The Alpha & The Harpy

Chapter 1. Times of Change “Seraphina,” It was the youngest twin, Sephora, who spoke. It was the early morning and the sisters were getting ready to head down to the kitchen for breakfast, so Sephora was sitting in front of an ornate, twisting, vanity table made with dark wood combing her long straight black hair. “We turn 18 next week! Isn’t it exciting?” Her beautiful, pale, icy blue eyes held nothing but the pure excitement of an innocent child. Glimmering with possibilities, as she beamed brightly at her older sister. It was only by their eyes that the twins could be told apart at all. In every other way, they were identical. As harpy twins who had hatched from the same small clutch of eggs, they had been expected to be identical in every way. Yet their eyes were wildly opposite. For children in the Raven Clan of the Harpies, youth to maturity had the unusual feature of maturity where a child’s eyes would be extremely bright while young, and deeply darkened with maturity. The difference could be so great in colours; sometimes from yellow, orange and even red to brown or, onyx-black eyes. The darker the eyes, the more beautiful the raven. This was also the same expectation held for hair, but the skin must be fair. These were what was held to be the epitome of Raven Harpy beauty. Everything else was imperfect. Lady Nox embodied these qualities perfectly and entirely! As the children from her only clutch ever laid, the twins were regarded as highly sought after treasures by eligible nobles from the Raven Clan. For years Lady Nox had refused to guarantee either her daughters' hands to any one male or Clan and instead used it like a carrot stick, affirming that they would have a chance for the girls to choose them or their children as their suitors of preference, - her daughters had been used as political carrots being dangled, so close but out of reach. Not only that, but she held that natural intimidating and deadly aura. For males of the Raven Harpie’s, this was fully expected, but it was something rarely seen as often in females of their Harpy kind, the Raven clan. Females of the Hawk and Owl clan certainly held more intimidating and dominating presences more often. That was the nature of their clan’s DNA. Simply, she rolled her midnight black eyes, with boredom, at her sister's words. For once, they held no hint of warmth for her sister but contempt. Seraphina, as always, considered her response more measurably than her sister's outburst. “It will be one grand affair after another, these next few weeks. I suppose that much is true.” Seraphina gazed at her sister’s exposed black wings, which draped to the floor while she sat, not wanting to meet her sister's eager countenance. Those wings were identical to her own, so she couldn’t help but think, "You’re going to get the bottom of your wings dirty, sister. Mother will kill you for being imperfect today!" The twins knew each other very well. Even without meeting each other’s eyes, they usually had a keen sense that something was wrong. While Seraphina attempted to mask her anxiety and resistance with boredom, Sephora couldn’t drop the feeling that there was more to her attitude. Her gut was usually right on these things after all. Sephora tried to keep her attitude positive and her enthusiasm despite her sister being chilly to the touch of the subject. Even as twins, the sisters could fight, but it rarely meant anything. There was never anything of so much importance as to hold a raven’s grudge against one another. Sephora nearly fell off of her seat at the dark dressing table, as she turned as fast as the wind at her sister's words. Her mouth agape and eyes incredulous. Daring her sister to repeat her words. After a moment of silence, Sephora finally replied, “How?! How can you say that? We will finally be adults and get to decide who will be our betrothed… our mate for life! If we get to live in one of the other clans, if we even want to… you know I heard the Peacock Harpy Clan have a bolder son that’s eligible and considering coming to one of the eligible balls.” Sephora raised her eyebrows twice teasingly, “I know mother is so serious about, ‘Royal and noble duty,’ to carry on the lineage but isn’t it fun to think about all the amazing parties that are finally going to be thrown in our castle for this?” Erupting in loud and squawking laughter, at the mere notion of a member of the Peacock Clan being so bold to daringly attempt to court them, “Hahaha, little sister you are so precious.” Seraphina’s abdomen tightened painfully with so much laughter. She placed a hand on her stomach and one on the light-grey walls with wooden panelling. In an instant, Seraphina’s demeanour entirely changed, “You assume mother would really allow you to marry a Peacock?” All cheer had now drained from her face, “You are really stupid if you think so Sephora.” She held a sharp and serious observation of her sister for a moment. That ice-piercing narrowing of her eyes made her younger twin flinch backwards, ever so slightly. There was no mercy, there was only a cold glassy gaze present. At this, the younger twin sat up right and moved further back onto her seat, ever so slightly and placing her comb back onto the dressing table in front without looking away. To someone unaware of Raven Harpy customs, they might have assumed she stood her ground, or even that she was mirroring her older twin’s seriousness. Sephora had already given her ground; she wasn’t used to her sister being so cold and ominous as she was being now. There wasn’t even a challenge here as there may normally have been. Just Seraphina attempting to use cold authority to hide her own sense of anxiety and dread about being paired and matched for life, as uninterested disdain. Reeling back from her jolt, she turned back to the mirror. A loud bang erupted from her small pale hands as they slapped loudly against the vanity table. Disturbing the assorted beauty and care items perfectly placed on it, “What is wrong with you today, Sister?!” The chair screeched on the floor as Sephora thrust it back with her thighs as she stood. “I don’t know…!” Taking the bate, Seraphina bit back, flailing her hands. The older twin bit back. Her icy blue eyes were so cold they could summon frost in her younger twin's heart, “My sister wants to marry someone from the Peacock clan! That… That you can actually entertain that idea! That you can be so willfully pleased and excited to have your mother marry you off to the noble or king’s son she deems her most preferred male for you. You’re kidding yourself if you believe she’ll truly let you choose, and not make it seem like it’s the mate you truly want.” Any kindness and excitement from the younger sister had now been swiftly chilled, “I never said I wanted to marry a peacock. It was only gossip I heard from one of the maids, while only trying to make you feel better. Your usual smile is rather lopsided today, sister.” Sephora had thought that she had been patient enough. With that, Sephora flared her wings to ripple the air currents in the room angrily, as she left the room. She was already in her open back dress set for today and had only meant to finish brushing her straight hair. Taps on the marble floor outside the room grew fainter as she moved further down the corridor. All Seraphina had done was make her little twin sister mad at her for nothing. In her heart, a part of Seraphina knew that she might come to regret projecting her anxiety as bitterness onto her younger twin. Though this feeling was fleeting, and it was a premonition as quickly discarded as it had arrived. "Have I sown unnecessary seeds of resentment?" She thought, as her gaze looked towards the door, that her sister had stormed off through, and had left. Sighing at the notion, the older sister went to reorganise the items on the vanity table before finishing getting dressed into an off-shoulder dress befitting of a royal like herself. It was edgy but suitably so for a Raven.