I never wanted to leave that tower again. Even if that meant I had to stay with dangerous, mystical creatures I had never dreamed of seeing. There was something zo very intoxicating about this man. It caused me to act upon my very dangerous feelings, time and time again, instead of trusting on the experiences I had had with him before. Experiences that had not turned out so well for me, despite his claiming it to be for my own benefit.

Verdi was not to be trusted. Which was why, at some point, I found the courage to pull away.

He looked rather put out by that.

“My dear Jane-”

“Stop,” I said.

“It does not matter what you are about to say. It is very unfair for us to do this!”

I knew next to nothing about sirens, but Niobe was Asni’s mother, and had seemed the most human out of the three of them. I didn’t like the feeling of hurting her.

“Niobe knows about my hating the promise I made to her, she wishes for it to be released, but has no power over it,” he tried to reason.

“That does not mean she is unaffected by this! A promise is a promise.”

Before he could furtherly argue with me, the door of the room opened. A very worn-out Marcin stepped in, his sandals were muddy, and the braid in his beard was starting to loosen. Without as much as a glance at either of us, he grimly walked towards the fireplace, took a seat and began to take of his sandals.

“I never seem to be able to get some rest,” he complained, eyeing us, and taking out the remnants of the braid.

“But I do see you’ve been expecting us. You could have left the fire burning,” Verdi joked, as he took his distance from me.

“How funny,” Marcin said, a slight grin creeping up on his face, as sucking noises came from his fingers. It appeared that the iron on his fingers were fake fingers to replace his real ones, because he took them off, to reveal nothing.

I had to hold back a scream. Verdi eyed me amusedly.

“I would like to invite you to take a guess miss,” Verdi said.

“Who do you think is responsible for that?”

Marcin sighed.

‘“He likes to do let to people who see this for the first time guess who did it.”

I frowned at Verdi, silently reprimanding him for his behaviour. Yet, he had gained my curiosity.

“Is it someone that I know?”

“Yes,” they both responded. Verdi walked away from me, and sat next to Marcin, who beckoned for me to do the same. I reluctantly took a seat. It was very hard for me not to stare at his non-existent fingers.

“I think I have a hunch,” I said, somewhat sarcastically, “you were not exactly secretive about the animosity between you and captain Lionel.”

“Not exactly, no,” Marcin said, a great grin appearing on his face, “he is the reason we are on this damned island in the first place. We may be pirates, but at least we have some sense, unlike those blokes of mariners, who only think of glory.”

“You were, I presume, planning to raid the island?”

Marcin grinned.

“That goes without saying, miss. In hindsight, I don’t think we would have succeeded, but we were a lot closer to victory than those mariners, who think the law will protect them from anything. We were discovered by them, and were then forced to take part in their new mission: interrogating the habitants of the island. As soon as we reached the island we heard the most astonishing song. We immediately were entranced by it, as if we were under the influence of a spell. We went deeper inside the forest in the heart of the island, only to discover a large lake. Inside the lake, they waited. The trance disappeared, but we were told it was too late for us to leave, and that we would die if we would try to do so.”

“And you believed it?” I said, unconvinced.

“I did, but some poor fools didn’t. Their bones are now incorporated into this tower and the palace.”

I gagged.

“Excuse me?”

Verdi grinned.

“The walls are awfully white, don’t you think?”

“Are you implying that the palace and this tower are made out of human remains?” I screeched.

I got up, but my legs started to wobble. Honestly, one would think that after all I had been through I would have become a bit more resilient, but the thought of the walls being cultivated from bones was a bit too much for me to bear.

Verdi got up and put a hand on my back. It calmed me somewhat.

“You need to sit down. I know this is quite revolting information, but it will do you no good to go outside now, if perhaps one of the guards would see you, we would be in serious trouble.”

Marcin just kept grinning at me, did he have no heart? Then again, I wondered if I would be the same after losing three fingers. He was probably quite mad already.

“So,” Verdi said after leading me to a chair, and sitting down on one himself, “what are we going to do about this?”

I looked at him, raising an eyebrow. What was he talking about?

“That is a very good question. We need to be very careful,” responded Marcin.

“And stay away from the water,” said Verdi.

Marcin sighed. But a sly grin appeared on his face. His teeth were glittering again.

“And from our dear captain, surely. I think we will have to take turns, don’t you?”

“Perhaps our dear dancer will help,” Verdi responded, winking at me.

“I think I will pay her a visit,” Marcin said, getting up energetically.

“Are you ever going to explain this conversation?” I said angrily.

“My dear Jane, unlike you poor soul we have established a rather spiritual way of communicating,” said Verdi, undoubtedly amusing himself at my expense.

“Perhaps we should explain her,” said Marcin.

“Perhaps we should.”

Verdi made a wide gesture. His cape fell from his arms.

“You do not know a lot about this island.”

“I know sirens, descendants of sirens, pirates and mariners live here, lured by the sirens voices. They can only leave temporarily and must always return, or they will die. Except for me, the queen’s granddaughter.”

My eyes widened. I had been so caught up in my anger at Verdi for omitting that information that I completely forgot what it meant. I was free to leave the island as I pleased.

Marcin and Verdi grinned broadly at me.

“You realised it, did you not?”

I smiled, but it faded quickly.

“I did, but how on earth will I leave this island on my own, without a boat, or someone to sail or row it?”

“We have a theory,” said Marcin, rubbing his hands together.

“But before we tell you,” he said, looking warily at Verdi, you must promise to work together with us, whatever happens.”

I frowned. I never had been wary of making promises, but on this island, promises meant much more than they had before. I didn’t know Marcin well, but normally I would never consider to work together with a pirate. I looked at Verdi, who just nodded at me. Could I really trust him this time?

I didn’t really have a choice.

“I promise.”

“Excellent!” said Marcin.

“Promises to sirens are binding, but did we ever tell you that this also works the other way around?”

“One might think that as the granddaughter of the queen, I could be an exception,” I mumbled.

“You are an exception to most rules, except that one. Promises run deep when it comes to the fairy folk.”

“The fairy folk?”

Verdi sighed, as if he was preparing for something very tiring. Marcin’s eyes glinted dangerously.

“He has been obsessed with sirens and the fairy folk before, but it started to get out of hand after we got here. I have been stealing books for him about them.”

“Do you mean, there are other creatures than sirens?”

“Creatures and objects. I believe one of them is on the island, and I intend to obtain it, before we leave.”

“We?” I asked, confused.

“We are, of course, coming with you,” said Verdi.

For once, he wasn’t grinning slyly. He was smiling, beaming even, out of a happiness I had never seen on his face before. And although I was terrified at the risk this plan would bring, his smile filled my heart with a joy I didn’t know I was capable of feeling.