The Siren and the Singer

VII. In which the siren gets vengeance

And Alyna felt similarly. How could this be happening? How? Alysse had the perfect voice! If they'd been worried about anything, it had been the distance, that it was next to impossible to lure a ship from a league away by oneself. But now it was here, so so close, probably half a mile at most, and it was... turning away?

Yes! It was turning away. The ship was turning away. And the strange instrument's music was overpowering Alysse's song! This had never happened. It was impossible. How? No mortal sailor could resist the charm and allure of a siren's song. Especially not the song of such a good singer as Alysse.

But as Alyna floated pondering what was happening, the ship was getting farther and farther away, picking up speed more quickly than it had in it's arrival. Horror stuck, Alyna gave her tail a powerful twist and jetted above the surface, not really caring who saw her. As soon as her ears broke the surface, she could hear the music of the instrument a thousand fold more than she had before. Apparently it traveled better through air than water, unlike her voice.

In fact, the air was full of the instrument. It carried so well, loud and clear, that it in fact did overpower Alysse's voice as much as she hated to admit it. And her twin was floundering, that much was clear. Her voice was harsher as she threw the words, the sweet melody dissolving into the salty air as her vocal cords strained. It was terrible. Alyna could do better.

Yes, Alyna could do better. She shouldn't have let her sister do this. It was a terrible idea, why had she gone along with Alysse's crazy scheme. It had been a recipe for disaster, she should have stopped it. But no, she had had to let her little sister have her five minutes of fame, had to let her try to steal the spotlight and look where they were now.

She remembered what her other sisters had said last night, about how Alysse should have been queen, about how Alysse had the better voice, and she fumed. How dare they! Alyna was first born, it was her right, and her twin was here messing things up. The nerve! In fact, she had probably done it just to spite her sister. Alyna had known that Alysse fancied Caspar, had a little crush on Alyna's betrothed, and she hadn't done anything to stop it. And now Alysse was deliberately trying to sabotage their union, trying to deny her sister of her right.

Was this the kind of person everyone wanted as queen? The kind of person who convinced everyone of her perfection when in reality, she wasn't. Alysse was second best. That was all she ever was, and all she should ever be. Alyna had to stop this now, before Alysse made it any worse.

Blood rushing through her head with her fury, she jetted up, arcing gracefully and landing next to her twin sister on her rock. Her rock. Alysse shouldn't even be here. She was mucking up the royal bloodline, just like she had done years ago. Alyna had put it to a stop then, she needed to stop it now.

"Alyna?" said Alysse, sounding shocked. Her singing cut off immediately as she stared at her sister, but at that point it really wasn't making a difference at all; it wasn't like the ship was even being drawn to Alysse's disgusting pipes. "I, I mean, Alysse? What are you doing-"

"Shut up, Alysse," Alyna snapped. "I should have known you would try to sabotage this one thing for me. How dare you?"

"Me? Me? Me? What do you mean?" Alysse's voice rose several octaves, her shrill probably traveling to the fast disappearing ship. "This was your idea! You're disgusting plan! Crown Princess. Your High High Highness." Her voice was full of disgust as she spoke. "It was you! You, being too irresponsible, you refusing to accept your failures! Always pushing us away, treating us like we were beneath you, but you know what? In the end of the day, we forgave you, because we are sisters, we are family, and we love each other. But this is just too far! How dare you try to coerce me into this, and then place the blame on me!"