Title: We Have Heard the Mermaids Singing

Disclaimer: Pirates? Not mine.

Characters: Gillette and Groves

We Have Heard the Mermaids Singing

Andrew Gillette knew something was amiss when he woke slowly, hearing nothing but the creak of the timbers and the slap of the water against the keel. He had slept too long, and Groves had not woken him for his watch, which was an oddity in itself. Theodore was usually fiercely jealous of the short spans of time allotted him for sleep. Whatever it was that had kept Theo from insisting that Andrew take his turn on watch, it must have been nothing short of catastrophic. Gillette listened for a moment, but he couldn't make out anything more than the night sounds of a smooth-sailing ship.

He had slept almost fully dressed, and needed only to don his coat and shoes before venturing up on deck. Here, too, it seemed that all was as it should be. A fresh, cool breeze filled the sails, and all around him, men went about their tasks with a studied diligence that came from long experience.

Theodore was not difficult to find. He stood alone by the railing, eyes fixed on some distant point in the water. Andrew came to stand beside him.

"Why didn't you rouse me?" Gillette asked, slightly cross. "You were late, and I worried that some misfortune had befallen you, or all of us…"

Groves turned his head, acknowledging Andrew's presence for the first time, and raised a finger to his lips.

"Look," he said at last, and pointed off into the water.

Though Andrew peered dutifully into the darkness, he saw nothing.

"I don't see anything, Theo," he said.

Groves shushed him again, pointed emphatically, and whispered, "Can't you see them?"

"Perhaps if I knew what I was looking for," Andrew suggested.

Theodore had turned his gaze back out to the sea. "Mermaids. Three of them. Maybe fifty yards out."

Andrew narrowed his eyes and stared at his friend for a moment. He didn't remember Theo drinking too much wine at dinner, and his voice was steady and earnest. Groves was not drunk, then, but he was also clearly not in possession of all his faculties.

"Mermaids?" Andrew arched an eyebrow. "Come, now. You don't really expect me to believe that, do you? Don't be ridic…" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something break the surface of the water, and perhaps even the flash of a smooth, grey tail.

"They're coming closer," Groves said. "Seems you haven't scared them off after all." He favored Andrew with an odd half-smile.

"It's most likely a family of dolphins curious about the ship," Gillette said, shifting uneasily. "Or… they might be seals. It's most certainly not…"

Theo laughed. "You never did allow for much wonder in the world… but you're wrong tonight, Andrew." His eyes sparkled with anticipation at the prospect of seeing Andrew's rationality laid low for once.

Though the two of them waited, still and silent, for several long minutes, no creatures mythical or otherwise made their presence known. Andrew was about to insist that Theo go below and get some rest when he heard Groves' sharp intake of breath. He looked once more at the spot that held Theodore's attention and gasped. Andrew saw them now.

There were indeed three of them, and they were indeed mermaids. They kept pace with the Dauntless twenty feet off her port side, and when they saw that the eyes of the two men were on them, they preened and laughed soundlessly to one another. One of them even leapt up to greet them. She twisted around three times in mid air, water glinting off her silver-green tail, before plunging back into the sea.

Theodore grinned with delight. "Beautiful," he murmured.

Andrew was forced to agree with him. They were lovely. The boldest of the mermaids was almost close enough to touch the side of the ship now, and the exact nature of her beauty was painfully clear. Her hair was the color of the moon on the water, and it hung over her shoulders and covered the curve of her breasts. Her skin was the pale gold of smooth, warm sand. Andrew's mouth went dry, and his neck and face flushed with sudden heat.

"You don't think they're dangerous, do you?" Andrew asked. "Perhaps we should inform the captain."

"No!" Theo said, anger flashing across his normally jovial features. He took a long breath and attempted to speak calmly. "Bringing a great group of men with lanterns and loud voices would only frighten them away, and then the two of us would look like fools." He gave Andrew a long, hard look. "Can you not see how fortunate we are? How many men can truthfully claim to have seen what we're seeing?" When it became obvious that Andrew did not share his excitement, he shook his head. "Go if you'd like. I will stay until they leave us."

Gillette did not move. He wouldn't have Theo thinking him one of those who men couldn't abide having his comfortable view of the world disrupted. And besides, the mermaids really were lovely creatures.

The mermaid with the silver hair came up out of the water until the sea lapped around her waist like a great, dark skirt. Then, she began to sing, and her song was like no music either man had ever heard. Her voice was fluid, rippling, and inhuman in its grace; and the notes of her wordless song spilled over and blended into complex melodies.

Andrew's breath caught in his throat, and beside him, Theodore had stopped breathing altogether in order to better hear her singing. The other two sea-women came closer now, and added their voices to hers. Where the one mermaid's song had been unearthly, the three of them together were a trio of angels. No sound made by human voice or hands could ever be so sweet, so pure. Were they to cease their song, Andrew was sure that he would weep for the loss of it. It was a wonder that the entire crew hadn't dropped their tasks to listen.

Why hadn't the rest of the crew come to see what was happening? Could it be that they did not hear? Andrew turned to voice his question to Groves, but when he caught sight of his friend's face, he frowned. Whatever small magic the mermaid's song had worked on Andrew, it had utterly bespelled Theo. At that moment, Groves was oblivious to all but the mermaids' voices. His eyes were strange and glazed, and his face was filled with an unspeakable yearning. The song increased in pitch and speed, and then died down to almost nothing. Theo groaned and leaned farther over the railing, as if afraid that the song was ending. They sang in whispers, and Groves extended one arm down toward them, trying to bring the singers closer. The song had become a call, Andrew realized—an invitation. But it was not for him.

The melody grew urgent, insistent, and Andrew was close enough to feel Theo tense. Moving like a man enchanted, Groves took a step back and let his coat fall from his shoulders. He closed his eyes and turned his face to the music. Then, quicker than lightning, he was at the railing and about to vault over it and into the ocean. But, quick as he was, Andrew had shaken the mermaids' spell, and he was quicker.

"No!" he cried, grabbing Groves' arm. "Theo!"

Both of them stumbled back, nearly tripping over one another's feet. The song stopped abruptly, and Theo put his head in his hands, grimacing in pain. Andrew peered over the side at the mermaids, and they regarded him with unreadable expressions.

"I'll not let you have him," Andrew said vehemently. His voice was a low growl.

As if she had understood his words, the silver-haired mermaid reared up and hissed at him, revealing sharp, pointed teeth behind her full lips.

"Be gone! You won't be luring any sailors to the depths tonight!" Andrew called down to them.

Three sets of eyes full of cold, icy rage stared up at him, but he did not look away. At last, with a discordant screech, the three of them dove in unison and swam for the open ocean.

Andrew turned his attention to Theodore, who was leaning on the railing for support, his hand pressed against his forehead. When Theo looked up, his eyes were his own again.

"They sang, and I understood," he whispered. The dream still hung heavily about him. "They were singing… about the sea. About palaces in the deep, smooth stone carved out by the currents… A court full of merfolk and creatures out of legend… And I could see it. They… wanted me to come with them."

"And had you gone, you would have drowned and never seen a single thing," Andrew reminded him.

"But you stopped me," Theo said quietly. There was still a tinge of regret in his voice, and even that slight hint of melancholy made Andrew go cold. He slung an arm around Theo's shoulder.

"I didn't fancy explaining to James that I'd lost you to a bunch of sea-strumpets," he said.

That got a low chuckle out of Groves.

"Ah, yes. Losing one's fellow officer to a troupe of mythical creatures would definitely put a black mark on your record," he said blandly.

Andrew gave him a withering look and refused to dignify the remark with an answer. Groves stepped away from the railing and stumbled a bit.

"Are you all right?" Andrew asked. He had never seen Theo so unsteady on his feet, and it worried him more than he cared to admit. "You should go below and rest. I'll take your next watch."

"You don't have to…"

Theodore was showing signs of mounting a stubborn resistance, but Gillette cut him off before he could protest further.

"Of course I don't have to. But I will." He gave Groves an insistent push in the direction of his cabin.

When Theodore had gone, Andrew went about his duties, the echo of the song still ringing in his blood.