The Song of the Sea

4. Your Turn or Mine?

"Have you ever been left untied and unattended?" Jacob asked.

Raephier frowned, wanting to tell the Captain that it was his turn to ask a question, but he swallowed the words knowing it would be considered disrespectful.

"Hey Captain, it's not your turn!" James said, tapping Jacob on the arm. "Let Raephier have his question."

Raephier couldn't help the smile that crept on his face at James's words, and the Captain let out a small laugh and apologised to Raephier which gave him a fluttery feeling in his stomach.

Raephier searched his mind for another question.

"How far away is your home?" he asked.

The moment he asked it, he regretted it, and he tensed waiting for the answer.

"It'll take around 4 weeks to get there," Jacob replied, "and we have to make port once on the journey to stock up with supplies."

4 weeks wasn't a long time. Raephier wondered whether the Captain would be quite so willing to grant him his freedom once they arrived. If of course they made it.

But he didn't have time to dwell on that as another question came his way, this time from James.

"I believe that Sirens aren't actually a race but are created through a curse. Does that mean that you were once like us, before you were a Siren?"

Raephier swallowed, which should have been easy, but his throat was dry so it made him cough a little.

"Do you want a drink?" the Captain asked. "Water isn't in big supply, but you can have a small sip of mine," he said, pulling a small flask from his inside coat pocket. "If you want more than a sip, it'll have to be wine. We've plenty of that."

Raephier hesitantly took hold of the small flask that Jacob was offering and took a tentative sip. He knew that water was precious on a ship and did little more than wet his lips, but he appreciated the gesture. And at least it gave him time to think of an acceptable answer.

"Erm, you're right, it is a curse. Before I was cursed I was normal like you."

He figured it was more of an omission than a lie. He was considered normal where he came from, just maybe not normal to the Captain and James.

"So where are you from, originally?" the Captain asked.

Raephier paused to see if James would point out once again that it was his turn to ask the question, but when he didn't say anything, he decided it was probably best just to answer.

"I'm from a far away land known as Aldern."

"I've never heard of it, have you?" the Captain asked James.

"No I haven't," he said, shaking his head.

It was no surprise that they hadn't heard of it, seen as it was under the sea. But they didn't need to know that.

"We're quite a private race. We tend to keep ourselves to ourselves. Ok, now my turn," Raephier said before they could ask him another question, and also to try to get onto a different subject.

The Captain nodded indicating Raephier should continue.

"What's that?" Raephier said, nodding towards the funny looking metal implement that the Captain had walked in with. It looked too much like devices he'd seen used as torture implements and it made him feel uneasy.

Jacob turned to face the object Raephier was looking at, and looked surprised, almost like he'd forgotten it was there.

"Oh, this?" he said, picking it up.