by Ford, Lizzy
Was this how Anshan felt? Scared, alone, paralyzed? Had it wondered how much longer it had to live or wept for those faces it would never see again? Did it experience terror every time it began to think it was too late to save anyone let alone survive?
A’Ran had once told her the dhjan brought strength and stability to the planet while the nishani healed and sustained life. It had never occurred to her this meant she would become part of the planet and its life force.
She was no longer able to separate what she felt from the life force of the planet, unable to identify if she were dying, or if Anshan was – or both. A’Ran had claimed she was connected to Anshan, but as her life began to fade, she realized how deep that connection truly was. She and Anshan didn’t share a life force; she had become the life force of the planet. Its hopes, dreams, fears … her spirit and Anshan’s were intertwined – and sliding away.
A hot tear slid from the corner of one eye into her hair and fear spiraled through her. If she’d only come sooner, if she’d known how important it was for her to be in direct contact with the world that so desperately needed her …
She was getting colder, and tunnel vision began to form. Was she crying, or was it Anshan?
Was there even a difference anymore? She couldn’t feel where she stopped and Anshan started.
“Kiera!” the bellow came from the direction of the palace.
I’m here, she screamed mentally, unable to speak the words aloud.
An agonizing moment passed before she heard A’Ran’s shout again.
“Kiera!”
He was getting closer. She waited and stared at the sky, praying to see the face of her lifemate one last time.
She heard the sound of him climbing the steep hill and finally glimpsed him from the corner of her eye.
A’Ran dropped on his knees beside him. He didn’t so much as flinch when he lifted her into his arms, even though she knew he was hurt from earlier. At his touch, she could breathe deeply again, and the coldness fled from her limbs. She gasped in air and lifted a wooden arm to touch the heavy features of his face. He was a buffer against the planet, a source of strength that seeped into her drained body.
Balance. She understood what A’Ran had tried to tell her from the beginning, how the planet derived strength from him and life from her. Both were necessary for there to be an Anshan.
“You are so pale,” A’Ran was scouring her features with his gaze. He hugged her to him closely and settled on the ground.
Kiera closed her eyes and breathed in his scent, grateful to touch him again. “Gage,” she breathed the name.
“She is well. Mansr found her. And … Evey,” he added in a tight voice.
The longer he held her, the more her strength and feeling returned. She huddled against him, happy to feel his warmth and solidness. Her gaze drifted towards the sky once more as a shadow passed over. She expected to see another massive rock float by. To her surprise, it was a hulking ship, one of A’Ran’s war cruisers.
It was followed by another and another and another, until the gray sky whales dotted the sky.
She gasped, watching them begin to descend to the planet’s surface. She didn’t need to see the first that touched down; she felt Anshan’s burst of warm hope whip through her.
“Four million,” A’Ran whispered, following her gaze. “I ordered Mansr to do whatever he had to, promise whatever he needed to. The ships of twelve planets are bringing four million Anshani back now, and we anticipate half the surviving population will have returned to Anshan by tomorrow morning.”
As if hearing his words, the planet sent a spike of energized excitement through her. A’Ran jerked, feeling it pass into him as well. A surge of strength rippled through her as hope morphed into joy too powerful to be solely hers.
“You did it,” Kiera said, staring at the spaceships in awe. She had never been so happy to see the huge ships! More and more appeared in the sky. She shifted to wrap her arms around A’Ran’s neck and hugged him hard, barely able to contain her glee or the planet’s. “I knew you could do it!” She fluttered kisses across his face then captured her lips with his.
A’Ran responded hungrily with the emotion they both experienced, and she pressed herself to his strong body. When she felt warm tears on her face, she broke away from the kiss and hugged him hard. Relief swept through her, and this time, it was emotion that left her crippled.
“We did it, Kiera,” A’Ran said hoarsely. “Together.”
She nodded, unable to speak for fear of sobbing.
A’Ran held her until she began to calm once more. Lifting her face from the nape of his neck, she wiped her features and gazed into his dark eyes. She traced her fingertips over his strong face.
“Can you feel it?” she murmured. “Anshan?”
“I can. I can feel your life force, too.” He placed a hand over her heart. “It beats like my own heart.”
“I understand now,” she said. “The balance. Why you needed your nishani.”
“You are life, Kiera. Mine, our people’s, Anshan’s. There is nothing without you. I could fight for a million cycles to save my planet, and we would all perish, had I not found you.” He rested his forehead against hers. They breathed each other’s air quietly. She shivered each time the planet sent a spike of happiness through her when another ship touched down.
“We both must be here,” she said. “Anshan will need time – and us – to heal. I feel like …” She drifted off, staving off her bafflement to gauge where the planet was at the moment. “… I think the worst is over but there’s still danger.”
“The people returning will help stabilize.” He withdrew, gaze distant, as if he, too, were reading the planet. “I never knew how strong the bond was.”
“It’s amazing.”
His focus returned to her features. “We need to heal as well.” He let a rare wince of pain show as he shifted to reach into a pocket. He pulled forth a crumpled, blood-speckled piece of paper and handed it to her.
Kiera took it and carefully unfolded it.
The first image she’d drawn of them was on the paper, his favorite of all her drawings. She had sketched them walking hand in hand on the desert surface of Anshan. She started to smile. This picture had pierced A’Ran’s emotions the first time he saw it. She recalled the look on his face clearly, when he’d realized there was hope for his planet, for him. It was the same day she realized he was more than an alien brute who kidnapped her after some bizarre claim about her connection to his planet.
The simple drawing had helped lay the foundation that brought them here, and she gazed at it, tears in her eyes again. They’d be able to walk hand in hand on Anshan soon, as they both dreamt of doing, once they were healthy.
“You will have to draw us like this again,” he said. “But with grass and trees.”
“Yes.” The word was barely audible. She wrapped her arms around him, no longer able to contain the emotions within her.
They watched the ships above bring new hope to their planet. A’Ran held her as she shook, and she clung to him.
Epilogue
His people were crowded into the palace and underground network of tunnels and caverns for two months. A’Ran had assumed his list of allies was blank, but over the course of several weeks, he began to realize just how many he had. The Qatwalis shifted some of their own atmospheric filtration systems to Anshan while Jetr managed to convince the Council to fund the relocation of Anshani back to their planet. Kiera’s jungles covered half the planet, and the miners were able to prevent the poisoning of the water supplies with the help from mining colonies on other planets.
Two months, and his planet was his again.
Two months, and he began to see the world in an entirely new light after so many cycles of struggle. He was even hopeful enough to bend to the soft heart of Kiera and spare the Yirkin leader, Turi, who had unknowingly helped save Anshan by throwing nishani out into the storms.
A’Ran lowered his sword
and tossed his head back to see the larger of Anshan’s two moons. It hovered above in the bright blue sky. Every time he saw it, he remembered just how fortunate he truly was to be home. Anshan energy was warm and cheerful within him, and his muscles were loose after an extended session sparring.
The sounds of his warriors practicing around him brought him satisfaction. He had dreamt of the day he would lead his people home and had lost none of the emotion he felt the day the first ships landed.
He was content enough he almost didn’t mind the Yirkin refugees were temporarily housed on his moon, awaiting relocation by the Council.
Shifting his focus to his opponent, he offered his hand to Leyon and pulled his cousin up off the ground.
“You fought well,” he told Leyon.
“Thank you, dhjan. It is an honor to face you, as always.”
“You both did awesome,” Kiera said from behind him.
A’Ran turned to face her. She was accompanied by the nervous medic who had accompanied Mansr to the planet two months before. Her eyes were sparkling with mischief, and her features glowed.
“Nishani.” Leyon bowed his head in deference.
A’Ran glanced at the medic. A person’s physical condition was a private matter, so he did not ask if his lifemate was ill in public.
“Dhjan, may I speak to you in private?” the medic asked.
Kiera shot him an annoyed look.
Leyon slid away, and A’Ran approached the two.
“No,” Kiera said as the medic opened his mouth.
“Nishani, it is customary for –” the medic stammered, eyes on the ground.
She glared at him, and he fell silent.
“What is this?” A’Ran asked.
“What do you call the dhjan if he’s a woman?” Kiera asked.
“I do not understand,” A’Ran replied. “A dhjan cannot be a woman. He can have a nishani lifemate.”
“So there’s no word for a female dhjan?”
The medic sighed, and A’Ran raised his eyebrows. “No,” he replied. “There has never been a woman dhjan in the history of Anshan. The firstborn has always been male for millennia.”
Kiera started to smile. “I think that’s about to change,” she said.
“It is most unfortunate,” the medic agreed.
“Unfortunate?” she rounded on him, hands on her hips.
A’Ran sensed the lecture he knew was coming. “Nishani,” he chided before she could start.
She turned her glare from the medic to him. “Well you better come up with a word for a female dhjan, because your first child is going to be a girl.”
A’Ran blinked, not expecting the news or the timing. They had been absorbed in helping Anshan heal, in bringing back its people. He had spent every night making love to his nishani, but his mind had been as far from producing an heir as could be.
“It is true,” the medic said with resignation. “Anshan will have a woman dhjan.”
“You’re done,” Kiera snapped at him. “You delivered the news.”
“It is customary, nishani.” The medic gave her a quick bow and then fled, as if fearing being caught in the crossfire after relaying the news.
Kiera crossed her arms and waited, gazing up at A’Ran with a combination of apprehension and joy. The emotions were carried across their bond.
A’Ran was silent. He forced his public façade to remain in place and made an effort to figure out what he was feeling. The shock of the awkward announcement wore off, leaving him … humbled. Grateful. More hopeful for the future of his planet and people with each passing day.
And unable to express any of it.
After all they’d been through, the idea of a woman on the throne of Anshan didn’t faze him the way he thought it would. It would take some time for him and his people to grow accustomed to the idea, but he suspected it would be easier for them to accept at this time, after regaining their home and starting their lives anew, than if they had not spent fifteen cycles in exile.
“Anshan clearly likes the idea,” Kiera added. “I do, too. It’s time for a change.” She held her breath and waited, eyes pinned to his features as she tried to read what he was thinking.
“Very well,” he said gravely. “If it must be so.”
Kiera’s jaw dropped. She stared at him, horrified by the response.
A’Ran did something he hadn’t done in a very long time.
He began to laugh.
If he was surprised by the sound, Kiera appeared shocked, and those warriors within hearing distance stopped to look towards their dhjan in confusion at the uncharacteristic display of emotion of any kind.
In the course of several months, he had gone from desperate and homeless to the dhjan of his planet once more with an heiress on the way. Pride and amazement swept through him. Without Kiera, the planet would be dead and his people left to the mercy of the neighboring planets and systems.
“My daughter will be dhjan,” he said. “I am honored.”
Kiera’s grin lit up his world, and she covered her face with her hands to keep from crying in public.
A’Ran didn’t bother reminding her of royal protocol. If ever there was a time to break with custom it was now. He drew her into his arms and hugged her hard. Not one piece of him cared what the warriors or anyone else thought of the public display of affection.
His brave little Kiera hugged him fiercely.
“Deeply honored,” he added in a whisper.
“I love you,” she said between tears.
“You are my world, Kiera.”
The Anshan Saga
Kiera’s Moon
Kiera’s Sun
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Summary
In a modern world ruled by territorial Greek gods, the human race has been oppressed, exploited and now, nearly destroyed by the constant infighting of gods.
However, a human girl with the power of a goddess is coming of age. Alessandra is the Oracle of Delphi – the last prophesized – and bears the mark of the double omega. Soon after she turns eighteen, Alessandra is told her destiny: to step between the warring gods and the human race and save her world from certain ruin.
For the gods, her appearance marks the beginning of the end – their end. They and the Triumvirate – leaders of the human elite – who serve them will stop at nothing to preserve their power.
Alessandra emerges from the forest where she spent her life hidden from gods and men and immediately plummets into a race against time, gods, and herself to discover who and what she is in a world where everyone she meets has a hidden agenda, and those pulling the strings remain in the shadows.
Before she can determine exactly what kind of savior her world needs, she must first master her power by completing three trials devised by the Triumvirate to enslave her.
One lone girl stands between warring gods and the people she’s destined to protect, but it’s the battle to understand who she is that she must win first.
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Chapter One: Alessandra
No man or woman born, coward or brave, can shun his destiny.
– Homer
For once, Tyche, could you grant me a little luck?
I slowed before reaching my favorite meadow in the forest, my heart racing and chest heaving. A grin stretched my cheeks, and I stopped to listen for the boy I’d challenged to a race. I heard … voices. Male and at least two females.
“I guess not,” I muttered aloud.
The damn nymphs had him. My giddy excitement faded. I was the one who managed to lure a teen boy from the nearby campground into our forest and, as usual, the nymphs stole him. I couldn’t compete with the beautiful women. There were thirty of them my age, all unusua
lly perfect, feminine and graceful. Even my guardian said they weren’t normal, and we’d coined the term nymphs to describe the other girls at the isolated orphanage where I lived under the thumb of strict priests. The other girls were all my age, too, each of them destined for positions befitting their beauty, according to the priests.
It was disgusting. I couldn’t stand them.
Then there was me. I was an athlete, uncomfortable in anything but tennis shoes and yoga pants, terrible in school and bearing a scar from childhood across one cheek. No matter how much makeup I plastered over it or how far forward I brushed my dark locks, I wasn’t able to hide it. I was always late to class, always the last to understand whatever torture the priests were teaching us, always trying to catch the first light of Aurora in the reflecting pool or scaling a hill to watch the last rays of Hersperides.
The nymphs laughed at me. I hated them for it and me for not being able to fit in no matter what I did. I couldn’t change the fact I was shorter, smaller and otherwise imperfect compared to them.
“Lose another one, Lyssa?”
“Yeah.” I heard my guardian’s approach and looked up into his scarred, ugly face. A mountain of a man with bright red hair, Herakles had never once understood why I was so disappointed to lose every guy I looked at to the nymphs.
“If a man can’t outrun you – ”
“– I can’t bring him home with me. House rules. I know.” It was a stupid rule. Surely there had to be one man somewhere who shared my deer-like agility.
My guardian chuckled.
“He was so handsome!” I whined with a sigh, recalling the gorgeous brown eyes and smile of the teenage boy I’d met today. When he had looked at me, my insides turned fluttery and warm. “He almost outran me, too.”
