We found ourselves at a place called L'AngeVin, a very nice restaurant that had pleasant outdoor seating, on the way back towards the Olympic Village. They had some amazing Mediterranean dishes that smelled great and had our bellies rumbling as we sat down to eat a fine meal. It had been a while since I had lamb, so Kit and I each ordered some lamb shank, while others had a variety of dishes as well. Overall, it was shaping up to be a fine evening, with Kit being the toast of the dinner.
Or, it was until her grandmother showed up, with the same two gentlemen that had been with her yesterday alongside her.
The waitstaff had been kind enough to push several smaller tables together for us, with me sitting between Kit and my mother, and Kit's parents on the opposite side next to Janine. We didn't even understand what was happening when another table was pushed up next to Kit, and then a place setting was put on the table at the opposite end between my mother and Janine, until Yuria showed up with her mouth in a thin line, sitting at the new place near my mom as one of the men pulled her chair out before they went down to sit next to Kit, who was looking livid.
"Mother, what is the meaning of this?" Keika spat at her mother. "You agreed to leave Kit alone!"
Yuria just gave us all a fake smile. "I changed my mind of course," she explained, her hands clutched in her lap. "How could I not come to congratulate my only granddaughter on her performance today? She was truly magnificent!"
"And yet you tried to keep her from it," I pointed out stiffly. "More than once."
"Grandmother, please leave. I don't want you near me if you're just going to berate me or tell me about these awful boys that you brought along with you," Kit growled angrily. "I don't need a negative influence like you in my life!"
"As I said, I'm just offering you my congratulations. As such, I'm offering you the choice of these two fine young suitors to choose from. You've had your chance to dive, and now it is time to bring honor to the family. So, choose a husband, Kita."
I opened my mouth to protest, to yell, and just couldn't. Yuria's voice seemed so reasonable and everything suddenly seemed so fuzzy in my brain. Everyone else was quiet, and Kit's parents were nodding in agreement, and I turned to look at Kit who just looked confused. "I need to pick one of these two?" she pointed over at the men at the end of the table who just looked back at her with leering smiles.
"Yes, they can contribute greatly to the company in a way that this girl can't." She waved at me dismissively, and I could only nod in agreement along with the rest. She made sense after all, I knew nothing about the company. What could I possibly contribute?
"She's right, Kit. They're much better than I am," I found myself saying. What was happening? My brain was screaming for my mouth to shut up, and here I was telling Kit that these two strangers were better for her than me?
"See, of course I'm right dear." Yuria was simpering now and nodded at the two boys. "They're both well heeled boys, and either will be a perfect husband to give you strong babies."
"Do I get to know their names, or should I just say left or right?" Kit asked politely.
"Just point at one, and then you can get to know him," Yuria assured her. I was thinking she would pick the one on the left, he was slightly less creepy looking, but Kit was studying them both intently and scratching her chin while thinking.
"I have a question," my mother interjected. "My daughter performed very well in her events too. Does she get a reward?"
Yuria looked at her in confusion, glancing down at her own lap, then back at my mother, as though surprised that she spoke. "I'm sorry?"
"My daughter, Nat here, has performed well too. She has multiple gold medals already. Since you're handing out prizes of a sort, shouldn't she get one?" my mother continued. She reached out as though to take a sip from her glass of red wine, and instead knocked it over on the table, so that it splashed all over Yuria, who stood up with a screech. As she did, my mother's hand shot out, grabbing an item from Yuria's hand and handing it to me. "Perfect! A comb would be a delightful present."
As soon as I grabbed the thing in my hand, which as my mother said was a comb covered in gemstones, everything changed, and my mind wasn't nearly as foggy anymore. In fact, the same was true for everyone, as we were all shaking our heads as though to clear out the cobwebs while Yuria was almost crawling across the table to get the comb back. My mother was pushing her back while laughing at her.
"Give it up, bitch. You'll never get that back. You deserve to have it broken!"
"No! That has been in my family for thousands of years!" Yuria's eyes were wide in alarm, and she was acting like a crazed woman. What was happening?
"Nat!" my mom called to me over her shoulder. "Break it!"
I looked down at the comb in confusion, then marveled at its beauty. It looked to be made of some sort of delicate carved bone and was studded with precious gems in a myriad of colors. It was a gorgeous piece, and I really didn't want to break it. But whatever else it was, Yuria seemed desperate to get it back, and that was enough for me. I gripped it in the middle and snapped it in two, causing the old woman to scream out loud and sink to her seat, sobbing piteously. I put the pieces on the table, not sure if they would hurt me somehow.
And yet as soon as the comb was snapped, the last of the fog cleared from my mind, and Kit looked at me with tears rolling down her face. "I'm so sorry, Nat! I don't know what happened, I didn't want them!"
"It's ok, Kit, I know you didn't. I don't know what happened either, but it's all over, okay?"
Down at the end of the table, the two boys were having a quick conference, then stood up, glaring at Yuria. "You'll pay for this trickery, old woman!" The one on the left growled. "I don't know what you were doing, but you can be assured that our families will not take kindly to it!" With that, they both stalked off, leading Yuria to cry even harder.
The rest of us were looking around the table in confusion, though it was pretty obvious that my mother knew what had happened, and that the comb had something to do with it.
"Are we... okay?" Janine finally asked. "That felt very odd."
"Would you like to explain, or should I?" my mother asked Yuria, who simply shook her head and sobbed. "I guess that means I should. I would also imagine that you must need a lot of food, that should have taken quite a bit out of you to affect so many people at once."
Yuria looked up at us, her eyes sunken. "Why would you do that? Why couldn't you just leave well enough alone?"
"Because what you were doing was wrong, so wrong. Making them do your bidding like that isn't natural." My mother's voice was filled with venom in a way I had never heard, even when speaking of my late father.
"What would you know of it?"
"I know all about it!" My mother turned to us, lifting the pieces of the comb off the table. "This was the comb of a Siren, the ancient mythological creature who lured men to their deaths. I'm betting that many years ago, someone in your family did one a service and was rewarded with this priceless comb. It allows the owner to influence the minds of people and get them to do their bidding, much like a Siren's song could ensnare the mind of a sailor."
"That was the comb you would never let me touch as a child!" Keika said in wonder. "You said that it had been given to you by your grandmother, and her grandmother before her!"
"Yes! It has been handed down in our families for countless generations." spat Yuria. "And it dies here, broken by fools who have no idea what power they held!"
"I knew exactly what it was," corrected my mother. "My ancestors were among the Inuit, which is why Nat and I have names from their heritage. They fought against the Sirens for generations, as did many other seafaring people, because they killed so many innocents. That comb, if used for good, was probably a tool for peace and prosperity. But to use it like you did, to control the minds of your own family, is reprehensible."
Kit gasped aloud, shooting daggers at her grandmother. "Yes! Trying to make me marry some horrid boy when you know I'm in love with Nat was disgusting! I bet that's how you got the company so big too, forcing people to do your bidding and sign contracts!" Yuria just looked down at her lap in reply, confirming the accusation.
"Breaking the comb should undo all the enchantments," my mother stated. "You probably have a lot of unhappy people around the world that will know they were tricked by you."
"That company was going to be yours," Yuria sighed in resignation. "Now you'll get nothing."
"I wouldn't want to own it if that's how you did business," Kit said sharply. "I'd rather be with Nat over anything you could give me. Just give the company to the employees and be done with it."
Yuria sat in silence as we all stared at her. She finally looked up, staring at Kit and Keika. "I did this for you. Everything was to secure the future of this family."
"At the expense of our freedom and happiness," Keika replied softly. "Maybe that comb was controlling you too."
"You'll never understand what I did for us all." With a groan, Yuria stood, then dropped her head again before turning around and shuffling slowly off as though a heavy weight was on her shoulders. We all just stared in silence before she turned a corner a block away, and we all let out a deep breath.
"Well, that just happened," Janine muttered, taking a deep drink of her wine. "Is there a rational explanation for any of what we just went through?"
"You just found out that magic is real, and that there are supernatural creatures out there," my mother said with a wide smile. "But beyond that, we should get back to celebrating. Kit deserves a night to be honored for the amazing performance we saw today."
"Absolutely!" I agreed before leaning over to whisper in her ear, happy for a return to normalcy. "And tonight, I'm going to make sure you never think of picking a boy!"