I could only nod as I thought about what I would find in this book. Who was the oldest inhabitant of the island? Had I already met them? The book had no author clearly listed. Setting the book aside I took a moment to gather my thoughts.

“The longer I am back here the more I seem to remember the trivial things. Like dreams, I had as a child that I thought were nothing more than dreams. Events that I have no idea if they happened and no way to prove them. Yet, here I sit having already met two people that had factored into them so many times.”

“Trust me, princess, I understand. You were four years old when everything happened. You were brave and it was too late when I realized we had traitors in our midst. They learned the secret code to get you to go with them and not signal the guards. Then they took off and they were prepared for me to be the one to come after you. They knew that Eli would not leave the rest of the inhabitants to die. After all, he was older and stronger than I am and he would be able to cover more ground. We think that the legacy your mother left you, the Fae blood is what allowed your mind to be twisted and calmed and what helped shield you from us. I am sure if your parents were alive they would explain it all to us. Just know that they died protecting you, and Eli was devastated for the longest of times.”

I took a moment to let the words sink in. I had hoped that if this was truly the place that I was born that my real parents would be around. I wanted to ask them why they abandoned me. I grew up believing that the two people who raised me were my real parents until I was eighteen. Then they told me I was adopted and basically told me to get out. After the legal age, they were no longer responsible for whatever happened to me. It was also when I learned just how much disdain they had for me. I never did understand that. They found me and yet, they hated me for it.

“Do you know why it hurts to try to remember some of this? It feels like someone is stabbing my head and trying to prevent me from remembering. It feels as if the information I need is buried under a cave in or a mound of snow and all I must dig with is a spoon. The king is now awoken and I am here and I have no idea what that means.”

“Please. Read the book. Spend time thinking about it all and then some things will be clear. There are some things I cannot tell you and some things I will not, at least not now. You just returned and while I know you have a lot of questions, you must understand that we do not want to overwhelm you. The last thing anyone wants is to be forced to follow some path that they do not even remember to agree to be a part of. Please read. I need to step out for a while. If you need anything, Juniper will be just outside the door. Just step outside and she’ll take you anywhere you want to go and get you anything you need. She is your personal servant.”

Nodding a moment, I let my eyes look at the book in my lap again as I thought about what I would find within its pages.

Nestling myself within the seat I opened the book and slowly took a moment to understand what I was about to read. Here was the entire history of Elias, and his family. It was the history of Summermarsh and I was unsure if I wanted to know all of this. This place felt so surreal to me. Like a place that I belonged when I had not belonged anywhere else.

Every story has a beginning and some an ending as quickly as it began. This is a story with an ancient beginning that has yet to reach its end. This is the story of Summermarsh and the Blackthorn rule. Our story starts on an island hidden away from the prying eyes of the humans. An island gifted life by the Fae themselves, a sanctuary for the supernatural. It was meant to be a place of peace. To live out their lives without the interference of the mortals, or the fear and hostility but the first inhabitants of the island were wild things. Where there should have been friendly creatures there were murderers and tormentors. Those that sought to usurp the rights and privileges of others.

The Fae, being the secluded race that they are being quite unhappy to see the state of things so they sent four very special people to gather the people and get them back on track. To the forests to the west, they gifted the power of the wolves, and the ability to phase at will. Their designated ruler was the eldest of the Blackthorn children, Leviathan.The Alpha of the Werewolves. Within the city, and the magic surrounding it and Castle Blackthorn they gifted the power of magic and spells to the eldest of the Blackthorn sisters, Matilda the Prime Witch. To the north, they granted the sea, beaches and the ocean to the youngest of the sisters, Diana, Queen of the Mermaids. That left one, the High King. The one chosen to rule them all. The only one of his kind allowed on the island. The youngest of all the Blackthorn children, but the only one that could manage to remain even remotely human while cursed with Vampirism. Elias.

They will be the rulers and the protectors. Or they should have been. Things were slow to start in Summermarsh and the island needed to prosper. Each could rule their area their own, way but they must check in with the High King as he had final say.

In the first years of the island things remained calm when the four leaders took over, but as with any new area there were those that thirsted for power, that desired for more than they were due.

War started. War ended. There was almost complete devastation. The Fae stepped in again, reluctantly. Choosing to side with the Vampire and the Werewolf. They were the only two to defend the inhabitants and try to end the war. Elias lost much in the war and the Summermarsh as we know it was created. With his sister’s deaths new rules had to be appointed but this time, he would make the choice. He would decide who was in charge and they would follow his rule.

It quickly became apparent that Elias could not rule alone, even with his older brother Levi at his side. No, the vampire would need a queen. Someone to balance out the darkness of the ‘gift’ granted to him by the Fae. The beings of light realized that it was their own actions that had caused so much of the problems and they sought a way to rectify it.

They would sacrifice one of their own. A princess of the light. She would become the Queen of Light and with the King of Blood they would finally rule over a peaceful and prosperous Summermarsh.

They did not expect perfection out of their chosen. Rather they wanted someone imperfect. They needed a woman that would be both harsh and compassionate. Who would understand the difference and learn to adjust when it was needed. She needed to be someone who could face hardship and overcome it rather than allowing it to weaken her. She had to be the truly unique of the Fae for all their beings are perfect. The Ruling Council of the Fae had no idea when this person would be born, they could only promise that it would happen and on that day, she would be marked on her soul as belonging to the King of Blood.

Elias understood that it was best not to question the will of the Fae. They had gifted both himself and Levi with immortality, and had his sisters not betrayed them they would have received the same gift. Instead, he sought out ways to increase the population of the Island and keep it going without alerting too many people to its location.

Even now as we right this we know that Elias was the best choice for High King. He is the true leader, always sacrificing for his people and so many see it but they do nothing to thank him. We fear that when the Queen of Light arrives, things will change, and not exactly for the better for some. She will be found and then lost and the found again.

The second finding is the one that is still fuzzy to us. We see that she will be an adult before she returns. Untrained in both her powers and the knowledge of her people hidden within her heart and head. If this turns out to the truth we have come up with a backup plan. It would mean that someone has meddled by taking her away and she will need to learn who she really is. That is why we have set up trials. Should she fail, which we see as highly unlikely, there will be no peace. Should she pass, all will be made clear and the Queen of Light will start her rein.

Please let the Queen of Light succeed. Should she be reading this, her first task is to find us. Go to the beach to the north, call out for Idira, she will bestow a gift and find us at the sunken site of the first great Mermaid city. The former home of Diana, the Betrayer Queen.