Page 25 of Voice of the Ocean

“What are you doing out here? Where are your clothes?”

Ah... shewassupposed to wear something.

Celeste turned her head to see a human man in a large hat striding toward her. His coat with many embellishments billowed behind him. In his hands, he carried a long object that reminded her of the weapons she had seen on the ship. Similar to cannons, but handheld, and much longer and narrower. A pistol? Was that what the Chorus had called them? The way his eyebrows pulled together told her he was upset.

“Explain yourself,” he said stiffly.

Celeste froze. He expected her to speak common human to him. Her heart hammered. What if her accent was too thick, and he figured out what she was? What if when she spoke all the words came out wrong? She had little to no practice speaking his language, after all. Sirens learned it to listen to humans, not to speak to them. She hadn’t prepared for this. And what would she say? She didn’t have a good explanation for leaning against a rock on a beach or for not wearing clothes, which seemed very important to him for some reason.

The silence stretched long between them. The human tapped his foot. How was she expecting to live with humans if she couldn’t speak with them? Her breathing quickened, and the man grew impatient.

“What’s wrong with you, girl?” His voice grew louder. “Can’t you speak?” He took another step toward her, and she let go of the rock, attempting to take a step backward. But her unstable legs buckled beneath her, and instead she fell into the sand.

The human’s look of frustration morphed into one of disgust. “Listen, women of yourprofessionare not permitted in this town, nor are public indecency and drunkenness,” he sneered, showing a line of yellowing teeth. “You’re coming with me.”

Celeste might not have understood half of what he had said to her, but she understood that last bit. Her hands flew to her spear at her back, and she swung it around, pointing it at his neck.Not one step closer, her expression said. The human’s eyes grew wide as he looked at the pointed blade. Then he laughed.

“A prostitute with a spear?” He grunted, looking down his nose at her. “Interesting.”

The two remained still. Celeste didn’t dare drop her weapon, but injuring him could cause more trouble for her. She had a feeling he was some sort of guard. She was already a fugitive from one kingdom; she didn’t need to be making enemies on her first day here as well. Still, she couldn’t very well let him lock her up either. Grabbing a handful of sand, Celeste threw it into his face. The human cried out, pawing at his eyes with his free hand. Taking advantage of the distraction, Celeste swung her spear, sweeping his legs from beneath him. He landed with a thud. Celeste tucked her weapon beneath her chin and began to crab-walk toward the water; surely she could outswim him. But she was not fast enough. The man regained his vision, and now, unfortunately, he was angry.

“Get back here,whore,” he shouted.

In two long strides, he was upon her again. She rolled away, reaching for her spear, but his boot slammed down onto her, pinning her face into the ground. She cried out, pain shooting through her. In one movement, he pulled her spear from her grip. He attempted to snap it over his knee, but the spear was too strong. Celeste reached for it, but he flung it out of her reach with a snarl. While he was distracted, she crawled toward the water. He grabbed her ankle, dragging her back toward him through the rough sand. She kicked and flailed, but he clamped two metal bracelets around her wrists. They were cold and heavy, connected by a chain in the center. Celeste thrashed like a wild animal, but there was nothing more she could do. In the water, she was a siren. But on land, she was helpless.

The human dragged her to her feet and pushed her toward the port town. Her legs shook and stumbled. She fell. He watched, amused.

“Stupid drunk.”

Drunk... Celeste knew this word from her training. Humans drank certain substances that made them stupid and clumsy—it made them easier to attack. Why they would choose to become stupid or clumsy was beyond her. The man yanked on the cuffs, dragging her back to her feet. The process repeated itself. Each time the man pulled harder than the last, so she was dragged a little between each fall before she could find her feet again. Pieces of shell and branches scraped her, leaving small trails of blood running down her legs. Sand was everywhere. In her hair, her mouth. Eventually, they reached a series of wooden planks, each slightly higher than the one before. Celeste stopped.

“Get up them stairs. I’m not carrying you.” The man grabbed her shoulders, holding her upright. His fingers gripped so hard she could feel bruises blossoming on her arms. She awkwardly tried to balance on one leg and bend and lift the other like he did. At least it was easier on a flat, hard surface.

As they reached the top and the dark human town, Celeste felt her body tremble, the cold of the ocean wind unrelenting. She had no idea where the human was taking her or what he planned to do with her when they arrived. Around them, the town was empty. Dark wooden buildings, like ships, crowded the streets. They leaned in as if to watch their horrible progress with their gleaming glass windows. She thought of how moments before she’d have given anything to walk through the town. Explore why the human buildings seemed to have no openings. How did they get inside? Now she was too scared to care. Beneath her feet, stones rose and fell at awkward angles, tripping her. But this time when she fell, the ground was harder than the sand. Celeste clenched her jaw shut, swallowing her cry as tears sprang to her eyes. Her body felt so heavy on land, as though she were bound to the ground beneath her.

“Get up,” he said.

But she couldn’t. She tried, but her bound hands made it impossible. With a grunt, the man lifted her to her feet. They continued down the road, turning a corner until they stopped before a building constructed with square stones.

“Move.” He pushed her aside to open the door. Her eyes remained on her dirty feet as he nearly dragged her through the building. She didn’t want this human to see her cry.I should have stabbed him with my spear. Killed him when I had the chance,she thought as he spun her body to face him. They were in a small dark room, lit by a single flame encased in glass mounted on the wall.

“Now let’s get you lookingpresentable,” he said, the last word dripping with poison. His hands gripped her armor on either side and pulled, as if to rip it down the front laces. The bodice, which was made of strong stingray leather, did not budge. Teeth bared, the human pulled a knife from his hip, the silver of it gleaming and deadly. It was as if Celeste woke from a dream. She cried out and kicked him, sending him leaping away. He spat at her, words she didn’t understand. His red face made him look as though he were about to boil over. She lifted her leg to kick at him again, but the human caught hold of her ankle and pulled. Her back slammed into the cold stone floor, knocking the air from her lungs and leaving her gasping. His hands found her shoulders and held them down, wrestling her into submission. Then he sat upon her, straddling her with one knee on each side of her hips and trapping Celeste’s arms beneath her. Sobs erupted from her as she writhed beneath him. But he didn’t stop. He lowered his knife to the laces of her armor, and with a jerk, he began to cut them apart. Tears slid down her face as she watched the last thing she had of her home torn to pieces. The fight left her, and she laid still until he finished removing her bodice. He removed the metal things from her wrists and stood.

“Get dressed,” he said, pointing with his knife toward a pile of human clothing. When she didn’t move, he grabbed her arm and flung her toward it. “You’re lucky I’m a decent man.” He smiled. “Could’ve locked you up as you are. Bet aladysuch as yourself wouldn’t like giving it up for free now, would ya?”

Hands shaking, Celeste reached for the pile of dirty clothing. She didn’t know what she was looking for. She picked up a piece of cloth and held it up in front of her. It was a sort of tube with two openings. Why was it so long? The humans clearly preferred to wear a lot of fabric. Although, given how cold she was, she could understand why.

Eventually, she found a shirt that reminded her of what the prince had worn. It was white and billowing, with a string on the front that laced up. She slid it on over her head and shoved her arms through the sleeves. But even with the added layer, the cold remained. Perhaps she should take more clothing? She recalled the prince wore a coat. A black one that brushed his legs. The one she found was black but had dirty brass buttons and a design on the right breast. She held it close, running her fingers along the intricate stitching. The long, writhing tentacles of a squid holding what resembled a star with long points at the top, bottom, left, and right. She stuck her arms through the sleeves and instantly felt warmer.

Next, she looked for some sort of leg covering. She found many, but they were too large, falling down her hips when she tried them on. Growing impatient, the human grabbed a large piece of red fabric and two hard leather boots and flung them into her arms.

“Stop wasting time and put these on.”

It took her a moment to figure out the tube of fabric, but eventually she guessed the smaller end was for the waist and pulled it up over her hips. She hadn’t seen anything like it before, but when she pushed herself to her feet, she could see the appeal. It swished pleasantly. Having been stepped on by them, she recognized quickly where the boots went and slipped those on as well. They were made of leather, but they weren’t like any leather she was familiar with. This leather was dark brown and worn, the tops of them nearly reaching her knees before they folded over themselves.

Once she was dressed, the human walked her back out of the room. His horrible hands on her shoulders made her skin crawl. Each step they took echoed, a sound she had never heard. It sounded ominous, final. They continued down yet another dark stone hall and into a room. Or, to put it plainly, a cell. Celeste bristled, memories of her time in the palace dungeon all too fresh in her mind. But she was too tired, too upset, too overwhelmed to do anything but let herself be thrown inside like a rag doll. She fell into a heap on the stone floor and heard the door behind her clang closed.

Everything hurt. Bruises from his hands bloomed on her arms, tender and sore. Her new legs were covered in scratches and scrapes, and her poor knees were raw from landing on them over and over. She couldn’t summon the strength to move from the hard surface beneath her. She missed floating. Moving in whatever direction she liked. Now it felt like there was only down. So she lay there, holding in her tears as best she could.Humans do not deserve mercy, she thought, pulling her knees into her chest and wrapping her arms around them.Not if this is what they do to their own. Footsteps retreated down the hallway, and a door slammed closed, signaling the human had gone.

---