Song of the Sea

Chapter 6

The trip to Robtague Haven is brief. During the trip, we plan out what we will do. Aric says to surprise him and kill him, but Cai still says that he wants to fight.
I wake to the sound of shouting. I bolt upright and run out onto the deck. I see a harbor in the distance and run over to the captain.
"Well, she rises from the dead!" He claps my shoulder. "We should pull into the harbor in about an hour. Your father's already here. Got us here earlier than expected. Now you have three days to prepare." He points to a ship in the distance. "Right there." I look to see where he's pointing. Sure enough, I see his flag high above in the bay.
Aric walks over to me. "And how are you, this fine morning, my lady?" He takes my hand and kisses it. I search his face. No sign of the boy I had glimpsed yesterday.
"I am very well, kind sir. How do you fare?"
"I am absolutely delighted to hear that, miss. I seem to be in a rather excited mood."
"And may I ask why that is?"
"Look! We're here! In the legendary Robtague Haven! I've only heard about this place in stories." He drops the gentleman act and bounces on his toes.
I laugh. "500 years old and you haven't seen the whole world? What have you been doing with your life?"
He beams. "You know, living in the dark, dark depths of the sea. Until a young lady came along and helped me out of some trouble. Now I'm stuck with her for a bit."
"But you can just leave, can't you?" I ask.
"Nope. For us selkies, if our seal coat is stolen, we can't change back. Mine has been missing for a bit, so I need to find it and get back to my people."
I frown. "I thought you said that you were going to change back after this mission was complete."
"Yeah, after my mission is complete. I just said I would help you because you saved me. My mission is different."
"What's your mission?" I squint suspiciously.
"I can't tell you. Trust me, I would, but I can't. I just need to find my skin, and leave." He rolls his neck. "Here comes our lord and savior, Mr. Cairo Sullivan! How will you bless us with your presence today, Mr. Sullivan?"
Cai shoves him aside. "I need to speak with you. Now." He grabs my arm and tugs me into the shadows where we can't be overheard. I look at Aric and he wiggles his fingers before grabbing a rope and going to help the crew.
"I sent your father a letter saying I would duel him. He sent a letter back, saying the duel has been moved up a day. I said that was fine."
I stare at him. Now we have two days to prepare. No, no, no! This can't happen. I open my mouth to say something, but Cai interrupts me.
"I know, I know. But there's a reason I wanted only you to know this. I don't want any tears or goodbyes. Okay? Nobody knows about this. Not even Aric." At my raised eyebrow, he says, "I don't trust him. There's something shifty about him. He's always in the right place at the right time, and never where you last saw him. He's also going to try and stop me. I am going to tell him that he can go and duel, but not tell him it's in two days. He'll still think it's three. Not one word to anyone." I nod, trying to take that all in. "Thank you." I watch him walk off without another word.
We depart the ship a couple of hours later. The captain leads us on a horse, and the crew carries the luggage down. The town itself is very small but very cozy. Houses are painted every color I can think of, and small plants hang from the awnings. The streets are empty of people, and the sound of the horses' hooves on the cobblestone echoes in the silence. We pass by a bakery, and I catch a scent of freshly baked bread. I lean into the window and see lots of little cakes with elaborate designs on them. I look in the back but see nobody there. It's like a ghost town. In the distance, I see a giant circular structure. I squint, trying to see what it is.
"That's the arena," Cai says from behind me. I startle, and he snickers at my expression. "That's where we'll be fighting."
"It looks very... old. Have you been here before?"
"Yeah, I came once. It's the exact same." Cai points to a tall building to the right. "That's the bell tower. It's attached to a church where the people get married. It's almost eleven. See what happens when the bell strikes." He rides off to the front of the line and starts talking to the captain.
We come to a T-intersection, and in front of us is a small cafe. A girl is outside setting tables. She's the first person we've seen since we've been here. When she sees us, she hurries back inside and shuts the door. A chuckle comes from behind me.
"Well, it looks like we're the ones scaring everyone away." I look over my shoulder. Aric is sitting on a horse, his hands in cuffs. A chain attaches itself to a guard. He notices me staring. "They still don't trust me not to run off."
"Release him," I order the guard. He blinks at me. "You heard me. Release him. Now."
The guard takes out a key and unlocks the cuffs. "If he's lost, it's your problem," he growls.
"Yeah, yeah. He's not going to run off." I roll my eyes. "Come on, Aric." I am about to grab his hand when the bells start chiming. At once, all the shops open. The people swarm into the streets and begin to yell at us.
"Come get your food! Freshly picked food!" One person calls.
"Fabric! Organic fabric made from spider silk! Strongest thing in the world!" shouts a woman. I make my way towards her.
"Can I buy a 4 inch square of spider silk, please?" I ask. The woman squints.
"You're not from around here, are you?" Her voice is very gruff, and a pale circle wraps around her neck. She notices me staring. "Whatcha lookin' at?"
"Nothing," I stammer. "You're right, I'm not from around here. But I would like to buy it."
"Right then. That's five gold pieces."
"Five gold pieces! I bet I could buy a whole sail with that!"
"I bet you could. But spider silk is very hard to come by in this area, and it's very valuable. Although, if you don't have enough money, which I think you do-" she looks me up and down-"then I could offer you a trade. How about this for... a good deed?"
"Okay, I guess. A good deed shouldn't be hard, should it?"
"Not if you are a good person," the lady replies. "Here you are." She hands me the piece of silk. Right as it touches my hand, a burning sensation begins on my wrist. I look down and see a band of ink appear.
"What is this?" I exclaim. "What did you do to me?"
"That's what happens here when you make a trade that you have to do later. It's a reminder of something that needs to happen. As soon as you do it, it will fade." She grins. "Always ask the right questions before you agree to something. Have a great day!"
I reel back. How am I going to explain this to everyone? I tug my sleeve down so it covers my wrist. I turn, trying to find the crew.
"Aric? Cai? Where are you guys?" I yell. "Captain! Anybody! Where are you?" I look around, but can't see anyone except the marketeers. "Guys!" A hand clamps down on my mouth. I scream and try to bite it.
"Sh, sh. It's me, Aric." I stop struggling. "I'm going to take you back, okay?" I nod. "You won't scream, right?" I nod again. His hand disappears from my mouth and I spin around.
"What do you think you are doing? Trying to..." my voice trails off as I look at him. "What are you wearing?" For he was wearing a giant, fluffy, hat, and a sparkly pink bandana around his face. Only his eyes were visible. I look at his hands and see that they are cove with purple gloves.
"Um, I can't be out in the sun," he says. He fidgets with his gloves. I raise an eyebrow.
"Weren't you just in the sun when you were walking with us? And the whole time we were on the ocean?" I ask. He shifts.
"Um, no. I wasn't. What are you talking about?" He looks away. I wait. "Okay, fine. I can be in the sun. I lied. Sorry."
"Why are you wearing all that stuff then?"
He looks up and down the street before lowering his voice. "Some people here want to hurt me. Bad. Like really, really bad."
"Oh, yeah? Like who?" I grin at him.
"Shush! Not so loud! That girl who was out by the cafe? She wants to." Suddenly he looks down. "She's right there. Please don't do anything to draw attention."
"I think your outfit draws enough attention as is," I say. "What did you do to her?"
"Nothing." I step on his toe. "Ow! Okay, I may have led her on and then abandoned her."
"Why would you do that?"
"I was young and naive and thought it was funny but now I realize it's not. I was an idiot."
A shadow appears over us. I look up and see the girl standing there. I open my mouth to say something when she grabs Aric's face and pulls him to her. She throws off his hat and bandana.
"Aric?" she asks. He nods and looks like he wants to shrink into the ground. "You foolish boy, why did you come back? I told you not to come back!" She slaps him. Hard. I wince when I see the handprint on his face. "Why did you come back!"
"I don't know, Maria! I thought that you would have forgotten me-" The rest of his sentence is cut short as Maria kisses him.
"Wow. Okay. I was not expecting that," I say. They don't answer me. Instead, Maria pushes Aric against the wall and kisses him harder. Aric groans and flips her around so she's on the wall. She grins.
"Just like old times, yeah?" she whispers. Aric responds by biting her lip.
"I'm just going to go find the crew." I walk away as fast as I can without seeming like I'm running away. I think about what I just witnessed. It's completely normal for Aric to have a girlfriend, I think. But I can't help but be a little jealous. I push that feeling aside and decide to address it at a later time. I need to focus on finding Cai. I rack my brain, trying to figure out where they said they were going. The Six Wolves? The Seven Sins? I chuckle at that. No, it was... Seven Crows. I ask for directions and head to the hotel.
I get there and am relieved to see my friends there. Cai rushes towards me.
"I thought you were gone!" He pulls me in for a hug. "We were about to send out a search party. I'm glad you're okay."
I laugh. "Perfectly intact," I tell him. I recount what I saw with Aric. To my surprise, he chuckles. "What?"
"I'm not surprised. Guys like him, they've got to have girls on every island!" I smirk, thinking about Aric being slapped by girls everywhere he went. "Well, we're just getting set up. Everyone's being assigned chores and duties over the next few days. I think you're going to be picking out my armor." Cai grins. "I bet you're awesome at that!"
"Yep! I'll get you some armor so flashy that the other person won't even be able to look at you!"
Cai gasps. "You wouldn't!"
"I would!" I chuckle. "I'm just kidding. I'll get started right now. I bet they have tons here!"
Nobody seemed to have anything. No armor, so swords. The streets were lined with markets, but nothing with anything resembling a weapon. I see now why my father picked this place. It's impossible to find anything. I ended up getting some from this super shifty-looking store, and probably paid too much for it. The Robtague girls have been all over Cai recently. I work in a small booth near the ocean, and always see girls flocking around Cai every time he walks in. I smirk as he walks in now. The girls all crowd around him, swooning and giggling. Cai winks at one of them and she blushes bright red. I look around and see Aric standing in a shadowy alcove near the end of the market. He's watching Cai with a puzzled expression on his face. He turns his head towards me as if he can feel my gaze. We lock eyes, and I quickly look away. I've been avoiding him for the past two days, and he hasn't tried to approach me. Occasionally, I'll see him out with Maria, and I have that sense of jealousy, but I do my best to squash it. When I look up again, he's gone.
Later that day, I go out looking for a dress for the dinner feast. There's a lovely little shop sitting next to a bakery, and I can smell the freshly baked bread as I walk past. When I walk into the shop, a little bell tinkles and two women come out from behind a curtain. One is older, with white hair and smile lines. The other is a younger, middle-aged woman with full lips and dark, glossy hair that reaches her waist. The younger one has a small heart drawn underneath her eye. They both smile at me and bow, and I bow in return.
"I am looking for a dress to wear to a feast tonight," I say. They look at each other and smile knowingly. They pull me towards the back of the shop and make me sit down. They tell me to close my eyes, and I do. I listen to them chatter quietly about which dress I should wear, then feel a tap on my shoulder.
"Oh, it's gorgeous," I tell them when I see it. I try it on, and they croon over me. I buy it and tip them a few more gold coins with a wink.