Aurora Abroad Read online

  “Oooo... you’re so cuddly and snuggily! You’re my Blacky-beardy Cuddle Wuddles, aren’t you?”

  The captain frowned. “There went my reputation as a pirate.”

  The siren looked up at him. “What did you say, baby?”

  “Uh, nothing. Sweetheart, what did I tell you about singing to my men? It’s dangerous to them. You know that.”

  She pouted. “I know.”

  “I think you owe them all an apology.”

  “I know...” Her grip on Blackbeard’s waist continued to tighten. “But I didn’t know how else to get your attention, Pookie. You were moving through here so fast, it was like you were trying to get away from me. You weren’t trying to get away from me, were you?”

  “Nononnonono... of course not!”

  “Don’t you wuv me anymore, you Poophead?”

  “Uhhhh...”

  Lyric tried to avert his eyes. It was almost embarrassing to watch the captain squirm.

  “Actually, dearest, there’s, uh, there’s, uh... there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.” Richard looked over his shoulder at Aurora, who answered his desperation with a shrug. “There’s someone I wanted you to meet.”

  When they fell on Aurora, the siren’s eyes turned red. “Who, her?”

  “Yes. Her.” Blackbeard turned around, laid his hand in the small of Aurora’s back, and urged her to step forward. “Listen, darling... I know this will be hard for you to understand, but-”

  “Who is she?” Rebekka snarled. When she did, she flashed a set of sharp teeth, not unlike the teeth of a small shark. “WHO IS SHE?”

  “Now, don’t be angry.”

  “HOW CAN I NOT BE ANGRY?”

  Blackbeard laid a hand on the siren’s shoulder. “I meant to tell you this sooner, of course, but it’s hard to get in contact with you sometimes, what with you living in the ocean and all. But, uh... this is Aurora.”

  “Aurora.” Rebekka repeated the name with zero inflection.

  “Aurora is my wife.”

  Aurora nearly choked on her own tongue when she heard him say that. She could practically feel the siren’s hatred boring a hole in her head.

  “YOUR WIFE?”

  Richard wrapped an arm around Aurora’s shoulders. “Yes. Aurora’s my wife. She’s my lovely little pirate princess.”

  Aurora tried to shrug off his arm. “I’m not your wife.”

  The captain chuckled nervously. “Don’t be silly, honey. I know you’re a little bit afraid of Rebekka, but there’s no sense in denying how much we love each other. Every time I look into your eyes, I know I can’t hide it.” In an attempt to look like a doting husband, he kissed the top of Aurora’s head.

  “Ohh... oh nnnooo...” Rebekka was on the verge of tears. Her bright blue lips trembled with sorrow. “Y-y-y-y-y-you’re... married?!”

  “No.”

  “INDEED.” Richard raised his voice, speaking above Aurora’s protest. “We’re deeply, deeply, terribly in love with one another. If I’ve broken your heart, Rebekka, I do apologize. But Aurora and I are meant to be together.”

  The siren let out an ear-piercing scream. The waves were rocked by her fury, and the ship swayed.

  “Richard,” Aurora whispered to him. “Richard... why are you doing this?”

  He leaned toward her ear. “Shhhhhhh. I need her to believe this! You have no idea how clingy she can be!”

  “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Ricky Poo!!!” The siren clasped a webbed hand over her heart and threw back her head in agony. “Ricky Poo... Ricky Poo... what about me?!”

  Richard softened his voice in feigned consolation. “Oh, I don’t know. I’m sure you’ll find someone someday, love.”

  “I’m not going to let you do this to me! I”ll... I’ll sink the ship!”

  Richard let go of Aurora and reached for Rebekka, hoping to stop her if worse came to worst. “Nooooo, come on. You don’t want to do that!”

  She took a few steps away from him. “I’ll condemn you! I’ll condemn you to die!”

  Richard shook his head. “Oh, I’m sure you don’t want to do that either.”

  Rebekka crossed her arms and kept silent for a few seconds. She looked around the boat, her red eyes flickering over the faces of Blackbeard’s men. “If I can’t have you,” she sniffled, “I’ll have to take a consolation prize.”

  “Ahhh, now we’re talking! A prize sounds better than being condemned to death. What is it that you want? I have some nice treasures down in the galley, you know. I’m sure you’ll find something that’ll look nice in your underwater palace.”

  “I want...” Rebekka’s eyes stopped on Lyric. “I want him.”

  The captain raised an eyebrow. “What? Him? Who?”

  “HIM!” She thrust a finger at Lyric. “I want him. He’s cute.”

  Aurora ducked under Richard’s arm and ran in front of Lyric, protecting him from the siren’s whims. “No!” she shouted, surprised by her own fervor. “No, you can’t have Lyric! You can’t just take a person as a prize!”

  Lyric shook his head in protest. “No, no...let her go on. She thinks I’m cute. I’m interested to hear what else she has to say.”

  Aurora shot him a nasty look over her shoulder, and Lyric grinned.

  “His name’s Lyric? Really? Then that’s perfect. I sing songs, his name’s Lyric. He can be my NEW Ricky Poo!”

  “Um, okay.” Lyric winced. “I’m not sure I entirely agree with you on that...”

  “Come to me.” Rebekka held out her arms to him. “Come to me, Lyric, come to me.”

  Then she started singing the words: come to me, come to me, Lyric, come to me...

  Aurora turned around. “Don’t listen to her, Lyric. She’s trying to trick you. Just cover your ears.”

  But her warning was too late. The captain and the rest of the crew was held in place, immobilized by the siren’s song. Lyric extended his arms toward Rebekka and started walking toward her, not unlike a zombie.

  “Come to me, come to me, Lyric... be with me.”

  “Lyric!” Aurora tried to shout some sense into him. “Lyric, snap out of it! Lyric!”

  He pushed her out of the way so he could make his way to Rebekka.

  “LYRIC!”

  “Come to me... come to me...” He stopped right next to her, staring at her with adoration in his eyes. He caressed her cheek in the palm of his hand. “Be with me... kiss me.”

  Lyric bent his head forward and planted his mouth on Rebekka’s.

  Aurora dragged a hand across her face in devastation. She couldn’t help but feel partly responsible for everything that had happened to Lyric. Now he was going to be some madwoman’s love slave? She couldn’t let it happen! When she saw their tongues touching, she felt sick to her stomach.

  “Come with me.” The siren was speaking now, not singing—but he was still under her spell. “You’ll come with me, won’t you?”

  Lyric followed her to the edge of the ship. “Anything for you, my love.”

  Thinking fast, Aurora whipped the wayspinner out of her pocket. Rebekka dove into the water, and Lyric was about to dive in after her. Aurora reached for him, touching the back of his arm. She turned the dial and secretly prayed that it would work; otherwise, the emperor would be gone forever.

  More than ever, she was relieved to see the flash of white light.

  Chapter Five

  I

  THIS TIME, THE WAYSPINNER actually did its job. It really did whisk them away from harm’s way. Other than the fact that she landed on top of Lyric, there was nothing too compromising about their new situation.

  Aurora rolled off of him and pressed her fingers to her temples, hoping her headache would subside. She would have given anything for a moment of peace, however—

  “Rebekka!” Lyric bellowed. “Rebekka, my sweet Rebekka, where are you!?’

  “Oh, crap.” Aurora actually winced. He was still under the influence of her magic? How long would it last?

  “Rebek
kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh? Nooooooo!”

  “Lyric! Snap out of it!”

  Lyric glared at Aurora. “You’re not Rebekka. Why should I care what you have to say?”

  Aurora buried her face behind her hands and groaned. It was a long, deep groan that made her sound like the bridge troll’s kin. “You’re not going to be like this forever, are you? Is the magic going to wear off?”

  Lyric didn’t acknowledge her question; rather, he hopped to his feet and started to walk off. Aurora got up and ran after him, grabbing him by the elbow. He regarded her with disgust.

  “Lyric, where are you going?”

  “I’m going to find Rebekka!”

  “You’re being stupid! You’re under some kind of love spell. Can’t you snap out of it?”

  “Snap out of what?”

  “The love spell! Snap out of the love spell!”

  Lyric shook her off of his elbow and started hollering: “Rebekkaaaaaa!! Rebekkaaaaaaa!! Where are youuuu?”

  Aurora chased after him, rolling her eyes every time he hollered Rebekka’s name. “You’re going to feel really silly when the magic wears off... if the magic wears off. And I really hope it does.”

  Lyric cupped his hands around his mouth to magnify his voice. “Rebekkaaaaaa!”

  “Apparently, you’ve forgotten what this does.” Aurora held the wayspinner in front of his face. “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but she’s nowhere near us. Not even close. We’re in the middle of the woods in... well, as for our location, your guess is as good as mine!”

  “Then we should claim this place as our own!”

  “We should?”

  “Yes!” Lyric’s eyes lit up enigmatically, almost psychotically. He certainly wasn’t acting like himself. “And we can call it Rebekkaville!”

  “Riiiiight. I’m sure she’d love that.”

  “You think so?”

  Aurora rolled her eyes again. She was more than a bit tempted to leave him behind and let him sober up on his own, but she wasn’t too crazy about the idea of being on her own. Lyric could be a pesky companion, was he was the only companion she had. She didn’t want to lose him.

  Lyric bent over to pick a wild orchid from the ground. “Ahhh. Do you think she’d like this?”

  “No.”

  “Do you think I should get her a gift?”

  “No.”

  “Do you think she’s thinking of me at this very moment?”

  Aurora sighed. “Do you really need to ask?”

  Lyric threw his arms into the air and gave a victory yell. “That must mean yes!!”

  “It means no.”

  “Oh.”

  “Lyric, do you have any idea what’s going on, or has she totally messed with your brain?” Aurora turned around and waited for his answer, but it didn’t look like she was going to get one. He looked clueless.

  “Do you think we’ll be able to find her before the day is out? Do you think she’s looking for me? What do you think she’s doing at this very moment?”

  “Lyric, SHH!” Aurora held a finger to his lips. In a whisper, she asked, “Did you hear that?”

  “Hear what? Was it Rebekka?”

  “No! It’s a strange whistling sound.” Aurora grabbed Lyric’s sleeve and tried to crouch down.

  “I don’t hear it. Why are we hiding?”

  “Sssshhhhh!!!!” There was, indeed, a low whistling noise in the distance, and it was drawing closer. She remembered where she heard that noise before. “Lyric, do you remember when Princess Rachelle was kidnapped?”

  “Who?”

  “Princess Rachelle?” He shook his head, having no recollection of anyone other than his beloved siren. “God, Lyric, you’re hopeless. Princess Rachelle. You’re her suitor. She was kidnapped by weirdos in black cloaks. Does that ring a bell?”

  Lyric shook his head.

  “That noise I’m hearing... those creatures made that noise.” Suddenly, Aurora gasped. She thought she saw movement behind the trees. “Lyric!”

  “Is that Rebekka over there?” Lyric started to get up and investigate, but Aurora pulled him back down.

  “I wish you weren’t a complete idiot right now, because I could use your help!” She saw movement again—this time, the source of the movement was unmistakable. It was one of the hooded wraiths. “Lyric, we have to get out of here!”

  “We do?”

  “Yes, right now! Follow me, okay?”

  “Follow you?”

  “Yes, I’m going to take off running, and you have to follow me!”

  “I have to follow you. And... why would I want to do that?”

  Aurora slapped a palm against her forehead in frustration. “Just do it, okay? I’ll, uh... I’ll lead you back to Rebekka, okay? I know where she is.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes!”

  Suddenly, the howling noise stopped. The wraith was close to them now; he turned his head in their direction. When she heard the sound of his voice, a chill ran down her spine.

  “They’re here...I can smell them.”

  “Lyric, now!” Aurora got up and took off running. She checked over her shoulder to see if Lyric was following, but he wasn’t. He was still sitting in the grass, looking stupefied. “LYRIC, COME ON!”

  “Oh, yeah!” He hopped up and ran after her.

  And so did the wraith.

  Aurora soon discovered that Lyric was a surprisingly good sprinter. He passed her in no time at all, and showed no signs of stopping. Instead of asking to him to follow her, she ended up having to ask him to slow down. But he didn’t listen, so she tried her best to keep up with him. She kept looking over her shoulder to see if anyone was following them, but she didn’t see anything.

  A few minutes later, they were out of the woods—in more ways than one. The stretch of forest ended, and Aurora was confident that they’d they managed to escape. She was out of danger, and out of breath. “Ly-Lyric!” Panting, she tried to call him back to her. “Lyric, stop!”

  To her surprise, he actually heeded her request. He turned around and walked back to her. “Yes? What is it?”

  “We... I think we’re safe now.”

  “We were unsafe?”

  “Yes! Don’t... don’t you re...remember-” Aurora paused to take a deep breath. “Never mind. You’re totally out of it right now. It’s no use trying to talk sense to you.”

  “If you couldn’t find the person you loved, you’d be upset too!”

  “I don’t love anyone!” Aurora exclaimed. “And neither do you! You’re messed up in the head right now!”

  “Are you two alright?”

  Aurora nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the unfamiliar voice. She was a bit jumpy—understandably so. She turned her head to see who was addressing them. It was a young girl, dark-haired and diminutive, and perhaps the same age as Aurora.

  “I-I’m fine. I’m just a bit out of breath.”

  “Yes, I saw you running.” The girl’s voice was so soft and sweet, it could have subdued an angry bear. Or a talking bear. “Was someone chasing you? You look very upset.”

  “Yes... someone was chasing us.”

  “Oh, that’s terrible!” the young woman’s body shuddered visibly.

  “Unless we’re running from the law, right? Then you wouldn’t feel sorry for us.” As soon as she spoke, Aurora regretted her words. The girl looked terrified by the thought of confronting criminals. “I’m just kidding. We’re not running from the law. We’re running from-”

  “REBEKKA!” Lyric shouted all of a sudden.

  Aurora was speechless for a few seconds. How was she supposed to explain why her traveling companion had less sense than a lobotomized baboon?

  “You’re running from someone named Rebekka?”

  “No, we’re not running from Rebekka! I would run TO her. I am overcome with anguish! Where do you think she is?!”

  Aurora turned to the girl and shook her head. “He’s, uh... he’s a bit cuckoo in the head right now.
Don’t pay any attention to him.”

  “Oh.”

  The poor girl was so demure, she looked like she wouldn’t say boo to a goose. “Like I said, we were running from someone. But it looks like they’re gone now.”

  “You were running from a bad person?”

  “I think so. I mean... it’s really difficult to explain.” The wraiths didn’t exactly give off a good vibe, that was for sure.

  “I can hide you, if you’d like.” She nodded in the direction of a small shack. “I live over there. It’s on my step-mother’s land, but... she doesn’t need to know I’m letting you stay there.”

  “Would your step-mother object? I don’t want to intrude.”

  “Well, um, she, um... she...” The young girl’s eyelashes fluttered. It looked like she was discussing a sore spot. A very sore spot. “She doesn’t actually... she doesn’t allow... she doesn’t let me have friends over to visit.”

  “She doesn’t? Well, that doesn’t seem fair!”

  “Rebekka wouldn’t do that.”

  “Who’s Rebekka?”

  Aurora grimaced. There really wasn’t an easy way to explain why Lyric was the way he was. “Don’t worry about it, um...” Aurora’s voice trailed off. She thought she heard the wraith’s howling in the woods behind them, which prickled the hairs on the back of her neck.

  “It would probably be better if you hid in the main house. There’s more room in the attic, and no one ever goes up there.” As the girl headed off, she motioned for them to follow. Lyric showed no signs of moving, so Aurora ended up having to drag him along. “Besides, my step-mother and step-sisters are gone right now. They went to the market. By the way, what’s your name?”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry! You’re offering to help us, and I haven’t even introduced myself! I’m Aurora.” She gave Lyric’s shirt a gentle tug, as that was the only way to get his attention. “And this is Lyric.”

  “And Lyric is your... brother?”

  “Oh, God no!” Aurora exclaimed. “Do we seem like brother and sister?”

  “No. Not really. Then he’s your husband?”

  “Trust me, that’s an even more outlandish idea than the brother thing. No, Lyric and I are just... temporary traveling companions. We’re sort of stuck together.”