Another Life

Original Family

I grabbed my twin sister by the hand and pulled her through the interconnecting door into my luxurious room. I realised that her room was actually an adjoining dressing room or nursery. Still entranced by her ethereal beauty, I stared at Starr, wondering how I could be so ordinary looking whilst she was such a vision. Of course, that was her curse. She looked just like our Mother, and that was more than enough to condemn her in my Father's eyes.

With my darker skin and straight mousy hair, I took after Father, and he doted on me. Enough to put up with Starr staying in the complex, as long as he didn't catch sight of her. Hence, she would dress in rags, confident that if she did happen to run into him in the massive labyrinth of corridors, she could emulate a servant and he wouldn't recognise her.

I turned my attention to the food trolley again, trying to interest my sister. "Sandwich, Starr? There's suchi, or samosas or spring rolls." I sniggered to myself, "do you think they meant to give me all foods starting with S?"

Starr looked at me, smiling pensively. "Of course they did, Skye."

She had a habit of saying exactly what she meant and nothing more.

"But why in the Gods would they do that?" I was genuinely confused by this strange behaviour.

"Skye, you are their Princess. Your Father is more like a God than a king to these people and you are his heir. It's a form of worship for them to cater to your every need and personalise it. The cook who prepped this trolley probably hopes you will notice his care and attention to detail and remember him kindly when you ascend the throne."

I shuddered slightly, staring at my twin. She was right, of course. She was always right. She understood so much more than I did about politics and ruling. She was perfectly suited to ruling after our Dad, unlike me. The one fact I did know, and held onto tightly whatever occurred, was that I would never ascend that throne. I would never rule this land. He couldn't make me do it after he was gone.

Starr saw the look on my face and pulled me into a hug. "I'll always be here, Syke."

She picked up a ham sandwich and started to eat, while I looked in my wardrobe for something she could wear. I found a simple white sundress and silently handed it to her. She nodded her approval, left the dress on the bed and went to shower.

I found one of the plastic containers they always hid around the food trolleys and started to fill it with food.

Starr pulled on the dress and came to inspect the food parcel I'd made. She smiled slightly in approval and I felt a sense of peace and belonging that only existed between twins. Catching sight of our reflections in the mirror by the door I almost did a double take. We really were a vision. Starr, somehow making the simple, pure sundress look like it was a million pound dress designed especially for her. Her pale skin, long curly black hair and shining emerald eyes transformed the simple garment to resplendent opulence. Beside her in my sky blue dress I looked the epitome of the teen dream, filling the dress in all the right places. My long, straight brown hair and chestnut eyes suited the colour to perfection.

Looking away from the mirror, I locked eyes with Starr and we smiled. Without speaking we moved as one towards the door and I opened it and cautiously looked out. Joining hands we moved quickly and silently down the corridor, making our way to the loneliest part of the complex. The last few flights of stairs downwards looked abandoned and the felt heavy and suffocating. But we knew better. We made this vigil almost every night. At the bottom of the last fight of stone stairs a massive iron door barred the entrance to the dungeons. We raised our right arms and banged three times in unison. The door creaked open and we were greeted by the terrified face of the guard on duty, Derek.

"No, no, you can't be here. You have to go."

The dungeons were small and the booming sound of a voice unmistakably my Father's came echoing down to us. In the far distance we could hear my Mother sobbing and instinctively tried to push my way in.

"No, Princess. Please he'll kill us all if he finds you both here."

It suddenly clicked in my mind that Derek was right. There was only one way in and out of the dungeons and if my Father found Starr and I here delivering a food package to our Mum he would be livid. And it wouldn't be me that suffered. It would be my loved ones and probably Derek as well. I stopped pushing quite so hard against the door.

"This is your last chance, Sapphire. Take your place at my side and support me, or you will die here. And soon. My patience is wearing thin."

I instinctively turned to Starr. She shook her head. "We have to run, Skye. Come on."

I knew she was right, if we stayed everything would be so much worse, but I hated abandoning my Mum and leaving her to his maliciousness.

We ran up the stone steps, not seeing another soul until we were back in the more populated corridors. Barely able to breathe, I slowed to a walk and tried to hold back the tears that threatened to choke me. Starr put an arm around me and we hurried back to the bedroom. Once safely inside, we collapsed onto the bed and held each other, sobbing, until both of us fell into a shallow, disturbed sleep.