Free Rising Moon (The Rune Stone Trilogy) by Anne Haley Page B

one of the circles shined silver on her skin. The bases of the swirls were joined together, being held by a small symbol. She recognized this design immediately. Her father wore a necklace everyday with a pendent that was this design. Aylin rubbed her thumb over it, but it didn’t smudge. It was real.
                  She looked up to her mother, her mouth open in question, but her mother pushed back Aylin’s hair behind her ears. "Look," s he whispered, pulling a round mirror from her pants pocket. She held it up near the side of Aylin’s head and when Aylin looked at her reflection she jumped off the bench. 
                  " What are you doing? " Aylin asked her.
                  " Sit down. " Her mother ordered. Aylin sat down again, this time not as close. Her mother took her shaking hand and brought it up to Aylin’s ear. Aylin ran her fingers from the lobe toward the top, where now it formed a distinct point. She reached her other hand up, and the other ear was the same. Her heart raced and she couldn’t breathe. Full blown panic settled in and she started gasping for air. " Aylin, honey. " Her mother ran her hand up and down her back. " It’s okay. Take a deep breath, slowly. " It took a few minutes for Aylin’s breathing to come back down.
                  " What’s happening to me? " Aylin cried, tears welling in her eyes. She had become deformed before her eyes.
                  " The day you were born your father and I knew you were special. We knew what was meant for you and what you would become on this night. You are a faerie. " She touched Aylin’s face.
                  " A what? " Aylin half laughed, half cried. Her mother made little sense to her. There was something seriously wrong with Aylin, and her mother sat before her talking about magical creatures.  They needed to go to the doctor or something. Ears don’t change shape in less than a minute, and birthmarks don’t turn into tattoos. It’s impossible. Maybe she was dreaming. She was still in her bed, fallen asleep while reading her book. That was the only logical explanation she co u ld think of.
                  " There are magical creatures in this world, they aren’t myths or tales, " her mother started slowly. " They are real, and you are one of them. We knew the moment you were born. You were born with a caul. It’s a special gift passed down through generations. On the cusp of adulthood, when the child turns eighteen, the change begins.  For you, that is today. " She smiled warmly at Aylin. " You’re father was your guard, your protector, a different kind of faerie. When you were born he knew what his sole purpose was. It was to keep your secret and to keep you safe. When he died that duty was passed onto me. " She reached to her neck and slid the chain out from under her shirt, bearing the pendant her father had always worn. " You are a faerie, the moon faerie to be more precise. Aylin, daughter of the moon. "
                  She hadn’t been dreaming. What her mother told her that night seemed to ring true in her veins. She knew she had always been different, but she didn’t know why. Once her mother explained everything to her it had been like every nerve in her body settled, and an overwhelming calm washed over her. She didn’t feel the humidity of the air anymore; she only longed to feel the moonlight on her skin.
     
                  Terra looked back and forth between the two women, waiting for them to start laughing at their joke they were playing on her. But neither even smiled, and they were watching her, waiting for her reaction. So, she half-heartedly let out a nervous laugh. " Either I’ve drank too much wine or you just tried to explain to me how you’re a magical creature, " she said.
                  " Terra, this is no joke. What we are telling you is that you are a sidhe, a faerie, " Aylin said