Chapter 41
Njall
As I laid out the bedrolls around the fire, I couldn't help but notice Sindri and Leifur whispering to each other. "What are you two talking about?" I asked.
“Nothing,” Leifur said dismissively. But before I could press further, Sindri chimed in with a cheeky grin, “The size of your cock. Elva told us you were well endowed, but I didn’t realize just how well.”
“Thank you?” I was taken aback, unsure of how to handle a siren complimenting my dick. “She told you about our night?” I asked cautiously.
“She tells us about all her men,” Sindri said, nonchalantly checking on the pot of stew on the fire before plopping down beside me. “It's one advantage of having an unattached sister when you’re married.”
“What did she say?”
Sindri grinned, but just as he was about to speak, Leifur interjected, “Don’t tell him. She won’t appreciate it, and you know how she gets this part of her cycle.”
“She can’t be worse than my sister,” I said.
Sindri raised an eyebrow, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Oh, trust me she can. Female sirens have to mate every cycle, and if they don’t, they go insane and kill people. Usually men.”
“What?” I asked, horrified by the implications of this revelation.
Leifur stepped in, clearly trying to allay my fears.
“As usual, my love made it sound weird. Female sirens have to mate with a male creature every cycle to continue our species,” he explained.
“If they don’t manage to do that within four weeks, then the next day they find the closest male and mate him. ”
“Repeatedly,” Sindri added matter-of-factly. “And then kill him.”
“It didn’t sound that bad until the killing part.”
“Luckily, it hasn’t come to that often for Elva,” Sindri said. “Having Leifur around has helped us more than once.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “Are you saying your sister ... has slept with your husband?”
Sindri shrugged. “Many times,” he said. “That’s how we met. Leifur was assigned to Elva.”
“I know ... she told me that’s how you met. I meant after you married.”
“Oh,” Leifur said, finally understanding. “Still yes, but only in desperate times.”
“So you’re a sultry siren too? Is that how you were so good at your job of helping female sirens?”
Leifur chuckled softly. “No. I’m a normal siren, but males are rare, and we have an easier time impregnating our females than other species do. My problem was that I fell in love with the female sirens, and then when they got pregnant and left, I was heartbroken.”
Sindri smiled at his husband. “Until me,” he breathed, as Leifur leaned down to kiss him.
I tried to process everything they were telling me and Elva's role in it all. “So if I understand correctly, Elva sleeps with a man every month to keep things normal?”
“Yes,” Leifur confirmed.
“Is that why she slept with me when she came to town?”
Sindri shook his head slightly. “I can’t remember exactly where she was in her cycle then,” he admitted. “Leifur usually does that, but once we were in town, she had her pick of males, so don’t think that she only slept with you for that reason.”
“She found you very attractive,” Leifur added. “And between us, she was very satisfied after her night with you.”
A small smirk spread across my lips. She was lying about it being forgettable. Not that it matters now. But then another realization hit. “It’s been a few weeks since we escaped the castle. Does that mean she’s getting dangerous now? Is that how she could kill so many people today in the camp?”
“Yes and no,” Leifur said, glancing nervously at Sindri before continuing. “The killing was because she’s a warrior siren. She tried to take care of things with the captain while you rescued us, but Coral interrupted them, so she has less than a week to go.”
“But no scales yet,” Sindri added.
“Scales?” I asked.
“The day before her cycle ends, she'll get shimmering scales on her,” Sindri explained. “It’s a final warning of sorts.”
Leifur nodded firmly, lifting the spoon to check the stew. “And that's when I step in.”
I was still trying to wrap my head around everything they were telling me about sirens and their cycles.
Some of it, Elva had already explained at the cabin, but the implications of it hadn't sunk in until now. “How is it you’re a sultry siren, and she’s a warrior?
” I asked. “I mean, since you’re twins, shouldn’t you be the same type? ”
Sindri looked away briefly. “We should have been,” he admitted softly. “But Elva's siren was made.”
“Made?” I repeated.
Sindri and Leifur looked around apprehensively before turning back to me. “Sirens are normally born as warriors, sultry or normal,” Leifur said. “But in rare cases, a sultry or normal siren will become a warrior.”
“How?” I asked.
Sindri and Leifur exchanged an uneasy glance before continuing their explanation. “Something terrible happens,” Sindri whispered finally. “And it changes them.”
“What happened to her?”
Leifur took a deep breath. “You know how selkies and sirens work, right?”
“More than you realize, now that Elva corrected all the mistakes I was taught.”
“Sirens appear normal, but turn into bloodthirsty beasts to feed and mate,” Leifur said.
I nodded in understanding and looked at the sirens expectantly.
“Fine,” Sindri said, as Leifur tossed another log onto the fire and settled next to him. “From what I can tell, Elva and I are not exactly half selkie and siren. I’m more siren, and I believe she’s more selkie.”
I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “What do you mean? She’s the most blood thirsty siren of the three of you.”
Leifur stepped in. “That’s because her siren is buried so deeply within her.
Warrior sirens are normally sirens through and through.
Elva’s only allowed out when she needs it, and the siren doesn’t like that.
It makes her extra ruthless. Whenever she lets the siren take control, it ends up very bloody. ”
Sindri continued where Leifur left off. “My sister was born a sultry siren like I am. When she was younger, she was even more gorgeous than she is now. Her skin glistened, and her blue and green hair was thicker and richer than any other siren in our entire kingdom … and the other girls hated her for it.” Sindri wiped his hands on his pants, and Leifur patted his back, taking over the story.
“Sindri is less selkie and more siren. So his selkie only comes out in water—he grows scales and gills, that’s it. But Elva has a deeper connection to that heritage. Her abilities in water far outweigh any siren, but they are tied to a part of her ... and those wicked girls learned that.”
“What part of her? You can’t exactly remove a body part—” but the words left my mouth as I looked at her brother’s shaved head. “It's her hair.”
Sindri nodded. “The girls cut her hair in jealousy, and Elva became ill while it grew back. It only took a day, but the damage was done. The others knew that to weaken my sister, they only needed to cut her hair. They made a game of it to see who could cut the most before she would fight back.”
“So, her fighting back was enough to make her a warrior?” I asked, still confused how something as simple as hair could have such a profound effect on Elva.
But then I felt my pendant shift in my shirt.
I moved my hand and grasped it through the fabric.
I hated to be without it, and it felt like a piece of me was missing when I left it behind.
Sindri hesitated before continuing, in almost a whisper. “That was only the start. What happened the year we were to discover our types finished it.” He stared into the fire, lost in thought.
“Sindri,” Leifur cautioned. “I don’t know if we should tell this story.”
But Sindri was resolute. “He needs to know. Elva intends to settle down in Tyndorf or at least outside the kingdom walls. Njall deserves to know what can happen if you cross her.”
“Then tell him that, not all of it,” Leifur hissed.
I was going to ask them what could be so bad when a loud pop erupted from the fire, and Elva appeared behind it, her arms laden with firewood. She glared at her brother with the same resentment my brother Ingvar would send my way anytime I did something better than him.
“Elva, you’re back,” Sindri said as he stood, trying to ease the tension, yet Elva's glare remained unchanged.
“And you’re running your mouth again.”
Leifur leaped to his feet and stepped between them, taking the wood from Elva. “Let’s not start anything. We’re all just tired and hungry. I’m sure a hot bowl of stew will soothe everything.”
“We aren’t tired enough,” Elva retorted coldly. “All it takes for my brother to tell the world my business is for me to go gather wood.”
“It’s not the entire world.” Sindri bristled defensively. “It’s Njall—the prince you insisted we save.”
In an instant, Elva leaped for him and gave him a shove, sending him reeling backward away from the fire. “My story is not yours to tell! Stop exploiting my trauma for your entertainment!”
“It’s not entertainment,” Sindri shouted back, scrambling to his feet. “It’s an explanation.”
Elva's eyes blazed with fury. “An explanation for what?” she screamed at him.
“For why you resent everyone and turn into such a vicious monster to protect yourself.” Sindri blurted.
His words hung heavily in the air. Regret filled his face, and Elva's shoulders slumped. All of her rage was gone, replaced by an overwhelming pain.
“Elva, he didn’t mean it,” Leifur said, attempting to comfort her, but she recoiled from his touch.
“Perhaps that's the first honest thing to come out of his mouth.” Elva turned and stormed around the fire.
My heart clenched in my chest at the raw agony etched in her face, but before I could say anything, Elva trudged away from us back into the darkness of the woods.
Sindri moved to follow, but Leifur grabbed him.
“No. We can’t chase after her right now. She just needs space.”
Sindri dropped back to the fire and wrapped his arms around himself. “I wouldn’t have told it. I was just going to warn him.”
“I know,” Leifur said, rubbing his back while I watched Elva fade into the dark night.