“But the only time you weren’t an outsider was the day you saved me from those merchants,” said Marina. “You are not an outsider to me; you are a hero. Don’t you remember that day?”
“Of course, I always remember that day,” Vaeludar said firmly. “That was the day we first met. Those bloody merchants paid to kill your kin for hunting purposes. I remember what happened to the Sirens. All were killed for devouring men, but not you. You are Marina, the last Siren. I saw you caught in the net and ten hatful men trying to end your life. I pounced in and burned them and saved you. You weren’t a monster from what I saw, Marina; a lovely fish-in-distress who needed help.”
“Who are you calling a ‘fish’? I am a Siren.”
“Well, I’ve heard Sirens are part of the underwater fish family.”
“And you have heard wrong. Sirens are not small, three-inch creatures with fins and tails. I consider my species part of the human race, a thousand times removed.”
“That sounds logical enough,” said Vaeludar. “I am starting to do away with this outsider stuff and should really be with someone who could be considered an outsider, which was considered to have a dangerous reputation.”
“Without you, I wouldn’t be…” Marina paused. Her eyes shifted from Vaeludar to the hilt of the sword sheathed away. “What is that behind your back?”
Vaeludar blinked as to why the Siren was asking about the sword he had tucked away. He could his mind off Marina since it had been five years he last saw her. Then Vaeludar grabbed untied and grabbed the scabbard, so Marina would know what she was asking about. “You mean this big thing?”
Marina saw the sword and the scabbard it is sheathed in. She didn’t look impressed. “You’re holding a piece of junk.”
Now Vaeludar wasn’t impressed by Marina’s judgment of the awesome sword he was holding. “How can you say ‘junk’ to this thing?” he asked. Then Vaeludar grabbed the hilt and drew out the blade.
Marina gave a small soft scream by the sight of Vaeludar quickly pulling out the sword. Her scream was so soft and silent it couldn’t scare a pigeon from a stone cold statue.
“What was that for? I wanted to show you this isn’t some ‘junk,’ it is a sword I found. You didn’t need to scream. Unless you were thinking I was going to cut something up.”
“Cut something up?” said Marina. “That thing was one of the things that killed many Sirens. Many of my people had been felled by these weapons and you’re carrying one of them. I have sensitive soars of that thing. I don’t want to be seeing one.”
“I haven’t killed anyone with this thing. I just found this sword a few days ago.” Vaeludar held up the sword and hoped the blue blade would kill Marina’s anxiety of the blade; he knew the Siren’s favorite color was blue. He knew she wouldn’t be able to resist keeping her eyes off the sword.
“I don’t care if you killed with the thing, I don’t want to see a weapon I remember seeing in nearly killing me or killing my mother.”
It didn’t seem to be working. Vaeludar trying to show the blue blade to Marina’s eyes was causing more flares than admiration. Then, he spun the blade in a full circle and a blue mist echoed from Vaeludar’s spin of the sword.
Marina’s eyes had sparked with amazement. Her anger of the weapon turned into curiosity and into a great wonder. Her quick anger transformed into a quick marvel. It appeared anything that was blue-colored of anything can change the heart of a Siren in a matter of seconds.
“Now since that’s settled, I need to know: why did the king come here?” asked Vaeludar. He quickly placed the sword back into the scabbard and flung it onto his back. “Has he heard of me killing the Minotaur?”
Marina blinked when Vaeludar drew away the sword. She looked like she was in a trance when she was looking at the blue sword Vaeludar was holding. She rubbed her head before answering, “Yes. King Uragiru traveled from the capital to see you. And it had been five years since he was last been here and five years since I last saw you, so I wanted to come alone.”
“But…” said Vaeludar.
“But I wasn’t the only—”
“She wasn’t the only one that wanted direct attention from you,” said another female voice, interrupting both Marina and Vaeludar.
Vaeludar and Marina looked towards a seventeen-year-old girl dressed about the same as Marina but in pink. Her hair was blond, and her face was covered in makeup, which made her seem attractive.
Vaeludar knew the girl had to be royalty and saw she was beautiful, but she couldn’t be compared to Marina.
“So you’re the creature who killed the monster,” she said in a cheerful mood. “I always wanted to see you up close. And stay away from him, Marina. He is mine. He is so mine.”
“What do you mean, Stephanie?” asked Marina.
“I know what she means: she wants me to be her groom,” said Vaeludar, flapping his wings and rising to the house’s roof. “That is not going to happen. I’m not going to be any princess’ groom-to-be.”
“Oh, yes you will and get down here,” she ordered.
“I don’t take orders from royalty,” argued Vaeludar lying down on the roof and overlapping his legs and positioning his body if he was lying on a couch. “If you haven’t heard about the recent fights going around in this town, you’re going to be in one heck of a surprise. I’d suggest you stay clear of my wrath and my hybrid power.”
“Get down this instant!”
“Now you’re sounding like a mother. This is becoming more entertaining every second passing by.
