Gifted Pelt

Chapter 38

She gets to her feet slowly, her injured leg protesting at the movement and the weight. Her first few steps are stumbling as her body tries to compensate for the wound, but her steps quickly smoothen out. Kōri remains close to her as she traverses the short distance to the door. Is he making sure her leg doesn't give out beneath her? He shouldn't worry, her leg is fine for this at least. Her foot snags on one of the skins covering the floor and she stumbles. Kōri is there instantly to catch her and she glares at him, having regained her footing.

"Kōri, I'm fine!"

His hands linger for an instant before he releases her. "Sorry."

Her glare softens to a look of irritation, but a small smile is blooming across her face. "Kōri. I need you to trust that I can do this, alright?"

He nods. "I can try. I promise."

"Good. Let's go."

He is farther away this time as he follows her. Still close enough to help if he's needed, but not so close that he aggravates her. Astrila sighs through her nose at his actions. He still thinks she might need help, but at least he's allowing her to make her own path without interference. The arctic air cuts through her clothing to the wounds beneath, stinging the raw flesh but also soothing the pain with the cold. She shivers and draws her pelt tighter around her shoulders.

The snow crunches beneath her feet, louder than normal. The day was warmer than most, so this must be kripya. It melted and has refrozen in the steadily falling temperatures. The sun is low in the sky now, and many of the selkies have retreated to their igluit. The path towards Kayi's iglu is well worn, the snow stamped down until it's hard. Even Kōri can walk easily here, despite his chronic problem of sinking into the snow when he walks. Astrila ducks into the small iglu beside Kayi's first, expecting him to be in that one. It seems to be his office more than anything. Just like expected, he is inside. He glances up when he hears footsteps, the light of the fire flickering eerily across his face.

"That was sooner than I expected."

Astrila shrugs, a warm smile splitting her face. "I think Tonraq trusts me enough to care for my own wounds."

Kayi's laugh is bright like the fire. "Yes, I would think so." He looks down at the piles of papers sitting on the floor beside him and grimaces. "Are you ready to work on these?"

Astrila's voice is soft as she approaches. "I think so?"

Something in her voice draws his attention back to her. "What is it?"

"It's just . . . I've only seen these once. When the researcher visited my village. They seemed so fragile then, like the slightest movement could destroy them."

He nods. "They do seem that way, but they're stronger than they look. Do you have a pile you'd like to start on?"

She tilts her head, analyzing the papers before her. The writing on one is strange, the words are jumbled. The alphabet is the same, but the words don't look to be English. The words are shimmering faintly, twinges of familiarity coming through.

"What is this writing?"

Kayi glances down at the papers then back up at her, shock lining his features. "You don't know Scottish Gaelic? The language of the old land?"

Her brow wrinkles. "When would I have had time to learn it? I've never heard of this language."

"We'll have to teach you then. All selkies should know the language. All the Aos Sí use it." He hesitates then moves the pile closest to him towards her. "Look at these, they should be in English."

The stack is small and the papers appear to be newer, crisper than the yellowed, curling papers in Kayi's pile. In the moment before Astrila turns her attention to reading, she sees Kayi wordlessly pass a portion of his pile to Kōri. The first of Astrila's papers is on the island's location. It sends shock and surprise coursing through her body and she glances over at her father, already deep into his own pile.

Did he give her this stack so that she could learn more about the selkies? The next page is different, but it still refers to the island. It looks familiar as well, nagging at the edges of her memory. She frowns. What could it be? A glimpse of a similar paper, spread out on a skin-covered surface, and glimpsed by small eyes flits through her head. The treaty, the one that protects her old village. Was this paper similar?

The writing tells her that the island is right on the border of the Clyde River territory. Well, not exactly. The island is a tiny chunk of land in the sea just past Clyde River. She stares at that speck on the map. Her village was so close to a human city. Something about the paper continues to nag at her, some warning that she can't remember. She places the page aside to return to later and moves on to the next one.
________________________________________________________________________________
What do you think is bothering Astrila? What do you think of her new information on the island? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.