"We should discuss this elsewhere." Sturmhond's hazel eyes darted about at the few others aboard the ship.
"And what was that?" Alina turned to Genya. "They called you sister—and you have the same power as them, don't you?"
Genya regarded her a moment, shifting from cool defensiveness to a vulnerable sort of look.
"I used to be one of them, it was a long time ago." Genya spoke softly, her sea-blue eyes staring off, someplace faraway. "That was before my talents were needed, to break the curse."
"Perhaps that's a story for later." Sturmhond spoke more gently. "But I see we have much to discuss, Miss Starkov."
"Do we now?" Alina stood up straighter, emboldened by the adrenaline running through her veins. "Or are there just more secrets and lies?"
"I have never lied to you, Miss Starkov, and I don't intend to lie yet." Sturmhond paused, looking up to the clouds painted coral and violet and gold. "The moon will be rising soon. It would be best to return to my cabin, Miss Starkov. I'll rendezvous with you there."
"What about our discussion?" Alina demanded, as Genya gently took her arm.
"We'll still have it, don't you worry about that." There was a grimness to his smile now. The jovial quality had been washed away.
"Come on, you really don't want to see what we look like under the moonlight," Genya murmured as she tugged Alina away.
"Alright." Alina started to follow, but she abruptly stopped, turning to face the pirate captain once more. "But we will talk! I won't let you forget this!"
A twinkle returned to Sturmhond's eyes. "No, I suppose you won't. Follow Genya, Miss Starkov. She's right about a good many things, and you'd do well to take her advice."
With that, he turned to speak to Zoya, and Genya tugged more sharply on Alina's arm once more.
This time, Alina followed the current of Genya's grasp.
"You are perhaps one of the most stubborn women I have ever met," Genya muttered. "Makes sense—great pirates are in your blood."
"So you used to be a mermaid, then?" Alina was grateful to have somewhere she could shift the conversation towards, as they walked through the labyrinth-like corridors of the interior of the Volkvolny.
"Yes, it was several years ago—but a mermaid's tears and her song are critical to the breaking of most curses," Genya explained as she continued down the corridors, half-distracted. "Not that I minded, much after the first year. I'd always harbored a curiosity about the World Above, I suppose."
They continued towards the captain's cabin, and Genya slowed, so the two of them could walk beside each other, unbothered by the rest of the crew.
Genya let go of Alina's arm and twisted a ring around her finger. She looked straight ahead, to the torches and path of the corridors.
"You said you didn't mind, after a year or so." Alina's mind whirred, struggling to keep up with Genya's revelations. "Did they catch you, then?"
"They had to," she said, looking to her ring once more. "The alchemist, he created quite the clever trap—if there was anyone who could outsmart a mermaid, then it would be him."
A tender smile curled up Genya's lips, her tone took on a fondness.
"You never get to see the clever ones," Genya mused. "Hard to speak and be clever when you're drowning."
"One might think the clever ones know better than to listen to the songs," Alina added.
"Perhaps." Genya tilted her head in acknowledgement.
"Do you miss it?" Alina asked. "Being a mermaid, your sisters?"
"Only in my dreams." Genya bit her lip. "I would like to not be cursed myself, anymore—but I cannot say I would prefer to return to the company of my sisters. I fear I have been irrevocably changed, in my time away from home. I doubt we would be able to be sisters again."
"That's so sad." Alina found she felt sorry for the pirate-mermaid.
Genya met her eyes for the first time in the conversation. "Don't cry for me, Alina Starkov. I've made my choices and I don't regret a single one. After all, this is a fate far better than most mermaids who venture to the shore suffer."
"What happens to them?" Alina couldn't help her curiosity, rushing out of her mouth before she could stop it.
"They're forced into becoming chattel and wives, with every step like a knife, and they lose their voice, their magic lost to them forever." Genya's eyes were distant once more. "I've seen them, standing on the shore at dawn, watching and listening for what was once theirs—and what they will never gain back."
"How awful?" Alina felt something curdle in her stomach.
"I don't know why it happens." Genya shrugged. "Perhaps I could still come to suffer that fate. Only time will tell."
She then smiled. "But that is a question for another day—and we're almost to the captain's cabin. You can interrogate him instead of me."
Guilt pricked at Alina's stomach. "I'm sorry—if I was being nosy—"
"You were." Still, Genya grinned. "Luckily, ne'er-do-wells like us prefer the nosy ones like you—curiosity makes a good pirate."
"Um, thank you—I think."
Genya opened the door to Sturmhond's cabin. "Make yourself at home—hopefully he'll come soon."
Alina nodded as she stepped through the threshold, then stopped.
"Genya?"
"Yes?" The redheaded former mermaid turned back around in her tracks.
"Thank you, for telling me your story," Alina said. "I hope you find your happy ending."
Genya's expression softened. "Thank you, Alina. When you break the curse, you'll have found it for all of us."
With that, she closed the door behind her, leaving Alina alone again with her thoughts.