Page 103 of Pirate Witch

I look like I’ve had a brush with death.

“You’re up.”

The voice is familiar, but at first I’m sure I’m mistaken. Elsie can’t be here, surely?

But there can be no mistaking the glowing hair of the woman in the mirror.

I grin, turning my head back to look at her. “You came.”

She nods but doesn’t smile, picking her way across the room and peeling back my bandages to check on the wound.

“Reva and I refused to be left behind. They made us high priestesses, so there wasn’t a lot they could say against it. It’s not like we have covens we’re abandoning to help you out.”

A disturbing thought prickles at the edge of my mind, and I’m tired enough that I blurt it without thinking.

“This isn’t about revenge, is it?”

Elsie’s face, already sombre, grows stormy, and her hands leave my back to cross her chest defensively. “So what if it is? Am I not allowed that, just because I’m a Solar?”

I shake my head. “No. But you’re not a fighter…”

“I don’t want to fight!” she argues. “You can get revenge in other ways, you know. Winning against the Eagle is the best way to make sure Cooper didn’t die for nothing, and I can help by shielding our army.”

My stomach drops because a teenager on a quest for vengeance is a bad combination. Add in a battle…

She’s going to get herself killed. Reva knows it, and I’ll bet that she chose to come along to protect the damaged Solar.

Nothing I say is going to change Elsie’s mind. She’s probably heard it all already and now her stubborn resolve is written in the stiff lines of her body. Her expression practically dares me to disagree.

“I’m sure your healing will come in handy,” I say instead. “But be careful.”

Her whole body deflates, the argument visibly leaving her at my acceptance. “Good, because now that you’ve decided to commit blasphemy with those marks on your back, I assume you’ll want someone to teach you basic Solar magic, and I’m all you’ve got.”

Damn her, she’s right. I spent so long debating whether or not to go through with this stupid plan that I never put any thought into how I was going to learn Solar magic.

Shit, I’m still not sure I want to. Part of me wants to scrub them from my skin.

“I’ve been spending my time looking into the sigil in the middle,” Elsie continues, grabbing a book which has been abandoned on the side. “Valorean said you found it in Meliad.”

“It came from a collector who said it came from a temple beyond the town wall.”

Elsie hums noncommittally. “I asked Elodie and Sophie about it and they’ve never seen it before. Both of them were around before the witches banned the use of both magics. It’s not in any of the books either.”

My heart sinks. “So it could be a hoax?”

Her golden eyes pierce me. “I don’t know. But I wouldn’t have advised you to have it tattooed on your body without more research. For all you know, it might be an ancient sigil for hair removal.”

I shake my head. “I have this gut feeling about it.”

I’ve never seen Elsie roll her eyes before.

“How long has it been?” I change the subject, because I’m still sore and not in the mood to endure a lecture from a teenager. “Can I use my magic again yet?”

Elsie shakes her head and huffs out another sigh. “Not yet. It’s the middle of the night. We’ve only just left Coveton, and we had to do that in a rush so no one would question your absence and figure out what you’ve done.”

My long sigh echoes in the room. “I suppose we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to start, then.”

For the first time since Cooper died, I see a small smile grace Elsie’s cheeks. Not true happiness, but still, it’s enough to give me hope.