Their meals had been delivered to them by various Guards, men who often said nothing or scoffed at their presence. Once, they had been lucky enough to receive trays from a scullery maid who offered a pitied smile.

Otherwise, they were left undisturbed.

Kealie thought it was a small blessing from Charya. Even though most of their time together was spent in silence.

She mulled over everything for the first time.

In days she'd escaped her village, discovered a sunken ship, met her half-brother, and broken the curse plaguing her entire life.

Not once had she stopped to think.

To consider.

Recounting how impulsive and careless she'd been.

After hours of grieving and a restful night - so she could gather - her sadness had morphed into a wave of seething anger that knew no bounds.

A rage powerful enough, Kealie began to see red. Her blood thrummed to life, pounding through her veins and burning her eyes until her leg was trembling against the cement floor.

The only distraction from her fury and disgust was the soft snoring of the Nerydian before her, turning in his sleep. This was the first time he'd been tired enough to lay down and with it, the sleep took him swiftly.

Nixian was the only person other than Lyre herself to show Kealie true kindness. He was the first to protect her, the first to make her laugh.

To make her smile.

Even the comfort his very essence provided made Kealie livid.

Not because he deserved it, but because he showed her that life and misery were not married. His kindness made her crave a better life, a peaceful life.

But what upset Kealie most of all was a world where her mother was willing to destroy the one good thing she'd ever known.

To burn him, to make a ceremony out of a soul's life.

Her mother's malicious sickness plagued this country for so long, Kealie didn't believe there was a solution.

A small tap on the door alerted Nixian and sent him launching out of the cot and halfway onto the concrete. He grimaced slightly as if he'd hurt his neck.

The door creaked open slowly, revealing the small brunette in nothing more than a white gown and thinly laced black corset. No book in her hand. No cheerful smile on her lips.

Kealie's stomach rolled, watching as her sister snuck into the room with a hesitation that broke her heart.

"Mother sent me to check on you," Lyre murmured, not lifting her gaze from the ground.

Kealie didn't know what to say, a lump forming in her throat as she grappled with the truth. She worried if their mother had lied to Lyre, but there wasn't much to lie about.

Her sister looked between her and Nixian carefully, weighing something before she asked any questions. "Is it true?" she asked hesitantly. "Did you really kill all of those men?"

With her mouth drying out like the desert sands, Kealie found she could only nod in response.

Nixian was staring between them, eyes flickering back and forth before he lowered himself onto the farthest edge of his cot. As close to Kealie as he could get without intruding on her space, without pushing.

She could feel the consideration.

"Technically she washed them out to sea," Nixian offered, fighting to keep the playful smile off his lips.

"And electrocuted them," Lyre snapped back bitterly.

His eyes flared and he huffed a dark laugh. "Oh you're right, but coming at us with batons is ethical? Burning our people, that's of moral heart? You'll take the side of your men because they are kin, whether or not there is good from it."

Lyre looked as though she were going to faint, the color draining from her cheeks as he continued.

Kealie felt her heart thundering in her chest, the heat pulsing through her body full of panic and sadness. There the anger began to flow again too, but she was mute. Lost in a sea of thoughts without words.

"Humans burn us for sport and you think you have room to condemn your very sister?"

The human girl looked at Kealie. Truly looked. Her eyes wandered over the scales, then flickered over to her waving tail and long golden hair. She'd never seen her sister so beautiful, yet so different.

Lyre appeared to be unable to decide whether Kealie was a beautiful creature or a monster to be slain.

"Are you my sister?" She asked, turning to Kealie.

Kealie nodded. "Yes, we share our mother..."

"But father..." Lyre whispered.

"King Tradel is not my sire," Kealie answered, fighting a sigh of relief.

To have such evil blood flooding her veins from both sides would be a tragedy.

"Then who...?"

Nixian's smile grew, short of boastful. He stared at Kealie with a sense of pride, a reaction so widely opposite from when he discovered it just days ago that it confused her at first.

But there was also something so comforting.

To be accepted by someone for the first time in her life.

"King Iyvers of Aelusia," Kealie said.

Lyre coughed, choking at the thought. "Mother would never!"

Nixian snorted, disgusted with her. "Yet here we are."

Kealie could see her sister struggling to hold her ground, wrestling with her inner demons. Lyre was not evil by nature, she did not look to destroy the lives of others or consider herself superior by default. Kealie knew that. But she also was aware of those subtle seeds Naida had been planting for years.

Seeds which had sprouted small misgivings and a blind eye. Their mother raised a bystander at best.

"So it's true then..." Lyre hummed to herself. "She bid me to warn you the Ceremony is tomorrow at sunset."

Kealie found herself reaching for the necklace that was no longer there, her hand finding its way over her lips.

"Why send you?" Nixian asked rather bluntly, raising a brow.

Lyre's eyes flashed with quiet rage before settling down. "Because they knew you wouldn't harm me," she said.

Her voice was tight, hints of detectable fear lacing the edges.

Of course Kealie would never hurt Lyre, she wouldn't even allow Nixian to. To be so afraid of her, Kealie knew it was what her mother played on. Her mother used it to confine Lyre to these traditions so that she might not erase them one day.

On her own throne.

Kealie's frown deepened, barely able to watch her younger sibling.

"They're coming for you in the morning," she explained, nodding toward Nixian. "They will take you in preparation for the Ceremony and take you-" she pointed to Kealie, "-to be bathed and dressed for an appearance."

An appearance.

Kealie's teeth groaned with clamped pressure. She'd be forced to stand vigil.

Forced to bear witness to her brother catching flames, to stand alongside Naida. Her mother planned to strip her credibility with her people, planned to erase any shred of safety Kealie might've had in the outside world, and trap her within the Estate forever.

She knew Kealie couldn't face another Nerydian again if they saw her assisting, burning their Prince.

Her mind was filled with the ashes of her brother floating into that forbidden sunset and Kealie gagged.

Nixian rose from his spot and stepped over, kneeling in front of her.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly.

Kealie shook her head but kept her focus on not breaking into a million pieces.

"I think you should leave," Nixian said to Lyre over his shoulder. "Thank you for the warning."

Lyre hadn't been dismissed like that once in her life. Certainly not in the cold, polite manner Nixian delivered it in.

"But-" she started, panicking slightly. "I-I'm sorry..."

Kealie looked just in time to see Lyre's tears as she shut the door.

"Everything is going to be okay," Nixian whispered to her, resting a hand on her knee.

She shook her head, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill once again. "No..."

Kealie thought back to the rage, to the fury waiting inside of her. Threads of magic inside of her, standing by until she could unleash herself on something.

But at what cost.

And how.

"How... How can they kill you if you've sealed yourself already?" she asked.

Nixian sighed, looking towards the walls in avoidance. "They weave spells into the flames, thus why it needs to be a ceremony for someone who becomes Immortal. It takes a lot of time to undo the seals."

Kealie's frown deepened. "How does one seal themselves? Here, the humans don't talk about it because they cannot..."

"Every bloodline, every creature seals themselves differently. The Fae seal themselves by entering Aphyre chambers and diving into their power until they meet their limit," he explained. "Nerydian's seal themselves very differently... It is often an extreme emotional reaction that heightens us... We lose control and tap into the vault of our power all at once, supercharging our gifts all at once."

Their eyes met, Nixian's softening with a vulnerability Kealie hadn't seen before.

"When... How... did you... Seal yourself then?"

"My mother was slain by a demon from Azuris. I witnessed it and afterward, I destroyed it..."

The silence wrapping around them was strange, yet comforting.

"I'm so sorry," Kealie said, resting her hand on top of his. "That's awful."

"We will make it out of this," Nixian answered calmly.

The words hung like a promise in their air, a tether giving them hope.

She had no idea how Nixian could know that, but for a reason unknown to her, Kealie believed him.

Word Count: 1,597           Total Word Count: 17,249