A Kelpie of Rowan

Chapter 19

Aisling inhales sharply. "What- how- when and where did you hear that?!"

Rowan narrows her eyes at her grandmother, then sighs. "If I'm making you come clean, I might as well do so too. The kelpies told me."

Aisling's eyes widen. "Kelpies? They're dangerous, Rowan! Stay away from them!"

"They aren't dangerous to me, Gran. Now tell me about the Seelie Lord."

Aisling gives Rowan a scathing look, causing Rowan to wince. They will most certainly be talking about the kelpies after this. "My mother told me from the very beginning who my father was, what she had done to escape him. Sometimes I would think there was something more to it, but I was never told anything else. For the rest of my mother's life, she was afraid that he would find us, and then your mother. And with you Ro, she was as careful as anything. Just after you were born, she made all of those charms around your room, and the necklace you're wearing now. I believe that she thought it was only going to be a matter of time until he found us, and I suppose she was right. But still, I wonder why he didn't find us earlier, it doesn't make sense, not with his magic."

Rowan frowns. "You didn't know? Then why were you so afraid when he touched my blood?"

"Rowan, I don't understand. What are you going on about now?"

Rowan sighs. "He could only find us by our blood if it was spilled. He couldn't magically track you or use any other means. The only clue he could ever have was spilled blood. So if you didn't know that, why were you so afraid when he touched my blood?"

"Because before he touched your blood and felt the truth in it, your connection to him, you would have been just a normal human girl to him. You would have been of no consequence."

"But I got away from him. He wasn't happy about that."

"He would have forgotten it soon enough. How did you know about the spilled blood?"

Rowan stifles a short, dark laugh. "And we're back to the kelpies." Aisling sits up straighter, her attention piqued.

"Yes, tell me about the kelpies. Why did you say they can't harm you?"

"Because I'm a kelpie cridhe."

Her grandmother's brow crinkles in confusion. "A what?"

"I was told being a cridhe is similar to being a soulmate. And I'm the cridhe of one of the young kelpies."

Aisling pales slightly. "How do you know that's true? They could be lying. I know they're one of the faeries that are capable of that."

"There's kind of irrefutable proof, Gran."

"Oh? What kind of proof?"

"Well if I wasn't his cridhe, he would have been forced to drown me."

"Forced? Why would he have been forced? It's in their very nature to drown people."

Rowan shakes her head and sighs. "It's not, actually. They are cursed to do so. Their nature is to help others."

Aisling raises a shaking hand to her mouth. "That would be horrible."

"It is."

"How did they get cursed? Why did they get cursed?"

"The Seelie Lord."

"What?"

"He's the one who cursed them."

Rowan's grandmother frowns. "Why would he curse them?"

"Because he helped you and your mother to escape him." Aisling's eyes widen and Rowan nods. "Yes, it's true."

"How do you know all of this, Rowanberry?"

"Because I saw it."

Aisling's gaze sharpens. "What do you mean, you saw it? How could you see it?"

"The kelpies have an archive where they store memories. I wanted to know more about the curse, so they showed me how it was created. That's when I learned that he was your father."

Aisling nods. "Back to the curse. What does it do, exactly?"

"It curses them to drown everyone they come across, human or faerie, unless the person is smart enough to not touch them."

"Then how does being a kelpie cridhe make you safe?"

"Apparently, the curse is individually broken when a kelpie meets their cridhe, and then the cridhe - if they weren't a kelpie - is now safe from the curse, the other kelpies won't be forced to drown them."

"You're saying that the Seelie Lord let them have a way to break the curse?"

Rowan shakes her head. "No, he didn't. They think you created the conditions to break the curse."

"What? How could I have done that? I don't have magic."

Rowan smiles. "You do, actually. I have some, so you must have some as well. It would have been used unconsciously, you wouldn't have even been born yet."

Her grandmother frowns at Rowan's eager face. "Well I don't know how to break the curse, I don't even know how I could have possibly set the conditions."

Rowan's face falls slightly. "I wasn't expecting you to know how, but-"

There is a sharp rap on the door and Arwen's voice comes floating through.
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What do you think of this discussion? What is Rowan's mom going to say? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.