Chapter 25
Twenty-Five
Cali had deciphered enough conversation over the din at The Tusk & Tail to be a passable lip-reader, and Bonnie's words weren’t hard to make out, even if her lips were distracting.
We request safe passage.
The siren on the rock tilted her head at this. Her golden hair slid over one shoulder. She said something back, and though Cali couldn't hear it, she saw the siren's gaze slowly slide from Bonnie to land on Thrain.
Thrain, for his part, was doing his best to be as conspicuous as possible. If ever a dwarf had excelled at putting himself in harm’s way, it was this one.
"Just loosen the knot a bit," he was saying to the pirate nearest him, a stocky halfling who hadn't looked at him once since the sirens had risen from the water. Cali made out the words chafing and tight as he continued to pester her.
The halfling pirate either couldn't hear him through her rope plugs, or she'd decided to pretend she couldn't. Possibly a bit of both.
Thrain scowled and twisted his head to address the pirate on his other side. “I can handle myself with these sea ladies. I’ve survived trolls. I survived crossing the Ice Lands. I’ve survived Sass in a temper, which is frankly the worst of the three, and I'll tell you that for nothing."
The pirate on his other side also did not look at him.
Cali could see the sirens’ lips moving, a murmur that she felt more than heard, a vibration that skated down her spine and to the tip of her tail.
"They're asking me to go with them,” he said, turning to Cali with wide eyes.
He said it as though this were a perfectly reasonable request from creatures known for luring sailors to a watery grave.
"They want me to join them as their honored guest.” He tugged at the rope. “It would be rude to say no.”
Cali looked at him steadily, not bothering to pretend she didn’t know what he’d asked. “I promised Sass I’d keep you safe.”
"It would be rude not to go after they’ve asked so friendly-like.” Thrain's expression softened briefly, before being overtaken again by the vague glow of enchantment. "Sass would understand.”
Cali thought about Sass receiving news that Thrain had followed a siren into the sea because Cali had untied him. "She would not.”
"She's more soft-hearted than people give her credit for."
Cali snorted at this, remembering the dwarf’s fury when she found water rings on the tavern tables or if someone tried to sidle out without paying.
He muttered something in dwarven that Cali didn't entirely catch, though the rumble of it suggested it wasn't complimentary to her. Then his face crumpled. "They're not the first beautiful creature to turn my head and leave me for another.”
Then he choked out the words hellkin and Marina. The golden-haired siren cocked her head, and something shifted in her expression. She said something to Bonnie, and Cali strained to read the words.
Some hellkins passed through recently.
Bonnie replied. The siren smiled and said something that made all the other sirens laugh.
It took Cali a moment to work out the words. When she did, she looked at the dark water between the rocks without meaning to.
Not without taking a hellkin for ourselves.
The siren had turned back to Bonnie with a pout that had probably worked on a great number of sailors over a great number of centuries.
Bonnie told the siren that she wouldn’t be taking anyone from the ship, but then she added something that made the siren's pout deepen further before her eyes sharpened with interest.
We have secrets to trade.
The siren waved a hand as though brushing away something tedious. Her lips shaped words with elaborate patience and a knowing grin.
I already know your secret, Bonnie One-Eye. The one that would unravel everything, pretty pirate captain.
Even from a distance, even only catching snippets of the conversation, Cali saw Bonnie flinch. There was a tightening around the jaw before the captain's expression settled back into its usual composure.
Then the siren’s gaze landed on Cali, and her pupils flared. Her smile eased into something both sultry and satisfied. A gray striped pantheri with a bow? So, the mermaids were right. I believe I already know a secret about you.
There was no mistaking who she was addressing, but how could this sea creature know anything about her? Even if the mermaids had mentioned her, they didn’t know any secrets. An icy chill danced its way across her fur, and her ears flattened.
The siren reluctantly jerked her head back to Bonnie, whose neck muscles strained.
Her secrets are not for sale.
The siren flicked her gaze to Cali for a beat—Pity—before frowning at the captain.
Bonnie gestured toward Thrain, and the siren’s gaze swung to the mast with a resigned sigh. She pressed her hands together.
Tell me, dwarf. What secret do you hold most dear?
Cali turned away.
She hadn't planned to, but around her, she noticed the crew had done the same. Everyone’s eyes found ropes that suddenly needed examining or sails requiring close attention.
Even Tris seemed to take part, producing a long, resonant creak from somewhere deep in her wood-honed belly that filled the silence.
This was how they made it safely through the sirens every time, Cali thought. By turning away from each other's confessions, they gave away secrets without abandoning them.
Cali thought about her own secret, of her missing love and the years of scouring every face in every village for her. She was grateful it wasn't her secret that had been offered. She couldn't have borne the pity. Not even from creatures who lived at the bottom of the sea.
A rap on the hull told her it was done. The sirens were sliding back into the water, first one and then the others, hair fanning across the surface before disappearing beneath it.
The queen said something final to Thrain, shaped her lips into a kiss, and released it toward him with grand ceremony.
He lunged against the rope trying to catch it with his puckered lips and succeeded only in toppling sideways.
Before disappearing entirely, the siren glanced at Cali, sizing her up with a knowing smile. The dwarf’s secret did not warrant safe passage for this entire ship, but yours did, pantheri. Now I have a secret to barter to a selkie.
Cali’s lip-reading skills must not have been as good as she’d thought, because she’d told the sirens no secret.
She hadn’t even spoken. Even if she had revealed a secret, why would a selkie care?
So many questions were on the tip of her tongue, but she wouldn’t get to ask them.
The siren shot her a wink and flipped backward into the sea.
Without waiting another moment, Bonnie's hands moved on the wheel, and The Cruel Mistress eased forward through the narrow channel, the rocks sliding past on either side close enough that Cali could have reached out and touched them.
Then they were through, and the crew was tearing the coverings from their ears.
Cali did the same, unwinding the cloth bound around her head, and letting sound return in a rush. She smiled at the welcome rustle of wind, the slosh of waves, and the creak of rigging.
Gert went directly to the mast and began unknotting the ropes binding Thrain. The dwarf emerged from the loops, blinking and shaking his head as if he were surfacing from a great depth.
"Good man," Gert said, which from the orc sounded like considerable praise.
Thrain accepted this without appearing to hear it entirely. He walked in a faltering line toward the stairs leading below deck, muttering something about pots that needed scrubbing. Then he stopped. Cali followed his gaze across the deck and beyond the ship’s railing. She felt her own breath stall.
Rising from the sea ahead of them, draped in green from peak to shore, lush and improbable against the bleached sky, was an island unlike anything she'd imagined. Waterfalls caught the last of the afternoon light, the peaks vanished into low cloud, and bamboo roofs huddled along the waterline.
She wasn't sure what she had expected from Claw Island. Something battered and grim, she supposed. Something that matched its name. Not this. Not something that looked, from a distance, like paradise.