“If she didn’t care about your pain, she would have killed him. Slowly and agonizingly. The fact that he lives proves there is at least one thing she cares about more than her own justice. You.”
That’s not true. I … I owed Riden. He let me keep my dagger when he should
have taken it from me. I settle my debts. He helped me stay safe, so I didn’t kill his brother. It was no more than that.
I’m certain of it.…
Wait—my dagger!
From my seated position, I wrap my arms around my ankles, as though I’m
trying to comfort myself. I pat my boot.
Except for my foot, it is empty.
“Looking for this?” asks Theris, pulling the weapon from his belt, where I hadn’t noticed it before.
I try to appear as though this doesn’t trouble me at all. In reality, I’m outraged. Not only did Theris take away my only hope of escape, but I’m rather
attached to that dagger.
“Here’s how this is going to work,” Vordan says, pulling my attention away
from Theris. “I will tell you what to do, and you will do it. If there is any hesitation or deviance from my words, Riden will sustain another injury.
Attempt to use your abilities to escape, and we’ll kill him and bring you someone else to enchant. Is that understood?”
I send Vordan a murderous glare. “When I get out of this cage, the first thing
I’m going to do is kill you.”
Without even waiting for a signal from Vordan, Theris stabs Riden in his forearm.
My eyes widen as I hold in a gasp.
“I said, ‘Is that understood?’”
Though it’s against my nature—whether that be my human or siren one—I
swallow my pride. “Yes.”
“Good. Niffon, Cromis—the wax.”
Vordan’s men hand him and Theris two wads of yellow-orange wax. Then
they each pull out a pair for themselves. Each man inserts the substance into his ears.
So clever, Vordan. You think yourself invincible. I will find a way out of this.
I always do. It’s only a matter of time. But I wish the fear penetrating through every limb in my body had the same confidence.
I’m not even attempting to hide the fury on my face when Vordan points to
the buckets. His underlings each grab one of the thin branches and stick it into
their bucket.
“Hold out your hands, Alosa,” Vordan says a little too loudly.
No. I won’t do it. I can’t. I won’t be subjected to this. Not again. My mind flashes back to being in my father’s dungeon.
Manacles clamp around my wrists, chaining me to the wall. My ankles, likewise, are immobilized, clinking as chains prevent me from stepping more than a foot away from the stone wall.
“Relax,” Father says before splashing a bucket of water into my face.
I choke and sputter as the water drips around me.
“Take it in, Alosa. Now, let’s see how we can make you even more powerful.
…”
I’m brought back to the present by a loud grunt. Riden has his right hand clutched around his arm. Blood squeezes its way out of a new cut, past his tense
fingers.
“Hold out your hands!” Vordan demands, this time shouting.
Your memories are just memories, I tell myself. Father made you strong. He helped you learn everything you can do. If you survived the pirate king’s pressure and scrutiny, you can certainly take it from any other pathetic, mindless, slimy eel of a man.
My self-encouragement passes through me in less than a second. So before Theris can damage Riden further, I do as Vordan says. I won’t look at Riden.
What does my obedience mean for me? What does it mean to Riden?
Niffon and Cromis kneel side by side in front of their buckets. Niffon plugs
the end of his hollow branch, lifts it out of the bucket, and hoists it high into the air in front of me.
Vordan has thought of everything, it seems.
If only Niffon would lower the branch an extra foot, I could reach it. A simple
underestimation on their part would be extremely helpful to me right now. But no. Theris has seen what I can do with limited resources. He won’t even allow
me to get my hands on a stick.
I’m caught with anticipation and dread as I wait for what will happen next.
Niffon removes his thumb from his end of the branch. The ocean water caught
inside now falls into my waiting hands.
I let the water slip through my fingers and fall to the ground, but I hope it looks like I absorbed some of it. It’s my hope that I can fake my way through this. I can’t actually replenish my abilities. Not like this.