Chapter 1
Beware the Sirens call
Her song can conquer all
Her wrath is great
Her voice the bait
Which lures men to their unlucky fate
She hath no mercy on any soul
Her heart is blackened ‘kin to coal
You’ll wished you prayed
Your soul to trade
When in your watery grave you wade
I gasped for air as my handmaiden, Cara tightened the strings of my corset once more. “I’m sorry, m’lady.” She apologizes tying off the strings at the top.
“It’s alright, Cara. I suppose I will never get used to the corset and the pain that comes with it.” I try to get used to breathing with the constriction around my torso. Once she’s done she hands me my cap and place it just over the neatly done pile of curls on the crown of my head.
“You must go now m’lady.” Cara ushers me towards the door. I walk swiftly, holding the heavy layers of my dress and avoid getting caught in the door because of my petticoat.
“Where is she? We told her to be ready by half noon.” My father’s voice echoes through the house.
“I’m here. I’m sorry mother, father.”
“Decent.” My father says gruffly, motioning for our butler to open the door.
“What are you talking about, Desmond, she looks beautiful.” My mother smiles.
He makes a grumbling noise, “Come, it is a long journey to the island.”
My mother hooks her arm in my father’s and I follow. My mom straightens my skirts once I get into the coach. I hear our coachmen snap the reigns and we’re on our way.
“I must say I’m pleased that you finally decided to come along to a hanging, Harry.” My father smiles, “I was beginning to think that you weren’t interested in the aspect of justice.” He laughs at the thought.
I hold back a frown—it’s a ridiculous statement, “Of course I believe in justice father. Especially for a low-life pirate.” Pirates are the lowest, grimiest, saddest excuse for a form of life. They steal, they’re greedy, they have extremely poor hygiene, and they have no morals whatsoever. At least that’s what we’re taught when we’re younger. I don’t think all pirates are bad really. In fact I think their lives are rather exciting—never staying in one place and getting to travel the world, sword fighting, raiding. Everything about it seemed so adventurous and wonderful. But as a lady, I’m meant to be quiet and polite and quaint. And as nobility, I stand for what’s fair to society.
But today, we are going to Hangman’s Island to attend the hanging of a pirate. One who is—or was—a member of the most well known and most feared pirate ship The Siren.
The pirates of The Siren were the fiercest beings alive. They’ve robbed hundreds of British ships and more of the Spanish and French. Every child and person has heard of the tales of the Siren. As told by the tales, one hears the beautiful voice of a siren before the ships canon’s fire and then there’s nothing. Or that’s the story my mother used to tell me.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I keep a hand over top of my cap as the wind gusts over the ship. I close my eyes and breathe in the salty air of the sea. If there was one thing I loved in my strict life, it was the short time I had sailing on the ocean. We would sometimes go to a separate island for the summer for holiday. The journey by ship was very brief but I recall it as the very best few hours of my life. When I open my eyes, I see Hangman’s Island in the distance. I feel a small shock of excitement go through me. I couldn’t wait to see the pirate. An actual pirate.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We reach the large balcony of the building across from the hanging gibbet and overlooking the crowd that had gathered there. While attempting to get to the front of the balcony I bump into another person.
“Oh, forgive me I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and—” I look up to see the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. Like the most rare of sapphires or the ocean, calm after a storm. She’s extremely beautiful, her cheekbones are high and sharp and her lips are lovely and pink.
The woman smiles and curtsies, “You’re forgiven, love. No harm done to my dress I hope.” She looks down to assess any damage on her pale cream-colored dress then shrugged. I watch her lips move but I can’t bring myself to speak still.
“Are you alright?” she asks, her lips quirked into a knowing smile. Of course she knew what I was staring at, she must know how attractive she is. Instead of replying I do something idiotic and take off in the opposite direction.
I find my parents standing off to my right and I rush over to them, trying to catch my breath. I’m sure I just had some kind of brush with death and that woman was an angel ready to deliver me from Hell.
“Lord and Lady Styles, how are you?” We look to our left where we see Earl and Lady Horan and their daughter Niall.
As our parents converse, I take the seat closest to Niall, “Are you excited to see the pirate?”
She beams at me, her blonde waves swishing as she nods her head, “I could barely wait on the ship here and I was nearly bouncing in my seat.”
“Me too. I can’t believe they were able to capture a member of The Siren. It’s unthinkable!”
She smiles at me, “Speaking of unthinkable, there’s a rumor going around that you fooled around with Lady Flack at the ball last week.”
I feign a shocked expression, “Whatever gives you that idea? I like boys.” I grin at the joke. I look around hoping no one heard our conversation, but when I look past Niall I see the woman with the blue eyes smiling at me. My eyes snap down to my hands.
She scoffs, “Yeah and I like wearing corsets tight enough to make my ribs cry.” We giggle quietly until we see the crier making his way to the platform.
He unrolls the scroll and clears his throat before shouting, “Lords and Ladies, nobility, and all who are in attendance. Today, we are here to witness the hanging of the pirate by the name Liam Payne. Liam Payne is found guilty on the charges of piracy, theft, murder—”
“Let’s get on with the hanging!” someone from below yells. The crowd begins to yell and as the crier attempts to speak over them, reading off his offenses, but he gives up. He waves to the hangman, motioning for him to bring over the offender.
I nudge Niall in the side when a figure is dragged over to the gibbet with a black bag over their head. I hold my breath as the hangman stands to the side of the pirate and removes the bag.
A collective gasp comes from the entire crowd—Liam Payne is a woman. There are suddenly shouts and things being thrown towards the gibbet platform. Why the crowd is even angrier at the fact that she’s a woman hardly seems fair. I feel a lot more respect for her, seeing her thievery and seamanship as an accomplishment really.
The hangman shoves her to stand on the crate in from of the noose. She looks quite smug for someone who’s about to be hung in front of nobility. The crowd quiets as soon as she stands on the crate. I lean forward staring at the woman.
“NOW!” we hear someone yell and a gun fires off; everyone screams and ducks, the guards on duty immediately going into action. My father keeps a hand on my back as well as my mothers as he tries to help us move through the crowd and to the staircase. Niall and her parents are following close by, ducked down as well.
I hear a clanging sound where grappling hooks are now hanging over the edge of the wall. I look up to see both men and women in worn clothing climbing over the wall of the balcony, wielding swords and guns—pirates!
I’m frozen on the spot when I see them fighting the guards with vigor. I look down to the panicked crowd below, but what catches my eye is the woman in the cream dress, running towards the harbor with Liam Payne.
My eyes widen and I grab Niall’s arm, “Come on!”
“What!” she screeches as I start running towards the staircase with her in tow. We shove past the scrambling people and make it to the bottom. I start sprinting as fast as I can towards the harbor, elbowing my way past people, Niall doing the same.
“Harry!” I turn to see her being scooped up by two pirates, but before I can come to her rescue I’m being picked up myself. I scream and thrash, trying to loosen my captors’ hold on me but suddenly something heavy makes contact with the back of my head and I’m out cold.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I’m dreaming that I’m out at sea. It’s more of a memory. One of the first times I went out to sea, to sail to the island for holiday. I fell asleep on the deck with my mum’s hands stroking my hair. I would feel the sway of the boat, almost rocking me to sleep. The waves crashing against the boat and one another were the lullaby.
I hear muffled yelling now and I don’t remember that happening. I open my eyes and don’t find my mother stroking my hair, but I’m met with a dimly lit room lit only with the light coming through a porthole.
A porthole? I sit up quickly but regret it. My head aches all over causing my vision to go fuzzy for a bit. I feel a bump on the back of my head then recall being knocked out. But why? I look around the room and see Niall lying down next to me.
“Niall!” I yell, shaking her shoulder.
She rolls over onto her back and yawns, “Why’d you wake me? I was having a wonderful dream about breakfast.”
“Niall! I think we’ve been kidnapped!”
She sits up quickly and looks around, “No! By who? What—where—”
A door suddenly opens and slams against a wall, “Ladies, you’re awake.” We look up to see the pirate Liam Payne leaning against the doorway.
“Where are we?” I ask timidly. I didn’t miss the way Niall cowered behind me.
“Welcome aboard the Siren.”