Heartsong

Part 5: Sinking

At last, after two tide cycles of her regular visits to try speaking with him, Kellan put down the book and looked at his captor.
"Melody is not your name, is it?" he asked.
The siren's eyes watched him, her tail flicking in alarm under the water. "No," she answered, the first word spoken of her own volition.
Kellan pressed further. "What is your name?"
She wavered silently, eyes blinking rapidly as if a small voice in her head was telling her not to reveal her name, but then she spoke: "Ah-deh-leee-dah," the sounds came rough and stretched from her mouth, sounding more like a phrase in some exotic language than a name. She tried again, "Ah-deh... laide."

"Adelaide?" Kellan repeated smoothly.

She laughed, a sound reverberating with joy. "Adelaide!" She said again, like a sigh of immense relief. "Adelaide! I am... Adelaide." Her first sentence!
Kellan nodded his head as if bowing to a gentle lady. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Adelaide," he said.
"Kal'n," she muttered. Her eyes squinted in a slight frown, and she tried again. "Kel-enn."

Kellan nodded. "Yes, I am Kellan."

Adelaide placed her hands on the grate of his cage, and Kellan flinched when she suddenly pulled. The front of the grate came off with a resounding crack, and Kellan now had a way out of his cage, though he was still tied to it. His arms out to steady himself, he watched Adelaide swim closer and place something in his hand. She backed away and he looked at the thing: it was a knife with a long, sharp blade.

"Kellan may go," she said softly. "Do not return to deep waters."

Kellan felt his heart begin to race. "You're letting me free?" he confirmed in a hollow voice.

Adelaide nodded. "Kellan must not go into deep waters," she repeated.

Kellan nodded, excitement building in his mind. "All right, I won't go into any deep waters; I will stick to only shallow water."

"Promise?" she pressed.

Kellan nodded. "I promise."

With a twist and a flash of her tail, she was gone.

Kellan wasted no time in cutting the rope from around his waist. What sweet relief to be able to stretch out and swim again! He reached the rocky cliff leading to the place he had always assumed was the entrance to the cove from land. Slipping the boots on his feet, he stood (how he had missed standing on his own two feet!) and slipped the knife and the pocket watch into the belt around his waist. He took a few stumbling steps--and saw the outside world for what felt like the first time in ages!

He stood in an unfamiliar corner of the kingdom--but he saw the peak of a familiar mountain, the one he remembered being able to see from his cabin on the ship. If he could just find his way to a harbor somewhere, perhaps he could at least find some other way of getting word to his father about his continued existence.

Kellan began walking.Dark clouds rolled in shortly after his trek began, and a stiff wind blew the pouring rain against him. Kellan wrapped his arms around himself as he marched on, squinting against the pounding spray. He needed to get out of this storm, but how could he, if it was all he could do to see three steps in front of him?

Kellan could barely make out the looming form of a tall tree. He could wait under its branches until the rain had passed.He ducked through the low-hanging branches, and found it calm and relatively dry, only the odd drop or two making it through the thick canopy. He took a seat and sighed with relief.

Something struck the bank beside him with a sharp crack. Kellan looked over. It was the wooden yo-yo--the one he had seen Adelaide playing with! A low, beautiful song reached his ear, coming over the surface of the water. Kellan remembered his promise about not going into the water--but upon hearing the song, he very much wanted to at least catch a glimpse of the siren who sang it.

He remained securely on land, but leaned out to see where the song came from.Right beneath him, a large body erupted from the water and wrapped around him, dragging Kellan back into the water. His boots filled and fell away, and he felt the knife graze his skin as something yanked it out of the belt.

His eyes adjusted to the water, and Kellan saw at once that the siren brandishing the knife at him was not the one he had befriended. She was older, and much more bitter.

Adelaide--the one he thought he had heard--floated just a few feet away, chained and weighted just like the women cast overboard were. She could not make a sound because of the gag in her mouth, but her eyes bespoke volumes of terror at seeing him at the mercy of the three vicious sirens.

They three surrounded him, holding hands and fixing their eyes on him. The one who had grabbed him said something in the singing language, but Kellan didn't understand.At once, from all around him came a song that made his heart beat faster. He felt his mind fading, even as his lungs screamed for air. This was a battle of willpower, and the music of the song was slowly draining his away. They wanted him to drown--he knew it, and the more he listened to their song, the more he could not resist. The pull of his heartsong--the song he never heard Adelaide sing--was too great, and Kellan began to drown....