Dirty Lying Sirens

Chapter Twenty Seven

Madeline

My throat was burning, and I drank deeply from the herbal tea that a young siren handed me. Jacinta. The young, shy girl that had greeted me with the other sirens when I came to have breakfast with them the other day. Some of the others I had come to recognize now, like Amara, were taking shifts in the towers that surrounded the bubble of island.

After a long morning of singing practice that stretched my vocal chords in every direction, trying to fill my mind with the nuances and repeating tones. The ways to make that pull in my chest, that sway, to work when I wanted it to. It was only a handful of hours, unable to work that hard for that long before my voice tired of being used. That was fine, it was just like working out my body after a long stretch out of the gym. I needed to build it up, and I was ready to try.

"Thanks," I sighed, passing the cup back to Jacinta with a smile. The shy girl gave me an amused smile, then tucked the cup and jug of tea away on a low table to the side of the large living room in the house of sirens.

She didn't speak much but it was just me, Jacinta, and the elder Ashana here for lessons. Luckily, there was little in the way of instructions for Jacinta to translate. For the most part, Ashana demonstrated, and we mimicked like baby birds.

Ashana was now resting on one of the floor cushions, similar to the ones I'd come to love napping on in Caspian's house but made of finer threads with more detailed embroidery on them. The older woman's eyes were closed, a smile on her lips as warm sun fell over her through the domed glass overhead.

Letting the air leave my lungs in a slow, tired hiss, I turned to my one classmate. "So, what's next?"

Jacinta shrugged, playing with the end of one of her twin braids when her eyes moved to the front door at the same time as mine. In danced four sirens, two that I didn't recognize that could be big sisters or aunts to me, the other two I did know from my first meeting.

"Madeline." A slender, cat-like siren with short cropped hair that I recognized brought the group's attention to me as they all came to settle in the living space around us. I didn't remember her name, but I didn't remember all the names that had been poured down my through that first day. Thankfully, they hadn't seemed to expect me to absorb it all right away.

Two of the sirens sat on either side of Ashana, greeting her softly in Atlantian and one kissing the old woman's cheek. The siren who said my name sat across from me and pointed to herself. "Larisa."

Memory lit my face. "Yes! Larisa, thank you."

She grinned, a sly smile that illuminated her face and danced in her eyes. She was maybe in her mid thirties, but already with a streak of silver forming just above each ear. "You will learn in time."

"Larisa, daeiosalasa-"

"Bah! English, we have a guest," Larisa chided the other siren I recognized. 

"Sorry." She shot me an apologetic look, turning back to Larisa. "Do you want to go shopping for a new dress before the . . . " She screwed up her face, looking for the word.

"Ball?" Larisa supplied. "Dance?"

"Yes, that works. Do you want to go find new dresses together tomorrow?"

Larisa shrugged. "I have a shift in the north tower tomorrow." Then she turned to me. "Has anyone told you about our event yet?"

I shook my head, eyeing Ashana. As fruitful as my first lesson had been, the language barrier had been enough of a challenge that conversation hadn't strayed from absolute necessity. One of the older sirens was speaking to Ashana when the old siren's face lit up. "Vellieovasa!" she exclaimed.