Irritated and confused, Iliana fell back on the cot with a sigh. Now weaponless, she could only wait until they returned. Well, until Eumelia returned. She doubted Lykos was worth trying to reason with, and it didn't look like she'd be allowed out of this room any time soon, so that left the rest of the crew off of potential allies.
She furrowed her brow in thought as she shifted so she could stretch her legs out and hook her hands behind her head. She knew next to nothing about what was going on, but what minor details she had were far from favorable. First, Lykos was a mercenary, and a well trained one at that. Which meant he'd been hired by someone. Secondly, they hadn't known her name, so they kidnapped her for what she was, not who she was. Which meant they were confident enough in their skills to come to the island on purpose. Why? It didn't make sense. Who would want to kidnap a siren and risk angering the gods?
Everyone knew that the gods favored Inna; to upset her, meant to risk the ire of the entire pantheon. No, she realized. Not all of them...
Kikin, goddess of war and disease, creator of the undead, and patroness of Reotak, was the only one of the gods said to be completely ambivalent when it came to Inna. This in mind, Iliana recalled what she could when it came to the geography of the western continent. The entire coastline-- their destination-- belonged to Eol, with the southern-west tip marking the mountainous division between Reotak, Cieon, and Eol. The three countries met at Lake Kai, which was surrounded by the Shinde Mountains; a cold, and vicious barrier between the warring countries, and perhaps the only reason Cieon avoided being completely overtaken by Reotak, as well as how Eol managed to stay neutral. They began at the northern, Reotak-Eol border, and curled down to cut between northern Cieon, southern Reotak.
He said we would be traveling even after we landed, Iliana mused. At least, that's the idea I got. If that was the case, it was entirely possible they would be cutting across Eol to one of the few mountain passages. She couldn't imagine anyone outside of Reotak having the guts to order the capture of a siren, given that Reotak was said to be the only country that completely belonged within Kikin's domain. Only there would Inna be considered powerless when compared to Kikin.
A week's sail to Eol, then a probable month trek across the country if they took a direct route, on foot. The mountains... she had no clue how long it took to cross them, but if they made it that far, it was too late. With her current skills, she'd freeze to death in an escape attempt.
Iliana had around forty days to escape.
That decided, she let her eyes fall closed as she rolled the matters around in her head. Exhaustion weighed heavily upon her body, and for a short time she considered beating it off. Eventually, however, she decided that staying awake would only hamper her escape, and she forced herself to relax. Within minutes she'd fallen into an uneasy, yet dreamless sleep.
She jolted awake some time later to a knock on her door. Before she'd fully sat up, the door swung open and a faintly smiling Eumelia took up the entrance. She had a breakfast tray in her hands; which consisted of some bread, cheese, grapes, and a water-skin.
"Sleep well?" she asked.
Iliana hesitated, then nodded as she turned so she could rest her back against the wall. It gave her a clear view of the room, but hopefully left her looking relaxed.
"Well enough," she said aloud.
Eumelia stepped over, laying the tray on one side of the bed, before taking up a seat on the other. She then studied Iliana thoughtfully, gesturing towards the tray with one of her hands.
"Eat up," she pressed. "We've a long day ahead of us, and I doubt an empty stomach will make it any easier."
She hesitated once again, before eating as suggested. Silence fell between them, giving Iliana time to roll around potential questions in her mind. How did one use words to gain an ally? She'd never been good at charming people. Actually, she was skilled in the opposite.
"Lykos and you are married?" she settled upon.
Eumelia laughed, then gave a small shake of her head. "Gods, no. That man-child and I are nothing more than friends."
"But, your son..."
"Called him Papa?" Eumelia finished for her, brow raised. "Yes, well, that's all Lykos' fault. Despite having no blood relation to Abiel, he insists on taking up the father role. According to him, every young lad needs a father, so why shouldn't it be him?" She gave an exasperated shake of her head. "Of course, he ignores the fact that most would consider him the worst man for the role."
Iliana considered this. Admittedly, the news brought some relief. It would be hard to bring Eumelia over to her side if Iliana was constantly being flirted with by her husband. As it was, the information spurred new questions. She dropped a grape in her mouth, musing the matter over, before deciding to be straightforward about it all.
"Then why are you two here?"
Eumelia laughed once again. "You're rather blunt, aren't you?"
"Typically."
"Lykos prizes my skills, and we've known each other since we were children." She trailed off into a thoughtful hum. "I believe I was... seven or eight, when we met, and Lykos was six. So, he keeps me around."
That clears some things up, but also means she's unlikely to betray him. She finished off the breakfast and Eumelia jumped up, gesturing for Iliana to follow her.
"Leave the tray here, I'll collect it when we return."
Iliana nodded, and trailed behind the woman as she led the way into the room directly next door. The sight of it froze her in the doorway, eyes wide.
There were slight similarities to Iliana's room, such as a cot, and a chest; and that was it. The walls were covered by two, ceiling to floor bookshelves that, for the most part, held everything but books. Jars after jars of differing, dried out plants, bugs, and questionable liquids littered the shelves. Different charms and tools she had no chance of recognizing also laid out on display.
It clicked, then. Eumelia was a witch doctor.
"Sit over here."
Eumelia'd gestured towards a table settled in the center of the room. Iliana followed the instruction automatically. Since she was young, she'd had several things drilled into her by her mother, sister, and brother-in-law. The sole point of similarity between all of their instructions had been that you always obey a witch doctor. Ignoring their instructions could be the difference between life or death, blessing or curse. They were healers, but also magic makers and peace keepers. Out of all of the species created by the gods, the witch doctors alone thrived without assistance from their patron.
Perhaps it was luck, believable given that Koun was the god of fortune and healing, but as far as Iliana was aware, witch doctors were the only of the "god's children" able to have children themselves. Their powers and skills were passed down through their bloodline, although they grew weaker with each generation. It was rare to hear of a witch doctor who had actually been created by Koun. They weren't immortal, aging like any other human, so Iliana had always been under the impression that those the god had created were long dead.
She created the charm, Iliana realized, thinking back to the pouch she'd pulled off when changing clothes. That one, and the one Lykos wears.
As all of this ran through her mind, Eumelia was busy pulling out multiple, wooden tools that set Iliana on edge. There was every chance she was wrong, but they looked like the tools she'd seen used to tattoo sailors. The tools were followed by several bowls of ink, and a needle. Eumelia held out her hand when satisfied with her collection of objects, and Iliana reluctantly offered her right hand. Trapped on a ship full of well-armed mercenaries, it seemed stupid to resist.
"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^