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“My lady. My lady, wake up!”Dove groaned softly as she was shook out of her blissful sleep into the cold realm of awareness. Through her partially closed eyelids, she could tell that the sun wasn’t even up yet. There was nothing important today... why was she being woken?She could make out the silhouette of Silvia, the maid she had had since she was a baby. The elderly woman was bustling about her room, her grayish white hair unusually frizzy and unruly as she grabbed multiple things from shelves.“Silvia... Five minutes more....” she groaned, pulling the soft blanket over her face to block out her maid, who only turned back to continue to shake her into consciousness.“My lady, the castle is under attack. Wake up.” Sylvia urged.Dove bolted upright in bed, ignoring the chills that suddenly ran through her body, despite her thick nightgown and quilted blankets.“Under attack? What do you mean, under attack?”Silvia, who was already ushering Dove out of bed and into a heavy coat, handed her a bag, and spoke in a hurried voice that held an edge of panic. “Soldiers. Hundreds of them. Bearing marks of a queen I’ve never heard of. My lady, you must get away.” The maid tried to push her out the door, towards the back hallway, before Dove stopped her.“What about you?”Silvia shook her head. “Don’t worry about me, Dove. I’ll be alright. Go.”Dove looked at the woman once more and nodded, running down the stone hallway as quickly as she could in her nightgown. She tried to shut out the sounds that surrounded her, the screams of the castle staff, the sounds of glass shattering, the destruction of her home.Forcefully, she focused on making a dash for the staircase to the servant’s entry. Once she was out that door, she could make it to the woods and-Her thoughts were cut short as she felt an iron grip around her forearm. The other hand of the soldier came to grab her chin, turning her roughly towards him. She looked up at his scarred face, and smelt the fowl odor of his breath as he spoke.“Lil’ princess, ain’t ya? You might be th’ one we’re lookin’ for...” he gave her arm a sharp twist, rendering her helpless to use her arms to fight back. She struggled, landing several well aimed kicks to his legs and midsection, but his armor was thick, and her efforts waisted.Dove tried to call for help, to anyone who would listen, but to no avail as she was dragged towards the main hall. Then, his grip loosened on her.Dove looked up at him, but her eyes only met the terrified stare of her brother, Damryn, who held a bloody knife in his hand, which he quickly threw down.Shaking off her shock at seeing her attacker dead at her feet, Dove grabbed Damryn’s hand and pulled him with her towards the door. He followed quickly, matching her step for step in their flight from the palace. Looking to her left, Dove spotted her little sister, Sirihk, running towards them.“Sirihk!” She screamed, rushing to grab the hand of the twelve year old.The little girl clung to her as they ran, her sobs muffled by the sounds of shouting and killing that were all around them, even after they cleared the castle gate, the confusion enough to cover their escape.Dove turned to look back, and what she saw she knew would haunt her forever.The sight of her home, the place she had grown up in, the house of all her memories, on fire. She just barely caught sight of the enemy soldiers throwing an object out the window. A moment later, she realized what they were throwing.A woman.Her mother, who’s beautiful, long dark hair and blue gown billowed like a flowing train around her limp form as she fell.Turning her eyes back to where she was running, she saw the tree line only a few yards away. They were going to make it. They were going to live. A cry from Sirihk made her stop, the blood turning to ice in her veins as she watched her sister fall to her knees.Damryn was quick in grabbing her up, carrying the wounded child past the tree line, kneeling behind a bush as Dove quickly laid her cloak out on the ground for her.“Sirihk? Sirihk, talk to me.” Dove said, helping her sister sit up, wincing as she saw the arrow lodged in the girl’s stomach.“I-It hurts, D-Dovie....” Sirihk breathed, closing her eyes as she tensed, then relaxed, over and over again. “It hurts...”“I know, I know.... shh..” Dove soothed, looking to her twin for help.Damryn shook his head, and even in the dull light of the moon, Dove knew he was crying.“It’s alright, Sirihk... shh... it’ll be alright... it will all be alright...” Dove repeated the phrases over and over, praying them to be true while forcing back her tears.It took her a moment to realize that Sirihk’s eyes were glazed over, and she wasn’t listening.“No... no!” Dove screamed, holding her sister’s body close. “You can’t be gone... w-we made it.... y-you can’t...”“Dove...” Damryn placed a hand on his sister’s shoulder.Dove looked up at him, eyes wet with tears and voice caught in her throat.Damryn was about to say something more, before the howl of a dog alerted him. Wasting no time, he grabbed Dove’s hand and pulled her with him further into the woods. They could both hear the dogs as they hid beneath a thicket, laying on their stomachs and clutching each other like terrified rabbits.The sounds of voices were close as well, but they were softer and spoke in a way that the twins could not understand them. Dove tried to control her breathing as a pair of shoes came into view, just in front of her face. Then another pair.“I knew I saw two of ‘me run this way.” The owner of the first pair of boots said.“Are you sure?” The second one asked, obviously irritated. “Yes! Why would l lie to you?” The first replied, tapping his foot.“Indeed, why?” That was a new voice, feminine, and though the siblings couldn’t see her shoes, they could tell she was very close.The two men quickly changed position, standing at what Dove assumed was attention.“What are you two doing out here?” The female voice asked, cool and deadly.There was a beat before the first man answered.“We thought we saw someone come this way, sir- Er, ma’am.” He quickly corrected his mistake.“Did you..? And who gave you permission to pursue?” Her voice was cold, warning the man to think about what he was about to say.Another beat of silence.“No one, ma’am.”Dove wondered if anything was ever going to happen. The silence seemed endless. Every second seemed like an eternity.Then, there was a faint gasp, a gargling sound, and a sudden weight as a man fell on top of the thicket. Dove could see the blood dripping in front of her face.“Get back to the palace.” The female voice snapped, and Damryn saw the other man’s boots run back towards the direction they had come from. The twins stayed like that for a long time, neither one barely daring to breathe, before sleep finally claimed both of them.