Abandoned - part 7 (final part)

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part seven (final part) of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

I glance at the huge doors, wondering how to proceed. The guards watch the crowd, not threateningly, but surely alert. I try to think what Alex would do, but my mind comes up blank. Of course, it makes sense that he should gather the army of all those who can use magic - he at least knows something about how the magic works and the people who have it. Which left me going to see the king. Hence the dithering outside the doors.
I briefly go through what I know in my head. The royal family has little to do with the people, other than collecting taxes. The king takes audiences, but the outcomes are seldom helpful to the petitioners. If I want to get his attention, I may have to go for shock tactics.
I sigh, so not looking forward to this, wishing more than anything that Alex was here.
Just get it over with, I tell myself. I hold my head high and start striding towards the doors. The guards move to stop me, but I ignore them. It's still difficult, reaching for my magic, but in the few days we travelled together before splitting up, Alex taught me the basics.
The guards fly backwards, hitting the walls, probably knocked out, though I don't stay long enough to make sure.
At this, people scatter even as other guards come running. I take care of them as easily as I did the others. By the time I storm into the audience chamber - getting directions from terrified civilians on the way - the room is in an uproar.
"How dare you burst in - "
I cut off the king's angry bellow. "You do know that your kingdom is about to be swallowed by the sea and destroyed, don't you?" I yell.
That shuts everyone up. After all, no one is supposed to know about the Greni. The king shoes everyone out of the room, even the very reluctant guards.
"Come, girl, say what you have to say," he snaps, though his pallor belies his flippant tone.
"Surely you know," I say softly, walking towards him. "Were you planning to enjoy life until it was over, never breathing a word of it to your people? No, you must have some other plan. Going to live in the mountains?"
He flushes red. "Not everyone can be saved. Only a few will fit on the floating peaks. It is the only way to preserve the human race. If too many tried, they would sink."
I've never heard of the floating peaks, but the name gives me idea enough. So he is going to live on some levitating mountain while the rest of us die, is he?
"The Greni are prepared to negotiate," I say. "Allow them back onto this land - their land - and they may not kill us all."
He shakes his head dismissively. "The Greni are not bound by our laws. You would invite anarchy to our kingdom, girl."
I open my mouth in outrage. So he'd rather the whole kingdom die than sacrifice his precious power? Before I can get so much as one word out, though, something hard collides with my head. The pain shoots out from the spot, almost knocking me from my feet. My eyes meet the king's, and he is smiling in triumph. Even as my knees start to collapse, I reach once more for my magic, sending a lethal sword of fire shooting forwards... I don't see if it hits its mark. The fire, and everything else, is swallowed in the blackness that covers my vision.

The world shifts. Hazy light comes and retreats, never the same, never bright enough to see nor dark enough to sleep. I am vaguely aware that they must be drugging me to suppress my magic, but that knowledge isn't enough to help me break free.
I try futilely to push those around me away, to reject whatever potions they are shoving down my throat, but whatever they are giving me, it leaves no strength in my body. As the haze continues to shift, only one hope keeps me going: I am not alone. Alex will surely be here soon.

When the haze brightens, it doesn't seem to be anything different. I wait for it to get darker again. When it doesn't, I squint, wondering what new trick this is.
"Cara?"
I try to say something, but my mouth doesn't want to do my bidding. All that comes out is a faint sort of moan.
A pair of arms wraps around my shoulders, lifting me. "It's ok," Alex whispers. "We did it. It's going to be fine, Cara."
As he carries me away from the hard, cold stone on which I have been resting for as long as I can remember, my blurry vision takes in something I never expected to see. Greni - a whole group of them - standing near us, talking to the people who are all around.
"We won?" I whisper, my throat as dry as sand paper.
Alex leans down and kisses my forehead. "We won," he whispers.

Two months later
Alex swings our hands together as we walk through the garden. Though it has been a month since the negotiations ended and the Greni moved back onto the land with us, it's still strange to see them here. I wave at Renii, the Greni who now lives next door to us. We've become good friends even in the short time we've known each other.
We don't stop for conversation, though. Alex and I keep walking, towards our new home. Many people wanted Alex to take control of the army of magic users he raised and rule the kingdom. Many wanted me to - as the one who finally killed the mad king, some almost worshipped me.
Neither of us ever wanted to rule, though. Alex handed over the reins to Jonathan, by far the best person for the job, and the two of us went home. It wasn't long before Alex and I decided to move in together. My father wasn't pleased, but he'll get used to the idea in the end.
Just before we reach the threshold, Alex scoops me up in his arms. I giggle as I am lifted into the air. When he looks at me, his gaze is full of love and confidence. "We'll never have abandon our home again," he says, pushing the door open with his foot.
I lean up to kiss him as I am carried into my new home. "Never."

The End

Abandoned - part 6

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part six of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

I glance at Alex and I can see he's thinking the same thing as me: surely they aren't trying to kill us? If they wanted to, there are much quicker and easier ways. Still, I can't help dragging my feet a little as the Greni lead us deeper into the sea. It's up to my waist, now.
"Um, you do realise we don't have gills, right?" I say, trying to control the tremor in my voice.
"We will sustain you until your souls are tested," the male Greni says - I still don't know his name. "If you pass, we will escort you safely back to the surface. If you fail... then you will die in our underwater cities, rising only to go to the next world."
"What exactly do we need to - " Alex's question is cut off as he inhales a mouthful of water; it's up to our necks now, and rising fast as we move forward. I expect him to start choking, but to my surprise, he doesn't. As my head, too, dips beneath the waves, the Greni's hand in mine seems to become warmer and stronger. I try to hold my breath for as long as I can, but eventually I can't do it any more.
The Greni wasn't lying, though; I find the water swishing in and out of my lungs evenly, though I can feel no gills on my neck. It's almost like being above ground, except colder. I clutch the Greni's hand tighter, terrified of being trapped down here when my ability to breathe underwater is taken away.
Alex glances at me through the dark water, looking scared but determined.
Time seems to move differently down here. The Greni swim, but Alex and I don't seem to need to do anything other than keep our hold on our guide. As we get deeper, it gets colder. I wonder if the Greni have ever had humans down here before; I wonder if they know that we need warmth to survive.
It seems to take forever, but finally we reach what appears to be our destination. The Greni don't lead us to the underwater buildings, though, but to a cave set a little off to the side. The two others with us drift off, leaving Alex and me with the male holding our hands. He glides into the cave, propelling himself with only his feet, pulling us along in his wake.
"Here you will be tested," he says, and I am surprised that he is still understandable underwater; when Alex tries to ask a question, all that comes out is bubbles. Somehow, though, the Greni seems to understand.
"You do not do anything; the sacred cave will do the testing. You only need to survive it."
Before either of us can make noises of alarm, everything goes black.
I can't feel anything, not the cold water, nor the Greni's hand on mine. I can't see a thing; though it was dark in the cave to start with, at least there were a few shadows and glimpses of light. Then I feel something... the closest I've ever felt was when I had a terrible headache - as though some raging beast was in my head trying to get out. I try to scream, but I can't seem to locate my body. Images flash before my mind's eye and some of them look familiar - like memories - but it is too fast to tell for sure. I'm not sure if it lasts for seconds or hours before I can't take it any more and I fade into unconsciousness.

I wake up wet and shivering and colder than I've ever been in my life. Turning my head to the side - with great effort - I see Alex lying next to me, looking almost blue with cold.
"Alex?" I force myself up onto one elbow and shake his shoulder. "Can you hear me?"
"Cara?" He is shaking as he sits up, but definitely alive.
"We passed, then," I say. "Unless this is death."
We glance around at the familiar beach and Alex shakes his head slightly. Though neither of us knows what death looks like, we are both pretty sure this isn't it. I try to force myself up further, but Alex isn't even moving, his eyes closed.
"Alex, we need to - "
I stop abruptly as the most wonderful feeling swoops through me: warmth. I am suddenly dry and cosy as though I've just climbed out of bed. I stare at Alex, who is grinning at me. "Magic can be useful, you know," he says.
"You'll have to teach me how to do that," I mutter, standing and giving him a hand up.
"I guess that means we're to find a way to get the king to negotiate with the Greni," Alex says, staring towards the sea. "It won't be easy..."
My mind flicks back to the conversation we had before entering the water. "We'll have to move fast; if we don't, they may get impatient and abandon the idea of negotiations altogether. We don't need the kingdom swallowed while we're still working."
Alex is looking at me with a strange expression.
"What?" I ask.
He doesn't answer.
"What?" I ask again. "Spit it out, Alex."
Someone needs to go to the king," he say slowly. "He needs to be told of the situation and given a change to negotiate. If he refuses, though... we'll need an army; an army of people who can use magic to force him to step down. We don't have time to do both things together. We're going to need to split up."
I stare at him as the facts sink in. Somehow, I can't quite get myself to breathe.

To be continued

Abandoned - part 5

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part five of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

Alex and I are resigned to another long day of lugging wood into the ocean, attempting to make the Greni curious enough to talk to us. We expect to spend the whole day dragging wood to the beach and limp home digging out splinters, just as we did last night.
We don't expect to find the Greni waiting for us.
Yet waiting they are. At first, I don't even realise who they are. I don't know exactly what I expected, but I guess I thought the Greni would look noticeably different to us. At first, I think it's just a bunch of normal people gathered around the ocean's edge. Then, as we get closer, I start to see small differences.
The most obvious one is how they are dressed - or rather, not dressed. Ropes of what appears to be seaweed cover all the essential places, but so scantily that I still find myself blushing and averting my eyes. Alex's hand is tight on my arm as he realises, but I resist his tug as he tries to pull me back. This is what we wanted, after all - to talk to them.
The Greni wait patiently as we carefully edge towards them. There are three of them, two men and a woman. As Alex and I get closer, I see that they have gills, though their human breathing systems seem to work fine, too, as they show no discomfort at being above the water's surface.
We stop a couple of feet from them. None of us speaks for a second. At least they're not killing us on sight. I take a deep breath and break the silence.
"We wanted to talk to you," I say, trying to sound brave, but not entirely managing to hide the tremor in my voice. Alex squeezes my hand, steady and strong beside me.
"We guessed as much," says the taller of the male Greni.
They aren't attacking us, but they don't look very open or pleased to be speaking to us, either.
"We want to negotiate a truce," I say in a rush. "We know that the seas are rising and we know that all humans will die when they do. We've come to ask... please... isn't there another way? A way for us to live in peace?"
All three of them exchange glances which I can't read properly. Disgust seems to be one emotion in all of them, though.
"You come to us, now, human, when you are on the verge of extinction," the same Greni says, his voice hard and cold. "It is generations too late to make amends. If your kind truly wanted peace, you would have sought us out decades ago."
"That's not true!" Alex says loudly, and the female Greni hisses slightly. "Hardly any humans know of our past, or even know that you exist. I only found out a few weeks ago. Most go their whole lives without even knowing."
"That may be true for you two," the Greni says. "It may even be true for most of your species. It changes nothing. You two children are not the ones who can restore our lands to us. It is your leaders who know the history, who suppress it, and who do everything they can to make sure we stay in the sea where we were banished eons ago."
"Enjoy your last few weeks, humans," the woman says. The three of them start to glide back into the sea.
"Wait!" I shout, panicking. This may be our only chance to save our whole species. "Please, give us a chance! We'll talk to the leaders - we'll even take on leadership ourselves if we must. Just say we can negotiate."
The Greni pause reluctantly. The one who has been talking to us turns. "You are children. You couldn't wrest control of your land from your leaders, even if you did want to help us."
"We have magic," I say, breathless.
"We can raise an army," Alex adds. "If we need to take control, we will."
The Greni are now all fully facing us. "You would do all this to help us?"
"If that's what it takes to survive."
They exchange glances.
"Then come," the other male says, holding out his hand, which I see is slightly webbed. "Come to and have your souls tested. We will see if you really have it in you."
I exchange a glance with Alex, but we both sense that this is not the time to question. He takes one webbed hand and I take another.
We allow ourselves to be lead deeper into the sea.

To be continued

Abandoned - part 4

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part four of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

"What happened to you?" I whisper, watching Alex's face in horror. The face that is usually so filled with hope and determination has fallen into lines of sadness and acceptance.
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean! The Alex I know would never go and hide in a cave, trying to postpone the inevitable while the rest of the kingdom perished - the Alex I know would be searching for a solution, not giving up!"
"It's not that simple, Cara," he says softly.
"Explain, then."
"Magic... the magic we have..." He hesitates, as though it is costing him a lot to say this. "Humans didn't used to have magic. Magic is in the land itself. When we forced the Greni from the land to the sea, we started to be able to use some of the magic of the land. The land doesn't appreciate being stolen, though, and remains loyal to the Greni. They now have the powers of the sea and land, while we have only a fraction of what the land offers them. We can use it to defend ourselves, but any attack on the Greni is impossible. Believe me, we've tried."
"What do you mean?"
"Our powers simply don't work against them."
"But - but there must be another way out! We can't just give up."
"For the past few weeks, all I've been doing is trying to think of a way out, but Cara, there isn't one. I don't agree that we should be punished for the crimes of our ancestors, but nature will not let this stand for much longer. The crimes of the human race are going to be washed away when the seas rise, and the Greni will have back what we took from them."
"The ancient wrongs must be righted," I say slowly.
"Yes." Alex's head is bowed in resignation, but my mind is buzzing.
"That's not the end," I say. "There is more than one way to right a wrong, and not all of them include death. What if we talked to the Greni? Maybe we could - I don't know - work something out."
Alex looks at me as though I have lost my mind. "Cara, we hunted and slaughtered their species! Do you really think they're going to want to talk to us?"
That brings me up short. He's right - they'll probably kill us on sight.
"Then we have to make them curious," I say. "Curious enough to at least talk to us."
"How are we going to do that?"
I glance up at Alex and see what I have been looking for - a spark in his eyes. His hope gives me an idea.

"Cara, this is the dumbest idea you've ever had."
"Well, if you have a better one, I'm all ears!"
Alex just shakes his head angrily, shifting the load on his shoulder. "How do you know they're even watching? Even if they are, they'll probably just drag us under the ocean as soon as we get close enough."
I ignore his pessimism, focusing on not getting splinters. It took a couple of hours to demolish just one of the abandoned houses in our town. Hopefully, we won't have to do many more before the Greni finally pay attention to us.
Alex and I walk down the beach, approaching the ocean cautiously. I don't see anything beneath the foam, but then, if there was, I'd likely only see it at the last moment. I dump the load of planks into the sea, pushing them just a little so that the waves carry them out. Alex follows suit, then takes my elbow and steers me quickly away.
We keep going like this, throwing all remains of human inhabitation into the sea to be washed away. Hardly anyone even knows about what we did to the Greni, let alone shows remorse for it, or tries to make up for it in even the smallest way. We're hoping that this intrigues them enough to talk to us, to let us explain.
The hours before darkness drag slowly. Finally, Alex and I are forced to concede defeat for the day and go gratefully to his house to sleep and rest our aching muscles.
"It'll take them a while to locate the source of all the wood," he says, rubbing his aching shoulders. He seems to have warmed to the plan over the day.
"You're right," I encourage, putting my hands on his stiff muscles and rubbing. "They'll find us sooner or later."
Alex shivers slightly, though it isn't cold. "And when they do..."
Neither of us says anything to this. When they do, we will be at their mercy.

To be continued

Abandoned - part 3

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part three of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

Exhausted by the stress of the past few weeks, I end up sleeping in until well past noon. When I wake up I know a moment of panic before the memories of last night come rushing back. Sure enough, Alex is lying beside me as though he never left.
His eyes are open and he's staring at me.
"Cut that out," I mutter, too happy to put much energy into the reprimand. "You know I don't like it when you watch me sleep."
"Not like you can tell," he teases.
I want to put on a stern look, but what comes out is a giddy smile; I am so happy that Alex is back, nothing can dampen my mood today.
Alex looks at me for a second more before sighing regretfully. "We should get going."
I ignore him and lean forward to give him a kiss. He responds eagerly, but after a few seconds, forces himself to pull back. "Cara, not now. I let you sleep - I knew you needed it, the state you were in - but we need to go now."
"Go where?"
"I haven't told you everything."
Something about his tone makes me shiver.
"You told me that we both have magic, what more can there be to tell?" I ask, finding it hard to imagine what news could be more shocking than that, to make Alex look so solemn.
"Remember I told you you'd need your magic to defend yourself? Well, that's not just defence against normal dangers in life. There's much more to it."
"Ok, then tell me," I say, still unable to summon up fear, or any feeling other than bubbly happiness.
"Not here," Alex says with a strangely closed off expression that I have never seen on his face before.
"Alex, the town is deserted," I point out. "No one is going to hear you."
"The wind could carry our words to them," he says softly. "The wind is their servant; we are not safe out in the open."
"What are you - ?"
"Please, Cara, come with me and I'll explain everything."
Though bemused, I get up to follow him. Alex leads me through the ghost town, towards the sheer mountains that our village is pressed up against. He is quiet - afraid, apparently, of the wind carrying our words away. Being new to this whole magic thing, I don't really feel qualified to tell him he's being paranoid, no matter how crazy it sounds.
We get to the mountains and begin to climb. Soon, we are too out of breath to talk except for brief instructions such as "don't put your feet there" and "careful, the rock is crumbling here". We climb for what seems like hours, but Alex shows no sign of stopping.
I am about to ask him if we can take a break at the next ledge we come across when he disappears.
Before I can panic, his hand reappears out of the rock, reaching for mine. I grab it and Alex helps pull me into a cave. It is less a cave than a small crevice in the rock, just big enough for two people to sit in. I sit close to him, feeling the stone leaching the heat out of my body.
"We'll be safe in here," he says.
"How do you know?"
"This place was protected by magic. I don't know when or how, but I could sense it the first time I found it. You'll be able to do the same, once you know how to use your magic properly."
I am already shivering slightly and Alex puts his arm around me. I lean my head against his shoulder while he talks.
"You know the seas are rising - everyone knows that. Every year, they rise and fall again. You know that once people move out of the towns near the sea, they never come back; it would only mean having to leave and rebuild the next year. There isn't enough space in the kingdom, though, so some always come.
"What not many people don't know is that this year it is different. The seas are rising, and they aren't going to fall again. Our whole town will be swallowed and the rest of the kingdom will follow."
"How do you know this?" I whisper, dread unfolding in my stomach. Alex wouldn't say anything like this unless he was sure.
"A man named Yaren told me. He died a couple of weeks later - killed by the enemy - but not before he told me everything and took my oath of silence. He taught me enough about magic that I've been able to continue learning on my own. He could sense when my magic was near to coming out - like I could with you - so he watched me until it happened, ready to act.
"What you need to know is that this wasn't always our kingdom. There are a people - the Greni, we call them - who used to live here. Then humans came and stole their land, forced them into the sea. For generations, the Greni have been building up their strength and now when they force the seas to rise, the patterns of nature will not be able to bring them back down. They Greni will have their land back and drown us all in the process.
"They are creatures of water, and air is their ally. Our best weapons are earth and fire - this cave, covered on all sides with earth and stone, is a safe place; that's probably why someone chose it to protect in the first place. Fire will help keep them away, but not indefinitely.
"Tomorrow, we'll leave. We'll go to the Runu Mountains - you know those are the highest in the kingdom. We'll find a cave near the top. The waters will reach there last. That should give us as much time as we're going to get."
"Wait, wait," I say, holding up my hands. "We can't just go running to the mountains. We need to plan! We need to drive these Greni back. How can we stop them?"
Alex looks at me, a deep sadness in his eyes. "There's no way to stop them, Cara. It may take months or years, but eventually, we are all doomed."

To be continued

Abandoned - part 2

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog :) This is part two of a little story I'm writing. For anyone who is new here, I would recommend you start at part one and work your way through. Happy reading!

I sit in the water barrel for hours, too uncomfortable to fall asleep, too scared to move. I imagine I can hear voices. My father is surely searching the town, trying to force me to leave whether I want to or not. I can't let him take me. If he drags me away now, I'll never be able to come back, and any chance I have of finding Alex will be gone.
I wonder how long the village elders will allow him to search before forcing him to leave with them. After all, it's not safe here - that's why we're leaving. I'll just have to find Alex fast, then we can both get out of here before the seas rise and swallow our village whole.
Finally, when I can see through the small cracks in the barrel that darkness has fallen, I decide it's safe to get out. My muscles protest at being cramped in a tight ball for hours and I stretch as soon as I am out, trying to work some feeling back into my limbs.
"Right, let's go," I mutter to myself. Even as I make plans to search for Alex, though, I realise that it's stupid. It's dark. I'll never find him now. What I need is a good night's rest and a fresh start tomorrow.
I start to make my way home in the dark. My father packed up most of our possessions, but the bed will still be there, and with luck, a spare blanket.
I never make it home, though. Without any conscious direction from me, my feet take me along a different path, towards Alex's house. I let them. It's been weeks since I saw him, weeks since he mysteriously disappeared in the middle of the night. Maybe being in his house will make me feel closer to him and ease some of the terrible loneliness that has haunted me since he disappeared.
I let myself in with the key I've had for years, making my way to his room by feel in the dark. When I step inside, I immediately know something is wrong. I flatten myself against the wall, trying to see in the pitch darkness. The town is abandoned. There should be no one except me here. Then why do I sense so clearly that there is someone else in the room?
"Cara?"
I close my eyes, suppressing a groan. I was in that barrel too long. I'm exhausted and probably dehydrated, and now my mind is giving me exactly what I want to hear: Alex's voice.
I don't reply, but flop down onto the bed, knowing that sleep is the only thing that will set my head straight.
I bump into a warm body.
I yell in shock and a light flares up. In the split second it is there, I stare at the flame dancing on my palm, lighting up the room but not burning me. Then it goes out... but not before I see who it is I bumped into.
"Alex?" I gasp. I feel him leaning away and light fills the room as he turns up the lamp.
"Cara," he says, smiling broadly, reaching for me.
I fling myself into his arms, hugging him so tightly that my arms hurt.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he murmurs over and over again in my ear. He kisses my forehead and pulls me down on the bed next to him, holding me close.
"What happened?" I ask, staring avidly at him, afraid he will disappear again if I look away.
"I had to," he says sadly. "Magic can only be brought forth when you experience that which you fear most."
"What?" I say blankly. "What are you talking about?"
"Didn't you see how light appeared in your hands?" he asks gently. "You don't know how to control it yet, but you will. I knew you'd need your magic to defend yourself, but that was never going to happen while I was around. I had to leave, to force your magic to show itself."
"Magic?" I whisper. "I don't have magic..."
"Yes, you do. We both do."
"You too?"
"Yes," he says. "You remember when you fell and knocked your head?"
I nod. "I was asleep for days. The healer thought I may never wake up."
"She was almost right. You woke up because the magic awoke inside me and allowed me to heal you."
I don't say anything. It's way too much to take in.
"I know it's a lot," Alex says gently. "You'll be ok, though. I'll help you. You're not alone, Cara."
"I know," I say, snuggling into him. "Even when you were gone, I knew you'd never leave me."
"As I knew you'd never abandon me. We should get some sleep. Tomorrow, I'll explain everything."
"Ok," I mumble. Already, my eyes are drooping. After not having slept properly for weeks - since Alex disappeared - exhaustion overcomes me. I think I hear him whisper something in my ear, but I am already asleep.

To be continued

Abandoned - part 1

"It's time to go."
"I've changed my mind. I'm not going."
My father sighs exasperatedly. "Cara, we've been through this a million times. He's not coming back. He dropped off the face of the planet and left you here without so much as a note. You're never going to see him again."
I shake my head, trying to shake his words out. All of the logical reasons for leaving threaten once again to smother the overwhelming certainty I feel: Alex is not gone.
"I know it doesn't make any sense," I say. "Believe me, I know. All the evidence is in your favour, but... I know Alex wouldn't just leave me like that. He wouldn't."
"Well he did," my father says bluntly, but I barely hear him; the memory I have been over too many times to count wells up in my mind again. It happened only a few days before Alex left - less than three weeks ago - but if feels like forever.
I roll over on the bed so that I am facing him. "I was worried today," I say lightly, tracing his face with my hand. "When you were late; I thought something had happened."
Alex chuckles. "It'll take more than a broken down carriage to stop me from getting to you."
He must see from my face, though, that I am still upset.
He puts his hand under my chin and leans forward, kissing me ever so gently on the lips. "I'll never leave you, Cara. I love you, forever. I promise."
"I love you, too," I whisper. Alex wraps his arms around me, holding me close...
With a start, I come back to reality. My father's face is red and I can see him trying to suppress his irritation with difficulty. I suppose I can't blame him; I've been changing my mind on and off for the past three weeks.
"Look, Cara, we can discuss this on the way," he says, gesturing to the carriage.
I shake my head. "I can't go. Alex needs me."
"Cara, listen to yourself! We've been through this already, remember? You spent weeks looking for any evidence that Alex was kidnapped, or in some other way taken against his will, but there was none. There was no sign of a struggle, his things were packed... he's gone. He made the decision to go by himself and he never looked back. I know that you two were close, but now you just need to get over - "
I turn abruptly and stalk away. I can't listen to this, can't let him wear down my certainty yet again. This time, if I give in, there is no going back. The carriage is packed and we're ready to move to the other side of the kingdom. If I leave now, I really will never see Alex again.
He strides angrily after me. "Look, I know you have issues with this, Cara - it's been hard on both of us since your mother left like that. It's been difficult for me, too, bringing you up on my own..."
Though it is childish, I put both hands over my ears. I can't let him make me feel guilty; that will be the end, he will have won.
"You go!" I shout. "You may all have abandoned Alex, but I won't!"
"You can't stay here," my dad says in a voice of forced calm. "The seas are rising - soon this whole village will be swallowed. Why do you think we are moving?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't come with you," I say. "I love you, dad. I will try to find you again someday; Alex and I both will."
"Cara, I can't allow you to do this."
He reaches out to grab my arm. Though years of hard labour have given me strength enough, I am no match for my dad. I know that if he gets a hold of me, he'll force me to leave, even if he has to keep me tied up for the entire journey.
"No!" I shout, making to push him away. What happens next is over so fast I hardly see it happen. I don't touch my dad, but he flies back as though he has been hit by a rampaging buffalo. He hits the ground, hard, winded.
I stare at my own hands, appalled. What did I do?
Before he can get back to his feet, I turn and run, back into the abandoned town, back to the ghost city. Tears splash down my face, but I ignore them. All I need is to hide until they leave; then I will be free to find Alex... however I am going to do that.
A few minutes later, I find myself squashed into a broken water barrel behind Mrs Smith's yard, watching the colour of the sky through a crack in the wood, trying to judge how long I must wait. My dad will look for me, but he can't wait forever. The village elders will insist he leave and save himself, forcing him if they have to.
I close my eyes, trying to stop the stupid, stupid tears.
"I'll never abandon you, Alex," I whisper.

To be continued