery called out as she peeked into Yara’s room. “Are you awake yet? It is time to get ready for your trip. I am happy to assist, and I have brought your morning meal to your room, as you requested.”

  Yara lay staring at the markings on the ceiling, not having been able to sleep even a wink. Mibery laid out her breakfast, chatting about the wonders of the first night, but Yara had mixed feelings.

  The first night…forever etched into my memory…for the best and worst of reasons…

  Squeezing her eyes tightly, she tried to push away the haunting flashes that had tortured her. Flashes of Toler’s broken face, Mila’s confused disappointment, and…

  Atlase…

  An entire day spent with him lay ahead of her. She wasn’t sure if she had what it took to be as controlled as she needed to be in his presence. She had seen him and Kiyar arguing intensely at the end of the celebrations, and Yara knew she was to blame for it.

  As Mibery puttered around, laying out her dress for that day and cleaning around the room, Yara studied her. She looked a little sad and very pensive, and it served to distract Yara from her brooding.

  “Mibery, how have you been?” she asked softly.

  Mibery paused and slightly quivered at the personal nature of the Queen’s question.

  “I…I have been well, my Queen.”

  “And how have you really been…?” Yara asked with a pointed look.

  Mibery smiled, and shook her head in embarrassment.

  “It shows, doesn’t it?” she sighed.

  “It does. But it’s really okay…I would hope that I can be there for you just as you were there for me.”

  “Well,” Mibery started, “the truth is…on days like today, I miss my mother and her wise counsel. I think I have…connected with someone. My mother was the only person I could talk to about these kinds of things…”

  She blushed slightly and looked down as she dusted off a shelf on the far end of the room.

  Yara, sensing an opportunity to gain clarity for herself, pushed further.

  “Perhaps I can help. Although I should warn you that my, uh, experience may not be the best source of wisdom,” Yara said with a laugh.

  Mibery looked shocked by her bluntness but then giggled.

  “Well, my Queen, any help is better than no help for me. There is an Agarb boy that I knew…before the cocooning. I was always intrigued by him but he never seemed to notice me. Last week, out of nowhere, he asked if I would walk with him sometime through the Greens. I was so shocked that I didn’t even answer him! I saw him today, on my way here, and he said he is still waiting on my response. And I want to say yes… but I don’t know if I should…”

  “Do you like him?”

  “Very, very much, my Queen.”

  “So, what is holding you back?”

  “I guess I don’t know if it’s the will of Sunstar for us to be mated,” Mibery said with a frown.

  “Hmm,” Yara murmured. She pressed further. “How would you know this, exactly? How can you tell when something i
s the will of Sunstar?”

  Mibery seemed a little puzzled by the question but she answered readily.

  “My mother told me how she had felt when she knew it was my father…an undeniable pull, magnetic and irresistible…all the way into her le-feer.”

  The color drained from Yara’s face as she thought about how it felt to be around Atlase.

  “And you don’t feel this way about him?”

  “Actually, I do. I always have. But he never seemed to feel the same. And I believe it is supposed to be mutual–when it is one-sided, it is usually a test from Sunstar, a lesson, to teach us how to listen. I can’t help but wonder, if he had felt the way I feel, why did he hide it before the cocooning? And if he doesn’t feel it, is this my test? Or does he just know I feel this way and he is settling for me? Or—”

  “Have you considered,” Yara interrupted as her handmaiden grew increasingly flustered, “that he may just have been afraid to show it before? It is not always easy to show someone how you feel, especially when those feelings are so powerful…and they render you…weak…and unable to do anything or think of anyone else…just consuming your entire soul…”

  “My Queen…?” Mibery said with a note of confusion in her voice.

  “Hmmm?” Yara asked, only then realizing, from Mibery’s open mouth, that she had gotten lost in her own thoughts. So lost, in fact, that…

  “My Queen,” Mibery whispered, “your le-feer…”

  Yara looked down and gasped. Her le-feer was glowing brilliantly, casting a blue, pulsing hue from her skin and flooding the entire room with light.

  “Oh…” Yara said, panicking that she had unintentionally revealed her secrets.

  “My Queen…” Mibery said, eyebrows raised. “I know you are powered from last night’s bios lumen, but…is there someone you feel that way about? That glow…it’s how your mother’s le-feer pulsed when she spoke of your father.”

  Yara gaped at her, then violently shook her head.

  “No, Mibery… of course not! Either way, there is no available Eld for me that I’ve met. I am just…powered as you said. I need to get ready now, and perhaps release some of this charge in some way. Any recommendations? I am sure the fresh air will probably do me well.”

  Yara rose abruptly and hurriedly began to change as Mibery stared at her with doubt radiating from her eyes.

  ***

  As Yara exited the Skotad mountains, she did everything in her power to calm herself. The risk of exposing herself was much higher than she had thought. Things had definitely intensified: any focus she placed on how Atlase made her feel rapidly evoked a physical display that seemed slow to dissipate. As she drew near to where she knew he would be, her fears turned into panic. If just speaking about him had caused such an irrepressible display in front of Mibery, Yara didn’t know what seeing him in this state would do.

  Breathe… just breathe!!

  The last thing she needed was to leak her secrets through her markings to everyone around, especially to him. She knew that finding a way to gain control over her feelings was critical, but she did not know who she could trust to instruct her.

  As Yara walked toward the majestic Urses just ahead, she glanced around and sighed with relief. She didn’t see Atlase anywhere. Instead, surrounding the Urses and carriage, was a small fleet of Bravads who were listening to a Master of their House–one with whom she had not interacted before. His name was Master Gor, and, with his massive physique, brilliantly red hair and piercing red eyes, he seemed fiercer the closer she got to him. He was speaking to them about the itinerary of the day and their formation tactics. His voice was rough and eerily cold.

  “In my absence today, you will follow every instruction of Atlase and the Eld Queen,” he ordered at the end of his speech. “Be on the lookout for any possible threat and report immediately upon your return!”

  “Thank you, Master Gor,” Yara said. “I appreciate the Bravads’ protection on this journey.”

  The Bravad Elds turned and bowed in unison, and as they did, Yara saw Atlase walking up from behind them in the distance. His gait was light and his muscular arms bulged as he toted the bags he had prepared for their expedition. His eyes lit up as soon as he saw her standing with the fleet of warriors. He smiled widely, almost uncontrollably.

  Is he blushing…?

  He bowed as he came close, then greeted the Bravads and their Master with whom he clearly had a friendly relationship. It was the only time Master Gor cracked even the tiniest of smiles.

  “My Queen,” Atlase said with a soothing charm, “I trust that you slept well. We have a long day ahead of us, but rest assured that these Urses ride as fast as the wind! It will be quite an experience to let them run free to the places they will take us. They have not been able to stretch their legs to fullness since they were brought back from hibernation.”

  Yara smiled at his excitement, knowing that she felt it too…knowing, as well, that it had very little to do with the Urses’ speed. While the Bravad fleet would accompany them, the warriors would be scattered around her and Atlase, monitoring the perimeter at all times. It meant that she and Atlase would be entirely alone for most of the journey, sharing a single carriage, and nothing lit her up inside more than that very thought.

  “I am excited about today,” She responded breathlessly, “and all the experiences it may bring…for the Urses.”

  Atlase grinned at her and Yara looked away quickly. His smile was too beguiling for her to stay in control.

  “Then, shall we?” Atlase said, reaching out his hand to help her step up into the carriage.

  Yara’s breath caught in her chest as she stared at his outstretched arm. As she reached to take his hand, hers began visibly shaking. Time slowed, and silence flooded the moment.

  After what seemed like an eternity of mounting passion, their hands made first contact. Yara immediately felt a burst of fire roll within her, in waves and pulses from the center of her chest to the very tips of the hairs on her skin.

  Stay in control! Stay in control!!!

  It was nearly impossible. With just one touch, she could feel her entire future within his le-feer calling out to her. It was the purest form of torture that her heartstar had ever felt, and she was a sliver away from breaking.

  Yara barely stepped into the carriage before yanking her hand away, clearing her throat awkwardly as she sat.

  Atlase stared at her, and then his hand, looking equally disturbed, affected, and oddly enthused. Something had ignited in his eyes, and unlike Yara, he was not remotely trying to fight it. He turned swiftly to the Bravads, ordering them to take their formation, then swung back to her as soon as they were just outside of earshot.

  “I think we need to talk,” he said gently, “and I think you know we do.”

  ***

  For a man who claims he thinks we should talk, he sure is very silent…

  Yara observed Atlase as he stood at the head of the carriage, flicking the reins every now and then and clicking his teeth to encourage their Urses. They were just about to clear the Greens, breaking free of the shadowy trees and into the once-dark side of Mira. It would be after this that the Urses would show off their reputed great speed.

  From the angle at which she could see his face, Atlase seemed pensive, with his eyes intensely focused ahead while his mind seemed miles away. His face contorted in confusion and his brows had been knotted together since they left. Whatever he was considering saying must have been graver than she initially thought.

  Yara distracted herself by turning to the sights they moved past, finding comfort in the unfamiliar terrain. The Greens were far wilder in this area, appearing to enjoy never needing to show any consideration for the presence of creatures or Eld. Long vines coiled around the trees and shrubbery, and roots journeyed in and out of the soil.

  It was a bit difficult to find a clear path, but the Urses sensed the best way forward. It was rumored that Mira’s marked animals shared a deep telepathy with all living
things on the planet, and that Mira always directed them to the safest and most expedient paths.

  “They’re beautiful, aren’t they my Queen?” Atlase suddenly said, causing Yara to jump. She hadn’t realized that he had turned. He may have been watching her for some time.

  “Uh, yes…they are,” Yara responded, not quite sure of the beauty he was referring to, but also grateful for the break in the uncomfortable silence.

  Once they had set off, Yara had waited for Atlase to speak, expecting him to immediately pursue the conversation. Instead, he seemed depressed, and quite rattled.

  Perhaps he was thinking of Kiyar…

  There was no easy way to interpret what was happening between them, and no way of knowing if it was right or wrong. Were they pre-ordained to feel this way? Was it Sunstar’s will? Or was it just a misinterpretation or deception of their le-feers? A wicked test from a forever silent Sunstar? How could they ever tell?

  “You don’t know what this is, do you?” Atlase asked, seeming to read her thoughts.

  Yara averted his gaze, embarrassed by her lack of knowledge, by not being familiar with the nature of the Eld.

  “Perhaps… you can tell me what you believe it to be?”

  Atlase sighed, and then sat a little way from her, turning to face her. He took a moment to find the right words to explain what he wasn’t sure should be pursued in conversation with her.

  “Perhaps, my Queen, first I should ask you: do you feel…affected by my presence? From the first time that we interacted in the Skotad tunnel with my father?”

  Yara gaped at him.

  Is it appropriate for me to be candid as the Queen? To share such truth with a promised Eld?

  “Yes. I believe I might be…,” She eventually responded, tired of battling within herself. Whatever this was, it needed to be faced and dealt with, and this was the only way she knew how.

  “I have felt it, too.” Atlase said. “And if we are being completely honest, I haven’t been able to get you out of my head ever since. My Queen, you have filled my dreams at night and my thoughts during the day. I long to happen upon you in a tunnel somewhere, because I long to feel…closer to you...”