A Kelpie of Rowan

Chapter 8

Andrian steps over the threshold, pulling Rowan along with him. Her foot hits the wooden bar at the bottom, causing her to stumble. Andrian steadies her before he looks at the woman.

"When I brought her through, she passed out. I wanted to see if you could figure out a reason why, Aoife."

The healer, Aoife, steps closer to Rowan. Nervous, Rowan starts itching her wrist again. Aoife narrows in on the action and frowns.

"Why are you itching your wrist?"

"Ummm, it's itchy?"

She motions at Rowan's wrist. "May I see?"

Rowan nods. Aoife reaches out to grab Rowan's wrist but she pulls back, hissing when her skin touches the cuff. Her fingertips are red where they came into contact with the iron.

"You're going to have to remove that."

Rowan wraps her hand around the cuff. "I-"

Andrian touches her shoulder. "I give you my vow that Aoife will not harm you. But she needs you to remove the iron so that she can examine your wrist without interference."

Rowan nods and slides it off her wrist. She tucks it into her pocket and it clicks against the nails already there. Where the bracelet had been on Rowan's wrist, the skin is pink and irritated. Aoife prods at it, but nothing happens. She hums and looks up at Rowan.

"This is from the iron bracelet. Do you normally have an allergic reaction to it?"

"No . . . I thought I was just itchy." Aoife and Andrian exchange a glance, sending a pang of alarm through Rowan. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Aoife begins slowly, as if she was trying to calm down a wild animal. "Child, this is not something that happens to humans."

Rowan swallows nervously, she has an idea of where this is going. "Just spit it out." They give her blank looks and she sighs. "Just tell me."

Aoife nods. "You have Aos Sí ancestry."

"Aos Sí?"

Andrian responds to that, noticing her confusion. "It's the old word for the fae. You call our peoples faeries now."

Rowan stumbles back in shock, mumbling to herself. "So that's what Vlia meant."

"Vlia?"

Rowan looks up at Andrian. "She was in a faerie circle and she gave me true sight in exchange for a chanterelle I gave her. She also pointed me towards the bramble patch I found you in."

He frowns. "You couldn't see us before?"

Rowan frowns and shakes her head a bit. "Not clearly. I couldn't see specific features. It's like you were blurred. My grandmother can see faeries too, but it's more blurred for her. But my mother can't see anything more than a flash of color, or a shadow."

Going by their expressions, something about that seems strange to them.

Andrian frowns and looks at Aoife. "Do you have any idea what type of Aos Sí her ancestor could be?"

"I would guess someone from either the Seelie or Unseelie court."

Andrian nods, but then he freezes in place. Aoife frowns at him in concern.

"What's wrong, Andrian?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing. I'm fine. Do you know why Ro- Berry passed out when she came through into our pocket realm?"

"I would guess that the magic latent in her blood woke then."

"Why?"

"Because of the amount of magic she came into contact with."

"So nothing is specifically wrong with her."

Aoife smiles. "That's right. Now shoo! As much as I would love to chat, I don't want to keep other patients away. And Berry, I would suggest not wearing iron in the future. If you want protection, keep it in your pockets. But don't wear it."

Rowan nods and lets Andrain tug her out the door. He pulls her through the village frantically, as if he was in a rush. When they start to approach the river, Rowan tries to yank her arm out of his grip.

"Andrian, what's going on?"

"I need to get you out of here. It might not be safe."

"Why? What's wrong?"

He speaks quickly, his voice hushed. "I'll tell you tomorrow Rowan, alright? Come find me at the river. If I'm not there, toss a flat stone in, like you were going to skip it. In the future, you can send messages to me that way. Write on the stone and skip it, it will come here. For now, keep this with you. It will warn me if something happens."

He presses a flat stone that shines like gold into her hand. Then he pulls her the rest of the way to the river and shifts. It doesn't take him long to carry her back up to the surface. He leaves her on the bank and moves to return, taking one last glance at her before he slips beneath the water.
________________________________________________________________________________
What do you think is happening? What do you think about Rowan having Aos Sí Ancestry? Did you see that coming? What do you think will happen now that her inherent magic is awake? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.