The Seelie Curse

Chapter 20

Astrila can see Kyma's frown. She's upset. Something in that message is bothering her. Astrila wishes she could read it, but it isn't in a language she knows. Kyma's brow furrows as she scans the writing again. Astrila looks over Kyma's shoulder at the writing. Still unreadable, but the way the words are formed causes them to look angry. Astrila frowns.

"What is it, Kyma? What's upsetting you?"

Kyma sighs and looks away from the message. "My mother. She wants me to come home. No, she's ordered that I do so."

"Why?"

"Because I sent Lyss back to the kingdom."

"But that's what Atka told you to do."

Kyma shakes her head. "You know that and I know that, but my mother doesn't. She just thinks I decided to continue traveling by myself."

"So send her your own message."

Kyma grimaces. "There's one problem with that."

Astrila shifts on her feet. The tone in Kyma's voice is worrying her. "What problem is that?"

"I don't know how to make a water message. I don't know how they work. Lyss was supposed to teach me, but . . ."

"But she's not here." Kyma nods. "Is there anyone else who could teach you?"

"Perhaps the merrows from the kingdom here, but how would I find them?"

Astrila smiles. "By looking. You could ask the kelpies, or you could use your own gifts."

Kyma frowns, looking down at her pendant. "This can lead me back to my kingdom, but maybe it could lead me to this one."

Astrila's smile widens. "It won't hurt to try. We could go now."

Kyma shakes her head. "'Strila, we don't know how long it will take. What if Ro comes back looking for us and we're gone?"

"We'll leave a message."

"With what? I don't think there's any paper nearby."

Astrila shakes her head. "Just wait and see. I'll find something."

Before Kyma can protest, Astrila ducks out of the living dome. There are large leaves scattered around the clearing from various trees, they might work for writing on. Astrila rushes over to one of them and picks it up from the ground. It's a good size for writing on, the texture looks like it will hold ink or charcoal. But this leaf is old and yellow, full of browning spots from the spreading rot. She needs a fresher leaf.

Astrila twists around, searching. The next leaf she finds is a little greener than the last, but it still has the beginnings of decay marring its surface. She releases it to flutter back to the ground. So many of the leaves from the surrounding trees have fallen, apparently an indicator of the cooling weather. She finds another leaf, this one a vibrant red. It's still fresh and new, it must have just fallen. She grins and carries it back into the dome. Kyma frowns at it.

"How is that supposed to help?"

"It's our paper."

"No, it's a leaf, 'Strila."

"But we're going to use it as paper. Now let me see . . ."

Astrila flips her bag open. She remembers putting some charcoal from their fire in her bag earlier, but where in there did she put it? There's a black smear along the side. Her lips twitch into a smile as she digs around the bottom of the bag. Her fingers graze two warring textures, something crumbly and rough as well as something smooth. The charcoal is still partially wrapped up in its leaf. She grips it with the pads of her fingers and pulls the charcoal from the bag. The stick of charcoal is the perfect size for writing with. She spreads the leaf flat on the ground and begins to write.

Ro, we've gone to find the Eastern Merrow Kingdom. Wave needs to send a message. We'll be back, but we might be late.

-Star

When Astrila is done, her fingers are stained black and the stick of charcoal is a third of the way gone. The writing is a bit cramped on the leaf, she isn't used to writing that much. She places the leaf against the trunk of the young tree forming the dome, making sure it faces the doorway. Then she grabs Kyma's arm and pulls her outside.

"All right, let's see if your pendant works."

Kyma frowns down at it, mumbling beneath her breath. The pendant lights up slightly. She turns in a circle, watching the pendant carefully. The light is brightest when they're facing the entrance of the dome. Kyma follows it, carefully following the perimeter of the dome. The pendant leads them towards the river, but only alongside it. As they get closer to where they saw the Ghillie Dhu, the river diverges away from them.

Kyma keeps walking forward, following the light. Astrila walks just behind her, keeping an eye on the area where the Ghillie Dhu would be. They don't need to run into them again. Thankfully, they never get close enough to that portion of the woods where Astrila has to worry, but the pendant just keeps leading them further. At a guess, she thinks they'll be walking for a while.
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What do you think is going to happen in the Eastern Kingdom? How's Ro going to react to them having left? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.