Book 1: Gemaris Island

Chapter 7: Unity Bridge

Ora struggled to keep up with the fast-walking musician while dragging along her large suitcase. When Cosmos finally told Ora that he was headed across the river, Ora quickly told Amien to meet her on the other side of the island, across the bridge, in about an hour. She whispered to Amien that she wanted to talk to Cosmos alone and then, Ora got the brilliant to hand her luggage to the wizard, who groaned and argued with her. Ora encouraged Amien to chat with Marietta for a bit. This helped persuade the stubborn pirate, but he told her that it was not a great idea for him and Ora to split up. But when Ora hurriedly hugged Marietta and followed the fast musician out the cafe, Amien realized he had no choice but to obey Ora. For some odd reason, he saw her as the authority , the leader of their mission. But this had to be a mistake, Amien thought.

"What could Ora possibly want from Cosmos?" Marietta asked Amien, curiously.

That's when Amien remembered Ora cleverly guessing the theme of Cosmos' three ballads.

"I have a theory," he replied. "She better prove me wrong, though."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ora panted heavily when she finally caught up with Cosmos Preyer, who was just outside the city now, letting his lute swing at his side as he walked.

"Where are you going in such a hurry, anyway?" Ora asked, struggling to catch her breath.

"I have to sing at the Opera house this evening," Cosmos replied, staring ahead of him as he suddenly slowed down his pace.

"Oh, really?" Ora said, suddenly perking up.

"Yes. There's going to be a theater performance right at sunset and I'm playing a bard in it," Cosmos replied, flatly.

"You often play bards, don't you?" Ora said to him, smiling.

"Yes," he replied.

"Do you enjoy only playing bards?" Ora asked, sounding interrogative all of a sudden.

"I don't just play bards," Cosmos snapped back at her.

"Well, what else do you play?"

Cosmos stopped talking and thought for a moment.

"Shepherds, messengers, stable boys, assistants, harolds-"

"Those are all related to music in some way, though," Ora cut him off.

"I would prefer it if you didn't interrupt me, sweetheart," Cosmos said sarcastically.

The girl found herself shocked by everything he had just said in that one sentence, and a gasp escaped her lips as she furrowed her eyebrows at the singer.

Cosmos finally turned his head to look at her for once, but then turned away, sighing.

"Now I forgot what I was going to say," he muttered.

The two continued walking in silence, the only sound in the air being the clopping of their Ora's glass shoes on the light grey cobblestone. They were now crossing the long bridge which stressed over the river that divided the island. Ora was staring at the ground away from Cosmos, trying to find her train of thought. She threw her head back to get a curl out of her eye and then faced the stubborn singer.

"My name is Ora Ember, by the way. Not 'sweetheart.'"

She waited patiently for his reply, which was a raise of his eyebrows and then the comeback, "You're right. 'Ember' suits you much better than a name that implies grace and charm."

Ora processed his comment before replying, "You mean I'm more fiery than sweet? Is that what you mean?"

She raised her voice and clenched her fists.

Cosmos slowly blinked in frustration, then said, "What do you want from me, Miss Ember?"

After groaning, Ora collected herself and stated her wishes.

"I just want you to tell me why you wrote not one, not two, but three ballads centering around rebellion. And why did you want the audience to guess the theme? And why-"

"It's just a guessing game. Guessing games are fun. Don't read into it too much," Cosmos insisted, shrugging as he placed one hand in his pocket.

"I would prefer it if you didn't interrupt me, SIR," Ora raised her voice, mocking Cosmos.

"Actually, you don't get to prefer anything right now," Cosmos stated, keeping his tone calm. "You want to talk to me, but I don't want to talk to you. You follow my rules, or this conversation is over."

The nerve this guy has, Ora immediately thought, but she was determined to control herself. She would take her anger out on Amien later.

"Alright, but why rebellion? Why not love or hatred or war or something more...universal?" Ora asked, curiously.

"Because that would be too easy to guess," Cosmos replied. "I wanted the game to be a little challenging, but I suppose I didn't make it challenging enough, seeing as you guessed it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ora asked, again losing her temper.

"What do you think it means?"

Cosmos quickened his pace, trying to get away from Ora as she began to fall behind again. For a moment, the girl found herself lecturing in her head, wondering if maybe this singer was just singing about rebellion for no apparent reason. Ora knew she had to humble herself and admit that she was wasting her time. She was bothering Cosmos way too much to no avail. He wasn't sending a secret message through his ballads as Ora had suspected. If he wanted to start a rebellion, perhaps he would have admitted his desire to Ora already. But he was insisting that the theme of the three ballads was picked randomly. It had no meaning. The girl was crestfallen, and she slowed down her pace until she finally stopped walking completely, clutching the neckline of her dress in frustration.

I have to find Amien, she thought, turning around.

"Hey, wait!"

Ora whipped around almost too fast as she saw Cosmos had stopped to look back at her.

"Are you really that offended by what I just said?" he called out to her.

What he had just said. What had he just said to her? Oh, that's right. He had insulted her intelligence by saying that Cosmos' riddle was obviously too easy if someone as stupid as Ora was able to solve it.

"N-no..." Ora stuttered. "I was just wondering. Cosmos, I think it was a mistake to bother you. I'm sorry."

She turned around and started leaving the bridge, but Cosmos told her to wait again.

"Why are you so desperate to know my intent, anyway?" he asked, taking a step towards her. His white tie glistened in the sunlight like a stone on a dark creek.

"What do you think?" Ora found herself saying, but then widened her eyes. "Sorry. I didn't mean to mock you that time, but...isn't it obvious? Music is usually not just performed for entertainment. Composers write songs to send a message to their audience. Or to evoke certain emotions from them. That's what I thought, anyway."

"So what are you implying?"

"Do you want people to start thinking about rebellion? Are you trying to plant a seed in their minds that will grow into a feeling of hatred, so strong that they will want to...rebel?" Ora asked, moving her hands like a growing plant as she rambled.

Cosmos' face was unreadable. Ora couldn't tell if he was interested, suspicious, or just plain confused.

"What would I want them to rebel against?" he asked, standing very still with his chin in the air.

"It's not a what. It's a person," Ora said without hesitation. "People usually rebel against a person or a group of people."

Cosmos gradually lowered his head.

"You mean, like...the king?" he asked in a deep voice, still remaining expressionless.

It was now or never, Ora realized. She had taken the risk with Amien, and it had ended with them allying together to defeat the king. What if she was wrong? What if Cosmos turned her in as soon as she revealed herself? But what if she was right? She was going to risk losing a potential ally? Who knew how many rebels she would meet before she reached the Twelfth Island? Perhaps a twenty or even hundred. Perhaps none. It couldn't just be her and Amien. Even if their plan really was just to show the king a story, they would need actors. Ora was so confused. She couldn't think anymore. This was a mistake. This was all a mistake. She wished she could just go back to her old life. Things were so much better back then. But Ora was in the strange, new, uncomfortable present and Cosmos was still waiting for an answer.

After having this internal rant all in just a few seconds, Ora finally nodded.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"So she wants us to meet her across the river in an hour?" Marietta asked Amien, puzzled. "But the only way across the river is the bridge. And so we'll just run into her and Cosmos, won't we?"

"There's another way across the river," Amien said, a slight smile playing on his face.

"Swimming?" Marietta suggested, chuckling.

Amien laughed at that.

"We could rent a boat," he said, hurrying down a hill near the bridge.

"I didn't know there were boats for rent!" Marietta exclaimed, hurrying after Amien.

Amien handed some coins to a boatkeeper, who showed them to a dark brown rowboat that had gold leaves decorating its bow. The boatkeeper told them they would have to row themselves, but another boatkeeper would be waiting on the other side of the river to help them dock their boat. Amien thanked the man and carefully stepped into the rowboat. He offered a hand to Marietta, who smiled.

"It's beautiful!" Marietta gasped, but Amien noticed her hesitating.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

"I...I don't know if I should go," she said quietly, looking at him.

"What do you mean? It's just across the river," he said, pointing to the other side which didn't seem that far away.

"No. I mean...I don't know if I should go with you and Ora," she muttered, making sure that the boatkeeper was out of sight.

Amien was befuddled. He had grown so used to Marietta's presence that he had completely forgotten that she wasn't part of "the mission." She didn't even know what he and Ora were planning to do, Amien thought.

"You...I...but you could just..." Amien didn't know what to say for once.

"I know what Ora is planning to do," Marietta murmured, looking down at the pirate in the boat. It fit his image so perfectly.

"You do?" Amien asked in shock.

"She told me. She wants to travel throughout the islands and spread joy with her stories!" Marietta shrugged.

"Oh," Amien said.

"At least, that's what she said," Marietta muttered. "But I don't know what she's really planning to do. She has been through...well, I shouldn't say anything."

"What? What has she been through?" Amien asked, sounding desperate.

"She's just had wild life, that's all," Marietta said, trying to sound casual.

"That's all?" Amien repeated. "Wild in what way?"

"You'll have to ask her," Marietta replied, folding her hands in front of her.

"She won't tell me!" Amien dropped his hands and let them dangle.

"She will when the moment's right," Marietta assured him. "Look, tell her I wish her well on her journey. And also, tell her I'm sorry about getting upset with her about Sir Grenton. I don't know what came over me."

Amien stood speechlessly, peering at the woman on the dock, who started to turn red.

"Good luck, Amien!" she said, suddenly hurrying down the dock, away from the boat.

Something in Amien made him want to call out and stop Marietta, but the feeling quickly vanished from him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cosmos and Ora were having an unplanned staring contest. It was more of a glaring contest for Cosmos, though. He could not believe that this girl decorated with pink flowers and blonde curls had seen "rebellion" in a song about the moon coming out during the day. Of course, it was quite rebellious of the moon to try and steal the sun's spotlight during the day, but Cosmos had tried hard to make his riddle almost impossible. Maybe he was the stupid one. Or maybe Ora was smarter than she looked.

"Congratulations, Ora," he said. "You passed."

"What? What did I pass?" Ora asked, looking around.

"I wrote the songs and created the game to see if anyone would see rebellion in such simple, beautiful songs. Because, you see, people mostly see the messages in music that they want to see. I tried to make the theme of rebellion discreet, so that only someone who was looking for rebellion would find it. And you were the only person who did," Cosmos was actually smiling now as he explained his clever plan.

"But...I mean, I won't deny it. I am looking for rebellion," Ora mumbled. "But I don't know if that was the best plan to go about looking for...rebels."

"What did you want me to do? Put up an ad in the streets? Yell for rebels in the middle of the towns that are all patrolled by palace guards? Ora, why do you think you were the ONLY ONE who was able to solve my riddle?"

"Because people on this island are stupid," Ora blurted out. Seeing Cosmos' shocked face, she quickly added, "I mean, they're ignorant at least. Haven't you realized that?"

"I'm not from this island. I've been here less than a day," he replied. "They're very nice people. Quiet, elegant, innocent."

"Innocent. I know," Ora nodded, rolling her eyes. "They literally worship innocence. At Gemaris Cathedral, they recite a chant praising innocence and chastity and purity every. Single. Day."

"I think that's beautiful," Cosmos remarked, shrugging.

Ora bit the inside of her cheek in surprise. Cosmos didn't strike her as someone who would admire "innocence" or someone who would ever use the word "beautiful."

"But we've gone way off topic," Cosmos waved his hands. "The topic was 'rebellion.' Specifically, against...the king."

Cosmos barely muttered the last word and Ora shrank backwards when he said it. She didn't feel comfortable talking about her plan to rebel against the king with this man whom she had just met. She hoped that Amien would show up soon. Suddenly, she felt unsafe around Cosmos. What if he was a spy, perhaps a spy for Sir Grenton who may still suspect her? No, that wouldn't make sense. Why would he make Cosmos the famous musician a spy? Still, Ora didn't want to admit anything or talk openly about the king with the singer. Furthermore, she was used to talking in code with Amien. Cosmos didn't know about the code. But suddenly, the code reminded Ora of something. And that something reminded her of something else, but she first mentioned the prior something to Cosmos.

"Did you see my theater story at the cathedral this afternoon?" she blurted out.

Cosmos pursed his lips and sighed, seeming frustrated. But again, his face was hard to read.

"I didn't," he replied. "Why do you keep changing the subject?"

"Because we shouldn't talk about this in public," she answered him, glancing at the ground.

"There's no one around! We're the only ones on Unity Bridge right now!" Cosmos said, motioning to the empty bridge around him.

Unity Bridge. A strange name, Ora thought.

"Why is it called Unity Bridge?" she asked.

"I don't know. I'm not from this island, remember? Are you not from here either?" he asked.

"I'm not," Ora replied.

"Where are you from?" Cosmos asked, crossing his arms while somehow still holding his lute.

"I..." Now Ora had lost her ability to speak altogether. She suddenly became so frustrated with herself that she groaned and began pacing as she broke into a cold sweat.

"What is wrong with you?" Cosmos couldn't help but ask, sounding disturbed.

"Don't you have an opera house to go to?" Ora snapped.

And as she spun around like a top to face him, her shawl fluttered in the breeze like a butterfly. Ora had forgotten all about it. Sir Grenton had bought it for her. Why would he buy such an expensive gift for her if he still suspected her of treason? It could be to throw off her expectations, but that was a lot of money to spend just to deceive a young girl who, even if she was conspiring against the king, probably couldn't do much damage considering what a small, helpless little thing she was.

"I'm sorry, Cosmos," Ora said through her teeth, her mouth quivering.

The words Amien had said to her at his Divination House echoed through her head:

I've never met someone as sensitive as you.

She took a deep breath and tried relaxing herself by gazing at the celestial blue river that wound through the red, purple and gold trees on the shorelines. Gemaris Island was beautiful. It was so colorful and peaceful. Who would ever want to leave it? No wonder the citizens stayed and never bothered to know what was happening on either islands. Ora didn't think she would ever get bored of the vibrant view.

"How is somebody like you supposed to dethrone a king of twelve islands?" Cosmos asked, sounding unimpressed and disrupting the serene silence.

"With help," Ora immediately replied. "My friend Amien is with me. I'm trying to find others who will stand with me? Will you?"

"Of course," Cosmos said without hesitation. "IF. You have a plan, and a good one. For example, how exactly are you planning to dethrone a king?" he asked, as if suddenly conducting an interview.

Maybe he was a spy and he was interrogating her right now, but she just didn't know it.

Well, I do know it, Ora thought. And I'm not going to give myself away.

"I'm not planning on dethroning him," she said, confident in her answer.

"What?!" Cosmos yelled, storming towards her.

"What do you have against him?" Ora demanded, looking up at him.

"The same thing you have against him!" he shouted.

"Which is?"

"No, you first!"

"I asked you first!"

"He's incompetent!"

"How so?"

"Everyone could see it the moment he walked on stage to receive his crown!"

"Then why isn't everyone rebelling?" Ora asked, lowering her voice.

Cosmos stopped and cleared his throat before hissing through his teeth:

"I. Don't. Know."

His white face was right above hers, and his aggressive breath fogged up her eyes, causing her to blink in annoyance.

"Neither do I," Ora replied. "But he is incompetent. And taking away the Mirror Gates was a huge mistake."

"Yes. It's made traveling horrible for me," Cosmos said, suddenly changing his tone and stepping backward. "In fact, that's why I came to the First Island. I was on the Second Island and the Mirror Gates were all taken away except two. I had to cancel all my plans to sing on the Sixth Island this week, so I came here. I don't regret my decision. I never knew how beautiful this island was."

There! He said it again, describing the island as "beautiful." While looking at Ora, not the island.

"Well, as I was saying," Ora stammered. "I want to help these islands, but I don't want to start a war."

"Why not?" Cosmos asked.

"It's always better to avoid war if you can," Ora said, staring right at Cosmos. "If war becomes necessary, then that's a different story. Right now, we might as well avoid it."

"So what is your plan?" Cosmos asked her.

"If you had seen my theater story this afternoon at the cathedral, you would know how well-liked it was by anyone and everyone who saw it," Ora explained. "I plan to perform a theater story for the king. One to teach him. One to help him. So that he can help these islands."

Cosmos immediately recoiled and bit his lip in uncertainty.

"Ora, I-"

"I know its sounds stupid!" Ora interrupted him, but before she could continue, he cut her off.

"Not just stupid. Childish."

"Childish? Stupid? What's the difference?" Ora snapped. They were both bad.

"Grown-ups can be stupid. But when they're childish, it's just unattractive," Cosmos told her, scowling.

"I'm not doing this to be attractive, Cosmos! I'm doing it to enlighten the king and open his eyes!" Ora insisted.

"Well, how are you going to attract followers, Ora, if your cause is NOT attractive?" Cosmos asked, sounding pleased with himself, but still brooding. "Attractiveness is underrated, everywhere I go."

"What?!" Ora blurted out.

"I understand that looks aren't everything, but neither is character or even talent," Cosmos said, crossing his arms. His lute was on the ground now next to him.

"But you agree that smiling and being kind in general is more attractive than a good-looking person who doesn't smile at all or isn't kind?"

"Kindness is overrated," Cosmos said. "My song clearly spells out what I believe."

Suddenly, Cosmos sang the line from his song, his bitter, disagreeable tone transforming into that smooth, soothing timbre.

"The cold is unrelenting. Don't try to fight with love."

Ora sighed in defeat.

"You can't fight with love, because love isn't a weapon," Cosmos told her, sounding so proud

of himself now.

"But you can heal with love!" she said. "You can heal from the unrelenting cold!"

Cosmos casually shook his head in disagreement. Guess he had no comeback, Ora thought.

"That song, Heart of Stone, really spoke to me," Ora told him, suddenly looking down sadly. "You don't understand...I do want to fight him. I'm mad at him. I don't want him on the throne and I don't want someone as incompetent as him to rule the Twelve Islands. I want to fight him, but I know it's not the best option. It's not the right thing to do."

"Why not?" Cosmos demanded.

Ora sighed, searching for words.

"People might get hurt-"

"People already are getting hurt!" Cosmos stated, his hands now in his pockets. "You think removing the Mirror Gates is the only harmful thing he's done?"

Ora stuttered, but as Cosmos began to speak again, she quickly said, "It's not what he has done that I have a problem with so much as what he has not done."

"I agree," Cosmos said. "He's been neglecting some islands, like they're not even there. He's been doing the opposite of what he said he would do. He's not paying any attention to the poor at all. They're worse off than ever. And now traveling is more inconvenient for everyone. And he's been focusing all his time and troops on hunting down the stupid Willow Wanderer, that he's been comepletely neglecting his duties as king!"

"Wait. What do you mean the 'stupid' Willow Wanderer?" Ora suddenly murmured, hoping that Cosmos had misspoke.

But he hadn't.

"This is all her fault! If she hadn't challenged the king the minute he had been crowned, the king wouldn't be so paranoid and would actually be helping the kingdom! Now he's actually going insane trying to find her!" Cosmos ranted as he stepped away from Ora, deep in thought.

Ora began hyperventilating. She couldn't believe Cosmos was so against Diamond the Willow Wanderer, the person around whom her mission was centered. What would Amien think? He would hate to hear Cosmos speaking like this about Ora.

"If we could just find her," the man in white and black went on in a hushed voice, "and turn her in, perhaps the king would come back to his senses and start running this kingdom again."

Ora was silently panting, clutching the neckline of her racing heart.

"Of course, if the king's guards still haven't found her, we probably never will," Cosmos muttered in disappointment, gazing at the river stretching towards the sun which was low in the sky. "And he's still going insane, stopping at nothing to find someone who can't be found. No. Our only hope is to force him off the throne."

Even though she was infuriated, and terrified, Ora wondered if Cosmos was right. Maybe this was all the Willow Wanderer's fault. If she had just kept her mouth shut, the king wouldn't be so paranoid, and he would at least be trying to run the kingdom. But now, the kingdom was collapsing and the king was neglecting it, all because of a pompous, spoiled girl who was dissatisfied with her new ruler before he had even done anything wrong.

But Ora was still not about to abandon Diamond the Willow Wanderer.

"We can't be allies," she suddenly said, marching past Cosmos towards the other side of the bridge.

"What? What are you talking about? " Cosmos spat, grabbing his lute and striding after Ora.

The girl didn't want to start running, but it was hard to walk fast in high heels.

"If you are going to blame all this on Diamond the Willow Wanderer, and if you're crazy enough to say that handing over an innocent girl like her to the king will solve ANYTHING, that we can't be allies," Ora said, without looking back at him.

"Don't tell me you admired what she did!" Cosmos groaned, leaning his head back in exhaustion.

"What she did was brave. Stupid, but necessary. She stood up to a ruler whom she didn't trust to rule. And she was right. Nobody else believed her at the time, but now we've all seen the fruits of Reignald's reign. Or lack thereof," Ora said, throwing out her hands, but keeping her voice down. She stopped walking and turned her head back to Cosmos. "Amien and I are searching for Diamond the Willow Wanderer. We can't do this without her. She's...obviously powerful. She's a Gift Wielder."

"So what if she can fly?" Cosmos said, catching up with her. "She got the kingdom into this mess!"

"You're blaming her for rebelling against the king when that's what you want to do!" Ora widened her eyes at him in disbelief.

"She rebelled when it wasn't necessary!" Cosmos muttered angrily. His eyes were like fire now. "Now it IS necessary to rebel, BECAUSE of what she did to make him paranoid and negligent!"

They glared in anger at each other before Ora began walking away again.

"Forget it, Cosmos. You won't turn me against Diamond and you DEFINITELY won't turn Amien against her either."

Cosmos Preyer gripped his lute tighter and finally stepped in front of Ora, grabbing her shoulder. She began trembling, knowing she couldn't fight him or outrun him.

"I don't know about turning you against Diamond, but I know one thing for certain, Ora," he said, seriously. "I don't want to turn you against me."

Cosmos loosened his grip on her shoulder. Ora wasn't expecting him to be so desperate, even though he actually didn't sound desperate. Just sincere and calm.

"You can't say anything against Diamond if you want to travel with Amien and me. And Amien is determined to find her," Ora said in a firm tone.

He stared at her for a long time and finally took his bony hand off her. The musician, with his lute in one hand and his other hand in his pocket, began strolling across the bridge. Then he turned around and faced her again.

"Where is Amien?" Cosmos asked her with a poker face.

"He's going to meet me on the other side of the bridge," Ora said, trying to mask her worry.

"Then let's go meet him, shall we?" Cosmos said, pointing his head.

He offered his hand to Ora, but she stayed where she was.

"Does this mean you'll help us find Diamond?" she asked, clenching her teeth inside her mouth.

"Don't worry, Ora," he said, stretching his hand out farther. "The fact of the matter is, you're the rebel I've been looking for. You weren't afraid to admit your desire to overthrow the king. You're determined and you're clearly smarter than you...than I thought."

Cosmos chose his words carefully, trying hard not to be too honest and offend her.

Ora swallowed hard, wondering what he could be thinking. She hesitantly walked forward and took his hand. Cosmos immediately started strolling across the bridge, making sure Ora stayed right at his side.

"Maybe this is why it's called Unity Bridge," he laughed, glancing at the great stone bridge. "It brings people together."

Cosmos' glowing amber eyes peered at the wary girl, who desperately wanted to find Amien.