The Blue Menand Lyra continued talking for several minutes while Wyn and Theo waited silently. At times, they seemed to reach an accord, only to spiral back into harsh tones and raised voices.
“Okay.” Lyra held her hands up and looked towards the ship's deck. “I think we have finally come to an agreement.”
Lyra nodded towards the small dinghy secured to the side of the ship.
“You might want to come down here for this conversation.”
Anticipation was steadily rising in Theo's chest. They were further delayed while he and Wyn climbed into the dinghy, which barely fit them both. Their knees knocked against each other as Wyn gracefully maneuvered the pulleys and delivered them to the sea. As they descended, Theo could barely make out the eyes and the smooth, shining bodies of the Blue Men,several of them waiting beneath the ocean's surface. Their arms reaching up, up, up…
Theo sucked in a sharp breath, scooting back from the edge of the small boat, but the silhouettes disappeared amongst the waves. They were nearly impossible to make out unless they revealed themselves, perfectly camouflaged amongst the deep.
Theo sighed gratefully when they approached Lyra. She placed her hands on the edge of the boat and pushed herself higher out of the water, leaving a soft kiss on Theo's cheek without warning. Theo's face lit up like the midday sun, flushing with embarrassment and joy.
“What was that for?” Theo whispered incredulously, ignoring the agitated sounds Wyn was making across from him. It was not lost on Theo that this was one of the first public signs of affection Lyra had given him.
“I don't know,” Lyra shrugged, her normal confident voice sounding a bit more on edge than normal. “Don't react. Let me do the talking,” Lyra whispered, kissing his cheek a second time before lowering herself back into the water.
“Well…” Wyn offered a solemn nod towards the Blue Men who were gathered around their boat.
Theo tensed, expecting Wyn to fire off a sarcastic comment about the storm. He didn't know much about magical diplomacy, but he was confident Wyn’s temperament was better suited for a pub.
“Thank you for not sending my girl to the bottom of the sea.”
Lyra and Theo both looked at Wyn in surprise. Lyra with a cautious hesitation and Theo with an immediate sense of relief regarding Wyn's attitude toward the siren.
“…it would have taken me an eon to reconstruct her, you see. Lots of magic from lots of different friends went into her.” Wyn nodded in the direction of their ship.
“Oh my god,” Theo grunted, realizing Wyn had not been talking about Lyra. Lyra, to her credit, was less surprised.
One of the Blue Men swam closer to the edge of the boat, nodding solemnly. When he spoke, his voice was high-pitched and solemn. It came from everywhere and nowhere all at once, with an ethereal tone that only managed to put everyone on edge. It was the voice of a fallen angel, melodic and broken, and never destined to be heard by mortal ears.
“The siren says that you want to know about a curse,” the leader inquired, his head tilting curiously to one side.
“We do.” Wyn sobered, his voice calm and diplomatic. His entire countenance changed, and Theo had to remind himself he was an elven prince. “And we are prepared to pay for the information.” Wyn dipped his chin ever so slightly, in a show of respect that Theo wasn't expecting.
Clearly, the Blue Men weren't, either, and they perked up with interest. Lyra convinced them to stop their assault on the boat, but she had yet to explain what boons were on the table.
“Go on,” the leader encouraged. “We shall decide if what you offer will cover the price of what you ask.”
“His Royal Highness, Calum, is prepared to offer you sanctuary in the waters of Scotland—” Wyn continued speaking, but was cut off by the noise of two dozen Blue Men breaking the surface of the water. They were staring at the dinghy with wide, unblinking eyes, shock and surprise etched into their features. A few of them still had their arms extended, reaching for the dingy or towards Lyra, their minds far from the cursed bodies, still reaching for heaven.
“Is this true?” The leader demanded, pointing a finger at Wyn. “If you are lying, then you and your friends will not make it back to your boat alive.”
Theo froze, his eyes scanning over the crowd that had amassed around their dinghy. The Blue Men looked haunted. Itwas the only way to describe the wretched eagerness on their faces. What Calum was offering was no small thing, but Theo didn't understand the magnitude until he watched the Blue Men's reaction. Lyra swam closer to the boat, putting her arm over the edge to anchor herself to its side.
Wyn sat up straighter, a stony expression taking over his face. A gust of wind blew from the north, whipping Wyn's long black hair around his jaw. Theo swallowed thickly, watching as Wyn's countenance changed. He was a fool for assuming Wyn was not in control of the situation. The only thing tethering Theo consciousness was Lyra’s presence beside him, her hand achingly close. If he reached out, he could hold it, but he didn't dare make a move.
“It's a good thing I am not lying to you then, my friend.” The words were friendly, but Wyn's tone was deadly. The ‘I will fuck you up, too, if you try to cross us’ was heavily implied.
The leader of the Blue Men nodded once, a curt, perfunctory gesture.
“What is it you wish to know?” His gaze slowly panned from Wyn to Theo to Lyra. Wyn opened his mouth to speak, but Theo beat him to it. He didn't want Wyn to speak for him. This was his fucked up destiny that got them all in this mess, and he would find a way to get them out of it.
“Cliodhna cursed me when I was a baby. I was born in her waters, and when my parents offered blessings to Manannán, she was infuriated. She placed a curse on me when my parents wouldn't give me over to be raised by her banshees.” Theo vomited all of the words out, wringing his hands together. He never liked saying her name out loud, especially when he was in the middle of the ocean, in a tiny dinghy.
The leader of the Blue Men cocked his head to the side, his eyes going glassy and vacant. “And you wish to know thelanguage of this curse?” His voice sounded even more robotic, with a pronounced echo, as though he was somewhere far away.
“Yes,” Theo nodded. “It would help. We only have the stories. My parents?—”
