Page 186 of The Black Witch

I weigh this new gift in my hands, the box not as heavy as I would have thought it would be, given its size. The young soldier gives me another quick bow and sets off.

I sit down on a nearby stone bench. Tierney takes a seat beside me, smatterings of scholars passing by talking quietly, the chill wind picking up in fits and starts.

I hand Tierney the note card and tug at the stiff brown paper, ripping it open, pulling out the black leather case underneath.

A violin case.

Heart thudding, I open the case and gasp when I see what’s inside, nestled in deep green velvet.

A Maelorian violin. Like the one Aunt Vyvian was given temporary use of the night of her dance.

Only this one is brand-new, the Alfsigr spruce varnished to a deep crimson, the edges gilded, the strings gleaming gold in the lamplight. A violin so expensive it could pay for my University tithe about ten times over.

With shaking hands, I take the note card from Tierney and open it.

Elloren,

If you wanted a portrait of me, all you had to do was ask.

Lukas

An incredulous laugh bursts from me, and a warm spark of affection for Lukas Grey is quickly followed by some remorse. I’ve been wrapped up in thoughts of Keltic Yvan while Lukas has been pursuing me from afar, and now this. Chastened, I hold the note out for Tierney to read.

Tierney’s mouth lifts into a crooked smile, her eyes dancing with dark delight.

“It feels bizarre, but I kind of like him at this moment,” she says, her smile growing wider.

I reverently close the violin case, heart fluttering at the sheer giddy excitement of holding such an instrument in my hands.At owningsuch an instrument.

I become suddenly conflicted—I don’t deserve such attention from a man I don’t plan on fasting to. I resolve to return the violin to Lukas the next time I see him, and to send a note of thanks in the meantime. Lukas deserves at least that.

Feeling eyes on me, I look up.

Gesine Bane and her friends are all staring at me and the violin in my lap, a nasty gleam in their eyes.

My elation instantly turns hard and sour, fear spiking on its heels.

Once Fallon Bane gets wind of this,I realize,it will be open season on me.

* * *

“She can speak, I’m sure of it,” Diana observes to me that night as I send up a stream of music in the washroom, my fingers sore and unaccustomed to playing for so long. I don’t care. It feels so good to have this violin in my hands.

And what a violin.

It renders my out-of-practice efforts into something heartbreakingly lovely.

Marina’s in the bath, curled up naked under the cooling water, her sorrowful gaze rippling up at us. I finish my song and lower my violin as Diana cocks her head in thought. “She can speak, but she just can’t speak in any form we can understand.”

Marina opens her mouth and forces multiple tones through her mouth and gills, the sound transformed by the water, her multiple tones coalescing into a deep, resonating hum that sounds like an eerily mournful song.

Like she’s grieving.

Our Selkie is a puzzle that can’t be solved. Sometimes her animal-like movements and barking multitones are those of a wild thing, but her eyes are inquisitive and intelligent, and I know that Diana’s right.

She’s more than just an animal. More than a seal.

Jarod and Diana have not been able to find Marina’s skin, and she can’t go back home without it—her strength is sapped to the point where she often seems ill. I’ve written to Gareth, asking for information about the Selkie trade and where their skins are kept, but I know his response will be slow in coming. He’s been gone for weeks with the other Maritime apprentices, all of them out to sea until First Month, when winter digs its claws in and all the ocean passes will start to ice over.

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