The Changeling's Journey

by Christine Spoors

  I had a feeling that he and Aelwen were conspiring against me and that if I avoided too many meals they would be sure to discuss it when she returned.

  Tormod was not allowed to shout at me, as he was my guard. Aelwen, on the other hand, would have no trouble scolding me until I saw the error of my ways. I knew that from experience.

  It was not that I did not want to eat food or that I thought I could go without it. It simply held no real appeal and I found all food bland and uninteresting these days.

  It simply did not matter anymore, nothing much did.

  “Y ou can both swim, can’t you?” Finnian asked as he lifted me by the waist and helped me into the wooden boat. Glen jumped in beside me and we shared a look before nodding.

  It was a good morning for sailing across the loch, or so that’s what we kept hearing from the sailors and fishermen we passed. There was a strong wind out there and no sign of the kelpies to create storms. I listened out for any suggestions that a storm could be brewing as we prepared to leave.

  There was no way I was risking being out in a flimsy wooden boat whilst a storm raged. I didn’t think Finnian would have appreciated me calling his first boat flimsy, so I kept that thought to myself. The look on Glen’s face told me that he was thinking something similar.

  We hadn’t thought that crossing the loch would be something that made us feel frightened and uneasy, but then again, we had never travelled any distance on water before. Our feet had remained firmly on the ground since the day we were born. We were now realising just how much we’d like to keep it that way.

  Far too soon for my liking, the boat was being pushed away from the stony shore and floating out into deeper waters.

  Finnian had tried to explain how the boat worked but I couldn’t really understand what was going on. Ramsey and Thorfinn, friends of Finnian’s, would row the boat out into the loch as he steered. Then the two huge fabric sails would catch the wind and help send us across to the northern village. I couldn’t really see how that would work or even properly comprehend the fact that we were floating.

  His two friends seemed nice enough, I think they could tell that we were uneasy being on the boat and so tried to tell jokes to cheer us up. They hoped to one day have a large sailing ship, like their families, so decided to start their own little crew with just the three of them.

  Ramsey tried to joke that they once had a fourth crew member who was dragged down into the depths by a kelpie, but that joke didn’t make either of us laugh. I felt we should leave joking about drowning until we had both of our feet back on land.

  After our initial fears about floating in a small wooden boat on a vast loch ebbed a little, the journey became quite peaceful and I found myself starting to enjoy it. The strong wind blew my hair around and made me regret not tying it back in a plait. We all had red cheeks, ears and noses from the frigid wind but it was refreshing. I could see why Finnian and his friends would pick this life over working in the mines down in the mountains.

  Once the boat was caught by a good wind we were sailing across the loch without much work being needed and everyone on board relaxed. Glen made a point of speaking to Ramsey and Thorfinn, with an obvious wink, which left me free to go speak to Finnian who was at the back of the boat, controlling the direction we sailed in.

  “It’s beautiful out here.” I said, watching the view of the north and the Fairy Hills grow clearer as we floated onwards.

  The mountains were a mixture of green grass and grey rock, some of the larger ones even had snow at their peaks. I could just make out little stone houses from the other villages and was sure I could see little white dots when I squinted my eyes, probably sheep.

  “Aye, nothing like being out on the open water for a good view,” Finnian said looking pleased with himself. “You two picked a good day for sailing.”

  “I really like your boat,” I praised awkwardly a few moments later, feeling guilty that I hadn’t yet commented on the boat he and his friends so clearly loved.

  “You wouldn’t if you’d been on the huge boats before, but thank you anyway.”

  I sat down near where he was standing and was content to simply watch the landscape change as we neared the middle of the loch.

  As we sailed, the weather began to change. It happened slowly at first. Glen and I didn’t notice until Finnian and his friends started discussing wind patterns and looking curiously up at the gathering clouds.

  They didn’t look particularly worried about the weather worsening, but there was a sense of unease on the boat as the clouds continued to develop and rain started to fall.

  “I never wanted to see rain again after that walk,” I complained to Glen.

  “Me neither, this is definitely far too soon for us to be soaked again. Perhaps spring wasn’t the best time for travelling,” Glen sighed, frowning at the sky as if he could stop the rain by scaring it away.

  “It’s always raining though. The weather is never good enough for travelling.”

  We were starting to be able to see the northern shore of the loch by now and so I tried not to feel too worried about the weather. I hoped that it wouldn’t take too long to reach the village and that we would be in a nice warm inn before the weather got too bad.

  Almost as soon as I had those thoughts, the exact opposite happened. Out in the loch there was a sound which we looked towards but couldn’t see anything. Then again, the unmistakable sound of a man laughing heartily seemed to echo all around us.

  “You’ve got to be joking,” groaned Ramsey who had wandered over to us, shaking his head furiously as the laughter continued.

  I was completely confused until I spotted movement in the loch and then, from underneath the surface, a man appeared. Or at least he looked almost like a man. When he appeared again I noticed that his skin was a peculiar mix of grey and blue. He had strange rounded facial features and not much of a nose.

  He disappeared under the surface again and everything was silent until three men appeared, twisting and diving in and out of the water, laughing as they went. As they jumped it became clear that the bottoms of their bodies were scaled like a fish and that they had strange tails instead of legs.

  “Kelpies.” I whispered in shock and Ramsey beside me confirmed my thoughts.

  “Happy kelpies are always a bad sign, there’s a big storm coming and we’ve run out of time to get away from it,” he complained, rushing off to prepare for the coming storm.

  I looked to Finnian, feeling as if my breath had been replaced by panic. He didn’t look particularly worried, just annoyed, as if he couldn’t be bothered to deal with the storm. Not like there was a possibility of the boat sinking and drowning us all.

  The rain was falling in big fat drops now, and the wind was churning up the loch, creating larger and larger waves.

  “What do we do?” I asked frantically.

  “You’ll be alright lass, just find yourself something to hold on to and stay in the boat,” he grinned gesturing over to the side of the boat where rope around the edge would make a good thing to hold onto.

  Glen had already found himself a place to sit and was holding onto the edge as if his life depended on it. As I hurried to find a spot, a wave hit the boat causing it to rock violently from side to side. I fell painfully to my knees, cursing as I went. I scrambled over the deck and grabbed onto the rope, gripping it so hard that my cold fingers ached and protested.

  A burst of laughter over the sounds of Finnian and his friends shouting to each other, the wind howling and the rain pouring down startled me. Slowly, taking care to grip the rope tight, I looked over the edge and gasped in shock as I stared directly into the black eyes of a kelpie. The kelpie stared back at me with an amused expression.

  “Morven, move!” I heard Finnian shout and as I turned to ask why a colossal wave slammed into the boat, spraying water all over the deck and knocking Thorfinn onto the ground.

  He quickly scrambled back to his feet before the next wave hit, this one impossibly
larger than the last. Needing to shake out my aching hand I loosened my painful grip on the rope, just as the next wave hit.

  The boat swayed violently, sending me slamming into the edge and overboard. I felt as if I was falling slowly and could hear multiple people shouting my name before I slammed painfully into the water.

  I gasped as the icy water soaked me, instantly chilling me to the bone. It was so cold it almost stopped my heart and I began to choke and panic as the water rushed into my mouth. I remembered Bonnie talking about swimming and tried uselessly to kick my legs and swing my arms, but to no avail.

  I could see the light of the surface through my burning eyes, but every movement I made seemed to pull me deeper down into the depths of the loch. I felt, but did not hear, a hysterical panicked laugh burst its way out of my mouth and bubble towards the surface as I realised that I was going to die here.

  My head was pounding and my throat and chest were burning as my body tried to cough and rid itself of the water. I thrashed around for what felt like hours until black spots began appearing in front of my already blurred vision and my desire to fight against the water began to fade.

  Perhaps drowning here in the loch wouldn’t be that bad. My body was being pushed and pulled by the waves and my hair floated around my face, tickling my cheeks. As I began to close my eyes, in the distance I thought I noticed the kelpies. I couldn’t hear their laughter over the water in my ears, and the pounding in my head, but I thought they looked happy as they twirled and danced.

  I woke slowly. I was in a warm and comfortable bed with, what felt like, a whole flock of sheep’s worth of blankets on top of me. As I breathed I became aware that my throat was dry and sore. More worrying, though, was my chest, which felt like it had been crushed, like I had been sat on by a cow.

  I wriggled underneath the blankets, wanting to feel what was wrong and find a drink. A gentle hand on my forehead stopped me and I opened my eyes to see Glen. He was smiling fondly but I could see that he was exhausted and I wondered why, until I remembered.

  I remembered the storm, the shock of the freezing water, the realisation that I couldn’t swim and sinking deeper down into the loch. The most unsettling memory was of a strangely scaled hand latching onto my arm. The blurred creatures I saw swirling towards me, with torsos like men and tails like fish, as I ran out of air and passed out

  “I fell in.” I said hoarsely, wishing for a drink.

  “Yeah you did, almost gave me a bloody heart attack when you went under,” Glen said with a humourless laugh. “Thought you were dead when you disappeared.”

  “I’m sorry.” I whispered, feeling guilty for putting him through so much worry and stress.

  “I know you didn’t mean to fall in Morven, you don’t have to say sorry. You’re lucky Finnian jumped in after you. I wouldn’t be surprised if that man was part fish or part kelpie himself. He swam down into the loch so fast and before we knew it, he was back at the surface holding you,” Glen explained, shaking his head as if in disbelief.

  “I’m alright, though?” I asked hesitantly, feeling much too sore and exhausted to think of much else.

  “Yeah, you’re alright. Get some sleep, Morven. You’ll feel better when you wake up,” Glen placed a gentle kiss on my forehead and left me alone in the warm bed.

  It didn’t take long for me to drift back off to sleep. Back into strange dreams of churning waves and laughing kelpies.

  When I woke a second time, my throat was even drier and when I tried to speak I could barely make a sound. My lips were dry and cracked, and my chest ached with every breath I took. A hand gently lifted my head and helped me sip some warm milk which instantly helped soothe my throat.

  I expected to see Glen, but instead Finnian was there helping me. The look on his face reminded me of da whenever he was trying to hide his anger.

  “Hello,” I croaked, unsure what else to say and fighting a growing urge to hide under the blankets until Finnian and his accusing eyes had left the room.

  “Hello Morven,” he answered, his expression lightening slightly.

  He gave me one last drink of the soothing milk before getting rid of the cup and sitting down beside me, on top of the blankets. He propped himself up and sighed.

  “You lied to me.”

  “When?!” My mind whirled, trying to think of any lies I had told.

  “When you stepped onto my boat and told me you could swim.” he said, looking angrier now that he had voiced the reason behind it.

  “I thought I could swim,” I explained feeling foolish, which made him pause for a moment.

  “You thought you could swim... but you’ve never tried?” he asked slowly.

  “No, never, but my brother’s wife told me you have to kick your legs and swing your arms.” I explained, wishing I’d asked more about swimming when I’d had the chance.

  Finnian gave a small laugh at that and I was glad to see amusement erasing the last of the anger on his face.

  “You should have told me that Morven. I wouldn’t have let you both so close to the edge of the boat if I’d known you’d start drowning as soon as you hit the water.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t think,” I mumbled weakly.

  “I bet you are. I had to jump in and rescue you. Your clothes were so heavy they’d started dragging you down. I had to pound your chest when I got you back on the deck to make you cough up the water you swallowed. I bet you’re feeling pretty sore now.”

  I nodded and looked down at my chest. When I moved the shift slightly, I could see dark black and blue bruises forming on my chest where Finnian had hit me. No wonder I was hurting after going through all that.

  Something about seeing my injuries and knowing that I had upset Finnian and scared Glen made my eyes burn with tears. I found myself sniffling to try and keep them at bay.

  “Aw lass, you’re alright now,” Finnian said, pulling me close gently so he could hold me without hurting me. “I should punish both you and Glen for lying to me on my boat, but I think the shock of what happened taught you both a lesson.”

  I nodded in response and turned my face into his chest to hide that it was now red with embarrassment and streaked with tears.

  He didn’t say anything else, simply held me close and ran his hand comfortingly through my hair until I felt better. A sudden yawn surprised me, I had spent so much time sleeping recently but it made him chuckle.

  “You can fall asleep. I’ll stay here with you, and when you wake, we can see about getting some food in you,” Finnian said, and with that, I slept.

  T he following morning I was surprised when Mae woke me and helped me dress and get ready for the day. I had assumed that I would once again be confined to my chambers, but father was unpredictable, which made it impossible to know what he was planning. Although, I knew it would likely be awful.

  The cut on my lip looked as if I had been struck days ago, not simply the night before due to how fast fairies healed, so I didn’t bother trying to hide my face from anyone. I knew from seeing Nieve’s cuts and bruises over the years that they took longer to heal on humans.

  Throughout the day, I felt sick with dread that father would appear, but he never did. I went to meals, attended lessons with Adair and even had a stroll through the grounds with no sign of him. The only change to my life, apart from the disappearance of my love, was the guard who now trailed after me like a shadow.

  I found myself wandering aimlessly through the castle. I hadn’t realised just how much I relied on Nieve for company, and to think of things to do. Now I was alone and I longed to speak to her. I shook my head to banish the thought, unless I found a way to disguise myself and sneak into the kitchens I couldn’t speak to her.

  The guard, whom I had started referring to as my shadow, and I left the castle as I quickly became bored of its halls. It was the perfect day for riding but, unless my shadow suddenly became good company, I didn’t feel like going alone.

  My eyes drifted over to the stables and I dec
ided perhaps the horses would be better company than a silent guard. Berwin was inside the stables when I arrived, and he simply bowed to me before continuing with his work. Usually we spoke, but his silence made me wonder if he had only ever spoken to me because of Nieve.

  That caused a flicker of jealousy to run through me. No one knew of our love, and I selfishly hoped that she wouldn’t find someone better than me now that she was in the company of other humans. The very thought made my eyes sting.

  “How are the horses today?” I asked, startling Berwin.

  “Good and healthy, Princess, just like they always are.” he answered, clearly confused by my sudden urge to have a conversation with him about horses.

  I noticed his eyes flick to my healing lip but then he quickly looked away. I couldn’t tell if he was simply very perceptive, if the servants had been gossiping about what happened, or if I was just paranoid. I hadn’t exactly hidden it as I walked through the halls with blood all over my mouth and chin the previous night.

  Whilst I was lost in my thoughts, Berwin headed into one of the stalls and I made the sudden decision to follow him in. Kicking the door shut before my shadow could move from where he was leaning at the other end of the stable looking bored. He was probably storing information away to report back to my father.

  “Is Nieve alright?” I whispered, hurrying over to Berwin. He didn’t answer and looked completely confused so I continued. “Tell her I’m sorry. I didn’t know what my father was going to do.”

  I then hurried over to pat the nearest horse’s face and stare into its eyes. When my shadow pushed open the door, he found Berwin shovelling hay whilst I appreciated the beautiful animal before me. I deliberately didn’t look at him, I just hoped my risk had paid off.

  If Berwin gave my message to Nieve then maybe I could help her. Perhaps we could meet in private and continue to love each other before she forgot about me, or decided that I was to blame. I loved the thought of having a secret romance. The thought of the consequences, for both Nieve and I, should we be caught quickly soured those thoughts.