ELEMENTS: Acquiesce by Kathryn Andrews (snow like ashes series .TXT) 📕

Cordelia walked through the network of tunnels. Trickles and drips of water echoed all around her and flames flickered in the lanterns that adorned the cave walls, creating shadows that darted sporadically back and forth. When she arrived at Marilla’s snow dome, Marilla was sitting at her desk reading. Morwen was nowhere to be seen.

Marilla peered over the top of her glasses. “What a lovely surprise.”

Cordelia walked slowly towards the desk, glancing around the room as she made her way forward.

“I’ve been expecting you,” said Marilla.

“If you’ve been expecting me then how can this be a lovely surprise?” Cordelia asked.

“Ah, well. It’s just a figure of speech isn’t it?” said Marilla, rising from her seat and walking around to perch on the front of her desk. She stared into Cordelia’s eyes, unblinking, holding her gaze.

“What are you doing?” asked Cordelia, knowing that Marilla was up to something.

Marilla continued to stare into Cordelia’s eyes. She hadn’t blinked once.

“Seriously, what are you doing?”

Astounded, Marilla stepped forward and swept Cordelia’s hair from her face with her hand. “I knew you were different, but this is very exciting indeed.”

“You were trying to use your powers on me, weren’t you?” said Cordelia. “You were trying to make me forget.”

“Perhaps.”

“That’s your power. You make people forget.”

Marilla smiled.

“You made everyone forget what happened to Morwen.”

“Everyone apart from you.”

Perplexed, Cordelia asked, “Why not me?”

Marilla smiled. “You, my child are destined for greatness.”

Taken aback by Marilla’s comment, Cordelia wasn’t entirely sure what to think, but deep down in the pit of her stomach, she felt happy. Happy that someone she admired had faith in her. Happy to hear there was something to look forward to in her future, even though she didn’t know what it was.

“What sort of greatness?” Cordelia eventually asked.

Marilla took a brass watch from her pocket and opened it. “Goodness! Is that the time? Must dash.”

Cordelia decided not to join her friends in the library, instead choosing to retreat to her chamber. She sat on the edge of her bed staring at her reflection in the mirror, trying to find something that indicated she was different to the others, wondering why she was immune to Marilla’s powers, wondering what greatness she was destined for. She sniffed the air. A terrible stench irritated her nose and made her stomach heave. The smell of the corpses was ingrained in her skin. Cordelia stripped and climbed into the wash barrel to scrub herself clean, then she washed the clothes she’d worn at the peat bog but still she couldn’t get rid of that smell. She dressed, hung the wet clothes by the fire and flopped back on her bed. She imagined winning the diving competition; how she longed to perfect her dives and win an invite to the castle ball. Cordelia had never been to a party before let alone a grand ball but she had seen many an aristocrat in their finery, strolling along the promenade of an evening on their way to the concert hall. That was before the hunger. There hadn’t been much excitement in town for years; it had all been doom and gloom - apart from one evening two summers ago when a wealthy businessman from Limerick sailed his yacht into the bay in an attempt to cheer the place up. Cordelia remembered it well; the yacht had looked so pretty lit up against the night sky and a firework display had taken place the same evening in an attempt to bring tourism back to the town. Cordelia missed the visitors. She used to sit on the sea wall people watching while Flynn conducted business with Jerry. People watching wasn’t the same now. Staring at people suffering from the hunger wasn’t fun for anyone. While she wasn’t one for frills and lace, Cordelia did wonder what it would be like to dance. She closed her eyes and imagined dancing around a great ballroom with Breck. Music filled her head and she imagined kissing him intensely like they had before. In the midst of everything, Breck was fast becoming the one person she could rely on. A man without complications, just like Flynn. A man who knew first hand how it felt to lose the people you love.

The next morning was Saturday. Cordelia wore her bathing costume underneath her clothes and raced down to the Duggerna rocks as soon as she’d finished breakfast. The sky had cleared overnight and the sea was relatively calm. Cordelia walked past the peat bog before crossing over the track to walk down onto the rocks. There was no sign of Breck but the mound of turf was confirmation that what had happened the day before was real. Visions of Jerry’s family flashed in her mind and the smell of their rotting corpses seemed as vivid now as it had the day before. Truth be told, that smell haunted her for weeks. Cordelia squeezed her eyes shut and raised a hand to her mouth in an attempt to keep her breakfast down. She crossed the track and walked across the rocks to the second pool, the wind whipping her hair and howling in her ears.

Standing on the diving rock, Cordelia peered into the clear water below. Recalling the vision she’d had of Flynn, she watched for a few moments longer but there was nothing; only the ripples moving across the surface. Her eyes wandered across the rocks to the peat bog, along the sea wall towards the town but still there was no sign of Breck, not a soul in sight. Without any further hesitation, Cordelia dived into the pool somewhat awkwardly, resurfacing with wet hair plastered across her face. In frustration she punched the water before submerging herself to clear the hair from her face. Cordelia continued practising her dives for hours, over and over again, refusing to give up until she felt she was making progress.

“Is it warm in there?”