The Seelie Curse

Chapter 55

Aisling smiles at Rowan, wiping away one of the girl's tears. "Of course. Now, tell me of the prophecy."

Rowan pales. "Do I have to?"

"Yes, you do. You've been stalling, but your time is up."

Rowan sighs. "Can I just summarize the prophecies or do you want me to say them as they were?"

"The exact phrasing, Rowan."

Rowan sighs, muttering, "Great."

She reaches into her bag and pulls out a piece of paper, as she had written the prophecies down there. She wouldn't be able to remember them otherwise.

"Wave got the first prophecy, hers is the least relevant now. Go north and do what must be done. Take the starlit snow to the Old Land and right an ancient wrong. Star got the next one, and that led them here. Starry snow and flower blue, cross the sea and return home. Find the waiting berries red of lost and forgotten magic. Once the three are bound, right the wrong of ancestors long unknown."

Aisling sighs. "And you're the berries red?"

Rowan nods, frowning. "Yes. But those weren't the only two prophecies."

Aisling sits up. "There's more?"

"Yes. Those two were given to Wave and Star respectively, I wasn't present for either. But this one was told to me. A curse of old must be broken, before the balance of all is lost. Three are bound to break it, yet unknown. A lost flower blue, a hidden snowflake made of stars, and a berry of twinning red. All must come or all is lost."

"And I assume your two friends are the flower and snowflake mentioned here."

Rowan nods. "Yes, they are."

"What curse does the prophecy refer to?"

"The one the Seelie Lord cast on the kelpies. The prophecy says that my friends and I will break it, but we don't specifically know how."

Aisling frowns. "Why? Wouldn't that help you? Do the kelpies know how to break it?"

Rowan sighs. "Gran, the Seelie Lord didn't make a way for the curse to be broken. You did, somehow."

Her grandmother's eyes widen. "No. I couldn't have. I would have been a baby."

"Even so, you did it somehow, Gran."

"Why are you so sure it was me?"

"Someone else told us, and honestly, I believe what she said."

"Who, Rowan. What aren't you telling me?"

Rowan sighs. "You have a sister, and she's almost as bad as the Seelie Lord from what I've seen."

"I have a what?"

"A sister. She's half merrow, and she is their queen. She uses her family's names against them, Gran. it's horrible!"

"And your friend is a merrow? Rowan, they could be working together!"

Rowan jumps to her feet. "Gran, stop. Just stop trying to turn on my friends. I know you're worried, maybe panicking a bit. But you can't react like this. Wave didn't even know the merrow queen, she's from the kingdom across the ocean. And even if she did know Ciorsdan, she wouldn't come anywhere near helping her after Ciorsdan used her name against her!"

Rowan's grandmother tenses. "You know her name? You know my sister's name?"

"Ummm, yes?"

"Rowan, you have power over her. You're part Seelie, you can use her name against her."

Rowan pulls back, shaking her head. "No, no, no. I'm not going to do that. I'm never going to do that."

"But it's an advantage against her."

"Gran, have you had your name used against you?"

"No."

"It feels horrible. Sometimes it's needed, maybe. But I never want to use someone's name against them. I never want to make someone feel that. There has to be a way to break the prophecy without using her name."

"Am I missing something? Why would you have to do that to break the prophecy?"

Rowan sighs. "When you subconsciously gave the curse an out, you tied your sister's life to it. The curse breaks, she dies. And she doesn't want to let it happen."

"How did you find out how to break the curse? Did you find out?"

"Yes. We went to find a Bean Síde. She told us how to break it, but I don't really understand. It's like another prophecy. When new and ancient meet as one. When all three together bound, meet the blood of cursed magic found. A brimming storm awaits within. Barriers will break and curses shatter."

"Was the prophecy kind enough to let you know when you'll actually break the prophecy?"

A smile flickers across Rowan's face. "Kind of. We think it meant an eclipse, but those are so rare." She sighs. "I can't think anymore. Today has been chaotic, and I'm exhausted."

On cue, Rowan yawns. Her grandmother laughs. "All right, go to bed. If you need to, we can talk more in the morning. But while I may not agree with what you're doing, I trust you, Rowanberry."

Rowan nods and slides beneath the covers of her bed. It doesn't take long for her to fall asleep to the sound of the wind whistling outside her window. By the time her grandmother slips outside the room, she's so out of it that she barely even hears the door shut.
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What do you think of Aisling's reaction to the prophecies? 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.