Chapter Thirty-Five
The next morning, at breakfast, Caelum announced that the Velasca would begin a new tradition.
After every successful assignment, we would hold a Remembering.
We would share memories about the saved myth and celebrate their past as well as their future.
He told everyone to prepare to share a memory they had of áedán at his Remembering that night.
I spent the day packing the rest of my things, thinking about which memory I'd share of áedán, and making love to him.
When not making love to me, áedán spent his time speaking to electricians and ordering things for the cottage using my credit card.
He had his own bank account, set up for him by the Velasca, but I didn't want him using his bank card online.
That night, the entire Velasca, or at least everyone currently at the estate, gathered around Velas's oak for áedán's Remembering. Caelum stood before the oak, with áedán beside him, looking nervous.
“We are here to remember áedán Lomond.” Caelum held an arm out toward áedán.
“Tonight we record our memories of him because that is who we are. We do not forget. But we do this with joyful hearts, knowing that there will be so much more to remember, so many memories left for áedán to make. We do this to honor what came before, to celebrate what is now, and to anticipate what will come.” Flowers bloomed under Caelum's feet. “Who will speak first?”
Mateo stepped forward. “I will.” He looked at áedán with the same warmth he gave everyone who entered his hall.
“When Ethan first brought áedán here—not áedán's first visit, mind you, but his first with Ethan.
I went for a midnight snack and found áedán in my kitchen.
I thought he was raiding the pantry as everyone does.
But he was just sitting at the table, staring at nothing.
I asked if he was hungry. He said no. I made him food anyway, because that's what I do.”
A few people laughed softly.
“He told me he couldn't remember what his mother's cooking tasted like.
That he knew he used to make bread with her, but couldn't remember how.” Mateo's voice roughened.
“So I taught him how to make bread. We spent four hours making bread, and he told me stories about his mother while the dough rose.” Mateo walked up to áedán and pulled him into a brief, fierce hug.
“These belong to you.” He handed áedán a little notebook.
áedán opened the book. “My stories aboot my mother.”
“I wrote down everything you said after you left.”
“Thank you, Mateo.”
“I'm a Velascan. Just because I spend most of my time cooking, it doesn't mean I don't know how to record stories.” Mateo stepped back.
Agnes moved forward next, holding the book that contained áedán's story and would contain the stories we told that night.
She paused her writing to tell a story about áedán getting lost in the Archive, back when he had first come to the estate.
That was long before I had met him. As she spoke, it sank in that all the humans there were far older than I'd thought.
They'd all been at the estate when áedán had first visited.
Not just the other myths. The humans had been so careful not to say anything around me that might give away their ages.
I had to prove myself first. But now that I was one of them, they spoke freely.
Zoe stepped forward and talked about playing chess with áedán.
Then Rory. Brannoc. Julian. There were so many wonderful memories I'd never heard.
I wanted to be with áedán, standing beside him as people told his stories.
But this wasn't about me. He needed to stand there with Caelum and hear how much he meant to us.
Even Zephyr stepped up the hill and squawked at áedán.
I found myself stepping forward before I'd consciously decided to move. “I have a memory to share.”
áedán's eyes found mine, so bright in the light of the lamps strewn around us. “It had better not be aboot that damn check-out machine.”
I laughed. “It's not.”
“Very well then. Proceed.”
“It's about the ducks.”
“Oh, sweet water, no!”
“You gotta tell us now!” Rory called out.
“There were these children feeding ducks.” I grinned when áedán hung his head.
“áedán didn't like the way they threw the pieces of bread. Neither did the ducks, for that matter. So, he showed the kids how to toss the bread further and make the ducks swim for the pieces. There he was, surrounded by children, lecturing them about bread and ducks.”
The gathering made a collective “aw” sound.
“Hold on now. I'm not finished.” I held up a hand. “Once the kids had the throwing down, áedán started competing with them.”
“I wasnae competing with children.” áedán rolled his eyes.
“You so were!” I pointed at him. “Every time a kid threw a piece of bread a good distance, you had to throw a piece further. It went on and on until you threw it too far, and the ducks didn't go after it.”
“It was just that kid with the freckles.” áedán grimaced. “He was a show-off. Damn gingers.”
“Hey!” Rory shouted.
“Aye, you too. You know you're named for your hair, aye? The root of Rory is Ruadh, meaning red.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Rory rolled his eyes and then shifted to a Scottish burr. “I ken the meaning. My gran was Scottish.”
“I knew I liked you.” áedán winked at him.
Rory blushed to match his hair and stepped back, muttering something about handsome kelpies getting away with saying whatever they wanted.
“Excuse me, but we're not finished.” I put my fists on my hips. “You were showing off as much as that kid.”
áedán came down the little hill, took my face in his hands, and kissed me soundly. Everyone hooted and laughed, but I swayed on my feet. áedán kissed me like there was no one else around. It was enough to leave me panting when he eased away.
“Well, that shut him up.” Brannoc snorted.
I gaped at áedán. “Was that why you kissed me?”
“It worked.” áedán smirked as he went back to his place beside Caelum.
Chuckling, Caelum stepped forward. “May I?” He held his hand out to Agnes.
Agnes passed the book and pen to him. With the book propped on one arm, he wrote a single line beneath the memories Agnes had recorded. Then he turned the book so that we could all see what he'd written.
Status: Still Living.
The words seemed to shimmer on the page. Caelum closed the book gently and handed it back to Agnes as the rest of us cheered.
“This belongs in the Archive,” he said. “In the kelpie section, where anyone who wishes to know áedán's true story or just needs to remember can find it. And that goes for you as well, áedán. If you ever forget, we will remember for you.”
Agnes took the book with both hands, cradling it as if it were treasure. “I'll make sure to leave space on the shelf for more volumes. Because your story continues.”
áedán nodded. “Thank you. Thank you all.” He looked from Caelum and Agnes to me, then around the gathering. “I think of you as family.”
Everyone cheered. Then áedán came down the rise, and people approached him one by one, offering quiet words or embraces.
Zephyr bounded over and demanded attention, which áedán provided while laughing.
Mateo brought out a metal tub of ice and champagne bottles while a few of his kitchen staff brought glasses.
It became a party, with people pausing every so often to toast áedán.
I left áedán to soak it all in and went up to Caelum, where he had taken a seat against Velas's oak. “Thank you.” I motioned to áedán. “For this.”
“Don't thank me. This is what we should have been doing all along.” He looked at me with those ancient green eyes. “Preservation isn't about freezing things in place. It's about giving them room to grow.”
I chewed my lip. “Uh, so, now that I know about the elixir, I've been thinking.”
“Yes?”
“The Editor could have a similar potion.”
“Yes. That's why I asked you not to assume anything. We don't know who or what this person is. So, we need to stay alert for any possibility.”
“Yes, of course.”
I sat down beside him, and we watched the festivities in silence.
I didn't know how they used to celebrate a success, but this felt perfect.
My gaze went to áedán over and over until he came to me and held out his hand.
As he pulled me to my feet, Caelum stood and looked at áedán as if he expected something.
Sure enough, áedán had a question for Caelum. “If enough people remembered my family, would they come back? Could they exist again?”
Caelum didn't answer immediately. He looked up into the branches of Velas's oak, his expression distant. The silence stretched long enough that I thought he might not respond at all. Finally, he said, “I don't know.”
áedán's shoulders sagged.
“But,” Caelum continued, “that's only because no myth has ever come back so strongly after nearly fading.
Not even me. I think kelpies will return.
How could they not, with all the belief in them?
Will they be your family members? Maybe.
If anyone could make it happen, it's a kelpie who has taken the world by storm.”
áedán's eyes glinted, and his shoulders straightened. “Thank you. I hope I can count on you if I need help.”
“Always.” Caelum squeezed his shoulder once, then walked away, leaving us alone beneath the tree.
We left the garden and went up to my room. After he locked the door, áedán took my hand and led me to bed. He didn't undress me, just sat down beside me.
“What is it?” I turned toward him.
“The Velasca will send you on other assignments. That's your job now.”
“Yes.”
“I want to come with you.”
“You want to help other myths?”
“Aye, I want to help them find new beginnings. The way you helped me find mine. But mainly, I want to be with you.” He lifted our joined hands and kissed my knuckles. “Wherever the Velasca sends you next, we go together.”
“I want that, but I want you to have something that's yours too.”
“Have you forgotten who I am? I'm the Guardian of the Water. The Bonnie Loch Beast. And I've got a lot to do. But I'll find a way to do it at your side.”
“I'm sure we can find jobs for an eco-warrior like you wherever we go.”
He kissed me then, slow and deep and full of promise. When we eased apart, he was smiling.
I kicked off my shoes. “I think we'll have a little time before my next assignment.”
“Then you'll have time to settle into your new home.” He kicked off his shoes.
“You are my home.”
áedán grabbed me and pulled me down onto the bed with him. As we kissed, we slipped out of our clothes. Then we were lying naked in each other's arms. Our eyes met, and we went still.
“I love you,” we said together. Then we laughed.
When we settled into smiles, áedán said, “Thank you for not giving up on me.”
“I'll never give up on you.”
He set his hand on my chest. “Nor I you.”
It felt like a magical vow, as if our love and words had just bound us forever. And I hoped they had.