The Sound of a Siren's Call

8.) Getting in Deeper

My entire body hurt. Sweat was dripping in my eyes and the sea spray was hardly helping me feel better.

I was almost back at the cave where Juniper had camped out. I dropped the oars, my fingers already starting to blister. I leaned over, tucking my hands into my stomach. The boat rocked and I looked longingly at the rock Juniper had instructed me to leave my boat at.

It was still far enough away that I'd have to row out to it. I missed the billowing mast of the Red Revenge, letting the wind propel me along the sea.

I shook myself out of my little bit of self-pity for the situation that was entirely my fault. I strained, pulling the two oars closer to me.

Just a little farther.

One more good pull.

When I bumped into the rock I'd use to tether my stolen boat, I scrambled to tie it in place. My limbs felt like lead and my hair wouldn't get out of my face. The curls weren't made better by how they'd gotten sprayed just like the rest of me during my flight. When I was sure the boat wouldn't take me away to who-knows-where, I flopped down on the bottom of it.

The wood wasn't comfortable, but it let me ache in peace.

I didn't mean to fall asleep. I certainly didn't mean for Juniper to wake me up by tipping the boat so I almost fell out.

I woke up with a start, her eyes directly in front of mine. I naturally rolled back, restoring the natural balance. I sat up, meeting her eyes. The cave was open, an arch showing above the water.

A sandbar led into the place and the boy stood there. Castor, I remembered.

I pulled myself up, watching the two of them wearily.

"How'd it go?" Juniper asked, her face forming into a gleaming smile.

I groaned. "Fine, I guess. I don't know."

Juniper rested her chin on the lip of the boat, her hand in front of her, singing as quickly as she could.

"So you're going to be able to help? That's good. I told everyone else to meet us here at midnight. Ryanne says she has another boat, but I don't know. We're unprepared..."

"We are," I agreed. "We're going to have to plan."

I leaned against the wood. Juniper was still, so I chanced to ask a question. "How's he?" I jabbed a finger at Castor.

He met my eyes with a suspicious glare. I smiled and waved.

"He seems fine. He ate the fish, but he's," she leaned forward as though telling me a secret, "moody."

I smiled. "If you woke up with a strange siren such as yourself, dripping wet, and with no idea where you were, do you think you'd be just a delight?"

"I'm always a delight," she replied.

I shook my head in reply. I looked over at him, watching us as though he were sizing us up for a fight.

I was too sore to be my normal pirating menace, so I just stayed in my dinghy. He picked his way over to us carefully. His lips moved too fast for me to try to make out what he was saying.

I looked him up and down. His skin was pale as though he'd never seen the full sun in his life before. His hair was sticking straight until it flopped over to hang in his eyes. His clothes had probably once been nice. Whether he'd been alive during that time was another question. They looked like once they'd been dress clothes, but since then, it'd fallen apart.

He looked skinnier than people in the South too. Everything about him pointed to the cold mountains above Carnma. The ones that I'd heard dragons lived in more successfully than humans.

I looked at Juniper, only just realizing she'd been signing to me.

"Castor wants to talk to you," she huffed, as though she'd reached the limit of how many times she could repeat a phrase.

"Ok."

"He wants to know what species you are."

"That's rude," I signed lazily.

She frowned.

"It's a fair question, in his defense."

"It's also none of his business. Next question."

"Where am I?" She signed, doing a direct translation. She frowned.

She turned around and answered, cutting me out of the conversation.

She turned back to me. Her shoulders sagged as she took a deep breath, her nostrils flaring. Evidently, she and Castor weren't suited for conversation.

"Where did you go?" Juniper translated again.

"I was visiting my father. I wanted to make sure you didn't damage his ship too badly." I grinned, watching as he somehow got paler.

"You're a pirate?" Juniper was suddenly enjoying her job more too.

"When I want to be." I decided not to mention the fact that I probably wasn't super welcome on my father's ship anymore.

"You're also a siren."

"Sometimes," I answered my finger looping through the air with a satisfying effect.

"Are you a shapeshifter then?"

I looked from Juniper to the boy as though he'd grown a second head. "Why would you think that?"

"We have lots of shapeshifters back home," he stuttered through Juniper.

I nodded. "You really are Northern."

He frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why are you even down here, then? Why don't you just go back to doing whatever you do up there?"

Now he was looking at me like I was stupid. Juniper didn't seem like she had any better ideas why than I did.

"You really don't know?" He said and Juniper signed. "Regno's at war. Or at least it will be."

He seemed like he expected this statement to have some world-changing effect. He seemed as though our lack of reactions was the most unbelievable thing he'd ever seen.

I just turned to Juniper. She shrugged.

"So what?" I signed.

"So? My ship was just the first."

I looked at him. I saw a fear burning in his shallow gray eyes.

I sighed. I wasn't doing a good job of being aloof and terrifying.