Emily Windsnap and the Siren's Secret - Liz Kessler [60]
“Guilt? Why?” I asked.
He turned back to Melody. “She told me how she’d tricked you into going into hiding and then betrayed you to Neptune.”
Morvena clapped a hand over her mouth. “I always suspected — but I never believed she really could have done it.”
“I did,” Melody replied. “I never doubted it for a moment.”
“She told me how she wheedled her way into my father’s confidence, too,” Mr. Beeston went on. “She got him to tell her about the plan you and he made.”
Melody lowered her eyes. “It was a wild night,” she said. “A terrible night. We knew what it meant. We understood about Neptune’s rage — we knew what he was capable of. My singing voice had already been taken, but I knew that would not be punishment enough for him. There was worse to come. And so we made a plan. I was to go into hiding, just for a while, just until Neptune’s attention, and his rage, moved away from us and on to something else — as it always does.”
She reached out to take Mr. Beeston’s hand. “I gave you to him, until we could be together again,” she said. “We both agreed it was safer that way.”
“But why?” Morvena asked. “Why would he be safer with his father? I mean we could have —”
“He would be beyond Neptune’s reach,” Melody replied starkly. “He would be brought up on land. His father is a human.”
Morvena’s mouth fell open. “A — but . . .”
“I know. That is why I didn’t tell you. I knew you would never understand, never forgive me. How could you? A siren and a human. It is unheard of; it is a shameful thing. I’m a disgrace to all sirens.” She lifted her head to look at Morvena. “That is the secret I never told you. I’m sorry. I couldn’t risk losing all my friends as well as —” She glanced at Mr. Beeston. “As well as everything else that mattered to me.”
“So what you told us, about the only way out of here being the sound of a siren’s beautiful voice, it was a lie too?” Morvena asked.
Melody nodded. “You all wanted to believe it,” she said. “When all your singing voices were taken away too, it was the only thing I could think of to avoid more questions — and answers which I knew I could never share with you. And anyway — at least you all had something I never had.”
“What was that?” I asked.
Melody met my eyes. “Hope,” she said. “However remote, at least you had something. I had nothing. I knew forgiveness and freedom were two things I would never get from Neptune. Or so I believed.”
Melody looked at Morvena. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I have told you many lies. But now the look on your face tells me I was right to keep the truth from you. I can see the disgust in your eyes. I couldn’t bear to have had you look at me that way all of these years.”
Morvena shook her head. “No, you are wrong. This look is because I am your friend, your best friend, and I can’t believe that you felt you couldn’t trust me with this.” She swam to Melody’s side, lifted her chin, and looked into her eyes. “You had a son. All this time — all these long years, you grieved on your own when I could have helped you.” She opened her arms, and Melody fell into them.
Morvena stroked her hair. “So that’s what you meant when you asked the shell to help you.”
Melody pulled away. “What do you mean? What do you know about the shell?”
“I’ve seen you,” Morvena said softly. “I’ve heard you — many, many times.”
“What have you heard?” Melody asked. “What have you heard me say?”
“I heard you say, ‘Help me find you.’ I always knew something was lost.” Morvena glanced toward Mr. Beeston and her voice caught as she went on. “I just didn’t know that the lost thing was your child. Melody, you poor thing. You suffered so much, and I could have helped.” She held Melody close, rocking her gently. “I don’t understand how the shell was meant to help you find him, though,” she said after a while.
“I do,” Mr. Beeston replied.