Gifted Pelt

Chapter 63

They follow Arnauyq back to the bay. Standing on the ice are two people, young females. One is as pale as snow, except for her eyes. They are a deep, piercing blue. Over her brow, she wears a strange headpiece. It's slim, a band of twisting silver-gold, metal. The band is set with black and red beads and at the center is a drop of blue stone. Her parka is a soft blue, not shiny like the ones most humans wear.

The other girl stands beside her and a few centimeters back. A guard perhaps. Her skin is darker, not as much as dark as the selkies and the Inuit but darker than the humans who had been here so recently. Her eyes are blue as well, but they're a softer shade. This girl's parka is the twin to that of the other girl.

Their presence worries Astrila. More humans have arrived on the island so soon after they got rid of the last ones, that can't be good. Besides, humans never come here, only selkies. But something feels off. Neither of them appears to be comfortable in their parkas. It's not the material either. It's more like they aren't used to the cold and they don't feel comfortable with the temperature, even inside the warmth of the parkas. Astrila's magic is at ease around them too. With the men, it was wary. But with these two, her magic is still and calm. Astrila tilts her chin up and shifts closer to Kōri.

"Who are you? What brings us to our island?"

The snow girl frowns, her eyes wide in confusion. She glances to the other girl. For comfort or guidance? He turns back to Astrila and speaks. Her voice is soft, with a lilt to it, but there is the barest bit of hardness to her words. She can be strong, if need be.

"You don't know?"

From beside Astrila, her father speaks. "No. Should we?"

"Yes. My mother sent a message."

Kayi frowns. "Your mother?"

The girl shifts nervously. "The Queen of the Western Merrow Kingdom."

"I don't remember the Queen having a daughter."

The snow girl's companion cuts in. "the Queen left a child in the human world in years past, and she returned a few months ago. This is she."

Kayi raises an eyebrow, but his voice remains composed and careful. "Ah, my apologies. I remember receiving a message from Queen Lahira, but that was weeks ago. To be honest, I can't remember what it said, and I've since lost the message. Do you have any proof that you are who you are? I'm sorry, our community has been troubled recently."

The snow girl gives him a tight-lipped smile. "I understand. Our kingdom has been troubled as well. My mother anticipated the possibility of you losing the message, so she sent me with another." She hands Kayi a rolled-up paper, thicker than the paper Astrila has seen before. "If that isn't enough confirmation, here's your proof that I am who I say."

With one hand she points to the band on her brow and holds the other over the snow. Flakes rise up to meet her hand, swirling in a ball beneath her palm. Kayi laughs.

"Well, that's proof enough. Atelihai to Nattiq island . . ."

The snow girl smiles. "Kyma. This is my guard, Lyss."

Kayi inclines his head. "Atelihai, Kyma and Lyss."

He beckons for them to follow him back to the village and turns. They follow him, Kyma following into step beside Astrila. "What does Atelihai mean?"

Astrila jumps slightly, not expecting Kyma to talk to her. Her first words are stumbling as she tries to pull away from her instinct of using Inuktitut. "It means welcome in the Inuit language."

"Why do selkies use that instead of Scottish Gaelic?"

"Well, because we often interact with the humans here. They use both Inuktitut and English, so many of us speak both as well."

Kyma glances over at Astrila, her gaze sharp and analyzing, despite being a couple of years younger than Astrila. At least, Astrila thinks she's younger, probably by two years.

"You're new to the community, aren't you?"

"How did you know?"

Kyma flushes, twin spots of red appearing on her cheeks. It's fascinating, Astrila has never truly seen it happen to someone before. Their cheeks darkening, yes, but not the red spots.

"To be quite honest, Lyss noticed first. I saw some things, but she told me to ask you."

"How did she tell you? You haven't spoken a word to each other."

Her gaze is cool. "Answer my question first."

Astrila laughs at Kyma's boldness. "Very well. Yes, I am new. I've been here for a couple of months now."

"So I've only been with my people a few weeks longer than you've been with yours."

"I suppose so. Now, how did you communicate without speaking?"

Kyma holds up her hands and Astrila watches their flurry of motion with amazement. "It's a silent language the merrows developed to use underwater, when we can't speak with our voices."

"What did you say just now?"

"Would you like to know how we could tell you were new?"

"Please."

Kyma smiles softly. "Your hesitation when you said 'we' and 'us.' Also, you and your father don't seem too close." Astrila's eyes narrow and Kyma rushes over her words, trying to explain. "You clearly care for each other, but you still aren't entirely comfortable around each other. You seem to be more comfortable around him." She points at Kōri.

Astrila smiles. "I suppose that's true. He's my Siqiniq."

"Siqiniq?"

"It literally means 'sun', but the selkies use it to mean soulmate."

Kyma nods and looks ahead, to the approaching hills surrounding the main village.
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I'm so sorry I forgot to update this earlier! I blame my headache.

Kyma's here! What do you think is going to happen? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter/in the morning. I'll be on time with it, I promise.

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.