Sealed within Kealie Gothalis are the secrets of a magic destined to flood her kingdom.
Trading her Mortality to disguise the heritage her mother fears most, Kealie is gifted with a blessing. She need only do one thing; keep her kingdom in the dark...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The brine dancing in the blustering winds sung to the song swimming in Kealie's veins. She'd sung back to it from time to time, tender and soft.
But she had gone too far.
So said the grip clutching her arm through a thick, embroidered cloak.
Kealie knew - as her mother hauled her through the dark night of fishing ports and crackling fires - she would never hear the aquatic songs again. Knew too, that the moonlight caressing her cheeks would no longer bolster the waves should she want them to roll.
Lost to every secret the tides had ever whispered to her and stolen from their soothing memories.
She'd done it this time, the nails piercing through soft fabric and into her skin told her. Kealie's mother dragged her small, stumbling frame through two different towns to the very outskirts, mumbling spitefully to herself.
The storms churned overhead, just like the pit of emotions swelling in Kealie's stomach.
Warm heat froze over as they reached a door and her mother quickly pushed through, tossing her inside.
Kealie scrambled on the floor, knees buckling when she tried to stand. Keeping her head down, afraid to look through the golden locks of hair falling before her vision, she trembled.
"Naida!" A sharp voice snapped.
"I do not care what you must do, I do not care what may happen," her mother hissed. "You are to fix her!"
Catching a glimpse of the Caster, fully clothed in various leathers, Kealie winced.
She'd begged before, pleaded with her mother not to take this strange magic away. She'd do better. She'd try harder.
She'd said those words so many times.
"Fix her?" The Caster echoed, a soft murmur now. "What must be fixed?"
"Carve it out if you must," Kealie's mother snapped, glaring down at her. "I want her Human by morning."
Kealie swallowed roughly, trembling again as the sound of boots stepping closer and closer to her small frame went from minutes to seconds away. They paused before her, the woman squatting down and taking Kealie's chin in her hands.
She tipped it up, examining her features.
"There is no such spell, no potion that can cleanse her overnight," the Caster said. "Only an enchantment, a blessing that may hide her until she is old enough to trade her Mortality."
Her mother's brows furrowed, unsure or unaware she didn't know.
Naida had heard of those who had traded their immortality, but never their mortal soul.
"She will seal herself at twenty, when the sun begins to set. Though she will be human, she will sacrifice her human lifespan in order to wash away the Nerydian blood."
