A Siren at the Helm

Chapter X:The Boto of Montego Bay

As was the case with humans, every magical race had different nations. This was of course no different when it came to mers. Among others, both sirens and boto were one of these mer nations.

A boto was a type of mer that lived along the coasts of Latin America. Instead of a fish fluked tail like sirens, their flukes were shaped like half circles. While these tails were a ranged of any colour imaginable, boto typically had dark hair and obsidian eyes with cinnamon like skin.

Despite being one of the few mer nations that possessed no natural magic, boto were cheerful creatures. What they lacked in magic, they made up for with vibrancy and charisma. Boto cities were generally filled with a lively spirit and a sense of community that emanated from any gathering of people.

They had a complex language too. One that Amina had given up on learning after a few simple phrases. The siren tongue had been drilled into her with much effort and after that, she had simply refused to learn another language, mer or other. Amina had decided to appreciate the Boto in a more... familiar English or Siren if absolutely necessary. This was rather easy, considering that Amina's only true boto friend, spoke English as a home language.

Carmen was a boto. And a very peculiar one at that. Unlike other mers she had been raised in a household that had a regard for humans. Her parents had even gone so far as to give her a human name, which was virtually unheard of. They also referred to places on land (and sometimes even places underwater) in human terms. And yet, when it had been revealed that Carmen was in love with a human, people were still surprised that her parents did not object to the courtship. They actually encouraged it.

Though, it had to be said that Carmen could not have been a pure boto. Yes, while she had the typical half circle fluke, tanned skin and dark eyes, but her hair was a fierce and fiery red. Amina suspected that she had some siren blood. Carmen's late mother had had along with her boto features, the elongated lateral incisors and canines that belonged to sirens. This suggested a siren ancestor somewhere in the family's far past. While it was uncommon for different mers to pair, Amina had seen it before.

Their place of residence was another thing that made Carmen's family strange. The reefs of large Caribbean islands were generally unpopulated by mers because of the abundance of ships and fishing boats. But Carmen's parents, had chosen to live in Montego Bay.

Montego Bay was a port city on the Northern shore of Jamaica. The incoming British ships were protected by a proud establishment by the name of Fort Montego. Amina remembered being told of a big hullabaloo when, many years ago, one of the guns had exploded. The gunner had been killed and it had made the papers all over the island. They had shot at a ship once too. Someone in the fort had mistaken a British ship for a French privateer. Carmen's father, mr. Acalan, had been present that day, and he had said that the shot was miles off. It was safe to say, Amina thought, that it was definitely humans that manned the fort.

But humans too could be very dangerous. Amina shivered as she jumped out of the water, before diving back in like a dolphin. In the distance she could see the fort's looming shadow. It was a cold, dark spot on an otherwise bright horizon. She wondered how many pirates had met their unfortunate ends at the fortress's gallows. The place was supposed to protect the port from attacking pirates or enemies of the Brits after all.

Amina's tail flicked strongly, bringing her just a bit closer to her destination. With speed she sliced through the Carribean ocean, the water humming in her ears as she swam. The reefs of Montego Bay were slowly coming into view. A journey that would have taken weeks by ship, took only half the time by swimming.

Mrs. Evans had insisted that she help Amina pack for the trip. (This was quite useless as she had decided to swim and could not bring the suitcase.) After that she had traveled to the mainland with the ferry. This was purely to avoid suspicion from anyone on the island. There was already one person who knew her secret and Amina wanted to keep it that way.