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THE BIRTH OF ECHO - A TALE OF LOVE AND TRAGEDY

P A R T  O N E 

Once upon a time, there was a fair maiden named Aoife, and she loved a sailor named Declan with all her heart. Engaged to be married, she simply couldn't bare being parted from him anymore, so before her beloved left on his next lengthy voyage, she snuck aboard the ship - an act that was as reckless as it was foolhardy, for Captain Fergus MacLeod was fearsome and cunning - but the thought of being away from Declan pained her far more than whatever the captain might do to her upon discovering her - or at least she thought so.

Late one night, when the ship was far away from the shore, Aoife and her beloved lay together quietly in the dark, whispering dreams of their married life to each other as the ship rocked on the waves. 

Suddenly, Fergus burst into Declan's quarters, his face blank but for a look of mild annoyance. He moved closer, his voice sounding slightly bored, "what've we here? A maiden aboard my ship? Now Declan, you know such a thing is forbidden. Are you trying to doom us all?" Declan gulped and couldn't quite find his voice, then a defiant voice rang out, melodic as a song from the battlefield, "I make me own choices, sir, Declan needn't tell me to follow him places I'm not meant to be - I'll follow him straight to the ocean floor if that's where fate took him"

Fergus raised a single eyebrow and turned his attention to Aoife. "Oh, is that so? Well, perhaps this will be more interesting than I thought." He snapped his fingers and a group of burly sailors flooded the room, seizing Aoife and Declan and hauling them up to the deck of the ship.

P A R T  T W O 

The frigid sea air bit into Aoife's skin and she faltered in her struggle to free herself from the grasp of her assailants as the chill sunk into her. She looked to Declan, who wasn't struggling but instead hung his head in defeat, as if he knew what was about to happen was not worth fighting. The sight of her beloved looking so defeated sent a small tingle of fear down her spine. Had she doomed them both?

Fergus emerged from below last, a smirk on his face. He approached Aoife first, "So, you say you'd follow him to the ocean floor, mm? What if I could arrange that?" Aoife shifted uncomfortably but kept her face neutral, and her mouth silent. She stared unblinking into the captain’s infuriatingly smug face until he was forced to break the silence, “Not so talkative now, are we? Fine.” He turned now to Declan and grinned terribly, “How long have you been a member of my crew, Declan? How long have you been a member of this family?” Declan’s gaze stayed fixed on his bare feet, as if the answer were carved on the deck of the ship beneath them. He seemed desperate to avoid eye contact as Fergus came closer, waiting for him to speak. The captain grew visually agitated with waiting, and answered for him, “Five. Whole. Years.” Suddenly, Macleod’s face contorted as he screamed the answer again, “FIVE YEARS” He seemed to immediately compose himself and continue, “Not a great amount of time in the grand scheme of things but a significant portion of your life, no?” He didn’t wait for a response, and Declan continued to stare blindly at the floor

“And yet,” - he paused now and looked back to Aoife, who was frowning at Declan and paying little attention to the captain, “you’re willing to jeopardize our safety, our livelihoods, for this lass here. What on God’s green Earth could motivate you to do such a thing?” Declan’s head snapped up at this, and he caught a mischievous glimmer in the Captains eye.

“Well Declan,” The captain inquired, “I’m waiting.”

P A R T  T H R E E

Declan seemed to grow paler, and his breathing became uneven as he stammered, “I...love her, Cap’n. She..she came aboard to...to be with me, I daren’t ask her to leave my side” He swallowed hard and avoided looking at Aoife as she opened her mouth to speak again, “It was me own choice, ser, and I spit on your silly superstitious codswallop. I’m no more bad luck than any other soul aboard your vessel! Declan’s done no wrong, he only wanted us to be together!” Fergus kept his eyes on Declan as he said, “Oh is that all then, Declan? You just wanted to be close to your lass while you’re away at sea?” Declan gave a stiff nod in reply and dropped his eyes once more to the floor, seemingly fascinated with the dark wood planks slick with sea water. Fergus turned to Aoife again, walking over to where she was standing, trying to conceal her shivering as the sea winds picked up slightly. “What about you, then? From what Declan’s told us of his lady on the shore, you live a life of privilege and opulence - what interest do you have in spending months on end hiding out on a ship? Declan’s a fine lad, I’ll grant you, but he isn’t worth the risk of scurvy for a dainty thing such as yourself.” “What’s me family got to do with anything?” she said, as the defiant look on her face disappeared for the first time since they’d been discovered. “A fair bit, I’d say. Declan talked about your father’s fortune nearly more than he talked about you - and he had a fair amount more favourable things to say of it than he did you.” At this, Declan closed his eyes and cursed quietly under his breath. The ship began to rock more notably in the waves and above them clouds rolled in thick, blotting out the stars. Aoife tried to catch his eye as she demanded, “Declan, whats he on about? What do ye care about me family’s wealth? Why won’t you look at me?!” her voice rose with a hint of panic at the last question, and he eyes began to widen as rain began to mix with the sea spray that was soaking them. One of the burly crewmen that was keeping Declan in place leaned over to the Captain and said, “A storm seems to be brewing, Cap’n.” Fergus replied, “Aye. She certainly does.”

P A R T  F O U R 

The wind had picked up as the storm clouds rolled in closer, and the deck of the ship started to fill with what seemed to Aoife like chaos. The captain ordered the men restraining them away to man the sails and bail out the lower decks and he growled to the lovers “we’ll deal with you later” as he rushed off to assume his place at the helm. Declan and Aoife were left alone amid the teeming mass of sailors working to navigate the sea as she grew more and more aggressive beneath and around them. Aoife wanted answers. “What was he on about, Declan? You still haven’t looked me in the face and I want answers. Why was he talking about my father and my family and our money? Are you mixed up in something because of my parents?” She was finding it more and more difficult to be heard over the shouting of the crew and the sounds of the storm around them Declan finally looked at her, with a puzzled expression. “What do you mean by ‘mixed up in something’, and what would your father’s business have to do with it anyway?”

Aoife looked sheepish now, and it took her a moment to find the words. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to think down on him.. he’s tried so hard and he’s done his best...” she trailed off and now it was her turn to stare at her feet as they soaked in the sea water on the deck. Declan just stared at her, his brow furrowed, until finally she looked up and shouted over the wind. “My father made mistakes. He made some bad investments, had a deal go sour on him, and he just hasn’t been right since then. He gambled away most of what we had left down at the pub by the docks back home so I thought maybe the captain knew about them and was threatening you the way my father’s been threatened by the people he owes to.” She took a breath, one that seemed to be her first in a long while before she continued, “But if you didn’t know about that, then what was he talking about Declan? I’ve given you the honest truth and I’d say you owe me the same.”

Declan was silent for a long moment, and then his face contorted in a sick, almost angry smile. “The truth you say? You want the truth from me? Have it, then. That fortune your imbecile of a father pissed away? That was the only reason i ever looked twice at you. I’d no intention of keeping this wretched job once we married, I was always going to use your dowry to pay off the captain and leave for a life of opulence funded by your blessed family. But now... what use are you to me?”

Aiofe’s heart seemed to stop beating in her chest for the briefest of moments, she was aware of the people and the noises around her but her hearing had gone fuzzy, as if she was under water. She looked at Declan, searching his face for some hint that he was lying, that this was all part of some strange plan, but he just stared at her in contempt. The love was gone from his eyes, replaced with a singular coldness - as though he was looking at a stranger.

As suddenly as it had gone still, it seemed to fill just as suddenly with a white hot, burning rage. Seizing the dagger from his belt - a gift she’d given him before her father went broke - and she lunged at him. Declan, not expecting the blow, lost his footing on the slick deck and landed hard on his back, knocking the breath from his lungs and making it impossible to scream for help. Aoife didn’t hesitate. Poised on top of his defenseless body she plunged the dagger into his chest. “How could you?! You wretched, filthy, scum of a man. You’re nothing but a worthless, scheming, vile, MONSTER!” she wailed as she stabbed him over and over again. This caught the attention of the Captain once more, and he shouted something Aoife couldn’t hear over the rush of blood in her ears. Suddenly, a group of crewmen rushed at her. They knocked the dagger, slick with blood, from her hand and seized her, dragging her away from Declan’s now lifeless body. His blood mixed with the rain and sea water as she howled curses at him in a tortured scream.