The command was unneeded. The ship’s crew were already scrambling in the rigging, pulling up the anchor and preparing to set sail.
“She’s alive.” He turned to Ari and Ryll. “She’s alive!” He laughed, knuckling at the tears streaming from the corners of his eyes. His cousins clapped him on the shoulder and dragged him close for hugs.
“You should take Ryll and the rest of the fleet with you to get your Siren,” Ari said. “My crew and I will stay here to finish the recovery efforts. We still have missing men, and families back home who will want to know we did everything possible to bring their sons home.”
“Tey,of course.” Dilys could hardly process. The wild upheaval of emotion had left him dazed. He hugged Ari close once more. “Thank you, Ari. Stay safe.”
“Always.” Ari jumped to the top of the ship’s rail and dove into the sea.
It occurred to Gabriella as she was treading water amidst the shredded, smoldering debris of what had been Solish Utua’s ship that Shouting her only means of transport to pieces might not have been the most brilliant move on her part. She’d left no piece of the vessel larger than the palm of her hand, which meant there wasn’t even anything big enough to use for floatation, and she was alone in the middle of a vast, empty ocean.
She knew essentially where she was. Now that she was free of the collar, the location of the sun told her that. South of the equator, east of the continent of Ardul, and several hundred miles southwest of the Calbernan Isles. There was no land within swimming distance.
Perhaps half an hour after her Shout, she saw several dark fins cut the surface of the water nearby. At first she thought they were sharks drawn by whatever blood had been spilled by the shipload of sailors she’d just Shouted to pieces, and her heart started to pound. Her magic roared up instantly, without even a call, ready—almost hungry—to Shout away the ocean predators if they came closer. Before she could unleash it, inquisitive dolphin faces popped up, and the air filled with the sounds of high-pitched chirps and squeals. Several of the creatures began leaping into the air, arching and twirling about before diving back into the ocean with a splash. They ringed around her, chattering and chirping, and it became clear they meant no harm, that they meant, in fact to keep her company, and possibly to protect her. An hour after the dolphins arrived, a handful of swimming Calbernans arrived, too.
“Sirena.”
The sight of the unfamiliar men, with their gleaming gold eyes and sharp, fully extended white fangs set her nerves on edge. The swimmers were more likely Calbernan merchants or fishermen than villains in league with the Shark, but she wasn’t ready to take chances.
“Stay away from me!” Without the collar or her own internal barriers to restrain her magic, her Persuasion cracked like a whip. “Don’t come any closer!”
To a man, they jerked back as if she’d struck them. The confusion and surprise was plain on their faces, but not a single one swam any nearer.
“Sirena,” said the one who’d first spoken to her. “We heard your call. We’ve come to answer it.”
“What’s your name?” one of them asked.
“Where are you from?” queried another.
“Do you know Dilys Merimydion?” The Calbernans were speaking Sea Tongue, so she asked her question in Eru, hoping to keep an advantage in case they turned out to be an unfriendly bunch. “Can you get a message to him? Please, I need to find Dilys Merimydion. Di-lys Meri-myd-ion.” She enunciated each syllable slowly and distinctly, the way people did when they didn’t think you spoke their language.
“My friends, look at her,” a fourth Calbernan muttered. “She isoulani.How can she be the Siren we heard?”
The first man gave the fourth a disgusted glance. “Don’t be an idiot, Mahelon. The call led us here—all of us and all of them as well—” He gestured to the wide ocean all around them, where Gabriella could now see more than a dozen ships speeding quickly her way. “Besides, can you not see she is the one the prince has been searching for?” Turning to Summer, the first man smiled. The smile was much more charming and much less threatening with his long battle fangs retracted. In Eru, he said, “Sirena,I am called Amanu Susa. My family lives not far from Cali Kai Meri, the family isle of House Merimydion. My younger brother served on theKracken.TheMyerieluaattended his wedding earlier this year. Let us escort you to Calberna, and we will send word to him. Please,Sirena,” he added when she did not immediately jump on his offer of escort. “You were on the sea when you Shouted. Most of the Varyan will have heard you by now—or very soon—which may include those who stole you from your lands. You will be safer in the Isles. Let us take you there.”
“Where is your boat?” she asked, more to stall for time than because of any genuine curiosity. “You must have a boat? Surely you didn’t swim all this way from Calberna?”
Amanu laughed, and the sound was every bit as charming as the good-natured laughter of every other non-Shark Calbernan she’d met. “Our ship is there—” He pointed to one of the fishing vessels heading their way.
The absurdity of her reluctance struck her. Who was she kidding? Of course she was going with them. What else was she going to say? No, leave me floating here alone in the ocean to drown or be eaten by sharks? “Very well,” she agreed with as much regal dignity as she could muster. “I would be honored to accept your escort to Calberna.”
“Wonderful!” Amanu issued a sharp whistle.
Gabriella gave a startled cry as two dolphins popped up on either side of her.
“Hold on to their dorsal fins,Sirena.They will swim you to our ship. Hold on tight. Ready?”
At her nod, Amanu whistled again, and the pair of dolphins flanking Gabriella took off. She gave a small, startled yelp of surprise and tightened her grip as the dolphins dragged her swiftly through the ocean towards the approaching fishing vessel. The Calbernans and the other dolphins followed alongside, leaping through the waves like flying fish.
It didn’t take long to reach Amanu Susa’s fishing boat, and they lifted her onto the deck by way of a magic-borne spout of water. Strong, bronzed hands were there to steady her as her feet touched the deck.
“Sirena,”the fishermen murmured, their expressions and their voices filled with awe that bordered on reverence.
Dilys had told her about the Sirens, about the terrible blow their loss had been to Calberna, but the truth of that loss hadn’t fully registered until now, this moment, as she stood on the rocking deck of a simple Calbernan fishing vessel, surrounded by the near-worshipful faces of these Calbernans. Had the goddess Numahao herself stepped down from Halla to tread upon this very deck, these men couldn’t have been more amazed or reverent. Her fear that Amanu and his men might be in league with the Shark evaporated in the face of their awe.
“Send word to theMyerial,and to theMyerieluaas well,” Amanu said to one of the other men aboard. “Tell them the crew of theBlue Pearlhas found theSirena,and we are bringing her home to the Isles.”
Chapter 23
