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Two children and an elderly woman sat under a shelter, playing and eating. The kids, a boy and a girl around eight years old, looked up as Riella approached. She smiled, raising her hand to wave.
Pure fear transformed the children’s faces, and the little girl let out a high-pitched scream. The boy scrambled to his feet and dragged the shrieking girl into the tree line. They crouched among palm fronds, watching Riella, the girl falling into petrified silence.
The siren’s heart sank. Why were they so afraid of her?
The woman, at least, seemed unbothered by Riella’s presence. She had kind brown eyes and a heavily-lined face, and gave the siren a knowing look. Her hands were busy peeling fruit.
“They’ve been raised on horror stories about sirens.” Her accent was lilting and melodic, and not one Riella had ever heard before. “Perhaps they even saw a few at sea, with Ulyss.”
“These are Ulyss’s children?”
“Aye. Their mother is in the Beyond.” The woman made a fluid, ritualistic hand movement in front of her chest. “The way to deal with a child’s shyness is to ignore it. Allow them to come to you, in their own time. Curiosity will triumph in the end.” She patted the sandy spot on the ground beside her. “They are like cats in that way.”
“I met a cat once, on a ship. It didn’t like me, either.” Riella sat down, needing several attempts to arrange her legs in a manner that did not feel too strange. She settled for extending the limbs in front of her and crossing the ankles. “My name’s Riella.”
“I’m Kohara. The boy is Ruslo and the girl is Nuri.” She offered a plate of fruit to Riella. “You must try the mango.”
Riella bit into the soft orange flesh and a flowery sweetness filled her mouth. “That’s wonderful!”
Kohara smiled, showing several gaps in her teeth. “Eat as much as you will. The men work now on the Pandora, but they’ll return soon for lunch. Excepting my husband, Ferrante.” She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder, in the direction of the dense jungle. “He’s been at the caves for many days and nights now.”
“What’s he doing there?”
“Thinking. Dreaming. Divining. Searching the stars and rocks and sand for truth.”
“Really? Humans do that?” Riella slowed her chewing. “He sounds like the siren elders.”
“Aye. Humans and sirens have more in common than anyone might suspect. Our elders, too, are founts of wisdom, after a life well-lived. Being young is for loving and fighting and stirring oneself. It is for mistakes and mishaps. Being old is for reflecting on the journey. Preparing to return home.”
“To the Beyond,” said Riella. “Sirens call it that, too.”
Kohara nodded, slicing a pale yellow tubular fruit. “This lunar cycle brought a great change in energies. You can feel it in here.” She tapped the center of her chest with her gnarled fingers. “The cycle isn’t over yet, of course. It has just begun. More change is coming.”
A tingle went through Riella’s body. She knew of the lunar cycle, of course, because of her strength waxing and waning with it. And if anyone had changed during this lunar cycle, it was Riella.
“What kind of change?” she asked, hoping for some clarity.
But Kohara just shrugged. “Ferrante is trying to See. When he’s ready, he’ll impart what he finds.”
The pirates began tramping through the jungle path to the clearing. Their faces were flushed and most had been working without shirts, their muscular torsos shining with sweat. All were tattooed, and several glared at Riella with unveiled revulsion. One bearded man spat on the ground as he held eye contact with her.
Rage flamed in her chest. If she’d not been so outnumbered, she’d maul him. And to think, these men were the better Dark Tide Clan pirates. The worst of the lot had gone with Artus.
Berolt, his face as red as coral, walked straight to a bucket of water and dunked his whole head in. At the sight of their father, Ruslo and Nuri ran from the tree line, launching themselves at Ulyss. They climbed his limbs like rigging, while loudly whispering about the sudden terrifying appearance of the siren-who-walks.
Jarin was one of the last to arrive. He locked eyes on Riella as soon as he entered the clearing and strode toward her. His shirt was translucent from perspiration and his trousers were rolled to show his tanned calves, covered in tattoos. Like everyone else, he was barefoot.
He sat near Riella in the blue shade, his eyes dragging over her body. “Still got legs.”
“I do.”
“Good,” he replied with a straight face.
She narrowed her eyes at him, trying to discern if he was making a joke at her expense.
Everyone helped themselves to the food Kohara had prepared, on plates made of large flat leaves. As well as the fruits, she removed the woven straw covers from clay bowls of cooked grains and bread and charcoal fish. Jarin sat next to Riella on the sand while they ate.
“How’s Drue?” she asked. “I haven’t seen him.”
