by J. A. Curtis
“Heat your sword in the fire,” Arius said, his voice low and strained. “We need to cauterize the wound.”
I looked at the sword strapped to my side and felt the blood drain from my face. “You mean burn the wound closed?”
He nodded. “When your sword is hot but not white hot, pull this sword straight out,” he said, referring to the sword lodged in his shoulder. “Then place your heated sword over the wound, on and off for about two seconds each until the wound is closed.”
“Arius, I’m no doctor—”
“Doesn’t need to be perfect. Just stop the bleeding until we can reach Caelm,” he said.
I wanted to protest, I wanted to call 911. But we were in the middle of nowhere and I had no cell phone. Now would be a good time for someone, anyone to stumble upon us. But help wasn’t coming.
I rushed over to the fire in the grass left over from Dramian’s dragon. I placed my sword in the flames and watched as the metal heated. My sweaty hand gripped the handle, and I looked back at Arius. This would hurt. I lifted the sword out of the fire before it got too hot and stared at the ground as I walked back to Arius. I picked up a small stick I found.
“Bite down on it,” I said. He didn’t argue as I placed the stick between his teeth.
I handed him my hot sword, and he took it with his good arm. He would need to hold it while I extracted the sword embedded in his shoulder. I would need two hands to get it to come out as straight as possible. My foot pressed into his injured shoulder as I gripped the sword’s hilt with two hands. A wave of dread washed over me. Once I pulled the sword out, there was no turning back.
I saw Arius retracting into himself. He bit down so hard on the stick, it looked like it might snap in two. I took a deep breath, counted to three, and pulled the sword straight up. Arius cried out between clenched teeth, and I heard the crack of the stick breaking in half. The sword came out, sliding as easily as it went in. I pulled until I could see the tip covered in Arius’s blood. With an angry thrust, I threw the sword aside.
Arius spit the remnants of the stick out of his mouth and handed me my heated sword. My hand shook as I took it. I couldn’t be shaking like this while pressing the sword onto Arius’s wound. Blood spurted up. It drenched his arm and armor. Come on, be brave. I gritted my teeth and squeezed the sword handle, but that only made the shaking worse.
Arius laid his good hand on my trembling arm. “Do it,” he said.
I steadied and pressed the burning sword into the wound, counting to two before pulling back. I did it again and again until the entire wound closed. Arius swallowed his pain back every time I pressed the sword against the wound, making him sound almost like someone were choking him. He gasped with relief every time I pulled back.
When it was finished, I dropped the sword into the dirt and sat down next to a panting Arius. I wiped my hands in the grass around me to get as much of Arius’s blood off as possible. Then I placed my head between my knees.
“Thank you, Mina.” Arius voice was soft and filled with pain.
I wanted to load Arius onto my griffin and fly him back to the manor right then, but he insisted we stay grounded during daylight. I tried to argue. Dramian flew all the way here and away in daylight. If someone was going to blow our cover, it would be a fiery red dragon flying around in the light of day. But Arius refused to climb on my griffin, so I tried to support him as we headed away from the scene of our battle.
We moved into the trees at a snail’s pace, following animal trails. The longer we walked, the more of Arius’s weight I had to sustain as he grew weaker. Eventually, I demanded we stop and wait for dark.
Arius sat down next to the root of a large tree and leaned back, his hand on his shoulder and his face pale. I paced restlessly between two trees. Arius needed to get to Caelm now.
“Sit, Mina. I’m fine,” he said.
He wasn’t fine, but I forced myself to sit anyway. I claimed the root of my own tree nearby and leaned back, trying to think of something to take my mind off the fact that Arius was being a stubborn idiot. Not like we hadn’t all broken the rules of flight before in situations less dire than this one.
“How did you stay awake after Nuada and Margus drugged you?”
The question came out harsher than I intended, but Arius didn’t seem to notice. “I woke up. I didn’t know what was going on, but my hands and feet were bound so I pretended to still be passed out. When Margus came to drug me again with the rowan leaves, I held my breath. I pretended to pass out. I was awake from that time forward.”
I shook my head. “They never caught on that you were awake.”
“I had to lay still for hours. It was torture.”
It was impressive.
Arius wanted to keep watch while I rested. I laughed and ordered him to rest while I kept watch again. When the sun started to dip down below the horizon, I decided we would risk flying back to the Haven. Arius tried to talk me into waiting longer, but even after resting, he didn’t look any better, and I wanted to get him to Caelm as soon as possible.
My griffin had to squat down low in order for Arius to climb on her back. I watched as he flinched while pulling himself up. I bit my lip and climbed on in front of him, determined to make the flight both as gentle and quick as I could.
No clouds lined the sky, but if we flew high enough, anyone sighting us would hopefully just think it an overly large bird and the dusk lighting would make it hard to get a clear view of us up in the fading light.
As we came around the last eastern mountain blocking the view of the manor, I felt Arius stiffen.
“No,” he groaned.
I squinted, my heart dropping. Something was wrong. The manor looked as if it had been torn in half, one side demolished. As we flew closer, I could see the part of the manor still standing. A burned-out shell.
Branches, leaves and half burned sheets marked hastily built tents and lean-tos that dotted the lawn in front of the manor. The blast of a horn marked our approach. Faeries from the youngest to the oldest appeared below, all of them with swords strapped to their waists, ready for battle. A few even held crossbows in their arms, aimed steadily at us as we touched down.
“It’s Arius,” Docina shouted, and the crossbows lowered.
“He’s hurt,” I said. “Where is Caelm?”
“Here,” Caelm said, walking up from behind Palon.
But Arius was already lowering himself off the griffin. He grunted as he landed on his feet and pushed Caelm aside as he walked toward the manor, a hand on his injured shoulder.
Staring at the blackened manor, a sudden panic gripped me. “What about the nursery? The younger faeries?”
“The domovye got all the babies and younger children out, my lady. No one was hurt in the fire,” Caelm said.
My panic ebbed and relief took its place. Still, he had said babies. Which meant we probably lost some faeries in the battle. “What happened?”
“How about you tell us,” Thaya growled. She held her sword in her hand and looked like she would like nothing better than to use it on me. I looked around at the others. They didn’t appear much more friendly.
My griffin shifted restlessly. “What do you mean?” I asked.
“Did you think we wouldn’t put it all together? Don’t act like you didn’t plan this with Dramian,” she spat.
“Dramian did this?”
“I saw you. Iris set you free, then you and Margus disappeared in the woods behind the manor. Next thing we know, Dramian comes storming out of the same woods and takes down half the manor,” Veran said.
“There, we have a witness,” Thaya said. She turned to Arius. “Sir, I say she deserves at least to fall, if not to be destroyed permanently for her treachery.”
Arius didn’t move. He stared at the remains of the manor, shoulders hunched as if someone had sucked all the life out of him. “Mina is not to blame,” he said. “This was Nuada’s fault.”
Thaya and the other faeries exchanged glances filled wit
h disbelief. “Sir,” she said, “we had an extra baby turn up in the makeshift nursery last night. We thought it was Mina.” She cast a disappointed glance toward me.
“Nuada deceived us, Thaya,” he said, angry. “She and Margus were working together all this time. They tried to kill the queen. Our queen. She tricked all of us.”
He turned to face me. “Except you,” he said. “Mina suspected, but we wouldn’t listen. The battle, everything was all a distraction designed to force her to reveal the location of the queen. Instead, she took Nuada down. She saved the queen. She saved me.” He stepped toward me, that deep, intense look in his eyes that set me on edge. “She is Jazrael of the High Ones, Faerie Knight and Queen’s Protector, General to her Majesty the Queen.”
He drew his sword and threw it on the ground and then dropped to one knee. “Forgive me, my general. By refusing your orders, I have betrayed my duty and in so doing I placed the queen in mortal peril. I am no longer worthy of my rank and title.”
“Arius—” I dropped from my griffin and stood before him. I wanted to tell him to stop being dramatic. We had enough work to do. But could I force him to keep a rank and title he felt he had dishonored? I glanced around at the faeries. They watched with looks of surprise and uncertainty on their faces. Then I saw Thaya, a look of cold interest in her eyes. If I stripped Arius of his rank and title, that would make her next in line of authority. There was no way I’d let that happen.
“While what you did was wrong, we all know why you did it. You thought you were acting in the best interest of the faeries, and I can find no dishonor in that. So I will place you on probation,” I said.
Arius appeared perplexed. “Probation m’lady?”
“Yes. You will keep your rank and title for now, but should you disregard my orders again, you will be immediately stripped of your rank and title. Is that understood?”
Apparently, probation wasn’t something faerie armies did. But I wasn’t going to back out now.
“Yes m’lady,” Arius said.
“Now pick up your sword. Caelm, get over here and heal Arius before he collapses. Thaya,” I turned to angry girl. “I assume you have watches to oversee. And Palon, I want a thorough rundown of everything that happened from before the start of the battle. Docina, I want an inventory of everything that survived the fire. I want to know how much food, how long we think it will last and all of our supplies, down to the last paperclip.”
There was a flurry of ‘yes my lady’s as the faeries moved into action. Arius retrieved his sword, and Caelm convinced him to sit on the grass while he examined the wound.
I stared up at the charred manor, a black and hollowed-out shell. Nuada was gone, their home destroyed, and everything they thought they once knew had been turned upside down. We would have to start over. It wouldn’t be easy, but we could do it. They would need Arius. He knew the faeries, and they trusted him. He would stabilize them.
Nuada had been their connection to the human world. Now I was the one who held any knowledge about what it was like dealing with humans. They would need me, too. I had Arius’s trust and the respect of the faeries. I’d have to work hard not to let them down.
But we would rebuild, and I would help them, one day at a time.
The End
Author’s Note:
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Lies of the Haven! This book was way fun to plan and write. I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did! There will be more action with Mina, Arius and Dramian, and A LOT of answers to those niggling mysteries coming in Book 2!
If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon and Goodreads. Your feedback goes a long way toward increasing this book’s visibility as well as improving the quality of future books. It is also a great way to show support and help new authors like myself!
You can also check out my website at jacurtisbooks.com or email me at [email protected].
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Acknowledgements
Writing and publishing a book is hard work! Part of writing a polished book is having a team of people to help support you and to transform your book into something better than you could make it alone.
With that in mind, I want to thank my critique partner Rachel P, who was willing to read through my manuscript multiple times to give me in depth feedback and to be my sounding board.
I also wanted to thank my advanced readers who gave much needed suggestions and thoughts—Joanna, Alexandre, Rachel, Shelby, Rob, as well as all those wonderful people in local and online critique groups.
I want to especially thank those who took the time to leave an honest online review. You are helping me reach more readers and motivating me become a better writer.
A special thanks to my editor, Marni, who helped me with the finishing touches, as well as Maria Spada for creating my amazing cover.
A heartfelt thanks to my awesome family who supported me through this. My husband, who patiently dealt with all the ups and downs a writer goes through and who continues to support me. My mom, who was my first fan and my dad for his loving encouragement. Thanks to my little daughters who make it easy for me to be both a mom and a writer. Finally, thanks to all my other family and friends who have expressed excitement and a desire to read my writing. Your support is invaluable.
About the Author
J.A. Curtis has been making stories up in her head for as long as she can remember. Although she doesn’t play with toys and dolls as much as when she was young, the stories in her mind never left her alone. She is super excited to fulfill the life-long dream of becoming a published author!
When she is not writing, she is reading, spending time with her husband and two amazing daughters and trying to live her life with half as much guts as Mina. To learn more about J.A. Curtis, check her out at jacurtisbooks.com.
