Moments we weren't blessed with

'Fiona accidentally entered a portal when she was 18, the Late princess was desperate to expand her power far and wide then and when She found out that Fiona didn't belong here she wanted to use her to gain power over the other universe as well. So the late princess made her train as one of her personal guards and Fiona was equally willing to accept the offer.' explains the princess in brief.

'What happened then?' I ask

'She served the late princess for two years and one day she started behaving like a maniac, as her soul in this world was facing an impact too. So we decided to open a portal and send her back to Earth.' she takes a deep breath and continues 'The late princess didn't want to let go of the oppertunity although she didn't know how to use Fiona to gain power over the other universe. She asked her to make a promise, that she would return anytime the late princess needed her' the princess sips on her tea and we look at her like desperate puppies. 'The wolves opened a portal and Fiona reached earth safely.' Three years later, the late princess got really aggressive and demanding due to her age and she sent a message to Fiona asking her to return for a while and she obeyed because of the promise.' 'When Fiona arrived on Baroda, she was shocked to see how the attitude of the late princess had worsened. The king along with the wolves asked Fiona to join forces with them to end the late princess and there was a war. Fiona mentioned the two of you to me, she was desperate to return to her little loves but in the war, the late princess hypnotized Fiona right when she was about to stab her and became mentally and physically unstable due to the high hypnotize frequency.' 

'So she didn't die, right?' asks Jessica.

'Fiona passed away a day after the war. She was really in a bad shape but her last words were - Tell Laura and Jessica, I love them the most, always.' 

'Why did our father separate us then?' asks jessica

'I remember Fiona mention that Laura resembled her like a blueprint. You need to ask your father about the reason. I can't help you with that' 

'How did our mother make the promise, that was so capable to connect to a person from another universe.' I say.

'It was a blood promise. Only blood can reach out to the owner no matter where they are.' 

'The late princess asked us for a blood withdrawal last night' I mention and the princess looks shocked on hearing it 'She asked both of you for blood?' 

'Yes, and we gave it.' jessica clarifies.

'Blood of the twins? What can the late princess be planning?' wonders the princess.

'So the late princess killed our mother?' Questions jessica ' and now she is onto us.' with a snarl.

'Dear Jessica, we'll find a way out but first we need to see what exactly is the late princesses plan.' 

'You're using us as bait?' I ask puzzled 

'Definitely not Laura and for now, I would like the two of you to meet the late princess as planned'

'She killed our mother and would kill us too' yells Jessica.

'It wouldn't go that far.' 

'We hope not' I say.

'She would definitely aim to raise back to power'

'What would help her with that?' questions Jessica.

 'A loyal subjects sacrifice' 

'Us? but we don't even know her!' I say with a harsh tone. 

'No, not the two of you but Fiona can help her' 

'Isn't our mother already dead?' I ask 

'She could be raised again with your blood combined. She's your mother after all' says the princess with a worried tone.

'How are you so sure its our mother that she would try to reach to? Didn't she have any other loyal subjects?' Questions Jessica

'A loyal subject is someone who fulfilled a blood promise and your mother is the only one who kept her word. So definitely she's the target here' 

'She received the blood, why does she wants to meet us again tonight?' enquires Jessica.

'Every dark majic needs a soul sacrifice to be made' says the princess sorrowfully.

'So she'll murder us to raise our mother?' I ask and the princess nods. 'And murder our mother to raise back to power' continues jessica and the princess nods again helplessly.

'I'm afraid that's her plan.' 

'Can the wolves help us with it?' Asks jessica in a rush.

'They were the ones made the pact between the late princess and the kingdom. They would definitely do the right thing' continues the princess.

'Shouldn't we tell them about it? They're the justice after all' I say wondering

'I will talk to them about it' says the princess.

'If the late princess resurrects our mother, will we be able to see her?' I question

'Definitely but chances are you wouldn't be among the living' says the princess.

'How do we end the late princess? She's a spirit afterall' says Jessica 

'Its believed that only the loyal subject can do that' 

'So its our mother' we say and the princess nods before adding ' I would like to invite the two of you for a meal. It's past three and i'm sure the two of you are very hungry' Saying so the princess calls her assistant, Mr. Daniel and orders him to guide us to the eating quarters. 

'But...' we start to protest and just receive a smile from the late princess with the words 'Its going to be alright. I owe Fiona this much atleast.'

We walk to the meal quarters absentmindedly; in just an hour, many things we thought were true happened to be a lie and many unexpected things came to light. 

'Do you have any idea for tonight?' asks jessica. 

'Maybe a heavy meal can help sister!' I wink and she laughs.

'Definitely sister. If nothing goes right tonight atleast i'll be glad to have spent some valuable time with my twin before being murdered in an alien planet' she says. 

'There is all hope that we will make it out, alive' I try to appear optimistic.

The meal quarters has a golden printed tall walls with a glass dome at the roof. The meal table was a real giant, it could easily accomodate 40 people to have a meal at the same time. It had flower vases occasionally and a mat for each seat. It was definitely the palace. The room was filled with a lavender aroma that was calming with the low saxophone notes as a background music.

'Please be comfortable, your meal will be served shortly by our chief chef.' says Mr. Daniel before leaving us to ourselves. We choose a corner seat, that would attract the least attention and get seated. 

'What is father like?' I ask Jessica in a low voice.

'Dad's kind but over bossy and dominating towards me. I have no idea why he did what he did to you Laura. I am so sorry. Although we're twins, we grew up in very different situations.' 

'You don't have to be sorry, Jessica. I'm glad he atleast took you in.' 

'I'm happy we finally met eachother though we spent half of our lives in misery' 

'That's true' I say smiling. 'I never thought I would have a family, let alone a twin' 

The chef serves us with all luxury food; half of which we didn't even know the names of. 

'Are all of these edible and are they for us?' questions Jessica and I look up for the answer.

'Yes miss. The princess picked the menu herself. Please enjoy. I'll leave you to yourself. Please ring the bell if you need my assistance' says the chef gesturing to a bump a little further from the edge of the table.

'Sure, thank you Chef' I say as he leaves the room. The princess made sure we had the huge meal room all to ourselves. 

'Let's dig in' I say and take a meat roll, Jessica follows.

'I wonder who is elder among us' I say with a large bite in my mouth. 

'I guess it me sister' says Jessica laughing with a mouth full of food.

'We're both gonna choke' I laugh as I swallow my food, Jessica joins in laughing and we continue eating forgetting about all the stress at the moment.

We finish all the dishes within half an hour and stare at the bones and leftovers. 

'Did we eat so much?' Jessica questions surprised.

'I think we really ate well' and we both burst out laughing. 

We take the glass of mango juice and say cheers before gulping it down our system. 

There is a knock on the door and we steady ourselves to appear as decent women. The princess walks in with a large smile although her eyes express grief. 

'I hope that was of your preference, young ladies' says Mr. Daniel.

'Indeed, it was. Thank you princess for the wholesome meal' I say and Jessica tried to curtsy.

'Oh, sweet Jessica. You don't have to curtsy' says the princess with a giggle and Mr. Daniel has a compressed laugh.

'Have you spoken to the wolves, princess? I ask with a serious tone.

'Yes Laura, I have. The alpha wants to stand by our side but as I said earlier; we can't do anything unless we're certain. Maybe the late princess really what's to help you guys return' 

'But didn't you say the wolves opened the portal for mother to travel?' jessica points out.

'Yes but without the late princess help, the wolves wouldn't be able to do it. Although she was unwilling to send Fiona back, she helped her return' says the princess in a dim tone. 'We want the two of you to meet the late princess tonight. Although I can't help you, the wolves will have your back' 

'Why can't you help us?' I ask

'Part of the deal was that the living will not be visible after the sun sets until the sun rise. Likewise the dead won't be seen until the sun sets.' explains the princess.

'Does that mean the late princess is in this palace right now and we just can't see her' questions Jessica and I continue 'She can't see us either, right?' the princess nods answering to both our questions. 

'Now, I suggest you return when you have the appointment with the late princess, my little ones and don't reveal about our meet today. That would only agitate the late princess to act agressively.'

We nod silently and decide to leave the palace ask asked. 

'I have something that can cheer you up' says the princess and hands me a grey metal box covered with pearls. 'It belonged to your mother and I think you deserve to have it now' says the princess.

I look at Jessica and she mummers 'let's go' with a heavy expression.

We thank the princess and walk out the palace gate after being greeted by the guard. We sit under a tree a few steps away from the palace gate and decide to open the box.

A pen, few photos, some newspaper cuttings and a piece of cloth was all the box contained. 

'This is what mother looked like' says Jessica 

'Has father ever spoken about mother?' I ask. Calling two strangers I never met mother and father felt really weird but I also felt relieved. For I belonged somewhere, I finally know that my mother was unwilling to lose me. 

'Never, everytime I tried to bring up mother, dad would always yell and try to change the topic and on every birthday, he would never let me celebrate.' 

'So you never had a birthday party? When is our birthday?' I ask, I know how not having anyone to wish you happy birthday felt like. I never knew I had a birthday until recently. 

'Its on the 16th of June' says Jessica 'I'm sure you never got to celebrate your birthday too' she continues.

'Let's celebrate it from this year onwards together!' I say smiling and jessica nods.

We have a good time sitting under the chill breeze and the birds chirping. As the sun slowly descended, we witnessed the lively palace disappear and the creepy dark palace come to life. The future that lies ahead is uncertain and the fact that we might get to meet our mother excited me although dying in an alien planet was sorrowful, but mother was murdered too. She deserves her justice and only she can kill the late princess. I ponder over everything that we experienced today while Jessica takes a nap on my lap. She specified to wake her up when its time to meet the late princess and not go in alone; maybe she didn't want to be all alone again feeling unwanted. 

The times flies quickly as I sit there infront of the palace, under the red maple tree peeling the fallen leaves and occasionally looking at my twin sister. This is the place our mother was killed and maybe in a few hours, we would be forced to end our lives too. I wake Jessica and ask her to have some water before we head to the palace gate.