Thanks for the awesome reviews! Okay, here is Chapter Two. I hope you like it!

I ran back to the castle, plans running through my head. I had to leave without telling my dad, obviously. He'd never let me go. But this was something I needed to do.

By the time I left the cliff, the storm had almost completely died down, which I guess was a good thing. I mean, it would sure make it easier for me to get away without worrying about being bashed to pieces by the storm

I took the route home through the village and instantly regretted it. Seriously, I have no idea how news gets around so fast, but everyone was glaring at me like I'd done something wrong. Which I guess I had. Something very wrong.

"Mikayla! Oh Mikayla!"

I closed my eyes and took deep breath when I heard my best friend's voice. "Hey Candis."

"Hey girlfriend," she said, taking my arm. "I heard about how King Brady left because of you. Feeling…. guilty? Alone? Left behind? Tell it to me, guard girl!"

I shook my head. "Just leave me alone, Candis. I don't want to talk about it."

"But the whole island's talking about it! Come on, Mikayla, give me the scoop!"

"No!" I pulled away. "You're my best friend, Candis, you should know to respect my privacy!"
"Of course, but sweetheart, this is like… the juiciest gossip this island has EVER had!"

"No! Get away from me!"
I could see the hurt in her eyes, but I was too angry to care. All I could think about was Brady.

"You!"
I whirled around.

It was a woman, about thirty, holding a little boy, two little kids playing around her feet. She was glaring at me fiercely. "You're the one who broke the king's heart and made him leave us, aren't you?"

"Well…" I didn't know what to say. I could feel her boring holes in me with mistrusting dark eyes. "Yes, that's me."

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" She cried shrilly. "That poor, sweet boy! He deserved much better than the likes of you!"
Her shouting had alerted everyone else to my presence, and I was suddenly surrounded by angry villagers, scolding me and throwing me dirty looks.

I felt tears prickling my eyelids, threatening to pour out onto my cheeks. "I'm sorry!" I repeated over and over. "I didn't mean to!"

But the hurtful words didn't stop. In fact, the village boys started to throw fruit at me.

I wanted to yell for my best friend to get me out of this, but I knew she wouldn't come to my aid, not after the way I'd just treated her.

I started to run, dodging fruit and trying not to cry.

I finally got to the castle, slammed the front door behind me, and leaned against it, praying that they hadn't followed me here.

"Mikayla, where were you?" My dad asked me, coming in from the kitchen holding a red velvet cupcake.

"Uhhhh…. I was checking on the villagers! To make sure they all got through the storm okay!" I secretly wished some of them hadn't made it through quite so safely.

"Do they know about King Brady?" He asked, taking a bite of his cupcake.

I thought of them throwing fruit and me and nodded. "Oh yeah, they know."

He frowned. "Then I guess Boomer is the sole king. We need to do something about that." He held out his cupcake to me. "Cupcake?"
I shook my head. "No thanks, I'm good."

I ran upstairs to my room to pack. On the way I passed the kings' room and peered in.

Boomer was sitting on his bed, holding one of Brady's t-shirts (at least, I'm assuming it was Brady's. It wasn't bright enough to be Boomer's).

"Hey Boomer," I said, walking down the steps. "Why are you holding one of your brother's shirts?"

He looked up. "Hi Mikayla." He looked more down than I'd ever seen him. "This is the only thing Brady left."

I frowned. "The only thing?"
"Well, he left this," Boomer said, reaching over to the dresser and grabbing a small box. "He was going to give it to you for your birthday next week. He looked for that thing for three months. Said it had to be perfect."

I felt all the breath rush out of my lungs. "Can I… can I have it?"

"Sure." Boomer handed it to me.

"Thanks. And Boomer," I put my hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

He shrugged. "It's not your fault, Mikayla. You don't have to be sorry."

I smiled weakly at him, then turned and rushed to my room, slamming the door behind me.

I sank down onto my bed and opened it slowly.

I gasped. Nestled in a bed of rich, dark blue velvet was a small, woven silver heart hanging on a delicate silver chain.

I lifted it up to fasten it around my neck and a small piece of silver paper fell out. I picked it up and unfolded it. It was in Brady's handwriting.

Dear Mikayla,

Happy 18th Birthday! Here's a heart so you always remember, no matter where you are, that I love you, with all of my heart.

- Brady

I stared at the note for a minute or two after I finished reading it. Wow, I thought. That was soooo sweet! I had no idea…

Then I heard a loud BOOM, and saw a flash of light out of the corner of my eye. I whirled around, panic seizing my heart.

My fears were correct.

The sky outside my window was pitch black, blacker even than it had been earlier today, and split almost in half with a massive bolt of bright lightning.

The storm had come back.

"Baby girl!"

My dad's voice broke through into my panicked thoughts. What was I going to do now? How could I possibly escape to go look for Brady in this storm?

"What, daddy?" I asked, shoving the box from Brady into my pocket.

"It looks like the storm is starting up again. And I'm pretty sure this one isn't going to end so quickly. This time, I want you to stay inside. DO NOT leave the castle until this is completely over."

"Yes daddy," I said, gritting my teeth. "I'll stay in here."

He nodded and left.

I sank onto the bed, my thoughts racing far ahead of me. Now he'd ordered me to stay inside the castle! I could disobey his orders, but I felt so guilty…

Another BOOM of thunder and CRACK of lightning started me into action. I jumped up and started packing.

My suitcase was pretty small, so I made sure to only shove in what I absolutely needed, like clothes and a picture of me and my parents together, before my mom died. "I'm sorry I'm disobeying you, daddy," I told his picture. "But I have to do this."

I reached for another picture, looking down at it. It was from right after that concert Brady had at the Harvest Festival. I was in the center, one brother on each side, their arms around me. We were all smiling, Brady's smile the biggest of all.

A single tear ran down my cheek and landed on Brady's head, sliding down and falling off onto the note from him lying on the ground.
"I will find you," I whispered. "I will find you and bring you back home. I promise."

His faded face just kept smiling at me. I sighed and packed it away with the note.

By the time I was done, it was already really late and the storm was still raging. Hoping fervently that it hadn't kept everybody up, I took hold of my suitcase's handle and crept slowly and silently (I hoped) out into the hallway.

The only noise I could hear was the storm's constant booms of thunder and cracks of lighting, and of course, my dad's super loud Sasquatch snores. But there were no signs that anyone else in the castle besides me was awake.

I hurried down to the plaza, trying not to wake anyone up with my footsteps. The balloon Boomer had ordered to take him to Chicago was still there, waiting. I smiled. Waiting for me.

The wind blew all around me, fast enough to be a tornado. I could barely see through all the hair now in my eyes.

"Stop it, island!" I yelled. The wind was louder even louder than my screams, so I knew no one would hear me. "I need to save Brady!"
But the island obviously thought that was a bad idea, because it just kept on, seeming almost to get stronger by the minute.

I lifted my suitcase threw it into the balloon, ignoring the cold creeping up my bare arms. Then I flung my right leg over the side, then pulled myself up with all my strength and dropped into the balloon. Then I unsheathed Stabitha and cut the ropes holding this thing to the ground.

The balloon began to rise, the wind whipping it back and forth like a cat toy being batted around by a cat. I slid every time it tipped or was pushed hard in a new direction.

I screamed in fright. The heavy, freezing rain had already soaked me all the way through. I could feel already feel bruises coating my arms and chest. I wanted to scream for my dad to save me, so I could stay safe in my room forever.

Safe, but without Brady.

"I will find you," I whispered. I had to keep going.

I hope you guys liked it! Please review!