Air {Elements of Power 3}

Chapter 36: Roxy

Cin had given us ten days, but we still didn't have any time to lose. We left as the Realm sun first rose in the East, sending out its rays to dance across the waves.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Brae asked me once we were down at the harbour.

"Of course I am. He's my dad and I want to go and rescue him." We had been having this conversation over and over since Cinaer's visit. I really wasn't sure what Brae was so worried about.

As if reading my mind, his next statement answered that question perfectly. "I've only just got you back. I don't want to lose you again." He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him before running a cool hand up my back.

"I'll only be gone for a little over a week," I whispered, his lips inches above mine. I looked up into his soft eyes. They were the exact colour of the mocha Jasmine had served me when she took me to meet Caleb; warm, comforting, inviting. "And I know how to take care of myself-and even if I didn't, I'm taking the unstoppable lightning force with me. So long as she doesn't accidently burn down the ship on the way there, this whole thing will be almost too easy.

"Besides," I continued, laying my head against his collar bone and speaking into his shirt. "I think my dad has got a lot of explaining to do-I'm eager to see what he makes of the whole 'he had another daughter with the Brizan Queen' thing." I forced myself to laugh, but I think Brae could tell that I was only faking it for his benefit.

"Hey." He leaned back and tilted my head up towards him, so that I couldn't avoid his eyes. "From what Queen Aurelia said, I don't think that your dad has a clue that Jasmine survived and even when he finds out, it won't change how he feels about you. And it's not as if you or your father care much for your mother! But you don't need to worry about any of that right now, okay?"

I nodded, smiling up at him and he tilted his head down to kiss me lightly on the lips. At least, he tried to kiss me lightly; once our lips touched it turned into something deeper, more passionate. He kissed me as though it might be the last chance he ever got to.

"Erm," Jasmine said behind us. "Sorry to interrupt, but we need to leave now if we're ever going to make it there and back in time."

I broke away from Brae and turned to face her. She didn't look angry, as I had expected, just mildly amused.

"Sure thing, sorry." I turned back to Brae, wrapping my arms tightly round his neck and giving him one, last, lingering kiss. "I'll see you again in no time. Now go rule the Realm!" I grinned and released him, turning towards the ship.

Jasmine hung back and I walked purposefully ahead, letting her say her own goodbye to Brae. I told myself that I didn't need to be jealous. Brae was mine. They were only friends. But I still couldn't help but glance back over my shoulder to see what they were doing.

They were standing a good couple of metres apart, talking. Both were frowning slightly; they might have been arguing. I couldn't help but feel the tiniest bit guilty that I had destroyed their friendship-especially since I really wanted to get Jasmine on side; we were sisters after all. But at the same time, my own relationship with Brae was probably more stable if they didn't get along; if Brae's reaction to her 'hangout' sessions with Tristan was anything to go by, he might not be completely over her. But I could work on that.

I waited for her up on deck. She didn't take long, but when she climbed aboard with the other Arcan-Cameron-I could see that she was wiping her eyes. What could they have been talking about to make her cry?

Cameron patted her fondly on the back before going to take his position by the sails. He was coming purely for wind power-he would stay on the boat once we reached the Helian Realm, as Jasmine and I would be able to blend in better on shore (once we hid her hair, that was). Without him though, we wouldn't make it there and back in time.

Stood at the rear of the boat, I could watch Brae as he shrunk on the harbour wall, waving constantly. Jasmine was standing on the other side of the boat's small cabin, out of sight of Brae and myself. She had gone there immediately upon boarding the boat, her eyes rimmed lightly in red.

Tristan was not beside Brae, as I had initially expected. Instead, he had left before the sun had even begun to rise, setting off into the Arcan wilderness.

I wasn't sure how serious things were between them, but I hoped for her sake that she was just using him as a distraction. I still didn't trust Tristan completely. He always had an agenda and never did anything without good cause. He could probably see just how important Jasmine was and was desperate to get close to her. Besides, thus far he had killed three people-that I knew of-and hadn't shown the slightest remorse about any of them. He wasn't going to win 'hero of the year' any time soon.

I waved to Brae with the biggest smile on my face that I could manage. With Cameron's help, he was soon no more than a tiny dot on the horizon, at which point I turned round and walked across to Jasmine.

"Hey. I'm sorry about before. I didn't mean to interrupt you and Tris. Or to kick such a big argument off."

She shrugged. "I guess it's to be expected when representatives of each Realm are all in one place-that's why there are so many divides between us in the first place."

"You don't still really believe that do you? After everything that's happened-that we've learnt about-over the past few months." My eyebrows creased in confusion; did she really have so little faith in diplomacy, or was she just still hurting from the loss of Brae? "Brae and I, you and Tristan, our dad and your mum-aren't they proof that we can survive in harmony? That when we put our heritage behind us, there's really nothing stopping us from co-existing peacefully? Emotions were running high today; do you honestly think that the situation would have played out any differently if we had all been Arcans, or four Helians?"

She shrugged, turning to face me properly. "Probably not, I guess. But I don't think the fact that we all have different powers helped diffuse the tension much. Things could have spiralled completely out of control in there."

"Fair point. We probably could have brought down most of the palace between us. I think our youth has as much to do with it as anything, though; we're too young, really, to have so much responsibility."

"I'm not sure I've seen the adults behave much better: Erica, Emmanuel, your Grandfather... At least we were able to calm ourselves down before the situation got out of control." She smiled. "And if we are working together, Cinaer is not going to know what hit him when we arrive with back up."

"That's the plan," I said, smiling back at her.

{Jasmine thinks they're all too young to have so much power. Do you agree? Or are the adults just as bad/worse than they are? Comment with your thoughts (and please vote if you enjoyed this chapter)}