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...
From the way the sun shines through the trees above the river, it's been about one hour since they went into the river and two since she left her house. She's late for her lessons. Rowan takes a moment to gaze out at the river and the still water where Andrian had disappeared before she turns away and breaks into a run. The path back to the house is quiet. Well, quiet in the sense that there is no faerie disturbance. There is still bird chatter and the rustling of plants all around her, that is what forests are always like. They're never truly silent. She slows when the forest starts to get lighter around her, telling Rowan that she's getting close.
When Rowan steps out of the forests and into the fields of grass surrounding her home, her mood dips. It always does this when she leaves the woods, the opposite when she enters it. But it seems stronger today, she almost feels torn between lying in the grass to curl up and cry or turning and sprinting right back into the woods. Rowan shakes her head, pushing the thoughts aside, and opens the back gate. It creaks slightly, the sound of the rusting hinges causing Rowan to wince. There is a shout from the kitchen, her mother.
"Rowan? What took you so long?"
Rowan winces again and makes her way over to the kitchen window. "I'm sorry, Mum. I just lost track of time."
The words burn coming out, stinging on her tongue as they form. She is momentarily confused by it, but then she realizes that it was a lie. Apparently, she has to follow similar rules as the fae now. She can't lie, or at least, any lie she tells will hurt her. Arwen sighs.
"Come on in, let's get you started on your lessons."
"Yes, Mum."
~~~
With a relieved sigh, Rowan closes the book. "Mum! I finished!"
Arwen pokes her head into the sitting room. "No, you haven't. Give me a moment."
Rowan sits there patiently, despite her confusion. What could she have missed? Her mother gave her all the work she was supposed to do, and she had done it all. So how could there be more? Arwen takes a sheet of paper from her pocket and places it in front of Rowan.
"Since you like the forest so much, your next task is to identify all of these plants and tell me how they can best be used. Use both the new and old names."
Rowan's eyes light up at the challenge and she looks down at the paper in front of her. There are several plants on it, and all of them are familiar. She doesn't see most of them often, yet they're still familiar to her, like the information is imprinted in the back of her mind. It's easier to think of them with the old name though, its a struggle to find the new one.
The first plant is an easily recognizable yellow flower. "Dandelion, or Beàrnan Brìde. You can use the leaves or roots to make tea, or you can fry the roots for salads. You can also use them raw in salads. Roasted roots can be ground to make a coffee substitute." Rowan goes through each following part with ease. "Hazel, also known as Calltainn. The nuts themselves are called Cnò an Eòlais. They're delicious roasted and can be used in desserts. Pignut, or Cnò-thalmhainn. Eat the tubers raw. Wild Garlic, or Creamh. Leaves can be used as an alternative to spring onions or garlic. The flowers can be used with salads or cheese."
Arwen nods and flips the paper over to reveal two more pictures side by side. They are very similar to each other in appearance, but Rowan can see the subtle differences. Her mother smiles.
"Identify these."
"They are Hemlock and Sweet Cicely. Never eat Hemlock, you will die. The two sometimes grow beside each other. Sweet Cicely can be used in salads or to add flavour to tea."
Arwen nods. "Good. You're done. We should be eating dinner in about fifteen minutes."
Rowan nods and ducks out of the sitting room, going straight to her room. She stops at the door in surprise. Aisling is sitting on the bed.
"Gran?"
"Why were you gone so long, Rowan? Did you enter a faerie mound?"
Her eyes wide, Rowan shakes her head. "No!"
"Then what were you doing? And . . . where's your bracelet?"
Rowan glances down at her wrist. The spot where the cuff had encircled it is still pink, but the irritation is almost entirely gone. She reaches into her pocket to remove the cuff.
"Why weren't you wearing this, Rowan?"
Annoyed, Rowan holds out her wrist to her grandmother. "That's why!"
Aisling reels back a little, stunned. Then she takes hold of Rowan's arm, her hands gentle. "This is from the iron?"
"Yes."
"You're sure?"
Rowan scoffs. "Yes, Gran! I met with a healer!" She claps a hand over her mouth, but its too late. Ailing looks at her, her eyes sharp.
"A faerie healer?"
Rowan gives her a small nod. Aisling opens her mouth angrily, but Rowan cuts her off.
"I'm not going to talk about this, Gran."
With a sigh, Aisling stands from the bed and exits the room. The door closes behind her with a soft click and Rowan sags, practically collapsing onto the bed. The nails in her pocket jab into her through the cloth of her jacket. Rowan sighs and pulls them out, piling them onto her desk. A leaf flutters out with the nails and settles on the floor. Writing glimmers on its surface in a strange, shifting ink. Rowan leans down to pick it up carefully and reads it.
Hello, Rowan.
She almost drops it in surprise and fear, but forces herself to continue reading.
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Rowan places the leaf message on her desk and sighs. She doesn't want to think about how Andrian did that. She found the leaf this morning, before she even left the house. They didn't know each other's names then, so this message has to be recent. ________________________________________________________________________________ How do you think the leaf message works? What do you think is going to happen next? Tell me your thoughts!
