Witch Born(56)
Senna wiped sweat off her forehead with her shoulder. “What will you do now?”
Mistin shuddered. “I don’t know. There’s nowhere for me to go. Cord won’t join the Guardians now. He won’t leave me unprotected and alone, but he’ll blame me for his lost opportunity the rest of his life.” She sniffed loudly and turned to Senna, confusion clouding her dark eyes. “Why would you want to travel to Tarten?”
Senna blew her hair out of her eyes. “I’m going to lift the curse.”
“Senna,” Joshen growled in warning.
She ignored him. Mistin deserved to know. “You could come with us.”
“What?” Joshen cried at the same time that Reden said, “Senna.”
Mistin glanced apprehensively at the Guardians.
Ignoring the two sets of eyes boring holes into her back, Senna went on. “We could use your help.”
Mistin bit her bottom lip. “But what about Cord? He’ll never let me go with you—he’s so protective.”
They rowed in silence and Senna could practically feel the tension draining out of the men. “What if he came too?”
The tension increased again.
Mistin slowly nodded. “I think he’d like that.”
“Absolutely not,” Joshen said from behind.
Reden grunted. “This isn’t an adventure. It’s dangerous.”
Mistin’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Senna is my friend. I want to help.”
Senna turned to see Reden studying Mistin as a commander would assess a new recruit. “Prenny said your song was barely strong enough to bother with.”
Mistin’s expression hardened. “There are other things I can do. And you need all the help you can get.”
Reden heaved at his oar. “What kinds of things?”
Joshen stared at Reden incredulously. “You’re not actually considering this, are you? We already have Senna to look after.”
Mistin lifted her chin. “I don’t need you to look after me. I can fight.”
Joshen snorted. “And you think a little thing like you is any good against an army of—”
“I can shoot a musket!” Mistin shouted over him. “After my family died, my brother and I grew up on the streets. We can handle ourselves.”
Senna stiffened. As if she needed to be looked after. Joshen didn’t seem to notice he’d offended her.
Reden let out his breath in obvious exasperation. “You have a lot to learn about women, Joshen.” He nodded towards Mistin. “You slow us down, we leave you behind. Understand?”
Mistin set her jaw. “I won’t slow you down.”
Joshen muttered something about how it was hard enough having one woman around who was also a Witch. He didn’t think he could deal with two.
Senna ignored him.
“We’ll need a ship,” Reden said.
Joshen grunted. “A ship? It’ll be safer if we escape over land—it’s a lot less volatile than the sea.”
Senna frowned at him. “The only way to Tarten is by ship, and you know it.”
He sighed. “We don’t have to go to Tarten, Senna. We could—”
She had to stop and rest her hand. She shook out the cramps. “One more word and you’ll be swimming to shore.”
After a moment, he said through clenched teeth, “Let’s hope Captain Parknel has the Sea Witch in port.”
Senna sang for the wind to carry her song to Captain Parknel, advising him that they needed passage.
Reden waited for her song to end before speaking. “And if he doesn’t make it back or his ship was damaged after the earth tremor?”
No one bothered to answer.
Blisters had formed on Senna’s hands long before they reached Corrieth. Her scar ached fiercely, but she did her best to ignore it. She surveyed the damage from the storm and the enormous wave of a few days ago. The city itself seemed fairly intact; the high wall surrounding it and the wind must have turned the brunt of the wave. But the port was a disaster. Piers were ripped from their moorings. The ring of hammers sounded everywhere. The hot metal and ash smell of the forges was strong in the air. Worst of all, stranded, broken ships littered the landscape.
What if the Sea Witch was one of those stranded ships?
On one of the few remaining piers, Senna followed Joshen out of the boat, her muscles watery.
Mistin sprinted down the wooden planks. “I’ll go find Cord,” she called over her shoulder. “Don’t leave without us!”
Reden watched her go. “Senna and I will see if we can find the Sea Witch. Joshen, go to the Two Foals stable and round up some horses and fodder. Meet at the Sea Witch in an hour. If it’s not at port, we’ll meet at McBedee’s shop.”