RIBBONS • SIX OF CROWS

15

Violet did not wake for days.

Nina did what she could, but those who visited below decks found it difficult to look upon the girls still body lying atop the table. Even under low light of the lantern, her skin retained none of its warmth, maintaining its pallid grey hue until the fourth or fifth day.

In fleeting moments her consciousness returned, but the girl became twitchy and restless, resisting any light touches from Nina when her bandages needed changing. Her eyebrows drew in as she fought off whatever plagued her mind, even beginning to shed tears in her sleep.

Inej would hold her hand, though there was nothing Nina could do to fix it as she cried in her sleep and began whispering a name they couldn't quite decipher.

Fever came and went, and with it, a semi-concious delirium that broke the two girls hearts to witness.

Sometimes, it was the sound of the plague siren that jolted the girl from her restless nightmares. Sometimes, the sound of Jordie fighting for breath between hacking coughs, or Kaz's hoarse voice screaming. When those dreams took hold, she would clutch her hands over her ears and cry; she wouldn't remember any of it once the fever passed, but Inej and Nina would live to never forget it.

Violet did recall the icy sensation of water lapping at her skin as she drifted in and out of consciousness, the rocking of the ship bringing back everything she'd tried for years to bury. She'd shiver so much that when she did awake, every muscle felt taught and achy, her joints stiff and rigid as the table she lay on.

And finally when Violet did regain consciousness, properly enough to actually remember what was going on around her, it was to the knowledge that her brother had not stepped foot below deck since they had left Ketterdam.

For days on end, she waited. And for days on end, he did not show his face, and something about it killed her inside.

Barely uttering a word, Violet slept huddled between the two of her guardian angels who dutifully didn't leave her side as she slowly began the journey of healing. Inej held her hand and ran her fingers through her hair as Nina changed her bandages, and Nina soothed her racing heart when Inej's gentle humming could not lull her into a secure enough sleep.

On the eighth day, the girl awoke to the nauseating sensation of the wood beneath her back swaying and rocking to the violent crashing of waves against the ships side.

The gentle and familiar humming of Inej at her side warmed her to the core, the scratchy blanket tucked around her not doing much in comparison.

Her head lolled to the side as she prised her stinging eyes open, squinting to adjust to the flickering lantern light.

Inej sat at her bedside, uttering quiet Suli words in a lulling tune as she fiddled with one of her knives in her lap. At the girls subtle movement, however, her attention shifted and her eyes softened.

"Violet," she murmured, sitting up straighter. Her eyes flickered uneasily across her face. "Are you... feeling any better?"

Violet swallowed thickly, gaze shifting across Nina slumped in the corner practically drooling on her own shoulder as she slept.

And, unknowingly, she uttered the same words she had every time she stirred from her fever-filled sleep.

"Where's Kaz?"

Her voice was scratchy and quiet. It even sounded strange to her own ears.

Exhausted, her eyelids fell shut again as the warmth of Inej's hand stroked her hair away from her face. "Upstairs, lovely." She whispered down at her, fighting hard to hide her own disdain from her tone.