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...
Kealie felt every cell in her body prickle as he looked her over, wondering just what he might've thought.
"My name is Nixian," he answered at last. "Who am I telling?"
She quite liked his name. Nixian. It rolled in the back of her throat and Kealie found herself wishing to say it aloud. Instead, however, she centered herself and considered her options.
Her circumstances.
If Nixian had meant to harm her or hoard her, he'd had an awful lot of time to do so. He didn't seem to mind who she was, let alone wonder.
So she decided for once in her life the full truth might be her best option.
"My name is Kealie Gothalis..." her last name slipped from her lips like acid, hitting the air with foul, quiet notes.
Never once had she thought she'd utter her heritage to a Nerydian. Never had Kealie considered admitting to the blood she'd hated from birth.
Her mother wished her a mortal girl.
Kealie wished her humanity, her small features, and cruel lineage were stripped from her instead.
Nixian didn't flinch.
His face remained passive and unreadable.
As if waiting for her to finish the sentence. She hadn't gotten that far, if anything expecting to be thrown into the fire he'd used to save her life. But she swallowed the iron rising in her throat and tried to find the words.
"I can't go home..." she found herself whispering. "I can't bear witness to that carnage anymore, I can't..."
"Carnage?" Nixian asked, tipping his head in confusion.
Kealie felt her throat turning to steel, freezing over at the thought of having to explain. The smell was starting to pollute Nynoli, he must know.
"I have to find a Caster in Natansia," she explained, forcing herself into an upright position for the first time.
Nixian laughed again, shaking his head. "Natansia is filled with Casters, they founded this continent."
Kealie blinked.
She couldn't stop the surprise from lining her face.
"Founded?"
Nixian came to the fireside and set another log against the flames.
His movements were fluid. Both certain and graceful, they carried actions without hesitation.
Confident.
"Did you come from the Capital, then?" he wondered aloud. "I recognize your surname from Nynoli, so I suppose you know history from a human's perspective."
"From Luverie, yes..." she mumbled the words.
Nixian flinched slightly that time, weighing the statement carefully.
All the hope Kealie had amassed in the last several moments was ripped away as she saw the realization heating his gaze. "Humans like to think they discovered this continent, however ridiculous that is. The late Therian Queen, Locosta Dalaminai discovered Nynoli with her husband, Hale Gothalis. You're great Grandfather from the smell of it... But I don't imagine you're a Lynali child."
Lynali...
The word sounded familiar to Kealie, but she couldn't quite place it. Educated as she might be, Naida had only given her the history books she'd wanted her to read.
Her confusion must've been obvious, though. Nixian scoffed again and came to sit on another large boulder several feet away.
"You don't even know what that means, do you?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"Who sired you, Kealie?"
"I never met my father," she replied, frowning.
"And your mother?"
Kealie couldn't master herself enough to mask the snarl on her face. "Naida Gothalis."
Nixian visibly paled.
Kealie knew it had to be because of her mother's practices. Her brutal punishments had Kealie constantly considering how they might inevitably be to torture her and turn their citizens against her.
But something else lurked in his thoughts too.
Something Kealie couldn't read.
"What use is a Caster to you?" Nixian asked, ice softening his words.
There it was, the disgust.
She knew it had to be there.
Kealie's words clogged together in her mouth, jumbling up against her lips. Saying anything would be a death sentence.
Digging her mental heels in, she tore at those strange, powerful chains in her mind.
Kealie's eyes seared and burned, sizzling with intensity. Her veins boiled, spidering pain echoing throughout her body.
"I need help..." she ground out, panting. "I won't be safe until I find her."
Nixian's eyes narrowed in on her until understanding softened them. "You're cursed, aren't you?"
"You could say that," Kealie muttered. "My mother calls it a blessing."
"And the Caster did that to you?"
She nodded again.
The pain subsided as cold air brushed through her like a giant wave of relief.
When Kealie could feel her body again, she realized Nixian's demeanor had shifted completely.
He was thinking, looking from her to the sea with strange expressions passing over his face. None of them lasted longer than a second.
Kealie wondered what songs the sea sang of her.
If it even sang at all.
Nixian likely heard the songs too, even sighing as if they spoke to him. As if they told him what to do.
Dark clouds cusped the horizon line, creeping steadily closer to them as dusk grew. The turquoise sea churned into black ink, the golden skies vanishing into soft velvet purples.
The sight seemed to nag at Nixian.
"I thought you were going to freeze to death," he said, considering for a moment. "but Natansia is only a few hours from here. When you feel well enough, I can take you there."
"Why would you do that?" Kealie asked, focusing her attention on the fire.
"Because I've never known a Leviathan to risk their life for a Human," Nixian answered. "And I'm going to find out why."
Kealie swallowed uncomfortably but nodded.
At this rate, he very well might.
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