Page 55 of Between Salt and Serenades
“That could have had something to do with it.” Niven offered me a tight smile. I simply shook my head and let him lead the way.
The clan leaders sat around a roaring fire, Aila with a seal pup on one arm and a selkie infant on the other. The woman was the head of the clan, though important matters were run by all six leaders, each with a different responsibility and area of expertise. Her new son suckled on her as she motioned for us to sit. I didn’t hesitate to find a good log to share with Niven.
“Breena, Niven. I understand you share the concerns of many. It’s no secret the return of the fish was a temporary luxury we were not fortunate enough to retain.” Aila cleared her throat. The woman was dressed in a spotted tan pelt around her waist, long, braided hair covering one of her rich, brown shoulders.Secured to her hair were wooden charms hand-carved out of driftwood. “Please, tell us why yours stand above the rest.”
I explained the situation to them, and Niven only jumped in when it seemed like I was losing my crowd. Why any of them would be disinterested in what I had to say was beyond me. Anger, I understood, fear too, but indifference? Incomprehensible.
“How was it that you were able to bring so many fish to the cove?” one of the leaders asked. The man named Arran tucked long, sun-kissed blond hair behind one of his ears. It was long, as most selkie men’s hair was, but his was fine and tangled at the ends with crusted salt.
Ah, so one of them was listening to me.
“I cut one of twenty-three netted enclosures, the one closest to the cove. These areas are not mere fishermen’s nets; they are large enough to hold three whales.” If they were stupid enough to enter one as I had, I thought to myself. “So you can imagine the sheer number of creatures freed when their imprisonment was destroyed.”
“And why is it that they all seemed to have disappeared once more?” Aila asked.
“That, I don’t know for certain. It’s one of the many reasons I need reinforcements when I return to Barthoah. I can’t confront the hybrids alone.”
“You keep saying ‘I’, but we all know you mean ‘we’. You and the siren,” a woman named Blair chimed in, a sneer painted across her face as clear as day. The fire illuminated her sharp features and turned down mouth, and my stomach tightened at her mention of Sidra.
As my mouth gaped, Aila held up her hand to silence us all. “As you’re aware, it’s pupping and molting season. As this is our most vulnerable season, I simply do not know how you expect us to extend any of our limited resources to this cause. It is acause that impacts us all deeply, I understand. If you came to us in a month, maybe two, we might have been able to fulfill your requests, but we simply cannot up and leave tomorrow.”
“We have vulnerable pups scattered across the beach that have just started weaning from their mothers. We need to focus on our responsibilities at home before we can tread off to distant places and expend precious energy waging war. I hope you understand.”
I wanted to say I didn’t understand. I wanted to say they were being selfish, but the fact of the matter was, we all knew the survival rates of pups. We all knew what would happen if we fled to Barthoah. I knew this, but still, I couldn’t help but think about the bigger picture. What would happen to the pups once their mothers’ milk was no longer there for them to suckle? What fish would they eat then?
My fists balled in my lap, and tears stung my eyes from the mix of anger and hot, dry smoke from the fire. Niven placed a heavy hand on my shoulder, and the pure weight of it calmed my torn, twisted soul. I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded my head, not in defeat, but in understanding.
I knew what I needed to do.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
THE BUBBLE OF LIFE
It’d been a day since I’d seen a fish. Shortly after Mai paid the Dreslee a visit, we worked together to catch her a nice haddock. I’d let her have the fish in its entirety because not only did she need it more than I did, but I was also biding my time until I was back on land. My mouth watered for sandwiches and shortbread, not fish guts.
My grandfather’s words of my soul being torn into two stayed with me over these few days, haunting me each night as I curled up with Zellia in our sunken ship and attempted to sleep. I tried to distract myself with all my favorite places in the sea, yet I still couldn’t shake those stubborn words loose.
I missed that silly old man, and I missed the way Breena was so committed to living and loving this life despite everything we’d been through. I missed the way she made me feel more like myself than I had in years.
Now that my pod had fish in their stomachs to fuel them, I had to stop delaying the inevitable. Earlier this morning, I’d forced myself to get off my tail fin and request an audience with the elders about the hybrids and their potential plans. Rory said we had five days until Tinelle noticed something was off with the nets. While I trusted that Rory’s mother could find safety withmy grandfather in his shop, it had already been four days, and my thoughts were beginning to sour.
This afternoon, I would meet with what remained of the elders by our sacred pillars at the edge of the kelp forest. Our people had been meeting in that same location for centuries, debating politics and planning war strategies. Today would be no different.
I waited with a knot in my stomach for the elders to accept my request to reconvene. Nothing else made sense but to distract myself with the things that brought me peace.
I ran my hands over the metal chest in the Ever Wanderer then popped open its lid. Sitting on top of the pile of broken glass was my pendant, the rope swaying in the water above the rest of the chest’s contents. The piece of jewelry called to me, and I obliged with little fight. Slipping my pointer finger through the rope, I pulled it from the chest. Before closing the lid, I removed a small hand mirror my mother had gifted me when I’d turned twenty-four.
Propping the mirror up on a wood ledge, I watched myself in the tarnished silver as I fastened the jewelry around my neck. When I peered into the reflective surface, I was overtaken by the sight of my sister’s reflection staring back at me: high cheekbones, long blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and that pretty pendant. My hand found the piece of glass, and I held it close to my chest as my eyes fell closed.
An odd sound rang out in the distance, and my eyes flung back open. One thing about the Dreslee: it was almost always quiet. So when I heard a weird “thump” coming from outside the Ever Wanderer, I swam over to a crack in the side of the ship and pressed my face against it. I hung onto the wood as I tried to get a good look at whatever was out there. After a moment of adjusting and finding the right angle, I saw where the unusual sounds were coming from.
At first, I thought only one or two sirens had gathered, but then, I noticed even more joined the group.
Had the elders motioned to convene early?
No, that couldn’t be. They would never meet in the open like that, especially when we had the sacred pillars. We always met at the pillars.
When I tilted my head, I saw Tetwin in the front of the ever-expanding group. He held a spear in his hands, and he flashed it in a warning motion. My neck ached as I held the most awkward position, but I had to know what was happening. It wasn’t until I saw a similar grey shadow, taunting and agile, that I understood.
