Chapter 43:

  The Admiral felt bile rise when she saw the three ships. She knew the captains by name, she had pyed cards with them on more than one occasion. One of the three ships, the Eagle’s Talon, was part of HER armada. The audacity to use one of HER ships to threaten her beloved was beyond the pale. She thought back to the scroll in her desk, wondering if the Queen knew what the Admirals had done. She hoped not: she hoped that when the fog cleared, she was not the one standing trial for treason. But first she had to get to safety.

  The other ships had made their demands a second time when Nereida had begun to sing. The Admiral turned to her fg-bearer.

  “Tell them to shove off.” The fg-bearer nodded briskly, though a smile pyed on her young face. She didn’t know, she didn’t understand, what the Admiral had pnned. That was fine. Her crew could stab her ter if necessary.

  Nereida’s powerful soprano tones and Epelda’s softer alto tones mixed pleasantly. The ship skimmed across the water at nearly top speed. Ael took her spygss and focused it on the other ships. She saw pandemonium on their bridges, and they used semaphore fgs to communicate between the three ships. Stand down. Don’t chase. Wise words. They, after all, did not have a siren on board

  They travelled only for half an hour, the three ships still visible on the horizon from the bridge, when Nereida stopped singing and yelled to Epelda.

  “They’re coming, we need to slow down so I can talk to them!”

  “You heard her!” the Admiral roared, peeping her whistle to send the correct orders. Without the supernatural wind, the ship slowed to a reasonable pace within minutes.

  Her beloved decided it was time to terrify Ael. She climbed out onto the figurehead, a roaring, serpentine dragon. Her headscarf came off, fluttering back toward the deck, revealing her short blue hair. There was no hiding who Nereida was, or what had been done to her. Ael wanted badly to be beside her love, but the figurehead was not meant to bear the weight of two adults.

  A baritone song rose from the sea, then paused, a call to which Nereida responded with a different song. The baritone voice lifted in song to join hers, the melody strong and sweet.

  “He says to follow, so the ships beyond their borders do not see,” Nereida called after a moment. “I can direct from here.”

  “Follow her heading, creep along nice and slow,” Admiral ordered.

  They inched along after the siren in the water, more sirens joining the first until there was a squad a dozen singing and swimming near the ship. The anxiety on the ship was so thick Ael could cut it with a knife.

  “She’s sworn to the ship,” she reminded her crew softly, calmly. “Nereida won’t let them hurt us. And we asked to be here. Guests.” Some were comforted but not all. The crew worked in silence, worry on their faces.

  “Why don’t we want to jump to our deaths?” one of the younger ones whispered.

  “Because they aren’t trying to enchant you,” Evander replied firmly. “We’ve all heard Nereida sing. None of us fell in love with her.” Half the crew on deck resolutely looked away from their Admiral, the other half directly at her. She grumbled wordlessly and turned away from them, to watch Nereida bance precariously. Siren or not, if she fell and crashed into the ship as it moved forward she would likely be killed.

  After almost two hours of slow travel and anxious pacing, their guide slowed. They were near a small isnd. There were sandbars barely visible beneath the waves. The baritone song faded and a deep voice echoed from the waters.

  “Drop the anchor; the Dolphin and the captain must come to talk.”

  Nereida slowly shuffled off the figurehead. She was trembling with exhaustion.

  “That was not comfortable,” she grumbled as she forced herself to her feet. Ael rushed to her side, and helped her up. Nereida leaned into her gratefully.

  “That was dangerous,” Ael hissed. “If you had fallen…”

  “But I didn’t.” Nereida, for a moment, sounded as petunt as an adolescent. She slowly lowered herself to the deck, still shaking. “Do we have a boat to get to shore for mediation? I don’t think I could swim this.”

  “I’ll see it done, love.”

  Within ten minutes they were both in a small rowboat. Nereida had bound her short hair in another handkerchief, and had changed into trousers and a shirt that Ael suspected belonged to Evander. Her feet were bare.

  “Sirens don’t wear boots,” Nereida told her softly. “Boots are heavy in the water, traps, not protection.” Ael looked at her own boots, tightly ced.

  “I can’t swim,” she admitted as she began to row. Nereida stared at her in horror.

  “What if you fell in the ocean?”

  “Off a ship? Oh, love, then I’m already dead.”

  “Off this boat?” Nereida pressed. Ael shrugged as best she could while she rowed.

  “Then you’d best save me, love.”

  “I’m going to teach you to swim,” Nereida decred fiercely. “I won’t risk losing you to the waves!”

  They reached the shore, where six of the twelve sirens waited. Ael pulled the little rowboat safely up onto the soft sand. Nereida quietly stepped in beside her, taking her hand. The leader, a bare-chested, blue-skinned man who stood nearly six feet tall, watched them with narrowed eyes. He had a spear, but it was point-down in the sand and he was leaning on it zily. Ael tried to spot the other six sirens, but she could not spot any hidden figures along the shore line or in the trees that grew nearby. It made her nervous, because it meant they were likely still in the sea, with the Tooth.

  “I am Paolo Shoalborne,” said the leader, taking a step forward.

  “I am Nereida Dolphin’s Revenge.” She took a step ahead of Ael, moving into a protective stance before the Admiral. The siren woman stood tall and sure, her voice was strong and clear. Ael felt a shiver of pleasure as she watched her beloved. Her ferocity was intoxicating. But she forced herself to pay attention to what was being said. One of the smaller sirens, a young man in his early twenties if sirens aged as humans, shifted at the name. The rger one saw, and held up a hand.

  “A moment,” he sauntered over to the younger one, and the two began to whisper, fierce and fast.

  The rger one came back, his expression more welcoming.

  “I have heard your tale, Dolphin.” He gave her a bow, ever so slight, but still a mark of respect. Nereida’s posture shifted, less defensive now.

  “Nereida,” she said, a smile on her face. “The others were kind to me and my firstborn. I owe them much.”

  “Oh? You have a second?”

  “I was carrying him when they found us. He is nearly five now.” She smiled fondly.

  “Are they dolphins as well?” he asked, a calcuting look on his face. Ael felt like it might be a trap, and she moved to take Nereida’s hand. The leader noted the movement, and met her eyes. “Is she your mate, Nereida?” His voice was calm but there was an undercurrent she did not understand.

  “She is my beloved, and I am hers,” was Nereida’s immediate response.

  “Wife?” Nereida shook her head.

  “Not yet. We have not been safe. My children have not been safe. Such a thing is for safety only.”

  “Wisdom from a dolphin. And here I thought all of you were born mad.” Ael stared at the man in surprise. Nereida smiled sadly.

  “I’m not any closer to madness than any other human or dragon-blooded.” She stepped back and pced her arm around Ael’s waist. Ael felt a wave of concern wash over her. This was a deliberate move that Nereida did. What was she trying to communicate?

  “Where is your ship from, human?” His eyes slid to hers from Nereida’s. They were simir to Nereida’s eyes, though a deeper blue. The ocean at night.

  “We hail from Seliniakos. We have had to turn our backs to our people, as they wanted Nereida. They thought I controlled her somehow.” She felt her mouth twist in disgust. As if she would ensve anyone! The siren man ughed, a merry, carefree sound. It was startling.

  “I had not expected such honesty from a nd-dweller.” He leaned in, his mirth fading. “What do you want from us, nd-dweller.”

  “Safe passage, to get her home.” She motioned to Nereida. “And… a list maybe, of how to not anger your people while we sail through your waters? I do not want war. And I want to harm none of your people.”

  He grinned at her, his teeth sharp and pointed like a shark’s, like Nereida’s.

  “I cannot make that happen alone. Return to your ship, and I will consult our council. You will have your answer in a day or two. You may fish, if your food stores run low. Should we expect trouble from the three ships that hesitated at our borders?”

  “I don’t think so.” Ael replied softly. “They think we sailed to our deaths coming here.” He ughed again, this one less merry and more feral.

  “For any other, likely. We don’t often let nd-bound in. But exceptions have been made in the past.” He turned to Nereida. “And you, cousin, will you stay with them or come see our home?”

  “My sons cannot yet breathe water. I will stay.”

  “For just your sons?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. Nereida shifted again, a nervousness in her movements.

  “For her too,” she admitted softly. She leaned toward Ael, pcing her head on Ael’s shoulder. Something passed over the man’s expression, something Ael could not pce. But she felt no danger from him, no sense of an attack.

  “You love her.” It was a statement, not a question, but Nereida nodded anyway. Ael tried not to cross her arms or huff. You did not ask things like that, did not discuss it. Love was personal and private and not for outsiders. Even if you wanted to shout it from the rooftops. Love could be exploited by a clever foe. But she said none of it, did none of it, and instead took her beloved’s hand and led her back to the little rowboat. It was time to go.