Little did I know, as each year passed, I was being watched — by none other than the king himself. That was why, when I turned ten, I was stunned when royal guards pounded on the door of Isla’s cottage to move us to the castle. Isla knew of my abilities and helped me learn to control them, but she wasn’t truly my aunt. My birth and entire backstory remained a complete mystery. Dropped off on Isla’s porch in a basket with a single blanket and my name and birthday scrawled on a ripped piece of parchment, I was crying in the dead of night when she opened her front door to see an olive-skinned
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