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I had never met a Siren before. When Undine reached their magical majority at the age of twenty-five years, the gods gifted them magic. Some became a Weaver, able to knit spells into objects. Others became Troid Sídhe, physically stronger, with better endurance and grace. Some became Òran Sídhe, able to sing and compel people.
Stories passed down from the elders claimed that Òran Sídhe were gifted the ability to sing because Belisama could fell armies with a single whistle. His voice held power no other gods did. From the stories I’d heard, the Sirens had inherited the same magic from the god of the waves.
The Twilight Lake had not seen a Siren in our written history. Not since the estuary between the Twilight Lake and the dark sea dried up and became the dried river path.
The curious part of me wanted to sit Arden down and ask questions about his golden feathers. If he could compel a ship to sail into the rocks with a single sung note—but then I remembered the greedy way that the pirates had talked aboutthe winged ones.
I had no desire to make someone feel like an object instead of a person. I knew what that felt like.
I brushed my thumb against the crescent scar on my cheek. The pirates had threatened to take every one of them.
Arden let out a snore, out like a light, the moment his head hit the pillow.
He obviously didn’t see me as a threat. I mean, who would?
I shivered, feeling the wet fabric of my sodden clothes against my skin. I debated for a moment before I pulled my ripped nightdress over my head. The material was torn to shreds by my journey, but the dress was my only clothing. I left my undergarments on and climbed under the furs. I didn’t trust Arden, but there wasn’t much I could do. He had saved me from the water; for whatever reason that a Fae male did anything.
Out of the water, I had no magic. I was weak, powerless, and a pawn to be used.
I rolled onto my back and placed my hands on my stomach as I thought about the Twilight Lake. Of Cormac, Tor, Rainn, and Shay.
They would have to fend for themselves. I was no longer on the playing board. No longer able to be used for whatever bargain or plan they might make in the future.
Good.I thought.Serves them right.
Arden snorted in his sleep. Unthreatened enough to lay peacefully next to a strange Undine.
I tried my best, but I soon fell asleep beside him.
I had no idea if it was morning, but Arden woke before me.
I was alone, the piles of my wet, ripped clothes were gone, and though I was under the furs, I was conscious of my exposed flesh. I felt more vulnerable out of the water without my adornments and fins.
I didn’t have to wait long for Arden to return, and I heard him before I saw him, landing in the mouth of the cave and folding his wings into his back. He carried a bundle of fish in his hands, tilting his chin in a single nod before separating a single fish from the bundle and throwing it across the cave at me. It landed on the furs, its mouth still gasping for air. Fresh.
I was too hungry to worry that the Siren had poisoned the meat. I gripped the fish and bit down, finishing the meal quicker than I had ever eaten. Bones, skin, and flesh. Finally, full, I sat back, rubbing my throat. Feeling the burn of too much food too quickly.
My eyes flicked to Arden’s, and he seemed more amused than disgusted.
I was certain that if my uncle had seen the way I’d devoured my meal, he would have called me an embarrassment to the Cruinn name, but I didn’t have it in me anymore to feel embarrassed.
I had traveled, on foot, for a fortnight. I had slept in a bed for the first time since I left the Twilight Lake, and my stomach was full.
As much as I wanted to make demands and ask Arden about his plan, I didn’t care.
I was alive, and that was what mattered.
“Where are my clothes?” I cleared my throat.
Arden quirked a brow. “I threw those rotting pieces of fabric away. They smelled as bad as the Kraken.”
“The Kraken?” My eyes rounded.
“There is a creature known to frequent the deepest parts of the Dark Sea. Said to be larger than a city. If you encounter it, the water turns to night, and you cannot tell the surface from the seabed. If you’re lucky, it will kill you before it eats you.”
“And if you’re unlucky?” I wondered.
Arden glanced back towards the entrance to the cave; the dark sea extended to the purple and orange sky. “If you are alive when it eats you and alive when you pass through its bowels, it’s said to be the worst smell a Fae can encounter. Let’s just leave it at that.”
