by LJ Andrews
“Lay her here on the table and let me have a look-see,” Sienna said, pushing old papers and jars across the surface.
Nova groaned when the two crewmen placed her on the hard table top. The smell of Sienna’s spices and herbs churned her stomach and she tried to hold her breath, but it was too painful.
“We’ll wait outside, Gold-tooth,” one of the crewmen said. “If she dies, hurry on up. We needs to get back to the ship.”
“Ah, just leave, ye belly-achers,” Taylor said, closing the door behind them.
“When did the fever start?” Sienna asked after they’d left, brushing Nova’s hair from her sticky forehead.
“We aren’t certain,” Taylor said. “Young Kale here found her just yesterday.”
“Her fever is odd,” Sienna said. “It appears to be self-inflicted.”
“You’re saying Nova gave herself a fever?”
“Well I would hope not intentionally, but it is a fierce illness. I must say she emits a strange aura. Let me try something.”
Nova could hear Sienna ruffling through her jars, each clink ringing in her ears until the annoying sound seemed destined to drive her mad.
“Ah, here we are,” said Sienna.
“That be putrid,” Taylor said, covering his mouth.
Nova crinkled her forehead, keeping her eyes closed. The smell of rotten onions mixed with gutter sludge burned the inside of her nose.
“Oh, hush. It’ll help the fever subside,” Sienna scolded.
Nova’s throat clenched, desperately trying to keep the bile from rising in her throat as a heavy paste of the disgusting potion slid across her cheeks.
“What is it?” Kale asked. His voice was nasally and Nova could only assume he was holding his nose against the smell.
“Snakeroot with a hint of pyreoil, it’s a secretion from the thigh gland of pyrebird. Very powerful,” Sienna said.
Nova groaned as she spread the paste over her arms and forehead. Her skin bubbled like liquid beneath the rank potion, and it felt as if the wretched mixture was seeping into her bloodstream through her pores and burning away her fever like a parasitic worm. Reflexively, her muscles twitched, her fingers extended, and her feet flexed against the surge of the healer’s mixture.
“What’s it doing to her?” Kale shouted, holding down Nova’s ankles as her entire body began trembling violently.
“Cleansing. You came to me for help, but I never said it would be pleasant. The girl had a foreign ailment, so the only thing to do is attack it with potent healing. If you’re dissatisfied, you can take your business elsewhere.” Sienna pouted.
“Madame,” Taylor asked quietly. “She’ll be fine, right?”
“It is already cleansing. Look.”
Nova felt it, too. Her skin felt cooler, her mind more awake. Her eyes didn’t feel as if a beam of light would burn them from her head. The pressure building in her chest eased ever so slightly, and the turmoil from the battle of her two sides retreated into the recesses of her mind.
Once the burning in her veins had dulled to a warm tingle, she slowly opened her eyes and glanced about the room.
“How ye feelin’, lass?” Taylor said. He was hazy in her foggy vision, but she smiled once his kind face came into focus.
Taylor’s forehead crinkled and he took a step away from her when he met her eye. Kale had smiled but it slowly faded, too, once Nova looked at him.
“What’s wrong with you two?” Nova croaked in a weak voice.
“Never mind them. Let’s have a look and make sure you’re on the upside.” Sienna cupped Nova’s face. The older woman had bright red lips with a smudge on her front two teeth. Her graying black hair was piled high on top of her head with a gold chain wrapped around the mound. Red and blue bangles jangled on her wrists, and her green fingernails were so long, they curled at the tips.
Sienna studied Nova’s face with a kind smile, but only briefly. Almost instantly, Sienna’s kind motherly smile faded. Her lips trembled in fear and anger, and she pulled away quickly, crossing the room in three steps.
“What have you done? Why would you bring this…this…why would you bring her here? Do you know what might happen to us all if Unknowns are taken?”
Kale jumped to Nova’s side protectively and held out a hand toward Madam Sienna. “Madame, calm yourself. You’re speaking like a mad woman. Her name is Nova and she is part of our crew. She’s from Mollem Island.”
Nova’s shoulders heaved in anxious curiosity as she watched Madam Sienna clutch the table tightly, seemingly ready to throw it if Nova suddenly attacked.
“That’s not possible,” Sienna said. “They can’t live amongst us, we…we would notice. She will destroy us all.”
“Enough, ye witch,” Taylor shouted. “This girl be just a girl, unless ye’d like to tell us what ye be blabberin’ about.”
“What’s wrong? All of you have looked at me strangely, now someone tell me what’s going on,” Nova said quietly, feeling the dark turmoil build in her chest again.
“Sorry,” Kale whispered. “It’s just when you opened your eyes I could’ve sworn…”
“What?” Nova pressed.
“They seemed almost gold, like molten gold. It was a little startling.”
Nova placed a hand beneath her eyes. Her eyes were her mother’s—diamond eyes, not gold. “What about now?”
Kale shook his head. “No, it must have been a trick of the light. They are the same color they’ve always been.”
“Because the elixir has passed through her system,” Sienna said quietly.
“What are you talking about?” Kale snipped over his shoulder.
“I’m a healer!” Sienna said in frustration. “I said I used my most powerful mixture to eradicate anything harming the girl inside. It had to pass through her true self, too, so she revealed it to us as the potion healed the fever from that side of her. But now it has absorbed into her blood. What do you want with us?” Sienna said fiercely, looking straight at Nova.
Nova slowly dropped her legs off the edge of the table, feeling unsteady once she was standing. Kale wrapped an arm around her waist to help her stand, and she couldn’t help enjoying his touch.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Nova insisted. “I don’t want anything with you. As they said I’m part of the crew on the Star’s Vengeance.”
Sienna studied her for a long moment. “It’s so strange, you do not show your true self at all times. How do you conceal it, I wonder? It seems as if that part…is not the only part of you.”
“Madame, please,” Nova begged, feeling frustration from half answers, and odd accusations since she ran away bubbling beneath the surface. “If you know something, tell me what is happening to me.”
“Happening to you?” Sienna said, cocking her head to one side. “Are you telling me you don’t know what you are?”
Nova took a deep breath, calming the storm brewing inside. “I’m Nova Willock. As Kale said, I’m from Mollem. Why would you think I’m…something else?”
“My dear,” Sienna said with sudden awe and fascination. “I’m not sure whether to believe you or run for my life. You have been experiencing surges of power, yes? Inside, I mean. You feel powerful, maybe when you’re angry or sad?”
Nova hesitated when she felt Kale’s eyes boring into her, but after a long moment she nodded, biting her bottom lip. “What does it mean?” Her voice was small and unsure.
“My dear, it is what you are. That’s what it means.” Sienna shifted on her feet and laced her fingers together as she gathered the words to say next. “My dear, you are most certainly from the line of the gods. You…you are from the house of the Djinn.”
Chapter 13
Search for Truth
Kale laughed, shaking his head. “This is fool’s talk. Madame Sienna, are you of the religion Lamian? You don’t have the typical manufactured fangs, but some don’t follow all the traditions. They are the only people who carry on about ghost stories and f
ables of long ago, such as Djinn.”
Nova gulped, remembering her first encounter on the Vengeance with the vicious Lamian. He’d called her a Djinn too, right before he’d tried to kill her.
Sienna huffed, looking affronted. “I assure you, young man, I am not a Lamian. And simply because something is turned to legend does not make it any less true.”
“House of Djinn,” Taylor said, awestruck. He covered his bearded face and stared widely at Nova.
“Oh come now, Gold-tooth,” Kale said. “You can’t honestly believe all this?”
“Enough,” Nova said, taking a deep breath and trying to calm the underlying battle whirling within her. Her skin felt clammy, and her face was still flushed, but as the disgusting paste continued to spread its healing, she felt stronger. “Madame Sienna, what do you mean I’m of the House of Djinn? As Kale told you, I was born and raised on Mollem. I only left to live on Arbeiten for a short while.”
Sienna watched Nova cautiously as if still trying to determine if she could be trusted. Finally, she gulped before squaring her shoulders confidently. “I admit, you have a different aura. It comes to me as if it isn’t…pure. But you have an unmistakable part of you which emits characteristics of the Djinn.”
“But wouldn’t I have known this much earlier?” Nova questioned, leaning back against the table, feeling a heavy fog fill her head. Being upright after nearly two days of sleep was taking its toll.
“In theory, you should have learned your lineage of Djinn as soon as you became a young woman. It presents in early adolescence, which is why I’m still hesitant to trust that you are oblivious to this change. You must be at least seventeen.”
Nova thought back on the months since joining the Star’s Vengeance crew. “Nineteen, actually. I just passed my birthday, and didn’t even realize it.”
“You can see my hesitation, then. Nineteen and never experiencing the change until now—very hard to believe.”
“Excuse me,” Kale interjected. “What change?”
“The change when a Djinn is filled with the powers given to their bloodline. Strength, stealth, good fortune, twisting fates—all of this is given to the Djinn. Which is why in ancient times they were revered as Deity.”
Nova’s throat was dry and her head pounded, though her heart was louder. “Could…could the powers be, I don’t know, held off by a potion or something?”
“I can’t imagine why anyone would want to do that. Djinn are a great treasure to find, and can be used for greedy men to create great fortune, though use of their power comes at great cost for the user. I suppose someone with great knowledge of the Djinn lineage and power could develop something that could delay the coming of age. But again, I cannot imagine why someone would do that.”
“Nova, why would you ask something like that?” Kale said, his tone light. “You can’t honestly believe what she’s saying.”
“I…I don’t know, there are things from…my past that make me wonder,” she said, remembering the bitter tea she took each morning since she’d turned twelve. “And she isn’t wrong about the struggle I feel within myself. I never experienced it until after…”
Nova’s eyes widened and her breath stopped in her throat.
“Until what?” he pressed. Madame Sienna’s lips pulled into a grin.
“Until after I ran away. Kale, you didn’t know me at the beginning. I passed for a boy I was so small and…not womanlike. But after a while—well, do I look like a boy now?”
She flushed after asking when Kale’s eyes quickly took in her figure. His cheeks reddened as he looked away. “I…I wouldn’t say that, no. But that doesn’t mean you’re some kind of magic person.”
“Not magic,” Sienna corrected. “Rulers of fate, in lesser words.”
“Whatever.” Kale moved in front of Nova. “Listen to me. Don’t play into this, Nova. I’m afraid…it could just get you in trouble. Possibly hurt. What if she spreads this as truth, what if people like Lamians come looking for you, or greedy men like she said.”
Nova smirked. “Are you actually worried about me, Skyman Tucker? A pirate wench?”
He rolled his eyes. “You are the most stubborn woman I’ve met. I just don’t want anyone to take advantage of you when it’s absolutely impossible to control fate.”
“He is right about one thing,” Sienna said. “If word got out, Lamians would certainly come for you.”
“They already have,” Nova said dryly while pulling out her dagger. “And I killed him with this.”
Sienna jumped back, but Kale’s eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean Lamians came?”
“When I was first taken captive on the Vengeance there was a Lamian on board. He attacked me, and I fought back in self-defense. Atlas was there—he can tell you,” Nova said.
Kale shook his head in disbelief, but Sienna was watching the dagger. “Where did you get that?”
“I told her it was special. That blade isn’t normal,” Taylor finally chimed in.
Nova clutched the dagger against her as Sienna stepped toward them hungrily. “It belongs to my family.”
“Madame, step back,” Kale said, holding out his hand.
Sienna stopped only a few steps from Nova, her eyes glued to the dagger. She smoothed her dress and cleared her throat. “You say it belonged to your family? I see. My dear, it seems your fever has subsided. I would leave you with some advice. Your fever was likely caused by exerting a large piece of your true self, then resisting it with your…less pure aura. I would also suggest you learn more about your background. Therein may lie answers. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have work to do. Many pirates are in these skies needing a healer’s touch.”
“Thank ye, Madame,” Taylor said while helping Nova down. “We can count on ye to keep yer thoughts private?”
Sienna smiled. “For a price, Gold-tooth.”
Nova gaped and Kale glared at the healer.
“And what is that price exactly?” Kale asked darkly.
“I could become quite forgetful for, let’s say, one hundred geld.”
“Ye wretched woman, what do ye take us for? What fool pirate would carry packs of gold wherever they went?” Taylor hissed.
Sienna smiled smugly, while Nova gripped the hilt of her dagger feeling the heavy darkness wrap its tendrils around her heart.
“Here,” Kale said pulling a small leather pouch from his pocket. “It’s at least one hundred and fifty geld. Maybe more. I will take this as surety your memory will fail you. If not, we will return, I assure you, Madame.”
“Where did you get that?” Nova asked.
“Neah. She insisted on offering some reward for rescuing her. I truly had forgotten about it until now.”
“I keep my word. This visit will escape my mind the moment you leave my home,” Sienna said.
Taylor grumbled about ruthless females before leaving the small room, and Kale helped Nova stand straight. “Even though I find you rather conniving,” Nova said walking away, “thank you for your help.”
Sienna nodded and turned her back to them, ruffling through the endless rows of spices and jars.
“Let’s go,” Kale shouted to the sleeping crewmen outside the small house. They jumped and wiped trails of saliva from their faces.
“Ah, so the witch lives,” one pirate snarled once Nova stepped out of the house.
“Shut your mouth and get a move on,” Kale hissed.
“Watch yerself, brig master,” the second crewmen said. “Ye don’t have authority over us.”
“But I do. Now shut yer traps and get a move on,” Taylor said before lowering his voice at Kale and Nova. “Now listen, ye two. Not one word about what Madame Sienna said in there. I agree with young Kale here, missy. Ye don’t know what superstitious fools will do if word leaks out. Are we agreed?”
Nova held her breath but nodded slowly. Kale glanced in her direction, watching her curiously as if waiting for something to happen.
“Of course. Not a word will be said,�
�� he agreed.
The crewmen huffed and led the way through the dark marshlands, occasionally blasting their pistols into the thick trees at distant growls and splashes in the swamp.
Eerie lanterns lined the bow of the Star’s Vengeance as the small party clamored back on deck. Smythe had resumed his dark spectral position on the top of the staircase. His dark eyes peered out from beneath his black hat, and the devilish raven called his sinister song in Nova’s direction.
“Madame Sienna didn’t disappoint, I see,” he sneered when Nova was close enough to hear. “Master Kane, set sail. We aim for the Isle of blood, then our path to the Island of bones will be clear. Get a move on, ye no good dogs,” he shouted at the crew before taking over the helm himself.
Nova rolled her eyes and stalked down to the gun deck, refusing to sleep amongst the smelly crew. The Vengeance shuddered as it fell back in line with the currents of the sky. She had no idea what the Isle of Blood was, but it didn’t sound pleasant. The moldy blanket she’d nearly died on was still strewn between the two cannons. Nova rested her head against one of the guns, replaying everything Madame Sienna had said.
She jumped when the floor creaked by someone walking along the deck. Nova withdrew her dagger, took a deep breath, and lunged from her hiding spot.
“Easy, Nova!” Atlas shouted, holding his hands up in defense.
Nova released her breath and tucked the dagger back into her belt. “You frightened me. What do you want?” she asked flatly.
“I wanted to see how you were feeling. Last I saw you, it seemed you were on the brink of death. I’m glad to see you’re doing better.” Atlas stayed standing, but casually leaned against the largest cannon on the deck.
“I’m fine. Madame Sienna did her job well, though her methods were less than pleasant.”
Atlas chuckled. “Healers’ remedies rarely are enjoyable. You were gone for a long time, did she say anything else?”
“Why. Did Kale and Taylor say something?” she questioned, feeling a burn of frustration toward her two escorts.
Atlas dropped his smile. “I haven’t seen either one.” Nova released her breath and leaned her head against the base of a cannon. “Nova, why? Did something else happen?”