When stars betray

Chapter 5: THE CRASHING

Thalia and her arranged husband of 20 years, Rowan, are having dinner in one of the dining rooms of their massive estate with their completely unrelated pairs of distinct twins, Orna and Liya are Thalia’s while Kael and Lucian are Rowan’s. Thalia had her girls just one year into her arrangement with Rowan when Rowan’s boys were one-year-olds already. The arrangement was forced by both Thalia and Rowan’s parents for financial and authoritative purposes. They each have their secret lovers and different lives but have to be lovers from the public eye. Their children know their marriage is arranged and have to keep playing along.

As they eat in silence, a loud bang followed by another is heard. It sounds like it’s close enough to be on their property. “What was that?” asks Liya as they all pause expecting another bang. Rowan stands up and assigns two armed guards to follow him outside. Thalia and the rest follow them as they get out of the building and head towards the garden where two craters have been formed in the ground. One of the craters is glowing a dim white light while the other is not. “Be careful!” Rowan says as they approach the crash site carefully. “They are humans! Take them in, call the nurses.” He adds as he sees two people, a grown girl and boy, lying unconscious on the ground.

“Are they alive?!” asks Orna. ”How did they even get here? Where are they from?” Liya asks. ”She is pretty.” Kael says. “Shut up man.” Lucian tells Kael while smirking. “Everyone, calm down!” Thalia orders. Some workers bring clothes and cover the strange people who just crashed up and carry them inside. They are placed in a room on two separate beds as the house nurses examine them and place them on medications to try and stabilize their conditions.

In one of the parlors, Orna walks in from the kitchen with an apple in hand while taking bites, “How did they survive crashing from the sky?” she asks as she sits next to Lucian. “That was really strange, did you see how the girl glowed?” Kael says. Liya looks at him and says, “Yes, hum… I wonder what her gift is. She looks like a waterer.” (On the planet of Nothera, everyone is gifted an element from birth. Gifts allow people to control the elements they take from birth. Waterers control water, airers control air and wind, firers control fire and grounders control the ground and plants.) Lucian and Orna both chuckle as Orna stands up and tells Liya they have to go to bed early as they have their final exam to write the following day.

The following day, one of the servants opens the door to a crying girl, the one that crashed the previous day. The girl looks pale and tired. “Can you walk?” the servant asks as she walks over to the struggling girl to help her stand up. “Yes, I think so.” Replies the girl. The servant then looks at the still unconscious boy lying in bed and proceeds to take the girl that just woke up downstairs where Rowan, Thalia and some other people were waiting for her. She sits on a couch and stares at everyone in confusion.

She looks at this elderly man sit right in front of her and asks “Who are you and where are you from?”. The girl scans the room and realized she doesn’t quite recognize anyone. She clears her throat and says firmly, “My name is Iris Evender, where is my mother?”