“Well, what did it say?” Alexander asks cautiously, preparing for the worst.
“It was just her apologizing for messing with our memories and how she said she had no other choice,” I stop, catching my breath before continuing. “She just told me not to lose hope for us,” I say and look up and meet his eyes. “What are we supposed to do?” I ask him and my voice shakes no matter how strong I’m trying to be.
For the first time, he doesn’t drop his eyes from mine and he says, “I’m not who you think I am.”
“I know that your old memories aren’t good. My mother said changing your memory was for the better, and I get you truly don’t know me and I’m not someone you’d tell these things to, but I know that in the past I loved you. I cared about you more than I could have ever thought possible, and I understand that the memories of that person weren’t real but you are. You are a real person who I had a real friendship with, and I can’t let that go. I can’t help but think that you’re who I’m supposed to be with. So I can’t stop fighting for us. I don’t need you to tell me all your dark moments from your past, but we have to start somewhere,” I say, my voice so shaky and weak I can hardly control it.
Alexander takes my hand in his and says softly, “Then let’s get to know each other, for real this time. I understand everything you feel and all the confusion you’re going through because I’m going through it too. I don’t remember anything I used to know about you. We’re in this together Adaline. I want to make this work, but I’m afraid once you learn about my real past you’ll want nothing to do with me.”
“Then we’ll take baby steps. Learn the little things first, save the rest for when our relationship is stronger,” I say simply. His green eyes sparkle in the light from the distant fire and there is a spark in my heart when I look into them; a sign of hope that those feelings can return.
“Alexander. Adaline,” I hear Cooper yell to us. We turn and see him waving us back to the fire. We stand and walk back over together and sit back down on our blankets.
“What’s going on?” I whisper to Cooper, and I realize everyone has started humming a soothing tune.
“Some nights we’ll tell different campfire stories or play games, but tonight we’re singing campfire songs,” he pauses and looks at my confused face. “Oh don’t tell me you’ve never heard of campfire songs before.”
I shamefully shake my head, not remembering our mother mentioning any before. I don’t want to make him feel bad, but we didn’t have campfires in the prison obviously.
“Our father used to sing them to us all the time. The memories are in there you just can’t recall them all right now,” Cooper adds. Of course, that’s why he had expected me to know what was going on. “Mio and Cinder said they would do this with our father when they were moving families to Libertas.”
“Well, then it’s quite fitting to be singing them tonight,” I hear Alexander chip in. I turn my attention back to everyone humming and hear Cooper join them when they start singing.
See this city in all its horror
Let us leave this tyrant power
Through the woods and across the waters
Walking where our fate desires.
Gather now, sisters and brothers
Listen to our journey’s travels.
We’ve traveled long, we’ve traveled far
Left behind what we know
Here we sit strong and steady
And off we’ll go when we are ready
We’ll travel long and travel far
Until we reach our new home
Many will leave, few will arrive
Whatever we face, we will survive
We’ve seen each other at our worst
But in the end, we’ll be the first
Gather now, sisters and brothers
Listen to our journey’s travels
We’ve traveled long, we’ve traveled far
Left behind what we know
Here we sit strong and steady
And off we’ll go when we are ready
We’ll travel long and travel far
Until we reach our new home
And so they’re here to sit and wait
For a Queen to accept her fate
Our current King will crumble someday
And the Queen shall find her way
Gather now, sisters and brothers
Listen to our journey’s travels
We’ve traveled long, we’ve traveled far
Left behind what we know
Here we sit strong and steady
And off we’ll go when we are ready
We’ll travel long and travel far
Until we reach our new home
When the song finishes the group continues humming along to the melody. “Some say it’s a message from a Future Holder, right?” Alexander asks, looking at Cooper to answer him. “I can remember reading this in a book at school.” The lesson must have been after my schooling was interrupted because I don’t recognize the words at all.
Cooper nods and explains, “Well, sort of. It was believed to be something like a prophecy from the first Queen who used to rule Dather, King Renon’s grandmother. Queen Sift was a Future Holder. Many professors have tried to decipher it but it really just sounds like a song kids would sing when they made it to the Hawaiian Islands during the asteroid shower. That’s where the Queen had said she’d discovered it, so it wasn’t exactly a vision she’d had, but yeah, the song came from a Future Holder I guess.”
“Do you think that’s why King Renon hates kids with gifts so much?” I ask, “Since his grandmother had one, but then he and his parents didn’t have one?”
“I assume so,” Cooper agrees. Suddenly the group changes their
