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...
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"My father never had a daughter," Nixian repeated himself.
He burned tracks into the ground as he paced, while Kealie stared in horror at the bile on the Caster's floor.
As if she'd be ejected from her body.
The only thing Kealie couldn't wrap her head around was the way in which her mother could be capable of ensnaring another man.
Her step father was just as corrupt and everything Kealie had ever heard about the King of the Sea was many moons away from that.
Nixian stopped to examine Kealie, drawn up tight on the ground. She was shaking her head slowly at first.
She felt him truly looking at her.
A human girl - a weak, fragile mortal - curling into herself.
"You're wrong," Kealie stammered, trying to pull herself together.
Nixian's brows furrowed together. He looked from Kealie back to the Caster. "I don't understand, how did you hide his daughter, my sister?"
In the middle of a mental tug of war, Kealie did realize Nixian was on the outside. So unaware of what the Caster was saying to them, to her.
"I'm not wrong," she replied, still watching Kealie. "When the King wouldn't join his lover on land, she swore a great many vows and when she discovered she bore his offspring, a greater piece of her broke."
Kealie felt her throat swelling again, burning with every breath.
She kept her eyes trained on the hardwood, unable to meet her friend's stare.
The Caster took several calm strides toward her before squatting down in front of Kealie just as she had done all those years ago. She offered her hand, palm out, very slowly before holding onto the jade gem hanging around Kealie's neck.
She watched with bated breath as the woman gave it a gentle tug before making eye contact with Kealie's soul.
"When the King's lover attained power and rose to her throne, she began her despicable acts, torturing anyone that reminded her of all that she had lost," The Caster murmured, explaining very softly. "And one night, when her meddlesome daughter drowned four sailors who were trapping and killing Leviathan, his lover dragged her all the way to my home in the dead of night to have me fix her."
Kealie felt like she was going to be sick again.
Fate might have bound her to Nixian, but being prepared to accept just why her mother had become so evil was the most challenging thought of all.
The words were enough to make Kealie consider asking for a towel or a bucket.
"What are you saying?" Nixian demanded again.
The Caster held Kealie's gaze. Steady. Reassuring.
"That was the night I made her daughter a potion. One that would conceal her true identity and bide her time before her mother grew too frustrated and took a life that was not hers to take."
