Chapter 92:

  The next few days passed in a blur of activity. Nereida and her wife had to settle two of the newly awoken Moon-Touched, who were hit with visions strong enough that they slipped into sleep. Nereida taught their crew how to get water into a sleeping person, so that they would not die. Dymion fed them bone-broth so they would not sicken. They kept the sleepers indoors during the day, but would drag them on to the deck at night so that the moon might shine on them.

  On the third night, they had all awakened, shaken and confused, but otherwise unharmed not long after the st story had been told. Most of the crew was scattering, heading to bed before dawn’s light forced them to move on. Little Egaz watched from the doorway, though he was meant to be asleep. Nereida crossed the deck, keeping her tone light.

  “Can’t sleep?” she asked him, sweeping her youngest into her arms. He was getting heavier, longer, and soon she’d not be able to pick him up at all.

  “It’s the crying,” he mumbled, wiping his nose on her shirt and then squishing himself tight against her. “The shadows are crying and the purple-ees are coming.” She blinked at him, confused. Her nearly five year old had stopped using made up nguage a long time ago, so what, in Dragons’ names, were “purple-ees?” She kissed his brow, soothing him with soft whispered nonsense, and the little boy started to surrender to his exhaustion.

  “They’re so sorry,” he whispered. But he didn’t eborate on what he said. Carefully, Nereida tucked the little boy into his cot next to his brother. Egaz’s little hand tightened around hers. He didn’t have cws, but his tiny sharp nails were enough to hurt. The boy, caught in a nightmare perhaps, began to whimper. “I’m sorry, Mommy. I’m so, so sorry.” Nereida’s heart broke for her son, wondering what he felt so guilty about that it pgued his nightmares. She rubbed his back, whispering soothing things until his grip went sck and his whimpering stopped.

  Nereida stood quietly, backing up ever so slowly. She did not want to wake her son after all that. But something felt off, not enough that she could pinpoint it. She turned toward her bed, fumbling along in the dark and trying to avoid the toys strewn about. There was a sudden chill in the air, a feeling that prickled the back of her mind, as if she were trying to remember a song but could only recall the chorus. She pushed the shutters open, to look at the ocean, the moon, and she felt, rather than heard, a single word. It was spoken in a voice she knew but not one she could identify. The single word was full of pain, of guilt, of fear, of a hundred emotions that the strained, deep voice tried to reach her with.

  The word was RUN.

  Nereida felt her magic prickle at the word, her throat closing in fear. She hurried to the deck, looking for her wife, finding her with the two Moon Touched crew who had been asleep for days. She must have looked a sight, because Ael stopped speaking, and took a more defensive posture.

  “Something is wrong,” Nereida stressed. “Something is telling us to run.”

  “Something?” Ael echoed. She reached out, took Nereida’s hand. “Love… there’s magic on you. Almost… slithering and cool.” She made a face, her nose scrunching and lips pursing in a way that stretched her old scars. “It’s fading…” Her eyes narrowed. “Where were you, love?”

  “With the boys.” Ael nodded. She motioned to the other two. “Stay with me, we need to go wake the children up, make sure they are not being ensorcelled.”

  “I’m not ensorcelled,” Nerieda grumbled at her wife. Ael’s lips grew tighter at that, but she did not argue. Instead, she whistled sharply, drawing the attention of a few crew who lingered about. Ael, donning her Admiral persona, handed the egg to one of the crew. The man bobbed his head, not waiting for orders, and he gingerly took the egg away, holding it against his breast as he hobbled on his one good foot. Nereida felt a flutter of unease, watching someone she barely knew take away the egg, but she did not protest. If she was ensorcelled, it was for the best.

  The boys were gently shaken awake by Ael. Both grumbled at being woken, whining at their stepmother.

  “I need you to come into the moonlight,” Ael told them, her tone leaving no room for argument. The boys grumbled but pulled themselves out of bed. Egaz held his brother’s hand tightly, his little face crumpled in fear, whereas Alejo looked simply annoyed. Nereida opened her arms to them, offering them physical reassurance, but Ael stepped in the way.

  “No love, I need to see if they are ensorcelled first.” Her tone was even, no hint of worry or fear, but Ael’s body was tense. Nereida stepped back, her heart breaking. Once the boys were out in the moonlight, Ael moved over to them, examining them with sharp eyes. Neither boy moved, their usual energy muted by exhaustion and fear. Ael stepped back after a long moment, her face rexing.

  “Nothing about either of you,” she said, taking a moment to ruffle each boy’s hair. Egaz leaned into the affectionate touch, relief flooding his features. Alejo accepted the gesture, still looking grumpy, his little arms crossed. “Alright, scamps, I’ll let your mama tuck you back in.” She passed by Nereida, touching her arm tenderly. The Admiral leaned in to whisper to her tenderly. “They are fine, there is no magic on them. Egaz’s magic seems a little… shaken?” She gave Nereida a small, tight smile. “Lad’s probably frightened.”

  She settled the boys into their shared cot, kissing each child on the head. Egaz grabbed her hand.

  “Did we run?” he asked softly, his little lip trembling. Nereida felt her heart skip a beat.

  “We’ll be alright, little one,” she whispered, kissing him again. She tucked his covers around him, patting his back until he could not keep his eyes open any longer. And once her child was truly asleep, she quietly tiptoed from the room, closing the door gently before she hurried to Ael.

  “Love?”

  “Get Epelda. I think we need to sing our way out of here.”

  “Slow down, love,” Ael took her hand. “You’ve lost your colour. It was a trick, someone or something is trying to frighten us.”

  “No,” the word burst out of her before she could properly form her thoughts. “I think it was trying to warn us.” Ael’s lip twisted with doubt, but Nereida pushed on. “If I’ve misjudged, then fine, but just have someone look. If I’m right… you won’t see a ship. You’ll see a spot where there are no stars.” Ael nodded slowly. She squeezed Nereida’s shoulders and began to climb up the riggings herself. Ael did not have Epelda’s grace nor Evander’s speed, but she did make the climb look like child’s py. Nereida found herself admiring her wife’s movements, and she let the sight of her wife climbing up to the crow’s nest distract her mind. There was not much to see once she made it into the nest, and so Nereida sat on the deck, closed her eyes, and let herself feel the rocking of the ship. The ocean was gently swaying tonight, the wind calm. It was easy, now, to feel like she had overreacted to the warning. Or was it a threat?

  A shrill, high whistle broke her from her thoughts. She looked up to the nest where the sound came from, saw her wife scrambling down and knew that something was horribly amiss. The crewman who had her egg came running, practically dumping the egg into her arms.

  “All hands,” he barked at her. She nodded briskly, gathering her egg up and racing to the cabin where her children slept.

  Waking them up for the second time in an hour was difficult.

  “Mommy,” Alejo whined. “I’m tired.”

  “We are taking you and the egg to your uncle,” she said, pulling the boy to his feet. Outside, there was a great cacophony as the crew was roused and put to work. Egaz pressed his body into his brother.

  “Mommy,” he whimpered. “There are so many. You have to run!”

  “We are, love,” she replied.

  “Three against one isn’t fair.” He grumbled, stomping his foot.

  “They aren’t expecting sirens,” she assured him. But he looked at her, his eyes bright with fear and tears.

  “Yes they are.” The boy ran out, still in stockings. Alejo rolled his eyes at his brother’s antics.

  “I’ll help him, mommy,” he said with a sigh. He trotted after his younger brother.

  With the help of a couple of the crew, Nereida was able to herd her young sons down to Bassiano, who was awake but blurry-eyed. His daughter napped in a basket beside his bed.

  “Come little ds,” he said, his voice calm, the hearth fire welcoming them home. Both boys settled quickly. Bassiano met her eyes with a look of worry. She nodded, a silent promise to be careful, to be safe. She wanted so badly to stay with her boys, her egg, her brother and niece. In the retive safety of below deck, she could protect them. But she couldn’t keep the ship above water from safety. She couldn’t stop them from being boarded.

  “Mommy!” Egaz tore out of his uncle’s gentle embrace. He ran to her, pressed his face into her leg. “They are sorry, okay? Don’t be too mad.”

  “Mad at who, love?”

  “Me.” She hesitated, torn between returning above deck and soothing her son. She had no idea what he was on about, what he had done or thought he had done. But she couldn’t stay and parse it out.

  “Mommy loves you, buddy. Mommies never give up on loving their kids, okay?”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise, little one. But I have to stop this. Okay?”

  “Yes mommy.” He squeezed her leg, and disappeared back into Bassiano’s cabin.

  Nereida returned to the deck. Ael was barking orders.

  “Princess!” Hearing her title was unusual, and Nereida turned to see a handful of crew trotting toward her. She went to admonish them to use her name, but their faces were set in such worry that she let her protest die. “The dragon… can you ask it for aid?” One of them dropped his voice low., pulling off his sweat-covered cap to wipe his face. “Please, we know…. The Admiral said to leave him out of it, to keep him secret… but there are three ships out there…. The Admiral’s pride might… stop her from asking.” He flushed red, looking away. Mutiny. What he proposed was mutiny. He asked her, because if it came from her, Ael would look the other way. She swallowed.

  “Dragons are forces of nature,” she managed. “You can’t command them any more than a storm or an earthquake. If we unleash him, we don’t know the price.”

  “Then unleash her.” He pointed at Nereida. She felt a swell of panic.

  “Only if there is no other choice.” They nodded, and rushed off to do their duties. Her heart hammered in her chest. The demons knew they had sirens… did they know about gods? Could they stand up against the might of the ocean levied against them?

  Could she?

  She made her decision, running below deck to get the other three sirens. The demons may know that they had a siren on the ship. Hopefully they were ill-equipped to deal with four.