Siren Song (The Fated #1)

02 | Endings

Iliana was having a fantastic day.

The bangs and bruises she received while tumbling around in the cargo hold had put her in a surly mood from the start. When combined with the after effects of the storm, which could be considered as horrid as the thing itself, she was feeling far from favorable about the god of moon, sea, and storms. The only thing she felt like thanking Umae for was that the weather didn't last all day.

The waves calmed about mid-morning, the thunder and rain around an hour after. Rather than being allowed back to bed, however, Iliana had been tasked with clean-up. The sails needed to be checked for tears, the top-level cargo for water damage, and the deck for sea life. By the time she finished, Iliana wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bunk and pass out.

Unfortunately, it wasn't possible. The captain would give her one of those guilt inducing frowns if he heard she'd retired before nightfall. So, she sat herself on the deck with one of the many torn fishing nets she'd been handed the day before.

"Why the sour face, Ilias?" Saul called out. "Ya look like someone jus' pissed in yer tankard."

When Iliana glanced towards him, he grinned. The expression dimpled his weathered, olive face. She rolled her eyes. Iliana would never understand how Saul, a balding man in his forties, could wear such an energetic smile at times like this. Given that Iliana was eighteen, nearing nineteen, logically their positions should've been switched.

Keeping her thoughts to herself, she held the netting up. As the majority of it slid from her lap, she caught her fingers in a hole, lifting the strings so they could be seen.

"I'm thinking about this," Iliana said. "It's a bit too clean of a cut, don't you think?"

"Maybe we caught one of them merfolk," Ancus joked as he and Saul tugged on the rope bracers in an attempt to adjust the sails. "It'd explain why Umae got so pissed."

"I doubt it," Iliana retorted. "He'd have made sure we wrecked. The gods don't like it when we touch their monsters."

"More likely that wife of his done pissed him off," Kreon added from his place at the helm.

"They ain't monsters," Saul said, focusing on Iliana. "We been tellin' ya, lad, them merfolk's beautiful. Nothing that looks like 'em could be monsters."

Iliana scoffed. She'd believe the merfolk's fabled beauty when she saw it. Still, experience said arguing with Saul on the matter would go nowhere. They needed a new subject.

"And I've been telling you, your speech needs some work."

"He's got you there, Saul." Ancus laughed. "The lad speaks ten times better than you."

"Not my fault he's sum learned runaway," Saul argued. "I ain't got the time ta do all tha' studyin'. Better ta jus' speak how I always 'ave."

"I've offered to teach you," Iliana muttered, dropping her eyes back to the netting. "An hour every night is nothing."

"You'd get more girls willing to drink with you if you started talking like him," Ancus added.

"Jus' shut up, the both of ya," Saul said as that dimpled smile of his betrayed the faux annoyance in his voice. "I git the lassies just fine."

"Sisters don't count!" Kreon teased.

Iliana joined in on the laughter that echoed across the deck. Saul rolled his eyes, obviously not too bothered by being the butt of his crew-mates' jokes. Iliana might have pointed out that mothers didn't count either, but the door captain's door started to open. Everyone jumped back to their work.