Chapter 13 #2
My blood ran cold. Were the sirens truly so brutal? Looking out into the crowd of beautiful dancing bodies, there wasn’t a hint of that violence. Only beauty and song.
“An insult to you,” Raylik said, his voice like gravel.
“Those from the Midnight Realm have a longer distance to travel. It is no insult to the king,” Calypstra remarked smoothly, not calling Hylos regent. Strange. Morvyn had said it was what he preferred to be called.
“And more time to plot,” Raylik said, his eyes staunchly on her.
“Morvyn,” Hylos interrupted the two, “your Circle just arrived. I invited them here tonight.”
Morvyn spit out his drink.
“That got in my fucking mouth.” Calypstra grimaced as she wiped at her face.
“I need to get out of here.” Morvyn stood abruptly.
“Sit down.” Hylos pulled his friend back down into his chair with that boyish grin. “The good news is that all the Circle leaders have agreed to come to the deipnon tomorrow night, and afterward the symposium.”
Morvyn groaned. “Including my horrendous family?”
“Of course Fushdmuir Circle will be in attendance. They possess all the fjords of the North Elder Sea. They are one of our greatest allies,” Hylos answered as he sipped his drink.
“Ugh, my horrid aunt has been hounding me all year to mate with that absolutely drab girl from that unheard-of Circle in the Nordhavet Trench, to strengthen ties or whatever.”
“The one whose father is extremely wealthy and manages all trade in your Circle’s territory?” Nixie added.
“All the wealth in the world cannot buy a personality, Nix darling.” He rolled his pale eyes. “Plus, I already have plans to mate with Thalassa, Nyra, Julian, and Calliope.” He counted the names on his pale, webbed fingers.
“However will you have time?” Nixie teased.
“Exactly! There’s only so much mating one young, male siren can do in a single evening. Even if the flesh is willing.”
Mating? What exactly did they mean? Sex?
As if reading my mind, Calysptra snapped her head toward me. “Have you told the human of Hydroxia yet?”
“No,” Nixie answered curtly.
“And why is that, Nixie?” She smiled.
Nixie turned to me.
“Hydroxia is a holiday of sorts, like Yule or Beltane,” she said, listing common high holidays. “We feast and celebrate the bounty of Nymphaea.”
“And then they all fuck,” Calypstra drawled.
I remained composed despite her clear attempt to unsettle me.
“You’re so crude,” Nixie said, rolling her eyes.
“You all have sex?” I looked around at the table. Well-versed in many cultures from across the world, I had never heard of anything like it.
“Hydroxia is the longest full moon of the year. We usually pick one siren to mate with, if we choose, to celebrate the fertility of the sea that the great Mother Nymphaea has given us. The holiday coincides with siren mating patterns. The hope is for children.”
“For those who can have children,” Calypstra said pointedly.
Nixie frowned. The words seemed to wound her, but Raylik’s hand found hers under the table.
“Oh, it’s the most wonderful time of the year!
” Morvyn said zealously. “See all these ravishing sirens?” I looked out with him at the crowd shifting to the music that drummed through my bones.
“They’re courting. That song you hear, it comes from them, hoping to attract the perfect fit for one blissful night of glorious carnal pleasure.
The days before are full of feasting, drinking, games, and of course, debauchery. ”
“This year we will keep the debauchery to a minimum,” Hylos interrupted. “At the symposium I will make the announcement of our planned advance on Oakhaven and request aid from the other Great Circles.”
The firewater burned in my gut.
“You plan to attack Oakhaven?” I said over the siren’s song.
Hylos’s sea-toned eyes met mine from across the table. “Yes. We plan to advance on Oakhaven after Hydroxia.”
“Why?” I asked. And why was he telling me this?
His brow furrowed. He wasn’t used to being questioned.
The rest of the table fell silent, the hammering of the siren music filling the void of their banter.
“You will start a war.” I pushed further.
“As I was saying this morning, sirens have gone missing from the seas. We must swiftly retaliate and find our people.” Like his father. “Otherwise the abductions will continue,” he answered.
I looked around at the table, hoping one of them could see reason. They all averted their eyes, finding interest in their drinks. Besides Calypstra, of course, who was watching my every breath.
“The ship I was on, did their crew show you that through their memories?” I asked.
Hylos looked around at his table. Nixie squirmed, giving herself away as the person who had explained their techniques.
Hylos said nothing, which was an answer in itself.
I knew the captain didn’t believe in such things as sirens; he’d told me. He was more annoyed than concerned by his crew’s fears. To his men, they were legends or myths. There was no way any of them had ever seen a siren, let alone captured one.
“So you haven’t. Then why are you so certain it’s Oakhaven that takes your people? You can control men. It doesn’t even make sense. Your people are violent, as you just said. You’re likely picking off one another.”
“Watch your tongue, terra,” Calypstra hissed.
“You know nothing of the situation,” Hylos dismissed me with a dry laugh as he leaned back in his chair.
“I know war means the death of your people and mine.”
“Your people?” Calypstra raised one of her black eyebrows in my direction.
“It will be an easy siege. We can control most humans, and we are physically stronger. We will invade, find the missing, figure out how Oakhaven is taking our people, and then leave,” Hylos said.
He seemed so immature in his ignorance.
“Every leader thinks their war will be easily won.” I shook my head in disbelief.
Something leaped in Hylos’s jaw and his eyes darkened to tempest blue.
But I continued. “You think women will not fight you while you control their men? Are you ready to kill them in the process?”
Nixie’s eyes flitted between us. Had she not thought of that? Had any of them thought this situation through? War would inevitably mean death.
“Some may die, yes, and that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make to ensure Naiadon and my people are safe,” Hylos ground out.
All eyes still avoided me, except Hylos’s and those of the snake at his side.
“Here you go, seven Dragon’s Breaths. Just in case you all would like one,” Bryn said as she placed a silver tray in the center of the table with small, smoking cups.
“Enough politics,” Hylos answered, grabbing one of the drinks.
Each of the others grabbed one too. So did I.
Hylos smirked. “Cheers.” Then he raised his cup to me. “To new alliances.”
Then they all knocked back their drinks. And I did the same.