Mistress of Siren Cove

Chapter 6: Going Home

Miriam led Elysia back to her room, which was not in the same state as when she had left it. The clothing had been neatly put away, the bed made, and a vase of tropical flowers had been placed near the bed.

"The Mistress is now meeting with Antoinette, and when that meeting is over, Antoinette will come to see you. I will arrange for a meal to be sent to you both here. We think it is best that few people on the island know of you until you get back. Already, there is talk of the Mistress receiving an important visitor, and we would prefer that talk to quiet down until you return from the States."

"There seems to be a lot of secrets here, Miriam," Elysia said.

"You learn quickly. This is a place of great power, and where there is great power, there are many who would seek it, by any means. You are the daughter of the Mistress and the direct inheritor of many of her abilities. This means that you may be more powerful than anyone except the Mistress. But we do not know the extent of your gifts, and more importantly, you do not know how to use them. The Mistress has told me that you have used power unconsciously, intuitively, but others with less inherent abilities can do far more than you. Before you reveal yourself, you must learn, and you must practice. That is why, when you go back to the States, Antoinette will go with you."

"Antoinette does not know who you are, and she must not know. She is aware that you are important, however, and the Mistress will tell her you have the power but have never learned to use it. She is also being told that you have access, through your husband, to a substantial fortune. This should satisfy her curiosity about your importance."

Elysia sat pondering her new life. She laughed at herself about all the possible outcomes she and Andrew had imagined during the long hours on the boat, and how none of them had come close. Her new reality was beyond anything they could have guessed. She told herself that, in the future, she should try to keep her eyes and ears open and learn to understand. She realized that she had no basis for navigating this new world by herself and must depend on the three women she knew here, even Antoinette, for guidance.

Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door. Elysia opened it to find Antoinette, who stood looking back uncertainly. Elysia's first reaction was anger, but she pushed it down and hoped it did not show in her eyes. She knew that she had to work with this woman and did not want anything getting between them.

She let her training as a lawyer come to the surface and said, "Hello, Antoinette. I understand we will be working together for a while. Let me apologize for how I treated you last night. I was exhausted and frightened, and I know now that you were only following the orders of the Mistress. Can you forgive me?"

Looking surprised and relieved, Antoinette said, "I understand how it was for you, and of course I forgive you."

"Thank you. And I noticed some of the others called you Annie. Can I call you that? Do you prefer it?"

"Yes, all my friends call me Annie. Maybe we can learn to be friends as well."

"I hope so, since we may be working closely for a while."

"Now, Elysia, I need to tell you about the plan we have developed to get you back to the States. This is a plan we have been working on along with the piracy of the sailboat."

The idea was based on a lie that she would tell about the sailboat being struck in the night by a large ship. This story would be plausible because such things did happen in the general area they would select. Elysia would say that she was on deck, with her husband, sleeping, when their sailboat was struck and cut in half. She saw that the boat was sinking and grabbed a life preserver. She looked for her husband but did not see him. She then jumped into the sea, and floated there as the sailboat sank and the big ship passed by.

She would say that it was very dark, but that she paddled around looking for survivors, and did not find any. Not knowing where she was, she found other floating debris, and cobbled together a sort of raft. She floated for nearly a day, covering herself with her robe so that she could avoid the sun. As evening approached, she saw an island and paddled toward it. Once on the beach, she was spotted by a young woman who took her into her home.

Before boarding the plane that night, she visited Andrew, who seemed cheerful, but guilty. He admitted to Elysia that he had slept with Antoinette three different times, twice on the boat. He said he did not know why he could not resist and begged Elysia for forgiveness. They talked for an hour, and Elysia repeatedly told him that everything was alright.

"Andrew, I know this may sound strange, but you did nothing wrong by sleeping with her. I can't tell you why right now. We'll talk later. But I still love you, and I want to return and enjoy sleeping with you again, but not now. I have to leave this island and may not be back for weeks. In the meantime, enjoy your life here. The women on the island will want to make love with you, and you'll want to make love with them. You have my blessing to do it. Some you'll fall in love with. I know it sounds strange, maybe unbelievable, but I want you to do this. Enjoy all the lovely things this place has to offer."

Then she kissed him lovingly, said farewell, and left to get on the plane. It was a seaplane and would take her to the island where her rescue would supposedly take place. It was her and two men in the plane. The men talked little, and Elysia said nothing beyond hello. It was a long flight, crossing over long expanses of empty sea, and a number of small islands, some barely visible against the dark water.

She tried not to think beyond what she was required to do next. Things were happening too fast. Only twenty-four hours before, she had come to Siren Cove, and there her life was upended with the knowledge of who she was and what she was. This was another strange trip, and she wondered what she would face when she got to their destination.

The plane landed a mile offshore of an island located a few hundred miles away from Siren Cove. They came to the island by boat, making sure that nobody was there to observe them. She was then taken to a modest house nestled near the beach, where she was greeted by a woman with kind eyes and a gentle smile. This woman, whose name Elysia would come to know as Amelia, would tell authorities that she had found her washed up on the shore, exhausted and ill. It was four days now since the ordeal on the sailboat.

The next morning, Amelia drove Elysia to a small town, where Elysia told her story to the police. Amelia said she found her on the beach three days before, but Elysia had been ill and needed rest before she could make the two-hour journey to town. The police took note of their stories, promising to investigate the incident further.

From there, Elysia made contact with her old law firm and told them what happened. She asked for their assistance in getting her the necessary paperwork, new identification, credit cards, and cash, to return to the States. A few days later, she was back in Chicago, walking through the front door of Andrew's home in Highland Park.