Page 66 of Forgotten Arcane

Calia nods and frowns slightly, “Yes, I see your point and agree that we probably could have told you before now.”

“So, I know that you aren’t in Trieneliea anymore and don’t have access to your kingdom, but do all of the water supes still come to you like they would if you were?” Van asks curiously.

“Yes,” Eamon replies. “We still run things as we would, in the sense that we still handle disputes, laws, and all of that sort of thing, and of course, we own this compound, and a lot of water supes choose to live here.”

“That’s really cool, actually,” Reed chimes in, and they smile.

Calia looks at Evander, “You won’t have to worry about taking over, or even beginning to learn what it takes to rule, for a good few years yet, and even when you start to learn, you won’t take over for a long time.”

“Thank fuck for that,” Van mutters, making his parents laugh. “You guys choose to have everyone treat you informally.”

“Yes,” Eamon replies, even though again it wasn’t really a question. “Which is why you didn’t realize for so long exactly who we are.”

“Yeah, I did have a few weird interactions that I brushed off,” Van admits, and some of the guy’s smirk.

I bet there’s a story there.

“Do you have any other questions?” Calia asks.

Van nods, “We know that you used the kelpies in the war, and you, of course, now know thanks to the Choosing that we have Bonded kelpies.”

They both smile proudly as they look around at all of us.

“Yes, that was quite a surprise. The kelpies haven’t accepted a bond since we came over here, we haven’t been able to get near them, and our Kelpies were left behind,” Eamon replies. “Only a few came over with us, and of course, there were kelpies already here and in hiding from the humans.”

My eyebrows rise, “Really?”

Calia nods, “Yes, nothing that we have tried to do has worked, so we were quite surprised when you all managed to call a kelpie to you when you needed one.”

“It seemed like they had been yours for a while as well, since their coats were so bright,” Eamon adds.

Van nods, “We hadn’t been bonded to them for that long. Neith nearly got eaten by kelpies, and then she saved the one that turned out to be her one while escaping, and then we saved them all from scavengers. It’s a long story.”

Calia smiles, “You proved yourself worthy of the bond.”

“I have a question,” I say. They both look at me, “Why is the whole herd changing color? Sully told us that ours would, but he didn’t say anything about the whole herd changing alongside them.”

“They’re changing slower than our Bonded Kelpies, but they are still changing. They’re not nearly as dull in color as they were,” Raiden explains.

“Plus, we had no idea that they were on our property until Neith nearly got eaten by them,” Griff adds, and then frowns. “In fact, we are all pretty much one hundred percent certain that the lake wasn’t there.”

“Are you sure that it wasn’t there before?” Eamon asks.

Evander nods, “Absolutely. I always know where the nearest water sources are, and it was found close to the house. There’s no way that we could have missed it.”

“Is there anything else that has happened with the kelpies that you know to be out of the norm?” Calia asks.

“Maybe one of you can call the whole herd rather than just their bonded kelpie?” Eamon surprises me when he asks.

Everyone looks at me and I nod, “Yeah, I accidentally called them all to me without meaning to. Fortunately, it wasn’t witnessed by anyone but us.”

Calia and Eamon grin as they share a look, and then they frown.

“Shit, the silencing spell,” Calia says. “We won’t be able to tell them.”

“If you mean the one that prevented you from talking to me about my parents, I think that you should be able to talk to me now. I know that they are the King and Queen of Trieneliea, I know that I lived there for the first five years of my life, and I know that my father came over here with me even though he wasn’t supposed to.”

They both just stare at me in absolute shock for a moment before big smiles light up their expressions.

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