by CK Dawn
“Mama! Papa! Watch this!”
Her first mate picked up Mer and then tossed her over the rail. The little girl squealed in delight as a loud voice bellowed, “NO!”
Lilja spun to find Hayjen horror-stricken. “No,” he cried, staring at the railing.
“Damn it,” Blair hissed, moving quickly to intercept Hayjen.
Her sister needed to leave now. Mer’s parents were cuddling the little girl, peppering her with kisses. Lilja jerked forward and waved, catching their attention. “It’s not safe.”
Lily peeked over Mer’s head. “Thank you. I miss you.”
She slumped against the railing, staring at the Sirenidae woman. “I miss you too,” she called over the hollering.
“Love you,” her sister’s musical voice floated to her.
Tears blurred her eyes. She hadn’t heard that voice in years. “I love you too, sis.”
Mer blew her a kiss and dove into the water just as something huge smashed her into the railing. Her breath rushed out, and she tried to inhale but her lungs screamed.
“I’ll kill you,” Hayjen screamed next to her ear.
His weight lifted off her and she sunk to her hands and knees gasping for breath.
“How could you? She’s just a little girl! What kind of monster are you?”
Lilja peered up at the out-of-control Hayjen fighting against Blair and Cook.
“You’re a murderer.” His face was purple. “You killed her. You killed her!” His scream cut off into ragged sobs of someone who had lost everything.
Blair and Cook dragged him to the stairs leading to the cells below deck.
She placed her forehead on the deck, still able to hear the muffled cries.
“Captain, do you need anything?” her deckhand’s soft voice floated above her.
“No, thank you.” She listened to his feet move away from her. Lilja knew she should get up, but the will to move wasn’t there. She could still see her sister diving below without another glance backward, and Hayjen’s panic-stricken face in her mind. There wasn’t any way he would forgive her after this night.
Boots thudded across the deck in her direction and paused by her side. Large, careful hands plucked her from the deck and cradled her against a warm body.
“Oh, Lil.”
So much was said in that brief statement. Blair was sorry she couldn’t speak with her sister, sorry that she had to keep it from Mer that she was her aunt, sorry that Hayjen hated her—just sorry.
“I need to go to bed,” she murmured against his sea-stained shirt. Blair tucked her underneath his arm and guided her towards her rooms. Once inside, Lilja sunk onto her window seat, staring out at the black waves hiding everything she cared about.
Her door clicked shut. “Do you want to talk about it?” Blair asked, sitting next to her.
Her eyes traced the swirling colors painted on the glass as thoughts whirled through her. “I miss them. I long to be with my family.”
Blair’s hand slipped into hers. He shared her pain. He knew what it was like to be separated from your people.
“After all this time,” continued Lilja, “I thought the longing had faded away. But when I saw Lily’s face, all I wanted to do was jump into the waves after her.” A fat tear plopped onto her cheek, making her feel angry. “I hate that I’ve been punished for doing what is right.” She turned to Blair. “Am I doing what’s right?”
“I am thankful you didn’t turn your back on the rest of the kingdoms like your family did. If you had, I would not be here with you. I would be stuck in that hell.”
Lilja swallowed and closed her eyes. The decision to exile herself with those who dwelled upon the land had been easy. She had known it was the wrong decision to retreat to the sea when Scythians had attacked Nagali. Hiding didn’t solve the Scythians’ corruption or conquest for perfection. All it did was save her people’s own skin. In deciding to help the other kingdoms, she had exiled herself from ever returning to the depths of her home. The claim was that she would be tainted by the world and endanger the others. The Sirenidae had faded from most people’s minds and were now considered a myth. But Lilja was living proof that the Sirenidae were alive and well. Even as the pain of seeing her sister coursed through her, she knew she had made the right decision. If you had the power to prevent a crime, then it was your responsibility to do so.
She’d seen firsthand what the Scythians were doing. Lilja couldn’t bear to leave the ignorant kingdoms on their own. She couldn’t do much now other than steal back the slaves they captured, but one day she would make a stand against those beasts. Justice and vengeance would be served.
“You look as if you have the weight of the kingdoms on your shoulders.”
“Don’t we?” Lilja asked with a weak smile.
Blair studied her, his brown eyes keen. “We could always settle down.”
Lilja slammed a hand against the window and stood. She ran her hands over her silvery white braid in agitation. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just—” She turned sharply and met Blair’s eyes. “I am tired of waiting for the perfect time to strike Scythia, but we are just two people. We would need armies to defeat them, to destroy their labs. It feels hopeless.”
Blair blew out a breath, dropping his eyes to her desk. “I feel the same way, but we must not be hasty. These things take time.”
“I know.” She truly did. “Then there’s Hayjen.”
Her friend’s eyes lifted to hers. “He was very angry.”
She rubbed her mouth, trying to figure out what to say. “I can still hear him screaming.”
“He thinks we threw Mer to the Leviathan.”
Her eyes widened.
“He didn’t see your sister and her husband. All he saw was her being thrown overboard into the water. The Sirenidae’s existence is still safe, but now he thinks we are murderers.” Blair’s voice was bland, betraying that he was upset over the ordeal. “I thought you drugged him, Lilja.”
“I did. He shouldn’t have woken until tomorrow morning.”
“Well, something didn’t work. Cook and I had to knock him out to get him contained.”
“So he believes we murdered his adopted daughter?”
“Yes.” Blair stared at her resolutely. “If he has the chance to kill you, he will.”
Lilja let that settle for a moment. If she was in his position, she would feel the same way. “I can’t say that I blame him.”
“No,” Blair added. “This week is going to be brutal.”
“I can only imagine.”
It was brutal.
Hayjen raged in the belly of the ship, bellowing himself hoarse.
The girls cried and cursed, then kept to themselves—speaking to no one but each other.
The whole ship filled with tension that set Lilja’s teeth on edge.
When the Sanee port came into view, her frayed nerves settled a bit. They could rid themselves of the women and Hayjen, gather some supplies, and be on their way in a handful of days. Lilja adjusted her long flowing hair and dress as The Sirenidae glided into port. She waved to a few merchants smiling brightly. Most of them knew her as an eccentric lady merchant. When her ship shuddered to a stop, she swept from the rail towards the women’s makeshift barracks. All eyes turned to her when she sauntered through the door. There were no welcomes or smiles, but rather blank faces and angry scowls.
It broke her heart that they’d lost the friendship and comradery they had built since she rescued them from the slaver ship. From the look in their eyes, she was no different than the monsters that hurt the girl, and that cut deep.
Lilja brushed it off as best she could and looked over the group. “We’ve arrived in Sanee.” Emotions washed through the group; excitement, nervousness, apprehension, joy, resignation. “My first mate has arranged for transportation and some coins to help you start a new life or better your old one. You deserve happy, long lives.”
“What of Mer? What did she deserve?” Lera growled.
“You’re a monster.”
Lilja schooled her face from betraying how much that hurt. “That may be so, but today this monster is returning you to your homes. I wish you every happiness and joy. May your lives be filled with love.” With that parting remark, she swept from the room, saddened that she wouldn’t see the group of girls again. One by one, her crew helped the girls disembark the ship. She watched with a sad heart as they hugged and cried when they left each other.
Once all the girls had left, there was just one to let loose. Lilja abandoned her perch and made her way down into the belly of the ship. The ship creaked as she halted in front of Hayjen’s cell. He looked like a broken man, even worse than how they’d found him. It killed her that she’d done that. He’d survived so many things. She’d broken him.
“What do you want?” Hayjen lifted his head and locked eyes on her. Rage and hate blazed in his eyes as he lunged for her, slamming into the bars, his fingers barely skimming her dress. So close but not close enough to harm her. “I’ll kill you.”
She maintained a calm appearance even though her heart was pounding. It was the first time she’d visited him since returning Mer to her family. “I understand what you must be going through.”
“You know nothing, murderer.” His hands moved back to the bars. Hayjen shook them, a maniacal smile on his face. “When you release me, you better be prepared, captain—because there’s nothing that will keep me from you.”
“Indeed?” She arched a brow and cocked a hip. “I think there are many, but most importantly your sister.”
Hayjen stilled. “What about my sister?” he growled.
“I have it on good authority that she’s been taken in by another family, but I’m sure you would like to make sure of her welfare.”
“How?”
“How do I know?” Lilja scoffed. “It’s my business to deal in secrets. We’ve been in port less than an hour and I already know what is afoot in Sanee.”
Hayjen just stared her with disgust. “Apparently you deal in death as well.”
“Not everything is as it seems,” she whispered.
“You’re right,” he rumbled. “I thought you were a decent person, but you’re a bloodthirsty pirate without a conscience.”
“How uninventive.” She waved a hand. “I’ve been called worse.”
“I’m sure it was appropriate.”
Lilja glanced at the stairwell. She wasn’t going to get anywhere. She wasn’t sure what she had hoped to achieve by coming down those stairs, but it wasn’t this.
“We’ve arrived in Sanee,” she said in a monotone, not even bothering to turn back to face him. “My crew has arranged for transportation and coins for you to start a new life with your sister.” She turned then to cast one last pitying look at the broken, angry man in her cell. “Good luck.”
Her dress whispered around her legs as she ascended the stairs up to the deck. She sucked in a deep salty breath and blew it out.
“How was he?” Blair asked, stopping at her side.
“Angry, depressed, reckless.”
“Can you blame him?”
“No, I cannot. But there’s nothing we can do except get him off our ship.”
Blair squeezed her shoulder and walked away.
Lilja’s eyes slammed shut as yelling and fighting echoed from the belly of her ship, becoming louder. She turned and opened her eyes in time to watch her men drag Hayjen by his arms up the last of the stairs. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, causing her stomach to drop. She’d made a lifelong enemy.
He bared his teeth in a feral grin, teeth stained red. “Take a good look at my face, Femi. It will be the last thing you will ever see.”
She kept her cool façade, just arching an eyebrow as he was pulled off her ship and thrown onto the dock below. “I doubt that, but you’re welcome to try.”
He pushed from his hands and knees, tipping his chin up to glare at her. “I don’t try; I succeed.”
The hair along the back of her neck rose. She didn’t doubt him.
As she stared down at the man she’d broken, one thought was absolutely clear. He would come for her. It wasn’t a matter of if, but of when.
Seven
Hayjen
Everything in his body screamed at him to storm the ship and wrap his hands around the pirate’s slim neck. Rage, helplessness, and despair tumbled through him one after another like waves beating against the shore.
Mer.
Pain.
Rage.
Death.
Mer.
Helplessness.
Despair.
Rage.
Death.
He glared at the exotic captain and made a promise to Mer and himself that there would be justice. Her mouth stretched into an arrogant grin that said do your worst.
Hayjen was stunned for a moment.
When the captain smiled, she was breathtakingly beautiful. It was wrong that such beauty masked such evil and corruption, but her arrogance would be her downfall. He smiled inwardly; the young captain underestimated him. She wouldn’t see him coming until it was too late.
Hayjen sketched a sarcastic bow and then forced his feet to move away from the ship. His neck prickled at all the eyes witnessing his departure. Take a good look. You won’t see me the second time. He picked up his speed, anxious to see his sister and set his plan in motion. When his boots touched dirt, Hayjen’s eyes grew damp.
He had made it home. Against all odds.
Fishers, merchants, and sailors scurried around him as he closed his eyes and reveled in the solid ground beneath his feet. When he opened them, Hayjen was a little lost. Where would his sister be? Even with their small savings, she wouldn’t have been able to afford their home by herself with him gone. Where would she have gone? They didn’t have many friends that could take on another mouth to feed. He shook his head and focused. He needed to check their old home first—if Gwen wasn’t there, then he would speak to the neighbors. They were kind people, but nosey. They would have information about his sister.
Hayjen wove through the throng of people, putting the fishing district behind him. The tension in his shoulders released a bit as he passed familiar streets and homes. He swung around one last corner and spied his home. It was a rustic little shack made of dark stone with a well-kept wooden porch and two small windows, windows that were currently dark. The stairs complained as they always did as he stepped up to the door. His hand hesitated over the knob for a moment. Did he really want to see what was inside? He took a deep breath and entered. Light poured in through the doorway, illuminating the empty space. What had been such a cozy home was now an empty space with four stone walls and a fireplace.
“Gwen?” he called, knowing she wouldn’t answer.
Nothing.
He moved further into the home, investigating both bedrooms. Both cold and empty. Hayjen turned and followed the tracks his boots made in the dust covered floor. He paused in the living room, despair clinging to him. He knew his sister wouldn’t be here, yet some part of him hoped to walk through the door and spy Gwen sitting and reading in her favorite chair by the fireplace. He gazed in through the open doorway, dust floating in the air. He felt like his life had been erased.
Moving back outside, Hayjen took one last look at the place and closed the door to his life. He stared blankly at the homes around his. It still looked the same, but nothing was quite right. There were little changes here and there that left him feeling out of touch with the world. A ringing filled his ears, disorienting him.
“Haaaaay,” a distorted voice called, but he couldn’t even bring himself to search for the owner of the voice. All he could do was stare at the space in front of him as it undulated and changed colors. Nothing was right. He swayed as the world blurred around him. His sister, Mer, the Scythians. Nothing would be normal again.
“Hayjen!”
A sharp voice snapped him from
whatever that was. He blinked a few times and noticed an old hand clutched his arm. Hayjen shook himself and squinted at the owner of the hand. A wrinkled old face with serious, grey eyes peered up at him.
Helva. An elderly neighbor.
“Well, sonny, I didn’t expect you to show up here.”
He stared.
Helva raised a brow. “You are Hayjen, aren’t you? My old eyes aren’t so good these days.”
“It’s me, old mother.”
She smiled a crooked grin. “Stars above, I can’t believe it! Come, come. Let’s have some tea.” She pulled on his arm with surprising strength and towed him towards her home. “Edwin!” she bellowed. “Edwin!”
“What are you shouting about this time, you old bat? Don’t you know you’ll irritate the whole neighborhood if you keep carrying on like that,” Edwin shouted as he shuffled out the door with his cane. “I—” the elder man paused mid-rant when he caught sight of Hayjen. “Hayjen, my boy. Is that you?”
The little old man moved down the stairs and enveloped Hayjen in a hug. He still smelled the same, a bit like pine and smoke.
“I made it home,” Hayjen choked out.
Edwin leaned back and scowled at his wife. “Why didn’t you say Hayjen was home?”
Helva rolled her eyes. “You didn’t give me a chance.”
Edwin’s eyes twinkled as he bent to give his wife a kiss on her weathered cheek. “Sorry, my love.”
“Mmhmm…” she murmured with a smile and a twinkle in her eyes.
“Come inside, we’ll feed ya, and you can tell us what has kept you all this time.”
Hayjen froze. The couple had overwhelmed him such that for a moment Gwen had gone right out of his mind. Carefully, he pulled Helva’s hand from his shoulder and kissed it. “Thank you for the invitation, but I need to find my sister. Do you know where she is?”
Edwin’s open face turned wary. “Have you not been to see her?”
Hayjen dug deep for patience. “No, I have not. I don’t know where she’s been staying.”
“She’s with the Blackwells,” Helva piped up.
