Page 41 of Voice of the Ocean

“Killed? What do you mean?” another asked, large eyes widening.

Murmuring broke out among the crew as they all began shifting back and forth, their cups lowering. Raiden’s expression grew murderous, and silence fell once more.

“When you sail with me, there will always be danger,” he said, voice low. “Which makes you the most fearless crew on the Southern Ocean!”

This seemed to do the trick. Shouts of approval rang out as the crew knocked their cups against one another’s before drinking deeply. With a mixture of excitement and nerves, Celeste followed their example, pretending to take her first sip of wine. The drink splashed against her lip, tasting bitter and strange. Before she set it back down, she took a deep inhale. It smelled vaguely like fruit, sweet and smooth, but it was also dark and deep. She waited a moment or two, expecting a loss of intelligence or really anything to happen from her almost-sip. But nothing did. Perhaps she needed to actually drink it to feel its effects. But instead she dumped half of it into the ocean when she was certain no one was looking.

* * *

The night wore on, and Celeste watched as the crew around her descended into drunkenness. It was fascinating, watching the wine take effect on the humans as they continued to drink. Some humans began to stumble, while others seemed to lose control of the volume of their voice. Some grew sad, while others became joyful. It seemed the effects of the drink were as varied as the drinkers. She wondered, as she listened to a large human tell two others a very tragic and personal tale, whether humans would be more pliable when drunk? It would make her job of getting information out of the captain much easier.

Scanning the deck to gauge Raiden’s drunkenness, Celeste noticed all the members of the crew had begun to form into small groups. Torben and Nasir were together, Torben trying to fight anyone who got too close and Nasir gently pulling him back. Bastian said something, and Kiyami laughed while cradling the Admiral in her arms. Another crew member had taken her place at the helm for the night. Among them, Celeste suddenly felt a world apart. It reminded her of a story her mother once told her about the daughters of the Goddess.

“Before the creatures or this world existed, there were only the gods. As they built the earth, the two chose what they would reign. The Goddess chose the ocean, night, and Song for her kingdoms. She gifted the world with great rivers, lakes, and seas. When she finished, she placed each star in the heavens and hung the moon in the sky. Then she created every living creature that resided within her domain and gave them life and balance.

“After she made them, the creatures swam away and multiplied. With her job complete, she rested. She spent her days swimming in the waters of her oceans or bathing in her moonlight. She counted each star as she lay along the shores of the God of Land. But one day as she sat on the shore watching the moonrise and her creatures play together, she began to weep. For she had no one. As her tears mixed with the seafoam, she gathered it to herself and breathed life into four daughters: Isla the Protector, Suna the Wise, Klara the Strong, and Lyra the Beautiful. These were the first sirens. And as they celebrated their first day of life, they sang together.”

“Queen Isla is our ancestor! She founded Staria!” Celeste exclaimed.

“Yes, my little star.” Halia laughed.

“But how did Isla have children? She didn’t have them with her sisters.” The little princess pulled a face.

“No, no,” Halia corrected. “The Goddess then made males so the sirens could fill the ocean with their kin. At that time, we sirens were a nomadic tribe. We wandered throughout the ocean among the creatures as great rulers. Until”—the queen paused for dramatic effect—“one day the youngest daughter, Lyra, was sunning herself on the shore. There she met Man. Much like the Goddess and her sirens, Man had been created by the God of Land. Lyra sang for Man, and he was so enraptured by her beauty that he dragged her from the ocean and took her back to his home.

“Lyra tried to escape, but after so much time away from the ocean, she dissolved into the seafoam that she came from. When the Goddess heard of this, she became vengeful. She demanded justice. But the God of Land would not punish Man. Instead, he hid them from her, shielding them from her wrath. So the Goddess gifted sirens the Song so that we may protect ourselves against the humans.”

Celeste looked out to sea, wishing she could speak to her mother again. To her own sisters.

“I’m glad it’s not raining.”

Celeste turned to see a crew member who she believed was a gunner named Oakes. His arms were roped in corded muscle, and his jaw was pronounced and square. The boy wasn’t taller than Nasir; Celeste expected no one on the ship was, but she had to tilt her head quite a bit to look at him. He had the longest, darkest eyelashes she had ever seen on a man. They almost looked like a doll. She had seen a couple of dolls intact in shipwrecks, and they all had the same eyes as him.

Politely, Celeste nodded in agreement.

“Oh! You can’t talk. Right. I did hear about that,” he said. “I couldn’t talk once. But it was because I had shouted too much the day before.”

Celeste nodded again.

“But I got my voice back. Do you think you’ll get your voice back?”

She shrugged, and Oakes nodded solemnly.

“I hope you do. It must be hard to talk to people when you can’t talk. Once I had to talk to someone from Hinarso, but they didn’t speak common... so I kind of used a lot of hand gestures like this!” Oakes waved his arms around wildly, gesturing to himself, then to her, and then to things around them. The more he spoke, the more he reminded Celeste of a fish. Pretty and without a lot going on inside his head. She wondered if this was from the drink, but she had a feeling it was not. Oakes flung out his arm to communicate how big something was, and Raiden, who had appeared behind him, caught it before it collided with his head.

“Oh! I didn’t see you there, Captain.” Oakes dropped his arm. “You should watch where you’re going. I could have hurt you.”

Raiden narrowed his eyes at the boy.

Celeste stifled a laugh, but not well enough, because Raiden’s attention turned to her. He cocked an eyebrow, and she lifted the glass of wine toward him in a mock toast. She liked how quickly she was picking up these human habits. It made things much easier.

Raiden’s lip quirked upward.

“Excuse me, Captain.” Oakes suddenly looked about ten inches tall. He moved away, attempting conversation with a new target who seemed less than thrilled about the experience.

Raiden eyed Celeste’s half-empty cup. “How do you like the wine?”

Celeste smiled what she hoped was the smile of a drunk person.

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