The Sound of a Siren's Call

51.) Bakeries, Castles and Pirates

"I grew up in Stestead. I was 10 years old when the president was elected. It got scary, but it didn't get extreme for a while."

I just looked at her.

"My parents didn't want to move. The Chesney Square Massacre was what finally drove us out. My parents had a little bakery there. I was out with Leland, over at some house or other. We heard the gunshots before we knew what was happening. The family we were with had a little kid Leland's age. They didn't let any of us leave. One of the adults went out and the rest told me to take care of the kids. They came back that evening and told me that I'd be staying with them for a while. I only found out what happened by reading a paper. I lost that newspaper when... It doesn't matter. Most of the population moved out of Chesney after that, and we fled in the masses. Leland doesn't remember mom and dad. He was only one at the time."

She rocked back and forth, but she looked at peace.

"There's a safe haven, it's where we're going. They took a flood of magical creatures in. They're not an official part of Kiser, only a territory, so they have most of their own laws. We thought we were untouchable there."

"I'm guessing you weren't?" I tried to ask it as gently as possible.

"No. But it doesn't matter. That's home. I miss it. There was this tailor there that always made my clothes. Any time I ripped them, he'd be mad at me. The whole place raised me. It's where Leland grew up. The food was exquisite. They had these hot springs that you could bathe in. It was secluded. The older I got, the less humans were there until it was only us. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough."

"Yeah?" I smiled, picturing a little Ryan.

"Yeah. I had fun. I had my first girlfriend there. And my first boyfriend."

"What were they like?"

"My first girlfriend was good. She was fun, even if she ended up dumping me. I was upset so I rebounded into a serious of other relationships that were just messes. None of them lasted very long."

"Well, at least you had somebody."

"Yeah? I'm sure you did to. You're pretty enough to."

I laughed. "No. They were all terrified of me, and I didn't help myself."

"Was it the siren or the pirate that scared them?"

"Both, I'm pretty sure." I was laughing and it felt good.

"That makes sense." Ryan was giggling too.

"Yeah. No girlfriends for me." I leaned back.

She was smiling. "So, I guess I'm a first for you?" She waggled her eyebrows.

I leaned over. "Yes."

She bit her lip, her eyes glowing with amusement. Talking had helped.

"So, you're telling me that that was your first kiss?"

I laughed. "Yeah. Should I have made up a girlfriend?"

Ryan shook her head. "No. I just wish I'd brought a confetti canon to commemorate it. I didn't realize it was so big."

I shot her a fake glare, and we both laughed again. Castor was the first to wake up, his hair adorably disheveled. He sat down next to me and I couldn't help but ruffle it more. He batted my hand away, but it didn't undo the damage I'd done.

He prepared the three of us breakfast without asking if we wanted any. Luck would have it that we did want some.

"You went swimming?"

I nodded, picking at the thick goo in the bowl he handed me. I'd had it when I was little, though only in the worst of times. It was grainy, but it could keep longer than most foods, making it a favorite. It was something close to oatmeal, without the toppings or the relatively smooth texture.

I put it in my mouth and swallowed as quickly as I could. I did that until it was all gone. Castor didn't seem to have a problem with it.

"You like this?"

He looked up. "We have it back home. It keeps through the winter."

"Oh."

Ryan looked at him attentively. She signed lazily to accommodate me. "What's it like up North? I've heard you have a ton of castles."

Ryan translated for me too, Castor's hands gripping the bowl. "Yeah, there are a lot of castles. Big, stone ones. They're cold inside. There always have to be fires going unless its summer. And it doesn't even get warm in summer. Not like here."

The air around us was comfortable, but not hot. I couldn't imagine the weather as it was being the warmest it ever got.

Ryan pressed on, but most of what she said I'd already heard. Castor talked about his own experiences carefully. He didn't mention his parents or his brother.

I looked at him in wonder. He always struck me as looking young, as though I'd grown into my father's sense of anyone under 25-years-old being a child. If he was young, I didn't want to think about what that made me. I'd always been told I looked old for my age, that I could pass for being in my early 20s. But that didn't change how old I actually was.

I hugged my knees to my chest. The homesickness set in again. I was too young to be away from home, on my own. What had 16 years of experience taught me? Not enough evidently.

The whole adventure had shown that over and over again. I could fight, but not well enough to help myself.

I was glad when we got moving. Ryan and I walked hand in hand, trudging along where the grass dared try to replace the sang. The woods were a good way back, but I was glad not to be in their darkness. I found no comfort in its shadows.

Me and Ryan talked on the walk, sharing little anecdotes about home. Most of mine were about young pirating escapades, conquering the faraway seas or claiming some lost treasure. All things that a little girl would imagine sitting on her father's lap. 

My father entertained as much mythology as anyone. He loved tails of the great pirates that had ruled the seas before him. That had formed legions better than the loose coalition on the coast by South Hellendun. The loose agreement that said, "it doesn't help if I waste ammo, and it doesn't help you to get sunk." The agreement that meant that occasionally pirates would band together against common enemies or for common allies before settling back into a loose pattern of tolerance.

And that's how we were when we came upon Ryan's homeland.