‘But… All of them witches?’
Philippa gives her a faint, sideways smile. ‘What do you think?’
40
The morning passes slowly. A haze of sea and sky. TheMedusa, its engines hushed, moves between islands so vague against the sky as to be almost transparent. On the sundeck, Oxana is lying on a recliner, her eyes half-closed. Ahead of her lies the most dangerous mission of her life. As far as possible, she’s made her preparations. Beyond these, there is nothing that she can do except guard her energy and wait for the moment when Tahir leaves for the island of Skila.
‘Where’s Buse?’ she murmurs to Defne, who’s stretched out on an adjacent recliner.
‘Where do you think?’ Defne replies. ‘In my brother’s cabin.’
‘How do you feel about that?’
Defne takes a swallow from a bottle of mineral water. ‘I’m not sure. I mean, I love Buse, but she’s a terrible person. She’s been trying to get her claws into Emir for God knows how long, and he’s never been remotely interested. Now suddenly he’s all over her. Go figure.’
‘You don’t think it’s just a holiday thing?’
‘For him, probably. For her, not so sure. Has Inci got you to do her hair today?’
‘Uh-uh.’ Oxana shakes her head. ‘I haven’t seen her around. She must be sleeping late.’
‘You don’t have to, you know. You’re not her maid.’
‘I think she just likes the company.’
‘You’re very patient with us all, Oxana.’ Defne rolls over on her front and unclips her bikini top. ‘Can you put some sunscreen on my back? Actually, before you do that, can you pass me my bag?’
‘Here.’
Defne reaches into the bag and takes out something which she hands to Oxana. It’s a tiny oval of carved shell mounted on a gold ring. The head of a woman, her expression sorrowful, her hair a mass of coiling snakes.
Oxana sighs. ‘That’s beautiful.’
‘It’s Medusa. My mother gave it to me.’
‘It looks very old.’
‘It’s Roman. First century AD. Probably worn to ward off evil spirits.’
‘She wanted to protect you?’
Defne shrugs. ‘Sometimes I wish people knew just how much Idon’tneed protecting.’
‘Ah.’
‘Sometimes the best form of defence is attack. I like to see my ring as a weapon. Or a symbolic one, anyway.’
‘How d’you mean?’
A shadow slides across the deck as a bank of cloud moves in front of the sun. ‘Medusa started life as a beautiful human girl,’ Defne says. ‘Then she was raped by the god of the sea in the temple of the goddess Athene. Athene, being a bitch, blamed Medusa for this. Classic victim shaming. She punished Medusa by making her look so frightening that any man who saw her was turned to stone.’
‘I’ve been to hairdressers like that.’
‘Seriously. Don’t you think it’s inspiring, the idea of the lethally terrifying woman? Because that’s what this ring represents for me. Not warding off evil. Weaponising it.’
She sees me. I’ve done everything I can to hide the truth from her, but still she sees me. Are we sisters under the skin?
At 11a.m., Inci sends Feris to summon Oxana to her cabin.