•Mature Content•
"Is it really so unbelievable that I would kiss you? That I want you?" he asks, the softness of his tone gliding its way across my skin. "Because I plan to do it over and over again."
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While working her job at an Inn, Akara is fa...
Welcome everyone, into a completely new romance series I'm introducing for the first time. This is not connected to the Alpha series, and, explores a new world, new characters and an entirely different system of magic!
I've been working on this world for a few years now for a book I'm creating for publishing. This storyline is not connected that book.
I hope you guys enjoy!
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Psst!
The term Tani is used often in this novel — Here's where the idea came from!
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Maori culture is very important to me, and many other New Zealander's, so please be respectful! I encourage you to do research into Maori mythology if it interests you (:
The term Tani that I use in this novel is a derivative of the term Taniwha (Ta-ne-fa), however is not based on the exact legend. Instead, I extracted aspects of it that I found fascinating — aka, the predator v guardian concept.
Enjoy!lo +++ Word Count: 2254
~Akara
She clasps my forearms, smiling at me through watery eyes.
I'm leaving. Those two words echo persistently within my mind, such foreign and untouched terms when spoken past my lips. I've never left this village, let alone this Province. I'm leaving for the exact reasons my parents assigned me, but I can still see the regret swimming in my mother's eyes.
The moment I turned eighteen, the burden fell heavily upon my shoulders. My fingers had slowly peeled away the paper that concealed my present. A jade stone necklace, a tightly carved pattern in the shape of an eye. It was a silent reminder of the role I need to play, that no one ever expressly demands, but it's so painfully expected that the necklace now sits upon my chest, and I'm about to board a carriage to my new life.
"You're making me proud, Akara," she says, reaching up to tuck a stray curl behind my ear. It's the smallest movements that remind me how little I look like my mother. I got my father's foregin looks over her traditional Jade Province appearance. Dark hair, dark eyes.
I watch a single tear fall from her eyes, a thin, transparent strip.
"I'll be back in a few months," I assure her, wiping the tear away with my thumb. A few months. I can handle a few months, right?
The Jade Province is an especially devout place. Here, we believe in our Guardian's, or as they are referred to, our Tani. Tani can be Guardian's or predators, depending on your belief. Here, in the Village of Celeste, we believe in a particularly powerful Tani. One none of us has ever seen...but we know it exists. We feel its presence.
"Can a mother not be sad that her only daughter is finally grown up?" she breathes, smiling delicately. Her fingers touch the necklace. "And to fulfil exactly what you were born to do."
