Haven: Chronicles of Warshard (28 page)

EPILOGUE

S
everal days had passed since the fall of Cidra, and its ashes still
smoldered.

The war had been won, and though this should be a time to rejoice, it wasn’t. Resting in a loose circle, Aura sat with the remaining group dedicated to the young immortal queen. In the days that followed their final battle, they’d gathered and sat vigil through night and day. Haven’s three guards sat the closest to her, comforting each other when they weren’t gazing off in the distance in penitent
silence.

The young King Corrin and Prince Emeril sat nearby too, though they clearly tried to avoid each other. Aura wondered distantly what had happened between the two. Were they both lovers of the queen, facing this knowledge for the first time? Somehow Aura doubted it. Though she’d only known Haven for a short time, the queen’s love for Corrin seemed
genuine.

The last of their small group talked quietly at the edge of the circle. Drakkone whispered what looked to be assurance while Nina nodded in vague understanding. Ever since Nina had come screaming from Kadia’s mind, the little girl hadn’t been the same. She had withdrawn into herself. Her eyes occasionally darted to and fro, as if expecting some demon to appear from
nowhere.

While Aura watched on, she listened to the short conversations that took place, wondering what was next. She was in a new place, without friends, family, or her queen. She could travel and explore this new territory, or perhaps pledge herself to Haven’s sister, such as the young queen had wished upon her
guards.

Aura sighed, turning her eyes on Haven’s previous guards. Blythe and Malka leaned against each other quietly staring at the dirt, while Lareina watched the remains of Kadia’s castle. Aura almost continued on assessing the group when she realized Lareina’s expression had changed. She wasn’t staring off in thought. She had seen
something.

Following her gaze, Aura tried to guess what it could be. It was hard to tell in the smoke that rose from the smoldering city, but Aura thought she might have seen
movement.

Slowly rising, Aura joined Lareina, who remained
transfixed.

“What do you see?” she asked, again trying to lock onto whatever target Lareina had her sights
on.

For a moment, Lareina said nothing. Her eyes widened a fraction and she stood. She began to murmur
something.

“I’m sorry?” Aura asked, leaning
closer.

“Haven,” Lareina whispered, and then she was
running.

Aura blanched, staring after her. Haven? How could she have seen Haven? Surely the young woman was dead. But when Aura looked again, she finally saw what Lareina had
seen.

“Haven!” she called to the others, and suddenly she was running too. Before she knew it more feet pounded after her, and then the pack was upon
her.

—

Black crumbled around her. Blurry shapes moved, dropping from the wreckage. A faint sensation of consciousness came upon her and she realized she was walking. Ash crumpled under foot. How had she gotten here? Where was she? Everything blurred grey and it smelled
awful.

Unsure what to look for, Haven stepped over broken glass, fallen stone, and singed wood. Had there been a light? Was that what she was trying to find? She couldn’t quite remember. Gradually, a faint feeling of discomfort surfaced, followed slowly by the pain. Haven gasped and held her arms to her body. She didn’t look at them, didn’t look at herself, but she knew she was hurt more than she ever had been before. Vaguely she wondered how she could possibly be alive, but she wasn’t sure why she should be dead
either.

After what seemed like hours of aimless wandering, Haven saw the light she had been looking for. The sky. A faint smile pulled at her lips and she tried to blink away the bluriness in her eyes as well as her mind. Everything was clouded over, and though most of her pain had begun to subside, she couldn’t quite escape the wool over her
eyes.

Sighing, Haven followed the light until she felt something soft underfoot. Wiggling her toes, she realized it was grass. Looking about in a daze, Haven again tried to see where she was, think where she was, and figure out how she’d gotten
there.

All thoughts escaped her until she heard shouts coming toward
her.

“Haven!” they
called.

Joy filled this one word so much so that Haven found herself happy to hear it. She didn’t know why, didn’t know what it was, but she took a step toward it. And then one of the shouting things collided with her and wrapped her in its frantic arms with soothing voices and desperate
questions.

Haven blinked at them all, filled with confusion, but there was also a faint realization that she was safe with whoever these people were. More arms encircled her, more questions, exclamations and more love. Overwhelmed, Haven hugged them back, clinging to the people in front of her and burying her face. Haven closed her eyes and
breathed.

Then she
remembered.

“Lareina,” she whispered, her arms tightening around her best friend. Haven looked up, tears in her eyes. Suddenly she could see. As clear as day she saw the sky blue eyes staring back at her. The raw puffy eyes staring at her spilled more tears, and then she saw the many faces around her: Aura, Blythe, Malka, Nina, Drakkone, and even Emeril. Finally, her gaze landed on Corrin. Her heart leaped into her throat and she threw herself into his arms, desperately clinging to him while he gently held her, whispering consoling words in her
ear.

After a long while, Haven peeled herself away from him, but not before he could drape his long navy jacket over her shoulders. Haven pulled it close, realizing for the first time that she was completely naked. “Thank you,” she mouthed to him before she turned to the
others.

Several embraces later Haven let the group lead her from the desolate castle and sit her in the soft
grass.

“We’re so glad you’re well,” Lareina whispered, tears still spilling from her
eyes.

“I can’t believe you’re alive,” Blythe
agreed.

“I can’t believe it either,” Haven smiled sheepishly. When her final thoughts returned to her, she remembered that she’d made her peace in that castle before the lights went out and she’d been swallowed by the
dark.

“What happened in there?” Aura asked, blinking at her
curiously.

“I killed her,” Haven said. “I killed Kadia. She won’t hurt any of you
anymore.”

Corrin rubbed her shoulder gently. “You were the one we were worried would get hurt
again.”

Haven leaned her head against him and
smiled.

“What happened to your hair?” Nina blinked at her with wide eyes. Though Haven could feel something was wrong with the girl, she was amused by the first words out of her mouth. The first ones she remembered, at
least.

“My hair?” Haven reached for her head, expecting to find herself bald, hair singed from her scalp. What she found was her usual thick hair, which, although quite dry felt almost like it always had. Looking around at the others, she realized they were inspecting her head with great curiosity. Haven pulled some forward. It was shorter than she remembered, but what really struck her was the
color.

Haven gasped, astonished by the fiery red hair that ran the entire length of the strands. Her finger prodded upward until they were on top of her head. She looked at her friends in shock. “Is it all red?” she asked, and they
nodded.

“It looks like fire,” Aura
commented.

“It’s beautiful,” Corrin smiled, and Haven squeezed his hand. She couldn’t imagine the state she was in. She could feel the layer of soot covering her skin, the ash of the fallen castle coating the entirety of her body, but still he found her beautiful. Haven tried her best not to smile like a
fool.

“Fire for the Lady
Fyre.”

Haven and her group of friends turned their gaze on the
newcomers.

“King Evander,” Haven smiled and rose. “It’s nice to see you
again.”

Evander’s smile didn’t falter, even as he quickly assessed her wellbeing. “It’s good to see you alive. We all feared the
worst.”

“It’s hard to kill an immortal queen, I hear,” she
grinned.

“So I hear,” Evander chuckled. “I don’t mean to interrupt your reunion, but I imagine you want to get washed up and get some rest. I was going to ask about the journey home, though I can’t imagine you’d want
to--”

“Yes, I want to go home,” Haven sighed, not realizing how relieved she felt at the thought. “I want to see Rythern
again.”

Evander smiled. “Then we leave shortly. We have plenty of room for all of you.” He paused, his gaze lingering on Nina and Drakkone. “Assuming you’re all staying, and not returning to
Seaburn.”

“We’ll stay for a time,” Drakkone
nodded.

“Excellent! Let’s get you all on your way
then.”

Haven nodded and Evander led the others away. She couldn’t help but pause, sticking to the back of the group. Her gaze rested on the burning rubble of Cidra castle. Smoke rose from the ashes as the remaining bits of her former prison collapsed. Seeing the castle razed to the ground, she felt a finality to this chapter in her life. The chapter of pain, suffering, and hardship had hopefully come to an end, while a new one was beginning, one of love and fixing the things that were
broken.

Sighing, Haven smiled and turned to find Corrin watching
her.

Before she could ask what was wrong, he pulled her back into his arms and kissed her. Haven relaxed into the pleasant sensation and wrapped her arms around him. When they parted, Corrin searched her face for something but she couldn’t be sure
what.

“Are you really okay?” he
asked.

“Is it really over?” she arched a brow at
him.

“Yes.”

“Then I’m really okay,” Haven
smiled.

“You
promise?”

“I
promise.”

END

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

F
irst of all, I want to thank my best friend, Shelyse, for so many things, but most of all for always supporting me, putting up with countless drafts, and emails about small details relating to all of my literary works. I will never be able to fully describe how much you mean to me, or how much you’ve helped me with my writing over the years. A soul mate doesn’t always have to be a romantic one, and I’m glad we’ve found each other. I truly couldn’t have done this without
you!

For my parents, thank you for supporting me, and my dreams, for reading my revisions within a moment’s notice, for raising me to be independent and for showing me from a young age, how amazing books
are.

To Patti Larsen, for pushing me to enter the World’s Best Story contest in the first place, for being my writing mentor and overall business goddess, you are one of the most inspirational women I know. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, and the rest of the writing community.

Last of all I’d like the thank the writing community for making me a better writer, Cindy Lapeña for being my editor on such short notice, the World’s Best Story contest for hosting such a wonderful competition, and everyone at Friesen Press who made this book a
reality.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

K
atherine Bogle’s debut young adult novel,
Haven
, came second in the World’s Best Story contest 2015. She currently resides in Saint John, New Brunswick with her partner in crime, and plethora of cats. She can be found at
www.katherinebogle.com.

COPYRIGHT

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Copyright © 2016 by Katherine Bogle
First Edition — 2016

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ISBN
978-1-4602-8614-2 (Hardcover)
978-1-4602-8615-9 (Paperback)
978-1-4602-8616-6 (eBook)

1.
Juvenile Fiction, Girls & Women

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