In a siren’s world, it wasn’t the words that mattered as much as the melody and especially the emotions that one put into a song. The lyrics of my creation were simple. But the intense longing and the fear of losing her that I felt so acutely when singing... Well, that was what carried the magic.
“Hardly,” I replied with a chuckle. “The last time I rhymed anything at all was when I teased my friends as a boy. And even then, the rhymes they responded with were much better than mine.” I held out the cord of beads. “Here, give me your hand.”
She squinted at me suspiciously.
“What for?”
If she decided to run again, the beads would give me a quick and effective way to get her attention and stop her, but I needed her cooperation.
Resting my elbows on my knees, I explained patiently, “Sirens are creatures of temptation. It’s in our blood, in our voices, and in our words. This might not be the last song you hear tonight that will make you want to fling yourself into the ocean or even off a cliff. Sometimes, a simple touch is enough to bring a beguiled one back to their senses. Sadly, I can’t touch you. Wrap this around your wrist, and I’ll hold the other end.”
“Like a leash?” she scoffed.
“Like the only contact I can have with you without killing you,” I corrected swiftly. “See? Almost all beads are glassalready, but they’re big enough to protect the cord inside. I can hold it.”
Turned to glass, the beads lost their bright colors. Initially, they might’ve been made as a child’s toy. Large and sturdy, with a strong cord inside that wouldn’t break when I tugged on it while trying to reel in an escaping, willful minnow.
She hesitated, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. “Why can’t I go into the ocean?”
I groaned inwardly, wishing I could just toss the stubborn woman over my shoulder and take her with me wherever I went. One hundred years ago, that’d be exactly what I would’ve done. But since I wished to keep this woman alive, even against her best efforts to get herself in trouble, I had to search for the diplomatic skills that my mother always lamented I lacked.
“I know you’re an excellent swimmer,” I said, calling on my patience. “But look over there. See how far into the ocean the crowd spreads? Look how turbulent the water is under their fins when they dance? Do you really think you can make it across safely? And I haven’t even told you about the poison stored in those fins.”
“There’s poison? In those beautiful things?” She frowned, watching the couples, throuples, and groups flirt and frolic in the foamy waves.
“Many beautiful, alluring things store hidden dangers, my butterfly,” I said. “Keeping a fragile human safe in Nerifir is a task fit for a king. It’s a good thing then that you have a king to keep you safe.”
Chapter 15
Maren
Lyrei at dusk presented a magnificent picture. The reef islands looked like a fairy tale conjured by a magical dream. The lithe, elegant bodies of the sirens moved through the shimmering water, with their translucent, delicate fins fanning out from their calves and forearms. The bigger fins along their spines opened like iridescent sails as the sirens twirled in dance in the ocean spray or chased each other through the waves.
Apparently, the thin spines of their fins stored poison—a fatal danger hidden under all that grace and beauty. From Kye’s songs and the books I’d read, I’d learned about the dangers of gorgonian eyes, the fire-breathing gargoyles, and the poison-dripping teeth of the werewolves of Sarnala. Apparently, the graceful sirens of Olathana had their own deadly weapon too.
“You want to tie me to yourself?” I asked, eyeing the string of glass and wooden beads Kye held in his hands.
The string looped in a long necklace. Even folded in half, it was still about four feet long. It was either meant to be worn in several strands over one’s neck, or it wasn’t meant to be worn at all. Kye had already turned most of the beads to glass while running the necklace between his fidgeting fingers. The surviving beads were brightly painted, like a child’s toy.
He looped it around his right wrist, giving me a coaxing smile. “How aboutyou’lltie me to yourself instead then? Putmeon a leash.”
I gave him an unimpressed look. “Kye, I’m thirty-three, not three. I know how words work. Switching them around doesn’t always change their meaning or the action they represent.”
“Alright. As an adult woman then, do you not see it as a practical solution?” He moved his arm, dangling the end of the necklace from his wrist. “It’s the next best thing to holding hands.”
“I don’t know.” I hesitated. “It’s not ideal to leash myself to the man who’s already forced me into nearly a week-long confinement.”
He didn’t look either offended or ashamed by my statement. Instead, a seductive smile stretched his lips.
“I’ll sing you a lullaby if you want to take a nap tomorrow,” he sweetened the deal in a voice smooth like honey.
I heaved a breath, catching the loose end of the long necklace.
“Fine, but only because you’re right and running headfirst into the ocean while following a stranger’s voice was odd behavior on my part. I’m not sure what came over me.”
It didn’t feel like I’d lost control or blanked out. I remained fully conscious during my entire run through the market and across the beach. I was aware of Kye being near. There was just an unexplained sense of urgency to meet the singer and a large disregard for caution.
I now believed the legends of sirens luring sailors to their deaths were true. If those sirens came from Nerifir, I could easily see how people would follow them wherever their song would lead them, even to their deaths.
