Siren Song

Chapter Fourteen

"You may have made a mistake."

"Yeah. No shit." Tyri said gloomily.

"Look, it's not the end of the world."

"Well, it literally is for me, Lionel! You're going to kill me!"

"No, I'm not."

Tyri blinked. "You're not?"

"No. Look, Tyri, I don't really like your people. My father died due to the war against your kind, and you lot are not good to the humans. But you don't really like your kind either, and you've done nothing to deserve death. The king is... not a kind man. He's sentenced a lot of mers to death, many of whom turned out to be innocent, with no remorse after their inculpability came to light. Besides that, he's corrupt and gullible and all round a pretty terrible person. It was dumb to insult him like that, but you shouldn't be killed for it."

"Yeah, but someone else will kill me," Tyri said gloomily. "And you'll get in trouble for no reason."

"I like you, Tyri, okay? You're a sweet guy, and come on, it's pretty obvious that you're not a spy. I just brought you in because you're a siren. You've done nothing wrong. It'd be my fault if you died, because I'm the reason you're here in the first place. You're my responsibility. I'm going to help you escape."

"What? I mean, not that I'm ungrateful, but won't you get into serious trouble because of it?"

"I'm not going to say it was me, dummy! Everyone knows you're strong, strong enough to overpower the charms we carry if you really tried. I'll help you get out of here, then pretend you put me in a trance and made me assist you in your escape. I might get demoted, perhaps even suspended for a while, but there are few enough mers with a decent number of harmonies that I'll make it back up the ranks easily enough. If you swim deep enough, we won't be able to follow without the pressure crushing us. Head East down the coast for a few weeks, and you'll find a nice, empty reef. You'll be safe there, so long as you don't come back here."

"Really? You'll do that for me? But you barely know me!"

"No, but this is my fault. And... to be honest, a lot of what you said about the king is true."

"Lionel!" Tyri gasped. "You mean to tell me that the loyal soldier isn't so loyal after all?"

"I'm loyal!" Lionel protested. "I'm not a traitor. But I can recognise the flaws in my king and still respect that he is my ruler and I must obey his orders."

"You're explicitly disobeying his orders."

"Why are you trying to dissuade me from doing this?!"

"I... don't know. I take back what I said— you're a loyal and righteous soldier, who rightfully should be promoted past the point you're at."

"Thank you. That's kind of you to say."

"No, it's kind of you to risk your rank in saving me. It's also kind of you to grace me with your handsome and imposing presence, and your-"

"Okay, you're laying it on a little thick now. You can stop."

"Right, thanks. But seriously, thank you for this. I quite like living."

"You're welcome. Look, we've got about fifteen days until the next new moon. However, the closer to the new moon you escape, the darker the night will be and the safer you'll be. We can't risk the escape until at least ten days from now."

"So I've just got to wait here for the next ten days," Tyri said gloomily, glancing around at the dark, muddy waters of his surroundings. "In the pit."

"Yes, sorry," Lionel winced. "But on the bright side, it's private! I can come and visit you every day if you want."

"Thanks," Tyri said, with a timid smile. "That would be nice."

A/N: It's a short chapter, sorry! Next one should be coming out soon, though.