The first lesson Davina had with Quinn was taken the next day. Although, before they were able to start, there was a rather long process first.
She was practicing once again with Felicis on the deck when she noticed Quinn timidly staring at her. He'd take one step forward then one step back. He'd turn around and fiddle with his gloves and face her once again. She knew there was something he wanted to tell her. She considered it had something to do with the favor she asked yesterday which was about the lessons.
Normally, she would've approached him to end both of their sufferings. But she let him continue on with his pacing as she tried to ignore him and continue on with her training. It irritated her to no end especially when it has been ongoing for five minutes now.
Quinn was timid. He's soft-spoken and is the type who could easily be pushed around. Still from what she saw from when she first met him, he isn't completely helpless.
"If he only had some confidence in himself, he could be a threat."
She's witnessed his skill with potions and she hasn't even seen the extent of his magical powers. She remembered the night of the ball where Kira and Arlo were showing off while he just stayed on the ground with her. Davina took a sideway glance at him and saw there was still not much progress made.
However, she remembered what she said to him yesterday.
"Try to think before you say anything."
An uneasy feeling emerged in her body when she realized she could be a part of his self-doubt. She tried to wave away the idea as she continued to practice.
Something flew past in the corner of her eye. She aimed her sword at it only for it to go past Felix's body. Then came a flash of an image of her sword embedded in Felix's bleeding body. She looked around her and she was no longer on the ship. She was back once again on the battlefield. Her hands stained with the blood of the boy dying a few feet away from her.
"You killed him!"
"Murderer!"
The voices in her head overpowered her.
"Traitor!"
She tried to block them out to no avail.
"Witch!"
"I didn't kill him," she tried to fight them. "I didn't kill him."
"Inarian!"
"Spy!"
A burning sensation came in her skin. She tried to get rid of the fiery feeling. But her entire body felt like it was being scorched. She kept on taking a few steps back. Her hands tried to cover her ears to keep the voices out.
Then came a sweet voice against the bitter cries.
"Davina. It's alright."
"Felix?"
The voices around her started to fade away. The heat in her body was dying down.
"You can open your eyes. It's okay."
But when she opened her eyes, there was his bloodied body and her old sword in his chest. She froze in her place. Her heart thumped in her chest. She wanted to raise her hand and touch him. But all she could do was stare.
The soft smile he was wearing turned into a cold menacing look. He never looked at her like that before. Her head started to pound. The heat in her skin started to come back.
"Thank you Davina for ending my life."
No.
"And for ruining the kingdom."
No!
The ground swayed underneath her feet. Her back and head were hit with a strong force that a throbbing pain emerged from them.
That became a wake up call for her. When she opened her eyes, she was back on the ship. The voices were all gone. The heat she felt earlier was replaced by the cool and calming wind.
The person in front of her didn't have the fiery red hair and green eyes that haunted her just a few seconds ago. She now stared into grey eyes and cool brown hair.
"Quinn."
She sounded like she was running when she never really went anywhere. She looked down and saw that she was on the ground. Felicis, a few feet away from her. Her eyes searched for a certain red-head but she couldn't find him anywhere.
"Are you alright? What happened?"
"I...I tripped."
Quinn didn't look like he believed her. Davina wondered what it was that he saw while she was out of it. To her surprise, Quinn didn't ask anything more about it. He only offered his hand and helped her up.
"Why were you walking around earlier?" She asked, to get the attention away from her.
"Oh," he suddenly looked bashful. He scratched the back of his neck. "I was just- well you did say that…"
"Spit it out Quinn."
"If you're free, we could start on the lessons now. I just saw you practicing and I was wondering if I should disturb you."
"I did tell you to call me when you're ready."
"Right. But you are alright, right? Maybe you needed some rest."
"No," she shook her head. "I'm alright."
The last thing she needed was to spend more time alone with her thoughts.
~~~~~
At first, she thought she'd get annoyed with spending this much time with him. She knew that he was the one she asked to teach him. However, doubt came in her mind because his shy personality would contradict with her straight and to the point attitude. What she wanted to do was to learn. She wasn't sure if she could do so if her teacher was scared to correct her.
The two of them studied inside the Captain's Office where there were some pieces of parchment, a pen and ink, and a few books on the table. On one piece of parchment, there was the Inarian Alphabet written with their symbols, how to pronounce them, and what they mean.
The thought that she was finally going to learn the language excited her. She only wondered how excited Felix would be if he was in her place. But the thought of Felix only brought back the sight she saw earlier. His cold and lifeless voice haunted her.
It's not real.
It's not real.
It's not real.
"Where do we start?" She said in a loud voice that made Quinn jump. If she was trying to convince him that she was fine, she was certain she was failing at it.
"Here." Quinn took the parchment with the alphabet. "The basics."
The two of them spent the first few hours learning the symbols and how to pronounce them. Quinn was patient with her and he corrected her whenever she'd say something wrong. His shy nature earlier eventually disappeared. To her surprise, he was the perfect teacher.
As much as she wanted to keep on learning, Quinn eventually had other obligations to fulfill. But even if he was gone, she still kept on it. Especially at night.
Usually, when she'd have trouble sleeping, she would go over to the deck and train. She'd train for hours until her body could no longer take it and she'd fall into a dreamless sleep. But instead of doing that, she decided to learn more of the Inarian language. It certainly helped her progress.
"I'm impressed." Quinn said as Davina was able to write down all the symbols and pronounce them in the next few days. There were still a few mistakes here and there, but her progress was quicker than most would expect.
Quinn was shocked and pleased with her quick progress. Although he had a conflicted look on his face when he realized that she was still not sleeping these past few days. He admired that she wouldn't want to waste time, but he expected that her lack of sleep would probably bite her in the back one day. Especially since there were threats possibly coming their way as they get closer to the island.
He knew that she was sleeping the morning away. The other day, he knocked at her door to ask if she wanted to have lessons again, but there was no reply. He only saw her again at noon and during their lesson. That was when he found out that she barely slept during the night and slept the day away instead. But he didn't want to bother her about it since she's at least getting some rest.
"So, can I start reading that book now?" she inquired.
"What book?"
"That one."
She pointed at the book that Quinn was holding. It was the book that the two of them took from that Inarian in the docks of Eris. That day that felt like a lifetime ago to Davina.
Quinn was hesitant for a moment. Davina had no idea what he was going to say. SHe understood that she wouldn't exactly be able to understand everything but there must be something she could understand now. It would be tedious to try to translate everything, yet she could still try. This was the biggest reason why she wanted to learn the language.
"I'm not sure…"
"Let me try," she held out her hand for the book. Quinn could see that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.
"Just be careful with it." He handed over the book to her.
Davina tried to keep a neutral face, but her heart thundered in her chest as the weight of the book was on her hand. This was the book that Felix was always reading when they were younger. This was the book that he secretly had with him. The book that he stubbornly read even if it could cost him his life. She never understood it and she never wanted to...until now.
"Trust me, I'll take perfect care of it."