A Breeze on the Water

[Regulus Grey]

Regulus raises his eyebrows at Christine’s revelation.

“My apologies, I have been very rude Lady Melody. I have not been addressing you by your proper title all this time.”

Inclining his head once more, Regulus smiles at Christine.

“I almost can’t believe we have known each other for months and yet I didn’t know. Is that why you sang to the river all those months ago?”

[Christine Daye]

She waves her free hand idly.

"...oh, don't worry about that! I don't stand on ceremony... it's such a drag having to explain everything... and then of course there are those benighted fools who think that I am just a madwoman... which... well, to be fair, of course I'm a madwoman... but not in that respect!"

She smiles.

"...yes... I have many cousins... the spirits of the waters, the air, fire... I was beseeching aid for our travels when I sang to the River..."

She nods acknowledgement to the river as she says this.

"... and Lady Sulis was generous and kind... and the Avon carried my sacrifice to the Sea... where my cousins watched over us for the price of that song... tell me... have you seen any signs of the Dryads... the Wood Nymphs... in your trips outside Bath?"

She looks at him hopefully.

[Regulus Grey]

Regulus sadly shakes his head.

“Not certainly. I have seen things out of the corner of my eye...things that cannot be explained. But I do not know whether it was the beings you describe.”

He pauses

“Do you have cousins of the land as well?”

[Christine Daye]

She smiles.

"...of course... though they find the city... difficult... but then it depends on them... like so many people, they all have their own preferences... Lady Sulis had a ball a few months ago... and that was a very grand occasion!"

Another idle hum.

"... I hope to get to the White Horse soon... it has been too long since I have heard the music of the Otherworld... "

[Regulus Grey]

Regulus tilts his head again

“Is it possible for those not of your kin to see and hear the Fey? I have been often told that Clan Gangrel has a strong connection to the land. I would be curious to see these being you talk about?”

He nods, a small smile on his lips.

“Being stranded without music is...difficult. I know that much from my own travels.”

[Christine Daye]

"...it is possible... if the Good Folk will it... or if you found yourself some Fairy Ointment... but I would not advise that... we do not treat spies kindly..."

She frowns.

"...the story goes that a midwife was summoned to attend a childbed in a castle that she had never seen before... The birth was hard, but the babe lived, and the father gave the midwife an ointment to smear on the child's eyes, with dire warnings not to get it in her eyes. But alas, she developed an itch, and rubbed her left eye, getting the ointment into it."

Christine pantomimes the movement with her own hand.

"...and thereupon she was struck by the strangest of sights. Out of her right eye she saw the riches and luxury of the castle... out of her left... a wild and empty cave... But she took her fee - and she was well paid! And she left.

"...it was many months later that she saw the father of the child again, walking through the market. And she called to him, thinking to ask after the health of the mother and the child. And the father was surprised to be called, but came over regardless.

" 'What eye do you see me out of?' he asked the midwife. And she, thinking nothing of it, pointed to her left eye. At that precise moment he touched her eye with his finger, and she was instantly blinded in it, and could see him no longer..."

She looks at Regulus, worried.

"...so, please... do not ask me for the ointment.... not simply for your curiosity... but I will tell you... should you ever find yourself in the company of the Shining Host... neither eat nor drink the food of Faerie... unless they can offer salt. And... even more important... beware the taste of a Bean Sidhe's lips..."

She looks upset, her voice a whisper.

"...of the three who have ever kissed me... two are now enthralled... and one is dead...."

[Regulus Grey]

Regulus nods gravely.

"I promise I shall not seek out ointment or attempt to invade a gathering of the Fey, no matter how curious I am about them and the power they posses."

He blinks slowly, eyes flicking to amber.

"I am sorry Ms Daye. I wish I could help."

He very gently squeezes her hand again, eyes returning to their human shade.

"Do you have any other stories like that? I would like to record them if it is not considered rude."

[Christine Daye]

A wan smile.

"...another scholar of the old tales... I learned them at my Mama's knee... she was a filidh, a poet, a singer... a dreamer of dreams... yes, Mr Raven... I shall tell you tales... for that is how I and mine shall be remembered.... in these dark nights... when Science lights the shadows... and Rationality conquers all..."

She looks suddenly tired, but adopts a sing-song tone as she tells the story:

"There once was a man, a fisherman. He was alone, because he didn't like much the company of other people. He had a little hut, and a little boat, and he was happy. All until the day that he saw the selkies, dancing on the strand.

The selkies, they are of the Good Folk, some say. Others that they are human, under enchantment. Regardless, at times they take off their seal skins, and dance and sing upon the shore.

The dancing and the singing and the merriment went on for a night and a day. And at the end of that time, the selkies put their seal coats back on, and one by one, slid back into the embrace of the waves, until only one was left, a young maid, who had lingered to comb out her long, long hair in the sunshine.

Quick as a flash, the fisherman, he ran down to the shore, and snatched up the seal coat that lay by her side. Quick as a flash, he ran back to his hut, with her hard on his heels behind him.

He had just enough time to hide the coat in his old sea chest, when the maid caught up with him.

"Where is my coat?" she asked him.

"I will not tell you," he replied.

"Please give me my coat," she pleaded with him.

"I will not," he replied.

"If you do not give me back my coat," she said, with tears in her eyes, "I will be bound to you, and I can never return to the ocean and my sisters."

"I will not give you back your coat," he replied.

And so, thrice denied, the selkie maid was bound to him.

Now, he was not a truly bad man, despite him winning her by falsehood and deception. And so he was kind to her, and the time passed, and she bore him three children. Often she would sit with them, at the edge of the ocean, combing their long, long hair in the sunshine, all the while staring out to sea.

And as the children grew up, their curiosity had them looking in all sorts of places, so the fisherman had to move the sealskin coat from place to place, lest they find it.

And one day, the son asked his mother: "Mother, what is the fine fur I saw Father hide in the thatch?"

The selkie maid dropped what she was doing, and ran to the hut, searching through the thatch. When she found her coat, she cried out in joy, and wept.

That evening, she made a big dinner for the fisherman, and while he was eating it, she took the coat, and her children, down to the sea shore. She took her daughters by the hands, and walked with them into the water, calling for her son to follow.

But he hesitated, long enough for his father to reach him. His father caught him, and held him, while the selkie maid dived into the deeps, never to be seen again, while her daughters drowned.”

[Regulus Grey]

His eyes wide, Regulus listeners intently to the story, cataloging every part so he could write it down. Embellishment could come later, but for now he needed the core of the story.

"A sad tale that. Although...I don't suppose any encounter between the Fey and mortals tends to end well for both sides."

Regulus snorts

"The day science explains how I am able to change my own mass will be the day I believe rationality has dawned. I may be an academic...but there is still room for magic in this world."

[Christine Daye]

"....there is a tale of a mortal lass, who loved a Faerie Lord, and bore him a child... that tale does not end badly... though she had to abandon her mortal life to do so... but yes, in the main you are right... even the tales of the heroes all end in death..."

She shrugs.

"...such was the way of things. Cúchulain chose a short life and glory, so that his name would be remembered forever... and so he is... but yes... the sorrows of Irish storytelling.... the Sons of Tuireann, the Children of Lir, Deirdre and the Sons of Uisneach... Midir and Etain... and the bitterness of giving love up... because truly one has no choice..."

She looks like she's going to cry, but holds it back.

"...Emer... grant me your strength..."

She hums for a long moment.

....don't you dare look out your window.... darling everything's on fire... the war outside our door keeps raging on... hold on to this lullaby... even when the music's gone....

Somewhat calmed, she looks at Regulus, her grey eyes bleak.

"...it is your turn to tell me a story, Mr Raven..."