A shuffling noise woke Jacob from his sleep. The early morning sun was shining through his cabin, giving him a perfect view of the cage in the corner of his room.
The Siren, Raephier, was moving around restlessly, stretching out each of his limbs one at a time, clearly suffering from being kept in such a small cage.
Other than opening his eyes, Jacob had not moved, so he knew that the Siren had no idea he was being watched. As Raephier stretched upwards, making his ripped clothes expose his bare chest, Jacob momentarily forgot he was pretending to still be asleep and sat up in surprise.
Because the body that he saw, was definitely not the body of a young boy.
As he sat up, he placed himself momentarily into the path of the sunlight streaming in through the window and shielded his eyes. By the time he'd moved and was looking at Raephier again, the Siren was sitting still, staring at Jacob with those big blue eyes, looking like a teenager once again.
Jacob got up and walked towards the cage.
"I could have sworn you looked older a second ago," Jacob said, rubbing his eyes.
Raephier just tipped his head to one side.
Jacob bit back a smile. The boy was cute, there was no denying that.
"Don't give me that look, Raephier!" he said sternly, and his words had the desired effect as he watched the Siren's eyes widen before he turned his gaze away from Jacob and began to fidget uncomfortably.
"I'm sorry," Raephier said, his head hung down low.
Jacob frowned. "Sorry for what?"
"Sorry I didn't answer your questions yesterday."
"Hmm," Jacob said, pacing up and down the room in an attempt to maintain some level of authority, while still in his nightgown. "I'll let that pass, as long as you agree to answer my questions today. Is that fair?"
"Yes Master," Raephier said, looking up again at Jacob with those big blue eyes.
Jacob faltered slightly in his steps on hearing the word 'Master'. He understood that some men got a kind of thrill out of being called that. But he didn't.
"You can call me Captain," he said, making the Siren frown.
"But aren't you my Master?" Raephier asked, looking confused.
"If you mean am I the one who bought you, then yes I am. But I have to confess that although I knew I was buying a weapon, I wasn't expecting it to be alive. I've seen the effects that slavery can have on a man, and I swore I would not be part of it. Now it appears that I have unwittingly bought myself into the very thing that I despise. I may own you on paper, but I don't want to be your Master."
"But...but, I don't understand," Raephier said anxiously. "Are you going to sell me again? Do you not want me?"
Jacob's heart began to beat a little faster at the worried look on Raephier's face. He mentally chastised himself for upsetting the boy, realising that he did not understand what he was saying.
Jacob sighed.
"Raephier, if you want me to be your Master, for the time being I will, but what I want is for you to realise that you don't need a Master. Once you are comfortable with that, then I can become your Captain."
Jacob watched as Raephier thought over his words. He looked calmer, but still a little confused.
"And what is the difference between you being my Master and you being my Captain?" he asked.
"As a Master, I would own you. You would be controlled by me. As a Captain, I am still in charge, but you are your own person. You make your own decisions. And then when the voyage is over, you are free to go where you choose."
Raephier's mouth hung open for a few seconds, his whole body rigid.
"But I've nowhere to go," he eventually breathed out.
Jacob shrugged. "Well, then you can continue to sail on my ship. But this time it will be your choice."
For the first time since their conversation started, Jacob saw Raephier's lips pull up into a small smile.
"Your choice," Raephier repeated back to himself quietly. "I like the sound of that."
A knock at the door took Jacob's attention away, and he went to answer it.
Pete held out a bowl of porridge towards Jacob.
"How is he?" Pete asked.
"Talking," Jacob replied, taking the bowl off Pete.
Pete looked surprised.
"What's he said?"
"Not much yet. His name is Raephier and so far he seems quite timid, not a threat at all."
Pete looked sceptical.
"Just be careful. It could all be a trick to get you to lower your guard."
"Yes, I know," Jacob said nodding.
Pete was about to turn and walk off when Jacob remembered something.
"Oh, could you bring another bowl up for Raephier. He's probably hungry."
"Sure," Pete said, before turning away and heading back to the galley.
As soon as Jacob came back into the room, Raephier immediately sat upright on smelling the food.
"You hungry?" Jacob asked with a chuckle.
Raephier nodded.
Jacob went to hand the bowl over, but then realised that he couldn't fit the bowl through the bars, so he placed it on the floor, right next to the cage so Rahier could grab the spoon through the bars.
Jacob then went to the far side of the room to get dressed.
He pulled off his nightgown and was about to pull on his shirt when he felt his skin prickle with a feeling of being watched.
He turned to look at Raephier and saw him staring right at him, the porridge still untouched.
"Do you not like it?" Jacob asked, walking back over to the cage.
Raephier ducked his head down and stared at the floor, but not before Jacob saw his pale cheeks dusted with pink.
"I-I didn't want to eat it without your p-permission," Raephier stuttered.
"Then you have my permission," Jacob said, pulling the shirt over his head. "Now eat."
He walked back over to his wardrobe and pulled out his jacket. He knew it was going to take some getting used to, having someone need your permission to do everything.
Once he'd pulled his boots on, he stood up and walked over to the cage, examining the padlock that kept the door in place.
"I'll be right back," he said to Raephier, before stepping outside.
He made his way down to the deck and met Pete coming the other way with another bowl of porridge.
"Just put it on my desk, I'll be back in a minute," Jacob said, before making his way into the galley.
"I need something that'll break a padlock," he announced to the men who were scuttling about.
"Aye Captain," young Gabriel shouted back, before disappearing into the hold.
"What d'ya need that for Captain?" Lyle asked, suddenly appearing at Jacob's shoulder.
Jacob looked at the frown on Lyle's face, then turned and made his way back onto the deck where there were fewer ears.
When Jacob turned round to speak to Lyle, he saw James also following him out.
"I'm going to let him out. He's not a threat," Jacob told both men.
"How do you know that?" James asked.
Jacob shrugged. "I can just tell. He's obviously used to being held captive. He treats me like his Master and he doesn't do anything without permission."
"You can't trust it Captain!" Lyle spat out. "It's in a cage for a reason."
Jacob eyed Lyle coldly. He'd known Lyle for a long time and he had always been a loyal and important member of his crew. Jacob respected his opinion, but he also sensed that there was some personal issue clouding Lyle's judgement on this topic.
"If I don't let him out, how am I going to use him against the Pirates?" Jacob asked with authority. "I have to build up his trust in me, just as I have to learn to trust him."
Lyle looked like he was going to argue, but James grabbed hold of his arm with a firm grip. Lyle closed his mouth but shook his head to show his annoyance.
"I won't put you in harm's way," Jacob said, placing a hand on Lyle's shoulder. "There's plenty of seaweed left, and if it makes you feel any better, you can have some every day."
Lyle mumbled something under his breath, then walked away, making Jacob's arm drop back to his side.
"I'm sorry Captain, I don't know what's got stuck up his arse today," James said with a grin.
"It's fine," Jacob said with a grimace. "It's probably a good thing that he's being extra vigilant."
"Here you go Captain," came a voice from behind, and Jacob turned to see Gabriel holding up some bolt cutters.
"Thank you Gabriel," Jacob said, making the young lad beam before he ran off to get back to his duties.
"Do you need a hand?" James asked, nodding towards the bolt cutters.
Jacob was about to say no, but then thought it was probably wise to have someone else present, just in case.
When they entered Jacob's quarters, Pete was standing in front of Raephier's cage with a scowl on his face, and Raephier was squashed into the far corner, cowering.
"What's going on?!" Jacob demanded, his eyes flicking between Pete and Raephier.
"The thievin' scallywag stole your porridge Captain, so I threatened him with Jack Ketch."
Jacob rolled his eyes. Jack Ketch, more commonly known as The Hangman by sailors, was an idol threat used by Pete whenever he was a little grumpy at the younger lads. But of course, Raephier wasn't to know that.
"There'll be no sending anyone to Jack Ketch on my ship," Jacob said, with a pointed look at Pete. "And he didn't steal my porridge, I gave it to him."
"But that was yours," Pete said looking concerned.
"What does it matter, when I had you bring up another portion?" Jacob asked, walking over to the bowl of porridge that Pete had put down on his desk.
But the moment Jacob looked at the porridge, he realised what the problem was. Onboard there was a certain pecking order when it came to food. And of course Jacob was at the top, getting only the best. As he looked at the bowl, he realised that Raephier was considered at the bottom of the pecking order. It was lumpy with plenty of black burnt bits in it, basically the scrapings off the bottom of the pot.
"It doesn't matter," Jacob said, turning back to Pete.
"No, it does," Pete said, rushing over and picking the bowl up off the desk. "I'll go and get you something else."
Jacob opened his mouth to argue, but realising it was pointless, snapped it shut again.
Once Pete had left the room, James made his way over to the cage, giving Raephier the once over.
"Looks a bit older than I thought," he said, making Jacob remember his first glimpse of Raephier this morning.
"How old are you Raephier?" Jacob asked the Siren.
Raephier uncurled himself and raised his head to look at Jacob.
"Erm, I'm not too sure," he replied.
"How can you not be sure?" Jacob asked.
Raephier licked his lips nervously. "Well, I haven't really kept track of passing time."
"I guess that makes sense," Jacob mumbled, more to himself than anybody.
"If you were to make a guess, what would you say?" he then asked.
"Erm," Raephier seemed to squirm uncomfortably. "Maybe 19 or 20? But I really don't know."
"You don't look 20," Jacob said, scanning his eyes over Raephier's physique.
Raephier squirmed a little under his gaze but didn't say anything.
"Hang on," James said, suddenly looking excited. "Aren't Sirens shapeshifters?"
The question was addressed to Jacob, but Jacob didn't know the answer. To be honest he knew very little about Sirens and was wishing that he'd known about Raephier before they left port so he could have done some research.
"Can you change shape?" Jacob asked Raephier.
Raephier seemed to curl into himself again and kept his head down, not answering the Captain's question.
"Raephier," Jacob said, with a hint of disappointment in his tone. "Didn't we agree this morning that you'd answer my questions?"
When Raephier didn't respond again, Jacob sat down in front of the cage and gestured for James to do the same.
Once they were both settled on the floor, Jacob tried again.
"How about this. You can ask me or James a question, and for every question that we answer, you have to answer one too."
Raephier finally lifted his head to look at the two men sitting on the floor in front of him.
"Ok," he agreed softly.
"Well then, you go first," Jacob said. "Ask me a question. Anything."
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