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“They’re being crushed like rodents underfoot now. My men might not spare any. Then I’ll have only you to unleash my rage on.”
“I’m not afraid of you.”
“And what of your crew? Do you fear for them?” He sweeps his arms off to the side, and I dare to look.
Many have lost their weapons. They’re being herded off to the side, tied with ropes. Mandsy and Sorinda are back-to-back fighting. I know neither will stop until they’re dead. Riden, too, is still striking down opponents. He’s drawing himself closer to me, trying to reach me.
I kick at empty air as Kalligan dodges.
“You think killing me will stop this?” he asks. “Look around you.” I know he means for me to think of all the ships in his fleet. “Even if I were to die, you and your crew won’t make it out alive. My men will finish what I started.”
“They’ll be too busy fighting each other to take your place to pay attention to me. They won’t give your body a second glance. Your name will be forgotten. It will fade from memory, and any scrap of glory you’ve attained will be forgotten. No one will remember you. I certainly won’t.”
He doubles his efforts. He slices my already injured arm, bruises my ribs, swings my legs out from under me. I roll and roll and roll away from him. I don’t stop until my back hits therailing at the starboard side. I come up on my feet, feebly hold my sword out in front of me.
I’m losing too much blood now that there are two openings.
He advances slowly. He knows I’m beaten. My crew is completely subdued. A third of them paint the deck red and lie at unnatural angles, unmoving. The rest are cowed into a corner.
And Riden—he’s nearly upon me when three of my father’s men tackle him to the deck and wrest his sword from him.
I look around for something—anything—to help me beat Kalligan. I’m useless. There’s nothing Riden can do. There’s nothing my crew can do. My mother is helpless back in my father’s rooms. And the sirens—
What of the sirens?
They’ve already been beaten, have lost the fight in them now that their queen has been captured once again. They’ve probably already abandoned the area.
But what if they haven’t? What if they are stirring below, just waiting for their queen to come to them?
I am not her, but I am the queen’s daughter. They looked on me as an outsider, but could I call to them? Would they even listen?
Because it is theonlyoption left to me, I sing. The song is a cloud of desperation and pleading. A cry for help, wrestling the wind, dropping into the water, searching its depths for anyone who can hear.
I can feel them, now that I’m calling to them. Hundreds andhundreds of them. They cry beneath the waves. Fearing for their queen, weeping for their fallen, trembling for their lives. It’s so…
Human of them.
Some quiet at my own song, listening. I can feel their attention shift to me. I am part of the royal line. It flows through my veins, rides on my song. They don’t have listen to me, but if I can just say the right words…
I am Alosa-lina, daughter of Ava-lee. My mother is alive, but a prisoner on this ship. Will you not help? Will you fight against the pirates who have dared to breach your waters and steal what is yours?
They murmur among themselves. I feel it in their songs, in the way the water trembles around them.
The reply is faint, but one answers me.Are you not one of the pirate scum? Did you not refuse the queen’s call when she bid you home? Even now you stay on solid ground, refusing to join your sisters below.
My father stares at me all the while, halting in front of me. “You’re calling on the sirens? They fled, shrieking into the deep. You are a stranger to them. I made sure of that.”
You outnumber the pirates,I explain.My loyalty is not with them. I will help you beat them.
Doubt sings to me from below. Emotions are songs of their own, pouring out of them without any effort, as if their voices cannot keep quiet.
No one will talk with me now. The sirens resume their wailing grief until my voice leaves me, and I can no longer hear them.
“Drop your sword,” Kalligan says. His tone is clipped, final. He will not ask me again. His next strike will take a life.
“Alosa.” This voice is quiet. It is from Riden. He stands so close by, all his limbs subdued.
I drop my sword as my father bids and turn toward Riden. With just a few well-aimed jabs from me, his captors release him.
