Chapter Seventeen #2
“True,” she murmured. Then suddenly she was rising to her feet, forcing her courtiers to stand hastily in deference to her. “Jaykun, I will have you come to midday meal again tomorrow. I think it will be interesting to see how you take Horgon’s measure and how he takes yours.”
“I will be honored to do so, Majesty,” Jaykun said with a deferential nod.
The empress left, and those at the table sat down and finished their meals. But it quickly became apparent to Jaykun that Jileana had lost her appetite as well as her usual vivacity.
“Are you well?” he asked her after a few minutes of watching her.
“I … I will be better once we have seen my mother and I know you are protected from the sirens’ call.”
“Then let’s go to her now. I won’t have you worrying,” he said, rising to his feet and holding his hand out to her. She took it immediately and rose as well. They walked out of the dining area and onto the open ledge. It was a short dive to the water and they prepared to make it.
“Leaving so quickly? And before I have had time to make your acquaintance?”
They turned together at the address, which was followed by a musical little laugh.
There she stood, the siren herself, her green hair flowing all around the slim planes of her nearly boyish body.
Unlike Jileana, she lacked the curves that would make her markedly a female.
She had small, nearly nonexistent breasts, but her features were everything fey and feminine.
Other than the hair on her head, she had no other hair on her body, except eyelashes that were green as well.
She had no eyebrows to speak of. There were swirls of tiny white spots on patches of her skin, almost as though they were there in place of the hair that was missing from her body, and her nails, on both her hands and her feet, had a purplish tinge to them.
“We have somewhere to be,” Jileana said with poorly veiled hostility as she stepped protectively between Jaykun and the siren.
“Please, little one,” the ambassador said with a lightly scoffing laugh. “If I want him, the placement of your body will do nothing to protect his ears.”
She turned her attention to Jaykun. “I am Falin,” she introduced herself, holding up a palm in respectful greeting.
“Do not be afraid I will enrapture you. It is clear you are the empress’s favored companion and I will not risk war between the sirens and the selkies simply to win the attentions of a man. ”
Jaykun took her measure for a moment and then realized she was telling the truth. Clearly the siren leader had chosen well when she had chosen her ambassador.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Falin,” Jaykun said, holding out a hand to her.
She looked at him with iceblue eyes a moment, then took his hand in hers.
Her skin was smooth and cool under his touch.
“I am glad you will not attempt to enthrall me. You might make me love you, but I would kill you for it.”
“You would love me too much to want to kill me.”
“I have killed things I loved in the past,” he said quietly. “And in any event, it would not be true love, merely an illusion. Illusions can be broken.”
“No one can break the lure of a siren’s call,” she said almost apologetically.
“But it might surprise you to know that many sirens do not use their song to call a mate to them. We prefer to know we can obtain the affections of a man without thrall. There is more of a victory to it that way. The thrall is often a measure of last resort. It can be as hollow for us as it is for the subject. Although, the subject does not feel hollow.”
“No, just abandoned by love once you are through with him and discard him.”
“Mmm. True. We have little use for men outside of breeding partners. All the more reason we do not like to use the thrall. We are not cruel, you know. We are not all selfish. No more than those of any other culture.”
Jileana released a snort, the sound making it clear she didn’t believe the siren in the least. It was a sentiment of pure prejudice and the first time Jaykun had seen a behavior like it from her.
She was so open and warm and inviting in all other ways, it was almost alien on her, to see her acting so caustically.
“Well, I am comforted by your assurances,” he said amiably.
“I have never seen a man in the selkie court before. I am sure there have been men brought across the portal before, but none have made it into the empress’s purview during my stint in her court, and I have been here for several decades.
Indeed I have been here so long I am accused by my people of being more selkie than siren. ”
That made Jileana frown. “The sirens act with prejudice against you even though you are here on their behalf?”
“Some see me more as a traitor than as an ambassador. We have very narrow-minded peoples on both sides of the island. You see, I am not entirely welcome here, and I am no longer entirely welcome amongst the sirens. So I find myself without a homeland.”
“And yet you are supposed to negotiate between our peoples?”
“The selkie queen and the siren queen view me as useful, and in the end, that is all that matters. As long as I can relate the truth of their words without prejudice to cloud the issue, then I am still of use to them both.”
“Spoken like a true diplomat. Both courts are fortunate to have you,” Jaykun said.
“I hope so. As long as I can be useful, I will continue to serve. The day I no longer feel that I am is the day I will return home and try to find my place back amongst my people. Perhaps I will then mate with a man and have a daughter.”
“It is a wonder you don’t do that now,” Jileana said. “Couldn’t you have a child even while in service?”
“And raise her where she would be despised just for being a siren? Do you think that wise?” Falin asked knowingly.
The grim set to Jileana’s mouth was all the reply that was needed.
“Well, perhaps things in the future will change,” Jaykun said.
He did not elaborate since he wasn’t sure, if the empress had told the siren ambassador of her plans yet.
It was not his place to do so. Nor did he want any of the credit for the idea.
It would have more value if it was perceived as having come from the empress’s own mind.
He only hoped that a new accord with the sirens would mean a positive future between selkies and sirens.
Perhaps, with time, prejudices could be set aside and a trust could be established between the two peoples.
“Perhaps it will,” she agreed.
“But what is it you want of me?” he asked her directly. “Or is this just a desire to get to know me?” It was obvious by his tone that he did not believe that was all it was.
“I have no immediate need of you,” Falin said. “But who knows what the future holds? So it is in my best interest to get to know you a little. To find myself on your good side, as it were.”
“Ah. More marks of a good diplomat: Always keep channels open for future use. Make no enemies and make many friends.”
She smiled. “Exactly. But that does not make my friendship seem any less sincere, I hope.”
“Not at all,” he assured her.
“Good. Then will you walk with me awhile?”
Jaykun hesitated. He could feel the anxiety emanating from Jileana. She was afraid. Afraid of him being exposed and vulnerable. He didn’t know what it would take for a man to fall under the thrall of a siren. A single note? A refrain? An entire song? What did it take?
He was not inclined to find out the hard way.
“Thank you, but we have somewhere we need to be,” he said.
He could feel the relief washing through Jileana.
He almost chuckled. He wondered again if she realized how easily she could be read.
The siren’s knowing smile only solidified that understanding.
But clearly Jileana didn’t care. All she cared about was getting him away from the siren as swiftly as possible.
“Until another time, then,” Falin said before turning her back to them and walking away.
Jileana did not sigh with relief, however.
She would not be content until Jaykun was out of earshot of her.
To that end, she grabbed his arm and pulled him off the cliff ledge, sending him down into the water gracelessly.
She didn’t give him time to get into a proper diving position, but luckily the dining cave was only a short distance from the water.
Unlike her, he did not have an inborn righting mechanism that allowed him to hit the water perfectly each time, so his landing was a little rough.
Once they were beneath the water, she immediately cut a path ahead of him, swimming down toward a familiar cave: the cavern of her mother, the sea witch.
It was clear that Jileana’s magic was rudimentary at best, especially compared to her mother’s.
She did not have the ability to protect him from the sirens’ call.
“I’m sorry,” her mother said with a concerned little frown some minutes later. “There is no protection against the sirens’ call, save deafness. I could take away your hearing, but—”
“No!” Jaykun cut her off sharply. “That is definitely not an option.”
“Then you have no recourse other than to trust the siren at her word.”
“Trust a siren?” Jileana scoffed at the notion.
“Why do you distrust them so much? Why all this open hostility?” Jaykun had to ask her. “Is it just a general racial prejudice or have you been slighted personally in some way?”
He could hear her grinding her teeth, could see her temper simmering beneath the surface. Had he been asked a day ago he would have said she wasn’t capable of anger. Now she was literally seething with it.
“I don’t want you vulnerable to her! Is that such a crime? I would think you would want the same thing. Or do you like the idea of becoming her puppet?”
Jaykun bristled at the very notion. “I do not. I have been a puppet to love once in my life and I will never be one again.”
That seemed to cool her temper, and a wave of curiosity washed over her. “How were you a puppet to love? What happened that has closed you off to the feelings a good and natural love can provide you?”
“There is no such thing as a good and natural love. All love is like the sirens’ call: blind and weakening, and a large percentage of it is false.”
“That isn’t true! Why would you feel in such ways?”
“Why do you hate the siren?” he shot back at her.
She bristled and it looked for a moment like she was going to answer him, but then she turned sharply away from him and with a few quick steps dived back into the water, leaving him alone with her mother in the underwater cave.
“I don’t understand,” he said with a shake of his head. “Everything I know about her tells me she is an open and fair-minded creature. This hatred toward the sirens baffles me.”
“Then perhaps I can enlighten you. Jileana has several brothers, as you may or may not know.”
“Yes. I have met them.”
“Did she also tell you that one of them was killed while on sentry duty at the selkie-siren border?”
“No, she did not,” he said with a deflated little sigh. So that was why there were only five of them at the midday meal.
“There was a raid across the boundary … It was long ago before there was a true working peace between the two sides of the island. My son … He was a strong warrior. Proud. Unable to back down from a fight. Besides, the sirens don’t only take human lovers.
They’ve been known to take selkie males prisoner and woo them into becoming the fathers of their children.
At least they did in the past. My son figured he would rather die than become a siren’s plaything. And so he did.”
“And now your daughter hates the sirens.”
“‘Hate’ is too strong a word. She believes in peace. She knows it was a long time ago. But she does not trust the sirens. Not with the well-being of someone she loves.”
Jaykun did not rise to the bait of that observation.
He chose to ignore it. Love? What love was there between Jileana and him?
She knew what he felt, knew he would never let himself be distracted by fanciful notions like love.
She was smart. She had to know it would be an unwise waste of time and emotion for her to fixate on him in such ways. He dismissed the idea outright.
He walked to the edge where the cavern met the water, watching the reflection of the light on the water as it danced along the top of the cavern around him.
“I suppose there are many selkies who have reason to despise the sirens for similar reasons. My solution to the empress’s troubles with the sirens could be rife with risk. One altercation is all that is needed for the sirens and selkies to devolve into war.”
“Your solution?” the sea witch asked.
Again, he was not willing to share information without the empress’s permission. “Tell me, where would Jileana go if she were upset? Does she have a favorite place?”
“She does. There is a cove just beyond the cliff face, around to the left side. Just follow the beach and you will come to it.”
“Thank you.”
“Jaykun,” she stayed him just as he was about to dive into the water.
“Yes?”
“Be careful with my daughter’s feelings. She is open and loving and the most kindhearted person I have ever known, but she has never known the pain of unrequited love and I would spare her that.”
“She knows I cannot feel love for her,” he said uncomfortably. He didn’t want to be having this conversation. He wanted to say it was none of her business, but it was. Jileana was her daughter and she was looking out for her.
“Cannot or will not?”
“What difference is there between the two?”
“One is out of your control; the other is within your power. If she thinks you are capable of love, she will want to convince you of it. She has grown up in a loving environment, however suffocating for her at times. She will want to share that love with you. She knows the rewards that come with love and she will want you to find them.”
“Rewards?” He scoffed. He couldn’t help himself. “Love brings no rewards. It is an illusory thing poets and bards made up to lure coin from a listener’s pocket.”
Ravi’s laugh was soft and light. “Only a man who has loved with all of his heart could possibly be able to feel so much contempt for the emotion. You were betrayed, were you not?”
“I do not wish to discuss this with you,” he bit out.
“Tell my daughter the truth of why you have closed yourself off. Make sure she understands. Only then will she be able to protect her heart from the hardness of yours.”
Jaykun dived into the water.