Stolen Scales

Chapter 28

Kyma frowns. "You guys don't like each other?"

Alai lets out a bark of scathing laughter. "She thinks that just because she's royal, she can be a cow! And she broke Roan's heart."

Lyss is looking down at the ground, her head bowed in shame. But in the moment Kyma is watching her, she sees a single tear drop to the ground and stain the dirt. Kyma sighs.

"I don't know what cow is meant to mean, but I'm going to assume it's a derogatory term."

Before she can finish, Lyss answers to her questioning statement. "It's a derogatory term for female merrows, but it actually means a female dolphin. I believe there is a land alternative too."

"Yes, there is. Thank you Lyss." She turns to Alai. "Both of you are going to come with me somewhere, and-" She holds up her finger to stop Alai from speaking about her lack of knowledge. "Yes, I know that I don't know the island yet. But we are going to find somewhere to talk, and you two are going to sit down, and talk." There are some noises of protest from both girls. "I don't care how much you dislike each other. You are going to sit down, talk, and be civil about it. Got it?"

They both nod, and Alai speaks up. "What are we going to be forced to talk about?"

"Whatever is going on between you. Why you don't like each other. What caused you to not like each other, and above all, the truth about what happened."

Alai nods, and Kyma starts off at a brisk walk, leading the two out of the city using the same path Alai did the day before. They start to approach the border cliffs, although they are far in the distance, and Kyma turns toward a large boulder jutting out of the ground next to a small hill. When Kyma reaches it, she smiles to herself, knowing that it is the perfect rock to sit on, nice and warm in the sun. She stops in front of it, and turns to wait for the other two, having sped up when she had spied the rock. Lyss is closer than Alai, but clearly not close enough to Kyma as she was comfortable with. She reaches Kyma and halts, her face darkened with restrained anger.

"Princess, I know you are still new to this, but I am your guard, and I must remain close to you."

Kyma sighs. "Who would even hurt me here?"

"It's just precautions, Princess."

Kyma responda just as Alai reaches them. "Please don't call me Princess, Lyss. My name is Kyma."

Lyss bows slightly. "Very well, Prin- Kyma. What should we do now?"

Kyma grins. "Sit on the boulder and talk. You already know what you guys need to talk about."

Alai shuffles over to the boulder and sits upon it, her feet dragging behind her, but Lyss stays rooted to her spot in the grassy earth. "Why is this necessary, Kyma."

"It is necessary because she's my friend, and your my guard. And it wouldn't hurt if you were my friend too, so you two need to be civil to each other. Besides, I'm going to be hanging out with her a lot and you can't guard me very well if you are distracted by your dislike of her."

Lyss lets out a huff but complies, perching on the very edge of the rock, as far away from Alai as she can be. But Kyma gets a sense that it's just a show. The two look at Kyma expectantly, and she motions at them to start talking. Alai lets out a small groan, but starts the conversation.

"Why did you break my brother's heart? Why did you choose to hurt him like that, just leaving?"

"Is that what he told you?"

"He told me you left him, and he looked heartbroken. He still is, it's just hidden inside of him."

Lyss sighs. "I broke up with him because I was struggling with my own emotions. Didn't you know that my uncle had just passed on to the currents?"

"Yes, but why would that mean you had to leave Roan?"

"Because I was hurting, and I felt like I would shatter. I thought that I would hurt Roan more if I stayed than if I left, so I left. It hurt me to leave him too, you know."

Alai frowned. "But he could have helped you!"
"I know that now, but I didn't then, Alai. I was fifteen, and a broken idiot."

"Fine. But why did you start going around acting like a cow after that?"

In the short bit of time between Alai's question and Lyss' response, Kyma scrambles up the backside of the hill to sit on the top a few meters above their heads. Lyss mulls over her answer for a few minutes before voicing it.

"It was a way to shield myself. I know I still act like that a bit now, and I'm trying to stop it. That shield is slowly retreating, can't you see it?"

Alai sighs and hangs her head. "Yes, I do. I just didn't believe that it was true. I'm sorry."

Lyss smiles softly. "Now that we've gone over everything, can we please be friends again? I missed swimming with you so much!"

Alai nods and holds out her arm for a hug. Lyss falls toward her as she is enveloped in a tight hug. After a few moments, Lyss lifts up her head.

"Alai, where did Kyma go?"

Alai frowns. "She's not there?"

They share a panicked glance before both scrambling off of the boulder. Before the search can get very far, Kyma calls out to them from atop her hill.

"I'm right here, guys! It's alright!"

They both let out a relieved sigh, and Lyss approaches the hill, glaring at Kyma. "That isn't funny."

"It wasn't meant to be! I just wanted to sit down." Kyma shifts her attention to Alai. "Are we going to your spot now?"

Alai looks at Kyma quizzically for a moment before her eyes clear in understanding and she nods. "Yes, we are."
________________________________________________________________________________
Kyma is a pretty good mediator, isn't she? I know I likely wouldn't be anywhere near that good at doing what she did. Where do you think Alai is going to take them now? Please tell me your thoughts! Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.