will come over to our side. Then I do believe that we have a chance of working together, Whites, Blacks, Half Bloods. It won’t be easy and there will always be troublemakers, but if all are considered equal and treated equally under the law then we’ll have a fair society, a better society for us all.”
I still struggle to believe Celia is saying this. The woman who kept me chained in a cage now does seem to genuinely believe in a world where Black and White Witches can live together peacefully. And here I am, a Half Code sitting between her, a White Witch, and Gabriel, a Black Witch.
But the conversation is strange. All this talk of Blacks and Whites and no mention of the amulet, which I thought she’d be desperate for me to get. I wonder what’s up, or if she’s hiding something.
It suddenly occurs to me that I haven’t asked about Arran, and I’m shocked that I haven’t thought of my brother until now. I haven’t seen him since the days after BB. He was with Celia then, helping with healing as best he could, though there was hardly anyone to heal. Most were dead. I brace myself to ask about him, wondering if this is what Celia is hiding, but she seems to guess what I’m thinking and says, “Arran’s well. He’s a good healer, a good person to have in the Alliance. He’s a reasonable voice. Although he’s quiet, Blacks and Whites listen to him.”
So back to the issue of Black Witches and White Witches again.
Celia leaves us to go to her tent for the night and I wonder again why she’s really come to Camp Three. Is it to see me? To see Greatorex? Is there a problem with the Alliance? And why has Van disappeared just when she was going to tell me how to find Ledger?
* * *
The next morning I go with Gabriel to watch the trainees sparring. Nesbitt joins in. He loves the chance to wrestle with women. Gabriel and I offer helpful advice to the trainees, and one of them eventually manages to kick Nesbitt in the balls.
Donna is there too, sitting opposite us like last time, and I see the zip ties are still on.
I say to Gabriel, “Donna’s going to spend the rest of her life with her hands tied.”
“Nesbitt told me that Van had started to make up a special truth potion for her but hadn’t finished it before she had to go to Camp One. So, yes, she’ll be like that for a while.”
“I think I was right not to trust her: her answers under the simple truth potion were odd.” But then as I look at the trainees I realize I like Donna more than them and I say, only partly joking, “Mind you, I wouldn’t trust any of them as far as I could throw them.”
Nesbitt flops on the ground near us, his eyes still glued on the trainees, and says, “Who do you want to throw?”
Gabriel looks him over. “Nesbitt, do you know that if you add up the ages of all the trainees and multiply that by the number of times you manhandled them, the resulting number would still only be half the age they think you are?”
Nesbitt laughs and says, “Yes, but have you noticed how few blokes there are around here? There are at least two girls to every fella, and some of these girls are bound to be—”
“Desperate?”
“Interested in a more mature person.”
“What!”
“And, though I say so myself, I’m keeping myself in order these days.” He slaps his stomach and I have to admit that where there used to be a little bit of flab there is now nothing but muscle. But then no one here is flabby; our diets aren’t exactly rich. “OK, I’m a little older but—”
“A little!” Gabriel and I reply in unison.
“Ageist, that’s what you fellas are!”
“There is one woman here who I’ve heard admiring you, Nesbitt,” Gabriel says. “White Witch. Blonde.”
“So many blondes here,” Nesbitt says with a whimper.
“Intelligent too. And super fit,” Gabriel continues.
Nesbitt surveys the trainees. “Hmm? Which one?”
Gabriel doesn’t reply and Nesbitt looks to him. “Well? Come on, mate, share.”
“She arrived in camp last night.”
“Celia?” Nesbitt pulls a face and then laughs.
Just then Adele comes over and says, “Celia wants a word with you, Nesbitt.”
“Ha! It might be that she’s after me, fellas.” Nesbitt gets to his feet, brushing himself down. “Well, desperate times and all that.”
“And she wants to