Savage Melodies

Chapter 4: Angels in the Sea

"You think you can protect her all the time?" Brucie asked. "Look at where we are. Rough people are on these rough seas. Your sister has been endangered from the start, but she's strong enough to care for herself. You cannot fight all of her battles." Her voice was coated with venom, but it stung her, too. She was vividly aware of her protective feeling towards Nerissa, her closest friend.

Theo said, "No, but I can lessen the burden on her heart."

"You're going to eliminate any threat? I suppose you know what she's planning?"

"Of course I do. Fire has never been able to keep much from me. You are the outsider. Don't let yourself forget that." She winced at his sharp stare. "You hardly know anything about Fire. You don't know what she and I have been through."

"Oh, really?" Brucie snapped. "Then, tell me, are you even capable of any emotion other than hate? What a martyr you are, gladly playing the broken villain. I don't give a damn about your tragic past. I'm sure it's a catastrophic tale, really, but you're a big boy. You should know better to let it weigh you down. Almighty moon, you walk around about as angry as if you carried anchors with you!"

"Then what's to stop you from drowning me, here and now?" Theo shot back. "If I'm such a disease to the world, why not rid it of my existence? You have the power, so why not?"

"Shut up!" she screamed, shutting her eyes tightly to not have to look into his.

"I don't think it's mere consideration for my sister, whom you hardly know. I think you see yourself in me."

"Be quiet!"

"You must. A killer, raised on the hard streets of whatever sort of civilization you beasts have. All alone but for a few friends. Now hardened and closed off. But where I have only a wall, you hide yourself behind those sickly-sweet smiles of yours."

"SHUT UP!" Suddenly, the waves rushed up violently, crashing against the rowboat, spraying everywhere. Theo's mouth snapped shut. Maybe he hadn't realised that a Siren's power extended beyond enchanting others, all the way to hexing the water itself. "You know nothing about me," she hissed.

"Haven't you figured it out? I always know more than you think." He returned her cutting glares with a hard stare of his own. Impassive. Unable to be shaken.

She leaned her hands on the rowboat's edge. "Don't you dare speak to me that way. Besides, it's my turn now. Allow me to guess: you too grew up rough, trying only to protect your sister after something happened to her. You've been rivals with that other captain since the time that you were young and on the streets together. You were hardened by that life, and ready to take on being a pirate-but no, wait. Something must have happened before that. There was a woman." Theo flinched and looked away. "Ah. There's always a lady. She broke you, and that was when you made the decision to become a pirate."

"Impressive," Theo said, through gritted teeth. "Fire was accidentally caught in the midst of a gang fight and injured. It was minor, but she was small and terrified. She grew strong, but I never forgot her tears when she returned to me. You've got it wrong, though. Maxon and I were never rivals. We were best friends until we took to the seas. And we both chose to become sailors from the time that we were young, believing we would find fortune. We were always called by the sea. Nothing drove me to it."

Brucie shrugged. "I'm allowed to be wrong."

He didn't meet her eyes. "But you weren't, about the girl." He'd never admitted this before, not ever, and he never thought he would, but here he was. Spilling it all like seawater seeping from a raising net. "I loved her with all of my heart, when I was younger. She wasn't all that beautiful, or tall, or interesting, really. But she was sweet and kind, even to a man like me, even though she knew what I was like. She knew everything about me, and she was still so wonderful to me. She saw through every wall I put up, every façade, and yet she couldn't see through my heart to know my feelings for her. And one year, I went to study abroad, and before I left, I told her to wait for my return, but I couldn't tell her how much I loved her. Over the year, I built up the courage. When I returned, I met with her immediately. As soon as I saw her, I kissed her. And then she told me she was engaged." He let out a bark of harsh, pained laughter. "She asked me to be the best man. So casually cruel, and she didn't even understand that my love was deep as the sea."