Nyar half-smiled. “Well, I should’ve kept my fun more honest, let’s say that much. I’m sorry I was not able to give you a son.”
“It’s not too late!” one of the men shouted out. “Get busy with Sabela and give her a babe. If worse comes to worse, toss her to us, we’ll keep her safe.” There was a chorus of agreement that sounded quite serious.
“Oh my goodness,” I said.
Nyar took my hand. “You’re a goblin now,” he said. “You’ll get used to our deeply practical views. They’re not wrong, are they? I don’t think I can get out of this. The water fairy will surely destroy any ropes of bridges we might try to build. But if I threw you across—“
“That is the most ridiculous plan I’ve ever heard,” I said. “If someone could tie a rope to one of the stalactites…”
The water faery started laughing again. You are funny with your plans, little one, but I can make water leak from the ceilings. I can freeze you to death. I could drown all of you right now if I liked, and I suppose the time has come…
Water started pouring in to the grotto. The water faery was mustering all of the water, drawing it in from where the river flowed. It was an impressive sight, the way it barreled in, almost taking form. The waters were rising quickly.
Nyar picked me up.
“No!” I wrapped my arms around my neck. “I won’t leave you.” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Keely! What about your daughter Keely?”
My daughter…what do you know of her? Who told you her name?
“I had a dream! I saw Nyar seducing her, and I saw you cursing him. But what happened to her? You left her alone!”
I had to…she was never going to be a water witch, the silly creature. All I could do was punish the man who ruined her.
Suddenly, from the other side of the grotto, where the water usually flowed out, the current slammed in instead. Waters rushed in and up, forming into the shape of a girl. She was riding on the rising waters like a buoy, her feet still rather liquid.
“Never?” she asked.
Chapter Thirteen
Keely? The waters immediately receded somewhat.
“Mother.”
Nyar set me down.
“Did you get my letter?” I asked, with renewed hope—but also some hesitation.
“Yes,” Keely said. “I was able to get in, thanks to the handkerchief. When my mother first disappeared, I tried to come for her then, to beg her to come home—but the doors to this place were locked tight. I tried to speak to the water, but I didn’t have much skill then—or maybe she just didn’t want to listen. I went home to a lonely house. I didn’t even drink Nyar’s tea—I thought I would like the company of a child—but I wasn’t pregnant. Which was certainly for the better, in hindsight.
“I didn’t understand how my mother could be so upset as to abandon me. I blamed myself, at first. I thought I needed to learn magic to impress her. So all this time, I have been studying. I did all the things she told me, the lessons I used to ignore. In the process, as I grew stronger, I realized that it hadn’t been my fault. I have grown confident in my own merits. Mother, I started to understand you better—at least, as I had known you. You were strict—too strict, I think—but you wanted what was best for me. Now, I don’t know what you’ve become.”
“Did you send me the dream?” I asked.
“Yes,” Keely said. “I’ve never been able to get inside the caverns, but as my own magic has grown, I’ve been able to speak to the waters. My mother can’t control every drop. I knew that you had come to the grotto and resisted the lure of the goblin king’s faery form— I heard that a goblin had been swept down the river in an attempt to save you. I had hope that you might be the one. I searched the shore and found your friend the knife.”
“Selnay still lives?” Garor asked.
“Yes.” Keely smiled. “Selnay and Huldie—your handkerchief—are making their way here now. They’re a bit behind because they couldn’t ride the rivers as I did, but of course I did not dare waste any time. I knew you must be so close to breaking the curse. I sent you that dream in the hopes that you would understand what you needed to do. It was the only way to get close to you.”
Keely… The river’s voice, for the first time, seemed uncertain.
“Mother, please—return to your true form. Come home with me.”
I’m not sure I know how.
“I don’t believe it. You’re more powerful than I’ll ever be. If I can change forms, you certainly can.”
They will not forgive me.
“I would be willing forgive you,” Nyar said. “We live in the moment more than the past. All of my people are alive and well, as it turns out. It’s easy enough to forget ten years of misery when I’ve had a week of happiness and the prospect of more. I’m ready to be a thoughtful ruler now. Certainly I have no taste for killing you, and I’m not sure you ever really had a taste for killing me. You could have done that a long time ago. Let’s forget this nonsense and go home to our families.”
The river drew back even more, until it was running so slow that it could barely have supported a leaf race. Keely no longer rode the waves, but let her feet fully form and drift to the bottom. Her dress seemed like it was stitched from water, flowing and blue. She was still quite beautiful, with white-blonde hair, skin like a blushing rose, and delicate features. I tried not to be jealous. Nyar didn’t seem to be scrutinizing her half as much as I was.
“Please, Mother,” Keely said. “I have kept up our little house. It’s still waiting for you to come home.”
I’m not sure I know how to be a person anymore.
“I’ll help you,” Keely said. “I just want you to come back. I have magic to learn from you. I’ve gotten as far as I can on my own.”
The river slowly bubbled up, forming a swirl, almost like a cyclone, that rose up as tall as a woman, and then it formed into the water witch. She looked a little older than she had in the vision, more fragile, her face lined and drawn.
Keely rushed to her side and caught her hands. “Mother! Mother—“
“I’m so sorry, my daughter. I meant to defend your honor, but…I was really judging you unfairly. I was angry because you disappointed me, but now I’m the one who should beg you for forgiveness.”
“It’s all right,” Keely said. “Let’s just get you home.” She helped her mother to the bank. “And we’re going to walk,” she added. “It’ll do you good to get your legs back.”
She turned to Nyar. “I wish you a happy marriage and a prosperous kingdom,” she said. She gave me an impish look, briefly, and added, “But you really are ugly.”
I was glad to hear it. I didn’t need any faery maidens sniffing around.
He smirked. “And I know better than to ever deal with faeries.”