Siren Song (The Fated #1)

01 | Flawless

Kain's skin was flawless.

Dammit.

He glowered at his torso, irritation overloading all other emotions. Of course this had to happen. Just this one time, he couldn't have stayed injured. It's not like Iliana doesn't know you heal at an abnormal rate... he reminded himself. Still, even she'd be confused by this. She would ask questions he wasn't ready to answer. After all, revealing one secret meant revealing another, and then... Kain wasn't ready, period. So, he needed a solution.

Luckily, the same source of his current problem gave him plenty of time to think the issue over. This happened to be one of the many occasions when the fact Kain's mind and body excelled at night could be considered a blessing. For the first time since arriving at the island, he felt that familiar buzz of energy that always seemed to hum just beneath his skin when the moon was out. Perhaps it was because his body was no longer healing, but completely repaired. The previous night all of his excess energy must have been focused on the wounds. At least, that was his guess. It wasn't like his condition came with an instruction manual.

I could come up with some lie, he mused, then scoffed. As if that would ever work.

Concealing information from Iliana felt like second nature to him, unfortunately. Lying straight to her face, however, happened to be a skill he lacked. The reason, he knew, was that shortly after their meeting she'd rooted out every tell he had. Despite Iliana's dismissal of his opinion on the fact, he viewed this as one of the many skills that would have made her excel at court. Well, as long as one excluded her blunt nature. Whatever his thoughts on the matter, it didn't change that she knew when he tugged at his hat, or his hair, he was nervous or uncertain. She knew that if he couldn't meet her eyes, he was lying. She knew that if he couldn't sit still, there was something off about what he was telling her. Growing up in a lie had prepared him for other people, but Iliana... Lying won't work.

Perhaps he'd just avoid the subject entirely. He could bring up the sirens, or her family. He could ask her if she wanted to go home when they escaped here. When was the key word, he thought, glancing at the sword propped up against the other side of the cave. When Melitta had visited earlier in the day, she'd dropped it off with a bright grin. The weapon served as evidence she'd managed to find the Airlea.

"It took some damage," she admitted, then paused before continuing in a hurry. "But it's still floating! I looked around. I don't know much... okay, anything about ships, but it looked fixable!"

"Thanks," he'd murmured, taking the thin sword from her hands.

His eyes had zeroed in on the intricate symbol etched into the hilt. A diamond shape, filled in with swirling lines and encircled by twin serpents. Almost instantly, he tore his gaze away to thank her once again for even bothering to search for it. When he'd asked, he'd fully expected the search to come up empty. After all, the Airlea was completely unmanned. Anything could have happened to it in the few days the vessel had been lost.

"It was no trouble!" Melitta assured him. "Trust me. I had tons of fun. It was sorta like a treasure hunt. Plus, I'd never seen a Cieonian blade! It's a beauty."

"It's called a natai," he said, setting the sword aside. "They're popular back home. Anyways, what about Callias? Was he too upset about searching?"

"Bah, ignore him. He complains, but he was the first to volunteer an idea of where we should start."

Kain shook his head, casting off the memory. There were better things to focus on than that blasted sword. Some part of him wished he could have left it be, but he couldn't. Like his woolen cap, the sword was a gift from mother, who in turn had been given it by his grandfather. As much as he avoided what it represented, Kain couldn't simply abandon it. Now, if only he could say the same of the cap... I can't believe I lost it.