Kailyn was born from a whore house in Cerak At'Thul. The only reason she didn't end up dashed on the cove rocks like the other consequences that sometimes came from those houses were because of her eyes. Pools of liquid amber honey. There were rumors of an ancient elf ruler of the city that had eyes like that. A story turned into a figure of worship turned into a legend. The head of the whore house decided to keep the whelp to sell into slavery, later. Once she could walk, she was no longer coddled - if one could even call it that. To survive, she had to scrounge around the streets for her own food.

She learned quickly where the best spots were to find scraps, when to go to them, and how to avoid the roving street gangs and others that would soon rather see her dead...or worse. And if it wasn't for meeting Uvogin and her early alliance with the boy, she would've ended up at the bottom of the cove with the fish scraps and eaten upon by the Kivren. Life was bleak in the fish mongrel, slaving capital. Folk were selfish and fought like animals to survive. Kailyn was instantly drawn to the broken pieces of mosaic littered around the city, buried deep in the grime and weeks old layers of fish guts. The girl would polish them off, crouched down by the rocky shores, daring to be at the water's edge with the kivren so close, just so she could get a glimpse of the colors she'd never seen before.

She even shared a few pieces with Uvogin before she was sold on a slaving ship bound for Amol-kalit around the time when she was twelve.

The journey across the sea was hard. Growing up by the sea did not prepare her to be on the rolling, angry waves, stuck beneath the hold and walled in with other bodies in the darkness of stinking flesh and crying moans of despair. Her only sanity was an older desert elf on one side. His shining eyes in the darkness brought the young girl comfort. Perhaps she reminded him of a daughter he'd lost long ago because he formed a soft-spot for the human. In the murky daylight he taught her how to read and write, tracing symbols in the dust of the floors. He was impressed with her ability to grasp concepts quickly.

And one day, she traced an apple in the dust and for a moment, it seemed to take shape and become a tangible thing. But neither Kailyn nor the desert elf talked about what happened. And the next day, they found themselves upriver, off-ship, and separated at the markets. Kailyn was snatched up by the Sparrows, a ruling and prominent family in the city of Salitra.

Kailyn traded a sea of water for a sea of sand. She grew in the house ranks of slaves and once they found out she could read and write, they placed her near the top of the household. And with a small brand of their family crest, marking her as a slave, on the inside of her wrist, she was free to roam the walls of the city in order to complete the family's errands and business. It was the closest to freedom Kailyn ever tasted.


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