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...
Andrian stands, bringing her up with him. It only takes him a moment to shift, it makes the action look easy. Despite that, Rowan gets the sense that it isn't as simple as it appears, he's just been doing it for so long that he doesn't need to think about it. They go through the passage with the same ease as the day before, but there is no crowd waiting on the beach for them this time. When Andrian shifts back to his human form, he keeps walking. Rowan stumbles over the sand as she hurries to follow him.
"Where are we going?"
"My house."
Rowan frowns. "Why?"
A small smile makes its way across Andrian's face. "Several reasons. I think my brothers would kill me if I didn't introduce you to them, for privacy to explain things to you, and so I can give you something."
Rowan speaks slowly, unsure. "I don't think we're going to have privacy around your brothers."
Andrian pauses for a moment, missing a step. "I suppose that's true, but it will be more private than speaking out here in the open. So relative privacy."
Rowan nods. That makes sense to her. He leads her into the first clearing, stopping before a thatched house about halfway into it, against the trees. The middle of the clearings are relatively hollow, it's like a tree ring. A circle of houses, a circle of empty space, another circle of houses and so on until the center. The center is always empty of houses, like a communal space. Rowan hadn't noticed all of this before, she was too distracted by the fact that it was all there to pay attention to the details. There is a soft click as the door opens, pulling Rowan away from her study of the clearing. She blinks for a moment before she follows Andrian's beckoning gesture into the house.
There are two people inside of it, their features hidden by the lack of light. Probably his brothers. When Rowan's eyes adjust, her suspicions are confirmed. The two look remarkably similar, almost identical. The only difference between them is the color of their eyes. One has brown eyes and one has greenish-hazel eyes. They both have dark brown hair, almost black. One of them grins at her, the one with green eyes. Rowan smiles back, a bit shy. There is a brief, awkward silence before Andrian speaks from beside her.
"They're twins. The one closest to us," He means the green-eyed one. "He is Cáel. Mischievous, but with a heart of gold. The other one is Camden. He's quieter, and he's very observant."
Camden smiles at Rowan. His voice is soft and soothing. "What's your name?"
Rowan hesitates. Her real name, or one of the nicknames? It goes against her instincts and her grandmother's teachings to give them her real name, but a false one doesn't seem right. She chooses the one Andrian gave her, the name that is part of her real one.
"Ro. I'm Ro." She pauses. "Are you his younger brothers or older brothers? I can't tell."
Cáel laughs. "Andrian is older. I think he sometimes wishes we weren't brothers."
Andrian cuts him off, protesting. "That's not true!"
Cáel just forges on, his smile growing with restrained laughter. "He thinks that just because I annoy him half the time, he never gets a break. You won't get a break either, you're our sister now."
Rowan freezes in place, a pang of fear, worry, and confusion flashing through her. "I'm sorry?"
"You're his-"
Camden stops him from finishing, clapping his hand over his twin's mouth. He hisses something in his brother's mouth. Cáel looks apologetic for a moment before he shoves Camden's hand away from him. He looks to Andrian.
"You'd better explain things to her."
Andrian sighs. "That was the plan, Cáel." He glances at Rowan. "Come on, then. This way."
Rowan follows Andrian further into the house, still not quite understanding everything. He steps into a room, his room probably. It is neat, made up of a desk, a bed, and a large chest. The positioning of everything is similar to her room, except for the fact that she has a wardrobe as well. The messiest thing in the room is the desk, with only a couple of items on it. Andrian grabs one, maybe more, of them and sits on the edge of the bed, fiddling with the object in his hands.
"I suppose it's time to explain everything, isn't it."
Rowan frowns. "If you're not comfortable . . ."
Andrian shakes his head. "No, I have to do this. I've just never spoken of it to someone who isn't a kelpie, and there was a part of it that I thought I would never get to say to anyone."
"I'm not quite sure I understand that, but okay."
Andrian takes a deep breath and begins. ________________________________________________________________________________ What do you think he's going to say? What do you think of Cáel and Camden? Tell me your thoughts!
And here is a drawing of the clearings, I know it's a mess.
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