Stolen Scales

Chapter 31

Lyss sighs and looks down at the dagger lying on the earthy floor, its sheath lying several centimeters away from it. Her face contorts into an expression of fear, distrust, and revulsion. Kyma sighs and reaches over to pick up the dagger by its handle. She grabs the sheath and slides it onto the dagger before tucking it into her bag. Almost instantly after she puts the dagger away, Alai and Lyss relax from their tense positions. Kyma frowns at them.

"Talk. Tell me what's going on with the dagger."

Alai frowns in response. "The dagger was made by an Aos Sí, a member of one of the Courts, we don't know which."

Kyma gasps. "Really? Is that why you guys are afraid of it?"

"No. I just think you should know the dagger's history before we get into that. The Aos Sí who made the dagger had a half-merrow daughter and he made it for her before she came here to found the Eastern Kingdom."

Kyma frowns in thought. "She is the founder of the Kingdom?"

"Yes. She was the first Queen of our Kingdom, and is your ancestor."

Kyma thinks about that, astonished by how much her family history has revealed itself to her. Then she voices a question. "Do you think the light was from the making of the dagger?"

Lyss frowns and responds to her question. "Maybe, but I don't think we can know for certain."

Once Lyss finishes her sentence, Alai takes over the tale once more and continues speaking. "The dagger passed through the royal line for many centuries, branching off of the ruling line at some point in that time. That is how it reaches its last owner, a cousin of the ruling line. Just before your mother became Queen, only a few years before you were born, he tried to take control of the Kingdom and the throne. The dagger was his favorite weapon. He was caught, and imprisoned."

Kyma frowns. "So you're afraid of the dagger just because of its past owner?"

Alai shakes her head. "Not entirely. It is also said that he placed a curse on it when he was imprisoned, saying that every owner of it would come to harm. So far, that has never come true, but every owner has tried to get rid of it as soon as possible, especially as it has come to be a sign of an evil merrow."

Kyma scoffs. "That's a stupid idea for several reasons. One, I doubt this guy would even be able to place a curse on something, and curses can be broken. Second, no one should be afraid of the dagger just because of its past owner. The dagger is a tool. Anyone can abuse the tool, that doesn't mean everyone who has used the tool is evil."

Alai smiles. "You may be right. But for the sake of the tides, can you please keep the dagger out of sight?"

Kyma sighs. "Alright. But I'm not getting rid of it."

"And I wouldn't force you too."

Kyma opens her mouth to ask about the bag she found with the knife, but thinks better of it and closes her mouth. The silence is quickly broken by Lyss.

"Can we please get out of this tides-cursed sídhe?"

Alai laughs. "Alright."

She stands, followed by Lyss. After a moment of hesitation, Kyma stands too, grabbing her bag off of the floor and swinging it over her shoulder. Alai exits the sídhe first, quickly followed by Lyss. In fact, Lyss practically scrambles out of the hole in her desperation to exit the sídhe. Kyma reaches up to grab the lip of the hole and pulls herself out. As she does so, a voice speaks in the back of her head.

"The dagger is not cursed."

Kyma almost slips off of the edge of the hole and back down in surprise, but shakes it off, thinking that the words must have just been her imagination, or her own thoughts. Once she is back on her feet, Kyma looks up at the sky and almost feels back in shock.

"We didn't spend that much time in the sídhe, did we?"

Lyss looks up to the sky and curses. "The tides-curses sídhe!"

Kyma frowns. "I don't understand."

"The sídhe can warp time. Time can move faster in the sídhe, or slower. From what I can see, it's moved slower, but I don't know how slow. I just hope that it's still the same day. We shouldn't have gone in there!"

Alai frowns. "But wasn't this matter important enough to need us to go into the sídhe, Lyss?"

Lyss frowns. "Barely. There are very few things that are important enough to go in there."

Kyma sighs. "Can we go back to the city now?"

Alai nods. "Of course. Come on, Lyss."
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What did you guys think? Was that just Kyma's mind speaking? And I'm sorry that this is a bit short, that's where it wanted to end.

Happy reading, and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.