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    Gift of the Goddess
    Gift of the Goddess
    Gift of the Goddess
    Ebook88 pages1 hour

    Gift of the Goddess

    By Kaje Harper

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Desperate times call for desperate measures.

    Garvin’s worst fear is realized when he runs home from the fields to find his lover’s forge empty, his tools scattered, and the ground trampled by a band of soldiers. Nyle has been kidnapped and conscripted into the King’s army—a death sentence even for a big smith like Nyle.

    Garvin is untrained, unarmed, and nowhere near strong enough to take on one soldier, let alone a whole army. His household skills and a way with horses aren't much to work with, but he can't let that stop him. For the first time in his life, he prays to the Goddess for the help he desperately needs.

    He’s not expecting an answer. Particularly the one he gets.

    ~*~*~

    This is a rerelease of the 2012 Storm Moon Press story. It has been edited and polished, but there are no substantial changes.

    Content warning - contains a brief but intense on-page episode of non-consensual sex.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKaje Harper
    Release dateMay 10, 2018
    ISBN9780463464984
    Gift of the Goddess
    Author

    Kaje Harper

    I get asked about my name a lot. It's not something exotic, though. “Kaje” is pronounced just like “cage” – it’s an old nickname, and my pronouns are she/her/hers.I was born in Montreal but I've lived for 30 years in Minnesota, where the two seasons are Snow-removal and Road-repair, where the mosquito is the state bird, and where winter can be breathtakingly beautiful. Minnesota’s a kind, quiet (if sometimes chilly) place and it’s home.I’ve been writing far longer than I care to admit (*whispers – forty years*), mostly for my own entertainment, usually M/M romance (with added mystery, fantasy, historical, SciFi...) I also have a few Young Adult stories (some released under the pen name Kira Harp.)My husband finally convinced me that after all the years of writing for fun, I really should submit something, somewhere. My first professionally published book, Life Lessons, came out from MLR Press in May 2011. I have a weakness for closeted cops with honest hearts, and teachers who speak their minds, and I had fun writing four novels and three freebie short stories in that series. I was delighted and encouraged by the reception Mac and Tony received.I now have a good-sized backlist in ebooks and print, both free and professionally published, including Amazon bestseller "The Rebuilding Year" and Rainbow Award Best Mystery-Thriller "Tracefinder: Contact." A complete list with links can be found on my website "Books" page at https://kajeharper.wordpress.com/books/.I'm always pleased to have readers find me online at:Website: https://kajeharper.wordpress.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KajeHarperGoodreads Author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4769304.Kaje_Harper

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    • 5/5
      Short And great-written story with smart MCs who really fit together ;)

    Book preview

    Gift of the Goddess - Kaje Harper

    Gift of the Goddess

    Gift of the Goddess

    Kaje Harper

    SMASHWORDS EDITION

    * * * * *

    ©2018 Kaje Harper

    https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/KajeHarper

    Edited by Jerry L. Wheeler

    Cover art ©2018 Winterheart Design, winterheart.com

    Cover Photo – Dan Skinner Photography

    First edition ©2012

    Original editing S.L. Armstrong & Kristin Pavka

    Formatting by Beaten Track Publishing – beatentrackpublishing.com

    All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission of the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

    Image/art disclaimer: Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted is a model.

    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

    Content warning: For adult readers over the age of 18 only. This book contains explicit sexual situations between two men. It also contains a brief on-page episode of dubious- to non-consensual sex.

    Desperate times call for desperate measures.

    Garvin’s worst fear is realized when he runs home from the fields to find his lover’s forge empty, his tools scattered, and the ground trampled by a band of soldiers. Nyle has been kidnapped and conscripted into the King’s army—a death sentence even for a big smith like Nyle.

    Garvin is untrained, unarmed, and nowhere near strong enough to take on one soldier, let alone a whole band. All he has to work with are his household skills and a way with horses, but he can’t let that stop him. For the first time in his life, he prays to the Goddess for the help he desperately needs.

    He’s not expecting an answer. Particularly the one he gets.

    This is a re-release of the 2012 Storm Moon Press story that was included in the Carved in Flesh anthology. It has been edited and polished, but there are no substantial changes.

    Content warning: contains a brief on-page episode of dubious- to non-consensual sex.

    Contents

    Acknowledgements

    Gift of the Goddess

    About the Author

    Other Books by Kaje Harper

    Acknowledgements

    A big thank you to everyone in my Goodreads author group for all the encouragement, and particularly to Jaye, Sam, and Tully, for help with the blurb. Thanks to my editor Jerry for once again polishing up my prose and making this story better.

    Gift of the Goddess

    Ah, goddess! The pain! A flood of anguish burned across Garvin’s skin, stealing his breath, turning his vision red and hazy. He clapped his hands over his eyes, pressing until he saw flashes of light. Braced on his knees, he fought to stay upright. Don’t move, can’t move. Breathing lanced his chest with agony, and he held each breath until his lungs clamored for air. All he could hear was his own slow, harsh gasps. His skin felt scorched and charred down the length of both arms and across his chest, but he smelled no smoke or cooked flesh. He didn’t dare look.

    He’d begged the goddess for help, implored Rima for guidance, assistance, something, anything, help, please, without expecting his prayer to be answered. Clearly, he’d gotten her attention. But what kind of answer was this? By all the gods, it hurt!

    Eventually, he controlled his breathing enough to speak the ritual blessing. All thanks, Rima Who Made the Stars, for answering my prayer. All hail, Rima Who Made the Earth, to your power. All praise, Rima Who Bore the First Man, for your love toward your creations.

    As he spoke the final word, a touch like a cool hand blessed his burning forehead. He trembled with the effort of holding still, accepting the relief without leaning in for comfort. The sensation faded and was gone. Only silence and the nearly-unbearable fire that still spread across his skin remained.

    Garvin drew a slow, controlled breath. He’d never dared approach Rima before. He wasn’t one to petition the gods for anything. He preferred to live his life, do his work, keep to himself, and take the arrows of fortune as they came. But this had been for Nyle. For Nyle, he would storm the very gates of the heavens.

    Slowly, he became accustomed enough to the pain to notice other sensations returning. Crickets chirped in the grass, and summer leaves rustled in the evening breeze. He could smell traces of leather and horse clinging to his wrists. He was sticky with sweat, exhausted, and shaking, close to collapse. Not that he’d been in good shape when he’d ridden into the clearing, half-crazy with fear and desperate for any kind of guidance. His last faint hope had been this plea to the goddess.

    Did something work? Was that perhaps not punishment, but help? He remained frozen, barely breathing, not looking, because if the answer was no, then Nyle was lost.

    How could disaster happen so fast? One minute they were home and happy. Just another day. He’d had his duties with the house, livestock, and garden, and Nyle had his work at the forge. Then a moment later, Nyle was prisoner and gone, and Garvin found himself chasing after him in totally unprepared pursuit. In woefully unskilled pursuit, too― he’d lost them on a stretch of dry and rocky ground miles back. He’d cast around frantically and found nothing, no hoofmarks, no hint of a trail.

    In final desperation, he’d dismounted here and dug into his snatched-up saddle bags in a search for something, anything that might help. And he’d touched a candle. A ceremonial candle Nyle must have packed whenever he’d used the bags last. Garvin’s faith had never been strong enough to bother with such things, but he took it as a sign now. He’d gathered the dregs of his wavering belief in the gods and goddesses, lit the candle, and called on Rima. And begged.

    Rima, because she was strongest and first and mother of all. Rima, because she’d made mankind and loved the fair world, and had no association with soldiers and death. In his moment of need, he’d gone right to the top. It’d been hubris of the worst sort for a man who’d never paid more than lip service, to beg a favor of the goddess herself. But he’d done it. And out of all expectation, he’d been answered. He didn’t know if the pain was the answer or the price, but he’d been given something. Undoubtedly, she would expect him to figure out what to do with it.

    He lowered his hands and forced his eyes open, blinking to clear his sight. The glade where he’d set up his makeshift altar

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