Siren Song (The Fated #1)

13 | Nokos

The two of them seemed to be bickering constantly when they weren't focusing on something about the crew and this mad kidnapping of theirs. Yet, they never actually seemed angry at one another. And there'd been several nights when Iliana'd stepped out on deck, planning to search for Callias, and come across Lykos and Eumelia standing at the bow, talking in quiet voices.

"That's quite a serious look you've got goin' on there, thinking about something special?" Lykos joked as he drew close. "Me, perhaps?"

"Of how peaceful it would be if someone removed your tongue," she answered, tone deadpan. "Or your head. Either works."

Lykos tsked. "But then I wouldn't be able to tell ya about how you and me are gonna stick together on our way to the inn."

Was he going to completely ignore her death threat? Most likely.

"I'd assumed."

Iliana kept her gaze pointedly focused on the docks as the ship slowly drifted towards an open space. She focused on how there wasn't a single person in the crowd that appeared to be wearing a slave collar. Although, she supposed there could've been a few men hiding markings beneath their clothing. Collars were easy to remove, tattoos or brands happened to be just a bit harder. Still, it was strange. Her home town in Aeolis was the only other place she'd seen such a scarcity of slavery--and perhaps that was why the sight seemed to set her nerves on edge.

For others, the familiarity might have calmed them--but Aeolis held few good memories for Iliana. Rather, her thoughts were almost always consumed by the bad when she thought of her country. She recalled the year after her mother's death--when everyone had offered her and her sister their condolences, but seemed to disappear before they could be made to do something to help the siblings. She remembered how Mara would leave for days on end, dragged to one social event or another by her suitor. Then, how he'd appeared one day and introduced himself to Iliana. Then, when Mara'd left them alone, he'd warned her that he was only considering taking her in because of her sister. That he wasn't interested in gutter rats that lacked the shine Mara had.

She shook her head, casting the memories aside. It was stupid. No matter how many years past, the littlest things could send her mind back to those dark years. What did it matter that Nokos felt like her old home? It wasn't. There was a massive ocean separating the two. Iliana would never see that man again.

So why did a shiver still creep down her spine, and a lump form in her throat? Why did her heart clench as she remembered the way her brother-in-law had studied her, as if she were some sort of infesting pest? Why did the sight of the old buildings that lined the port, with their flaking paint and weathered owners remind her of that lonely year when Mara had begun to change, and Iliana lived like the orphan she was?

Lykos' small crew scrambled to secure the ship to the dock. They slipped ropes over the side, securing them to posts. They dropped the gangplank, then unloaded empty crates and barrels. As she watched them, she nearly missed how those around them seemed to glance at the crew from the corner of their eyes, their faces shining with curiosity or apprehension. No one approached the crew, but neither did they actively ignore them. Rather, it was as if they were obeying some unspoken rule that they could look, but not interact.

Strange, given that in nearly every port town she'd arrived in, especially ones as close knit as Nokos was rumored to be, her crew'd been instantly approached by some curious sailor or fisherman. They'd ask of the cargo, of other countries, or of how the weather had been at sea. There'd also been those who'd been eager to tell their own tales, be it the typical, exaggerated type of story, or of some important news that the crew might've missed due to their spending the last few months at sea.