Water {Elements of Power 2}

Chapter 18: Jasmine

The world was a transparent blue, shimmering before my shocked eyes in a cerulean film.

It was also silent. Not a tranquil, calming quiet, but sinister, eerie, dead. My ears felt as though they had been stuffed with fabric.

A heavy weight pressed down on my chest. I was trapped.

I was alone.

I opened my mouth to scream, filling my lungs with water.

I sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for air. It had not been a Sea-Dream, but it had been every bit as scary. And, after two near drownings, it felt all too terrifyingly real.

My hands reached for the blue, cable-knit blanket from the bottom of the bed, which I wrapped tightly around myself for comfort. I took a deep breath in, trying to flood my lungs with oxygen and calm my racing heart.

A glance at the water clock over on the bedside table informed me that I should be meeting Imogen soon.

I took another deep breath, thankful for the plentiful air around me and shook my head, in the hope that I might shake away the remnants of the dream.

When that failed to relieve the pressure in my chest, I got up and went to get dressed. In need of comfort, I opted for a soft beige jumper and a white skirt, with high boots to keep my legs warm. I was about to clip my hair back—an almost subconscious habit—when my hands froze. No. I wasn't going to hide who I was today. If someone had already decided that they were on a mission to kill me, hiding my hair now wasn't going to make much of a difference. There was no point in pretending to be normal.

Imogen had told me last night that she had news. She hadn't gone into any more details, however, since Devon had come over and she had quickly made an excuse to leave. I knew, deep in my heart, that Devon hadn't really meant what she had said. She was hurting because she missed Brody and watching Imogen and Kit together was only making that pain worse. That didn't excuse it though. But, in my books at least, saving my life had cancelled it out. Imogen wasn't being so forgiving.

Another glance at the clock told me that it was ten past ten. I was due to meet Im in five minutes.

Leaving my room, I wandered down to the castle cloisters. The banquet hall was only used on state occasions; the rest of the time, the Brizans grabbed food whenever they pleased from the cloisters, which operated a bit like an extremely beautiful canteen. The room was built from the same stone as the rest of the castle, however ancient, faded blue spirals could just be made out across the walls and delicate, white flowers wound their way around the arches. Food was served to the north, with tables and seating clustered around a huge water fountain in the centre. Water was pumped up to the top of a thick spiral of white stone, then trickled out and back down into the pool. The Brizans seemed overly fond of spiral imagery.

The first thing that I noticed when I entered the cloisters today was the stares: curious Brizans all turning to look at me. My hands went to my hair nervously; perhaps it had been a mistake to wear it down.

There was a low murmuring sound throughout the canteen, too indistinct to make out.

I was desperate to know what they were saying.

And where was Im? Why had she wanted to meet somewhere so public?

My fingers caught a strand of purple and I twisted it, trying to conceal it within the brown.

"Hey, Jazz," Imogen sung, coming up behind me. She was still limping, but smiling broadly. Her hair glistened in the morning sunshine.

"Morning, Im," I replied, forcing myself to return her smile. I was feeling increasingly unnerved by the whispers around us.

Oblivious to my unease, Im took me by the arm and led me over to one of the wooden benches at the edge of the room.

"Did we have to meet somewhere quite so, public?" I asked, tugging nervously at my hair again.

"It was convenient for Kit's source," she replied with a shrug.

"Kit's source?" What on air was she talking about? Before I had the chance to ask, Kit appeared on the other side of the table, his hair ruffled and an easy smile on his face.

Imogen returned his smile, her cheeks flushing a rosy pink.

"Hello, ladies. How are you this morning?"

"Perfect. We've just been waiting for you to arrive," Im replied, a glint in her eye.

"It's a good job I didn't stand you up then, isn't it; especially when I have such exciting information for you both." Kit's hand twitched towards Imogen's as he spoke, but he lifted it at the last moment and waved instead to a lady behind the counter. She must have been in her sixties, though she still had the same grace and elegance as all Brizans. Her skin was smooth, with flushed red cheeks and her long grey hair was pulled back into a bun. She looked uneasy as she put down a large bowl of seaweed soup and headed over to our table.

"Girls, meet Tielle. Tielle, this is Imogen and Jasmine."

Tielle glanced over her shoulder uneasily; she was now attracting the same curious stares as me. "Let's get this over with," she muttered, sitting down beside Kit.

Kit nodded at her, which she took as a signal to begin.

"I can remember the day well, because it started so strangely. We had not seen Emmanuel since the beginning of the Occupation, but on that morning he appeared in the palace kitchens as though no time had passed. He told us that he was going to see the Queen—an unusual remark in itself, as no one had seen her for months either—and requested something sweet to take to her. Until this point, the Helian commander had be catering for all her needs, but we were not about to refuse the chief Protector. Particularly not as he was spreading news of uprisings while he waited for us to bake a seaflower pie—the Queen's favourite. By the time he left, I was exhausted, so I went outside for some air.

"It was chilly that day, as a fierce northern breeze was blowing across the Island. But after such a busy morning, the cold was a relief. I stayed outside for some time, leaning against a wizened olive tree, the Western Sea spreading out before me.

"I sat alone until about four in the afternoon, when a disturbance behind me caused me to stir. The west door, which was only ever used by staff, crashed open and a young woman came out. I didn't recognise her at first, because she was wearing a periwinkle cloak with the hood pulled up. She had a large bundle in her arms and her head glanced from side to side quickly, to check that she had not been seen. The tree I had sat against hid me from sight and I stayed behind it, sensing that the woman did not want to be disturbed.

"It was then that I heard the sound; the high pitched wail of a newborn, coming from the bundle in the woman's arms. She bent her head to sooth it, hurrying away from the castle in the direction of the harbour. As she was about to vanish from sight, she turned back to face the castle, just as a sharp gust of wind blew the hood from her face.

"It was one of the local doctors, I realised, shocked. But what could she possibly be doing, hurrying from the castle with a babe in her arms?"

"Which doctor?" Kit asked, a hint of impatience in his voice. "Tielle, if you can remember who it was that you saw, we can go and question her—to find out who the baby belonged to."

"I've been thinking about it ever since I told you the story, Kit. I'm almost certain that the doctor was—"

There was a whooshing sound, like pressure being released from a jar and the next thing I knew, I was being barrelled to the ground with Imogen on top of me, her face white.

A loud crash echoed throughout the room as the stone top of the fountain embedded itself in the wall, precisely where I had been sat moments before.

"What the air?" I gasped, looking at Imogen, whose hazel eyes mirrored my own confusion.

Kit helped Imogen to her feet—the sudden movement had done nothing to help her ankle. A crowd was forming around us by the time he had helped me up too, but when I looked across the table to see what Tielle would make of it, she had vanished.

{Jasmine's not having much luck in the Brizan Realm, is she? What do you think is going on? Who might be behind it? Please vote and/or comment to let me know what you think!}