Mistress of Siren Cove Ch. 04-05

Blushing again, Elysia said, "No, my lovers have always been very attentive and seem to spend most of the time making sure I get what I need. I thought I was just lucky in my men."

"No, my daughter. You were using your power. As you make love, a man will pick up on even your unspoken thoughts of what you want from them, and they will be eager to please you. Some of us will take pleasure from a man for hours and not permit the man to have his own release. This is cruel, and our daughters are taught not to do it. Even so, such a man will be eager to come to the woman's bed again."

"So, Andrew will stay here, pleasing women?"

"Of course, daughter. And he will be very happy. But the men work here as well, as we all do. Andrew will stay with us and will teach tennis. I have had a report of his night, and I am told he is quite happy. He was with Antoinette again all night, but perhaps tonight he will be with someone else. He misses you, and you will see each other again, but for now, he is a happy man."

"Antoinette used the power to seduce him on the sailboat, then. When I found out they had been with each other, I wanted to kill her, and I wanted to kill Andrew."

"Be at peace, daughter. It was neither of their faults. I ordered Antoinette to lure Andrew into lovemaking, and he had no choice but to obey her. I hoped that by gaining Andrew's complete trust, that you would be less afraid. And, through Antoinette, I sought to bind Andrew to this island, so that he would make no attempt to escape. I cannot permit Andrew to return to his home."

Elysia thought about what she had learned this morning and found that it saddened her. "So, Andrew never loved me?" Andrew was handsome and rich, but what Elysia prized about him most of all was his attentiveness to her, and she believed that this was because he loved her.

The Mistress looked at her with sad sympathy. "For those with our power, it is very difficult to know. In your world, you know that very rich men or women often wonder, even agonize, over whether a person loves them for themselves or their money. It is the same with us. He does love you, child, but on this island, he will also love the other women because of the power they possess. That is what our power does; it makes them see us as more beautiful than we are, kinder than we are, more loving than we are. It makes them think that we are all they want and need in a woman. With that power, we bind them to us. You might say we enthrall them."

"But why take our sailboat? Why take Andrew at all?"

"And would you have come? Would you have left him, based on the word of an unknown woman coming to your door and telling you the story I did?"

"No, I guess not."

"It was necessary to bring you here, with your husband, knowing that he could not return. We had to find a plausible reason for his disappearance. As far as the outside world is concerned, the sailboat disappeared one night and is presumed sunk. The sailboat has already been destroyed by our people, and we have a plan for you to be the only survivor. I want you to return to the United States to tell the story."

"That is enough for this morning.

"One more thing," said Elysia. "Should I call you mother or Mistress?"

"In private, like this, it would please me if you call me mother. In the presence of others, it will always be Mistress. Also, only a few people know that I am your mother, and for now, I want it kept secret. Miriam knows."

"Now, I want you to prepare to return to the United States and tell them how Andrew died. Can you do that? And will you promise to return?"

Elysia thought about this. She thought about her newfound mother, a powerful woman who she believed she could learn to love someday. She thought of her newly discovered powers, and how little she knew of them, and how much she might learn here. She thought of herself as the heir to this island and the power it contained that her mother had hinted at.

"Yes, mother, I will return. I want to know who I am and what I can do. And, I want to know you, my beautiful mother."

The Mistress hugged her and smiled. "Go, my daughter, and return to me quickly. Oh, and Antoinette will be helping to arrange your return and will instruct you further. You must make peace with her. She is very smart, and you will need her help. Remember, everything she did was based on my instructions. If you must be mad at someone, be mad at me. I am used to people on this island being angry with me."

The Mistress rang a bell to summon Miriam, and while they were waiting, she hugged her daughter, and said, "You were my only child, Elysia. I did not even give you your name. When she took you, it left a hole in my spirit that nothing could fill."

Elysia looked at her and saw the tears in her eyes. "I'm here now, mother, and I hope we can make up for all of those lost years."

The Mistress did not speak again, but just nodded to Elysia, while blinking away the tears. To her daughter, it appeared that many veils had fallen from her, and she saw the woman, not the ruler. Miriam came in, and with a final look at her mother, Elysia left the room.

Continued.... Ch. 06