Book 18: Magical Storm

Zayn

I was twenty when my father found me on the beach, sopping wet and covered in sand. It was a strange day, to put it lightly. The weather was terrible, roiling and violent, though I suppose I was used to that. I couldn’t remember how I ended up there. I have hazy memories of him kneeling in front of me, clutching my face between his hands and shouting my name over, and over. But that was the moment. The night the stars aligned, deciding my destiny. The night everything about my upbringing ceased to matter. 

Father’s tenure in Meridem was supposed to be life-long. That was the rule for governors–one step below the Principate in hierarchy of wizardry. He was supposed to keep Meridem and the shifters who called it home in check, to ensure the laws of the wizards were followed, and beat into submission anyone who disagreed. 

Meridem was