I followed Asni out of the wooden door, feeling a bit guilty, but also very relieved. We reached the main entrance, and went straight through the double doors. The hallway behind it was richly decorated, with a stairs of which the handrails resembled eels.

Asni’s black braids flowed elegantly behind her. Bells, which were bound at the end of her hair, jingled as she walked. I was still amazed at the look of her darker skin. I had only heard about people with darker skin from others, or read about them in my books. I felt quite lucky to see someone who looked like that in person. And I am ashamed to admit how jealous I already was of her. I felt quite dull when next to her. Although I came from a very wealthy family –and I was very proud of that- that didn’t matter at this island. Neither did the cords and pearls in my hair, nor the fine fabrics of and embroidery on my skirt, which were all further displays of my parents’ wealth. To make matters worse, they had all gotten quite filthy, and I probably reeked of the hold. Asni, on the contrary smelled like a sweet spice.

When we reached the end of the stairs, we reached another hallway, with a lot of bronze doors, with knobs made into the claw of a bird.

“These are the compartments of the lures.”

“Are those the people like Verdi?”

She slightly bared her teeth.

“Yes, quite like Verdi. However Verdi is a special kind of lure. You could call him the governor of all lures.”

I frowned at her words. I didn’t assume Verdi to be so important. He didn’t seem like the kind of person to respect authority, let alone to govern others. Or maybe his disliking authority was the exact reason for him to have it.

I thought of his eyes, shining mischievously in the darkness.

“Do all of them have a medallion like his?”

Asni shook her head and walked towards the end of the hallway, I followed suit.

“It’s because of Verdi you’re here. He requested you’d be the one to serve dinner to our decoys.”

Verdi had? By this time I had been convinced he had forgotten all about me.

“Don’t smile so triumphantly,” sneered Asni as she opened the doors at the end of the hallway.

The first thing that caught my eye about the dining room was the statue of a woman. She was even more beautiful than the siren at the front of the ship. She was dressed in the kind of robe a queen would wear. I knew that because I had once been so lucky as to have a glance at the queen. Her hair was painted in a bronze colour. She had arranged her jewellery quite peculiarly, for she was wearing pearls together with a silver and a golden necklace. Even I thought it was a bit excessive. It looked like she had just picked every single piece of jewellery from her boudoir and put them all on at once. Her eyes were made out of dark blue crystals and her mouth was slightly open, was if she was about to hum a song. She vaguely reminded me of someone, but I didn’t know who. However, the most striking thing about her was the crown of feathers placed on her head.

“That is Agueda,” said a voice behind me. I turned around to find a tall man with a vacant, but kind expression, which was emphasized by a few wrinkles, behind me. He was wearing a cloak and a dagger similar to Verdi’s. However, his cloak was grey and his dagger was made out of iron.

He bowed.

“My name is Lionel, miss.”

The civility of this man caught me so off guard that I almost burst into tears, but I quickly made a reverence. I never forgot my manners.

“You are assigned to bring us our meals from now on. I was worried at first about a prisoner serving our meals, but I am partially consoled now that I have seen you.”

“I am glad to hear it.”

I was a noble. Even though my father had bought himself a title, how could I possibly serve people? The mere thought was pure insolence, but it was better than the alternative.

I thought of the small girl in the hold.

“Can anyone else also fulfil this duty? There is a very young girl downstairs who would love to help.”

The man shook his head.

“I am sure, however that the girl will not be harmed. Agueada loves children, as she loves all humans.”

I did wonder if that Agueda’s love meant enough love to eat them. I found it quite shocking to hear Lionel talk with such admiration of a woman, a siren that would probably consume the majority of the people downstairs.

“If it wasn’t for Verdi’s concern, you wouldn’t be here, but now you must excuse me, for dinner will soon be served. And, if I am not mistaken, this will be done by you!”

He left me to sit at a long table made out of fossilized wood. Candelabras were placed at both sides of the table. To my astonishment, the flames of the candles were blue, while the candles themselves had a turquoise colour. I was strangely reminded of the well I had been in a few days ago.

Soon, more men in grey cloaks arrived. Some of them were older, some of them were very young. I wondered when Verdi would arrive, but before I could see him, Asni impatiently ordered for me to get to the kitchen. A large man with the same early wrinkled face as Lionel was cutting slices of bread, and a thin boy in a simple white shirt was putting some salt and olive oil into cups. All of this was put onto a porcelain plate and given to a girl slightly younger than myself. She smiled kindly at me before heading to the dining table to serve the bread.

“Here are some clean clothes,” said Asni, while she handed me a simple chemise, a petticoat with side lacing -which I had never worn before- , a skirt and a waistcoat. All of them were horribly plain and cheap compared to what I was wearing now, but the condition of my clothes –not to mention my odor- was so horrible that I couldn’t possibly complain.

Surprisingly, Asni sternly eyed the two men in the kitchen.

“You will not look.”

They sighed, nodded and got on with their work, while I embarrassedly tried to lace up my petticoat.

“You have never worn this before?” Asni asked. I nodded, scared of the annoyance she would undoubtedly demonstrate at my incapability to tie my own lace.

“I haven’t, either,” she said shyly. I eyed her clothes once more. They would be called right out barbaric in my home, but I rather liked the extravagance, and the uniqueness of it.

To my astonishment, she began to help me.

“I have never gotten the chance to figure out how these petticoats with laces work. I don’t really dare to wear them myself. It looks suffocating.”

“Sometimes they are, but corsets are much worse.”

“Was that what you were wearing just now?” Asni asked in wonder.

I nodded.

“They are terrible. But we wear them because it makes us look more desirable.”

“What is desirable about being crushed to death?” Asni asked in astonishment.

“Frankly, I have no idea. Most women want to have a flat stomach.” I couldn’t help but giggle when Lady Olive immediately came to my mind.

“You probably don’t need that,” I blurted out.

“I don’t want that, which is why I don’t wear them. My mother always brings me new trinkets from the south, where my father was from.”

“Who is your mother?” I didn’t dare ask about her father. The way her light eyes faced down as she spoke of him prevented me from doing so.

She smiled triumphantly.

“You will meet her no doubt! Her name is Niobe, and she might have one of the most beautiful voices in the world. I myself like to dance.”

Before I could ask her more about her mother, she clapped her hands.

“Your lace is all done now, so we need to serve the wine soon.”

I followed her to get the cups and a bottle of a slightly green looking wine.

“I will take this bottle. You will take the rest of the cups and the smaller bottle of red wine, that one is for Verdi. Quickly now, he gets most impatient when it comes to his liquor.”

I hurriedly followed her, my mind consumed by one assumption only. Asni’s mother was a siren.