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"Don’t tell that story anymore," she said Her voice trembled and I felt sorry Perhaps I’d used too hten her

"I won’t," I said "I promise"

Some people said that sirens didn’t have souls, and so I asked my mother if that were true of Maire "No,"has a soul Maire has a soul" And of course,"You have a soul, Rio," she told me "Never doubt that"

It wasn’t until later that our mother told us the truth--that the siren Maire was her sister Our aunt "But we no longer speak to each other," reat sorrow in her voice, and Bay and I looked at each other, terrified How could sisters grow so far apart?

"Don’t worry,"our expressions "It won’t happen to you They came and took Maire ahen they found out she was a siren, and eren’t raised together We grew apart You see? It’s one of the reasons we have to keep Rio’s secret We don’t want her to be separated from us We don’t want to lose her"

Bay and I nodded We understood perfectly

And this was an enormous secret for my mother to keep from the Council, especially later when she became Minister She was supposed to report to the other Council members and ith them closely She was not supposed to have secrets from them

But she did have secrets At least one, and maybe more

It was on Maire’s doorstep that they found ht she died She went to see her sister, but I don’t knohy

I’ve e of the deep lanes--several heavy ceo, soroup hauled the lanes down here and set the so heavy

Aldo, the anizes the races, nods to me as I approach "I heard your sister went Above," he calls out "I’m sorry to hear that" Aldo is a few years older than Bay and h his blue eyes and dark curly hair and smooth features should make him handsome, they don’t

"Thank you" Those tords are all I can e to say without emotion when people offer me their condolences