Page 18 of The Rake OR The Orca Who Met His Match in a Selkie Desiring Revenge
“And what am I to do while I wait patiently for you?”
“Whatever you’d normally do when waiting I suppose…” He grimaced. “I’m sorry, I swear I wouldn’t leave you if I wasn’t genuinely worried about what I would do, I don’t—uh, feel quite myself around you.”
“Well, considering I have nothing to draw with, I suppose I’ll just have to occupy mymind some other way.”
Aegir reached out, his strong hands enveloping her shoulders. He leaned down, and for a moment, Elspeth thought he would kiss her. Instead, he pressed his forehead against hers. “Stay safe," he whispered.
Heart hammering in her chest, Elspeth could only nod.
Aegir cleared his throat, and turned to walk into the forest. His steps were shockingly quiet, and in seconds, she could neither see nor hear him. She was no stranger to her own company, but she usually preferred to have something to do.
Though now, it felt exceedingly quiet as she waited without Aegir’s ramblings to keep her company.
After what felt likeat least an hour sitting in the forest alone, Elspeth began singing softly to herself. She didn’t project far, worried about being overheard. But she did want to be occupied. She sang the songs of her childhood, silly ditties about tricking land-folks, or soul-wrenchinglaments for selkies who had been trapped. The loss of one's pelt was a common theme, though some were triumphant at the end, reclaiming their freedom and returning to the sea. In the cases where the selkie had had children while ashore, their descendants always seemed to have some sort of affinity for the sea, or were freckled in a way that matched their parents' pelt.
Elspeth startled when Aegir stepped between the trees, as she’d had her eyes closed, lost in the song, tears running down her face. When she looked up at him, she noticed that his eyes were glassy and unfocused, his mouth hung slack in an empty headed sort of smile. Snapping her mouth shut, she pushed her hand against her mouth, whispering between her fingers “Aegir, I’m so sorry! I forgot about my song!”
Aegir, who carried a large package in his hands, shook his head and his eyes refocused. “Is that what that was? Do you have some sort of singing magic?"
Elspeth would have expected him to be upset, but his eyes were bright, and she could hear the excitement in his voice. He sounded intrigued more than anything.
“I suppose I do," she said, shaking her head. “I’d always heard that we did, but selkies are immune to it, so, I suppose I forgot. Are youall right?"
“All right? I’m wonderful. Your song was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard, I’ve never felt anything like it."
“Yes, that’s what I mean! I promise, I wasn’t trying to bewitch you, I was only trying to pass the time.”
Aegir ducked his head, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. “I think we both know that you don’t need a song to bewitch me, you’ve done a pretty good job of it already."
Had he said it in any other context, Elspeth would have been convinced it was a line. Aegir was just the sort of man to have a witty compliment for everything. But instead of a joking tone and striking a pose, like she might have expected, Aegir spoke so softly, she could barely hear it, and looked away. He cleared his throat, the vulnerabilities fading to give way to his usual patented confidence.
“Well, I don’t think we need to worry about activities for passing the time," he said, untying the twine holding the bundle in his hands together. He unwrapped the brown paper packaging and revealed a small blue journal and a selection of drawing implements. Elspeth gasped, her eyes roaming over a set of pastels, a selection of charcoals, and even what appeared to be a pen, nibs, and a small pot of ink.
“Aegir! I can’t believe you bought this!” Her words came out strangled as she blinked back tears.
“You mentioned that normally you’d draw... I don’t know your preferred methods, so I just bought what they had," he said, shrugging, as if they hadn’t cost a small fortune—as if it wasn’t one of the most singularly thoughtful things someone had ever done for her.
He sat them down on the boulder, and pulled out several other items. A new shift, followed by what appeared to be several pairs of stockings, a selection of ribbons, stays, and two petticoats.
“I meant to just buy you one outfit, and then take you with me to purchase the rest, but I got a little excited, I think. So, why don’t you put that on, and I’ll show you my impulse purchases.”
Overwhelmed, Elspeth peeled off her now dry stockings, and sat them to the side, fingering the new, impossibly smooth stockings between her fingers. She’d never felt a knit so fine, and was shocked that they’d wasted it on stockings. Turning away, she quickly removed Aegir’s shirt, and slid the new shift over her shoulders. It was light and airy, though tighter woven than the linen shirt she’d just removed.
When her fingers fell on the stays, she was relieved to find that they, at least, felt like a sturdy fabric she was used to wearing. At home, when she knew she’d be out and about, but wouldn’t need her pelt for warmth around her shoulders, she’d often secured it aroundher waist, against her skin, so she could feel it. She put on her stays and then tucked her pelt underneath her shift, using the stays and one of the petticoats to keep it in place. That done, she turned back around to find Aegir holding a pair of leather shoes.
“Apparently your feet are quite small, at least around these parts. The fauns don’t wear them and the closest people around are trolls much taller than you, so I might have told them you were a child in order to get the sizing on everything right."
Slipping the shoes on, Elspeth scrunched her nose. " These fit shockingly well. "
“I tried to get them as close as I could,” he said.
He picked up two options of dresses for her. The fabric was unlike anything else she’d ever worn. It was smooth and shiny, reflecting the beams of light that shone between the trees.
One was a deep, rich green that when she touched it, she noted that there was a raised pattern on it, flowers of the same color. Somehow the fabric had been woven in a way that they stood out in relief. The second was a dark purple. It was woven in a similar fashion thoughinstead of flowers it had a pattern of stripes in two thicknesses.3
“These are gorgeous,” she said. "I don't know if I can wear something this fine. I'll trip and ruin it.”
Aegir smirked and tipped his head to the side. "I hate to tell you, but I'm a bit of a fop. If I can, I prefer sumptuous things. So, almost everywhere I go, I'm either some sort of elvish officer or filthy rich merchant. It wouldn't do for me to travel with anyone who didn’t match my station.”