Celine’s lip trembled as she held onto hope – hope that she would succeed – but a tiny voice inside her head warned her this feeling would turn into frustration, like it had all those times before. She glanced at Dagan, caught him staring at her behind, and he quickly averted his gaze. He liked gawking at her during their lessons, and most of the time she didn’t mind; she even liked it. However, her focus was never on Dagan; it was on trying to summon her magic.
She was standing on the beach, gazing at the open ocean. The waves were few, and a warm breeze played with her silky pink shirt. Celine had her hands stretched out in front of her, and her forehead felt tight, thanks to her frown. Her whole body was tense.
“You have to relax,” Dagan told her. “You can’t force your magic. It has to come naturally. Do you force your hands to be stretched out in front of you? No. It didn’t exactly take a lot of brain power to move them. Magic is the same.”
Celine sighed and dropped her hands to her sides while squeezing her eyes shut. When she opened them, she glared at Dagan, as if he was the reason she couldn’t open a doorway to another world.
“I’ve been failing for three months now. This is hopeless.” She inhaled the Evergreen Kingdom’s fresh, salty air and allowed it to clear her mind.
“You will find a way to get it right – I will help you,” Dagan said.
She wanted to believe him like she wanted to trust him, but she could not. In the end, he was dangerous and a trickster – like the rest of the Fata.
Three months before, she had made a deal with him – he would help her access the Everwhite dungeon to visit her childhood friend, Eric, by removing the guards from their posts. In return she would owe him. He had called in that favor after she announced to everyone that she was Celine Levane, lost princess of the Everblossom Kingdom. He had told her to live with him for one year. She had been reluctant to do so, but knew better than to cross the Fata. Celine had agreed to come, but she had never agreed to be nice to him. After all these months, she was still angry – he had tricked her when he had offered to remove the guards. Another way into the dungeon had existed, but he had not told her.
Dagan had won. Celine stayed in his castle, ate his food, and drank his wine, but she never gave him the one thing he so desperately wanted – her hand in marriage. This had been promised to him when she was a baby, so that the Evergreen and Everblossom kingdoms would be united. Of course, this had been before the Prenumbras had turned Celine human, before the Egress Key’s magic had entered her, and before she had been sent to live with the humans.
Why had Dagan even bothered with her? The Fata in the Everblossom Kingdom refused to have a mortal queen – although she possessed royal blood. They had selected a new ruler themselves – one of their own – Severin. They hadn’t let the other kingdoms participate in the voting because they felt the others had messed up the previous time when they had chosen Ruler Tarragon. Without a queen to maintain order between the kingdoms, they were free to do as they pleased.
“You’re not helping,” Celine mumbled. Hurt flashed crossed Dagan’s face, and Celine bit her tongue. Then again, Fata did not feel emotions as vividly as humans. She couldn’t possibly have hurt Dagan’s feelings. “Maybe your magic is different from mine, and that’s why you can’t teach me.”
Dagan was an Eternity Prince and one of the most powerful Fata on Earth. He was a patient, calm teacher who didn’t mind repeating himself, and his confidence made their lessons together enjoyable – although she’d never admit it out loud.
“All magic is energy; thus, your magic isn’t a lot different from mine,” Dagan said. “If you don’t control it, it will control you.”
Celine shook her head. “For seventeen years I didn’t even know I had magic.”
“Your magic was dormant, until you reached a place where the veil between worlds was thin,” Dagan said. “Opening the door behind the waterfall awakened your power.”
This served as a reminder of the whispering she had heard that had made her open the door. No doubt remained that it had been the Prenumbras whispering. They had called to her, desperate for her to set them free. And she had.
She had unleashed a Prenumbra that had possessed the queen and killed four Fata. Those deaths were on her shoulders, like mountains. She shuddered as she considered that more than one Prenumbra had come through. The door was still open – after all. That was why Dagan was trying so hard to teach her how to wield her power, so that she could close the door. She desperately wanted to close it but couldn’t, as she was unable to summon her magic.
“How did you open the door in the first place?” Dagan asked her.
“I… just pushed it open,” she said.
It had been easy and natural. When she had opened it, she had no idea that it was a portal to another world, nor did she know that she had magic.
Celine gazed past Dagan to the Evergreen castle that rested on cliffs overlooking the ocean. It was made from white stone and resembled an old-fashioned holiday resort, with four big towers on the outskirts. Palm trees and tropical plants grew everywhere. The sun was warm, and even from a distance Celine could hear music.
“We should take a break,” Dagan said, patient as ever. “We’ve been at it for hours.”
Celine hadn’t realized how long she had been standing there, trying to use her power. Her head hurt from the focus, yet she was unsatisfied and felt like a failure.
“You need to eat and rest, or your magic won’t recharge,” Dagan pressed.
She glowered at him because she didn’t need him to coddle her nor go out of his way to take care of her. No, that was what Caynin used to do. Pain rushed to Celine’s heart. She tried to push all memories of Caynin aside, because now even the happy ones hurt. She’d never trust that manipulative liar again.
“I know you can take care of yourself,” Dagan said.
“That’s right,” she said. “I don’t need you to protect me.”
“But secretly, you want me to.” Dagan regarded her intently.
She rolled her eyes. “I was once a Fata, Dagan. Compulsion does not work on me.”
Dagan understood his mind control only worked on humans, so maybe he was just trying to get a reaction out of her. “You need to cool down.”
There was no pollution in the Eternity Kingdoms, so the water was clear and clean. Despite the few waves, Celine felt the water kissing her toes. She had not moved towards the ocean – Dagan had brought it to her.
“Careful, I might drown you,” she threatened.
He laughed – showing he was not scared of a fragile mortal girl. When she had figured out that she was a princess, Celine had foolishly believed that she had power, but she had been wrong. Being human in the Eternity kingdoms meant she’d never have any power.
“You don’t hate me nearly enough to drown me,” Dagan said.
He acknowledged that he thought she hated him, and she understood why he felt that way. Most of the time she pretended to – but that was only because she didn’t want to get close to him. If she let him come too close, he would only rip her heart out like Caynin had.
Caynin. Who had lied and manipulated her to stay in his kingdom by telling her she was cursed and that if she left, she and her entire family would die. Caynin, with his piercing blue eyes and icy hair, with his soft lips he had pressed against hers—
“Your thoughts are deeper than these waters,” Dagan interrupted.
She had been daydreaming about Caynin instead of existing in the present. Celine kicked at the water so that drops splashed all over Dagan. He looked so different in his summer clothes – than when they had just met. His shirt was white with a floral print, and his shorts were red. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have mistaken him for a surfer or lifeguard.
He looked startled for a moment, then a challenging smile spread across his face. “Now you are in trouble.”
He spread out his arms, and a glance told her the ocean behind her receded from her to form a wave. Celine immediately stepped closer to Dagan – he could choose where the water would flow. She reached toward him and grabbed a handful of his shirt.
“If I get splashed, so do you.”
She expected him to make the water calm again, but Dagan wasn’t someone who caved when threatened. Instead, his smile widened as he brought his hands down abruptly – the wave neared.
“Dagan…”
He didn’t say a thing as the big wave came closer and closer. Celine’s heart was hammering with exhilaration, and she told herself he would deflect it. He did not. The big wave came crashing down on them, and Celine shrieked as she lost her grip on Dagan. The water washed all over her and sent her rolling.
When the water withdrew into the ocean, Celine coughed and snorted. Water had gone up her nose, and it was disgusting. She wiped at it before looking around for Dagan, who was standing at the same spot as before. He was dry – unlike dripping-wet Celine.
She got to her feet. “Seriously?”
“As long as you control your magic, it can’t hurt you,” Dagan told her.
Celine was about to scold him when a piece of paper that had washed up on the beach snagged her attention. It was folded and had Princess Celine written on it in scratchy handwriting. Curious, she reached for it and unfolded it.
Dagan was instantly behind her so he could also read the message: Someone is going to try to kill you.