Page 35 of Tangled Sails

Tears of relief pricked my eyes and I shook my head. “Don’t be. It’s better this way,” I assured him as guilt marred his face.

“How can it be better?”

His utter confusion made me certain that I’d been wrong. “Isn’t magic a bad thing?” I asked.

“I don’t know, “ he said, his eyes darting about, obviously trying to work out all the implications of my revelation. “I’ve no experience with it.”

I wrung my hands as my world reordered itself and a knot of fear eased.

Finally, Tavric’s eyes settled back on me, questions written all over his face. “Why is it better that you lost your magic? Being able to heal…”

“Is an extraordinary gift, yes. So extraordinary that it was coveted and envied.” I lifted my chin again, feeling just a little defiant for telling him this truth. “And well used.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Well used?”

“You asked why my aunt kept me in that tower. That’s why. She believed it was my responsibility to use my gift to its fullest because if I’d had my gift when my parents fell ill, I could have saved them. She always resented me for not being able to save her sister, and she wanted to keep others from suffering that grief. If I was always in the tower, then the sick and injured always knew where to find me, so my magic could always be used. And anyone who wished me harm couldn’t reach me.”

His eyes darted around as he tried to make sense of it all. “Who wished you harm?” he finally asked.

I shrugged. “I had powerful magic, and powerful magic was coveted in my land. The High Court liked to have people like me under their control.”

He stood straight, his jaw working, forming words that never escaped, until finally he looked to me. “Here.” He gestured toward two chairs that sat in front of a nearby fireplace. “Come sit.”

I did so, and he sat on the edge of his own chair, leaning forward. “How did it work?”

I let out a little breath of relief, grateful that he was curious instead of suspicious. “As long as I was singing, someone needed only touch my hair and they would be healed.”

“Cuts? Bruises?”

“Yes.”

“Broken bones?”

“Yes.”

“Fever? Infection?”

“All of it.”

“Astounding.”

My eyes stung and I blinked. “All these years, I thought—I was told—that everyone outside of Branfrie hated magic. That they feared it.”

He let out a bewildered little chuckle, shoving his hands into his hair. “There are enough records and rumors of magic that I think we all know it’s out there somewhere. We assume the mermaids in these waters have magic, though our only understanding of their existence consists of mere rumors and rare sightings.” He studied me, almost like he was seeing me for the first time. “There is an entire land filled with magic?”

I nodded. “It wasn’t always that way. Magic first presented itself in our land seventy-five years ago. It was strong and random. Not many had it, and those who did found themselves in a position of power. A few strong sorcerers thought the land would be better ruled by a High Court of those with magic instead of by a royal family without.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “Why have I never heard of this land?”

“It’s shrouded. No one but the inhabitants know it’s there. I’ve always known it remained invisible to the outside world, but the fact that you don’t even recognize the name of it… I hadn’t expected that.”

He studied me for several moments, looking like he wanted to say something but was holding back. I waited him out, and finally he spoke. “Do you want to return?”

A deep, visceral reaction crashed through my whole body. The answer was a resounding and unequivocal no, but I worried that if I said that, Tavric would feel obligated to take care of me, and the last thing I wanted to be was a burden.

But I also couldn’t lie.

“Do you think I should?” I asked, terrified that he might say yes.