I was horrified, to say the least. Stupefied, terrified – and any other adjective you can think of.

The world had just been pulled from underneath my feet, and it was not a good feeling.

It was then that I understood my affinity for music, and my ability to learn languages easily.

I understood why I loved money, and gems in particular.

It all just fell together like pieces in an intricate puzzle.

I had left silently, leaving Ariana and Simon (I can’t call him father any longer, now can I?) to argue it out, and promptly spent every single day in my room until I was shipped out here.

Where is out here?

You could say…isolated, I suppose.

It’s a great, dreary castle on the edge of the sea, atop a sloping green hill.

There are no villages around for miles.

And out here, I find, I have discovered myself.

My abilities have enhanced, as has my mind, and my feelings of betrayal – they are still fresh and bitter in my heart.

I expect them to be.

After all, I’ll be around for a few more millennia.