Red-haired and green-eyed Rowan is an average Scottish Girl. Of course, there is one thing special about her, something that was once abundant but in modern times is now ignored. She believes in all the stories, of selkies and fairies, and most of a...
Rowan lets out a soft cry of surprise. "Hello! How long have you been standing there for?"
The horse snorts and tosses his head. He blinks at her, letting Rowan see the message in his eyes. Follow me. Rowan glances back at the faeries for a moment before she scoops up her shoes and socks, bending over to slip her feet back into them. She wobbles a bit as she slips her footwear on, but she quickly regains balance. The horse snorts, causing Rowan to spin around.
"I'm coming! Just give me a mo-"
She cuts off as she loses her balance. The horse surges forward and her fall is halted by his body. Rowan gets back onto her feet, gaping at the horse.
"Did you just . . ." The horse snorts in answer. Rowan can hear the impatience in it. She laughs. "Alright, alright. Lead the way to wherever we are going."
The horse tosses his head, causing Rowan to laugh at his excitement. She follows him out of the circle of trees and into the forest. Here and there she sees flashes of the fae. The face of a dryad, hidden in her tree. The red caps that flash in and out of sight. They don't know she's there, not as long as the protection from her inside-out socks holds. The horse leads her past a patch of brambles. Rowan momentarily tenses when she sees it but she relaxes when she realizes it isn't the same one. It isn't until she begins to hear the sound of running water that the horse begins to slow. Rowan frowns.
"Why are we going to the river?"
The horse doesn't answer, but she doesn't really expect him to. He keeps picking his way through the trees and Rowan follows, despite the little inklings of fear growing inside her. She doesn't know why she's still following, he doesn't seem like a normal horse. That means he's likely a faerie, a kelpie in fact. But despite that, she's getting the sense that he won't hurt her. Even so, she stumbles backward in a wave of shock and fear when the horse starts walking into one of the river's deep pools. He seems to have no intention of stopping.
His ears prick up, he can hear her backing away. He turns back towards her and moves back out of the water and onto dry land. His tail flicks, spraying water into the air. Then his body ripples, condensing into a different form. When the ripples stop, he looks human. Even his ears are round, perhaps more so than her own. But there is still a soft glow emanating from his skin, so faint you wouldn't see it if you weren't specifically looking. That's why she hadn't seen it when he was a horse. She didn't think he was a faerie then. He takes a step toward her. Rowan backs away. The horse - boy - kelpie sighs.
"You don't trust me now that you know who I am, do you? You're afraid of me." Rowan gives him a small nod. He frowns. "I give you my word that I will not harm you." Rowan doesn't move and he sighs. "Very well. I will tell you my name, my true name. But then you must tell me yours. Just your first name. I don't need all of it."
"Why?"
"Because you want a reason to trust me. But a lot of harm can come from you having my name, so I would like yours in return."
"That's . . . fair. But why are you giving me your name? It isn't just so that I will trust you, is it?"
He grins at that. "Clever, aren't you. To find out, you'll have to come with me."
A smile tugs at the corner of Rowan's lips and she steps forwards, towards him. His smile grows wider. When she is half a meter away from him, he reaches out to her. Rowan hesitates then grasps his arm. He pulls her a step or two into the water, stopping when it is up to her shins. Then he leans forward and whispers in her ear.
"My name is Andrian den Uisge. Yours?"
"Rowan."
Andrian's eyes light up in surprise and Rowan opens her mouth to question him but he says, "Hold on to me and don't let go. I need to change back for this."
Rowan barely has time to nod before his form ripples again and he becomes a horse. He was holding onto her when he changed, so she ends up sitting on his back now. He swings his head around to look at her, the words repeated in his eyes. Hold on. She grips a handful of his mane in each hand and nods. He plunges forward into the middle of the river, angling to dive.
It's strange, to think of a horse diving beneath the water, but Andrian is a kelpie. It's what he was made for. The water surges around them as he starts to submerge. Rowan takes a deep breath, but the water parts around them - no, it's parting around her. Apparently kelpies can breathe underwater. If she was going to question if he wasn't going to drown her like she's heard of kelpies doing, her reason just dissolved. If he was going to kill her, he wouldn't make sure she had an air bubble.
He keeps going deeper, deeper than the river should be. He seems to break through some kind of barrier and the world shifts. Instead of diving into the water, he is riding out onto a beach. She would have expected to just fall through the water into air, if anything, but that's not what happened. When he makes it out onto the beach itself, he looks back at her and nickers. Are you alright? Rowan nods mutely and releases her white-knuckled grip on his mane. Without it, she just slides right off, exhausted. She doesn't know why she's so tired, but she is. She barely notices when he shifts, too busy fighting the urge to sleep. She fails. ________________________________________________________________________________ Okay, I was bored and I created some more maps. They're smaller, compared to the ones from the last two books. The one I'll put in now is a blueprint of Rowan's house, in essence. Tell me what you think of it.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Why do you think he gave her his name? What do you think of him being a Kelpie? Why did Rowan pass out after going through the river? Tell me your thoughts!
