Chapter 07

When the queen said that the test would be complex I didn't think it would be a real ceremony, as soon as the queen and the boys left the room, some maids came to bring us food, which we devoured at the speed of light, after they came to get the dishes, Carrie and I went to reflect our decision by exploring the room, when I say exploring I mean futzing around, and I was surprised to discover that the closet was not a simple closet but a huge closet with the most varied kinds of clothes, were they mine? I mean, it's my room, but can I wear the stuff in it? Carrie was staring at the closet and pulled me to her room to see if they also stuffed hers with clothes, I am still trying to get used to the fact that we will no longer spend our nights together, since we were kids we always shared the same room, but we really had to learn to let go, and also our rooms face each other and whenever we need to we can visit each other, but specifically I can visit her, Carrie always wanted her own space but it was not possible in the orphanage or the house we rented, little traitor!

Needless to say, Carrie's wardrobe was as stuffed as mine, I just wanted to throw myself in there and try on all those clothes, I was also wanting to throw myself in another place that looked extremely nice, I ran and threw myself on the bed that was wonderfully soft, so different from what we were used to, I felt like I had jumped on the clouds, oh my body was so happy and grateful, Carrie does the same throwing herself beside me and gives a sigh, we turn and focus on the ceiling we stay like that for a few minutes before Carrie turns her head to me.

- I wonder what this test is going to be like. What will they do to us? - she looks up at the ceiling again - look at this place with all these extremely attractive things - she widens her eyes and looks at me again - what if they're doing it like in Ted and Mary, and they're luring us with wonderful things and then killing us.

I start laughing uncontrollably, I don't know if it's because she doesn't know the right names of the characters in the story, or if she's really thinking about it, by the time I had dried my tears from laughing so hard and Carrie had stopped trying to make me stop laughing which only increased my urge especially with the face she was making, I tell Carrie this and she always wants to kill me but she is my weak point especially when she starts laughing really hard and looks like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons, I turn my head sideways and look at her.

- Carrie, first the name of the story is John and Mary, and second if they wanted to kill us they would have done it already, in case you hadn't noticed, as we were being led into the room, each of the guards was carrying numerous weapons, especially Caleb and Logan.

Carrie closes her face and looks up at the ceiling again crossing her arms over her stomach, is it true that she came in all heated in the room earlier today when Logan was showing her the room. I roll over with some difficulty and sit down crossing my legs, I need to exercise, I look at Carrie and see that she has a huge pout and looks quite upset.

- Go ahead," I nudge her with my index finger, "you can tell me what happened between you and Logan when you were looking at her room.

She quickly gets up and crosses her legs grabbing a pillow, I really need to exercise, by the way she squeezed the pillow she was still very angry.

- Lauren he had the audacity to threaten us, that idiot.

Threaten? That piece of shit threatened us, then I hate it when Carrie starts something and doesn't finish.

- Okay Carrie, what was the threat, what did he say to you?

Carrie takes the pillow and puts it on her face to muffle her scream, after she expressed her anger, she took the pillow off her face and looked at me.

- He took me by the wrist and told me that the queen has been desperate for years to find her nieces and is always deluded by her expectations, and that if I or anyone else tried to take advantage of her, he and Caleb would take matters into their own hands, and that we were not the first ones the queen had tested so that we would not create false illusions.

Well that explains why they were so bored, because they have already done all this work countless times, but that doesn't justify treating us like this, if I catch those two again.

- I can't believe he threatened us, they are the ones pressuring us to take this test and threatening us, never mind Carrie, their time will come. - Carrie still had a frown on her face - go undo that face, we have to enjoy it while we have time, we might not be the queen's nieces. What do you say to a parade?

Carrie looks excitedly at me.

- Let's see who has the best models.

Carrie and I played fashion show for so long that we didn't even realize it was getting dark, we found out that the clothes in the closet are so wonderful and even changed some clothes that were more our style, we didn't know if we would stay just because it was so much fun to pretend, but now we have a mountain of clothes to pack that made me hungry, speaking of hungry, didn't these people have a snack in the afternoon? Why did they only give us lunch? Sighing, I look at Carrie who is crying, damn it, look at all these clothes all over the room. As we were about to start packing we heard a knock on Carrie's bedroom door, we asked to come in and were surprised by several maids - there were at least sixteen of them with boxes and more boxes in their hands - asking me to go to my room because my team was waiting for me. My team? What the hell was going on? I look at Carrie who nods her head as confused as I am.

As I enter my room I see the same amount of maids, telling me to take off my clothes that they were going to bathe me, and when I argued that I was going to bathe myself they practically forced me to undress and in the end bathed me, I felt so embarrassed that I couldn't even lift my head. I feel a delicious aroma in the room and see a huge tray of food inviting me to taste it, I didn't know what kind of food was that but it was delicious, I simply got addicted, I lift my head quickly and go towards the food, the maids let me eat providing me with a few minutes of pleasure I think so that I could endure the hours of tidying up later, because it was a pull, pull of hair here, an attempt to put a dress there, I almost regret eating the whole tray of food, I said almost, anyway. ...putting on shoes, doing my make-up, another hair pull, hair pull, I was already so tired and hadn't even left the room, and hadn't even understood what was waiting for me later.

All I know is that when I looked in the mirror I almost didn't recognize the person in front of me. My hair was loose with beautiful curls that drew my face in a strong but delicate way, they didn't put on any make-up or anything like that but it looked like I was wearing the most beautiful make-up, and my dress was simply stunning, a long and beautiful dress with long golden sleeves that matched my skin perfectly, it was neither low-cut nor plain, it was perfect, the only thing that was making me insecure was the six-inch heels, that's okay, I just need to not fall and break my head, easy. I am so delighted with myself, I had never dressed and groomed myself like this before, I wanted to spend more time admiring myself, but I was quickly pushed out of the room, Carrie comes out at the same moment and gee, I hold my breath at how perfect she looked, with a long red dress and loose hair that came down like a waterfall framing her face, if I thought Carrie was beautiful before, now she was just amazing.

Carrie looks at me with her mouth open exaggeratedly admiring me, I roll my eyes and slap her who smiles and tells me that I look beautiful, just as I was about to say that she did too, two guards approached us and looked at us as if we were aliens, a younger one apparently since I couldn't see him very well with all the armor, the kingdom was much more reinforced with security after the attack, he curtsies to us, which leaves me totally dull and without action, I wonder what to do now? I nod, bow to him again, smile? Carrie takes over and answers my disturbing mental dilemma and makes another reference to the guard.

- Excuse me ladies, but we have to go or else the queen will be angry, everyone has been waiting for you for a while.

We nod and follow him to the other guard who was already waiting at the door we passed earlier today with Caleb and Logan, we walk all the way back to the stairs to the courtyard where I stumble, I feel a knot forming

I held Carrie's hands, which were colder than mine, and realized that she was terrified, maybe more than I was, I tried to reassure her that everything was fine, but it sounded so fake that even I didn't believe it.

The queen could have warned us that she was going to have a huge party for us and I thought we were going to spit in some glass or draw some blood, what kind of test would that be? We went down the steps and a disturbing silence spread over the people, now I just wanted to dig a hole and stick my head in, would there be time to give up? We were taken to the queen who looked hopefully at us and I feel a small feeling of pity that maybe we were not who she expected us to be, was this ceremony performed for all the other girls who took the test? I don't doubt it knowing a little of the queen's personality. We bowed to the queen and she nodded her head, looking at Caleb and Logan who soon came to bequeath us to the center of the courtyard where there were two large shallow pools of water, how did they arrange a ceremony of this size in less than ten hours? I mean, the place was impeccable, adorned with flowers in every possible place, plus countless chairs for the guests to sit and watch the spectacle, this is not possible, there were some chairs around the pool, I counted about seven or eight, I was so confused, what were they going to do? I was beginning to believe the conspiracy Carrie had made earlier today.

As we passed between people the murmurs started to roll out, everyone was wondering who we were to be doing the test, arriving at the pool which apparently was no more than knee high, Caleb and Logan went down the stairs they had taken us to the center of each, the water was cold and I can't help but give a little shudder when it goes around my body and around my waist, well it seems deeper than I had imagined. Caleb looks at me seriously and approaches me getting very close to my ear, I, being the idiot that I am, melt at the husky and strong sound of his voice.

- As soon as the elders come in, make a reference and only leave it when they hit the ground with their staffs.

I roll my eyes and think how ridiculous that sounded, I walk up to him and speak in his ear, or at least I try to because compared to him with my height of one and fifty-five I am like a garden dwarf.

- Are we in a fictional movie? Tell me, what are you going to do? It's very strange here," I turn away and show him around with my hands, then come closer again.

Caleb gives a small smile and looks down to take a lock of my hair and tuck it behind my ear, leaning in to speak again in my ear.

- You agreed to do this so do as I say and be quiet.

I almost showed him who was going to be quiet, but with a smile he turned away from me, and I almost took off my heel and threw it at his head. I watched him walk away as the queen got up from her chair and walked to the front of the pools, she cleared her throat to get the attention of everyone who was still mumbling looking at us.

- Thank you all for coming, as you know eighteen years ago my sister and my friends were killed by that - the queen pauses and closes her hand into fists - wicked man, who also took my husband and thousands of other lives in the kingdom, overflowing our streets with nothing but panic, pain and blood - I watch Caleb look down and Logan gives him a little squeeze on the shoulder - you also know that I never gave up hope that my niece and my friends' daughter were alive, even without being really sure of it, last night you witnessed these two young women, - she turns and points at us, I look at Carrie in the other pool who raises her shoulders somewhat confused, damn what did we get ourselves into? - They wore the amulets very similar to the ones I remember that were forged for my sister and my friends' babies, so we decided to do the test so we can find out if it's really them.

The mummies even more and the gazes are now intently directed at us that follow our every gesture, I recognize some faces from last night, including Rebecca who looks at us with a face so white and eyes so wide open that she looks as if she has seen a ghost. The queen takes a step forward and takes a deep breath, trying to calm the crowd, the guards beat their swords on the ground drawing attention back to the queen.

I know what you are thinking, that I have gone mad and that it can't be possible that they survived, but think what if it were you in my place and the people you trusted and loved the most died and you left the responsibility of caring for what they loved the most in two hands and you failed them. - The queen's voice is choked with emotion and even I am touched by what she says, and I can't imagine being in a world without Carrie, everyone seems to have the same feeling although a little reluctant, but they all seem to agree with her, which gives her more confidence to continue. After a long pause the queen pulls herself together and raises her head.

- Then I invite the elders of the Animalia Kingdom to bless us with their graces.

Everyone is awfully quiet when the courtyard door opens and eight figures enter through it, the elders, I presume, were huge I think about two meters tall and also wearing long robes that crept noisily across the floor, Their skins looked like the bark of dry trees and their hair was exaggeratedly long and almost knee length and looked very much like the cables of tangled dry vines that we find stuck to trees in forests, we couldn't see what they were wearing under the long blanket or, well, if they were wearing anything, their bare feet dragged along the ground slowly, they were beautiful beings but intimidating at the same time, they emanated an aura of wisdom, of, I don't know, power. As they passed by people bowed respectfully and only stood up when everyone had passed, Carrie and I followed Caleb and Logan's lead and bowed until everyone was in their places on all fours on either side of the pool and tapped their staffs on the ground.

- We salute you Carrie and Lauren.

I am startled by the tone of their voices, they were so thick they sounded like they were scratching my brain, after waking up from this little one I wonder what we do now? I look at Caleb and Logan who are covertly signaling for us to bow, my legs were already sore from bending down and lifting up, but I struggle to bow again. The elders look at us and I notice that all of them are exactly alike, every mark, every gesture and every expression was the same as if they were a clone of a single person, they take the sticks and touch them in the pool water which immediately changes color to black water, they then stand up and begin to draw pictures of us surrounding the pool, they were strange drawings with some shapes that were stretching across the floor until they were totally linked to each other forming a huge strange drawing that surrounded the entire pool, I was really scared, it seems that we were going to do some sinister ritual and now there was no way back.

The elders sit down in their seats again and put their staffs in the water, I take some of the water with my hands and see that they are getting thicker and thicker, more like an oil, is there time to give up, damn it. I feel like my heart is going to come out of my mouth and my whole body is shaking, I look to the side and see Carrie looking at me with the same panic in her eyes.

- Hold on, hold on, hold on.

I am surprised when Carrie's voice comes out in a choked up fear, everyone is now looking directly at her, but it doesn't seem to hit her as she lifts her head and looks at the queen.

- Since we agreed to do this, you have given us no explanation of what is going to happen, or who you think we are.

Carrie was right, I know it was in our best interest to know about our parents, which is why we agreed to this in the first place, but we had to know how much finding out the truth would affect us, and if we weren't the people who expected what would happen to us, would we just die? Everyone looks scared, the queen wipes her hand across her forehead and the boys make angry faces as well as the elders, but they want to know my opinion, I couldn't care less. I clench my hands into fists and look at everyone watching us as if it were a late afternoon soap opera, all that's missing is the tea and scones.

- And if what Carrie says isn't enough, now we are being asked to perform a sinister ritual for hundreds of people to see.

The queen apologizes to the elders who by the looks of it are almost giving up on doing whatever it is they are going to do, and then tells them to do it quickly, so now she's going to do it against our will? And I was almost sympathizing with her, Caleb and Logan also seem surprised by the queen's attitude and try to convince her that going against our will was wrong, and the queen simply replies that it was for the good of all, especially theirs. I try to move from the place but I am in a hurry it seems that they had taken away my movements and my throat tightened so that I could no longer speak, the elders begin to recite some words that I do not understand and if I move and speak was uncomfortable, what I was feeling was unbearable, a pain started to form in her chest and was quickly spreading through her body it seems that she had been hit by something that was tearing me apart noisily, just when I thought it was unbearable my head feels like it is going to explode and I start screaming desperately for them to stop, but it seems that I was screaming in vain for they were not stopping.

I close my eyes and images begin to pass through me with another whirlwind of pain that hit my head directly, I see black trees pass by me in a beautifully starry sky, a voice in my mind tells me to continue and asks my name, but it hurts so much I can't do it anymore and I can't even answer, I fall back and see that I am passing through a wall of water I look at a woman giving me the amulet and crying wailing and caressing my face, I shake my head, I am out of air, I am running out of air, I try to breathe but my breath is rushing and no matter how hard I try I can't breathe, the voice still pursues me and tells me to continue and asks me my name, I say it is Lauren but it insists on knowing my name. I see a man and a woman kissing me and saying that they love me, the images were very fast and I didn't know what they meant, I feel their bodies shaking and hands take me and put me in a basket saying that I look like my parents, but who was this woman? A light seems to rise from my mind along with the voice asking again what her name was, but now I knew the answer as if I knew and used my whole life.

With a strength that I didn't even know I had I begin to fight against my trance all the pain I was feeling I manage to absorb and transform into power I see something dark above me the voice asks me again what my name is, I stand up and realize that it was the dark water from the pool that was suffocating me, I look at the elders and I stop at the queen, looking to the side I see that Carrie is staring at people with her eyes as well, I raise my head towards the queen again.

- My name is Lauren Dunkel Armstrong.

X

Have you ever felt like you were walking over a cliff and that all that separated you between life and death was a simple rope that remained dangling under your feet, and the more you tried to reach the other side, you couldn't get out of the place? Well, that's how I was feeling, besides, I had an uncontrollable rage for the queen and all those who idolized her, she practically forced us to take the test and didn't even answer our questions, everyone is looking at me like scared, and they better be, Well, even if I wanted to I wouldn't be able to do anything to them, but I can't hide my indignation and anger at such events, I look at Carrie and she seems to be very confused looking at me, why the hell are they all looking at me like that, I look at Caleb who keeps his eyes glazed on mine after a long time on this, Caleb draws his sword and points at me coming towards me.

- Guards, surround her.

The guards then run towards me surrounding me inside the pool, okay maybe they got a little irritated with my boldness, Logan also approaches and does not take his eyes off me, Caleb is breathing fast and irregular and in his eyes I can only see one thing, hatred, he takes his sword and puts it around my neck threatening me, I immediately get up and open my eyes my arms surrendering, okay maybe I've made them too angry.

- Who are you and who sent you here?

Again this story, didn't we already explain it to them? Carrie comes running and tries to get close to me, but is stopped by the guards who push her away threatening her with a sword. I look at Carrie to tell her to back off, if they hurt me I don't want that to happen to her too, but when it comes to Carrie I know she won't obey me.

- What are you doing? We have already answered all the questions, why are you doing this to her?

Well, didn't I? Carrie was trying to get close to me at all costs while not succeeding, she then approaches Logan and pulls him by the arm, while the queen is running to where the mess was happening, I was trying to understand what was happening while Carrie was trying to negotiate with Logan and know what was going on.

- W-what is going on? Why are they trying to arrest her? She didn't do anything wrong, if it's from what she said, and-I also said things that may have offended them, but we didn't mean anything by it, we were just angry and confused, we were just trying to make sense of it all.

Logan looks at her now angry and lets go of her with a yank that makes her unbalanced and almost fall to the ground, this idiot who does he think he is, I try to get out to help Carrie and teach this asshole a lesson but Caleb presses the sword harder into my neck and I feel it prick my skin, making small tears form in my eyes, now is not the time to cry Lauren swallow the pain and don't show them weakness. Logan turns to me and points his sword again

- This has nothing to do with you and what they said, she is one of them, she has the blood of the Shallon Kingdom beings.

At this point I don't understand shit anymore, all I want to do is dig a big hole and stick my head in it, I want people to stop looking at me like I'm a monster like they're doing, I want them to stop pointing guns at me, I want them to stop hurting me, I want Carrie and me to go back to our life, in our strange deserted house, I don't want to deal with this anymore, I want it all to go away, it's all so. ..confused. The queen approaches with some haste and tells the guards to stand back, they are all putting down their swords and walking away, but they remain attentive to every move I make, Caleb however remains in the same place still hurting me with his sword, Carrie tries to approach but Logan holds her by the waist preventing her from moving. The queen is apparently desperate and tries to calm Caleb down.

- Caleb, my son, please listen to me, put down that sword and let's talk.

Caleb still keeps his eyes fixed on me and doesn't show an ounce of compassion.

- I will only leave here when she tells me who sent her here and why he is attacking us.

The queen comes closer and raises her head, looking at Caleb.

- Caleb I command you to put down your sword and step away from Lauren now.

Noticing that Caleb has not even moved an inch of his sword, she turns to the crowd that was watching us and takes a deep breath raising her head.

- Lauren Dunkel Armstrong, is the legitimate daughter of Silvia Dunkel Illuminare, younger sister of King Louis Dunkel Illuminare and Antony Dunkel Illuminare of the Illuminare Kingdom, and of Lambert Armstrong Shallon, son of the King in the Shallon Kingdom.

Caleb takes a wobble with his sword and frowns as trying to understand what the queen said, well I am trying to understand what the queen said so it means she really knows about my parents, the queen then turns to Caleb who slowly lowers his sword, Logan lets go of Carrie and looks at the ground as if absorbing the information, Carrie runs to me and hugs me and for the first time since I woke up today I feel safe and secure again. The queen looks at Caleb, who was looking down and comes over to meet her as I get astonished looks and whispers from the crowd watching us.

- Caleb, let's talk, I'll explain everything to you, you and Logan take them to my room while I try to calm people down here, there we'll have privacy and I swear I'll explain everything, please believe me.

Caleb stands still for a few seconds staring at nothing, then he starts walking towards me, without even looking at the queen, he left pulling me by the arm, as well as Logan who came with Carie right behind us, we passed through the courtyard and I feel like I was doing the walk of shame because everyone looked at me and kept judging me, looking at me like I was the antichrist in person and I can even say that they were afraid of me, and I didn't even know why. We passed through the courtyard and made our way all the way back to our bedroom hallway, but kept going down that endless hallway until we came to a double door that Caleb jerked open and pushed me into it, throwing me onto a couch near the fireplace and sitting down in front of me. Carrie sits beside me and holds one of my hands, my leg was shaking nervously waiting for the queen and all that silence was making me want to puke, I felt like I had done something wrong and was waiting for the judgment of the orphanage sisters, if I looked ahead I would see Caleb and Logan looking from me to Carrie with their arms crossed and faces tied, so the only thing that kept me entertained while the queen didn't come, which by the way was taking too long, was looking at the decoration and paintings on the walls.

The place looked like an office with desk, armchairs, coffee table and everything else, what made me excited were the fours and paintings, I was never an art fan but I liked to see them and make up stories in my head, it was truly a hobby at the orphanage. After creating all kinds of tragic stories in my mind the queen walks through the door and gives a sigh looking at where we were, sitting down in the armchair next to us she nervously waves her hands and lets out another long sigh before speaking, while Caleb and Logan remained with their eyes turned to us.

- I know you're confused, especially you girls, but I had to wait until I actually confirmed who you were before proceeding with my actions. - As no one said anything the queen continued by looking at Caleb - as I said in the courtyard, Lauren is the daughter of her father's younger sister and the son of King Reuben of the Shallon Kingdom.

Caleb looks down and lets out a sigh closing his eyes, while Logan turns his face to the side running his tongue over his lips with an expressionless look. I have spent my whole life without a last name, much less information regarding my parents, when the queen spoke her full name in the courtyard it was as if she was talking about someone else and that feeling still hasn't passed, it is very strange to finally be getting something about them, Carrie gives me a small smile and shakes my hand, the queen now looks at Carrie and gives her a huge smile.

- And you, Carrie Mandison Illuminare are the daughter of my sister Kate Mandison Becker and the former King of the Illuminare Kingdom, Mason Dunkel Illuminare, Lauren's mother's older brother.

So that makes Carrie and I cousins, we are indeed related, but I wonder why at the orphanage she didn't find out we were related. Before he could ask about this Logan suddenly stands up and puts his hands on his waist.

- We've already heard that, what we want to know is why you didn't tell us anything about it, how many secrets are you still hiding?

Caleb raises his head and interlaces his hands looking at the queen with nothing but anger and resentment.

- We want to know why you haven't told us that all these years we have been looking for the granddaughter of the man who killed my father and his mother, who decimated more than half the population of all the kingdoms - he stands up and grits his teeth with rapid breathing - who killed countless innocent children, young people, women and the elderly just to satisfy your whims, and that even today after almost nineteen years we are still trying to get back on our feet.

I notice that the queen swallows the tears that are about to spill out of her eyes and looks away pressing her lips together, I am still stunned and thinking about everything Caleb said, when I was younger I imagined myself with my family, playing with my parents or being spoiled by my grandparents always thought of them with affection and invented stories in my head to fill in the gaps of my doubts, now I discover that my grandfather is a despicable being, now I understand why Caleb and Logan reacted in such a way, I look at my hands and realize that they are cold and shaking, I can not explain what I'm feeling or what I should feel, angry? Disappointed? Sad? Hurt? It feels like my chest is about to explode and a cake starts to form in my throat. But even though my grandfather was a lunatic, I was not to blame for the choices he made.

- Lauren is not to blame for your grandfather's actions," the queen says shaking her hands and looking at them, "but you have to know the whole story, you have to understand that you are in danger and that you depend on each other to survive.

Carrie looks at me and frowns, and I thought this conversation couldn't get any worse, now comes the news that we are at risk, Caleb and Logan sit down without arguing even though they look angry, Logan crosses his arms and looks at me and Carrie before looking at the queen .

- What do you mean we only have each other?

Really? Of the whole sentence he was only worried about this part? The queen stands up, and we lift our heads together as we follow her movements.

- Nineteen years ago all the kingdoms lived harmoniously, of course they had their disagreements and fights from time to time, but we lived in peace. Kate, myself, and Morgan, our best friend and Logan's mother, were three simple girls and had no blood ties to royalty. At the annual Kingdoms Ball, a party with all the kingdoms to celebrate another year of peace, we met the Illuminare brothers and Lauren's father who already had relations with Silvia. We instantly fell in love with the boys, me with their father, - she says looking at Caleb - and Kate with Mason, at the time Morgan was already engaged to her husband, but we never got to meet him. It didn't take long for us to get married, Morgan and I got pregnant quickly, while Kate and Silvia only became pregnant after two years, and that's when everything started to go wrong.

The queen lowers her head and bites her lips, you could see how difficult it was to talk about this subject, and as much as I still resented her for forcing us to take the test, I admired her for talking about such a painful subject for her and still keeping her composure, I would be sobbing from crying by now.

- King Rubens, Lauren's grandfather, was not happy with the way things were going, as much as the kingdoms did not fight among themselves, or hardly at all, the Illuminare Kingdom held the greatest concentration of power and was the kingdom economically better than the others. King Reuben was always greedy and then began to wish he had more power than all the other kingdoms and unify them into one which only he would rule, to make this possible he joined forces with dark forces and acquired evil gifts, especially possession, it didn't take long for him to master the dark arts and spread panic and terror in all the kingdoms. He could perform possession on any creature, as well as summon other terribly deadly ones that were only heard in horror tales of the time. But as everything comes with a price, King Reuben lost his soul to the darkness and it made him even more evil, the only thing that kept him from destroying the world was a powerful force that grew bigger every day and could either destroy him or feed him and make him stronger, well, actually indestructible, so obviously he preferred the second option, that force was you guys - she looks at all of us and squeezes the armchair until her fingers turn white - you have the connection.

Caleb and Logan both widen their eyes and look at us, I guess this was something important, well given their expressions, very important, Carrie seems to read my thoughts and looks at the queen who looked even more nervous.

- What's a connection?

But she doesn't answer, Logan turns around still looking at her with wide eyes.

- When two people have a bond it means that they are stronger together, they can use their combined powers for a single purpose, but if one dies the other dies together, the bond is extremely rare and doesn't happen to just anyone, so how is it possible that we have bonds with them?

Caleb looked even more irritated and confused and the queen's silence made him even more so, if that's possible, almost impatiently he turned to the queen and crossed his arms, closing his face and raising his perfectly sculpted chin.

- What are the connections?

The queen frowns at the fireplace and remains with her back to us.

- When we learned that King Reuben wanted to sacrifice you in a ritual to absorb your powers we decided to separate you, so we would have time to defeat him by catching him off guard, but things didn't work out as we planned and King Reuben found out about our plan by going after you, so while the others tried to gain time by distracting the King, Morgan and I went to hide the children, unfortunately I was the only survivor of all this, others fought for me while I hid with you two in the forest. - I can see that the Queen is finding it very difficult to keep talking about it, but she continues nonetheless. - We had to keep them apart because the King could feel them together, like sugar attracts ants, the King was betrayed by his powers. Carrie and Logan have a powerful connection while Lauren and Caleb have an unusual connection that we didn't know was possible, and to make matters worse we have no idea what the four of you can do or how it works.

Caleb and Logan snort, while Carrie and I are stagnant at the possibility of having any relations with the two of them, the queen suddenly turns completely altered.

- Don't you understand? You are in danger.

Everyone still looks confused and I try to think about how we could be in danger, is it because she said she doesn't know about our connections? Unless, no longer is he dead or I assume he is since they always refer to him in the past tense, I look at the floor and speak softly as if just for me to hear.

- Why are you saying that we are in danger?

The queen was even more agitated and totally lost whatever composure she had left and began to pour thick, steady tears down her face, causing Caleb and Logan to come closer and sit down in the armchair kneeling in front of her and holding two hands each on one side as if to try to comfort her.

- Six months ago we noticed a different energy spreading through the kingdom, I sent five soldiers to find out what was going on but none came back, at least not as they left, a week after they were sent two soldiers came back... - she pauses briefly to breathe - Possessed, until then we were not sure of anything but on the day of the consecration ball I could be sure of my suspicions, I could feel it.

No, it can't be, Caleb and Logan sit down on the floor beside the queen, Carrie squeezes my hand tighter and swallows dryly beside me, and even though I already know the answer I still ask to confirm.

- What do you mean by that?

The queen lifts her head and I feel undressed by the intensity of her gaze.

- King Reuben is alive, and he will come after you, I promised myself and the memory of your parents that I will not hide again, I will give my life to protect you, but if something happens you must defend yourselves, because if you are not ready to fight when the time comes, we are all lost.