Naya

Urzites – telepathic animals of many species found originally only on the southern island of ‎Urz. ‎
Receptives - humans who are able to hear the Urzites. Only about one person in eighty or ‎ninety is a Receptive. Most Receptives can only hear the animal who has chosen to be their ‎partner, although there have been recorded instances of very rare people, SuperReceptives, ‎who can hear more than one Urzite. ‎
The Warden Corps – a government-sanctioned force within which the Receptive-Urzite pairs ‎function. The Wardens and their Urzite partners are mostly used as espionage agents and ‎scouts in the ongoing war with the neighbouring nation of Zeranda, although some are also ‎involved in search and rescue and also in recruitment and the finding of new Receptives.‎

Hartan got reluctantly to his feet. “I’ll come back tomorrow,” he said as he passed ‎through the door I held open for him.‎
‎“Don’t bother. The answer will be the same.”‎
He turned as he stepped past me, that dreadfully earnest expression on his face again. ‎‎“Naya, you don’t understand!” he said urgently. “You’re a SuperReceptive. Don’t you realise ‎how rare that is?”‎
‎“How could I?” I said, wishing he’d just take the hint and leave. I didn’t want to have to ‎slam the door in his face, but it was beginning to look as though that was the only way I was ‎going to get rid of him. “I’d never heard the term before tonight.”‎
‎“There have only ever been a handful of SuperReceptives reported,” Hartan said. “Even ‎if we assume that there were as many again that weren’t recorded, that still means only one or ‎two in each generation. We need you, Naya. You can’t just sit here and sell vegetables and ‎ignore such a great gift.”‎
‎“Watch me,” I said. “Just because I can talk to more animals than someone else can ‎doesn’t mean I’m going to be a better spy, does it? I don’t want to be a spy, Hartan. I’m ‎perfectly happy with my life the way it is, and that’s my final word.”‎
He didn’t look happy, but he did at least finally take the hint and leave.‎
‎“Take my word for it,” he said as he stepped outside. “You will regret this decision.”‎
‎“I somehow doubt that, Hartan, but I’ll take that risk,” I said.‎

Naya Sheydaughter is perfectly happy running her business as a vegetable seller in her local ‎market. So when recruiter Hartan Igellson comes to town looking for her, she isn’t best ‎pleased, especially since the Wardens are regarded with suspicion in Harat and her neighbours ‎suddenly don’t want to know her any more. ‎

Learning that she has been identified as a Receptive it’s a case of thanks but no thanks. She ‎has a business to run. She can’t afford to leave it for a month just to find out if some animal ‎might want to be her friend, and she doesn’t want to be a spy anyway. It all seems very ‎straightforward. That is, until the recruiter discovers that she is a very rare SuperReceptive. ‎Determined to bring in the greatest find of his career, he sets about destroying her business ‎and her life in an effort to force her to come with him. ‎

But Naya is equally determined not to let him win in such an underhand manner. With ‎nothing left to lose, she runs away and takes to the road, determined to rebuild her life ‎somewhere far away from Hartan Igellson, Urzites and the Warden Corps. She has no ‎intention of having anything to do with an outfit that treats her the way Hartan has. ‎
But will she be left alone to build a future for herself that she actually wants to live? Can she ‎avoid being found when the entire Warden Corps is searching for her, the greatest find in a ‎century? ‎
Naya is the first book in a new fantasy series. ‎