Voice of a Siren: Tales of Esper Sea by Kassidy Kameron

Author:Kassidy Kameron [Kameron, Kassidy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent
Published: 2022-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Ashe

I’m swimming. Though underwater, I can breathe. They’re not normal breaths—it’s as if the water flows into my lungs and out. My chest does not even rise and fall. How odd.

A voice calls out my name.

“I’m here,” I answer. Wait. I can speak? Strangely, my voice comes out like a song. I always did like to sing. It has always been a part of me, a part I didn’t realize I was sorely missing.

Giddy, I laugh, twirling through the water like a fish. An old folk song enters my mind and I sing loudly, reveling in the fact that my voice is here.

The voice that called my name speaks again. “Yes, my child, sing. Spread your song far and wide.” The voice is lilting, too. I recognize it, but when I try to grasp the memory, it flits away. Why can I not remember?

“You must sing,” she repeats. “Call them here for me.”

The voice sounds maternal, but for some reason, it makes me ill at ease. I do not trust it. I need to get away.

I start to swim, and a hand grips my wrist. I look down to see…only water. The hand itself is made of water. I scream, pulling away, but it—she—grips me harder.

“Landric!” I sing. The mark on my wrist grows hot and immediately the watery hand turns to steam. Impossible, as I’m still underwater, but I do not take the time to question it. I bolt to the surface. When my head breaks through, I open my eyes to my sleeping chamber.

I’m sitting up on the bed, the sheets twisted around my legs. Sweat beads upon my brow; I wipe it away with the sleeve of my nightdress. Remembering my voice I try to call out. “Landric!” But alas, no sound bursts forth. I flop my head back upon my pillows in frustration. I do miss my voice.

But after three months of daily lessons and a fierce determination on his half, at least I can speak with my hands when conversing with Landric. Kaysha is getting proficient at reading signs as well. It is so much more pleasant now than when I had to carry my slate everywhere.

Still, I miss singing. Humming. Before, it was barely a niggling feeling. But as time goes on, memories and feelings of singing seem to be sprouting up in my soul. It’s peculiar, to say the least.

* * *

At breakfast, the family discusses plans for Kaysha’s eighteenth birthday celebration. She has some grand aspirations for the party. But it’s also considered a coming-of-age celebration, as no woman in the Vallance family history has been betrothed before reaching their eighteenth year. The crown prince from the closest neighboring kingdom, Middea, is scheduled to attend. Kaysha says she is not interested in snagging the prince, but that’s only because she has dreams of traveling before becoming a wife.

I’m seated between Rowan and Landric, and Rowan leans over to whisper to me, “I’m feeling severely undervalued as a member of this family. My eighteenth birthday consisted of a family dinner and my mother retired early with a headache.

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