Page 102 of Pirate Witch
Unbidden, a prayer forms in my mind.
Mother Moon, I beg you to forgive me… Mother Sun, I ask only for the power to defeat the Eagle, then I will gladly relinquish your gifts. Fate, please let this be the right path.
The first brush of her silver needle is agony. Somehow worse than before. Unlike the cold icy burn of Lunar magic, the fiery agony of the Sun’s power sears my skin. It’s alien. Wrong in so many ways. My soul, already branded with the Moon Goddess’s mark, feels like it’s being ripped in two. This is a betrayal of who I am at my very core, and my body knows it.
I can barely focus past it, but I have no choice. If I don’t, this is all for nothing.
“Life,” she begins, and I dutifully echo the word back to her through clenched teeth. “Wisdom, healing, patience, order, hope…”
My mouth repeats the words even as my eyes stream with tears. The mark is going above the crescent moon at the base of my spine, merging the design into a half-sun, half-moon made entirely of sigil tattoos. When she reaches the sigils which spread out like rays across my lower ribs, I almost give in and let out a sob. Each tap of the barbed silver into my flesh may as well be a punch to my whole body.
The Sun Goddess’s mark takes hours. By the time Alletta moves to the spot in the very centre of my spine, I’m exhausted. My body has gone beyond the point where I can separate one pain from another. I’m almost drifting, with only sheer will and my own stubbornness left, holding me to consciousness. The marks of both Goddesses throb, even though one of them is months old. It’s like they’re fighting for dominance within me, and I can easily see how it would drive anyone mad.
Fate’s mark is like a balm between the two. Oh, it still stings like a bitch, but with each drop of ink that sinks into the sigil at the centre of the sun-moon design, the tearing sensation in my spirit lessens. Alletta takes her time, copying the rubbing she took from the stone with care. When she finally packs away her needles, the only pain left is the physical one.
Still, I struggle to push myself up from the ground. When I finally manage it, my elbows give out, sending me sprawling in the mud.
Or they would, if a large pair of strong hands didn’t appear underneath me at that exact moment.
“I’ve been telling you for years that being carried everywhere is more convenient,”Opal sighs in my mind, winding around Kier’s feet as he gently lifts me into his arms, being incredibly careful not to touch the sore and bleeding skin on my back.“But I’d really prefer it if you could stop hogging our harem. I need to be carried too, you know.”
Part of me wants to laugh, but I don’t think I can breathe too deeply without stretching the skin of my back.
“Good, you can take her back to the town,” Alletta grins, cocking her head to one side. “She’ll only clutter up the place if you don’t.”
Kier doesn’t bother replying. He barely acknowledges the other woman beyond a subtle dip of his head. Perhaps, if I wasn’t his mate, I’d think he was unaffected by the whole thing. But I can practically feel his anger vibrating through his body as he starts to carry me away from the ramshackle little camp and back towards the salt wall.
“You shouldn’t have taken this risk,” he finally bites out. “No matter what Nos said.”
“I didn’t want to,” I murmur.
He gives me a long, assessing look. “So why did you?”
I shrug, then hiss when it sends more pain radiating down my back. “Because I can’t bear the thought of us losing. If the Eagle wins, she’ll wipe out my people and enslave even more to get her fake immortality. She’ll take her revenge on you for the part you played in her downfall. She might never be able to control you, but she can make you suffer before she sends you to the stars, and all of you have suffered enough.”
Kier doesn’t answer that, and my words have done little to cool his anger. I’ve never seen the cool, collected fae this mad, and I don’t know how to deal with it.
Some of my uncertainty must show, because he deliberately relaxes his frown and sighs. “I am not angry at you, mo chroí. I am angry at your Fate for bringing things to a head in this way. Surely, if they needed a Shadow with the powers of night and day, your Goddesses could’ve arranged for it to be someotherShadow. Why must it be you? Why have they chosen my mate to suffer thus?” He scoffs. “I am beginning to think Noster is right when he says Fate is a bitch.”
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “I wish…”I wish it wasn’t me.
But even as I think the words, I know I can never say them. We are all made to follow our own destinies. Complaining about it won’t ease the burden, and wishing it on someone else assumes that theirs must be better than mine. When it could be so much worse.
Kier starts to say something else, but I don’t catch it. Exhaustion and pain make for a draining cocktail and my mind finally gives up trying to process it all.
When I wake up again, it’s dark, but that tells me nothing. I’m sleeping on my front, with my face smooshed into the cushions and my mouth as dry as dirt. When I look up, and rub the sleep from my eyes, I recognise my cabin.
My empty cabin.
None of my mates are here.
What happened? Have we left Coveton? How long have I been out?
My back is still sore, but someone has bandaged my midsection. The scent of lemon balm and nettle wafts from the wrappings, and I wonder if a Solar is responsible.
I bite my lip at the sad realisation that I missed my chance to say goodbye to Danika, Elsie, and Reva. Ignoring the pang of disappointment—because really, I’m the only one to blame—I wobble my way into the bathroom and take my first look at my reflection.
It’s official. I’m a mess. The bandages around my waist are almost the same colour as my pasty skin. My eyes are ringed with dark shadows and my hair is limp and lifeless.
