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“Tell me about the Selkies, Auntie!” the little girl cried, plopping onto the braided rug by the fire.
“Have I not told you enough about them?” Auntie asked, glancing over her cup of tea at the child at her feet. She smiled, though, and the girl grinned back, a gap where one of her front teeth would be soon. “All right. Do you remember Kynda, the Queen of the Selkies? Have I told you of her sister, Amyra, the warrior princess?”
The child shook her head, her short braid sweeping her shoulders.
“Ah, well, Amyra didn’t stay in the Cove. She lit out on adventure with her skin tied around her shoulders.” Auntie paused to sip her tea. “She bested human soldiers, Fae warriors, and the Guardians of the merfolk rock halls, with nothing but a spear and her will.”
“Did she always wear her skin?” the girl asked, tilting her head.
Auntie’s eyes glistened. “No. Eventually, she trusted it to someone special to her, and her adventures in the world came to an end,” she said as the child climbed into her lap, atop the silvery seal fur she wore across her legs.
