Kenna stumbled, she hadn’t been here for a very long time. And what was Father thinking, bringing her back two days before they’d agreed?
Alyn, who was closest, reached out an arm to steady Kenna, then quickly jerked her hand back. The girl’s arm was hot.
“I’m fine, just need to sit down.” Her voice held no emotion, but she was staring intensely at Granda.
“I’m sorry, but who are you?” Conrad asked bluntly. He had stepped in front of his sister as soon as she had appeared.
“Conrad, Alyn, Amira, this is Kenna, Kenna -”
“I know who they are.” She scowled and sank to the floor, cross legged in front of Granda’s chair.
“- is my daughter.” Granda continued as though there had been no interruption. “Don’t worry, she won't bite.” Granda spoke lightly, although the wheeze in his voice was obvious.
“Unless provoked.” He added, with a smile at Kenna.
She did not smile back, but continued to stare at the old man. She raised her eyebrows as if in question.
He nodded, then said, “But first, I think we owe these three young people an explanation. You know I do not have long, and they will need to know how to contact you when the time comes.”
“ Yes, I think some explaining is in order.” Conrad said firmly. He was pale, but his jaw was set in a firm line, and he held his composure.
Amira placed her hand on Conrad's arm. “I don’t think she will harm us if Granda trusts her, Conrad.” she said gently, answer to the tall boy’s warning glance.
“She came out of that book!” He spluttered, pointing accusingly at the leather bound volume in Granda’s hands.“People aren’t supposed to come out of books!”
“Figured that out yourself did you?” snapped an irritable Kenna.
Conrad opened his mouth to retort, fuming.
“Granda, I am very curious to know how she could be your daughter. She seems not much older than me, and yet you are my grandfather.” Amira wisely interjected, before any verbal battles could ensure.
“Yes, I do see the problem there.” Said Granda looking between Kenna and Conrad with an apprehensive slant. He paused to cough into a handkerchief.
“I will get your tonic.” Alyn jerkily rose from her chair. She hadn’t spoken before now, and her eyes were full of worry and fear.
“No, I’m fine. Stay, you need to hear this story too Alyn.”
------------
Conrad was eyeing the girl, Kenna. She seemed perfectly at ease, as though she had not just appeared out of a book. She had dark brown hair braided past her shoulders, and dark eyes that were trained again on the window. There was a faint gold glow about her, the same that was around her book, which Granda placed carefully on the bed next to him.
He didn’t trust her for one second, but Amira and Granda seemed to. Alyn looked scared, but not, it seemed, because of Kenna. Probably at Granda’s request that she stay and hear the story.
“Ahem, so where were we?” said Granda, “ Better start right from the beginning. Well Marianne, (your grandmother) and I had been trying for many years to have a second child, your Mother, Rhia, already 7 years old.When Makenna was born one month early, she was very weak, and for a long time we feared she would die. However, as she got older, her strength grew, and with it, her power.
Now we had hoped she would have some form of power, as I myself discovered I had a power that developed early on in my childhood. And I, too, was the second in my family”
At this, Amira said excitedly, "So what are her powers, Granda?”
“Her powers were more than she could handle.” Said a frosty voice from over by the window.
“Oh, no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say it like that.” Amira looked apologetically at her, while Conrad frowned. He wished he could just throw her into the moat.
“That’s alright, Amira. Kenna never did learn like I did to control her power. Or her temper.” He threw her a warning glance. “She didn’t want to. Nor did she think she needed to.”
At this, Kenna got up and started walking over to Granda.
“My core power is heat, although I can only properly harness the energy from molten lava underground. I never realized what the level of destruction would be when I caused an earthquake that destroyed the barriers between some of the foundations of this world.”
