When Nepenthe was just a girl, her mother would take her beyond the River into the woods for every phase of the North Lights. There, hand in hand, she and the others in the Coven danced and sang and performed big magic, important spells that could change the course of history.
Under the glow of the North Lights, season after season Nepenthe would visit her aunts, the Witch of the Woods and the Fire Witch. Her mother had been the River Witch once. Nepenthe could be the River Witch if she chose to be. They would teach her what it meant. That was what was hanging in the balance.
Being half mermaid/sea creature, Nepenthe had inherited certain powers from her mother. She was learning to control water and to harness its force and strength. The Coven taught her more and more each time, pushing her to know when to attack, when to defend, and how to let the water ebb gently. Nepenthe was smart and stubborn. But the water required the ability to release as well as to control. To let it go and to rein it in. As much as it was a part of her, it still seemed to have its own will, its own path. Nepenthe found that that was the funny thing about water. It always finds a way into places.
Each time she trained, Nepenthe never saw her mother grow sad about losing her power. But she could tell that she missed her sisters. And Nepenthe thought, or at least hoped, that no matter what choice she made, the River Witch would still come down to the side of the River.
Then one night in their home above the Grotto, Nepenthe was woken up by her mother just as the moon finished its rise. They were not going to visit the Coven. They were going to see the King of Algid, who needed their help.
Nepenthe’s father, Prince Eric, was a prince of one land, but he was not the same kind of royalty as the King. Even Nepenthe’s father bowed low in his presence.
Nepenthe’s confusion mounted as she took in the King’s royal carriage that drove them to the palace. It was so heavy with gold leaf that she wondered how the black stallions that stood before it ever moved an inch.
Nepenthe and her family led a purposely quiet life. How did her mother know the King? And more importantly, how could they help him?