Chapter Thirteen: Admit to Desire

Many a pretty blooming

Young girl we did behold

Reclining on the bosom

Of her jolly sailor bold

I woke with a jump to find Duke had slipped away, even pulled away he could get away unknown if he wished. This didn't ease my thoughts and concerns as I got up and began searching for him. Without hesitation I grabbed up a thick piece of a branch to light my way as I looked about the beach. In an attempt to listen for any sign of him or the starmaid I held my breath and paused in my steps. With the shifting sand beneath me growing silent I could vaguely hear the giggling of the enchanting siren deep in the jungle of the beach.

While grasping the sapphire tightly in my hand I begged, "Please...help me reach him in time!"

Duke:

I found myself wandering into the dark of the trail forming before me and closing behind. Her soothing melody continued as I was pulled along in a way, yet with every step some part of me tried to resist. For when I'd awoken into this trance I had found the familiar warmth of a young girl beside me, clinging to me in her sleep. Yet she didn't seem to be the one calling for me, so I slipped away to allow her to dream. This had left me oddly cold until the voice sang out to me, beckoning me with a playful giggle, "I think I know what will help you my sailor bold. Let me give you myself, all you need do is find me and I am yours."

"I am quite proud of the dashing drake that has finally returned home from his travels. I wish to hear of your adventures while you grant me your company," she assured me as I wove myself along the trees of the thick jungle.

Behind me I thought I could hear approaching steps, but I paid them little attention while finding the sight before me. Kneeling beneath the shroud of a willow tree was the starmaid that had shed her sleek tail for slender legs. She looked up at me with eyes of shimmering treasure with a lovely smile painted on her face, "I've missed you my captain."

"Is that so?" I asked as she invited me closer with her soft humming.

Tranquility tried to wash over me as I stepped nearer to find her in a gown of sheer fabric, leaving little hidden of her. Her long hair cascaded down over her shoulders to playfully hide her chest from me. However she then began twirling some of the strands to tease a glimpse of her breasts.

Yet despite this inviting sight before me I felt myself pause in my steps.

"Why hesitate? Surely you would like to enjoy yourself after being away so long? Allow me to keep you warm after your travels?" She mused while getting to her feet and drawing closer to me herself now.

"I have waited so very long for you Captain," she insisted in a lingering giggle as she slid her arms up along my chest to wrap them around my neck.

"There was someone else..." I mentioned as though trying to remember something important.

"Don't worry about that now, I am here to make you a very happy drake," she assured me while sliding a hand down along my chest and over my heart.

She hummed her tune while beginning to circle her fingers, toying with my beating heart. Yet as I looked into her eyes, though they were quite beautiful, I felt something was off. Where were the sapphires I adored so much? In their place silver and gold gleamed back up at me. The woman in my arms was a bit taller and far more forward than I recalled someone being.

"Surely this is what you want?" She insisted while motioning for me to sit beside her beneath the willow branches.

She then leaned forward, pressing herself against me while running her lips over along my neck with a warm breath and a whisper, "Just give in and I will be yours...and you mine..." she giggled while having me lean back against the base of the tree so she could recline over me.

She gripped at the collar of my shirt and ran her hands down to begin unbuttoning it, revealing a bit of my scarred and feathered chest. Yet as she did I felt myself trying to sit up, "No, I know there's someone that would..."

"Would what?" She teased while running my hands along my chest beneath my shirt to then run up to my shoulders again.

As she began to pull away my shirt I sat up sharply, carefully pushing her back in the process, "I can't do this to her!"

The woman sitting now looked up at me with widened eyes. She quickly attemped to to push me back while repeating some of her verse in a soft hum. However I managed to pull away from her grasp and get to my feet, "I won't hurt her!"

As I stood before her fixing my shirt I watched as her eyes darkened a bit, narrowing into a sharp glare. I attempted to step to the side to leave when she noticed my left hand, "What is that my sailor bold?"

"I'm not yours," I said firmly.

"It's that human isn't it?!" She demanded while leaping to her feet and grabbing my other wrist, "Why allow yourself to be ensnared by her when you could have far more in your hands?"

"Let go-"

"No! I will have you here and now! My song is not finished yet, and it will only grow stronger the deeper it goes. So..." she mused with a wicked giggle while pulling herself up against me, snaking her arms around me, "Just give into me and save yourself the trouble. Enjoy what I'm offering you my captain."

She ran her hand up along my neck and to my chin as I tried to pull away from her. Again she mused, "She may have the ring, but I doubt that wisp of a girl knows how to get your heart really going."

"You're wrong about that!" I assured while forcing myself to step back.

Those were the wrong words to say. Rage sparked in her widening and darkening eyes as she hissed, "You were with her?!"

I didn't speak any further to her. Instead I looked passed her in fact, for I knew I would find the one that pulled had me towards her without trying. Her sapphire eyes were wide with fear as she had searched the dark trails trying to impede her every step. I could see over her tunic and slacks the tears and cuts stinging with her blood. Her torch had burnt out, leaving her to wander in the black of night. However that had hardly been enough to stop her.

"Duke...?" She breathed as I faced her.

I gave a smile in an attempt to reassure her of what was possibly racing through her head. Taking advantage of the siren's own shock I managed to pull away from her and walk over to the girl trembling with anger and fear before me.

"Heart...?" I attempted when I was standing before her.

She shook her head and for a moment I feared she hadn't heard the outcome, or didn't trust it. Then she threw her arms around me, "I'm just glad you're okay!"

A bit stricken by this reaction I simply looked over her before bringing myself to embrace her, "I couldn't hurt ya like that Heart."

"That's not what I was worried about!" She said sharply, "I mean..."

Despite being so worried she was still quite flustered at the same time. It was this sort of reaction, or lack there of, I had noticed from the woman watching us both now. The siren was too calculating in her movements, as elegant as they were. While Heart, as I held her even now, carried her emotions on her sleeves and wasn't afraid to show me that, along with the passion that came with that.

"Aw Heart, it's okay," I attempted a chuckle while stroking her hair a bit.

Looking over my shoulder I could see the venom spitting from the starmaid's narrowed eyes, focused on Heart in my arms as she snarled, "How dare you take my sailor bold for yourself you little human beast!"

Heart stiffened in my arms as the verbal onslaught went on, the starmaid snarling at her, "If I could I'd turn you into a squealing sow for this!"

My grip on Heart tightened, shielding her from the memory I knew was trying to attack her. While in turn the woman in my arms held onto me tightly, finding her voice to snap back, "You can rant and rave all you want! I am not giving up! Your spell couldn't win him over tonight, and it won't steal him from me!"

"You say that now, but my magic grows stronger with every verse! It courses through him even now, pulling him closer! Soon he won't be able to resist my call, or my wishes!" she assured with a lustful glee in her eyes and voice, "I look forward to that!"

Then she snickered, "As for you, I will not forget what you have done! Your punishment for taking my sailor bold as your own, even briefly, will be quite severe!"

She then placed a finger to her lips as though pondering something to add, "Yes, your fate will be far crueler than death, and long lasting I assure you, you little tramp!"

"Ya won't touch her!" I snapped with a burst of anger showing in my voice.

She raised a brow at this before shaking her head, "Oh my sailor bold, by the time this occurs you won't even care what happens to this thieving tralup anymore!"

Before I could respond to this harsh remark she was gone in an instant, though her giggling voice lingered around us for a few moments more. Then it was silent again.

When I was certain it was safe I loosened my grip on Heart and looked into her eyes, knowing she was trembling from all of this. It was so strange in a way to see her so shaken when she'd confronted her a few times already. Yet this...this was deeper in a way, and I knew that as I tried to reach her gently, grasping her shoulders and leaning forward to look into her eyes in a firm manner, "Hey...hey you're not any of those things Heart, so don't ya dare think that ya are!"

"I...I know that..." she attempted.

"Then why are ya shakin'?" I inquired gently, observing her attempts to hide her trembling form in my hands.

"I was scared I was too late! We don't know when her song will actually end and how deep it will go to take you!" she mentioned.

While these words were true, I couldn't help but see a glimpse of something else in her eyes. I knew at her core she had been afraid for my well being, that my freedom and who I was, the drake she knew, could be spirited away in a sense once the song concluded. Yet there was another sort of anger I had seen in her eyes when she'd first found us, or more so a hurt that I might have, even under a spell, betrayed her in such a way. It was knowing this somehow that had pulled me back from the grasp of lust trying to claim me. Now standing before her I tilted my head a bit in curiosity as I tried to tell her, "Heart, it's okay to admit that it would have hurt ya."

When her cheeks grew a bit red she all but confirmed that it would have. Though I'd already known.

"Sweetheart, I'm yours, an' I want to stay yours...in every way," I assured while slipping a hand to her chin and tilting it so she'd look up at me, "It would honestly hurt if it didn't bother ya at all, but I can tell that it did."

"You can?" she asked.

"I am your husband now Heart," I reminded her while holding up her left hand in mine.

I then attempted to tease her in a light and playful tone, "Besides Heart, I've had ya blushin' since day one."

Just as she was as I said this. Seeing this I added, "As I recall I've been wantin' you since that day as well...did ya think I was so forward on a whim?"

Her poor cheeks were so red now, and I loved it. My heart softened as I watched her as she tried to say quietly, "There's more to it than that...?"

"Of course sweetheart! Still there's nothin' wrong with admittin' we drive the other crazy too. I love knowin' I can get ya to react as ya are right now, an' I love that I'm drawn to you just as much!" I assured her with a smile that seemed to ease her trembling a bit, at least the initial cause of it.

"Honestly Heart, the way I feel for ya is what makes me want ya like that," I smiled warmly as she tried to gather her composure, "An' I believe it's the same for you?"

She nodded her head with her cheeks as deep in shade as her hair now. Yet still I knew that the sting of her words lingered. So I again reached a hand to her cheek and looked into those sapphires as I said, "You're beautiful Heart."

"Duke?"

"Ya want me to prove that?" I teased her softly before kissing her cheek.

"I don't think that's wise right now...not here..." she breathed as I kissed her neck before reluctantly pulling back from her.

"Just know that ya are sweetheart. Believe my honest words over her jealous insults, okay?" I insisted with a hand over my heart.

Before I could step further back she quickly grabbed my hand and I looked at her to find a brief spark in her eyes. Then I heard her admit softly, "Please stay my thief...don't let her..."

"Of course love," I promised while swiftly shifting my hand to hold hers as I kissed it.

Then I teased as we headed out of the small grove, this time with me sweeping her up in my arms to her brief resistance, "So does my bein' thief get ya blushin' like that?"

"I...that is..." she attempted while holding onto me, giving up her fight against my playful gesture.

"If that's what ya like Heart, don't let me discourage ya," I smiled while carrying her through the grown over trail carefully in that shroud of ebony.

"You're the most maddening drake I've ever met," she smiled.

"Ya seem to like me this way though," I echoed playfully, "So I think I'll stay this way."

I wondered if she would ever stop blushing.

By the time morning found us we were at the cusp of the jungle. I had managed to keep Heart from getting further cut up or pulled at by jagged branches trying to hinder us. In doing so some of my vest and shirt had been torn instead. I assured her a few more scars wouldn't bother me. Then I set her down beside me as we drew near the quiet village we'd found just ahead of us.

However we soon realized just why it was so quiet. Despite a number of little houses and shops having been built, we found not a soul to inhabit them. Whispers of a breeze were the only things to enter through the long ago forgotten open windows. At the docks there wasn't a single star fairing vessel, nor even one that traveled by water. Tied to the end of it was a mere dingy bobbing with the waves that slid under it. The sky above seemed stagnant, remaining a somber gray with clouds hanging over the town like a quilt blocking out any source of light above them.

Looking out over the shore from the streets I recognized the beach I had stood on. The one Heart had seen in that shared dream not long ago. I attempted a light laugh, "A shame I can't see ya in that dress again."

Though she didn't say a word I felt her hand tighten it's grip over mine. I gave a soft chuckle, "I was jus' tryin' to cheer ya up a bit I guess."

However she was looking at the sapphire again, as though trying to will it to do what she'd been hoping.

"I thought this was supposed to help you somehow? Isn't that why we were after it for so long?" she asked me.

"We don't know that it isn't working Heart. I was able to get through her spell last night, maybe it is havin' an effect, or at the very least it could be shieldin' ya to help you keep a clear head through the song?"

"Maybe..." she sighed while letting it rest beneath her collar bone again.

"Come on, maybe we can find somethin' here? At the very least there should be an inn to stay at until we figure out a plan," I suggested while leading her away from the shoreline.

Yet as we walked I would feel Heart let go of my hand as she looked back at the solemn waters. A chill seemed to run up both our spines as we tried to make our way through this bleak, forgotten town.

"In the dream we had this place was bustling with life wasn't it?" she asked me with weary eyes.

"When I was here last time it was. Though I'm not surprised based on what I've learned of starmaids over the last year," I admitted.

"What did she do?"

Before I could answer in words we opened the door to the inn we'd found and I instinctively pulled Heart against me as she gasped in fright. While we both looked in we found the skeletal remains of the stout inn keeper, as well as several of his guests, thrown about the once lively room.

"Lust an' their idea of love is enough to feed a starmaid it seems, but without their desired sailor they crave blood...an'..." I couldn't bring myself to explain further as we were forced to enter the tavern turned into a tomb.

I helped her step around the bones and thrown about furniture. Then we made our way up the stairs to find a thankfully untouched room, at least not by death. Once inside I barricaded the door with an old table and desk chair. Though I knew the town was empty, I somehow didn't trust it. With it secure I turned to see Heart watching the unlit lighthouse looking out over the cliffs along the shore off of the beach.

"I take it you're not hungry at the moment either?" I attempted in grim jest as I walked over to them.

"I miss the others," she said while leaning into me as I wrapped my arms around her.

"I do too," I sighed, "but who knows, maybe they're lookin' for us now?"

Her response was simply holding onto me.

Then, as though taunting us in this secluded moment, we heard her repeating her refrain for us whether we wanted it or not. In some sort of attempt to fight off her words I held Heart tighter while I could.

My heart is pierced by Cupid

I disdain all glittering gold

There is nothing can console me

But my jolly sailor bold

Heart:

"I don't want..." Duke attempted while trying to pull away now.

However I held onto him as tightly as I could, "Please don't do this...please don't slip away now!"

"She's callin' me," he said while prying my hands off of his back they'd been clutching, "I should go to her...?"

"No! Remember what you told me last night! You have to fight her or you'll lose yourself! The drake I know and love will die if I let you go to her!" I snapped while trying to fight through fatigue and frustration.

"She wouldn't hurt me," he insisted while trying to pull free as I grasped at his sleeve to hold him back, "Now let go!"

"I can't! Haven't you learned by now that I haven't been able to let go since I met you?!" I demanded desperately, "Everytime you pull away or try to push me back I end up finding you again!"

"Maybe ya should have stayed back then!" He growled while shoving me back against the wall, "If I pushed ya away it means I don't want ya!"

Before he could get to the blocked off door I scrambled to my feet in an attempt to hold him back. His remaining eye narrowed into a glare as he warned, "Get outta my way, I'm not yours to keep!"

Fighting off the sting of those words I stood my ground, "I know that isn't you Duke! You might not consider yourself as mine right now, but I am yours!"

"What makes ya think I want ya over her?!" He questioned as her tune lingered in a haunting whisper of sorts in the air around us.

"You made me think that..." I said not daring to falter before him, at least not in stance as I dug my heels in, "but even if you don't want me...I can't let you go to her! She can call me whatever name she wants, cast her spells on me, or even kill me; but I will not let her take you away!"

Duke's remaining eye widened to hear this as he reached to pull me out of his way. Then he faltered as I pushed still, "I will not fail you as long I'm breathing! I will not give up on you Duke!"

Looking up at him as he grabbed my arm now I managed shakily, "I love you, but even more than that I just want you to be free as the drake I..." I took a shot with a soft laugh, "The drake that drives me crazy, yet still I couldn't imagine you any differently...I want you to stay as our confident captain, our trusting friend, and the compassionate not long ago stranger that took a risk saving me a number of times well before you thought you wanted me...?"

"She wants me...-"

"So do I!" I blurted out not knowing what else to say or do.

Her insults from the night before bombarded me, compacted by his spell woven words. Still I repeated while vaguely catching a glimpse of the sapphire I wore sparking with a brief light as I did, "So do I..."

"Ya do huh?" my eyes went wide to hear his usual casual tone return.

He was still holding up my arm by the wrist while locked in this struggle with me. Looking up I could see he wasn't fully back, but was trying to find his way. So I continued with a calmer voice now to help pull him back, "Of course I do...but the real you, not some distant shell of the drake I've come to know. She doesn't want you, not the captain seeking out adventure, not the hero that will defend others even if it puts him at risk, not the thief that steals a playful kiss with his charm...She doesn't want any of that! So please...for your sake don't go to her..."

Seeing his remaining eye starting to darken again I realized what it was he needed me to say. He wasn't trying to stay for himself, as much as I wanted him to...No...What Duke needed to hear more than that was, "Please stay for my sake Duke...I want the real you more than I can ever say or prove to you! Just please don't leave me again!"

Again?! What did I mean by that? Once more the sapphire glistened with a quick light and then dimmed. Was it finally trying to work?

"Heart?..."

"Don't leave me again...please...!" I echoed to him as he eased his grip on my wrist and stepped back a bit.

Perhaps it was fatigue. Maybe it was fear. Even panic was a factor as I crumbled to my knees before him. I had to stay together, but somehow all of this was pulling away at me. We had been fighting this for so long now, and each time it was a miracle to pull each other through. I could hardly think straight, but I had to try if he attempted to get by me. In fact I was holding my breath waiting to see what his next move was. I dared her to sing another word as I struggled to even stand. Knowing I hadn't slept properly in a few nights, or had a decent meal, I gathered what energy I had just to fight for him. In doing so I failed to realize as he spoke softly now, "Heart ya need to be saved from this too...an' I will find a way to do that."

I looked up at him through weary eyes as he knelt down and opened his arms for me to fall into. Despite him fighting off foes or lifting me up when I couldn't stand before, I'd never considered how much I leaned on his strength...until this moment. In such a short time it seemed, how was it that I had come to rely on him being there as I did? Why did I know he'd listen even if there weren't words being said? How had I known to trust him as I did? All of these questions ran through my head, and yet somehow I knew the answer as I allowed myself to cling to him with what strength I had left in me.

With the world we'd known crumbling around us, our friends and my brothers lost to us it seemed, and her magic growing ever stronger to taunt us...all I could think to do in this moment was lean into that hold of his.

"I don't know what to do..." I admitted to him while breaking down from that sheer exhaustion.

"That's okay Heart," he assured me softly while holding me close to him, "We'll figure that out together."

"I don't want to lose you Duke..."

"Ya won't."

"Please don't let go..."

He didn't. Nor did I.

Duke:

Heart and I had managed to at last get a few hours of rest while in the brief calm we'd found ourselves in. As she clung to me in our sleep I began to dream of memories I didn't have running through my head. Battles against a crimson dragon, defending Heart against a creeping Shadow trying to steal her away, the clashing of blades against a pharoah trying to put me in my so called place, a friendship with a vampiric feline, and other echoes of a life vastly different than the one I knew now played out before me. While they did I briefly opened my eye to ensure Heart was still in my grasp. I would see the sapphire heart gleaming as it rested between us from around her neck. Then while pulling her impossibly close I drifted off again while breathing softly, "Do I know ya sweetheart?"

Her response was clinging to me tighter.

When I stirred a bit later into the day I would find her doing so as well. She then opened her eyes and looked up at me with lingering worry. To ease some of this I brushed her hair out of her eyes and kissed her forehead.

"I'm goin' to see if there's anythin' I can salvage for food for us," I then said while stretching a bit and sitting up.

She got to her feet as well to begin following me. Though some part of me wished to shield her a little while longer from the gruesome sight we would find outside the door, she wouldn't hear of it. Turning to her briefly I tried to assure her, "Stay here okay? I'll be back with what I can find."

"Duke..."

"It'll be okay," I promised while moving the barricade and slipping out into the death ridden hall.

Despite finding the scattered bones at my feet I knew there was something else lingering in my head. I also felt it was the same for her with the dreams we'd had it seemed. While searching through the gravely silent tavern I began sorting out these images. In these dreams it seemed I had found a way to balance what I was with who I wanted to be. A lifestyle seemingly out of reach was now being waved in a taunt of some kind. Yet also...I began to wonder just what those visions meant when it came to Heart and myself. Why were we being shown these things in the first place? Were they premonitions or just odd dreams? Something it leaned toward the former, but not entirely.

"You're worried about it too aren't ya Heart?" I asked without needing to look behind me to know she was there.

Without a word she walked over and climbed up onto the cavern to gain a bit of height as we searched the baren cupboards.
"I'm just worried about you," she said while scouring the bar for anything of use.

"Really, so those dreams we're havin' aren't botherin' ya in the slightest?" I pushed slightly to see her waver a bit.

"I don't really know what to think about them Duke," she replied while clasping the sapphire in her hand, "I just want to focus on getting through all of this with you."

She then hopped down from the counter and looked underneath in a cupboard only to find a nest of spiders scurrying out of their hidden home.

"There isn't much to find I'm afraid," I admitted to her.

"Maybe there's a shop or market with some scraps to find?" She suggested.

With a nod I took her by the hand and lead her out the tavern.

Even with the later afternoon the sun hadn't been able to push back the thick cover of clouds at all. As we looked out at the docks we could see the waves growing restless, daring us to cross them in such a fury. The wind tugged at my coat as it attempted to pull me towards where I didn't want to go. Yet at the same time I knew I couldn't dodge it forever.

"What's wrong?" she asked when I paused in my steps.

"There's somethin' I need to see..." I sighed while gripping her hand in mine and leading the way, "Whether I want to or not."

We soon drew closer to a house as empty as the others. A quaint cabin fairly secluded from the rest of the town. Adorned with broken decor that would have made it a cozy sea cottage we both knew where we were headed.

"Duke?" she noticed as I hesitated when I grasped the silver door latch.

"I'm not sure what we'll find here, maybe there'll be answers we need...or ones we don't want..."

"I'll go with you Duke," she unknowingly echoed from my dream.

"Alright," I took a breath, knowing I couldn't argue with her, and opened the door that was surprisingly unlocked.

Stepping inside we found just as desolate as the tavern had been. Though there was something vastly different about it. The furniture remained undisturbed, though with a thick coating of dust. In fact the state of this cottage would bring one to think of a doll house long ago forgotten by a child that perhaps once upon a time cared for it deeply. Then as we turned the corner of the entry hall Heart would let out a near shriek of shock, covering her mouth in an attempt to silence it just as my core twisted. For just ahead of us, slumped forward onto the dining room table was the skeletal remains of a mountain of a man. His tattered coat and worn clothes matched those of the merchant that had hunted me down and left the scars in my shoulder and leg. Lodged deep into his back was a crimson stained dagger.

"Her own father...?" Heart looked over him carefully, but was careful not to touch him.

"He must have returned home after I left...an' he was her first victim it seems..." I said in a grim tone as I noticed the coral hilt of the plunged in blade.

"How could she do this?" Heart asked.

"...I honestly don't know Heart..." I said while resting a hand on her shoulder, "but maybe we can find the answer here...?"

"What are you looking for exactly?" she asked.

"I'm not really sure...I just know it would be here if anywhere at all..."

"Okay," she replied while following me into the living room. Keeping my steps light with Heart behind me doing the same, I would see the couch I'd slept over a year ago. Then I also took note of the book I'd failed to notice before now tucked under it. Upon crouching down I pulled it out carefully and brushed the thick coat of dust off of it. The cloth covering was torn in some places from not being well kept, and the pages had yellowed with time. I then opened the cover to find in crimson letters that I quietly read out for Heart to hear as well, "I won't let another sailor slip from my loving grasp, even if it means all that I am is to be changed. If need be may my kind nature grow corrupt at the loss of the young man that has left me for the sea of stars, only to be taken by it!"

Only now did I recall the staining crimson on her hands when we'd met. The blood I'd mistaken for her own at the time. Then I would find, "Now upon finding my dear sailor bold, a drake by the name of L'Orange, I shall make my vow and release my soul as payment as my body is offered a transformation to help me keep him..." I trailed off unable to read more as I about closed the book, placing my thumb inbetween the pages to mark them briefly.

However my other hand reached up and covered my eyes as I felt my core shaking. In a way I'd found part of the answer I'd been seeking. In an attempt to keep my voice from trembling I managed, "I thought I'd done this to her..."

"Duke," Heart tried to reach out as she knelt down beside me, "Why would you believe that?"

"I thought the words her father said that day were true..." I admitted to her with the slightest convulsion in my voice as I tried to pull myself together, "That maybe somehow I'd hurt her...an'..." I looked to Heart, "I was scared it would change you too somehow...that if somethin' did happen...you would..."

Heart listened to my confession, and she remained kneeling by my side none the less. Then she wrapped her arms around me as I for once sank into her hold, allowing my head to rest against her shoulder. While I did this I managed to reach up with my free arm up along hers, and held her in return.

"Duke...it wasn't your fault...," she told me in a soft, but firm, voice.

"Really?!" I questioned while pulling myself free to look at her, "If I hadn't been tryin' to flirt with her in the first place she wouldn't have begun her song! Your life wouldn't be in danger now!"

"If it hadn't been you then it would be someone else!" She insisted while grasping my shoulders and looking at me eye to eye, "Would that be any better?!"

I shook my head, "I wouldn't wish this on anyone."

"Duke, she took on this transformation before she'd seen you. You happened to be the one to catch her eye first! You did not do this to her!" She said before hugging me a moment, "We'll get through this, no matter what it takes."

"Is that what you heard in those dreams? You've seem to take it to heart," I mentioned.

"I guess," she shrugged, "It's encouraging somehow."

I didn't argue this. Instead I took a breath and turned my attention back to the now reopened book in my hand. Looking over it I tried to find further answers with her. All the while Heart kept a hand on my shoulder while reading over the text with me, "My father didn't want to hear of what he calls a foolish fixsation. He claims it is naive to believe a sailor would love anything other than the sea, whether of water or the stars. Well then father...I'm afraid I have little choice in this matter. I will not let anyone, even you dear papa, keep me from my sailor bold. The dagger I shaped from the twisted coral will do the rest, binding your soul to the magic I've learned in case I am in need of your protection once more..." it went on to then say, "He blames my sailor bold for breaking my heart, but my father's anger is put to rest now. Poor papa was so tired after scolding me that it was quite easy to do the rest. Now I must bide my time until my song is ready."

I looked up at Heart as I remained kneeling beside her with these open pages growing more twisted with every word. Locking eyes with her a moment I vaguely noticed that my vision was a touch blurred as I gazed into those sapphires with a blend of regret and relief all at once.

"I wish I'd found ya sooner Heart," I unwillingly slipped.

Then I realized as a tear escaped my right eye, thinking back to that stormy night all those years ago, "If I'd jus' stayed home..."

"Duke...you can't-"

Yet as Heart attempted to speak in an effort to console me we both heard it pulling our attention away this time. The haunting melody playing out this time with a nearby wound up music box, showing us at last how she'd first heard the wretched tune.

My name it is Maria

A merchant's daughter fair

And I have left my parents

And three thousand pounds a year

Heart:

We both turned, with Duke and I leaping to our feet, and faced the darkened corner of the room as she giggled not unlike a child at first.

"You didn't just leave!" I snapped while instinctively standing between her and Duke.

"I did though. I left this place when it was time to seek out my dear captain," she mused while looking to him with lustful eyes, "Now that I've brought him back here we can remain together once my song is concluded."

"Why would I want to linger in this place with a witch like you?!" Duke demanded, "I thought I had somehow done this to ya, only to find out that you chose this!"

"I chose it to stay with you, so in a way you did cause this," she insisted while pausing at the hearth and twirling the mermaid spinning atop the musicbox a moment or two, "I wanted to be with you the moment my gaze fell upon you."

She then stepped over to us, looking to me now as she tauned, "I mean, is it really that strange? Didn't this little wench fall for you quickly as well? Perhaps that's just your charm?"

"You didn't care who he was!" I retorted, "As soon as you heard he couldn't stay you clung to what you couldn't have!"

"I do care though, enough to do all that I can to keep him with me," she assured while looking passed me to him, "And I will do all that he wishes in return."

"I wish for freedom!" Duke snapped, "I won't to be bound here or to you!"

"You'll change your mind soon enough," she assured calmly while circling around us like a shark watching it's prey, "Trust me my sailor bold."

It was now that I realized her song hadn't been trying to control us in any way this time around. We seemed to have kept our minds, our will, and our resolve. I briefly wondered if it was the sapphire protecting us until she snickered, "That little trinket won't save either of you by the way. Would you like to know why?"

"Enlighten us," Duke growled.

"This creature you were seeking out..." she looked to me while giggling as she went on, "She gave up the magic that could have bonded with it."

"What are you talking about?" I asked trying to remain steady between them.

"You haven't told her have you? You learned what she was just as I did in that now ruined palace?" Maria taunted with her glance shifting towards Duke, "And you knew before then about her didn't you?"

"I didn't know-"

"You didn't know what you would find seeking her out?" She scoffed while looking me up and down, "I know, rather underwhelming isn't she?"

She somehow pushed me aside and stepped closer to Duke. Maria teased still, "Why be with her when you could have real magic in your hands? This beast gave up her power!"

"You're not fooling us! Now let him go!" I snapped while grabbing her arm to pull her away from him.

At this the siren hissed and struck at me, as she did one of her nails caught my cheek and reopened the scar she'd already made. With warm blood trickling down the right side of my face I glared at her, before Duke stood between us, "Leave her alone Maria!"

"You know very well I'm not trying to fool anyone, don't you my sailor bold?" She questioned him without any hesitation in her voice, "You needed her magic, you wanted it even. Any pirate worth his salt would want the ability to hop realms to find vast treasure!"

"Stop it!" Duke told her, his voice loud and sharp in his plea to her.

"I'm only telling her the truth," she said in a wounded voice as I felt myself stepping back from him.

He heard this and turned to look over his shoulder, "Heart, that's not-"

"What is she talking about then?!" I questioned.

"With the power to pass through gates on a whim you could escape me. Infact you could elude anyone you wished to that way. Then all the wealth and adventure you could ever imagine would be at your fingertips," she mused while circling us, being sure to see my growing unease, "Your true desire granted."

My head swam with the images those dreams had shown me. I grasped at my hair in growing confusion trying to ignore them and her.

"Is that why you stopped pulling away...?" I asked him through all of this, "When you found those markings on the wall, showing you what I might have been...was that when you decided I was worth keeping around?!"

Barely giving him time to answer I looked up at him through eyes of hurt. The swirling chaos continued as she spoke in his place, "Why else would you be worth anything? A mere human girl, a novice sailor, only besting me with luck that would only get him so far? However if you somehow regained your useful magic, then you would be quite the prize wouldn't you?"

"Heart that's not true! Ya know that!" Duke tried to speak over her cruel taunts, reaching out to me in these attempts, "You know me better than anyone!"

"Then tell me the truth! What were you trying to find?!" I snapped myself now, wanting to believe him but also afraid to listen as my head continued to spin from the confusion.

Duke eased his hands at his sides and took a breath before facing me, ignoring her watching us still as if it didn't matter she was there to witness.

"I was lookin' for that magic, to save my crew an' myself if I couldn't break her curse. Norelle an' I went back to the ruins of the castle I told ya of to find anythin' we could...Then...I found a journal there, filled with drawings an' accounts of someone's life...The life of a dragon it seemed that fled from there when their heart couldn't bare it anymore...They'd mentioned the ability to escape through gateways, so I imagined that as a dragon this was what was done for them to use such magic. I had hoped I would be granted that, if nothin' else than for my crew..." he explained while not daring to look away from me.

My eyes widened in disbelief as I looked up at him. My very core shook as I put together the puzzle he was placing before me. He didn't dare touch me, nor did he back away though as he begged softly, "Heart...please..." before I ran from him, "Heart!"