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Swan Manor was handsome and large, a rose garden surrounding it. Stones resting on overgrown grass lead the way to the entrance, where two willow trees guarded the door. The sea was not far away, and the sound of waves crashing against the shore reached the residence. After all, the sea was the Swans' real home, and the manor just a temporary place for them to dwell.
The whole family lived there, but never were they all in the house, for some watched over the hospital's patients at night, and others cared for them during the day. The youngest Swan had just turned three years old, the oldest 119, the twenty others in the house aging somewhere in-between. The time they did not spend at the hospital, they wasted by the sea, for everyone except two in the family were women, and had therefore the Siren curse placed upon them.
Darya had gone to the ocean after her daily rounds at the hospital, and salt-water was still dripping from her golden hair when she entered the manor. She had spent too much time with the waves, and she felt guilty, for she had promised her mother to come home early to help her make dinner. Clutching her locket, biting down on her lip, she entered the living room, ready to put up with any outcries.
Luckily, her mother had still not come home from her rounds at the hospital. In the living room, where walls had been painted light blue, seashells were resting on crooked tables and sunlight covered like a blanket, sat the oldest Swan, her sister, and her cousin.
"You're late," said Valerie, almost irked. But Darya had needed all the time in the world by the ocean today. Her head was filled with questions about Riddle.
"Did the ocean give you the answers you wanted?" Darya's grandmother Cordelia asked. She pushed her white, thin hair out of her face with her shaking fingers to get a look at her.
"No," Darya answered and walked to kiss her cheek, "perhaps it will tomorrow."
Her cousin, who was only ten, but had the courage of a lion, burst out, "Can I join you tomorrow?"
Jada sighed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Turning to Cordelia, she asked, "What kind of curse makes us like this, but still won't help me swim?"
Cordelia leaned back in her chair. Darya knew which story she was about to tell. Cordelia was always the one who told it, for it was about her mother.
It was her mother who the Siren curse had firstly been placed upon. She would usually not tell the story before the listener had turned eleven and gotten their Hogwarts letter, but she knew well that Jada's curiosity would never die.
"A curse created to make women suffer," Cordelia began. "Placed upon my mother while our family still lived in Greece."
"She must have done something terrible, then," Jada said, "to deserve a curse to make her suffer."
