In the stillness of the room, Jeremy's mind became a whirlpool of thoughts, each one more ominous than the last. He couldn't help but feel a growing sense of dread as his brain mulled over the captain's words.
Greg had always been a master at choosing his words carefully, and his negotiation skills were well-regarded. He was the one who taught Jeremy and Delia much over the years, and they knew firsthand the power of letting people come to their own conclusions. It was a tactic that had served them well in the past. A tactic they tried with House El, and it seemed that Greg was now using it against them.
"What's the likelihood of them joining the guild?" Jeremy asked, his voice betraying his unease. If he was right, if he had caught on to Greg's play, then he knew he wouldn’t be able to support the man, perhaps for the first time. Abandoning the crew without telling them why… It was simply cruel.
The man's silence was all the confirmation that Jeremy needed, and the feeling of nausea that had been gnawing at his insides only intensified.
“The guild wouldn’t accept them, would it?” Jeremy guessed. “They would need to awaken first. Become a red first, right?”
“Wait, you can become a Red?!” Gavin burst out. “I thought you were born like that?”
Jeremy almost flinched at the eruption. “You… didn’t tell him?” he asked.
“He told us Jonah was a red,” Gavin said, “That the guards were Reds. It’s why they were chosen and why they were freakishly strong.”
“But he never told you that you can awaken?”
“I don’t even know what awaken means!”
“Will you all stay quiet for a moment!” Greg snapped. “Let me tell you the choice we have. Let me paint you a picture of what will happen if they don’t stay here. We take them back. The royal guard inevitably gets a whiff of the events. And then they investigate. They will find me. They will learn about Jonah. And then they hunt each one of us down until we all hang from Ash trees for treason!”
Spittle flew from his mouth, and his words were laced with a potent mix of restrained fury and raw emotion. “Now, before you argue that the crew wouldn' say a word, tell me this. Would you guarantee it with your life?”
He looked at each of them in the eyes as he spoke like a man possessed. “Rumours spread like wildfire. If we don't cut them off, I can guarantee you that the entire crew will know. But let's pretend that's fine. The whole crew knows. What do we do when someone joins? What about when someone leaves? What do we do when Felix's family or friends eventually speak to one of the shipmates? Or when the little fools drink a little too much and words escape their mouths?
“There are too many variables we cannot control. Someone will learn of the story of the siren. Someone will learn about Cassie's prank. And they will link that to Felix's death. And when that happens, the paranoid cultist guards will come for us. Is that clear?!"
The room fell silent, the gravity of the situation finally dawning on them. Greg was right in that there was no guarantee of keeping the crew's mouths shut. He understood Greg's reluctance to tell them the truth, but forcing them to stay here? It still felt so wrong.
“But if we tell them this,” Delia said in a small voice, “surely they wouldn’t go around telling anyone?”
“Don’t be a child Delia. Secrets shared are no longer secrets,” Greg said wearily. “The other choice is we never go back to Askern. All of us stay here.”
Jeremy had no family of his own, so it made little difference to him. But amongst the crew of three dozen, he knew many of them did.
“The crew won't accept that,” Jeremy said.
“I know,” Greg said with gritted teeth. “We either let the three who know stay here, or we force everyone to stay. I won’t kill my men. I won’t abandon them on the island without shelter or means to live by. If they go with Jonah and Delia, they would be kept safe to some degree. I would be able to organise their safety too.”
“Wait, Jonah and Delia are leaving?” Karl asked with a shocked expression.
Jeremy, Greg, and Gavin turned to the man.
“They’ve literally said that three minutes ago,” Gavin said. “Get your head out of the clouds.”
“I know Jonah’s going, but he’s a Red. Delia’s going too?”
“This isn’t the time,” Gavin said.
“But… it is, isn’t it?” Karl said. “Cassie was making it out like this was a place no one could live, unless you were special. But if the captain is letting Delia go, it isn’t that bad, right?”
“Exactly. It’s dangerous, but not a death trap. How many times must I explain I am not sendin’ anyone to the grave?!” Greg said, exasperated. “Right, unless anyone has any more questions, I need to find those three and separate them from the crew.”
"There's one thing I don't understand," Jeremy said. "Okay, a lot more than one, but here's the first one In my head right now.”
“Go on,” Greg prompted, as Jeremy searched for the right words.
“The royal guard will hunt us to stop the spread of these stories, right?”
The captain nodded.
“If the guard keeps clamping down on these stories so much, then how have we heard of them?” he asked. “Why do we know what Sirens or Krakens even are?”
"How have you heard of Hercules or Zeus? Stories are hard to suppress," Greg answered. "So what they do is make them just that. Stories. No, that's not right — a legend is more like it. Tales that are told, not written."
"But the bestiary is written?" Jeremy said.
"And it's a forbidden book," Greg said. " They won't punish you for it, otherwise it'll just give credit to it. But it might accidentally go missing or get damaged if they knew about it. You'll never find published pieces like that in Askern either. And anyone trying to sell something they don't like will get censored."
"I see…"
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“Good. Now, is that everything?”
"Can we talk about ranks?" Gavin asked.
Greg sighed, the restrained fury disappearing as quickly as it appeared. "Later,” he said. “After we deal with this."
"Fine by me, Cap."
“There’s still the problem of the others knowing,” Delia said. “Cass told me three of the crew definitely know of the Sirens, but how can we confidently say others have no idea?”
The question surprised Jeremy, considering Delia wasn’t disapproving of Greg's suggestion of leaving people behind. Perhaps she accepted the proposal more easily than Cassie or he did. Jeremy still felt uneasy about it all, but he understood Greg's reasoning. He just didn't have any alternative solution.
“Cassie, when she did the health quizzing, also asked them what they remembered from the last few months,” Greg said. “Almost all of them said Kraken, the storms, finding land, the stink bombs, or the shouting in their ears causin’ them to shit themselves. None of them mentioned sirens.”
“And neither did the three who now happen to know about the Sirens,” Delia said.
“She has a point, captain. Let's say these three stay here. What's to say the others don't mention something down the line?” Shelby said, finally contributing to the conversation. The man was so quiet, Jeremy forgot he was even there.
“People forget as time goes by and if events don’t remind them," Karl said. "All we need to do is remove the link between a missing person and a Siren. Then it all turns into a story.”
“And you don’t think they’ll question Felix being missing a month down the road?”
“No, because he never went missing. He accompanied Khaleel.”
"And we just happened to never see Felix ever again?" Jeremy said sceptically. "Now you're making them sound like murderers."
"We don't have to worry about Felix," Greg said. "But Delia has a point. We need to figure out who knows what properly."
"And how will you do that?" Delia asked.
"By telling them Felix is missing."
----------------------------------------
Delia’s mind reeled in stunned disbelief, and her head whirled towards her Pa in shock.
"You're going to tell them he's missing?" Karl asked, breaking the momentary silence in the room. "I thought I wasn't allowed to tell them that?"
"You shouldn' have, but I'm guessin' you already did. To enough of them, at the very least," Greg said. "There's no point beatin' around the bush. Most of them know you're lookin' for Felix, and if they don't, it's not a stretch to think that he's missin'."
"So you're going to publicly announce he's… what? Dead?" Delia asked.
"Not publicly, no." Greg turned to face Shelby. "New plan. Shelby, go shepherd the crew off the gangway and back into their rooms. I'll go to each of them individually and figure out what they know." The captain then turned to address the ship guard. "Jonah, go to the walkway and tell the men of house El we'll meet them tomorrow morning. Understood?"
He nodded, his face expressionless. Delia just hoped he understood what was going on.
"Not to question you, cap, but should you be sending someone who can't hear as our ambassador?" Gavin asked. "Shouldn't Jeremy or me go?"
"Jonah will be fine," Greg said with confidence. "He'll understand them enough. And it's not like he's dumb. He can speak just fine."
"Why Jonah though?" Delia asked. Gavin had a point; if Jonah didn't follow this conversation closely enough, or if he misunderstood the house's response, it could easily lead to a mess. It seemed like an oversight from her Pa.
"Because they respect him," Greg said.
"Can I go with him?"
"Fine," Greg said, dismissing her and returning to issuing instructions, telling Karl to summon Cassie and then prepare the small gathering hall below deck.
Delia focused back on her Pa’s proposal. The captain was planning on headhunting those who knew the truth. Once he found them, he would give them the chance to take the oath. From Jeremy’s question, she gathered it wouldn’t be easy, but at least it would give them a chance to return home if they wanted. But one thing still didn’t make sense to her.
"Tell Lenton to get some food ready, too. Jeremy, you're with me."
Greg began to move, pausing when Delia interrupted him. "Wait, I don't understand," she said. "How will you figure out what they know?"
The captain sighed. "Shelby, go separate the lot, please. The longer they're together, the likelier someone will say something."
"They're probably all woozy from drinking, captain, but sure," Shelby replied before walking out of the room.
Greg then turned to Delia. "This is the plan. I'm going to go to each of their rooms and tell them Felix is missin'. And I'm going to ask them to tell me everythin' they know about it. If they're alone, they don't have anyone to feed them any information.” He paused, continuing when she nodded with understanding. “Once I'm convinced they don't know anythin' about the Sirens, I'll move into the next room and repeat."
"And if they do know?"
"I'm gettin' to it," Greg said, clearly hiding his annoyance. "If it turns out they do know, then Jeremy will escort them to the gatherin' hall. And once they're all gathered, I'll tell them the truth. I'll tell then everythin' you know."
Delia fell into a contemplative silence. It sounded far more reasonable than what Cassie had told her. Cassie had approached Delia saying the captain had turned mad, sending anyone who knew about the sirens to their deaths without them even knowing. Why the doctor had gotten that impression, she didn't understand.
"What will you do after telling them the truth?" Delia asked.
"I'll give them the choice to go with you and Jonah, to settle in the land and live as its people do, or to join the guild and return to Askern."
"With you?" Jeremy asked.
The captain didn't answer.
"So you'll still abandon them?" Jeremy said.
"I won't tell them I'll take them back with us," Greg said. "I'll tell them that if they want to return to Askern, they'll need to join the guild first. If they join before we leave, that's great. Otherwise, they'll be makin' their own way back."
"And if they say no?"
"No isn't an option. You forget that I'm the captain over here, so my words are orders. I'll give them the choice, sure, but they will have to choose between the three," Greg said. "They'll accept them."
"So you'll tell them about ranks as well then?" Gavin asked.
"I'll tell them everythin' they need to know," Greg said. "It's the reason I'm isolatin' them. In the mornin', when the sun is up, we can take the rest of the crew out of here. Those who know will stay and depart later. We'll split the crew in two."
"Won't they won't ever meet again?" Delia asked. "The crew will start asking questions if they don't see each other, you know."
"Whether they'll meet again, I don't know. It depends on how many of them there are," Greg said. "If it's a handful, and they all accept to stay here, I'm fine with lettin' them mingle with supervision. If they want to return, then no. They'll be separated until they join the guild. Until the oath binds them. But we can cross the bridge when we get to it."
"But they won't be able to join the guild…" Jeremy said.
"If they awaken, then they'll be fine. I'm not sayin' it'll be a walk in the park, but it's not impossible," Greg said.
"What if the others who don't know anything want to stay?" Gavin asked. "What if I want to stay?"
"If you want to stay, Gav, that choice is yours," the captain said. "But I'm not going to tell the entire crew the truth and I won't let them stay here without knowin' it's full of dangers. Which means I don't care if they want to stay here. They can't."
That was fair, Delia supposed. Her Pa was in some ways the pa of the crew, and parents didn't let their children do whatever they wanted.
"Right, any more questions?" Grey asked. "We have just this night to sort out this mess, and the longer we're in here, the less time we have. Good," the captain said, before making his way out of the room.