A Kelpie of Rowan

Chapter 37

When Andrian comes back, he has a bowl full of soil held between his hands. It is almost brimming over with dirt, which may be the reason he's moving so slowly. Rowan giggles.

"I didn't need that much!"

He shrugs. "It's better to have too much than too little. How do you do it?"

Rowan laughs again at Andrian's eager expression. "Like this."

She places her hand flat against the soil inside the bowl. She can feel something nudging against her hand so she removes it. Beneath her palm a single flower is springing up from the dirt, its purple and yellow petals spearing away from its stem. Andrian touches one of the petals, beaming.

"It's lovely, Ro. Interesting choice, this flower."

Rowan raises an eyebrow. Does he know what Darach refused to tell her? "Why is it an interesting choice?"

"There is an old story about the cow-wheat flower."

Rowan sits up straighter. "What does it say?"

Andrian just frowns and shakes his head. "I don't remember, exactly. I just know that there was a connection between this flower and the courts."

"Do you mean the Seelie and Unseelie Courts?" Andrian nods. "Do you know which court?" Andrian shakes his head and Rowan slumps in her seat.

Andrian frowns again. "Why are you so interested?"

Rowan sighs. "I didn't choose which flower grows. These ones keep popping up around me, and I don't know why. Darach refused to tell me, she just said that I shouldn't let anyone see them, that I should destroy them."

"Hmmm. When is she expecting you for your lessons today?"

Rowan shrugs. "Soon, probably. But I thought I could control when I return."

Andrian laughs. "You can, but your body's time doesn't change. So I don't want to send you over exhausted."

"Can't I stay a bit longer?"

Andrian pauses before he speaks. "I'll be here tomorrow, like always. We have all the time in the world, Ro."

She nods and lets him lead her to the door. She snatches the flower out of the bowl of dirt and stuffs it into her pocket. Andrian takes her back to the river, silence hanging between them for the entire walk. But it isn't an uncomfortable silence, it's more that they don't want to disturb the peace than anything. Once they reach the river, Andrian lets go of Rowan's hand. Rowan is surprised by that, she hadn't even realised that they were holding hands. She frowns.

"I guess I have to go now?"

"Yes, but you'll be back before you know it, Ro."

She gives Andrian a small smile. "I hope so. See you tomorrow?"

"Of course."

Rowan starts wading into the river, thinking of when she wants to return. The water around her ripples from a gust of wind and laps at her chest. She steps in deeper and it surges forward, covering her head. Rowan blinks in surprise when she surfaces, someone is standing at the edge of the water. Rowan lets her head sink further into the water to stay out of sight as she swims closer. She doesn't need to get very close to shore at all before she stops swimming. It is the Seelie Lord standing at the edge of the water, looking out. He hasn't seen her yet, but Rowan isn't sure if that's because of her inside-out sock or because she is so low in the water.

Regardless, Rowan relaxes her body and lets the water sweep her downstream, away from the Seelie Lord. She doesn't emerge from the river until she is sure that she is out of sight of the Seelie Lord. But when she does emerge, she is likely several dozen meters from where he was, many meters away from the familiar parts of the forest. She doesn't know how to get back from where she is. Technically, she could follow the river back until she reaches a familiar area, but then she runs the risk of him finding her. But if she doesn't go, how can she get back home, let alone to her lessons?

Her foot snags on a tree root and Rowan stumbles, her hands flying out to catch herself. She makes contact with another tree root and it lights up. Rowan squints, confused. Why, exactly is a tree glowing? When she gets back to her feet, Rowan finds that several trees are glowing, all in a line. She steps past the glowing root to the next tree, only for the root's light to fade.

Understanding flashes through her. She has a gift with plants, and she touched the root. She didn't know how to get home. The forest must have made a path for her, leading her where she needs to go. Rowan grins and follows the path through the forest, the glow fading around her as she passes each lit-up tree or plant.

It doesn't take her long to reach a familiar part of the forest, but it takes long enough that Rowan knows she couldn't have done it on her own, at least not very easily. She finds herself expecting the forest's path to stop there, but it keeps going. Where is it leading her? Her home, the bramble patch, or is it taking her somewhere else entirely? She lets it lead her through the woods, past the bramble patch, it even takes her around her house. Rowan stops before she leaves her familiar forest once again, the trail extending into the distant woods. She frowns and whispers into the air, speaking to the trees around her.

"Where are you taking me?"

They don't answer, but she wasn't expecting them to. Rowan looks out at the unfamiliar trees and turns around. The light in the trees flickers, trying to catch her attention, but Rowan doesn't give it to them. She is not following trees into an unfamiliar area. No way.
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Where do you think the trees wanted to take her? What do you think the story about the flower might be referring to? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.