Authors: Flora Dare
“Figured it out?”
“How to escape the cage. Still, I will use this time.” The golden shield tied into the salt circle. Maude turned her attention to Simon, using her considerable power to bind his wounds.
Maude began chanting, calling to the Goddess of Death that Lori worshiped. “Oh, Nemiahka, claim this child of yours. Oh, Nemiahka, she is what you command. She broke your vows, defiled your name, and you must call her to you. Neya, hear our cry, be our witness.”
Lori finally broke free from her bindings, and staggered towards the circle. She said, “You defile my Goddess, crone.”
A lightning bolt filled the grotto with light and the thunder that followed knocked all of the women to their knees. Two impossibly beautiful women appeared on the altar.
Lori looked at the dark-haired goddess, fell to her knees and began to crawl toward her. “I brought you them, my queen. I brought you all of them. They took everything from me. My love, my child.”
The goddesses ignored her, and walked to Maude, entering the salt circle.
Nemiahka said to Maude, “I hear your petition, child of Mau.” She turned to Lori and outstretched her hand. “You closed your heart to my words, and befouled my altar with murder. Lives must be freely, joyously given to me, not ripped from their owners.” She stepped out of the circle and drew the sobbing woman into her arms. “I withdraw my power from you. You are no priestess of mine.” She released Lori suddenly, who fell into a pile on the ground.
Neya gently pressed a finger against Danae’s forehead. She walked over to the heap that was Liam, picking him up easily, cradling him in her arms like a mother.
The goddesses then erupted into eye-searing light, leaving Lori unconscious on the ground and Liam gone.
Maude nodded briskly and stood up. She held out a hand to help Danae stand and said, “We can go, Lori can't hurt us. Neya clearly finished her spell, this unclean place is contained. Let's go find your daughter.”
Danae held onto her hand for a moment longer and finally said, “Maude, could she really have brought David back from the dead?”
Maude paused, and looked at Danae. “No, she would have, at best, brought a...golem. His spirit is long past this place.”
Danae said, “Not that I wouldn’t still want him alive…” she let her words trail off.
“Child, I know. You’ll always love him. But you made room in your heart for Liam.”
Danae just nodded. And now Liam was going to leave her.
“Let’s go to the sea. I know she sent him.”
“How do you know?”
Maude said, “I pay attention.”
“Neya has had Alba all this time. Will she even remember me? It’s been two years. I still can’t wrap my head around her being alive.” Danae froze for a moment, finally recalling Maude’s words. “You knew. You knew she was alive and you let me suffer.” Raw fury began to flow through Danae as she stared at the older woman.
Maude held her hands up and said, “No, I didn’t. Well, when they didn’t find her, I wondered. It wasn’t until I saw your face that I realized. There was no way you would have kept your cool over Lori confessing to the murder of your child if Alba wasn’t still alive.”
Danae slumped. She still found it hard to let go of her emotions. “But why didn’t Neya bring her to me? I’ve walked that beach every day for two years.”
“You didn’t ask her to help.”
“She could have let me know!”
“The Immortal Goddesses are not like the Greek gods of old. They are not capricious beings seeking their own pleasure. They rule over their domains. When Alba was cast into the sea by a spell, one of her creatures interfered. That’s why she could protect her. But if Alba left, then she could no longer be protected. Do you think you could have kept her safe when you were so grief stricken? You’d given up practicing your powers to be with David.”
Danae shook her head slowly, recalling those terrible days after the accident. “No, I couldn’t have.”
Maude gently patted her hand. “We’ll go to the sea, we’ll ask Neya. But there is always a price.”
“Where did she take Liam? Why? Do you know what I asked for?”
“I don’t.”
Danae finally confessed what she’d been longing for to the other woman. “I asked for forgetfulness. To forget that I had ever known David or had a child. So I could finally leave my wretched half-life.”
Maude winced away from Danae’s anger and pain. “I know I played my part. We asked too much of you. There was just so much hope when Alba was born. It was so much easier to blame you.”
“David’s gone. Alba might be out of my reach. And Liam…he’s gone too. And I have no reason to think he’d come back except on Neya’s behalf.”
“Don’t doubt yourself. Don’t doubt him. Neya sent him to you for a reason. Do you still want to forget?”
Danae said, “No, not only because Alba is alive. It’s true what they say, time heals all wounds. Perhaps not heals, but at least lets it scab over. Even if she were gone, like David, I wouldn’t want to forget her. I don’t want to forget how much I loved David either.”
Maude said, “The memories hurt, but these are the things that make us who we are, as people.”
“I think Liam wants forgetfulness, though. He lost his wife to Lori. But he doesn’t have a child to hold him to her memory.”
“Perhaps Neya was hoping you could heal each other. She is not a cruel goddess.”
Danae felt unbidden tears roll down her face. “But she can’t make him want to be with me.”
Maude said, “I don’t think she has to.”
“I saw his memory, felt his grief. Why wouldn’t he want to leave that behind if he could?” Danae felt a fresh wave of fear flood her. She knew his agony and knew his desire to escape it.
“You don’t know what he wants. Come, let’s get to the water’s edge. This cave is dank and vile.”
Danae said, “What about the curse on the village?”
Maude brushed off the sand still clinging to her. “I will have to study this place, but now that I know what the seat of the curse is, I can break its hold on our town. My goddess will help me.”
Danae helped Maude out of the cave and onto the beach. She blinked back tears at the light of the day, shocked that it was so bright out. It seemed like hours and hours had gone by, but it was still late afternoon and the storm was gone as suddenly as it had appeared.
They walked to the water’s edge and took off their shoes. Danae stopped just before the waves, suddenly overcome.
How do I ask a goddess for anything? Let alone to give me the child she’s protected back? And Liam?
This was different than the spell she cast, it felt so much larger.
But Maude kept going until she was thigh deep.
She turned back and gestured impatiently at Danae. “Let’s not keep her waiting.”
Danae waded into the water, letting it soak her skirt. There was something so cleansing about the brisk salt water lapping against her thighs. Maude grasped her hand and they stood staring out into the ocean.
Danae couldn’t think of any fancy phrase and just said, “Please, Neya. I need them back.”
The waves went still and the cawing of the seabirds faded into the distance. The flash of bright light that heralded Neya’s arrival in the cave was replicated and the impossibly beautiful woman stood before them.
Danae couldn’t stop the tears that welled up in her eyes as she stammered out her request. “Please, Neya, my baby. I miss her so much.”
The goddess had an aura of sorrow when she said, “You know there is a price for everything. I’m assuming you no longer wish for the boon of forgetfulness.”
Danae said, “No, please. I don’t want to forget.”
“And what of Liam?”
“He isn’t mine to command, but…” Danae stumbled over her words. “There were no promises between us. But I find I don’t want him to go. It will hurt as much as losing David.”
Neya said, “Even if he doesn’t want you? Or rather, wants to forget his pain more?”
“I don’t know what I’ll do, but I know I can’t compel him. I’m not like Lori, you can’t force someone to love you. He has his own pain.”
Neya said, “You have to know, to save your daughter, she had to change.”
“What do you mean?”
“She was rescued from the sea. That means she’s part of my domain now. She’s not entirely human.”
Danae stared at the goddess, uncomprehending. “I don’t understand.”
“She’s a creature of the sea now.”
Danae’s heart sunk. Alba might not be dead, but it seemed she might be forever out of her reach. “I don’t understand what that means.”
Neya’s voice seemed incredibly soft, like she was trying to be gentle with her harsh words. “It means she belongs to the sea.”
She couldn’t stop the flow of tears. To be so close, to know Alba was just out of her reach was almost more than Danae could bear. She was losing her all over again. Danae felt herself sinking into the fog of her past grief when Maude squeezed her hand.
Maude said, “Neya, I know you are not cruel. Are you saying that Danae has lost Alba forever?”
“You mistake me. There is always a way, it’s just that there is a price.”
Maude said, “What is your price?”
Danae looked up at the unearthly face of the goddess, looking for mercy or kindness and only seeing something beyond her ken. Something appeared in Neya’s hands. A furry lump. She shook it out in front of the two women and Maude gasped. It was a seal skin.
“Take this.”
Danae reached her hand out and took the soft skin. She’d expected it to be heavy and hard to carry. But it wasn’t. It was as light as a feather.
A frisson of fear ran down Danae’s back and said, “What do I do with this?”
“Your price is your choice.”
“Are you telling me I can choose to be a selkie?” She shook the skin at Neya. It didn’t make sense, it took more than just putting on a sealskin to be a selkie.
“No, if you choose to keep that sealskin, you will pledge yourself to me. I’ll transform you into a selkie and you can join your daughter.”
It didn’t seem much of a choice. To have Alba and to become one of Liam’s people. “Well, then, I choose…”
Neya put her hand up and said, “Or you choose to give Liam his sealskin and he can return to his people.”
Danae went white and cold. She almost dropped the skin in shock. It wasn’t just choosing to be with her child, it would be dooming Liam to life separated from his people. An exile.
Neya said, “Be assured, Danae, your daughter is safe. She will grow up, loved and taken care of.”
Danae said, “Does she know who I am?”
Neya said, “Of course she does. She misses you.”
Danae said, “What happens to Liam if I take it?”
Neya said, “He’ll have to stay on land. He will be anchored to this place.”
Maude interrupted, “More than that. He’ll walk the beach endlessly searching for a way home, even though he knows it’s closed to him. He’ll live, probably even a long, healthy life. But it will be locked to these shores, this town.”
Danae said, “Why are you asking me to do this? Why are you so cruel? Why should Liam suffer so I can be with my child?”
Neya stared down at the two women and said, “Everything has a price. I’ve guarded and protected your child. If you want to join her, then go to Liam. Put on the skin in front of him.”
Danae drew back in horror and said, “It’s not just choosing to be with Alba, it’s deciding to hurt him, to take something away from him.”
“And that is the choice you must make. Now go, go to your cottage. He will be waiting on the beach.”
“Will he know?”
“Yes.” And with that, Neya vanished in a burst of light.
Danae turned to Maude and said, “How can I do this? I have to be with Alba, but to trap him here.”
Maude just shrugged at her wordlessly, shock written across her face. Maude turned away, towards the beach and Danae watched her struggle to the shore while she clutched the fur and wept.
Chapter Eight
Danae had the vaguest of impressions of villagers running down to the cave, to help Simon and secure Lori. Moments later, she pulled up to the cottage, with no memory of how she found her way to her car or the slow drive back.
She stared out the window for a few long minutes. She had no idea what she was going to do, but she had to see Liam. To make sure he was okay. She grabbed the fur off the seat and headed down to the beach.
Danae saw Liam sitting on a rock, his feet dangling in the water. He was staring off into the waves. The crunch of her feet on the sand alerted him and he looked over his shoulder at her. His eyes dropped down to the sealskin in her hands then back up to her face.
She felt exhaustion settle into her bones as she stood next to him, staring out to sea as he watched her steadily.
He broke the silence and said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t more help. Lori caught me as I was going up the path. Never saw her coming.”
Danae shrugged. “Even though I knew what she was, I still followed her into the cave. It worked out in the end. Mostly.”