The Prophecy (Children of the River Book 1)

by Ren Curylo

  “Call him up,” Erish said.

  “He won’t come if he sees you. He never trusted humans and since Yann stole my skin and held me captive and made me pregnant, that distrust has turned into hatred.”

  “I don’t have any use for humans either,” Erish said, “but I am not human.”

  “You look enough like one,” Muirgan said, looking at Erish from head to toe.

  “As do you,” Erish said with a curl of her upper lip.

  “Point taken,” Muirgan said, “but all the same, I fear that he won’t come near the beach if he sees you. Perhaps you should hide behind those rocks.” She pointed to a large outcropping of rocks that poked up through the sand at the back of the beach fairly near the rock wall.

  “Very well,” Erish said. “It won’t matter. You had better make sure I can hear your conversation. It’s not like you’re going to run away from me while I have your skin.” She decided that remaining visible and hiding was a better course of action than rendering herself invisible. She hoped it would serve to be a bit more intimidating to Muirgan.

  Erish turned and without another word walked to the outcropping of rocks and hid behind it. She sat on a relatively smooth chunk that jutted out in a bench-shaped angle. She stayed completely hidden for a while, but couldn’t resist the urge to peek out at Muirgan as the woman began making strange barking noises.

  Erish watched as Muirgan tucked her skirts up, baring her legs to mid-thigh. She walked slowly and deliberately out into the foamy waves of the sea, continuing to bay as she went. She could see Muirgan’s body shake with occasional shivers of cold from the frigid waters swirling at her legs.

  Muirgan walked out until the water lapped at the turned up edge of her skirt. She pulled it up even further, exposing almost the full length of her leg before she bent over and stuck her face in the salty sea. Erish could see the woman’s back and body moving with the force of air through her lungs and she wondered if she had gone mad and was drowning herself. She watched with her heart in her throat and was about to run out into the brine herself and pull the woman back to shore when she came up for air.

  Muirgan paused to catch her breath and did it again, repeatedly for at least fifteen minutes. She turned and walked back to the rocks and sat down, leaving her bare legs sticking out to dry in the sunshine.

  “What were you doing?” Erish asked, sticking her head and shoulders out from behind the rock to look at Muirgan.

  “Get back there, fast,” Muirgan said. “If Aindréas sees you, he won’t come up here. I was calling him. I sent out a call to pass on to him if any other Selkies heard it.”

  “I thought you were drowning yourself,” Erish said, not moving to comply with the request to hide.

  “I have thought about it more times than you’d guess,” Muirgan said morosely. “Now go, hide. I see a brown spot in the water, way out on the horizon. It may be Aindréas.”

  Erish paused to look at the water far out from shore but she couldn’t pick anything out. Was it a brown spot? Or does this bitch just not want to talk? Shrugging, she resumed her seat in hiding behind the rock. She wanted her daughter more than she wanted to see what was happening, so she complied with the directive.

  Finally, she heard a cry of joy and knew their target must have arrived. She heard Muirgan sob, a mixture of relief, joy, and frustration. Deciding to break the rule and take a peak, she cautiously looked around the rock at the beach before her.

  Muirgan stood, wrapped in the arms of a delightfully handsome and naked man. The only bastion against his nudity was the pelt of brown skin tied around his neck and hanging down his back like a cape. He was tall, a foot or so taller than Muirgan and he was sleek, well muscled and brown skinned on every inch of his body. He had thick, luxuriously shiny brown hair, nearly the same shade as Muirgan’s. He bent to her and locked her in a passionate kiss that lasted until Erish grew uncomfortable watching. As they separated, she withdrew back to her hiding spot.

  “What are you doing here?” Aindréas asked. “How did you get here?”

  “Come sit on the rocks with me,” Muirgan said.

  Erish couldn’t take it any longer, so she rendered herself invisible and stepped out from behind the rock. I will need to be careful, she thought as she looked around. If she walked too much, or in their line of vision, she’d leave footprints in the sand that they may notice. She decided to levitate to avoid that issue. She hovered a few inches above the ground, before deciding she’d take a seat at the top of the outcropping, six or so feet above where the two lovers sat.

  As she settled into place, she stared at the skin hanging down Aindréas’ back and briefly entertained the idea of enslaving him as well as his wife. She dismissed the idea, for she had a goal to reach and that could complicate things. Besides, she reasoned, there may be time for that and she would wait for an opportunity. If it arrived, she’d take it.

  After Muirgan and Aindréas settled together on the rock, holding hands and leaning lovingly into one another, they kissed again, their lips lingering as if they couldn’t bear to part.

  “What happened, Muirgan?” Aindréas asked again.

  “There’s been a…an accident. Yann might be dead.”

  “What?” Aindréas asked excitedly. “Did you get your skin? Put it on. Come on, let’s go.”

  Muirgan shook her head, tears filling her eyes as she looked at Aindréas. “I don’t have it. Someone took it from Yann.”

  “Who?” Aindréas groaned. “Not another damned human man,” he shouted. “I swear if some other man has your skin this time, I’ll hunt him down and kill him myself.”

  Muirgan shook her head. “No, darling,” she said. “It isn’t like that. I know who has it.”

  “Who? They have to give it back.”

  “She has asked me to perform a task for her. She said once that task is done, I may have my skin and my freedom.”

  “At least it isn’t a man. Who is it?”

  “It’s Erish, queen of the Lilitu,” Muirgan said.

  “Where is she?”

  “Do you want to talk to her?” Muirgan asked. “I didn’t think you would.”

  Erish made herself visible. “I’m here,” she said from her perch atop the rock.

  Both Selkies jumped up to face her. Aindréas clutched his skin tightly in his hand.

  Erish laughed. “Don’t worry, Aindréas,” she said. “I could have taken it long ago if I had wanted to. I chose not to. And I won’t take it.”

  “What is it you want from us?”

  “I have a task for you, and I can give you four months to accomplish it. If you are successful in carrying it out, I will give your wife her skin back.”

  “Where is it?”

  “It’s quite safe, don’t worry. I have it under armed guard. No one will get it.”

  “What do you want us to do?”

  “I want you to search for my daughter, Adamen. She’s pregnant and I need her to have her child at my home rather than out in the world like a common vagabond.”

  “Is she grown up?” Aindréas asked.

  “Yes, she is,” Erish said.

  “She should make those choices for herself,” Aindréas said.

  “I’m afraid it’s not that simple. The Lilitu have certain rules regarding births and since Adamen is my heir, as is her offspring, those rules certainly have to apply to her stringently. Besides,” Erish said, tilting her head to the side a bit. “You aren’t in a position to argue on my daughter’s behalf if you’d care to have your wife’s skin back.”

  Aindréas’ cheeks flushed with color and his brow furrowed in anger. “Where is she?”

  “I don’t know. Last I heard she had taken up company with Ársa…”

  “Ársa? Surely you don’t expect me to fight Ársa for her?”

  Erish laughed. “Of course not. I expect you to be clever and resourceful and lure her away somehow. I expect you to bring her to Muirgan by any means you can, short of killing her. Adamen must be alive
. Now, she is five months along, which means you have approximately four months to find her and return her to me. I want her safely in my care when her child is born.”

  “And you’ve no idea where to start this search?”

  “None, other than that she is at or near a shore somewhere,” Erish said. “I assume you have a network at your disposal that you can use to speed up your search.”

  “And if I bring your daughter, you will return my wife’s skin? That’s a promise?”

  Erish nodded but didn’t speak.

  “Swear it,” Muirgan said, “promise it.” She knew all too well how fragile a contract with a Fae could be. While they didn’t necessarily break their promises, they often found ways around them.

  “I said I would return your skin when you’ve satisfactorily fulfilled my mission.”

  “And the mission is to return your daughter Adamen to your care before her child is born,” Muirgan said. “Is that right?”

  “Before she labors, if possible, however after the birth will void our contract and I shall see Muirgan’s skin destroyed, thus removing any hope that you’ll reunite. As you can see, you had better not fail.”

  “When we first spoke of this,” Muirgan said hotly, “you said if the child was already born you wanted me to bring him to you instead of your daughter.”

  Erish smiled smugly at the woman and said, “I have changed my mind. To err on the side of caution, Muirgan, I must require that you bring her to me before she gives birth.”

  “All right,” Aindréas said. “I’ll do it.”

  “Aindréas,” Muirgan said, but her voice faded away. There was no other hope for them. This woman may turn out to be worse than Yann if that’s possible.

  “I suggest you tell your wife farewell, and be on about your search, it’s a big world, and you haven’t much time.”

  “How will I get her to you when I find her?”

  “Muirgan will remain here on this beach,” Erish said. “I’ll check on her from time to time to make sure she’s all right.” She looked around at the enclosed, isolated beach. “She won’t get away from here in her current state, and she can’t climb that way.” She pointed at the rock wall behind her. “She can’t swim far enough to make it out of this cove.”

  “There’s no shelter here,” Aindréas protested.

  Erish grinned. “I shall bring some people to erect a shelter for her. We’ll make sure she doesn’t starve, but you had better hurry. I will check in with her for a progress report from time to time. Either you, or a messenger you assign, will check in with her here to pass news along to me. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, I understand,” Aindréas said. “But how will we transport Adamen when we find her?”

  “I have this locket,” Erish said, removing a fine silver chain from her neck. The amulet was still warm from being nestled between her breasts. She popped the locket open to reveal two images. She handed it over to Aindréas. “There are two pictures here,” she said. “The one on the left is Adamen. Study it well so you know what she looks like. The image on the right is my own, as you can plainly tell.” Erish took the locket back from the Selkie male and broke it in two at the hinge. “You will take the part with Adamen’s likeness. Muirgan will keep the half of the locket with my face with her day and night, never to remove it from her own neck. When you find Adamen, you will hold that piece of the locket in your hand and Adamen with the other, Aindréas, and you will chant, three times, ‘reunite me with thy mother’s jewel’. You will Travel here to Muirgan. Muirgan will snap the two pieces back together. Holding Adamen with one hand and this locket with the other, she will chant, three times, ‘reunite me with thy jewel’s owner’. She, along with Adamen and the locket will Travel to me. It will only work one time, so if you waste it by being frivolous, you will also waste your chance to claim Muirgan’s skin.”

  “I see we have no choice but to agree to do your bidding,” Aindréas said.

  “You’d best kiss Muirgan goodbye and be on your way,” Erish said smugly. “Four months isn’t a long time to search the wide world over.”

  Aindréas bent and kissed Muirgan’s lips softly. “I love you, my dear. I won’t fail you.”

  Muirgan sobbed as she watched him turn and head resolutely into the surf. He slipped his skin on like a brown furry coat as he waded deeper into the water. By the time he reached a depth where he would need to tread, his skin was in place. He cleaved the surface of the water and then dove beneath. The last they saw of him was a brown flipper-like tail slapping the wave as he swam away.

  2 months later

  Feralis 17, 762

  Tiran Province, Corath

  Muirgan It was the longest two and a half months of Muirgan’s long and mostly uneventful life. The only momentous things that had ever happened to her were Yann stealing her skin and Erish freeing her from him. Of course, she only held her captive for her own benefit, but at least, with Erish, there was the slim hope of freedom some day.

  That might be nothing more than a dream, of course, but it was the only hope she had. Muirgan had already decided that if they failed in their quest to locate Adamen, and she lost her last hope of regaining her skin and her freedom, she would swim out to sea as far as she could and drown in the world she longed to live in once more.

  She waited today, nervous and on edge as she had every day for the last seven weeks. Their time was almost up and Aindréas still hadn’t located Adamen. Erish came by three times a week to harass her about their lack of progress. Muirgan wished she could hide from the Lilitu queen, but the isolated cove offered no place to hide.

  Erish had sent several of her people to build a hut for her to live in. The tides made it impossible to stay in it, however, and they had to return and rebuild it on the flat top of the huge rock standing at the back of the beach. Even then, high tides rose enough to be mere inches from seeping into her dwelling. If a storm blew in, Muirgan would either get wet or be washed away. She wasn’t sure she cared at this point. Death was better than this, she thought morosely as she sat in the sand and stared at the sea. It would be dark soon and another day had passed without hearing from Aindréas.

  Her stomach rumbled with hunger, prompting her to tear herself away from her watch post. She sighed and returned to her hut to search the basket of fruit sitting at her door. She was down to no more than four pears and an orange. She longed for a fish, but she didn’t have much luck catching anything in this form. She took her fruit back outside and sat on the rock to watch the sunset and wish for her husband’s return.

  She peeled the orange and threw the peelings into the sea, or as close as she could come to it. Most of them landed on the wet sand near the water’s edge. She knew the tide would come in shortly and carry them away. She segmented the orange and ate it one slice at a time spitting the seeds in the same direction as the peels. She ate it slowly. There was nothing to do and she had nothing but time. Making mundane activities last as long as possible was her last defense against madness.

  She rose from her seat to start inside her hut when a splash at sea drew her attention. She looked up to see a round brown seal crest the waters a short distance offshore. Her heart pounded at the sight of him. She would know Aindréas anywhere. How she loved him in his natural form and how she longed to take it herself and swim away into the depths with her man. She missed her mother and her father, her sisters, and her brother. She was close to giving up hope of ever seeing them again. She had been land-bound almost two years.

  She watched with mixed emotions as Aindréas propelled his seal body closer to her, frolicking in the waves as he approached. When he drew near enough for her to hear, he barked out a loud bray. She returned his greeting the closest she could come with human vocal cords. It wasn’t anything like what she should be able to do. Her language was nothing more than human-speak now.

  She smiled at him, a mixture of joy and sorrow as he rose from the waves and began to peel off his skin. Soon, his straight, sturdy human leg
s carried him through the shallow surf. He tied the skin firmly around his waist. He hugged her tightly when he reached her and kissed her passionately before he let her speak.

  “Did you…?” she asked with short-lived hope in her tone. “No,” he said shaking his head. “But I need a rest before I go back out for the search. I got a message through The Chain today, though, minutes ago, actually.”

  “What is it? Is it good news?” The Chain usually contained important communications. The Selkies used this method to pass messages from colony to colony since they lived all over the world.

  “My cousin sent a message saying she saw a girl, a pregnant girl, living on the eastern side of Amalith Island. They think it may be Adamen. One of her bob saw her, too, and he swears they saw Ársa with this girl.”

  “Oh, thank the gods,” Muirgan said. “I hope it is her. Our time is almost out. Perhaps we can get to her in time.”

  “I am hopeful. I will spend the night with you and start out in the morning after I’ve I’m rested. Luckily the current is swift between here and there, and if I can pick it up it will take me near their location and speed my journey.”

  “I have to tell you, I’m close to giving up hope,” she said. She wrapped her arms around him and held him close, breathing in the salty sea smell of him.

  “What were you eating, love?” he asked, looking back at the specks of orange peel wiggling on the beach as the waves came in slightly deeper with each roll.

  “It’s an orange,” she said. “It’s called fruit. It’s human food.” Her lip curled involuntarily.

  “Hold on, babe,” he said. He took his pelt from around his waist and handed it to her. “I’ll be right back. Don’t let go of that skin.”

  Muirgan watched him walk back into the ocean on his sturdy, muscular human legs. She held his skin up to her face, rubbing it against her cheek. She buried her face in it, reveling in the wild animal scent it held. She longed to wear her own again and dive in the water, in her natural form at last. She flung his skin around her shoulders and held it tightly under her chin, closing her eyes with the memory of how it felt to wear it and change from human form to seal and dive in the water, free.