A Witch's Tale

Chapter 3

It's been two years since their capture. Somewhere deep in down in the ship, in a damp and rusting cell, held the two girls. At first all Taliana could do was apologize to her sister over and over, in hysterics for the first couple of weeks, but now she simply accepted the conditions. She ate when they fed her, responded when they talked to her, just trying to survive. Malanishka was a different case all together. She sat below the cell's window, even when the waves crashed over the side, soaking her to the bone. This way she could always see the stars, see where she was. It was the only thing that gave her a sense of control.

Two pirates came in, practically tossing in two trays of what they were trying to pass off as food, with two cups of rusty looking water. Her eyes narrowed on it. She barely touched the stuff. She refused to consume any food they gave her for the first few days. Every time she looked at them or the food, her stomach churned, threatening to throw up contents that were no longer there. Malanishka hated humans, she hated them so much. The worst part was the knowledge of when they were captured, they still passed people on the docks and they didn't even so much as give them a second glance. They accepted their capture. The town that they have lived their entire lives just let them go. No one was coming to save them, and that stung somewhere so deep she didn't know that it existed. Maybe that was the reason her stomach could barely handle anything.

"I don't see the point in us even bringing two trays here. She eats like a mouse. All that she's doin' is wastin' our food." One of the guards complained.

Her sister's eyes shot open, terrified. "I'll get her to eat more this time. Don't worry. I'll get her to eat." Taliana's voice was panicked at the thought of them giving up on feeding her sister. They just rolled their eyes, mumbling something under their breath that the girls didn't exactly catch. After they were gone Taliana turned to her sister. "You have to eat. Do you want to starve? Did you hear them? They'll stop trying soon if you don't eat more." She was pleading, but her sister wasn't even looking at her. Mishka was looking up and out of that damn window again.

"We're in port, somewhere far south from where we're from. I feel it in the air." Mishka finally spoke, her voice hoarse and her eyes closed to the bay's wind.

Taliana's eyes widened, looking at her sister in disbelief. "There's no way you can know that." Even though she said that, somewhere deep inside didn't have a doubt that Malanishka could. Her younger sister had always been more in tune to her magical side than either Tala, or their mother. Mishka was obsessed with it, so much so that she shut the rest of the world out. It was natural to her like the air they breathed. She would have been just fine living the rest of her life in that house bordering the forest and sea. It almost brought Taliana to tears. If it wasn't for her, Mishka would probably be in the forest or helping their mother around the house. How could she be so stupid? Who could ever love a witch?

"Tomorrow morning, we can escape you know. Right before dawn, we can sneak out and take one of the boats hanging off of the side of the ship and head for the shore." Her sister's voice was low but full of confidence. Where was all of this coming from? Tala was the older sister; she should be the one finding out a way to save the two of them. Even so, she couldn't help but fine herself depending on her younger sister. How had she become so weak? She paused before the thought materialized in her mind. When had her sister become so strong?

At first, she simply thought Malanishka was antisocial, that's why she spent so much time away from everyone, even them. However, now she was getting the sinking feeling that Mishka had been practicing magic that had been dead in their family for generations. It felt like such a disgrace that her younger sister could be so strong willed and independent but here she was, near tears, ready to give up at the first sign of trouble. She really was pathetic.