My Voice for My Heart

Chapter 12: Undine

(A/N- I apologize this is late and shorter than I wanted it. Thanks for reading!) 

Keela

Lady Maeve looked around my room. She stood with one hand on her hip and a finger on her chin as she directed Davin to lay out all of my gowns.

"You don't have very many," she noted, a little confused.

"No," I answered, "I haven't need of many. My indigo does quite well for banquets and my grey will work for..."


"I will send you with some of mine. It won't take very long to pack at all," she interrupted.

I was silent. It didn't seem I needed to make any comment whatsoever, she and my father had worked it all out.

But I wasn't leaving with a stranger.

If I learned anything last night, it was that I was loved, and my boys, my family, would take care of me. I almost smiled to myself, thinking of Bhaltair. All of his plans and ignoring; it didn't matter any more because what he had sought to avoid was happening. Poor Bhaltair.

I half-listened to Lady Maeve speak, asking which maid I would like to take until I was more comfortable in my new home, then correcting herself and letting me know that she would decide for me.

She and Davin started speaking, and without saying goodbye, left me in my room, apparently too overwhelmed with tasks to stay with someone as unhelpful as me a moment longer.

I was glad for the silence.

I sat on the bed, staring at my hands.

I needed to get out of here, away from Lady Maeve and my father, and this house that I had taken care of and run for so long. I poked my head out my door, and seeing no one in the halls, hurried out of my room and out of the house.

I went straight to the forest, but instead of the tree where I knew the boys would find me, I went toward the lake.

I knew every single path around our home. I knew each tree and each meadow; I knew where to find each flower or plant our infirmary might need. I never contemplated leaving my home, but now it was inevitable. I hoped that I would be with the boys, but what if I wasn't? I pushed away the thought and continued on my way. That was too much; to lose both my home and my family.

The sun reflected off the calm surface of the water, and the water gently lapped the shore. I sat at the edge and curled my feet beneath me. I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of the wind through the leaves, the chirping of frogs and lower calls of ducks and geese. I shivered a little, and realized that the geese I heard signaled the approach of winter.

"There's more coming than just winter," a musical voice told me.

For a moment I thought of Rab, this voice had the same quality as his when he sang with Aohdhan.

An unfamiliar woman observed me kindly.

Her hair was dark, almost as dark as Ciaran's, but her eyes were a bright vivid blue. She stood knee deep in the water, walking toward me like she was coming from the center of the lake, except her dress was dry, and as she came closer, the water sloughed off of her in a sheet, as if it couldn't penetrate the material.

I stood up, afraid and uneasy, and took a step back.

She smiled at me, like she could read my mind, "You should be wary," she told me, "I've pulled girls like you into the lake with me before."


I swallowed hard, she was an undine.

"But that is not what I have in mind for you. Instead I bring a warning; you need to be careful," she told me, coming closer with each step I took back. Her dress shimmered blue, then green, and was now a deep brown, like the sand on the shore, "Maeve is more than she seems."