Siren Song (The Fated #1)

04 | Blood Bind

"What're you..." she began, then trailed off.

Her skin was flawless. Forget the weathered calluses from working aboard the Airlea, even her burns were gone. She hadn't noticed before, when eating. How had she missed such an important detail? When had it happened? Was it a result of her becoming a siren?

Unaware of Iliana's mental freak-out, Eumelia plucked the needle from her table and pricked Iliana's finger. She swore, jerking her hand away and cradling it to her chest.

"What the fuck?"

Eumelia patiently held her free hand out for Iliana's, that same, calm smile on her lips. With the other, she replaced the needle on the table between them. Iliana eyed her warily. She knew very little about the magic witch doctors wielded, but even young children knew that giving one of them your blood was a horrible idea. Blood magic was horribly strong, and taboo. She'd heard that it required a vast amount of magic, and that the few witch doctors that knew how to use it were infamous.

Who exactly was Eumelia?

"Don't worry. If I wanted to hurt you, there are far easier methods."

Eumelia's words did little to reassure her. In fact, Iliana had the urge to run from the room. Forget swaying the witch doctor to her side; none of that mattered if she was bound into some blood contract.

"What're you doing?" she demanded.

"Helping you."

"How is taking my blood helping me?" she scoffed. "Only an idiot would believe that."

The calm smile Eumelia'd been wearing seemed slightly strained, but she kept her hand in place.

"Only once can a person's blood be bound," she explained. "It's powerful magic. Even if I died, and the spell released, no one could bind your blood again. You'd be immune."

An uneasy feeling unfurled in the back of Iliana's mind. "And why would that be helpful?"

A noncommittal hum was her only answer. Irritation replaced the uneasiness, and she watched, stubbornly holding her hand to her chest, as Eumelia seemed to muse over what to say. One minute, then another, of silence stretched between them. Finally, the woman shrugged her shoulders.

"Consider it a gift. Your kind can never be too careful."

"And what would your binding be doing?" Iliana challenged.

Amusement played across Eumelia's face, unlike the irritation she wished to see. Not that she should have been wishing for it. In fact, she should be happy that despite Iliana's sour nature, Eumelia seemed to be in a good mood. Her goal had been to win the witch over; so pissing her off would be counterproductive.

Still, it felt like she was losing some unknown game due to the fact all of these mercenaries seemed immune to Iliana's "charm."

"Simple, it replaces the charms the men wear," Eumelia explained. "I can't expect you not to try singing to them, nor can I expect the chances of their charms being removed to be zero. So, if I bind your blood, I kill two cats with one rock."

Iliana could only stare at her. "It's 'two birds with one stone.'"

"Who would want to kill a bird?" Eumelia retorted, brow furrowed as if this honestly confused her. She muttered under her breath in a language Iliana didn't understand.

"Killing cats is better?" she questioned.

The witch nodded. "Quite so. They're horrid creatures."

Once again, she found herself stumped when it came to how to reply. Like the urge to scream around Lykos, the inability to formulate a response seemed to be a recurring problem when around Eumelia. Still, the witch's accent and strange choice of words were tucked to the back of Iliana's mind. The accent was different from Callias and Melitta's, and Iliana was honestly uncertain if she'd ever heard it before. Which meant that even if it was their destination, the crew wasn't Reotakian. At least, not originally.

"Your hand?" Eumelia prompted.

It was fear that kept her from giving in. That instinctive, warning bell she'd been ignoring the past few days wasn't going off. In fact, despite her wariness over blood magic, nothing about this situation set her intuition on edge. Something told her that Eumelia truly meant no harm. But, was it wise to give in? Even if the witch was telling the truth, this meant there was no chance Iliana would be able to sing to the crew. She'd have one less escape route.

At the same time, her chances of escaping via that method had always been slim. Losing it, but perhaps gaining some of Eumelia's trust wasn't a horrible trade. Still, she couldn't guarantee the information was legitimate. What if the witch was lying? She didn't have to do it this way, a faint thread of logic pointed out. She could've forced you. Between her and the rest of the crew, you wouldn't've stood a chance.

So, after yet another minute of reluctance, Iliana placed her hand into Eumelia's once again. It was flipped over, the witch's fingers encouraging the small bead of blood on her fingertip to grow. When she was seemingly satisfied, Eumelia grabbed a wooden bowl and brought Iliana's hand over it, waiting for the drop of blood to fall. Then, her hand was released and the witch's attention seemed to turn towards her work alone. It was as if Iliana no longer existed.

Eumelia stood, walking over to the shelves and grabbing a few items, before returning to her seat. One of the objects was a vial, which she tipped and poured into the bowl; it was a thick, black liquid. It was joined by several herbs, each from a different jar, and then a drop of Eumelia's own blood. Fascination mixed with fear as Iliana watched the witch use a pestle to crush the mixture into a fine, wet paste. Then, she grabbed one of the bowls of ink and poured it in, before dipping a finger in and mixing it all together.

"That's it?" Iliana wondered aloud.

"I assure you, it's more complicated than it seems," Eumelia replied, pulling her finger away and wiping it off on a nearby cloth. "Magic always is."

That said, she grabbed the wooden instrument Iliana had noted earlier, and dipped the unsettlingly sharp tip into the ink.

"Now... where would you like it?"

A/N: I'm stopping here, given there was a lot of information laid out in this chapter! 

So, what do you think about the crew so far? Any clue as to what's going on? Think Eumelia is trustworthy, or was it a bad idea to give in? Think Iliana holds a chance of swaying Eumelia to her side? How about the witch doctors and Koun. Find them interesting, or...? 

Surprised to hear that Lykos isn't exactly a dad? 

Anyways, hope you enjoyed. ^3^