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  “I don’t know. I can’t do it all the time. Mostly when you are feeling something really strong I can hear bits and pieces.”

  “What did you hear just now?”

  “Defy the odds, special relationship,” he said.

  “That’s just weird. I know you heard something when we were in the last meeting too, but are there any other times that you heard me?”

  “Yes,” he said. Even in the firelight, I could tell he was blushing. He heard something from the the night before I was crowned. The night we almost made love. “I knew how much you wanted it to be me.”

  “I did.”

  “Past tense?”

  “Tyran…”

  “I know. I just was wondering if you still felt that way about me.”

  “I thought the kiss before the battle would have told you the answer to that.”

  “Things have changed since then,” Tyran said as he looked away. “I couldn’t save him Jasmine. Either of them.”

  “I know,” I said unable to go on. We were both crying, but it was I who put my arms around him in comfort. I knew that Tyran must have felt bad for not being able to pry the enemy off Orion, but I had no idea how guilty he felt - not just about Orion, but my dog, Casper, as well. “You saved the whole kingdom Tyran.”

  “But I couldn’t save the one thing that tied you to your life before Tamporlea,” he said, unable to meet my eyes.

  “I will always miss Casper, but I don’t regret the fact that he died trying to be a hero.”

  “He was a hero. I know he didn’t save Orion, but his barking distracted some of the attackers and allowed some of the Heads to make it back to the platinum room.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about that before now. I know it’s kind of strange to say, but I feel worse about Casper than I do Orion.”

  “Tyran! I know that you two had your differences but that’s an awful thing to say!”

  “No, that’s not what I meant. Of course I feel awful about Orion, he was like my mentor while growing up, especially after becoming a Guard. What I meant was Orion was a hundred and seventeen years old; he lived a very long and happy life. Casper was…”

  “It’s okay. It’s not your fault,” I said as I held him tighter.

  Tyran’s yawn told me that it was getting late and we really needed to try to get some rest before we left in the morning. He set the alarm on his watch for 3:00 a.m. and tried to get comfortable. The tent was cramped and when Tyran moved in his sleep, he often nudged me accidentally. He eventually settled with his arm around me and I knew he was completely out when his breathing was deep. He didn’t snore, but occasionally he would mumble in his sleep, but nothing sufficiently coherent to understand.

  The night was long and I couldn’t sleep at all. Every time I would drift off, I would see images of my mom or Orion or Casper and I’d wake with a start. I was trying to hold my emotions in and they were coming back to haunt me when I was quiet enough for them to invade my mind. I watched the fire die down from inside the tent until the small alarm Tyran had on his watch began to beep.

  It didn’t take long for us to pack up and be ready to set off again. I held onto his hand tightly as we walked in the darkness. He would help me over the fallen trees and move the low-hanging branches from our path. As the sun started to rise, it cast a beautiful orange-pink glow through the trees. I wondered just how far we had to go, although I knew we had to be very close.

  I went over our plan in my head; until I was sure I remembered every step. It was a simple plan that really shouldn’t take longer than ten minutes. Luckily, we didn’t have to worry about neighbors since we lived so far into the woods that cable TV wasn’t even possible; in fact we'd had to cut down three trees for a satellite reception. There would be no one around to blink an eye as Tyran and I dragged my clone from the house. That was something that my mom was well aware of when my dad passed away and she had a very expensive security system installed for our safety.

  I think Tyran was trying to get his mind off everything because he started telling me stories about the history of Tamporlea. It wasn’t like my lessons before I was crowned; the stories he told were more personal. Some were even scandalous. The seventh Queen of Tamporlea had to marry three times before she finally conceived. People were terrified that it was the end of Tamporlea.

  The fourth Queen fell in love with the King of Jarnay and they had a secret affair for three years before he died of a heart attack. However some of the people believed that the King was murdered because the Guards of Tamporlea found out about the affair.

  “Why would they murder him?” I asked.

  “Jarnay has no magic and we have enough Commoners. It was an attempt to protect the magic of Tamporlea.”

  “Do you believe the story?”

  “I don’t know. I believe it could be true considering it’s what Tamporlea stands for.”

  “Magic is all Tamporlea really cares about?” I asked.

  “No, I mean Tamporlea literally means magic above all.”

  “I’m confused. Orion told me that the word Tamporlea is just combination of the names of the two colonies the founders came from.”

  He laughed and said, “Well, that’s true, but not the whole truth.”

  “So what’s the whole truth?”

  “Try to stay with me, this may get a little confusing,” he warned. “In the beginning, Gypsies had their own language so they could communicate with each other, but anyone who wasn’t a Gypsy couldn’t understand them. It was a really confusing language that made no sense and was nearly impossible to learn because it was changing constantly.

  “Anyway, the High Priestess came from a colony called Rema and Jal was born into Polta. So yes, if you scramble the letters of Rema and Polta, you get Tamporlea. However, Rema had the most magic and Polta was the richest of all Gypsy colonies, which also meant they were the most important. They lived so close together that the other colonies naturally began to look at Rema and Polta as one colony. The heads of the two colonies worked together to bring in more money and power by exploiting Rema’s magic. Using the letters of Rema and Polta, they created the phrase, ‘Maer Poa Tal’ or ‘magic above all’.

  “Although Syeira and Jal abandoned traditional gypsy practices, there was no denying that magic was the soul of the kingdom Syeira built. So, they took the saying Maer Poa Tal and scrambled the letters together to get Tamporlea.”

  “So I am ruling a kingdom who’s name even depicts magic, yet I have none.”

  “You’re pretty upset about that, aren’t you? I know you’ve been denying it, but it has to be weighing on your mind.”

  “It’s really hard knowing that I am taking the magic out of the royal part of Tamporlea. The more I find out about our history, the harder it is to accept that there won’t be another Queen who possesses magic.”

  “Jasmine, that’s not your fault. Everything happens for a reason.”

  “Ugh, you know I hate that saying.”

  “But you can’t deny that it’s true.”

  “Well, maybe,” I said stubbornly.

  Chapter 2

  Lilliana’s Story

  Soon enough the trees were not as thick and we were able to move faster to the edge of the field behind my mother’s house. Tyran had binoculars and was searching for any sign of movement. Mom was in her room at the back of the house where Tyran and I could see glimpses of her brushing her hair. Ten minutes later, she was in her car ready to leave and Tyran was on his feet.

  “Hang on,” I said as I grabbed his arm. “She’ll be back.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Trust me.”

  Sure enough, five minutes after mom left, we saw her car pulling into the driveway again. She ran to the house and back to the car in twenty seconds and left for work once again.

  “Okay,” I said as I stood up.

  “What was that about?”

  “Today is the first day of
this shift. She always forgets to turn on the alarm.”

  “Alarm?”

  “Relax, I know the code.”

  “If she hasn’t changed it.”

  I laughed and said, “Mom is a creature of habit. She hasn’t changed the code since we had the system installed.”

  We ran through the field to the fenced in backyard and sneaked in through the back door. I quickly typed the numbers into the system, hoping the beeps didn’t wake Lilliana. From across the room I saw my cat Jinx hiss at Tyran before running up the stairs.

  “Where’s your room?” Tyran whispered.

  He followed me, tiptoeing through the house up the stairs to my room. I slowly opened the door and saw Lilliana still sleeping soundly in my bed. I don’t know what came over me but I wasn’t expecting to be so angry over this sight. I had expected it and thought I was prepared for it, but when I saw her under my blue and white striped comforter, I wanted to strangle her. I started shaking and there were tears in my eyes because there was nothing I could do about it,

  “Jasmine, I want you to go downstairs and wait. I will get her.” He turned me to face him and looked straight in my eyes. “Go.”

  Before I let the tears fall, I ran down the hallway but as I was about to run down the stairs, I saw the light was still on in my mom’s room. I slowly made my way in. I didn’t expect to see anyone, but one could never be sure, stranger things have happened. As I went to the other side of her room, I petted Jinx who was now lying on mom’s bed. He meowed, annoyed that I woke him up. On the dresser was the picture my mom was holding the first time I saw her in the mirror. It was the graduation photo of me in my purple graduation cap and gown, standing next to my proud mother. Both of us smiling ear to ear while looking at the camera.

  I don’t know what made me do it, but I picked up the picture and sat on my mom’s bed as I flipped the frame over to take out the photo. I grabbed a pen off my mom’s nightstand and wrote on the back, “Mom, no matter how far away I am, I will always love you and I will NEVER forget you. Love, Jazzy.”

  When I put the photo back, I looked around for the mirror that was the gateway to Tamporlea. When I found it, I put in in my pocket and started to leave her room. I realized that I was taking away the last bit of hope I had of seeing my mom again. “Jasmine, let’s go,” Tyran said holding Lilliana by the hair, which honestly didn’t phase me. The way I saw it now, was that Lilliana did have a choice. She didn’t have to come here and deceive my mother, no matter what ways Queen Aella was threatening her.

  “I’ll be down in just a minute.”

  “Hurry,” he said as he walked down the stairs.

  I took the mirror out of my pocket and snapped it in half, severely cutting my hand in the process, before putting the larger half back where it was. I didn’t bother looking at the wound, knowing that I would instantly feel sick at the sight of my own blood. I wasn’t positive that Cali would even be able to get the mirror in the Sacred Space, but it was worth a shot.

  “We’re here, we’ve got her, we’re on our way back,” I said as I looked into the mirror. It didn’t reflect my image, it showed what the opposite mirror was reflecting, my mother’s unmade bed with Jinx walking on it, trying to find a more comfortable spot in which to fall asleep. I shoved my half in my back pocket again and ran downstairs to meet Tyran.

  Tyran was waiting by the back door, still holding Lilliana by the hair. She wasn’t trying to resist his hold and she had a frightened look on her face as I made my approach. I walked up to her, feeling the anger overwhelm me again. With every ounce of strength I had, I slapped her across the face. Tyran let go of her hair and tried to hold me back, but I was already holding her by the throat.

  “You no-good, lying, deceiving, scum-sucking piece of shit. I could end you here and now. Is that what you want?” I asked, squeezing tighter as her eyes grew wider with terror. “Don’t think about running and don’t think about yelling. Don’t do anything to make me do what I really want to do. Got it?” She nodded her head slightly and I released her neck but grabbed her wrist just as tightly, dragging her out the door after setting the alarm again.

  “Jasmine?” Tyran said hesitantly. “You’re bleeding.”

  “I’m fine, it’s nothing,” I said.

  “What happened?”

  I didn’t bother answering, because it didn’t matter. Who cares that I cut my hand on a stupid mirror? I had my sister and we were going back to Tamporlea, to my kingdom where I truly belonged. I guess the cliché was right, everything does happen for a reason; Lilliana was taken from my parents so that I could take my rightful place as Queen, and I was grateful.

  When we reached the edge of the field where we left our packs, I picked up mine and shoved it at Lilliana. “Put it on, you can be my pack mule.”

  “Jasmine,” Tyran said.

  “What? You want her to carry yours too?” I asked as Lilliana whimpered while putting my pack on her back.

  “You can’t do this,” he pleaded.

  “I can’t do this? You, the one who dragged her down the stairs by her hair, are telling me that I can’t treat her any way I damn well please?”

  “Look at her, she’s terrified.”

  “She should be. Now let’s go,” I said grabbing my twin’s wrist again and yanking her along with me. I walked as fast as I could, adrenaline fueling my every step. I could feel Lilliana’s fear flowing through me, which only helped enrage the fire burning inside of me.

  Lilliana didn’t say a word but she let out a cry when she slipped on the leaves or tripped over the fallen tree limbs. She was pathetic; obviously she had never been hiking in her life. She wanted to tiptoe through the forest but I kept the same pace not pitying her as she would stumble; I would just drag her along until she caught her footing.

  “Jasmine, stop!” Tyran yelled. Against my anger, I did as he said and turned to him. “Look at her! You have to stop! I know you’re angry and you have every right to be, but you can’t drag her all the way to Tamporlea. Let’s just stop and take a breather for a few minutes. I need to take a look at her wounds anyway.”

  I let Lilliana go and she stood like a statue, afraid to make a move. I watched as she would cringe against Tyran’s prodding hands that were inspecting her scrapes and bruises. Tyran told her to sit against a large tree so he could treat some of the open cuts. Her face and neck were bruised from my hands. I was still angry with Lilliana but seeing just how fragile she was, helped to calm me down. As Tyran used a cotton ball wet with alcohol to clean her cuts, she would cry out just a little, unable to stop herself. When he was finally done with her, he directed his attention to me.

  “Hand please?” he said.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Good, then let me look at it.” I reluctantly held out my hand, not looking at the open wound. I have always had a problem with seeing my own blood oozing out of my body. It made me feel sick to my stomach and usually made me feel like I was going to faint. “Damn it Jasmine. What the hell did you do? You’ve gone through muscle almost to the bone and I’m not a freaking Healer.”

  “I’ll be fine. Just wrap it up as best you can.”

  “This might hurt a bit,” he said as he poured the rest of the alcohol straight onto my wound. It didn’t hurt the way I thought it was going to; it was actually much worse, but I bit on the inside of my cheek, refusing to scream in pain. I was going to show how much stronger than Lilliana I really was. I don’t really know why that was so important to me, especially right now, but it was a constant nagging in the back of my mind.

  “Jasmine?” Lilliana said. I glared at her but didn’t respond otherwise. “I’m sorry,” she said before the tears fell.

  “You should be.”

  “I couldn’t fight her. You have to know that. I have always been powerless against her.”

  “Once you were at my mother’s house, you could have easily left. Found your way back to Pyrencia or anywhere.”

  “I know,” she sobbed. “I could
have, but once I was there, I didn’t want to.”

  “That’s going to have to do until we get back to Tamporlea,” Tyran said as he finished wrapping my hand in white gauze. “Do you want to tell me what you did?”

  “Later.”

  “I didn’t want to,” Lilliana continued. “When I looked into my mother’s eyes and I saw how happy she was to see me, I was selfish. I couldn’t leave. All my life I have wondered about my biological family. Queen Aella never told me much.”

  “She wasn’t happy to see you, she was happy because she thought you were me,” I snapped.

  “I know. I just wanted to know what she was like. Even though I couldn’t tell her who I was, I was still around my mother.”

  I didn’t know why Lilliana was telling me all this. I was trying to pretend that I didn’t care what she had to say, but I really did. Tyran just sat back and watched us interacting with each other. I wished I knew what he was thinking. He looked rather nervous and I wondered if he was worried that I would freak out on her again.

  “Can’t you understand how I felt at all?” Lilliana pleaded.

  “I understand that you thought of only you. Did you think at all of how I would feel about you pretending to be me?”

  “I don’t know. None of this was supposed to happen. It never works the way she says it’s going to. I don’t know why I thought this time would be different.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Queen Aella. She said that I would be safe at your mother’s and that she would come and get me once you were killed so that I could take over as Queen.”

  “Lilliana, you can’t be that dumb.”

  “Everything was happening so fast Jasmine. I was taken to Tamporlea by her assistant, thinking that this was the way it was supposed to be. I had no idea what was going on when I showed up and you were standing in the gazebo in front of the crown. It didn’t make any sense. I still don’t know everything that’s going on, but I suppose that is how the Queen wanted it.”

  I had to believe her, and I think Tyran was on the same page as well. She was incredibly naïve and the look on her face showed that she felt guilty for falling for Aella’s games. Even if she didn’t know what was really going on between Pyrencia and Tamporlea, she knew that she was used as a pawn for Aella’s plans. The more that Lilliana talked, I saw that in some ways she was really still like a little girl. Somehow she wasn’t allowed to really grow up and I wondered just how sheltered she was.