The Seelie Curse

Chapter 8

Kyma releases the water from her grasp and the edges of the bubble fall away. Now that she can see what's outside the bubble more easily, she has to restrain her gasp. The entire landscape has changed, it's as if they're in a whole new place now. The horse is swimming for the shore of this river. Kyma twists around, looking for Astrila. She sees her cousin's nose lift up above the water before it dips beneath again. She's staying out of sight. On the riverbank, someone is running towards the water. He shouts at them.

"Cam, what were you going to the other realm for? You say it's not safe for me yet you do it so carelessly-"

He cuts off, he must have seen Kyma on the horse's back. Was he yelling at the horse? Is the horse named Cam? Is he the same type of creature? What are they? Magical horses that can become people then, if they're the same. She's stuck to this one's back, and he was dragging her down to the bottom of the river. Kyma gulps. Kelpies. Of course, how could she be so stupid? Her mother told her about kelpies and she apparently lost all that information until now.

Cam moves closer to the riverbank and the other . . . kelpie. As Cam pulls her closer to the bank, Kyma examines the boy. He has dark brown hair and lightly tanned skin. She squints, trying to make out his eye color. It isn't until Cam is almost at the edge of the riverbank before she can finally make it out. The boy has greenish-hazel eyes. It's a lovely color. He frowns at her and moves to take a step back.

Their eyes lock and Kyma almost winces at the anger in them. Why is he angry? She's assuming he's mad at her, not Cam, so what did she do? She can't really think about it for more than a split second, she falls right off of Cam's back. She hits the water with a splash and groans. Stones are digging into her skin and she will definitely be bruised later. The water here is too shallow for that landing to not have hurt her. She scowls at the boy and Cam.

When did she unstick from Cam's back and why? There is a ripple and Cam's form changes. He's no longer a horse now, he looks almost identical to the other boy. Except Cam's eyes are a warm brown and they don't have the same spark to them. The other boy looks like he's fond of mischief, but not Cam. Kyma glances toward the other boy again. He's gaping at her in shock. She looks back to Cam, still scowling.

"What the hell is going on? Why in the world did you try to drown me?! I never did anything to you!"

Astrila noses Kyma's back. She's trying to calm her down. Kyma doesn't do that, she just glares at Cam. he looks taken aback by her words and it takes him a moment to speak. But when he does, his words are sharp, just as angry as her own even with his lilting accent.

"You think I had a choice? What were you doing, climbing on my back? You knew I was a kelpie, you know what we do. It's your own fault! Besides, your friend was pulling you back, you didn't listen to her either!" He pauses and when he speaks again, his tone has softened. "I am glad you didn't drown though."

Kyma raises her hand. "Hold up. I have no idea whatsoever about what is going on. I didn't know you were a kelpie until a few moments ago. It actually took seeing him-" She points at the boy who yelled at Cam, "to figure it out. Also, I don't think I was really in control of myself when I touched you. Not until we were in the water."

Cam sighs. "Well, you're in no danger now, so I might as well explain." Kyma opens her mouth to question, but Cam shakes his head. "Not right now. So you know a little about kelpies. It is believed by other Aos Sí - yes, I know you are one - and the humans that we enjoy drowning people, but that is wrong. We are cursed, we have no choice. If we see someone who isn't protected, we are compelled to get them to touch us so that we are forced to carry them to the water and drown them. Humans can rarely keep themself from touching us, but some of the Aos Sí can."

Kyma's restraint can't last any longer. "So if you have no choice but to drown people, I assume that you can't release them until they are dead, correct?" Cam nods. "So how in the world am I still breathing?"

Cam's lips twitch and the other boy looks like he's restraining full-on laughter, despite his shadowed eyes. "There is a loophole to the curse. A kelpie's cridhe, if they're not kelpies themselves, is protected once they have met their cridhe."

Kyma frowns at the word. "What is with these strange names? You guys say heart and the northern selkies say sun."

Cam blinks in confusion. "What?"

Kyma twists to motion at Astrila, who slides up beside her, finally showing herself to the other two. Astrila shifts, swinging her pelt over her shoulders. Cam steps away, his face paling. Astrila dips her head warmly.

"Don't worry, I won't touch you in your other form. I can't be compelled either."

Cam relaxes slightly and he looks back to Kyma. "The meaning of cridhe surprised you, not the fact that you have one?"

Kyma chokes out a laugh. "My life has been crazy enough recently that it actually didn't seem that surprising. I'm going to guess that he's my cridhe?" She nods to the other boy then looks back at Cam. "It's not you, because then you wouldn't have tried to drown me. He's the only other kelpie I've seen, so there really isn't any other possibility."

Cam nods. "Yes, his name is Cáel. I am Camden. What type of Aos Sí are you? Your friend is a selkie, but I'm not sure what you are."

Kyma smiles. "I'm a merrow."

It's Cáel who speaks, a frown of confusion on his face. "But where is your red cap?"

Kyma swallows her next laugh. "I'm from the Western Merrow Kingdom. Instead of red caps, we have larimar pendants."

She lifts her own and Cáel makes a sound of understanding. Kyma smiles and pushes herself to her feet, water streaming off her clothing.
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Kyma and Astrila have met Camden and Caél! What do you think of their interactions? What do you think is going to happen next? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.