Flying

Chapter 31: Secrets

Grabbing Peter's body, I hoist him out of the water. With a flick of my wrist, I draw the water out of his lungs. Peter coughs a few times before inhaling shakily. His eyes are still glassy and unfocused.

"Peter!" I shake his shoulder. "Are you all right? Can you walk?"

Peter pulls himself upright and stumbles forward a few steps before keeling over again. Clearly, the siren song is still affecting his mind. Not that his mental capacity was ever great to begin with.

Heaving a sigh of frustration, I use my magic to float his body to a nearby clearing. Wearily, I gather wood and kindling. I'm too exhausted to use magic to light the fire, so I pull out my tinderbox. The leather pouch has fortunately kept it dry. After a few minutes, the small blaze begins drying out our clothing and hair.

"What's happening?" Peter slurs his speech as he lifts his head. "Why am I wet?"

"You're wet because you're an idiot," I reply.

"Then why are you wet?"

"Because I am also an idiot for trying to rescue you," I retort.

"I don't think you're an idiot." Peter languidly stretches out a hand towards me. "You're a good person. I'm not used to people like you."

Rolling my eyes, I take his hand. "Well, maybe you should stop working with people like Wind then."

"She's not all bad," Peter protests. "You didn't know her before."

"Before when? Before she became a homicidal maniac?"

"She wasn't always like that. Her father was the one who introduced the darkness to her."

"What do you mean?" I lean forward, my curiosity piqued.

"After her mother died, he forced Wind to marry a cruel man. He told her that she was too ugly for anyone to love because of her cleft lip. Her brothers tried to save her, but her husband found out about their rescue plan and stopped them. Wind never saw them again. Her husband knew about magic as well. He forced her to drink from a fount, so she would stay his young wife forever. She was barely able to escape him and had to change her name from Wendy to Wind. That's why she needs the power of magic. So no one will ever treat her that way again. She just wants to protect herself."

"Is that why she wants to go back?" I ask. "To find her brothers?"

Peter nods. "She needs her family."

"And what do you need?" I raise an eyebrow.

Closing his eyes, Peter furrows his brow and shakes his head. He pulls his hand away from me and rubs his temples. I can see the effect of the sirens is wearing off. Now is the time to find out the truth. Gently, I stroke his forehead.

"Tell me, Peter. What do you want?"

"The same thing." Peter keeps his eyes shut. "Family. I just want to know what happened to my mother. James has never given me the full story. I know there's more to it than what he's said."

"Why would he keep the truth from you?"

Peter opens one eye and looks at me. "For the same reason he didn't tell you the truth about your father. Guilt. I know he is responsible somehow for my mother leaving. You can't trust him."

Ahoy mates,

So sorry for the late update. Graduate school has been crazy! Classes, homework, auditions, rehearsals, work, etc. You know how it goes! Because of my class schedule, I may end up switching my update to Fridays or Saturdays!

Fun Fact:

Leather is not actually waterproof. It is a naturally porous material, so it can never be 100% waterproof. However, there are ways to protect leather from water. In the modern world, you can use a protecting spray specially designed for leather. A more rustic option is beeswax cream, which is probably what Jimmy uses!

See you next week,

Commodore Caroline