Siren Slave by Aurora Styles

“They could be any one of us.”
    Freya gasped, dropping her empty tankard. She squealed and jumped behind a wooden chair carved with rearing horses. She peeped out from behind the backrest, giving each of them a nervous glance. “Any one of us? Mother? Father? Are you pirates? Odilia, you could be one!”
    Pompey chuckled and Adele looked as if she wanted to be anywhere but here. Odilia glared at her. There were rumors the woman dabbled in the black arts. Now that Freya was assured magic was real, she was taking no chances with having Odilia plotting to kill her, too. She wanted Odilia to think her a simpleton.
    She grabbed another tankard and looked to Pompey. “What are we going to do about the pirates? Are we going to invent a secret code for only non-pirates? Like a…a special hand clasp that involves standing on one’s head and shaking with one’s toes? I suppose it would be a toe-clasp, then.”
    Pompey ignored her but turned to her parents. “Chieftain Iccius, these people who are suspicious and resist, we can send them to work for Rome. These slaves would be considered payment for our services of seeing to the safety of your people.”
    “But none of us have been hurt by pirates yet,” Freya said. “I think we should focus on Druid assassins. I’ve actually seen those. Well, I’ve seen the capes that cover them.”
    “The pirate threat is real,” Pompey said, finally answering her. “You are near the river on which they sail their murderous ships. Surely you don’t wish to anger Rome. Siegfried could be here, even now.”
    Really? Where? So Pompey didn’t think Siegfried had gone mad?
    “Um, the Druids seemed pretty real, especially when one of their knives cut my arm.” Freya gripped the tankard handle so hard her nails dug into her flesh. It was beginning to rain harder.
    When Pompey answered her, he spoke slowly. “There are many Druids in Gaul. Perhaps they are upset that your people now worship our gods. Perhaps Siegfried or Vercingetorix has managed to send them to assassinate you and your family. They could even be pirates or warriors in disguise.”
    She frowned. Fey, not Siegfried, were behind the Druids, but she couldn’t exactly tell Pompey that.
    She wondered if Pompey knew more about Siegfried’s whereabouts than he admitted. He’d said Siegfried could be here already. What if her pirate had seen her in the market? What if he thought her a prostitute? What if he thought she had some attraction to Etainen? She’d been saving herself for Siegfried. She wasn’t sure yet how her marriage to Etainen would affect that, but having a headache seemed to work for other women. She just needed a reason for having a perpetual ache between her ears…if she could stop those inconvenient reactions to Etainen.
    If Siegfried was here, she would need to find and protect him from all these Romans. What if he didn’t know Pompey was around? Somehow, she hadn’t found out about that either, probably because she’d been spending so much time being fitted for her wedding garb.
    “I questioned a merchant today, a seafarer passing on information about Siegfried,” Pompey said.
    “Yes, Freya,” Odilia said. “If you continue to go about dressed in a long cloak, roaming through the marketplace like you were doing today, you’ll be questioned too, just like the commoner you want to be.”
    “We are in a heightened state of awareness now,” Pompey continued. “Besides the wedding, there are the executions of the pirate supporters on the morrow.”
    Executions?
    Was someone beating drums far away? Where was that rhythmic, low thud coming from?
    “It’s for your own good, Freya,” Odilia said, not seeming to hear the odd drumming. “We can’t have you accidentally ending up with that group of rebels.” Her steely gray eyes met Freya’s. “We know you don’t like blood, but it can’t be avoided. We will most likely have to torture them for information before they are executed. Pompey has