Ha'ven's Song (2 page)

Once Ha’ven had finished the repairs, he
turned on silent feet and continued on his way to his living
quarters. He knew his father walked by his side, quietly analyzing
what he had seen. A part of him wanted to rant and rave at the man
beside him to leave him alone while another realized that was never
going to happen. If there was one thing he knew about his family,
it was that they never turned their backs when one of them was in
trouble. Hell, he was no different. He had sent his twin younger
half-brothers, Adalard and Jazar who everyone called Arrow because
of his passion for archery, on missions that were supposed to
ensure their safety. Instead, both had almost been killed by the
assassins sent after them.

“Ha’ven,” Melek started to say in a quiet
voice.

“You cannot help,” Ha’ven interrupted his
father abruptly before stopping and turning to look at him. “There
is nothing that can be done to save me,” he continued in a quieter
voice. “What Aria unleashed is consuming me.”

Melek studied the grim expression on his
son’s face. His own darkened as he thought back to the damage his
cousin’s traitorous daughter had done. Aria had been born to the
lineage of the Royal House of Ceran-Pax but she had been anything
but satisfied with her pampered lifestyle. She had been greedy for
power.

Aria had united with Ben’qumain, Ha’ven’s
step-brother, in the hopes of ousting the Ha’darra family from
power. Ben’qumain had been jealous of his older step-brother’s
power as heir to the leadership of the Curizans. The two traitors
had not been satisfied with bringing down just the Curizan ruling
family though. They had joined in an alliance with Raffvin Reykill
of the Valdier and rebels looking to overthrow the d’Rojah, the
Sarafin ruling family, as well. Their plan was simple. They wanted
to divide the three strongest species. They had been successful to
a certain degree. The Great War between the three species had been
elaborately orchestrated by them. Thousands from each of the three
had died unnecessarily. A plan that Melek felt guilty at not
discovering sooner.

Melek put his hand on Ha’ven’s shoulder to
stop his son from turning away from him. He knew he would do
whatever was necessary to save the family he had only recently been
able to claim. He would not lose a single one of them again. Not
his beloved mate, Narissa, nor his three sons. He had quickly
claimed Adalard and Arrow upon his return.

“There might be a way,” Melek insisted
determinedly.

“How?” Ha’ven demanded throwing his arm out
and waving to the path behind them. “You saw what happened! I am
slowly losing control. It grows more powerful each time. If I lose
control at the wrong time even your shield will not save you. Do
you think I want to take a chance of killing you or mother or my
brothers?”

“All I’m asking is that you do not give up,”
Melek said. “I will not lose you. I spent too many years watching
you from afar. I will not lose my family again now that I have
regained it.”

Ha’ven opened his mouth to make a bitter
retort but swallowed it. He knew the sacrifice his biological
father had had to make for his people. Even in the darkness, Ha’ven
could see the lines of anguish around the corner of his father’s
mouth.

As the second son of the ruling family,
Melek had to step aside when the woman he loved was given to his
older brother, Hermon, in an effort to strengthen the ruling
family. Hermon had not mated with the mother of his son, a woman
from a lower social class. Ben’qumain was born just days after
Narissa had given birth to Ha’ven who was conceived during the one
brief night his mother and Melek had together before being torn
apart.

Ben’qumain’s mother had sent her newborn son
to Hermon in an attempt to undermine the new alliance between the
royal houses. Instead, Narissa had taken on the responsibility of
raising the two newborns as if they were her own. Six years later,
she had given birth to twin boys, Adalard and Jazar. Ben’qumain’s
resentment grew over time as it became obvious he had not inherited
the powers that Ha’ven and his two younger brothers possessed.

During this time, Hermon had fallen in love
with his new mate, unaware that her heart belonged to his younger
brother or that Ha’ven was not his own son. Over time, Narissa had
come to care deeply for Hermon although not with the deep passion
that she had for Melek. Melek, out of respect for his brother’s
rule, had chosen assignments that had kept him away from the palace
as much as possible. He had commanded the Curizan military,
eventually guiding and working alongside Ha’ven during the Great
War when he was old enough. He had cherished his time with his son
even if he could never claim him as such.

It was not until recently that Ha’ven
discovered that not only had Ben’qumain been responsible for
Hermon’s death but that Melek was his true father. He had always
respected Melek for his integrity, honor and wit. Still, it was
difficult to accept the male that he always thought of as his
mentor, was indeed also his father.

Fortunately, Melek had returned in time to
prevent those working alongside his nephew from killing his mother
and younger brothers. Zoran Reykill, King of the Valdier, had
eventually killed Ben’qumain when he made the mistake of attacking
Zoran’s human mate. Ha’ven’s lips curved as he thought of the
dragon-shifting species they had fought in the war and who had
eventually become one of their strongest allies.

He and Creon Reykill, the youngest of the
royal family, had become good friends after finding themselves
trapped in the same mining tunnel during the war. Not long
afterwards, Creon had met and fallen in love with his cousin, Aria,
unaware of her devious plans for power. Aria had used her
connection to them both against them. She had used her knowledge of
him to kidnap and imprison him. She had used Creon to find out
information to help those trying to overthrow their governments.
Eventually, Creon had learned of her betrayal and had saved his
life.

Their alliance was sealed and Ha’ven knew he
would do whatever he could to help Creon and his brothers defeat
their uncle. Unfortunately, he still needed to deal with the
Curizan traitors who had worked alongside Ben’qumain. They were now
desperate to overthrow the ruling family because they knew the
moment they were uncovered they would be sentenced to death for
treason against their people.

“I… would appreciate any help you can give,”
Ha’ven admitted reluctantly.

Melek nodded solemnly before he looked up at
the stars shining high above. “The ancient archives might hold
information. I will work with those in charge of keeping them,” he
said looking back at Ha’ven.

Ha’ven gave a brief nod. “Talk with Salvin.
I trust him to keep the issue quiet,” Ha’ven replied. “I need to
review a few things before Adalard and I leave in the morning for
Valdier. A trap has been set for Raffvin. It is my understanding
that things have changed that makes it likely we will soon
eliminate another major leader in the rebellion.”

Melek drew in a deep breath and released it.
“I will be glad when the rest have been brought to justice. I will
work with Arrow to continue to uncover those here who are still
working against the royal house.”

“Thank you,” Ha’ven said, turning to
continue down the path.

“Ha’ven,” Melek called out quietly. Ha’ven
turned and looked back at the dark shadow of his father. “Be
careful. Your mother made me promise to tell you that.”

Ha’ven didn’t bother trying to stop the
small grin that curved his lips as he looked back at the man who
was fighting to find his place in his adult son’s life. He could
see the concern, the pride and the worry. This was one reason why
he wanted to avoid all serious relationships. He had enough to
worry about without adding a female into the mix.

“Now, where is the fun in that?” Ha’ven
replied with a chuckle as he turned and disappeared into the
darkness.

Melek released a sigh and shook his head.
“That is exactly what your mother said you would say,” he muttered
before he turned back toward his own living quarters.

Ha’ven maneuvered the transport ship through
the thick clouds almost ten kilometers from the royal palace on
Valdier. He had left Ceran-Pax several days before with Adalard as
his only companion. Only a select few on the planet knew he and
Adalard were arriving. He had made the decision after talking
extensively with Creon Reykill. Both men had decided it would be
prudent if as few people as possible knew of his and Adalard’s
presence.

Normally, he preferred traveling alone when
he could but Adalard had insisted on traveling with him. Ha’ven
knew that his brother wanted to make sure for himself that Mandra
had recovered from the wounds he had suffered while fighting
Raffvin and his forces not long ago. His younger brother had taken
a shine to the human woman Mandra Reykill had taken as his
mate.

Personally, Ha’ven was beginning to think it
best to avoid the species. When he had first heard about the
females and had met Carmen, Creon’s mate, he had been curious.
After all, it wasn’t often that he found himself hanging upside
down from a female dragon’s tail or trapped under a pile of bodies
with her sitting on top of him and taking a nice size slice of his
hair as a prize. It was just the more he was around them the more
he saw the pull they had on the other species and it worried him.
He liked his freedom, and while he wouldn’t mind playing with one
for a night or two, he had no desire to become entrapped by
whatever spell they cast.

He honestly didn’t know what it was about
them but every single one of the Reykill brothers had fallen for
one of them. If what Creon told him the other night was true, it
wasn’t just the female of the species either. Ha’ven had been
shocked when Creon had informed him that his mother had been
claimed by the father of the human female called Trisha. Ha’ven
just hoped there weren’t any more of the species running around. If
there were, he planned on avoiding them at all possible cost.

“I want to see how Ariel and Mandra are
doing,” Adalard commented breaking into his reverie as he switched
on the landing gears. “You should have seen Bahadur trying to sweet
talk Ariel away from Mandra.”

“Bahadur?” Ha’ven repeated in surprise,
looking at his brother in shock. “That cold bastard wanted Mandra’s
human mate for himself?”

Adalard chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, I think
he is making plans to take a break when all this is over. He was
fascinated by her and has been asking me to find out the location
of her planet.”

What Adalard didn’t tell his older brother
was that Ariel had mentioned a female back on her planet that she
thought would be perfect for him as well. He wasn’t interested in
anything permanent, like a life mate, but he wasn’t opposed to
having a little fun. If this Samara that Ariel was talking about
was half as interesting as Ariel, he wouldn’t mind meeting her and
exploring the differences between her species and his own for a
short period of time.

“Well, tell Bahadur no. I know I mentioned
it might be interesting to play with one or two but I’ve changed my
mind about wanting to meet any of them,” Ha’ven said with a
shudder. “The last thing we need is a bunch of this human species
on our planet. You’ve seen how fast they have brought the Valdier
royals to their knees – literally. Creon told me his mate beat him
up and Mandra’s knocked him out!”

Adalard’s husky laughter filled the cockpit
of the transport at the thought of the tiny females beating up
males over twice their size. He joked with Ha’ven about some of the
other stories he heard from members of the crew traveling with
Mandra. He related tales from Ariel’s collection of pets to his own
observations of watching her beat up the traders in the bar on the
Spaceport where they had picked him up.

Ha’ven listened with half an ear, wondering
what had happened to the huge dragon shifters that could change
them. From what Adalard was telling him and from the little that he
had seen, there was definitely something about the species that
played havoc with his friends and their symbiots.

Hell, even Vox had fallen head over heels
for a human female the Antrox had! The damn cat-shifter was as
deadly as any of them and known to like having his women hard and
fast. The human female had his furry friend so mixed up the Sarafin
King was practically chasing his own tail the last time he had
talked to him!

“If that is not enough, now they have
younglings to worry about,” Adalard was saying as he finished the
landing procedure as Ha’ven guided them to a clearing just large
enough for the transport. “I know they are worried Raffvin or those
working with him might try to attack them.”

Ha’ven looked sharply at Adalard before he
turned his attention back to the final approach. Hovering over the
thick grass, he set the transport down in the center of the small
meadow. He turned off the engines with a wave of his hands, pulling
the swirling bands of energy back into his body. Another benefit of
traveling in the transport was he could use his own energy to power
it thus reducing the chance of a repeat of the other night.

“Creon told me of his daughters,” Ha’ven
admitted. “I will do everything in my power to protect them and his
mate.”

Adalard just nodded. He knew his own powers
were considerable, but they paled in comparison to his older
brother. Adalard and his twin had always looked up to Ha’ven who
had protected them against Ben’qumain when they were still young
and vulnerable. He had encouraged them to work together to develop
the power held inside them. Since his captivity on the asteroid
prison known as Hell, Ha’ven’s powers had grown until both he and
Arrow worried about its effect on him.