User blog:Redknight910/WWYD Selkie Ronchellster

I sigh, remembering my family, and how much the spear meant to grandfather. I know they'll be catching up to me any day now, and I should really get on the road again, but I just sit at the river by the inn, waiting for them to arrive.

I'm surprised when only one selkie shows up, a look of defeat in her eyes. When she spots me, that look is wiped from her and replaced with the angry determination I've come to expect from them. She swims at top speed towards me, grabbing me and starting to pull me into the freezing water. She stops as she realises I'm not struggling.

"Oh, it's not him..." She mutters, releasing me. "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else." I tell her if she's looking for the spear, then she's found the right man. Her eyes widen, and she looks over me again.

"Why aren't you struggling? You're the legendary prey, the grandchild of the man who took the spear. The one who's evaded us for five years... I expected... More." I smile, telling her I'm done with the running and the fighting, if she wants the spear, I'll give it to her. She pulls herself up onto the bank and sits next to me.

"Well... It's not quite that simple." She begins to explain. "The spear is just how we've been tracking you. The real thing your grandfather stole was my mother’s heart, and when he ran away, she was devastated. What's owed isn't the spear. It's the love, the passion, the heat of a lovers embrace." She stops for a moment, and I see tears in her eyes. "It's a husband, that's what your family owes us." I sit there, watching her carefully. I ask if any member of the family will serve.

"Only if they're willing, and promise to never abandon their wife." I take her hand, telling her that in five years of running, I've encountered more of her family than anyone else in mine. I swear by the gods, that if I must take one's hand to end this chase, then so be it. Her teary eyes get even worse, then she throws herself at me, crying.

"Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!" She cries, her arms wrapped tightly around my shoulders. "Will you truly? Will you really take one of us as your wife and let this manhunt end?" I nod, and lift her face to mine. In my most passionate voice I tell her I would be honoured if I could take her, the most determined of her family, as my wife. She can't even form words now, and simply cries on my shoulder. We sit there for some time, even after she finishes crying we sit and watch the sunset.

"I... I need to go, to tell my family about this news. You'll stay here, won't you? So I can find you?" I nod, telling her I'm a man of my word. As she slips back into the frigid river I look up at the sky. I can't decide if I should curse my grandfather or not, but in the end I just go back into the inn.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">A week later she returns, and I'm sitting by the river, leaning against my grandfather’s spear. I ask if it's time to go, and she nods.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">"Both of our families have been informed, and the wedding will take place where my mother was to marry your grandfather." I nod, taking her hand and stepping into the river with her. She takes us back out to the sea, to a beach by the cliffs. Our families are waiting for us, along with a sea bishop to perform the ceremony.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">"Son, you've changed a lot since we last saw you." My father mentions, placing a hand on my shoulder. My mother was crying on his shoulder, and I can see the concern in his eyes. "Are you sure this is the only way to stop this? I'm sure we could escape them if they came for you." I shake my head, telling them that I've been trying to escape them for the last five years. He nods, and squeezes my shoulder one last time before the ceremony begins.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">As the sea bishop blesses us, my wife-to-be begins to undress us. Somewhat surprised I whisper what she thinks she's doing.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">"It's part of the ceremony." She whispers back. "We are to be bound in body as she binds us in heart. I close my eyes momentarily, then aid her in disrobing me. As the ceremony continues and we are joined in body the gasps of my family and the chill of the sea begin to disappear. All I can see, all I can hear is my new wife, my loving wife.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:"TimesNewRoman"; mso-bidi-font-family:Helvetica;mso-fareast-language:EN-AU">I promised I would never leave her side, and I've stood by that promise for thirteen years of our marriage, with no intention of breaking it now. We visited my family regularly, and I even found time to thank my brother for taking the spear out that day. We're expecting our second child soon, and both of us couldn't be happier. I thank my grandfather for stealing that spear, all those years ago.