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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Celeste had never seen anything more beautiful than the sunset. As she gazed upon the burning red sun lowering upon the horizon, she knew it was a memory she would never forget. They sailed beside it, as if the two were companions, and belowdecks the crew became restless with energy. Night was falling fast. The sun dipped below the horizon, the sky turning the deep purple of a bruise as the first stars began to appear above them. The sea was calm, with just a gentle breeze pushing the ship along its way. She couldn’t have pictured a more perfect night.

It had been a long day full of navigation and awkward conversations. Most of the crew had never worked together before, so it wasn’t a surprise. The first dinner with the officers had been a little quiet, although delicious. There was creamy soup; fresh, crunchy vegetables; some sort of roasted meat; and berries for dessert. Celeste listened carefully as everyone spoke about the food so she could learn their names. Food was turning out to be her favorite part of being human. Desserts were a particular favorite.

“Can’t eat like this most nights, but I thought we should celebrate,” Nasir said.

Apparently, food was hard to keep fresh on a ship, so Nasir used the fresh food first and later would move into the preserved foods: hard biscuits and cheeses, cured meats, pickled vegetables, and dried fruits. After the meal, they joined the rest of the crew on the decks. Bastian complained a little, insisting it had been a long day, but he couldn’t say no when Raiden reminded him it was tradition to christen the first night, and it would be bad luck to break tradition. Evidently, humans were very anxious to avoid “bad luck.”

“A toast!” called Raiden, emerging with a couple of crew members carrying wooden barrels. Bastian followed along with several others, cups haphazardly stacked in their arms.

The cups were quickly passed around among the crew, with Raiden following behind, filling each glass with dark red liquid. Wine , she heard him call it. Celeste wondered if this was one of those drinks that made humans stupid. What did it taste like? If it did make a human stupid, what did that feel like?

“Is our hero partaking in the libations this evening?” Raiden asked.

It was convenient that Raiden spoke to her in a way in which she could answer easily, but Celeste grew tired of head shakes. So she pointed to herself, shook her head, and pointed to the wine.

“You no wine?”

Celeste waved her hand back over her shoulder.

“Before?” Raiden said.

Celeste nodded.

“You haven’t had wine before?”

She smiled unintentionally when he correctly guessed.

Raiden returned the smile, a celebration of this small victory shared between them. “Allow me to introduce you.” He filled her cup generously. “Don’t drink too fast,” he said, meeting her eye. “Take it slowly and see how you feel.”

Celeste scoffed. She was a warrior, after all. She could handle a beverage . If she chose to.

“Or, by all means, drink yourself into oblivion,” he said cooly. “I’d love to watch you make a fool of yourself.”

Celeste reached for the cup, but he pulled it from her grasp so that instead she grabbed his hand. She tensed, memories flooding her mind. Her body being dragged through the streets. Her clothes cut from her body. She had experienced an accidental touch before, but something about this was different.

In the ocean, water surrounded you, touching you always. But on land, the air felt like an absence. Every touch was uninhibited. There was nothing between you. When Raiden’s hand met hers, it felt as though he was lightning, and she was water. His shock of energy went right through her. Celeste tore her hand away, squeezing her eyes shut. When she opened them, Raiden held the cup out, handle facing her. She gave him an awkward nod in thanks and then took it without having to touch him again. A flush creeped up her neck. He looked at her, his expression impassive. Perhaps he hadn’t noticed her reaction after all.

But she did notice his left hand clench ever so slightly as he walked away.

A cold wind blew across her face, and she turned her face down toward her cup, watching the deep red liquid slide back and forth with the rocking of the ship. It looked too much like blood. Her stomach churned.

“I’d like to raise a glass to our first voyage together aboard the Red Revenge .” As Raiden spoke, the rest of the crew fell silent. He lifted his glass into the air, and the others followed suit. Celeste lifted her own glass, mirroring their actions. “You’re not the crew I would have chosen”—Torben growled angrily at this—“but you’re the best crew for the job!” he finished with a knifelike grin.

“You mean the job where we could get killed if we don’t succeed?” a man said.

“Killed? What do you mean?” another asked, large eyes widening.

Murmuring broke out among the crew as they all began shifting back and forth, their cups lowering. Raiden’s expression grew murderous, and silence fell once more.

“When you sail with me, there will always be danger,” he said, voice low. “Which makes you the most fearless crew on the Southern Ocean!”

This seemed to do the trick. Shouts of approval rang out as the crew knocked their cups against one another’s before drinking deeply. With a mixture of excitement and nerves, Celeste followed their example, pretending to take her first sip of wine. The drink splashed against her lip, tasting bitter and strange. Before she set it back down, she took a deep inhale. It smelled vaguely like fruit, sweet and smooth, but it was also dark and deep. She waited a moment or two, expecting a loss of intelligence or really anything to happen from her almost-sip. But nothing did. Perhaps she needed to actually drink it to feel its effects. But instead she dumped half of it into the ocean when she was certain no one was looking.

* * *

The night wore on, and Celeste watched as the crew around her descended into drunkenness. It was fascinating, watching the wine take effect on the humans as they continued to drink. Some humans began to stumble, while others seemed to lose control of the volume of their voice. Some grew sad, while others became joyful. It seemed the effects of the drink were as varied as the drinkers. She wondered, as she listened to a large human tell two others a very tragic and personal tale, whether humans would be more pliable when drunk? It would make her job of getting information out of the captain much easier.

Scanning the deck to gauge Raiden’s drunkenness, Celeste noticed all the members of the crew had begun to form into small groups. Torben and Nasir were together, Torben trying to fight anyone who got too close and Nasir gently pulling him back. Bastian said something, and Kiyami laughed while cradling the Admiral in her arms. Another crew member had taken her place at the helm for the night. Among them, Celeste suddenly felt a world apart. It reminded her of a story her mother once told her about the daughters of the Goddess.

“Before the creatures or this world existed, there were only the gods. As they built the earth, the two chose what they would reign. The Goddess chose the ocean, night, and Song for her kingdoms. She gifted the world with great rivers, lakes, and seas. When she finished, she placed each star in the heavens and hung the moon in the sky. Then she created every living creature that resided within her domain and gave them life and balance.

“After she made them, the creatures swam away and multiplied. With her job complete, she rested. She spent her days swimming in the waters of her oceans or bathing in her moonlight. She counted each star as she lay along the shores of the God of Land. But one day as she sat on the shore watching the moonrise and her creatures play together, she began to weep. For she had no one. As her tears mixed with the seafoam, she gathered it to herself and breathed life into four daughters: Isla the Protector, Suna the Wise, Klara the Strong, and Lyra the Beautiful. These were the first sirens. And as they celebrated their first day of life, they sang together.”

“Queen Isla is our ancestor! She founded Staria!” Celeste exclaimed.

“Yes, my little star.” Halia laughed.

“But how did Isla have children? She didn’t have them with her sisters.” The little princess pulled a face.

“No, no,” Halia corrected. “The Goddess then made males so the sirens could fill the ocean with their kin. At that time, we sirens were a nomadic tribe. We wandered throughout the ocean among the creatures as great rulers. Until”—the queen paused for dramatic effect—“one day the youngest daughter, Lyra, was sunning herself on the shore. There she met Man. Much like the Goddess and her sirens, Man had been created by the God of Land. Lyra sang for Man, and he was so enraptured by her beauty that he dragged her from the ocean and took her back to his home.

“Lyra tried to escape, but after so much time away from the ocean, she dissolved into the seafoam that she came from. When the Goddess heard of this, she became vengeful. She demanded justice. But the God of Land would not punish Man. Instead, he hid them from her, shielding them from her wrath. So the Goddess gifted sirens the Song so that we may protect ourselves against the humans.”

Celeste looked out to sea, wishing she could speak to her mother again. To her own sisters.

“I’m glad it’s not raining.”

Celeste turned to see a crew member who she believed was a gunner named Oakes. His arms were roped in corded muscle, and his jaw was pronounced and square. The boy wasn’t taller than Nasir; Celeste expected no one on the ship was, but she had to tilt her head quite a bit to look at him. He had the longest, darkest eyelashes she had ever seen on a man. They almost looked like a doll. She had seen a couple of dolls intact in shipwrecks, and they all had the same eyes as him.

Politely, Celeste nodded in agreement.

“Oh! You can’t talk. Right. I did hear about that,” he said. “I couldn’t talk once. But it was because I had shouted too much the day before.”

Celeste nodded again.

“But I got my voice back. Do you think you’ll get your voice back?”

She shrugged, and Oakes nodded solemnly.

“I hope you do. It must be hard to talk to people when you can’t talk. Once I had to talk to someone from Hinarso, but they didn’t speak common... so I kind of used a lot of hand gestures like this!” Oakes waved his arms around wildly, gesturing to himself, then to her, and then to things around them. The more he spoke, the more he reminded Celeste of a fish. Pretty and without a lot going on inside his head. She wondered if this was from the drink, but she had a feeling it was not. Oakes flung out his arm to communicate how big something was, and Raiden, who had appeared behind him, caught it before it collided with his head.

“Oh! I didn’t see you there, Captain.” Oakes dropped his arm. “You should watch where you’re going. I could have hurt you.”

Raiden narrowed his eyes at the boy.

Celeste stifled a laugh, but not well enough, because Raiden’s attention turned to her. He cocked an eyebrow, and she lifted the glass of wine toward him in a mock toast. She liked how quickly she was picking up these human habits. It made things much easier.

Raiden’s lip quirked upward.

“Excuse me, Captain.” Oakes suddenly looked about ten inches tall. He moved away, attempting conversation with a new target who seemed less than thrilled about the experience.

Raiden eyed Celeste’s half-empty cup. “How do you like the wine?”

Celeste smiled what she hoped was the smile of a drunk person.

He eyed her, and she knew he saw through her act easily. “I’m glad it meets your approval.” The captain rested against the railing beside her, but while Celeste gazed upon the crew, he looked out over the water. It was getting so dark that one could hardly see anything save the stars above them. He tipped his head back, running a large hand mindlessly through his hair.

“The three daughters are out tonight,” he said.

Celeste followed his gaze. The sky was clear above them, each star shining brightly upon the inky velvet sky. Something inside her opened wide at the sight of them all. Awestruck. There were so many of them. Her eyes fell to the stars Raiden had pointed to, and she wrinkled her nose. The captain’s arm dropped, and he raised an eyebrow at her. But before he could ask, Celeste held up four fingers.

There were four daughters , she corrected him, pointing from the first daughter, to the second, the third, and the fourth. Together they formed a jagged line. The fourth star wasn’t as bright as the other three, and perhaps for this it had always been Celeste’s favorite.

“Four daughters? Really? And why have I never heard of the fourth?”

Of course your people wouldn’t mention the fourth sister. Not after a human stole her and killed her . But how was she to explain that to him without her voice? Celeste squared her shoulders toward him and rolled her head limply to one side. Her eyes closed dramatically.

“She died?”

Close, but not exactly what she meant. Thinking of a better action, Celeste curled her fingers into a fist, as if it held a knife, and plunged the invisible weapon deep into her heart.

“She killed herself?”

Celeste shook her head, reaching to grab Raiden’s hand.

Before she made contact, her mind caught up with her action. She froze, hand raised and trembling in front of her. She had intended to use his hand as the “killer” but was too afraid to touch him. Too afraid to be touched. So instead she pointed to him and then to herself.

“Oh,” he said, his voice a little gruff. “She was killed.”

She dropped her arms to her sides and nodded.

“I can’t believe I thought there were only three,” he said, still looking at Celeste’s face.

Celeste shrugged and jokingly tapped her fist against her temple twice. You’re too dense, I guess , she informed him with a grin.

Raiden laughed, as if he understood her perfectly. She eyed him, hoping to find some sign as to whether or not he was drunk. He seemed to be in a good enough mood. Perhaps she could attempt to steer the conversation toward the treasure and see what details she could uncover. But he was already pointing to a different cluster of stars in the west that formed what looked like an empty cup that had been tipped over.

“All right, Wayfinder, who’s that?”

That’s the Goddess’s Mouth , she thought as she gently touched her bottom lip with her finger and pointed above her toward the sky.

“Lips of Heaven?” His eyes lingered on her mouth.

It would have been funny, but Celeste couldn’t laugh with him looking at her like that. Her body heated, and her head swam. Her left hand tightened around the wine cup. This wasn’t Raiden’s normal showy bravado. This was something burning. Perhaps he was drunk. Her eyes traced his face, noticing how the flickering lamplight threw his sharp features into stark relief. They stood together, staring. The human prince and the siren princess. Their war was as old as time and written in the stars above them.

It would have been so much easier for her if she had stayed away from him.

Raiden’s gaze climbed from her lips to her eyes, and she remembered he had asked her a question. Shaking her head, she pointed again to her lips and then the sky. Then, with every ounce of royal poise she possessed, Celeste held the cup of wine atop her head, lifting her chin as though she were a god.

“The Lips of God?” he asked, taking a step closer.

Celeste swallowed and shook her head. She wanted to take a step back, but she was already pressed against the railing of the ship. Again, she pointed to her mouth, but this time she parted her lips. Mouth , she repeated. The Goddess’s Mouth!

“Is it the Voice—” Raiden stopped speaking, a sudden frostiness coming over his expression.

A shiver ran down Celeste’s spine as she watched the change. What did she do? With a sinking feeling, she remembered how she had screamed in front of him. How he was the only one left standing. The wind suddenly felt sharper.

“Why are you here?” he said, eyes searing.

He only suspected something . If he knew why she was really here, he would have killed her already. But clearly he had not forgotten what had happened the night of the storm. She willed herself to keep her breathing even. Although she had never actually gone on any missions for the Chorus, they trained her. She knew how to remain calm in stressful situations. Theoretically.

Celeste knit her eyebrows together, twisting her face into a perfectly confused pout. Raiden watched her, glaring. It was no use. Whatever small headway she had made with him was gone. She had to get him to trust her to get the information she needed. If she could somehow show him a reason for her being here, perhaps he would stop searching for one. But she couldn’t think of any reason a siren would end up on his ship. Unless... she had followed him there. Perhaps she could convince him she was in love with him . The thought almost made her laugh. Still, it wasn’t entirely outside the realm of possibility. When Celeste did fall, she fell fast. And it wasn’t as if he was unattractive.

But she had hesitated for too long. Although she had never seen the king, she could see the echo of him now in his son’s expression. Afraid of causing a scene, she looked around, but the decks were bare. Only the night shift was awake, their eyes keeping watch at sea. The rest of the crew must have gone to bed.

Celeste turned to do the same, but Raiden cut in front of her path, causing her to halt so she didn’t run into him.

“Take one step out of line, and I’ll make you wish I had drowned that day.”

I already do.

Celeste tried to stride past him, but he blocked her path once more. She tried again, and still he stopped her. So she grabbed his arm, turned, and flung him over her head. Or at least that’s how it would have worked underwater. Instead, her legs locked together, throwing her off-balance, and he didn’t so much fly through the air as tumble over her shoulder and onto his back. Still, it did the job.

Raiden’s breath left him at once in an audible whoosh . He clutched his stomach, coughing. When he looked up, the hate in his gaze looked as though it could burn her.

Celeste stepped over him, refusing to meet his eye, and strode to her room.