The Siren Princess

by Lichelle Slater

  “Must have been some luck to get you out of the hands of that siren.”

  I snatched the dagger away with a glare. “I don’t know how I got away, all right? So gut me.”

  Smee’s gaze darted around. At first, I thought he’d come to let me know he didn’t believe my story, but the way he searched to see if others were in the room, I wondered if he was trying to say something else.

  “What are you getting at?” I pried.

  He quickly shook his head. “Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence. G’day.”

  I opened my mouth, but Smee turned and waddled away as fast as his round body could take him.

  How could I explain to anyone what happened? Let alone Smee, the most superstitious of the pirates. No, I knew better. It was safer to stay quiet.

  After dressing, I hurried back on deck, having slung my wet clothes over the vacant hammock at the back of the sleeping quarters. I went to the sun-warmed bucket of fresh water and washed the siren’s bite carefully, then wrapped my wrist in strips of bandages.

  “Aye there,” Captain Avery greeted. “We’re almost home.” He motioned with his chin from the helm. He lazily turned the wooden wheel to avoid a familiar outcropping of stones.

  “The sun’s coming back out too,” I noted, looking around us as the sun pierced through the fog until it had disappeared completely.

  “You can report to your mother since you led this raid.”

  “Aye!” I saluted before I trotted up to the captain’s side. “I can’t wait to see what she says.”

  I pushed all thoughts of the situation with the siren aside and focused on what I should have been the whole time—my final victory. I had finally proved my worth. My mother would forget my weakness at Castle Bay and give the newest ship for her new fleet to me. I just knew it.

  Within a few minutes, the Naiad entered Port Mere.

  My home.

  two

  The high cliffs leading to Port Mere bottlenecked into a treacherous pass any normal sailor would avoid. No pirate captain in my mother’s fleet was afraid, however. They’d come to know every dangerous edge of every stone, especially when the tide ran low and deeper fragments rose to carve into the hull of any ship, no matter the skill level of her crew.

  Yet, when the pass widened and revealed our thriving town, I always got a homesick ache at the bottom of my belly. Returning home was always bittersweet. Being out at sea was fun. Every day was something different—except those particularly long voyages.

  The tall cliffs remained at the same height around Port Mere, hiding every docked ship. To the left of the docks, a zig-zagging trail had been carved against the cliff’s face leading up to a cluster of wooden homes and a stone building that once acted as one of the naval forts for the country of Terricina. Thanks to my mother’s ingenuity, Terricina lost the fort, and now we lived in its shadow. The king must not have cared, because no one bothered us.

  The rest of the city—stone buildings pressed snuggly against each other—lay at the base of the cliffs and stretched up the hill beyond to the right. Some were shops, a few taverns, a doctor, smithy, jeweler, and so on. The architecture was hardly the work of pirates.

  We could build a solid ship, but buildings on land? Let’s just say my mother, Athena, had ensured the city wouldn’t collapse during the first rainstorm by hiring men from nearby towns to build everything. A few even stayed after.

  Captain Avery drew a loud breath, drawing my attention to him. “Feel good to be home?” His dark eyes focused on me from under the brim of his wide hat. The purple feather plume in his hat needed to be replaced.

  “I’m excited to tell my mother of our good fortune,” I answered simply.

  The Naiad drew close to the dock, and Captain Avery began barking orders. Some of the crew tossed two thick ropes down to the dockhands, who secured them around the wooden piling.

  I jumped from the deck of the ship to the wooden dock below, landing easily.

  “Oy! You’re responsible for helpin’ us unload everything,” Smee called from the deck. “Your responsibilities aren’t over yet!”

  I waved my hand. “I don’t see you or Captain Avery rolling barrels down the gangplank.” I smirked over my shoulder and blew him a kiss.

  His face went red before I returned my attention forward.

  The market bustled with pirates of smaller ships trading their wares: fine clothes, hats, fabric, rare foods, and whatever else they brought in. I carefully dodged the row of tables for the fishermen to clean and sell their fish but couldn’t avoid the stench of scales and entrails. The farther down the path I got, the smells were blotted out by pipe smoke, body odor, smoked meat, and hot dust.

  I knew Port Mere like I knew any ship.

  Mother had settled in a stone villa on a ledge overlooking the town, port, and bay. I took my time glancing at the tables of trinkets before I stopped at the cobbler to see about a new pair of boots.

  I peered through the window and bit my bottom lip softly as I stared at the black leather boots I’d had my eyes on for weeks. They’d been designed with brass accents with a brass toe, a skull on the side of each boot, and brass eyelets. I’d finally saved up enough money to purchase them, and if I had finally proven myself to my mother, I needed to look the best I ever had at the captaining ceremony the next day.

  Athena rarely added a new pirate to her fleet. Typically, a pirate gave away control of his ship to a loyal and trustworthy crewmate. To have a new ship, a new pirate captain . . . I could remember once in my life when that had happened.

  My gaze drifted to my right. Down in the shipyard, a glorious oak ship had been under construction for months. I just knew in my bones that it was meant for me because I’d finally proven myself worthy enough to captain it.

  I rounded my shoulders and entered the small shop. The old man with a crooked shoulder was at work replacing the sole on the bottom of a boot as I approached. “I’d like those boots in the window.”

  He raised his eyes to gaze at me over his spectacles. He blinked twice as if his eyes were adjusting to the sunlight behind me. “Boots?” He straightened so slowly I imagined his bones falling back into place after being hunched over all day.

  I pointed over my shoulder with my thumb. “The ones with the brass skulls.”

  “Aye. Those.” He set down his tools, and his chair scraped inside two familiar divots worn in the wooden floor as he rose to his feet. “Those are sixteen reales.”

  I guffawed. “Sixteen? Are you crazy? No. I’ll give you eight. That’s how much they were when I was last in port a few weeks ago, and that’s how much I’m paying. You can’t swindle a pirate, old man.”

  “I said sixteen. I’m stickin’ with it. You don’t have to buy ‘em.” He pushed his wrinkled lips to the side of his face, and I couldn’t help but compare him to the shrunken ogre heads I’d seen from the pirates who came from the island provinces to the southwest.

  I narrowed my eyes and reached into my coin pouch. I dug through the coins, counted out eight, and set them down on the counter. “Eight. It’s all I’ve got. I need them for tomorrow.”

  “Odette . . .” His lips tugged, his brows shifted, and I thought he would once again refuse. Instead, he heaved a sigh, his shoulders lifting and dropping, and then he rubbed his hand over his scruffy cheek. “All right. Eight reales.”

  I grinned and rushed to the window and picked them up. The black leather was beautifully polished and they looked like they would fit perfectly. I looked back over at the old man. “What made you change your mind?”

  “You was right. And I got other things to worry about than gettin’ another eight reales from you.”

  I grinned. “Thank you.”

  “Luck tomorrow!” he called as I dashed from his shop and up to my mother’s house.

  The salty breeze was much stronger without the shield of the c
liffs or buildings, and I sucked in another deep breath of it as I reached the top of the pathway, only to stop in my tracks.

  A familiar young man sat on the edge of the porch in a sweat-stained tan shirt with an unbuttoned brown vest. He fiddled with a prosthetic clamp before placing it on top of his hand-less left wrist.

  James “Hook” Barrie.

  Sensing my presence, he looked up at me with his deep brown eyes. Lighter brown flecked around the pupil, and they had a way of always drawing me in. His dark skin only emphasized his stunning eyes. He had his black hair pulled back in a ponytail. I had no idea how he managed that with only one hand, but I wasn’t going to ask. He wasn’t built like a typical sailor either. He didn’t have a large beer belly or lean muscles from starvation. His muscles were thick from continual use, as were all of the men on his father’s ship—which possibly said something about the labor on that ship.

  James had always intrigued me. Since Castle Bay—whatever had happened—I’d catch him staring at me while keeping a safe distance. I didn’t know whether to be flattered or more on guard. Instinctively, I leaned toward the latter.

  “My father is in a meeting with your mother,” James explained, returning his attention to his makeshift hand—a clamp that opened and shut, though it was clearly giving him trouble because he kept adjusting the screw’s tightness. “This is futile,” he muttered to himself.

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh great. How long have they been at it?”

  James lifted his shoulder in a shrug. The silver hoop hanging from his ear swayed with the motion. An ivory skull sat in the middle of the hoop and a set of beads dangled from its teeth.

  “And you’ve been out here listening?”

  He lifted his eyes again, face unamused. “I was given instructions to stay here. And here I stay. Besides, I can’t get this to work.” He raised his left arm.

  I eyed him. “How did you lose it anyway?”

  James ran his tongue over his teeth before suddenly looking away. “I’m certain you’ve heard one story or another. Why does the real one matter?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Because I don’t think you lost it to a saltwater crocodile. Those aren’t native to our shores, and you had to of been doing something really stupid if you got close enough to have one chomp off your hand.”

  “Hm. I suppose.” He tilted his head and stabbed the screwdriver into the soft wood of the front deck of the house, making it stand straight up. “Maybe I got it rescuing a damsel in distress.” He yanked off the clamp and replaced it with his normal silver hook. The hook looked much better anyway.

  I scoffed. “Right. You do that sort of thing all the time, don’t you?” I put my hand on his shoulder. “James Hook! Hero of weak women!” I flourished my hand across the horizon as though presenting him to an unseen crowd.

  He shrugged me off.

  “Touchy.” I walked to the paint-chipped front door and pushed it open. “Athena!” I yelled. “I’m back!”

  The floorboards overhead creaked.

  I looked over my shoulder at James, who wasn’t looking at me anymore. “What deal was your father making today?”

  That comment made him snap a glare at me. “Your mother is the one who arranged this meeting.”

  “Please. I know your father. What is his bargain today? A new hat for her? Necklace? Perhaps sheets for the bed?”

  He rolled his eyes. “She isn’t worth his time for those worthless trinkets.”

  I drew my sword.

  “What are you going to do? Poke me?” he asked in an unamused voice.

  “I could kill you for insulting a captain, our leader, and no one would think otherwise.”

  James rose to his feet, towering above me. “All right, then. Go ahead. Show me how much of a pirate you truly are, Odette.”

  “Your father is—”

  “Doing whatever he wants,” James cut in. “He’s a pirate captain. What he does is his own prerogative, not mine.”

  I tried to stare him down, but James had called my bluff and won. No matter how tough I acted, I knew I was no match for him. “Fine. Hook.” I sheathed my sword.

  “It’s Pan now.”

  I blurted a long laugh to show him how stupid I thought the name was. “Why would you change out ‘hook’ for ‘pan?’ I mean . . . c’mon. A frying pan? Over a hook?”

  “It’s not that kind of pan,” James glared.

  “Oh, you must mean a bedpan.”

  James’s dark cheeks began to take on a red hue, and I gave a victorious smirk. “It’s Pan, like the goat that plays the flute.” He demonstrated moving the flute across his lips with his one hand.

  I feigned ignorance by raising my eyebrow. “You’re like a goat now?”

  James’s face shaded an even darker red, but I couldn’t decide if it was out of embarrassment or anger.

  “One for me.” I winked and strode inside, swinging my new boots from my fingers.

  I skipped steps as I ran up the grand staircase and reached the top just in time for Mother’s bedroom door to swing open. Captain Barrie walked out, fully clothed but adjusting his belt.

  James looked like the younger version of his father, only Captain Barrie had a beard down to his ribs, which he kept braided in several strands, and James was always cleanshaven whenever I saw him. Captain Barrie’s skin was weatherworn, like his leather boots and grand black hat, and he had a permanently cruel glint in his dark eyes. Again, unlike James—whose eyes still held light and joy.

  I folded my arms, my boots still dangling from my fingers. “You’re shameless, aren’t you?” There was no question in my voice.

  He greeted me with a smirk. “You made it back in one piece, huh? I thought for sure—”

  “Yeah, yeah. You’re not the only one. You should have seen the stares I got walking up here. People thought I was a ghost. I almost shouted ‘boo’ in their faces just to see what they’d do.” I rested my elbows on the railing at my back.

  Barrie chuckled and placed his hat on his head. I knew what my mother saw in him. He was one of the six pirates I knew who still had all their teeth. What I didn’t understand, however, was why she would waste her time with men like him when Captain Avery at least had some dignity.

  The bedroom door swung open again and Athena exited. She wore her typical brown trousers, white tunic, and sea-green vest.

  “Odette! I’m thrilled you made it home.” She pushed past James and gave me an awkward hug. She’d never been much of a hugger. Physical affection wasn’t really her thing.

  But I gave her a little pat with my hand. “And I’ve returned with a hull full of riches.” I grinned proudly.

  Athena let go as quickly as she’d hugged me.

  She eyed me with a skeptical glint, but I didn’t miss the pride in the corners of her smile. “What are we doing up here, then? Let’s see what riches you’ve brought back.” She glanced at Captain Barrie. “I trust you know your way out?”

  He snorted. “It’s not exactly difficult.”

  “And it’s not like he hasn’t been here before,” I chided, trotting down the stairs. I opened the door to the bedroom I claimed while on shore and set my precious new boots on the chest at the foot of the bed before joining my mother at the entrance of the house.

  Together, we walked back down the stone pathway and to the harbor, followed by James and his father. Athena’s red hair was much more manageable than my own. At least, she made it look that way. She kept the sides braided back in three wide braids, then gathered at the back into one massive braid.

  She wore two rings in her left eyebrow and one in the middle of her nose, not to mention those that dangled the entire outer edge of her right ear. I always envied the colorful tattoo of scales on her chest. The scales started under her jawline and spread down between her breasts, disappearing beneath her shirt. The green-blue tone had been
so well done I’d often caught myself staring to see if they were real. They weren’t, of course, but they looked it.

  The final piece that always drew my attention was the curled seashell with a shimmering pink-pearl hue on the inside. A band of gold nuzzled deeply in the spiral. I didn’t know how she’d found it, but I’d always found it positively stunning.

  “Tell me how you pulled this off,” Athena said, her boots clapping on the cobblestone road with authority.

  Aware of James and his father behind us, I knew I had a captive audience. I knew they’d be just as impressed as she was, whether they would admit it aloud or not.

  “Remember a few months ago when I got that tip?” I looked over my shoulder. “I managed to seduce a sailor into giving me information.”

  Captain Barrie raised his eyebrow and exchanged a look of disbelief with James. Not the kind of impressed disbelief, but the kind that said he didn’t believe I could seduce someone.

  “She put a dagger through his hand and broke his nose,” Mother explained.

  That made the pirate captain smirk. “That’s more like it.”

  “Technicalities.” I shrugged. “As I was saying, I got information that this merchant ship would be coming from the Tyrrenhia Isles laden with goods, gold, and precious stones. It was supposed to have a fleet of three ships protecting it. Apparently, it was on its way to Delphi, the capital. The sailor said it was a payment for some sort of trade route opening or whatnot.” I waved my hand dismissively.

  We turned down the main road as the sun began its descent over the cliffs.

  “How did you find this particular ship?” James asked.

  “I got the name from him, took Captain Avery, and we headed to the southern isles.” I walked with a proud strut. “She was massive, and with three other ships, it wasn’t exactly easy. The three smaller ships were frigates.”

  I carried on with the story of how we had to separate the frigates from the large merchant ship by drawing them away one at a time. I told how we stayed just in their view for a few days, near enough to threaten, but not close enough to cause harm. When we peeled off and went to the other side, we somehow managed to annoy the first frigate crew. Unfortunately, it was open sea without anywhere to run and hide, and the smaller frigate was faster than the Naiad.