The Nation Charmer-Book 1

Chapter 16

Picture of Verne and August on the side.

Chapter 16

           Kayla shook her head. "That isn't my power." 

          "What is your power?" Dahlia asked, deliberately turning the subject away from Troy's amnesia. 

           Kayla looked vastly relieved and shot Dahlia a grateful look. "I'm a Magician of Earth and a necromancer." 

           "Isn't that something to do with dead people?" Dahlia asked, trying to remember what she had read in books. 

           Kayla nodded but before she could explain, Troy interrupted an eager look on his face. 

           "Could you bring Helen back from the dead, Kayla?" he asked. 

          Kayla was shaking her head even as he spoke. "Once someone is dead, they can't come back. Even if they were a magician." 

           Troy sat back, disappointment clouding his features. He had hoped desperately that he could get his sister back but apparently that was impossible. 

          Dahlia squeezed his hand again. She could practically sense his disappointment. Kayla rose and went to the shelf again to get some clothes. 

          Cedric leaned forward, his lips at Dahlia and Troy's ears. "Don't let Kayla see you holding hands," he whispered. "She hates relationships." 

          "Why?" Dahlia murmured back. 

          "I'll explain some other time," Cedric replied quietly. "Just don't let her blow her top." 

          Troy took a deep breath. He wanted Dahlia to be with him because she could make him calm. It wasn't just her magic. He literally forced himself to unfold his fingers from around her palm, slowing moving each one. 

           Cedric chuckled quietly and then sat back, picking up his soup bowl again. Dahlia turned to Troy, careful not to touch him again for she didn't want Kayla to get mad. 

          "Are you okay?" she asked. "You aren't in shock, are you?" 

          Troy laughed weakly. "Actually, my whole past is a shock. From what Ella and Olive told me, I knew that I was something special but listening to this made things have quite a different complexion." 

          Dahlia smiled slightly and then a thought occurred to her. "Kayla," she called, raising her voice. "If I'm descended from Edith, which of my parents is the magician?" 

           Kayla turned around again, holding a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. "It depends," she said. "Do you have a mother and father?" 

           Dahlia frowned. "No, I only have my dad. My mum left after I was born." 

           "I think your mother was the magician then," Kayla replied. 

          "How come?" Dahlia asked.  

          "She probably left to protect you from monsters and let you have a chance at a mortal life, like I did with Troy and Helen." 

           "But I didn't see her at the castle," Dahlia protested. 

          Cedric shrugged. "Some magicians are nomads, Dahlia. She might not have been there at all. What's her name?" 

          "Rachel Bolton," Troy and Dahlia said at the same time.