The NA fantasy series Heirs of War has taken Wattpad by storm with over one million reads, and the second installment has arrived. Catch up on Heirs of War (#1) for just 99 cents now!
Heirs of War #1:
When seventeen year-old Zelene finds herself thrust into a world of magic and prophecy, she discovers fighting destiny might not be the toughest battle she has to face. Now she must join with three other girls, complete strangers linked only by blood relation, to fight a war they know nothing of and rescue the twin sister she's never met.
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The adventure continues with Heirs of War, Crown of Flames...
Heirs of War #2
Mara Valderran
Cover Art by Gretchen Byers
Weeks have passed since Ariana and Alec escaped from Kellen's dungeon, but danger isn't far behind them. The guilt of his past weighs heavily on Alec’s shoulders, and his secrets only push Ariana further away. As they travel through unknown lands and encounter multiple threats, their biggest challenge might be trusting one another.
The world appears to be going on regardless of the risks Ariana faces. The Duillaine insist that they are doing everything they can to find Ariana, but their actions betray that claim. Despite the danger and the war closing in around them, all of Anscombe seems to be more interested in the upcoming Imbolc festival and Terrena’s betrothal than rescuing Ariana.
Well…not everyone.
Tired of waiting for the Duillaine to help her twin, Zelene starts plotting on her own and finds a surprising ally in Rhaya, even as the Cynewards prepare to make a move of their own. But Zelene’s plans go awry when she finds herself with a new ability, a mysterious new friend, and more enemies within the walls of Anscombe than she thought.
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HEIRS OF WAR, CROWN OF FLAMES EXCERPT:
"We
should get something to eat," Alec said. "I can go hunt."
She
nodded her head. She could see Alec watching her from his periphery, waiting
for her to say something more, but she didn't know what else to say.
"Are
you all right?" he asked softly.
Normally,
she would have some snide remark at the ready. Something to remind him that she
had been literally dragged into a fantasy world, and then tortured almost to
the edge of her sanity by magical forces she still couldn't wrap her mind
around. When she glanced up at him, his face so full of empathy and concern,
the snide comments died on her tongue.
"Yes
and no," she answered honestly. "I'm alive. Mostly thanks to
you," she marked with an appreciative nod. "But I think it's all
starting to hit me now."
He
leaned against the wall of the cave and looked over her shoulder at the scenery
below. "You mean your destiny?"
"I'm
not sure I'll ever wrap my mind around that one. No, I mean that I'm here. And
that I'll probably never get to go back. Go home. See my parents. My
friends." Images of her best friend Emma lying dead in the backyard sprang
to mind, and she wondered if her adoptive parents had suffered the same fate.
"I don't even know if they're still alive."
"Your
parents?"
"I
was thinking about my dad earlier when we were fishing. My dad loved to
fish." She let out a light laugh at the memories. "He was terrible at
it, but he loved it. He used to take me all the time when I was a little girl.
Me, him, and his best friend Varrick. Daddy used to call us the Three
Musketeers. I know you probably don't know what that is, but it meant
something."
"I
do, actually. If it means the same thing, it's part of a story my father used
to tell me when I was a child. Before I left."
"All
for one, and one for all," she confirmed sadly. "Varrick used to tell
me that I was the princess they had to protect but I would get so mad. I wanted
to be a musketeer too. That changed when I got older. I didn't want to be a
musketeer or a princess or anything. I was so horrible to them. Now all I want
is to talk to my mother or just have my father hold me and tell me everything
is going to be okay."
"I
hadn't spoken to my parents for almost a year before I left," Alec
admitted. He startled himself with his confession, turning away and
straightening his back. "It's nothing."
Ariana's
heart swelled with sympathy. "That's not nothing, Alec. That's terrible."
His
posture was still stiff as he dismissed her concerns. "It's natural,
really. When I was chosen, they knew they'd never see me again. I was no longer
their son; I was something more."
"So
they treated you like less? If this is supposed to be some high honor, why
would they turn their backs on you?"
"It
wasn't their fault, Ariana. When a child is chosen to be—" He cut himself
off before saying the actual word. "It just gets complicated, that's
all."
"Why
do you do that?" She turned around to face him. "You start to tell me
what you are and then you stop. You say it's an honor, but you won't talk about
it. Don't you think I deserve some honesty here? I've put my life in your hands
and you won't tell me anything about yourself."
"Funny
that you say that, because I was just thinking that you have this way of
getting me to reveal things about myself that I've been burying for a very long
time."
"You're
kidding, right? I don't know anything about you. Whatever it is, I'd rather
hear it from you first. How do you think it's going to be when we get to
Anscombe and someone else tells me?"
He
stared out from the mouth of the cave, heartbreak written all over his face.
"It won't matter then," he said quietly.
"Why
would you say that?"
"I
told you. If I follow the path chosen for me as a child, I will lose my ability
to care for anyone." His eyes glistened. "Maybe I want to enjoy this
while it lasts. If you want me to be the one to explain everything to you, I
will. Once we get to gates of Anscombe. But not a moment before."
Mara Valderran is an author of young adult and new adult books, but she's more than just a madwoman with a writing box. She is an avid reader and fan of all things sci-fi and fantasy. She loves roller skating and movies, though typically not together. She lives in Las Vegas with her husband and demanding cat. She hopes to one day meet Daniel Jackson from SG1, or at least the actor who played him. When she’s not writing, you can find her reading, playing video games, or counting down the days until DragonCon.
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