A mage's Awakening Ceremony is supposed to be the happiest day of their life.
Kaelen's began with a funeral. She was nineteen, on the cusp of womanhood, and born for greatness.
Attendants braided her white hair in silence.
Each twist pulled like a reminder.
Silver cords looped into tide-knots. Saltstone opals cascaded down her thick braid like a waterfall. A style only worn by those chosen to be High Tide.
Another fit her elf-ears with mother-of-pearl earrings, careful not to pull too sharply.
Hurting the future High Tide was a crime punishable by death.
Kaelen, impatient and hungry, wiggled her feet in the ceremonial slippers. Pretty, but not what I want.
"I know what you're waiting for, little sea bunny," her mother said warmly. An attendant was beside her in an instant, the crown ready on a cream colored pillow.
With gentle and experienced hands, Lady Merial Tidestrike placed the Tidestrike heirloom on her head.
At last, I truly feel ready to take on the Awakening.
It was a delicate silver tiara decorated with pearls like drops of blood. For thirteen years she'd envied the way her mother's most trusted attendant fit the crown upon her head.
And now it was hers.
The robe she wore had been passed down through six generations. Each one embroidered with oceanic sigils, and every thread painstakingly soaked in spellwater.
Ancestral rites sealed its beauty.
Kaelen remembered it feeling itchy against her skin.
Like it knew it didn't belong to her just yet.
But when she heard her cousin Neris gasp--she knew the transformation was complete.
"It's tradition, after all. Soon you will be the nation's beloved High Healer."
Normally her mother's love was protected by a thick layer of discipline.
Today it started to change. Her mother almost sounded like she loved Kaelen unconditionally.
And to her, that was what made this day utterly perfect.
Mentally, she told herself the words she whispered during her training.
I am a Tidestrike, and that is no small thing to be. Destined to become the most beloved ruler in Aqualis, like my Queen Mother before me.
In the mirror, Kaelen locked eyes with Neris for a moment--her ocean-blue gaze into Neris's black. Her cousin had always been a dark mirror to her, charming in her own way.
But so is she.
+
The whole of Aqualis was awake before the sun. Sea-glass lanterns swung on coral archways. Children chalked lucky spirals onto the stone paths.
Priests rang bells in threes.
Three tides, three trials, and three truths.
And every single one of them believed Kaelen was destined to pass.
Lady Merial Tidestrike entered the atrium last.
She wore the High Tide sash--dark blue silk that shimmered like deep water. On her face was the practiced expression Kaelen learned to fear. Calm, composed, and calculating.
She placed a hand on Kaelen's shoulder.
"Be worthy," she said. "Or be forgotten."
The words still chilled Kaelen's heart, even if she knew there was nothing to fear. She was just walking toward her destiny.
She nodded, the way she was taught.
Behind her was Neris, always one step behind and one word beneath. Her hair was knotted incorrectly. Her cuffs wrinkled. She smiled as she caught my gaze a second time.
Kaelen would never forget: her cousin's eyes were dry that day.
+
They sat for the ceremonial meal. Three red abalones--the sweetest treasure Aqualis could offer.
Three drops of reef tea. No salt because purity demanded it.
Kaelen smiled, nibbled, and sipped.
Pretended she wasn't shaking.
+
The grand procession began at dawn. People lined the walkway between the coral towers and whispered their blessings.
"High Tide," they called.
"Light of the Sea."
Kaelen walked barefoot, as the custom required. The tide was out. Her shadow stretched behind her, long and thin and sharp against the temple stones.
They passed the House of Names, where the walls were decorated with every past healer's spirit sigil.
All powerful women in their own right. Her great-grandmother. Her aunt.
All watching.
Waiting.
"Do you feel them?" Neris whispered behind her.
"No," Kaelen said truthfully.
She didn't say what she did feel: the pressure against her chest. The too-still silence beneath her skin.
+
They reached the sea temple's pool.
The water glowed faintly, incandescent with trace magics. It was said that the ocean itself would whisper to the chosen.
That the moment of Awakening would feel like coming home.
Kaelen stepped forward, her robe feeling heavier instead of lighter.
The priests fell silent.
Her mother raised her hand, and Kaelen walked to the edge.
+
The water was still as glass.
She stepped in, and the cold water lapped around her legs. Kaelen's ceremonial robe floated around her, a dark-blue halo. She moved to the center, hands open and breath even.
Just like they taught me.
One inhale to welcome the tide.
One exhale to honor the past.
Lastly: the name.
The sacred name she was born into, to claim her birthright and her destiny.
"Kaelen Tidestrike," she announced confidently.
"I call to the sea that bore me!"
Silence surrounded the temple.
+
Kaelen closed her eyes.
Reach inward, and downward. Feel the blood in your veins mimic the motion of the waves. Focus, Kaelen.
Her lungs slowed, and she opened herself to the elements.
But there was nothing.
No pull.
No light.
No warmth.
No magic to speak of.
The water remained still.
So still it felt personal.
Kaelen opened her eyes, wondering where she'd gone wrong.
The priest frowned, deep lines carved onto his normally friendly face. Neris stared, her pink lips parted slightly. Like she'd just witnessed a small and beautiful death.
Breathlessly, Kaelen glanced at her mother--
Lady Merial Tidestrike.
Unlike Kaelen, the water clearly loved her mother. She saw the way the waves sparkled and the ripples appeared with every step.
She looked at her daughter, eyes a cool steel blue.
Her gaze didn't change.
She just lowered her hand.
That small gesture was all it took to change the trajectory of Kaelen's life.