Phoenix

Arguments

She woke to ticking, and it took her a moment to realise she was in her room at the tavern and that the ticking came from the grandfather clock in the corner, not her dream. The ticking was inlaid with another sound. Angry voices outside her door, growing louder with each second. She recognised the voices as belonging to Eli and Miki.

"I came to say goodbye. I'll be taking Freia back to the mainland for a while. Hopefully get her a little more settled. I'll sort out some business with the trading company at the same time." A pause. "Can I trust you to keep watch over her while I'm gone."

"I didn't know she couldn't swim," Miki's said.

"Of course she couldn't. She's an orphan."

"I told her to stop. She could've stopped anytime."

"If Herald hadn't kept his eyes on her... and if Freia hadn't came to get you."

"She's fine."

"You wanted her to fail."

An expelled breath. "Perhaps you could take her with you back to the mainland. She can't stay on the island without you here. She's too dangerous."

"She can be trained."

"By who? You're the only one who understands rage like that. And you're leaving." There was a bitterness in Miki's voice that spoke of an argument that had been chewed over too many times. "She's exactly like Heather. Even looks like her."

"Which is why I can't stay."

"What are you going to do?" Miki's voice was a kettle overflowing. "Hide behind your trading company again? Leave us to pick up the pieces."

"Don't."

There was a sudden silence. Even the grandfather clock seemed to skip a beat.

Then, Miki voice returned, no longer a boiling kettle, but ice cold. "I thought you were leaving."

There was the sound of footsteps retreating in both directions.

When she was sure they'd gone, Ash sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her muscles lagged with sleep and her mind grappled with what she'd just heard. Why had they been arguing about her? And was Eli really leaving the island? Gunner had said it was too dangerous to leave with the Establishment on their tail. And who was Heather?

She was busy worrying over these thoughts when her hand brushed something rough on the pillow beside her. She turned to find a handmade shell necklace—smooth white on one side, marbled with pearlescent blues and pinks on the other. A note lay next to it.

Hold this necklace close and you'll hear the ocean wherever you go.

Miki

The note was written in flowing cursive, and it took all of Ash's concentration to distinguish the letters she knew. It was the kind of writing that should've filled the book Shorty had given her.

Eventually, she managed to decipher enough to hold the shell to her ear and understand. In the shallow whorl of the shell, she could hear a hollow rushing and waning, similar to the sound of the ocean.

Ash turned the necklace over in her hands, memorising every bump and ridge. She tied it around her neck and squinted at herself in the mirror on the far wall. The white side brought out her eyes. The pearlescent colours drew attention to her skin which was beginning to darken with the sun. In it, she almost mistook herself for beautiful.

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