by Anna LaVerne
Fate & Fire
Mystic Harem Trilogy Book Two
Author: Anna LaVerne
© 2018 Anna LaVerne
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact: [email protected]
Editor: Michelle Hoffman
Cover Art By: RAN
Chapter One
The wind whips around my body sending my hair flying, but it doesn’t faze me. I’m not a normal person, cold mountain winds have no effect on a woman like me. What kind of woman am I? How can I not remember? I close my eyes trying to focus on my memories but find nothing substantial. It is like I am an echo of myself. I know I am someone, I know I am powerful, but I don’t know who I am. I know I have people I care about, but their faces within my memory blur together.
Opening my eyes, I survey my surroundings. The mountain I stand upon is taller than any I have ever seen before. I begin to walk down the narrow path along the rocky edge. The well-worn path appears to be conversed regularly, although it is treacherous. The gray sky is mirrored in the dreary gray rocks that line the mountain path. Mindlessly, my foot falls step after step as tiny flurries falling from the clouds speckle the path.
My body seems to recognize the path we are on, even though I am certain I have never seen it before. Every treacherous corner and edge I navigate with ease. My long legs are far more graceful than usual. This must be a dream.
I pause halfway down the mountain, when I realize if this is a dream I should be able to go anywhere I want without the journey. The problem is I don’t remember who I am or where I want to go. I only have the echo of memories that have yet to form.
I use my fingers to pinch into my arm as hard as possible. If this is a dream, I should wake up, right? I don’t. Instead, a searing pain erupts in the palm of my hand. I fall forward on the narrow path, clutching my burning fist. It only lasts a split second before my hand warms and thrums with energy. Energy from a node. I suck in air as I absorb the warmth on the side of the mountain. The node remembers me and is welcoming me home.
With the energy of the node still pulsing through me, I close my eyes. Faces flash across my vision. The first is a well-built man with chestnut eyes and brown hair. I recognize him. I love him. The second is a man who is white as a ghost with bright-red hair. His image makes me laugh, and I know I will always need that. The third has long dark hair, huge muscles, and is so tan it appears he was born within the sun. I recognize him as well, but he is still a stranger to me.
The fourth image is new to me completely, but I seem to have known him somewhere else. His hair is dark and short, his skin is ashen and sickly, his eyes are a sad, steel and gray color. I instantly feel drawn to him.
I stand up and look to the colorless sky. I have no idea where I am or even who I am, but I sense that the men I saw are mine, and one needs me now. One is dying without me, and I have to find him. I hold his image within while I pull from the node, willing myself to be brought to him. When I open my eyes, I see him sitting with his legs crossed next to an ancient-looking bald man. Both are dressed in all black robes and candles flicker around them.
“She is here.” The old man’s breaths are laboring as he feels my presence. The younger man opens his eyes, looking for me, but his vision goes right through me. So, it is confirmed I am not physically here, wherever here is.
“I can’t see her,” the young man replies.
“Of course, you can’t, she is only here in spirit. She can hear us if you have anything you want to say. Even if you can’t hear her.”
The young man nods and looks upon me. Even though I know he can’t see me, it is as if he senses where I stand. “I don’t know your name, I only know when I was ten suns old, I was marked for you. Ever since, my life has been a half life; Incomplete without you in it, and now my body is failing. I am sick and need you to save me.
A man visited us not long ago who mentioned he has a daughter with the gift of fire. I’m not sure if he told you about me, but you have to come soon if I am to live. I am yours body and soul. I can’t live much longer without your touch. I’m not just your guard; I am your soulmate, marked on the day of your birth. If I were not so weak, I would leave to find you, but as I am now, I won’t survive the journey.
I should have left suns ago to find you, but I didn’t believe you were real. There has not been a female mage in centuries. I thought it was a mistake.” A single tear slides down his cheek as he pulls his black robe open to reveal a glowing spiral directly over his heart.
Warmth erupts from my hand again. This time, I open it to see the same spiral burning gold. This can’t be real. The urge to touch his spiral with mine becomes overwhelming. I rush forward and make contact, my hand upon his hard chest. The node energy flows through me and into him. His jaw drops, and his eyes brighten to a steel blue, wet with tears. He rises to his feet standing a foot taller than me. He is the tallest man I have ever seen. Bigger than any man I have seen before. He is the mountain, itself. I thought him small and weak, but he transformed with my touch into who he is meant to be. His eyes turn downward, and a grin spreads across his face.
“You are more beautiful than a thousand stars.” The back of his hand caresses the side of my cheek. I’m not physically here, so I can’t feel it in the way I want to. “My name is Gabal. Where are you?”
I shake my head trying to remember. I am in the mountains.
“Lorcan,” leaves my lips in a whisper.
“Lorcan,” Gabal repeats.
“Lorcan?” the old man asks. “I know of that place and how to get there. We can open a portal.”
A portal? The words bring back a memory where I saw my beloved aunt spliced in two. The turmoil washes through me, causing the few items in the small room full of candles to erupt in flames. “I will be waiting for you,” I say just before I flash back upon the mountain. I’m safe in quiet and solitude, while I let the river of tears flow from my eyes, willing myself to get it all out because I know there is more coming, and I can’t be weak.
Chapter Two
I scream and shoot up in bed after feeling an intense pain in my hand. I expect fire to erupt at any second; instead the pain fades fast, although my hand still glows. Looking down, I grimace as I try to open my hand. When my fist gives way to an open palm, I see a warm glowing spiral. The pain ebbs through my arm until it is gone.
I sit there staring, confused. “What is this?” I ask aloud.
“I have one, too,” Trey's voice startles me as I didn’t realize he was in the room.
“This isn’t something normal for Harems.” I shake my head not understanding what is going on. All the possibilities of what this could mean start running through my head. How long was I asleep for this to happen? Why does it feel so familiar?
“I will have to let the Queen know you’re awake. She will explain everything to you about what has happened. How do you feel?” Trey asks as he sits on the bed next to me and takes my hand into his.
“I feel good. I'm in a daze, but it all seems so long ago now. We shouldn’t bother my mother. She has bigger issues on her plate than her crazy daughter waking up from a healing sleep,” I reply, climbing from the bed and heading towards where I assume the bathroom is. I will never be good enough for my mother. The last thing I want to do is talk about Cargil, the portal, and what is to come right after I wake up.
“Either way, get dressed because I am going to let her know you’re awake.”
Still in a fog from waking up I nod at Trey. Something is off and not right. I wish I could understa
nd. The anxiety of it all is clouding my emotions.
After using the bathing room, I go towards my closet to find clothing. Upon opening the doors to the closet, I am assaulted with bright cheerful dresses that make me cringe. I am not in a bright cheerful mood. There are no blacks, dark blues, or deep reds. The entire closet is full of pastels. This is my mother’s doing. She knows I like to dress my mood, and she took that away from me.
I pull a baby blue pastel, winter dress of thick wool from the closet and slip it on over my head. The long sleeves fit my arms perfectly. There isn’t a single pair of winter boots in the closet only slippers. If she thinks slippers will keep me within Lorcan all winter, she is wrong.
When I pull open the drawer to look at my available accessories, I see my crown. I forgot I had been wearing it when we jumped through the portal from Cargil. My heart beats fast like it is ready to leap from my chest. I see the images of my aunt dying at the base of Lorcan. Anguish washes through me. I am still heartbroken, but the emotions are no longer as raw as they were before. Surely it was only a few days ago, yet it feels like it has been months or even years.
I close my eyes and wring my hands together when I see an image of the largest man I have ever seen, my mountain. I fall to the floor, gasping as panic rushes through me again. Gabal. I remember his name . . . . Gabal! Who is he, and why do I have such an urgency to find him? I know we spoke, but I can’t remember what was said.
Before I can turn to sit on my bed again, a knock comes at the door. I open it to see the queen, my mother, waiting for me on the other side. Vex, Rhett, and Trey are with her. I feel bombarded and confused. Is Mother now going to force Rhett on me? I huff in anger and go to slam the door in her face, but Vex catches it and pushes in before I can stop him.
“What is the deal? What now? Did both of you choose Rhett for me like you chose Trey?” I snap in anger.
“First, you chose Trey, and you chose Rhett.” Vex grabs my arm. “Now, come out here and hear what your mother has to say. It is time for you to stop being a petulant child, Dina. We love you, and you need to know the truth.”
“The truth?” I ask, unsure of myself. “I am sure I know it.”
“Dina, trust me when I say you don’t. Now please?” my mother says from the doorway and motions to the two couches in the main room. I give in and walk past her to a couch, plopping down on it.
My mother sits on the couch across from mine. Trey and Rhett each take a chair, while Vex continues standing.
I notice I still have my hands closed tight. I am not ready to reveal to them my new marking even if Trey already has.
“Open your hand, Dina,” the Queen orders.
I glance down at my hands sitting in my lap, closed tight. I don’t know what this means, but what I know is that it isn’t something I am ready to face. Not having any other choice, I open my palm and leave it sitting on my lap. My mother leans forward in her seat for a better look.
“What does it mean?” I ask.
“We only know small bits, and I think I need to start at the beginning, so you can better understand the how and why you were brought up the way you were.” My mother takes a deep breath. Vex stands behind her, placing his hands on her shoulder in a comforting fashion.
“I am older than I look,” Mother begins, “I am nearing one hundred years old.”
“How?” I blurt out the question with surprise.
“I am such a strong healer that as long as my energy stays well-fed, my body regenerates. Unfortunately, it is ending. My body is still fine, but my soul's exhausted. I planned on Claire becoming queen before the end of the year, but that is not important right now. The important piece of this is that when I found out I was pregnant with you I was already old and tired. To make things more complicated, you are Vex’s child. Vex and you share something in common.” She nods to Vex who walks around the front of the couch.
Vex opens his palm, and a little ball of flame erupts from thin air. My mouth drops open, and for one of the few times of my life, I am at a loss for words.
“I am a mage, Dina, and so are you,” Vex says, closing his hand and extinguishing the flame.
Shaking my head, I reply, “No, I am a mystic. Otherwise, why force me into a harem?” I mean that doesn’t even make sense when we all know only women have power.
“You’re both. Vex is from a city in the mountains called Lumbai. He has visited a few times and has learned some about his history; however, the magi are very secretive, and they have not told Vex everything.”
“What does this mean for me? And what is this spiral thing?” I ask.
“The spiral is your mark as a female mage. You are the first one in centuries. The mark on these men signify they are your guards. You can use them as your harem, but you do not need a harem for anything other than a recharge. You get the same effect from tapping into a node.”
I shake my head no again, “That isn’t right. You said I needed a harem to control the node power.”
“We were not really sure what you needed, but the safe bet was to follow the mystic path. You can freely pull on nodes like any mage, but having a lover, or in your case guards, helps you temper that energy. From what I understand, it will still be wise to copulate with your guards and make them your harem. Pulling on a node too often is dangerous for both mystics and magi. Since you can generate similar energy through a harem, then you should use it. It gives you a benefit over others with power. Also, the relationship between Trey and you seems to be symbiotic. You create energy with him, and your connection gives him something in return. Trey can now see energy as a mystic can.”
I look to Trey, “Is that true?”
“Yes, I see it as clearly as I can see anything else,” he replies.
“Fascinating. So, why keep me in the dark for so many years?” I ask.
“When I found out I was pregnant, I knew it was Vex’s. I knew of Vex’s gifts but had kept it a secret from the council and the rest of Aster. Vex and I did not understand it; being an orphan, he did not know much from his past. He spent his adult life scouring through the history books in Lorcan until he found Lumbai.
I kept you away from Lorcan in Yardel because I was scared you would have a gift that separated you from the rest of the mystics. You showed your prowess with fire long before any of your other gifts. It forced our hand into revealing Vex to the council and the High Mystic.
I promised to raise you as the next High Mystic and to tell the world that fire is a dormant gene from the royal blood lines. That is why you were raised separately. Although I regret not giving you the attention your siblings received, I still believe it was the best choice at the time.”
I ignore all of that. I don’t feel bad for her regret. She was never a mother in any traditional sense. It is hard for me to acknowledge that she cared. Instead, I turn my attention to my ‘guards’. “How are my guards chosen?”
Vex answers, “I am not sure, but seeing as both Trey and Rhett have been chosen, it seems likely that you have some choice in the matter.”
“I don’t understand how I can trust Rhett again,” I glance in his direction. “What about his son? Did he ever make it free from Celeste?”
I look to Rhett and see his eyes dart to the floor. There is a deep sadness hovering around him thickly, like syrup. I am not sure how my empathy missed it before this moment.
“Princess, my son lost his life by a stray arrow when Cavet’s army pierced the wall. Queen Maris was kind enough to scry and find out what happened to him.”
“Oh, Rhett! I am so sorry!” I spring to my feet and run to embrace him. “This is my fault!”
“No, it is no one’s fault except the fault of war . . .,” his voice trails off.
I give Rhett one last squeeze before returning to my seat. I sense we haven’t even scratched the surface of what they need to tell me. Even though I am not ready to hear it; it seems I won’t have any option but to accept whatever they throw at me.
“So, if Celes
te was so intent on killing me, she has to be aware of my potential? Does she know I am a mystic mage hybrid? Does anyone know what a mage is? I have so many questions.”
“Yes, Celeste has known who and what you are for years. Claire shared the information with her, and it is most likely why you are a target. We also believe she knows more about Mages than we do since she used portals to enter Cargil. Apparently, portals can be made through a mage science called alchemy. We know that Celeste doesn’t possess the power to make a portal in the traditional mystic sense.”
“But how does she know?” I can’t wrap my mind around all of this information.
“She grew up in Lorcan and spent all of her spare time in the library. We suspect she found ancient texts in there. Lorcan was an abandoned mage stronghold. Mystics took it when we took Aster for our own. Many of the books within the library here are pre-mystic. Most are in the restricted areas but restrictions never applied to royal children.” The look on my mother’s face says it all. She is blaming herself for everything. “I put Bee to sorting through the ancient texts looking for anything that Celeste may have checked out.”
I nod, because that is the best idea. Bee can be relentless in her pursuits.
“We have one more thing to tell you about, Dina.” I look up to Vex and then back at my mother who is shooting daggers at him with her eyes. This is obviously something she wasn’t ready to tell me.
“When I was visiting Lumbai, there is a man a few years older than you that bears this same symbol on his chest over his heart. He told me he is marked for a female mage who is his soulmate, but since there are no female mages, he will die young without her to join with him. I told him I had a daughter, but we believed her to be mystic as she had no marking . . .,” Vex trails off waiting for my response.
“Gabal . . .,” I respond as the memory of my dream returns.
“Yes, Gabal. How did you know?” Vex asks, and my mother leans forward again in interest.
