"No." Aysu breathed. Her voice was emotionless as she stared coldly at him. For his part, his eyes narrowed.
"Excuse me?" Finn said, his voice low and teetering on the edge of anger. His ocean green eyes had narrowed.
"I'm not calling you that, Finn. That's simply foolish." She scoffed, turning away from him on the bed dismissively. But he would have none of that. He rolled her over, pinning her down onto the bed.
"Why ever not?" He said, a false calm settling over his obvious anger.
"Because I'm not your slave," she said matter-of-factly, a confident grin on her face. "The moment I have an opportunity I'll be free."
He was leaning down onto her, so close. She could feel his breath on her face, she turned her head sideways.
Finn laughed, not a dangerous one but a sardonic one. "Really, little girl? Where, pray tell, where will you go?"
She jutted her chin out stubbornly, while still refusing to turn to him. "The sea. My sisters will be waiting for me. When I return they'll help me break these binds."
Aysu couldn't see him, so she was surprised when her chains fell limp and a leash was attached to her necklace. She looked at his face confused, he seemed to be hiding a knowing grin. "Let's test that theory, shall we?" With one swift movement, she was laying across his shoulder, white hair dangling around his behind.
And he was moving quickly, so quickly. Her head was bouncing on his back, and she didn't like how her ass lay so close to his face. "Ouch! Finn! Put me down!" There was a sharp slap across her ass and she immediately quieted.
"Silence, girl," Finn said. His tone jovial despite the harshness of the blow.
As he marched through the corridors, Finn bellowed at his crewmates," Have a rowboat ready to be lowered!" The men scurried past him to fulfill his wishes. As he broke through the door onto the deck Aysu gasped for air. She hadn't realized how stale the air under the ship had been.
"What are we doing?" She inquired, but she was only met with another, slightly less hard, slap to her ass.
"The rowboat is ready to be lowered, Captain!" Will said, jogging up behind him. He pointed a tanned hand in the direction of the rowboat dangling precariously off the edge. Most of the crew had gathered on the deck, curious to see what he was doing with the rowboat and the naked siren. But they were still too afraid to go near her, backing away when Finn got too close.
For Aysu's part, she was mortified. Not so much for her nudity, as she didn't have a concept of modesty. But her position on the Captain's shoulder, it made her look weak. And she wasn't weak. This she knew. But that didn't stop her from yelping when he entered the wobbly rowboat. "What the hell?!" She exclaimed, only receiving another slap as she was set down.
"Lower the boat," Finn called. And it did. She watched with amazement from over the edge.
She couldn't tell what was racing through her mind as she was lowered closer and closer towards the blue sea. Home. She smiled. But there was a foreboding knot in her stomach, and she couldn't understand why. Her sisters would come, they would help break the spell of the necklace. The rowboat lurched as they hit the water. She turned to Finn, he was already looking at her with an unsettling grin. "Ready?" He said. She reached out a free arm to the rippling waters, they were cool and welcoming. She could almost imagine her Mother rejoicing at her return. She didn't speak when she nodded to him, but her nod and peaceful smile was enough. It was enough.
She felt strong arms lift her up, and before she could yell in protest she was thrown into the water.
Immediately panic set in as she was plunged into the water. First, her eyes burned. She couldn't see. When she tried to open her eyes her vision was blurry. Next, she realized she couldn't breathe. She desperately tried to gasp for air, but only salty water filled her lungs. She flailed her arms wildly, unsure if she was trying to alert her sisters of her presence or reaching the surface. She gasped. More water. Panic set in. Where were her sisters? Where was her Mother? Why wasn't her Mother speaking to her? Why wasn't her Mother speaking to her?!
Finn was waiting patiently on the surface. He counted in his head, 15 seconds. That should be enough, by the time she reached the surface, it would be about 30. With a graceful dive, he jumped in after her.
Was this what it felt like to die? She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. Where was her Mother? Everything was fading. Suddenly, there was a hand at her waist, and she was being pulled toward the surface.
Aysu was limp in his arms as he swam back towards the rowboat. He pushed her back on and jumped in afterward. She fell against him almost unconsciously, shivering violently.
When the world came back into focus she realized she was crying. It eased the burning of salt in her eyes. She was greedily drinking in the air, sobbing between heaves, when she felt a presence in her hair. Finn pulled her to him, and she complied as his warmth would ease her shivering. He was running a hand slowly through her hair. Up and down and up and down. But her sobs didn't cease, while her heaving did. After a while she spoke up," They didn't come for me." She whispered mournfully.
At her tone he almost winced, he felt bad at the pain he caused her. But at least he'd made his point, and when Terran's fearful face flashed across his vision he suddenly cared a lot less. "I know." He soothed, continuing to run his hands through her hair.
"Why didn't they come?" She said, her voice cracking mid-sentence.
"You're a human, you aren't their sisters anymore." His tone wasn't comforting, in fact, it was a little cold. His patience was wearing thin. At his words, her sobs renewed
It took her another long while before her cries softened a second time. "Mother didn't even speak to me."
There was a pause, and when he spoke again his tone had returned to the warm, fatherly one of before. "'Mother didn't even speak to me, Master.'"
Aysu was tired, so tired. Even as they were speaking her eyes were closing on their own accord. She just wanted to rest. "Mother didn't even speak to me... Master." She said in defeat, curling further into his warm body.
She couldn't see his smile as she closed her eyes, nor imagine his delight at the way she said Master. Her accent, her soothing voice, her lilt. It sounded so beautiful, so right. He looked up to see all his crewmates peering down at them. He beamed, giving them a thumbs up and a motion to move the rowboat upward.
When the rowboat lurched and began to rise she didn't move from her resting place on his chest. When he lifted her up in his arms she curled up into him. The men were jeering and laughing all around her. She closed her eyes and laid her head against his chest in an attempt to ignore them, but tears were still running down her face.
Finn didn't quell them, but he also allowed her to hide in his wet shirt, and she appreciated that small kindness.
She felt the air shift as they entered the dark underbelly of the ship, she liked the quiet even if the air was musty. But she wasn't really paying attention when she was positioned on the floor of Finn's cabin on her knees. She looked up at him withdrawn, her face was stained with dried tears.
"We need to go over a few rules, I see no better opportunity than right now." He said shrugging, grabbing the whip that had previously lay unassumingly on his desk. He whipped it, letting it crack in the air. Aysu flinched, looking down on the deep wood floors. He smiled," You won't get whipped if you just listen and obey."
