Page 13 of The Withering Dawn
He grumbled, resting his hands on his hips. “I don’t like the religious types. Ye know, all of Harverton was full of ‘em.”
“And you disagree with what they were doing? Even if their prisoners were sirens?”
“Now that is a tricky question,” he said, waving his finger. “I’ve heard stories of sirens just like anyone else. Hell, even Denham talked about ‘em now and then. They’re stories until they’re not and every story terrified me. They’ll eat ye alive, people said. ‘Whether ye scream or cry, they’ll just keep chewing until ye die.’ I don’t remember the rest of the song.”
“Heard a man say sirens tore up his fishing nets once and nearly made him crash his ship in the rocks with their voice. Said it felt like being dragged on a rope across sharp stones. All free will is gone, but you stay conscious of your actions.”
Cathal shivered. “It’s not like us to sail in siren-infested waters. Never wanted anything to do with ‘em.”
“Neither did I. I chose the wrong ship to attack, my friend.”
“We don’t choose the ships. We chase them if they are dawning that damn flag.”
“Perhaps the chase is proving too unfavorable.”
Cathal combed his fingers back through his hair. “Thinking about Olly, are ye? The boy knew what he was getting into staying aboard this ship. Like all of us did.”
“Did he? We were all so much older when we made that choice.”
“Either way, it isn’t any fault of yers that he’s gone. Yer brother would have said the same thing. Ye know it.”
I nodded, thinking back on the day we all fled the same place together. The only thing on our minds the past sixteen years had been to find the man who’d ripped our lives out from under us. The manwho wronged all of us and countless others that had not escaped his clutches.
“And if something happens with our unusual captive because I brought her onto the Amanacer? Should I take blame then?” I asked with a grin.
“That’s quite a strange situation, isn’t it?”
“I fear sometimes that my mercy will be my downfall.”
He slapped me on the shoulder. “Then ye’ll die with yer morals intact, which is more than most men can say.”
I dropped my head, more conflicted than I should have been.
“I know ye have a weak spot for caged things,” Cathal continued. “But she is not some child taken from her parents. She’s a siren. Do not let this twist ye up too tight.”
“Tell me if you saw a monster in her eyes when you spoke to her.”
“They’re deceiving,” he shrugged. “Perhaps the monster is wearing a very beautiful mask.”
“Or she is broken just like us and we are the monsters for thinking her evil.”
The way he looked at me when I said that was laced with confusion. I couldn’t tell if he saw weakness when I spoke or if he saw strength.
“Should I prepare myself for ye doing somethin’ stupid, cap’n?” he said, narrowing his blue eyes.
“You should always be prepared for me to do something stupid.”
It was well into the night. The storm rocked the ship, making the wood creak and moan around us, but otherwise, it was nothing that would set us back too far. I finally stepped down from the helm, ready for some much-needed sleep, but instead, I chose to venture back down into the hold to torture myself by looking at my captive again. Cathal wasn’t helping in my decision making, either. He provided ideas, but he wasn’t providing me with solutions, and I knew it was because he was struggling with the situation, too.
Instead of going to her empty-handed, though, I took a folded blanket with me into the hold along with a small stack of paper and charcoal. I ducked into the room carrying a thick candle with me and used it to light the hanging lantern and brighten the chamber, although even that didn’t do much. There in the shadows like she hadn’t moved was Aeris. Her head turned toward me, those eyes watching every tiny movement I made as I pulled up the chair to sit in front of the bars.
On the floor inside was the bone broth and the meet strips, cold and untouched.
“You did not eat,” I said. “Are you not hungry?”
She looked at me, expressionless, with not so much as a head shake to indicate what she was thinking. Nodding with acceptance, Irolled up the blanket and set the paper on top of it, sliding it through the bars. She watched, clearly interested in what I was offering.
“I thought we would try to communicate and since I know a wood floor is not very comfortable, I brought another blanket.” I paused a moment, watching her diligently. “Aeris.”
