Esther3

It was so black underneath the water that I couldn't see Talar coming towards me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me up with all his might. I couldn't get out of the under stream. He went up for air and came back down again. I was running out of air fast. After a few tries, Talar managed to pull me up above the surface. He swam towards the shore, his hand gripping my arm. By now, I had gone unconsious and had swallowed too much water. He dragged me up onto the sandy shore layed me down. Then he placed his hand over my chest and glided his hand from my chest to my mouth, bringing forth the water that was in my lungs and casting it into the river. Then I started coughing. I opened my eyes and looked up to see tears streaming down his face. He had just saved me and it had scared the daylights out of him. "Esther, are you okay? I tried to take the water out of your lungs. Can you breathe alright?" He asked me inbetween his hiccups. I sat up and gave him the biggest hug I could and said, "Thank you so much. I almost died and you saved me." I was crying now too. We sat there for a few minutes, just trying to soak in what just happened. After a while, we got up and started walking towards the palace. It was almost supper time and we were both hungry.
"Hey! There you two are. Have you been swimming all day?" Mom asked me when she saw us walk in. "Yeah, I showed Talar the river delta. We had tuns of fun." I responded, trying not to sound to much in shock. "That's great that you had fun. Are you two hungry? Cause, supper is ready. Talar, your father didn't want to disturb you from your fun, so he said you could stay for supper. He'll be coming by after supper to pick you up." Mom said as she looked at Talar. "Thank you. Would you happen know where he went?" Talar asked, trying to say it as politly as possible. "Why yes, I do. He went to the mainland to see some old friends. He went with Esther's dad, so they won't be back for a while. Come on, supper's waiting." Mom lead us to the dining room.
After supper, Talar and I went upstairs to my room. I didn't feel like being with any of my siblings or cousins. Once I closed the door, I asked Talar "How'd you do it?" "What do you mean?" he asked back. "I mean, how'd you have the power to bring that water out of me? No one has those powers except for the royal family." I was so curious, I had to have the answer. No one on Antar could do what he did, except for those with royal blood. "I can't tell you. It's a secret." That was all he said. "What? I'm the princess. You have to tell me!" I was getting anxious. "You can't tell anyone, okay?" he said as he looked into my eyes. I nodded. "I found out that I could move things with my mind just a year ago. One day, I saw that I made a puddle when I had come into the house. I wished so hard that the water would go back into the lake and it happend. The water started to float and flew out the window. I'm sure it floated right into the lake. From then on, I've done little things like move my books from the desk to my bed just with my mind. Please don't tell anyone! I don't know what this means." His eyes were full of fear. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Not even Josh." I gave him one of my earnest, sincere smiles. We took out a puzzle and worked on it for about an hour. We both sucked at puzzles and eventually, we gave up. After that, mom came into my room. "Talar, your father is here." We went downstairs and walked into the front lobby. "There you are, son. Did you have fun?" His father asked. "Yes. I hope I can come back again, soon." Talar said, winking at his dad. The general smiled back, agreeing. "I think we'll be making a trip out to Gollin in a week, so you two should be able to see each other then. Are you satisified?" Dad said to the both of us. "Yes!" I chirped. The father and son left.
Later that evening, I was sitting down at the table with Josh, eating my late night snack. "I guess you had a lot of fun with that boy. What's his name?" Josh asked. "His name is Talar and yes I had fun. We went swimming near the delta." I said. "I know, I saw. You know, you should be careful when you swim there. There are currents underneath the surface and they can pull you down. I almost got caught once, but I pulled away soon enough. I don't want you drowning just because of a little under current." Josh lectured me. "I don't have to do what you say. You're not my dad. I can go swimming where I want." I said back. Sometimes I got so sick of him telling me what was good and what wasn't. I never told him what happend that day. I never would.
-2 weeks later-
"Come on dad! We can't be late!" I shouted at dad. "I'm coming, I'm coming! We're not going to be late. Here, let me help you up." Dad held out his hand and helped me into the hover ship. Uncle Michael was already in the ship, waiting for us. We flew across the ocean and over the mainland. The trip to Gollin took one hour. When we landed, I could see many thousands of people standing around the landing field. 'The whole city must have turned out!' I thought in amazment 'I guess they really want to see dad'. As we stepped down from the ship, dad did his regular wave across the field of people, giving them his blessing. At the end of the purple carpet stood Talar and his father. Both were smiling, obviously happy to see that our arrival was on time.
Talar showed me all around his, well... I guess you could call it a castle because that's what it looked like. Then, we went swimming in the lake. He showed me some of his powers when we knew no one was looking. Later on, we went inside to dry off. While we were drying off, we eavesdropped on our fathers, who were having a very imortant meeting. I heard dad say, "Samai, we cannot take this risk. We have to act now! If we don't, the people of Gollin will turn against us and go to Kore. That is the last thing we want happening to Antar." Talar's dad responded saying "That is not what matters right now. What matters is that you give the people what they want! If you don't, then they WILL go to Kore." "No! I will not give in! We will not let the people take over. I am King and I am in charge. Everyone does as I say.Anyone who does otherwise will be exiled. And you know how much shame that would bring, don't you Samai." Dad said. 'What are they talking about? Are we in danger?' My head filled with frightening thoughts. Suddenly, dad came walking out and took me by the hand. Uncle Michael followed us. Dad stopped and looked at the general, "Good day, Samai. I think we have discussed this situation enough. I will tell you my decision tomorrow morning." And with that, we walked out the door. I looked back, waving goodbye to Talar. He waved back.
When we got back home, I went strait to Josh's room. "Josh! I think something's wrong!" I said, startling him. "Ah! Don't do that! What do you mean? Are you in trouble?" He asked. "No, it's nothing like that. I heard dad and Uncle Michael talking to that general guy from Gollin and they were talking about the people of Gollin turning against us and going to Kore." I looked at him, my worried eyes looking into his. He didn't know what to say. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure if it's something serious, mom and dad will tell us.They always do." And with that, we were finished our discussion. I rushed out of his room, frustrated. 'Maybe mom can tell me something.' I wondered. I headed towards mom and dad's room. As I got nearer to their door, I could hear mom talking......or was it crying?
"No! I'm not letting you go off to fight in another war! Not again! I lost you once that way, and I'm not doing it again. Please, don't." Mom's eyes were beat red from the tears streaming down her cheeks. "So you just want me to sit back and watch my army fight Kore off and not help them?" Dad said. "Yes! The King is not supposed to fight in the war. He is supposed to give the orders and tell them when to attack and retreat. How can you look after your people if you are fighting?" Mom's voice was completely cracked up. "It's my duty." Dad couldn't say much. She made so much sense. It was stupid of him to go fight in the war. "Your duty is to care for your family! Family comes first, we agreed on that. Are you going to go back on that?" "No! Of course not!" They both sat down, trying to calm down. A minute passed and dad spoke, "You're right, Tess. My duty is Antar, but first and always, my family. I'll stay here and look after things at the office. I won't make the same mistake I did last time. I will NOT let you go through that pain again. I love you Tess. I always have and always will." His voice trailed off as he locked his lips with hers. They engulfed themselves in this passionate kiss. I stood behind their door, listening, tears streaming down my eyes, shocked. I was only 6 years old, and yet I began to realize the pain my parents went through. They had been through so much, yet they still kept their lives together. I sat there for hours, thinking of what my parents said. Was there going to be a war?