Daughter of a King (Daughters of Taeron Book 1)

  Copyright © 2021 by JM Jordan

  Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing, LLC

  6046 FM 2920 Rd W, #231, Spring, TX 77379

  captwyvern@curseddragonship.com

  Cover © 2021 by Stefanie Saw

  Developmental Edit by Kelly Lynn Colby

  Proofread by A.M. Rose

  ISBN 978-1-951445-20-1

  ISBN 978-1-951445-19-5 (ebook)

  All rights reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This books is a work of fiction fresh from the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons or places is mere coincidence.

  To all the girls within our cosmos who feel broken, lost, or forgotten…

  Welcome home.

  THE REALM OF REASON – A DISCOURSE

  THE BOOK OF JOURNEYS, VOL. I

  Realms are born like seeds, nurtured, and grown, then planted in the Taeron Cosmos to ripen with fertile existence. Each Realm blossoms and rests in a circumference of seasons, perpetual in cycle for 10,000 years or 1 myrieteris. Existence within each realm is bound by faith to our life cycle and the belief that each soul will come to merit elevation to the Realm of the Ancients.

  Our Realm, named Reason, is blessed with creators and sylphs, both classes immortal, who cherish life and work to school young premortal souls in preparation of their journey to mortal worlds. Within the mortal journey a souling’s merit will be proven through their exercise of agency. And so, we lived for three millennia in peace, preparing our young before The Dyvisioun plunged our realm into an abyss of fracture.

  Our inhabitants were held hostage as war raged for three hundred years, the opposition led by one who is now called the Darkness. In a realm divided, those who followed the ancient tradition of the Taeron Cosmos persevered, binding the Darkness to the depths of his own derision where he now remains, to tend the heart of our realm as recompense. It is my duty to abridge our records and preserve future souling innocence from the stain brought to our realm through this atrocity.

  Thus, is born the Keeping of Sylphs as we bind ourselves to each new generation of soulings until cleansing comes and Reason rests. May the line of Keeping be kept, now and forever more.

  -Kaliph, son of Erith, Master Keeper of Sylphs

  Y690, 3rd Millennium, The Book of Journeys, Volume I

  A Keeper’s Dream

  “The Dyvisioun—a divide of our realm, rooted in resentment of Taeron tradition which created a fissure that may never heal.”

  -Kaliph, son of Erith, Master Keeper of Sylphs

  2nd of Solis, Y386, 6th Millennium

  Nimble fingers traced the silver circlet etched around my peach-colored wrist for the hundredth time. The bedchamber was quiet, draped in shadow, as I watched the sleeping princess from atop her bedside lamp, my feet warmed by the flame beneath me. It wasn’t just the princess I kept an eye on but also her dark-haired, golden-eyed Myin Koon feline curled at her feet. Mynx had been the bane of my immortal existence since I became the princess’s sylph. Though my elevated perch had so far kept me safe.

  Huldah’s breath shuddered out as she rolled onto her back. She was different from the other soulings. Rumors grew by the day, yet my heart burned with a kinship for the young princess I could not explain.

  “Still brooding, Flora?” Francine called as her opal wings shimmered with a beat in my direction.

  It wasn’t a real question. I’d known my aunt far too long; nothing arbitrary would bring her around at nearly midnight. Francine eyed Mynx and issued a hiss. His head came up, glowing eyes taking us both in as he stood, arched his back, and leaped from the bed. Mynx was devious and took his time leaving the room. Once gone, Francine levitated to the mattress and landed next to the pillow where Huldah slept.

  She was my idol, everything I wanted to be. Francine’s prowess among sylphs and creators was legendary. Within the Realm of Reason, she functioned as our familial matriarch, those before her having moved on to the Realm of the Ancients and Emperor’s Court. Keeping Huldah’s soul record was my priority, but I’d be lying to myself if I denied that earning a place within our family legacy wasn’t a close second.

  “That pink slip of a dress suits you.” I smirked. “But don’t you think the hair is going a bit far?”

  Francine shrugged. The sides of her scalp were shaved smooth with a thick platinum braid down the center. It rested between her wings, falling just short of her thin waist. Unlike my ancient aunt, I only had a millennium of Keeper training behind me. My own appearance was simple with my soft pink hair wrapped in a neat bun at the back of my head.

  “After a fair amount of existence you learn, young Flora, to ignore the opinions of others and live the way that makes you happy.”

  Francine took a step toward Huldah, lifting a golden lock of the princess’s hair into her hands. Her gaze softened as it traveled over Huldah’s youthful features. With a sharp pivot, Francine dropped the strands and turned a hard gaze on me.

  “I assume you already know that your little demonstration will earn you the colored wings you seek,” she snipped. “In fact, I’m surprised they didn’t blossom on the spot. You are hasty, child, and don’t comprehend the gravity of what ails this girl.”

  I’d bonded with Huldah moments after Francine released herself from the very same role. It went against any sort of good judgment. I knew it. Francine knew it. And now our entire immortal community knew it too. They’d gossip about this act of defiance for centuries.

  “It had been decided that the girl would not be bonded again.” Francine frowned. “I did not surrender my bond lightly. You have no idea what you have done.”

  “Then explain it to me.” I folded my arms in hard resolve. Whatever the reasons, Huldah deserved to have a sylph keep her soul records and if it helped me as well, all the better.

  “Hmmm.” Francine tapped a long finger with well-manicured pointed tips on her chin. “Perhaps I should, since being two-thousand years your senior, head of our family, and Keeper of the Sylphs doesn’t impress you.”

  “Those facts really don’t.” I held her stare, determined to know more.

  “Pish-posh!” She tossed her long blue arms in the air. “Your attitude is worse than your posture. Sit straight or stand. I feel like I’m having a conversation with a child.” Her brows creased, waiting for me to respond.

  With a stretch, I pushed myself up from my perch and smoothed the wrinkles from my silver gown as my clear wings pulsed behind me. Slow and methodical, just as Mynx had done before leaving the room.

  “Every soul deserves a keeping and I’m a Keeper,” I said, jutting my chin out in defiance. “Truth be told, I’ve admired Huldah since you began your keeping of her. She’s gentle and kind—”

  “Different and dangerous. A torment shrouds her.” Francine sighed. “It was the consensus of her parents and their Small Council that the young princess be unbound until a remedy to her situation can be found. You should have talked with me before inserting yourself into something you know so little about.”

  I hadn’t talked to anyone, just flew right up to the princess, placed my hand on her wrist, and said the words before anyone could stop me. It had been somewhat easy with the natal day celebrations for the princess and her twin brother, Samy, in full swing. Huldah’s parents were stymied, Francine furious, and all the while they could say nothing. I shook the memory of today’s events away.

  “So we stand by and watch the whispers? The soulings who should be Huldah’s playmates shun her. The poor child has but her brothers on her side and now she has her sylph. Though Huldah won’t know I’m here, I can certainly help her not feel so alone.”

  “I dare say, we’re all on her side. Losing a soul will brand you with a pain you may live to regret. Consider our own sylphs and their struggle after our failed mortal journeys. With Huldah the situation is more dire. She may well suffer soul-loss, her existence extinguished, and physical remains recycled into the Cosmos. You have trifled beyond your capabilities, my young niece.”

  “No.” I took flight, frustration overwhelmed me as I landed hard on the bed next to Francine. “This child cries herself to sleep each night. It’s a wonder she hasn’t drowned in tears of loneliness. As for me, I’d rather help the poor thing than swallow back millennia of regret by doing nothing at all.”

  “She is haunted,” Francine warned. “Many rumors are based in slivers of truth. Huldah’s fate is sealed, and you should trust her parents, as well as myself, in doing what is best for the souling. Better you keep your wings beating than have your light winked out alongside hers. They can’t all be saved after all.”

  “And that is where I think you are wrong.” Wet, heated emotion rose up in my eyes. “Only the darkest of experiences can lead to a soul-loss. I was born in this Realm just as you, just as Huldah. We traveled through that accursed mortal testing and failed. But even with that, here we are. My scrolls have shown my losses and victories, all of which have brought me to this moment. Huldah will continue to prepare, and I will record every movement she makes for her future study. And if she fails on her journey, then I will welcome her into our ranks, without question.”

  For the first time in the span of our relationship, my ancient aunt fell silent.
I took to the air to shake off my defiance with a zip from one corner to another. I meant every word of the declaration. Huldah’s life scrolls would be kept, no matter the cost.

  Circling back, I hovered over Huldah’s sleeping face, her sun-kissed skin a beautiful contrast to the peach color I’d chosen. It reminded me of my mortal journey, how my skin would bake on the farm where I lived. Hers was clear and healthy where mine had withered like dried fruit in the few years that I had lived.

  Huldah’s golden bangs stuck to her forehead with the sweat of a deep sleep. The silver locket her older brother, Caleb, gifted her this morning reflected the light from the lamp. From the corner of my eye, I could see Francine’s gaze upon me.

  “The time to change your mind is almost spent, midnight approaches.” Her eyes met mine, as if trying to determine my conviction. I said nothing. “If this is your decision then I will aid you as best I can.”

  Suppressing the urge to fly over and squeeze my aunt until her light exploded, I embraced her support with a wide smile. Without warning, Huldah’s frame convulsed beneath me as a low moan escaped her slack mouth. My emerald eyes narrowed as I landed on her pillow. Heat rose from her delicate frame.

  “She’s on fire,” I said as my wrist began to burn where our identical silver circlets were. “Something is wrong. I can feel the heat searing our bond.”

  Francine grabbed my wrist then snapped her hands back, her amethyst eyes dark, reflecting my alarm. “I’ll go for her parents. Do not leave her,” she ordered as she launched into the air, wings in a flurry as she slipped from view.

  Huldah convulsed, a trickle of white foam leaking from the corner of her mouth. I swept her cornsilk hair away from her round face, cheeks flushed red with radiating heat.

  “Huldah,” I whispered into her ear. “Do not be afraid. No matter what comes or where it takes us, we will journey together.”

  Her body lurched at my words, rising into a sitting position with such violent speed that I flung into the air. The stained-glass windowpane near her bed stopped my spin. Huldah screamed in a tone of defiance that shattered the tranquil peace of sleep enveloping the castle.

  Huldah writhed back and forth for a long moment as I stared. She stiffened, eyelids opening to expose onyx balls beneath them instead of her chocolate brown irises. With a mechanical turn of the neck, those black orbs stared in my direction. Her mouth turned up in a twisted smile.

  “Tell them, Keeper,” a hiss slithered out. “Tell them I’ve found a way inside their Realm and this girl will be my vessel. Tell them Darkness will come for their heirs and when my vengeance reigns no reason or light will remain.”

  Quaking against the stained glass and pinned down by fear and a force I could not explain, my hope seemed to wither. There was no distance far enough away from what glowered back at me.

  “Tell them!” The hiss deafened my ears. The black orbs blinked, and Huldah’s eyes became her own. The nightmare was gone. She shivered and pulled her blankets to her chin in confusion then screamed.

  Bonds & Brothers

  “The connection between siblings will last throughout the stages of existence, as the forge of experience is often stronger than kinship.”

  -Kaliph, son of Erith, Master Keeper of Sylphs

  20th of Ventus, Y389, 6th Millennium

  Sunshine danced across the King's Ocean while departure ships moored in the harbor. It would be a glorious day to stretch my wings in the sunlight, but my souling hasn’t budged. Huldah stared out her open bedroom window, watching the flurry of busy people below. They scurried in preparation for the Departure Day celebrations. The cargo wouldn’t be items of trade but soulings on their way to the Cathedral of Conscious where they would begin their mortal journeys.

  Huldah’s oldest premortal brother, Caleb, would be among those leaving the Realm. She had an aversion for departures, and I’d been expecting today to be particularly hard. I looked down at my wrist where the silver flecks of our circlet shimmered in the sunlight coming through the window. Never had our bond felt as distant as it did right now.

  Huldah’s fingers continued to rub the silver locket Caleb had given her on her eleventh natal day, the same day I’d bonded her. It would be one of the only physical tokens she’d have left once his ship sailed beyond the horizon. The young princess of fourteen years was ripe for a haunting, those had started on her eleventh natal day as well. Such a catastrophe could only make today worse.

  Her face turned sour. I swallowed hard, worried that my thoughts had crossed our bond as she slammed her palms down on the window frame, fixing the people below with a glare.

  “Happiness should be forbidden for something so miserable,” she snarled. “Why does it feel impossible? I have two brothers who are my best and only friends. One of them is leaving me. It’s utter madness; I might as well be permanently alone.”

  Falling back in a crumple on her bed, I watched from my place on the lamp as hot tears of anger and loss slid down her cheeks. My quill danced across the parchment that contained Huldah’s soul records. Francine had taught me some time-saving tricks since the start of my Keeping, most important had been how to make the quill work on its own by casting a connection between my mind and sight to the writing instrument. I’d have been lost without the knowledge.

  The need to reach Huldah through her despair weighed heavily on my heart. I pressed our bond with my two forefingers in an effort to connect with Huldah’s inner mind.

  *You’re never alone, Huldah.*

  Ice cold enmity shot back. She’d been doing that a lot of late, resisting my nudges of comfort. I was starting to think she couldn’t distinguish my efforts from those of the haunting Darkness.

  “I hate Departure Days and I hate you, whatever you are. Stop creeping into my head.” Huldah crossed her arms over her chest in stern defiance.

  I shook my head, unable to prevent myself from a deep sigh while appreciating her determined resistance.

  She propped her heels on the windowsill, causing her ivory satin slip to fall to her hips. The olive green stockings which rose up her thighs looked worn from where she’d spent most of the morning on her knees in the window lamenting the traditions of the Realm. My eyes darted to the closed door. Her brothers needed to turn up and roust her from the self-inflicted misery.

  “Five more years and it will be me down there,” she said to herself. “Will the hauntings stop my departure? I doubt it. Either way it will be horrible to go but a scandal if I stay. Oh, nothing is ever simple anymore.” Her fist hit the mattress hard. “I thought the voice was my friend but now I’m just confused.”

  My quill scratched the admission across the parchment as a soft knock rattled the door. It was about time; I wrung my hands.

  “You ready?” Caleb called through the tall white panel.

  “Sort of.” Huldah’s face fell into a deep frown.

  The door cracked, and I shivered as Mynx slipped past Caleb’s feet. “Only a girl would say such a silly thing.”

  “I am a girl.” Huldah rolled over to face her brother who stood outside the doorway. “And it’s perfectly normal to be ‘sort of’ dressed. A smart man would know and appreciate these things.”

  Mynx jumped to the bed and pushed at Huldah’s arm that propped up her head. She sat up, her fingers lost in his long black and gray fur. The feline looked in my direction with a hiss. Huldah ignored the cat as Caleb laughed the enticing chuckle of an older brother. “May we come in?”

  For a moment, our bond turned warm. I watched with curiosity as a dainty smile turned up the corners of her petite lips. The quill to my left continued to scratch. Instead of words, it sketched a quick image of the princess who couldn’t help but allow her older brother’s mirth to lighten her spirits. He had a special knack for spoiling her most sour moods.

  With his hand splayed on the door, it widened to reveal Caleb garbed in his finest suit. Huldah’s expression froze and the bond returned to ice.

  Caleb’s raven-colored hair was shaved on the sides, accented by his dark eyes and thick lashes. The contrast against his pale skin was stark. He was tall and handsome, wearing a midnight-black velvet coat embroidered with fine silver stars and trim along the cuffs, Caleb looked every bit the royal souling he’d been trained to be.