The Siren raised his arm to shield his eyes from the glare of the lantern. He'd begun to worry that he was never going to get out of that box. That he would just be left to freeze to death.

His fear stopped him from paying attention to the men's words, but he could tell they were arguing about something. He stole quick glances at the men, trying to pick out which one would be his next master.

This would be his 6th master, and he wondered where he would fare in the list. The worst master he ever had was his first master - a pirate called Jinx. Jinx was cruel and demanding. He liked to show he was in charge with regular beatings, but to be honest, it wasn't the beatings that made him bottom of the list. It was the cruelty that made him the worst. He would put plates of lovely smelling food in front of the Siren, forcing him to look and smell it, only to then snatch it away and give him a plate of moss that had been scraped off the decks.

Jinx's favourite method of torture was when he would get his men to pour freezing sea water over him every time he fell asleep. Once, it had carried on for 4 days, with him never being allowed to close his eyes for more than a few minutes. Eventually, he passed out in exhaustion. He thought he was going to die. He wanted to die. But then he'd woken up 2 days later with a new master, Henry. He never did find out what happened to Jinx, but as long as he never saw him again, he didn't care.

Henry had been his favourite master. Not because he was particularly kind, but because he was the master to another Siren too, Hermoine. Hermoine was the first Siren that he'd ever met and the one who taught him everything he needed to know about who he was.

Because he wasn't always this way. Not before the curse.

He snapped out of his thoughts when the man with the lantern leaned in towards the cage again.

"Can you understand me?" the man barked.

The Siren remained silent. He'd learned that it was best to try to gain an understanding of his new master before he decided how much to reveal.

"I'm Captain Jacob Riley," the man tried again. "Do you have a name?"

The Siren unconsciously tilted his head to one side. This was new. He'd never had a master introduce himself by name before.

"You're wasting your time, Captain," one of the other men huffed, but was immediately shushed by the Captain.

"Are you hungry?" the Captain asked. "Are you shivering because you're cold?"

The Siren couldn't help but look at the Captain with big, wide eyes. Was he really asking because he was concerned? Or was this another trick?

"I told you. Waste of time," the man with the black beard said again.

The Captain looked so disappointed that the Siren nearly broke his rule of not speaking. He wanted to tell the Captain he could understand and that that man with the black beard was wrong.

But before he could say anything, the Captain turned away.

As the men moved away the Siren let out a small whimper. It wasn't intentional. He was just scared of being left out in the cold all night.

The Captain froze.

"Don't listen to it! It's manipulating you!" Black Beard argued.

The Captain looked back, staring at the Siren. Normally the Siren would cower in front of his master, but something about Captain Jacob Riley's eyes left him unable to look away. He was captivated. There was something about them he couldn't quite grasp. Something...

The Captain turned abruptly walking swiftly away, his men following at his heel.

The Siren's body collapsed back against the bars of the cage. He was so cold now that he was immune to the feeling of the cold metal imprinting itself on his skin.

He felt a tear run down his cheek. He'd not felt this alone and afraid since he was first sent away from home.

As more tears fell, he screwed his eyes shut and curled up into a tight ball. But no matter how tightly shut he kept his eyes, images of the Captain's face filled his mind. His eyes. Those brown eyes.

The Siren gasped.

Those eyes. He knew now what was so unusual about them. For the first time, since he'd left home, someone had looked at him with compassion. Like they cared.

You know when you have one of those dreams where you are falling? That's how the Siren awoke. He gripped the sides of the cage frantically, only to find that he wasn't falling. But he was indeed moving.

By the time he got his bearings, he gasped as his cage was being lowered into place inside the ship. Inside a very nice room on the ship. And it was warm.

One by one, the men who'd helped move the cage disappeared, leaving just the Captain.

The Siren frowned as he watched the Captain pull off his long cloak and start to undo his boots.

His eyes slowly scanned the room. There was a large bed in the centre, which looked the very definition of comfortable. He'd seen beds like this before, but never slept on one, and he couldn't help but imagine what it would be like.

He forced his eyes to continue round the room. One wall was covered in wardrobes, and another had a large desk pushed up against it. Other than that, there wasn't much. A coat stand, a trunk at the foot of the bed, and a large barometer nailed to the wall.

There was a knock at the door, and the Captain strode over to answer. Words that the Siren didn't listen to were exchanged and then whoever it was left.

Within seconds the Siren caught the smell of something delicious wafting through the room, and he immediately knelt upright, clinging onto the bars, trying to get a glimpse of what that amazing smell was.

The Captain stopped and looked at him with slight surprise.

"Well you're older than I originally thought," the Captain said, more to himself than to the Siren.

The Siren immediately shrunk back, chastising himself for being too eager and letting his guard down.

"Do you want some?" the Captain asked, gesturing to what looked like a bowl of something, and a big chunk of bread.

The Siren tilted his head in thought. He could answer and give away the fact he could understand, or he could risk going hungry.

To the Siren's surprise, the Captain came over to the cage with the bowl and bread and sat down on the floor in front of him.

He began to wonder whether this was going to be one of those times where he was made to watch someone else eat while he was left to starve.

Now the Captain was in front of him, he could see him quite clearly, despite the limited light given off by only two lanterns, one on the desk and one on a hook by the door.

He was rather handsome. With wavy dark brown hair, warm brown eyes and a strong face. He was the youngest Captain the Siren had seen, and so he didn't look as hardened and weather-worn as most.

"I don't know what sort of food you eat, but this is beef broth and bread," the Captain said, tilting the bowl so the Siren could see.

The Siren shuffled forward, looking at the food eagerly.

The Captain let out a chuckle of laughter which the Siren found he liked the sound of immensely.

"Here," the Captain said, tearing off a chunk of the bread and dipping it into the broth before holding it up to the bars of the cage.

The Siren stared at it with wide eyes. He had to restrain himself so hard not to just snatch it out of his hands. He hadn't eaten at all that day and only had a few scraps the day before. His stomach rumbled noisily, making the Captain make that wonderful laughing sound again.

The Siren reached his hand out tentatively towards the dripping bread. He was sure that if it was snatched away now, he'd probably break down and cry. But something about the Captain told him that wasn't going to happen.

He took hold of the bread and as soon as the Captain let go, the Siren brought it to his mouth quickly. It tasted like heaven in his mouth. He shut his eyes and let out an involuntary moan, making the Captain laugh again.

The Siren's eyes snapped open and he felt his mouth curl up slightly at the sight of the Captain's smiling eyes. Feeling brave, he shuffled closer. The Captain immediately dunked another chunk of bread into the broth and held it up against the bars.

The Siren didn't hesitate this time and took the bread immediately, devouring it with just as much enthusiasm as the last time. This continued until all the bread had gone.

The Captain let out another chuckle, before looking down at the bowl.

"Well, I guess I better eat the rest seen as you've eaten all my bread."

The Siren froze, his eyes widening in fear. He hadn't realised that the food was for the Captain. If he had, he wouldn't have eaten any of it. Would he now be beaten? Or worse, starved?

The Captain took the remains of the bowl and sat at his desk to eat it.

The Siren stared. The Captain certainly didn't look angry. But then he'd seen enough in his young life to know that sometimes the punishment came long after the crime.

The gentle rocking of the ship, and the warm food sitting in the Siren's belly started to make him feel drowsy, but he really didn't want to sleep. He wanted to watch his new master. He told himself it was because he needed to figure him out, to learn the best way to survive. But his eyes were getting more and more difficult to focus, and his head felt so heavy that he eventually gave in and curled up on the floor at the back of the cage to get some much-needed sleep.

The gentle sound of the Captain's voice threatened to rouse him from his semi-conscious state. Somewhere in his conscious mind, he knew that the Captain was talking. And that the sound was quite close to him. But the lilt of his voice was soft and calming, so sensing no threat, he stayed still, trapped somewhere between being awake and asleep.

A touch on his head dragged him back towards wakefulness. But it was a soothing touch. A gentle touch. It reminded him of when his mother used to stroke his hair as a child.

"I wish I knew what your name was," he heard the soft voice say.

The Siren basked in the feeling of his hair being gently tugged as fingers gently raked through the tangles.

"My name is Raephier," the Siren breathed out, before falling deep into a blissful slumber.



total word count: 4098