“Dad!” she shouted, beginning to cough. “Grandma! Grandpa? Uncle Naclana! Anyone?”
The smoke was too thick to breathe, and Varia found herself coughing violently. She began to unbutton her blouse, and removed it from her arms. She bunched up the fabric near her mouth and nose to try and filter the air she was breathing. Wearing only a plain sports bra, she continued to venture forward, closing her eyes tightly to protect the sensitive organs from the sweltering heat and smoke.
“Mom!” she shouted again, brokenly. “Please be okay! Where are you?”
Varia stumbled over a pile of rubble, and tripped and fell. She hit her head against something blunt which felt like concrete. For a moment, she was dizzy and unable to move. She stretched her arms out, trying to push herself off the ground, but her energy was gone. The smoke seemed to be seeping into her brain and stealing away her thoughts and consciousness. She realized that if she fell asleep in the middle of the smoking bomb crater, there was a good chance she would never wake up. Moving onto her elbows, she tried to crawl away, transporting herself out of the smoke. But after less than a minute of shimmying across the ground, she found her cheek falling to rest against the pavement.
She just needed a little sleep, and she would be fine.
Varia had already drifted off when she felt a pair of familiar hands on her back. Glais was beside her, shaking her awake and helping her to her feet. She struggled to stand, but her head felt extremely heavy, and she could not seem to hold it upright. Her body was suddenly made of jelly. She felt the ground disappear and drift far away as her legs were swept out from under her. Her heavy head rolled against something soft and warm. She pressed her hand against the substance, trying to identify what her face was smashed against. Feeling a pounding heartbeat beneath her palm, her fuzzy brain recognized someone’s chest. The gentle rocking, sashaying movement led her to believe that she was being carried.
When the smoke cleared, she saw that Glais was holding her against him as he walked out of the rubble and debris left by the bomb. His face was streaked with soot and his eyes were afraid.
“Glais,” she whimpered. “Where are they? Where is everyone?”
“You never listen to me,” he told her as he lowered her to the ground. Sitting on his knees, he coughed violently into his sleeve. “You shouldn’t have gone back here, Vari.”
“They’re all gone,” she whispered as her body sunk to the ground again. “Now I’m an orphan like you.”
“It’s going to be okay,” he said firmly. Seeing that the smoke inhalation had injured her greatly, he reached out to pick her up again. He hugged her against him as he struggled to stand up. “We still have each other.”
“My mom,” Varia moaned into his shirt. “She can’t be gone.”
Glais sighed as he shifted her weight in his arms. “Let’s get to the boat. We can get away from here.”
“What boat?” she mumbled in confusion. She dozed off against his chest, trying to remember what boat he had mentioned.
Varia was fading in and out of consciousness. She was not sure she wanted to be conscious. The only thing she was sure of was that every time she opened her eyes, and squinted through her blazing, blurry vision, a pair of beautiful amber eyes were staring back down at her with concern. Those genuine and loving eyes grounded her to the world; they were the only good thing about consciousness.
“Glais,” she croaked out. Her throat was sore—breathing the smoke had definitely damaged her insides. Her only comfort was the knowledge that he would not be far from her side.
“Are you feeling any better, Princess?” he asked her gently.
“Is everyone dead?” she asked him.
He hesitated before responding. She felt his hand sweep across her bare abdomen and she remembered removing her blouse in the fire. She could not remember where it had gone; perhaps she had dropped it when she tripped and fell. She could not have been unconscious for very long. The teenage boy sitting at her bedside had turned away from her. His eyes were downcast and sad.
“Glais!” she demanded in a rasping voice. “What happened?”
“It’s bad, Varia. I don’t know how to tell you this…”
“Just tell me!” she squawked.
He turned back to her with a despondent expression. “All of Adlivun was attacked. The country’s been taken. We’re escaping out to sea. It’s just us now.”
Varia’s eyes widened. She felt her lungs and heart blazing, but she was sure that it had nothing to do with the smoke inhalation. “No,” she whispered, grabbing his arm. “That can’t be.”
“What matters is that you’re safe,” he told her. “The twins are fine—they’re in the next room with Kaito and Kolora. We’re heading out on the boat.”
“What boat?” she asked again, pulling her eyebrows together. “No one told me anything about a boat.”
“I’m telling you now. It’s the only boat.”
She struggled to comprehend his words through the fuzziness of her mind. “Are we going to the Diomede islands? Is it safe there?”
“Maybe.”
She reached up and pressed a hand against her throbbing head. “My mother and father…”
Glais suddenly stood up. “I’m going to go check on the twins.”
“No, no. Don’t go,” she begged him, grasping for his shirt to pull him back to her. “Please stay with me. I’m so scared and sad. Please…”
“The others need me too, Varia. They’re counting on me. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Glais, wait. Don’t leave. Will you please kiss me?” she asked desperately. “Just kiss me and tell me that you love me.”
He hesitated. “No, sorry. I can’t do that.”
“I don’t care if you don’t mean it,” she told him. “I just really need you to do this right now, so I can feel a little better.”
“Varia, you’re just a kid.” He began moving away.
“I order you,” she sobbed, “as the princess!”
“You can’t give me orders anymore. Adlivun’s gone. You’re not the princess of anything.”
Varia woke up with her face streaked in tears. She looked around and found that she was still in the cabin of the boat. Her lungs were still burning, and every breath caused an ache in her chest. She looked around, expecting Glais to be close to her, but he was nowhere to be found. She pushed herself off the bed, and found she was still wearing a charred skirt and a sports bra covered in ashes. Holding onto the wall, she braced herself against the swaying of the boat and headed toward the sound of voices.
Light was filtering out of one of the cabins, and she peered inside. Kaito was sitting cross-legged on the bed with Ivory and Ronan, and telling them a story. She listened to the sound of his voice for a few seconds as he spoke of a great dragon that came out of the water once every century. The twins were captivated by the story, and obviously distracted from the harshness of their reality by the fantastic fairytale. Varia knew that it was a story Empress Amabie had told her grandson long ago.
Seeing more lights under another door, she strolled down the length of the hallway. Her feet were bare; although the soles had been badly burned, she ignored the pain and pressed onward.
“To think that out of everyone, my dad’s the only one left,” Kolora was saying softly as she sat beneath a porthole window, “and I don’t have any idea where he is.”
“Don’t worry, Kolo,” Glais was saying as he placed a hand on the girl’s leg. “We’re going to find Callder. Everything is going to be fine.”
“I’m sure it will be,” Kolora said with a smile. “As long as you’re here, I’m not worried. How’s my cousin doing?”
“She’s a bit delirious,” Glais admitted. “She wanted me to kiss her. It was weird, so I left.”
“You didn’t tell her that we’re together yet?” Kolora asked.
“I can’t. I lied and told her that her age was the problem, but you’re the same age as her. I feel so bad, and I don’t want to hurt
her feelings—especially now.”
Varia gripped the wall tightly, unable to believe what she was hearing. The boat began to spin around her like a cruel, mocking carousel.
Kolora sighed. “Poor Vari. We should just be honest with her. I don’t even know why you like me better. You spend so much more time with her, and she’s so smart.”
“I don’t know,” Glais said with a shrug. “Varia’s like a guy-friend. She’s just not sophisticated like you. You’re way more feminine and sweet.”
“But she really cares about you,” Kolora said sadly.
“Yeah, maybe a bit too much,” Glais said, making a face. “She pushes me so hard to be better in everything. It’s really exhausting. You just take me as I am, and you don’t expect more from me. You don’t expect me to be a prince—I can just relax around you.”
“I guess I know what you mean,” Kolora agreed. “She is totally stuck up sometimes. She’s very antisocial and weird.”
“She’s just not a nice girl,” Glais said, leaning forward and putting a hand under Kolora’s chin, “but you are. And that’s why you’re my girlfriend.”
When Glais kissed Kolora, Varia stumbled backward, colliding with the wall on the other side of the corridor. She clamped a hand over her mouth to hide the pathetic sounds that bubbled up in her throat, threatening to leave her lips.
Hearing the noise, Glais and Kolora pulled away from each other and moved to the doorway.
“Varia?” Glais asked with worry.
She did not want to see him. She did not want to speak with him. How could it be that she had lost her mother, and her entire family, and this still hurt more than anything? Varia turned and ran. She sprinted down the corridor of the ship, heading up to the deck. She blinked away tears as she ran toward the stern of the boat. Grasping the railing, she climbed over the side.
She shut her eyes tightly, realizing that it had all been in her head. All the carefully built friendship, and the hope for something more in the future; it had been her own fanciful girlish imagination running away with her. Glais had always made himself very clear that he considered her a child. She had always believed that it was only his honor that was preventing him from getting closer to her. She had always been certain that if she kept pushing him, someday he would relent.
“Varia!” Glais shouted as he climbed up onto the deck. “Come back downstairs! I’m sorry…”
She let go of the railing, allowing her body to fall away from the ship. As she felt herself floating, blissfully airborne for a moment, she acknowledged that the impact with the water would not kill her. The temperature of the water would not freeze her either. She could not even drown.
But she could swim away; she could swim away forever.
As her back hit the surface of the ocean, her entire body was jolted with ice-cold logic and reason. A sudden tidal wave of clarity splashed over her.
Glais would never do that to me, she told herself. He would never say those things. The opaque water closed in around her, freezing and burning at the same time, and blinding her like black fire. Maybe it’s realistic that my whole family would die, Varia thought to herself as she hovered in suspension. It’s understandable that everyone was wiped out all at once by my crazy dead grandfather. That’s believable.
But Glais—turning his back on me like that? When I needed him most? No. Not in a million years, Varia told herself firmly. I must be dreaming. The water seeped into her nose and ears, flooding her consciousness as it healed and refreshed her mind. It’s not real. He would never do that to me. I’m dreaming. I’m dreaming and I want to wake up now.
Chapter 17: Serious Adult Conversation
“Whoa, whoa, kid! I said you could splash a little water on her, not dump the whole Nile on her face.”
“Wake up! Wake up, Varia!” Glais sounded frantic. “I thought you said she was fine, Dr. Rosenberg! Why won’t she wake up?”
“Relax, Glais. Let’s just give her a little more oxygen. Here, take the mask—yes, that’ll do it.”
Varia felt a plastic apparatus being pushed solidly against her face, and she groaned and swatted it away with annoyance.
“Thank Sedna,” Glais said as he squeezed her hand, lowering his forehead to drop against her knuckles. “Vari, I thought you were comatose or something.”
“No coma,” she said grouchily. “But I had a really bad dream. The bomb went off and…”
Dylan Rosenberg cleared his throat. “The bomb did go off, dear. That part wasn’t a dream.”
Varia sat up rapidly, her spine locking as straight as an arrow. She looked from the doctor and back to Glais in confusion. “It was real? Everyone is really gone?”
Before they could respond, the door opened and Trevain entered the room.
Varia let out a startled cry as she shot off the bed and bolted into her father’s arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she wept. “Daddy. Daddy,” she sobbed. “I dreamed you were dead.”
Trevain was stunned by her aggressive show of affection, but he returned the hug at once. “Very nearly dead, kiddo,” he informed her. “What were you doing wandering into the middle of an inferno like that? Are you crazy?”
“I was so scared,” she said through her tears. “I thought you were all gone.”
“I think someone forgot to tell you something very important, Varia,” Trevain said as he rubbed his hand over the girl’s back. “We can breathe water, and we can breathe air, but we can’t breathe smoke. We really can’t.”
Varia laughed lightly as she tightened her grip around her father’s neck. “Is mom okay?” she whispered. “Auntie Elan?”
“Not a scratch on them,” Trevain assured her. “We barely scraped out of that one by the skin of our teeth.
“And Kyrosed?” she asked softly. “Did you kill him?”
“I killed him so dead. So, so dead.”
“Good,” Varia said quietly. She hugged her father for a few more seconds, for she had never felt as safe and relieved as she did in his embrace. “I can’t believe everyone is okay,” Varia said thankfully. “Dad, I’m so sorry for being mean to you. I don’t want to be mean, but it’s just how I am—”
“I know, Varia. I know.”
Glais cleared his throat. “What exactly happened, King Trevain?”
“It wasn’t pleasant, kid,” Trevain told the young man as he reluctantly released his daughter from his death grip. “We thought we were all goners, but Brynne and Naclana came through at the last second. Brynne got upset and ripped a bunch of wires out of the bomb, causing it to malfunction. Naclana managed to tear the device off Elandria, and he somehow had the presence of mind to run to the backyard and toss the bomb into the hot tub. It was literally at the last second—the stone walls absorbed most of the impact. All of our lawn furniture and the garden is toast, so there will be no warm water parties for a while until we get that fixed.”
“Is Uncle Naclana alright?” Varia asked with worry.
“He has a few burns, but otherwise he’s fine,” Trevain promised. “I don’t know if I ever told you the story of how I saved Brynne when the bomb destroyed my boat—but this time she saved me. The first thing she said to me after the explosion was, ‘Now we’re even, Murphy.’ Of course, I couldn’t hear her because my ears were ringing from the blast, but she repeated herself in sign language.”
Varia felt like she could breathe again. She turned around and gave Glais a huge smile. He smiled back, but their moment of relief was interrupted by Trevain clearing his throat.
“Honey,” he said, “later on we’re going to have to talk about that.”
Looking back over her shoulder, Varia realized that Trevain was pointing to her exposed tattoo. Having disposed of her blouse in the fire, the triple-moon symbol was brazenly displayed beneath the hem of her sports bra. She swiveled around in fear.
“I—could you please not tell Mom?” she asked nervously.
Trevain smiled and shrugged. “Aazuria already saw it when Glais car
ried you in here. Luckily, she was too preoccupied with worrying about your health and comforting your Aunt Elandria that she didn’t have much to say about it. But I expect she’ll mention it later.”
“Okay,” Varia said with embarrassment. It did not seem so important anymore. She turned back to look at her friend. “You carried me?” she asked him shyly “I thought I dreamed that part too.”
“Yeah,” Glais said, rubbing his arms as if they were sore. “You’re super heavy! And I thought Ronan was a handful.”
Varia smiled.
Vachlan chose that moment to enter the room, clearing his throat loudly. “Dr. Rosenberg, Kaito’s freaking out about his mom’s condition. Sionna’s too much of a mess to really comfort him, so could you please—”
“Of course, sir,” Dylan said, moving out of the room at once.
“Is something wrong with Princess Yamako?” Varia asked.
“She’s been injured a bit,” Vachlan explained, “but thanks to Dr. Rosenberg, she’s going to be fine. Kaito’s just not taking it very well.”
“Maybe I should go talk to him,” Glais offered.
“Actually, hold on a sec,” Vachlan said, moving over to put a hand on Glais’ shoulder. “I need to thank you for what you did—taking care of the twins like that. You were a real lifesaver, Glais. Visola and I owe you so much.”
“It was nothing,” Glais said with a smile. “I wouldn’t ever let anything happen to Ivory and Ronan.”
“I know,” Vachlan said. “Glais, you’re a great kid—I couldn’t ask for a better role model for my son. I hope he turns out to be half as brave as you are, someday.”
“Thank you,” Glais said, lowering his head to hide his emotion. Vachlan had never been so sentimental toward him, and it made his heart swell with happiness. He had worked hard to earn the man’s approval, but he had never thought that Vachlan would notice. He was surprised when he felt Vachlan grasp his shoulders in a firm hug.
Tides of Tranquility Page 23
