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"They always get in the way."
No, that quiver in Luch's voice hadn't been fear. It had been annoyance. Anger. The mouse didn't seem to like the other selkies, even though her lover was that species. There was no doubt that the two of them were deeply in love. It made it even more heartbreaking to see the women, made of flesh and blood, and the man, a ghostly figure who couldn't touch her. She hoped the two of them had had a good life before Bradaigh became a spirit. A ghost. Whatever he was. The alternative was too sad to even imagine.
Macey tried hard not to cry and the sight of them. It was one of the most heartbreaking and depressing things she'd ever seen. And one of the most touching.
"Would you like to introduce us?" she asked gently, trying to get back to work before her unshed tears escaped her.
They both turned away from each other, but their hands stayed close, almost touching.
"This is Bradaigh, my husband," Luch explained. "He's not a Warden, but as my companion, he was bestowed the same eternal life that all Wardens get rewarded with."
"Wait, you were a Warden too?" Flint asked, saying what Macey had just thought.
"Yes, once, a long time ago. I am no longer, of course, there are only ever one set of Wardens. Back when it was my turn, it was just me. A lone Warden, tending to the Staran, living all by myself in this little house. They chose me because I was unattached, without family who would miss me if something went awry with the transformation. I was the first, you see? They didn't know if their plans would actually work."
"Who's they?"
Bradaigh looked at his wife in confusion. "You've not told them?"
"I wanted to make sure they were ready," Luch replied softly. "Shall we go inside? If we're lucky, there's still some peat we can use to make ourselves some tea."
Macey turned to her fellow Wardens. They seemed just as stunned as she felt. Luch, a Warden. The first one. Who turned out to be married to a ghost. It was all a bit much. She breathed in the cold, salty air to clear her head.
"I'm not sure what's going on," Jared muttered. "There's so much she could have told us before, but instead, she brought us here. I'm not sure we can trust her."
"I disagree," Amber suddenly said. "Her feelings for him are true. So is what she said to him. We weren't ready before. We had to see this house reappear. We had to see where she's from before we could believe who she is." She smiled, removing some of the gravitas from her words. "Shall we go inside? I'd kill for a cup of tea right now."
Luckily, Amber didn't have to kill anyone. Luch managed to start a fire in the simple hearth using a heap of old peat, before asking Macey to conjure some water to fill the kettle. The peat smoke slowly began to fill the house, a warming, comfortable scent that made it smell like a home. A place where people lived, not one that was solely inhabited by a ghost waiting for his wife.
Bradaigh was sitting on a bench, not taking his eyes off Luch. He took in her every move with a longing that made Macey's heart ache for them once again. She suddenly understood Luch's brusque manner a lot more.
"I haven't met a kelpie in ages," he suddenly said, turning to Macey who had slipped onto the bench next to him.
"I've never met a selkie," she admitted. "But I've not heard many good things about your kind."
She instantly regretted saying that. He seemed like a nice man and she really didn't want to offend him.
Luckily, he chuckled. "I've not heard many good things about your kind, either. But I've met and befriended kelpies, which is a lot more important than hearsay and rumours, wouldn't you say?"
Macey nodded. "I met a ceasg recently and had only ever heard terrible, frightening tales about them. It turned out she was really nice and helpful."
"Oh, there are not many ceasg around anymore. You're lucky to have met one." He laughed again. "There are a lot of selkies though, they live all around St Kilda. You may want to stay away from them; most of them have never met a kelpie before and all they've heard about you are legends of how you drown and eat humans."
"I'm a vegetarian," Macey said automatically, and he grinned.
"So am I. It's very amusing to see someone else use that argument."
"I should really know better by now," Macey berated herself, annoyed that she hadn't really thought to question her thoughts and feelings towards selkies before now.
Of all the creatures she'd met along the way, almost none of them had turned out to be anything like what the rumours and tales had said.
Probably the humans fault. She imagined a human must have drowned in a loch where kelpies lived, and they'd taken the blame. Or maybe it was worse than that. Maybe it was humans killing other humans and blaming it on the myths of old. That wouldn't surprise her. Not from what she' seen of the misrepresented creatures.
"Please explain more," she prompted, after taking a sip of her tea. She aimed the question at Luch. While debating why kelpies and selkies had been led to hate one another was interesting, it didn't get them any further on their quest to save the Staran.
Luch sighed. "Which bit do you want explaining first?" she asked.
"Start with who you mean by they?" Macey prompted, hoping that was the right thing to ask first. It was hard to tell what questions she should be asking when she had absolutely no idea of any of the answers. In some ways, it was easier to question the things that had happened already. That way, she had something to ground her answers on.
