Page 59 of Voice of the Ocean

“The Admiral has a soft spot for beautiful women.”

Celeste stilled.Women. It was such a human word. Images of all the women she had seen in paintings on so many broken ships flew through her mind. Their soft faces and round, reddened cheeks. Curling hair and small, rounded ears. He knew what she was, and yet he called her awoman. Was he mocking her? Trying to convince her that she was one of them? Or perhaps... it was what it seemed. A compliment. A far more dangerous thing.

In a few long strides, he moved to the desk beside the window, pulling a map from one of its drawers. He used only his right hand, his injured arm tucked into his side.

“Let’s see,” he said, dropping the map onto the table. His fingers fumbled, unable to open the curled map one-handed. Celeste reached out, smoothing the paper and placing the weights at each corner as she saw him do countless times. He didn’t say a word, only watched as she placed the little wooden ship where she knew them to be on the map.

“My first thought was Port Velluno.”

At the name, Celeste’s eyes flew to his, and she saw his mouth quirk up at her reaction. That night she had left him along the cliffside beach felt so long ago. Of course they would stop there. It was the closest human port to the siren waters. Regaining her composure, Celeste turned back to the map, leaning into her hands on the table. As she peered down, she noticed with pleasure that she recognized a few of the letters now. They were jumbled into unrecognizable combinations, but even so. Her fingers brushed against the swooping letters along the southern tip of Ethoria, where she knew Velluno was. It wasn’t far. They could be there by tomorrow morning. Perhaps she could borrow the map for this evening’s lesson with Nasir.Probably her last lesson, she reminded herself.

“How many days will we lose?”

Celeste pulled a piece of empty parchment that sat atop his desk toward her and picked up his quill. Raiden’s eyebrows raised in surprise as he watched the little siren slowly form the numberthreein her shaky hand.

“You know how to write now?” he asked, a warm smile cracking through his frustration.

Celeste beamed and wrote anN, but she couldn’t remember the rest. Still, he understood.

“Nasiris teaching you? He hardly talks with anyone.”

A bubbling laugh ripped through her, and her eyebrows knit together. Nasir had never given her that impression. If he had meant to avoid her, he would have been wise to have never offered her that cookie on their first day.

“I’m glad to see you’re getting along with the crew. You fit right in.”

By his tone, she discerned that this came as a surprise to him, but not an unwelcome one. It came as a surprise to her too. She hadn’t thought of it. Hadn’t allowed herself to notice how comfortable she felt around the others lately. In fact, she’d begun to like her life on the ship. Even without a voice, she felt listened to. Valued. But the realization was a horrible one, given what she had to do.

“I’m proud of you,” he said. “Learning the sword and now writing as well.”

No...Why today of all days did this infuriating man choose to be nice to her? She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had been proud of her. This was a distraction. It did not matter how he felt.

“So, seems we have no choice.” He ran a hand through his hair. “We’re going to have to take this detour. Do you think we might be able to make up the time?” He spoke as if his words before hadn’t mattered. As if this were just another conversation between them.

Celeste’s hand shook as she wrote the wordYeson the page. But it was not due to her lack of skill. The lie hurt. How she wished it could all be over. That she could be home, and all this would be but a distant memory.

“What’s wrong?” His fingers met her chin, raising his knuckle beneath it until she met his eye. It was like looking into the sun. His gaze burned. And she could not hide from the light.

“We’ll figure something out,” he assured her.

And Celeste nodded.

If she didn’t kill him tonight, she would have to wait days for another opportunity on the ship. She couldn’t very well manage it in a human town. Even if she was able to get him alone, she’d be stuck on land. And who knew what the guards were like in this port. And each passing day made what she had to do that much harder. Her mother’s tearstained face swam in her vision, and she turned to leave, jaw clenched, before he could read her face.

* * *

Celeste waited for the dead of the night, emerging from her quarters dressed in black, dagger pressed to her side. The siren princess carried nothing else, for she had nothing worth keeping. She hadn’t slept. Couldn’t sleep. Not with Port Velluno drawing closer with each passing moment. The longer she sat in the darkness, the surer she became. It ended tonight. What else could she do? Stay with the humans? Live the rest of her life in silent servitude to the son of her enemy? She couldn’t let them reach Lunapesce to ransack a sacred island like they had that cargo ship.

The ship swayed beneath her feet as she scanned the darkened hallway, listening for any sign of life. When none came, she crept toward the captain’s quarters on silent feet. One step. Then another. Her hand closed around the golden doorknob. She did not hesitate. The door slid open, creaking on its hinges. She tensed, searching the room for a sign of the Admiral, but found none. The dog wasn’t in the room. Her shoulders dropped a fraction, and she slipped inside, leaving the door ajar for her escape. Pulse pounding, she unsheathed her dagger and approached the bed.

It lay empty.

She cursed, spinning around the room to see if she had missed him in some darkened corner. When she found he wasn’t there, her shoulders slumped. Sliding the dagger back into its place along her hip, Celeste crept from the room, closing the door gently behind her. Raiden was on strict orders from Nasir to rest. He should have been there. But she refused to give up that easily. It needed to be over.Hadto be over.

She swept down the hall, opening the door out onto the deck to go in search of the Pirate Prince. It didn’t take long. She found him on the ship’s bow, drinking from a bottle of wine and staring blankly out into the dark night. He was alone, but the night crew still walked the ship’s deck. She considered stabbing him through the back in his ribs and jumping off ship before anyone was alarmed, but all the sailors had guns on their hips. One mistake, and she could be killed. No, it would be much better to wait for Raiden to be asleep in his room. Alone. And though she’d be loath to admit it, Celeste felt relief to avoid the task once more.

As she approached, Raiden turned his head toward her and smiled, lowering his half-empty bottle of wine. “Can’t sleep either?”

She nodded, joining him along the banister. He held the bottle to her, but she declined with a wave of her hand. Raiden nodded and took another long drink. In the moonlight, he looked every inch the tragic prince. His shoulders slumped, and his hair was mussed, likely from his nervous habit of running his hands through it. All the usual confidence he wore like armor was discarded. She hated that she wondered why.

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