The Siren's Call

III

...

The throne room was beautiful. Karis admired the detailed painting of underwater life covering the top of the tall domed room, creating the illusion that there was almost no roof at all.
"Is it supposed to be empty?" Karis asked the dark haired boy. He shook his head.
"The King must've known. My hope is that the man I left in charge was able to get him somewhere safe."
"What's happening?" Karis tore her eyes away from the throne which couldn't have been real gold.
"The city is being attacked by sirens. It doesn't happen often, but it happens. My guess is they've been planning this around my trip." He scowled. "I'm lucky I got back a day early."
"Okay, so what do we do? Just sit here and wait for another one of those...things?" She looked pretty shaken at mention of the sirens. He wondered who Micah was.
"No. We have a place for emergencies like this, a safe place. If the King wasn't taken then he'll be down there."
"Down there?"
Henri grinned.

The tunnels weren't as dark as Karis first pictured when Henri told her his plan. Under a colored rug in the corner of the room was some sort of secret passage going below the ocean floor. She shuddered.
"It's not much farther," Henri reassured her. "You'll be safe there."
"What about you? I suppose you'll become the city's savior or something?"
"I'm Captain of the King's Guard, it's what I do."
"Is that your motto?" She raised an eyebrow and he made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sigh.
"We're here," He said, placing his torch in a metal ring by the door. He dug in his pocket, and pulled out a small silver key. He put it in, twisted, and the door unlocked.

...

He pulled the door open and found the tip of a sword pointed at his chest. Oh please let it be- the sword lowered and Henri looked up at his friend and grinned.
"Jacob! Thank goodness it's you."
"Captain Henri," the man saluted, also grinning. "I didn't think you'd come so soon. I didn't know where else to take His Majesty," he nodded toward the King, who put a hand on Jacob's shoulder as he spoke. "When I found one of my men dead and the others missing I got suspicious. That was last night."
"You've been here all night?" Henri asked.
"Yes. With no back up and no way to contact you my first thought was the King's safety."
"You did good, Jacob." The man, two years older than Henri, let out a breath. He might've been older but he looked up to Henri. Literally, like he was actually shorter.
Then he remembered Karis. He turned to find her closely examining her fingernails, leaning awkwardly against the hall wall.
"Karis," he said, ignoring Jacob's and the King's questioning looks, "come inside." She nodded, walking into the room and taking a seat on a bench. Henri removed the torch from the wall, placing it inside, and closed and locked the door. Just in case someone discovered the passage way. They'd be looking for the King by now.
"Who is she?" Jacob asked.
"She's a human girl," Henri said.
"You know the rules-" the King began.
"So does she. That's not the problem right now." His father nodded, moving on. "Where is the Queen and princess?"
"I left them at Miss Noanne's house," Jacob said. "I didn't think the siren's were after them, and His Majesty insisted they be somewhere far away from him, somewhere safe."
"They're not after them," Henri said, nodding.
"What are they after?" Karis spoke up, everyone looking at her. Her eyes no longer showed that fear and hesitation they did earlier. "If they're not after the rest of the royal family, then their main goal is probably not him," she said, gesturing toward the King. She picks up fast, Henri thought with a small smile to himself.
"Who else would they be after?" Jacob asked in a genuinely curious tone. He's right...who?
"The people," Henri gasped. "They have no reason to be after the throne. They're not ambitious for those types of things."
"What do you mean the people, boy?" Boy, Henri scoffed. He wasn't a "boy" anymore. The comment kind of ticked him off.
"Your Majesty," he answered the King in a carefully monitored tone, "we needed someone to spy on the sirens, and as you know I was most capable for the mission. There were signs of an attack, but there was no way of knowing it'd be this soon. Either way, I left a day earlier than planned. Before then I spoke with a siren who mentioned their numbers dwindling. If they're not here for the city or the throne, then they're here for the people in it."
The King ran a hand through his greying hair. "To change them? To convert them to sirens? Then there's nothing we can do. The spell cannot be broken."
"Yes but that's the thing," Henri smiled, a plan forming in his mind, "it can be broken. She proves it," he nodded toward the girl and she looked up at him, startled.
"That's what that odd feeling was?" Her eyes reminded him of the small fish that darted in and out of crevices, nervous, quick, and a little scared.
Henri nodded. "The siren we encountered took the form of someone she knows," he paused, looking at her, "someone she loves. Yet she was able to break free from the spell."
The King gasped. "A human?" He looked at Karis with newfound respect. "Then there must be a way."
Jacob laughed and Henri smirked, Karis giving a weak smile as well.
"And I have a plan."