Once Upon A Dystopia: An Anthology of Twisted Fairy Tales and Fractured Folklore
Page 32
“Do you know what that song means?” His words are cautious and guarded. The sudden change confuses her.
“Yes.” She eyes him warily. “It would be too hard to explain to you though. Just think of it as a pretty song.”
“I don’t understand,” Atlas whispers as he moves closer to her. “That shouldn’t be possible.”
“There’s nothing to understand.” Ligeia grips the doorknob tightly in her fist. “It’s a song for a child. Nothing more. Forget I even mentioned it.”
“How can you know this?” He places a hand on her arm to keep her from disappearing into the house. The touch sends a jolt of lightening down her skin and the intensity of his eyes causes her pulse to race.
“You’re scaring me.” She glares at him as she pushes his hand away. Leif wakes crying and Ligeia uses the distraction to open the door quickly and slip inside before slamming it in Atlas’ face.
“Ligeia, wait!” He knocks against the door. “We need to talk about this.”
“You need to leave,” she states firmly through gritted teeth as she unties Leif from the pack.
“Okay.” The word shatters like broken ice. “Listen. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I’ve heard that song before and I know the meaning of it. But I don’t think you should sing it anymore. Does anyone else know it?”
Anger makes her skin crawl and Leif cries louder as he clings to her chest. “I said you need to leave.”
“I will.” There’s a soft rap on the door as he rests his forehead against it. “Just promise me that you’ll never sing it again.”
“I said go!” she screams to be heard over the baby. Tears streak her cheeks and dampen the top of Leif’s head just as his tears soak her shirt.
“I’m leaving,” Atlas whispers. “I’ll find a way to keep you safe.”
***
“What’s gotten into you?” Charles asks as he jumps down from his coffin rack on the ship and begins to straighten his blankets. Atlas sits on the edge of his mattress lacing up his boots.
“You didn’t come to the tavern and you haven’t said a word to me all night,” Charles continues. “Don’t tell me you’re still thinking about your wharf wife.”
“Don’t call her that.” Atlas grabs Charles’ shoulders and slams him into the bulkhead.
“Hey man,” Charles says wide-eyed. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry.” Atlas releases his grip on the starched fabric. “I just don’t know what to do.”
“Do about what?” Charles brushes off the wrinkles on his uniform and takes a steadying breath to calm his anger.
“Ligeia,” Atlas whispers her name like it’s a delicate artifact.
Charles places a reassuring hand on his back. “Don’t let a girl make you feel this way. There are plenty of fish in the sea as they say. You’ll find yourself another.”
“It’s not that.” Atlas rubs his fingers through his short hair as he stares at the floor. “You can’t tell anyone, but I figured out what song she was singing.”
“A song?” Charles studies his friend. They’ve served together for four years now and he’s never seen him act this way. “Why does a song have you so worked up?”
“It’s not just any song,” Atlas sighs as he begins to hum the tune.
“Oh, shit.” Charles punches him in the arm. “You have to go report this.”
“No.” Atlas’ eyes are pleading. “She can’t know what it means. It’s probably just a song to her. She has a baby and a dead husband. She’s been through enough. It wouldn’t be right to cause any more problems in her life.”
“That’s not for us to decide,” Charles states. “We are told to report stuff like this. If they find out you knew and didn’t say anything, you might get years added to the watch bill or worse.”
“I can’t.” Angry tears fill Atlas’ eyes. “I can’t risk hurting her.”
“You have to. It’s our job.” Charles edges himself to the door.
“You don’t understand,” Atlas puts his head in his hands. “I care about her.”
“And I care about you, man.” Charles sighs. “I’ll do it. I can’t let you get punished for this.”
“You can’t!” Atlas raises his head, but Charles is already gone.
***
Ligeia hurries to the spinners as Leif sleeps tied in the pack on her back. Every turn she takes down the wharf, she glances over her shoulder waiting for Atlas or the other watchmen to appear. The city goes about its day lazily, impervious to the pounding of her heart. She reaches behind her back to touch Leif’s cheek for reassurance that he is still there.
Foolish. The word rings in her ears so loud it drowns out the sound of the sea. Her mother told her to never sing the song to anyone. But her mother and father retired to the land after her marriage to Hamon. She’d sung her new husband the song and taught the meaning to him, just as her parents had done for her. Now Hamon was dead and Leif was all she had left to sing to. Why had she sung it to a stranger and a watchman?
His words scared her. He wanted her to be silent. There is something so important about that song that it stopped a grown man in his tracks and brought fear to his eyes. And he said he knew what it meant. The full weight of what she’d done in a foolish moment when she tried to open her heart came crashing down on her head. She had to find a way to fix this. Leif needed her to be okay.
The spinners were just arriving as Ligeia breathlessly made her way to the rocks.
“Sisters.” The tears flowed freely down her cheeks. “I need your help right now.”
The women paused, unsure of how to respond to this request when they’d never heard it spoken from her lips before from her.
“Whatever you need.” Margaret reached for her hand and the rest of the women nodded in agreement.
“I just need you to sing,” Ligeia whispered.
***
Atlas marched sullenly with the group of watchmen who were tasked with retrieving the girl. The baby was to be left behind, preferably with the midwife in training named Margaret. Atlas wrestled with what he would do for the entire walk from the ferry to the spinners’ caves.
When she saw his face in the crowd of watchmen, she would hate him forever. If he could figure out a way to make a stand, to somehow sacrifice himself for her, maybe she could understand that this wasn’t his fault. The hours spent begging the commander to spare her had only bought her half a day and added a year to his watch. He needed to do more, and fast.
The music drifted over the waves before the singers came into sight. The spinners’ voices in their flute-like melody called to the men from afar. Such a simple song, sung so sweetly, brought forth so many emotions that the watchmen paused to look at each other.
The commander continued to approach cautiously. Before him, on the rocks with their hands busy twisting plastic into rope, sat the hundred women with their angelic voices drifting to the clouds.
“You there.” He pointed at Margaret. Ligeia’s shoulders stiffened as the girl stood.
“Do you know the meaning to this song?” he asked.
“It’s just a song for babies, sir,” Margaret answered innocently. “It has no meaning.”
“Very well.” The watchman turned on his heel to leave, giving Atlas a nod as he passed.
Ligeia let out a sigh of relief and lowered her face to hide her smile. They’d have to take them all now. A hundred women would disappear if this song was as dangerous as Atlas implied it was. There was no way the city could lose all of these women, all of these mothers. The spinners didn’t hesitate. They all agreed to help and picked up the tune easily. Each of them sang loudly with the truest part of their hearts. The melodious notes drifted over the sea breeze and followed the watchmen back to their ship. “A, b, c, d, e, f, g…”
Heather Carson is the mother of two feral boys by day and author by night. Spinner’s Song is a short story prequel to The City on the Sea (City on the Sea Series #1). To find out more about this series visi
t: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08P2D94R2
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