Renegade

For ten years, since she fled from the College where the magically gifted are taught, Kisea has been living on the run, concealing her unusual and frightening telepathic gift. Only her sorcerer ex-lover Matt knows, and has been looking for her. When his cousin is kidnapped, matters quickly grow even more complex.

Ten years ago, at the College where sorcerers and telepaths and lifewitches learn about their gifts: boy meets girl, girl discovers her own frightening abilities, boy loses girl when she runs away from the authorities who would condemn her for those abilities.

Ever since, Kisea has been in hiding as a renegade, with a new name, never staying anywhere long, never letting anyone find out too much about her. The uncommon telepathic gift that earns her blessings when she heals minds would, if anyone knew its full nature, evoke only fear and horror: controllers are, after all, monsters from a fireside tale.

The one person Kisea has ever trusted completely, during the interval between a childhood of inherited shame and an adulthood of paranoia, is the one person who knows what she is and the one person who would recognize her immediately – and he’s under an Oath to return any renegade to the College by any means necessary.

Ever since, Matt has been watching for her, and looking for a way to help. She’s still alive, at least; knowing what to watch for, the rumours and traces of an ever-moving half-siren mindhealer of extraordinary strength are unmistakable. Now in a position of considerable authority and responsibility, he believes he knows a way – if he can only find her and persuade her to listen to him.

She’s the last person he expects to trip over when his highborn cousin Kallima is kidnapped, but when the situation turns out to be far more complicated than it appeared, that unlikely chance could make all the difference for everyone involved.

For those interested in that: there are no trans characters in this one, it's too old, and no same-sex romance, just some hetero poly romance. If I ever get to the sequels, that will change.

Dedicated to everyone who has ever been certain that the world has no place in it for them, and those who help to create a place.

Content Warning

Siren sexual nature is misunderstood by many in Caalden, and as a result they are frequently the targets of sexual abuse. Sirens being what they are, they don’t really differentiate between kinds of assault, but that’s limited help. It is never portrayed as positive or excusable, but there are a couple of mildly explicit scenes and multiple passing references.

This is a world with multiple cultures crammed in close together, and their attitudes towards other races, sex, gender, relationships, and other things vary. This is not a universally-accepting or universally-peaceful setting and in some places, discrimination is considered normal, while in others, it’s considered unacceptable. As usual with my work, efforts are being made by our heroes in the direction of diversity, although it isn’t happening overnight.

This one has a bit of a history behind it. This, and others eventually forthcoming about the same family, are a resurrected version of some of my oldest writing, which I tried an experiment with. I'm too pleased with the result to condemn Kisea, Matt, and company to oblivion, even if it probably isn't objectively the best thing I've ever written.

Find it elsewhere: https://prysmcat.com/renegade/ UK folks, please note that itch adds VAT, and there’s nothing I can do about that: technically speaking, it’s a sale of access to a project, which could include material other than just the ebook file. Consider Patreon or email me!