The legend of the sirens was one we’d all heard from a young age. Jason and his Argonauts made sure the word spread quickly through the mariners. Beautiful women with sweetly toxic voices that could lure any man or woman to their death. Knowing about them would not help nullify the poisonous song, only blocking out the song could keep a sailor safe.
What was lost in the legend was the secret about the sirens that could make the call as easily with their eyes as with their voices. There was a select group of this creature that had no need of tune or melody, all they needed was to catch your glance in theirs. The lure of their gaze was far more deadly than the poisoned tongue of the harpies.
Once you’d looked into their eyes, their pull would always be upon you. No matter where you went, or how far away you ran, you would always find yourself returning to the one who called you. The spell of the female’s song broke when you were no longer within hearing distance, but the stare of the males entrapped you forever.
I know because I tried to run, and never made it far. I’d been sailing with my father my entire life, and I knew how to steer and navigate better than any of the men on his ship – and yet anytime Papa left me at the helm, I returned us to the rocks where he waited for me. They even tied me up, but their knots were nothing to me. Eventually, I dove from the boat, and swam back to him.
The male sirens don’t want a sailor’s death, however. That is not their purpose in life. They differ greatly from the females in this respect. Their purpose is greater than themselves. They serve their kind, not themselves.
I know that the baby within is a male. I can feel it. Papa hasn’t noticed yet, nor have any of his men, but I can feel the movements of my son – and I know without a doubt that no matter what I do or say, no matter how I try to keep him safe, he will return to the sea where his father waits for him.
