Kyma nibbles at the bits of seaweed on her plate before finally picking up a sliver of starfruit. She takes a bite and a tiny smile appears on her face at the familiar taste. Her mother looks at her expression and laughs softly.

"There we go! We've finally got a smile on you again. Let's keep it there, shall we?" Kyma nods as her smile grows bigger. "Now, finish up your breakfast, and then we can head over to the falls. I'm sure you want to rinse your hair out now."

Kyma is grinning now. "Yes please! That would be wonderful!"

Lahira looks pointedly at Kyma's mostly full plate. "If you want to go to the falls, eat your food."

"All right, all right! I'm eating." Kyma starts to eat rapidly, almost shoveling it into her mouth in her desperation to get to the falls as quickly as possible. Her mother laughs again at her antics.
"Kyma, the falls aren't going anywhere, I promise. Slow down, or you'll choke."

Kyma complies with a sigh, returning to her normal pace of food consumption. Finally, she pushes the plate away from her, every speck of food on it cleared off. One last sliver of starfruit is held in her hand, and she takes a small bite of it, beaming broadly at the taste. Lahira smiles at Kyma in happiness, but Kyma sees a flicker of pain flash across her face before it disappears. Kyma frowns slightly to herself, heart aching once more at seeing evidence of her mother's pain at not having been part of her life before. Kyma stands up to walk over to her mother, and hugs her tightly before pulling back.

"Can we go to the falls now?"

"Of course, Seachild."

Lahira steps out of the house, followed by Kyma, and they start down the road. Kyma glances back for a moment to see three Crownguards, including Lyss, peel off from their posts beside the door and follow them. Kyma sighs, and her mother looks down at her, her gaze sharp.

"The guards are bothering you, aren't they?"

"A bit."

Lahira frowns. "I know this likely isn't what you want to hear, but they do have to follow us. They are for our protection. After a while, you won't really notice them either."

"I know that, but until then, I think I notice them far too much. It might be a side effect of having to watch myself with him."

Lahira's frown deepens until she shakes it off, her small smile returning to her face. "Well he can't get to you here, I promise. That is why it is so important for you to have guards watching you as well. Just in case he does find his way to the Kingdom." She looks up briefly, and Kyma sees her smile widen. "We're almost at the falls. You should hear them soon."

Almost on cue, Kyma begins to hear the faints sound of crashing water, and it grows increasingly louder as they continue to walk down the path. They finally turn around a bend in the path, and the falls come into view. Kyma's mouth falls open as she gazes at the massive waterfall before her. While she had known there were some high hills on the island, and she had expected a waterfall by the name of this spot, she had definitely not expected to see this gigantic waterfall. She had been expecting to see a small one, maybe big enough to stand next to and have it be your height, not one that was three times that size. Lahira laughs brightly when she sees Kyma's face.

"You were expecting a smaller waterfall, weren't you?"

"Definitely! This one is massive!"

"It is, and it's the perfect place to rinse off. Now come on!"

Kyma grins and follows her mother down the incline towards the waterfall and the pool of water at its base. As they approach, she also sees the river flowing away from it towards the sea. When she sees it, she stops, frowning.

"Won't we contaminate the water supply?"

Lahira looks at the river briefly before turning back to Kyma. "No. We get all our drinking water from the part of the river above the falls, and this part of the river doesn't go much farther. At the end of it is a true cliff, instead of the other strange ones on the island. The river just goes over it and falls down to the sea. There is another, smaller cave system behind that waterfall too. But it's quite hard to get to, and you have to know that it's there."

"Okay."

With that bit of reassurement, Kyma follows her mother the rest of the way to the waterfall. Lahira carefully steps into the pool before standing beneath the rushing water and tilts her head back like she was taking a shower. Kyma follows suit, and grins in delight at the feeling of the water running over her body. She runs her hand over her hair, and almost laughs in joy as she feels the water pull away the salt and brine coating her hair. After a few moments, she steps out from under the rushing water, and frowns sadly at the loss of the feeling of rushing water passing over her body. She steps down the slope of the pool until it is up to her chest and starts swimming, relishing the feeling of swimming with her legs instead of a tail, especially in freshwater. After a few more moments of this, Lahira joins her, floating on the surface of the pool. She pops her head up to look at Kyma, and grins.

"The pool is a nice spot for sand scrubbing, and you are welcome to shift and scrub down your tail, too."

Kyma's eyes light up, not having noticed that tidbit in the book. "We can shift in freshwater?"

"We can shift in any body of water."

Kyma debates shifting to clean off her tail, but decides to keep her legs for now, having missed swimming with her legs. Despite that, she grabs a small handful of sand and runs it along her skin, feeling it scrape away the thin layer of grime coating her skin. Once she finishes washing her skin, she continues swimming until her mother comes over and taps her on the shoulder.

"As much as I can see how fun that was for you, we should probably head back. I have some work to do, and I don't think you want Alai to believe you abandoned her. You can always come back here whenever you want."

Kyma nods and follows her mother out of the pool. The moment they step out, she sees the water run off their clothing and frowns, not having noticed it previously.

"Do the clothes repel the water?"

"Yes, if you want to know the exact reason, you'd have to go ask the makers of the clothing. I'm not well versed in the process. What I do know is that the clothes are made on a special loom, and that is why they are so light."

Kyma nods once more and follows her mother back towards the city.
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Wasn't that nice? What did you think of the falls? Tell me your thoughts, and like always, please tell me if you have questions about anything! Happy reading, and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out.