Serene Of The Sea

20. Time

"Your brothers name is Kai?! As in dark hair, blue eyes? Kinda looks like you? Do you have a sister too?" It came out in a squeak as concern spread through Tag's familiar features. They had the same face, how had I not seen it before?!
"Yes. How did you......have you met them somewhere?!" Suddenly he was out of the water, hands on my shoulders, almost shaking me in desperation. I hadn't thought he was capable of such emotion.
My mouth opened and closed as my words failed me, "Yes. I have seen them."

Relief and excitement lit up his face, finally he let out a genuine smile, looking so much like his brother I stopped breathing, "Where?! Is he alright? What's he doing? How's Ebony?"
How could I be expected to tell him that his brother is being tortured right now, because of me?
Something in my face must have given me away, "He's the one you're trying to save. Isn't he? They have Ebony too?" His voice had dropped to a broken whisper.
"Yes," I wasn't sure what else I could say.
He nodded, surprising me when his face broke into a small smile, "You must love him. That's good."
That caught me off guard, "I, Uh I.......well he saved me and...."
"You may not have admitted it to yourself yet, but you wouldn't be here risking your life if you didn't. Maybe I can right the wrongs by helping you? They won't have hurt Ebony. I expect my parents know they are here and are trying to convince Ebony to go with them. We'll save them Serena. We'll save them all."
I stepped away, realising how close he was standing, "Failure was never an option," I muttered as I snatched the dress from his hands and waded into the bath rubbing the dirt from the material.

Once we managed to get the stains out I gave him back his shirt. Putting on the dripping dress, "OK. Let's go meet Sky. And if anyone asks? This never happened. A pipe leaked water on us. Got it?"
Slipping on his shirt he chuckled, "Got it. I can see why my brother likes you."

I rolled my eyes, my voice dropping, "You need to stop doing that. We're not together. Things in Senima got.......complicated. I made some mistakes. It wasn't safe for him to be around me. Look where he is now because of me? I ruined his life. Put his family in jeopardy. It's my responsibility to put things right. Then I'll leave. To protect him from me. He probably hates me." The memory of the kiss drifted into my head. I pushed it away, not wanting to feel anything.
Tag seemed to understand, "Well I can't speak for him. But somehow I doubt he hates you. You can't change the past. You can only make amends for the future. Come on, let's go find the others."

We found Sky in a new room. They must move around to avoid detection. All eyes turned to the door as we entered, weapons at the ready, relaxing when they recognised us. The room was in the dark, dim lights were all focused on the map in the centre of the room, making it hard to see anything but the twinkling eyes of the inhabitants. Sky was frowning over the map of the city, "You're late," She grumbled from under her raven hair.
"Sorry. There was a complication. It's all sorted now," Tag stumbled over our explanation, even I didn't believe him.
But luckily Sky didn't seem to care, glancing up from her thoughts, she looked me straight in the eyes, "The execution is set for two days time. Then your friends die. There is no kinder way to put it. I thought I should spare you the cotton balling," Her voice was devoid of any discernible emotion.

I stood there, frozen in shock. I hadn't been prepared for the news. I had always known it was going to come but I hadn't thought it would be so soon. Two days? How was I supposed to save them in less than two days?! My breath caught in my throat. Emotions flitting through me like I was bipolar. Sky looked on without judgement, "There is nothing we can do in two days. I am sorry for your losses."
But they're not dead yet! I stopped myself from yelling it, unable to bring myself to form a response.
"There must be something we can do? It's my brother, Sky. She's been trying to save my brother," Tag's voice rang into the room with all the strength I couldn't muster. Murmurs echoed around. Obviously everyone knew the story. Even Sky raised an eyebrow.