Nectar of War: The Song of Verity and Serenity (The Nectar of War Series Book 1)
Nectar of War: Part 1 – Chapter 10

ROANER KORSANA

M AIVENA EMERGES FROM THE chamber connected to Laven’s, and I see him visibly light up. His hazel and blue eyes watch her every move as she looks over the dress made to suit her. The dress is white satin; it flows down to the floor, stopping perfectly above her shoes. The fabric is fitted to her chest, with a thin layer of lace covering it. The sleeves are sheer and loose, stitched with tiny flowers. Her long, dark curls are concealed half up in a braid, the rest flows down her back with small strands falling around her cheeks.

Wearing white signifies strength. The quality of your clothing matters; your appearance needs to be strong, which is precisely why Laven had this made for her. He wants her to hold just as much power and strength as he does, if not more.

Putting Maivena in white will help her achieve just that. Her appearance alone makes her differ entirely from the woman she was yesterday. She has the blood of royalty in her veins; she should look and be treated as so.

Maivena is still touching the dress, toying with the fabric, admiring it. I can only imagine how long it has been since she has been in actual clothing other than the usual skirt, corset-vest, and shift.

“Roaner will be showing you around the academy. Are you okay with that? My mother has meetings with the school leaders; Roaner offered his help since he grew up knowing the grounds.”

She nods with a faint smile, still mesmerized by the cloth on her skin. “Yes, that is fine with me.”

“There are also many markets around the academy you can go to for food,” Laven announces; I nod my head in agreement. One of his biggest requests is to make sure she eats an abundance of food; her frail state would be worrisome to most.

“Oh,” Maivena holds her hand up. “Excuse me a moment,” she rushes off into the connected chamber and quickly returns with a paper. “These are the instructions on how to care for your wounds while I am gone; I made them easy to follow so there are no mishaps.” Her eyes rapidly move over the paper before continuing. “Wait, I have to add one more thing.” Maivena is quickly heading back to the connected chamber to add whatever it is she forgot.

She made the directions idiot-proof for Morano and Amias because I think she knows something wrong would be bound to happen without her guidance. Yet even though she is applying the instructions, Morano and Amias are still pinioned to fuck this up.

“Have a bit of faith in them, please,” Laven says through the bond after hearing my thoughts. “I am already angry enough that I am not walking yet.”

I smile internally. “Have you told her?”

His eyebrows raise. “About?”

“About you attempting to walk while she is gone.”

“No, do not mention it either.” His tone is sharp as he speaks.

I look over his face as he gazes out the window. I can see the tension settling within his eyebrows.

“You do know I will not leave her side all day.” I try to soothe him.

Laven looks back at me and nods. “I know; I sought-after being the one to take her.”

“All right, it is done now.” Maivena walks toward Laven with the paper in hand, her smile is nervous. I begin to wonder if she can feel his stress although she has no idea of them being mated. She may have yet to shift into her Wolf, but it is magnificent how a bond grows even when one is unaware.

Laven smiles. “I will make sure they see this.”

“We will not be gone long, will we?” Maivena turns to me, and I shake my head no. “Hopefully, I can be back before you need a new dressing on your wounds.”

Laven shakes his head. “Take your time. There is no need to rush to be back so soon; these instructions will do just fine.” He says as she drapes a new beige cloak over her shoulders. It clips in the front, right at her neck, with a bow, arrow, and four small chains.

She now bears the same symbol from our tunics.

“Go before you are late,” Laven says.

“Maivena,” I call, holding my hand out. She looks down at it and back to Laven before nodding. “Have you ever ascended before?” I ask.

Her eyes widen. “No,” she pulls her hand from mine. “Can we not walk there or take the Pegasi?” Her eyes drift off as she continues to back away.

I smile. “Not unless you would like to arrive within days.”

She does not respond; her eyes glance around the room and stare through the window, nibbling on her lip.

She is afraid.

“Maivena?” Laven unobtrusively beckons her. He sits up and moves around easier than he was capable of yesterday. His pale brown skin is slowly returning to its healthy complexion.

She turns to him.

They only look upon one another. Not saying a word.

His eyes relax the worry building in her shoulders.

It takes a moment, but soon enough, she nods and looks back at me.

“Do not let go of my hand.” A gentle command. “Please,” she roughly adds.

“I promise, I will not.”

Grabbing my hand again, her grip is tight enough to break a bone. If she had the strength of her Wolf, she could.

“Are you ready?” I ask.

She nods once more.

The moment we begin to fade, she gasps, clinging to my arm for dear life.

“Breathe,” I try to calm her. “Open your eyes.”

“Tell me what it looks like first.”

“It is as if seeing the wind, like we are moving through wisps of color.”

She grips my arm tighter. I look down and one of her eyes peek open and quickly shut. Soon after, both of her eyes gradually open. She does not fill with fear; she watches the movement of the world around her flow by.

“What are the colors we see?” She wonders.

“The color of everything around us as we move through it.”

“It is pretty . . . can people see us?”

“No, not even the Gods can see us.” I answer. “Ascending is like moving at a degree so briskly, even the greatest eye could never detect it.”

“Like running?” She asks.

“No, ascending is purely from magic, which is why we disintegrate into a form of mist before leaving.” It is why not everyone has the ability to ascend.

“Has anyone ever run fast enough to move at the speed of ascending?”

I smile. “Yes.”

“Who?”

“Laven.”

She falls quiet.

Little moments go by before she speaks again. “Can we walk some of the way?”

I come to a stop at the Western Lake near the academy; she has to catch her balance before taking a step forward.

“May I ask you something?” She says as we walk over the bridge of the lake. Her eyes peer upward as she looks at me.

I nod.

“What happened to him?”

An immediate knot catches in my throat, knowing exactly what it is that she speaks of.

“That is something I believe he should tell you.” Even me and my brothers do not know everything Laven went through while imprisoned.

It took months for him to be comfortable to show his skin without a shirt on. I removed many of his scars, but some were too painful to take away. Most specifically the scars on his back that did not properly heal.

His father would visit him daily to heal him . . . that was until his visits stopped.

Maivena shakes her head, her brown cheeks heat in what seems to be the embarrassment of asking. “He will not tell me, yet I am aware people call him the Mad Prince.”

We have always despised hearing people refer to Laven as that. We knew he did not go mad and that there was logical reasoning behind him snapping. And during the time when he was declared manic not many knew, only close family know of the seasons of pain he went through after being released from Wyendgrev Tower. Then, it seems the Healers and doctors began to talk, and slowly the citadel knew.

“What makes you so positive he would not tell you?”

“Laven is different from others; he cares. He cares almost too much for others to speak about his burdens.”

“You appear to have him thought out already.”

“No, I just know very few people like him. They are hard to forget.” Maivena looks from me and outward to the lake. The trees speak as the wind moves through them, birds fly around, chirping in unison with nature herself.

“You may not think he will tell you, but he will.”

Maivena shrugs a shoulder. “Perhaps, but I am only helping him heal for a period of time. After that, life will fade back to normal.”

“Roaner,” Laven calls through the bond. “Where are you and Maivena?”

“The Western Lake by the academy, why?”

“Get her to the academy, now. Tell everyone to get inside, leave her with Hua. Morano is on his way, keep your eyes toward the sky and put a shield around the continent.”

I hear them before I can ascend, the force of their wings push Maivena unsteady. Morano appears, catching her arm and holding her steady at the might of wind.

“Now, Roaner!” Morano yells before ascending with Maivena.

The loud call of them nears closer.

Quickly I flatten my hands against one another. As I separate my hands a dark sphere rotates between my palms: deep, sacred magic flowing from my fingers into the orb, causing it to spark and expand. I tap into the very magic my mother taught me as a child, searching for the strength held within ancestry power.

The orb nourishes with the magic put into it, I look toward the sky and force my hands upward, channeling the spheroid into the blue. It separates and stretches, hooding over the continent and creating a barrier between them and us.

It takes no time for them to appear.

I immediately recognize the Dragon as he flies overhead.

Tuduran.

He is with his sister Vion; their screams shake the ground as they pass. Tuduran expands over the lands, his wings splaying out as he glides overhead. The iridescence of his blue and black scaled chest reflects off the shield. His jaws open, showing teeth the size of Pegasi. He releases another roar through the acres of land he is covering; it moves far out across the sea in echoes. His blue eyes catch sight of me, and he ignores me like I was never here. They are not here for an attack; at least, that is not what it seems to be so far.

Vion latches on to the shield with her talons, her purple eyes looking down at me as she lands. The white spikes on her chest scrape over the curve of the barrier, and she looks through me. I am convinced she would try to kill me if it were not for this shield. Vion hears another call, and she is back into the sky, following her brother.

The span of half his body and tail still slowly glide by as he fades further out. He darkens the vast area below him, making it as if it is night for a short period of time.

“Why are they here?” I ask Laven.

“This is our warning; respond to Stravan’s request soon, or he will come on his own.” I can barely hear him over the roaring of Tuduran and Vion.

“He cannot do that. So by treaty, it is not allowed.”

“You forget how powerful he is. Stravan is above any treaty and law known to this world. You must remember who ruled over every realm before we were split. He is the law, Roaner.”

I watch, waiting for them to finish passing through Vaigon, their wings flap, rattling the shield as they move higher into the sky until they are practical shadows.

“You are not healthy enough to have him visit, and with Lorsius away–”

“I will not sit around and wait for Lorsius to arrive,” he interrupts. “We send word now. Summer Solstice is not far off; we will invite Stravan then. He does not seem to be in a rush to arrive; he only wants a response from us and a set date.”

“Why wait until Solstice?” I finish walking across the bridge, following the shadows of large, spiked bodies and wings in the sky.

“Because I want to be in full strength before he is here, and I want Maivena to know how to defend herself before then. If he attacks us as he did Galitan, I want her prepared. So, she trains this week.” The worry for her in his voice is evident. If he could walk, he would indeed be pacing.

“And if she does not wish to?”

“She will.” He certainly speaks. “Her father, Naius, is one of the strongest Generals ever to live. I learned that Chiron himself trained him; he is known to move like Achilles. It is in her blood to fight.”

“Who will train her?”

“All of us, her father included. Although she has yet to shift into her wolf, we should see if she can wield her powers if she has any. I want her to learn every possible way there is to protect herself if we are not around.”

“I will help her with it,” I offer.

“That will work; Morano is bringing Maivena home. Axynth has shut the academy down until there are no more sightings of Tuduran and Vion.”

“I will be home later, I told my mother I would visit her today, I must be sure she is safe.”

“Bring her to the palace if you must.” That was more of a demand than an offer.

“I will.”

I look up to the shield. It will hold until I summon it to undo. I do not leave the lake area until I can no longer see or hear Tuduran and Vion in our skies.